September 11th

There is so, so much to do in the city and it has afforded me so many opportunities. This past Thursday was the 13th year since the Twin Towers fell. The memorial was only open to family members of victims for most of the day. They opened up the memorial to the public around 6 and I took a couple friends down with me. When we first got there I saw a man placing flowers on a name and it made me cry. To suffer such a sudden loss and then share it with an entire nation cannot be easy and I am sure it is a difficult day each year.
I really enjoyed my experience that day. So many of the people at the memorial were not American. They may not have any personal connection to what happened but everyone respected the area appropriately.  There was very little talking. People were calm, quiet, and respectful. The only noise was the water from the pools.

 

 

Dinner with these two- so grateful for their friendship!

 Backing up a little...at the beginning of September Brittany and I wandered down to Greenwich Village to soak up the local culture.

 We ended up at some burger joint called Umami Burger and it was the best burger I have ever had. And the atmosphere is so much fun! We also ordered fries with truffle oil and aged cheese and those were also yum. If there is one thing that has been consistently good in NYC it is the fries. These people know how to make French Fries. 

 Burgers were followed by gelato. Super yummy as well.

 We walked, and walked, and walked until we got to Bryant Park. Some kids were playing with what looked like glowing sky dancers. Remember those? Google it.
Anyway- I got all sucked into the magic and I bought one and then played with it. I felt like I was 7 years old and I was okay with it.

Oh and Fashion Week happened. My internship is that tall building behind the Mercedez-Benz sign so I got to see all the drama go down. It was very fun until I tried to move. Getting on the train, getting off the train, getting to my internship, leaving my internship. Those were all very difficult activities with roughly 1 million other people trying to do the same thing.

Here I am standing at the memorial with one of the pools in front of me and the two beams for the two towers in the sky.

When we were walking home I turned around to see if I could still see the beams and the view took my breath away. It was tragically beautiful. The beams of light were so strong that it made the clouds glow. While the city was so alive and busy there was this strong, beautiful reminder of what happened. Being in New York on this day was so special for me. Words cannot describe the power and unity I felt and it is an experience I recommend to everyone.

I Have a Title, and it's a Long Title Too

That was a vague movie reference. Anyone?
I crochet now, so there's that.
I may not do it well, but I do it.
I also did a bad thing where I made a comment during Relief Society a couple weeks ago. And then I spent too much time with some of the the people in the presidency so (naturally) I was asked to teach. I had a weekend-long series of mini heart attacks each time I thought about teaching. I haven't done that particular activity in my entire life so it was a little nerve-wracking. But it went fine. I feel a calling coming on.
I officially started my internship. I work in the Fordham University School of Law Family Advocacy Clinic as a Master's student intern from Columbia University (official title). I don't have official Fordham ID yet so I have to check in at the security desk every day.  The guard makes me say my whole title every time. And then he laughs at me. Every. Time. What are friends for?
I work on a legal team with real-life lawyers, LCSWs, and law students. It is quite fun. I am getting two educations for the price of one really, really expensive education or 8 relatively affordable educations. Yesterday we (the students) had to explain our chosen field "terms" in street language. Instead of saying things like "PTSD" "Autism high-functioning" "PDD NOS" "IEP" or any other social worky term I had to say the full name, and explain it like they had never heard the term before because they hadn't. Um that was HARD.  I didn't realize how indoctrinated I was. The law students had to explain terms like "standing" and "motion" and "classification" and such. At one point the professor tried to get them to explain the phrase "file a motion" in layman's terms relative to the situation. Basically she wanted them to explain that clients don't say, "I am going to file a motion!" they say, "I am going to sue!" and they couldn't do. It was hilarious.  And that is what happens when you go to school for the same stuff for too many years.
Classes are back in sesh at Columbia and I have really great professors. I think I chose the most perfect method (specific area of practice) for me and I can't wait to see where it takes me! In medicine you can choose to be a general practitioner or a specialist.  You can do the same thing in social work at Columbia. I have chosen the general practitioner route.
And now that you have read every detail of my life, I will reward you with visual representations of the rest of my life!

 Funny story about this next picture. I went to Fishs Eddy and shopped for a little bit. When I left I realized I had like a bajillion texts so I sat down in this cute courtyard to respond to all of them. After a few minutes I left and crossed the street. I realized that there were tons of people around me staring up into the sky. I was like What? Is someone gonna jump?! and I turned to look at BAM! Just the Flatiron Building. Only one of the most iconic buildings in NYC, Jenna. C'mon! Look around!

 This is from the southeast corner of Central Park. It is gorgeous down there.

 Fashion week is upon us, ladies and gentlemen. In this next picture I happen to be standing outside my internship. Those white tents across the way are the tents they have set up for fashion week. I get to watch fashion week from my window. For being so reluctant to actually come to NYC it sure is turning out to be fun!

 When I found my apartment the girl let me know that the kitchen was fully stocked so I didn't need to bring anything. This was a huge relief because it meant I didn't have to pack nearly as much stuff.  I decided I would only bring my very most favorite cookie cutters. They were the most beautiful blue and they were double-sided so you could cut a straight edge or a scalloped edge. Somehow I lost them in the move and I was devastated. Somewhere along the way I lost a box with my cookie cutters, the square version of those cookie cutters and all my tea and hot cocoa fixings. I went to Home Goods like 2 days after I realized the cookie cutters were gone and I found these. They are not as pretty but they are the same other than that. I was so happy!

 This is Brittany. She is also going to Columbia. She is great. We go places together. We eat food together. We wander the park together. NYC BFF!