A New Adventure

Hello blog readers (mostly just my dad),

In light of my NEW adventure coming up in the next month I have decided to start up my blog once again. For those of you who do not know, since writing last, I GRADUATED COLLEGE! I graduated on the 23rd of May with a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish and Education as well as my secondary teaching certificate in the Spanish language. After four years of hard work, it was a wonderful feeling to walk down the steps of Old West and receive a diploma. Here is a photo of me in my Cap and Gown.

Since then, I moved back to sunny Minnesota and moved back into my Mom's house. I've been enjoying the summer tremendously by relaxing with friends and working as a nanny for a 5 month old baby. The baby has made this summer so great! His name is Ryan and he is just a doll.

So back to my new ADVENTURE! On September 1st I will begin my new job for Tahoe's Connection for Families in Incline Village, Nevada. This is a position through Americorps, which works very similarly to the Peace Corps. It is a government funded group that provides community service outreach programs to several different places around the country and recruits qualified people to work for them. My specific placement with the TCF (tahoe's connection for Families) is a community center in the Lake Tahoe area which provides services to families with children up to age 3. It is a resource center for parents to take classes, ask for help, create a community amongst other parents and a place for children to develop. So I will be working with very young kids, developing curriculum projects for them to participate in.

I will be driving out there on August 26th with my boyfriend, Travis. Oh yes, I should mention that I have started dating a new handsome young boy named Travis. He has been my friend since I was 16 but just recently did we discover how much greater life can be when we're with each other. I'll post a picture of us, just so you can get a visual.

So yes, we are leaving on August 26th and driving straight to Boulder, where we will spend two nights. Travis has a brother that lives in Boulder and I have several friends that live out there as well. Then we either drive straight through to Incline Village (about 14 hours) or we will break it up into two days, and stay one night in Salt Lake City. We'll see how we feel.

Then I am moving into a new condo in Incline Village with three girls I have never met! Which is sort of scary but I am hoping that they will be great people. They are all participating in different Americorps programs so they are obviously good people looking to help the world become a better place.

I will upload some pictures of the place as soon as I can.

Well, I am leaving one month from yesterday and so I am trying to develop some strong rituals that will make the transition a bit easier. So, I am trying to write and run each day. I will write to reflect on my thoughts and feelings and I will run to let out energy and gain energy (strange how that happens). I will hopefully be writing on here many of the days.

So you'll be hearing more from me in the next couple of days.

Hope you're filled with love and smiles today,

Vanessa

PS - I'm really into this Minneapolis local band called Lucy Michelle and the Velvet Lappelles. I strongly suggest you check out her music on itunes or wherever you have access.