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
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Jet Setter
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.
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.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Off to See the Wizard
[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
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
Saturday, September 26, 2009
It's a Record
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. ;-)
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. ;-)
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
No Place I'd Rather Be
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
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
Friday, July 31, 2009
"Break Week(s)"
*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.
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.
Monday, July 6, 2009
First 1/2 Camp = Done
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
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
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