Sunday, August 31, 2008

Officially declared: Hurricane Evacuee.

After one re-scheduled flight and one cancelled flight, I'm now officially stuck in Ohio...will write more later, when I'm not running on 2 hours' sleep, if that.

Having a fantabulous time here in the O-H, but likely heading up to Michigan for the week...

then, Idaho?

O-H-I-Oooo.
-Lauren

Thursday, August 28, 2008

Gustav is a dirty word in my book.

If you guys only knew how much hassle this trip has been, and it's not even over yet. Better yet, I don't even know if I can get home, but these are two completely different stories...ones that I may share at some point, IF I ever make it home.

Aiming to arrive home Sunday afternoon, through Lafayette, that is, but no approval from Delta at the moment, so, who knows. Maybe I'll just stay here forever?

...and if I get home, will I even make it to Idaho for work on the 8th, considering my flight is scheduled for the 4th (and the storm will make landfall on the 2nd)?

So, I'm in Canton tonight, leaving for Columbus at 6:45 a.m. tomorrow, until, I'm not sure when. Should have internet access at Mike's in C-bus tomorrow, but just in case I dont...I'll give an update someday, probably after I'm in Idaho, considering I probably won't have electricity once I make it home, for who knows how long.

Good times, people. Good times.
-Lauren

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Go away, Gustav!

Well, here I am...hanging out in the FACS Department while I wait for Ms. Marsha to get off so she can bring me to the airport. In the meantime, I'll go ahead and write a little... What's that--a blog two days in a row? You got it, dude!

This morning, I met with Dr. Junot about the article we are writing; we want to publish the results of the 4-H study I did for my Honors Thesis. Then, I went to bring Ms. Marsha the buckeyes I made for her and ended up getting distracted by some of the many awesome people in our office. One of those great ladies, Dr. Kirkley, informed me that she will be coming to visit me in Idaho for my instructor evaluation! Yay. I'm so excited and can't wait--we'll have a blast!

For lunch, I went to St. Thomas (Catholic Student Center/Church) for the Tuesdays with Thomas, "Not on Bread Alone" free lunch. There, I met Jason and Lindsey (former roommate), as I hadn't seen them since May and won't see them again until at least December. It was really great to see everyone. Jason even took me to see the new dorm, which I will affectionally refer to as "the hotel" from this point forward. Okay, seriously people, this place is freaking' insanely nice. It truly does look like a hotel! Craziness. When I come back with Lauren on Monday, I'll bring my camera and take some pictures. You'd never even guess this place was a dorm. I mean, really.

Now, I'm just "chillin," lol. Looks like I will be getting the money for a scholarship that I apparently won in May, afterall. (It didn't show up on my fees, so I thought I was going crazy and somehow imagined winning the scholarship, lol). This is good, because it will hopefully pay for most of Dr. Kirkley's airline ticket to visit me in October.

Speaking of flying, have you guys realized there's a freakin' hurricane out in the Carribbean? Yeah, tell me about it. Stupid Hurricane Gustav has got his sights set on the Gulf Coast, but it better not be Louisiana if I have anything to say about it. Mom is worried that I will get stuck in evacuation traffic on my way home from Ohio and said something about me possibly flying straight to Idaho instead of coming home. Um, this.is.not.an.option! I don't have enough or appropriate clothing for three months in Idaho without coming home. Eek. And, if I do make it home, I better be able to make it out on Septeber 4th. Cuz, um, if not, we will have a problem, a very serious problem. So, everyone say their prayers and tell Gustav to GO AWAY!

Anxiously excited,
-Lauren

O-H-I-O, here I come!

Wow. So, I've been wanting to go to Ohio for over a year (probably much longer), now, and I cannot believe that my wish is about to come true! It's so surreal! Earlier I was talking to a few people online, one of which was Kayleigh, a CBC co-worker that I'll be staying with for my first two days in Ohio. We kept saying how we couldn't believe we were going to see each other in mere hours. It's nuts. ...Super exciting though!

Am I ready? I sure hope so. Tonight I printed a bunch of info for the graduate programs I'm going to visit as well as some documents showing my coursework from Nicholls, and that sort of thing. I'm happy to say that the packing process was not nearly as difficult as I expected, though I haven't quite figured out my shoe-situation yet. (Heh, the joys of being a girl?) Perhaps all the traveling I've done this year, and particularly this summer, have prepared me for efficient packing? Hm...at least I got something good out of this summer...jk. :-p

Tomorrow I'll be heading out of town fairly early in the morning...gonna spend the day in Thibodaux visiting people that I won't see again for at least a few months, maybe more. It'll be fun to hang out in the FACS office for a while too; I already miss my FACS family so much. Then, Ms. Marsha is bringing me to the airport in New Orleans to catch my 6:05 p.m. flight to Atlanta. I finally arrive in Columbus (C-bus, I hear is what the locals call it, lol) at midnight...to Kayleigh and Domenic's (another CBC co-worker) open arms! Yay!

I've got some big, and not-so-big plans for my stay in Ohio, but I'm really most excited about seeing everyone. Altogether, I hope to about ten friends that I've met over the last few years from various experiences such as 4-H and heart camp. It'll be super amazing to see everyone and add another state to my list of "Where I've Been."

Anyways, it's pretty late...I just wanted to give everyone another heads up about my globe-trotting plans. Hehe.

'Night.
-Lauren

Friday, August 22, 2008

Bumin' around.

I know what you're thinking..."Even when Lauren's at home, she doesn't make time to give us updates." Yeah, yeah. I think the bigger issue here is that when Lauren's home, she doesn't do anything worth sharing.

So last week, I spent the night at Annie's (former roommate) in Luling. Dawn (my great Baton Rouge/LA Tech/4-H friend, Annie's best friend from childhood) also came to visit, which was wonderful. I hadn't seen Dawn since we worked at National 4-H Conference in DC in March, and Annie since we moved out of our apartment in May. We had a wonderful time watching the Olympics and playing Phase 10 (hehe). The buckeyes I made were a huge hit; I'll have to remember to bring more next time. ...And of course, we stayed up wayyy wayyy late talking. But that's okay, we missed each other, alright?

Graduate Day. It was sooo nice to see everyone back at school. The FACS department is such a special family for me, and everyone seemed really interested in hearing about my summer as well as sharing our internship plans. I could have stayed around forever just catching up with everyone. However, it was a day of business, afterall, and there was plenty to be done.

All 15 or so interns met with our teachers to go over the syllabus and explain the details of how to turn in paperwork, that sorta thing. Needless to say, I'm starting a month after everyone else and I really hope I remember everything I have to do. Then, we had to get signatures and turn in our application for graduation, buy our cap and gown, and see about other random, optional things. After all of that, I met up with Annie and Jen (other former roommate) for the assembly-type thing. There were speakers from the Alumni Federation and Career Services, cool door prizes (I won a Starbucks gift card--yay!), and tasty food and wine. It was really great to see Jen (and wish her luck on her recent engagement to Logan!); the three of us enjoyed our time together, the last little bit of it before graduation in December...

I've come to refer to last weekend as one filled with camp love. Mike B., the former CBC drama instructor who is currently working on his second graduate degre at Ohio State, came to Lafayette for a visit on Friday night. In honor of his visit, a group of local camp people went out to eat and played a rousing 2-hour game of Phase 10 at the pottery studio afterwards. (heh) It was great to see Mike; he didn't come to camp this year so it had been a year since we'd all seen him. Lucky for me, I'll be seeing Mike again in just a few days when I head up to Ohio for a visit of my own...more about that later.

Another camp friend was in town for the weekend, this one, however, from Camp Aldersgate! Yep, that's right, one of the Bostie Boys came down to Cajun Land for a visit. Allie Alligator (from Baton Rouge), of course, joined in on the fun. Kyle, Allie, and I had a great time hanging out, eating Cajun food (even though Kyle refused to try the gumbo at Prejean's--what a tragedy), and goofing around. We even dragged him with us to see Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 (great movie, btw). I have to also say a very special thanks to Kyle for making Allie and I some sweet bracelets using the colors of the cabins at camp (Orange, Lime/Moss, Yellow/Khaki, Blue, and Eggplant)--they're great!

And alas, my week at home has been rather bum-like, but that's quite alright with me. Who says watching tv, reading, scrapbooking, and interneting is a bad thing? Not I. ;-) It's called "Lauren time," and I definitely need(ed) it.

Next week I'm going to Ohio to see camp and 4-H friends as well as visit two graduate schools and perhaps a child life hospital program. It should be fun. And, only 13 days 'til "I'm leaving, on a jet plane..." to Idaho! (Yeah, I just realized this is my last Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday in Louisiana until December. eek!)

Until next time,
Lauren

Monday, August 11, 2008

CBC has my <3

Well, I've been home for 9 days now, and I'm finally getting around to writing about the amazing place called Camp Bon Coeur. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Camp Bon Coeur, CBC is a camp for children (ages 7-16) with heart defects. Held at the Acadian Baptist Center in Eunice, campers and staff come from across the country to take part in archery, canoeing, sports, heart class, horseback riding, art, swimming, teambuilding, and much, much more. This was my third summer working at CBC, and my second as the Teambuilding instructor.

As Teambuilding instructor, I lead the campers in fun games and activities each day. Session A (ages 7-11) TB class consisted of Life Skills and Conflict Resolution lessons that included activities designed for campers to practice communication skills, develop a positive self-image, and increase cooperation/teamwork. I was so proud of my little camers for making an 100 A++ on the final exam (last class/day of review)! They knew every new vocabulary word and learning model, and could even give examples of how everything we discussed relates to real life. I was so impressed! Session B (ages 12-16) had a great time too; we played fun games such as The Human Knot, Wink, 4 Corners, and much more. I will always remember Unit 2 for their 5-second-Knot that blew away the competition for the Apache Relay. Good job, guys! (Gosh, I love those kids...)

As for other aspects of camp, we had some rough patches, but that comes with the territory. No major medical issues (though a few minor scares), even though there's just something about camp that attracts food borne illness. heh. Our staff, however, was just plain dynamite. It has been said that this was probably one of the best group of staff members that CBC has ever seen. We had a great balance of old, new, and returning staff, as well as former campers versus wanna be heart kids (lol), old and young, and out-of-staters and locals. We all banded together quite nicely to make a fierce group...even if we did lose to both the campers and *hides behind hands* the ABC Staff in whiffle ball.

On the personal side of things, some friendships were strained this summer, but in the end, it all turned out okay. Some old friendships were re-kindled and new ones began. Next year will be the 25th anniversary of camp; we've got a new logo, website, and other marketing plans in the works. It will definitely be interesting to see how the camp family evolves into this new era of greatness.

(If you, or anyone you know, knows a child with a heart condition or is interested in working at camp, please let me know. Feel free to check out the camp's website at www.heartcamp.com)

--

Like I said, I've been home for a week, and I'll be here for two more before spending a weekish in Ohio and then heading up to Idaho for three months. I definitely needed some "Lauren time" at the end of this summer, and so I'm very much cherishing my time at home. At this point, I have no desire to go anywhere, do anything, or see anyone. I just want to stay home, and lay around reading, watching tv, or playing online. I'm just so thankful for this time...watching the olympics and spending time with my family has been great.

Tomorrow, I head to Luling to spend the night with Annie and her family, and then I'll be in Thibodaux on Wednesday for my mandatory internship meeting and NSU Graduate Day.

I'll be in touch.
-Lauren