i don't want to survive. i want to live.

I've been busy today! I went to see Wall-E (that's where I got the title of the post). It was the cutest love story and most innovative Pixar pic yet. I am consistently amazed by the creative geniuses behind the Pixar films. I don't want to go into too much detail, but I have to tell you that there is a spork featured in the film. ;)

I've been trying out some different churches in the area and tonight I finally found what I'd been looking for. Frontline is a gathering of young adults in the DC area. It felt like a mix between Intervarsity and Summit, which were both big parts of my life in college. It's strange to be the person being welcomed rather than the person welcoming, but I am sure God has great things for me to discover in this new Christian community.

I got a call from a non-profit today asking me to come in for an interview! I'm super excited about this one... it's a pediatric AIDS foundation and they're looking for a Human Affairs Assistant. Ahhh! So many things I love... children, public health, assisting people. I'll let you know how it goes.

Talk soon.

happy happy joy joy

This weekend was sooo amazing! Nothing is better than getting caught in the rain at a parade, walking around for what seems like miles with UNC friends, and shopping at a downtown market.

So, this weekend was Carnival- a Caribbean parade and festival held near Howard University. One of my roommates and I went to support our roommate who was in the parade! I never actually got to see her, but I know she was fabulous! Here are some pictures of what I did get to see...






these guys on stilts were way impressive









a little rain never hurt anybody









evidently it's ok to carry around snakes in DC...










My good good friend Danielle was staying in Bethesda this weekend so I got to spend some quality time with her! Yay! We went to a mall in Bethesda on Saturday and then met up for dinner in Chinatown on Sunday. I was so happy to get some love from NC! :)


This afternoon one of my roommates and I went to Eastern Market which was absolutely fabulous. It was like a farmers market plus lots of little craft stands- lots of jewelry, random art, some furniture. I will definitely be going back in the near future!

Thanks for all the phone calls this weekend. I feel like I've gotten to catch up with a lot of people. I have some job interviews this week so I'll keep you all updated.

All my love.

dinner with friends

I cooked my first real meal tonight! For the past week, I'd been eating angel hair pasta with tomato sauce. Well today I was ready for something new. I walked down to the neighborhood Giant and came back with ingredients for a fabulous dinner! My friends, I made baked chicken, broccoli, and brown rice! Please see below.While the meal was quite tasty, the best part was that I felt as if you all were here. The rice reminded me of Katie who eats rice every chance she gets. The broccoli reminded me of Alex, the little boy I used to baby-sit who I miss oh so much. The plate I ate off of reminded me of Jenna, Danielle, and Fred who gave me dishes for my birthday. While I was cooking, I thought of Nicole who I lived with for a wonderful semester in Odum Village. When I poured water from my Brita pitcher, I thought of Daniel who informed me that Brita pitchers are a staple item for any apartment in the city. As I sit here and take in the deliciousness, I'm thinking about the wonderfulness of my senior year and how I miss chatting with Cameron in his room and popping in to say hey to Tiffany and Alaina in the office. Oh and clearly I miss Blair and Christine, my Red Room Regular friends. :) Well, I'm going to go finish this meal with some ice cream which will make me think of Rachel and Jordan who are always ready for an ice cream date. And I promise that even if I didn't mention you in my little dinner party story, I've been thinking of you and wishing you were here to experience DC with me.

long lost love

When I was in elementary school, my favorite thing about the summer was the summer reading contest at the library. I would be looking for that year's reading log before summer even started. I read alot of series- Boxcar Children one summer, Babysitter's Club the next. I would always complete at least one log and usually needed at least one more. The grand prize that stands out most to me was the year I won a blue "Race into Reading" T-shirt. I think that's where my love of free T-shirts began.

In middle school, I started to read historical fiction. I liked the history, but I think I liked the fiction more. There's something about escaping to another place and time that has always captivated me. I find myself getting caught up in movies and TV shows, but they don't allow the same level of imagination as a good book.

In high school and college, my love for reading began to decline. I never like to be forced to do anything, especially not something I enjoy. I spent who knows how many hours highlighting text to remember for the next day's test and reviewing cliff notes for reading quizzes. Somewhere between the cramming for exams and researching for papers, I forgot how much I actually liked to read.

Well, I think that phase of my life has passed! I spent the past two days reading a book just for fun! It was a girly book (The Last Summer of You and I by Ann Brashares if anyone is looking for a book to read by the beach/pool), but it reminded me how much fun it is to create a little world for a set of characters and their thoughts/feelings. I don't know what I'm going to read next so let me know if you have suggestions. I'm going to the library tomorrow to get a library card (and maybe theyll let me get a kids reading log...).

Oh! And I went to the most amazing salad place today. It's called Chop't. How cute is that? It reminded me of Marble Slab because they mix up your salad and then they take it out of the bowl and mix it more and chop everything into little pieces. What a creative idea! Love it.

Last thing- I went to a church in Maryland this morning. At first I was overwhelmed by how large it was and felt like I didn't belong. It's such a strange feeling because I spent the past couple years feeling very plugged in to the church I attended in Durham. I think it is going to be good for me to experience being "the new person." Anyways, there was a guest reception afterwards and I met a couple who was so welcoming. They offered to pick me up from the Metro on Tuesday evening for a cook-out at the church. I'm excited and nervous to meet new people. I long to be accepted, especially in this new place I call home.

It's storming out. Maybe I should start another book tonight.

learning to listen

I pride myself on being a good listener. I may not always give the best advice, but I make an effort to show people that I am listening. I ask questions so I can better understand. I pay attention to the little things that other people may not notice. I give feedback to show that I am listening and not just hearing.

However, I think that while listening to everyone else, I forgot how to listen to my own body. Since I've been here in DC, I haven't had many people to listen to. My roommates and I strike up conversation when we're around at the same time. But, for the most part I find myself keeping busy and then feeling hungry or tired. For the past four years, I didn't feel hungry often because I had plans for most meals. And I felt tired, but I fought the feeling with caffeine and more busy-ness. Now that I have no plans for meals and plenty of time to rest, I'm trying to learn the healthy way to approach hunger and fatigue. Listening is always the first step to understanding. Now that I have time to listen, I think I'm on the right track.

On a less self-reflective note, I went to a target today! It had 2 floors! And there's a special escalator for shopping carts! Who knew such a thing existed?!?!? I loved it. I'm pretty sure I'm going back on Monday and getting a cart just so I can practice sending it up the special escalator. The target is located in the Columbia Heights neighborhood and is right beside a metro stop. There's also a Best Buy, Marshall's, Bed Bath & Beyond, and plenty of other stores. I can't wait to explore that area more.

Tomorrow will be the last day of my first week here. Maybe something eventful will happen!

Bye for now.

another good day in the city

Today was wonderful. I spent the morning organizing the kitchen and putting away my dishes that had been sitting in a box on the floor. I always feel so accomplished when I finish an organization project. My mom says I should be a professional organizer...

After laying around from my hard morning of work, I decided it was time for an outing. I got out my Lonely Planet city guide and thumbed through the "sights" section before deciding on the National Gallery of Art. I took the metro down to Constitution Avenue and then walked to the museum. A couple things occurred to me as I walked around in awe of the art, the building, and the people around me.

a) The art is beautiful. But who decided that these are the pieces that should be in a museum? There are so many talented artists in this world, but so few have their work displayed for any/everyone to see. Also, do artists want this many people to see their work? Did Monet even consider the idea that one day hundreds of 8th graders would walk by his painting while on a yearly field trip? Is that what he wanted? I love Monet. Alot! But I wouldn't even recognize his work if someone hadn't put his art in textbooks or donated his pieces to museums. I could go on, but I would end up talking in circles as I so often do.




b) Second to Monet, my favorite piece I saw was "La Condition Humaine" by Rene Magritte. It just makes me smile. Maybe because it resembles a photograph, maybe because it's clever, or maybe because it captures the sky on a beautiful day. Whatever it is, it will definitely bring me back to the museum soon!




c) While I was walking through a room of Picasso, I said hello to one of the men "guarding" the work. I'm not sure what those people are called... After asking where I was from, what I was doing here, why I moved to DC, etc, he told me about a free event that evening. The National Gallery of Art sponsors a free jazz concert in their garden on Fridays! How cool is that?!?!? Someone please come visit me so we can go to the garden and have a picnic while listening to music in downtown DC! :)

In summary, I love DC more and more everyday. I still don't have a job, but I'm confident that all things come in time.

Smiles and hugs!

chilling out, maxing, acting all cool

Today has been very laid back. Now that I've got my room in order, I feel like I can get the rest of my life in order. I did some "tasky" things today- called the cable company, walked to the post office and the bank, picked up some more groceries. I'm loving that I can walk everywhere. The weather is absolutely beautiful and there is so much to see! I walked by Howard University today and seeing college students made me miss Carolina. I even saw some prospective students walking around. I wanted to stop and talk to them and tell them how amazing college is. But I'm pretty sure they would have thought I was crazy. So I just smiled.

I'm feeling much better about things today than I did earlier in the week. I think that having a place to call home has really helped. I'm getting along wonderfully with my new roommates. I think we're all going to go to dinner or something soon.

I've been watching Enchanted for the past hour. I think it's time for some sort of art project or organization activity. Goodness knows I can't just sit here.

Much love!!!!!!!

The roller coaster of change

So I graduated from college over a month ago. Despite my plan to take time to rest, I feel like I've been going nonstop since graduation. While I haven't been bogged down by studying, baby-sitting, RAing, IVing, etc, I've still been busy. I went from Chapel Hill to DC to Chapel Hill to home to the beach to home to DC, and the list goes on. Now that I'm in DC for the third time, I plan to stay for a while. However, I'm not sure how much rest I'll get. I don't have my car so I'm always walking somewhere. Anyways... Here are some pictures and thoughts regarding the past couple weeks.



My sister graduated high school! Woohoo! I went to Myers Park graduation for the fourth (and hopefully last) time. She had such a big smile on her face as she exited the arena. Here we are afterwards...








My brother helped my mom and I pack up the truck this weekend. He did a great job! Nothing broke on the trip. But everything got soaking wet. You'll have to contact me for details. I don't need this embarrassing story posted for the world to see.








I've spent the last couple days unpacking and attempting to organize. We all know that organization is basically my favorite hobby, but that doesn't lessen the overwhelmingness (new word!?) of unpacking. Slowly, but surely things are coming together.







I'm happy to be here most of the time. Yesterday I had a burst of "what in the world am I doing here" feelings. I think those are normal. I think back to my first week at UNC and this feels similar. I feel anxious and overwhelmed and confused, but all of those feelings are wrapped up in excitement for the future. If DC turns out to be as amazing as my Carolina years, I have alot to look forward to!

I'm off to organize! Love and miss you all!

Job first, Decorating second

So I've spent the past couple days visiting friends and family that I will miss very much while I'm off on my DC adventure. Here's a summary of the week's festivities (in list format, of course).

a) I spent Wednesday night with my cousin's family in Concord. The newest member of the family, James McCray, is 2 weeks old today!!! I got to play Simon Says, power rangers, hungry hippos, and play-doh with the older boys while their mom tended to baby Mac. Oh and on Thursday morning I woke up at 7am to a 6yr old staring at me. I guess he likes getting up early now that school is out and he doesn't have to...

b) Being in Chapel Hill has been bittersweet (luckily the majority of it has been sweet). I love being here and visiting with people, but I'm reminded of the change that is to come. I'm not a college student anymore. I've always thought it was funny when people said that after college comes the real world. Aren't we always living in the real world? I mean sometimes I feel like my life is a movie, but I'm constantly reminded that everyday is as real as can be. I got some good advice from a wise friend today.
1. College is good, but the "real world" is better. I'm not sure what's so great about it, but I'm super excited to find out!
2. Get a job, and then decorate. I'm so ready to move into my apartment and at night I can't sleep because I'm thinking about how I'll arrange things, or what curtains I should get, or what sort of photos will hang on the wall (photos are the best form of art in my opinion). My friend reminded me that I have plenty of time to decorate. Hopefully I'll be in this apartment for a while. If I do everything now, I won't have fun projects to look forward to later.
3. This isn't so much advice as an important self-realization. I usually have to make a major decision in order to make smaller decisions. It's like junior year when I felt like something was wrong, I needed a big change- so I changed my major. And while life didn't suddenly seem perfect, I felt like I could take on what was thrown at me. Today my friend told me that all year long she had been trying to get me to make some sort of decision, and here I am making a big life decision. So I think now that I have the big life decision out of the way, the other things are going to slowly work out. Hopefully that means everything will work out with the UHAUL truck. I booked one online, but the local branch doesn't have record of the reservation. Thank you internet.

c) I'm going to cook-out tomorrow! I'm not sure if they have cook-out in DC, but I'm going to guess no. There are CVSs and Starbucks on alternating corners, but I'm pretty sure neither of those places sell banana pudding milkshakes...

I miss North Carolina already.

opening and closing doors

I'm a firm believer that everything happens for a reason. When I send my resume to potential employers and don't hear back from them, all I can do is tell myself that it wasn't meant to be. I rely on external forces so that I don't have to be the one to make a decision. So when doors are opened and remain open and it's up me to make a decision, I kinda freak out. I went up to DC to look at apartments this week and after looking at two that were definitely not what I was looking for, I found one that I love! It's a cute row house on a quiet street near downtown. It's basically what I imagine when I think about apartment living. I found out today that I can live there... all I have to do is say yes. That three letter word means so many things. If I say yes, I'll move to DC sometime in the next couple weeks, which is definitely something I want to do. But then I think, well what if there is something better, what if I'm not on the right track, what if I really shouldn't move to DC? I could keep thinking about the what ifs or I could say yes. And move. To a city. Which is what I've wanted to do for basically all of college. But saying yes closes alot of doors. It closes doors to jobs outside of DC. It closes doors to other living situations. It closes (hopefully temporarily) the North Carolina chapter of my life. I'm going to follow the 24-hour rule and sleep on it.

Reasons to move:



1. Culture!!!











2. Georgetown is gorgeous! I think I will always
want to live near a college campus.











3. Who doesn't love IKEA!?!?