Sorry for the wait!

I'm not sure if it's just the time of year or if it's just my life that has suddenly become overwhelming and busy. I want to apologize for being late on this blog post...I was doing so well! That being said my past week has been quite wonderful despite how all the over the place I have felt. I would choose being busy over being bored and as April continues to move at the speed of light, I am even getting a better idea of what I will be doing with my life next year.

Day 29: Game of Thrones

Monday: If you don't watch Game of Thrones, I highly recommend it. The new season just started a few weeks ago and with that Valentina, Emily, Alex and I have started a new tradition of watching it together on Monday evenings. I am usually horrible at remembering to watch shows as they air, so it's nice to have a group to watch it with and kick off the week right. Next week we're going to try and one up ourselves and bring some food :)

Day 30: One on One at Panera

Egg whites, cheese, sun dried tomatoes, basil on delicious bread. SO good.

Tuesday: The only thing better than breakfast at Panera is talking about your feelings while eating breakfast at Panera. Every month, I meet with my site coordinator, Layne, to discuss what is going on in my life, to check in on my well being and talk about YAV life. This past week, I had an especially nice conversation with Layne as she helped to talk me through my stresses as it pertains to next year. I was able to talk out all the items that I have on my plate, organize my thoughts and avoid what I thought was an inevitable panic attack. Growing up and being more responsible is so hard. I am lucky to have the support system I do down here because I don't know where I would be without it.

Day 31: Dobby

That. Face. 

Wednesday: One of my newer friends down here in New Orleans is the owner of one of the cutest dogs I have ever met. His name is Dobby, he is a little over a year and solidified for me that I need a dog within the next year or I might explode. I have been lucky thus far to befriends dog owners that let me love on their dogs as if they were my own but I seriously can't wait to have one of my own. This past week I got to take Dobby on a walk around Uptown and it was nothing short of wonderful.

Day 32: Acceptance to teachNOLA

Thursday: Quite easily the happiest moment of these happy days was my letter of acceptance to the teachNOLA program. teachNOLA in short is a teaching certification program that helps prepare individuals to teach in a high need school in New Orleans. I would go through a 5 week training program (end of May through the beginning of July), then once I'm certified get support through the interview process and once I (hopefully!) land a job receive a mentor throughout my first year of teaching (this first year includes attending classes and meeting with my mentor periodically) and then upon completion get my masters! Sounds almost too good to be true, right? I'm still working out the details of how it will fit into my YAV year but it is a great opportunity that I feel really blessed to have.

Day 33: Rooftop View

View during the day

View during Sunset

View with Alex, Anna Leigh and I in front of it!

Friday: This past weekend us New Orleans YAVs packed our bags and made our way to the Florida beaches to meet up with our fellow YAVs from Nashville, Atlanta and Miami. It was truly a blessing to be in such a beautiful place and to share it with people who know EXACTLY what you are going through this year even though for me, I haven't kept in touch with many of them. We were lucky enough to stay in this wonderful four story beach house with a 360 degree view of the water. My favorite part BY FAR was the rooftop porch where I spent pretty much all of my free time lying in the sun, engaging in wonderful conversation and taking in the breath taking view. The retreat was a perfect balance of relaxing, getting to know other YAVs and spiritual reflection.

Day 34: Crawfish Boil

Nom nom

Saturday: On the retreat each site was responsible for two meals and our site was responsible for Saturday night dinner! We decided to give everyone a taste of New Orleans and have a crawfish boil. I was a little embarrassed to admit then even though I live in New Orleans and have eaten plenty of crawfish, I have never participated in an actual crawfish boil! I learned out to crack open the crawfish (and suck the heads!) and loved it. There is something so wonderful about working for your food.

Day 35: Road Trip

The best. 

Sunday: They say that the best part of a journey is not always where you are going but how you get there. I spent 14 hours in the car with those nuggets this past weekend and couldn't have been happier. We listened to Jack Johnson (I think we made it through the CD easily 5 or 6 times), talked about how much we thought various items weighed and laughed as Anna Leigh freaked out when we got lost in a neighborhood. I can't believe I have only known these girls for 8 months because there are times (like being stuck in a car) when I feel like I have known them a lot longer. I am even more excited that they are staying in New Orleans and will most likely be my roomies again :)

Life has really picked up lately in wonderful ways. I can't wait to finalize my plans for next year more while still enjoying the last 3 months of my YAV year. Time flies and although I'm excited for what's to come, I don't want to miss out on the wonderful things that seem to happen each day.

Lesson from the Journey: There is a bug called a no-see-um (because you literally can't see them!) that attacked every one of us at the beach. I NEVER get bug bites but the no-see-ums didn't really seem to know or care about that. Worst bugs ever.