30 by 30: the late post with valid excuses

i have had a busy couple of weeks.  some of that craziness belongs to this update, and some belongs to may's.  so stay tuned for that.

here's what happened from march 22-april 21:

2) i paid off another hundred dollars...so around $300 left until my debt to dad is gone!

11) the monthly cooking blog featured the freshmen.  it's not hard to find due to my lack of blogging, but just in case, it's HERE.  that makes 17 out of 20.

16) i ran a marathon!  woohoo!  i actually ran about 26.7 miles.  missed a turn somewhere in mile 22, so that was a fun adventure.  my time was 4:57, so not nearly the marathon i was hoping to run, but i made a friend in last couple of miles who was really encouraging, saw my family and friends about 6 times throughout the day, and had a pretty joyful spirit the whole time, even while my body was rebelling against me.

i ran the first 7 miles with liz and steph and then had to do the next 19 on my own.  they ran great times.  this picture is at mile 15.  please notice the super cool fanny pack i am rocking (thanks, mom!).

i promise i was not nearly this smiley after my half marathon.  i'd say we look pretty decent for having busted our butts, though.

29) i only finished one book this past month...hopefully, getting grad school out of the way will increase my reading time.  :)  i read career information, career counseling, and career development.  that makes 71 out of 100.

the monthly cooking segment: feeding the freshmen

my internship this semester is with the honors college freshmen. they are cool, and i like them. so aside from stuff that they have to do with me (i know, coffee dates can be such a drag, right?), i gave them some stuff they could choose to do if they wanted.

so i invited them to dinner. and sixteen of them came. plus emily and olivia, the two peer facilitators.

needless to say, i had to fix a crapton of food. two lasagnas (one with meat; one without), six loaves of garlic bread, salad, easy cheesy lemon bars, and toll house cake. i think they left satisfied.

walking through

my computer has been giving me fits lately (surprise, surprise), so we'll see if this goes as planned...but i am going to drop two posts on you today. kapow. see if you can handle it.

i posted a new song. well, it's not really new. i wrote it three weeks ago for my final exam in theories and techniques of the helping relationship. i know...grad school is fun, right? ha. i wish my whole exam had been to just write a song. alas, that was not the case. anyway, for one of the questions, we were supposed to use our creative juices or energy or something to depict ourselves in the helping relationship...so we could draw a picture, write a poem, or whatever. i wrote a song. and then i played and sang it to my freshmen, because they are the ones who inspired it.

so go check it out.

oh, hey, a new baby...

ok, i am FULLY aware i have been shamelessly neglecting you for several weeks. i sort of apologize. but not really. it's been a little busy in my world.

1) winter. gross. i hate it. mostly because of my car and the completely probable reality that he will slide off the road and kill me. but also because i just like summer so much better. sunshine that doesn't blind me from the glare off the ground is preferable.

2) school. yup. i had some. i am totally done with all of my homework and projects and papers (and trust me when i tell you it was a CRAPLOAD, especially last week). i am spending today finishing grading stuff for my freshmen, and then i will be donezo.

3) brittany and bradley had their baby on my dad and grandma's birthday! at 6 pounds, 3 ounces and 20 inches, he is a tiny little bundle of sweetheart and joy. when lily was born, she didn't open her eyes forever...probably too difficult to open them between all the rolls of fat. haha. charmer daniel bradley, on the other hand, was just wide-eyed and enjoying the world right away. he is a doll. and watching lily with him was amazing. just precious. she sang, 'have i told you lately that i love you?' to him.


so. now that my chaos is coming to an end, you can expect a regular bevy of updates. actually, you might get several today. i have a few poems and a song to upload. and some other stuff. so we'll see. anyway, friends, i am back.

coffee coffee coffee

so one of the perks of being a breakout leader for my freshmen is that i have a card that lets me get free coffee with them at the coffee place at the student center. rock on. i love coffee. and i really love free coffee.

side note: i have had a lot of coffee and not much food today. that might explain why i have already written 'coffee' so many times. and why the screen is shaking in front of me. maybe.


anyway, i've already met one on one with four of my freshmen and have another two meetings set up. i have learned i have a great many things in common with my young adults. casey and i like to be in control and want a lot of kids. jason and i love movies (batman!) and video games (tony hawk!). taylor and i are perfectionists with pride issues. willis and i love fantasy football and hate phillip rivers.

but having coffee with 18 year olds that you only see for an hour every week is a little like going on first dates. again and again. it can be awkward. awkward like this:

haha. oh, napoleon.

so it's not like i wasn't having enough awkwardness in my life...i'm in a different state, different town, different school, meeting new people every day. nope, i thought i would up it by sitting with people i don't really know and engaging in small talk. :) you know how i love small talk.

so...yes. it has been awkward at times. but it's been so fun, too. i really love my freshmen.

my freshmen

my freshmen* are awesome. probably better than all the other freshmen on campus. i'm not biased. they're just that super cool.

in the last hour, i have seen 5 of them wandering around the student center. :) they're so cute. i just wanna pick them up and squeeze 'em.

since there's the chance that they might read this...it being a public and not at all secret blog...i won't use their names (unless they want some fame or something...with 9 followers, this blog is definitely a hot commodity), but i really think they are pretty terrific.

they had an assignment to write a letter to the authors of a book they were required to read. their responses (which i am supposed to be grading right now instead of blogging) have been pretty interesting. i have learned a lot about my freshmen over the past few weeks.

i also make them write 'exit cards' every friday before they leave class. thus far, they have had to write about:

-what they hoped to improve about themselves
-what they have learned that has real life application

they also write their prayer requests. these cards have been so authentic and vulnerable. i am really enjoying doing life with these kids. i mean students. (apparently calling them kids does not foster a feeling of being adult.)

if you think about it, pray for my 22 little ducklings. being a freshman in college is a hard and scary thing sometimes, and it's definitely a time to start working and processing through some heavy stuff. also pray that i would be very intentional with the words i say and the behavior that i model.



*i have 22 freshmen in the breakout group that i lead every friday.