Picture Challenge Days 8-14

Here ya go!

Day 8: A Picture that makes you laugh

(tough call because there are 2 of them)

 This is Tim and I at one of our engagement photo sessions--he's just silly! And that's one of the many reasons I love him!

These are 3 guys from my RA Staff last year.. they are SO much fun! And they always would brighten up the day.. RA Training was a lot of fun that year--good memories over in BH.



Day 9: A picture of the person who has gotten you through the most

 This is my best friend, Katie!  She is my leftside and has gotten me through lots of ups and downs as we have been friends for a long time. She "gets" me.  Not sure what I'd do without KT in my life--she's an awesome friend!

Day 10: A Picture of the person you do the most ****** up things with

This is me with my old roommate and friend, Brian. (aka B-Rob).  I'm not quite sure what it meant by ****** things.. but B-Rob and I had our share of good memories and fun times down at VSU.



Day 11: Picture of something you hate

 Snakes.. Gross! Hate them, end of discussion!!!!

Day 12: A picture of something you love

Mexican Food---YUM!!! 

Day 13: A Picture of your favorite band or artist

 Dave Matthews Band--need I say more?!  LOVE THEM!!  (stop rolling your eyes in disgust Katie and Jamie!) :) jk love!!

Day 14: A Picture of someone you could never imagine your life without

I love Tim and how much my life has changed for the better with himin it.. he is a blessing for sure! We just have a lot of fun and enjoy sharing life together. I waited for this man for 28 years for me to find my Mr. Right and I can't imagine my life without him.

Well, that should hold you over for the weekend!! I'll update again on Monday!! (Cross your fingers haha)

:)

Sorry for the hiatus!!

As you can see, I did a poor job having a proper work-life balance over the last few weeks.  I apologize.  However, in my line of work in the Student Affairs world April is typically a very busy month.  They say that the "A" months are usually the busiest, and I think that I would mostly agree with that.  April/August do seem to be quite busy. August for sure!  I sometimes wish we could just skip August altogether.  But I guess it doesn't work that way.

I've been busy with work stuff preparing for the end of the year closing and gearing up to run Summer School. It should be an interesting transition and I'm giving myself some anixety about it before it's even here.  I still have about 2 1/2 weeks before the REALLY CRAZY time starts but when I start to think about it and my heart starts to race--I can just feel my Blood Pressure Rising! But I'm trying to stay on top of things and be organized and getting my RAs on the same page will help.  Then it'll be smooth sailing and after May 14 one craziness ends while the other picks up May 15.  Needless to say--May 1-May 22 will be busy for this girl!!! 
On top of that, May 14th weekend is graduation weekend and Tim is graduating with his MBA!  We are so proud of him and all his hard work that he's put into school.  This is also the weekend that our parents are going to be meeting for the first time!! EEEK :)  It'll be fine I have no fear, but that's just a tiny bit of added stress to my plate for the week.  Yay!  But I'm glad that they are finally getting the chance to meet and I think it'll go well.

This weekend is Easter Break weekend and I'm definitely looking forward to some down time.  It's been go go go go for so long that we finally get to sit back and take a breather. Tim and I are traveling to my parents house for the weekend to spend Easter with my family.  I'm very much looking forward to it!
I also realize that I'm a bit behind in the picture challenge.  I'll make up for it, I promise!!  And I hope to be able to get a better hang of the work-life balance enough so I can make the time to update my blog. Afterall, that is the point of it :)  I hope everyone has a very happy and blessed Easter weekend!!  Christ has Risen!! :)

Matthew 28: 1-10
¹ After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.  ² There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. ³ His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. ⁴ The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.  ⁵ The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. ⁶ He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. ⁷ Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.”  ⁸ So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. ⁹ Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. ¹⁰ Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”

Finally catching up!

I realize that I'm a bit behind in my picture challenge and with updates in general.  Things have been pretty busy around here lately.  On Monday, we had a terrible storm in Nashville.  Tornado warnings, lots of rain, lightning and hail, and LOTS of wind!!  Around 1:50pm we got the signal to evacuate the building and get the students to the basement.  Luckily, all of them complied and went willingly so that was good.  It was interesting because I did have to console a few students who were really nervous about the storm.  And I had to maintain my cool.  I wasn't ever really scared, but I did get nervous at one point because the sky outside the building was literally greenish/black.  And the wind was a little crazy.  The kids were in the basement for about 30 minutes or so before we were able to give the "all clear" for them to go back to their rooms. 

Tuesday was a day of rest for me. I took the day off from work.  Tim and I had lots of wedding things we needed to get done and it worked out really well since most of the people we met with can really only meet during the day. So between my work schedule and his class schedule it just worked out for the best.  We went to another rental vendor company and we had a MUCH BETTER experience this go around.  I really enjoyed the girl we worked with and she really knew her stuff.  Everything at this place was much nicer and I felt really good about our choices.  It made me excited to plan the wedding even more!  I was able to see exactly what the linens would look like on the tables w/ the decor and china and it really helped me SEE what I had been thinking all along.  I should pat myself on the back--it looks pretty darn good if I do say so myself! :)  Although, with that came the need for us to create a massive to-do list and get all sorts of details sorted out.  And you can tell that it's going to be a process, but we have a really good idea of what direction we're heading!

Wednesday proved to be a busy day at work.  Lots of finishing up paperwork, preparing for a Strengths breakfast presentation, and organizing/cleaning off my desk.  That was by far the highlight of the afternoon--seeing the top of my desk for the first time since like January!!!!  Its a great feeling. I had several judicial meetings with students as well and a couple of 1:1 meetings with my RAs.  Yay!  Wednesday night, we went over to Tim's Mom's place for dinner and to see her for a bit.  And then it was off to Starbucks to do some serious wedding talk/planning without interruptions. Now we just have to get through April and the start of May and we'll be sittin' pretty! :)

Today (Thursday) has been a pretty decent day. I had a presentation for the Strengths Team this morning at a breakfast.  I got to talk about executing strengths and how we utilize them in our daily lives and how to balance your work load.  I do feel that there has been some tension and stress this week, but that's to be expected with seasons of change.  But it's nothing that we can't handle!  God doesn't give us more than we can handle, although sometimes we wonder if God understands how much is on our plate.  But it's really his reminder to TRUST him and to SEEK him in order to get through the hard stuff.  Patience is a very hard thing to learn and its a lot easier said than done.  If we could all learn a little more patience and seek God on a more individual/ daily basis, instead of "just when we need him" then you do gain a sense of control on things because God is in control. 

Day 5: A picture of your favorite memory
Wow--this was hard for me to choose. I have several favorite memories.  But, I'll choose to go with my graduation day for my Masters Degree in Educational Leadership in Higher Education from VSU.  I was pretty dang proud of myself for making it through grad school with a 4.0 GPA and just proving to myself that I could do it.  It was 2 years of hard work that definitely paid off in the end! I'm so glad that I did that. And college in general just brings back a lot of good memories--so it encompasses my entire college career :)

Day 6: A picture of a person you'd love to trade places with for a day.
This was tough.. but as I thought about it, I decided that trading places w/ Brian McCann from the Atlanta Braves would be what I would do.  I always wanted to be a catcher, but my knees weren't built for catching--only pitching.  And I'm a big baseball fan, so who wouldn't want to be a part of a Major League baseball team?!  :)  Love me some Braves baseball!!!!! (BUT.... I'm learning to like the Boston Red Sox too!...slowly).  My fiance and his family are from the New England area and they are big Red Sox fans, so I'm trying to do my best and support them too :)  Oh the things we do for love!!!

And finally.. today... Day 7:  picture of your most treasured item.

This is my engagement ring that Timmy gave me.  I absolutely LOVE it!!!  It's exactly what I wanted and I didn't have to coach him too much with it.  It's very simple--yet classic and elegant.  Timeless.  January 29, 2011 was the most perfect day in our lives and the day our lives would start to mesh into one.  I can't imagine my life without Tim in it and I'm very blessed that God brought us together.  God does amazing things for you when you least expect it!  Now we're just waiting 205 days until the big I DO day!!! :)

Rainy Monday... and Day 4 of the Picture Challenge

Today is a yucky rainy, stormy day.  I want to stay inside all day.  But alas, I can't do that for meetings and office visit require my attendance.  However, I will say that I have been very productive this morning and already been to a convo event, had 2 judicial meetings, worked on my weekly report, and starting to get caught up with other judicial things and my to do list for the week.  So I'm feeling pretty good about today!  I just hope the storms don't turn into anything too serious or else I'll have several nervous freshmen on my hands. I've noticed that a large hand full of them get very nervous when the weather gets bad. I hope they know that my staff and I are trained to help keep them safe and inform them of inclement weather to keep them alert.  Bless their hearts! :)
I like days when I feel very productive and check a lot of things off my to-do list. It makes me feel accomplished and as if I had a successful day at work rather than a boring day at work.  Mind you, most of my days are very busy and I'm constantly on the go so I often feel like I had a successful day at work.  When I worked in another complex, I would often find myself looking for other things to do and there wasn't much to do some days. I think that changes with the demographic of your complex.  Upperclassmen= not needy students and pretty much keep to themselves.  Freshmen = needy, question hungry, conflict brewing, passive aggressive little thinkers.  :)  But I love it!!!  Most of my residents are really awesome students and fun to be around and to watch them grow.  However, there are a handful that require a lot of discipline and attention and they really should have stayed in high school one more year before going to college because they just weren't ready for it yet.  Alas, I'm sure the truth will be revealed at the end of the semester when grades come out!

I thought that I'd go ahead and do day 4 of the picture challenge.  Day 4: A Picture of Your Night
Well, technically its afternoon, but I'm already pretty sure what my evening will look like tonight and if that changes course, I'll update you tomorrow.  Same typical routine--Tim will come over after I get done w/ work, we'll make dinner and hang out, and talk.  We were gonna go for a walk today, but I think it's going to still be raining then so that's probably a no go.

Tonight, Tim and I are making Honey BBQ Chicken (with a homemade BBQ sauce) with a baked potato and veggies/salad for dinner.

Then we'll probably watch our new favorite TV show while we discuss wedding guest lists and such. Have you ever watched The Big Bang Theory?  Very funny show!!  (Thanks to our good friends Josh & Katie for introducing this to us!)

We need to work on getting the guest list number to come down a bit! oy!

That will probably sum up our evening. I know we led such exciting lives these days. :)

Ephesians 1:7 "In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace."  Just a reminder of God's unconditional love for us.

Happy Monday!

Beautiful Spring Sunday

While today started out a bit rocky it certainly ended quite lovely.  I didn't sleep very well last night because the students in the lobby were quite loud and rude at various points throughout the evening.  Of course, I had to wake up a couple of times to ask them to hush.  Eventually it quieted down and/or I was able to fall back asleep fast enough I didn't notice.  But, I must admit--it gets really old having to go out there at least once every other evening to ask them to be quiet.  Just another thing about living on-campus.  Some days it's not as bad and noticeable, but I guess my hearing last night was super sensitive.
When I woke up and was leaving to head to church, I noticed that there were Oreos all over the lobby area as if someone had an Oreo fight.  I was already running a little late for church and didn't have a chance to clean it up and thought that I'd get to it when I got back. To my surprise, when I returned this afternoon someone had cleaned it up!!  I'm not sure who it was, but I do feel as though some residents actually take pride in the place they live and respect it and don't mind cleaning up after others from time to time, while many of them could care less about the mess they leave behind.  One day they will hopefully learn how to be respectful adults and figure it out that their Momma doesn't live here.  {I said one day :) }

Today was an absolutely beautiful day outside!  I could've spent all day outside, but alas-- Tim and I don't know how to have a relaxing Sunday.  ONE DAY WE WILL LEARN!! :)  I hope.  I went to church this morning then out to lunch w/ Ben, Rebekah and Ms. Adeline.  It was really good to see them and spend time with them.  They are good people and are always fun to be around!  Afterward, we dropped off some sound equipment from church at Tim's place and ran to Target to get a few things.  And surprise to us--Diet Coke was on sale!!!! We took the last 2 cases :)  Then we finally came back to my place to relax and just unwind.  And before you knew it, it was already time for Tim to head to his Small Group Bible study.  Here I am at home cleaning house a little bit and prepping dinner.  And I managed to find some time to get caught up on my blog.  This has been fun to blog on a day-to-day basis.  I know that 90% of the time what I write probably isn't very entertaining, but I'll get better with this.  I'm learning how much is too much to say about work and life.  And I know that as I continue my writing will develop more purpose and meaning.  I'm just getting the hang of it now. :)  

Today is Day 3 of the photo challenge: A picture of the cast from your favorite show.

This is the cast from the show, Army Wives.  I absolutely love this show.  I'm not really sure why/how I made the connection with the show and became such a fan, but it's a show that I don't like to miss an episode of each week. I do remember that I was in college down in Valdosta when I started watching Army Wives.  It came on Sunday evenings and first aired in the summer time in like 2005 or 2006 or so.. I don't remember.  My sorority sisters and I would make it a Sunday evening tradition:  we'd make dinner together and watch Army Wives.  We did that every week.  It was fun! I'm sure a large portion of why I felt a "connection" with this show is that my college was located in a military town (we had an Air Force base) and a few of my sisters were dating Air Force guys or engaged to them/married to them.  I know the Air Force is different from the Army, but nonetheless these men and women and their families all make sacrifices so we can have our freedom and they keep us safe. They are way braver than I ever could be and I admire their willingness to protect and honor our country every day of their lives and not because they have to, but because they want too.

I miss those days from time to time of living in Valdosta and being in college. You may wonder why seeing that I work at a university so I technically still "live" at college, but its different.  I miss not having to really worry about too much in life and just being a student and focusing on school.  Now, I've come to the realization that there is SO much more that we need to be focusing on in this world.  But sometimes I look back and think, darn why can't life still be like that sometimes? But then I snap out of it and realize that this is exactly where I am meant to be doing exactly what I'm doing with my life… at this point.

In my next few posts, I may start to reveal an area of my life that I have recently felt a strong calling too.  I've been reading a lot about this place and I've become attached already.  I'm excited (and a little nervous) to see what God might have in store for me and Tim in this area of our lives. But I know that I trust what God has in store, I just have to be obedient and listen.   Well, it's time for me to get the pork tenderloin ready to go in the oven to be done when Tim gets back from Small Group.  I hope everyone had a great weekend and is gearing up for a good week!

Day 2 of Picture Challenge

Today is an absolutely beautiful spring day here in Nashville!!  Blue skies, sunny, light breeze--perfect.  If it was about 5-10 degrees warmer it would truly be PERFECT.  :)  Tim and I went to one of the party rental places this morning to look at linens, china, water glasses, flatware, etc.  I was overwhelmed.  And clearly, I like to take my time looking at the color choices.  I have far too many things to choose.  Luckily, we were only there for a quote and nothing is definite today.  We are going to meet with another vendor for rentals on Tuesday so at least I know kinda what we're getting into now. :)

We took a nice little drive through the backwoods of Nashville.  It was fun.  And now we're at Tim's house as he is fixing some cables for the sound system at church.  And then we're going back to my place to walk around the Boulevard and eventually meet up with Scott and Mae whenever they get in town!  I'm looking forward to seeing them and spending some time with them.

Today was a good way to start off the weekend after a very busy work week!!  It's nice to get away off-campus for a bit and just live life and not worry about noise levels in the lobby for a change.  Or just knowing that I have the flexibility in my line of work to be able to do that is very comforting!  Yesterday didn't turn out as bad as I thought it would when we had our discussions about candidates.  And we all pretty much agreed that the ones we liked most were the best fit for the job.  Offers were made to those candidates and hopefully we'll have answers on Monday.

Moving on to the picture challenge:   Day 02 - A picture of you and the person you have been closest with the longest

This is me and my Mom, Helen at my cousin's wedding.

My Mom is one of my best friends!! And she has always been there for me through thick and thin.  She's my #1 supporter and always has some advice to share.  And while I may not always agree with what she says, in the end "Mother always knows best."  We've become closer as I've gotten older.  She's a funny lady with lots of good stories to share with anyone.  She's a sweet southern woman (from Iowa) who knows how to be a gracious hostess with the mostest.  :)  Although, she's good at making me frustrated from time to time, she's my Mom and I love her a  lot and can't imagine life without her.

Well, now that Timmy is down fixin' cables I reckon we'll be on our way to enjoy the day! Hope everyone has a fabulous weekend!!

30 Day Picture Challenge and other info

Let's see... work this week has been really busy. We are in the middle of RD hiring season.  And that often calls for very busy days, extra meetings, extra time spent with candidates and missing out on a lot of things happening in my building.  It was hard to rearrange the schedule of 11 RAs to find new 1:1 meeting times and juggle a candidate for several days.  Luckily, this process is coming to a close--slowly but surely.  Today is our last on-campus candidate.  And hopefully my boss will be able to make a decision on the best fit candidate for the positions we have open by the end of the day.  Otherwise, today's wrap-up meeting is going to take a while!  And just in time for this busy "season" to be over we are gearing up for closing and end of the year procedures combined with myself and a few others running summer school.  Oh the fun challenges that lie ahead.  I'm looking forward to tackling new things and gaining the experience, but at the same time I hope and pray that I have the patience needed to get me through it.  Otherwise, it's going to be an awfully long summer.

This weekend, Tim and I are going to do a few wedding planning things so that'll help get us back on track with getting details sorted out.  We both put wedding planning 'on hold' while we were traveling for school and work during March.  But, we are both home now with no plans to travel anytime too soon.  And we have 7 months until our big day!!!!  WOO!!!  We still have plenty of time to plan things, but with both of us being very much "to do list" people and planners, it's easier to get it all done now.  So, this weekend we are going to one of the vendor rental locations to price out linens, chairs, china, flatware, etc.  And to look at center piece ideas.  I'm hoping this sparks some awesome ideas in both of our minds for the vision of what we want for our reception.  It should be fun!   I'm looking forward to it.  And of couse, looking forward to just spending some time with Tim off-campus.  I feel like I've been trapped on-campus this week.  It'll be nice to get away a little bit.  Saturday night, my brother and sister-in-law are going to be in town and we're going to hang out with them for a bit, so that'll be nice! And then Sunday, we have church and hopefully we'll just relax for the rest of the day.  Tim and I have a bad habit of not knowing how to take it easy and actually relax and have downtime.  We're working on learning how to do that better.  :)  hopefully!

Alright, I'm gonna do this photo challenge thing!
31 days of photo fun!
Day 01 - A picture of yourself with ten facts

                                 This is me at the Nashville Zoo when my friend Crystal came in town.

10 Fun Facts about Lacey:
1. I have naturally curly hair.  I love it most days, but when its humid and during summer--I absolutely HATE it.  I feel like a chia pet and can feel my hair growing as I stand outside.. so I try to stay inside a lot :)
2. I have several OCD tendancies that even manage to annoy me sometimes!  For example: my bed HAS to be made a certain way, every day.. certain pillows on a certain side of the bed.  It's always the first thing I do when I get out of bed--even before visiting the restroom!  I also can't stand odd numbers so I like for things to be even.  However, both my wedding date and my birthdate are odd numbers so those are the only exceptions I'll make.
3. When I was 15 years old, I drove my brother's custom paint job Ford F-150 into Avondale Lake on Dec 23, 1996. That truck was a special gift to my brother from my grandfather who worked for Ford for several years.  I totalled the truck. He got a brand new one a few days later. He has still yet to thank me for that, wonder why? ha.
4. My best friend is named Katie.  We have been friends for about 10 years now... she is the only person (other than my family and Tim) who I can take the honest to goodness truth about anything from.. she can be harsh and blunt, but she is a loving friend who does so out of care.  We get each other.  Without Katie, my life wouldn't be as fun and I wouldn't have my "person" to talk to about life things.  She's my leftside.
5. I played flute from the 6th grade through 12th grade.  I hated it.
6.  I was in Marching Band in High School.. I secretly loved it, but acted like I was too cool for it.  Several of my good friends came from the Band of Stars Marching Band :)  Bus trips were always the most fun and most informative and that's all I have to say about that.
7. I have the most amazing fiance', Tim whom I love and adore and can't wait to spend my life with forever!!! He's very funny, sweet, smart, good Christian man, and definitely makes me be a better person because of him.  I could go on and on about him.  We work well together.  We understand each other.  And we have TONS of fun together!! Life with Timmy is going to be AWESOME (it's already pretty great, but I mean in more of the sharing life together aspect).  Now, if only October would get here already!!!
8.  I used to play softball for 8 years and I was pretty darn good at it too.  I loved to pitch and play first base. I made the All-Star Team my last year and it was a traveling summer All-Star team.  It was a big deal in my county.
9. I have seen the Dave Matthews Band perform live 21 times.  DMB is my favorite band.  I try not to ever miss a summer tour show and sometimes go twice. I have been to a DMB concert every summer since 1995.
10.  I have a terrible fear of little people that I am trying to overcome.  I'm a lot better with it these days than I was a year or two ago.  It's not something I'm proud of being afraid of, but more or less trying to figure out how to overcome it. 

Never met a questionaire I didnt like...

I never met a questionaire that I didn't like. And maybe this will help me get into the habit of updating regularly.  I said maybe so don't get your hopes up too fast!! :)  I  'borrowed' this from my best friend's blog.  And yes, I'm thinking of taking her Photo a Day challege thing too. :)  So there!   What can I say, the girl has good taste!! :)

(A) Age: 29

(B) Bed Size: Full size... at least for 7 more months and then when Tim moves in we will have a King size!! FINALLY

(C) Chore You Hate: Cleaning the toilet/shower.  It's just not enjoyable.

(D) Dogs? I would love to have a dog some day!  Tim and I have been talking about this. Once we no longer live on a college campus we will have a dog or two.  We are contemplating getting a bulldog, (well thats what Tim wants) and I would love a Golden Retriever.

(E) Essential Start Your Day Item: Diet Coke.  Enough said!

(F) Favorite Color: Blue and green and occassionaly purple. But mostly blue.

(G) Gold or Silver? Silver. White Gold if I really have a choice.

(H) Height: 5"6 or so..

(I) Instruments You Play: I used to play the piano and the flute very well.  I probably can't do either very well anymore, but I really wish I would've continued on with playing piano!!  Maybe one day, I'll  get back to it.

(J) Job Title: Residence Director. 

(K) Kids: No kids yet, but Tim and I would like a family some day.

(L) Live: Nashville, TN

(M) Mom's Name: Helen

(N) Nicknames: Laceylou, Capt Lacey, and several affectionate names that Timmy calls me.

(O) Overnight Hospital Stays? When I had my gall bladder surgery.. my Katie (best friend) stayed with me in the frozen tundra of a room until my family could be there.  She's a great friend for that!!

(P) Pet Peeve: People who aren't very good drivers.  Especially those that drive with their blinker on and you never know where they are going to turn or if they are just clueless.

(Q) Quote from a Movie:  "The odd thing about this form of communication is that you're more likely to talk about nothing than something. But I just want to say that all this nothing has meant more to me than so many somethings. "  Kathleen Kelly {You've Got Mail}

(R) Right or Left Handed? Right

(S) Siblings: my big brother, Scott

(T) Time You Wake Up? 6:50am on the weekdays and on the weekends I'm usually up by about 8:30-8:45am at the latest.

(U) Underwear: Little personal huh? :)  Let's just say that I have a large collection of them and they are very colorful.

(V) Vegetable You Dislike: Cauliflower

(W) What Makes You Run Late: Myself if I do run late, but I'm typically a punctual person.  But occassionally sometimes work things come up and might set me back a little bit.

(X) X-Rays You've Had Done: X-ray of my gall bladder and then a year later on my kidneys

(Y) Yummy Food You Make: I'm a pretty good cook and do a lot of things well.  I'd say that my Poppy Seed Chicken is one of my best dishes, but so are my pot roasts and veggie beef soups.  And Tim says I do a really good job with chili and I dont even eat chili! I only make it because I know he enjoys it. :)(Z) Zoo, Favorite Animal: Elephants. Or panda bears!

In other news, this song always puts me in the best mood!!  I'm not really sure what it is about this song, but I really enjoy it!! :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGMabBGydC0

Time to see how long I'll keep up with this!

   
     Well, this has been something that I have been slowly inspired to do.  I love reading blogs, but often find that there just isn't enough time in the day for me to write a blog or keep up with it.  I always say that I'll do that, but then I don't because I often get bogged down with work stuff or would rather hang out with Tim or friends instead of blogging.  Then I look back on it and I have many thoughts floating through my head that I feel would be better if I get them out.  So, here's to seeing how long I can keep this up.

     Let's see, where to start?!  My inspiration for this blog actually came to me while I was in Philadelphia for a work conference about 2 weeks ago.  I attended a session entitled: Creating a Work-Life Balance for Live-On Professionals.  I thought, "Awesome!! That's exactly what I need to attend and learn about."  Well, most of what I heard, I already knew.  I am a live-on professional at a university.  While many would turn their noses up at the opportunity to live in the residence halls with the students, others completely understand why I do what I do.  I absolutely love working with college students!  I feel as though I'm able to connect and relate to students and help them through the stuff they are going through and give examples with the things I experienced in my college days.  There is no doubt about it that some days are very hard and trying and make me question why I do this at all.  But there's always that one student who sticks out to you and comes back to say "Thank You for helping me, " and I'm quickly reminded that THIS is why I do my job: to impact the lives of college students and help them stay on a path to success in their lives. 

     Learning how to balance life while living in a residence hall with students can prove to be difficult.  This is mainly because you are constantly "on-call" even when it isn't your turn to be on-call for the month.  Having the responsibility for 410 freshmen lives can be a daunting task, but that's why I have a powerful team of RAs that help me supervise this crew.  Many students are trouble makers and like to push the envelope with the policies to see what they can get away with and wonder if they'll be caught. {Have no fear little freshmen, I always catch the bad guy!!} :) However, several of the students really make the experience worthwhile and remind you why you're here and enjoy this. 
    
     Being a live-in professional has it perks and it's downsides as well.  Perk #1:  fully paid apartment (w/ utilities)= no rent.  Perk #2: access to maintenance to fix things on a whim if something is broken.  Perk #3: No commute to work! Which is extremely helpful since gas prices are a tad on the crazy side these days.  Downside #1: apartment located right off main lobby= stares from students every time you come and go from your apartment. Downside #2:  living on campus= surrounded by noise pretty much 24/7.  Downside #3: having to deal with water leaks, fire alarms, alcohol violations, drug violations, roommate conflicts (girls can NEVER get along), and many other types of emergency situations and policy violations at any given time during the day; but mostly after midnight.  After a while, it starts to wear you down.  And its important to GET OFF CAMPUS even if for only an hour to have some you time. 

    I'm finding out for myself lately, that it's really important to make sure you take time for myself.  And sometimes that might mean not seeing Tim, not calling people back, not participating in various events, or whatever because I simply just need some me time.  I'm currently planning my wedding for October 2011 with my fiancé', Tim.  It's very easy for me to get caught up in wedding details and suddenly forget that I have work responsibilities to tend too.  Although, it's also very easy for me to get caught up with work stuff and forget that we have an appointment to meet with the caterer or with the manager at the reception venue. How does one create a balance in their life to juggle all of that?!  Part of me knows that my job is a high priority sometimes because it's the reason I'm here in Nashville and why I've been able to stay here (at least for now).  But then part of my realizes that Tim is a priority in my life now as well.  Then I noticed that time spent conversing and catching up with close friends and family slips because I push that off too easily too.  There just isn't enough time in the day to do everything I want and need to do.  Above all, my highest priority being my relationship with God suffers through all of this.  It's so easy for me to push aside my devotion time/prayer time with God because I'm just too busy.  And then things start piling up and piling up and it gets to be frustrating.  I have found that when I am disciplined in my time spent with God that everything else seems to fall in place as it should.  Funny how that works isn't it?  But it’s also so easy to just push that part of my life aside and say "I'll come back to this tomorrow."  And tomorrow turns into 2 days, turns into next week and before I know it.. I haven’t had any prayer time in a month and I'm feeling all sorts of BLAH! 

    So this is me.. going through life of juggling fiancé', work, family and friends, God, wedding planning, and everything else that I'm involved in and want to be involved in.  I'm just trying to figure it all out and make it work.  Sometimes it just takes a reminder, sometimes it takes discipline, and sometimes it takes rearranging your schedule or waking up earlier to be able to do it all in one day.  But, this is life... and I'm getting through it.  One step at a time.