I really am not good at Blogging

Hi friends,


I am really not good at blogging. I really had high hopes for this blog and unfortunately am not living up to par. Anywho, life in Philly has been swell. I feel as though I have fully adjusted to the city life. My internship is in full swing and going well. My co-workers are really helpful and I feel like I am really fitting into the group. My classes are going good as well. My one class, Power and Authority is challenging me to think in different ways than I am used to doing. My house mates are doing well too. Busy with their classes and internships. My roommates and I went to New York this last weekend. We spent the day on  a bus tour seeing a bunch of amazing things. For example, statue of liberty, Ellis island, and times square. The night before Alicia and I played broom ball with my bible study. For those of you who don't know what it is, basically running after a ball on ice (in tennis shoes) with a broom like pole. We played till 1:30 am and I left for New York at 6:45 am. Needless to say I slept on the bus, well, until a conversation in Portuguese surrounded me.  I made sure to have a piece of cheese cake and go to the m and m factory. Where else can you spend 17 dollars on m and ms and not feel really bad about it. It was quite interesting and they had sooo many flavors. I literally felt like a kid in a candy store. I have been teaching myself how to cook. I only have made 2/20 things. Tacos and burgers. Have no fear I have plenty of time! My apartment is getting warmer with the weather so thats good too. I have no complaints :) Also I put 100 photos on FB! Check em out!


High for today: Getting slightly hypnotized
Low: Having a funky phone alarm.

Hi all,



This weekend I spent in the lovely southwest part of Michigan. My sorority sister and I made the journey back starting around 9pm on Weds night. After about 16.5 hours of traveling I made it home. This weekend was spent with family and friends. It was so amazing to see all of the support I have at home. I have made it back to Philly and had my classes today. I am getting pretty tired so here is just a short note.


Sorry my blogging habits are not consistent.

:)

Hey all,


So writing these blogs have not been going all that well. I guess that's what happens when you get really busy. That's a good thing though. My roommates and I are definitely getting out and trying new things in Philly. Just today we went to the zoo. The Philadelphia zoo is the oldest in America. After, we went to Geno's Steaks. We only waited about a half hour. It was soo delicious! There is a huge standing competition between Geno's and Pat's. They are two VERY famous cheese steak places. Funny thing is they are across the street from each other. I even ordered like a pro. My internship is really going well. My co-workers are very welcoming and extremely helpful. I have been to meetings, court-hearings, home visits, and been able to make phone calls and such. I am learning a lot and getting a lot of exposure to the field of social work. My house is still pretty cold, but I am getting used to it. I have been sleeping on the couch to keep warm. Luckily it has been working.  Last weekend three of my roommates friends came to Philly. Two stayed with us! It felt like a big sleepover. Paula, cooked for us! She made homemade pancakes, banana bread, and chocolate cake. YUM! We also went to the aquarium in New Jersey last weekend. It was so, so much fun! We got to touch a baby shark and string rays. Last Sunday we went to a great church. I am pretty sure that I will continue to go there throughout the semester. I am coming home next weekend! Tuesday is my birthday! So much fun stuff going on right now in my life. Philly is great! God is amazing!



(My sandwich)



Love,

KT

9-5's are tiring.

I feel like I might have aged forty years this week. No, maybe not, but I have definitely been exhausted after this week. I have worked three days now and it has been fabulous. My work is about 1.3 miles there and it a refreshing walk in the morning. I let the lights plan my trip. Meaning, whatever the way the light is green I go. It is nice since my trip is usually never the same way. My supervisor and co-workers are wonderful. Everyone has been so welcoming. I even have my own desk and computer. We have made a lot of home visits in the past couple of days. It is nice to be around kids again. I miss being around kids, music, and driving out here in Philly. I decided tomorrow I am going to call the electric company because of the astounding bill. Hopefully there was some start-up fee or something that accounted for the high bill.  My family is coming to visit soon! I am sooo happy and excited!! Hm, well I should probably go to sleep! Hope all is well. Sorry this is so short!

Trusted the process!

fHi All,


I just kind of realized that I haven't posted in a few days. If I am going to do this blog thing I need to be more dedicated. Maybe you should come to Philly and make me blog. Just kidding, but come to Philly anyway! My weekend was splendid. I had another interview on Friday morning and that went well. They called to extend an offer even before I got back to the Philadelphia Center! Then my roommates and I went to The Franklin Institute. It is a very hands on museum with a strong focus on science. Friday night my roommate and I went to a poetry slam. It was so much fun and the people who got up and read a poem did a fantastic job! Such amazing stories they told through poetry. Saturday my roommates and I went to The National Constitution Center. It was a very busy place with all of these different medias going at once. It was very informative though. We did some grocery shopping that night and I saved over thirteen dollars from buying sale items! score! I went over to a friends apartment and we were going to watch a movie, but that did not end up going well so we decided to play euchare. My partner and I won two straight games! Sunday morning I went to church, a lunch for college students, and then a college bible study. The people there were super nice. The church was enormous! I then spent what seemed like a long time finishing up some homework. The chinatown apartment threw a super bowl party and everyone bought a dish to pass. The food was delicious. I spent more time talking/eating/playing cards than watching the game. Oh well! Today I had both of my classes. I also accepted my offer to The Support Center for Child Advocates. I am so excited and nervous! I better go to bed since I start tomorrow! Oh yeah, I am working on not being a vegetarian anymore.

Love and peace and everything in-between,


Katie

High- Finally having an internship
Low- My electric bill is 121 dollars for ten days! ahhh!!!!

Exploring!

Hello all,

Its yours truly reporting in from Antarctica aka my apartment!  So yesterday was 65 degrees out! My two friends and I spent 3 hours in Old City exploring! We saw Ben Franklin's grave site, Betsey Ross's house, bits of foundation from George Washington's house, Elfreth Alley(Our nation's oldest residential street), the first ever Quaker meeting place, a few gardens, and the American Philosophical society. Oh, and before that I had my first interview. It went well and she gave me an offer to work there. I would have my own desk and computer in an office with other younger social workers. It seemed like a good fit for me because there would be a lot to do. It would actually be intense work not just administration stuff. I still wanted to go to another interview or two before I made my ultimate choice. Last night my friend Elizabeth and I walked downtown for a couple hours. We stopped and tried a Philly pretzel it was so yummy. It was cinnamon sugar! Today I did a lot of little errands. Bought a pair of shoes, worked out, cleaned up the apartment, etc. Tonight I went to this Identity Seminar that was put on by the Center. It was really interesting and a lot of fun. I skyped with my daughter Hilary tonight!! It was so lovely to get caught up on happenings at Alma. Last but not least, I have another interview tomorrow! Its at the Support Center for Child Advocates. yay!!


High- finding these shoe pads that help me fit in my two pair of shoes!
Low- The fact that this website will not let me upload pictures some days!

KTTTT

Mixed emotions

Today did not go as planned. Unfortunately when I woke up I felt like I had been hit by a bus. You know those big yellow ones that drive kids to school. Yeah, that one. My whole body ached, mostly my head. My roommate Elizabeth had also felt awful. This was not supposed to happen seeing that we had made plans for today. As I could barely get out of bed I soon realized that it was probably not a good idea to do much and I probably would feel awful spending hours in a museum. So I decided to play it safe on the couch. My roommates and I had to go to the Center for our morning caucus check. I looked at my hopeful potentials and saw no change. Big surprise. I came home and had a nice breakfast consisting of a cheese omelet and a bagel. I also took a Dayquil and some ibuprofen in hopes to combat this cold or whatever it was. I did homework for a while. A lot of reading that I was a bit behind on doing. Early afternoon I decided to take a nap that lasted about an hour or so. I slept excellently and was not even a bit cold. That doesn’t happen often in my apartment. I went back to the center for our afternoon caucus check. One of my hopeful internships had been labeled “not available”. That was the third one. Bummer. I decided to go talk to my advisor and see if maybe I should consider other options. Before I could talk he told me that all of my hopefuls were a bust. He gave me a list of five more to read about. I was back to ground zero. I actually did not freak out or even seem to mind. Ironic, I know. I looked in the files and decided that I was not completely sold on any, well maybe one. I went back to him with a couple of questions and he directed me to go talk to another advisor, Deborah. She is seriously one of the sweetest ladies ever. She and I connect very well and I always enjoy talking to her. She also felt really bad and was really committed to finding me an internship I really liked. We talked through some of the internships and she offered more suggestions that I might be interested in and seemed like a good fit for doing. Luckily, I found three that I was very interested in and we contacted them all. Unfortunately, the first two options no one answered so we left messages. The last one the supervisor said she would call us back. Within twenty minutes she had called back. I now have an interview tomorrow at 11am. Woo! It is at Defenders Association, which is a nonprofit agency that offers services to 70% of the arrested people in Philly. The specific department is the juvenile social services and I would be shadowing a social worker. I will know more information tomorrow after the interview. After taking care of all of that I came back home and the girls made cheesy potato soup for dinner and I made grands biscuits. We can tell who the real cook around here is not me. J I skyped with my cousins for about twenty minutes tonight and that was really nice. It was good to hear and see my support system even from afar! If you want to skype I would love it. My friend Alycia and I went to a bible study with young adults and it was so nice! Everyone was so welcoming and I felt really comfortable there. I can definitely see myself going back. I got back around 10 and worked on some more homework and studied the organization I am going to interviewing with. Overall the day was a good one and I am feeling much better. I hope to get a good night sleep and wake up feeling rejuvenated!

Goodnight!

low: waking up feeling bad.
high: my roommate did a wonderful job taking care of me!

 view outside my window!!