my favorite spot. :)

this is my favorite spot (above). it has a story with it, to be told :)

this is my other favorite spot, well i guess i can only have one favorite (makes sense with the story), but this is a spot that i thought was really, really beautiful.

loving new york :)

there are several things that i love about new york, but i think the thing i love most is that there are so many good things being done here. i remember my first week in the city, i got here on a wednesday night, and i liked new york, but i didn't find it super incredible. it felt a lot like seoul actually--really tall buildings, narrow sidewalks, crazy traffic, crazy subway system, short blocks, lots of different neighborhoods, and lots of tired people. i spent a lot of time exploring the city that week and weekend, but i just didn't feel overly impressed. and i also just wanted to be in dc for some reason, i don't know why, i just love dc! (i've since realized that i love dc for the energy and the people, and it's just beautiful there.) 

BUT... i feel so differently now. i still love dc, but new york has really grown on me. this past week for my internship we went to the bronx defenders. this is an INCREDIBLE organization. you should read about it here. basically, they take a holistic approach to public defense, meaning they organize a consulting group of sorts (attorneys) to represent and defend clients' against criminal charges, as well as employment, housing, immigration, and family charges. so smart! and the director explained that they realized after surveying community members that many people would rather give up some of their liberty than lose other things that were valuable to them, e.g., their home, their life in america, their children, etc. so the attorneys at bronx defenders also effectively empower their clients by giving them agency/responsibility to make their own decisions after educating them on different outcomes, rather than assuming what their clients want and making decisions for them.  

and so the conclusion i've come to since then is that yes i love dc (love, love, LOVE dc), but i also love ny bc people here are making things happen. such a great thing and it gets me so excited. and is further evidence to me that i am supposed to be here. :)

first week in nyc!

happy moments and blessings during my first week in ny.. :)

smiling. day one--i had a day with no plans so i decided to just walk around and get acquainted with the city. i started on 101st and started walking south on lexington, which is east of central park and runs north-south. besides taking the city in, i had this urge to start interacting with people bc i just love them! so i decided to do a smiling goal. i smiled at everyone i saw and tried to get 10 people to smile back at me. i got 4 smiles but i thought it was an accomplishment bc i met some really great people and even a new friend! totally made my day!

umbrella on the train. on my way to work my first tuesday, a man on the train started talking to me about my decision that day to wear flip flops with my dress suit. i told him it was bc i didn't want to get my dress shoes dirty. he agreed that was a good idea and mentioned it was also smart bc it was supposed to rain that day! he asked me if i had an umbrella and i told him i didn't. and then guess what he did? he offered me his umbrella! what a nice man! i told him no, that i would be fine. but he insisted that i take it and assured me had plenty in his office. i tried again to politely refuse but he just looked at me and said, "no really, take it." i said ok and accepted his offering gratefully. then, i got off the train and it was raining. so grateful for an umbrella! 

women helping me with directions on the train. i was lost, which has not been unusual and this woman was really nice and asked me if i was lost (normally i am asking them), and i said yes. i was trying to get to the temple and trying to get there at a certain time but had gone the wrong direction. i think actually more than being lost, at that point i just felt really frustrated. she suggested i take the express train up and then go down one stop. i took her advice and made it to the temple on time. made my day!

an old friend. i went to the manhattan 3rd ward my first sunday with the girls i was staying with (now my roommates) and during testimony meeting the first guy that gets up.. I KNOW HIM!! it's elder roskelley from the first district i taught at the mtc. i was BEAMING! it was so exciting to see him. he lived in nyc before his mission and i had wondered if he would be there, and there he was in my ward! 

a warm/loving place to stay. i did not know where exactly i was going to live. well actually i had a place in mind, but then ended up staying with some amazing girls and they asked me if i wanted to stay with them. i feel so good about being here and know that i am where i'm supposed to be. the other place i was going to stay in ended up being ok bc another girl randomly decided to buy my contract for me!

me and the ferry. the staten island ferry and i already have a really interesting relationship. the past week i have been running to the ferry. i don't know why i haven't learned my lesson and just get there early, i think i've tried but something just keeps happening. anyway, i run to the ferry and then somehow i always make it, just as the doors are closing and one day it even was 5 min late. so after i had already given up and accepted the fact that i was going to be 30 min late, bc there wasn't another ferry for 30 min, i walked slowly into the lobby only to find a crowd of people waiting for the ferry that was late just like me. and it was even my favorite ferry! (there are 2 different ferries, and one is just nicer than the other and it has an outside deck that you can sit on.)