Sensible Heart

I went to the Omaha Summer Arts Festival on Saturday with Liz and her friend, Jodi.

Here are a few things that I saw:





I bought these flowers for myself:

Liz and I went to a Two Rivers State Park and I didn't have my camera--so these pictures were taken with my phone:

I climbed this tower!!


An amazing view:




Liz, her sister and her brother are in the musical Lil' Abner! I tagged along to one of her play rehearsals:


A recent discovery of mine is DUNDEE!! I love Dundee--it's an eclectic neighborhood in Omaha that has a main street with a bunch of cool food places, coffee shops, and stores. It reminds me a lot of 9th Street and Broad Street in Durham, NC.

This is my car in Dundee:


It's in once piece now!

I have a friend, Liz (not my roommate), who lives in Dundee! This is her door knocker:


This morning Laura and I cracked 36 eggs:


I'm not exactly sure what this is:


But it's for dinner tonight with Life on the Brick--it looks very sketchy as of now--but I'll keep you updated on the how is turns out.

Until Later,

Meredith

Le Fabuleux Destin d'Meredith

Ok--Life just keeps throwing one thing after another at me--right when I think I have a better grip on it---something else happens.

Yesterday when I was at work the police called me around 4 p.m. and said they were right by my car---I knew that wasn't a good sign right away.

Someone threw a fairly large rock through my passenger door window and busted all of it, stole my GPS, and ripped my iPod cord. Glass was everywhere!! I didn't take a picture because I was too much in shock to think about it.

Thankfully, the police caught the person before they even got in touch with me. By the time I got to my car, they had the person in custody and I got my GPS back.

I'd like to give a shout out to Geico and the Glass Doctor for helping me out through all of this though. It was nearing the end of the work day and Geico connected me super fast with the Glass Doctor--who stayed open late enough for me to put my car in their garage.

Liz came all the way out to Council Bluffs, Iowa to come pick me up--while Iowa is about 8 minutes away from where I work--it was about 25 minutes from where Liz was at the time. So, I was so grateful that she could do that and I will hopefully have my car ready to go by this afternoon.

I don't know whether or not I should try to find some deeper meaning in this incident, but it happened and it's a pain to have to deal with. Considering the circumstances though--everything has worked out very smoothly. No tears or blood were shed and I still have my sanity.

Until Later,

Meredith

In the End We're All Just Taller Children

For the past few weeks I've been slowly starting to work on my big assignment for the summer: donations. At the end of the summer (July 31) Mosaic will be changing our name! However, I will not be able to release the new name to the world wide web until then. For the events we're having around that date we're in need of food, drinks, and art (for the silient auction). So, it's been my responsibilty to gather these items.

I love Mosaic and it's mission for this community--but I hate asking people for things. So, it's been kind of challenging for me to fully immerse myself into this task. All I have donated so far is a tray of Kolacky from the Bohemian Cafe. Although, I have discovered that I'm better at asking people for things in person rather than on the phone--which has made for a some fun outings outside the office. I've sent out a few faxes and e-mails, but I'm really going to have to get over asking people for things and just go for it this week.

(UPDATE--I wrote this on Monday---and today is Wednesday---I have filled out an intense amount of donation request forms and I've also sent in faxes to more places)

Saturday was World Refugee Day! I went to Benson High School and volunteered with JFON:




Jason is an intern with Mosiac working in the Park Avenue Neighborhood with the impoverished there:


There was an intense thunderstorm that involved HAIL:


I'm not going to lie---I ate a piece of hail--just to say I have.

After the storm:


And a little air guitar:


Dana (Mosaic staff member) cut my hair and Laura's (intern) hair yesterday!!


It's probably one of my favorite haircuts--seriously.

Anyway, I hope all is well with my you, my fantastic blog reader, and I hope you are staying cool in the summer hear!!

Hasta Luego,

Meredith

Nolita Fairytale

Most of these pictures are from last Saturday when I went to Liz's grandparents house in Iowa---

On the way to Iowa I saw a bunch of windmills on the side of the road:


View from her grandparents' farmhouse:



I found this in an old church:


Liz took advantage of her Jeep's 4 Wheel Drive and we went off-roading!!




Liz's brother, Chris:


We played a little baseball:




Liz's Uncle:


I think I look better on it:


Dog=Jake


Liz playing with the Dog.


Chillaxing on a Rock


Hey, Mom! Look at me:


Anyway, for the past few weeks I've been able to work my 35 hours a week Monday through Thursday and take Friday off. So, I have tomorrow off--and will definitely be sleeping in!

Last night I went to a Jenny Lewis concert at the Slowdown with some people I work with! I don't really listen to her music, but it was definitely a good concert.

So, I once again have to end this post due to the coffee shop closing.

Until later,

Meredith

Growing Up

Ok---I don't have access to my laptop right now because I left my power cord at my apartment--but I wanted to go ahead and give you a quick update and I'll post pictures later!!

Life has been insane for me!

So here's my confession: I didn't follow what I wrote last time about living in the moment--I've definitely spent so much time just thinking that I've missed out on the present.

If there could be an AA group for overthinking --TA?? Thinkers Anonymous? Haha then I would definitely join it.

I've gotten e-mails, facebook messages, phone calls, letters, random text messages, etc. that just totally make my day though. Seriously, the little things you do--the things you don't even think matter--really do matter the most.

So, thank you to all of my family and friends for your support--especially over the past few weeks.

I am so unsure right now about my future--but I'm completely ok with it. I thought I knew everything I wanted to do, but since I've been in Omaha I've decided that I really just have no clue--and that's ok--I think the beauty of life is the uncertainty that comes with it--I mean, it wouldn't be as fun if you knew everything.

I had an amazing day yesterday--a good day at work followed by awesome dinner at Life On the Brick. I still wish I wasn't such a picky eater--especially for times like Life On the Brick--but I am very glad I was able just be there--in the moment--with strangers united in our joy for life (and food, of course).

Also, I feel like I can finally share this with you since I've already told my parents--I got my nose pierced!! It's a small stud, but I like it! When I was talking with my dad about it--my reasoning was that Tupac had his nose pierced--and Tupac and I have the same birthday--which, by the way, is today--I am TWO DECADES OLD!!

Anyway, check back over the next few days for tons of new pictures!

Happy Tuesday!

Meredith

Atmosphere

I've been going to random meetings with Jodi for Mosaic. One of the regular meetings takes place at the Joslyn Art Museum:

We're able to have our meetings there because of a board member, Kenley. He's in charge of all the fundraising for the Museum, which I believe has a 6 million dollar budget. Kenley has definitely been an asset for Mosaic with fundraising ideas. The Josyln museum staff were preparing for a gala they were having for all of their donors. In order to attend though, you must purchase the $175 ticket:

Jodi rocking the $120,000 dollar bench the museum recently bought:


Last Wednesday I traveled to the Henry Doorly Zoo with Liz and her class! This is the desert dome and it's filled with tons of creatures and many plants:


It's a lot different from the North Carolina Zoo because animals, like this peacock, walk around outside and aren't locked up behind a fence:


Liz looking through her pictures:


This is me---taking a break near the gorrillas:


Posing for the camera:

Trinity UMC had it's grand opening this past weekend! It involved a ribbon cutting ceremony with Nan and the Mayor of Ralston:


Animal Balloons:


Temporary Tattoos:


And Dan finished it off with a rap:


I am definitely excited for Trinity UMC and all the building it has been doing.

So, all of the interns came today! There are two other girls: Lydia and Laura and then three guys: Jason, Dan, and Phil

It was wonderful getting to meet all of them! I'll be working with Laura a lot and Phil some since we're the community relations summer associates. I took my oath today with AmeriCorps and found out that Mosaic can't fire me. So, I'm off to a good start.

Overall, today has been a good day. I was kind of taken back a little bit during the program Mosaic has called Life on the Brick. Life on the Brick is a time for EVERYONE--homeless or not--to eat a meal together. It's one thing to go to the rescue mission to serve food to the homeless, but it's definitely a different ball game to eat with those that are not like you.

I know I probably seem vain and caught up in my own little world by feeling this way, but I want to be honest about the situation. Another thing that kind of took me a back a little bit during the program was that I saw a woman have a seizure. That whole situation could definitely be described as INTENSE---at least through my eyes-- and I left as soon as I could after the ambulance came.

I've had a lot on my mind recently and I've been trying to figure out a bunch of things, but this past week has definitely been a time where I've grown a lot as a person. I'm still trying to figure a lot out, but right now I'm just reminding myself to focus more on the present instead of looking towards the future. I've wanted to be where I'm at right now--in this very moment I'm in--for so long---and now that I'm here I keep thinking about the future. So, as of right now, I'm just going to remember what Thoreau said:

"You must live in the present, launch yourself on every wave, find your eternity in each moment."

Anyway, the coffee shop I'm at right now is closing soon--so, I'll end this post.

Until later,

Meredith

Victory

I finally made it to JFON!!!!!!


The people who work there are so amazing and I really enjoyed getting to know them. I helped them with a mailing they were trying to get out for donations--so it wasn't exactly working with the clients---but it was a start (and my first day)--and I know I'll have a good time volunteering there.

I actually saw two of the women I met at JFON yesterday at a conference I went to today with Mosaic!

So, this is my friend, Dan:


We decided to TIE-DYE!




And Dan also dyed part of his dog, Sam.


I forgot to take pictures of the finished products--so when I get the shirts back I'll be sure to post them.

Also, I tried sushi tonight! Honestly, I am not a big fan of it, but I did try mochi for dessert and it was very good!

I looked at the weather for Raleigh today and it was in the low 90's--the high today in Nebraska was 70! I definitely wasn't expecting it to be this cool in June.

FYI---I am going to the ZOO tomorrow with Liz and her class!!! So excited!

Hasta Luego,

Meredith