No rest for crosstops in my mind

Oh hey!

Blog update: everything that happened between the last post and now happened. And all was fun and happy and such. The semester ended with a fuckin' bang if I may say so myself. (With roughly a 3.75 GPA, not averaging in my internship grade as of yet).

My break is over. Well, sort of. I started back up with my field placement this week after having 2 nice weeks off. I don't start up spring semester classes till February 1st.

So far my life in 2011 consists of: work (I landed myself a part-time job about a month ago, yay), internship, and hanging out. Thrilling, right.

This is most likely the final day of this blogger. I've discovered Tumblr.

Time to review time to, to be with my own energy

I have a blog? Oh yeah, I do. Well then, I guess it's about that time to reconnect with the world of blogging though, my life isn't like it was a year ago. Ya know, the whole reason for starting this blog was to document my time traveling around the country while participating in service work for 10 months with a team of 12. I figured I may as well keep going with the blog thing for now by updating the world about my post-Amerilife and present-Grad school life. My ultimate goal is to eventually lead the direction of this blog into something more than just the life of a young graduate student. I was thinking maybe relating it to the field of social work, or in community outreach, organizing, development sort of deal (since that is ultimately what I want to do in the future). Or perhaps a blog of just "rants and raves of a young aspiring social worker about everything and nothing". Suggestions? Thoughts? I'm also looking for a layout change. Anyone know of a good, easy to follow site to assist me in a blog make over?

Anyway, as I promised before, till I come up with whatever this blog will be about, here's an update on my life:

- Currently, I am sitting in the library which has become my Tuesday afternoon hangout. I'm usually here with a few textbooks, my laptop, and some kind of caffeinated beverage.

- After the infamous road trip came the infamous trip to Ocean City, Maryland. (With an old friend's wedding thrown in the middle).

- After that came graduate school orientation, purchasing $500 worth of school books related to social welfare, policy, health, the practice of social work, and research, and a parking pass.

- Then the start of classes and internship... Which basically sums up my life as of this current moment. (Three more semesters left!) (In between that consisted of a Mets game, a day spent with fellow Ameri-Long Islanders, and finding out one of my best friends from college got engaged).

Fortunately I will be jumping back on the travel bandwagon (which I have missed dearly) getting my ass out of this dreaded island that is long. This upcoming weekend is a trip to good old Towson University for a reunion and the following weekend I'll be heading to North Carolina with a friend to visit his brother. My friend says his bro lives near the mountains so there maybe hiking involved. Sweeet!

The weekend after that won't involve traveling out of the state but it'll involve heading into the city to see John Butler Trio open up for Dave Matthews Band. (You should check John Butler out, just sayin').

Now that I've ran out of updates I guess I should get back to compiling my research midterm outline...

I believe in the sand beneath my toes...

the beach gives a feeling
an earthy feeling
I believe in the faith that grows
and the four right chords could make me cry
[thanks, Third Eye Blind for fitting lyrics!]

Woah. AmeriCorps has been over for 4 weeks already. A month? Yup. Exactly 4 weeks ago Class 16 of AmeriCorps NCCC Denver, Colorado campus became alum. It's also been 2 weeks since the infamous road trip with a group of crazy [using crazy as a term of endearment] guys. Even though I was counting down the days till it was over, I kind of want to go back. I told ya I would miss it. Oh well. Another chapter complete and added to my list of unforgettable memories and people who have crossed my path. Onto the next one which begins in 1 week! I'm excited to be going back to school and to explore the field of social work. Here's to the next 2 years of my life...

Alright. Now onto an update on my [post-ameri]life thus far.

As I said in my previous post right after AmeriCorps I went on a road trip. A cross country road trip. Something I've wanted to do for as long as I can remember. Another thing to check off of the bucket list! We went to places such as the following:

Yellowstone National Park (Wyoming)

Arches National Park (Utah)

We also ended up in Zion National Park (Utah), Las Vegas and Reno, Yosemite National Park (California), San Fransisco, Mt. Rushmore (South Dakota), Apply Valley and the Mall of America (Minnesota), Tiffin and Cedar Point (Ohio). Then I found myself in Sterling, Virginia and Baltimore, Maryland visiting old friends for a few days before finally making back to New York.

I was home for about a week, saw some family, went to a wedding, saw some friends, then I was off to Ocean City, Maryland to spend some quality time with a group of lovely ladies, some of my best friends from college. It was a beautiful weekend.

OC, MD Summer '10

That leads me to now. Back on Long Island, unwinding a bit before that thing called school begins again. Wednesday is the big orientation day. And a week from today is my first day of class. Here goes nothing!

Until next time, peace.