On Sunday we had our first snow!!!! On the news Saturday night they said that it wasn’t a big deal and there wouldn’t be much snow. When we woke up Sunday morning there was at least an inch of snow on the ground! It was so exciting! We thought it was a HUGE deal but of course for people who live here it was nothing.

It snowed the entire time we were on our way to church and then after church we walked through Central Park. There were people sledding, dogs playing in the snow and tons of people out! It was fun but freezing!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving in New York City! My sister, Mom and Mimi came up to celebrate. We wore ourselves out trying to fit everything in and I had to spend all day Sunday in bed recuperating!

My family arrived on Wednesday afternoon and it seemed like it took them FOREVER to get to our apartment. They rode on the Super Shuttle from JFK and they said it was the most horrible thing they have ever experienced! They thought they were going to die or throw up on the ride. On Wednesday night we ate NY style pizza, took a tour of Columbia, went to Times Square and Grand Central Station and then walked up 5th Avenue. Then we had to go home and get in bed because we had a very early Thursday morning!

Thursday bright and early we headed out to the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. We got to the parade route around 7 am – 2 hours before the parade started. We were about 3 people back but the 2 rows in front of us all had chairs so we had a perfect view. The parade was good and a lot of fun. The floats were so huge up close and they weren’t very high up in the air. On TV it looks like they are so high but they were really pretty close to the ground.

After the parade we came home and ate Thanksgiving dinner. Delicious! We had a cheese and grape plate for appetizer, Caesar Salad, turkey, cheddar mashed potatoes, green beans, vegetable medley, crescent rolls, stuffing, gravy and banana pudding. Yummy! It was all so good and we had plenty of left overs. Thanksgiving afternoon we just chilled out, played games, and took a nap.

Friday was a busy day! First, we took a ferry to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. I enjoyed going to Ellis Island and seeing all the different areas and learning the process of being “processed.” Then, we at lunch at Peanut Butter and Company – I of course ate the Cinnamon Raisin Swirl, Dana got peanut butter and banana, Mom got a white chocolate, orange marmalade and almond sandwich, Mimi got Fluffernutter and Bill got PB&J. Then it was off for some shopping in SoHo and Chinatown. Everyone got “very good prices” in Chinatown on some COACH purses, wallets and a Chanel purse. Friday night Dana, Mom and Mimi went to the Radio City Music Show to see the Rockettes. They said it was a great show! The best they had ever seen!

Saturday was another busy day! We got up and went to Rockefeller Center to see 30 Rock and the skating rink, then we went to the top of the Empire State Building. The visibility was really great – 25 miles! After the ESB we went to Macy’s and saw Santaland and the ball that will drop in Times Square on New Year’s. Finally, we took a carriage ride around Central Park.

We had such a good time! It was very warm and very cold over Thanksgiving weekend. Such weird weather. Now, we are looking forward to Christmas vacation. I will arrive on December 18 and Bill will arrive December 21! We can’t wait to see everybody and go to Wal-Mart

I can’t post any of my pictures until December 1 because I have met my quota for the month of November. So, check back for pictures of Thanksgiving weekend.

The City is turning into a Winter Wonderland! This morning it actually snowed! Nothing much in the City but some parts of New Jersey got 6 inches!

This weekend Bill and I went to Bryant Park in Midtown to see the skating rink and the Christmas shops. It was fun to see all the ice skaters – the ice was so crowded! And the little shops set up were neat with crafts, jewelry, toys, clothes, food, anything you can think of.

We also went to Macy’s this weekend to see the New Year’s Eve ball that drops in Times Square. It is made of Waterford Crystals and it was so beautiful. It wasn’t as big as I thought it would be but it was pretty big. Macy’s was revealing their holiday windows on Sunday but we couldn’t go because our groceries were being delivered. In Macy’s their main entryway has over 30,000 poinsettias. It was really neat.

Today I  submitted an idea to present at the National Association of Social Workers, New York State Chapter Conference in Albany. I don’t know how long it will take to find out whether or not I get to present – hopefully not too long! It would be a poster presentation at professional conference and it would look GREAT on my resume.

My presentation is titled: “Preserving the Profession through Thought Leadership: Bringing the Social Work Profession into the Digital Age.”It is about blogging as a way for social workers to recruit new professionals, connect with each other and inspire communities to take action. This is kind of an “out there” topic since social workers appear to be pretty technologically incompetent. But, if chosen, it might garner a lot of attention! That would be awesome! Good thing I have a lot of business cards!

I did a poster presentation in undergrad at the North American Association of Christians in Social Work Conference in 2005. That was a neat experience – showing off our work, making the poster, driving to Michigan.

My goal is that in 30-40 years field supervisors will be sending their MSW students to meet me saying “Google her before you go because this is an opportunity you don’t want to miss!” Being involved in organizations like the National Association of Social Workers, North American Association of Christians in Social Work, and the State Society on Aging will help me become a social work leader.

Until I hear, keep your fingers crossed that I will get to present at this conference!

This afternoon Bill and I went to a V.I.P. screening of the movie HOLLY. This screening benefited a Christian non-profit organization – Restore NYC. If you click on the movie picture it will take you to Restore NYC’s website.

HOLLY is set in Cambodia and exposes the child sex trafficking business that is huge in Southeast Asia. It is the story of a 12 year old Vietnamese girl and a Western white man who tries to save her. If you don’t know much about the trafficking business then in is very shocking and eye opening. And while this movie is about trafficking in Asia it is estimated that in New York City there are over 12,000 victims of sexual trafficking.

After the screening the writer and producer of the movie, Guy Jacobson , gave us the background behind the movie and took questions. He took some major risks in investigating the movie- going under cover in Cambodian brothels to interview girls, filming in Cambodia where the brothels are run my mafia, there were hits out on his life, and he had to travel with security guards with AK -47′s. It was an amazing story and he hopes that the movie will bring awareness to the issue and inspire people to take action.

So, if you see this movie playing in a theater near you – go! It is not a movie that will necessarily be enjoyable but you will walk away with a broader perspective of the world we live in and the evil that is rampant.

Tonight Bill and I were marveling at how settled and adjusted we are here. In just over two months our apartment is totally put together, decorated and functioning, we have jobs, a church and friends! When we moved to Nashville we didn’t unpack a lot of our stuff, went to a different church every week for like 6 months and couldn’t tell you our neighbors names. It probably helps that we only brought 1/4 of our stuff.

But, we are loving it here! This week we are going to see CURTAINS, the musical with the free tickets I won. I have my first major paper due this week but school is going great. My internship is good too. Bill loves his job! He enjoys g0ing to work each day so much that sometimes it is hard to get him to come home!

As everyone knows, Bill and Gayle came up to visit us this weekend! We had such a great time! The schedule was packed and we exhausted ourselves but loved every minute of it. Friday afternoon Bill and Gayle were waiting on the stoop when I got home. We ate lunch at our favorite pizza place then I took them on a tour of Columbia and then we went down to Macy’s and the Empire State Building. Bill met us at the Empire State Building when he got off work. (By the way, he is absolutely loving his job!)

On Saturday our schedule was packed including: The TODAY show, NBC studios tour, Serendipity and 5th Avenue shops. Saturday night we saw the musical Mamma Mia. It was so good – funny with lots of great singing and dancing. It was very entertaining. Our seats were actually on the last two rows but they were great seats – were able to see everything going on. If this show comes your way it is a good choice to see!

Sunday was our “relaxed” day but it was still pretty exhausting! We started the day by going on a boat ride past Ellis Island and the Statute of Liberty. It was fun to be out on the water and get such a close view of the Statue. She is so big! You don’t realize it until you see her that close. Afterwards we went to Greenwich Village and ate lunch at Peanut Butter and Company. Big Bill had a peanut butter and strawberry, Gayle had p.b and bread and butter pickles, Bill had Fluffernutter and I had cinnamon raisin p.b. with vanilla creme cheese and apple slices! Then we walked through SoHo and went to the Scholastic store. Sunday afternoon we went on a horse drawn carriage ride through Central Park. That was fun and relaxing! Sunday night we went out for Bill’s birthday dinner at Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse. It was so delicious – the best steak I have ever eaten! I want to go there for my birthday too!

We had such a good time and can’t wait for more people to come and visit!

Yay! Bill has a really awesome job! He will be starting Monday at the GCI Group. GCI Group is a top ten global public relations firm that works with “small” name clients such as Nike, Dell, Starbucks, Payless, Radio Shack, Merck, etc. 

He will be an Account Executive working with healthcare clients (pharmaceutical companies, health insurance companies, hospitals). So what the heck does that mean? The official definition is: To develop insight and strategy in the realm of digital media to meet the public relation and communication needs of clients. Again, what the heck does that mean? Helping companies use the internet to communicate.

What he will not be doing: running sound, producing light shows, buiding websites, creating CD-ROMS. Bill is moving up in the world! This is exactly what he was looking for – his “dream” job.