El Hogar

I have recently started a new job! I was hired part time at Clean & Sober as Program Assistant which was fortunate because I wasn't quite ready to leave yet. I just love the people too much. Because it is only part time, I was looking for another part time and got lucky! A friend of mine out here works at El Hogar and is returning to school in September so he is now working part time. I'm picking up the other 20 hours!

El Hogar is a mental health clinic where I will work as a Service Coordinator. I have a shared case load of ~80 people who I check in with, meet with and help out whenever necessary. I have been there two days so far, training under my friend. Monday will be the first day that I'm on my own which I'm excited for but I still have more training to do. It's a job through the county so there is more paperwork and general rules to follow so I'll be learning a lot over the next few weeks-months. As I learn more, I'll update more!

Tomato Plant

I came home the other day and checked my tomato plant on the way in. I was so excited to see two baby tomatoes, about the size of a small marble. When I move next week, the tomato plant will be coming and have more room to grow. When the tomatoes are large enough to be seen in a picture, I will post a picture.

Happy Birthday Stephanie!

It's not actually until tomorrow, for us but because she is in Hong Kong, it's Stephanie's Birthday today! Hope you're having a great time, Miss you!

Transition retreat

I've decided to announce that I will no longer commit myself to writing on this blog. Every time I say that I will be better, I'm not so I'm thinking that maybe by not making myself write, I'll start wanting to. So I'm not ending my blog, I'm just not promising that I will write often (not like I do now so it won't really be a big change).

I'm in Philadelphia for transition retreat. It's a little repetative, as I was here last year for the same thing but it's a nice break from Sacramento. Also, tomorrow after I'm done here, I go to Philly for the night to visit Rye, my long lost roommate from Villanova. I'm very excited to see her as it has been far too long. Then Tuesday I return back to Sacramento.

A brief update, a few weeks ago, I went home for Kevin's graduation from UMass. Congratulations Kevin, you did it! Things at Clean & Sober have been good but busy. We're doing a running club with some of our residents which is great. We meet two mornings a week and it's really inspiring to see some of our guys (and maybe girls in the next session) train for something and then complete it. We did a 5K at the end of May and everyone crossed the finish line.

That's about all for now, I'll write more on the job front when I return to Sacramento and hopefully figure things out a little more.

dog sitting

Over the past few weeks, I've been dog sitting for two separate people. One has a rescued dog named Norton. He is very hesitant to let anyone near him because he was abused so badly but he's very sweet. The other family has two dogs, both little dogs but not the type that you put in a bag to tote around. They're actually cute. I really like watching dogs. It gets me out of my house for a few nights and they're so much fun to take out for walks. The only drawback is that I'm allergic to dogs but not bad enough to keep me away. I will definitely get a dog as soon as I am able.

Camping

Last night, Cara and I decided to go camping. It was very spur of the moment. We both needed a little time out of Sacramento and had been talking about going camping so last night, after packing the car at 8PM, we left for Rollins Lake. Rollins Lake is where the camp out is for Clean & Sober each year so the only time I had been there was with 1200 other people. Last night it was great. We got up there and set up the tent and started a fire and just hung out. This morning, I walked around the lake and then started another fire for some oatmeal. Around 11AM, we headed back to Sacramento. It was a very quick trip but really nice to get away for a little bit. The picture is of the log Cara found for the fire last night. We hadn't brought any wood and it was the only one she could find in the dark. It was very amusing, although not very effective.

Parents Weekend!

On Saturday night, my Mom and Dad came to visit! They got in late Saturday night so I dropped them off at their hotel and then Sunday, we went flying. One of my Dad's fraternity brothers lives out in this area and has a 6 person plane and offered to take us up. It was great. We flew over Folsom Lake, which I've biked to a few times and it was beautiful. I have lots of pictures to put up later so you can all see the views. Monday, we went shopping and then to dinner. Both my parents ended up getting a few things for themselves, and I got blamed for their extra spending:) They left Tuesday morning so it was a quick visit but a lot of fun. If anyone else wants to come out and visit, you are more than welcome too!