For The Readers

I am going to be completely honest right now and admit that I do not really feel like blogging at the moment. I guess this is where the "failing" in 100 Happy Days comes from and I am trying my very best to overcome the urge to just crawl into bed. I had a wonderful past week and would love to share it will all of you but sometimes I wish my blogs would just write themselves for me! So this blog is for all the people who read my blog and have supported both my YAV year and me as a person. You deserve regular blog posts and I think I've done pretty well so far - so why stop now?

Day 22: Card from Momma

Monday: I don't think it is any secret how much I miss my family. It has been a constant adjustment being so far away from some of the most wonderful people in my life. My mom sent me a "just because" card that made my day. It is nice to know that no matter how far you go and wherever your dreams take you that there are people who will always be cheering you on. I get to see my family in a little over 2 weeks and I can't wait. I am extremely fortunate to have such a strong support system.

Day 23: The Danger of a Single Story

Tuesday: This Tuesday for our meeting we watched a Ted Talk by Chimamanda Adichie titled "The Danger of a Single Story". She talks eloquently and concisely about how it is so easy in our world today to only see and accept a single story. Her best example is how when she came to America to attend college, her roommate (only hearing that her new roommate was from Africa) assumed that Chimamanda didn't know certain things because her single story of Africa was that it was third world country, filled with poverty. Her roommate wasn't aware of the other stories present in Africa and how that narrowed her view of the people who lived there.  Chimamanda articulates this much more beautiful and I encourage to take the 20 minutes and watch the video. It is truly powerful and forces you to reflect on your own interactions with others.

Day 24: 12 Hours with Valentina

Valentina and I trying on cool helmets while doing some errands at Walmart!

Wednesday: Well it all started out as a typical day at work with Valentina. We didn't have volunteers this week so both worked together form 8:30-4:30. We then decided post work to go to the mall then the mall made us hungry so we got dinner and then dinner made us full so we had to relax and watch tv and then relaxing and watching tv turned into 9:00pm and I was like Valentina I love you, but it's time for me to go home. I am just happy that I can work with someone that I can easily put up with for 12 hours straight and not get sick of them.

Day 25: District Donuts

Donut Heaven.

Thursday: Ladies and gentlemen! Listen up! I had the most amazing donuts in the entire world this past Thursday. Valentina and I had to run some errands for work and this wonderful donut place happened to be on our way (funny how that worked out!) They have different flavored gourmet donuts each day of the week so me and Valentina each split and cinnamon sugar and a lemon meringue donut along with two cold brewed coffees. The donuts were literally to die for and the coffee was delicious. I already can't wait to go back. This city keeps surprising me with it's insanely amazing food.

Day 26: High Five of the Week

Unfortunately I don't have an action shot of me getting high fived so this will have to do!

Friday: Every Friday at Project Homecoming there is a staff wide meeting where everyone gets together to share news, what they've been up to and to eat delicious donuts. Each week there is a "high five" of the week which highlights someone on staff who has done an exceptional job in the past week. This week that person was me! It was awesome to get recognition throughout Project Homecoming staff because often times Village Managers get overlooked since we are separate from the direct rebuilding. It also happened at a great time because it was after 8 straight weeks of volunteers (where most of the weeks had 75+!). It is always wonderful to be recognized for your hard work.

Day 27: The Milk Bar

Saturday: If you know me at all the you know that food makes me happy and New Orleans is notorious for delicious cuisine. I have an ongoing list of restaurants that I want to try in New Orleans (it grows faster than I can keep up with it!) and one of those restaurants is called the Milk Bar. It is a sandwich/salad/smoothie place only a few blocks away from where I live. I finally went there on Saturday with Hannah and got one of their vegetarian options (go lent!) It had cream cheese, roasted red peppers, alfalfa sprouts, avocado, and mushrooms on a delicious roll. Basically it was to die for. Nothing like a delicious sandwich.

Day 28: Catching up With AXO

Picture my sorority little Nicole took....oh Aaron Carter, to think one day in the past I had a giant crush on you.

Sunday: Easily one of the most important aspects of my college experience was joining Alpha Chi Omega. I met my best friends who have helped me not only survive college but continue to support me and keep in touch with me as I move onto my next adventures. My sorority little sister called me on Sunday to catch me up on her life and asked me what I had been up to. I shared what's been going on but what she had to tell me was far more superior than the amazing donuts I had had a few days before. Aaron Carter (the "I Want Candy" singer, younger brother of Nick Carter) came to Muhlenberg College and held a performance. He is 26 years old and went up on stage singing "I Want Candy", "That's How I Beat Shaq" and the ever so popular "Aaron's Party Come Get It". I died at this news and silently wished that I had graduated a year later just so I could have witnessed that concert.

Lesson from Journey: Sticking with anything can be really hard (like blogging for example) but consistently blogging has not only been good for me but has also proven a great way to stay in touch with friends, families and whoever else stumbles upon this blog.