On the top of the office...literally.

It's now been about two weeks since I began my grown-up job at East Liberty Development, Inc. It's hard to believe that I'm actually settling in there, beginning projects and following through on them.

I was pretty intimidated on my first day. My supervisor sat me down and gave me my list of goals, and told me in no uncertain terms that it's all my responsibility, and that if these things don't happen it will be no one's fault but mine. These are my projects and I have to follow through on them! It's great to be trusted, and I think I'm up to the job, but it was intimidating. My goals for the job include: overseeing the redesign of our website, facilitating email action teams of concerned residents, developing a communication strategy and compiling the annual report. I don't have a ton of experience with a lot of this, but I think I can combine what I do know with what I learn and make something really cool out of it. And learn a LOT.

I made a lot of great connections my first week, met a lot of cool people and learned a lot. But one of the coolest things I got to do was go on top of my office building to get an aerial view of the Target construction happening down the street. These guys broke ground in the end of July and it's amazing how much they have done already! I could gush about Target forever, but this particular store is awesome because it only takes up 1/3 of the land of a normal Target because the store is actually parked on top of the parking garage. And there are going to be windows. It's just going to be sweet and I'm really glad that I get to follow the development as closely as I do!

PULSE isn't all about work, though. I've had a great time getting to know the other girls and meeting former PULSErs. There are a lot of PULSE alumni living in the area; in fact, we had them over for a barbeque last night! It was great to meet some people who had gone through similar experiences and that are still living out their faith in Pittsburgh.

I've also been getting to know East Liberty a lot more. I work about a mile away, so I walk there and back every day. I probably won't enjoy it as much in the cold, but it's really nice to walk through the neighborhood every day. Sometimes I take different routes to see new things, but even when I walk on my "main route" I am still learning locations and streets, and that has been really helpful.

I feel like I'm not doing a good job of conveying my experience on the blog, but I promise that I'm really, really enjoying it. I am learning A TON at my placement: about communications, social media, PR, urban planning, development, nonprofits, trees....all of it. I'm even beginning to understand their acronyms. This is a big step! I don't know if this is all non-profits or just the ones with which I've worked, but it seems that every place I work has a ton of acronyms!

I just ask that you continue to pray with me and for me as I continue living in Pittsburgh and learn what it means to be a grownup Christian in the city. Pray for my housemates and our program's director and his wife as well! Thanks so much--if you'd like to be on my email or mailing list, email me at graham.margaret(at symbol)hotmail.com!