Home Sweet Home

Well, kinda.. I have been home now for a few days, but I sure am missing San Francisco.  I really miss all my friends, and being able to walk next door and see a bunch of people.  And I miss riding my good ol' public transportation.  And I really miss just the life of being in the city.  It has barely even sunk in that I am really gone from San Francisco (at least for a while) and that I will be home for 4 months and then I will be going to school in Santa Barbara.  It's just really weird, and sad, that I won't be going back to SF.

Since I have been home I have done some much needed spring cleaning in my room.  I completely tore apart my room so that I could fit all my new stuff, and I took out everything that has been sitting for years-you know, all those "maybe I'll use it one day" things.  So everything is unpacked and put away, yet my room still looks like a bomb went off because of all the giveaway things on the floor.  I've also been taking care of errands that I obviously couldn't do while I was gone.  And yesterday my sister Beth and her husband Ryan came down from Santa Clarita and we went to Disneyland with my parents.  It was, well, the happiest place on earth :)  In the upcoming week I will be focusing on getting a job, overdue doctor's appointments, and taking my room-o-crap to goodwill.

I just realized that I have not put any pictures up yet of my adorable niece Abby.  I am terribly sorry that you all have been missing out on how cute she is.  So here are some much overdue updates...

This is Abigail when I went to Arizona over spring break and she was just a few days old.

Sleeping on dad.. Isn't she just the cutest little peanut you ever did see?!?!

A little over a month old wearing a strawberry hat that I bought for her in San Francisco.  This is when she went to Colorado for dad's work and to visit mom's good friend Charis.

Sleeping with dad again.. This seems to be a very popular theme for these two.  Abby is now 7 weeks!  She is so big!

And my personal favorite.. Isn't she beautiful?!  And when did she get so big and start smiling?  Where does the time go??

ONE WEEK!!!!

That's right folks, one week until I will be home!  It seems soo crazy that this semester is over and that I will no longer be in San Francisco :(  I am very sad to leave my house, my friends, the program, and San Francisco, but I am excited to go home!  I would love to stay in SF, but I hate this inbetween period of waiting to come home.  I either want to stay or go home now, not just sit around for another week.  I am not a fan of waiting periods such as this.  Knowing that I will be home in one week makes me want to just leave now and start my new gig there.  Since I will not be taking summer school at Westmont anymore, once I get home I have to get a job pronto.  I will be taking one class at Saddleback, but that will be pretty easy.  I opted to not move to Santa Barbara 3 days after I get home.  It was just too much.  I knew that once I got home I would not want to leave again, and it was kind of a waste of money to pay Westmont tuition to take a class I can take at Saddleback for 1/50 of the price.  So I decided to stay home this summer and start working as soon as possible since I have had no income for 4 months and am hurting just a tad bit on the money side of things.  But that will soon be over when I start working 40 hour weeks just like the good ole days.

In other news, Alicia Theule (my sister's husband's brother's wife) just had a new baby a few days ago!  From what I hear, both mother and father and daughter are doing well after a few unplanned complications with the birth.  But little Penelope Jane is doing well now and I'm sure they are having a grand old time with the new addition to their family.  If you want to see pictures, you can go to their page (Casey and Alicia) on the left side of my page.  

Seeing as I am at work currently with a big presentation in an hour and a half, I should probably go and prepare for that.  But I wanted to let you all know that I will be home in only one week, and I will see you all very soon!!  Hope you all have a lovely day and week and I can't wait to reunite with you all and share my stories :)

weekend in santa barbara

So to continue my post from yesterday, I will fill you in on my weekend.  Westmont's spring formal was on Saturday night, so 5 of us rented a car and drove down for the weekend on Friday after work.  It was great to see my friends at the Santa Barbara campus!  Friday night we went into the mountains and had a bonfire with this amazing view!  But typical me faceplanted in the dirt and cut my chin, arm, bruised many areas of my body, and sprained my ankle.  A few of the battle wounds are as follows...

My chin is actually starting to heal, but I feel as the days go by I keep finding more and more bruises.  Apart from my fall, I had a great night.

Saturday was 87 degrees, and so my best friend Megan and I spent a good portion of the day at the beach with a few other friends.  Saturday night was the dance-Megan and I joined one of my roommates, Sarah, and her date Jesse and her brother Matthew for dinner.  Then we went to the dance where we met a few of our friends, and actually didn't do much dancing, thanks to the horrible DJ.  All in all, however, a good night.  From left to right, my roommate Sarah, my good friend Allison, me, and my good friend Kerstin at the dance.  I'm not sure why I have such tall friends...

...And no, that is not chocolate on my face, as a coworker asked me on Monday morning.

Sunday was another 87 or so degrees, so we returned to the beach-played a little volleyball, frolicked on the sand, got a little sunburned (and tan).  We returned back to SF pretty late, but it was an awesome trip.  I just can't believe that I only have 2 MORE WEEKS!!!! AAHHHHHH!  I know I keep saying that, but it's just soooo wiilldddddd!

Well I will most likely see you all very soon when I come home for a few days in May, and if not, I will see you definitely when I come home in June for the summer.  Hope you all are wonderful and I miss you all very very very much!!  

crazyyyy

I apologize deeply for the lack of posts lately, but things have been beyond crazy up here the past few weeks!  Time just started to fly by and suddenly things that "weren't due till the end of the semester" were needing to be done because well, it's now the end of the semester :(  I can't believe it, it has gone so fast, and I don't want to leave!!!!!!  But I have gotten a lot accomplished in the past few weeks, but still have much left to finish in the next 2 weeks.  I am just now finding time to write this on my lunch break at work while devouring a delicious slice of pizza.  Wait, back up.  2 weeks???? I know right, it's ridiculous!  I am done at my internship exactly 2 weeks from today, and done with school 2 weeks from tomorrow, and then I move home in 2 weeks from Thursday.  And while I miss you all very much, I have to say that out of everything I have to do in the next few weeks, moving home will be my least favorite out of them all.  Yes, even below my papers and presentations and other various work.  I absolutely love SF and never want to leave!  I was even looking into transferring to USF or something of the sort, but turns out it's actually more expensive than Westmont, which is beyond ridiculous.  

Besides being upset about leaving SF and my roommates who go to school in Boston that I won't see for a long long time, I have been writing long papers, reading long books, having long talks, and doing just about anything else that takes up a lot of my time.  However, I did just get back from a fantastic road trip to Santa Barbara yesterday.  5 of us girls rented a car and drove to SB on Friday night for Westmont's spring formal dance which was on Saturday night.  It was a blast!  I got to see a lot of my friends that are in SB and hangout with my new friends that I have met this semester.  It was really fun, except for the sprained ankle and broken face (pictures and explanation to follow).  

Since my lunch break is coming to a conclusion, I must get running.  But here is the layout for the next month or so:

• Many papers and such work due in the next 2 weeks
• Moving home May 1
• Move to Santa Barbara for summer school May 4
• Move back home June 6

Yes, the next 1.5 months will be wild, but then I will have a nice relaxing (not really) summer of work.  Yay!  But at least I won't be poor anymore!  Ok gotta run, I'll post pictures later.

Ups and Downs

First of all, I'M AN AUNT!!!!!!  For those of you that don't already know, my sister just had her baby at about 1:25 yesterday, March 11!!  ABBY is a beautiful little girl, 6 lbs, 12.5 oz and 20.5 inches long.  Both mom and baby are healthy and doing fantastic!  I am sooo excited to be an aunt and to see my sister and brother-in-law so happy with the new addition to their family!  I am coming home tomorrow for spring break (WOO HOO!!) and leaving early Friday morning to drive out and see the crew.  I will definitely post pictures once I see her so that you all can see how cute and little she is!

On a not so nice note, a good friend of mine had a family friend pass away Monday night.  His name is Matt Moore, and he was a firefighter in Murrieta, CA.  A few months ago he suddenly became very ill with a rare disease (that has only had 6 reported cases ever) and has been in the hospital ever since.  He has been on life support for about a month now, and his family finally decided to pull the plug upon finding out that he was completely brain dead.  He had a wonderful wife and 3 teenage kids.  Please pray for their family and friends.  Matt was a wonderful person, and his family is deeply hurting right now.  

I'm on YouTube!!!

Yepp, you got it right.  I am actually in a You Tube video, and no I did not post it myself.  Yesterday I was a part of what they called "San Francisco Freeze".  It is kinda hard to explain, but I will try my best.  There are these people called Improve Everywhere and basically they just organize funny events to cause scenes in large places.  They did a 'freeze' in Grand Central Station not too long ago, and decided to do a similar one in downtown SF.  Basically, at a certain time, we all gathered in a very populated place-downtown Market Street-and everyone who knew about the event froze at the sound of a blow-horn.  There really isn't a point except that it's really funny to see everyones reaction when a couple hundred people all freeze.  So, point being, they video taped this thing and put it on YouTube, AND I'M IN IT!!  YAYY ME!!!  I am on the left-ish side wearing a light grey knee-length coat with the fuzzy hood on, jeans, white shoes with a black stripe, and my umbrella is grey also. I'm standing next to a girl with a pink umbrella.  

You can check out the NY on YouTube, just type in 'grand central freeze'.  Or if you go to their website you can see the other kinds of things they have done.  It's very amusing!

 

Other than freezing on Market St. I have been very busy.  This morning I went to a gay/lesbian/transgender church.  It was very interesting since I have never been to anything like this before, not that I would have the chance because that kind of thing is unheard of in Orange County.  Kinda sad actually. People are very close-minded I am finding.  Also, I have a crap load of homework this week, and I'm really not excited about it.  I guess the days of city college and not studying are over for me!  I have about 3 papers and 700 pages of reading to do in the next week.  Impossible?  Yes, I think so!  Why, then you might ask, am I blogging?  That's a great question, I should probably go and do my work.  I just wanted to tell you that tid bit of really really cool information.

 

I miss you all so much and have found "I want to go home" a new common statement of mine.  I love it up here but sometimes I just want to go home and see my mommy and daddy and dog and fish.  And the rest of you of course.  But spring break is just around the corner, and I can't wait! Especially since Abby will be here!!!!!!  Well until next time, I love you and miss you all and hope everything is going fantastic for you all!

So clearly I am really bad at this...

As many of you may or may not have noticed, I am pretty bad at this whole blog thing.  It is pretty hard to find time to sit down and actually write about what is going on.  So much is going on, but I am actually taking a minute or two, while I sit at work bored.  Work you may say?  Why yes, I have a new job (its really an internship) since we last spoke.  One of the points of this whole program I am doing is to have an internship somewhere in the city.  So, I am working at a non-profit organization called Village Enterprise Fund (check us out at www.villageef.org).  It is not actually in the city, it is in the small town of San Carlos, so I have a good hour and a half commute each morning and late afternoon.  It actually not too bad though.  I use this train/2 bus ride for reading and napping time-two things that are much needed I have found.  Our organization works to start small businesses in rural areas of east Africa.  If any of you have ever heard of Kiva, we do similar work-except ours is actually better.  Many programs, like Kiva, give small business loans to the people in Africa to start their businesses.  How nice of them...  Except there is a little problem called "they don't have the money to pay the loan back".  Soooo, our lovely organization gives GRANTS!  This is what makes us better-or so I like to think :)  So if anyone has some spare change in their pocket that they just don't know what to do with..... You get the picture :)

But besides working three days a week and having class the other two days, things are great!  While I am very busy, I actually am not.  Compared to the 3 days I was working last semester, along with 5 classes, this is actually pretty easy.  I have a lot of time to spend with my friends going out and exploring and doing all kinds of fun stuff.  Last week we walked across the Golden Gate Bridge-it was beautiful! (pictures to come) This weekend we have a 4-day weekend, so I have a friend coming up to visit, along with everyone else in the house who has a friend coming.  Needless to say, we will have a very full, busy house, but it will be so fun!  I have all kinds of fun things planned!  So if anyone ever wants to come visit, I can create a mean SF Itinerary!  

Along with all the fun and games (and work), this experience has so far proved to be worth every bit of the $20,000.  Not only am I working with a great organization, making amazing friends, getting a wonderful education, and seeing the coolest city in the world, but I am learning so much about myself and my world that I almost never knew.  I am being stretched in so many ways that I didn't even think were possible.  I sometimes find myself even thinking "stop the stretching!"  When we first arrived, everyone told us "prepare to be uncomfortable".  I thought to myself, maybe you're uncomfortable, but I know how to stay in my comfort bubble even when people try to force me out.  Wow was I wrong!  There is no way possible to stay in your comfort bubble when you constantly have terrible issues pushed in your face.  But it has been such an amazing experience!!  I have learned how ignorant and naive the world is about the worst of the worst issues.  We have had some amazing speakers talk about the work that they have done and the things that they have gone through, and it has been an utterly life changing experience!  And I'm not even half done up here!

One last thing-HAHA ITS RAINGING DOWN BY YOU!  It has been absolutely beautiful weather up here, and I have heard that it is very cold and rainy in Orange County.  It has been very sunny for about a week now, and a peak temp of 69 a few days ago.  It is slowly getting cooler as the wind picks up, but it is still gorgeous outside!  But we definitely deserve it after 12+ straight days of rain.

All in all, I am having a wonderful time up here!  I came in knowing that I would either hate it and want to come home or love it and never come home, and I have found the latter to be true :)  Thank you for all of your support, and I will really try to be better about this blogging thing.  And I will really try to get those pictures up for you all to see!  I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!  I miss you all very much and love you lots!!!!!

FINALILYY!

Here is the beginning of my much overdue pictures...

 A gorgeous view of the city from atop a giant hill...

The gross Ethiopian food we had after our intense walk.  The bread looks good, but don't let it fool you-not delicious!

One of my good friends Allison (left) and her roommate Katey.

The view at the top of a huge hill we climbed on a 6 mile walk.. it was death.

They have these all over the city.. I'm not exactly sure what's going on with that.

Alcatraz!!!!

Palace of Fine Arts-Evidently this thing has no purpose, it was just built for an exposition sometime a long time ago.

It's really pretty though!

We walked all the way to the bridge-about 4.5 miles-and then kept going!

Haha some random poster in the BART station.

A few of us goofing around while we wait for the BART to go to Berkeley.

One side of the table at a local hookah bar.

More to come of my house, room, etc :)

Things have been pretty good since we last spoke.  I have been to almost all of the different parts of town by now, and on pretty much every bus.  I took the BART (bay area rapid transit-not just a funny name) for the first time the other day to Berkeley.  It was a new and fun experience, a lot nicer than the buses around town.  I have see so many amazing things, and have been doing A LOT of walking.  But I suppose that's a good thing since I am also doing a lot of eating.  I have even created a lost of the foods I have tried-yes, I actually did try some new things!  Proud?  Good, you should be :)

1.  Papusa-some kind of Mexican pancake thing filled with cheese or meat.  Amazingly delicious, and I have been craving them ever since I tried them.

2.  Tamales- also very good!  So next time we get them at home, I will definitely participate!

3.  Ethiopian crap-definitely no bueno!  It was some weird sour sponge bread that you used to pick up different kinds of meat and beans in weird sauce.  Hannah was not a fan of this.. stuff?

4.  Burrito which isn't that cool, but it had guacamole, sour cream, beans, and salsa.  This was ok, edible.  But I wasn't a huge fan of the sour cream and stuff, I think I will stick to my plain burritos from now on.  But at least I tried :)

5.  Fritz-belgium french fries that you dip in pesto sauce or chili ketchup.  They were delicious, but the pesto didn't mix well, and I didn't try the chili ketchup because as you all know, "water is spicy" to me.

On a different note, I have suddenly become very homesick since yesterday, which is a very new feat to me.  I have never been homesick before because I have never been away from home for an extensive period of time.  I think that the initial excitement is gone and I have finally realized how long I am going to be here for.  And how far away it is until I will see my family and friends.  I miss everyone so much, and have been feeling very lonely, even though I have made great friends up here.  It's just weird to not be in the town I have lived in for 14 years and see everything I am used to everyday.  So to my parents, siblings, other family, dog, fish, and friends: I miss you very much, and now REALLY can't wait to come home at Easter time!!!!  I also kinda feel stupid up here being homesick because I am the only one who has never been away from home.  To everyone else, its just another semester at school.  But for me, it is a whole different experience.  

Until next time... when I really will hopefully post pictures.  I actually haven't taken many pictures because everytime I do, I realize how much my camera sucks and how badly I need a new one.  But I am working on it.  

Also, some of you have asked for my address up here, so here it is..

Hannah Kennedy

301 Lyon St.

San Francisco, Ca 94117

The San Francisco Treat :)

I apologize to those of you (if any?) that have checked this only to find it empty since I have moved.  Things have been so crazy up here, but soo awesome!!  With that said, I don't even know where to start.  So bare with me if I ramble on, so much has happened in these few days. 

 

So my trip was a blast!  I know that's weird, but I LOVE flying on airplanes.  Even though I hadn't done it since the 2nd grade, I was greatly looking forward to it, and it was everything I could dream of and more.  Basically, the best roller coaster ever!  And then once we got up high enough, the view was absolutely incredible!  Definitely one of the most amazing sights to see!  Especially since I got my desired window seat :)  

Once I got to the Oakland airport, things got a little crazy.  My flight was a few minutes late arriving, so that set everything back.  After I got lost for a few minutes, I proceeded to wait for 20 minutes at the wrong baggage claim.  Once I realized this (after no more bags came out), I wandered for a while, eventually finding my bags with about half an hour to get to SF.  I rolled my bags bigger and heavier than me out to the curb and waited 30 minutes for my shuttle to arrive.  By now I was a bit freaking out because I was supposed to be at my house by now, and we hadn't even left the airport.  I knew I was doomed to having some crack head roommate-my biggest fear of this whole process.  

I finally got onto my shuttle and we were on our way too many minutes later.  And just my luck, the shuttle driver was insane and almost got us in 3 accidents on the way to my house.  I felt terrible for the people still on the shuttle when I left.  Hopefully they are still alive.

I finally arrived an hour and a half late., but at least I was alive.  I was taken to my room with two other girls.  And now where I really thank God, they are awesome!  We have the biggest room in the house (because there are 3 of us) and a beautiful view of Golden Gate Park right out our window.  We are just north of the Panhandle, for those of you that know the area.  I will post pictures hopefully soon, once I can get outside to take pictures without rain.  

Then I unpacked my things, only to realize how much I had forgotten-the top to my toothbrush, sheets that actually fit my twin xl bed, etc.  So I have been trying to get along until today, when hopefully my packages will be coming and I will get the rest of my stuff-except the sheets :(  So until I figure out what to do with my new sheets from xmas, I have been layering and shivering at night.  

Now that I have really realized how much I have rambled, and that you all don't care about THAT many details, I will try to calm it down a tad from here on out.  We have had many orientation-type meetings the past few days, including a way too extensive walk through many districts from the city-totaling about 7 miles and 8 hours.  It was fun to see all the different districts, but I think it's implied that I slept very well that night!  Since then, we have been learning how things work up here and what-have-you.

I had much more after this, but it just got deleted, and I don't have time to rethink it all before my next meeting in a few minutes.  But I will update more later, hopefully with pictures.  

I miss you all very much and can't wait to see you over Easter break!  MUCH LOVEEE