Friday, September 12, 2014

What have I been doing?

Hello friends!

I only seem to write in this blog when I have 75 other things that I should be working on at the time. This year is going to be an experiment in how I do with my time management skills when it comes to things beyond classwork. My only class this year is the class that goes along with my field site [Faith in Place]. There isn't very much coursework that goes along with the class, mostly just reflecting on our experience.

Beyond my course, I am trying to work 15 hours a week at Faith in Place [FiP]. Luckily the Executive Director, Brian, is equally as excited about teaching me to write grants as I am to learn! I honestly believe that this field site experience is worth the emotional toll I went through this past winter with Lincoln Park. I feel like I am actually learning skills that will benefit me in the future. I was talking with a friend over breakfast yesterday and shared with her that I am just comfortable at FiP. I get to work with people who are passionate about their job. My coworkers are friendly & open to answering my many questions. I am currently in the process of reorganizing our grants files, which is a pretty serious undertaking. I love it. I'm just so happy to be at FiP, I have a hard time describing it.

On top of my field site responsibilities, I am also one of the RA's for the McCormick housing. I'm the Community Life RA, which means I get paid to plan parties. AND IT IS AWESOME. All summer long I held weekly grill nights with our neighbor seminary, the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago [LSTC]. And I don't have to deal with building issues because there is a separate RA for all of that. It is pretty awesome.

I am still working at Daystar with their After School Care program. Hanging out with kids a couple of times a week is always fun to do! This fall, my friend Megan and I are going to have a special weekly cooking class for some of the kids. We already have a few ideas about things to cook with the kids that are healthy, can be done in a group setting, and can be done in about 45 minutes [since that is all the time we have]. I think we are also going to try & tie in theological themes of caring for one's body by eating healthy foods. Megan is a student at LSTC & Daystar is a Christian school, so it should work out pretty well. If you have any suggestions for things we can cook - send them my way!

It is an exciting time to be at McCormick. The student body really seems to be energized in a way I haven't experienced before.

Between work, school & having a social life, I have been trying to find the right balance. The first two weeks of classes are always a little hectic. At the end of August I ran my first half marathon. I'd been training for it since March, so it was a great sense of accomplishment when I finished the race! I was really worried in the days leading us to the event because I had a stomach bug and was worried that I would be too weak/dehydrated to compete. But I took it slow & easy and everything worked out in the end!

I've been trying to get more organized & declutter my life. I realized when I moved from Lincoln Square back down to Hyde Park that I have so much stuff I don't need. I've been loving the resources I've found online, especially Light by Coco. Her make me feel like I'm getting good life advice from a friend. Ok, now I am off to tackle my ever growing to-do list.

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[9/13/14 Note]: I am happy to also be able to announce that I am now the editor of The Herald, the student newspaper at McCormick! It hasn't been very active in the past year or so, and I am hoping to really revive it. We are also going to be putting out a print edition, so if you are a McCormick person, look for it on Wednesday at worship!

I also now have a foster puppy, Fritz. He is an adorable Schnauzer mix who weighs around 25lbs, is extremely friendly with people & other dogs, and housebroken. If you are interested in adopting him, I am fostering through One Tail at a Time. His profile isn't up on the site yet, but when it gets posted I will link it here. You can check my Instagram page for pictures of him.