Click here for photos. I hope you drink them in and feel refreshed, as I do every day that I see these incredible sights!!

That's all for now. Enjoy. :)

Oh, hello! Hmm, where to start. I realized that I never know how to start these post things, because I never have a plan for what I am going to write in these post things, so I tend to just launch into my day/week/life happenings. I realize that the more linear-minded of you might struggle with that, but let's just see where it goes, won't that be fun? I would like to introduce you to a word that has defined approximately 70 percent of my waking hours for the past week, actually five weeks: TRAINING. lots and lots. of training. And coming into JVC, I knew that'd be the case. And it really doesn't sound too bad, because you just need to sit there and listen, and you're not really accountable for anything because everyone knows that you know nothing or else, obviously, you would not need the aforementioned training. But the other side of this is that people are talking at you, not to you, and the information they are giving you is often overwhelmingly plentiful and overwhelmingly important, and you know this, but your brain has a threshold, as everyone's does. So, it just. takes. time. This is the most important thing I've had to remind myself of, even when some trainings wrap up and I've begun doing some of my work with the kids. For example, part of my job is to be a behavioral health associate, which essentially means that I spend time with the kids who are my clients and help them work on the parts of acceptable behavior that they struggle with. These kids are all classified as emotionally disturbed or severely emotionally disturbed, and as their BHA I have access to information about all of their history, all of the things that they've seen and experienced that no child should see or experience. It's a challenge to stay present in this job, to interact with a child who is right there in front of me, when all the thoughts running through my mind are of their past, what they've gone through and the injustice of that. And after recently beginning to work with the kids, it's also intimidating to interact with them while knowing that they can be triggered at any moment, by any phrase or change in environment or even the wrong tone of voice. This is where the struggle of being a BHA lies for me, but it is an important one. For now, I want to try to build relationships rather than modify behaviors. i've been challenged by the kids I've worked with, and I am constantly reminding myself that this job will take time. And I'm okay with that.

In recent news, the past three days have been GORGEOUS. unbelievably clear skies, the cliffs at the very top of the mountains clearly visible for the first time in forever. It's incredible how seeing something like that can turn a day around so easily. I'm doing a training with the women's shelter in town because I'd like to volunteer there, so I had to sit in a training room all day on Saturday and Sunday, and it almost killed me! But as soon as we finished, we drove out to one of the more remote parts of Juneau that has some killer views, and then my roommates and I played wiffle ball on the beach and had dinner together. So, I still got my share of sunshine :)

Also, on a random note (hmm that's weird, usually I'm so organized haaa), I've also really been loving connecting with people from Villanova, and from home too. Every single time, I think it's such a day-maker to get an email, facebook message, text, letter (I'm becoming so, so addicted to snail mail), or phone call from people back east. You guys are the people who ground me and remind me of who I am even when I forget, and I can't tell you what all that love means for me. Keep it comin', and know that if I haven't gotten to return an email or call just yet, you're on my list and I look forward to talking to you soon!! Thanks for everything, beautiful people. You're the best!

Today has been a much-needed low-key day. Went to church, went for a mini hike. And somebody from the community is bringing dinner over for us tonight! Just because they wanna!! Gumbo. YUM. It’s been a nice day, although the more low-key days we have, the more we begin to realize how at risk we are of cabin fever. I love to be a homebody and relax, but in these initial weeks of settling into our jobs, we have had a lot of downtime at home, and sometimes it makes me a little antsy! So I’m going to start working a little harder to have a life outside of work that at least sometimes goes beyond coming straight home. I’m looking into joining a gym, looking into different activities and classes there are in the city. One of my JV roommates, Leslie, works at an art studio, and the rest of us are able to take any art class for free if we volunteer for a little, which is exciting! So pretty much, one of my biggest goals right now is getting a life, or at least starting to make a life here that will make it feel a bit more like a home.
At the same time, work is going to be picking up in responsibility as my training starts to wrap up, which is a bit nerve-wracking. But I am looking forward to really delving into this job and learning all that I can from it, which, as terrifying as that is, just can’t really happen until I’m in the midst of it, on my own, not in training but actually doing. Obviously, YIKES. There’s still so much that I’m fuzzy on, and so much that intimidates me, and it’s going to be a stretch. But being stretched is the best way to grow, right?
And regardless of day-to-day worklife stressors, there’s the natural beauty of Juneau, and it honestly makes everything make sense. Juneau is rarely without rain and fog, but even so, it is beautiful in that way. It is a different kind of beautiful, but it is still indisputable. But, thankfully, Juneau has also given us one or two days so far that are filled with sunshine and take this place’s beauty from something mysterious to something absolutely artistic, and something that pictures cannot do justice (but, we can try: )