I'm burnt.

The girls that I babysit love going to the playground...for hours at a time so naturally I get burnt. You would think I would smarten up and apply some lotion but nope. Oh well, everyone looks a little better with some color I suppose.

Anyway, today was my last day of babysitting until I get back from Mexico! I guess now would be a good time for me to tell you about Mexico right? Well it's not really for vacation. I'm actually going with FOCUS (Fellowship of Catholic University Students). There's 14 people going from all over the country. I don't know anyone going which is odd for me cause I'm not one to do things on my own really. I told you before how much I love to travel so I figured I could visit a cool place while helping people. I've been to Mexico before but never Mexico City; it's so rich in culture I can't wait. The main purpose of me going is to help build a community a church. I will be living with a family there for 2 weeks. I'm really nervous yet really excited. I get home sick very easily but I hope it all works out! I think it will be an awesome experience and I am positive I will have some great stories for when I return.

Tomorrow I will be back down at Temple. I've got to pay my rent and hand in my internship paperwork. I went down last week to talk to Brandon who works in the career development office about my internship. Hopefully I will be able to do it next semester if all goes well. I have to do 180 hours over the course of the semester. I'm pretty excited about actually getting out into the real world to try and find out what I really want to do. It's a lot of hard work and dedication but I am up for the challange.

Like I said before, I've just been wondering the city to see some new sights and whatnot. Yesterday, my boyfriend Matt and I went to Old City to this really great ice cream place. We had a ginormous banana split...and finished it I might add. The we just walked around Penns Landing and throughout the historic part of the city. We ended up at Love park then hopped on the subway back to Temple. It was a real nice time. Living in Philly all my life, I've really never ventured into a lot of parts so it's nice to just walk around and take in the beauty of it all! Here are some cool shots I took...

This is the Moshulu with the city and sunset in the background.

The battleship New Jersey.

Well, enjoy the weekend!!

"It is not length of life, but depth of life."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Posted by Courtney Clarahan at 4:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Wow.

So I haven't written in some time. I have been so incredibly busy lately. Summer has been anything but relaxing thus far.

Well I moved into my new apartment. I love it!! It's quite the upgrade from the typical residence hall. I finally have my own room again! It's hard going from having my own room at home to sharing one at college. But I'm back to the single room and I couldn't be happier. We're in the process of decorating the apartment and all of that jazz. I should probably take some pictures.

I've been going to a lot of Phillies games lately...usually dollar dog nights! I kind of think that I really want to do an internship there. That's pretty much been my main focus thus far. Everywhere I go I'm like.." Oh, maybe I could get an internship here." There are so many opportunities especially for a tourism major.

Yesterday I started babysitting. Finally I have some money coming in. I feel completely like a mother. I have to go and pick the girls up from school at 11:30 because they have early dismissal all week. Then I make them lunch, play some games..the whole mom deal. I can't complain. It's an easy job; except when they don't listen to me. I figured out a good incentive though. Today I said, "If I don't have to yell all day then we'll go to Rita's Water Ice." Sure enough I didn't have to yell and was 7 bucks short when the day was over. Clearly I can't do that everyday though! Any other ideas??

Believe it or not, I've actually been itching to be back at Temple and start classes again. In the process of looking at internships, I realize how much I can't wait to have my degree and have a real job and start my adult life. Not that I want to rush my college years though. Next semester all of my classes are focused on Tourism and in particular event planning so I really can't wait. I'm finally passed that stage where I'm done with histories and maths and English classes and I can really focus on what I'm there for.

Going along with my tourism theme I seem to have revealed in this blog, I really want to spend my free time this summer traveling. Whether it be little day trips to places in the city I've never seen or weekend trips of some sort. I just want to really explore new things. I feel like I'm missing out. I told my boyfriend about this so he surprised me and took me to this place called Bryn Athens. It was this beautiful historic cathedral and acres upon acres of garden area and we just walked around and really relaxed. It was perfect! If you know of any hidden treasures in the area please share!! Here are a few pictures from our day..

This is my new favorite flower..it's actually a tree. If anyone knows the name of this please tell me haha!

And I just thought this tree was awesome.

Well, I have two more days of babysitting this week and then I'll be headed back down to Temple to spruce up the apartment. I'll probably stay there for the weekend. I also have my friend Dylans graduation party on Saturday. Oh..and I finally get to see my best friend Jackie this weekend! We've both been so busy so it will be good to hang out and catch up. Hope you're keeping cool!

"It is the marriage of the soul with Nature that makes the intellect fruitful, and gives birth to imagination."
- Henry David Thoreau

Posted by Courtney Clarahan at 6:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)