suh
k-ses n: the favorable or prosperous termination of attempts or endeavors.
Well, I'm a little late in posting this but we finally found an apartment! We made the mistake of looking around the east and north side of Austin on our first apartment searching trip. We had settled our minds on one only to find terrible crime and reviews. So as I mentioned in my last post, my mother and I decided to take another trip to Austin. This time we focused on the area very close to the school and department, as well as directly south. Unfortunately, once we got there everything was either sleazy or very expensive. Then we made our way to the west. YAY! There are some gorgeous places to the west of Austin! That is apparently where the "hill country" starts (and man does it live up to that name! I will need to replace my brakes before going.) We didn't have a lot of time, but we got to see some we liked! For some bizarre reason there are a ton of nice apartments for good prices in that area! By the end of the day we were exhausted, hadn't eaten since 9am, and still had a few places we wanted to see, so we had my dad bid on a hotel for us on priceline. We found this awesome shopping/dining area called The Domain (I'm going to have a lot of fun there) and ate at Gloria's before buying clothes at Macy's for the next day. I'm sure we looked pretty funny walking into the Hyatt with nothing but ourselves and a couple of Macy's bags! It felt like a scene from a classic hollywood movie...maybe sometime with Katharine Hepburn! =D We had to ask the front desk for toothbrushes and toothpaste.
The next morning we had time to visit four more apartments before heading home to see my sister and her boyfriend. I narrowed it down to my four top choices and presented them to Danielle through email. We talked it out and choose one which I think will be great! It is possibly one of the best locations that we visited! This place has an amazing hill top view of the city and is only about 15 minutes away from the department! I just mailed my application off this morning and we should be able to move in on the 30th!
So for now I am packing up my little garage apartment in Fort Worth and getting it all ready to go to Austin after Christmas. I didn't realize how much stuff I had managed to fit into this tiny place! I'm definitely going to miss this place though! It's so cozy and quaint.
rep-i-tish-uh n noun: repeated utterance; reiteration.
Oh man! Looking for an apartment in Austin is torture! They are all over the place, but everywhere is either expensive, has high crime rates, or low reviews.....most of them have at least two! Oh, and the line for the day: "We have a sister apartment that might be closer to your price range!" We heard this at least 10 times but when we actually went to their sister apartments they were just as high or didn't have any available. It's crazy out there. So, apparently one day wasn't enough, in fact it was almost a complete bust now that we have done more research. Danielle is getting ready to head back to Kansas for Christmas break so mom and I are going back to Austin tomorrow to look at more apartments. I hope and pray we find a wonderful deal!
kon-takt noun: a person who is in a position to give you special assistance.
This weekend I took an awesome road trip to Branson MO with my friend Jessi. While we were there I had the chance to meet her friend Nathan who happened to mention that he knew an epidemiologist in Austin and would be happy to get me in contact with her. How crazy is that? So I have emailed her and have already gotten some tips on succeeding in the workforce. She works for the Texas Department of State Health Services with the Immunization Branch. We are going to meet for lunch sometime while I am there. Yay for advice and making contacts!
Oh, and I guess I haven't mentioned yet that I going to be doing my internship with the department of prevention and preparedness, working on their immtrac program (immunization tracking). I think it will be very interesting!
priˈpe(ə)r verb: to make ready or fit or suitable beforehand.
Next semester, beginning on January 10th, 2011, I will be participating in an internship at the Texas Department of State Health Services in Austin, TX. I am currently working on my Master of Public Health degree in Epidemiology at UNT Health Science Center in Fort Worth. In fact, I have always lived within a few hours of Fort Worth and was born just three miles from the school! Needless to say, Austin is going to be a big change from the atmosphere of Fort Worth. There are several of us from UNTHSC that are going to Austin next semester so at least there will be familiar faces and no need for strangers as roommates! I'm definitely going to miss my friends and family here in north Texas, as well as this town and my adorable garage apartment. However, I'm sure Austin is going to be great!
First things first! I will be needing a place to live while in Austin! That is why Danielle and I are heading down to Austin to check out some of the more affordable apartment options tomorrow night. Let's hope this goes well!
Preparing for the unknown can be both scary and exciting!
