I Am Not Going to Newark - Spring Break 2010

Year One – 2007

I was going on my first mission trip in college. Not only was freshman year confusing, but for the first time in my life, I really felt homesick. I remember crying one night because Newark was ugly and cold. I was tired and scratched up from playing with children. By the end of the week I had learned a lot, but I didn’t think I would go back. Nope, next year I would go to the beach.

Hawkins Street Elemtary School - Photo by: Katelyn James

Year Two – 2008

Well… I went back to Newark and I remember having a good time. I was really tired, and had lost my voice by the end of the week. My camera had also been smashed (thank goodness for insurance) but the controlled chaos of the after school program we were helping run had kept me excited. Still, I didn’t shower for seven days because the water was like ice, and could never sleep because apparently girls can snore too. I was not going back next year. Nope, I was going to the beach.

Photo by: Katelyn James

Year Three – 2009

Yes, I went back to Newark. I swore I wouldn’t but I did. My camera got smashed (again) but I had a great time. I met a few interns that worked at the church, and I was beginning to really enjoy certain relationships with the children that now spanned three years. But next year was senior year, and I most definitely was going to the beach. Or just somewhere WARM.

Photo by: Katelyn James

Year Four – 2010

I really wasn’t going to Newark this year. I even told my sister, Kathryn not to sign up for the trip because I most certainly was finding something else to do. I deserved it! But alas… my plans were foiled and I could not imagine being anywhere else but Newark for my last Spring Break. I even wanted to go because I missed the ugly place and the disturbing streets and the rambunctious children.

So I went. And I loved it. And I’ll go back.

Within the next week, I will blog about updates from the trip. For those of you who have never read anything about Newark, NJ before, each year 15 to 40 CNU students travel to Trinity Reformed Church, in the Ironbound district of the city. We work in the school systems during the day, and help out with the after school program run by the church each evening. This year we also held community dinners every night, and had a team at another church down the street helping with a homeless ministry.

More to come…after my senior paper is turned in. I just couldn’t resist a little update ;) Click here if you would like to see pictures from this week on The Inspired Design website.

The Things I Wanted To Do

I wanted to write a blog post this week,

something maybe about my Spring Break,

-that would have been sweet.

But instead I was working on my senior sem,

until my brain shut off and became dim.

I wanted to go to the gym this week,

and work off all those coffee drinks

-that would have been sweet.

But instead I was too tired, and laid in my bed,

while my alarm went off, with a pillow to my head.

I wanted to drink a Coke this week,

they are so bubbly and delicious,

-that would have been sweet.

But I gave up fries, chips, and soda for lent.

Oh golly, I don't know where my mind went...

I wanted to do many different things,

and yet, my heart still nervously pangs,

because there is only seven more weeks left at CNU,

so that's about all the complaining I can do.

As you may know or as you may see,

I really, truly am quite happy.

So I won't go to the gym,

and I'll finish my darn senior sem,

and if I could, I would do it all over again.

February in review, because I'm getting sentimental; how 'bout you?

Steph and I in the snow.

Mom and Dad, this pictures for you :)

Hanging out at the condo one random weekend.

Dressed up as the French for the Olympics party

Olympics Party

The Olympic Rings - clever!

New Tattoo.

Joking Mom.

It was "To Write Love On Her Arms Day" (look it up - interesting story) but I just thought it was a good end to the post.

Oh Heart Day

As Valentine’s Day rolls around, I thought to construct a little list to help affirm those of us who will be attending “singles dinners.”

You know you are single on Valentine’s Day when…

1) Your mom says she will be your valentine. She even posts this message on your Facebook wall so you AND the whole world are well aware of your singleness. And you didn’t really care until someone “liked” it.

2) Your friends who are dating someone make sure to remind you that “they love you” and that “Valentine’s Day isn’t really that great.” Thanks guys. But you know it’s not quite the same coming from you as it would be, say… a divorced mother of four. Or even better, Kate Gosselin. She’s worse off.

3) You feel a special connection with all the single people in the world. They are on your side. They understand you. They know you better than those dating folks anyways...

4) You go to a singles dinner with your single friends who sit around and talk about being single. At least the food is always delicious.

5) You never really thought about being single, but you are always reminded of that fact on February 14th. Then, on February 15^th, you will be completely happy with your singleness BECAUSE: A) No gifts had to be exchanged, B) Single dinners are actually kind of fun, and C) you enjoy the mystery and excitement of future possibilities and the adventurous unknown!

Oh and D) you love that your mother, no matter what, will always be your Valentine.

Happy Heart Day. Enjoy it, whether you are single or taken ;)

Disclaimer: I do not hate love, people in love, the color red, hearts, candy, or cupids. Actually I dislike cupids (Naked little children with wings and arrows???). But everything else I most definitely enjoy.

Did quite well this year with the candy supply.

Pictory Procrastination

As we all know, college is great. But there are certain assignments that seem ridiculously and unfathomably dull. Literature reviews fall under this category.

Some sources...

These 7- 13 page prequels to your actual paper are exactly that sort of senior seminar project that makes you kind of want to pull your hair out. You are not writing opinions, you are not writing about your project, and you are certainly not using a creative (or even stimulating) writing style. You are simply scrambling around the library desperately trying to find all the sources you used last semester before another communication major checks out that one book you "really needed" (and an apology to all you fandom people out there... haha J. Gray's book was mine!).

I'm researching Twilight fans for senior seminar, but I didn't want people to think I was on fan sites for hours at a time, just for kicks... so I made a little sign.

I had written a 14 page outline by Saturday, but the actual paper had not been started and Monday's due date was fast approaching. I can't decide if it's a good thing or a bad thing to be an over-detailed outliner, but that's just how I work. If it isn't organized, it isn't happening.

Late nights at the Middle House.

And early mornings...

At least she got a little nap?

I could go on about the all-nighter, or the printing fiasco, or the funny things that were said at 4am by my roommates. But instead I would love to tell you about all of the theorists and facts I leaned. Communication research is pivotal to academia, and its all-encompassing nature would be a blog post I'm sure you'd enjoy.

Just kidding. Maybe another time...

Instead, I'll give you a little peek at one of my procrastination tools. There is an online magazine, titled "Pictory." The theme of the website is to collect fascinating pictures + stories for different showcases throughout the year. If you would like to check it out, and procrastinate a little yourself, here is a link to the homepage: http://www.pictorymag.com/

So the bad news:

I stayed up all night for a Lit Review, and I was told the majority of people will get a C or a D on it.

The good news:

I had a blast with my roommates and submit an Ireland picture to the "Local Flavor" category on Pictory. Today I saw that I was accepted! See professors and parents? Procrastination totally pays off.

Of course I haven't quite gotten the grade back for the lit review yet...

The winning picture! To see the full article go to http://www.pictorymag.com/showcases/local-flavor/.

It's number 25.

A Year in Review - 2009

Throughout the last 12 months, much has happened. I've been abroad, I worked at my first newspaper, and I'm in my last year of college. What transitions! So I gathered all of my blog posts and put them on a website that collects the most used words in a feed and creates a small collage of thoughts and stories.

See if you can find my favorite tiny words: butter (is anyone else concerned how that is on the list of most used words!?), laundry (always type about it; never do it), justify (this is why I never do my laundry), messy (I was in a few messy situations this year; still I think this most used adjective comes from the description of my room), and lived. I'd like to think that I totally lived.

The largest words are the most common, and the smallest words are less repeated. It's very interesting to look back and see 2009 in text - Enjoy!

To view in full size click HERE

"Ireland," "one," and "year" seemed to be the big hits. It's hard to read the small words on the blog, but click the link above the photo to read at a larger view.

Curtsey of http://www.wordle.net/

2009 Goes Out with a BAM

The Avett Brothers were playing on our Ipods. “I and Love and You” had quite fitting lyrics for our journey to New York City for New Years Eve 2009.

“Grab your bag and grab your coat. Tell the ones that need to know: we are headed north.”

Excited for another adventure with my sister Kathryn, and long-time high school friend Alice, I drove on (the dreaded) I-95N towards Washington.

Traffic was sporadic, but I had been on the road since 9am, coming back from Sandbridge, VA. So I expected nothing less and mentally prepared for backed-up highways and congested toll roads.

We finally passed D.C. and merged over to I-295. We stopped and started, stopped and started as the traffic thickened. Then there was a strange noise…maybe the screeching of tires? Or the sudden slam of breaks? Either way, there was a very strange noise.

And then… an unexpected BAAAAAM.

My foot was on the break, but we were moving. Or maybe, just all of our bodies were moving. Either way, I lurched forward in rhythm with Alice, and then smashed back into my seat. I thought I’d hit the black car in front of me because it was no longer aligned with my car. Luckily, our vehicle had been moved, not theirs. They drove away, and we sat in silence.

From the rearview mirror, I could see Kathryn’s eyes began to tear as she rubbed her head that had slammed into the front seat. Alice and I sat in silence, bewildered by the surreal event. Never having been in an accident before, it felt like a movie as I said “Well. Everyone’s is okay? Okay. Well. Let’s pull over.”

But of course, rolling onto the shoulder of 295 is not a bright idea. I was the only one able to exit the car without getting killed by on-coming traffic. Kathryn asked me to look at the damage, since we were driving her RAV 4.

“Well (I couldn’t stop saying ‘well!’). It’s not great. It’s not horrible. But it’s really not great.”

This generated a small squeal and a flood of tears. Not my intention, but I couldn’t lie. The taillight on the driver’s side was smashed to bits and the side bumper was hanging on by one bolt. But we were fortunate in one way: the big red truck that had hit us obviously tried to swerve at the last second. He hadn’t rammed us straight on, and so only half the car was a mess.

Oh cringe.

The driver, who we’ll just call Pennsylvania because of his license plate, was extremely sorry.He asked if we could drive to an exit so information could be exchanged.

I looked at him. He didn’t seem to be a liar. But to drive off would be so easy! I just kept starring. Did Pennsylvania have a cell phone? Could I take that? I mean if someone had my cell phone I would certainly follow them anywhere…

“Oh here. I’ll give you my license so I won’t drive off. I’ll just follow you.”

“Oh okay okay. Yes, uh first exit.”

What followed was about an hour of calling parents and collecting contact information. Here are a few things I learned:

*Our dear friend Pennsylvania was nice enough to help tape our car so it was drivable.

*You do not have to call the police in D.C. if you do not need an ambulance. By law, all you have to do is exchange information and insurance companies. I found that out the hard way, and I’m pretty sure my mother did not believe me. She kept begging me to call the Maryland police, though I have no control over where 911 takes me (haha, thanks for helping though Mom)!

*Duct tape fixes everything. I knew this already – but now I understand this saying in its entirety.

Needless to say, New York City was no longer an option, especially with the impending snow storm. Our vehicle was in no shape to travel much of anywhere, and honestly neither were we. Various necks and backs needed some Advil ASAP, and the only thing I could think about was the coffee I was going to reward myself with once we had crossed over into Maryland. Since that was not happening, stopping at a friend’s house in the D.C. area was a must. Coffee is always a must.

After some extremely hospitable family friends fed us and gave us more tape (oh thank goodness for tape) we proceeded towards I-95S towards Richmond. By 11pm we arrived safely at home, bitter about our disappointing New York non-adventure.

Our saviors.

But we DID still have an adventure. And Richmond DOES have some lovely people to spend New Years with.

Alice pointed out that the Avett Brother’s song we had been listening to has another interesting lyric fitting for our trip:

“Are you aware of the shape I’m in? My hand they shake, my head it spins.”

Oh ha ha ha. How very funny Alice ;)

A few pictures from the incident:

Inspecting the damage.

But it could have been much worse.

Not so happy.

The finished product. Hey - it got us home.

Winter Break '09

CNU students have vacated the Newport News area and (some reluctantly) gone to their residences around the east coast.

Now I’m back in Richmond, and happily snowed in with some family and friends. After sledding, and movie-watching, and emailing, and facebooking – well there just isn’t much left to do. Except one thing we Fitzgeralds and friends have mastered.

Eating.

We have cooked, eaten, cooked, and eaten some more. It’s a good thing we were forced to WALK to Ukrops (for more food of course) so we would burn a few calories. And not to mention, the house is at full occupancy! Instead of the normal five family members, we have nearly eleven people over at times. So of course we need lots of food… right?

I swear I will go to the gym when all this snow melts. But since we still have about a foot of precipitation left on the ground, that won’t be anytime soon ;)

Cookie, anyone?

Gracie as Julia Child during one of our many kitchen adventures this break

Documentary Project

This is what I have been working on in a documentary studies class at CNU throughout the last semester. The slide show is just one part of an overall website we will be creating as a whole, which I'll embed later when it's complete.

My assignment was to talk with Mrs. Margaret from the Riverside PACE Center. And here is a little clip of some quotes she gave me about her life:

Mrs. Margaret Hunt and Riverside PACE on PhotoPeach