Hello all.

So, as most of you know because of my email (and if you weren't on the email, I'm sorry), I am going to be living in New York City for my last semester of my undergraduate studies. I am taking (technically) 12 hours of school, part of which includes an internship. I will be interning at CBS News in the Press Office starting on January 11th and I'm really excited about this opportunity! I will fly out of Austin, Texas on January 10th at 7 a.m. and arrive in New York City around 11:30 a.m.

I will also be living at the St. George Residence-Studio Building, which is a an old hotel that has been renovated to become student housing in Brooklyn Heights. Below is my mailing address and, of course, I'd love to get mail from any of you! As much as I think I won't, I'm sure I will get homesick at some point and mail is always fun to receive from family and friends:)

Sara Martisek, 751
100 Henry Street.
St. George Residence
Brooklyn, NY 11201

Claire will be flying up with me to New York to help move me in. This will be a really quick trip for her because we'll arrive in New York on Sunday morning and she'll get back to Waco sometime Monday afternoon. But I know I will appreciate the extra hands and luggage checker since I start work the day after I arrive. We're also really excited about taking first day of work pictures together, ha!

My plan is to update you all regularly from this blog. I won't be sending out any more mass emails because I know those can get annoying, but please feel free to follow me while I'm in New York from this blog. I'd love to share all my crazy stories and adventures with you!

And now, I have to ask you all a favor. Please be praying for me. As much as I am excited about my semester in The Big Apple, I am as equally nervous and anxious. I am leaving Claire behind at Baylor and this is going to be so hard since we have built a precious friendship over this past semester at college together. I will miss her in my every day life so much more than she'll ever know. I won't be able to go home and see my family while I am in New York and I will miss them very much. I think a couple of them may try to come see me while I'm there, but still, this will be very different compared to the past 3.5 years when home was a 2.5 hour drive away. I know that I am going to miss my friends very much. My college roommates, my Zephyr family, Baylor and Tri Delta will all be people and places I know my heart will long for while I'm in New York. And last, but certainly not least, I am leaving behind my fiancé, Luke. Luke is such a big part of my life and my heart breaks knowing that we'll be apart at this distance for so long. But I count myself a lucky girl to have a fiancé that loves me so much that he would let me follow my dreams, even if this means all the way to New York. Luke plans to visit me a couple of times, but I know that this time apart will be difficult for us. Please pray that God would not only keep our hearts focused on Him and on each other, but that our love for each other would grow even more during our time apart.

I sort of see myself boarding a huge roller coaster ride right now. Soon the attendant will strap me in and the roller coaster will start inching up a 100 ft. track that will eventually drop me into one of the craziest rides of my young adult life. And even though there will be days that I feel this scary ride will never stop, I know that by the end of my time in New York, I will feel as if the ride lasted only a couple of minutes. I will have completed an internship at CBS News, conquered the city that never sleeps, probably planned parts of my wedding (eeek!! :D), and lived out a dream I have had since I was a little girl.

I love you all and I can't wait to share this adventure and time of my life with you!

"Start spreading the news, I'm leaving today. I want to be a part of it, New York, New York!"
-Frank Sinatra

Peace,
Sara