Year In Review

With 12 days left before I leave the district of columbia, I have been reviewing the past year and a half and marveling at all that has happened. I feel like a totally different person than I was when I came out here. Up until last Feb I had had minimal disruptions in my academic life, was liked by all my advisers and professors, and felt pretty competent at what I did. 

I took quite a blow when I didn't get an internship last year. I honestly believed I would get an internship, things had always worked out so well for me professionally. Not matching and then being passed over for two more internship spots right after really hit my confidence. But, I picked up the pieces and worked hard to find a place for me to be this year, and was rewarded with a spot at Children's National Medical Center in D.C. Little did I know, coming to D.C. was going to provide some of the toughest professional situations I have ever been in. What was left of my confidence was totally shattered and I found myself questioning my own instincts about everything. Around December, I seriously thought about quitting and moving back home. I was miserable for awhile. Luckily I had friends and family to support me, and get me through the tough times. 

If nothing else, this year has taught me how much strength a person can have when given multiple hurdles to cross. I look back and can't believe what I have been through this year, and that I am standing on the other side ready to start a new chapter in my life. I made it through a nightmare in professional conduct, two hour drives to work in the morning, finding roommates and a place to live, re-applying for internships, questioning my own capabilities, planning and attending nine internship interviews, a broken heart (still not quite over that though), living without my kittens, sleeping on an air mattress for a year, a health scare, three feet of snow and a week off of work, an earthquake, looming financial ruin, and three people living in a two person apartment. Amazing!

Of course, it wasn't all bad, and there are a lot of things I am absolutely going to miss when I leave D.C. I met some amazing people, who accepted me and supported me right away without question. My paying job in neuropsychology was amazing and saved my life this year. What a great group of people and advisers. Other great things that happened included learning how to ride the metro, playing on a flag football team, meeting amazing friends and contacts, getting an incredible internship for next year, being able to hang out a lot with my best friend, buying my first car, lobbying on capitol hill, going on a tour of the White House gardens, having a great time when my family visited on Easter, seeing the 4th of July fireworks on the mall, and experiencing the kind of relationship that made me feel good about myself, however brief it was (minus ex-gf drama!).  

I'd say the best thing about this year is looking back and realizing that everything does work out in the end. Even if something does not go as planned, something just as good or better is on the horizon not too far away. I realized how many good people there are in this world and am amazed that I continue to meet them. I am going to miss a lot of things in D.C., and am sad to leave all the great friends that I've made. Such is the life of a psychology graduate student, unfortunately, but the good thing is that it gives me a chance for a fresh start and to break ties with the parts of  my life that didn't contribute to my happiness.  

I'd love a chance to be able to see everyone at least once more before I leave D.C. Get a hold of me if you want to set something up. I'm going to miss you!!

Looking forward to the beach!!   

Figures!

Top 5 Hurricane Vulnerable & Overdue Cities 

Look at the article I just found on weather.com! After 3 feet of snow and an earthquake here in the DC/MD/VA area, I wouldn't be shocked for a hurricane when we get to Miami! Ah, life is a banquet... haha :)

An Administrative Nightmare

So we're getting down to just over a month before I leave DC and move on to warmer temperatures (although ironically I think it's been hotter in D.C. this month than in Miami!). The number of arrangements that need to be made are growing by the day. Here's the rundown:

1. The MIA Apartment: We finally settled on details for the new apartment a couple weeks ago. I did the calculations and realized that I will be spending almost $200 less in rent than I am now in Arlington, VA. AND WE'RE LIVING ON THE BEACH! That is just incredible. We're still waiting on details for the building of a third bedroom in the apartment.

2. The Moving Truck : So in the two days I was at home in Flint over the 4th of July holiday, my mom and I drove to Toledo to have two moving companies give us estimates on how much it would cost to move my things to Miami. It looks like its going to cost around $2,000, which is insane, but I think I might actually have a company that I'm going to go with.

3. The Car: I realized a few weeks ago that I have 8,000 miles left on my car lease, with a little less than a year left on the lease. I knew that this was not going to last, so I started making phone calls trying to figure out my options. The second of the two days I was at home in Flint, my mom and I went to the car dealership and ended up walking away with a Chevy HHR (see pic on right). However, my Pontiac G6 was still in D.C., and I was flying out of Detroit that day. We decided that my mom would take the car to her house and then we'd figure out how to swap out my old car with the new. I'm going to turn in my Pontiac here in D.C., but we weren't sure how to get the new car out here. By some miracle, one of my mother's friends was driving to drop her daughter off in North Carolina, and they have offered to help us with the car exchange. So, my mom will drive the HHR to Virginia, meet up with me on Saturday, and then tag along for the rest of the trip with her friend.

4. The VA Apartment: My two current roommates had been looking for a new third person to take my place when I leave. One of their former college buddies was looking for a place to live and so that worked out nicely. I got an email from my roommate the other day, however, asking if the new girl could move her stuff in Thursday or Friday of this week (as in today or tomm). So she is moving in her bed and dresser tonight, and I'll actually be upgraded from the air mattress which is cool :) However, we will have 4 people's stuff in a 2 bedroom apartment. It's going to be tight!

So I think that is the update on everything that is being worked out right now. Luckily, everything is finally coming together and most of the important decisions have been made. Right now I'm most worried about getting the 3rd bedroom built in the Miami apartment, as I could see that being something put off until the last minute by the management. We'll see though.

Happy Thursday!

P.S. You'll notice that many of these activities were completed by "my mom and I." She's been such a big help and I appreciate that I haven't had to do it all alone!

D'Backs vs. Tigers 6/19/10

Kate & I decided to go on a road trip to see the Tigers play baseball in Detroit. The reason we picked the weekend we did is because they were playing the Diamondbacks - which is Kate's favorite team! It was a LOT of driving (it's 10 hours from D.C. to Detroit), but we were able to see my mom, my kitties, and meet two of our classmates, Aaron & Darren for breakfast. 

The game was fun, we had incredible seats 25 rows up behind home plate. Kate was able to get her favorite player to sign a picture for her before the game. The picture to the right is of her waiting her turn! The funny part was that the picture he signed was a picture of him signing her t-shirt at a different game!

 
Anyway, we missed the Tigers batting practice so I didn't get any signatures. There was also a wedding held on the field immediately after the game. How much would it cost to do THAT I wonder?!

Kate is moving on the 30th to Mississippi for her post-doctoral position, so I won't see her for awhile. I am going to miss her a lot!

Home In Miami

So it has been an interesting week in the world of apartment hunting in Miami with my two future roommates (in pic on left). As previously mentioned in this blog we had been working with a realtor down in Miami to help us find places to live. On Thursday, two days before we were to leave, we got a message from the realtor's colleague that she was not going to be able to show us around, but that he would. On Friday, the colleague told us that it was "not worth his time" to spend Saturday looking for apartments with us. So, we are 5 hours from flying out to Miami with no realtor and no plans for what we were going to do. Luckily, Jessica found another realtor on Craigslist who ended up being AMAZING. He was able to find us a place on Miami Beach! 

The apartment is one of the older buildings in Miami Beach and is called Seacoast Suites (www.seacoastsuites.com). The building is part hotel and part apartment complex. The picture above is of the apartment building. The side of the building that our apartment faces is the bay side (seen below).  

Because the building is part hotel it has a resort-feel to it in that it has a little convenience store, a restaurant, and little huts outside that have different services. Our favorite is the massage station!

The other side of the hotel has a slightly amazing view....

  

Honestly, we're still in shock that we found such an amazing place, but the deal is not 100% done yet. The apartment is about 15-20 minutes from the hospital, which seems like nothing to us D.C. people. Anyway, we're hoping to sign in the next week or so and have a great place to stay for our year in Miami!!

Long Time No Post!

So an update on what I've been up to over the past few months:

1. Advocacy Days with the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry - I spent a day up on Capitol Hill meeting with staffers of several congresspeople. I got to meet specifically with people working for Carl Levin (senator from Michigan) and Jim Webb (senator from Virginia). I basically spent the day with a bunch of psychiatrists from the AACAP and we had a bunch of "talking points" we were given to discuss with staffers. It was pretty interesting to see how the process of lobbying works!

2. Washington D.C. Zoo!   I went with Kari to the zoo and had an excellent time. The zoo here is free! That is amazing to me. Although lacking penguins and giraffes, the zoo had an excellent display of big cats. 

3. Kate's Internship Graduation & Weekend of Fun! I traveled to Pittsburgh for Kate's internship graduation dinner. The dinner itself was nice, but we had the most fun on Saturday at a place called "Color Me Mine." At this place you pick out a piece of pottery (bowls/mugs/picture frames etc.), paint it as you like, and then they fire it up in the kiln. This was so much fun, and Kate and I had some pretty nice products when we were finished if I do say so myself!

4. Flag Football - I joined a random flag football team for the spring season and have had a blast playing. I've met some great new people and I really like being involved in a social league sport (it's not high competition by any means). Our team record is 2-2-1 and we have one more game before the playoffs. Unfortunately I have not scored any touchdowns though :(

Other Important Events:
-I am officially finished with the volunteer portion of my experience here in D.C. (working with kids who have diabetes). This means I will be working three or four days a week for the rest of the summer, and working on my dissertation the other free days.
-The wonderful air mattress I have been sleeping on (and blowing up every night before bed) has died. It was sad before, and now that I am sleeping on two foam pads on the floor, its even more sad. But don't despair, a replacement is ordered and on the way!
-This weekend I am heading to Miami to look at potential places to live. VERY excited for this and I will post some pics when I get back!

I actually have a realtor??

I am sitting here watching CNN cover the House vote on the healthcare legislation. Since they are dragging this out longer than the season finale of American Idol (is that possible??) I decided to take a few minutes and give an update on the goings-on with internship.

The two girls I know from DC that are going to Miami and I have decided to live together next year. The girl's names are Cat and Jessica. I know both of them but they didn't know each other so we had dinner a few weeks ago and the girls got to meet. Dinner went well, and we all seem to be on the same page in regards to living in Miami. We have decided to live as close to the beach as possible, and are looking in the Miami Beach area for a townhouse or condo. Amazingly, you can rent a place on Miami Beach for the same amount you can rent an apartment in Arlington, Virginia!

Initially we had planned on flying down to Miami at the beginning of May to look at housing. However, Cat called to check out a place we had seen online and the realtor told us that we shouldn't start looking until late June/early July. I guess we are used to getting college campus housing, where you have to have something locked up by May or you might not get anything. Anyway, Cat found out that the realtor is paid by the properties she rents out so we can use her services at no cost to us. I'm actually really excited about that because none of us really have any idea about renting in Miami. We told her our criteria and she said we would have no problem getting a place for us. We're still going to go down in early July to look at things before we commit though. 

The best news? Both girls are okay with the kittens coming to live with us! I'm sure they will LOVE the Miami humidity :)