Baking and Shaking

The title admittedly is weird, but I figured it matched what I was going for in the post... 

Sorry to keep talking about RA stuff, I feel like that's all that comes out of my mouth and in this instance, my fingers so I apologize in advance. Just tell me to shut up when it gets old. 

Week one down. Only... a lot more to go. It was a decent week. The highlights being finding out who vandalized our hall and discovering some shady happenings. Needless to say, if I ever get the opportunity to, I'd love to watch more security videos and nab the goons that try to mess up our hall again. Whoo. RAs 3, residents 0. Today was an awesome day. It started out with the farmers market and Rick's Bakery (so stinking delicious). Then I came home, worked the desk for 4 hours and then went to the store to buy cookie ingredients. It was a friends birthday so we went out to dinner to this super cute Italian place here in Fayetteville called Mezza Luna and had just a fun time. After, I made chocolate chip cookies (after my co RA ran to get baking soda... turns out it's not baking powder you need for cookies) and we watched an Indiana Jones movie in the south theater with about 40 other people. Total win. After the movie, I won over a few residents hearts by delivering chocolate chip cookies. I'm not trying to bribe them but hey, if they like me better now because of it, I'm not complaining!

The first week of classes went well, I'm glad they're over, I'm ready to get into the swing of things and get comfortable in my classes though there are some I'm not particularly looking forward too. Oh well, we have to just grin and bear it ya know? I can't change the core requirement as much as I'd love to. 

Anyway, it's late. I'm tired and need my sleep haha. I'm not officially an old lady. Church is moving to 3 services tomorrow so we'll see if this helps the overcrowding issue we've been having. I'm so excited to be back guys... you don't even know. 

Till I write again!

Jacks

Quote of the Day: "Time is the most valuable thing that we have, because it it the most irrevocable." ~ Dietrich Bonhoeffer. 

It's Official!

We've broken the 1,000 visitor mark for my blog! That made my day when I saw that on my page. Thanks for all the support! Even though you all don't leave comments, I feel like maybe the things I write are being read and making someone smile, or think. :) My friends and family are the best in the world. Just saying.

Well, 47% of Maple South has moved in and I can't believe school starts in a week! How fast time flies when you're having fun... It's been a blast these past few weeks, not gonna lie. The training itself was alright, (I mean, how much fun can you have while sitting through meeting after meeting?) but it's been the time spent with my Co RAs that have made it a blast. We've been hanging out and just getting to know each other as friends. So fun. We had our first floor meetings Sunday night and it went pretty well. I'm glad we got the kinks out and know what we definitely need to say for our next floor meeting Thursday. I feel like I'm in a good place right now with everything that's been happening, I'm excited and hopeful that my residents will build a great community and I know that if my attitude matches what I want theirs to be hopefully it'll all work out alright!

Rush is going on this week, which is weird to think that I could've been a part of that again if I had decided to. God's doing work in my heart though and is making me content with being a "GDI". (Gosh Darn Independent in my words). I feel blessed to have my "fraternity" of RAs to bond with- he's definitely shown me that there are other ways to be involved than the greek system- and for that I'm so grateful. He really does know what he's doing, it just gets frustrating when we're not handed the plans ya know? Anyway. I can't wait, my friends move up on Thursday and I'm so ready for them to be back up on campus. It feels weird not to have them here and I'm ready to start Sophomore year. WHOO! Sorry that these last few posts have been all about school, RA, and non interesting stuff- I promise I'll try to come up with something better for my next one ;).
Till I write again!
Jacks

Quote of the Day: Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that is is stupid. Albert Einstein

Door dec time

I'm currently sitting in my room listening to Dirt Road Anthem by Jason Aldean. Confession time: I'm secretly a country music lover. Don't give me any twangy crap but most of the stuff they play on the radio, I like. When I hear this song, I just wanna sing along and bob my head. Don't lie. You do it too. :)

Today was day two of RA training and even though we got off to an info packed start, the day was really good. We had a session with Reggie- aka the coolest person you'll ever meet on this campus- and UAPD and writing incident reports. All this stuff makes me feel like all I'll ever be doing is paperwork, which I know is a lie but seriously, they make it sound so much worse than it is :). I suppose that's how they prepare you eh?! Anyway, After that, we went as a staff to Hobby Lobby to get out door dec stuff and then  some of us went out for mexican food because the cafeteria had closed by the time we got home. It was so fun. Roxy, Justin and I worked on the door dec stuff for our floor and then had ice cream with our other RAs in our CREs apartment. Roxy's car had broken down earlier in the day and so she asked me if she could borrow my car or if I could drive her/go with her to her friends new apartment. I'll admit the thought passed through me head "just stay in, it'll be weird and who knows if it'll even be fun." but I pushed it aside and the advice of my sister to get out and just meet new people no matter what came into my head so I told her I'd love to go with. So we went and it was so much fun! We ended up at an ice cream shop and sat around and talked. It wasn't awkward or anything and the people were so welcoming. I had a blast and I'm so glad I went out and didn't just stay in.

I'm feeling way more at home now, (Sorry if my last post worried some people), I'm really doing good, I just had a rough time saying goodbye which is totally understandable, ya know?! :) I can't wait to make my room feel more cozy, right now it's pretty bare, I wanna bring in some more canvases and stuff to put on the walls, I may even rearrange. I don't know what to do with all this space, so it'll be interesting coming up with a new way to put stuff! I'm so ready for more training, bring it on. I can't wait to meet my residents and just dive right into school! Whoo! GO HOGS! haha
Till I write again!
Jacks

Thought for the day: nicknames are so interesting. They say a lot about the person giving them and the person receiving them. My co RA Roxy decided my new nickname with be Apple Jacks, so I'm excited to see if it'll catch on :). Night all!

First Day

Well, it's official! I'm moved in, and ready to start my RA training in the morning! It's a little overwhelming so think that I'm going to be responsible for kids and for making sure their transition to college goes smoothly and they're all taken care of. Like any new thing I do, at the front end I have my doubts.

What am I doing?
Am I cut out for this?
Will the kids like me?
Did I bite off more than I can chew?

All these things have been weighing on my heart all day, as I moved in and said goodbye to my family. I didn't cry last year when they left. I was excited for college and I had Katelyn to keep me company and take my mind off the fact that life had changed. I cried this year. I don't know. I think it's the combination of knowing my sister won't ever live at home with me again, saying goodbye to my mom and dad after spending a great summer with them, or not really having any of my friends here to keep me company. I know that in a few weeks I'll be in the swing of things and I'll look back and think, What was I worried about? But right now, I'm scared. I know it'll be a good year and God's definitely got it all in his hands but I also get nervous and doubtful. I'm excited to go to my church on Sunday and get back into that. I'm hoping to volunteer so I'm so excited that I'll be able to get more involved this year than I was before. Well, I guess I better get ready for bed. It's been a long and emotional day and training starts early tomorrow morning.
Till I write again,
 Jacks!

Thought of the day: Maybe next year they shouldn't pick the hottest day of the year (112) to have kids moving in. Just a thought :)