little amy, big city.

So...I'm officially finished with my stint as a student nurse intern at Lenox Hill. Never again will I set foot on an orthopedics floor unless it's to visit family members. Even that, I will be skeptical. Haha I had such a wonderful time learning, but MAN that floor was outta control. Orthopedics is not my field, but I did learn a lot and I'm so thankful for the opportunity I had to be apart of this program. My last day was insanely long. One of my patients who tried sneakily taking pictures of me on his camera phone, calling me his girlfriend, etc. Well, he's married and his "mistress" came in yesterday and I wanted to castrate him for doing something like that to his wife. His wife came in every single day to visit him for hours in the afternoon. And this man wanted to STAY at the hospital, it was his 16th day there for a HIP replacement (usually those go home in 3-4 days if nothing goes wrong..He's perfectly fine). I hate those people. Grr.

My best friend Lauren left yesterday. Cameron did too, but I don't care about that. I honestly am so sad she left; My summer would have been nothing without her. Heavenly Father blessed me with SUCH an amazing friend. I'll never forget when I left church early because I was so depressed about things. As soon as church was over, I got a phone call from Lauren. I didn't want to see ANYONE...She refused to let me say no to her coming over, so she bribed me with a huge Dr. Pepper. She comes over, I'm laying in my bed helpless looking and she goes, "Amy, We're going to sing a song to cheer you up. You're going to be my backup singer." She starts singing "The Titanic Song", a song I guess she sang at Girls' Camp back in the day (see lyrics here http://www.macscouter.com/Songs/Titanic.asp , you know you want to). Instantly, I felt so much better. She has such a way of brightening a room. She was my saving grace. I have a feeling we'll be always keeping in touch.
Lauren, LOVE YOU!!!

that's lauren before we went to see The Little Mermaid.

Next on the agenda, a cute little date I went on. I hung out with this guy who is super cute, and he took me to Washington Square Park at the end of the night. He was like, "let's go wading through the fountain!!" I said no because I didn't feel like getting arrested, and then he dragged me in. He got me soaking wet, but I had so much fun. The coolest part was that because we went in, we started a trend. Everyone started going in, people we didn't know saw us and were like, "let's do that too!!". It was cool to see everyone having fun because we had the guts to get in there. No one got in trouble. Then, me and him met homeless guys who were on drugs and hilarious. They just wanted to play us music. So we're sitting there waiting about a half hour for this guy to fix his strings, he came up to us and says "I just want to share with you two lovebirds some songs". He legit played like 4 songs for us, he was a terrible singer and pretty "impaired" but it was hilarious/cute. We were too nice to say no, and it was something I'll never forget so I'm glad we didn't.

Washington Square Park as we saw it at night. Beautiful.

So, I've decided I can't leave this City, so I'm staying until August 15th. Sorry to th0se at home who miss me, I have some things going on here that I would love to finish....Beaches I want to visit, cousins/grandmas I want to hang out and go to work with, boys I want to hang out with (wink wink), more time at the New York Public Library. I'll be home for a week before heading back to school. Sounds good to me.
Anyway, that's my life right now.

blue, the color of our planet from far far away.

I've just been in a weird mood lately, so I apologize for the lack of posts.
There's been a lot going on...I've been dealing with a lot of emotional problems, but I'm living.
I've been doing a lot of reading and a lot of writing in my journal; a lot of working. Let's be honest here..I'm seriously not into these 12 1/2 hour shifts and they're really starting to get to me. I've decided if I get married to a super rich guy that's super hot and loving and understanding (hahaha), I may just want to be a stay at home mom and work per diem. A lot of per diem nurses work whenever they want. They call in and ask if they're needed and come in. I would love that; Such a flexible job. I love nursing. But I want to be a mom. I want to have a beautiful family and be able to take care of them. This doesn't mean I'm giving up my dream to be a nurse. I love it.

Anyway...Tomorrow I have 2 "events". I'm going to a driving range at 11:30am...Wish me luck, I'm terrible at golfing. And next, I'm going to the Museum of Natural History and shopping with my BFF Tommy. Haha maybe not BFF, I met him through Cameron, but still. I'm excited because I can't wait to see the Museum of Natural History.
It's my last weekend here..I can't believe it.

Book Qutoes.

Just a couple of quotes I wanted to share from two of my favorite and most recent books I've read thus far. These are most enjoyed and understood in the context of which they are written, so I suggest you read the books. Both are wonderful.


From the book "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" by Jonathon Safran Foer
"You cannot protect yourself from sadness without protecting yourself from happiness."

"I felt that night, on that stage, under that skull, incredibly close to everything in the universe, but also extremely alone. I wondered, for the first time in my life, if life was worth all the work it took to live. What exactly made it worth it? What's so horrible about being dead forever, and not feeling anything, and not even dreaming? What's so great about feeling and dreaming? .... Maybe it was because of everything that had happened in those twelve weeks. Or maybe it was because I felt so close and so alone that night. I just couldn't be dead any longer."



From the book "Everything is Illuminated" by Jonathon Safran Foer
"The Dream that we are our Fathers:
I walked to the Brod, without knowing why, and looked into my reflection in the water. I couldn't look away. What was the image that pulled me in after it? What was it that I loved? And then I recognized it. So simple. In the water I saw my father's face, and that face saw the face of its father, and so on, and so on, reflecting backward to the beginning of time, to the face of God, in whose image we were created. We burned with love for ourselves, all of us, starters of the fire we suffered--our love was the affliction for which only our love was the cure..."

our time is running out...

Good Muse Song.

Well ladies and gents...I have 2 weeks and a few days left of enjoying the City.
The past two weeks have been considerably rough, but today I went bike riding with my friend Lauren along the Hudson. There's a "secret" website that tells you you can rent bikes for free at 3 designated times per day from this ripoff bike rental company, so we rented bikes for 2 hours. It was supposed to be $20...We got it for free thanks so our secret website!! Oh, it was so beautiful. Honestly, it was the first time in the past 2 weeks I've felt alive. I was riding along the Hudson, feeling the breeze (although it's 85 out, ew), a spectacular view of the Statue of Liberty, and I just thought to myself, "goodness gracious I'm so lucky". It was so liberating. Afterwards we got smoothies and sat on lounge chairs in front of the Hudson overlooking the Brooklyn Bridge. I'm going to edit this entry later with pictures so stay tuned.
Nichole and her boyfriend and his friend came and visited last night. We had a lovely night staying in and watching movies/eating pizza. I've missed her. She slept in my bed with me, just like old times!!
Anyway.I'll update soon. Now I'm napping/showering/instituting tonight! The life.

time, the one thing we don't have.

I've been in my job for a MONTH already!!! Less than a month to go. Wowzas.
Let's see...Just some random updates. I've been reading like CRAZY this summer, and I feel like I've gotten so much more picky when it comes to critiquing books. However, I've picked up this book, "Extremely Loud, and Incredibly Close" and already I'm in love.
A few nights ago, I had a "me" night...Indian take-out food, made some brownies, painted my toe nails, watched "Made of Honor". I needed it. However, I wasn't crazy about the movie. What did you guys think?
I love taking care of the eclectic people we get at work. They are all so interesting. Some are inappropriate, some quiet, some complainers, but I love them all. Just don't like orthopedics. And I hate getting taxes removed from my paycheck. It's terrifying and sad.
God blessed me today with a new replacement phone...My OK button stopped working and I've been putting off getting a new one for 2 weeks..I finally go and the man says, "Your warranty is good for another 48 hours...Good thing you came today!" YESSSS...How awesome is that?
I find myself either sleeping far too little on work days (5 hours) and then days off, like today...about 12 hours. Sleep schedule is so messed up. But I'm still truckin' through life.

Tomorrow I'm going to the beach with friends, then to Connecticut to see family, INCLUDING my little (tall) brother, sister, and my dad...And grandma, and aunt, and everyone else..It's my cousin's graduation party. I am going with my friend Lauren..I cannot wait to see them all!!!

Fireworks over the Hudson.

First off, does anyone read this anymore?

I went into tonight not expecting much. I came out of it honestly, speechless.
Fourth of July. I rambled on about it last night, but nothing could compare to what this night was like for me.
My friend Lauren and I were just planning on sitting our butts on a sidewalk along with thousands of others, on 50th and 11th to be exact, and watch the fireworks in between two big buildings. Supposedly the U.S's biggest fireworks show, NYC has 5 simultaneous shows going on over the Hudson River, right next to one another. I don't know how to explain it right, but basically the same exact fireworks are shot off all next to each other at the same time, making it multiple shows (easy viewing for the masses to watch).
However, we ended up watching the fireworks on the roof of the MTV Studios building. Don't ask how, but we have a friend who works for CBS Radio, who knows the security guard of the building. We handed over our licenses, and the guard let us go to the roof to watch the show. The coolest part was the fact that we saw multiple shows at once. Across the way, we saw New Jersey's show going on at the same time. Seriously, words can't describe the view we got from the top of that building. There were only about 6 of us. I almost cried, over fireworks.
It's just so beautiful.
Afterwards, I got to tour a radio station. 92.3 NOW, which our friend works for. It was really cool. I got to watch how a radio station runs I don't think I'd ever be able to do radio. I got some free peanutbars too. Woohoo.

Imagine

You know the world is okay when a random, crazy person makes you smile when you feel like it isn't possible. Just now, I was on my usual stroll from the Times Square subway station to my apartment. This summer I've perfected the art of navigating/walking through busy sidewalks and streets while reading at the same time. Nerdy, I know. But sometimes it's necessary if the book is that good, and even the City that never sleeps can't tear you from the story.. Tonight, an old man in a suit (at 12:30 am, mind you) watches me and my newly acquired talent. He starts yelling, "Hey, you! You read too much! You read WAY too much!"
I was flattered. I successfully had a Belle from "Beauty and the Beast" moment.

Look there she goes that girl is so peculiar
I wonder if she's feeling well
With a dreamy, far-off look
And her nose stuck in a book
What a puzzle to the rest of us

Just thought I'd start my blog with that story.

It's July 4th weekend. I'm glad it is, because I've had a rough past couple of weeks and I need to stay busy. My sister and Kevin came Wednesday-Friday. I've never laughed so hard in my life. I've also realized that my crazy self only comes out with them. For that, I love them. I don't care, I just laugh. I say things in my head that I would never say to anyone else, and we act like it's normal.
Also on this Holiday weekend, I remember my previous ones. For some reason, the Fourth of July and New Years are big holidays for me because looking back, I remember those occasions. My family was very social and we'd throw many parties; On these holidays I've had some of the best times of my life. The parties my family threw were always perfect because I had a crush on my parents' good friends' son and he would always come with them. I remember those nights. I remember Fourth of July with Nichole at the lake. I remember being in a different state with a family I barely know anymore. There was Maine, there was a pool competition. All of it happened on the 4th of July. And I remember it because it was summer, and I was free, and they were the best times of my life. So naturally, a good feeling rushes over me when I think of Independence Day. Tonight I went to New Jersey to watch fireworks with a bunch of people from church. I sat there on the blanket while watching the fireworks and knew that this would be another one for the books. I'll add it to my list, and I'll smile when I think about it. I won't think about the bad things that happened the week before..I'll just think of this weekend and how happy I was to be spending it in a wonderful city with some great friends. Kind of beautiful.

I also got a little nostalgic in New Jersey. In 2000, we were supposed to move in the town next to Red Bank, where the fireworks were. Three days before the movers were set to come, my dad changed his mind. Our house was already sold. Our clothes packed, day camp paid for, beach club passes bought, house being contracted to be built. And my dad changed his mind. We were homeless for about 2 days until we bought another house in Horseheads. But to this day, I always wonder what it would have been like. Would my life have ended up so differently? I remember going to the day camp orientation when we thought we really were going to move, and I cried. I'm sure I would have fit right in, but still. I just stood there and thought, "what if this were my home for the past 9 years?". Weird.

Anyway. This is kind of a long one.
Oh, and I saw the Little Mermaid last night on Broadway. The set was SO cool!! Underwater amazingness. Oh, and the cast used Heely's to make it look like they were swimming. You know, the sneakers with rollerblades. How creative.