Life Update: Sarah

Next up on the update front is my sweet girl, Sarah.  Sarah just started her senior year at UNC Charlotte where she is majoring in Communications and Public Relations.  One of the requirements for graduation in her major is that she has to have a relevant summer internship so in February she started the search.  She applied to so many openings and wasn't getting called for interviews for any of them.  

Summer was quickly approaching and she began to worry that she wasn't going to get a job.  So she arranged her fall schedule so that she had classes only on Tuesdays and Thursdays in case she needed to do her internship during the fall semester.

She was panicking that she wasn't going to get any internships.  Without an internship she wouldn't be able to graduate! I started praying harder than ever and  I asked everyone I knew to pray for her.  And within a couple of weeks, she had four interviews lined up!  She got called back for second interviews with three of them. And while this was going on, she said, "Mom!  Your prayers are working too well!" 

She got offered all three of the jobs she had second interviews for and chose the one she really wanted the most.  She currently works for the Charlotte Motor Speedway as a Communications fellow!  This is a fellowship and not an internship which means she works for them from July to the end of December and she is absolutely loving it!  **Please notice how God works...she wasn't getting any interviews so she set her school schedule so she could work a job in the fall if she needed to.  And the job God provided her with was not only her dream internship but a six month fellowship that works with her school schedule!  Y'all!  God is so good!

After she started, she found out that typically they choose recent college graduates for this position. In fact, the other fellow that she is working with just graduated from college.  So that made her feel extra special! 

She says she is learning a lot.  Every Thursday, all the interns have a meeting with different guest speakers or learn about different things/skills to help them when they begin looking for a job. She's meeting a lot of cool people and having the time of her life!  

Their special guest speaker this day was a retired commander from the 82nd Airborne (he was there after Dan was in the 82nd).  He is currently running NASCARs Welcome Home Patriots program.

The aftermath of the Monster Truck Race!

Riding around the track doing over 100MPH!  She said that she is getting track certified so that she can drive on the track.

 

  

She also got to work the Coca Cola 600 which is the Speedway's biggest race.  It was at the end of May.  They asked her to come work it even though her official first day of work wasn't until July 1st.  She had a blast!

So official!

View from the roof where all the spotters stand.

The Press Room! She got to sit in while they were doing all the before race pressers with the race car drivers.

She even got to hang out on pit road!

In June, Sarah went to a graduation with Joe and his family in Philadelphia.  They also got to attend a Phillies game.  I'm not sure if I've mentioned it or not but Sarah (who used to hate baseball) is now a Phillies fan thanks to Joe and miraculously loves baseball now.  

 

 

 

For Sarah's birthday, Joe got her tickets to see The Great Gatsby on Broadway.  The Great Gatsby is her favorite book and Sarah loves a good Broadway show so she was thrilled.  They had the best weekend in New York.

 

Look at the cream cheese selection at the bagel shop they went to!

AND!!! They got to see the Phillies BEAT the Yankees in Yankee Stadium! (That makes this Red Sox fan happy!!

AND!  They got to see Chicago.  They got cheap tickets they day off the play.  What an unexpected bonus!

And now, after an eventful summer of work and play, she is back in class.  She is juggling school, work, her executive position in her sorority, AND she has an executive position in the UNC Charlotte chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of American.  It's going to be a very busy semester for my girl!

LIfe Update: Peter

Thought I'd give quick life updates on the kids to mayyyyybeeeeeee get back in the swing of regular blogging. 

As you may remember, in May, my boy graduated from N.C. State with a degree in Political Science.  He had a great four years and was little melancholy that his time as a student there was over.  He loves Raleigh though and has decided that's where he wants to live.  And who can blame him.  It's a great little city and almost all of his friends are there. (The only thing that's missing is me. :))

His lease didn't end until the end of July but all of his roommates were heading back home for the summer so he came home too!  I was so excited to have him here for a couple of months.  It made the fact that Sarah stayed in Charlotte this summer instead of coming home a little more bearable.  And he could look for a job online just as easily here as he could in Raleigh.  

While he was home, he went with Dan on a business trip to San Antonio and explored the sites there. He visited the Pearl District, saw all of the missions, tried some Texas BBQ, drank a lot of new to him beer (he loves rating beers on the Untapped App), visited the Alamo, and had dinner with Dan every night on the Riverwalk.  It was a great little trip for him and I'm glad he was able to go. And it was also a nice distraction from his job hunting.

 

Speaking of looking for a job....the job market is currently a bleak one for recent graduates.  As a political science major, Peter  wanted to work either for the state of NC or the city of Raleigh but right as he was beginning his job search in early February, Donald Trump was cutting all those federal government jobs which meant many people in those positions started searching for jobs at the state and local levels.  And the state started to freeze positions at their level with all the uncertainty.  Sooooooooo.....Peter had to change his focus.  And after months of online applications and a lot of prayer he is currently working at a law office in Raleigh as a legal assistant!  He's been there for two weeks now and is really enjoying it.  

He also moved into a new house with a couple of guys.  Since this one is not in walking distance to NC State, it's cheaper and a lot nicer than the other places he's lived.  It's in a very nice neighborhood in Raleigh and it's only a couple of miles from campus and all of his favorite places.  He is enjoying exploring the new neighborhood and finding new places to eat, grab coffee, have a drink, etc.  In fact, just a few minutes ago he texted me about a cool BBQ place he found!  

So, all in all, things are going great for my boy.  I'm so thankful he found a job that he seems to be enjoying.  He's living in a cute little house with some great guys. He's enjoying his new neighborhood and fall is his favorite time of year: cozy vibes, football, cooler weather and in his opinion, the best four moths of the year!

I miss having him at home but I'm glad he's happy!