NYC Anniversary

On August 16th, 2011, Brennan and I drove our UHaul through the streets of Manhattan. It has been one year since then! Wow! It still feels like I just got here. There are still days I can't believe it. I remember meeting Brennan for dinner last spring and telling him I was accepted to NYU. I think we both knew immediately this was a journey we needed to embrace. A risk we needed to take together. And one year later, here we are. I am so grateful, thankful, and lucky to be on this crazy ride. In honor of my one year anniversary in New York, here's a little re-cap of some of my NYC adventures!

1. One year down at NYU. One year closer to having MSW at the end of my name.

2. A crazy internship at Cypress Hills High School in Queens.

3. A phenomenal learning experience at New York State Psychiatric Institute in the eating disorder unit.

4. Living two blocks away from Prospect Park. Couldn't ask for a better place!

5. Eating the best donuts ever.

6. Riding the Staten Island Ferry.

7. Visiting the 9-11 memorial.

8. Metropolitan Museum of Art.

9. Guggenheim.

10. Visiting friends in Boston.

11. Pizza, pizza, pizza.

12. Seeing a naked indian and naked cowboy in Times Square with my three little nieces.

13. Being in the audience at the Dr. Oz show with my sister.

14. Getting sick on the train. Multiple times.

15. Art shows.

16. Riding the train and eating brunch with Maggie Gyllenhaal.

17. Going upstate with awesome friends. Some old, some new.

18. Brunch with Brennan's sister at Cafe Lalo (from You've Got Mail).

19. Silver Ball.

20. Learning, constantly.

21. Meeting awesome social workers that truly make a difference.

22. Meeting terrible social workers that teach me what not to do.

23. A new love for French macaroons.

24. Yankees vs. Twins game. Twins won.

25. Being constantly stretched and challenged to jump out of my comfort zone, take risks, and learn more about myself.

I could go on and on and on. So much has happened in one year. I must say, I miss Minnesota dearly, but I would not trade this experience for anything. As much as Brooklyn has grown on me over the last year, I always carry MN with me.

A piece of cake!

I have one week left of my internship at NYSPI and I cannot even explain how much I have learned and experienced in the past ten weeks. Working on an inpatient psychiatric eating disorder unit is intense. Of course there is the shock factor of working with individuals that weigh 70-100 pounds. But, beyond that, working with the families of those individuals is a whole other story. I have sat through sessions full of anger, yelling, crying, laughter, and silence. You never know what to expect and what will come up. But, I do truly care for these women and I want to see them get well. I also want to support their families and help them understand this illness and know how to support their daughter/wife/sister.

One of my patients is a sixteen year old Chinese American. She is painfully shy and adorable. She was born in New York, but the mother grew up in China. They speak Cantonese at home and she speaks English at school. So this girl is living in two different cultures at the same time, trying to please both, fit in with both, and find her identity in both. How confusing for a growing, pubescent, teenage girl! The Chinese culture does not talk about feelings in an open and comfortable way, which makes our sessions quite interesting. I have to work much harder to get us anywhere. But, I know there is so much in there that she needs to express in order to get well. Her mother on the other hand, speaks constantly. Which is maybe why the daughter is so quiet! I have an interpreter sit in on the sessions to translate from Cantonese. To explain an eating disorder clinically, medically, mentally, and emotionally to someone that speaks a different language and comes from a completely different culture where self-esteem and body image issues are looked at differently than the US has been so difficult, and so rewarding. I have learned such an incredible amount from this family.

I will miss this internship. I have learned so much. And in my last session with the Chinese American family, the mother brought me this piece of cake as a thank you (a little ironic, no?). How sweet is that?! I guess not everything was getting lost in translation.

Germantown

A few weeks ago our crew went on a weekend getaway upstate to Germantown. Doesn't it sound fancy to say "upstate?" I feel fancy. Really, we went up north. Now, that's more like it. :)

I love this picture. It should be on a postcard from The Ozarks or something.We bought a bb gun at Wal-Mart and had some good old fashioned fun. Count-ry!

Home-made targets, including cans hanging from the tree. At some point in the weekend there were human targets, but no one got hurt. :)

A little hike to a suspected swimming hole. A good man always puts his arm around his woman to make sure she is safe on the trail. Or, I was just too slow. Either way, it's sweet.

Beautiful waterfalls. We weren't sure if this was the swimming hole, but we made it work.

That little waterfall was dangerously fast.

Brennan is getting destroyed under that waterfall. But, I seem to think it's ok.

My dear friend Al has not lost her sense of adventure with that pregnant belly of hers. I love these people.

I did not partake in the jumping off the rocks, but of course some boys did.

Our humble abode. A beautiful country house. I didn't get any pics of the inside, but it was so country chic and cute!

The crew. How did we get so lucky to find these people in NYC?!  God knew we needed them, and he was right. I couldn't ask for better friends. I hope I look back at this picture in twenty years and remember the amazing blessings that came from these friendships at such a crucial time in my life.
(from left: Kenny and Colleen, Craig and Coe, Dan, Tami and Brennan, Al and Reid)

Thank you Germantown! Good memories. We'll be back!