.la primera semana.

.la primera semana. .the first week.

wow. praise God! it is hard to believe that my first week in new york city is behind me. every step of the way God has revealed Himself more and more. so many thoughts run through my mind. what is it going to be like? who am i going to meet? what will i do? where will i go? all i know is something is going to happen, and i believe God will be the One to do that something. i just get to be the instrument :) here's what's happened so far...

just so you know: i plan to post more often than once a week so my posts will not be a novel. so this is my attempt at covering the whole last week :)

also, a note: my bucket list for the summer is entitled, 30 things to do in NYC in 60 days. many posts in this blog will include stories of how i crossed each thing off my list. look for a bunch of them in this post :)

tuesday, june 1, 2010.

after a whole day of packing up, cleaning, and moving out of the green house on illinois street, derek collard, kyle kowalski, and i departed for my parent's house in cedar springs, michigan. tuesday morning came early and soon enough with our ke$ha c.d. and my bags, the boys and i were on the road in my trusty all terrain vehicle, new york city bound! after a whole day of driving, with minimal food and potty breaks, we arrived at my new home sweet home, a quaint little apartment on crescent street in the cute district of queens called astoria. even though it was late, my new roommates, wendy and pamela greeted me with hugs and excitement. since i had not seen any pictures of what it would look like, i didn't know what to expect of this new living situation. i was very happily surprised and quickly fell in love with my cute new artsy apartment and spacious bedroom! i am very content to rest my head here for two months :) when i walked into my bedroom, i was greeted by a message left on my mirror that are sweet words of life. read this:

Jesus lives in you.

& He loves you,

& He likes you.



He's cheering for you,

crying with you,

chuckling at you. (was this written for me or what?!)

He knows you

deeply, truly, and

better than anyone

else does or ever will.



Rest in these truths...

.beautiful. how wonderful it will be to be greeted each morning by that when i see my reflection in the mirror and how comforting it will be to rest in those truths each night when i sleep.


wednesday, june 2, 2010.

the sun shined through my window early. i will need to get used to living closer to the east coast. the sun comes up bright and early without fail. i didn't seem to mind on this day though, despite the little rest i had. it was hard to fall asleep like the last few nights as well because of all the excitement coursing through my body. i had to get ready and have my first job interview in the city. i was blessed to have the boys stay with me for the day so i did not have to face my first day in the city alone. armed with my resume, attitude, and patten leather, pointy towed heels, i was ready to score a job! ten minutes after i walked in to this salon to interview, i walked out with a second "try out" interview lined up for the next day. i had a good feeling about this one.

#14. go to coney island.

now that the interview was out of the way, the plan for the day was to do and see as much as possible before the boys departed for home in the morning. on our way to see the empire state building, we stumbled across a live concert with the american idol finalists in herald square. i need to get used to seeing things like this in NYC all the time, but this was cool! our day was quite the adventure as we traveled by foot and subway to herald square, the empire state building, madison square gardens, battery park, coney island, bay ridge (brooklyn) for awesome vietnamese food, and times square (let's not forget doing the cupid shuffle in the m & m's store!). the boys really did do and see as much as possible while they were here.

thursday, june 3, 2010.

while it was sad to say goodbye to the boys, excitement was stirring inside of me as they left. after hugs and a few tears (not the boys...just me) i waved goodbye and watched my car, sadie subaru, drive away for good. i walked upstairs to my apartment and it finally hit me. i was not on vacation. i live in new york city. pamela could see that i needed a hug and she brought me comfort in my state of shock :) i got ready for day 2 at the salon and was ready to take on the city of new york solo.



#13. get a job.

i was happy to be at the salon (check it out at: http://gemini14nyc.com/) for my "try out" and prayed for God to work through me during my time there. i caught on fast and in no time i was answering phones, checking in and out clients, and meeting all the stylists at the salon. five hours later i was informed that i was a great fit and that the job was mine! what a blessing. some of you may remember my job as a receptionist at ambiance salon and day spa in mount pleasant, that i did not particularly enjoy. i know now that it was necessary for me to work there in order to gain the experience i needed to get this job. it is really cool to see how in ALL things God has a plan and i am so grateful He used that experience for the good.

i ventured to whole foods market into union square and grabbed a bite to eat before heading back home after my day. i had so much to be thankful for so i just praised God for his provision and blessing! i walked into my apartment and happy to see my roommate, pamela, sitting at the kitchen table. God knew that i would need companionship and friendships while i am in new york and i am so grateful for pamela. we were able to sit for over two hours and talk about the Lord and the things we have been through in life. she is a remarkable woman and i was so encouraged by her story and faith.



friday, june 4, 2010.

my new morning routine started with my walk to the subway and conveniently stopping at the starbucks on the corner for my morning tall iced skinny vanilla latte before hopping on the train into the city. i was ready for day 2 on the job when all the sudden i was called and informed the air conditioning was broken at work and i should wait until saturday to start work. good thing i have a bucket list to cross off so that is just what i did with my day off. :)



#1. get lost.

since i was already on the subway i decided i wanted to try to find an area called park slope in brooklyn. all i needed to do was take the N train to atlantic ave./pacific st. station, transfer to the 2 train and ride to park slope. sounds simple, but with my great "i feel it" sense of direction, i was highly unsuccessful at finding the cute shops and restaurants park slope promised. instead i learned later i in fact went too far on the train and was in prospect heights (aka. kind of the hood!). good thing it was the middle of the day!!! i decided i knew my way around times square and ended up finding a good spot in the shade to journal and catch up.



#3. rent a book at the new york city public library.

fifth avenue and 42nd street is home to the beautiful new york city public library. this building is huge, so it must have plenty of books that would keep me busy looking around and reading for hours. not so much. contrary to my belief, i guess library in new york actually means museum because after getting lost in the actual building, i did not find a whole lot of books :) i also learned that you cannot check out many books at this library. if i would have known that, i wouldn't have put it on the list! now i know, and at least i can say that i have been there.

#16. make a new friend.

after my library experience, a quick stop at h&m, and witnessing a palestine protest marching down 42nd street (you really never know what you are going to see in NYC), i hopped on the subway and headed back to brooklyn. this time i was not about to get lost, i knew exactly where i was going. i spent a couple hours in the Word and reading and then walked to the brooklyn tabernacle for transitions. transitions is what they call their young adult/college group and every other friday night they have fellowship meetings. i walked in and was greeted by not just some amazing people, but also the Holy Spirit. it wasn't long until i met a girl named, adaeze and she invited me to sit next to her. it was evident the brooklyn tab was the reason i moved out to new york. the people there were so on fire for God as we worshiped together, heard a great sermon, and closed out in prayer together. i was so encouraged by God's people and that was just the beginning.

i met up with landon, (one of the leaders of transitions and someone i knew previous to coming out to new york) and he introduced me to some of his friends. God revealed Himself in a conversation i had with landon that night when landon told me i was refreshing (!!) to the body of Christ at transitions. he also told me that they are praying about starting small groups (!!!) within transitions and that i was invited to come to a prayer meeting for that purpose at his apartment the next night. God is moving and it's really amazing seeing things come together already in the first week.

#17. eat something i never have before.

in the mean time, after the fellowship meeting a group of us went to a restaurant called, lemongrass, for some delicious thai food. the fellowship continued and i was able to share my story of coming to new york with the people sitting around me as we dined over pad thai rice noodles (with veggies...yumm-o!). the food was great, but the people were better. i felt so blessed, edified, and encouraged by my new found brothers and sisters in Christ. as i walked down the streets of brooklyn to catch my subway home, i couldn't help but blissfully smile at being in the will of God.



saturday, june 5, 2010.

i was off to my first official day of work in the city and my iced skinny vanilla latte really needed to kick in hard after my exciting night out! luckily it did and i was able to really start to get the hang of things at my new job. everyone was so sweet in welcoming me to the workplace but i know it will be my biggest mission field while i am here. i am up for the challenge though and i am excited to see how God is going to use me to minister to my co-workers.



there is something wonderful about being caught off guard and totally surprised by someone or something. when dark hair/dark eyes, tattoos on wrists, kenneth walked into the salon for his haircut appointment, i would never have assumed he would leave with my phone number and plans to hang out later. but that's what is wonderful about the unexpected and left me smiling the rest of the day. new york is so different and in a matter of days everything can change! **disclaimer...many of you are assuming this means i have a date. not the case. the guy just got my number and has yet to call. i assume this is typical for new york guys, but is still fun to know someone made an effort to talk to me and to get my number! ;)

unfortunately for kenneth, i already had plans to go to landon and stewart's apartment for the fellowship/prayer/worship meeting. which is where i ran off to after my shift was over at the salon. during that time, i was able to show the group the new york dvd joe made of our team and our spring break mission back in march. it was really cool to see how encouraged everyone was by what our team had to say about the brooklyn tab and the city of new york. i loved that God used the dvd to touch the lives of my new friends.

sunday, june 6, 2010.
.worship. brooklyn tabernacle. amazing.
these people truly come to the house of the Lord truly desiring God! (psalm 63:1-2)
despite the crummy subways going local on weekends (meaning it stops at every stop where as on weekdays you can catch an express train that only stops at major ones which is much faster), making my commute to brooklyn almost an hour, being at the brooklyn tab for sunday worship was incredible. the Holy Spirit truly washes over you and every person involved in the service prays and speaks with boldness and authority. it is wonderfully refreshing! although, a little twinge of sadness overcame me knowing his house was still going on without me :)

my afternoon was wonderfully accompanied by adazae and we enjoyed some iced coffee after church and sat together for the choir concert later in the day.

.GOD IS AMAZING.

i am so blessed to be here in new york city and i can only wait on Him to see what the rest of the summer holds. please pray for me when you think of it. if you need prayer for anything, please let me know so i can lift you up! be blessed today and always!

xoxo...