NYC: February 2009

Me and one of my little ones at church on Sunday. ( She did my hair lol)

Whitney made me a Nannerpus for when I got home. :D

It's a little fuzzy, but this is the park right outside my church.

Manhattan Bridge.

Me and Whitney

Hey, everyone!

Sooooo this is mostly pictures, but they speak louder than words. It's been a while since I've updated. Sunday, Feb. 9th I woke up verrrrrry ill. I had a fever over 101 and my body was so weak I could hardly get out of bed. I stumbled into my roommate Whitney's ( in the pictures below) bedroom and told her my dismay. She called a cab and we went to the emergency room together. I already could have guessed the diagnosis. The flu. But a baaaadddd case of it since I had a different strand of flu for almost two weeks before I moved here. My immune system still wasn't on it's A game, sooo I have been out of commission for about a week and a half. Whitney went out and bought me tea, kleenexs, a " Jesus loves me" mug, crayons, a pirate coloring book, chicken noodle, etc. She is wonderful. Graffiti also sent a group of ladies here with a big care package. I felt so loved! I was out of work for a week and it was pretty miserable. I was ok to be resting, but I really missed my kids and would have rather been with them. Being so weak in body, I also was week in mind and heart. When one is left at home, alone, feeling terrible, with nothing to do but think it is a dangerous time. Thoughts that normally I would have rejected on account of them being ridiculous and clearly illogical started seeming almost true. I was unproductive ( in hindsight I see that "being unproductive" then was simply resting for wellness) but I fretted over only doing things for myself the entire week. It was a weak time spiritually. I couldn't bring myself to read the Word. It was like I was so inactive that I became dismayed over my inactivity and that spurred me on into further inactivity. I am well now. The Lord carried me through the week and a half. I called my mentor, Lorie, and we met yesterday at a Starbucks near Chinatown. I really just needed to talk about work, and the Lord, and unload the last week. We prayed together and I walked away feeling lighter. Talking with her and being accountable to her has really helped me. She is holding me accountable to my word. When I say I will be actively working on spending more time being quiet before the Lord, I know she will be asking me about that throughout the week. She is wonderful.

The Lord is good. There are ups and downs to every relationship, and I am thankful for the stress. Had I have never been through dark valleys, I would never appreciate the mountain tops. Through whatever season I am going through God has never given up on me, no matter how sour my attitude, how self pitiful I get, how heavily I lean on my own intuition and not His Spirit. He is a gracious and loving Father. His love is without condition. All PRAISE be given to Him for that.

Other things I've been up to.....hmmmm. My roommate introduced me to the most amazing vegetarian restaurant ever. It's called Crispy's and I had a soy beef sloppy joe and it was so so so so good. Also sweet potato fries! I went ice skating for the for the first time in NY! It was amazing. Chris, our friend Jennifer, and I went skating in Central Park. It's amazing. We were in the middle of all the sky scrapers, the night was clear and you could see stars....awesome. Went to the Plaza hotel and saw some models and fancy people and such ( it's fashion week). I visited Spanish Harlem for the first time. It was awesome. I loved it. I went to dinner at Jennifer's( friend from church) Aunt's house. Rice, beans, familia, and Spanish television. Amazing combo. Oh!! I have got to tell you about my friend Diane. She owns a Thai restaurant two blocks from my house. I go and see her all the time just to talk and see how she is and see how business is going. We're good friends. The other day I went in to get some food on my way home from work, and she randomly asked me in her thick thai accent" So.... how old are you?". I told her I was nineteen. "Single?" Yes ma'am. I'm not really interested in the dating scene right now. " Well...I know you work for free. I know man who need bride. He from Thailand. He pay ten tousand dolla to marry young bride. He nice man." I just kind of looked at her shocked. She asked a couple of different times throughout the night in different ways. It was the funniest thing. I've never been offered a price for my hand in marriage. I explained my views on marriage and why it would not be wise for me to simply marry a man I didn't know for money. She didn't really fully understand my reasoning, but it was a good time trying to explain anyways. I'm a little more pricey than 10,000 dollars. Maybe 100 grand so I could go to medical school....JUST KIDDING.

I hope everyone's last weeks have been good. I miss home and my church family. God has provided a church family here though that has been so wonderful. I'll take pictures of them soon and show everyone at home who it is I'm working with and why I love them So so so so so much.

I'm babysitting tonight for my relatives that live on the Upper West side. They are awesome and I can't wait.

More pictures for you guys!

Me and Mrs. Kathy <3

Saying " See you later" to the Cravattas on Christmas night before I left for NY.

In my cubicle at the office. I took Whitney and Adrienne (roommates) to see my church, classroom, and office. I'm singing a song by Jason Mraz ( I'm Yours) to Whitney. My hand looks cool.

Beautifullllllll rooooooooooommmatessssssss.

Me and Whitney in a gutted building in DUMBO ( Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass)

On the wall of an old sugar factory on the East River.

Panoramic view. Manhattan is the borough you're looking at. The Manhattan Bridge is on the right and the Brooklyn Bridge is on the left. You can click on it to make it bigger.