My mom just got me a beach umbrella. This is really quite an exciting concept to a Kansas girl — the fact that I’m going to the beach SO much that I need my own beach umbrella. Life is good.
Left: Beach photo that inspired the gift
I’m so happy to be celebrating my year long anniversary in New York . It hardly feels like it’s been a year. I’m so proud of how far I’ve come. I celebrated the actual day while heading up to a staff retreat in the Adirondacks.
There is so much to be thankful for — I live in a beautiful apartment in Sunnyside, Queens (my commute is 20 minutes to work), I have a cute puppy and bf to keep me company, I have great supportive friends, and I am employed in the city.
Pic of Weegee and view from my commute above 
One year ago I was living at home in KS and got the phone call for an interview in NYC. I moved out here with one suitcase and all of my hope. I didn’t get the job. Needless to say, I stayed, utilizing the generosity of my friends and staying on couches and air mattresses around the city. My home for a month was the floor of a friend’s apartment in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. I found a temp job to get me through that ultimately led me to my current position as a video producer.
Now that I have the job, I need to take strives to continue to better myself and learn and grow. I took a position as President-Elect of the NYC Mizzou Alumni Association so I could give back to my university and gain leadership experience.
Meanwhile, I’m still searching for what challenges me, sometimes getting frustrating at not being challenged enough. When I feel frustrated by that, I turn to my mom. When I get stressed , she’s always around the corner to offer some sage wisdom:
“There are too many annoying things! You need an annoyance umbrella! Just get annoyed by the really big things that crash through the umbrella and ignore the rest otherwise you get too bombarded.”
Well, now I have a beach umbrella so I can do just that.