Breaking the Mooo-ld

Unsettled and Off My Rocker

2012-01-22T13:48:00.003-06:00

"Unsettled" seems to be the most fitting way to describe the last month or so. I've been incredibly nomadic and my schedule has been unpredictable to say the least. January and I have had our battles, now it's time for a new month.

-

Camp closed its doors for two weeks in honor of the Christmas and New Year holidays. I was incredibly grateful for the opportunity to spend quality time with family and friends during the break. In fact, Alex and I were able to spend nearly 10 days together, as we each took a turn celebrating Christmas with our families. I was in the Carolinas December 20-24, and he came to Louisiana the 26th through the 30th. I especially enjoyed the opportunity to treat Alex to his first visit to New Orleans, a trip that coincided with a Nicholls roommate reunion (plus Joey & Kim who were in from Idaho)! It was great.

On January 2nd, I drove back to Little Rock, anticipating a return to work on the 4th. However, on the 3rd, a coworker and I went to the office to check out the progress on our rennovations, only to find out the administration had decided to keep the office closed until the following Monday (Jan. 9th). Megan and I were really frustrated because we could have used this time to visit our boys (her husband's spending the month in Boston for a Med School rotation), instead of being stuck in LR for the week. Thankfully, Megan and I had each other to stay entertained, since she'd asked me to be her roommate for the month while Richie is out of town.

We returned to work on Monday (Jan. 9th), with high hopes for settling into our new offices and getting back into the swing of things. Lo and behold, that morning we were informed the construction schedule would require the office to be closed once again, on Thursday and Friday. Later that afternoon, the closure was expanded to include Wednesday, which meant Monday and Tuesday were the only days were open for business that week. Oh, and, we didn't return to work until the following Tuesday (Jan. 17th) because Monday was a holiday (MLK). *angry face*

Ironically enough, I made several comments back in December about how I was jealous of college students' holidays, as my first year in the big kid world. While an unexpected four-week holiday from work definitely had it's perks, it happened to be one of the worst times of the year for this to happen. January 6th was the deadline for applications for spring weekend camp volunteers. Somehow...somewhow... the typical applicant pool for this time of year more than doubled from 20 to 45! I have no idea how this happened, but trying to process applications, schedule interviews, place volunteers, prepare for and host a large training all in one week was incredibly overwhelming, and definitely not something I'd like to ever do again.

No matter how hard I tried, I just could not keep up! There were so many e-mails that it took me til Friday to even LOOK at messages that had arrived the previous Sunday. The phone rang off the hook, with sometimes two or three messages left via voicemail while I answered a call that came in just before. Oh oh - I forgot to mention that we hosted our first weekend camp of the year this weekend, so Tommy (Weekend Camp Coordinator) and I were both scrambling to prepare evaluations, check-in forms, and cabin lists for Disney Weekend, all at the same time everything else was going on! It was nuts, I tell you...nuts!

At this point, I've survived the weekend, but there is no rest for the weary. It's a "work week" at Camp this week, so we'll have volunteer groups coming out to rake leaves from 9-3 for the better part of the week. This doesn't leave me much time to continue the interview and placement process with new volunteers, nor to prepare for next weekend's SCUBA Camp. ...Not to mention all the parents who are calling about summer camp applications (that I haven't even BEGUN to prepare). AHHH!!

All of this stress would have been a lot to take in a normal month, but adding a new roommate to the mix, while not being in my own space is quite a transition, as well. We're also right in the middle of processing applications for the 2012 National 4-H Conference Collegiate Facilitator group, and I'm doing my best to give that project all the attention it deserves. And, one can't forget the sneaky stressors in life such as hormonal changes or supporting and serving others. ...Those little boogers.

Needless to say...I'M READY FOR FEBRUARY!

-Lauren

A Set of 1's.

2012-01-16T15:01:00.004-06:00

Fair warning, this post is going to be mushy gushy, so if you just had lunch, you may want to pick someone else's life to stalk for a while. I've tried to avoid the lovey dovey stuff on my blog, but today I'm going to combine it all into one post and get it out of the way for a while. So again, bear with me, or "change the channel," if you will. :)

I'm a firm believer that couples should date for at least a full year before making any real decisions or new steps in the relationship. There's just something to be said for experiencing each of the four seasons together - celebrating holidays, taking vacations, dealing with oppressive heat and the blustery cold. Plus, I'm not sure if any of you are in-tuned to your own lives as well as I might claim to be, but different seasons "work" for different people, and some seasons are just depressing.

For example, spring is a happenin' time of the year for me - I absolutely love spring time. The weather is beautiful, there's lots to do, it's my birthday, and spring is just plain FUN! On the other hand, I loathe fall - there's nothing to celebrate, the days are short, everyone's coming off of a lazy summer, and work is just sooo slowwww. Overall, I find Fall to be incredibly boring and seemingly drags on forever. For others, sentiments may be quite the opposite.

In a long distance relationship, every moment, every season is something to celebrate - as another milestone of accomplishment, and another day closer to "together forever." Developing the habit of recognizing each milestone can lend itself to exercises in creativity, especially when time together can be unpredictible from month to month or season to season.

Alex and I have developed several creative ways to spend time together, even when we are apart. Someone on the outside looking in may see our time "together" as lame, or even cheesy, but it works for us and that's what matters. The purpose of this post isn't to provide others in similar situations with ideas or suggestions for staying in touch, so I won't describe our tricks of the trade. What I will say is that everyone has to find something that works for them - try it once and if it works it works, and if it doesn't, try something else. Half the fun is in the trying. ;-)

Over the course of the last year, Alex and I have made many memories together. We never imagined the failed first blind "date" on December 10, 2010 would have turned into the longest and greatest relationship either of us have ever experienced. One day I'll have to tell all of you that story. Looking back, we laugh, but at the time it all seemed really awkward and miserable. Many thanks to K.M. and C.B. for your attempts at ... well I'm not sure what exactly you were attempting there, but thanks. Haha.

On December 24, 2010, Alex bravely asked me out on a "real" first date and we each decided to start with a clean slate and give it another try. On January 9, 2011 Alex drove 4 hours each way (8 hours total) to spend an afternoon with me...despite the impending snow storm headed our way. Something told me that any guy who offered to drive 8 hours to spend a day with me HAD to be worth a shot. Today, something tells me I was right. :-D

And today, January 16, 2012, marks one year from the date Alex asked me to be his girlfriend. A year ago, we thought 240 miles, 4 hours, and 2 states away was a "long distance" relationship. Yet, today, we're celebrating from 825 miles, 14 hours, and 5 states apart. Talk about creativity, haha.

It's not always easy, but we do our best to spend as much quality time together as we can. While our definition of together may be different than most, we like to think it's even more special because we don't take anything for granted. As we look ahead toward more "1's," and then "2's, 3's, 5's, 10's, 100's..." I pray that we always remember the little moments, memories, and magic we have together.

Thank you, Alex, for an amazing year. As you're well aware, 12 is my favorite number and I have a hunch that 2012 is going to be a great year. I love you!

<3 <3 <3,
Lauren

[See folks, I warned you it was mushy...tehe.]

Happy Trails...to You

2011-11-19T14:12:00.003-06:00

It seems as though it's "that time of the year" again...when the holidays are upon us, as is all the pomp and circumstance that surrounds them. Ick. I really don't like this time of the year, for exactly that reason. However, I guess the one good thing about it all is the time off from work or school (I miss school?!) and the frequent excuse to travel.

Speaking of traveling, I've been doing a lot of that lately. While a long distance relationship is a year-round excuse for traveling, I've realized that my recent additional travels have made me a whole lot happier of a person. (Duhhh, Lauren! What rock has your brain been under?!) So travels, eH? Where have I been and what have I been up to? Keep reading to find out.

Family Weekend in Shreveport, LA (Oct. 23-24): My cousin, Ross, just started his freshman year of college and is playing baseball for LSU-Shreveport. His family planned to spend the weekend in Shreveport and wanted to host a gumbo for the team after practice on Saturday. I was thrilled when they invited me to join them for the weekend. As it turned out, my mom drove my grandparents up for the weekend, as well, and so I was able to see most of my family for the first time since July. I had a great time seeing everyone...sure makes me wish I were closer to home, though.

Carolina Roadtrip (Oct. 27-30): I flew to Charlotte, NC, spent the night in Boiling Springs, SC, and then drove back to NC for a weekend with Alex's parents. The whole trip involved 3 nights at three separate homes, great food, and fun times. Conveniently, the trip was planned before Alex's dad had emergency surgery and was in the hospital the week before, so we were able to go out and visit as he returned home to begin the recovery process. His mom seemed to really enjoy having us over for game night and then she showed us off (:-p) at church on Sunday morning. Then we rushed back to Charlotte for a Sunday afternoon flight, at an airport I wish I could avoid for all eternity. Overall, however, it was a good weekend.

ACA HOS Conference in Cadiz, KY (Nov. 1-3): I was sent to Lake Barkley State Park to represent Camp at the annual ACA regional conference. Thanks to the required attendance at their standards course, I had to leave Little Rock at 5 a.m. in order to make it in time. Some parts of the travel experience were a little hairy, but I conquered my fears and made it back in one piece. At times, the conference was a bit lonely knowing no one, but I did enjoy several of the sessions and I suppose I'll look forward to next year's conference in Nashville.

Celebration Weekend in Fayetteville, AR (Nov. 11-13): USC Upstate Men's Baksetball team played their season opener against the Arkansas Razorbacks. With Alex in Arkansas for a long weekend, I sped outta work after the volunteer meeting for Respite camp on Friday, hoping to make it in time for part of the game. Somehow, I managed to make it into my floor-level seat at the start of the second half, cheering for the Spartans as they worked to keep up with the Hogs. As expected, they lost by 20 points but it was a good effort. Saturday, Alex and I went Christmas shopping for our families, and that night, we celebrated his early birthday with dinner at Logan's Roadhouse. Sunday morning we had brunch at IHOP before I dropped him off at the airport (XNA is in the middle of nowhere!!) and drove the 3.5 hours back to Little Rock. A bit belated but, Happy 27th, Alex!!

This little travel bug has hit me in a great way. I'm so excited about going home for Thanksgiving next week, as it's the first time I get to be home for this holiday since 2007! Yay!! Traveling helps the days and weeks to go by much faster than whenever I'm sitting in the apartment watching DVR for weeks on end. The learning curve at work is still a little windy, but I feel much better about things as I near the 6-month mark. I can't believe I've already been working here for a half year! Crazy. Before I know it, I'll be hitting 1 year and summer will be upon us again.

I guess I shouldn't have been so surprised by the positive effect traveling has had on my lookout on life. Travel has always been in my blood, and it makes sense that I'm sad whenever I stay in one place for so long. Now, let's just hope I can keep this going somehow, because I know it's literally essential to my sanity. ...I only wish I had greater flexibility and more funds to support my habit. ;)

To all of you who are traveling near and far during this holiday season, I wish you the best. Please feel free to share any fun stories or weird experiences from your adventures! And with that request, I bid you...

Adieu.
-Lauren

Smiles for a Sunny Day

2011-10-08T15:25:00.003-05:00

I may have dropped the ball on providing a blog entry for September, but I'm here today itching to get (at least) one in for the month of October. Overall, things are going pretty well for me these days. No major news and no real complaints. Fall is officially here, according to the calendar, but I'm thrilled that the warm weather (mid to upper 80's) is sticking around. Lots of sunshine (my favorite "good mood vitamin"), and plenty of pleasant temperatures for enjoying the great outdoors.

A couple of weeks ago, I experienced my favorite week at work thus far (except, perhaps one of the weeks this summer at Camp). It was a busy week (which, I am learning, is way better than a slow one) filled with lots of variety. The details escape me now, but I remember hosting an orientation for four brand spankin' new weekend volunteers, attending a couple of interesting meetings, organizing a 30-girl group of Seniors from Mount St. Mary's Academy doing service for their annual Mercy Day, and we even kicked off the Fall season of weekend camps. The following week, we had a five-person group of young adults in the ACCESS Schools adult program (vocational education for individuals with special needs) who came out to rake leaves, and we continued on with our four straight weekends of Camp. It's busy but I really like it that way. When things are slow, I get bored and that's never fun when you're sitting at a desk for what feels like 8 million hours a day!

Alex came to visit Little Rock last weekend, so that was nice of course. I ended up with a long four day weekend, thanks to some flex time I earned while working a couple of weekends earlier in the month. We stayed busy and it was super fun to check several things of my list of places to explore in Little Rock. Though we visited a couple of museums, tried two new restaurants, and spent some time enjoying the beautiful weather, I have to say my favorite outing was hiking the Base Trail at Pinnacle Mountain State Park. This 1.25 mile trail (as listed online) turned into a 3.5 miler, but that's okay, we had a blast. Plus, the weather was absolutely perfect, and it seems as though I am developing a fondness for hiking outdoor trails. It was a great weekend, to say the least.

Off and on over the last few weeks, I've had some strange, unexplained fevers. The fevers were random and unaccompanied by any other symptoms. After a few days and nights of fever in the same week, I started to worry that there could be a legitimate problem with my health, so I decided to conquer my "magical thinking" and visit a doctor. Much to my surprise (and entertainment) technologies in doctors' offices have come a long way since my days as a child (and frequenter of physicians offices). - Who knew GP offices had slots in the walls of restrooms for transfer of urine specimens, and even further, that these offices could do urine analysis/cbc tests on site?!? News to me! In any case, all of my results came back normal and the doctor decided I had some type of "atypical" bacterial infection, putting me on a seven day round of antibiotics. I haven't had fever since the day I visited the doctor, and aside from those funky side effects (nausea, lack of appetite, etc.), my body feels a lot healthier than it has recently. ...Guess I've been carrying around some bacteria for longer than I realized. oops. Now let's just hope this has resolved itself, the fevers go away, and no need for more extensive testing.

Other than that, all is well. It's a great day for cheering on our #1 Tigers, a title they're looking to hold onto for yet another week (as they kill the Gators on this beautiful Saturday afternoon). Thanks for all the comments on my last entry - it's great to have your support and encouragement along the way. Wishing all of you a great Fall season and hoping to hear from you again soon!

Sending smiles for a sunny day!
-Lauren

Introducing Alex

2011-08-27T13:28:00.005-05:00

I suppose this post is more than eight months overdue. No, I'm not writing about how I should have posted more frequently, or how I have a ton to share in an update. Instead, I want to tell you about a person I met in December (2010), who has become a daily part of my life.

Over the years, I've shared a few stories about friends or roommates of mine who have done great things in life. For a while now, I've wanted to start a blog series honoring some of these people and their accomplishments. While this isn't necessarily the start of said series, I do want to introduce you all (seeing as how I have a huge reader base - not!) to someone who is special to me.

As I said before, I met this person in December, as sort of a last minute social outing before heading home to Louisiana (from grad school in Raleigh, NC) for the Christmas holidays. The meeting was at a Krispy Kreme restaurant with one of my friends and her boyfriend. Sparing several details, the outing turned out to be a bust, and I went home feeling as though it was a sincere waste of time. However, almost nine months later, I look back and think about the irony that this person plays such a large role in my life today. For, on that awkward evening, I met the person who is now my boyfriend - Alex.

A month later, the day after I returned from the Christmas holidays, Alex offered to take me on a date. In fact, he drove over 8 hours (round-trip) to spend only half of that with me. At that point, I knew any guy who would go out of his way to spend this kind of time with boring 'ole me, haaaaaad to be special. And well, I was right. ;)

Anyway, for all you creepers out there, here's the dish!

Alex is 26, he lives in Spartanburg, South Carolina, and works as the Assistant Media Relations Director for the University of South Carolina - Upstate. Originally, Alex is from a small town southeast of Raleigh, which is where he met my friend's boyfriend while interning at Campbell University a few years ago. Currently, Alex is responsible for the stats and media releases for several sports at Upstate, which keeps him busy for at least nine months of the year. (If you're super interested in those details - look him up online, lol.)

Knowing me, and now knowing Alex's situation, by now you've probably figured out that we're doing this whole relationship thing via distance. Fortunately or unfortunately, Alex and I have been friends via distance from the very beginning. As long as I've known him, Alex has lived in South Carolina, and I've lived in Raleigh, Abbeville, or Little Rock...which translates to at least 4 hours of distance between us at all times. I'll be honest, it was tough to work through those decisions about finishing school, accepting jobs, moving, and being apart. However, neither of us really wanted to give up on something that seemed to be such a natural fit, so we've stuck with it.

It's very important to both of us that we maintain our sense of "self," so we try to hold onto friendships and encourage each other to do fun things with others. (This is much more challenging for me right now - having moved to a new area with little time and few friends.) In April, I met Alex's parents, and in July he met mine; family is a crucial piece to this puzzle and we're trying to piece it all together strategically. It's a process that takes time and special attention to detail, so we're working at it as we go.

We try to be creative in our communications and really cherish the time that we do have together. It can be fun to stretch our capacities for creativity, and like the Lady A song ("Just a Kiss") says, we hope it'll "make forever longer" when we are eventually able to move into the next season of our relationship. For now, we try to take it day by day, and I continuously remind myself that many people have be successful at this before, so it is indeed possible.

On a lighter note, I'm headed to Spartanburg next weekend, and I absolutely cannot wait!! By that point, it will have been 7.5 weeks since we've seen one another and just thinking about it almost seems surreal. With that, I'd like to ask that all of you keep us in your thoughts and prayers - we need all the patience, strength, and support that we can get. Thanks, in advance!

...And there he is!
-Lauren

A Week in the Life of...

2011-07-30T20:12:00.007-05:00

...ME!

It's been about two months since I moved to Little Rock and started my first big girl jobby job. Seeing as how I have been out of touch with the interwebs for a while, I figured some of you might enjoy a "play-by-play" describing a typical week in my new life as the Volunteer Coordinator for Camp Aldersgate. First things first--what is Camp Aldersgate? See below for our mission statement:

Camp Aldersgate, Inc., a non-profit organization, enriches the lives of children and youth who have medical or physical conditions or developmental delays and their families, as well as senior adults, through educational and recreational opportunities in an out-of-doors camp environment.

Our vision is to set the standard for a camping environment that encourages normalcy, socialization, and inclusiveness to persons with diverse abilities and needs.

We offer camps for children and youth who have conditions such as cancer, muscular dystrophy, spina bifida, cerebral palsy, diabetes, arthritis, asthma, epilepsy, kidney disorders, autism, Down syndrome, and mental retardation. Hundreds of campers come each year from across Arkansas and from surrounding states to enjoy an experience of a lifetime.

--

With that out of the way, just what does the Volunteer Coordinator for Camp Aldersgate do? Keep reading to find out!

Sunday: I arrive around 9:15 to prepare for the day's activities. Mornings include checking-in teen volunteers (10 a.m.)--gathering their health screening forms, providing their name tags (wristbands)/t-shirts, and informing teens of the cabins in which they will be working. We have an orientation meeting to go over policies and procedures, distribute break schedules, discuss any special information for the week, and describe opening-day assignments. After lunch (12:30 p.m.), I train volunteers for additional responsibilities such as health care assistant work, and manning the phones for registration. Sometimes, I try to sneak in a little record keeping or paperwork before camper registration starts at 2 o'clock. During registration, I take photos of all the campers under our big camp sign. (These photos are posted in the office for the duration of the week, to help our staff and visitors get to know our campers just a little it better.) Once registration ends around 5 or 5:30, I'm free to leave for the day.

Monday: As with all weekdays at camp, I arrive just a little earlier than required (8:15 ish), to grab (free) breakfast with the campers/staff. I check to see if there are any important messages or e-mails waiting for me, and then head out to morning activities in hopes of making myself visible (available) and spending some time with the campers, volunteers, and counselors. Usually, I spend Mondays with my favorite "archery girls," and I also try to check in with our fabbbulous "art lady." These activities are located closest to our office and I'm generally pretty slow moving on Mondays, ha.

At lunch each day, I distribute mail to campers, counselors, and volunteers. I try to check-in with many of the senior counselors to see if there are any challenges with volunteers that need my attention. In the afternoon, I check messages, return e-mails, and begin gathering the list of volunteers who are set to arrive the following week. On either Mondays or Tuesdays, I send out a reminder e-mail and Facebook invitation to all volunteers who are assigned to the following week of camp. I also follow up with any of those volunteers who are missing paperwork such as references, proof of TB skin test, or registration fees. Mondays, I am usually able to head out of camp around 5 p.m.

Tuesday: Oh Tuesdays, my long day. On Tuesdays, I try to make it out to our Adventure Challenge course (zipline and low-ropes elements). It's a bit of a trek out to this part of camp, so I try to get my tail in high gear to visit this activity on Tuesday, with the incentive of getting it out of the way earlier in the week. ;) If I hadn't gotten a chance to initiate contact with the coming week's volunteers, I make sure I do this on Tuesday afternoon. Often times, volunteers will begin to confirm their attendance for the following week and it is common for volunteers or their parents to contact me with questions regarding packing lists, break schedules, or paperwork. I also start to work on the cabin list, placing volunteers in cabins and figuring out ratios for certain activities.

In the late afternoon, I prepare for the Tuesday night volunteer meeting. This involves making a list of talking points (reminders for the volunteers), outlining in my head the night's activity and meeting process, as well as gathering snacks and drinks. I put a variety of drinks in a cooler with ice, and gather some snacks to be set out later that night. As much as possible, I try to leave camp right at 5 p.m., to have dinner and rest for a bit at my apartment before heading back around 9:30 for the 10 p.m. volunteer meeting.

In these meetings, I try to do a name game (Hey--I manage 25 teens each week, it takes work to learn 150+ names!) coupled with an activity that encourages teens to discuss a high and low point of the week so far. To be creative, I switch it up by calling it the rose/thorn, laffy/taffy, butter/honey, or sweet/sour moments. Hehe. Following these activities, I make a point of encouraging a specific "goal" for the rest of the week, which often relates to a common theme expressed by volunteers in their "low point" stories. We also talk about any issues counselors relayed regarding volunteers, such as reminders to put the campers first, keep a positive attitude, avoid PDA, or to respect others. Then, I encourage the teens to enjoy their snacks, while I pull each cabin group aside to talk about any cabin-specific questions or concerns. Volunteers often spend this time rambling about camper stories or how great (sometimes bad) their counselors are. I try to have everyone out of the meeting by 11 p.m., so they can get back to their cabins before curfew at 11:15. At this point, I have to turn out the lights in our Commons building, lock up all the doors, walk to my car and lock the camp gate in the dark, then drive back to my apartment around 11:30 p.m. Whewww.... what a long day and a creepy ending to the night.

Wednesday: By Wednesday, I'm usually pooped, especially with the late night on Tuesday. In the mornings, I welcome our corporate groups (volunteers) who come out to help with Fishing Derby on Wednesdays and Thursdays. For first-time groups, myself and our Director of Development or the Executive Director welcomes the group, gives them an overview of camp history and programs, and provides an opportunity to view our camp DVD. Then, I (and sometimes one of the other staff members, depending on the size of the group) use a golf cart to take the group down to the lake for fishing. If the group brings snacks (such as popsicles), I also help with getting those into a cooler with ice, and bring it down to the lake with us. Around lunchtime, I take the group back up to the front parking lot, thank them for their help, and send them on their way, sometimes to return again the following one for another day of fishing.

If I haven't heard from all of the following week's volunteers by Wednesday, then I start making phone calls and follow-up e-mails to seek their acknowledgement for arriving at camp the coming Sunday. By this point, I sometimes have to start looking for replacement volunteers, for those who have conflicts, or had to back out for whatever reason. I start this process by looking for volunteers who indicated their availability on the application, looking first for those on the waiting list, second for those who are at camp this week (easy access! haha.), and third for those who have already been out to camp and did a great job while they were here. It can take a bit of time and several calls before finding someone to fill an open spot, especially at such the last minute.

I also start to pull files for the volunteers who will be at camp the following week, since I set those out near my desk for the duration of their week of camp--just in case I need to grab quick information such as a phone number or health form. On Wednesdays, I usually jet out of camp as soon as I can, typically exhausted from the late night and half week of work already under my belt.

Thursday: Thursday is the day for do-or die. If there is a group coming for Fishing Derby, I transport them and spend the morning out at the lake as their camp "escort." If not, I try to make it out to the nature activity at some point, and maybe re-visit art or archery again.

Throughout the week, I follow-up with counselors and volunteers for any issues that arose, and if those issues aren't smoothed out by Thursday, then I prepare myself for dealing with poor volunteer evaluations (given by counselors). I review the evaluations that are turned in on Thursday mornings, and sometimes I go out to meet with volunteers who need a "come to Jesus meeting" (for lack of a better term). Using the counselors' evaluations and my own observations, an evaluation is completed on each teen volunteer, each week. These evaluations are distributed on Friday mornings (more about that soon).

On Thursday afternoon, I make edits to the following week's cabin list and then devise the volunteers' break schedule based on cabin ratios for counselors/volunteers and campers at specific times of the day. I also spend time making copies of volunteer health forms, to put in a binder that is updated weekly and kept in the Health Care Center, should a volunteer take medications or in the case that an emergency arises (yes, this has happened this summer). If volunteer issues or other situations occur throughout the week, these tasks may get pushed off until late Thursday afternoon, at which point, I may have to stay later in the day to make sure it is all done before the closing ceremony on Friday.

Friday: I print a certificate for the recipient of the Volunteer of the Week award, which is voted on by counselors at their Thursday night meeting. In the morning, I try to attend to last minute business, such as phone calls or e-mails, getting camper signatures on a thank-you card for our corporate volunteers, following up with last-minute volunteer issues, and checking on the status of the laundry in the Health Care Center (health care assistants' duties). This often translates to me running around camp looking rather frazzled as I rush to get it all done before the start of closing ceremonies.

At 10 a.m., I head over the the Commons building to set up the camp store and help our Grant Writer with camper check-up, as well as the distribution of free camper tickets to a camp fundraiser at our local water park. Closing ceremony starts at 10:30, and sometimes I finish up volunteer evaluations while counselors distribute camper awards. Toward the end of the ceremony, I take the floor to thank our corporate and teen volunteers, and present the award for Volunteer of the Week. Since I am new to the position, and counselors spend so much more time with the volunteers, I use a counselor-provided "nomination form" to explain why this person has received the award.

After the closing ceremony, I herd the teen volunteers into our "staff lounge" for a short meeting. There, I thank them for their hard work, and ask them to complete an evaluation describing their experiences for the week. At this time, I distribute their evaluations and ask them to look over the evaluation, ask any questions they have, and sign the sheet which will be kept in their file. I also talk about opportunities for volunteering at weekend camps, and hand out a flyer announcing an end-of-the summer picnic to be held on the last day of summer camp. On their way out of the meeting, I thank them again and explain the process for packing up their stuff when their parents pick them up.

Once the volunteers head out, I head back to the office to tie up any loose ends for the week, and make sure that everything is ready to start another week of camp on Sunday. On a good day, I can be out of camp by 1:30 on Friday afternoons. Then, I head to my apartment, grab a bite for a late lunch, and crash on the couch with my remote and the DVR. Can anyone say TGIF?!

Saturday...is my one day off (aka: the day Lauren does absolutely nothing)...and then it's back to work on Sunday to do it all over again!

Sheesh. I didn't realize how much stuff I do in a typical week! Well, I guess now it makes sense as to why I'm so darn exhausted at the end of it all. In any case, the summer is nearly over now, but that doesn't mean my job is going to be any less interesting. Okay, maybe it will be (slightly), but I'll be sure to let you know what weekend camps look like, as well as fall recruiting, and later, the interview/application intake process. At this rate, I'll never be bored... right? :)

Until later.
-Lauren

P.S. I have to say, the perk of three free meals a day at camp, sure is a great one! I haven't grocery shopped since at least mid-June, and I'm quite okay with that!

Big Girl, Big Dreams

2011-06-17T19:54:00.001-05:00

“Every great accomplishment starts with the decision to try.” I'm pretty sure Dawn and I found this quote way back in August of 2009, as we dared to decorate my brand new apartment in the “big city” of Raleigh, North Carolina. At that point, I had no idea how this quote would resonate with me time and time again, in the two years that spanned my graduate school experience.

On May 14th, my graduate school experience came to an end as I walked up the aisle and across the church (Our departmental graduation was held at Cary Church of Christ.) to receive my folder and say my regards. There in the audience was my immediate family, Dawn, and the “sisters in misery” who shared in my triumphs and sorrows for many long months. While I'd like to say that the day was a bittersweet one, it was really just sweet... Sweet to know that the big, daunting, uneasy decision to attend grad school at NCSU was one that might have cost me lots of tears and anger, but afforded me the greatest accomplishment of my life – an accomplishment I will never forget, and of which I will always be proud.

Okay – so I'm finally done with school. I know for a fact there are a few of you out there who are thinking, “Finally this girl is done with school,” and maybe even one or two who are a little bummed to know you can't tease me about homework and papers and projects anymore. But, now what?

Welp, I'm a big girl now, folks! ...or at least trying to be. After spending a few days at home in Louisiana, on May 21st, I loaded up the car again and headed north on I-49. Seven and a half hours later, I found myself in “The Natural State”...area code 501... zip code 72211...aka: Little Rock, Arkansas.

I moved into my very own apartment, a one-bedroom in West Little Rock, where I'm living...alone...for the first time in my life. As soon as I walked in the door, I thought, “Wow, I have an apartment and it's mine, all mine!” At this point, however, my sentiments are a little different considering I'm over a week into the experience still without furniture or any sort of connection with the outside world. (Hopefully, that will change soon, though.*crosses fingers*)

A week ago (May 23rd), I started working full-time at my “home away from home,” a place that is very special to me. (For sake of clarity and understanding, I'll go ahead and explain...I'm working as the Volunteer Coordinator at the camp for which I have spent the last three summers working.) I definitely have some big shoes to fill, but after a few days of training, I feel good about where things stand, and I am looking forward to a great summer. It sure helps to know that the camp family is a special one, and the supportive environment that exists here is perfect for a girl who is growing into her own.

I can't publish this entry without adding a caveat here. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine this opportunity would present itself. Working as the Volunteer Coordinator at an organization about which I feel passionate is something I hoped would happen, but didn't expect at all. I guess they're right when they say timing is everything and what is meant to be will be. “Que sera sera,” to quote Mrs. Johnson. ;) I am beyond honored for this opportunity and I hope that I will give it my all and make everyone proud in the process...

Now that school is over, and gone with it are the late nights writing or never-ending academic obligations, I'm hoping I'll be able to find more time for blogging. Then again, with the big move and new job is sure to come other supplements in the responsibility category. For now, though, I'm stuck without cable/internet (in addition to the whole furniture thing), so maybe I'll use this solitude to do some catch-up work on this blog of mine. Silence allots for reflective thinking, that's for sure...

In any case, thanks to all who provide support and understanding and I hope that this entry finds you alive and well. I can't wait to catch up with you again soon.

Love always,
-Lauren

**Note: This entry was written on May 30, 2011, and published at a later date.

Messy Break-up

2011-05-02T18:42:00.007-05:00

Get excited, it's time for another update. Hold onto your socks, because this might be a good one! Per usual, however, I'll apologize for the blog delay (though it's only been 2 weeks), and talk a bit about current events.

Unless you live under a rock (hey - some people do!), you're well aware of last night's big announcement...Osama Bin Ladin, the man responsible for thousands of innocent deaths and years of heartache, has been killed. This blog isn't generally devoted to current events and the like, but I felt it necessary to mention today because I'd like to share some great resources with you. Benjamin posted a blog with his reflections on the news, and he included a few links to some really interesting posts (reactions from world leaders, expressive photos, etc). Check 'em out if you have a few minutes.

And while we're on the subject of current events, yes I woke up to watch the Royal Wedding on Friday morning. However, I only watched 5 minutes of it (Kate's walk from the car to the alter) before turning off the TV and going back to sleep. Honest to goodness - that was enough for me.

Now, onto the good stuff...

--

As you may have been wondering, it's about time for an update on that not-so-little thing called my thesis. I'm pretty sure the last time I wrote about "the feces" was way back in January(?!?!?), when graduation and defense day still seemed to be far off into the distance of the grad school tunnel. Well, February, March, and April came and went, and here I sit on May 2nd...11 days from graduation...composing a blog summarizing a season of my life which has surely shortened my total lifespan by at least 5 years.

Maybe you noticed that my blogging habit slacked off - er, became nonexistent - following my post on February 20th. (Then again, maybe you didn't. Shrug.) For those of you who have any regular contact with me, or perhaps possess extravagant stalking skills, you already know...life as I knew it, changed on February 21. Again, I say that with a slight intention of dramatic effect, but at the absolute core of my being, I believe that statement is true. You'll see why in just a second.

On February 16, two weeks before defense day, I sent my thesis to committee for review. That weekend, I received a simple question via e-mail from one of my committee members, but was instructed to double check the answer with our Department Head before sending my response. On Monday, February 21, I went into our Dept. Chair's office, with the assumption that he'd quickly and simply validate my answer, when instead, his response caused my world to fall apart.

In that moment, I was told that every bit of data analysis I'd spent the last three months doing, was wrong. He said I hadn't used the right statistical tests for the type of data I collected or for the type of questions I wanted to answer. He said I had to do not one, but two, completely different tests, in order for my research to be accurate/worthy/effective/insert any other research descriptor term here.

What did that mean? It meant that I had to run two different statistical tests on all of the data I collected, redesign and reformat all 42 tables in my Chapter 4 (Findings), rewrite my entire text sections of Chapter 4, and revise all of Chapter 5 (Conclusions/Recommendations). Mind you, this all happened 10 days out from defense day...and I was asked to get it done by the end of the week. Excuse me?

Needless to say, I was a complete and utter wreck. For four straight days, I did nothing but recalculate, redesign, rewrite...and cry. I cried like I've never cried before. I didn't leave my apartment, and I'm pretty sure my friends thought I was dead (okay, not really). No e-mails were read, no Facebook comments were posted, no Tweets were chirped. Lauren went into work mode - and didn't come out for a long, long time. (In fact, more than 2 months later, I'm not entirely sure I've recovered yet.)

Seven days later, the work I'd spent three months finishing (December, January,and February) was completely redone. Three days after that, I delivered my public presentation and survived my private defense. It did not come without more challenges, however.

In the private defense, my committee realized that the newest version of Chapters 4 and 5 was no more correct/accurate/you-know-the-drill, than the first one. In fact, the first one was much closer to the "right" one than the version I created in the span of just one week. Say what now? You got it - all of the time, energy, blood, sweat, and tears that were put into the previous week's revisions - was wrong.

After much consultation among the committee members and several other faculty (including a statistician), they finally came to a consensus on what I'd be instructed to do...oh, about two weeks later. Yeah, you got that, it took two weeks AFTER my defense, for my committee to figure out what they wanted me to do with my data. Talk about a mess.

As it turned out, I was instructed to keep my data set from the original statistical tests, and add one more test to the mix. I ended up having to add a third test to expand some of my findings just a bit. In the end, I was pronounced Queen of Thesis Tables as my 42 tables became 48, and I officially became the author of the longest thesis in my cohort - with a grand total of a 145 pages to show for it all. Crazy? Well the "fun" wasn't over yet...

Sometime early in the week of March 28 (almost 4 weeks after my defense), I made my first submission to the graduate school. It was returned with notes regarding formatting errors a few days later, and therein began my uphill battle with the graduate school. Having enough of navigating all those boulders, I decided to take about two weeks off for National 4-H Conference prep, work, and recovery time, before getting back on the thesis bandwagon.

In true form regarding the depths of thesis hell, revisions I expected to take days, ended up taking weeks. What was supposed to be two submissions (1 trial, 1 error-error free) ended up totaling at least four. Nothing I did, no help I received, no matter how hard and how many times I tried, I just could not get it right. It was incredibly frustrating and downright sucked, especially after the firepit I'd already been through. Finally, I begged and pleaded with the thesis editor to work her magic on my pages. She agreed, and finally (after a few more formatting challenges), my error-free, official file was accepted on April 25!!!!

With the absolute, hands-down, no matter what, final deadline of April 29, it feels like I made it...almost by the skin of my teeth. I have tried hard not to let it all bother me, but how can I not? I scheduled my defense early in the season because I wanted to be done. I wanted the thesis to be completed and out of my life with time for me to enjoy the people and the places around me. I worked my @%% off for 10 dang (insert many explicatives here) months, and never once did I get a break. It still took every ounce of my being, every patient bone in my body (there weren't many to start with), and every bit of my energy to make it out on the other side.

They say graduate school is a different beast, and man are they right. That beast is one I hope to never again meet in my lifetime, and I can't say I'd ever wish it on anyone. However, a close friend reminded me that this experience ultimately taught me that I'm stronger than I think, and I really can accomplish whatever it is I attempt. Way back in the Fall of 2009, I hated Raleigh, and grad school, and NC State with all of my guts, but I stayed. I wanted to give up, but I didn't. And every day, when I laid down to rest, I read the quote hanging on my wall..."Every great accomplishment starts with the decision to try." Bar none - this is my greatest professional accomplishment, and it all started with a commitment to try.

-

On Saturday, we had a burn party... A bunch of us thesis rats gathered at Lendy's house to cleanse ourselves of the (literal) baggage we collected along the way. Our biggest supporters joined us as we took the very therapeutic step of burning our research. And by burning our research, we mean, burning our research. We burned. By stacks, and stacks, and stacksss, we burned. We burned our full theses, the graduate school guidelines, revision notes from professors, IRB approval letters, research instruments, letters of consent, data, actual questionnaires...the list goes on. We burned anything and everything related to our thesis - an act of true and necessary cleansing.

And because they deserved a part in the cleanse - our significant others ("sig-ofs" for L.O. - ha!) joined in on the honors. They burned with us and for us, and held our hands as we shed the layers of grad school dust that was so heavily built up on the ones that they love. For, every layer tossed into the fire pit, was one layer closer to rediscovering the people we really are. It was a moving, incredible, and necessary experience.

Today, I write this as a continuation of the cleanse. I feel as though it's important for me to write through the process and the emotions that have plagued my life for the past few months. I write such detail here, not to bore you to death, but to help you understand just a little bit better, the experience I had with my (pile of) "feces." Like the burn party, this blog is another step in the process of healing. For those of you who might be interested or haven't yet seen it, the actual manuscript is up for public access here. Finally, the end is near...I can almost touch it!

And now...Thesis, WE ARE BROKEN UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The end.
-Lauren

Swamp Survivors

2011-04-17T13:36:00.007-05:00

I know, I know... so much for that commitment to writing two posts per month. Seriously though, my last post was written on February 20th, and on February 21st, life as I knew it became a thing of the past. While a tiny portion of that statement may have been intended for dramatic effect, there really have been lots of events and life changes since my last post. To date, I have about five blog titles waiting to be hashed out for all of you diligent readers out there (ha).

Given recent events, I do want to take a moment to let everyone know that I am, in fact, alive and well. That statement is all encompassing, but it is also specifically intended as a response to the major tornadoes that tore through Raleigh yesterday. I was actually at Lendy's in Wake Forest at the time, so we saw most of the storm as it drove through Raleigh, before losing power as it came closer to us. Everyone I know in the area (including us) spent some time huddled in a closet or bathroom hoping to be spared from the storm. We were without power for several hours yesterday, but for the brief time we were finally able to view video footage late last night, we were amazed at the devastation that surrounded us. I knew it must have been bad for me to receive texts and calls from friends all across the country, wondering if I was okay, but I had no idea how bad it was until this morning even. Let it be known that my friends are a-okay, but we're also keenly aware of how just close of a call this was for us.

---

And now onto the real story I've come to share today...

Following my thesis defense on March 2nd (more about that in an upcoming post), I flew home to Louisiana on March 3rd and stayed through the 13th. Despite close calls along the travel experience, I was armed with my "bff Jill" and lots of reasons to celebrate for a week in my beloved Cajunland. Below are the "nitty gritty" details of our trip. :)

March 3: Traveling on two separate itineraries, through two separate layover locations, Lendy and I set out for a memorable (in more ways than one) adventure in Louisiana. In Raleigh, we tried to merge our itineraries, but to no avail; it wasn't until I nearly had a heart attack after being informed that all planes into Louisiana (all cities) were overbooked, and as a result, I'd be stuck in Atlanta for the next three days. Thank Heavens there are good people out there, and some nice man gave up his seat for me (all the while risking a two-day delay for himself in the process). In the end, Lendy and I made it to Lafayette within an hour of each other, as planned. That night, we had dinner with my parents at the Riverfront restaurant in Abbeville, and later surprised my Nanna (she had no idea I was coming!) for her birthday.

March 4: Per Lendy's request, we spent Friday out in the marsh doing real-life Cajuny things. My daddy and his friend took us out in the boat to fish and crab. We had some funny mishaps and lots of enjoyable experiences as we set trout (catfish)lines and learned to "run" the crab cages. That night, we had a crab boil, and Lendy learned how to peel boiled crabs for the first time! It was a good day.

March 5: When storms dampered our plans to travel to New Orleans for a night of Mardi Gras parades, we decided to have a lazy day of watching The Nanny from the living on the living room couch. My Nanna made a huge spread of Cajun food and invited my family and my cousins over for dinner that night. It was a two-for-one birthday celebration, and just another opportunity for us to "wine and dine" Mrs. Johnson (with her Cajun boyfriend).

March 6: Sunday, the weather lightened up and we were finally able to make it out for an evening of Mardi Gras celebrations in the Big Easy. We were eternally grateful to my college roommate, Jen and her husband, Logan, for taking us in as houseguests and serving as tour guides for the adventure. And my, was it an adventure...Sparing the details, I'll say that my first (and perhaps) last experience at Mardi Gras in New Orleans was even crazier than I expected. The word intense doesn't do it justice. Either way, we caught lots of beads, and (I think) a good time was had by all. To celebrate surviving the chaos, we ended the night with delicious beignets and hot chocolate at a cafe in Metarie. YuM.

March 7: On our way back home, we made a side stop in Thibodaux so that I could show Lendy my beloved Nicholls and the town where I spent 3 (wonderful) years of my life. We had lunch at Cane's (the LA version of Zaxby's), explored Nicholls' campus for a bit. We even took a few minutes to play at Pullen Park. That night, my daddy brought home crawfish, and Lendy experienced another first - peeling boiled crawfish.

March 8: Mardi Gras! Lendy's last day in Louisiana culminated with a parade on Mardi Gras Day in Lafayette. We witnessed some authentic Cajun celebrations, and saw some crazy stuff while we were at it. In the end, I think Lendy had a great time (I know I did), but the fun had to come to an end, because there were people waiting patiently to have her home again.

March 9-13: Benjamin, Lindsey, and I hosted our second web training for the group of Collegiate Facilitators who were selected for this year's National 4-H Conference. I relaxed, did *some* schoolwork, and spent lots of time with my family. I also really enjoyed the opportunity to visit my godchild and his triplet sisters. On Saturday, my mom and I got pedicures together before having a nice dinner at Chili's with my parents and grandparents. I was so grateful for the opportunity to spend time at home for my birthday (two years in a row). Sunday morning, I was up and at 'em for an early morning flight back to North Carolina, where someone really special was waiting to retrieve me (more about that in an upcoming post, as well).

All in all, it was a fabulous Spring Break/Mardi Gras/Birthday, and I definitely wouldn't trade it for the world! I do apologize for the lenghty post, but I told you...there's lots of catching up to do. Hopefully, I'll be able to add another chapter to the saga someday soon. (Pestering the author is extremely encouraged!) For now though...

Tata.
-Lauren

A Letter in Support of [camp name]

2011-02-20T15:45:00.003-06:00

*As part of an application for a grant to cover counselor salaries for [camp name]'s medcamp programs, I was asked to write a letter of support. Below is the letter that was submitted with this application packet. I am posting it here on the blog because I enjoy the process of reflective-creative writing, and it is a solid description of my feelings toward camp. Plus, summertime will be here before we know it, so I figured this would be a great way to put us all in the summer spirit!*

February 21, 2011

Dear Committee:

In 2007, I toured the facilities at [camp name] as part of the American Camp Association's annual Heart of the South Conference. From the moment I set foot on the grounds of [camp name], I knew it was a special place. At the time, I was a counselor at a camp in Louisiana for children with heart conditions. However, in that moment, I knew I had to be a part of the magic that is [camp name].

The following year (2008), I joined the [camp name] family as a counselor at summer camp. Myself and another counselor from heart camp were surprised by the “Welcome Home” sign that awaited our arrival at [camp name]. We wondered whether [camp name] could ever be home to us, after such wonderful experiences elsewhere. However, I am writing this today because I want to assure you, [camp name] is indeed “home” – not only for myself and my co-worker from heart camp, but for hundreds of other young people who have joined the [camp name] family over the years.

My experiences at camp solidified my interest in pursuing national certification as a Child Life Specialist. While [camp name] does not currently employ Child Life Specialists, I have learned so much about the importance of working with children and families to provide opportunities for holistic development and normalization. In the future, I hope to find permanent employment with a medical camp or similar organization whose mission is to serve youth with chronic illnesses.

In addition, my involvement with camp influenced the topic of my graduate research project. As part of the requirements for completion of my Master's degree program, I executed a nationwide study that addressed the current practices for serving youth with special health care needs in the camp setting. This project is just one way camp inspired me to do my part in changing the world, so that all children can experience the joys of summer camp.

Almost four years later, I am eagerly looking forward to spending another summer at “my home away from home.” Following two challenging years in graduate school, I cannot imagine another way I would prefer to spend my summer than surrounded by hundreds of giggling, smiling faces – all of us, eagerly awaiting the time of our lives.

In fact, when I reminisce about camp, I often share my philosophy regarding the experience of counselors at camp. Whereas camp staff are often praised for their service to campers, I must argue the opposite; we are the lucky ones. It is an honor to have worked with such vibrant, accepting, generous, and aspiring individuals. With that in mind, I ask you to consider supporting [camp name] – not just for the campers, but for the counselors, too. The impact this experience has made on mine and hundreds of others' lives is more far reaching than any of us could ever imagine.

Thanks for your consideration,

Lauren Mouton

(My) Social Network

2011-02-12T08:51:00.003-06:00

Those of you who know me well are fully aware of my stalking tendencies. Quite frankly, while many might be ashamed of this little tidbit, I'm pretty darn proud of my skills, lol. I have to say, though, that I think this is just another mark of my generation and not anything overly unique about me. Let's face it - we're Millennials; we knew AIM/Yahoo/MSN instant messaging before we knew about e-mail, and years before MySpace or LiveJournal, the precursor to today's Bloggers and WordPresses. Most of us even remember the days whenever StalkerBook (ha) was exclusively for college students, originally for the elitest of the elite.

Social media is such a hot topic these days. [In fact, I must take a minute to say that my mind was absolutely BLOWN by the Fb movie, more popularly known as "The Social Network."] With all this chatter about social networking, I have been inspired to do a little reflecting, which ties in quite nicely to a topic I've been wanting to post about.

At our departmental graduate seminar this week, we watched the recorded version of a keynote speaker from one of the professional conferences in our field. The speaker hit on several interesting points related to networking and relationship-building. I say this as a disclaimer for some of the points or quotes I plan to discuss here.

Anyway, in relationships (platonic, or otherwise) this idea of "reciprocity" is essential. As they might say in the business world, we want a return on our investments. In fact, it makes sense to recognize that people will treat you in such a way that is equal to or less than the way that you treat them. I'm not going to draw this out in a model, but you may want think of this as our conceptual framework...for those of us living in the depths of research hell, lol.

Further reflection leads me to thoughts regarding my own reciprocity in relationships. Years ago, I'd say I was pretty good at this practice. I was the person who sent out hand-written cards, and didn't care if anyone ever wrote back as long as I could rest assured that I'd made someone's day simply by thinking of them. More recently, though, I've gotten out of the habit of sending well wishes on birthdays and congratulatory messages, or even the "Smile-It's a happy day," texts. It may be that I am more conscious of this change than the actual recipients (or former recipients) of my efforts, but I do pride myself on these random acts of kindness, if you will...and these days I am slacking. This is definitely something I want to work on restoring after I ditch this time-sucker life that is graduate school.

But back to social networking...I am SO grateful to live in a time and a place where these tools are readily available to me. Many people complain about young people's lack of social skills as a direct result of the technology age, but I have to say that I don't completely agree with this argument. (I'll leave this rant for some other time, maybe.) Technology and social networking has allowed me to make and maintain friendships across the globe. For the last several years, I could have named one person I knew in (literally) almost every state in the U.S., and probably at least 5 other countries. Thanks to Skype, I can be in the same room with someone thousands of miles away, and feel like nothing - not even oceans - comes between us and our friendship with one another.

For practicality's sake, I'm going to come down from my cloud for a bit and tell you about a project I've been working on recently. Many of you are aware of my love for and involvement with the 4-H program. You may also recall that I have worked as a Collegiate Facilitator for the National 4-H Conference for the past four years. This year, myself and a very good friend of mine, are serving as coordinators for the Collegiate Facilitator group. I could write an entire post about our experiences with this conference and how our roles are unfolding as the days and weeks of "Conference Season" roll by. However, I'll direct you to Benjamin's blog for two entries that sum up our experiences thus far ("Teamwork" and "Glimpse into the Future"). Note: You should expect to read more about Conference in future posts.

My reason for mentioning (National 4-H) Conference in this post about social networking is that Conference was one of my first real "catalystic experiences" (is that even a real phrase??) that gave value to social media and networking in my life. One day, I'll write an entire post about the networks - better yet, lifelong friendships - I have formed as a result of my years as a Collegiate Facilitator at (National 4-H) Conference. For now, I'll simply point out that without these networks, I never would have fallen into the position of coordinating a group of collegiate students who are just as passionate about the 4-H organization as I am, as well as the opportunity to do this with a person who has been such a good friend to me over the years, despite our distance across states, time zones, and occasionally - oceans.

Referring back to the conference speaker, I fully agree with the statement, "Your network is your net worth." Your network cannot be taken away or repossessed, it is always with you, even when you'd rather live a life of anonymity. The fact of the matter is that we are at a point in our lives that someone is always watching us, whether we know it, or want it. On the flip side, though, we have to remember that concept of "reciprocity." What are we doing to serve others in ways that we hope will be reciprocated? In what ways can we build networks and provide for others' needs, so that they will want to reciprocate for us? ...Just something to think about...

In any case, technology, media, and social networking aren't going anywhere anytime soon. I think it's important for us to embrace this evolution and recognize the value in interconnectedness. Now, more than ever, "It's a small world;" how are you making the world smaller?

And in honor of 4-H, I'll leave you with this...

"Be Green. Grow everything you touch."
-Lauren

A few thoughts for later:
*Feelings are facts. - How do you make others feel?
*Goodwill is the original viral marketing. - How are you marketing yourself? Is it viral?

Job Fever

2011-01-31T16:09:00.008-06:00

It's the last day of January, and we all know what that means...blog-time! Feeling a little drowsy today, but wanting to be productive nonetheless, I thought, "Hey, today would be a good day for a blog!" Only then did I realize it's the last day of the month, which means I need to get on it if I want to keep my commitment to blogging twice a month.

Thankfully, I had an idea of what to write in this entry (several, actually), so that part wasn't too hard. Interestingly, I have ideas for two more blogs brewing in this little brain of mine, so you may be plesantly surprised over the next few weeks. However, don't expect too much, as we all know how those things go.

As usual, first comes the thesis (or "feces") update. I'm having a tough time getting back into the swing of all things school related. The minimum is done, but while I was once ahead of the pack on thesising, I'm falling farther behind daily. I really should finalize revisions and get on that formatting stuff, but ughh, there are just so many more interesting things to do with my time. Only 4 weeks til D-Day (defense)! ahhh.

And because these days I can't blog without including one of those fun comics, here's this entry's addition:

This particular comic is appropriate because I spent the first week of school performing daily revisions on a paper that was submitted for a research conference in Idaho this May. No word yet on whether it'll be accepted, but honestly, I'm perfectly okay if it doesn't get in. I'd really prefer to keep my post-graduation calendar as open as possible, and attending a research conference the week after isn't exactly in my list of highlights.

And after all that, I can finally get onto the "main course," if you will. As I'm sure you could gather from the title, this entry is all about the mooolahhhhh. Well, sort of. What I mean is that job fever is working itself through our office like the plague.

I'm not sure where it started, and I may have mentioned that several job "leads" were out for my friends and classmates in previous entries, but goodness the jobs have exploded! In the last month, there have been at least 8 job interviews among four of us, collectively. Two of the J's have received jobs in Extension, one as a 4-H Agent and one as a Livestock/Row Crops Agent. While it may not have been a heavenly set-up for either of them, I think they will both find happiness in their new endeavors, both short and long term. ;-)

The third J (Yes, we're surrounded by J's in NC too...reminds me of the Idaho J boys, haha!) received wonderful news today; she was offered a position as teacher a biotechnology teacher at a middle school about 45 minutes from Raleigh! Slated to start her student teaching practicum sometime this week, this last minute news is great, since this offer will be a permanent position, instead. Everyone's dreams are falling together, and it's so sweet to think back to when we all started out just a year and a half ago... Congratulations, yay!

In the midst of all this job-ness, I started to feel left out. So, uh, I *gasp* decided to apply for a job, too. WHAT, you say? Yeah, I know. What happened to not wanting a job 'til August? Well, I don't, really...but...like I said, I felt left out!

The dish, you want? In an effort to avoid thesising (story of my life, right?) I spent a Friday evening surfing the websites of hospitals in four states, scoping out openings for Child Life positions. In the process, I came across an opening in Greenville, South Carolina. After researching the program, and the hospital's website, I kept coming back to that program. So, on a whim, I threw together the application, without thinking too much, and before I could convince myself not to do it, I submitted the darn thing. This was around 8 p.m. on a Friday night, and by Monday morning (before 9 a.m.), I had an e-mail requesting a phone interview for the following afternoon. Whoaaa, talk about fast moving...especially for something I did on a whim! (Those of you who know me, realize this is sooo not a "Lauren thing" to do!)

In any case, the interview went okay. I feel like I represented myself fairly, and to the best that I could given my background and experiences. However, I think they may be hoping for someone with more experience, or just something other than what I have to offer. I've been watching the status of my application online, but I haven't seen anything of interest there yet. I'll be sure to share if I hear anything; either way, I'm content because for now I am still in school, and the future will take care of itself.

Needless to say, these next few months are sure to be interesting. We made a paper chain countdown to graduation in the office, and it's bittersweet to watch the links disappear daily. All in all, I'm really excited about the possibilites and I can't wait to see how everything unfolds.

As always, stay tuned.
-Lauren

PS: The title of this entry reminded me of this song. Enjoy. (And believe it or not, it's not country. Ha.)

A Tribute to "The Land of the Sugarcane"

2011-01-08T23:22:00.003-06:00

I believe it's been a while since I composed a full-out, poetic, belle of the bayou type entry. While I'm not sure these things can be planned exactly, by golly, today I hope to try. I am of the thought that those heart-wrenching, truly thought-provoking blogs really evolve out of inspiration rather than cognitive forethought, so we'll see what happens.

This morning I found myself on yet another plane—east, this time—heading back toward a place that is, though geographically only 1,000 miles away, a world apart in more ways than one. As I settled in for what has become a familiar ride, I cracked open a book in hopes of occupying my thoughts for the short trip. I'm no newcommer to flying, unlike many of the fellow guests who occupy the cramped space on this tiny regional get. I always crack a smile at the first-time fliers who have thousands of questions about this exciting, yet overwhelming, experience. It's always particularly interesting when traveling outbound from Lafayette, as so many of the locals rarely travel by plane...or by any mass transit, for that matter.

Today, this particular experience placed a bit of inspiration on my blogging heart. The book I happen to be reading is titled Poor Man's Provence: Finding Myself in Cajun Louisiana. While I'm not sure that “outsiders,” can truly understand the poetic stories featured in this work, I find myself engrossed in the fairytales that are so familiar to me. I think, it should be required reading for friends of our dear Cajuns, to study (formally or informally) the heritage and culture of the Acadian people. It sounds strange, but I just feel as though there's no way to truly understand who we are and what we do, without such knowledge.

But back to my story. For the last month, I have been blessed with the opportunity to spend time in the lovely place that I call home. Cajun Country, Acadiana, South Louisiana – however you choose to name it, it's still home to me. Even as I sit here, composing this entry after reading a very flowy and descriptive text, I find it challenging to provide readers with an accurate and complete picture of my homeland. Ask those who have visited – words just cannot do it justice.

The food, the people, their love for life and never-ending excuses for celebration. All of it. As I read about drive-through daiquiri shops, dirty politics (dirtier than our rice—I promise), stormy weather, ornately costumed drunkards in expected and acceptable brawls, as well as opposition to all things fancy and anti-cultural, I realized that the Cajun culture would forever be a part of me. While I have not yet signed up to spend the rest of my life within a 3 hour radius of “The Heart of Acadiana” (Lafayette), there is no mistaking that I will forever be Cajun—in heart, body, and soul.

To those of you who have visited, and even those who haven't, I want to extend a very special invitation. You are always welcome to come along for the ride, albeit a wild one, to “the end of the earth”--both literally and figuratively. Come, we'll drive to edge...where the road ends and water begins. We'll eat good food and drink merrily. We'll meet joyful, exuberant friends, and you'll leave with a sense of family. For those who come, never forget. And those who stay, will always be home.

I'll leave you with a philosophy for life, inspired by the people of Avery Island, Louisiana, home of world-famous Tobasco sauce: “When your sugar is wiped out by the enemy, do something creative with your salt. Protect the birds in your own back yard first. And, oh, yes, relish the unexpected.” - Rheta Grimsely Johnson (Poor Many's Provence: Finding Myself in Cajun Lousiana)

"Louisiana: It's not just a state, it's a state of mind." (LYJ)
- Lauren

**Last night, I dreamed I was eaten by an alligator. Now, if that ain't Cajun, I don't know what is!

Yippie.

2010-12-31T11:10:00.006-06:00

The reason I am writing today is because I made a commitment (to myself) to publish a minimum of two entries each month, and today just so happens to be the last day of the month, not to mention the last day of the year. I've been contemplating this entry for a few weeks, but still I have nothing particularly significant to share. Instead, I will revert to my typical ramblings about what's been up over the last few weeks. (Sorry, no witty witty banter to follow.)

The week before I left for home, it snowed in Raleigh!! Granted, there wasn't much to show for it in my neck of the woods, but it sure made my day!! In fact, that week, it didn't get up to 40 degrees until four days later, and even then it was still pretty frigid. Balmy 75 degree temperatures welcomed me home on December 11th, yet it snowed again in Raleigh only a few days later. While temps here in Louisiana have followed the extremes (record breaking lows followed days later by almost 80 degree temperatures), Raleigh lucked out with a near blizzard the day after Christmas which resulted in 7 inches of fluffy white stuff on my sweet little Cajun-yota. B-)

Here goes an update on "the feces," or "thesis baby," whatever the mood mood of choice may happen to be. Thanks to all of you who put in a few requests to the god of survey research, because it sure paid off. I sent out one "last-ditch" effort and received several responses soon thereafter. By the skin of my teeth, I think I managed to grab a 40% response rate.

Since school let out, I spent much of my time working on the thesis. Several comments were made about how I should be enjoying my time or doing something fun, but the reality of it is that being home in Cajun Country, working (like crazy) at my leisure, while sitting on the couch in pajamas all day, yet still having time to watch (cable!) tv and read and visit with family...that IS enjoying my time. No complaints, really.

Thus far, I put together a 29 page draft of my Chapter 4, which I gleefully submitted to my professor on Christmas Eve (Merry Christmas, JB!)! Just as I made it about half-way through the first draft of Chapter 5, I received revisions for #4. (The ball sure is rolling...) I hope to finish Chapter 5 sometime today or at least by Monday, so that I can get moving on revisions to Chapter 4 and put together a draft of my submission for a conference in Idaho this spring. The deadline for that is January 14th, but my chair would like a draft of it by the 7th. So, we all know what Lauren will be doing to celebrate her last week at home, ha.

Never fear, I have done a few things other than work on "the feces." As typical of this season, I've spent a lot of time with family--both my immediate family (parentals and brother), and a bit of the extended bunch, as well. Some of my favorite times this holiday have been spent with the three lovely bundles--better known as the Danenberg triplets!

On two back to back weeks, I was asked to stay a night at the Danenberg home. Of course(!), I happily obliged. Even while doing other chores around the home, there is just something magical about being in the presence of three well-behaved, happy, beautiful, and fun babies! I was also able to observe an evaluation by representatives from the LA Early Steps program, and go along with the babies to their physical therapy session one afternoon. The following week, I went with them on an outing to Baton Rouge to see a pediatric opthamologist. It was the first time I was really able to experience the looks and questions that seem to follow the babies wherever they go. Either way, these babies are still the most well-behaved group of children I have encountered in a long time, and there is something special to be said for each of their unique, developing smiles and personalities. I could just eat 'em up!

Peer socialization has been pretty much non-existant since I've been home. Don't get me wrong, I've had plenty of online and text interaction with friends from across the country (per usual), but I haven't done anything with friends here. There's always that small glimmer of possibility that things will work out for me to visit with some of my local friends or even the college roommates, but it never quite seems to work. I'm hoping this will change whenever I get really settled into a new life sometime next fall. Plus, by then, I should have access to my car again. (It stayed in NC for this trip.)

As I close out this entry (and the year), I must say I have several things to look forward to in the coming months. We are exactly 3 months away from our due date for the "thesis babies," and I have finally started to see the light at the end of the tunnel. The bulk of the dirty work has been done, so I can't wait to see it all start coming together very soon!! Discussions have begun with one of my travel buddies; we're hoping for a few fabulous adventures dispersed throughout the semester. I plan to be back in Louisiana in just 9 weeks, ready and fully prepared to celebrate the defense of my "feces" along with the birthdays of myself and my grandmother, and even cooler, the lovely Louisiana holiday of Mardi Gras (which also happens to be my favorite holiday, in general).

With that, I wish you all the best. Cheers to another new year...

Yippie.
-Lauren

A Little Bit of Winter Cheer

2010-12-04T18:27:00.005-06:00

As the end of the semester draws near, it seems like a good time to give an update on all things thesis-y. Usually, my stories about graduate school involve some type of rant or negativity. However, tonight I'm here to write about some (perhaps rare) positive moments I've experienced recently.

About a week and a half ago, I may or may not have enjoyed a bottle of wine over the successful submission of Chapters 1-3 just a few days before our joyful American holiday of Thanksgiving. While it was a quiet week in the office (as most students scattered home for the holiday), I committed to working as if it were any other week. Although I did not make much progress on my actuall assistantship work, I did make good headway with organizing thesis data and putting together a major project which consisted of an educational program plan (20 pages). When that was done, I started on an essay exam. In other words, I had a productive week despite the holiday.

[It should be noted that I am grateful for a lovely friend of mine who adopted me into her family and welcomed me home for Turkey Day. In the three years I have been away for Thanksgiving, I must admit that I have been very blessed to have warm, hospitable friends who have graciously welcomed me into their family homes on this special day. Next year, however, I am committed to being at home with my own family on this holiday--no matter what.]

Back to positive moments a la graduate school...On Monday after Thanksgiving, my three chapters were returned with MINIMAL revisions! No major overhauls, reorganizations, cuts, or additions. It was a miracle! How I put together a decent lit review (despite aches and pains generally associated with such portions), I will never know. Either way, I'm not complaining. Au contraire, I am rejoicing!

On Tuesday, I sent out a third round of reminders to participants in my study. One participant returned the e-mail with an interesting request. A 4-H program leader in [unnamed] state asked permission to use my instrument (survey) as an internal self-assessment tool for their camping programs. He asked how the instrument was designed and whether it was based on "best practices." For those of you who are unfamiliar with the "research world," a request for someone else to use your instrument is kind of a big deal.

According to my professor, it's rare for doctoral students to design their own instruments, much less master's students. (Many of the Master's students in our dept. design their own instruments, so I never thought much of it.) Someone asking to use your instrument is one of the biggest honors a researcher can receive. Needless to say, I was super giddy and excited about it all. So, if any of you come across a journal article (or research presentation/printed materials) with my name as a reference for the survey instrument, be sure to let me know!

Also this week, several of us in the office reviewed posters for an upcoming professional conference. One of our profesors is in charge of the poster submissions, so she enlisted our help during the reviewal process. While I contributed to a poster proposal for last year's conference, I'd never had the experience of reviewing others' professional work in this capacity. At first, I felt unqualified to do the job, but as I worked through it, it actually turned out okay. Basically, it ended up being a review on all the research methodology and reporting techniques that I've learned over the past year and a half. In a way, it was kind of like reviewing for the final in my advanced research methods course (which is good, considering I'll probably wait 'til the last minute to actually do that, lol). In any case, reviewing posters was a fun experience. :)

As with all things studious, it can't all be roses and chocolate. To date, my response rate rests around 35%, which is not near the 70% my advisor would like, or even the 60% she insists is necessary for publication. I've made about 60 phone calls, probably speaking with a real person in about 1/3 of those calls, hoping...begging...for people to respond to the survey. We're going to reevaluate the situation on Tuesday when my advisor and I meet with our department head to give it a practice go at analayzing the data. For me, it's not a question of whether I'm going to graduate ('cuz you can bet that I will graduate, regardless), but it is a matter of putting together a quality piece that is worth all of this work. Plus, people need this research. It's important, and therefore, I need to do a good job of it. So, if you all could pray to the god of survey research, that would be great. (If you choose to stick with just one god for now, that's okay too. *wink*)

Rather than go on about other academic obligations regarding the remainder of the semester, I'm going to leave you with this:

(I am officially addicted to phdcomics, so expect more "funnies" in the near future!)

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow*!
-Lauren

*It's snowed here in Raleigh yesterday!

Haphazard Celabratory Wino

2010-11-22T19:47:00.003-06:00

I want to write. Seriously? Yes, seriously. Despite the fact that I spend every "free" moment of my life these days writing, I still desire to put the pen to the paper--or fingers to the keys--if you will. However, I don't feel like I've got anything substantial or organized to write about, so I'm going to ramble as I happily sip on a delightful glass of wine...

Love is in the Air
It's been over a month now since Victoria and Seth's wedding, so maybe I should start there. Now we all know that weddings and general are beautiful, but this wedding was just plain exceptional. From the start, I was honored to spend the day with the lovely bride as she prepared for the big ceremony. Dawn and I were with Victoria, her mom, and sister for most of the day as we all got our hair and makeup done. As for the ceremony, it was the most holy, blessed wedding I have ever attended, and probably will ever attend. Seven, yes SEVEN, priests served as concelebrants, which just really helped to demonstrate the sanctity of this sacred sacrament. You also could have sworn that everyone in south Louisiana was in attendance; so many guests were honored to witness the unity of this most blessed couple. If there's one thing I learned about Victoria and Seth is that they are loved...loved my many, loved by all. That's pretty darn special, if you ask me.

Skip forward a bit, and I attended another wedding recently--just yesterday, in fact. Jessica (better known as J-Smith), one of my officemates, married the love of her life, Jason. It was my second-ever outdoor wedding, and first-ever Baptist wedding. Not that I didn't expect there to be cultural differences, but there were a few traditions and dances, etc. that were completely new to me. It was definitely a learning experience. As all brides are, J-Smith was beautiful indeed, and her wonderful soon-to-be-husband was in awe of her glory. It was so sweet. One thing I took away from this celebration was the beauty in making a wedding all your own. Every bit of this wedding oozed personality of the happy couple. From the silly faces and hand-picked cotton decorations, to the unity soil, to the grand exit via John Deere, Jessica and Jason's personalities shined through. If I ever get married, I want it to be that way. I want to share food and traditions that are rooted deep in my being with all of the people who mean the most to me. That, to me, is one of the purest ways to honor the couple and their God that the designed them so.

Job-ly Juggles
Another thing that seems to be in the air these days is job juggling. One of my roommates, Courtney, recently got accepted for a managerial position at the NC State Vet School. She just left her job at the NC State Employees Credit Union and will be starting at the vet school next week. Another roommate of mine, Emily, went on a job interview for an Agricultural Education teacher position way out east near the coast. (She hasn't heard back yet.) Several of my classmates are actively (and not so actively) pursuing the job front. Jess is applying for Extension Agent (4-H & Livestock) positions across the state. It seems as though Justine and Elizabeth may just get lucky and have a couple of AgEd jobs fall right into their laps at just the right moment.

As for me, I don't think I mentioned that I applied for a Program Coordinator position at Victory Junction Gang Camp way back in September. About 6 weeks later I heard they were really behind in the process, and that we should assume we did not get the job if we didn't hear from them by Nov. 17. Well, last I checked, today is Nov. 22, and I've yet to hear anything so I'm going to assume that I didn't get the job or they decided not to fill the position (I heard that too.). I'm totally cool with that because, this way, I have all the time in the world to commit to writing... In any case, I have been thinking a lot about camp lately, which means that I really hope the stars align for me to spend a fourth summer at my home away from home. Now that, is a recipe for heart happiness. <3

Excitables
-Rascal Flatts' newest cd came out last week and once again I am pleasantly pleased...or in love...however you want to look at it! Just like I did 19 months earlier, I listened to the cd four consecutive times in the first few hours after acquiring the album. Two things were different this go round: my dearest Nicholas was not present to press "repeat," yet my lovely Lendy patiently relished in my obsessive anticipation of the awesomeness that is a new RF cd! Let's just say it was a good day. (I should note that I'm currently listening to the album for oh...about the 12th time...tehe.)
-Today I turned in the first three chapters of my thesis to my committee chair. (Yes, I am celebrating by drinking a whole bottle of wine by myself.) AHH!! Wahoooooooo!! (Ontomotopias continue.) Granted, my Chair has revised Chapters 1 and 3 about three times by now, but it was my first go at Chapter 2. Hopefully, I won't have to make too many revisions this go 'round, and instead I can focus more on data collection and formatting the chapters that I do have, before I start writing again in a few weeks. The plan is to finish data collection and analysis mid-December, have Chapters 4 and 5 as well as a conference paper submitted by mid January, a presentation designed by mid February, my defense March 2nd, the manuscript submitted by April 1, and a journal article accepted for publication by the end of May. So much to do! I have to say, birthing a thesis is much like birthing a child--exciting, and scary, and proud, and overwhelming all at once. Thank goodness I've got my rocks to care for me along the way...and share in the silliness while we're at it. 8-)
--All this talk about submissions can only mean one thing...the semester is almost over!! I'll save much of those details for perhaps another day, but let's just all get excited because we're one month, and one semester closer to the enddd. While we may spend the holidays writing, it will be worth for all the days in sweatpants and nights curled up watching movies on the couch. I may not be the most jovial at this time of the year, but I will admit that there are some definite perks to the season.

I must say, although the wine is delightful, if I don't stop now, things may get interesting. Forgive me for the lack of cohesiveness in this here entry; maybe I'll find something better to write about soon. That, or I'll just open another bottle and return again shortly, jk...maybe?

Ha.

Ta-ta for now, folks!
-Lauren

Life Lesson #57826

2010-11-07T18:57:00.008-06:00

With all this talk about anxiety that is life (or grad school), I felt like it might be a good time to talk about another type of stress relief--vacation! While music is a great coping mechanism, especially in the "immediate" and the "short-term," everyone needs a break from time to time. For most of us, we may have experienced Fall Break only a few short weeks ago, and the holiday season will soon be upon us (Thanksgiving in a little over 2 weeks, Christmas in 6?!). But what about in between the holidays...those weeks that we seem to just exist, mindlessly, turning in one paper after another, or floating from one day to the next, never really knowing what came before or what comes next?

To put it simply, we need a vacation! I know, I know, you're thinking, "Lauren, vacations cost money, and quite frankly, I cannot afford (both financially and schedule-wise) to get away for a week (or even a few days)!" Despite the fact that some of you may think I don't actually do any schoolwork, I do understand financial and scheduling constraints associated with vacationing.

In regard to financial constraints, I'm not sure if any of you have heard, but there is a new phenomenon gaining popularity--staycations. According to the ever-resourceful UrbanDictionary.com, a staycation involves, "Staying at home during your vacation instead of traveling to a pleasure destination. This can be caused by high gas prices, or just a shortage of money." The idea of a staycation sounds pretty cool; stay home and play games with the family, cook, watch movies, read books...or be a tourist in your own hometown, looking at the city with rose-colored glasses and exploring sites you've always said you're "too busy" to visit.

I hear staycations can be pretty fun. In fact, one of my good friends said her family did a staycation as a way of saving money for an upcoming wedding they were planning. They all seemed to really enjoy it, and it severed to be a great excuse for family bonding time. Who can argue with that?

And yet another alternative to the vacation is...the daycation! Again, our friend the UrbanDictionary.com defines daycation as, "A short trip out of town for only a day. Leave in the am and return in the pm." Daycations encourage the exploration of new or different locations, but typically don't break the bank or put a wrench in your schedule or standing commitments. So, for the mid-range financially burdened one, or the busy-yet-needing-a-break one, daycations may be the answer.

Daycations are probably the most challenging for me to wrap my brain around because I'm such the concrete/sequential individual who isn't entirely adept at changing plans on a whim. However, the daycation seems most properly excecuted as a last minute decision to have a daylong adventure. Thankfully, I have a bit of a diverse group of friends, many of which challenge me to step out of my comfort zone every once in a while. ;-)

That being said, I'm finally getting to the true inspiration for this entry. Yesterday, Lendy and I went on a daycation! What started out as the idea of an opportunity to visit the mountains of Virginia for photographing the beauty that is fall foliage turned into a day filled with interesting sights and sounds, as well as a lesson in spontaneity.

Recovering from an interesting night of playing "gallon" (ha!), we didn't get on the road quite as early as we might have anticipated. But hey--it was just the first of many ways I learned to accept the "plan to not plan" for a day. Leaving Wake Forest, we headed northish, making our way up to Caswell County and our first stop in Danville, VA. Lendy showed me her childhood stomping grounds, including the schools she attended and a true southern style general store before stoping to have lunch with her mom and younger brother.

From there, we headed northeast toward the mountains of southern Virginia. On the way up, we drove through Martinsville (home of Martinsville Speedway, for all of you NASCAR fans out there). Out of appreciation for my family, I asked Lendy if she minded a quick detour to take a picture of a sign at the speedway. Being the all-accommodating-and-awesome Lendy that she is, she selflessly agreed to take me to the speedway. After grabbing a quick snapshot of the sign at the main entry, she offered to drive down closer to the track in hopes of getting more pictures. As it turned out, some very nice lady was out near the entrance to the track, and when we asked her if we could walk up to take pictures, she offered us the opportunity to drive Mike's (Lendy's husband) truck out onto the track to get a better look at to take better pictures. Umm...excuse me? Yes, I did just say that. We walked out on the track, and drove a complete lap around the speedway!?!? AHHH! I literally thought I was going to hyperventillate. It was A-MAZING! My family is so jealous, lol. What a freak occurance! ...And thisss is why sometimes, I have got to learn to be more spontaneous!

After a quick pit stop (ha!) at the little Dunkin' Donuts express, where Lendy made her own iced coffee (don't tell Ravi!), we continued our journey. As we began our ascent, the trees got prettier and the roads got windier. At the top of the mountain, we came to Chateau Morsiette, a beautiful restaurant and winery. Lendy and I walked around a bit and took part in their (very busy) wine tasting experience. On the way down, we stopped at Maybry's Mill, an old grismill (whatever that is). There, we had the most awesome photo shoot, though I guess that's being a bit boastful because most of the pictures are of me acting a fool...aka having my very own ANTM photo shoot. lol. I tried to be artistic by taking some creative/artsy photos, and of course, I captured a few of the lovely lady, even though she swears she's not worthy of being featured in the shoot. (In the words of my crazy roommate, "WRONG!")

Eventually, we made our way back down to *Pelham, NC, Lendy's hometown, for dinner with her mother and brother. Our experience at Frank's Italian just might have involved way too many french fries and fried pickles, but it was well worth the experience. We ended the night with a dive through a Lendy-titled episode of "Hoarders," looking for the treasure that would become our office Christmas tree. Lendy's mother welcomed us into her lovely home, and I was able to dig through some not-so-embarassing photos and childhood memorabilia. Tehe.

Our daycation came to an end only 13 hours later, as we arrived back in Raleigh just after 11 p.m...which finally gets me to the point I have been trying to make all along. Even when we think that we're too busy, we don't have enough money, or there just isn't the time, we all need to take breaks. Whether it's a full fledged week at the ski resort over thanksgiving, or a day trip to the beach, or even an afternoon playing games and watching movies, vacations are inevitiable--and necessary. I'm not saying we should keep procrastinating or spend hours on Facebook (heck--I, and you, will do that no matter what), but I am saying that we have to treat ourselves every now and again. Thank you, Lendy love, for teaching me Life Lesson #57826. <3

Guess I really am getting an education after all..
-Lauren

~Oh and...I saw my first shooting star! :-D

Music Speaks to the Soul

2010-10-25T20:48:00.005-05:00

Began 10/25/10:
Most of you are fully aware that life has taken me on a roller-coaster ride of emotions, a ride that has lasted much longer than I anticipated. While this ride will probably last long into the future, I do hope that I develop better coping mechanisms, preferably sooner rather than later.

A few weeks ago I realized that it had been a while since I really connected with a song on the radio. Even though I'm not very in-tuned with music and all things related, I really enjoy country music and I feel as though it has some weird way of reaching deep down into my soul and connecting with both the "really awesome" and the "really tough" parts of life. [Maybe I can blame Rascal Flatts' lack of new material for all this introspection, ha.] But really, I've been aching and searching for a song with which I could really connect.

Flashing forward a bit, it looks like this week is shaping up to be a tough one emotionally...less for me and more for my friends, but still. Two of my really good friends here in Raleigh are going through a very tough time right now. It's strange how much I, too, am hurt by their pain. I'm not really sure why this is, but something about their situations is really weighing on my heart right now.

As usual, there are the ups and downs that come along with "birthing" a thesis, too. I am so thankful for the support we all have for each other in our little office/class cohort. The "rock collector" parable (have I talked about that here yet?) really has stuck with us, just as we stick with each other through all of the challenges that we seem to face on a daily basis. (At this point, I'm beginning to think that in order to get a Master's degree, your computer has to die at least once, you have to lose at least one data set or document/file, and you've got to think your capstone project is absolutely worthless at some point...just to earn that darn piece of paper.)

Continued 10/31/10:
I say all of this because in my search for "the" song of the moment, I realized it would be difficult to find something that really applied to me, and even more specificially, to the things going on in mine and my friends' lives. It's not every day you find songs about grad school, losing a child, making a tough decision, shattering your dreams, etc. I mean, sure, talk to T-Swift about heartbreak, and Good Ole Kenny can help ya with daydreaming about life on the beach, but those other things...they just don't sound so eloquent in a country song.

Last week, one of my co-workers/classmates (rock ladies, if you will) came into the office bursting at the seams wanting to play a song for us. As it turned out, the song was Bon Jovi's "Livin' on a Prayer," and she was so right when she said it fit our group quite well. Really the parts that apply to us are...
//We gotta hold on to what we've got
It doesn't make a difference if we make it or not
We got each other and that's a lot...
//...Oh, we're half way there
Oh oh, livin' on a prayer
Take my hand, we'll make it I swear
Oh oh, Livin' on a prayer!
In our case, we DO have each other, and that IS a lot. We ARE (more than) half way there. Together, we WILL make it. And really, we are lucky, blessed even, to have what we do. I truly believe that I would never make it through this challenge that is grad school without the support, encouragement, and understanding from those around me. And I know I can speak for all of us when saying, we really are "livin' on a prayer."

Only one day earlier than our little "Livin' on a Prayer" moment, the lovely Mrs. Pandora presented with me with my own version of "the song," yes, the exact song I had been waiting for all along. While I really hate to make this blog even longer than it is, most of you are well aware that I tend to post lengthy entries, and I don't think it would do the song justice to not include the lyrics, so please bear with me. Here it is:

One Day You Will - Lady Antebellum
(Click the link to watch a lyric video on YouTube.)
You feel like you're falling backwards
Like you're slippin' through the cracks
Like no one would even notice
If you left this town and never came back
You walk outside and all you see is rain
You look inside and all you feel is pain
And you can't see it now

[Chorus]
But down the road the sun is shining
In every cloud there's a silver lining
Just keep holding on (just keep holding on)
And every heartache makes you stronger
But it won't be much longer
You'll find love, you'll find peace
And the you you're meant to be
I know right now that's not the way you feel
But one day you will

You wake up every morning and ask yourself
What am I doing here anyway
With the weight of all those disappointments
Whispering in your ear
You're just barely hanging by a thread
You wanna scream but you're down to your last breath
And you don't know it yet

[Repeat Chorus]

Find the strength to rise above
You will
Find just what you're made of, you're made of

[Repeat Chorus]

One day you will
Oh one day you will

Honestly, I don't really even know where to begin discussing this song. The Lovely Lady A somehow put out a song that reaches down into the depths of my heart and puts into words every bit of what I have felt, feel, and (probably) will feel. It's no secret that graduate school has been a struggle for me, and while I don't mean to sound depressed here, they really just say it quite perfectly. The beauty about this song, though, is not even about how I relate to it in my own life, but rather its universality.

For the friend who knows what she wants, but is scared she won't get it, or for the friend who has no idea what's next. For the friend who hurt someone or the one who was hurt. For the friend who lost everything, and the friend who lost just one thing. ...One day you (we) will.

One day we will have insight and understanding. One day all of the pain will be gone. One day we will be blessed with exactly what it is that we need.

We will find love. We will find peace. We will find the us we're meant to be. Right now, that's not the way it feels, but one day we will.

Wow. All I can say is wow. No amount of words or reflection here can really do this song justice in my heart. I guess, I really just wanted to include it here because I feel like it's a really profound set of insight for those of us who have daily struggles (hey--doesn't everyone?). We have to remember that "down the road the sun is shining, and in every cloud there's a silver lining."

On a lighter note, I think we should compile a GSG (Grad School Girls) soundtrack. It should be complete with a collection of empowering, reflective, motivating tunes. And just like us, this "Tune Rock" will pull us through, because...

One day we will.

-Lauren

PS: I haven't forgotten about the promise I made in my tweet-blog, nor that I need to write about the LeBlanc-Richard wedding, among other more-thought provoking topics.

Fall-in' Upside Down

2010-10-14T22:22:00.004-05:00

It seems as though I can never write a blog with one single topic, and tonight is no different. Usually, it takes me forever to write because either (a) I have too much going on, or, (b) there isn't anything interesting to write about. I figured my next post would be about this special week in October, but now I've got something else I really need to get off of my chest, so it seems that tonight is the night.

As I just alluded, this has been a very special week for me. Fall Break at NC State was last Thursday and Friday (Oct. 7 & 8), and if you absolutely anything about me, I'm sure it would come as no surprise for you to hear that Fall Break was the perfect excuse for a good excursion. (Heck--do I even NEED excuses to travel? Uh, not really.) It actually worked out quite perfectly because I needed to be in Louisiana for two weekends in a row (more about that in a second). So, why not go all out and make it an extended vacation? Now that sounds more like it!

[I would also like to note that this is the first time since before 2007 that I have not been in Idaho during this week in October. It's a sad day because of this.]

The reason I needed to be in Louisiana is because two of my very good, long-time friends are getting married tomorrow. Victoria LeBlanc and Seth Richard are finally tying the knot after six long years of dating. In fact, I still remember the day I returned from French immersion in Canada in 2004; Victoria called to tell me she'd gone on a date the night before...and the rest is history. Sorry, I digress. Anyway, they're getting married tomorrow, and I have graciously accepted the offer to serve as a bridesmaid for all of the festivities. Thankfully, Fall Break--literally--fell into place, with the rehersal, dinner, and bridal luncheon all planned for last weekend, and of course, the big day is tomorrow. This way, I was able to extend my vacation and take a whole week to be at home with my family in Louisiana. What a nice deal.

Also, another one of my dearest friends, Dawn, was asked to serve in the wedding, too. She (and another bridesmaid) are traveling back and forth from Texas for the festivities. Since Dawn was so gracious to spend 18 hours in a car with me last summer on one of my cross-country drives, I felt it was only fitting for me to offer a similar gift to her. With the extended holiday, I went ahead and flew to meet her in Austin, Texas on Wednesday night (Oct. 6). On Thursday morning, we visited a military museum at a local base, and did a little hiking at Mount Bonnabell. It was a good little half-day tourist experience. That afternoon, I was able to get some work done before bringing Dawn "dinner" at the hospital where she is doing her internship. She showed me around the beautiful facilities, and I did a little more work while she finished up for the evening. On Friday morning, we hit the road nice and early, making it to Abbeville in the early afternoon. (Dawn continued onto Baton Rouge, for she had a different wedding rehersal and dinner to attend to that evening.)

Fortunately, my early arrival allowed for a few hours worth of extra time to spend with a very cute, happy, and fun set of triplets! In fact, I got to play with not one, but TWO sets of triplets!! Laurie made friends with another triplet mom while in the hospital, and the two planned to have a play date Friday afternoon. It was so fun to see six babies all in one room! I'm gonna ressurect the Rosie O'Donnell here and say--cutie patooties!

Friday night, I was able to see yet another group of family members at my cousin Ross's high school football game. Ross is a senior quarterback for his team, which happened to be 5-0 up until then. Sadly, I had never received the opportunity to watch him play, so again, it worked out perfectly for me to be there. It really sucked that they lost the game, and Ross got hurt right at the end, but I am so grateful to have had the chance to be there, with our whole entire family, supporting him. I hope it meant as much to him as it did to me...

Saturday was another full day; I spent the morning shopping for dresses to all the wedding events. The rehersal festivities began with 5 p.m. Mass in Delcambre, and then went straight into the practice. With a huge wedding party and 7 con-celebrants (priests), it will be quite a feat to orchestrate. Afterwards, we all gathered for a delicious homecooked meal--Cajun style, of course! There was seafood and chicken/sausage gumbo, potato salad, bread, and dessert. Yumm. Good food and good times.

Sunday, Hilary (bridesmaid attending grad school in Houston for dietetics) and her mom hosted a beautiful bridal luncheon. Again, the food was great, company was wonderful, and the cake pull was a blast! I pulled the engagement ring...we'll see how that works out. lol. Later, I spent the afternoon playing with my cousins again. Man, I really miss our Sunday dinners...like really.

Since have been home all week, people are constantly asking what I am up to. I guess most people can't quite fathom what a girl would with her time while sitting at home alone all day. Don't worry, I have enjoyed it thoroughly. It is so nice to have the house to myself, to work at my own pace, and get things done. Because I set my alarm to be up at a decent time, and worked pretty consistently all day long, every day this week, I am completely content with my time this week. I feel very okay with the progress I have made, simply because I know that I gave it my all and I could not have fit anything else into my days of productivity. It would have been nice to have all of my thesis writing materials at my disposal, to have totally completed the work for my professor, or to have even done a little extra academic work, but I figure that since I used my time wisely and did make some progress, that I've just got to be okay with it. I also figured that since I never have the opportunity to just "be" with my family, when the parents came home, it was time to put the books away. There is nothing in life more important than the people you love, and my Master's degree can go to the hot place if it means spending the whole week with my nose in a computer instead of with them. Plus, I think they really do miss me, and loved to have me home for such an extended period of time.

Despite all of my contentness with the work I accomplished this week, tonight I received a fairly decent blow to the progress on my thesis. As of Saturday (two days from now?), my pilot study will have been out for 3 weeks. I was supposed to close it on Monday (the one that just passed), but because I only had about half of the responses I was aiming for, I had to leave it open a little longer. Still, we hoped to have the pilot data analyzed by mid-week, so that changes could be made to the instrument before I send it out to the actual sample sometime in the near future. However, I received the not-great news this afternoon, from a colleague at Texas A&M who is pseudo serving on my committee as the stats person.

He said that he won't even touch my data until I have at least 25-30 responses. How many do I have now? 13. You got it, I need 17 more before reliability tests would be anywhere near accurate. Since I've spent the last 3 weeks bugging people via e-mail, and all this week calling camps via phone, I can't for the life of me fathom how I will convince 17 more people to take part in my pilot study. Said committee person offered a few suggestions for how to proceed from here, but it really is quite discouraging to hear that I'm nowhere near completing the process of my pilot study. I'm pretty sure I'm already behind the schedule that my advisor laid out in August, so heaven knows what that means for the rest of our plans.

I guess the bottom line is that there is nothing I could have done differently to make things go a better way in this situation. I did everything that I was supposed to, and I have been on top of it all from the very beginning of the semester. I don't even want to know how I would feel right now if that were not the case. The work has to get done no matter what, and I'm pretty sure my advisor isn't going to let me drop out, so I suppose I have to pull it all together, wipe the tears, and move on. Thankfully, I will be taking the next few days off for the wedding (and recuperation, lol), so I'll revisit the situation when I get back to Raleigh on Monday. We'll fix it, we'll make it work, and I WILL graduate in May. (In fact, Justine noted tonight that we graduate in exactly 7 months. This first trimester has proved to be a challenge, so who knows what the next two will do to us. Regardless, we're "due" in only 7 months! There is a light...)

It's times like these I really wish we had our little grad school blog up and running. Kinks in the plan seem to be inevitable when it comes to grad school and thesis writing. While it's no walk in the park, I suppose it makes us better...somehow...and the rocks we collect along the way go far in building a strong foundation for our future.

In any case, despite this setback, I feel very blessed to have experienced this week at home. My anxiety level is way down, and I just feel so much comfort for being at home in the familiarity that is home. I am sorry that I have not been able to be there (both physically and emotionally) to those I left behind, but I hope they will understand that this is just something that I had to do. And, maybe they'll even consider coming along next time...Mardi Gras 2011 is around the corner, and you can bet that I'll be here to celebrate!

In fact, it's only fitting to end with this...
Laissez les bon temps rouler!
-Lauren

Change Happens.

2010-09-26T21:02:00.003-05:00

Change happens.

This small sentence is shaping up to be the basis of my next entry, as well as a concept I'm trying to train myself to accept. As much as one might assume I'm really good at adapting to change (given the status of my gyspy lifestyle), that really isn't the case. Actually, I feel like I'm really bad with change. Decision-making is terribly difficult for me, and I really do have to contemplate something or prepare myself for change with a considerable amount of thought and debate in order to feel secure with it. Even then, I always second guess myself and tend to get really attached to people and circumstances, especially whenever I transition from one situation or experience to the next.

With that being said, my transition from camp to home was better than expected. It was a good two weeks with a very nice balance of super awesome relaxation and family time. I spent a lot of time with my daddy (who had minor surgery right after I got back), and I saw the triplets a few times too. It was really nice. There was even some friend stuff in there; Victoria's bachelorette party was a great success. Lots of ladies, and lots of fun. Lendy flew in from NC to "catch a Cajun," aka, retrieve me and drag me back to the great state of NC. Though her trip was quite short, it was very sweet...literally. We saw an extraordinary amount of Louisiana in 24 short hours, before driving 17 hours straight back to NC. I didn't believe we'd make it (in one piece at least), but we did. Thanks again, Love.

A few highlights of the first five and a half weeks of school:

-I spent two very wonderful weekends with Lendy in the forest of wake--ahem--Wake Forest. We ate too much, played a lot of uno (er, deux?), and enjoyed some very tastey spirits courtesy of the Duplin family. Tehe.
-I attended my first ever NC State football game, as well as the CALS (College of Agriculture and Life Sciences) tailgate. Note: I even hung out at the CFFA booth with Ms. Kara Miller. Yes, I really did.
-Speaking of NC State football, we're currently 4-0, for the first time in 8 years. It's kind of ridiculous, but I'm super thrilled about all the school spirit and cool events because of it. (Also, my LSU and BSU are rocking it out with an undefeated record thus far! Saints aren't quite there, but still...I'm learning to like football?!)
-Tomorrow continues my trek across the entire state of NC with Liz, as we travel to do focus groups for her thesis. Should be an interesting--and hopefully productive--ride! Look out, the GSG ladies are coming to an ag program near you!

Back to this idea of change...As regular readers are well aware, I tend to live in the past. I hang onto my adventures long after they are complete. Usually, I don't really think of it as a bad thing, but it does tend to leave me in a terribly emotional state. I mean, you've all seen it...my camp entries lasted well into September, despite the fact that I left Arkansas at the beginning of August. If it were up to me, I would write nostalgic entries on a regular basis. (Maybe that's where I need to go with this forum, lol.) Where am I going with this...

On Thursday, Nick (yes, ressurecting the WaHa family again! yay.) flew into Raleigh from Rhode Island. He, myself, and Justine met up with my three roommates to see Lady Antebellum perform at the Koka Booth in Cary. Lady A was great, but the venue was not. The 90+ degree heat (at night, in September--gross!) didn't help either. Friday morning, we explored NC State a bit, including the Free Expression Tunnel, and then headed north for the WaHa Spring '09 Reunion in DC.

For those of you who may be new to my blogging stories, WaHa translates to "Warren Hall," which is where I lived while I was a tour guide in Washington, DC for 4 months in Spring 2009. Warren Hall is located at the National 4-H Conference Center, in the bougie neighborhood of Chevy Chase, MD, 1 mile outside of the city. There, I lived with 3 other tour guides, and 5 other people doing various things in and around the area. Though I had seen 5 of the 8 people I lived with since I moved out, there had been no real group reunion since we left 16 months ago. However, it worked out for most of us to get together this weekend, so we planned a reunion of sorts. Marcie flew in from California, Nick and I drove up from Raleigh, Christy from Ohio, and Colin from Virginia. Amanda still lives in DC; Justin and Brian (who also live in the area) planned to meet us there, too.

Friday afternoon, Nick, Christy, and I visited with our former bosses, Molly and Freeman. It was fun to catch up with them. Later, Colin came over to the compound; we visited with Chef Z and had a tasty meal at the Clover Cafe. While waiting for Marcie and Amanda to show up, the four of us played The Farming Game (if you've never heard of it--check it out). The bobsey twins arrived around 10, and we all stayed up hanging out until almost 2. The girls had pillow talk until much, much later.

We slept in on Saturday, brought Amanda over to see Chef Z, and had another glorious meal at the Cafe. We also took our only total group picture which will contain the caption, "Virginia, Wyoming, Louisiana, Ohio, California, and Maine," depicting our respective states. (Love that.) Colin left us there, and the rest of us decided to go into the city. At the National Mall, there was a huge event--the National Book Festival? It was super cool with huge tents for each genre of literature, authors speaking all day, fun events for the kids, etc. We spent some time sitting with our feet in the fountain at the Sculpture Garden, and then took Amanda and Nick up to the top of the Old Post Office Pavillion (their first time). We walked through all of Chinatown, which included an amazing pitt stop at Fro.Zen.Yo and a little rest at Marcie's friend's apartment. From there, we metroed back to Bethesda, and walked the entire neighborhood before settling down to dinner at an Irish pub. After that, it was a short ride back to WaHa for another late night. Note: Nathan provided us with some wonderful entertainment...all the way from Seattle, Washington. Bahaha.

This morning, Christy took us to a hole in the wall diner a few blocks up Taylor St. (across Connecticut). What a find! I wish we'd known it was there while we lived there; it's so close, and so cheap! After, we moseyed back to the Center, and everyone said their goodbyes. I took Nick to the metro in Bethesda (where he later ran into the rest of the group--crazy), and the other's stayed behind to prepare for and continue their DC experience.

Not to be whiney, but it was a miserable drive back to NC. Aside from the ridiculous traffic and gross weather, I was an emotional basketcase. Thankfully, I know I'm not the only one who had a tough time with the goodbyes and transitions back to "reality," but this is why I say I don't do well with change. This weekend was amazing; I wouldn't trade the reunion and my time with these people for anything in the world. It was so natural. Everything fell back into place, and it was just perfect. Perhaps things would be easier if we had all drifted apart or there was some sense of awkwardness, or even if we didn't get along nearly as well as before. But, it wasn't like that. It was as if we had never left, and our house was still our home. (I suppose the fact that we increased the current number of people in the house by 125% did help a bit, lol.) What's the problem, you ask?

For me, I've had several opportunities to create bonds such as these over the last few years. It's indescribable the experiences I have had, and again, I wouldn't trade them for anything. I would think nothing of taking on another one of these experiences if the opportunity were to arise again. However, I will say that it truly does take an emotional toll on a person. When you live with people, work with people, bond with people, in the way that we have, it is impossible to break away from that bond. Impossible. There will always be something between us whether we like it or not.

Sometimes I wonder, though, is it possible to love more people? What capacity do we have for constantly making new bonds, taking on new experiences, ones with the depth and intensity of these? From time to time, I think it's time I settle down just so that I have the capacity for maintaining the ties I have already made, without shredding some just in order to build new ones. I'm content with what I've got. New and more would be nice, but not at the expense of the ones I already have. What does this mean for practicality's sake? I haven't the slightest clue. I suppose it's just something to contemplate...

What I do know is that I find it terribly hard to say goodbye, and even harder to be the friend that I wish I could be whenever I am so far away. It's just tough. After this weekend, I'm all torn up about leaving behind people that mean so much to me. Sadly, it will probably only take a few days for the emotions to wane...but that will last only as long as our distance is in place. We'll come back together again someday, and it will happen all over again. I feel like, if I were better at change, this wouldn't bother me as much as it does. It wouldn't stick with me for so long.

With all of this, I don't mean to say that this group of individuals is the only one that brings out such emotion in me. That's not the case. There are several groups, situations, and even individuals that invoke the same emotions. Maybe it's a character flaw of mine, or maybe it's special that I'm so sensitive. I'm not sure which. Regardless, I will continue to give away my heart just the way that I always have, and I hope life continues to reward me just as it always has.

I'll let you know how that goes.
-Lauren

They are the Roses

2010-09-04T09:17:00.007-05:00

By now, I'm pretty sure all of you are sick and tired of me going on and on, and on...about camp. However, there are few more things I want to say before I close the "camp" chapter for a while. Be forewarned, however, this entry is going to be a bit of a rant--just some things that have been weighing on my mind that I feel the blogging world may benefit (?) to hear.

First things first, I'm not the type to walk around correcting people's grammar all the time...goodness knows this combination of crazy dialects I've got going on means nothing less than frequent improper use of words, as well as those words I create myself. I will say, though, there are are a few phrases or spellings of words that drive me absolutely bananas. Here's one of my biggest pet peeves:

Using phrases like--the handicapped, special needs kids/people (as demonstrated in a variety of ways: diabetic kids, autistic kids, etc.), the poor, and the list goes on. When people say these phrases I want to yell, "HAVEN'T YOU HEARD OF PEOPLE-FIRST LANGUAGE??" For those of you who don't know, "people-first language" is a concept, if you will, featured in federal legislation concerning individuals with special needs. [Not stating the exact act here because I'd rather not post something unless I'm positive it's the correct one, so ask if you're interested.]

To What does "people-first language" translate? It means that federal law mandates us to empasize that someone WITH disabilities is a PERSON FIRST. What's the difference, you might ask? It's the difference between "special needs kids" and "kids WITH special needs," or "He is autistic" and "He HAS autism." Note the emphasis is on the person WITH a disability. Individuals are people first; they enjoy the same things we do, love the same way (often times even deeper) we do, and --forgive the side rant here-- were created in the likeness and image of God, just like us! For this, we owe them the decency to recognize that they are indeed people, not freaks of nature we have to "just deal with" in society.

Now, I realize that most people do this without even thinking about it. It's what we hear in everyday conversation. Saying the words, "She is dyslexic" versus "She has dyslexia," takes but ONE extra letter! Is it really that much extra work to place value on a person for who they are, not what they have? These habits are tough to break, I know it. People-first language was brought to my attention years ago, and sometimes I stll catch myself saying something wrong. But, I feel like once I learned to understand the concept, my eyes and ears were put on high alert, and now I notice it all the time.

It's crazy to me how often phrases like these are misused in our everday life. Media use it all the time, and it drives me nuts. These are the people who set the bar for terms we use in life, because it is often the first time we hear about these concepts. For an industry that prides itself on being "politically correct," they do a very poor job of showing it when it comes to people with disabilities. I wish someone would slap them on the head and enroll every last one of them in a disabilities awareness course. Maybe then, the rest of America would come to understand how to show respect and awareness for a large group of its citizens that are all too often ignored and pushed under the rug.

And while we're on the subject of syntax, I've got another little peeve for you. 4-H is spelled just like that: 4 (dash) H, or, 4-H. 4-H is not the same as "4H." Stop being lazy or ignorant and use the dash, please. Why is it such a big deal? Would you want YOUR name spelled wrong all the time? No, 4-H isn't a person, but it is legitimate organization with a name and emblem that literally has the same type of federal protection as the U.S. Presidential seal. Oh--and--it's just "4-H" not "the 4-H." For some reason, people seem to make this mistake all the time too. Anyway, could we please give 4-H the respect and identity that it deserves? Mkay, thanks. (Don't say I didn't warn you ahead of time about the rants, haha.)

Switching back to the camp thing, there is something else I have been wanting to write about. Most people are intrigued whenever I tell them that I work at a camp for children with special needs. They're even more facinated whenever I get into the nitty-gritty details about the type of care we as counselors provide for our campers. The intense personal and medical care that we give becomes second nature to those of us who do it day in and day out, but many folks find it to be strange that we are (1) allowed/trained to give this type of care and (2) that we are willing to give care that would make most people very uncomfortable.

Often times, when someone learns about the intensity that is camp, a myriad of questions arise. These range from, "Tell me more," to, "Why did you decide to work there?" Sometimes, people say things like, "That must be a really tough job," or "You are such an angel for those kids; you make a huge difference in those kids' lives; bless your heart for being so good to those children." I realize that most of the time, people are genuninely interested and really want to express their support for what we do whenever they say these things. However, I always feel a little tug at my innards whenever the comments make me feel as though the person has pitty on me, or even on the campers, for the situations in which we are faced. Sometimes, it's as if that person has placed me (and the counselors in general) on this pedastol for the job that we do, because it's something that many people don't understand or could not picture themselves doing. It is implied that the children are so lucky to have us in their lives, or to have people who are willing to care for them and provide a "normal" camp experience.

If anyone were to ask the campers or their parents about their camp experience, it is likely that many of them would say the counselors make a world of difference in their week at camp. However, my fellow counselors and I have had many discussions about how we are so grateful that parents are willing to trust us with the care of their children for a whole week; that is no easy task for them. We feel blessed to have the opportunity to work with some of the best kids on the face of this planet. We are the lucky ones. Every week, we develop such love and attachment to these kids that they may as well be our own--we think of them as OUR kids--and treat them as such. The life of a counselor is changed for all of eternity after just one summer at such a special place. We counselors beg and pine and dream for 9 months, looking forward to the following summer of reuniting with our kids, and the camp family that has woven itself so deeply into our hearts.

So while I understand that when people make comments about how lucky campers are, they are truly just trying to show support for what we do, I wish they were able to understand that I am the one who is lucky here. I'm the one who benefits from having the privlege to work with such wonderful kids. I'm on the receiving end of the deal, no matter what people want to think.

In the grand scheme of things, I guess, it really is a full-circle sort of thing; everyone wins--the campers, their parents, aaand the camp staff. And people wonder what brings us back, year after year. Speaking of which, if anyone wants to develop a time machine that would set the calendar to be summertime all year round, please let me know. What I wouldn't give to live in the camp bubble forever...

Anyway, I apologize for such a long post. Please don't take it as though I wrote this rant in a bad mood or with negative feelings; I know some of it probably comes off that way. What I really mean with all of this is that there were some thoughts weighing on my mind that I really needed to get out. None of what I wrote is a personal attack against anyone in particular, so if you happen to fit the bill for anything mentioned in my rants, please don't think it's my passive-aggressiveness trying to call you out. Blogs are for expression, and I did just that.

With that all being said, I plan to refrain from making this an "all things camp" blog for a while. Maybe I'll ressurect the subject again in a few months, when I'm feeling particularly sad about missing camp. For now though, start to expect some more current topics, such as this fresh new year of grad school and all things North Carolinian. It's already shaping up to be an interesting one, so I hope everyone stays tuned!

And I guess your final installment of summer reading fell perfectly on Labor Day weekend. Congratulations, it's officially time to celebrate the Fall season! Yay!

-Lauren

PS: Reflecting on my rants (while trying to think of a title for this entry), I am reminded of song by Jessica Andrews, "They are the Roses." Check it out; you'll see why.

"Tweet" Summertime

2010-08-11T14:25:00.015-05:00

I've had quite a bit of time on my hands in these two weeks that I've been at home in Louisiana. Don't worry, though, I've stayed occupied...with a book, Season 3 of LOST, playing nurse/housewife, and a wholeee lot of relaxing. It's been incredible, haha. In this time, I have also spent a decent amount of time reflecting over the summer, and thinking forward to the upcoming school year.

Throughout my reflection, I've come to believe that the few posts I made this summer, though thorough, don't do it justice. Instead, I feel like my tweets (Twitter.com) do a much better job of illustrating the events of my summer. My tweets were snapshots of what I was doing or feeling at any given point. Not only did I tweet frequently, but the statements were a whole lot more "raw" than most of what I wrote in a blogs, mostly because they were published in the heat of the moment, not weeks later when I had time to "clean it up" or even forget the small details as time lapsed.

For this reason, I decided to do a blog "in tweets." What does that mean? Well, it's my creative way of giving you, the reader, an opportunity to have a more intimate glimpse into my world. Here, you will find tweets submitted from the time I left for camp on June 5th, through the day I returned home to Louisiana, on August 2nd. They're organized by month, and also by week or event, as appropriate. Oh, I should note that some of the tweets have dates/timestamps included; those without such information weren't indicated--use your imagination.

Here ya go!

June 2010
-packed for 2 weddings, bachelorette, & conference all at once! North bound today!
8:27 AM Jun 5th via mobile web
-lunch in shreveport. Back on the road now. ps: 41 mpg. Booya!
12:46 PM Jun 5th via mobile web
-made it to my favorite neighborhood in arkansas! Leingeree shopping for ash's party next fri then off to the counselor reunion at boys' apt!
5:51 PM Jun 5th via mobile web

Staff Training Week: June 6-11, 2010
-staff training starts today!
9:46 AM Jun 6th via mobile web
-miserably hot already! 95* heat index 98*
4:03 PM Jun 6th via mobile web
-1st go at being tribe chief and we rock the chant competition!! Go quapaw! 3 year streak to protect!
-highlight of my day: ability awareness training from a guy at the ntl inclusion project, which happens to be based in raleigh. Small world
11:36 PM Jun 7th via mobile web
-stoked about the lime cabin's skit at flag this morning! Trust fall!
7:56 AM Jun 9th via mobile web
-I am FOX-WORTHY. Totally pumped about all the awesomeness at archery this summer!
11:56 PM Jun 9th via mobile web
-40 hours off!!! Woot. Ashley's bachelorette shindig tonight!
-they're building a five guy's in little rock!? I hope its done before I leave in august!

Muscular Dystrophy Week: June 13-18, 2010
-camp! Camp! Camp! Kiddos arrive today!
-all here and accounted for: 6 counselors, 5 volunteers, & 7 campers in my cabin. I'm Quapaw chief again. Sounds like a good week ahead!
-one camper down... Only this place would have a 2 to 1 ratio with counselors in the majority. Lol
-archery was rocking today!
-wishing safe travels to @nahun and the idahoans! Be prepared, the LA humidity is ready and waiting with open arms.
-I heart archery!
-I'm up wayyyy to early, but hey--i'm going to louisiana today (after a morning of teaching archery, that is)!

Medine-Peters Wedding Weekend in Louisiana: June 17-19, 2010
-at LIT. First plane delayed already. Hope I don't have the stomach virus that has struck lime cabin...
-delayed again. Why?
-boarded for LIT - DFW.
-landed at DFW! I feel like such a traitor--flying American and sitting next to an Apple employee. Eek.
-boarded for DFW - BTR! Louisiana, I'm coming home (briefly)!
-twittering fail = friend fail: happy 20th birthday, @Mainer8! You're not a teenager anymore!
-baton rouge today! Going to joy's swim meet this morning! Swim fast!
-I found my wedding dress--now where's the lucky guy? ;-)
-on our way to @josiahpeters wedding with @sunriseiscool! Can't wait to see @Nahun, @jasondurand & everyone else!
-party!!! Why'd u have to end??? Boo!
-a going away and birthday party today! Louisiana is the place for celebrations!
-bummed I'm not getting to hang with the idahoans tonight, but feeling blessed to spend some time with dawn and annie. Its been too long.

Milwaukee Trip (for ALE Conference): June 20-24, 2010
-MSY - ORD.
-safe and early arrival in chicago. Heard my professor and fellow grad student are stuck between rdu and det. j, s, & I will make it...
-ord - mke!
-exactly 17 minutes later, we're in milwaukee!!
-67 degrees out this morning--welcome to milwaukee!
-touring the miller brewery--be jealous!
-I'm convinced that people in this state don't sweat. Ever.
-progressive dinner with milwaukee food tour. ... I'll always have a special place in my heart for tour guides!
-I see lake michigan!!
-no power at the hotel today, how interesting. But hey--i had perkins for breakfast!
-i dont wanna go to bed but i'm getting up for a flight in 5 hours. bah. it's so weird to be alone for the first time in weeks.
-boarded for MKE to ATL. Delta is great!
-ATL to LIT! headed back to my home away from home!

Return Weekend in Little Rock: June 25-26, 2010
-what a day: closing ceremonies for spina bifida week at camp, some relaxation, and toy story 3 in Imax 3D!
-@sunriseiscool it was so good! (coming from the girl who hates animated films)
-@mainer8 @Christyclary the five guys here in little rock opened sometime while I was gone last week! Can't wait to hit it up!
-headed out to Morrilton, ar for Ashley's wedding! Yay for another party!
-I've decided weddings are beautiful and fun, especially those for friends. Camp par-tay!
-@sunriseiscool @josiahpeters @nahun ''my wish'' by rascal flatts is the mother/son dance at this wedding!

Kota I Week: June 27-July 2, 2010
-kota 1 starts today! Will I be working with boys or girls??? still a mystery.
-they say ''kota'' translates to ''friends;'' I'm convinced it really means ''crazy''
-boys yesterday.. Girls today?
-um so the boy cabin I was in just lost a camper.....
-cajun spaghetti night at the apartment for 5-hour was a great success!
-making a list of counselor must-haves. So far: head lamp, memory foam mattress, mp3 w/ nature sounds...the list will go on.
-aaaand the rainy days at aldersgate begin... On the day my co-archer is sick. Staff dropping like flies.
-took two girls to five guys little rock tonight! yumm! @christyclary @mainer8
-today I learned: ''x.y.z.'' eXamine. Your. Zipper. Thank you, camp.
-july already?
-when I am here, I am the best me that I can be.
-got asked to work a daycamp for kids who are ventilator dependent! It shortens my week off but should be tons o fun! Yay.
-heading up an all-counselor lunch at 5 guys!! Its most of their first times!

July 2010

Break Week: July 3-9, 2010
-just a small town girl...
-girls' night with amber in Morrilton and first night in weeks I don't have to set an alarm, ftw.
-I do NOT want to get out of this bed. How strange it feels to be in a normal house, bedroom, and comfy bed...
-i saw Eclipse today!
-@mainer8 j'ai donne les bissous de quel'qun ce soir. C'etait pas une bonnet idee.
-I started watching LOST today...
-slept in, watched My Girl & 6 hrs of LOST, fireworks in LR, donuts, jason's deli. Lazy independence day = smiles for me!
-@mainer8 porquoi est-ce que je fais ca?
-@mainer8 C'etait un ami avec des... beinfaits?
-what are the consequences of refusing to write more of the thesis until august? i'm serious here, can i go be on strike?
-5 hours and 9 shopping stops later, we're all set with items for this 3-day, 15 ppl camp trip 2 MO. Now to cook dinner & prep 4 2morrow!
-8 visitors to the apartment tonight and another LOST disc down! Now time to rest for our big adventure!
-15 camp counselors all packed in 5 cars and on the road. Missouri or bust! (and meeting up to 5 more ppl there!)
-3 hours and several games/ conversations later...we're in misery! Missouri state line!
-heading out on the current river today! Leaving the phone at the campsite so don't freak out people
-safe return to the campsite. It was a glorious day for rafting!
-out for pizza tonight. Real food, air conditioning, and toilets! We're in heaven!
-on the road again! heading south toward little rock!
-@sunriseiscool I'm wearing the child life shirt today!
-finally, I showered for the first time since monday. YuM.
-I just did something u shouldn't have
-its 3 in the morning and we're STARTING a LOST episode. Now that takes some dedication.
-''kicked out'' of the apartment. Watching LOST at camp, 3 hours before I have to report for work.
-staff dinner and meeting lasted a whole hour, now off to play ladder golf at a park before tonights slumber party and fort building! :)
-had to pause the Lost season 1 finale in place of bedtime. That show is crack.

Vent Camp/Diabetes Week: July 10-16, 2010
-vent camp today!
-sushi belly.
-my blood glucose level: 100. hope you're looking forward to regular updates--its diabetes week!
-just tp'd the cabin for a camper's birthday surprise. About to do a midnight blood sugar check then up for more at 2 am.
-doing 2 am checks again tonight. This time I'm gonna watch LOST while waiting for the clock to chime. Party at the lime cabin!
-almost and hour after starting, checks are done. 2 alerts: one camper at 59 (low) and another at 360 (high). Docs came; all is good. Bedtime
-it's tie dye tuesday!
-just another whacky hair wednesday... With a little dash of iron chef america!
-tonight's blood sugar rate: 105. guess my pancreas is on top of things!
-oh hey! I used my child life skills during site changes (for insulin pumps) today!
-just did 2 am checks alone. Bad idea. The nurses had to come back 3 times. fail.
-I'm wearing a pump today! Carb counting, here we go!
-hit triple digit temps today. with you know something is wrong when it ''feels like'' 92 at midnight.
-stayed behind to clean and pack the cabin this morning... My pump told me that I missed breakfast. Good job, Candy!
-I got pickles today! Yay, @lendylou
-anyone felt the dc earthquake? How about u, @sunriseiscool?

CAK (Cardiac, Arthritis, Kidney) Week: July 18-23, 2010
-it's CAK (Cardiac, arthritis, kidney) week! we've got the youngest girls & probably the most medically fragile, Woot.
-oh, 2 am's once again. Night encore.
-I got my first silly band! It's a unicorn that glows in the dark! Plus, two mermaids. Baller.
-officially done with season 2, disc 2 of LOST! Only 4 more to go of this season.
-so instead of 2 am's tonight, we're gonna try a 1 am and 4 am ostomy bag emptying. Yay camp.
-it's a coffee kind of morning (this is a big deal). If we don't get some real sleep soon, I might just have to shoot someone. not pretty.
-my most medically fragile camper MIGHT receive a kidney transplant tonight--please pray that it's a match!! I'll let you know what happens!
-kidney was a No-go. I just took a sleeping pill (aka drowsy allergy) but I Gotta get up for the 4 am shift. Should be interesting.
-guH. Want sleep.
-word to the wise: don't take 2 tylenol and a benadryl 2 hours before u get off of work. functioning levels drop fast.
-yay, it's thursday!
-I sure am going to miss being ''in the club''...These kids touch your heart like none other.
-rubber ducky regatta at wild river country to benefit camp aldersgate!
-had a great time at the regatta. saw lots of camp family members--kids, parents, staff, etc! "we are family!"

Kota II Week: July 25-30, 2010
-doing Kota II for the first time; it's gonna be a wild ride
-it's my final week at archery...boo.
-fun story of the day: camper peed outside in front of everyone at archery...and that's just scratching the surface of kota crazy.
-camper quote from yesterday: ''what the barbie shit?!''
-a night filled with LOST, a clean shower, yummy dessert and minus crazy children? Yes please.
-just heard a camper ate sunscreen tonight, requiring an incident report. Oh kota.
-archery quote: kid, ''u better shoot or I'm gonna roll over u ;'' me, ''hey that's not nice;'' k, ''relax it's all psychological!''
-tonight, for the first time since I can remember, I had a conversation with fellow counselors that was unrelated to camp.
-goodbye bullseyes. :(
-emotional last night At camp; solved by 2 hours of good convo while laying in a hammock under the cabin. Heart happiness.
-closing complete. Chi released. Less than 48 hours left at this home...
-@justinecamille1 oh but i am so happy here. i hope you enjoy home.

Final Weekend: July 30-August 2, 2010
-last big shindig in the rock--going out to my first gay bar!?
-purple cow for the morning after! :)
-cooking at the apartment, apples to apples and a movie. Last night with the camp family. :(
-I'm convinced I've gained 5 pounds since yesterday. Gluttony. and we're under a
-was ''on a roll here in Little Rock'' but now I must go. Goodbye camp family, I will miss you...
-lovely louisiana!
-6.5 hours later (yes, my father is a speed demon), I'm home in cajun country!

I'd really like your feedback about the structure of this entry. Please comment with your thoughts about the idea to do a blog in tweets, as well as the structure or any other feedback you have for me about it. Also, I'd love to know of your favorite tweet or quote from the summer. (In fact, I'll promise to share my favorite one in my next entry, if you pick to share your favorite one with me!) So leave me some messages; I'd love to hear what you think!

Leave me something,
-Lauren

Kota Krazy, Round II

2010-08-09T15:53:00.004-05:00

As promised, I'm writing again...this time about my final week in Little Rock. But before I begin, I want to apologize for the numerous spelling and grammatical mistakes in my last entry. I composed much of that entry in the hustle and bustle of hanging out with camp friends on my last night in Arkansas. I also want to apologize to Miss Lendy Grayce Yeaman Johnson; the reason you've waited so long for the letter I started writing weeks ago, is because I'm using an excerpt of your letter to describe part of my last week. Please forgive me? With that being said, sit back and enjoy one of the last entries in your summer reading program. (Ha.)

As written on July 25th:
Today we began Kota II, the second session for kids of all abilities and diagnoses. Everyone is short-staffed because some counselors have quit and for varying reasons, not enough replacements were found. In any case, I have 8 campers: 4 typical kids, 2 with some kind of Autism, 1 with Cerebral Palsy (CP), and 1 with some degree of Mental Retardation (MR). One of the girls with Autism has had some major suicidal/mental health issues for the last year, and two other campers feed off of each other's negative behaviors, so this will make for some interesting cabin dynamics. Other cabins are just as crazy with the mix of typical kids and those with CP or Down Syndrome. "Kota crazy," as they say.

It's actually pretty funny to observe activities because none of the counselors ever get to sit (kids run--fast!) and if they do, feet are strategically placed behind chair legs to prevent quick get-aways. Plus, there is an average of 1-2 kids running from an activity at any given time, so it's just really hilarious to watch it all play out. In fact, one fellow counselor made a comment about how interesting it would be to sit as a "fly on the wall" during Kota weeks, because everyone's physically there together, but no one's actually doing the same thing at once. I guess it's just one of those unique things about camp that one can only understand through experience.

--
Flashing forward, I'm going to continue describing Kota II by listing a few comical camper stories from the week. Since I spent most of my time at archery, two of my stories come from there. The first story took place Monday morning with one of our first groups out at archery for the week. An 8-year-old little boy who has a cochlear implant (not sure of his full diagnosis) and has been coming to camp for three years, decided to pee outside. Now, when I say he peed outside, I don't mean that he hid behind the archery pavillion or in a bush, and did his business. No, when I say he peed at archery, I mean, he peed at archery. This kid walked over to the edge of the cement, right next to the bow stations, pulled down his pants, and well...you know the rest. Everyone was right in the middle of "going get arrows," so Melissa and I were supervising this process, whenever I noticed one of the campers making a surprised face as he looked toward the seating area. I thought he was surprised at something else, but a few seconds later, I turned around and made the connection between the campers' surprise and my own sudden surprised as I noticed what was happening. By that point, there wasn't much we could do besides let the camper finish what he'd started and provide some distraction for the rest of the group--quickly redirecting from the behavior back to the appropriate tasks at hand.

Some of these kids are so intelligent; often times I wish "typical" people (including myself) gave them the credit they deserve. A day or two after our first "situation" at archery, one of the older campers made a really funny comment that I will never forget. This particular camper is one of those "old pros" we tend to get every now and again. He's super passionate about camp, and Aldersgate means the world to him. In fact, this camper was voted by the counselors to receive our camper of the week award this year. The best thing about this camper is his wise-cracking, though smart-aleck, hilarious remarks. A proud Quapaw, the camper cheered on his cabinmates as they shot for tribe points. In the spirit of friendly competition, the camper (who is uses an electric wheelchair because his CP makes muscle control difficult) yelled out, "You better hit the target, or I'm gonna roll over you!" Surprised by the threat, I turned around and gave some "Did you really just say that?" eyes, to which he responded, "Relax--it's all psychological!" After he said that, I had to turn away so he wouldn't see me laughing my guts off. These kids are great!! I can't say that enough, lol.

And the final story I'll share took place on Tuesday night during my 5-hour break. Myself, Kyle, Blain, and a few other people were all on the same break that week. Per usual, Blain and I spent most of the night watching LOST. (Hey, we were trying to make it through the end of Season 2 before I left!) During our last episode of the night, Kyle came in and interrupted us to read aloud a text that he'd received from a counselor in his cabin. It said: "Shower party, lost a tooth, swallowed toothpaste, tooth connected to braces, call dad in morning, ran around naked, mopped floor, was uncomfortable with, showering campers, peed while dressing him...all things from the past hour you missed." ...lol. I'm not sure there's much I can say about this one. I will say that a set of boy counselors in another cabin had to fill out an incident report regarding the consumption of sunscreen the day before. Use your imagination to fill in the rest.

I could sit here all day and try to describe Kota Camp, but there really is no way to do it justice...

A little about my final 48 hours in Arkansas... Between Friday and Saturday afternoon, Blain and I finished the last 5 hours worth of LOST, Season 2! I felt so accomplished, haha. On Friday night, a bunch of us (probably close to 20) celebrated Kelsey's, a new counselor's, birthday. It was a late night, but some good times with the gang. Per my request, we had a late lunch at the Purple Cow, one of my most favorite restaurants in Little Rock (clearly, for the atmosphere) on Saturday. Following a lazy Saturday, seven of us (Kyle, Blain, Me, Sydney, Morgan, Ashleigh, and Kevin) cooked a tastyyy meal of Cajun stuffed chicken, baked maccaroni, Caesar salad, and garlic bread. As usual, it was a lovely group/family effort. We ended the night with a viewing of Shutter Island. The next morning, I left just as everyone began showering, packing, and getting ready for their second to last week of camp (Oncology, then Asthma).

Goodbyes were easier than I expected this year, especially since I would be driving southbound alone for the first time since starting at Aldersgate in 2008. Without Allie, my Summer Sister, I was sure the drive would be even more lonely, sad, and depressing. However, I kept myself occupied by rotating through several cds, and my daddy met me in Alexandria, about 5 hours into the trip for the remaining drive home, so it wasn't too bad.

I've been home for 8 days now. My major professor at NC State said for me to go ahead and enjoy my final days of summer, so I've been doing just that. At some point, I'll write about my August in Louisiana, but for now I'm going to wait on that. First, I want to take some time to do a little more reflecting over the summer and my time at camp. Until then, though, I have a bit of a flash back for you. I want to encourage you to visit this link to an entry describing my first arrival at Aldersgate, two summers ago, in 2008. I thought some of you new readers might find it interesting to see pictures of the camp facilities--maybe matching a setting to all of these stories you've been reading over the last few months. If you're really bored, you may find subsequent camp entries from that summer to be of interest, as well.

And with that, I'm done.
-Lauren

Sleepy Southern Sentiments

2010-07-31T17:34:00.003-05:00

Here I am, trying to get in another entry before we cross over the threshold into August and what will soon become the start of another school year. Since today is the last day of July, I'd say I cut it pretty close, but at least I made it. These last few weeks have been fairly sleepless, whether it be late nights on the float trip, 2 a.m. blood sugar checks, or 1 and 4 a.m. ostomy bag emptying experiences. Needless to say, the title of this entry sums up the month of July for myself and several fellow counselors. There's so much to say in recap of the last month, but I'll try my best to get it all in.

Beginning where I left off, a bunch of us counselors went camping in Missouri for two days during our break. We drove 3 hours to Donihpan, Missouri where 19 of us camped at the Rocky River Resort right on the Current River. We stayed in 7 tents on 3 camp sites, and floated the river on 4 rafts (2 tied together). It was my first time to Missorui, so I was thrilled about the opportunity to cross my 24th state off the list. Woot. Our group was diverse as far as old and new counselors were concerned. Everyone seemed to have fun, and there were no real mishaps other than two girls who got sick on the trip. However, traveling with 20 of your closest friends who happen to be medical camp counselors ensures that you are in good hands, lol.

I helped with "Vent Camp" on July 10th. About 10 of us (counselors and supervisors) from camp worked at this small one-day event, serving children and families who are ventilator-dependent. Friday evening, we headed out to camp for a short meeting and yummy pizza, planning for the following day's events. Eleven children were signed up to attend the event, yet only 5 showed up on Saturday. By the end of the day, we had only about 3 kids who were interested/able to participate in camp activities, so the staff had a pretty relaxing time and providing the camp experience. Despite the small turnout, the kids who came were great. They had great personalities and seemed to really enjoy their day at camp.

The next day, we kicked off the second part of the summer with Diabetes Camp. I was Senior Counselor tht week, which was fun and scary all at once, since I'd never worked Diabetes Week before. It all worked out great; the other experienced counselor really taught me a lot, and we all learned pretty fast. 2 a.m. blood sugar checks were finally checked off of my camp bucket list, and they lived up to much of what I'd heard them to be. I now feel like a pro at managing (Type I) diabetes now! Our girl were wonderful, we had an amazing time, and Diabetes Week is now officially one of my favorite camp weeks!

Oh, there were several other cool aspects of Diabetes Week. 1) We had several media and guest appearances throughout the wee, including George Canyon, a Canadian Country music sensation, as well as Amy, the American Diabetes Advocate. 2) Myself and a few other counselors had the opportunity to wear an insulin pump filled with saline for a day. It was really interesting to experience the life of a diabetic who uses an insulin pump. I really appreciated that opportunity and feel like it may come in handy in my future work, perhaps as a Child Life Specialist.

Two weeks ago, we hosted CAK Week (Cardiac, Arthritis, Kidney). Because of my roots at Heart Camp, this week will always have a special place in my own heart. It's also pretty interesting because we had some pretty fragile kids--transplants, dialysis, etc. Or, in my one camper's case--dialysis, g-tube, diabetes (insulin pump), and ostomy bag. Plus, many kids with Down Syndrome have heart conditions, so we had a few of those, and there are always the random ADD, etc. kids who pop up every week. CAK week is the one week where we dispense more meds than any other week, maybe even all the weeks combined! Honestly though, I love the medical kids, so despite the non-existent sleep (rotating between 1 a.m. and 4 a.m. shifts), I was quite a happy duck.

A special story about CAK Week: My most fragile camper (the one with all of those diagnoses/needs that I mentioned) had a very unique way of showing her appreciation for people, especially the counselors and volunteers. She would rub our ear lobes and smile, saying "You're in the club, I love you." The first time it happened, we were confused and asked what the ear rub meant. Then she explained, and our hearts melted. It was such a special week, especially to feel that love expressed so freely by such a gracious and wonderful child. It's amazing how children cope with their challenges in life and the little ways they learn to express their appreciation for your time with them. I will remember this little girl and "the club" for always.

This past week was the second Kota session for the summer, which happened to be my last week at camp. We finished it yesterday, and I have been hanging out, enjoying my final moments with everyone before I leave for Louisiana in the morning. I'll take some time next week to write about my final days in Little Rock, but for now I'm going to stop here and get back to hanging out with friends. We're cooking at the apartment again tonight and I just really want to cherish these last moments. So, for now...

Ta-Ta,
Lauren

Kota Krazy.

2010-07-04T16:40:00.005-05:00

~Happy Birthday, USA!~

Can you believe I'm back so soon?! I've got a bit of extra time right now so I figured it was the perfect opportunity to sit and write. Before I get ahead of myself, I want to go back and say something I forgot to mention last time.

While I was off trapeezing across the Central Time Zone, there were some big events going on in other friends' lives. First, 4-H University (formerly known as Short Course), the state competition for high schoolers across the state of Louisiana, was held at LSU on June 22-24. As usual, the delegation from Vermilion Parish was very well represented with more than 100 people in attendance (including delegates and chaperones). We brought home more than 70 Ribbons, with 14 State Winners, 15 1st Alternate Winners, and 40+ Blue Ribbon Winners. In case you haven't done the math, that's something like a 78% of our delegates receiving state awards. In the words of a certain friend of mine, "Hollar Baller!"

I also want to do a special shoutout to my brother, Austin, and his teammate, Matt Repp, who were selected as 1st Alternates in the Environmental Threat Resolution competition. Fortunately or unfortunately (however you see it), they lost to Dawn's younger sister Joy. What a shame, haha.

Also that week (same days, I think), the North Carolina State FFA Convention was held in Raleigh. I feel like I should take a few sentences to include this event since it's such a big deal to my counterparts back at school. I had several friends involved with the execution of the convention, and even an acquaintance who was elected to State Office. For that I say, Congratulations, all!

Now, back to my world. Ashley, a friend from camp, got married on June 26th (last Saturday). Several people from camp headed out to Morrilton for the wedding. Jay drove Matt, Wakie, and I, where we met up with Daniel, Ben, Madison, Kika, Cody, and Kyle Bost--all counselors or former counselors at camp. Ali and Bobo, also counselors, and Amber, Ashley's twin sister, were in the wedding. Needless to say, there was a very large showing of camp people which made for a very fun afternoon and evening of dancing at the reception. The wedding was beautiful; Ashley was a gorgeous bride, and everything was put together so nicely. We all had a fun time and I can't wait to catch up with Ashley once things settle down for her and Manvill's new life. Yay for the Allens!

This past week at camp was Kota I. In the Quawpaw Native American language, Kota means "friend." In this way, the Kota sessions at camp are designed for children of all abilities. Many of the children who attend camp this week have diagnoses such as Asperger's/Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Down Syndrom, or other behavioral disorders. In addition, several campers with diagnoses bring along siblings or friends. With that being said, I'm sure some of you can imagine how insane a week filled with kids who have varying abilities and personalities that are even more diverse than usual, would be an interesting experience.

More specifically, I'll tell you what the week really looked like for me. Originally, I was assigned to work with the middle age group of girls (12-13, 17). However, on Sunday, my boss approached me to ask that I spend the day working with the middle age group of boys (11-13, 15) because one of the counselors was sick and they needed me to fill in for a bit. At first, I was crazy overwhelmed by the insanity that is a boys' cabin during Kota. There were two runners (meaning they would run from the cabin and disappear at the drop of a hat if they weren't under constant watch), a very enthusiastic, happy, artistic, sweet boy, and several other interesting personalities in the group. By Monday morning, I'd become accustomed to the group, and was sad to be reassigned to my original cabin at lunchtime that afternoon. In fact, I felt really disconnected when the cabin lost one of the runners during lunch time and I couldn't be there to help with the situation. (Don't worry, they found him hiding in the Commons building!) In the end, I enjoyed the opportunity to make friends with two cabins, and the girls really were a sweet group.

In any case, we were all thrilled when camp ended on Friday afternoon--not only because most of us were exhausted from several weeks at camp, but also because we're now "half-way" through the summer! This means...wait for it...WE'VE GOT A WEEK OFF!! Yay! To celebrate, a bunch of us went to the new 5 Guys (!!) that just opened here in Little Rock! I was thrilled to indoctrine everyone, since 5 Guys is a DC chain, and most people had never heard of it, much less eaten there.

Friday night, I met Amber and her friend Jennifer in Conway; together we rode to Morrilton to housesit for Amber's parents who were out of town. We had a nice, chill, girls' night. Amber and Jennifer stayed up pretty late, but by 2 am, I couldn't go anymore and collapsed into Ashley's divinely comfy bed. For the first time in weeks (a month?), I didn't have to set an alarm--it was a-mazing!

On Saturday, we had a lazy morning, but then Amber and I drove back to Little Rock (1 hr.) via Conway (30 min.) to meet her sister, Amy, at the movies to see Eclipse. Just like the book, the third Twilight movie wasn't my favorite, but I'm very much looking forward to the 4th movie, which will be even crazier than the previous three. After the movie, Amber and I went to Mass at Christ the King, then parted ways, as Amber returned home, and I came on over to "the apartment." Blain, Kyle, and I chilled out for a bit. Then Kyle went to meet up with some of his MedSchool friends, and Blain and I ended up watching School of Rock, followed by a bunch of random stuff before hitting they hay around 1 a.m.

Today, Sunday, has been the best day of all. I slept in (til 10 am, when Kyle got home), and then lazied around all day. Kyle brought home donuts, so although it's almost 6 p.m., all I've eaten today is three donuts and the leftovers from a little salad. (Yes, it's a fatty day, haha.) Also, I didn't even get dressed in real clothes until about an hour ago, lol. To add to the laziness, Blain and I watched My Girl this morning, and then he got me started on the LOST series. We made it through the first disc of Season 1 and now I'm hoping to make it at least through the first season before I go back to work next week. If not, I've got til August 1 to get as far into the series as possible. We'll see what I can do.

Tonight, Kyle has already left to hang out with his friends at a barbecue and the festival in downtown Little Rock. Blain went to Conway to visit his parents who are in town for the day, but when he gets back, we're going to go downtown to see the fireworks too. It's kind of a boring Independence Day, but I'm perfectly content. In fact, I'm pretty darn happy about it. :)

With the rest of my week off, I plan(ned) to do some thesis writing, but watching LOST and being lazy sounds way, way better! Plus, a bunch of folks from camp are planning a camping/rafting trip on a river in Missouri for Tuesday through Thursday. I kind of want to go on the trip, so that I can add Missouri to the list of states I've visited, lol. A bit selfish, perhaps. But really, who wants to write during their one and only week of relaxation from 6 weeks of working 125 hours each week? Really now. (This is a cue for you, the reader, to say..."No, Lauren, it's time to start writing! You can do it!")

Anywhoo, just in case I don't write again for a while, I'll look ahead for ya too. Camp is officially closed until next Sunday, when everyone returns for Diabetes Week. However, there is going to be a short day-camp for kids who are ventilator dependent on the Saturday before Diabetes. For that, only a few counselors were asked to work, and as of Friday, I'm one of them! Yay. I'm not really sure what the camp is going to look like (schedule, ages, abilities, needs, etc), but I'm super excited about this opportunity to work with a new group of campers. Staff who are working have to report to camp on Friday at 6 p.m. for an information session, then the camp will take place during the day on Saturday, and Diabetes training and camp begins Sunday morning at 9 a.m. Needless to say, I think it's going to be a long week back at camp, but I'm super excited about it all.

Everything looks like it's shaping up to be a great second half of the summer. Despite the fact that I wrote only about 10 days ago, I seem to have written yet another novella. I hope you all enjoy these entries in your summer reading experience, lol. Now, I am going to leave you with a quote from a letter that I wrote to Lendy last week. It has become my mantra for the summer and my time here in Little Rock...

"I will love every bit of fatigue and unpredictability...take in every laugh, joke, and smile--to cherish and hold, forever and always."

-Lauren

It's Scorching Out There!

2010-06-25T14:47:00.002-05:00

Hello again!

I hope summer is treating you all well. Has anyone died from heat exhaustion yet? Gosh, I'm surprised I haven't. The temperatures are ridiculous!! Heat indicies in the upwards of 112*F range, much less regular temperatures ranging from 92-97 on a consistent basis has just been absolutely miserable! I can't believe it's been this consistently hot for almost a month straight, with absolutely no end in sight! It's crazzzy.

A lot has transpired since I last wrote, so I guess it's time for my monthly update right about now. During my final days in Louisiana, I did make a concerted effort to hound out some work on my thesis. In fact, I put together my first official draft of Chapter 1 (of 5) and sent it off for revisions to my Major Professor. She's been too busy to get anything back yet, so I'm not sure how it looks. I'm hoping to hear something by the end of next week, since I'll have a week off of camp to maybe get some more work done on it.

Oh, I also got to see the babies a few more times before I left. They were just growing SO fast; I can't imagine how big they'll be when I see them again in August!! Maybe their mother and uncle will send me some updated pictures soon enough. *Hint, hint. Wink, wink!*

Now, I'm here in Arkansas for the remainder of the summer, though I did jet away for a week. Backing up, though, I should say that I arrived in Arkansas on Saturday, June 5th; Staff Training at camp started the following morning (Sunday) and went through Friday of that week. As always, training week was a lot of fun. It's the one week where us counselors get to play at camp without any real responsibilities. The training sessions are very informative, and we spend a lot of time bonding with one another. One cool thing about training this year was that a guy from the National Inclusion Project (based in RTP!) came out and did a 6 hour training for us. His program was awesome—it was interactive, fun, and interesting. I really want to learn more about their organization whenever I get some time to aimlessly browse the interwebs...lol.

The following week, June 13-18th, was Muscular Dystrophy week here at camp. MD week was once again a great week. In fact, it's generally my second favorite week of the whole summer (next to Spina). The kids are always awesome, and we're way overstaffed. To illustrate, we had 6 counselors, 5 volunteers, and 7 campers in my cabin. We had the oldest girls, who were super sweet and fun. Oh—I was selected as Quawpaw Tribe Chief for both Staff Training and MD week, which was interesting. I'm sooo not Tribe Chief material, but I made the best of it and tried to represent the Quawpaws as well as I could.

Unfortunately, I had to leave camp early that week, because of other engagements. Right after finishing up at the archery range (Oh yeah, guess I didn't mention that I'm working there again this summer—yay!) on Thursday, Matt Eckess (former camper/counselor), picked me up at camp and brought me to the airport. I arrived in Baton Rouge later that evening, and spent both Thursday and Friday nights at Dawn's house in Brusly. Friday morning, she and I went to one of her younger sister's (Joy) swim meets at LSU. We ran errands around the city and then took a brief nap before getting ready for the wedding that evening.

Friday night, we went to Donaldsonville for Joey and Kim's wedding. The wedding was sooooo much fun!!! I had a GREAT time seeing everyone, dancing, etc. Annie and Jen, my college roommates, came to the wedding too; I hadn't seen Jen since we graduated a year and a half ago, and I'd only seen Annie a few times since then. It was just incredible to see everyone and really have time to enjoy each other. Among the Idaho folks were Jesse, Stew, Jason, Brin (all Joey's roommates), Juan, Jeff, and Derek. Other out-of-town visitors included Jess (PA/NC/ID), Bri (ID/GA), Nathan (ID/WA), two people from Montreal, and a guy from England. Needless to say it was definitely an intercultural experience!

Saturday, I crashed a going-away party for Dawn's college roommate who is moving to Virginia to work as an engineer for the Navy or something like that. That afternoon, we went to Luling to spend time with Annie for her 23rd birthday. Annie's parents made a yummy dinner and tasty ice cream cake; we had a good time visiting with her family and playing games, as game-playing is a Stewart Family staple. Although we planned to meet the Idaho group in New Orleans, Dawn and I ended up staying in Luling that night, instead.

Earlyyyy Sunday morning, Dawn brought me to the airport in New Orleans, where I met Jess, Jeff, and Derek. Because I hadn't gotten a chance to hang out with the group the night before, Stew and Nathan agreed to drag their butts out of bed in order to come see me at the airport before I left...how sweet. Jess and I flew to Milwaukee (through Chicago) from there to meet our professor and two other graduate students for the Association of Leadership Educators Conference.

ALE was held June 20th-24th at Cardinal Stritch University in Milwaukee. While there, NC State established their presence with several poster, research, round table, etc. presentations. By the end of it, pretty much everyone knew who we were and what our involvement was. (I will say, it didn't hurt to have your professor as Conference Chair and incoming President of the organization, lol.) While in Milwaukee, we toured the Miller Brewery and went on a progressive dinner (having each course at a different restaurant) in the downtown area, finishing with custard at a little kiosque on Lake Michigan. It was really cool to experience the German culture, and to see a brand new state. I'm almost half way, now!

Yesterday, I arrived back in Little Rock. Amber (twin of this weekend's bride-to-be) picked me up and we spent the afternoon running some errands to prepare for tomorrow's wedding. [Yes, I was invited to 3 weddings, in 3 states, over the course of just two weeks!] I was able to see both the afternoon and evening crew of counselors during their break time, and really got a lot of things done here around the apartment. Just last night, I did three loads of laundry (two of which were for Kyle), picked up around the apartment, and cleaned Blain's bathroom. I guess I have got to earn my keep somehow, haha!

Today, I went to the closing ceremony for Spina Bifida camp. I'm so glad I got the chance to see my girls, even if it was just for a few minutes. I hear camp was pretty insane this week (ask if you care to know the intense details). We also got paid today--yay--so I stayed after the cereony for the counselor meeting and picked up both mine and Amber's checks. Can't do with out those “megga bucks”........right? ;-)

Now, I'm sitting in the apartment, blogging (duh) and waiting for the crew to get back from lunch. I think everyone went to eat at Damgoode Pies (pizza) and predict they'll all be home soon for an afternoon of napping. Maybe we'll grill out or do something interesting tonight, who knows.

As I said before, tomorrow's Ashley's wedding. I hope I can find someone from Little Rock to carpool with me, as I don't want to drive all the way to Morrilton alone; me and unfamiliar driving territory is just a tad nervewracking.

This next week at camp is Kota I (I'll define that next time), and then we have a week off for July 4th. To date, I have no real plans for break week; unless the guys say I can't, I figure I'll just stay here at the apartment and bum around Little Rock. It'll be nice to be here without rushing around all the time, for once. Maybe I'll even get some of the thesis writing out of the way...one can only hope, right?

For now though, I think this third installment of your summer reading is about done.

Oh—calling all letter writers: send me some mail! Lendy and Kara have done a wonderful job of sending fun letters and cards, who's next? My goal is to fill the wall next to my camp bed by the end of the summer, so send some goodies my way! My address is posted below. Thanks in advance!

Stay cool!
-Lauren

2000 Aldersgate Road
Little Rock, AR 72205

Seasons Change

2010-05-25T21:32:00.005-05:00

Well hello, hello. A little over a month later, I'm back at this blogging thing again. I figure I ought to get another update in before June (and all things summer) rolls around. Plus, I'm in a different state now (in more ways than one), so that calls for some blogging inspiration if nothing else.

Since I last wrote, school officially ended for the year (if you want to call it that). Classes finished during the last week in April, which was nice, but I had to wait around for two weeks to take my STATs final during the second week of finals. As it turned out, I finished the semester with an A in 526 (tech class), A- in 505 (trends/issues), and a B+ in the dreaded statistics course. I'm not a fan of the +/- system that NC State follows; I wish my GPA were a bit higher, but I guess it's not too shabby in the grand scheme of things. In the words of my Physical Therapist cousin, "C's get degrees." I guess it's true...no one will care what the grade was, so long as I'm qualified for the position, whatever that may be...whenever that may be.

As I said before, there was a decent gap between the time I finished most things academic-related and whenever I actually left North Carolina for the summer. In that time, I really was able to enjoy Raleigh and the wonderful people I have met over the last few months. I spent a good bit of time being social with new friends and exploring some new areas of the "Research Triangle," as they call it. I'm especilly thankful to the good friends who were there for me in my final days of packing and finding closure to this season that has been Grad School, Year One. Special thanks to: Ryan, Heather, Lendy, Katie, Kara, and several others that were there for me during those intense few days...Merci beaucoup!

Before I move on to the beginnings of summer, I really want to take a minute to express my gratitude to everyone who has been so supportive to me over the last 10 months. It's been a tough go at this whole graduate school thing, and I'm not saying it was easy (you all know that it was rarely anything LESS than a challenge), but I will say that I couldn't have made it through this year without you. There is not enough time--nor brain power--in the day for me to list everyone who deserves to be thanked, but please accept my apprecation as it is. Many of you stood across time zones and ever-changing depths of friendship, yet you never failed to support my endeavors, even when I was a stubborn ox who challenged every ounce of optimism you attempted to share.

As I look toward the future, I predict this second year of graduate school will be none less challenging, but I'm hoping that with one year under my belt--and a reasonable appreciation for the great state of North Carolina--that this one may have a bit more of a positive outcome than the last. Thanks to everyone who took me under their wing to show me around Raleigh, to teach me that the South is indeed different than the Deep South, and that maybe I can at least enjoy life in the moment as I accept the cards that have been dealt for me. I will do my best to remember these important lessons, but beg that you please don't forget about me in the Fall. I still need you--as teachers, classmates, co-workers, and most importantly, friends--individuals who will support and encourage me in the second part of this season of life. Seasons change, friends come and go, but one thing never fails--the memories that make them so. :)

With that out of the way, on to...SUMMERTIME! On Sunday, May 16, my friend from home, Victoria LeBlanc, flew to Raleigh. Her plane arrived at 11 p.m. that night, and by 8 a.m. the next morning, we were on the road, heading West. With plans to drive for about 12 hours, stopping in Mobile, AL for the night, our day flew by surprisingly fast. We caught up on the months (years even) of time we have been apart; there's a lot to say when planning a wedding and traveling the world. Heh.

By the time our 12-hour mark rolled around, however, we were about ready to be done. Unfortunately, there was not an empty hotel room in Mobile to be found. (Dang oil spill.) Instead, we had to keep driving, an extra hour, to Biloxi, MS. The fortunate side to this story, is that after a 14-hour day, we landed a room in a 4-star casino/spa resort. We were so exhaustd at this point, but super stoked about our luck. To celebrate, we put $8 (collectively) in the penny machines and got two free drinks (each) out of the deal. Let's just say we slept veryyy good that night.

The next morning (Tuesday), we had a short 3-hour drive to Lafayette, stopping for a nice celebratory lunch at Chili's before the final 30-minute trek back to Abbeville. Once again, I just want to give a huuuge THANKS to Victoria, my co-pilot for the trip. Without her willingness to share in this adventure with me, I'm positive that I would not have made it home in once piece. Thanks, girl. I can't wait to share in your wedding glory over these next few months!

Since I've been home, things have been pretty busy around here. There have been honor ceremonies, 4-H events/meetings, family to see, and parties to be had. My younger brother, Austin, graduated from high school this past Saturday night. We had a party for him at our house Saturday during the day, and then my parents were up all night at his Project Graduation that night. On Sunday, I met my godchild and his triplet sisters for the first time! Drew, Sophie, an Emma are just the tiniest, sweetest little things. They're right around the 5 lb. mark, and cuter than ever.

At this point, I've got about 10 days left at home before I head out to camp in Little Rock. In that time, I've got to make some real, intense progress on my thesis proposal, anddd I hope to spend a decent amount of time helping out my cousin, Laurie, with the new babies. Maybe I can find some joy in multitasking?

Once in Arkansas, I'll have a week of training, and 5 total weeks of camp with two weeks away, in between. I'll be taking a week off (unfortunately, Spina Bifida camp) to attend Kim and Joey's wedding in Louisiana, and then heading up to Milwaukee for the Association of Leadership Educators' Annual Conference. Jess and I are presenting a research paper there (remember the interview project at 4-H Conference?). Then, I'll return to camp for a week before the mid-summer camp break at 4th of July. No plans for that currently, but I'm open to suggestions, so let me know if you have any. After that, three more weeks at camp, and then twoish in Louisiana in early August. The plan is to fit in Victoria's bachelorette party and the babies' Baptism during those first two weeks before I head back to Raleigh for the Fall.

Are you tired yet, because I am!?

On that note, this is enough for one night. Enjoy your second dose of summer reading, and I'll try to get another entry out for you in a few weeks. Best wishes to all, and enjoy those...

SUMMER NIGHTS!
-Lauren

Confessions to Make

2010-04-20T14:10:00.005-05:00

Lately, I've been thinking a lot about blogging. I'm in a technology class--one that many would consider to be a joke--considering the topics we discuss in class. Some of you would be thrilled to spend 2 hours every week talking about Google and its many features such as collaboration tools (Docs) and social networking (Reader, Blogger, etc.). We had two whole class periods devoted to Google, but nearly every week, we have discussed various technology tools, which often included tutorials on the Google version of such tool. My point is with this technology class, I've had plenty of excuses to surf the interwebs of Twitter and Blogger on a frequent basis, though I've been terrible at updating my own blog.

For this reason, I've been contemplating...What do I want out of blogging? What is my purpose for recording my life? Is it practical to keep a blog if I don't write in it frequently? Honestly, my purpose for blogging (as opposed to say, an online journal such as Livejournal) was originally to keep a record of my Child Life internship process, and all things related as such. At the time, I never imagined my life would evolve into an adventure that included several years working at an amazing summer camp, a semester living in the most powerful city in the world, and two years in a place that has landed me on the biggest rollercoaster of life.

I still want to write about everything I've been up to; my life is just as crazy as ever. However, I guess this two-year stent has got me feeling bored and unsatisfied with the way my blog is going, at least compared to the way it was intended. I'm just not sure how to rectify the situation, other than by either (a) attempting to write more often (but really, who wants to hear about my life as a not-so-dedicated grad student?) or (b) putting my blog on hold until something more significant comes along. If I really did keep up with this blog the way I should, perhaps it could be worthy of chronicaling life as a grad student, but my grad school life is anything but typical, so how is that valid?

In any case, these things have been on my mind a bit lately. With that little confession out of the way, I'm going to get on with updating you all about my recent adventures. Mkay, thanks.

Annie's Visit: February 25-28, 2010
One of my amazing college roommates, Annie, came to visit for a weekend in February. Her brother swims for Virginia Tech, so she and her parents came up to see him in the ACC finals, which were held at UNC. Annie's parents stayed at a hotel in Chapel Hill, but Annie stayed with me in Raleigh. While she was here, we watched Trey swim a few times, and explored Chapel Hell (heh) a bit. We also had some good girl time. This was completely necessary, since Annie and I have not really had a chance to really spend time together more than once or twice since we moved out of our apartment almost two years ago. Crazy how time flies, and even crazier how much I miss Nicholls, and Thibodaux, and everything about it...especially because it was one of the last times in my life when I was truly happy. In any case, I very much enjoyed Annie's visit and I really hope she'll be able to make it out to my neck of the woods again in the not too distant future.

A Surprise at Home: March 4-7, 2010
By now, I'm sure you have all figured out that grad school isn't exactly thrilling for me, and traveling has become an excellent coping mechanism in my life. lol. With that in mind, I got it in my head that I was bound and determined to make it home for a weekend this semester. However, with everything going on, I wasn't sure which weekend to pick. In February, I got to contemplating the idea of going home near my birthday (Mid-March) or for Easter. As it got closer, things fell into place for me to take a different trip on my birthday, but I was still in a funk about the idea of missing both Mardi Gras AND my birthday for two years in a row. For this reason, I decided to book a semi-last-minute airplane ticket for a trip home during the first weekend of March.

The "surprise" part of this story comes in when I say that I only told one person that I was coming home--my mother. You got it, no one knew I was coming home, not my dad, brother, grandparents, aunt/uncle/cousins...no one! That weekend happened to be the one that fell in between my Nanna's birthday and my own birthday, so I figured it would be a great birthday present to the both of us. As it turned out, my weekend at home was better than I could have ever imagined. The surprise component worked out great--everyone was completely surprised and thrilled to have me at home. I think there were a total of 5 surprises throughout the weekend, which was so much fun! It was so nice to see everyone, and I really enjoyed the quality time I was able to have. Cajun food and people galore, what more could a girl ask for? I love Louisiana.

MooKim Day & Spring Break in Idaho: March 11-16, 2010
With my birthday as the first day of my Spring Break, I decided to peace out of town a little bit early, and get a jump start on my holiday by flying out to Boise on Thursday, the 11th of March. Let me just say that the 11th of March was one of the longest days of my life...I literally had 26 hours of life on that day. After dropping Jess at the airport at 5 a.m. for her flight, I went back to my apt to pack and get ready for my trip. Long story short, my flight was super delayed, so I got rerouted on a much later flight which left me with several extra hours in Raleigh. Thankfully, Wil was willing to pick me up and let me take a nap at his apartment for a while, cuz I was so darn exhausted by that point, and my travels hadn't even begun. Needless to say, by the time I made it to Boise, I rang in my 23rd birthday with a late night of reunions at the boys' house and then girl talk with Kim that lasted into the wee hours of the morning.

Over the course of the next few days, I had the oppotunity to visit everyone at the hospital (where I interned in Fall 2008) and catch up with a lot of my friends in the area. We celebrated Kim and my birthday (MooKim Day) with a get-together at Kim's apartment and some fun times at both Bardenay and Jeff's apartment, too. I went on a 4-wheeling adventure with Derek, Jeff, and Jess (which has now become tradition for us). I also returned to the hot springs for the first time since my very first trip to Idaho 2.5 years ago. (Unfortunately, the experience was just as traumatic as the first, but in a different way. Needless to say, I will not be going back.) As always, I really enjoyed seeing everyone; so many of my Boise friends have been welcoming to me from the very beginning, despite our differences. I truly value their generosity and friendship and I can't wait to see everyone this summer in Louisiana for Kim and Joey's wedding...less than 2 months from now! Yay.

National 4-H Conference: March 18-26, 2010
For the fourth year in a row, I returned to Washington, DC as a Collegiate Facilitator for National 4-H Conference. In all my years of 4-H involvement, National Conference remains my all-time favorite 4-H experience. This year, the delegates to conference were, by far, the most quality group we have had in all of my years there. The kids were so great--passionate and driven like none other. Of course, the Tators had a great time bonding with each other and making memories to last a lifetime.

This year at Conference was a little different for me; I like to say I had the "graduate student" experience because of how many commitments I had throughout the week. Before applying to serve as a facilitator, I submitted a proposal to present a workshop with two people from back home. A few weeks after our proposal was accepted, I was selected to serve as a Facilitator. Then, one of the professors here at NC State approached Jess (who had also been selected as a Facilitator) about a research project for the Association of Leadership Educators Conference this summer. Together, we decided to do some qualitative research at Conference, which consisted of interviewing all 13 of the other Facilitators about the impact of their leadership experiences in 4-H. Needless to say, between developing all of my roundtable sessions, presenting the workshop in two sessions, and leading both focus groups and delegation interacts, PLUS the interviews, it was a crazyyyy week at Conference.

In the end, I very much enjoyed my experience at Conference. Nick (one of my former housemates and co-workers from my stent in DC), flew into DC on our last day of Conference. He came to see Christy and I as part of his Spring Break. For this reason, I convinced Jess to stay in DC with me for an extra day, so we got to hang out a little bit while he was there. Boy did I miss those kids...too much. Despite our distance, I talk to my WaHa kids on a daily basis, and DC will forever have a piece of my heart.

Easter in Eastern NC: April 2-4, 2010
Well folks, I guess it's about time I admitted it...I have a boyfriend. Yes, I just said that. Eeek. *Thinks to self: "Don't jinx it!"* For those of you who haven't heard, I'm dating a guy here in NC. We met in class because we've had pretty much all of our classes together since I've been here. Wil happens to be a student in AgEd. who was just offered a full-time position teaching agriculture at a high school in Morehead City, NC. (That's ON the beach, for those of you who are unfamiliar with NC.) *Congrats, Wil!*

Anyway, what does that have to do with the "Easter in Eastern NC" title? I figured I ought to give little background before going onto my rant about spending Easter weekend with a random guy and his family, heh. So now you know--Wil isn't random. Haha. In any case, holidays away from the family are always sad and a little bit awkward. It's nice of friends to invite me to spend time with their family so that I'm not alone on the holiday, but it's never quite the same. Needless to say, I was very appreciative of the Easter offers that came from several people here at school--Jess in PA and Lendy in NC, being two of them. However, things just kind of fell into place for me to go home with Wil to meet his family for Easter. Overall, it was a nice weekend; they were very welcoming and friendly, and I really had a lot of fun. :)

Girls Weekend on OBX: April 16-18, 2010
With the semester coming to an end soon, we ladies in the office decided it was time for a girls' weekend. Katie's graduating in a few weeks, so she requested a trip to the Outerbanks. I hadn't made it out there yet, so I was all in favor of the mini-vacay. Katie, Lendy, Jess, and I headed out on the open road early Friday morning with plans to make a few tourist-y stops before setting up camp on the southern end of the island near Buxton/Cape Hattaras.

Along the way, we visited Kitty Hawk, Kill Devil Hills (largest natural sand dunes on the East coast), and the Cape Hattaras lighthouse. As luck would have it, we happened to tour on the 100-somethingth birthday of a Wright brother and the first climbing day at the lighthouse, so we got free admittance at both sites. It was pretty much the coolest thing ever. Lendy scored us a stinkin awesome townhouse at the Cape Hattaras hotel. With three balconies and a literal "on the beach" location, we were in Heaven. Moral of the story: we had a wonderfully relaxing, awesome, fun girl's weekend. Perhaps we ought to make a tradition out of it?

4-H Gala in DC: April 22-24, 2010
Randomly, one of my best friends from home, Victoria called me on Tuesday to say that she had an extra ticket to the 4-H gala in DC on Thursday. You all know how I am with last minute decisions and plans...they don't sit well with me. I freak out and get anxious, etc. However, since I had sort of worked on the gala project while working in DC last spring, I really didn't want to pass up the opportunity to attend the gala, especially when the tickets cost $750 each. On the other hand, I really didn't want to drive to DC for one night only, especially by myself. With that in mind, Victoria was able to score an additional ticket so that Wil could come along for the trip. (Since he'd never been to DC before, I had been telling him that I'd show him the city one day, and everything just fell into place for it to happen then.)

The gala was really nice; there were a good number of people and the set-up was super fancy. I really enjoyed seeing Molly, my former boss, and it was kind of funny to watch the other Council employees run around with their heads chopped off while I sat there and enjoyed the experience. lol. I think Victoria really appreciated our presence there, and I don't blame her--who wants to sit around at a fancy dinner and not know anyone, much less talk to a bunch of boring old rich people? Haha. I should also note that it was really fun to hang out with Tori for an evening, since I haven't gotten to see her since she and Seth's ornament (engagement) party in December. So, yay.

As for the rest of the weekend, I am forever grateful to Miss Christy Clary, one of my former co-workers/housemates (in DC) for allowing Wil and I to stay at Warren Hall for the duration of our time in DC. Although we didn't get to spend a whole lot of time together, I enjoyed seeing Christy and catching up with her about life in the good ole DC. Also, despite our short two days in the city, Wil and I were able to visit sixteen, yes SIXTEEN, different sites. It was crazy. We toured all of Friday and Saturday and made it back to Raleigh around 11 p.m. Saturday night. When it was all said and done, I'm pretty sure Wil really enjoyed his first visit to DC. Of course, there is still plenty more to see, but I'm sure he'll have another chance to make it out there eventually. It was definitely fun for me to play tour guide with someone who doesn't walk like a snail (aka: annoying 8th grade students) aaand who actually enjoys history, sometimes more than me, lol.

Grad School Sucks as Always
*Disclaimer: If you are in any way affiliated with my grad school or another, don't take what I am about to say personally. These are the thoughts and opinions of me and me only; it's my blog and I reserve the right to say what I please here.*

This semester has been a little better as far as coping with grad school is concerned, but a huge part of that is the fact that I have been traveling the majority of the time. In some ways, I've been considerably more involved socially, and my commitment to school has definitely fallen by the wayside. It sounds terrible, but I'm sure I would have reverted to my old ways (profuse complaining) once again. I guess I should note that these days I have decided I don't hate NC State, and maybe not even NC (as much as I used to, anyway), but I do absoultelyyy hate the whole graduate school process. Ughhh.

The thought of writing a thesis makes me want to vomit and/or burn down the building. It's not that I'm incapable of doing the work, I just don't enjoy it. Not one bit. In fact, I'm pretty sure I loathe it. Over these last 10 months of school, I've had a few tastes of research and scientific writing, and I've learned that this process makes me want to cut my throat. ('Scuse the morbidity here, lol.) In any case, I am absolutely dreading the idea of this thesis project. However, since I'm pretty much done with schoolwork for the semester, I really ought to get cracking on it. It's slightly problematic that I seem to be finding every viable alterative to writing. Oops.

Summer Soon!
In any case, I'm looking forward to some time for relaxing here in Raleigh before I head out for the summer. Looking to the future, Victoria is flying to Raleigh on the 16th, and we'll hit the open road for our 2-day trip back to Cajun Country with an ETA on the evening of May 18th. Our brothers graduate high school that weekend, and I'll be able to spend almost 2 weeks at home before I head out to Arkansas for 6 weeks at camp. My nieces/nephew (triplets) have a scheduled arrival for later this week, so I can't wait to meet them and spend some time pampering the little bebes during my short time at home. I'm not sure what else I'll be up to this summer, but I'll be back in Raleigh sometime around mid-August, I guess.

I'll do my best to keep regular updates, but you know how that goes these days...With that being said, I think this novel is long enough. Hey--maybe this will get you all on track for some summer reading; goodness knows it's long enough! Haha.

Until next time,
Lauren

New Year. New Season. New Blog.

2010-02-19T16:00:00.010-06:00

New year. New Season. New blog.

.......New record for not blogging. My apologies, but I've been busy as all get out for the last two months. It seems like every time I think I've been as busy as I can be, and that it's all better afterwards, I am faced with another, even busier season of life. Speaking of seasons, the Spring season (semester) kicked off with a bang, and has been crazy ever since. Get comfy, this may take a while...

Carolina Campout (January 9th)/UNC Game (January 26th)
The day after I returned to Raleigh, I attended my first NC State sporting event, a men's basketball game. I had a lot of fun, and it really got me pumped up for the evening's activity--the Carolina Campout. Participation in this annual event is the only way students' can ensure receipt of tickets to the NCSU vs. UNC basketball, which is our biggest rival game each year. I signed up to camp with Jess's roommates and their friends; our group totaled 14 people. We put together a large makeshift tent and all huddled together for about 12 hours in the low 20 degree temperatures. There were 4 checkpoints throughout the night, and finally at 6 a.m., we were released. For our hard work and dedication, our group received 3rd and 4th row floor seats to the biggest game of the year!

Jess and I had our technology class from 6-8 p.m. on the night of the game. We rushed out of class to grab some food at Cookout (yum) and headed over to the RBC Center for the game. Although we were a few minutes late to the game, we had a lot of fun cheering on the Wolfpack. Of course, we lost (go figure), but it was still a fun time. Just another experience to cross off my Raleigh life list. woot.

Jeff's Visit/Weekend in Savannah, GA (January 13-19)
Jeff, one of my good friends from Idaho (long-time readers have heard about him plenty of times before) came out to Raleigh for a week in January. Over the weekend, he, Jess, and I traveled to Savannah, Georgia. We stayed with Chris, a very good mutual friend of Jeff and I. Jeff, Chris, and I have worked together at several national 4-H conferences and such; plus, Chris came to visit Jeff and I in Idaho in Fall 2008. Needless to say, it was our turn to visit dear ole Christopher. Anyway, the 4 of us had a great time exploring the Savannah area, and Chris was a great host. Jeff was particularly interested in checking out the campus at Armstrong Atlantic State University (where Chris graduated from, and now works), as he applied to their Physical Therapy program for later this year. After a fun-filled weekend in Savannah, Jess and I showed Jeff around Raleigh for the last day and a half of his time here.

PREAUX LIFE MARCH in DC (January 21-24)
Two days after Jeff returned to Idaho, I headed up to DC for another long weekend. (I sure do have lots of those, lol.) On my way into the city, I stopped to visit with the folks in Youth Opportunities at National 4-H Council. (Tthese people are my former bosses, from when I was a tour guide.) It was fun to say hello to Molly and Freeman, and as always, nice to catch up on the news of what's going on in the world at Center. Afterwards, I met up with Dawn (long-time LA 4-H friend and fellow DC obessant) and two of her friends, Chelsea and Jessenia. Dawn, Chelsea, and I stayed at Jess's apartment in Mannassas, Virginia for the weekend.

The Pro-life March was way way way cool, and I was super excited to have the chance to take part in the event. It's just one of those things that most people back home do at some point in their life, and finally I had my chance. Plus, in all my time I have spent in DC, I never participated in any of the marches, so that is just another thing to experience in the great city that is our nation's capital.

This weekend was pretty much amazing for me in the area of DC tourism because Dawn and I checked off a ton of things that neither of us had seen before. Among these were: the Rose Dinner (a benefit for the Pro-Life cause), the Presidents' Church, ice skating at the National Gallery of Art's Sculpture Garden on the Mall, the Textile Museum, the Real World DC House, Five Guys Burgers and Fries, the Franciscian Monestary, and the John Paul II Cultural Center. Oh--anddd we even saw my favorite hometown band, L'Angelus play live in Maryland, too!! Needless to say, it was a GREAT weekend, and I can't wait to see my Sunshine in DC again soon!

Snoweekend??? (January 29-February 1, February 12-14)
Finally--I saw my first snowfall for the year! Even better, lots of snow was predicted in Raleigh, so Jess came over to get "snowed in" with me, and we had a grand time! To my happiness, it actually did snow a decent amount...3-4 inches to be exact, which is more than I'd ever seen in my life. Jess very much obliged my need for snow by agreeing to go on several walks each day with me, just so that I could take it all in. We also had this really awesome, impromptu snowball fight with a bunch of random people in my apartment complex. The roads in Raleigh were so bad that we even had a pseudo-snow-day off of school/work, and the public schools were out for pretty much the whole week.

The second snoweekend, came two weeks later. This time, it wasn't nearly as much snow and the words weren't treacherous. It was a pretty sight, though. I am told that the snow was better for snowman making, but I didn't actually go out and try it. (A travesty, I know!) I did get to go out and ice skate downtown on the 14th, though, which was pretty nifty.

SAAAE Conference in Orlando, FL (February 6-10)
In between the two snoweekends, myself, 3 AEE graduate students, and 8 AEE professors flew down to Orlando for the Southern Region American Association of Agricultural Education Conference. No, Agricultural Education is not even remotely an interest of mine, but here at NC State, I am surrounded by people who live, breathe, and eat it. Why did I go to the Conference, then? Well, Jess and I have been working on a project that involved designing a teen volunteer training and orientation program for the library at which we volunteered last semester. The instructor for our Volunteer Management course suggested that we put together a poster for the conference, and so we did. Since Jess and I are both in Extension Education, we took the trip as a fun way to travel together; Jess had never been to Florida, much less Orlando, so she really wanted to go.

Though the conference was of zero interest to us, we really had a good time with the other two graduate students, and it was an interesting experience to hang out with the professors for four days. Let's just say that I was pleasantly surprised. I'm so not a fan of Disney World but we did get to go on a "Behind the Seeds" tour of Epcot and probably the highlight of the trip was piercing Elizabeth's ears following the Saints victory! (Speaking of the Saints, I would like to take this opportunity to make a small rant about how I have been uber sad about missing such awesome events back home--snow, Saints Superbowl, and Mardi Gras. Ok, I'm done.)

Everything Else
Since Orlando, I've attended another couple of NC State sporting events, had some fun times with friends, and have been gearing up for a ridiciulously busy two months. My mom said that one day, someone asked her if she was sure that I was really in school. To be honest, it probably is kind of hard to believe that I'm really in school with all of this going on. However, I am holding steady in grad school for now. It's still not something I particularly enjoy, but with class only two nights a week (in the very middle, Tuesday and Wednesday), it's much easier to plow through those two days and enjoy the other five.

Ask me how I'm going to manage to write the first few chapters of my thesis with me being gone from Raleigh nearly every weekend of the semester, and I'll tell you that I haven't the slightest clue. However, traveling and doing all of these fun things is what makes me happy and helps me to get through it, so at this point, I truly don't care. In fact, I recently changed a portion of my Facebook profile to say "not-so-dedicated grad student" rather than "grad student with no life," lol. This is progress, if I do say so myself. (You may or may not agree.)

In any case, looking forward, there are lots of great things coming up for me this semester. One of my college roommates, Annie, will be coming up to NC next weekend, then I'm making a surprise appearance in an undisclosed state the following weekend. After that, I look forward to some time in Boise, DC, and Pennsylvania, all between now and the middle of April. It's going to be crazy, and I'll try to stop in and say hello from time to time, but don't get too worried if it takes a while. With that being said...

Catch ya on the flipside,
Lauren

"Life is Good Today"

2009-12-26T15:59:00.004-06:00

Hi, all. Can't believe I let time get away from me, once again! Let's see if I can compress the last two months into a managable size blog.

In the weeks that followed my good news (passing my Child Life exam), my stress level dropped TREMENDOUSLY. No longer did I need to devote hours each day/week to studying for the exam, and I had also finished my volunteer hours at the library for my volunteer management course. Plus, there was some big agriculture education conference that all of our professors went to, so we somehow ended up with 1 class in 18 days. It was sweet as all get out.

My mom and cousin, Alyssa, came to visit me in Raleigh for the week of Thanksgiving. It was really a nice time with lots of forced relaxation, which I definitely needed. I tried to show them a good time in Raleigh, but I often apologized for leading a boring life, as they sat in front of the tv watching movies while I did some form of schoolwork each day of their visit. :-(

Some of the fun things we did do included touring NC State, watching New Moon, eating a very delicious Cajun Thanksgiving meal, attending the Christmas craftshow at the State Fairgrounds, and checking out a few museums downtown. Of course, I took mom and Alyssa to the Free Expression Tunnel on campus, which they loved (It's a personal favorite of mine!). My mom smuggled some boudain and rice dressing stock on the plane, so we had some legit Cajun food for Thanksgiving. Mmm, it totally made my week! Hehe.

Seriously though, it was just really nice to relax and have my lovely family around. Life in Raleigh has been a real struggle for me, and to have a break from that was wonderful. Realizing now that I won't have this chance again in the spring, I'm wondering how I'm going to make it through another semester without a piece of home. Hmm. I did okay in DC, but my mom and brother came to visit (twice), as well as my little pseudo-Cajun Sunshine, and lots of 4-H family. Plus, I celebrated my birthday and Mardi Gras in DC, with huge care packages, "boxes of love," straight from the heart! I suppose I'm just gonna hope for the best and avoid thinking about what may come. Smile.

Moving on...School ended and I've been home from Raleigh for two weeks now. In my first week at home, I spent a few days tying up loose ends with assignments and work. I'm pretty frustrated with NC State's grading process (actually I think it's ridiculous), but I manged to pull out an A and two A-, so my GPA sits at something like 3.7. Tell me how A;s translate to a 3.7, and I'll give you a cookie. That GPA says to me "a couple of B's," but of course not...at NC State As are not worthy of their full point value. I believe the phrase "FUGS!" is order here, :)

Again, I say the snow gods absolutely hate me. It has snowed in LA twice in the last two years while I have been living out of state. In both places where I was living at the time, it snowed in the days following my departure when I went home for the holidays. Only DC was generous with snow for me. In fact, my little car had half an inch of snow on it in Wake Forest; my dearest Lendy sent me pictures! So not cool man.

While at home, my life hasn't been overly interesting, but I have been up to a few cool things. I went to the first round of bridesmaid dress shopping with Victoria (bride), Anne Catherine, Hilary, and Brandi. A second round is planned with at least Dawn and Lauren D., and maybe Toria R. The happy couple (Victoria and Seth) are having an ornament exchange party this coming Tuesday, the 29th. I'm trying to convince Kyle to come as Dawn and I's date...he's plenty used to pimp status (lol), and we all miss him, plus Dawn and I need dates to the party. Heh. We sure wish he would join us...hint hint, wink wink!

I also helped Ms. Lanette Hebert (Southwest Regional Coordinator) teach a 4-H teen counselor training at the Rice Research Station in Crowley. There were 18 teens signed up for the training, but only 12 showed up. Honestly, this was probably the rowdiest group we've ever had at the training. However, I was very grateful that Ms. Lanette invited me to help, because I love the subject matter and really enjoy the opportunity to volunteer with the 4-H program any chance I get. I really wish I could be around for more state 4-H stuff; I miss being around, seeing everyone, and just generally supporting the program which is so near and dear to my heart.

That night, I went with the Vermilion 4-H Jr. Leader Club to Acadian Village for Noel Acadien au Village. It's in Lafayette, so we took a bus, but a bunch of the kids' families went to the village too. In order to get the group discount, we all had to enter the village together. To get an accurate count, we used Vermilion's tried and true method--TWO BY TWO!! (I bet you remember this well, Co-co?) With a group as large as ours, it was quite entertaining to see the jaws drop (literally!) as other patrons arrived, thinking that our line was the one to enter. It was great. When it was all said and done, we had about a hundred people in our group. Vermilion 4-H sure does it big--it's not uncommon for us to travel in packs of 100! I love my Vermilion 4-H!!

At Acadian Village, I took lots of pictures for my far-away friends. This place is very beautiful year-round, but especially during the Christmas season. If you want to see a true depiction of Cajun culture from the old days, this is the place to go. Words cannot describe it, but a picture is worth a thousand words, they say...so take a look at my Facebook album for a small glipse of the experience! :)

What else? Christmas, I guess. I had a good Christmas with the family. Nothing to exciting or crazy. Lots of little kids, which is one of the best parts, probably. Oh, and amazingggg food. My gosh, the food here is just DIVINE! Riceeeee and gravy, seafood gumbo...all of it! Today I was thinking about how our major commodities are rice, sugar(cane), and seafood...which all translate to heaven on a dish! And people wonder why we've got such terrible health practices here. I'm fully okay with that, the benefits outweigh the consequences, lol.

Gift-wise, I'm still working on getting a new phone. I've got a temporary one right now, but it sucks. Our new phone company may have good service, but everything else about it suckssss. If anyone wants to offer up an unlocked phone or maybe even the opportunity to add me as a line on your AT&T plan (I'll pay my portion!), feel free to let me know. It's just so frustrating that I can't use Twitter or googl (40404), or get photos, or anything cool. Bahhhhh. Hopefully, I'll be able to find a decent phone soon... Erm, other gifts. I got a winter jacket, that I will hopefully be able to use in Raleigh or some cool place. 'Course it's water proof, so bring on the snow??? What am I saying, snow hates me, remember? lol. Random other stuff: cute socks, water bottles, books, etc.

Now, I've got 13 days left in Louisiana. The question is, how am I going to spend them? I'm bound and determined to make a quilt of t-shirts, so I will probably get back to that project tomorrow. Also, I'm hoping for a trip to Luling to see the college folks, and perhaps even one to Arkansas for a mini-camp reunion. However, I really just want to relish in this relaxing time at home, so I don't know. I'm torn about being busy and seeing everyone or just staying home and enjoying my lovely state from the comforts of a blanket curled up on the couch. We'll see what happens, I guess.

In any case, it's going to be hard goodbye, but there are lots of things to look forward to this spring in Raleigh (and across the country, with all my travels, lol). The day after I arrive in Raleigh, I'm going to the NC State campout (more like freeze-out) to earn tickets for the UNC basketball game. Only a few days after that, Jeff will be arriving from Idaho for he, Jess, and my trip to see Chris (and AASU) in Savannah, GA. A few weeks after that, Jess, Elizabeth, Kevin, and I are headed down to Orlando for a conference. So much to do, and the list goes on....

Well, this entry once again turned out longer than I expected, but it also spanned the the time of 2 months, so I guess it's compacted and appropriate. You all should remind me to write more often! Maybe with the encouragement I'll have more incentive to do so. :-p

Off for a while,
-Lauren

Bacon Lung & Spunky SEAttle

2009-12-06T16:21:00.006-06:00

[I'm a month late on this one...]

Some of you may recall that I have been working toward certification as a Child Life Specialist. (See blogs about applying/interviewing for internship in Spring '08, interning at a children's hospital in Idaho in Fall '08, and intense daily studying this semester.) Because of this, I'd spent the first part of the semester acquiring student membership in the Child Life Council, and applying to sit for the national certification exam in Seattle. By the time November rolled around, I had read several complete books in hopes of refreshing my memory and acquiring a much new information as possible.

In the days leading up to my trip to Seattle, I was extremely stressed because I had several major projects due for school and, thus, had not been able to set aside exam studying time for more than a week. As it turns out, God works in mysterious ways. Randomly, I happened to contract the flu (so-says) only two days before I left for the exam in Seattle.

At first, I was really upset and freaked out about it--who wouldn't be--but it also meant that I was able to stay home from work and class for almost an entire week. Tamiflu, The Miracle Drug, helped me to feel better almost instantly, but because of the fever, I was still confined to my apartment right up until leaving for the airport. In my time at home, however, I was able to finish up most of my assignments with enough time to pack and prepare for the exam/trip, as well.

November 6, 2009
Jess, my Yankee friend (heh, she's from Pennsylvania), brought me to the airport for an eeeearly flight. I felt pretty guilty about asking her to do that, but then again, she and her Aunt who had flown in from Montana, were driving up to PA for the weekend, so she would have been up early, anyway. My flights to Minneapolis and Seattle were pretty uneventful; I even got to watch a movie on the long one (though I should have been studying, lol).

Nathan was waiting at the airport when I arrived. We went to his house to drop my stuff off and I met some of his roommates (who are pretty cool, btw). Then, we went out to explore the city. Our first stop was at the Fremont Troll, which is a huge sculpted troll that lives under a major bridge. I heard about the troll through an MSN article that I read on online a few weeks before the trip, so I asked Nathan to bring me. Plus, he hadn't seen it either, so I thought it was a good idea. We also explored Gas Works Park, which was this interesting little area right along the Puget Sound, with paths, a huge hill, and some crazy graffiti artwork. I took lots of fun pictures there. We walked arond in this touristy area, afterwards. There, Nathan took me to Ivar's, a seafood-stand-type food place. We shared some clam chowder, since I had never eaten that before and was still kind of avoiding food, as I hadn't eaten full meals in the previous few days from being sick. The chowder was interesting...not too bad, but I'm not sure that I'd eat it often.

That evening, we watched a movie; it was incredibly difficult for me to make it through the whole thing, with the time change and lingering feeverish feelings. Basically, I ended up falling asleep at 7pm PST and Nathan respectfully entertained himself through movies and online as I passed out like a loser. lol.

November 7, 2009
It was a fairly early morning, since I had to be at the testing center (at Washington State University) by 8 a.m. The test didn't start til 8:30 a.m., but it was good to be there early, as they moved the test location from one building to another. Way to test our flexibility, Child Life Council! lol. Anyway, I met some nice people at the test, one of which was from Idaho, and another who had done her internship at WakeMed here in Raleigh. (It's definitely a small world.) The test was intense, but not nearly as hard as it could have been. ...That, or I knew my stuff? Either way, I felt content with how I had done, so that was good.

After the test, we explored the city a bit more. We had lunch at a little restaurant on the way down a huge hill to Pike's Place, the famous Seattle market. The market was cool to see, but it wasn't any more outstanding than markets I have seen in New Orleans, Little Rock, Raleigh, or other cities I've visted. There were lots of shops in the basement area of the market, and we walked around in the neighborhood a bit too. There, I saw the original Starbucks (reminded me of New Orleans, with people singing outside of it, and lots of tourists...), and we looked out admiring the harbor area. Nathan also took me to a cute, bougie donut shop; it was the fanciest donut shop I've ever seen, lol. The hot chocolate was amazing, and I guess the donuts were okay too. :-p

That evening, I made it through not one, but two movies before passing out fairly early. Seriously, I was still on East coast time, which was fine by me. I never did like Pacific Standard Time, anyway. Hahaha.

November 8, 2009
My flight back East departed at 6 a.m., so it was yet another earlyyyyyyyy morning. Honestly, I didn't mind so much because 6 a.m. was essientially 9 a.m. my body's time, so it didn't bother me to wake up at 4 a.m., haha. Nathan, on the other hand, wasn't thrilled about it...but hey, he had to be at work by 6 anyway, so I don't get what the big deal was. :-p Again, my travels were fairly uneventful, and my wonderful North Carolinian taxi driver, Lendy, was there to greet me when I arrived back in Raleigh.

In the end, my body healed itself quite quickly, and everything worked out for the weekend in Seattle. It was a fun time, and I'm glad I made it out for the test, as well as to explore the city and visit a good friend.

Good times.
-Lauren

PS: I should note that 11 days later, I receieved official notification that I PASSED MY EXAM, which means that I AM officially a CERTIFIED CHILD lIFE SPECIALIST! Yayyy! :-D

Random Rambles

2009-11-28T10:45:00.007-06:00

Still ages behind, I know. However, I'd like to take some time today to blog about an assortment of random things that I should have included in previous entries, but they just didn't seem to fit anywhere at the time. Enjoy.

Text to A. Barbay, August 23, 2009: "It's strange because I really appreciate alone time where I don't have to worry about others, especially this past week, but now I'm starting to really miss the intimacy we all had. It's kinda lonely."
About a week after arriving in Raleigh, I tweeted about how I enjoyed the solitude and lack of responsibility for others, which was a change from the previous 7 months. The transition from tour guide-in-charge-mode to camp counselor was a bit strange, but by the end of the summer, I'd developed a new pattern again. At camp, I was surrounded by people day after day, so it was definitely different to be in charge of myself and myself only.

Tweet, August 25, 2009: "There's just something about getting my *fourth out-of-state library card in six months that makes me chuckle."
Yes, I do think it's funny that I acquired three out of state library cards in six months. That brings my grand total to five...Vermilion Parish (LA), Montgomery County (MD), Library of Congress (DC), Pulaski County (AR), and Wake County (NC). Too bad I didn't get one in Idaho, or that would have been six, lol.

Tweet, August 27, 2009: "Just got letter and string bracelet in the mail from my summer sister. It's in the colors of camp cabins. Me = teary."
Allie, my "Summer Sister," mailed me a short letter and string bracelet with all of the Aldersgate cabin colors (Orange, Lime, Khaki, Yellow, Blue, Moss, and Eggplant). I got the letter just before I went into class and it made me all sad and teary for my camp family. The bracelet was added to my "camp shrine" that has been ressurected in my car. It includes a button from The Purple Cow Restaurant, my archery whistle, an arrow, Bobo's bracelet lei, and probably a few other things I can't remember right now.

Tweet, August 30, 2009: "Two week anniversary in NC. Second fire alarm after sleeping hours."
The very first night in my new apartment, the fire alarm went off just before Midnight, so Dawn and I (practically) rang in her 21st sitting in my car waiting to be allowed back into the building. Exactly a week later, it happened again...but this time Sunshine wasn't there.

Tweet, August 30, 2009: "And yes, the idaho friend vehicle is ironically parked right next to my louisiana one this morning. imma leave a note one day...Hehe."
Tweet, September 2, 2009: "Idaho girl found me! Turns out she lives right across the hall from me! Omg my life is complete...Sorry it sounds cheesy..."
For those of you who don't know, on the very first day I moved into my apartnment, I noticed a vehicle from Idaho parked here. I became sort of stalkerish and left a note for said vehicle owner a few weeks later. She responded to the note, and I then discovered that we live across the hall from each other! Plus, she's from Nampa (near Boise), so that was even cooler. We met each other but haven't really hung out. Maybe one day, since I brought something back from Idaho for her...

Tweet, August 31, 2009: "Note to self. Don't wear flip flops when it rains. Literally just walked all of campus barefoot to avoid slipping on the brick walkways."
Tweet, October 24, 2009: "You would think I'd learned the first time--falling flat on your face when wearing flip flops on campus in rain is inevitable."
The entire campus of NC State is made up of bricks...buildings, sidewalks, everything. Therefore, it didn't take me long to realize that wearing flip flops on rainy days was hazardous to my health. ...Even though I did make the mistake twice.

Tweet, September 1, 2009: "Just found out one of my cancer kids from camp is very ill..."
Though losing members of the camp family is to be expected, five in the last year and a half surely wasn't exactly what I imagined. Between the end of camp in 2008 and the start of it in 2009, 3 campers passed away, one of which had been in my cabin the year before (Muscular Dystrophy Week). Since camp ended in August and the middle of October, we lost two additional campers, both of which were rather unexpected. Also, both of the girls (one from CAK-Cardiac, Arthritis, Kidney Week, and the other from Oncology Week) were in my cabin, so the news hit close to home once again. They will never be forgotten...

Tweet, September 24, 2009: "Early to bed. Shorter the day. Faster I get them out of the way."
Obviously I wasn't very happy with North Carolina or Graduate School at the time. 'Nuff said.

October 1st: Happy October...NIFA Day!
On October 1st, CSREES (Cooperative State Research and Extension Education Service), one branch of the USDA, officially transitioned into the new National Institute of Food and Agriculture. For all the aggies and 4-H kiddos out there, this is kind of a big deal. For all our lives, we have grown up with CSREES, and it seems like only yesterday I finally got that acronym down--then they went and changed it! Booooo. Personally, I'm not a huge fan of this change, for the name seems to isolate itself even more than before (come on--food and agriculture?). I am told it is all for the better...increased development and funding for important programs. We shall see.

October 7-11, 2009: Fall Break in Idaho
October 12-13, 2009: 4-H Brand Advisory Meeting at Council
October 15-25,2009: NC State Fair
You've already heard these stories. If not, read my previous two posts.

Tweet, October 15, 2009: "About to take first midterm exam as a graduate student. Have I studied? Nope. FAIL."
Yeah, that's right. I took my first midterm (AEE 501: Foundations of Agricultural and Extension Education) as a graduate student without studying. Well, Lendy helped me review a few things in the hour leading up to the test, but I didn't make any real effort to study. I had been busy in Idaho and DC and really didn't have time or care to study. However, between Lendy's efforts and Dr. Moore's single-pair-group test process, my partner (Jess) and I ended up making 90(A-)s on our test. Pretty good if I do say so myself. (One can only hope finals go the same way, lol.)

Text to D.Leavitt, October 19, 2009: "Well apparently after we left, a friend of our coworker's husband said to her, in the best southern country accent...'If I'd known those two pretty brown haired girls were gonna be here, I'D HAVE PUT MY GOOD JEANS ON.'"
Two of my coworkers and I went to a birthday party for another coworker's daughter. The next day, she relayed this conversation to us. I thought it was funny.

Tweet, October 21, 2009: "What are my options?"
Still, not thrilled with stuff here.

Tweet, October 27, 2009: "Finished my volunteer hours and didn't even realize that time had come!"
I'm sure I mentioned somewhere that I have been volunteering at a local library as part of my Volunteer Mangement Class (AEE 595). On this day, I finished my service requirement without even realizing that I had come to that point. It was an exciting day...as I then had more time in my schedule to do all the things that had piled up. The following few weeks were insane, but more about that in a future post.

Okay okay...now that I've caught up...well, caught up until November (now that it's almost December, fail), I need to stop. I've got papers to write, chapters to read, and laundry to do. I promise to keep working at this whole update thing. However, this may be my last post for the month of November. I've got some major projects coming up, and then finals, and then I get to go hooooome for the holidays! We'll see what happens. Just know, I haven't forgotten about you blogworld! :)

A few days late, Happy Turkey Day!

Gobble, Gobble
-Lauren

Frolicking at the Fair

2009-11-19T20:23:00.004-06:00

Another blog--yay! This one's kinda short...just another event that I wanted to share.

NC State Fair: October 15-25, 2009

On October 16th, I attended my first ever state fair (LA doesn't really have a 'typical' state fair). Seriously, I had been looking forward to this event pretty much since I arrived in Raleigh. The concert lineup was amazing, and I had heard many great, wonderful things about the state fair experience.

One of my co-workers/friends/classmates (they're really all the same people), Lendy, offered to take me to the fair and show me around. However, before I really had any friends here, I signed up to volunteer at a recycling booth as a way of getting a free ticket into the fair. (We all know Lauren is a cheap-o, don't worry.) So, before Lendy could show me the full NC State Fair experience, I had to volunteer with the booth. That was an interesting experience, but I suppose I learned a few things in the process.

Once I was released from my volunteer duties, Lendy and I walked around the fairgrounds, looking at everything, and tasting all of the wonderful (bad-for-our-health) goodies. There, I had my first ever homemade cider and a (crazy) fried snicker bar. In between the two, the chicken pita was incredibly amazing, too. I also got to hold some baby chickies and see lots of "aminals." Heh. The horticulture and garden exhibits were beautiful, too.

Unfortunately, I didn't get the chance to attend any of the awesome concerts, but I still had a wonderful time, nonetheless. It's incredible all the hard work, time, and effort that goes into state fairs. I only wish I could have grown up in such surroundings, but I definitely have a strong appreciation for those of you who did. Maybe my own kids will have an opportunity such as this one...?

Note: Thanks, Lendy, for showing me what the NC State Fair is all about!

Aaaand.......That's your story for the day!

Have a good one,
-Lauren

Jet Setter

2009-11-12T21:13:00.002-06:00

Back so soon!? Heck-a-yes-a!

I'm gonna try to work on catching up with all of my adventures...hopefully it won't take two months to do so!

4-H Brand Advisory Group: October 12-13, 2009
So, the day after I returned from Boise, I got back on a plane...for DC this time. DC, again? For why, you ask? A few days before I'd left for Idaho, I receieved an e-mail from someone at National 4-H Council; it was an invitation to attend a 4-H Brand Advisory meeting at the National 4-H Conference Center in DC (er, Chevy Chase, MD). Myself and about four other former Collegiate Facilitators had been invited to attend the meeting. Long story short, only three of us (Benjamin-MI/OH, Jennifer-UT, and I) were able to go.

We all flew into DCA on Monday afternoon/evening for a meeting the following morning. While waiting for Benjamin and Jennifer to arrive, I hung out with some of the old (and new) WaHa crew. Amanda (WaHa 2008-2009) rode in from Columbia Heights to hang out with us. She's the only former WaHa'er who's still local. Justin's still there, as is Craig (who moved in after I left in May), and two additional girls moved in recently. Shar (who was supposed to take my place when I left in May, but lived elsewhere instead) and Katie (who worked as a CWF PA in '08, and something in '07) are now living there. Craig's fiance moved in soon after, also. ANYwhoo. It was fun to hang out with all of those folks and be back in my glorious WaHa.

After a while though, I had to say goodbye because I knew Benjamin and Jennifer were hanging out in our (amazing) hotel rooms. The three of us talked forever about our predictions for the meeting the following morning, reminisced about Conference, and watched endless YouTube videos. It really was a grand time; I'm not sure I had laughed that much in a long time.

The meeting was an interesting one. For the most part, I'm pretty sure we all felt like our ideas were valued and considered. We're not totally sure what the result of our discussions will be, but whatever. Less than 24 hours after arriving in DC, my return flight to Raleigh departed. (Despite the fact that we'd been there waiting for almost 2 hours, I was distracted visting with Benjamin and Jennifer, and almost missed my flight as a result. oops.) In any case, we're always up for a trip to DC at someone else's expense, lol.

Alrights. There's another one of my many adventures that have been keeping me busy over the last month or so. I shall hopefully continue the updates again soon.

Ta-ta for now.
-Lauren

PS: My dearest American-English roommate (whom I lived with in Idaho) is returning to England for good (?) tomorrow morning. I wish her all the best and will miss her greatly. One day, I shall visit her homeland. I will hold Tessa and her beautiful, amazing, sweetness in my heart forever.

Off to See the Wizard

2009-11-08T20:49:00.006-06:00

[Seriously, this whole blogging thing (or lacktherof, really) is getting kind of ridiculous. I feel like a failure, and almost as though I shouldn't be allowed to continue claiming the title of "blogger," if I'm only going to find time to write once every 6 weeks. Just say it...FAIL.]

Guess I've got lots of catching up to do (story of my life these days). Sigh.

Fall Break: October 7-11, 2009
idaho.idaho.idaho.IDAHO! For the first time since finishing my internship there last December (2008), I finallyyyyyyyyyyyyy returned to Boise for a visit! Seriously, as I sit here, it's hard to take the excitement from my heart and channel it into writing some coherent description of my time there, but I shall try.

Wednesday--> Left Raleigh in the late afternoon; layover (and delay) in Minneapolis, for a (30 minute) late arrival in Boise around 12:45 a.m. There was a whole welcoming committee there to greet me (Kim, Joey, Jason, Jeff, and Derek). I hadn't eaten in many, many hours so after a few failed attempts, we managed to grab some grub at one of the Pie Hole establishments. Afterwards, we all went over to Jeff's to hang out...well into the weeeee hours of the morning.

Thursday--> Pretty much everyone had to work, but Stew agreed to hang out with me for a while. We ate at a cafe downtown and watched a movie (Leatherheads) at the boys' house. Later, Kim came to get me and we went over to she and Tessa's apartment to hang out and get ready for the evening of dinner with friends. The whole boys' house (Joey, Jesse, Stew, Jason, and Brin), as well as Ashley, Jeff, and Derek, came over for dinner, cake, and tv time. It was so fun to be with everyone...it didn't feel like 10 months had passed, minus the whole gap in common experiences thing, lol.

Friday--> Jeff and I walked over to the Depot (he lives right behind it), since it's my second favorite spot in all of Boise. He also drove me up to to see Bogus Basin for the first time. (My professor and I tried to drive up there when she came to observe me last November, but we turned around before we made it to the top.) There was some patchy snow and of course wonderful views, as well. That afternoon, I visited St. Luke's to see the Child Life gang. Unfortunately, I didn't get to see everyone, but I still very much enjoyed the visit. I miss those wonderful ladies so much and will forever be grateful for the experiences I had there. Friday night, some of us (Tessa, Kim, Joey, Jason, and Derek) hung out at Bardnay for a bit; Jeff came to join us after he got off of work, but by then everyone was dispersing...

Saturday-->Sooo...Tessa and I stayed up really late the night before, talking and catching up, finally. But we also woke up early because of the plans that we'd made to go 4-wheeling with Derek, Kim, Joey, and Jason. As it turned out, Joey, Kim, and Jason backed out because Joey and Jason had the flu and weren't feeling well. But, Jeff got out of work, so rather than backing out on Derek, we figured the three of us would show up and get a good laugh out of the circumstance. Yeah well, that backfired. Joey told Derek that the 4-wheeling expedition was off, so when Jeff, Tessa, and I showed up to meet him at his parents' in Melba, he had already gone home to Nampa and gone back to sleep. Hoping he'd return our calls eventually, Jeff showed Tessa and I around Melba. The coolest part was this interesting Native American area called Celebration Park. There, we explored a mini-trail of petroglyphs and threw some archery-type things. Jeff also took us to eat at this hole-in-the-wall restaurant, at which Derek finally returned our calls and showed up to meet us. From there, we ressurected the 4-wheeling idea and ended up riding all the way up to Silver City. Of course, it was nearly dark by the time we got to the top since we left so late, but it was fine. We rode through some snowy parts, saw some great views, and made it back to the truck around 9 pm or so. Back in Melba, we parted ways...Jeff brought Tessa and I back to her apartment, where Joey, Kim, and Jason were waiting with dinner, and the bacon lung (flu--rolls eyes). Stew came over to hang out for a while too.

Sunday--> A bunch of us (Jesse, Kim, Joey, Tessa, Jeff, and I) went to brunch at Rocky's Diner, the cute little 50's restaurant near our old apartment. It was fun to see everyone for one last little outing before I headed out to the airpot to meet my plane. I'm also fairly confident that it was about the first time all weekend that I got to see busy boy Jesse, lol. Anyway, after saying some goodbyes, Tessa, Kim, and I drove downtown to stop in and say bye to Ashley who was working at Anthropologie. Sadly, we didn't get much of a chance to hang out this time around, but we shall do it again someday, definitely. Aaaand finally, the ladies brought me over to the Boise airport, and I bid my adieu to my dearest city...with the full intent of returning again someday.

Of course, I am eternally grateful for the opportunity to spend four short days in the place that I love so much. Everyone was so wonderful and absolutely cannot wait to see them all again at Joey and Kim's wedding in New Orleans next summer. Man, I could write forever about my sincere yearning for this place...but I'll go ahead and stop there.

Though I had high hopes for writing about all that has occurred since my last entry, I have written plenty and really ought to pause for a time. With some newly acquired "extra" time (more about that in a future blog), I shall hopefully continue the update again soon. Forgive me.

Until then, I bid thee "adieu."
-Lauren

It's a Record

2009-09-26T20:05:00.004-05:00

It's a record! I absolutely cannot fathom that it has been six and a half weeks since the last time I blogged. If I weren't careful, the whole month of September would have passed without an entry. This really must be a record for my blogging, cuz I'm pretty sure I've done a fairly decent job of writing every few weeks, if not sooner, for the last year and a half. (Has it really been that long? It seems like yesterday that I was applying and interviewing for my Child Life internship. Geez.) Anywhoo, the whole point of writing is to update everyone, not to rant. So here:

Time at Home
I don't remember much about what I did from the time I left Arkansas on August 8th and the time I left home again on the 12th. Since it was only four days, I probably spent most of my time with the family and packing up the last details of my stuff. It wasn't particularly interesting...oh! I do remember something rather exciting that occurred while I was home. To celebrate their recent engagement, my friends Victoria LeBlanc and Seth Richard had a party. Unbeknownst to the attendants of said party, the actual reason behind the party was to invite us to serve in the wedding. Yep, that means I'm going to be a bridesmaid in a friend's wedding for the first time! Woot. Dawn (Jason) surprised me by attending the party without telling me that she was coming to town (she lives an hour and a half away, near Baton Rouge). So, yay. Dawn and I are going to be serving in Victoria's wedding next fall--October 15, 2010!

Road Trip
On the 12th, I drove to Brusly to spend the night at Dawn's house. The next morning, she and I left for our very long road trip to North Carolina. Her house is nearly two hours closer to Raleigh (our destination) so it just made sense for us to start from there. Plus, we planned to make it to the Charlotte area in the first day of traveling, so that we could spend the night at her aunt's house there. 13 hours into our first day, we did in fact make it to Charlotte for the night. The next morning, we departed for the final few hours' drive to Raleigh, just in time to pick up the keys and paperwork for my new apartment. Yay.

Romping Around Raleigh
That weekend, Dawn encouraged me to explore my newest temporary home. She definitely would not have had it if we had just sat in the apartment all weekend. Once we got set up with stocking my pantry, unpacking, and doing some decorating, then it was off to check out the city. I encourage everyone to check out my Facebook photos for pictures of our adventures to two area museums, a park, and NC State's campus. Dawn also celebrated her 21st birthday that weekend, so that was another excuse to do some fun stuff. She wouldn't let me make her an alcoholic beverage, but she did let me take her to a wine tasting, which is as close as I was gonna get, I suppose. Thanks to her Raleigh-friend, Sarah Hardin, we also went to an authentc NC barbecue joint, and amazing comedy show.

Life in NC
I suppose I never did get around to telling anyone the purpose for this road trip and move to North Carolina. For those of you who haven't figured it out by now, I started graduate school at N.C. State in Raleigh. Although I made the decision in May, a few weeks after visiting the school, it just never felt like the right time to share the decision with the rest of the world via this blog. Now that I'm here, however, I guess I'm "a day late and a dollar short" with the news.

For six weeks, I have been an official graduate student in Extension Education here at NC State. Going to a "real" school as I have starting calling it, is very interesting. There are so many more opportunities and events at a school this large. For example, the first Friday after school started, there was a huge event called FridayFest. I guess it was sort of similar to Nicholls' Winterfest or Crawfish Day events. However, there was way more free stuff, and cooler things too, such as a FREE concert with Josh Gracin and some other local bands. Chuck Wicks was supposed to perform too, but he got sick and thus had to back out.

As for the mundane things related to school, I'll go ahead and say a little about my routine here. I'm taking 10 hours of coursework (9 is considered Full Time), and working 20 hours as a Graduate Research Assistant in the AEE Department. Neither are particularly interesting/useful, but a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do. This means that I work in the office for 5 hours a day, Monday through Thursdays, with class for 3 hours on Monday and Thursday nights. I also have a 1-hr. seminar on Wednesdays and an online class, too. On Tuesday nights, I volunteer at a local public library (for my volunteer management class), and on Wednesdays I try to check out the events hosted by Catholic Campus Ministries (but lots of time's I've got too much homework to spare my only free evening). I'm also working towards volunteering with the Child Life Department at WakeMed, a children's hospital in Raleigh...because I'm crazy, yes, I know.

People here are nice, especially the ones who who hang out in the grad ofice at school. There are at least 7 of us who share 4 mini-offices, with a few desks in each little room. We have lots of fun and tend to get minimal tasks done (ie: no one wants to work on Mondays...Wednesdays we have seminar in the middle of the day...Thursdays are our Fridays...). Dawn's friend, Sarah, has also become a good friend of mine, as well as her childhood best friend, Suzanne. I see them a lot at CCM stuff, as it's very nice to have some Catholic friends here. My roommates were randomly assigned, and are seniors at State. They were very welcoming the weekend I moved in; in fact, they made Happy Birthday cupcakes for Dawn on her day. However, it's rare that we're all home at the same time, and for the most part, our lives are very different.

To be honest, I can't believe it's been only 6 weeks since school started. That means there are what--8 more weeks to go? Gahh. It feels like time is moving ever so slowly and it will be the next millinium before I'm home again. For the most part, I pour myself into school as a distraction. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't. On the other hand, I have a few really great trips to look forward to this fall, such as...

Weekend in DC
...spending Labor Day weekend in Washington, DC. Of course, I hadn't been back to DC since I left in May, and since there were still a few of my former housemates in town, I figured it was a great excuse to go. (Plus, I'd kind of been planning on going since I left in May, lol.) It was also perfect timing, in a way, because I ended up there the weekend after Ted Kennedy was burried, so I got to be the first person I know to see his gravesite at Arlington Cemetery. Scott (WaHa housemate) and I went there and walked around the mall/monument area during the day on on Saturday. That night, we went to Amanda's (former WaHa'er, too) new apartment in Columbia Heights where we hung out with Brian and Justin, two other WaHa kids. It was a sweet little reunion. Sunday, we went to my first Nationals game and Scott's first time eating at Ben's Chilli Bowl. Monday, I left around mid morning for the 5-hour drive back to NC. Let's just say that even though I was only there for three days, it was amazing to be back in DC and back at WaHa. That place still feels like home and there are still so many pieces of me and everyone else that have been left behind. It's like we left our little marks on WaHa, just like all the generations of WaHa'ers before us. Pretty much amazing.

Fall Break in Boise
In about 10 days, I will be returning to Idaho for the first time since I left last December. I have been waiting for this moment for 10 long months, and I am about to burst out of my skin just thinking about it!! This will be the third year in a row that I am in Boise at this time of year, so it's just perfect. Actually, I wasn't planning on returning this Fall Break, but I came across some really cheap airline tickets toward the end of August, and really could not pass them up. I continue to think about Boise frequently and hope that one day I'll be able to return for an extended period of time. Until then, however I'm going to have to appreciate any time that I can manage to have there. Long story short, get excited--Lauren's coming to Boise!!

Child Life Certification Exam in Seattle
On November 7th, I am taking the Child Life Certification Exam in Seattle. This is the last step in becoming certified to work as a legit Child Life Specialist, a process that began years ago, truly. Aside from taking approved courses in related areas, my internship at the hospital in Boise was the next major step. Now, the remaining component is to take and pass this national certification exam. To be honest, the test is difficult and I believe I'm going to have a tough time passing it, especially since I have to study for it while working as a grad student with all of this other stuff going on. Plus, it's been almost a year since I was in a true hospital setting. However, I've been trying to devote nearly two hours most days to studying, so I'm really hope I can pull it off. In any case, the test is a great excuse to finally get out to Seattle and I am very much looking forward to that exciting aspect of the trip. I'm going to stay with Nathan (former Idaho resident, friend of friends, and now my friend...you know the story), and hopefully I'll be able to see some cool stuff while I'm there, if only for a short time.

Three states in three months? Well, four in four if you count my return home in December. Yep, you got that right. Does it surprise you, really? ...I am the gypsy, aren't I? lol. Needless to say, this entry has been extremely long (record-breaking?), and so I'm going to stop here. I'll do my best to write again in the near-ish(?) future, but feel free to give me a nice nudge if you feel like I'm lagging behind on this thing.

Hope all is well with all of you.
-Lauren

PS: For those of you who know me well and/or have spoken with me recently, I'm sure you realize this entry has been censored in several ways. You understand, I am sure. If you don't, ask. I may, or may not, reveal the truth. ;-)

No Place I'd Rather Be

2009-08-12T10:57:00.000-05:00

Boy do I have lots to write! It’s been almost a month since my last blog. Camp has come and gone, and it’s just about the same way with my short time at home in between here and my next adventure. I’ll get to all of that eventually, so sit back and enjoy the story.

CAK Week: July 19-24, 2009
My first week back at camp was called “CAK” Week—or camp for kids with Cardiac, Arthritis, and Kidney Disease. Allie and I were most excited about this week because we wanted to experience “heart kids” at another camp. We were slightly disappointed about the small number of campers with heart conditions, but it was fun to learn about other medical conditions such as kidney disease and arthritis. One cool thing about this week was that Allie and I were able to work in a cabin together for the first time ever. We were so pumped about it, and it was totally great that we had the same breaks. This meant that not only did we get to hang out together when we were off, but we also led the cabin together when the other counselors were off. Allie and I have always worked well together and it was such a relief to understand each other’s process so that the cabin ran smoothly during the times that we were in charge.
It was during this week that I was assigned to lead “Devo” one evening. Devo is short for “devotional,” which is very similar to “vespers” for those of you who attended 4-H Camp in Louisiana. Basically, each counselor was assigned a night to give some sort of inspirational story or lesson. For mine, I gave each camper an animal cookie and talked about how they each taste the same, but all look different, which symbolized how people all look different but are the same on the inside. Then, I played the song “Don’t Laugh at Me” by Mark Wills and afterwards gave a little summary to close it out. I think it went really well and I very much enjoyed leading Devo. I can’t wait to do it again next year!

Asthma Week: July 26-31, 2009
Asthma Week was a pleasant surprise for me. All summer long, counselors had been making comments about how Asthma Week is affectionately known as “Ghetto Week,” and that I should not bring any valuables to camp. However, I really thought the kids came from a great mix of backgrounds and there wasn’t any huge majority or minority, which was somewhat different from most other weeks. The girls in my cabin were great, really. As for their asthma, it really wasn’t a big deal at all (just like most kids at camp), but I very much enjoyed learning about the disease and how to manage it. It was also fun to work with Holly for her first week as Senior Counselor. I think we all bonded well and worked together to help make things go smoothly. Overall, it was just a really good week.

Cajun Night
On August 1st, Allie and I hosted a “Cajun Night in Little Rock” at Kyle’s apartment. We purchased the makings for jambalaya, red beans/corn bread, boudain, king cake, and beignets. Our original food list was a lot longer but then we realized we didn’t have much time or space to cook and didn’t have a real head count to know how much we should buy. At several points throughout the day, we thought it might only end up being four or five of us eating the food, but in the end, a total of about 12 or so people showed up. Allie and I were very disappointed in how the jambalaya turned out (it tasted so/so but the coloring was off majorly). Everyone was really nice about it and seemed to like it okay, but if we ever do it again, we’ll do a better job of making sure it turns out right. Oh, and we definitely went all out with setting the mood. My mom sent Mardi Gras beads so we decorated Kyle’s apartment with those, and for a while we had some fun music playing (I couldn’t find my Cajun music, but we improvised). Speaking of which, I think I left that CD in the player at Kyle’s…hm. Anyway, we all had a great time, and hopefully our Little Rock friends have a new appreciation for Cajun food. Tehehe.

Oncology Week: August 2-7, 2009
Boo…my final week at camp for the summer. On a happier note, Allie and I were both scheduled as Senior Counselors (for the first time ever) this week. We each had some challenges in different areas, but it was definitely a good learning experience for the both of us. I think we’d both love to have another go round at being SC, which we’ll hopefully get the chance to do if we make it out to camp again next year.
One extra special thing about this week was that the American Camp Association (ACA) finally came for their accreditation visit. Allie and I both have a decent amout of previous experience with ACA, as we’ve been through it at Heart Camp (me once, and Allie more than twice), and I attended one of their regional conferences a few years ago. So basically, we understood a bit about what was coming, which really helped with not stressing out as much as we could’ve. On the other hand, with working at the archery range, I had to be more conscientious than ever before. Morgan (fellow activity leader) and I went over the procedures over and over again to make sure that we were doing everything correctly and in a manner that someone observing us would be able to pick out every aspect of the process. In doing so, we developed a joke (“1 arm, 2 arms, 3 arms, FOREARMS!”) which really helped to lighten the mood and make things fun at the range this week. We definitely had a good time with our new joke, and it seemed to resonate throughout camp, especially when the kids continued the joke while up at Adventure Challenge, lol. Who says AC and the lake are the best activities at camp—not I!! Heheh.

Long Goodbyes
Since the drive home from Little Rock is about 8 hours long, Allie and I didn’t have the energy to leave after camp on Friday. Plus, we were really sad to go, so we decided to draw it out as long as possible. (After much badgering from Allie and friends, I caved in from the original plan to leave Friday morning, lol.) To enjoy our last day/night in LR, we went out with most of the staff to U.S. Pizza Company for lunch on Friday afternoon. There were more than 25 of us there, which is one of the largest, if not the largest, outings we’ve had all summer. In the afternoon, we hung out and rested back at camp with a few fellow counselors. For dinner, Allie, Sydney, Kika, and I went to Sakesui (sp?) for sushi. It was yummmmy and we got a pretty good deal for the price too. Afterwards, we walked around in Best Buy (I wanted to look at computers) and Old Navy (Sydney wanted to browse) before stopping to get Coldstone for ice cream on our way back to camp. Back at camp, we changed over our laundry and then Sydney and Kika left for evening activities. Allie and I hung out with Clair for a bit, but then we had to trek over to Kyle’s apartment to get all our stuff out of there since we were leaving in the morning.
Upon return to camp for the night, we helped one of our dear fellow counselors with picking the nits out of her hair. Yes, you got it, we had a small lice outbreak (kinda, not really) at camp this week, and with no one around to help her, Allie and I stepped in. This counselor felt terrible about asking Allie and I to help her, but we didn’t mind at all. Although we were up until 3 am working on it, it just felt like the natural thing to do. I mean, really. We’re at camp…we wipe 16 year old’s butts, insert catheters, enemas, and suppositories, poke to check blood sugars, give showers, etc, etc. Yanking dead bugs out of someone’s hair really fits the bill, if you ask me. Lol. Plus, we knew this lady would do it for us if we were in her position. It was really no big deal…anddd we had a great bonding experience entertaining ourselves throughout the night. Lol.
Finally, on Saturday morning, we got our things together and said more goodbyes—to Clair, Sydney, Kika, Bobo, and Eckess, this time. We never did get a chance to say bye to Ali Miller, Blain, or Kyle Fulton, which was a huge bummer. Guess that just means they’ll have to come visit us, or we’ll have to make another trip up here before next summer? Hopefully, the former, lol.
Allie and I finally made it back to Cajun Land during the early evening time of Saturday, August 8th. We said our own goodbyes, to another summer together. Without lives changing all the time, we can never predict if there will be future camp summers before the reality that is adult life overcomes our desires to spend forever at camp. All we can do is hope for the best and plan for the unexpected. Thank you, Allie, for another amazing summer; I can’t imagine a season without you.

Random Recap, Fun Memories
-Not sure if I ever told this story, but on our way to Raleigh in May, Nick and I thought we’d made record time by arriving an hour early…then we realized my GPS, Maggie, was still on Central time. Major bummer, but we changed it and went on with our day. Fast forward to June, and Allie and I were a bit confused at the late Arkansas ETA via Maggie. Then, we realized Maggie was still on Eastern time. Guess I’ll have to pay more attention to that on the future…hahahha.
-June 9th Text Message: “We’re in training which is mostly good. It’s so nice to have a week of fun times with old friends without kids. I have missed this place so much. This huge weight is lifted off of me…The one where I finally enjoy doing what I’m doing again. It’s inexplicable.” (For those of you who remember some of the struggles I had during my time in DC, you’ll appreciate that I finally felt “right” to be someplace again. DC was great but it’s not where I thrive, and so finally I was in my element again, and extremely happy to be doing what I do best. So yay.)
-June 16th Text Message: “It’s weird to transfer from tour-guide-leader-in-charge mode to laid-back-camp-follower mode.” (Although it took me ages to feel confident in my role as a tour guide, it was definitely an adjustment to switch back into a follower mode at camp. Granted, I wasn’t ready to be Senior Counselor right at the beginning of the summer, I just had to readjust my workings, I guess. Some of you may find that interesting. Shrug.)
-June 25th message from Christy Clary: “If you don’t know where you are going any road will get you there.” –Lewis Carroll
-June 29, Channeling my inner Child Life Specialist: I provided distraction today by playing hangman with a camper as she received a bowel procedure. Annoying nurses surrounded us and I really wanted to keep her mind off things. It was a special experience.
-July 25th Tweet: “Don’t Stop Believing!” – Journey, Our 2009 camp song. Allie and I put this song on “repeat” in the car for a month. I’ll forever think of my “Home Away from Home” when hearing this song…
-July 29 & 30 Tweets: “Never been more happy for rain; swimming in freezing water at 10 to avoid rain, fml.” (For three weeks straight it rained at camp. It was a nice break from the usual monotony of heat and sweaty outdoor activities. However, swimming seems to be high on the totem pole at camp because one day we swam in the freezing cold water at 10 am just so that they kids would get a chance to swim before it rained. Then we had to get out because it started thundering. FoL.)
-July 31st Tweet: “Camp Aldersgate. There’s no place I’d rather be!” (I really don’t think this needs any further explanation.)

And on that note, I believe this blog is long enough. I had hopes of writing a bit more about what I’ve been up to since arriving home from camp, but I really need to stop here so I can finish packing. (Packing? Oo, for where? Guess that’ll just have to be in my next blog……) Hopefully the next one will come sooner rather than later.

Until then, peace folks!
-Lauren

"Break Week(s)"

2009-07-31T17:06:00.000-05:00

*Okay, try number two at this…my computer shut down about two paragraphs into a blog attempt. Go figure. I’m gonna try to keep saving this time. Stupid computer epilepsy.*

It’s 8:23 a.m. on Saturday, July 18, 2009, and I’m once again sitting in the Memphis airport for longer than I’d like. It could be worse, I suppose. And hey, I have Mom’s ipod with me this time around, so yay.

As always, I probably should have written sooner, but since I was home for two weeks, I found it hard to think of something interesting to write about. A few times, I considered writing some thoughtful, inspirational rant, but obviously that didn’t happen. It’s probably better like this, anyway, because it gives me something to do while I sit here waiting for my connection to Little Rock.

Okay, two weeks at home…what about it? I got home on July 3rd and was able to enjoy a fairly relaxing time doing not much of anything productive. I saw my cousins a few times, which may be a record for the year, lol. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to see many friends this time around, but I don’t mind too much, I guess. At this point, I’m used to seeing people only a few times a year, so one month really didn’t hurt anything. ‘Course it’ll be much harder to catch up with friends when I’m only home for a few days in August.

My family went to the beach in Perdido Key, Florida, for the weekend of July 9-12. Of the four of us, only my mom is really a beach-goer. The rest of us went along for her benefit, really. Personally, I enjoyed the getaway (when don’t I?), but I thought of it much more as a time to feel perfectly okay with laying around doing nothing but reading. In fact, I read two books in the three days we were there, lol. We also took family pictures on the beach, which was some goal/dream of my mother’s. Granted, I think the setting is really pretty and nice, but I just felt like it was really forced, doing the same thing that every other family from South Louisiana does when they go to the beach. Bah, whatever.

I was very grateful to finally have gotten a chance to visit with one of my college roommates, Annie. She and I have this “it’s really a small world” connection to each other, and have tried to keep in touch since we moved out of our apartment last May. However, it’s been difficult with me living in various parts of the country and she finishing up her nursing clinicals, then starting work as a full time RN with 12-hour schedules. We’ve been hoping to get together for about six months now, and finally it happened.

Actually, our May and first July hang-out fell through, but a day later we were able to meet up and spend the day together in Thibodaux. My has that place changed since I left a year ago. The campus looks so much fresher, welcoming, even. It’s unfortunate that I felt bittersweet about the changes, mostly because of the devastating news I received a few months ago concerning the FACS department. I am, however, still very proud of my little “Harvard on the Bayou,” for its continued improvement process, and by golly, they really are putting themselves on the map. NSU is climbing the charts and will be a pretty popular university for students across the state pretty soon. That makes me smile.

Annie and my adventure in Thibodaux wasn’t much of one at all, really. We had breakfast at a cute little café, the Demitasse, and then walked around campus to check out the new features. We stopped in at the publications building and got two of our old yearbooks, and I even purchased one of the new “Harvard on the Bayou” t-shirts from the bookstore. Then, we went to the park to look at the yearbooks and catch up with each other. By lunch time, neither of us were hungry, but it was scorching outside. We decided to compromise with ice cream at Dairy Queen rather than heavy fast food. Afterwards, we stopped in at Walmart so I could purchase the new Brad Paisley cd that I’d been planning to get since it came out more than a week ago, and then went on to Chili’s to enjoy some 2-for-1 margaritas. Heh. Brian met us there and we talked for a bit before Annie brought me back to the park to get my car so I could head home before it got too late. It was really nice to see Annie, and hopefully she’ll get to come visit me sometime in North Carolina. Maybe she’ll even be able to road trip to DC or home with me at some point. We’ll have to work on it.

Waiting for me at home that night, were some very tasty boiled crabs courtesy of my father and brother. They’d gone fishing in Pecan Island early that morning and decided to bring home some crabs for me, as I’d been begging Daddy to get some for me since I was home in May. These must have been some of the tastiest crabs that we’ve ever had and they were even better knowing that I have to savor these moments since they are fewer and farther between these days.

During my last few days at home, I spent some time packing for North Carolina. I realize that I don’t leave for another month, but with such a quick turnaround between there and camp, I thought it would be a decent idea to get as much packed as possible before I go back to Little Rock. As of now, everything is packed except my bedding and the clothes that I have with me and in Little Rock. That should make things much easier when I get back, and allow me to enjoy my few days at home without feeling stressed. That’s the hope anyway.

Today, I’ll be arriving in Little Rock sometime before 11 am (I’ve been up since 3:30 a.m. and on a plane since before 6 a.m.). My two great friends Sydney and Kyle will be picking me up, and I’m very happy to have 24 hours in LR before starting up at camp tomorrow. This week is called “CAK” Week—Cardiac, Arthritis, and Kidney Disease. Allie and I were most excited about this week because we wanted to experience “heart kids” at another camp. Unfortunately, there are only 3 female cardiac campers—each in different cabins—so it won’t be quite what we expected. Maybe we can make it our mission to recruit more kids? …I mean, cardiac conditions are the most common congenital defect—more than all childhood cancers combined, and 1 in 100 kids are born with some type of cardiac condition. There should be more than 3 girls in attendance at Aldersgate!!

Anyway, I wanted to leave you with a few inspirational/funny thoughts. My DC buddies, Scott and Nick have sent me a few quotes/jokes over the last month and I decided that I wanted to keep them. So, I’m going to post them here to share with all of you.

I’ll write again soon.
-LM

-Why don’t cannibals eat comedians? Because they taste funny!
-Why do cows wear bells? Because their horns don’t work!
-Everything happens for a reason.
-“The mind is like a parachute, it only works when it’s open.” – K.S. Bigness
-Happiness is like peeing in your pants. Everyone can see it but only you can feel its warmth.

First 1/2 Camp = Done

2009-07-06T10:16:00.002-05:00

It’s 5:24 p.m. on Friday, July 3, 2009 and I am sitting in the Memphis International Airport waiting for my 7:45 p.m. flight home to Lafayette. My first flight of the day left Little Rock at 4 p.m. and consisted of less than 30 minutes of in-air flight time. With nearly 3 hours to wait, I decided to spend some time attempting to blog about my previous two weeks at camp.

Hopefully I’m not out of my mind when I think back to my last blog and remember that I didn’t put much effort into writing about camp week two. Following MD Week, a group of children attended “Kota I” Camp. “Kota” is the Quapaw (Arkansas Native American tribe) word for “friend,” which is quite fitting for this week’s group of campers. Some campers had diagnoses ranging from Autism, Asperger’s, and Down Syndrome, to Cerebral Palsy, and various behavior disorders. In addition to those with diagnoses, some bring along siblings, cousins, or friends, which means that there are many “typical” campers, or those without diagnoses. I am sure you can imagine what sort of environment this can make for…lol.

Basically, Kota Camp is nutssssss. Kids are everywhere, activities are chaotic, and counselors just take it all in stride. That is what we’re there for, afterall. Last year, I worked with boys for both MD and Kota I Camp, so having the opportunity to work with girls for both of these weeks this year was pretty special. Even though I’m a little biased, I’m pretty sure that we had the absolute best cabin of all during Kota I. Only two of our seven campers had diagnoses and the girls were just really great overall. Everyone was friendly with each other, and we were always on time for activities—those of you who work at camp know that this is incredibly rare. (I’m pretty sure this had a lot to do with my wonderful Senior Counselor, Miss Amber Malik, hehehe. Love you, AHM-bUh!)

As for Spina Bifida Week (this past week), once again it was my favorite, though I knowww that most of it has to do with the fact that I absolutelyyy love my Spina girls. Four of my seven campers were in my cabin last year and it was great to already know their needs, personalities, and interests. It was a huge bummer that I was the only one of our five counselors from last year to be able to work with the girls again this year, but thankfully the wonderful Ashley Malik and Ali Miller (who are now supervisors) were able to at least be at camp with us and hang out from time to time. We love those girls with our whole entire hearts and were very sad to see them go. If I come back to Aldersgate in future summers, it’ll be for those girls, no doubt.

(Thank you Ashley and Ali for being so amazing. We missed you this week but know you were there with us in spirit and our bonds will never be broken! To all the 2009 Spina co-counselors, I had a great time working with you all for the first time, and Amber—it was especially fun to have you as my SC two weeks in a row. Thanks for everything!)

I must also note that we had an especially unique cabin this week, as we were the EggLime Cabin! EggLime, you say? Isn’t there an Eggplant Cabin and a Lime Cabin, but, EggLime? Why yes, yes you are correct…lol. On Saturday night, I received a call from Amber saying that she’d gone to move into the Lime Cabin and that it was especially hot; it appeared as though the air conditioner was turned off or broken. She decided to sleep in the Khaki Cabin with a few other counselors, and I chose to stay in Orange with Morgan, since we’d both lived there the previous week and were planning to move to Lime together the following morning. On Sunday, we reported the problem and steps were taken to fix the A/C. Unfortunately, something was wrong with the unit’s installation, and it couldn’t be fixed in time for check-in, so we were relocated to the Eggplant cabin, as it was set to be used as an overflow cabin for those who couldn’t fit into their assigned cabins (a counselor and a few volunteers). Thus, those who were assigned to Eggplant were relocated to the McOffice (supervisors’ living quarters) and extra rooms in the Health Care Center.

When campers began to arrive, it was a bit confusing because all paperwork, schedules, and luggage labels listed our cabin as “Lime” even though we’d been relocated to Eggplant. That evening, someone in the cabin suggested that we rename ourselves as the “EggLime Cabin,” and from that point on, insisted that we be referred to with that name. We were very pleased to find that everyone respected our request and it became our name for the week. Even the slideshow and future schedules/paperwork was labeled with the “EggLime” name. It sucked to walk all the way to the end of cabin row every day, but it’s also super cool that we were and will be (hopefully) the only EggLime Cabin in the history of Camp Aldersgate. Pretty sweet, if you ask me.

When it all boils down, each camp week has its own personality, just as each cabin within those weeks is uniquely different. Some weeks are more physically exhausting (such as MD and Spina weeks), while others are more mentally challenging (Kotas). I’m sure that as the summer goes on, I’ll develop more categories of camp weeks such as emotionally-challenging and sleep-deprived ones. This is why I love Camp Aldersgate…er, one of the many, many reasons.

Now, I’m going home tonight for a two-week break from camp. Aldersgate is closed for “break week” until next Saturday, July 11th, when it will reopen for Diabetes Staff Training and Camp. Unfortunately, neither Allie nor I were hired to work Diabetes, so we get an extra week off. Allie will be finishing up at Camp Bon Coeur and then going on vacation to Branson, MO, with her family. I was invited along but decided to stay home and spend time with my family instead. In my time at home, I’ve got lots to accomplish and hope to spend quite a bit of time relaxing too. My family even has plans to spend a few days at the beach in Perdido Key, FL. As much as I love “my home away from home,” I am very much looking forward to this break. On the other hand, I’m sure I’ll be super excited about my return flight to Little Rock on the 18th. I’ll try my best to continue updating, but be patient with me. My next priority is photo-positing on Facebook, as I am more than a month behind on that task.

Hope you are all having a wonderful summer!!
-Lauren

Summertime, Finally!

2009-06-24T18:27:00.003-05:00

06.22.09
All I have to say is thank goodness for 5-hour breaks! Tonight has been sooo wonderful; I had a sandwich for dinner at Kyle’s apt, bought my airline ticket (for break in July) at the public library, had ice cream from Maggie Moo’s, talked to various family members and friends, and even got to watch a few episodes of Jon and Kate Plus 8. I love love loveeeeeeeee 5-hours! (It’s only too bad that this week’s long break is on Monday night, but oh well.)

As promised, I want to attempt an entry about my first two and a half (three by the time this is done?) weeks here in Little Rock. Oh, before I get started, I must give a shout-out to My Favorite Arkansan Red Head, Miss Claire Antoon and her crazy antics with my beloved meugle (stuffed cow—as named by Vicki Sanders, l’ete 2004). There, Clair, are you happy??? Sorry it’s not the quality story you hoped for, but at least it’s there, lol.

Alrighty, here goes. Just like last year, I am spending the summer working at a camp for children with special needs in Little Rock, Arkansas. The camp serves children ages 6-18 with various disabilities, including: Muscular Dystrophy, Autism, Asperger’s, Cerebral Palsy, assorted behavior disorders, Spina Bifida, cardiac conditions, arthritis, kidney disease, asthma, and cancer, as well as “typical” kids. Last summer, Allie and I (affectionately known as The Cajun Girls) worked for the first three weeks of camp, and this year we managed to grasp a few more (or different ones, in Allie’s case).

Staff Training
As much as I never dreamed it would happen, Camp Aldersgate has truly become “my home away from home.” Allie (my Summer Sister!) and I were so very excited to drive up to camp on June 6th. We arrived a day early since it takes us so long (8 hours) to drive up to Little Rock, so we made arrangements ahead of time to stay at camp that night. However, we later heard that one of our good friends had recently secured an apartment in Little Rock and we were invited to a get-together at his house that evening. Upon arrival in LR, we hurried to find a church (with help from KF), went to 5 pm mass, and then headed over to Kyle’s apartment for a bit. We didn’t stay out too late because we wanted to get back to camp before the gates closed at 10 pm.

The week of staff training was super fun, as expected. It’s always fun to hang out with old friends and meet new ones. Plus, spending a week at camp without real responsibilities was pretty nice. It’s like camp for us, the big kids, lol. It was also very exciting to find out that we’d be working with some people who we’d made friends with last year but were scheduled to work different camp weeks than we were. On the other hand, we were bummed to find out that some of our best friends would not be working very many weeks this time around. Boo. We decided we’d have to cherish the few good times with everyone while we have them.
For our first full weekend in Little Rock, we stayed at camp with Clair, since she’s staying in LR for the month of June and didn’t have anyplace else to stay. We didn’t want to leave her alone at camp because that is just plain creepy. (Believe me, you do NOT want to stay at camp alone…eeek.) Since we were staying at camp already, we offered to help with the volunteer training that Saturday. A few other people came to help out too, and it was kinda cool to be there as resources during the beginning and end of the day. I think/hope the volunteers appreciated getting the chance to meet a few faces that would later be familiar ones when they came to work. Aside from training, we also hung out at Kyle’s once again. (This will soon become a regular occurrence, you just wait.)

06.24.09
Week One: Muscular Dystrophy
Each week at camp, kids come with a variety of disabilities or medical conditions. For the first week in 2009, most of the campers had Muscular Dystrophy. I worked with a great group of counselors, and really enjoyed getting to know some people who were new to camp or that I didn’t get a chance to know last year. We had the oldest girls—five girls ranging in age from 12 to 17. There were four counselors and four volunteers in our cabin, which may seem like a lot of staff, but it’s definitely necessary. All of the counselors are assigned to work at specific activities, and we each have 2 – or 4-hour breaks each day, so it’s very important to have extra hands available. In fact, I worked at the archery range this week, and found out that I will be working there for most (if not all?) of the summer. It’s super exciting because that was my first choice assignment and I didn’t expect to actually get it. Oh, Allie and I had the same breaks for the first time ever, so that was pretty sweet too.

At the end of camp on Friday, K. Bost and I brought Allie to the airport for her 4 p.m. flight. She decided to leave two weeks earlier than I so that she could work at heart camp in Louisiana. Unfortunately, she’s going to miss Kota I and Diabetes weeks here at Aldersgate. It’s also going to be the first time that she or I have ever worked at either camp without the other person. It’s quite odd, to be honest. Hopefully we’ll be able to do a good job of keeping each other abreast of events at either camp. It’s going to be difficult to be apart but we’ll do our best to channel each others’ Summer Sister vibes across the miles. Heh.

As for Week Two at camp, we’re past the half-way mark, but I’m going to wait for another blog to write about that. Instead, I feel the need to speak about a few random things that I keep forgetting to mention. First, I never mentioned that I have, in fact, chosen a school for the fall. I’m not going to discuss it in this blog, but if I forget to write more in the coming weeks, someone should remind me so I can blog about it as promised. Second, the heat here has been sooooooooo unbearable since the very beginning of camp. Temperatures are in the upper 90s with heat indices in the upper 100s. It’s absolutely ridiculous and I am literally scared to see what July and August has in store for us. Also, my thoughts go out to everyone who was involved with the recent shooting at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum and victims of the DC metro crash. I will always have a piece of my heart in DC, and still have many friends who live in the area. Thankfully, everyone is okay, as far as I know, anyway.

I’ve got to quit writing for now, though. My 2 hour “paperwork” (break) will be coming to an end soon so I’ve got to get on the road and head back to camp. (I’m writing from Kyle’s apt.) Now that I’ve found access to the internet (when I’m not completely exhausted), look forward to more frequent updates. …Or so I hope.

-Lauren

Home Sweet Home

2009-06-20T13:18:00.000-05:00

06/11/09
Well, I did it again. I started a blog before leaving to camp, hoping to catch up, but obviously, that didn’t happen. Wanna know how far I got? …not even two whole sentences into it before I had to quit. Yup, this is all: “I WILL be up to date with blogging before I leave for camp, I will! Starting. Right. Now.” We all see how well that turned out.

Now, I sit here in the Khaki Cabin at Camp Aldersgate in Little Rock, Arkansas, relishing the last 15 minutes of our 5+ hour night off during Training Week. Allie (my Cajun counterpart) is in the shower, and the very beginnings of our 40-person counselor crew are starting to stroll in as the clock ticks closer to 10 p.m. (the dreaded time of camp gate closure). Let’s see how far I can get into catching up on writing about my 10 days at home in Louisiana, before I give up and decide to retire (or relocate—outside to visit with friends) for the night.

Back tracking a bit, on the morning of Tuesday, May 26th, I packed up my bags and bid adieu to my Warren Hall family. Saying goodbye was hard, but not as hard as the realization would hit once I touched ground in Cajun Country. Colin generously drove me to the airport so that I wouldn’t have to deal with the whole SuperShuttle ordeal. I was a bit early arriving, but better early than late, that’s for sure. My first flight was pretty rough, and the restless weather prevented me from getting a good departing view of DC (boo). Memphis is surely not my favorite airport, but I did very much enjoy lunch from Popeyes, in preparation for my return home. (Totally not what I usually eat, but a yummy pre-Louisiana idea.)

Upon arrival in “God’s Country” (lol), I headed straight for the luggage claim area in hopes of quickly gathering my belongings and meeting my mother outside. Fortunately, my luggage appeared fairly soon, but when I got it, I realized that two of my three pieces were damaged. Then, I went outside to greet my mom, and showed her the damage. She insisted that I go back inside and talk to the airline representatives. Long story short, after a half an hour of waiting by the empty desk, calling two hotlines, and asking several airport staff members, I was finally able to talk to an airline representative. It was a really ridiculous conversation and process, I settled with a $250 (or 25,000 SkyMiles) voucher for a future trip.

06/13/09
By the time we made it home, it was time to change, and rush over to EHS for Austin’s senior ring ceremony. I’d recently begun to feel really bad about missing out on big things in Austin’s life, so my mom invited me to present Austin with his ring as a means of being a part of something big; I felt incredibly honored and excited to do this. After the ceremony, we went to Nanna’s for dinner, yay!!! Nannie Lois, Uncle Ray, and one of their son’s family was there too. I was sooo happy to finally see them, and eat some of Nanna’s tasty food. Woot Woot.

06/17/09
I will say that I was thoroughly surprised to have been able to see so many people during my 10 days at home. The day after I arrived, I went to a 4-H U (Short Course) meeting; it was nice to visit with a bunch of the kids who went on the WOW trip to DC. One afternoon, I met Kyle, Kayla, and Jodie for Sonic lunch at the park in town. It was fun to see those ladies, and I very much enjoyed FINALLY seeing Kyle, for the first time in six months. He’s a graduate now! Heh. On another day, I visited with Victoria and younger siblings for a bit as we sat out and played Blockus by her backyard pool. My family even went out to dinner together one night in hopes of planning a vacation for the summer (we weren’t very successful). I also had plans to see my former roommates Annie and Jen, but it didn’t end up working out. The hope is to see them later this summer when I go home from camp for a break.

The Sunday after I got home, my family, plus Nanna and Poppa went to Loreauville for the day. My Nannie, uncle, and cousins decided to have a crawfish boil for me (kinda). Basically, it was their bribe to get me to go visit during my few days at home, lol. The crawfish was yummy (of course) and it was fun to spend the afternoon hanging out by the pool and playing with my cousins. Noah, the littlest one just turned two (June 8), and is growing up so fast. I haven’t been around since he was born, which makes me sad. Boo.

So besides seeing friends and family during my short ten day stent at home, I also had to take care of some business, such as doctor appointments and tetanus shots for camp, as well as signing a lease to secure my new apartment in Raleigh. In addition, I spent two days driving to and from Baton Rouge, as Austin had dinner at the Governor’s Mansion and 4-H Day at the Capitol on June 2nd and 3rd. I really enjoyed that whole outing though, because I got to spend some time with my dearest Sunshine (Dawn), for the first time in Louisiana in a year (the other few times I saw her was in DC--sad, lol), and my Summer Sister, Miss Allie Barbay. Allie’s dad even did a nice tune-up on my car in preparation for all the driving it would be doing in the upcoming months. Another cool thing about the visit to BTR was seeing all of my state 4-H people (who were sad that I wouldn’t be going to LSU in the fall) and… drum roll… meeting Governor Bobby Jindal!! Bobby Jindal is seriously the coolest dude ever and I can’t wait for him to be our president. He’s sooo genuine, and pretty much amazing in general! Plus, the crew from Vermilion (and Dawn) were the only ones who got to meet him that day. It was super cool!

A few days later, it was time to pack up once again and head up to Little Rock for camp, which is where I am now. I realize this blog is probably very confusing and quite a bit disjointed, but that’s because it’s taken me several different writing sessions to get it all out. My internet access is also nonexistent, so who knows when I’ll get to post this. I’m also hoping to get another blog out sometime soon, featuring my first two weeks of Summer 2009 in Arkansas. Just be patient, excuse the lengthy posts, and look forward to more updates from my gypsy life.

Stay cool (literally).
-Lauren

Departing Days (Pt. 2)

2009-06-02T11:42:00.012-05:00

Picking up from where I left off...

Dinner with HR (May 19, 2009)
As is tradition, one of the ladies in Human Resources takes each group of PAs out to dinner at some point during their stent at Council. Because of the craziness that is work with weird schedules, our group didn't find time for the outing until the very end of the Spring. It was mine and a few others' first time at Mongolian Barbecue, which happens to be a very cool experience. It's kind of hard to explain the process, but each person is allowed to pile whatever raw vegetables, meat, sauces, and spices into one bowl, and then the chefs cook it on a hibachi grill right in front if your eyes. It's the coolest thing ever; being creative with designing your own dish, but be careful not to be tooooo creative or you'll end up with a spicy mess that's too flavorful to consume! ...hehe.

My LAST group! (May 20-22, 2009)
Finally, finally, finally, I made it through my last group as a Wonders of Washington Program Assistant. I do have to say that it is much easier working with one bus versus two, three, five, or more. For the first (and last) time, I finally had a bus driver who actually knew their way around the city. By this point, though, so did I. lol. At least it was one less stressor on the job that week. For the most part, everything went according to planned. There are always minor tweaks in the schedule, but the kids saw everything except for one monument, so that was good. I will say that this group of kids was very critical of everything they saw in DC...not necessarily in a negative way, but rather they used critical thinking skills to really analyze what they were seeing and how they thought/felt about it. Sometimes their comments gave off negativity, but I really feel like it was more of an analytical thought than expression of a poor experience. In the end, I think the experience was still a good one, so that's what's important.

Memorial Day Weekend (May 22-25, 2009)
I was a little bummed about missing out on a weekend of camping with my family, but I had purposely purchased my ticket home for after the Memorial Day Weekend. From friends who previously lived at the Center during this time of the year, I knew there were many exciting events in DC that weekend, and I wanted to be a part of it all. I mean, really, when else would I have the chance to experience something so powerful as a local...and the reality of it, was that I truly was a local. (For the time being, anyway.)

Friday --> Thankfully, I finished working with my group early enough that I had time to say goodbye to the boss and then cherish a few hours of solitude in WaHa by taking an afternoon nap. Our dearest former housemate, Miss Amanda Hale, came for a visit, as she'd moved out to the Columbia Heights neighborhood in DC two weeks before. To celebrate, the WOW kids, Amanda, and one of our new housemates, Zach, walked to Bethesda for the evening. It was definitely an interesting adventure, but I'll spare you all the details. lol. Thanks for visiting, Auntie Amanda; we truly enjoyed seeing you!
Saturday --> It was a much appreciated lazy day. I started packing and getting things together for my departure on Tuesday. Also, I accompanied Scott to Friendship Heights as he purchased some food items (stupid Clover Cafe has been closed a lot lately). That night, five of us went out to Comet, a pizza restaurant/bar/ping pong place down on Connecticut in DC. Amber, Rachel, Jake, Scott, and I really enjoyed the evening out. Ping Pong tables at a restaurant/bar is pretty much a genius idea, if you ask me. It makes for cheap entertainment, and good times--much more interesting than sitting around a table looking at each other, lol. We even hung out chatting late into the wee morning hours once we got back to the Center. It's too bad that I would be leaving so soon, or I would have thoroughtly enjoyed many more nights at Comet. booo.
Sunday --> Colin and I went to mass (for the last time) at St. Bartholomew's in Bethesda. When we got back to the Center, we realized the Cafe was closed for lunch, so we invited Nekeisha and Scott to lunch with us at the Karma Kitchen in Dupont Circle. Scott had just eaten, so he declined, but Nekeisha agreed to come along. :) The Karma Kitchen is an restaurant that goes by a different name during the week, serving traditional Indian food to its patrons. However, on Sundays, the restaurant is transformed into the "Karma Kitchen," a generous restaurant working off of the "pay it forward" idea. Everyone is served family-style, sometimes patrons make friends by sitting with strangers, and all of the staff are volunteers. The meal is free, with the idea that patrons will make individual donations as they feel appropriate, as well as commit to performing an good deed within the community. The food was very tasty, and I very much enjoyed the mission of the Karma Kitchen. Again, it's too bad that I wasn't able to experience this earlier during my time in DC, as it's something I would have enjoyed doing frequently.
That night, five of the housemates went out to the PBS Memorial Day Concert on the West Lawn of the Capitol. Angela, Jordan, Zach, Scott, and I metroed out there for the event, and I'm pretty sure we all thoroughly enjoyed the show (especially Angela, lol). I'd never seen the concert before (it's broadcasted annually on PBS), so I was kind of surprised at the variety--speakers, musicians, etc. I definitely sat in awe, realizing how special and lucky I was to be in our nation's capitol on such an important day. Surrounded by monuments, memorials, and endless locations of historical importance, I felt like the luckiest girl alive. Living in DC definitely has its moments, that's for sure. :)
Monday --> Continuing the celebration of Memorial Day/once-in-a-lifetime events, 9 of us from the house woke up earlyyyyyyyyyyy (5:45 a.m.) in the morning to catch the first bus of the day, in hopes of making it out to Arlington National Cemetary in time to get a seat at the annual Presidential Wreath Laying Ceremony. Nekeisha, Angela, Darielle, Megan, Jake, Jordan, Zach, Scott, and I got on the 6:30 a.m. bus toward Friendship Heights, but upon arrival, we realized that the metro had not opened yet for the day. Instead, we had to hang around and occupy ourselves for about 15 minutes before it opened, and another 20 minutes once we got inside and realized the first train wasn't set to arrive for a while. Once we finally made it out to Arlington, we immediately got in line for the Tourmobile ride to the ampitheatre. The line was long, but not nearly as long as it became as time went by. Thankfully, all nine of us were able to sit together, only twelve rows from where the President was set to speak. Sure, 12 rows may seem like a lot, but the ampitheatre is small, and so we truly had a great view of the speaking area. Ironically enough, we also made friends with a family sitting in front of us--their daughter is set to start graduate school at American University in the fall, and they'd traveled down to DC for the weekend to look for housing. Of course, we recommended life in Warren Hall. hehe. And, without going into too much, I just have to say that it was a great to put aside all opinions about the leaders of our country and just appreciate the experience of this historical event. It's just another once-in-a-lifetime event that I could not pass up, though I'm still waiting on the pictures from those lovely housemates of mine. ;-)
I spent the afternoon packing up all of my stuff, as I was set to leave DC the following morning. In the evening time though, I took a break from it all to enjoy dinner with our entire WaHa family, all 17 of us (er, minus a few who hadn't returned from their long weekends away). We'd somehow magically convinced Chef Z to give us some yummy food from the Cafe for preparation on our very own barbecue pit. Together, we all sat around the commons room eating and talking like old friends. Also, Darielle headed up a game where all of us submitted questions into a hat and then we passed the hat around the room, so everyone could take a question and answer it. Once everyone answered their question, we did another round. It was a fun bonding experience, and very interesting too. Later, after I'd finished packing completely, a bunch of us played Apples to Apples in the boys' room (Nick & Colin's). I think their ended up being 9 or so people who played by the end of it--Nick, Colin, Christy, Megan, Rachel, Darielle, Scott, me, and someone else... We all had a good time; it was definitely a good way to spend my last night in DC.

Looking back, though some times in DC were very tough, I learned a lot, and definitely developed a deeper understanding, appreciation, and love for the city. My WaHa kids will always hold a special place in my heart, as we have developed bonds that will exist forever. LoL, WaHa...that place has got some character. To think about all the talented and amazing people who have walked through those doors, and the great things that have emerged as a result, I can only say it is an honor for me to have been a part of that. We mourned the loss of our alumni board, replacing the tangible item with memories that can never be destroyed. All of us have been a part of something very special, and it is my hope that generations to come will understand just what that means. Who knows, maybe I'll even be a part of the Warren Hall family again someday. Until then, I'm going to appreciate the experiences I've had and look forward to the future, as more doors continue to open for me. I hope that life altering opportunities are ever-evolving, and who knows where I'll end up next.

For that, you'll all just have to stay tuned!
:) Lauren, the gypsy

Departing Days (Pt. 1)

2009-06-02T10:05:00.007-05:00

It's official...I fail as a blogger. Okay, I really hope that's not the case, but I am pretty mad at myself for not making the time to blog in a month's time. Maybe after I finish catching up on all the busy-ness that was/is life, you will all understand why I never found time to write. This whole catch-up thing may take more than one blog; we shall see.

WOW PA Adventure Day (May 4, 2009)
For some reason, I forgot to mention our WOW PA Adventure Day in my last blog. With every set of Program Assistants, our bosses like to treat the group to a fun day of their choice. Previous fun days have included a day at the local water park (boringgg) or lunch at Hard Rock Cafe (even more boringgg...zzz.). Our PA group decided to be creative, so we threw out a bunch of ideas, some of which were feasible, others, not so much. In the end, we ended up having lunch at Ben's Chili Bowl (a Washington, DC staple), touring a real row house on the Hill, and finally visiting the top of the Washington Monument. I'm sure our choices appear somewhat boring to others--and cheap, comparably--but who cares. We wanted to be creative, and I think it showed. Thank you, M & F, for making our PA Adventure Day a great success. :)

WMZQ Fest (May 9, 2009)
As previously introduced in my last blog, Christy and I attended a huge concert in Bristow, VA. We bought the tickets months ago and were so pumped for the big day to finally arrive. The traffic was horrible to get into the Nissan Pavilion, but once we finally made it in, all was well. The three side stage musicians (Kate & Kacey, Catilin & Will, and Justin Moore) were better than I expected, and we even got autographs from two of them (Kate & Kasey, and Caitlin & Will)! Woot. For the main stage, we had awesome seats. It was so fun to watch Keith Anderson, Jason Michael Carroll, Joe Nichols, Little Big Town, and Rodney Atkins perform! I was somewhat disappointed in two of the performers' performances (yes, I said that), as they were not very dynamic or entertaining. However, I did develop a bit of a crush on Mister Jason Michael Carroll, lol. (Ask Christy about that one, heh.) In the end, I'd say $65 dollars for an 8-band performance and all day concert event (3-11p), was totally worth the drive. It was also nice to have a last outing before the arrival of a whole slew of new housemates.

New Housemates
Housemates, housemates, everywhere...new housemates! As of May 9 (same day as concert, yes), we'd lost 4 of our original housemates, and gained 2 more. Matt, Marcie, Brian, and Amanda had moved out, and Amber and Angela had moved in. On May 10, we lost another original housemate, and gained 7 more. Justin moved out, and Rachel, Nekeisha, Lauren, Darielle, Katie, Jake, and Jordan moved in. Finally, all the CWF PAs had arrived. However, we weren't done there...within the remaining 2 weeks of my time at WaHa (Warren Hall), 4 more housemates arrived. Those were Zach, Megan, Scott, and Jessica. All along, the WOW PAs (Christy, Colin, Nick, and I) remained in the house. Yep, you counted right--that brought the grand total to 17 people living in Warren Hall!!
For clarity's sake, I'll try to break it down a little better, into who's living there and why. Just bear with me. Rachel (MN), Nekeisha (GA), Angela (IA), Lauren (NJ), Darielle (MN), Amber (MN), Katie (NY), Jordan (AR), and Jake (WI), (9 people) are all working with the Citizenship Washington Focus program this summer. Basically, their job is very similar to that of the WOW PAs, except that they work with only high school 4-H kids, and their schedule is exactly the same each and every week (jealous? just a bit.). They're also working for a few weeks less than we did. Zach, Megan (GA), and Jessica are all "outside interns," which means they're working off-site at various places in Downtown DC. Scott (IN), on the other hand, is interning with the Resource Development team at Council, and also serving as the RA of Warren Hall.

High School Musical (May 12, 2009)
A few months ago, Christy won 2 free tickets to see High School Musical at Toby's Dinner Theatre in Columbia. She knew how much I wanted to go (I entered the contest too), and so she graciously invited me to go along with her to the show. Though the show wasn't exaaactly like the original, and the harmonies were a bit off, we very much enjoyed ourselves. It was definitely nice to get away from the Center for an evening. :)

Second to Last Group (May 13-15, 2009)
Christy, Nick, and I worked together on a 2-night WOW group during the second week in May. The group had 3 buses following 2 schedules. At times, it was an organizational nightmare, but for only the secondish time this Spring, I felt competent at my job. I think I lucked out, having only one bus to deal with (I was the odd bus out.) for most of the time. It was cool, too because I got to visit the Newseum again (3rd time, my favorite!) and a minor league baseball game where the group had a private suite all to themselves. We also enjoyed the rare moments of "PA time" to ourselves, as it's always fun to hang out with good friends in DC.

CWF PAs' First Weekend in DC (May 15-17)
On Friday night, some of the WaHa kids went out to explore the city a bit, but I decided to stay in since I was pretty exhausted from our group. On Saturday, 8 of us metroed into the city to do some fun things; three went to some of the Smithsonians, and 5 of us went paddle boating on the Tidal Basin. Paddle boating on the Tidal Basin is something I've wanted to do ever since I arrived (and probably even since Dawn did it last year), so I was very happy to finally cross it off of my "To Do in DC" list, only 2 weeks before leaving. Nick, Christy, Jordan, Angela and I had a a great time hanging out in the boats, though it's definitely tough work. Heh. Afterwards, we split up into even smaller groups to visit the Holocaust Museum, Smithsonians, and mall area. Along the way, we met up with some of the other WaHa kids, at various points. That evening, Nick and I ate at ESPN Zone so that we could watch the Preakness race on their huge tv screen. Nick is going to the Belmont Stakes race in June so he really wanted to make a point of watching the two preceeding races. (We watched the first one in Virginia Beach, if you rember.) I also decided that I'm going to make a point of watching the final race in Little Rock, as it's the day Allie and I are driving up to camp. I'll have seen all three races in very different locations. How exciting!
On Sunday, I helped to coordinate a church outing to the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. Angela and Jordan have a goal of visiting all the historic churches in the DC area, and Rachel and I just wanted to go to mass. Plus, Colin, my typical mass chauffeur, was out of town, so I was going to have to metro to church anyway. The church was just as beautiful as always, and I was glad that the gift shop was finally open (I've been there like 4 times before and it's never been open), so I was able to purchase Confirmation gifts for my brother and a graduation gift for Kyle (who just graduated from the seminary in Covington). All in all, it was a successful experience.

As for all of my adventures from May 18-26th (my departure date), those will have to wait for another blog. This one is long enough already and I really need to get going on preparing for tonight's trip to Baton Rouge. I'm hoping to catch up on blogging before Saturday, as that's when Allie and I depart for our summer at Camp Aldersgate in Little Rock. I never stop, do I?

Tune in soon.
Lauren

Mother, May I

2009-05-06T13:10:00.003-05:00

Mother May I...please get in a better habit of updating this blog? aMEn.
(Don't ask, everyone's strange...it's not just me, heh.)

Anyhoo. I probably could have written here at least a few days sooner than now, but I'm finally sitting down and making myself update before I get ridiculously behind again. At least I know there are few people out there reading my ramblings from time to time (even though it's rare that they comment *hint hint*). Now, a new month, a new blog...here goes.

Last week, I had yet another group. I mentioned it before, but to re-cap, we had 5 buses worth of (250) students from rural Masachusetts for a few days. There are only 4 PAs, so one of our supervisors joined in for a crazy adventurous week. Though it wasn't a horrible experience, it definitely was not my favorite, and I'm choosing to block much of it from my memory. (And anyways, I'm not sure that anyone particularly cares about the random events of an 8th grade trip to DC--we all have our own memories of those, right?)

The night that "said group" departed, we had yet another tour assignment--9 buses worth of middle school age future scientists, also known as Science Bowl kids. Because of the size of the group, 3 former PAs were asked to come in and help with giving Nightview tours of the city. As it turned out, only 7 buses were needed, so Nick and I didn't have to give a tour that night. This was extremely fortunate for us because we were scheduled to leave early the next morning for our road trip...and I'd just come off of two other groups nearly back-to-back, and Nick had another group coming in this week. (Thanks Boss, for being so considerate.)

--

Speaking of road trip, I guess it's about time I dish the scoop on that too. Yes, I rented my first car this past weekend (without underage driver fees, double reasons to say "go me!")...for a road trip to North Carolina and Virginia. The plan was to visit NC State in Raleigh and then head over to Virginia Beach for a relaxing get-away weekend. Thankfully, my housemate, Nick, agreed to come along for the ride...just as long as I promised to get him to a beach before it was all over and done with. I also decided that I wanted the "real" road trip experience, and therefore Nick and I hoarded a bunch of random food from the cafeteria (apples, cereal, milk, and bread) to concoct some crazy meals...rather than spending money on real food for the weekend. lol.

Friday, we left early (6:53 a.m. bus to Friendship Heights) in order to bus and metro to the airport (DCA) in time to pick up the car and leave by 8 a.m. We hoped to arrive in Raleigh by early afternoon so that I would have time to meet everyone in the department and walk around campus before it got too late to hit the road again (beach-bound) that evening. Despite a few crazy moments, we did, in fact, make it to Raleigh in one piece--early, in fact.

There, I was able to meet with the Director of Graduate Programs, Director of Extension Education, a researcher that I'd be working with for my assistantship position, and several students. Everyone was really welcoming and it truly does seem like a family there (which is what I'm looking for). Oddly enough, I could even see myself on campus there, and I found a place I'd like to live if I move up (down?) there.

In fact, people were so nice that a bunch of grad students had planned a night out to dinner with me. Isn't that pretty much amazing? It didn't really work out in my plan, though, because Nick and I already hoped to be in VA Beach by that night. So, I declined...Nick and I bought tee-shirts from the bookstore (gotta add to the collction! lol.) and then got back on the road, headed north(east?).

We arrived in "Vah Beach" around 9:30 p.m., and it took us forever to get a hotel because everything near the beach was either sold out or way to expensive. Finally, we settled on a somewhat-janky hotel/motel that had been recommended by our supervisor who happens to be a VA Beach native. By this point, we were so exhausted that we collapsed into bed almost immediately.

Saturday, we woke up fairly early (without an alarm--yay!), and spent a few hours laying out on the beach. It was surprisingly clean and warm (water, not so much)...gorgeous, in fact. We ate a late lunch and then rested in the hotel for most of the afternoon, because Nick just haaad to see the Kentucky Derby ;-). (He's going to the Belmont Stakes in June.) After the race, we were a bit more rejeuvenated, so we took a stroll along the boardwalk, found an old shop Nick remembered from a previous trip there, and watched a bunch of little cheerleaders run around doing crazy tricks (competetion, anyone?). Along the way, we discovered we were both extremely sunburnt and, therefore, our muscles screamed at us to stop using so much energy. lol. To appease our bodies, we gave up after a bit, and went back to the hotel to watch a really dumb movie ("The Breakup") on tv before falling asleep early yet again.

Sunday, we left VA Beach earlier than expected (around 10:30 a.m.), which turned out to be a good decison. There was an incredible amount of traffic on the road for the entire trip, and it took us nearly 5 hours to go the distance of what is usually 3.5 hours. Bah. We also decided to bring our stuff back to the Center before returning the car so that we wouldn't have to lug all of our stuff on the metro and bus again. Smart idea. Plus, we drove through the familiarity of DC (via Rock Creek Pkwy) rather than getting back on the beltway, which would have taken ages.

All in all, it was a great weekend getaway, and I'm very proud of myself for all such accomplishments--rental car, driving in DC and crazy metro area, road tripping with only a friend and no "adults," etc. As for NC State, I'm still undecided, but I do have a good feeling about the school. I'm really just a very indecisive person and making this huge decision is driving me nuts. Hopefully I'll figure out something...sooner rather than later.

--

In my last post, I mentioned that summer had arrived? Yeah, well, apparently Mr. Groundhog was wrong or something. It's been rainy and gross for almost a week now, and colder too. Fifities and sixties have returned, much to our annoyance. Hopefully the warm weather will return soon...because I've got some exciting plans for the weekend...hehe.

As previously mentioned, the house continues to drop like flies. Amanda started her new job today (a temp. position with the world bank?) and will be moving out on Friday. Brian finished school and finals, and will be moving out tomorrow, I think. Justin's graduating on Saturday and moving out early Sunday morning...which would bring the house total to...four!?!? We wish. On Saturday and Sunday, 9 of our new housemates will be moving in. These will be the new PAs for CWF (Citizenship Washington Focus); they'll begin training on Monday and work for the program through the end of July. About 5 or 6 more people will also be moving in over the next few weeks, and include the summer RA, other Council interns, and outside individuals. Of course, after Justin, I'll be the next person moving out (3 weeks from yesterday), so there will be lots and lots of turnover in the coming month or so. It'll be crazy, that's for sure.

Also on Saturday, Christy and I will be heading out to the WMZQ Fest, an all-day concert event at the Nissan Pavillion in Virginia. There will be 5 big-name artists and 3 up-and-coming groups too. We're so excited!! Because of the concert, though, neither of us will be around for the new housemates' arrival, which means we've left Nick to hold down the fort and serve as the welcoming committee. A few people do come in on Sunday, though, so I'll probably hang around for that.

Whew! I'm tired from all this writing...alllllllmost done. Today, I'm having a relaxing afternoon out in the house because tonight Christy and I have a Nightview tour. We "worked" (lol) this morning, and will be leaving to meet the group around 4:30 pm this afternoon. Until then, I'm catching up on some e-mails, blogging (duh), washing clothes, and hoping to start cleaning/consolidating my room in preparation for the arrivals on Saturday. Speaking of which, I just realized my clothes have probably been sitting in the washer for way longer than necessary, and I should probably get off of my booty to put them in the dryer. (oops.) On that note, I'll stop here. Be looking forward to exciting new stories as I move into my final days (er, um, weeks) here in DC!

Happy Early Mother's Day to all the moms out there!
:) Lauren

"I think I can, I think I can..."

2009-04-27T09:45:00.002-05:00

I did it! I did it!!! Finally, I made it through a group and felt successful!!! Yay. This 5-night (6-day) WOW group included 5th grade students from a private school in Florida. Despite three days of soaking rain (and more outdoor showers), the kids were great--enthusiastic, eager learners, and just an all-around wonderful group. Perhaps having nearly a week to get to know them helped the cause, but at this point, I don't really care why it was good...rather, I'm just thrilled that it went well at all.

On that note, thanks to everyone for your thoughts and prayers over the last few weeks. I know your efforts definitely influenced my success last week, and for that I am extremely grateful. Please don't stop there, though. I have four more weeks here in DC, and although I hope I am over the hump, I'm still a bit skeptical and would very much appreciate your continued support. Again, thanks in advance.

One disappointing aspect of last week, though, was the loss of yet another Warren Hall housemate. Matt left unexpectedly in the middle of March, and this past Thursday, Marcie followed suit. Her Marketing internship was scheduled to conclude at the end of May, but for personal reasons, she had decided to leave May 4th, instead. However, on Tuesday morning, I found out that she'd gotten an offer for a film project in California (she owns her own film company, remember?), and decided to accept it. The project was slated to begin on Friday (April 24th), so she ended up having to buy another airline ticket and leave early Thursday morning. Because I was working 12-18 hour days with my group, I didn't get to spend any time with her during her last few days here, nor did I really get to say goodbye. I was quite disappointed about her quick exit, but hopefully she is happier these days.

The rest of the house is dropping like flies, it seems. Brian will be moving out right around the 7th of May, and Justin will follow only a few days later, on the 11th, or so. Amanda has hopes of leaving just as soon as she can find alternate living arrangements, which means that pretty soon, only the 4 of us WOW PAs will be left. On the other hand, though, at least 10-15 new indviduals will begin moving in on the 9th of May, which means the house will be rockin' with lots of folks pretty soon. Until then, those of us that are left plan to enjoy the solitude and quietness of a small house, heh.

Speaking of solitude, I have been living like an old lady lately. Ever since the group from Louisiana left, I have been going to sleep between 9:30 and 10 pm on a nightly basis. It's very uncharacteristic of myself, but I actually enjoy it. For the past few days, I have been waking up between 7 and 8:30 a.m. without an alarm. It's kind of nice to get 10 ish hours of sleep, wake up early, and still feel extremely well rested. I love it. ...But be sure not to disturb my sleep, because I have "gone jihad" on many a person lately for doing just that. Ask the security guards. ;-)

Oh and, summer is quickly upon us; it's been 85-92 degrees and sunny here lately. I love the sun and the warmth, but I could do for a ceiling fan, if you please. Our house is regularly kept at 80 degrees in the summertime, but we use ceiling fans, which make it much more comfortable. This stupid house doesn't even have central heating. wtf. Hopefully the maintainance people will come to install the window units soon because it's getting to be pretty uncomfortable inside.

Bah. I really ought to quit writing and get back to being productive. We have yet another group coming in today (grr!), so I should put myself together and get to lunch so I can go to the office at some point before they arrive. This 250-person, 5-bus group is a middle school from rural Massachusetts. My supervisor swears it will be the most fun group of all, but I don't believe him for a moment. Five buses!?!? Are you kidding me? Nooooo thank you. ...Not to mention that Thursday night, after this group leaves, we have a 9-bus group coming in for Science Bowl. Thankfully, we're just providing a Nightvew, but my gosh, I can't wait to be done with work this week (and it hasn't even started)!

Friday, Nick and I will be heading out on our road trip adventure to visit North Carolina State University and hopefully some sunny beach along the way. I got an amazingly priced car rental, and we are ready to gooooooooo. Can't wait to share the details...and hopefully this will ether be a definite "yay" or "nay" on the list of grad school prospects.

Wish me all the best,
Lauren

Off to Trapeez School!

2009-04-19T15:47:00.002-05:00

Okay, okay...I'm not really off to trapeez school, but for various reasons (that I'll explain later), I felt as though it was a fitting title for this blog.

In my last post, I was finishing up preparations for the arrival of my second WOW group, or 2 huge buses worth of 4-Hers and adult volunteers from my home in Southwest Louisiana. I was really excited about their week here in DC, because I knew I'd get to work with a bunch of people that I have known for many years, and I have been missing Louisiana very much lately. Rather than detailing out each day of our adventures, I'll say that despite the rain, I think the group had a great experience with the Wonders of Washington Program. It rained every day except their last, which, I guess, is nothing new for a bunch of Cajun folks from one of the most tropical climates in the country. Going through security with 110 individuals takes agesssssss, as does walking any distance farther than 500 feet. In the end, Colin and I both got good evaluations (he sure was a hit with the ladies, lol), and I think everything turned out fine. ...And this is why we're trapeez artists--anyone juggling that many individuals would have to have some sort of fancy skills, lol.

To be honest, though, I haven't been enjoying work very much at all, and people can tell. I'm trying not to give it off to my groups, and I hope I'm doing a decent job of that, but my co-workers and housemates can tell that there is something different about me lately. I keep dreading my groups and feel like I do a horrible time with my job. Of course, everyone says that I'm doing fine, but I just don't see it. The reality is, I've probably had the most difficult groups here so far (size and respect/energy wise), so maybe that's why things have been so tough. I figured that after working with 4-Hers from home that I might have a new take on things, but I'm not so sure. The youth and adults with that group were amazing--respectful, caring, wonderful individuals (hey--they're farm kids, lol)...and yet I'm still not enjoying it.

I don't like to sit here and report such negative things, but I figure I should be honest about how I'm doing. On Friday, I had a mid-employment meeting with my supervisor, and after having the weekend off, I do feel better...but I'm scared about how I am dreading this next group that comes in tonight. I don't want to dread work; I'm not used to disliking what I'm doing. Hopefully, as I get more experience (my fellow PA's are at least 1 or 2 groups ahead of me), I'll feel more comfortable with my skills and will be able to enjoy it more. On that note, I'd really appreciate your thoughts during these next few weeks because it's going to be crazy-busy on the work front, and I don't forsee a real break until after the beginning of May. Thanks in advance.

--

Yesterday, Christy and I spent the afternoon/evening in Baltimore. As I've mentioned in previous posts, sometimes it's just really necessary to get away from the City (DC) and away from the Center. We live and work here all the time, and it's just one huge trap (bubble?), and sometimes you really need a change of scenery. And, so Baltimore, we went. Baltimore is a great city, but very much a city. It's still huge, and I definitely wouldn't want to live there, but for the area we went, it was fine for an afternoon.

We spent most of our time in the Inner Harbor area, walking along the waterfront watching the street performers, checking out some shops, attractions, and eateries. We sat atop Federal Hill Park and watched some locals play beach vollyball, as well as tourists paddleboating in the harbor. It was there that we noticed TRAPEEZ SCHOOL! Heh. Yes, there is a such thing as trapeez school, and after a bit of watching from a distance, we decided to walk closer and actually sit to watch the trainings for a while. It was quite interesting to say the least. In the afternoon, we walked to a Sprint store (where Christy got a new phone --yay), and then asked the workers for suggestions for a seafood dinner. They recommended Mo's Fisherman's Warf, and although we settled on there for dinner, we also walked around the neighborhood of Little Italy a while, contemplating some authentic Italian food. After dinner, we went back to the car and headed home for the night. It's interesting to note, though, that Baltimore has a ton of similar sites to DC--Holocaust Memorial, Korean War Memorial, Washington Monument, Mt. Vernon (neighborhood), Calvert St., ESPN Zone, Hard Rock Cafe, Cheesecake Factory, paddleboats, etc.

--

Continuing my act at trapeez school, I have further updates concerning graduate school. One night last week, I decided to check online to see if any new status concerning my admission to Ohio State had been posted. Sure enough, it was, and I have now been officially admitted into their graduate school. Yay. In addition, I received an e-mail on Friday afternoon offering me an assistantship at NC State. The position would require 20 hours of work each week (some sort of program evaluation/assessment projects), an in turn, offer paid tuition, health insurance, and $15,000 stipend per academic year. It sounds like a sweet deal, so Nick and I are definitely gonna take a road trip down there in 2 weeks to check things out. Hopefully the trip will help with all of this decision making because I sure feel like this is going to turn out to be a crazy balancing act. Again, wish me luck with making a good decision.

--

And now, I'm going to head out to an early dinner so that I can be ready just in case my group shows up ahead of schedule. You should be proud that I found the time to blog during all of this busy-ness. Heh.

*Performs trapeez dismount*
Lauren

April Absurdities

2009-04-13T09:40:00.004-05:00

My last post, "March Madness," was a great title and explanation for the month, that's for sure. March is always a month of madness for me, but that's why I love it so much. It is my favorite month, after all! Now, though, it is April, and that means it's time for a long-awaited blog update. Get excited! Heh.

National 4-H Conference
As I mentioned in the my last blog, National 4-H Conference began officially on March 28, but lots of awesome people started pouring into the Center on the 26th. Conference organizers, the Planning Committee, and Collegiate Facilitators came in on Thursday night to beging the get-acquainted, planning, and preparation process before the delegates arrived. Just a few highlights...
Thursday - Lots of delayed flights, a relaxed night of introductions and an overview of the week.
Friday - Excursion preparations (aka, a fun day in the City), Roundtable planning and preparations.
Saturday - More RT planning, delegate arrival, Opening Assembly, and RT Session #1.
Sunday - Fun Run at Greenbelt Park (beat the nasty weather), more RT sessions, and an exclusive private event at the Udvar-Hazy Air and Space Museum (the one at Dulles Airport).
Monday - Excursion Day(!), RT session, relaxing evening for the Tators.
Tuesday - Workshops, Focus Groups, final RT session, 2nd museum night at the International Spy Museum (another new one crossed off my list).
Wednesday - USDA Assembly, Capitol Hill Day, Newseum/fun lunch with the Tators, annual pass-out-on-the-floor-at-National-4H-Headquarters event (heh), and the traditional all-nighter.
Thursday - Bye, bye, to some of the greatest people I know! :-(
Once again, I'm going to reiterate that Conference is my favorite event of the entire year, and even when I'm not able to attend, Conference will forever be a part of me and my passion for the great organization of 4-H. To all of you, old and new friends, I have very much enjoyed my time getting to know you and I hope that we can keep in touch throughout the years. You'll always hold a special place in my heart, and don't forget...we're having a reunion when the first of us gets married (lololololol), so put it on your calendar!

Cherry Blossoms
The weekend following Conference was the big Cherry Blossom Festival weekend here in DC. I hadn't got a chance to really see or photograph the blossoms during Conference, so Christy and I set out on Saturday to see what all of the hype was about. Let me just say that this was a very interesting day...none of which really related to the blossoms themselves. You all should go and read Christy's blog for a fully detailed story of the day because my summary won't do it justice. Briefly: a brisk jog UP the DOWN escalator at Federal Triangle, nearly sniped by a police officer for trying to cross the street, log roll onto wall at American History Museum for good seats to watch fail parade, scored free yet-to-be-released Suave cherry blossom body wash and 4 gift cards to facials at Macy's...a successful day, if I do say so myself. Oh, and I guess I should say that the blossoms are quite beautiful, but I'm slightly disappointed and feel as if they're just a tad bit overrated, in comparison to the numbers of people who trek out here just to see a bunch of flowered trees. Meh.

Warren Hall entertainment
Oh, Warren Hall. Life here...I tell ya. In fact, I should take that back, because words really can't describe it. I'd take a stab at it, but I feel as though my housemate, Nick, was able to explain it a little better. For that, here's an excerpt from his thoughts:
"...Now, let me explain something about Warren Hall (that lovely place I live in) that might explain MY actions a little bit more. (Bare with me on this one, it is kind of confusing, but I will do my best.) Ok, Warren Hall and the 4-H center campus is the biggest bubble ever, you get trapped here. You live/eat/work/ everything here, and you NEVER get away. You basically live in this world that is a cross between Real World and Big Brother, its madness. Now, your entire life is Center when your a PA or live in the house. You literally cannot function without one another, and I know this sounds a little crazy but its the truth. Ok, so what does this have to do with you? Well, when someone new comes into your life when you live in the house, its a big d*** deal. And you might get uber attached to that person because they are the first outside contact in months..."
Basically, Nick is right that we do live in a bubble here, and outside contact can be few and far between, depending on who you are and your access to outside individuals via way of visitors or local friends. In that bubble, though, there are some definite benefits, despite the co-dependence that tends to develop. We Warren Hall kids sure do have a great time... I mean, come on, we built a sheet-fort in the living room on Friday. We have strobe light dance parties, watch endless amounts of movies, and have developed plenty of inside jokes in the short few months that we've lived here. Sometimes, it's hard and frustrating to live with people who see you at your highest and lowest points, and annoying when the kitchen is worse than Ground Zero, but in the end, we're all going to miss each other when it's over. I've said it before in other situations, but there's just something about living with people...it results in a lifelong bond that can never be broken. (And that's my tear-jerker moment for the day, heh.)

Easter
This was my second holiday away from home (first being Thanksgiving, when I lived in Idaho), and I think I've decided that holidays are not holidays without family and friends. Granted, I was welcomed into a very loving home for Thanksgiving, which I very much appreciated, but I'm just used to being off for that entire week, and it was totally weird for me to be working on such a holiday. This time around, for Easter, it didn't feel like a holiday yet again. Fortunately, I wasn't the only one home (there were four-ish of us), but with our disgusting kitchen, we really didn't want to attempt any sort of home cooked family dinner. Instead, we lazy-ed around and went out to dinner at Chili's last night. In the afternoon, I braved the meto alone in an attempt to find and attend Mass at the Basilica. Thanks to some very very sweet girl, I found it, made a new friend, and was invited to dinner with her Brazilian family (I declined, due to plans with the housemates). I'll probably never see that girl again, but thank goodness for her and her generosity or else I may never have found the church, lol. Again, I am resolved to believe that random, one-time-only friendships can be some of the most rewarding of all. (Think, Rosetta Stone kiosque guy in March 2007.)

Upcoming WOW groups
It's been a while since my first WOW group (even though I did Conference and had a Nightview somewhere in between), but my second of many groups arrives today. The exciting part about this group is that they are Vermilion and Calcasieu 4-H Jr. Leaders (from home)! My mom and brother (he came to Conference too, which was great!) and everyone that is nostalgic for me and 4-H back home will be arriving in only a few hours! They'll be here through Thursday, and Colin and I will be tired puppies because we have a Nightview group that night, too. Next week, I'll be working with another group for 5 days, and the following week, we have a huge group (5 buses) for four days, and then an even huger group (9 buses) for a Nightview tour. In other words, these next few weeks are going to be crazy busy and you'll be lucky to hear much out of me before May rolls around...

Graduate School Update
As always, I must include the grad school update. I've been placed on the waiting list for admission into the Clinton School of Public Service and am still waiting to hear back from Ohio State. That means, I'm still admitted only admitted into LSU and NC State. For that reason, I'm hoping to rent a car and take a road trip (with my housemate, Nick) to Raleigh on the first weekend in May. I can't really rule out the school until I see it, so it's probably a good idea to head out there sometime.

In any case, this blog is forever long and it's about lunch time now. I really need to start putting myself together, since the group will be here in only a few hours. Sorry I don't have time to blog more often, but I hope you'll all forgive me. :)

Peace out.
Lauren

March Madness

2009-03-25T22:41:00.004-05:00

Ahhhhhhhhhh. I haven’t written in almost 3 weeks!! Shame on me! Bah. Honestly though, things have been insane, and it’s going to take forever for me to write about it all. The problem with that, though, is that it’s 10:45 p.m. at night, and for reasons I’ll explain later, I really should be trying to get a good night’s rest. Guess that’s not gonna happen…

To simplify the process, I think I’m just going to make headings for “important” topics.

First Group
March 8-12, Nick and I had our first group, 8th grade private school students from Alabama. The week was extremely challenging for us, but we got through it and made it to the light at the end of the tunnel. I’d write more, but this IS the internet, and I’d rather stay away from specific details. Feel free to ask on a more personal level if you’re interested in the gory details. Heh. I will say, however, was that I got to experience a few DC things for the first time—the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and the Newseum. It was super cool to visit the awesomeness of the Newseum on my birthday; what a great way to end the week.

Dawn’s Visit
Amidst the craziness of my first group, my bestest Sunshine stopped in to visit for a few days. Dawn was invited to represent Louisiana at Ag Day on the Hill (details coming soon), and since it was her Spring Break that week, she asked if she could stay with me for a few days, aka March 9-12. …She does “have a boyfriend in DC” after all…lololol. (This is a joke based on the fact that Dawn visits DC a million times a year…she’s already been here twice since the end of January, with at least another visit to come in the near future.) While she was here, Dawn and I each visited new places for us, and together (with Nick) we went on the National Treasure Tour at Mt. Vernon, which is quite possibly the coolest behind the scenes tour ever. (Granted, it's the only behind-the-scenes tour I've ever done, but let me live in my fantasy world, mkay?) Anyways, it was nice to have Dawn around while my group was here. She kept Nick and I grounded and really helped out at some of the sites. It was also super special that she happened to be here right up until my birthday… :-D Gotta love special friendness. Lol.

Ag Day on the Hill
Back to Ag Day, young adults from nearly every state in the nation were invited to attend Ag Day on the Hill, a day of promoting agriculture and youth development. Most of the young adults were members of 4-H and or FFA, and the event was also sponsored by some other organization. I was pretty excited about this event, because even though I wasn’t chosen to represent Louisiana (see previous paragraph), many of my friends from other states came out for the event on March 11-12. It was super awesome and fun to get to hang out with Gillette (MT), Wendee (DE), Emily (NJ), Jeff (ID), and Benjamin (OH/MI). Because our schedules were so jammed, we didn’t have a whole lot of hang out time, but we appreciated what we had. We definitely don’t take time for granted when we’re only able to see each other once (sometimes more) a year. A small tribute: “Lean on me, when you’re not strong…”

My 22nd Birthday
As many of you know, my birthday was on March 12th, only the bestest day of the year. Unfortunately, I was working and then exhausted from work, so I didn’t get to enjoy it very much. I also missed home quite a bit, and was sad about not being able to celebrate with Kim, my birthday twin, for the first time in four years. Bah. It was nice, though, to see all of my 4-H friendsies (Dawn, Jeff, Benjamin, Gillette, Wendee, Emily, etc.) on my day. My housemates were great too. Colin and Christy stole the rest of a cake from their group and added mine and Brian’s names to it so that we had an official birthday cake. Oh yeah, it was Brian (housemate)’s birthday too…only he was born in the wrong year (1986), hehe. There were some fun times, but I’ve definitely had better. …I mean, hello, no birthday is complete without MooKim festivities, and Rascal Flatts, lol!

Jeff’s Visit
Adding to the greatness (and busy-ness) of the week, Jeff, my great 4-H friend from Idaho, stayed in Warren Hall following Ag Day through Sunday, March 15th. Jeff was a Program Assistant for Citizenship Washington Focus (the sister program to Wonders of Washington) last summer, so he used to live here and knows the ropes pretty well. Anyway, Jeff and I were pretty close, since we met in 2007 as Collegiate Facilitators at National 4-H Conference and continued to talk over the years and hung out quite a bit while I lived in Idaho last Fall. The PAs took the afternoon off on Friday (3/13), as we’d all had a tough, tiring week. Saturday, Jeff and I went into the city and ended up spending nearly 4 hours in the Museum of American History. Then we ate dinner at an interesting restaurant and unsuccessfully attempted to score tickets to a Capitals game. When that didn’t work, we gave up and went back to the Center for the night. Sunday, Jeff, Nick, Christy, and I went to the St. Patrick’s Day parade downtown. It was cold and rainy, so not many people were out, but we still had a good time. We had to leave early though so that Jeff could get to the airport in time for his flight home. It was a good weekend overall…thanks for visiting, Jeffe.

Office Work
As for work, I’ve been doing projects in the office since my group left. I won’t have another group until Vermilion 4-H arrives on April 13th. To be honest, I’m perfectly fine with this because I really do prefer working in the office anyway. The groups stress me out too much, and I can feel so much more accomplished by doing projects instead. Thus far, I’ve made a ton of nametags for groups coming to the Center, completed a draft of a WOW Destination Directory for the planners to use when designing itineraries, and now I’m starting some event planning for the 2010 Board of Trustees meeting. Never know what they’ll come up with next…

Nathan’s Visit
Last weekend, March 19-22, Nathan came to visit from Seattle. I met Nathan last summer when Kim and I moved our stuff up to Boise; he’s been friends with Joey (Kim’s fiancé) since like middle school. Somewhere between moving in July and my return in September, Nathan decided to up and move to Seattle (what a loser!). Anyways, we’ve kept in touch quite a bit, and since he’d never been to DC before, he took the opportunity to visit when there was a free place to stay and certified tour guide to take him around. Sounds like a good deal if you ask me. I took most of Friday off of work and we spent the day walking to all the awesome monuments in downtown DC. We had a late lunch/dinner at the Reagan Building and then returned to the Center to hang out and watch movies with my housemates for the evening. Saturday, we started our day with (free “comp” tickets to) Arlington Memorial Cemetery, and then metroed to lunch at the Old Post Office Pavilion. We went up to the top of the tower there (my first time) and took some pictures of the amazing view. I’d hoped to take Nathan out to the Capitol Visitor’s Center but with timing and my inexperience as a tour guide, the timing didn’t work out. Instead, we spent a while at the National Archives seeing the Charters of Freedom (which is what he really wanted to see, anyway). Then we walked over to the Capitol, sat around the reflecting pool for a while, walked up the steps, took some pictures, and then metroed back to the Center for another night of family movie watching. Sunday was relaxing but fun; it was gorgeous out, so we had a Warren Hall family soccer game, and then sat on the porch forever hanging out and watching our circus of a family do crazy things. Marcie and quite a few others did some tricks with her yoga ball, she and Justin did an egg toss, and then Amanda sprayed everyone with the hose. Good times. When it was time for Nathan to go, Justin dropped us off at the Bethesda metro stop and I rode with him out to DCA then metroed home alone (for the first time!!). Looking back, it’s hard to do DC in such a short period of time, but I think we did a decent job, and I hope he had a good weekend nonetheless.

Random stuff now…

Tour Guide Licenses
Our tour guide licenses (finally) came last Friday!!! I’m official now!! Yay. …Can’t wait to start getting the discounts, lol.

Graduate School Update
I’ve now been admitted into North Carolina State and Louisiana State University. Still no idea where I’m actually going to go, and waiting to hear back from Ohio State and the Clinton School. Unfortunately, I may have to make some decisions in the next few weeks. That won’t sit well with me, so be prepared for a freak out session?

Conference Starting
Tomorrow, awesome people start pouring into the Center, as the Collegiate Facilitators and Planning Committee members arrive to gear up for National 4-H Conference which officially begins on Saturday. I can’t wait to see all of my 4-H friends again!! There are going to be 4 of us from Louisiana, and many of the Ag Day folks are coming back. Woot. It’s going to be a crazy, awesome, sleepless, amazing, hard, tough, and great week, and boy, I cannot wait. …Conference is my favorite event of the entire year!

Christy’s Blog
And once again I’d like to encourage you all to read my housemate, Christy’s blog. She writes when I don’t, and doesn’t, when I do…? Heh, not really, but she has included details about some of our doings that I didn’t, so I say it’s worth the effort. Keep up with her when I’m too busy or lazy to write here. And anyways, it’s always interesting to get different perspectives on the same thing. I think so anyway. So, here’s her blog, again.

(Real) March Madness
Since it's the title, I guess I should also note that I'm participating in basketball brackets through work...and I suck. To my credit, though, I picked schools based on where I know people, not on actual ability. I did pretty well in the first set of games, but it all went downhill from there. Not that I care much, but I just thought I'd mention it to tie everything back together.

And now, I MUST sleep...because sleep just does nottttttt happen during Conference. Ugh. Expect another update once things settle down...if things ever settle down around here.

Adios mu cha cha,
Lauren

Starting Now

2009-03-07T18:09:00.003-06:00

Good news--I passed my tour guide exam!!! Yup, you got it, myself and the other three PAs all passed our DC tour guide test. Yay!! We haven't gotten our official cards yet, but it'll be great when they come in, so we can start using our licenses to get discounts at tourist destinations lol.

Backing up a bit, this past week was our first week of "real work." Christy and Colin had their first group--middle school students from a school for "learning differences" in Georgia. Despite the challenges for working with this group of children, I truly admire the idea of creating a school for children with learning differences.

As for the PA experience, Christy and Colin did a wonderful job, even with all of their opportunities for on-the-spot problem-solving situations. Their week started out with the group's delayed arrival due to a strong snow storm that swept the East coast. Because of this, the group had to eat lunch at Union Station (they took a train here) before coming to the Center, and then two workshops were given the first night, since the Zoo was closed, and it was definitely not a good idea to do Nightview with snow-covered roads. On another day, Mt. Vernon claimed they didn't have the group's reservation, and Hard Rock Cafe mischarged the Center beforehand. Through it all, though, I'm pretty sure everyone had a great time, which is all that matters, really.

So...snow. Yup, that's right...I HAD MY FIRST SNOW DAY EVER!!! I don't even know where to start about this one. Monday morning, most people at Center decided to work from home, so the PAs got a hold of our supervisor, and she said to take the day off. Can anyone say, "SAWEET??" Cuz, yeah, that's exactly what it was. On my first ever snow day, there were many other firsts...snow angel, snow man, sledding (!), and snowball fights. I have a ton of pictures posted on Facebook, so you should totally check them out. It was just such a glorious day...probably one of the best of my life!

Nick and I didn't have a group this week, so we were in the office doing projects all week. The National 4-H Council Board of Trustees had a meeting on Wednesday and Thursday, and since I'm working with the President's team (the one who organizes the board meetings), I was pretty busy toward the beginning of the week. The Board inducted three new youth trustees, and they wanted to offer an orientation to these new members, so they asked me to design the orientation program. Victoria, one of my long time great friends from home, has been a Youth Trustee on the board for over a year, so she was invited to facilitate the orientation.

It was really cool to use my experience in designing workshops or training sessions to design this orientation, and even cooler to know that one of my best friends would be the one leading it all. This really helped my motivation and understanding in the whole concept for the orientation, and although it didn't look exactly like my original plan, in the end, I think it all worked out well. I think they'll probably continue offering a youth orienation in the future...awesome to know I helped with implementing this new idea. And, it was great to see my dearest Victoria, even if it was only for one day, heh. Plus, she'll be back again in three weeks...

So, yeah, that's the sort of stuff I'll be doing when I am working for the President's team (weeks when I don't have a WOW tour group). I'm sure they'll come up with some interesting projects. In fact, the President/CEO's assistant said that I may have an opportunity to work on some of their new international projects that relate to expanding youth programming (in the form of 4-H) in Africa. It all sounds pretty cool to me, so we'll have to see what happens.

Alas, Nick and my first group arrives tomorrow evening. It'll be a quick turnaround--they arrive, settle in, eat, and leave for Nightview in only an hour's time. Crazy, but we'll manage. The 8th graders from Alabama will be here through Thursday morning; with Dawn arriving on Monday, and more 4-H gang on Wednesday, I feel like this is going to be a crazy week. Currently, I'm trying not to think about how scared I am for my first group, but I keep reminding myself that Nick will be there for support, and I will get throgh it. I bet it will even be better than I expect, because things generally work that way when I am stressed.

Oh, I guess I should also mention that I received a letter this week from the University of Georgia. Apparently, I was not accepted into their graduate program. I was a bit disappointed, and especially frustrated to believe deep down that the reason I didn't get in is because of my GRE scores. I know I could do well in any program, but if my GRE scores keep me from being able to demonstrate my abilities, then oh well. I also realize that my previous life experiences (i.e. Idaho, DC, etc.) have evolved into culminations of events that lead up to the opportunity, or were long in the making. UGA was rather random, I don't have much stake in Georgia, and so therefore, it's probabably not where I'm meant to be.

I expect to hear more from other schools sometime around the beginning of April. Rest assured, however, I'll keep you all updated with things as they go along. And, expect another update...just as soon as I get through this week and the awesomeness of great people visiting during the best week of the entire year! Tehehe...

...Party time?
-Lauren

Spring Training

2009-02-22T14:57:00.002-06:00

Hi, folks!

Apparently I've been living here in the DC area for more than two weeks now, and I've yet to decribe my work situation. I figure I should probably tackle that topic sooner or later, considering that the whole reason I'm up here is for work, lol. And, because I'm such a procrastinator (avoiding some work prep. stuff) these days, I'm going to take this time to write about my job thus far.

Starting from the beginning, I'm working as a Program Assistant for Wonders of Washington, which is a program run through National 4-H Council. PAs serve as tour guides, workshop facilitators, and Council interns throughout the Spring semester (February to May, or June). Keeping these three roles in mind, I'll break each of them down individually for you.

Our most time-consuming role as a PA is serving as a tour guide to groups visiting the city of DC. These groups could be 4-H groups, school group, scout groups, etc. Depending on the length of a group's stay, PAs use their knowledge as a licensed DC tour guide to lead the group to various popular attractions throughout the District and nearby Virgina. Nearly every "hot spot" is available for inclusion in a group's visit, so you say it, I've seen it...multiple times.

In order to gain the proper skills to serve in this role, all PAs must take (and pass, lol) the DC tour guide licensure exam, which equates to becoming a Certified Class B Tour Guide. To prepare for the test, we were given a study guide at the beginning of January with over 300 possible questions. Just a week after arriving (Feb. 17th), we took our test, and hope to find out the results soon. We have also been visiting many popular sites in the area, and running through the routes during the last two weeks of training.

Some groups request workshops as a part of their WOW experience; these workshops range in topic from how a bill becomes a law, to citizenship, leadership, and teambuilding. For this reason, each of the PAs were assigned to present a mock workshop to the group. We are all very experienced with facilitating workshops, so this was pretty much a piece of cake for us, especially since the workshop plans/outlines already exist, so all we have to do is review and execute them. Easy as pie.

And finally, our last (major) role as PAs is interning within a department at National 4-H Council. Nick has been assigned to work with the "Center team," which basically, includes doing work with our WOW supervisors and the departement in which the program is organized. Christy will be working with the Resource Development Department, perhaps working on curriculum development and other similar projects. Colin was assigned to 4-H Supply, which, for you 4-Hers out there, is the product development/marketing component of Council. This translates to...the 4-H Supply store, the one that designs and distributes 4-H brand paraphernalia across the country and world. And lastly, my assignment is with the CEO/President's office. I'm not exactly sure what I'll be doing yet, but I'll let you know as soon as I figure that out; it's sure to be an interesting adventure. :)

As we go into our third week of training here at the Center, we'll be focusing on practicing our commentary (talking/stories) for the Nightview tour, mastering the designated routes to major destinations, and meeting with our internship departments. We will also begin to prepare and plan for our first groups; Christy and Colin's first group comes in the first week of March, and Nick and I's group comes in the following week. Of course, we'll all be on pins and needles (okay, a little dramatic there, but still) until we find out the results of our exam, but hopefully it'll come in soon.

And, just in case anyone is interested in another viewpoint of a PA's experiences, feel free to check out Christy's blog. She has written a much more detailed description about our first two weeks of training, including funny stories and good times that we all have together. Don't worry, she has given me permission to share it with you all, so go ahead...check it out!

Now, I suppose I should get started on reviewing my Nightview commentary...

A plus tard,
Lauren

Ma Famille d'Hall Warren

2009-02-15T09:50:00.003-06:00

Has it been eight days already? Wow, I've been here for over a week already...only fourteen more to go? Nooooooo, I like it too much here!! Heh.

Um, so, it has been a crazy week, even though I don't feel like I've gotten a whole lot accomplished. Before I get into the work stuff though, I should probably describe my living situation, or, as we have affectionately began to call ourselves--the (Warren Hall) family.

Alrighty, let's start with describing the house. I live in Warren Hall, which is located right smack in the middle of the National 4-H Youth Conference Center (www.4hcenter.org). For many individuals visiting the center, Warren Hall is kind of that mysterious building that no one really knows about, even though it's right in the middle of everything. We (family members) think this is kind of funny. Warren Hall is a 3-story house with a basement; people used to live in the basement but after many occasions of flooding, it has now evolved into a laundry/computer room, and storage of all things unimportant. On the first floor, there are three bedrooms, three bathrooms, a living/dining room, and tiny kitchen. The second floor contains four bedrooms and one bathroom (2 toilets, 2 showers, 3 sinks), as well as a few storage closets for linens and other supplies. There are two bedrooms and a bathroom on the third floor. (This makes for a total of 9 bedrooms, potentially sleeping 20 or more people.) We also have this really amazing balcony on the second floor, which has been dubbed as the "Meranda;" it's probably my favorite place in the whole house, and we definitely spend a lot of time there.

As for the family members (housemates), there are nine of us currently living in the house, but we expect to get nine more in the middle of May, as most of the current housemates start to move out. On the first floor: Justin, our Resident Assistant (RA), is a Master's of Social Work student at nearby Howard University and does a lot of work with refugees here in DC, as well as in East African countires. He is originally from Indiana, and has also been a Program Assistant (PA) in previous years, so sometimes he picks up a few Wonders of Washington (WOW) groups from time to time. He shares a suite with Brian, a fellow Howard University student from Illinios, who is currently interning with the U. S. Department of Treasury. Also, Brian and I share a birthday...can anyone say "partayyyyy?" :-p Matthew, Colin, and Nick share the third, first-floor bedroom. Matthew is a recent graduate from the University of Georgia, and living in here for an internship with some important office in downtown DC. Colin and Nick are my fellow PA's. Colin, originally from Virgina, is a former Americorps member who did assignments across the nation--a few of which in Arkansas and South Louisiana (BTR/Houma!). He's currently taking courses for a Graduate Certificate in Nonprofit Management with LSU Shreveport. Nick, from Maine, is the baby of our family (only by age--he's 18), graduated high school in June 2008 and just returned home from a semester in France--as an English teacher and student of French. ...We try to burst out in random Frenchness from time to time, heh.

The second and third floors of our home are much less populated, to say the least. Myself and Christy, from Ohio, live on the second floor. Christy graduated from Ohio State in June 2008, and has done a lot of work with the state's 4-H Operation Military Kids program. It's kind of fun that I know a lot of Ohio people that she references from time to time. :) We each have our own room, which is super nice, and there are even two extra rooms on our floor. Ah, the life.

Two marketing interns for National 4-H Council live on the third floor. They each have their own room (freakin' awesome ones, at that) and share a bathroom. Amanda's from Baltimore, Maryland, but spent 10 months working as a journalist in Nigeria after graduating college. She's in New York this weekend--sounds fun!? Marcie, or Mama Marcie, as we like to call her, is a former 4-Her from California who co-owns (?) her own film/production company. Marcie's a silly girl who seems to love life and is teaching me piano!! Woot. (Now I just need to remember to practice every day, hehe.)

Now that I've described everyone, do you happen to notice a common theme? Though we all come from different places, I've noticed that we each have our own stories of adventure, life in diverse places, and a desire to serve others. Coming from South Louisiana, it's not always easy to find people with these sorts of interests and experiences, and I am just so in love with this opportunity to live with people who are just like me (in that regard). These people just insire me so much--I live with a feeling that I truly can do whatever it is that I want to do in life, and I don't feel like such the oddball anymore. It's really a unique situation, and we all seem to really love our family members. It's pretty rare to find this many people who can live in one house together and get along with each other--not to mention care for one another in such a way that we know where everyone is at most times, and even take care to wait for them at meals and things like that. I do realize this is only the end of week one, and things could change, but at least for now, I am thriving in the Warren Hall family. There's so much love!

When living with eight other people, I'm sure you could imagine the silliness that often ensues. Because we live at a youth conference center, the rules are very strict about alcohol and that sort of thing (it's not allowed in the house at all--and I'm perfectly fine with that), but it really doesn't matter, because no one needs a "substance" to have fun...we have plenty of fun on a daily basis. The "Meranda" has made for some great times in studying for our DC tour guide exam, as well as brief dance parties and coreography sessions. LoL We have also watched plenty of movies, including National Treasure (gotta study for the exam! lol.), which we got from our blockbuster mail-in account. We spend hours in the cafeteria joking around and having intense discussions. Yesterday, we spent seveal hours playing monopoly in the middle of 500 guests' dinnertime. Good times. I mentioned that Marcie's teaching me piano (slowly), and Colin plays the guitar a lot. Last weekend, Marcie called a post office in Hawaii in hopes of solving our debate about which day is the busiest postal day. (It was late in the day, so only Alaska and Hawaii's offices were open. She refused to call Alaska because she wanted to say, "ALOHA!" lolol.) There's always something going on, but we also have plenty of space to take time for ourselves, which will be important as time goes on.

I could go on forever about the house, and I haven't even begun to describe my first week at work. However, I think this post is long enough for now. Perhaps I'll write another entry tomorrow about all things work-related. For now, I think I'm going to stop here, and drag Nick with me to the office (such a far commute--the next building over) to find some scotch tape so that I can decorate my room. Did I mention I love my view??? It's so great!! Speaking of which, I'm in the process of taking pictures of the house and DC stuff; I'm going to start posting them on Facebook soon, so check it out!

More to come soon.
Lauren

I have arrived!!

2009-02-07T23:30:00.003-06:00

Just in case I have any loyal (or caring) individuals out there, I just thought I'd stop in tonight to let you all know that I made it!! Yup, that's right, I'm settled into Warren Hall, the house I'll be living at while I work here at the National 4-H Conference Center (just outside of Washington, DC). With no major mishaps, and a pretty smooth day of traveling, I had a great time meeting everyone that I'll be living with for the next few months. We have such a fun group!

In case you're curious, I live on the 2nd floor in a 3-story, 9-bedroom house (it can sleep about 20 people). There is also a commons room, kitchen, basement for washing clothes and computer stations, and an amazingly awesome balcony that has become my favorite place. I have my own room, even though there are 3 beds, 3 closets, 3 dressers in my room. Each room is set up a little differently. There is only one other girl who lives on my floor (for now, til May, perhaps), so she and I are the only one that shares the 2-toilet/2-shower/3-sink bathroom. Two girls who are interning with National 4-H Council's Marketing Department each have their own bedroom and share a bathroom on the third floor. On the first floor, the RA and a guy who is interning at the US Treasury Dept each have their own room (and bathroom?), and then the two other Program Assistants and another guy interning in a downtown office share a bedroom and bathroom.

I took some pictures of my room and bathroom--pre- and post move-in. I really want to try to decorate a bit, and will take more pictures if I do...they'll be posted on Facebook, just as soon as I have time and energy to create a new album. Oh, and I LOVE my bedroom view, it's pretty much the same view as the one from the balcony, so you can get the idea. And...there are freaking piles of snow on the ground!!! Craziness!! I really can't wait to share the pictures.

I'd go into more detail about everything, but it's technically after midnight here, and I've been up since 3:45 a.m. Central time, so I'm pretty pooped. In the morning, most of us are gonna eat breakfast in the Clover Cafe (cafeteria) together around 8:45 a.m., and then myself and another PA are going to 10 a.m. mass. In the afternoon, at least one other PA is gonna come with me to meet David (heart camp coworker) somewhere in the city. 'Course, this group seems pretty spontaneous, so we'll have to see what actually happens when the time comes.

Sleepy time.
-Lauren

Leaving, on a jet plane...again.

2009-02-06T23:35:00.004-06:00

Well, tomorrow's the big day! I had extremely high hopes of getting another decent blog out there before I head off to DC, but after 12 hours of packing today, I'm just not in the mood. My flight leaves Lafayette at 6 a.m., which means that I'm going to leave my house at 4:30 a.m. Eek.

In any case, I'm all packed up (even though I seem to have horrible luck with packing, recently), and am ready to go...in the physical sense, anyways. Thinking back to my travel issues in getting to Boise last fall (see Hurricanes Gustav and Ike), I'm realizing that those "issues" were really blessings in disguse. At the time, I was seriously distraught over the fact that I couldn't get home from Ohio, and ended up not getting to say goodbye to my family before heading to Idaho.

Now, I realize how much harder it would have been to say goodbye only a few months ago. This time, it's hard to part from home (especially after being here for 2 months straight...for the first time in years, literally), but I am also taking with me the knowledge and experience that "time flies," and pretty soon I'll be seeing some pretty cool people up in DC--my mom and brother included. Sure, 4 months is a long time, but it's not an eternity, and I'll be back sooner than I know it. In fact, I'm sure you are all predicting future blogs about how I won't want to leave DC, hehe.

For the record--you know who you are--I didn't complain about having to leave home...and heck, I didn't even complain about the luggage situation (yet, heh). So, I'm getting better already, mkay???

I'm gonna hit the hay now...and will blog about the last few days, as well as my travel and arrival in DC. Can't wait to see how it goes!

"Leaving, on a jet plane..."
-Lauren

Happy Groundhog Day!

2009-02-02T13:14:00.003-06:00

Happy Groundhog Day! It wasn't until the other day that I even remembered that today was a "holiday," lol. And, I still had to look online to even see the outcome of this annual event. Apparently our dear friend, Mister Punxsutawney Phil, the groundhog, saw his shadow today for the 97th time since 1887; he has only NOT seen his shadow 15 times, according to records. For what it's worth, supposedly winter will last 6 more weeks. Personally, I don't know how much stake I'd put in Mister Phil's prediction, and for that matter, I don't really care. I'm leaving for DC in 5 days, and I'm going to hold out hope that it snows (for real) while I am there. Just because I lived in Boise for 4 months doesn't mean that I had the opportunity to fulfil some of my lifelong desires--like making a real snowman and snow angel. :)

Because I'm so pumped about it, I just want to say that I have officially submitted all five of my graduate school applications. Yay!!! I met my goal of getting it done before DC, and for that I am very relieved and excited.

I have to say that my sleep patterns are very off at the moment. Allie spent the night at my house Friday; we watched August Rush and stayed up until 1 a.m. talking. She helped me with studying for my DC exam...a lot! Allie is great at conjuring up ways to remember strange things. We even have a funny new name for the Bascillica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception (pronounced, BISnick, lol). It was a good time, heh.

Saturday, though, we were up super early to volunteer at the parish 4-H Demonstration Day. Poor Allie was only in 4-H for a year or two, and she got roped into one of the craziest Vermilion 4-H days of the year. She did great though, and I hope she at least enjoyed some of it...despite the craziness. ...Who knows, maybe she'll become a 4-H Agent one day. :-p

Also Saturday, I hung out at Nanna's for a while, did some brief shopping for DC stuff in town, and even got to see my Nannie and little Noah. Nanna got him a little bike to ride, so it was fun to see him figure that out. I'm sad that I didn't get to see Ross, Alyssa, or Eric, though, since I know that I won't be seeing them again before the end of May. Bah. I'll just have to send them some postcards or something.

It was probably the longest day I've had since at least Christmas, and I was so worn out that I fell asleep at 9 p.m. that evening during a Hallmark movie. Needless to say, I slept until 10 a.m. the next morning (13 hours!) and even took a nap on Sunday afternoon. With all of that sleep, I wasn't tired at all last night, and therefore, didn't get to bed 'til 5 a.m. Oops. Thankfully, there were a few other insomniacs out there to keep me entertained. ;-)

I suppose I should probably get back to studying DC factoids...time is flying quickly and the test date will be here before i know it. Random notes...It seems as though Wendee (DE) will be joining the rest of the gang (as mentioned in previous posts) at Ag Day on the Hill, so that brings our grand total to about 7 awesome folks visiting the Center during that week. Woot. Also, David (NJ) told me that he decided to visit DC this weekend, so I'll probably be seeing him in only a few days...yay DC!

Wow, this turned out to be longer than I expected...

Peace.
-Lauren

Git-r-done

2009-01-28T15:35:00.004-06:00

You got it--I'm back!! Every once in a while, I do seem to manage writing a tad more frequently than usual. It's been a productive week, and for that, I plan to write about it all before I forget. Here goes.

Last Friday, I had a nice outdoor lunch with some of the folks from Camp Bon Coeur. It was a gorgeous day out, that's for sure. I didn't make it to Family Camp this year, so it had been quite a while since I saw camp people (excluding Allie). Speaking of Allie, she's interning at the office on Fridays this semester, so I decided that I'm going to try to see her as much as I can while she's in town. The lunch on Friday was the second time I saw her since I came home from Boise, and I plan to see her again this Friday-Saturday, as well.

The weekend was pretty relaxing. I didn't do much other than watch TV movies (Hallmark, I've decided, is the best), study for the DC tour guide exam, and do some edits on grad school stuffs. Uncle Ray was in town toward the end of the week, and Nannie Lois came for the weekend, so I really enjoyed seeing them. It was the last time I'd see them until at least the summer, since I am leaving for DC in only a week and a half.

I suppose Monday was spent doing more grad school editing and letter of recommendation searching. This process has just taken forever, it seems. Bah.

Finally, yesterday, I was able to submit three online graduate school applications. Oh, and my official GRE scores came in, too. Of course, I already knew my Verbal and Quantitative scores, but I was waiting on my Analytical (writing) scores. I'd hoped to do a little better on the writing, to counteract my not-so-great scores, but I suppose I'm satisfied with how it turned out.

Today, I went to the post office to mail 3 of 5 application packets containing my resume, letters/statements of intent, assistantship applications, transcripts, and other documents. From the beginning, I've tried to avoid saying much about where I was applying, mostly because I started out by looking at a large number of schools in very diverse locations, and I didn't want to mention specifics until I was more sure of where I'd be applying. Since I have sent off three applications already, I suppose that I can share the list of schools now.

Officially, I have applied to North Carolina State (Extension Education), the University of Georgia (Nonprofit Organizations), the Clinton School of Public Service (Public Service), and Louisiana State University (some really long, confusingly named program). Tomorrow, I hope to mail off my documents for LSU and Ohio State (Ag & Extension Education). Honestly, though, I still don't know where I want to go, or what I want to do. ....So if you want to keep me in your thoughts about that, I'd surely appreciate it.

I'd also like to give a shoutout to my wonderful grad essay editors, Chris Nowicki (GA) and Melissa Askew (TX). Of course, I can't forget my official Grad School Mentor, and keeper of all things National Treasure-y, Danielle Smarsh (NJ). You're all great!! [Please accept my apologies if I have left someone out.]

Aaaaand, lastly, I just want to ask a special favor from all my readers out there. For those of you who don't know, the FACS Department at Nicholls is a very close-knit group. Not only was I a student there for three and a half years, but I was also a Student Worker in the office during my time there. The FACS Department is truly a family. Recently, I found out that a professors's daughter has been dealing with a serious medical condition. The doctors are having a hard time figuring out what's wrong and how to treat her, and for the time being, she is hospitalized in New Orleans at Children's Hospital. Not only is D.'s illness causing great concern within her family and friends, it has affected our FACS Family. Everyone is really worried about her, and wants her to get better soon. Because of this, I would really appreciate it if you all could keep this little girl in your thoughts and prayers as she battles this illness.

Thanks to all, and expect more updates soon.

DC in 10 days.
-Lauren

Flurries (of words)

2009-01-22T10:51:00.005-06:00

I know, I know, I am really behind on updating the blog these days. Believe me, though, there are reasons I haven't been writing, and I hope you accept my apologies. And anyway, I'm here today (woot--a rhyme), so get excited!

As always, starting where I left off...I did, in fact, visit Allie in Baton Rouge so that I could take the GRE, but the timing was a little different than I expected. Instead of staying with her on January 7th and taking the test on January 8th, I actually ended up spending the night at her house on the 8th and taking the test on the 9th. To make a long story short, I was lucky that to even be able to take the test on the 9th, but I did have to miss the parish 4-H Jr. Leader meeting that I was hoping to attend on the 8th. Stupid conflicting dates...I hate those.

Anyway, it was great to see Allie...it'd been foreverrrr. (Okay, just since August, but still!) We spent a lot of time talking about camp and hashing out plans for Summer 2009. In an attempt to find the testing center the night before, so that I wouldn't get lost, Allie, her cousin, and I decided to have dinner at Applebee's, near the center. Neither of them had been there before, and Misty had a gift certificate. Afterwards, we went to Wal-Mart to buy some Cajun goodies (Zapp's potato chips) for Matt Eckess and Kyle Bost, Aldersgate staff members who had their birthday that week. Then, we drove all around looking for a Red Box with the movie Juno (heh, Nathan) but when we finally did find it, we decided to watch 27 Dresses, since Allie owned it already, lol. I enjoyed the movie, and to prevent the temptation to stay up talking until the wee hours of the morning, Allie banished me to bed as soon as it was over. She even made us sleep in different rooms! Hah.

As for the GRE, I made it to the testing center wayyy early, but I guess it was better early than late, right? It's been two weeks, now, so I guess I've blocked out most of the details, but I will say that that stupid test sucks some booty. I was highly disappointed in my scores, but I'll just have to suck it up and hope for the best because I don't have time to take it again before turning in my grad school applications...nor do I want to take it again. To be honest, I don't feel like I could do any better, even if I did take it again...grr.

After the test, I drove home from Baton Rouge, only to turn around and go back to Lafayette, all the way to the north side, in fact. My brother and his friend had to meet Mr. Todd to catch a ride to 4-H Camp in Pollock for the Winter Executive Board meeting. I didn't mind the driving, but at some points, it started to get old...

On Saturday, January 10th, my mom and I set off for a weekend in Little Rock, Arkansas. When we arrived that afternoon (it's an 8 hour drive, eek), we went to camp so that I could say hello to the staff (it was a respite camp weekend) and show Mom around the facilities. Everyone was really welcoming. In fact, when I walked in, they started shouting, "THE CAJUN GIRL IS HERE!" It was so cute, lol. Momma was quite impressed with the facilities (with a 7.2 million dollar grant, who wouldn't be?), and made some comment about how it was very different than 4-H Camp, lol.

I didn't have much time to hang out with camp friends, but Matt and Kyle both seemed to enjoy the yummy chips and birthday cards that I hid in the Khaki Cabin, lol. K. Bost hung out with my mom and I when we went to dinner during his "paperwork" (off time) on Saturday night. Then on, Sunday night, he came to the hotel for a while; we watched School of Rock twice and spent some time catching up with each other. I was a bit disappointed that I didn't get to see many of the other staff members, especially Matt Eckess and some of the other people that I was pretty close to this summer...buttttt, at least I can get excited about seeing them all again this summer, which is only about 5 months away now! Woot.

On Sunday, my mom and I found a church, which happened to have been the same church that Eckess took Allie and I to once this summer. Ironic. Then we went to Arkansas Children's Hospital; I applied for my Child Life internship there, but didn't get in, so I kind of wanted to see what it was all about. For lunch, we ate at The Purple Cow Restaurant, which is the coolest place everrrrrrrrr. :-D In the afternoon, we did a test run to find the two schools I planned to visit the next morning, and then walked along the river (one of my favorite places in Little Rock) for a little while.

Monday morning, we met with someone in the Master's of Public Administration (MPA) program at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. The school was smaller than imagined, and kind of quaint in an old, familiar, sort of way. The people on staff were really nice, but I'm just not quite sure if it's the sort of program I'd enjoy studying.

Our second meeting was at the UALR Clinton School of Public Service (UACS). Just like UALR, the staff was really nice and welcoming. Their program is so unique and exciting; it sounds perfect for me, in fact. However, they are not able to offer assistantships, and funding is limited, so if I got in, I probably could not afford to go without taking a loan or something. That saddens me greatly, because I really do love the program... :-( However, I'm going to apply anyway, and see what happens.

As for my feelings toward Little Rock, in general, it definitely seemed a lot larger during this trip than it did in the summer. I think most of it has to do with the fact that we liked to stay in our own little area of the city during camp, and only ventured out on the weekends. Our corner had everything we needed--shopping, food, and...well, that's about all you need when you work at camp and only have 2 hours off a day, lol. If I were to move to Little Rock, I'd want to be able to have another little corner of life and not have to drift out onto one of the four freaking interstates anytime I wanted to go somewhere. Big cities...bah...take me back to Boise, darnit!

Anyways, what have I been doing since Little Rock...a whole lot, and a whole lotta nothing all at the same time. I had lunch with Victoria (an old 4-H friend from Abbeville) the day after returning from LR. It was nice to talk with her and catch up on each other's lives. I probably hadn't seen Victoria, or really even hung out with her since Benjamin's visit last May. Needless to say, a lot can happen in eight months.

Other days have been spent gathering a ton of essiential paperwork for my DC tour guide licenseure. I mean, seriously, it's a rediculous amount of stuff to get, places to go to get them, and money to pay for measly pieces of paper...Sheriff's Office (fingerprints-$5), parish jail (criminal history report-$10), 2 passport photos (Thrifty Way pharmacy-$10), driving record (expresslane.org-$17), 2 physicians forms (random doctor in Delcambre-$22) That's nearly $70 bucks, not to mention the 3 forms I had to have notarized, 6 character reference letters, and a few other documents to sign! All for a Class B DC tour guide license; Crazy!!

Once I secured most of my doucments for the license, and while waiting for the others to arrive, I began requesting letters of recommendation for graduate school applications. That has taken quite a while, and I'm still not finished securing letters for each of the applications. It's understanding, but sometimes frustrating when people are too busy with work to respond to my phone calls or e-mails, but I'm holding out hope that I'll be able to get everything done in time.

And while waiting for thooooooose documents to come in, I've been writing graduate school admissions essays and such. Yesterday I ruled out at least one school, maybe two, which means that I'm mostly finish writing essays now. (That one school required nine essays, and yeah, I just don't feel like writing any more.) So, as of now, I'm applying to 5, maybe 6 graduate schools...in 5 different states, lol. *And the gypsy life continues...? lol*

I also spent all of Saturday working on my application to be a Collegiate Facilitator at National 4-H Conference in Maruch. I've worked at Conference for the past 2 years and can't bear to think about missing it this year. Conference is by far my favorite 4-H experience of all time, and it will be especially special (lol) this year, because Austin is going as a delegate. Thankfully, my supervisors at WOW have been flexible in allowing me to apply for this position. Even if I am not chosen, though, I will be living at the Conference Center, so I'll still get to see everyone that week, which is super exciting. :)

Whew, so I guess that's it. Oh wait, no...I should also say that I've been reading more novels and studying DC factoids in my spare time. We were given a 300+ question study guide to prepare for the DC tour guide licensure test, which is scheduled for February 17th. I'm not a pro, yet at least, but I'm hoping that my casual studying will be worthy of something, lol. What I really need to do is get some index cards and start studying the information that way. Busy, busy.

Okay, now that's it. Off to find more means of productivity...and hopefully write again soon.

Oh, and, yay for King Cakes in Mardi Gras season. :-D
-Lauren

PS: My thoughts are with all those marching in our nation's capital this week, especially my dearest Sunshine. Best wishes toward the success of the National March for Life and for the overturning of Roe v. Wade..."As a former fetus, I oppose abortion."

Progressing in "L'Annee Nouvelle"

2009-01-06T14:17:00.003-06:00

Whattaya know...it's only been 7 days since I wrote last. Perhaps I'm getting better at this? Yeah, I doubt it. I did want to write a few days ago, though, but I've been making so much progress by the day that I didn't want to update and then something change the very next day. With things changing so quickly, I'll try to stick with updates about only concrete pieces of information. Be glad I didn't write earlier because some things have changed about four times between my previous post and this one. Believe me.

New Year's has come and gone. The day after my last post, I traveled to Brusly (just outside of Baton Rouge) to visit my dearest Sunshine, Miss Dawn Jason! Dawn and I met at LA 4-H Jr. Leadership Conference in 2004 and remain very close even though we have never lived within an hour and a half of each other. I guess that's worked well for the development of our friendship, considering she and I are both practically gypsies. You think I move around a lot--you should see this girl. Her trips aren't usually as long, but tend to be more frequent and diverse than mine. Between all of her invovlements, she's at a conference, retreat, or trip nearly every weekeend, all year long. She's been to DC at least 8 to 10 times, visiting there an average of more than twice (up to four times) each year. And ironically enough, Dawn was best friends with Annie (who would later become my roommate at Nicholls) from the time they were preschoolers...it wasn't until Annie and I became roommates that we discovered Dawn to be a mutual friend. I swear, this world keeps getting smaller and smaller...

Anywhoo. I hadn't seen Dawn since she and I visited Annie in Luling in August, so it was great to see her again, especially since we generally manage to see each other only every few months. It was nice to hang out and catch up with each other. Wednesday evening, she and I went to Katie LeBlanc's house (who I happened to have met on a LA 4-H trip in 2005, and is one of Dawn's best local friends, as well) to watch the LSU game. After the game, we continued to watch the New Year's festivities, which involved some stunt guys flipping a pickup truck and also driving a motorcycle over the arc-de-triumph in Las Vegas. Of course, we watched the ball drop...in two different time zones, lol. I sent out mass text messages wishing everyone a Happy 2009, by time zone...since I have friends in all four continental U.S. time zones (not counting Luke in Alaska, Tessa and Jesse in England, Benjamin in some other European country, and Hayley in New Zeland). Heh.

On Thursday, Dawn and I began with 10 a.m. mass at Christ the King Church on LSU's campus, since it was a Holy Day of Obligation. Then we headed out to do some shopping errands in the city. She returned and exchanged some shoes at Payless, while I bought two pairs that will hopefully be comfy and stylish for work as a tour guide in D.C., lol. We tried to exchange my photo card at Target and spend some of Dawn's gift cards, but were successful at neither endeavor there. In keeping with tradition (that began to celebrate our great GPA's at the end of each semester/quarter), we went had stuffed French toast at IHOP for lunch. Note to self: Don't go to IHOP on New Year's day; it'll be the only thing open and you'll have to wait ages to be seated. Ah well, it was worth it. We also spent some time at Barnes and Nobel...searching out some fun books about Washington, D.C. She's the expert on D.C., and it was fun to talk about exciting things to do and see, and plans for when she comes up to visit....so exciting!!!

That night, we "channeled" Danielle, our 4-H friend from New Jersey, and watched both National Treasure movies. Danielle and Dawn are both obessed with the NT movies, and have proceeded to act out various parts of the movies during their times together in D.C. Personally, I liked NT2 better, but perhaps that's because it includes England and France as well as awesome D.C. places. Hehe. It's just wayyyy cool to see D.C. monuments on a tv screen, knowing that I've been to them all at least 4 times with plenty more visits to go in the forseeable future. :-D

Friday, before I was allowed to depart from the Jason residence, Dawn and I each had some things to accomplish...both her mom and mine have been insistant on us deciding what to do with our lives -- summer study abroad for Dawn and fall graduate school for me. Therefore, we pulled out a buttload of study abroad pamphlets and spent a few hours agonizing over them. Dawn didn't know what she wanted at all, and so I decided that there are certain places she is not allowed to go, or else we're no longer friends (heh). These include Rawanda, the Congo, India, and various other "sketch" countries, lol. She is, however, allowed to go to England, France, Spain, Greece, South Africa, Australia, and New Zeland. ...So much for narrowing things down, lol. I do think we ended up narrowing some things down, or at least I provided a different perspective of thought about it all. We'll have to see what she decides, but it should be soon, considering the trip is only 6 months away!

As for me, we didn't make much progress in grad school stuffies, that day at least. Our final conclusion was that I needed to take the GRE as soon as I could manage it, andddd that I should figure out some way to visit at least Georgia and South Carolina, in addition to the Little Rock schools that I already plan to visit. [We're still working out the details for this...]

Just as soon as I arrived home, I hurried to shower and get ready to turn around and go back to Lafayette for an evening with my family. We ate at Applebee's and then proceeded to shop at J.C. Penny's, Best Buy, and Target. (Unfortunately for my Daddy, Academy closed before we managed to arrive.) It was a rather productive outing; my brother exchanged his new digital camera for a bright blue Olympus that happens to be the exact same camera that I currently own. I was able to exchange my photo card (with the receipt, this time) and pick out a new, cuter luggage set with spinner wheels. (Dawn and I decided it's sad that we travel so much that we know specifics on luggage design, lol.) We did pretty well for the trip to Lafayette that night, if I do say so myself.

The days between Friday the 2nd and today, Tuesday the 6th, have all started to blend together. In the short of things, I've been doing errands and contacting more graduate school programs. My mom and I are going to Little Rock this weekend. with plans to visit two schools there on Monday. There's also a strong chance that I'll end up in Baton Rouge again tomorrow through Thursday or Friday because I found out that I can register to take the GRE on Thursday. It would also be a great excuse to see my camp friend Allie for the first time since August and probably last time before June. Not to mention, taking the GRE now would mean getting it off my mind and out the way before I have time to develop anxiety about it, and it'd be nice to know my scores before visiting schools, too.

Two last notes before I shut up...A) Dawn called today to say that she got clearance from supervisors in D.C. to stay with me for the week of my birthday!! Woot! And, I found out that Emily from New Jersey will be in town for Ag Day on the Hill, as well. This brings the reunion total to about five people now, which is super exciting. D.C. is going to be so much fun!!

And, B) I know it's a bit overdue, but I forgot to mention it in my last post... CONGRATULATIONS to Kim and Joey (Idaho) and my long time school friend LanKhanh and her now fiance, Joey, on your recent engagements!! My how I am growing old; all my friends are getting engaged, lol. But alas, woe is life, right? I'm super pumped for these couples though, and I'll be especially looking forward to the Kim-Joey wedding because that means I'll definitely get to see all my Boise friends again in the next year and a half, at least. Yayyy. Start saving your money for plane tickets, yo. I look forward to seeing you all in New Orleans in 2010!

And with that, I'm out.
-Lauren

Keeping with Tradition

2008-12-30T21:02:00.005-06:00

Huit jours, encore.
Here goes my (fairly) weekly update.

-I've been reading like a madwoman since I've been home...not so much the last few days but otherwise, it's about all I've done. Nowadays, I'm starting to occupy my time with slightly more productive endeavors, but it has been soooo nice to read for leisure. Kind of one of those things that everyone wants to do but never has the time for...

-Christmas went well. Nothing to exciting, nor boring. Just pretty average. I will say, however, that I wore short sleeves and capris pants on Christmas Day. I know, I know, it's such a crime, right?

-The weather has been pretty finicky, as always. It's on the cool side now, but definitely not cold, nor hot and muggy. I'm okay with this balance. :) I had to laugh though...Nathan claims that he moved to Seattle (from Boise) because it rains there, so I've been complaining about how it's snowing there and how I'm really jealous, especially with all our disgusting weather here in Louisiana. I keep telling him that he moved to the wrong state (referring to the crazy amount of rain we get here). Well, to prove a point, the other night I went to weather.com to find actually data to back up my comments...and I was right!! Seattle's average rainfall is 35 inches per year, where as Abbeville's is 60 inches per year!!! Then I started comparing temperatures and realized that the lowest recorded temperature in both cities was 11*F in 1989. Crazy that both cities had the same lowest temp, and in the very same year. Interesting. And just in case you were curious, Boise's lowest recorded temperature was -25*F in 1990. ...Just some weather trivia for ya, there.

-More praise to the USPS...I got my two boxes from Boise on Friday, woot!! That means they made it here in just under a week, despite the increase in holiday shipping volumes. Niceee. I'm really quite impressed.

-Haven't called about the Child Life stuff in Lafayette yet...need to get on that though. Perhaps I'll call tomorrow, or, maybe early next week. I'll keep ya updated. :)

-England is still a possibility, but not so much for New Year's, considering New Year's Eve is tomorrow, lol. Perhaps I'll go later in January, but no decision yet. I'll be sure to post when a final decision is made.

-As for graduate schools, my mom and I spent alllll day today looking at possibilities online. I've basically narrowed it down to about 5 programs, which, after talking to Briana (friend from Boise who's also applying for the fall), I feel pretty okay with. Now I'm going to start inquiring about them and perhaps planning a visit or two, and that sort of thing. I suppose I have to take the GRE, an idea which I loathe at the moment, but woe is life. We'll see how things go. I really need to make some significant progress in this area before leaving on my next adventure (more about that shortly).

-And, last but not least, apparently my interview with the DC position did go well, because I got a call yesterday saying that I got the job! Wooot! As much as I really want to be in Boise, I think DC will be good for me. There are a lot of things that have kind of fallen into place regarding DC, so it seems like this is what I'm supposed to be doing. For one, Dawn (LA), Jeff (ID), Benjamin (OH/MI), and Gillette (MT), all 4-H friends, will be in DC for Ag Day on the Hill in March, which so happens to be the same time as my birthday. Also, my brother will be going up there twice in the spring (once for WOW and once for National 4-H Conference), and my mom will be going once...so I'll get to see them sometime. What else...hm. Even if I don't have the opportunity to work as a facilitator this year, I will get to see everyone because I'll be around during Conference, which is exciting. Anddd, today I found out that David (NJ), one of my friends from heart camp, is planning a trip to DC in February, so it will be great to see him again, too! So, I guess, all signs point to our nation's capitol for my next (semi) longterm adventure!

Alrighty, I think that's enough for now.
-Lauren