Week 4 - Recap

Week four (6/24-6/30/12) was a pretty epic week.

It started with our first Forefront BROOKLYN campus Preview Service. The full Brooklyn Campus will be opening in September, but to generate interest and get our name into the community. We are also having a lot of community building events throughout the summer as well. I got to help set up the Children's Ministry for the church, including getting the necessarily equipment and setting up the room. A lovely volunteer, Heather, and I got the lesson ready and we had a great time with the kids, teaching them about Noah's Ark. It was great because I really felt in tune with my mission to reach kids in the New York/Brooklyn area. Best service yet!

A really awesome CRAZY thing was that one of the girls, Co-Co, who was in my Sunday School class back in Joplin was there!! Her dad works for the church planting company that helped plant Forefront (they also help plant churches all over the world) and the whole family is in New York for the summer!!

After church Michelle and I went to explore SoHo. It was fun, though there weren't enough SoHo Hipster stuff for Michelle! Although I did find a SUPER hipster shop that sold One Piece Shirts! (One Piece is a Japanese Anime that my best friend, Brandon, and I love). I think it's hilarious because it is the cool thing to do now is to wear Anime and Geek clothing, even if you don't know what it is. But hey, I'm not going to dis it, because it means I have access to A LOT more geek clothes than I normally would!

Michelle took me to the very corner of China Town, since I hadn't been there yet. She wanted me to get to see one of the "Purse Guys". It was SO sketch!! (fyi - 'sketch' is a slang word used to describe something that is on the brink of being scary/dangerous/generally bad) Michelle went up to the man with a big bag, which was just a sheet, obviously filled with purses. She asked to look at them. But then we saw police lights, and he was like, "Hold on". I looked down the street toward the cop car. The street looked pretty normal. The cop car pulled away, and Michelle told me to look again, and in those 2 second I wasn't looking the entire sidewalk filled up with the men with big sheet bags! It was crazy.

Michelle, Lili and I went to get Frozen
Yougurt on a STICK!

After the dip into China Town we met up with Lili and went to eat a late lunch in Little Italy. I LOVE Little Italy. It is so cute! Just a long road completely dedicated to truly Italian restaurants. We picked a cute place that we noticed gave out free bread (we are college kids after all). It was very yummy. Then Kait called and we decided to go to the Newsies to put out name in the Lottery. Broadway Lottery's are awesome. You put your name in a bowl, and they draw out about 20 names and each person gets to buy 2 $30 tickets! Way cheaper than normal ticket prices! Sad news is that when we got there, they weren't doing another lottery. So we decided to Google what was going on for free.

We ended up going to wait 5 hours to see a free showing of the Upright Citizens Brigade, an improv show that usually has NBC stars there, specifically Saturday Night Live stars. We had a lot of fun in line. We played an intense game of Spades, and got to know a girl sitting near us in line. The show was worth the wait, though there were no SNL people there that night. There was however 2 people from 30 Rock and 1 from Community, plus my personal favorite Lennon Parham one of the writers and stars of Best Friends Forever, which sadly got canceled!


That week I got to go to dinner with my Aunt Missy who was in town, my cousin's Alix and Jordan and Alix's sister and boyfriend. It was a really great night! It's still crazy that I live in the same city as 3 of my cousins! I wish we got to see each other more often!! And I hadn't seen my Aunt for like 10 years! She lives not too far, so I can foresee a road trip with Alix, Sam and Jordan out there!


That week at work was really fun. I got to organize a middle/high school overnighter, which we called INSOMNIA. So I spent most of the work week getting the games ready and buying supplies! It was fun. Michelle and I went all around the city getting very random things, which you can see from our shopping list! It was a work intensive week, but that was what I needed. I like working! I particularly love the view I have when I go to the Tea Shop right next to the office to work. I love New York!

This week ended with a Family Picnic/Field Day in Prospect Park for the Brooklyn families of Forefront. Heather and I organized a LOT of games for the kids, and we only ended up having 3! But they sure got spoiled! I painted all of their faces, and had time to be very detailed on the Butterfly, Cat and Bunny! It was a beautiful day and a lot of adults came. We played games, and everyone had brought their dogs. My landlords, Mike and Mira, brought Adam, their German Shepard. He is so much fun!!

Week 3 - Recap

Week 3 (6/17-6/23/12) was another great week in the city!

Sunday began with Church. West Side campus was still open so after 2 services at the east side, and made the trek up to the West Side for Evening service. It was also the last week of West Side services - that campus is now closed for the summer (maybe forever). There had only been 2 kids the week before (PKs), so I had them tell me their favorite Bible stories and we did Reny's (Jonah) the first week. Oliver did not make it as easy on me however. He chose Lot's wife turning to salt!!! I will be honest, I asked him multiple times through the week if he was sure that was his favorite story, but he did not back down. So, being the nice Children's Minister I am, I did the lesson. As could be guessed, we didn't talk specifically about the bad things Sodom and Gomorrah did that they were being destroyed for, but we talked about having faith in God and obeying his commands even when it is scary. And then we played with salt!! And made salt covered Paper Bag Lot's Wives. It turned out pretty fun for all 4 boys I ended up with.

After service the adults all went out to dinner around the corner to celebrate West Side Ministry. I'm glad I went because I got to meet a lovely girl from Texas, Lili! She had moved to New York just for the summer simply because she wanted to! I had a lot of fun getting to know her through dinner and now we are good friends, so her name will be popping up again!


The other VERY exciting thing that happened in week 3 is that I got to go to my very first Professional Baseball Game!!!! 

Interns + kidstuf Director before game (Taylor, Sara, Michelle, Rachel, Kait and me!)

I mean, it was the Yankees.... so it wasn't quite THAT exciting to this hard core SF Giants fan, but it was alright! The whole staff from Forefront went, so it was incredibly fun. We were right up the third base line, so we had a great view. First hit of the night was a home run by Derek Jeter, which I'll admit was pretty cool. They were playing the Atlanta Braves, and honestly got their butts kicked. 

We went to get food at the stands which was crazy. Taylor and I stuck with the nice American Veggie Burgers, while the rest of the interns made the trek back down the the 2nd floor to get sushi (at a BASEBALL games.... I don't think they are American!) But it was fun hanging out with Taylor, who was rooting against the Yankees, and hearing all the funny comments the pastors kept making. Also, Kait fell asleep, which I found hilarious.

Friday of that week I tried to find a vegan coffee shop in Chelsea, but it was closed, so I got lost. Then it started raining and I got stuck in a Barnes and Noble at lunch time. And to my dismay it is like the only B&N in the world without a cafe! So I had to run across the very wet road to get to Chipotle. I was stuck in there for about an hour, luckily I had a book. When the rain finally subsided I went to my comfort spot in the city (Times Square). I actually found an awesome Comic Book shop! 

To end out the day the interns all went to dinner with one of the staff members and his wife to the BEST pizza place in New York. It's called Luzzo's, it's a little hole in the wall place in the East Village, but it is AMAZING. And we even ended the night with a delicious Nutella Pizza!! Although my flip flop broke on the way to dinner and so the walk home was pretty bad (especially cause it started raining again). But hey, that's living in New York!

Week 2 - Recap (aka The Week of the Flood)

My second week (6/10-6/16) in New York can be summed in one word FLOOD. 


That Tuesday was a long day. I was at work till about 5, then I went shopping for some house supplies (hangers, broom, etc), and it was raining, which is draining in itself, but especially so in New York. I finally get home about 9pm. My roommate is still out, and then it starts. The water started up slowly from the bathtub. I had no idea what to do... I have never seem water come UP from the bathroom drain before. I called my mom and boyfriend, Matt, who both told me to call my landlord. They were not home, but said they would be home in about an hour.


Kait came home soon after that, with her boyfriend, Josh. And we tried unclogging the drain, or blocking it, but nothing was helping. Finally our landlord got there, assessed, and we decided it had stopped rising, about 3 inches high. He said he was going to go check the drain in the backyard and would call the contracter who had been working on the house (they moved in a  week before me), and he would come in the morning. We both went to our rooms and thought we were done for the night.


About 20 minutes later I hear a knock on our front door, and Mike (landlord) says through the door "You guys alright in there?" I walk out of my room to answer the door. As I begin opening the door I see the water. It is pouring our of the bathroom and going across the hall into Kait's room. I swing the door open and yell at Mike: "IT'S FLOODING!" I run into Kait's room (she and Josh were watching a movie, unaware of the water that had begin to creep into the room) and I yell "IT'S COMING IN YOUR ROOM!" Kait starts screaming, Josh and I swoop up all the electronics on her floor, just in time for the floor to be covered.


Everyone is freaking out by this point. Mike run downstairs to the basement and yells up that it is flooding there too. Mike and I empty our trash cans and begin to use them to scoop the water out of the bathtub and out to the street (where it is still pouring). Kait is traumatized, and Josh tries to console her, but many of her things (her mattress, luggage, shoes, etc) are beyond saving. They end up leaving soon after that so Kait can stay at a friend's house in the city.


Meanwhile, back in the apartment, Mike and I continue to use the trashcans to stay ahead of the water pouring out of the bathtub. The contractor was called at about 12, but he lives in Jersey so it would be a while before he arrives. Once we got the water line down to a manageable level, we start taking turns resting. 


The contractor finally arrives at 2:30, but the rain is still going and we are still shoveling it outside. He takes a look at things, and like a contractor blames the previous owner and whoever did work before him. He says there is nothing he can do that night, but He'll start working on it tomorrow. Luckily at about 3 the rain stops. The four of us spend some post-trauma bonding time talking, because the adrenaline is running high. Finally about 3:30 I head to bed and get a very sad amount of 3-4 hours of sleep before I had to get up and get ready for my first staff meeting at work. Mark one full week of living in New York.

The week really did get better though! The interns all went to Times Square together that Friday night! Being from Vegas I wasn't shell shocked by the lights, it honestly looks like Vegas on Steroids. I loved it though, the crowds were a reminder of home, and it brought a much needed peace to me. (Current Ashley will admit that she still goes to Times Square sometimes because it feels like home). We saw Ricky Martin coming out of the night's showing of Evita - that was my first (not last) celebrity citing!! The night was particularly fun because one of the girls (Sara) wanted to find a place to dance and when we asked a host at a restaurant he motioned us to come in and led us to the back of the place, much to our protests Sara follows, so we in an attempt to protect her follow also. He takes us to a bartender in the back who gives us very detailed instructions - including a map on her iPad - to the "Meat Packing District" which is apparently where the dancing places are. We thank her for the information and leave cracking up.

The end of the week was my cousin Alix's birthday! I love getting to live in the same city as my awesome cousins, Alix, Sam and Jordan. I had gotten to see Alix once the week before (she took me to a restaurant where the walls to the bathroom were 2 way mirrors, so I could see everyone.... Luckily I didn't actually need to use the restroom). For her birthday, Sam and I went with her to brunch. It was so nice to catch up with these lovely sisters. We reminisced a lot about our many family vacations together. Then we headed to Prospect Park and walked around. It is a HUGE park in the middle of Brooklyn. We watched the cutest dogs play at the little dog pond. We also somehow got lost after accidentally turning onto a horse path! Then we ended up continuing the night right on though dinner. Can't wait to spend even more time with my family here in New York!