Update

I know, once again, I have been horrible at updating my blog.  I need to do it more because even if no one else reads it, journalling is really good for me.  It helps me organize my thoughts and gives me an outlet to express myself.  A lot has been happening.  I am just about finished with my second semester at USC.  I have two more days at my internship, and two more papers to submit before the semester is officially over.  I start the back again on Sept 5 for fall semester.  I'm about halfway done with the program and can't wait for my May 2013 graduation.  I love my internship at Drexel House and have met some amazing people.  I am anxious to learn where my next placement will be. 

During my roughly two weeks off, I am planning a little road trip to CA to visit friends and family.  I was notified about two and a half weeks ago that a childhood friend, Mojo, had a stroke so I want to head down and visit her.  She's been in the ICU at Stanford for the last couple weeks.  I would have loved to go down sooner, but know that waiting for my break was best.

I'm also excited that I will be working at the Puyallup Fair again this year.  I did it last year and it was a ton of fun.  This year, I am working six days a week in the face painting and fair hair book that my friend runs.  I am excited for the work there to make a little money and work with some great ladies and gentlemen. 

Besides that, things are about the same.  I can't believe that I am halfway through my masters program! It's hard to believe that I have made it this far and I am excited to see what the future may hold.

Inaugural Portland Rock 'n' Roll 1/2 Marathon

On Sunday, May 20, 2012, I completed the Inaugural Portland Rock 'n' Roll 1/2 Marathon in Portland, Oregon, with my parents.  We decided to head down to Portland on Saturday morning in order to attend the expo and pick-up our race packets.  After the expo, we headed down to find the Big Ass Sandwich truck for lunch.  The sandwiches online looked amazing, and we were a little disappointed at them in person as there wasn't quite enough meat.

After checking into our hotel, we walked down to the Portland Saturday Market that was a short walk away and close to the start line of the race.  We got lucky with having a sunny day on Saturday and enjoyed the sun as much as we could.  For dinner, we got to see Rick and Sandy Bowen.  It was fun catching up with long-time family friends and we enjoyed a great meal at the Old Spaghetti Factory.  After dinner, my mom and I decided to take a short walk and ended up at VooDoo Donuts.

We were lucky with a late race start on Sunday and our hotel was only a couple blocks from the start line.  We were unlucky in the fact that it started raining around mile 3 and rained the rest of the race.  I am always amazed by how diverse the courses are.  We went through some not so nice industrial areas, some cute retail/commercial districts, and some expensive residential neighborhoods.  The other downfall of Portland was that it felt like it was uphill THE WHOLE TIME.  I know it wasn't, but there was a lot of gradual uphills and just a couple, fairly steep downhill sections.  My time wasn't great, but it wasn't my worse either.  However, in all the pictures, I look totally pissed off, so I need to make sure to smile more during the next run so I don't look so miserable.

After the race, we ended up back at the outdoor market for lunch.  My mom and I shared African food while my dad had a pulled pork sandwich.  Overall, we had a great trip.  I really enjoyed Portland and can understand why people would want to move there.  I would really like to go back there for a weekend in which we didn't have a race and could just enjoy the city a little more without having to go to bed early and being very careful about our nutrition prior to the run.

School

I made it through my first semester of graduate school at USC.  I can't believe I am about a quarter through my masters program already.  My first semester went well.  I took 17 credits and managed a 3.49.  I anticipate doing better this semester as I know what to expect and how to best manage my time.

Now, I am into the fourth week of my second semester.  I have the same professors as last semester which is nice as I already know what to expect from them.  So far, things are going well.  I am at the same internship and still really enjoy it.  I am glad that I have an internship that I look forward to and not one that I dread going to.  Next semester, I will have a new internship for my concentration year.  I can't wait to find out where I will be for my last two semesters.

Tattoo Time

One way I can relax and blow of some steam is by getting tattooed. Right now, Mike at Black Tortoise Tattoo in Lacey, WA, is working on my arm.  Here are  a couple of in process pictures and I will post more soon.

Mason Jar Salad

Today I decided to make Mason Jar Salads.  The idea is simple put all the ingredients of salad in a jar for easy and quick meals.  First, the dressing went on the bottom, then vegetables and finally lettuce.  I used two types of dressing and picked my favorite healthy salad toppings.  I also used a lot of spinach versus lettuce.  Overall, I made eight jars and figure I spent about ten dollars on ingredients.  It will be interesting to see how long these will last.  I hope it works out for me and am already excited thinking about how the ingredients can change as the season progresses and I can include fresh ingredients from the garden.

Quick Update

I know it's been awhile. I have the best intentions to update my blog often, but that never seems to happen. Midterms are over and were a success. For the two weeks where I had eight papers due, I basically became a hermit. Now since that is over, I am back to the routine of things. I have about another month before this semester is over. I can't believe I am almost done with my first semester of my master's program. Only three more and I graduate. I don't think April 2013 can come soon enough.

My internship is going GREAT. It is so much better than I would have ever anticipated. I love the people I work with. both the clients and the staff. Last night, the agency celebrated it's 5 year anniversary. In the 5 years, they have served about 625 people, and that doesn't include the 56 people that are currently residents. Of those people, 74% successful move from our agency to a home of their own. The mayor was there last night and said:
“In order to serve the chronically homeless in our region, we need three Drexel Houses"
“This facility is the best example of federal, state and local collaboration that we have in the entire region"
You can read the entire story that was published in the Olympian here.

Besides that, things are about the same I guess.  Oh, I am still tutoring at Sylvan Learning Center and just picked up more hours which is exiting.  It's so fun to work with the kids.  Plus, my friend hired me to work at Portrait People at South Center Mall.  It's nice because she is working around my schedule but kind of sucks because it is a heck of a comute.  But, it is nice to get a little extra money here and there.  So, as you probably guess, right now, my life is consumed by school, my internship and work.

I will try really hard to post more and hopefully I really will this time!

Internship

I was just notified this morning of my foundation year field placement.  I am going to be doing my internship hours at the Drexel House which was created by Catholic Community Services to aid in providing emergency, transitional and permanent housing to the chronically homeless in Thurston County. I called this morning and set up my pre-placement visit for tomorrow afternoon.  I am definitely excited, but also a little nervous about starting.  I will be doing about 20 hours a week there over the next two semesters and know that working with the homeless population will definitely open my eyes to their needs.  It will be interesting working with this group as I don't have a lot of experience with that yet.

Tacoma Hot Yoga

Yesterday, I went to my first hot yoga session.  So, how was it you may ask??? Well, first off, it was HOT.  The room is heated to over 100 degrees and by the end, I, like everybody else, was sweating like a pig.  Here is a short list of what I disliked and what I liked about the class:
Dislikes:
- It was hot!
- The instructor didn't participate in the poses, so I felt a little lost most of the time
- It was Hot!
- Even though not everyone was uber skinny, I felt like I needed to lose some fat to do the poses right
- It was HOT!
- We were suppose to do all the poses with our eyes open which was hard since during some of the relaxation poses I wanted to close my eyes.
- IT WAS HOT!

Likes:
- The instructor made it known that everyBODY is different so each pose is going to be different on each person.
- The instructor was helpful in giving alternative pose ideas.
- They were aware that it was my first time, so my mat was close to the door (it's a little cooler there apparently).
- I lost a couple pounds (though I'm sure it's all water weight)
- The practice of yoga focuses on becoming internally healthy and accepting oneself which I LOVE!

To be honest, if I didn't buy ten sessions, I probably wouldn't be going back.  But, I'm going to give it another couple shots and hope that I do enjoy it more.  I did like how I felt afterwards (once I had time to take a cold shower) and I'm a little sore today, so I know it was good for my muscles.  I just hope with more practice, the poses will get easier and I will feel more confident in my body.

Groupon

I have decided to give groupon a try. Yesterday, I bought 10 hot yoga sessions for $45. I have been wanting to try hot yoga and figured this will give me the perfect opportunity since it makes it really reasonable. And now, I went online and got 5 Healthy Choice Single Serving Meals for $9. They normal are anywhere from $2-$3 each, so this was a good deal. Chick here if you are interested to see what is being offered: GroupOn website

Snow Shoeing

For my dad's birthday, we planned a trip to go snow shoeing on Mt Baker.  It would have been a lovely trail with amazing views had the weather been more agreeable.  Unfortunately, it was cold and rainy, so we turned around after about a half hour.  The best part of the trip was stopping at Graham's on the way home for some burgers.