MONICA THOMCAT's IN OUR HOUSE! (Sorry so long!)

I debated on holding a lot of this information back, because of the fact that so many family members are going to read this... but then i remembered that i'm living off of 100 dollars a month, living in a depressing city filled with violence and despair, and well, frankly, i think i DESERVE to party! And if i'm enjoying myself, i think you should all know about it!!

The morning after our party, among hundreds of candy wrappers, keg cups, beer cans, noodles, and bowls... our lovely neighborhood cat was found roaming through the JV Newark house... Needless to say, our party was quite the success. The pulled pork, meatballs, and amazing dips were all a hit but there probably coulda been more... The lack of beer was probably a beneficial thing to some, but again, there probably coulda been more... SORRY GUYS!

Everyone dipped by like 9 AM for multiple reasons that i'm sure consisted of grumpiness from sleeping on FREEZING cold cement(i believe we had about 35 ppl sleep over), hungover because we can't drink like we used to in college, and because our house was a DISASTER and people wanted to get the HECK out! hahaha. After everyone left, my roommates, well everyone except for Eddie, was in no shape to start cleaning... and seeing we bought an ENORMOUS package of eggs to cook for the JVs in the morning, but no one ate them because they fled the scene, i made some delicious eggs, sat with the roommates and put on only the best christmas movie, Elf, to help us re-cooperate.

We needed time to revitalize ourselves because we had the party start at 6, in order to avoid people coming into newark and get lost in our not-so-safe neighborhood...Considerate some may call it, I however call it FOOLISH. It was a long night, that flew by all too quickly. The never ending jokes of the ghettoness of our lives and having your co-workers and FJVs asked by another JV "are you fulfilled??" was priceless. And going to bed to find the whole Space Jam basketball "mon-stars" team spread all over my floor and in my bed, was nothing short of hilarious. It was all worth the next day's misery. And i can't wait till Brooklyn and DC's party, who will hopefully top ours!

the next weekend...

So i FINALLY had a free weekend to watch the Duck game!!! I was so excited, and the NYC Oregon chapter was watching the game (as they do everyweekend) at their bar, and i was set on going!! Although my roommates were busy doing other things, i wasn't about to miss out on it when i have been waiting to go find Oregonians for so long! So, i went by myself. Lol. Yep. Once i showed up to the bar, (which was a bit of a struggle) I kind of freaked out... not knowing what i was going to do at a bar by myself?!?!? I ordered a beer. Sipped on it for a while. and then just felt awkward. I NEEDED to befriend someone! But how?!??!?! Well.... thats when i came up with my ingenious plan! So i ordered a pitcher of Blue Moon (always a fav) to myself.... Then i looked around, found a young-looking group, and went straight over to them, completely lied and said "hey, so i just ordered this for my roommate and i to share, and now she's not coming! will you help me drink it??" And boom. instant best friends.

The game was stressful, but hearing the fight song in NYC, having a whole bar singing Return of the Quack, and having a volunteer to do the push-ups on the bar when we scored, made me feel riiiiiiight at home!

Also the next morning, after spending the night with the gracious Harlem girls, i went and got Pho with my co-worker!! I'm SO happy i found someone who loves Vietnamese food as much as me! (Be proud Annie, Tray, and Uncle Roger!)

This weekend is the Brooklyn party, which will be great!

Next week, Brooklyn is holding a potluck thanksgiving, so i am very lucky to have a place to go all the way across the country. But carrying my dish (not sure what i will bring yet) on the bus, path, and subways will be difficult, and hilarious at the same time. I will also probably go really early to see what i can of the crowd for the parade, and hopefully stay at one of the NY houses and do a bit of shopping bright and early Friday morning! Any specific NY requests???

Also, i never mentiond Annies package did i?? it was AMAZING and filled with none other than ALL ASIAN FOOD! oh gosh i love that girl. amazing curries, instant pho, viet coffee, siracha sauce! wasabi peas.... oh man. heaven sent fa real.

I also got a great great package from Roger, filled with lara bars, hot coco, a CONTIGO thermos (contigo is what my water bottle is- just fyi) quinuoa, and some beautiful pics of the fam. Thanks Roger!

Its really freaking hard living with NO money. ugh. I have holes in my leggings that i like to wear under my pajamas at night when its cold, holes in my thin socks, and my poor hair is like multi colored, lacking nourishment, and a hair cut! .... boy can i not WAIT for a real job!

Lovin the roomies

Great week!!! Definitely had its ups and downs... I was pretty sick all week, went home early on friday... that was tough... but i bought some dayquil, drank lots of tea, and powered through it.

Spent the weekend in Newark. Did some drinking with the roomies, and spent a lot of time with Eddie. We are quite opposites, but i do love that kid. Actually. i have kinda fallen in love with all of my roommates these last couple of weeks.... Not that i didn't like them, but we were very much roommates, and still had the stranger-esk vibe towards one another.

I love work too. I am stirring away from the feeling that i can't exceed their expectations and that hey, maybe they want to be FRIENDS with me?!?! What a concept!! So i hope to be able to create friendships with some people from work, and use them as outlets when i need to in the rough city of Newark. Maybe some drinks after work on rough days will start happening :)

Eddie and i watched a music video making fun of the sad sad city we live in, Eddie surprisingly got very offended, and claimed it as HIS sad city... no one else can hate on it until they've lived here.... i'm diggin the ownership.

Tmrw we get the day off work cuz we have a retreat! WaHoo!!! I love retreats cuz we all get to talk about how much we love each other, and boy do i LOVE love!!

Cant wait till next weekend for the rally in DC and then the next weekend is our JV Halloween!!

I received ANOTHER package!! From none other than Eileen, AGAIN!! Eileen took the initiative to find me an even better, less wasteful, and even easier way to have coffee than what i had originally requested (which was K-cups). She got numerous packets of Starbucks instant coffee!! It is exactly what i needed, and more eco friendly than this so called "conservancy" uses (lol i really still LOVE my work, just had to hate a bit). She sent popcorn that my roommates and i made instantly, lots of In Shape magazines, that i even caught Eddie reading!!! haha! She sent CHOCOLATE, such a luxury! A huge bottle of vitamins!!! A bag of chocolate covered pretzels, that Jane and i have every night with a glass of milk, and many more necessities!

Thanks again Eileen!!

I don't feel like i have a whole lot to say about this past week... well. at least nothing too humorous.

We work in what has been known in our community as an "oasis in Newark" and always feel so safe and cared for at work. However, on at work on Monday THIEVERY struck Laura Regan. A skeptical woman casually made her way through our gated facility, locked doors, and sliding swiss cheese door to make her rounds through the cubicles of our beautiful sun lit office, during the ONLY 20 minutes Laura was away from her desk, (because she works so hard, she dehydrates herself daily in order for her to not use the restroom to get that extra bit of time (inspired by the Pursuit of Happyness of course)) And STOLE her BLACKBERRY, WALLET, and BUS PASS!!! Nobody seemed to have seen her, seeing no one was in the office because it was in fact Anti-Columbus day, but she was caught red handed on our video camera.

This realization later in the day was actually quite devastating. We did NOT want to assume the worst, which was that it was stolen from one of our staff members whom we have grown to love so much, but it almost seemed the inevitable.... Luckily we didn't jump to TOO many conclusions, and were relieved that our co-workers had not taken the few luxuries we have. However, the idea of catching this lady is one of the least probable results, and Laura has officially been the victim of a crime in Newark. Laura was remarkably impressive with her calm and collectedness of the situation, being so far from home. I do not think i would be saying the same for myself if it had been me.

Christo and Maria were here this past weekend, and although i expected it to be amazing, it was much more amazing than i imagined. Maria took me back to the days before my JVC life, and we got to play and drink and gossip and dance like we had in college, and Christo took me to the future where JVC was over with, and he was looking back on his JV life with a different perspective than i had thus far.... Also, they both were way to generous to me!!

Christo actually asked me "What is your favorite thing about Newark so far?" Most people ask about JVC, the roommates, bible camp, work, yadda yadda... but this I hadn't been asked yet. I answered, probably a little too quickly, "the bus rides". Some days this is in NO WAY the case, but mostly this rings true. I know that it would be a whole different story if i did not have Laura sitting next to me every day; hearing the same stories, smelling the same smells, seeing the same saddness, anger, love, and comedy, dealing with the same co-workers, and living with the same roommates, but because of how lucky i am to ride the scary, dirty, race dividing bus with a roommate, I really have come to love the bus rides.

okay. this is starting to sound not as humorous, and much more JV like than i wanted it to...

until a funny story comes up. Love always, Kristin

More care package ideas!

It's getting cold out now... so

delicious teas

socks

electric blanket??? hahaha

leggings? ( i think ppl wear them under their pants??)

long socks

toe warmers?

Voldka ( i hear thats what they use in russia)

oktober!

Well, now i couldn't post until after my Dad's surgery because i didn't want to jinx anything, and it looks like it worked!! Everything went great, they got most, if not all, of the cancer removed, his vocal folds are fine, and he still is crackin jokes! It was hard not to be able to be there, but Annie was my replacement at the hospital for the day, and was nothing less than amazing. Think about Annie in a room full of people who are bored and dying for distractions.... I think she was in her prime with her wittiness and making this audience laugh....

Thanks so much for everyone who has given their prayers and support! It has meant sooooo much!

Okay, so to re-cap on the Boston trip.... It was CRAZY! The Boston house had a community meeting about us coming to stay with them, and as a group, they decided to be the BEST hosts ever! And let me tell you, they did NOT fail. They were so prepared with T-passes for us to fill (it's their light-rail) with bagels g'lore, they made eggs for us the next morning, and gave us such a great tour of their apparently historical city... (who knew?!?!) We went to the original Cheers pub, drank blueberry beer, went to Harpoon Oktoberfest, and then to a bar later on to do a bit of dancing... oh and their house was amazing!

They were hosts who shared everything they had, and being a JV, that is NOT the easiest thing to do...

I fell in love with the city.

The morning after oktoberfest, we had an interesting morning of picking up the lost pieces, getting some burger king (yeaaaa, fast food :0) and reminiscing on the night. It was the safe night of drinking and fun that had been much needed after 6 weeks in Newark...

Also, one of the JV jobs there is at a Cristo Rey school, which is what my high school De La Salle is, and honestly, if i can make it thru this year, i could see myself in Boston, taking the lost little high schoolers to the BIG SCARY work places, just like the LaSallian vollunteers did for me... If one of my teachers read this... i think they might actually laugh so hard it will hurt, because of the young, loud mouthed, stubborn girls, who will drive me crazy JUST as i did to them.... :)

Right now my friends Maria and Christo are here visiting! They have been sooooo great! They got to visit my work, and sleep in our little newark house! Tonight i'm meeting them in Brooklyn!

Community living is still an interesting concept...Some situations have become quite comical, and some continue to be stressful for us. Without a doubt, there are continuing tiffs between some at all times, and having 6 people live under the same expectations and ideals has become nearly impossible. We are all SO different. We look at EVERY situation SO different. Understanding the different sides is where the money is at. Then you are able to determine what situations mean to different people. Something will always mean one thing to one person, and something else to another. Once I can do that, i swear, i can run the world!

That paragraph sounds too typical, so i'm going to give you some context.... In our house we only take pb and j's, top ramen, or leftovers for lunch, which is a little too obviously SIMPLE LIVING, however, as house we have started to eat too many pb an j's!!! We have become inconsiderate, and gluttonous with the peanut butter!!!! haha! And although it is a very comical statement, it is a very real concern with the household... And as you can imagine, there multiple sides to this dilemma....

1st package!!

I got a package!!! My Aunt Eileen sent me a very thoughtful package on friday, with so many great necessities! There was a mini magazine about exercising and staying healthy, which i put down by the treadmill so everyone else could read it too, there was a whole pair of shoes!! A cute cute cute pair of REI walking shoes! some toiletries necessities like razors and deodorant, some LAYERED gum, a very fashionable pair of fuzzy gloves, and then of course, her specialty, an article!! This article i have to say, made me feel soooo good about our money situation. It was about how to spend less money grocery shopping, and i think my house could have written this verbatim, because it was all the things we do as a house on Sundays before we buy food for the week!

THANKS EILEEN!!!

So i started teaching solo this week, and it wasn't nearly as terrifying as i thought... Keep in mind they were only 4 yr olds, and then i'm observing 3 yr olds this week, to start solo with them next week. They can hardly hold there attention, but boy do they love the waggle dance! I'm also absolutely in love with the 3 year olds. They could NOT be any more adorable.

Jane and i have already become known at a local bar in South Orange. Not only because we have gone there 3 times in the last 2 weeks, but also because on our way out of the bar on Sunday, Jane tried so graciously to move out of the way for an elderly couple, and forgot to step up onto the stairs, and ended up landing on the floor. Not to mention while the older man tried to catch her, he was referring to her as "Mademoiselle". hahahahahahhahahahaha! Makes me laugh even just typing it! But we are planning on going there every Monday night to watch football. I'm trying as hard as possible not to become too much of a grandma and a book worm, maybe eventually i'll stay past 11:15...

Laura and i attempted to teach eddie how to cook. We put him in charge of the taco meat... watching him carry over 2 separate 1/3 cup of water, taking looooooots of time being so careful not to spill each time on the walk from the sink to the pan, was one of the most hilarious things ive seen. Then it was time to drain the fat..... i'm not even going to try to explain this as well as is was performed, but basically, he sealed the lid onto the pot, tipped it sideways, and watched the fat trickle slooooowly out. If laura wouldnt have taken over, we might still be waiting... Last but not least, Eddie is holding a block of cheese in one hand, and a cheese grater in the other, looks and laura and says.... "sooo... How do i do this???"

oh the possibilities for success this year.

On another note, i'm sure everyone reading this is aware of my dad being diagnosed with Thyroid Cancer. According to everyone, this is the best cancer to have, and while those words are still so hard for me to grasp, i am trying realize it's somewhat of a blessing. It was already hard enough being so far away, and now i just wish i could be home with my family, to laugh at all my dad's unfortunate jokes (that he is apparently telling the cats and dog...) and to help my mom not worry too much... However, everyone i have talked to have been in such high spirits, and although i'm sure my dad is worried, he can't stop finding humor and happiness everyday. We are also fortunate enough to have such a good friend, Joe Quinn, who has helped us tremendously, and i know we are all forever grateful for his help!

Please continue to pray for him, and the his surgeon to have steady hands on October 6th.

This weekend Josh is in town!!! WaHOOOOO!!! I'm oh soooo excited to be in NEW YORK CITY with a friend from HOME! Also, next weekend i am off to Boston to celebrate Oktoberfest!! hellllllls yea!

Last but NOOOOTT least; Care Package ideas!

-Pictures Pictures Pictures!! I miss all of your faces!

-candles?

-an umbrella!!

-vitamins?

-Coffee (k-cups) I know i already put this... but i'll really need these throughout the year!

-hand sanitizer

-Zantac (for if i ever get sick)

-socks!

Da Bears

Hmmmmm.... looks like you guys get lucky again with another post. ha. I really can't keep this up though, because soon you'll stop reading them, and god forbid i actually realize i'm not hilarious.

Also, get this, so i talk to my dad the other day, and he says... "Have you done a new blog yet?" "No, dad it hasn't even been a week, life in Newark isn't THAT exciting..." "Well no pressure Kris, but people really like your blog, i think you should try to write in it today"

hahahhaha. I think he's going to start asking me to make up stories just to help me keep the readers happy. (which i could probably, easily do...)

So last week was good, i got to do some work at work! I taught little pre-schoolers the Waggle Dance!! its a dance where you pretend you are a bee, and find a flower in the garden, and put your hands in the air and waggle your bum. Not going to lie. probably the cutest thing i have ever seen.

But all the comedy lies in the roommates, so i'll keep going with that...

So Friday night Eddie's Aunt invited us to her apartment in NYC, and treated us to amazing pizza, like reeeeeeeeaaaaalllly amazing thin crust pizza, spicy chicken, lamb(!!), like a bbq onion or something delicious, and a margarita-the pizza not the drink (which i didn't get to try because i was soooo full!) She also forced dulce de leche ice cream, oatmeal cookies, and beer down our throats too. Geeze. its hard to even type again it was so painful... When it was time to leave and go home, i just couldn't do it... After being in such a beautiful home, i just couldn't go back to my messy messy room.. So i begged his aunt to let me stay the night... haha. So Eddie and i had a little sleep over watching too many you tube videos.

my favorite still being; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nda_OSWeyn8

Also, it was was kind of indescribable being in NYC on 9/11.

The night of 9/11 some Former JV's took us to the Newark Bears game...They are an independent minor league baseball team. Eddie, very into baseball, looked up the roster and realized he knew of a bunch of them, former MLB players.. One player specifically, was Carl Everette, who is a former Red Sox player, and who is also known as Jurassic Carl, because he claims he doesn't believe in Dinosaurs. As we found this out we quickly created an enemy as he glared at us every time he came up to bat, because, well, it wasn't too hard to spot out the girls yelling "PTERODACTYL! TYRANNOSAURUS REX!!!" and so on.. Some of my roommates also had the idea, that out of all the men in Newark, our best chance at finding our soul mate was getting to know the friendly Bears... So, after all our hard work in cheering them on, telling them how... hansom... they looked, they seemed to be very focused on this game against Camden in particular, and finishing their season with no distractions...... which you know, that's fine, totally fine.

Eddie and i were up with the FJVs for most of the time, (who by the way treated us each to a beer and a hot dog) and we foolishly decided to spend more than a tenth of our stipend on 2 more beers. Some might argue that it wasn't worth it, but they dont know how LONG that game was.

After the game, they did some fireworks after, you know, for the whole 9/11 shin-dig.... well as all of you know how poor the city of Newark is... we are absolutely positive, they got all, yes ALL of the reject fireworks that you could get... they were flying EVERYWHERE, literally in every direction possible, not going off, not in sync with one another, NOTHING. Also. by the end of it, we were being hit in the face with ash and engulfed in a cloud of smoke. THANKS NEWARK.

Jane and i went grocery shopping this week. We kinda failed. We went over budget by about 30 dollars...... NOT GOOD. but we also bought stuff that will hopefully last us about a month, like raisins, nuts, turkey burgers, and coffee; Now we better save money on the next run!

Okay, now i want you all to know i am COMPLETELY joking about these gift packages. I mean YES what i am asking for would be amazing, but most of it i don't NEED. Simple living guys, i take whatever i can get! So definitely no pressure. However, for those of you who are bored, jobless, can't stop thinking about me, still bored, or actually very worried that i might not make it thru these months with mice, spiders, beetles (which i found in my room yesterday) 5 strangers, and only a hundred dollars a month.... i'm going to keep posting items i'd appreciate!! But don't worry, just like my dad says, NO PRESSURE!

Gift packages!

-Pictures! ( i need to see some familiar faces!)

-A calendar -sorry Roger, i forgot mine at home :(

- k-cup coffee (individual coffee - its the only machine we have at work, and we gotta bring our own)

-socks!

-IBprophen

-A camera (i'm really not going to stop trying with you guys :)

PS Spelling corrections josh???

Birthday weekend!

Don't get too excited now... i DON'T plan on blogging all the time, i'm still just doing my tasks faster than they expect me to finish them.
This weekend we kinda all split up. There was a JV party in Baltimore in which Eddie went as our house ambassador because none of us were planning on heading out there. We received word during the party that our ambassador was quickly becoming popular among the guests and repeatedly becoming shirtless when entering a new room... Not sure why the shirt didn't stay off.. I'm guessing the turning of heads when he took it off, was just what Eddie was looking for when he entered the JVC.
Laura got to go to the Boston College football game, or at least the tailgating part of it... talk about jealousy!! What i would have done to be Quackin with the Quackers for the Ducks!! Expect... did they REALLY have to win 72-0?? That's jus RUUUUDE!
Jane, Janet, and I went into the city for Jane's birthday Sat night. We met up with her Cousin, found a happy hour that sold DELICIOUS hot dogs (sautéed onions, and crumbled potato chips!) and 3 dollar beers (pretty good for NYC). Her cousin was amazing, and treated us by picking up the tab!!! The next day we went to BROOKLYN!!! I LOVE BROOKLYN!!
At the JV house in Brooklyn, they were having a bbq for us, and they were man-ing the grill, but booooy do they got some things to learn about burger making! they sure were delicious home-made patties, but apparently they didn't know that burgers shrink when they cook...... luckily they made about a million.
Jane and i slept at the Brooklyn house, we just couldn't get enough of being outta Newark i guess... but they next morning we went to the West Indian Parade! check it out; http://www.google.com/images?q=west%20indian%20day%20parade&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=og&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wi&biw=1024&bih=651

New Ideas for gift packages;
I think id really like to focus this year on growing my hair out... the lady at the post office told me 'Babooka hair oil' really works!!
i'd also like to fit in a little more here, so i think i should be darker... since i'm scared of tanning booths, a spray tan package would be So appreciated!
with love
the Newark newb

the Newark Newb

Welp. i'm bored as heck, so i'm gonna start a blog!

I have the best room in the house. expect it gets coldest in the winter, its ALLLL WHITE, there's a hole in the floor that is patched up with duck tape, and the windows - with bars on them of course- wont open. Best room I promise!

My roommates couldn't be more hilarious. Eddie, the only boy, LOVES the community block cat. He's a great guy who is doing prettttty darn good living with all girls. Jane's room is right next to me, she's a little OCD, and has the attention span of a puppy, but is very similar to me in terms of music (lightweight :) love you Jane!), going out, and a love for our own humor! Laura is next down the hall, I work every day with her at the GNC. We are so lucky to work together! She is pretty hilarious alllll the time; she is addicted to sugar, LOVES organization, and LOVES to clean... We get along GRRRREAT!!! hahaha! forrealz tho, shes amazing! Gillian is next down the hall, it took me a minute to catch on to her humor, but once you catch on you see that she never stops! She's probably one of the sweetest girls i know. However, the roommates and i are a bit worried about her because she has a tendency to wink - ALOT - and we are nervous she is going to wink at the little children she teaches on accident...(when ever she winks at me, i just blink REALLY hard back at her). Janet is down stairs, Janet has me literally cracking up allll the time. Partly because she is from Minnesooooooota, and her accent is hilarious! But also because she's got so much energy and humor. She is probably the most selfless person i may have met whose my age; She willingly took the basement, and created a room so we could all have our own room! Amazing right?!?!

I painted my all white dresser orange yesterday. I painted it will the drawers not only still inside it, but WITH all of my clothes in it...i painted it shut. (typical Kristin eh??) ps. its STILL shut!

We are gonna have mice (A package with mouse traps would be HIGHLY appreciated - jk)

We cook lots of food, i'm making enchiladas tmrw! But i starve all day before dinner. In fact, Laura makes fun of me because i have to ration out my pb and j or my stomach growls TOO loud.

Ive been to NYC twice already! Honestly, i didnt see much of a difference from Eugene...

-CARE PACKAGES May or May Not INCLUDE-
Granola bars
hot coco mix for the winter
a hook to go over my door for sweatshirts
pictures of you so i can decorate my wall more
pretty pens so i can write you
socks
movies?
expensive hair products? (i mean, i gotta try)
and maybe a pair of earrings!