Well hello! It's been a while, I apologize. I've been super busy, but let's see if I can catch everybody up... My birthday on September 27 was honestly so much fun, all thanks to my mom and Hunter. Those two are super sneaky and what I thought was going to be the worst kept surprise party ever turned out to actually be a surprise. All my wonderful friends in the city, new and old, jumped out to surprise me at the Bowling Alley, and after we went to dinner and froyo. It really was lovely and probably was the happiest moment I've had here in NY so far.
Yay, friends!
About a week and a half ago my Writing 1 professor challenged us to go out in the city and experience something new, something that we'd never done before and that would make us feel slightly uncomfortable. As a person who always has to GoogleMap the route to their destination the first three to five times of going there, I decided that I should try getting lost. Not just physically, but mentally, too. Unplug the headphones, turn off the phone, and just walk. I somewhat cheated and planned the beginning of my route, so I got on the 4 express train and rode it all the way to the last stop north before entering the Bronx. AKA 125th & Lexington, or East Harlem. Not gonna lie, it was a little scary, but I survived I walked from 125th all the way back down to 77th, which included a detour into Central Park. I won't bore you with all the details, but the truth is it was very rewarding. I've gained a whole new perspective on this city, and had an epiphany, which is this city is a metaphor. Manhattan is literally the center of attention, as it is the middle Burrow. Most of the excitement and wealth is here, and it's literally and physically elevated from the rest of the city. It was shocking how quickly I left one world and entered another, climbing my way back (literally. The block between 103rd & 102nd is at a pretty steep angle). It was also my first time really walking in Central Park. I had never seen the reservoir before, and that thing is just mind-boggling to me. The fact that there is a mini-lake in the middle of this huge city that is also an island... maybe I'm just naive but it just blew my mind. The whole thing took me maybe two hours or less, and I was pooped afterwards but also very humbled and happy I did it.
This past week has been a little rough, just with midterms starting and life being difficult. Yesterday morning, oh my gosh. Every year that I am in the Tisch Center (for Sports Management) at NYU I have to take a Professional Seminar, which happens just three times a year. These "Prof Sems" are pass/fail based upon attendance and completion of work. So basically, if you don't show up, you fail. If you don't turn in the work, you fail. Well mine this year happen to be a week ago Friday, yesterday Friday, and Friday coming up. At 8 AM. And yesterday I woke up at 8:43AM only because Fallon was calling me as she was driving back to College Station. I have never been more thankful for a phone call in my life. I made it only to have it end early, 15 minutes after I got there. Everything worked out though, my professor is super nice and I was fighting off tears and kept apologizing and yeah. Crazy, but what is my life if not that? The rest of the day was fun, though! As most everyone on my floor packed up and left to go visit friends and family, my friends Jessica and Nicole and I stayed put and started cleaning the place like crazy. Not only that, but in the past 24 hours I've done laundry and gone grocery shopping and baked cookies and I just feel like such a little housewife, which is ironic since I live on an all girls floor.
Today was a great day! After sleeping in a little, I got up and made Jessica and I cinnamon toast and then, after getting ready, I went down to retrieve a package from my old YW's leader Ann Brown. She sent me COOKIES and other lovely goodies, but COOKIES. I was so excited. On our way to the UPS Store, Jess and I passed by some very interesting people, all within the same block. The most exotic one however reminded me of home at first. We were behind this guy dressed in jeans and tall black cowboy boots with these spur-like things on them (I say spur-like because they were just a leather strap with the rowel dangling in the back). On top he had on a Confederate Soldier type coat and hat. At one point we passed him, but soon after we realized we were going the wrong way (so much for me always knowing where I'm going) and turned around, this time getting to see him from the front. His *entire* face was covered in navy colored tattoos and piercings. And, though he had white-gray hair, his mustache and go-tee were black. It was freaky, I so wish I would have snapped a picture. Anyways, after we finally found the UPS store, I took Jessica to experience her first time eating Chick-fil-a (the only one in NYC is in an NYU dining hall. HA!). I think she liked the Chick-fil-a sauce more than she liked her Chick-fil-a chicken sandwich, but that's understandable. When we got back to the dorm hours later after grocery shopping, I soon discovered that I had locked myself out of my room. But no worries, after a quick search on YouTube, I picked it with a used Visa Bucks gift card and I now feel like the coolest person ever. The rest of the day has consisted of making mustache cookies, which are adorable and I will put pictures up in the next few days once I've iced them.
So that's been my life lately. OH! I almost forgot. Last weekend was General Conference, and it was awesome (For my non-Mormon friends, General Conference is where the leaders of the church all come together in Salt Lake and give speeches and it's all broadcasted on TV & online). It was nice to have the Spirit in my home for that Saturday & Sunday as I listened and was inspired by their words.
Though I'm technically on "break", I still have a paper due on Tuesday (which is absolutely cruel if you ask me) and the next week or two will be filled with tons more essays and tests. Hopefully amid the chaos I'll find time to write. I hope everyone is lovely and enjoying their Octobers!
Love, Madi