craziness

life...is....crazy....&....procrastination.....is.....bad

this is what i've concluded in the past 2 weeks. i had a wonderful time at home for thanksgiving break. i watched my best friend devote his life to the woman he loves. i within inches of men on skates trying to kill each in an effort to get a rubber disk into a 4 foot net. i got my annual "man" education in visiting my family's farm & hunting camp. and the past 5 days i've gotten a total of 10 hrs of sleep. in undergrad and high school i could get away with procrastination...unfortunately i can't do that in grad school...soooo now i hope to have learned my lesson for the rest of my education career. also i find it interesting that everyone wants to have meetings with you, the last week of the semester when everything else is due and you're crazy busy. it was a depressing week here at FSU w/ bobby bowden, the fsu god, announcing his retirement. it has also been a depressing month for western pa football fans...luckily we still have the pens to cheer us up. it's early december and i have almost all of my xmas shopping done...and it feels amazing...even if i'm now broke.

this is my favorite time of the year, xmas music, xmas movies (ELF!!!! :), cold weather....at home....this time of year in FL....MISERABLE....it's so stinken hot still...at least for me. i'm definitely not made to live in the south...i need cold weather or at least not hot weather all the time. we are getting an xmas tree tomorrow morning...actually dave is getting an xmas palm tree lol. tiff, my office buddy, and i decorated the office the other day. so it is starting to look a lot like xmas....and it makes me so happy. i love trying to find the best deals/bargains and trying to find the best gifts for ppl...i know it sounds girly...but actually i do it b/c it's a rush to feel like i'm almost stealing stuff...no i'm not a criminal, but it's a fun feeling.

i'm really excited for xmas break, kat and i are driving to her neck of the woods in MS for a week, then sis and i are driving home, then after xmas kat is flying up, then the 2 couples are all driving back to the south. well i hope everyone is having a great holiday season!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!! :)

a quote that makes a good point...

Absence diminishes mediocre passions and increases great ones, as the wind extinguishes candles and fans fires.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld

people make all kinds of sayings for long distance relationships...but i feel that this one has been the best that i've ever read. not every long distance relationship fails and not every one succeeds...it is the choices of the 2 people in the relationship that determines the outcome, not the mileage between the 2...

Weekend of Thought

This weekend, Kathryn's friends have generously paid her way to Freed for Homecoming, to relax with friends and get away for a while. this trip has led me to a state of deeper thinking...at least for me. on occasion i have short periods of time where i ponder certain questions and how one decides on answering those questions; the process by which one determines which answer is the best one; the equation which each follows to decide what one truly values and how that person uses assigned values to set his or her priorities in life. personally i find it very interesting that although in my life, most of my priorities have changed...i no longer put high value in my athletic abilities, or my abilities to attract the opposite sex (and no i'm not looking to the same sex either), or even my abilities to fulfill the expectations of my mentors, friends, & family as much as i once have in my life. i now put much thought into what the best use of my abilities is, how i can achieve some sense of a true accomplishment in life, what kind of footprint am i going to leave when i die, what kind of adventures can i have in life, are people going to know that i have attempted to make a difference. most of those who read this, are probably thinking of the previous statement in a religious context...but i wouldn't say that i was referring to those things in that manner. one of my favorite shows involves a mathematician, a cosmetologist, an FBI agent, and several other random characters. the shows usually involves a theory from one field placed into a new setting to solve a crime. what if i could do that in my own life? what if i could use theories that i've learned in life and apply them to different areas? would i still be effective in creating a better world, or that which i can effect?...i think that this idea of using theories of one area and applying them to others isn't used enough...i feel that a person applies a theory of a field to only that field and doesn't expand the opportunities of that theory to anything but what it was originally created for...now i'm not foolish enough to think that this would work for everything...but in some areas...who knows?

these "weekends of thought" often bring about many questions about my own life...am i on the right path, is there anything i could do better, am i making the right choices, and so on? (once again...not all religiously speaking) there's a man that i respect a lot that told me last summer that, you use the skills that you have been blessed with to do the most good...that you're not always going to please people with your choices, but you are helping people. in the past the thought of joining the Peace Corps. or the UN have been very realistic options for me...it's got everything i could ever want: adventure, helping people, travel, etc...i keep thinking about my future and how i can involve all of these aspects into my life...i suppose i will continue to ponder and meditate on the choices that lay before me and hopefully be able to use the right equations and logic to determine the greatest answers for my future.

Through Research Comes Inspiration

I am currently doing research for a paper about the history and development of Pepperdine University. through my reading i have found George Pepperdine to be a very fascinating man. even though he personally never had a college education he was a very wise and intelligent man. i would recommend anyone interested in church of christ schools to really find information on mr. pepperdine, you may find it interesting. to me, the basis on which he founded pepperdine university should be the goal of EVERY school that claims to practice Christianity. i feel like my undergraduate institution is working towards getting there...where is there you ask? "there" is a place in which faculty, administration, and the student body do not discriminate on who they accept into their groups, who they give physical, social, emotional help to, and who they reach out to. in my time at Freed i noticed a growing trend in which the student body was becoming more and more interested in how they could reach out to people outside of the "church." i feel that as Christians we don't like to do that, we like our bubble and we don't want to leave the bubble. i am just as guilty as the next person of this, but i feel that at times in my life i have been looked down upon, disrespected, or slightly rebuked for some of my ideas that Christianity to me is not going to a building on sundays or wednesdays, but rather a lifestyle in which one chooses to try his or her best to resemble those actions which Christ took part in. i feel that someone that lives with the goal of helping people has less to worry about at the end of his or her life than someone whose goal in life was never to miss a church service. my opinion is not trying to prove whether i am "right" or "wrong;" this is just a means in which i can leave my thoughts and express them, hopefully without offending anyone, if i do, feel free to leave your opinions as well. i am not interested in arguing the theological aspects of Christianity, only gathering information and life experiences that will help me make rational and wise decisions in life like my mentors and people like Mr. Pepperdine.

I don't necessarily believe in "a calling from God," but i did find this interesting. i do not dream a lot and when i do, i never seem to remember what it was about...but apparently drinking lots of mountain dew causes my mind to be very active during periods of sleep. i had a dream the other night which has remained vivid in my memory. i was in a foreign impoverished country, leading a group of people in humanitarian work (kinda like TORCH), but the country i was in was very militaristic and captured 3 of my men. i followed them down to where they had lined them up to be killed. i somehow was able to save the men (this part was not very clear), and the part i remember the best was one of the men that i saved asked me "what do you do?" and i smirked a bit, put my arm on his shoulder, and said with a humble, passionate, yet confident voice "I help people..." then i woke up with this sense of emotion, pride, and passion that i don't know if i've ever felt before. the next day i had an interview for an internship in which i would get to advise a group and coordinating several social justice programs, alternative spring breaks, and leadership development...it's very interesting to me that in the same week i: have a dream in which "helping" is the theme, i have an interview that i "help" people learn and be active in helping other people, and i conduct research about a man who wanted to the greatest good with what he had....calling?...i don't believe so....way to get to heaven?....possibly....ideas that will help me be a better person in the end?.....DEFINITELY

--what else can one ask for?

exciting opportunities

kathryn told me a few days ago how crazy she thinks it is that we are in FL in grad school. to those who may not know us, this may not seem so crazy, but to those of you who do know us...grad school in FL is definitely not something that i would have planned on a year ago. i love my program and all of the opportunities that i have here and in my future career. in the past week i have worked with Pitbull, the Gym Class Heroes, Ray Wise (director of Oscars), Bobby Bowden, Geno (the voice of the tampa bay bucs & the seminoles), captains of the FSU football team...it was one long week of homecoming, but it was so cool how many opportunities to work with famous people and learn how things work on a big stage. in the past week i put on 2 productions that were both bigger than anything my undergrad has ever put on. it's just very exciting to me what all i'm getting to do here and the people i'm getting to meet. one area that i've been struggling in is balancing school work with my other jobs. luckily there is only one more new assignment and the rest is just finishing presentations and papers. next semester i only have classes on monday but i'll be in class from 4-9:45. i will also have 1 online class and i'm hoping to obtain an internship in the center for leadership and civic education. this center's goal is to develop students into productive citizens and they try to do that by giving students opportunities to do community service, humanitarian work, and other services that benefit society as a whole. this is a very exciting opportunity for me because my work in honduras, boy scouts, study abroad, katrina relief, and other areas of my life can all help me in my work in the center.

kathryn is in a program in which almost all of their work is writing papers and reading a billion pages of theories and opinions...she was so excited the other day when she got to actually look at a picture....this was an eye-opening statement to me because to me when you mention "art history" i think art/pictures/sculptures, etc...apparently i was wrong...(there's a shocker) but i'm very proud of her for pushing through the hard times of transition and unsupportive professors. she got really really good feedback the other day which is very impressive!! not only is she dealing w/ school work but she's dealing w/ my hectic schedule working several nights a week and it's nice to know that she's always there for me and is understanding of my crazy life.

Thanksgiving and Xmas breaks are coming up and i can't wait to go somewhere where it's cold!!

business time...

no...not the flight of the conchords song...this is the crunch time of the semester for me. one of my professors made an excellent point that right now, we are nearing the end of the semester. he proceeded to point out that halloween is actually the end of the semester for the higher ed program because after halloween, it's pretty much just presentations and finishing things that were already assigned (i wish all of my profs would've been notified of this). i've come to the realization that take home midterms....not a great idea. i have found that over the past few years it has been very frustrating to me when i have profs who have not been taught how to teach a class. with a teaching background i pick out everything they do incorrectly when they teach. like assigning busy work, or lecturing for 2.5 hours straight, or not giving clear instructions as to what you're supposed to do on a test or assignment...luckily in the higher ed department i won't have too many of profs like this because most have some sort of education background. unfortunately, i have a finance manager as one of my profs right now....absolutely breaks every teaching theory ever written and it drives me nuts.

but as far as just about everything else goes life is going smoothly here. i do miss my fall weather in PA though. yesterday was the 1st day that it wasn't in the 90s here in about 2 weeks. it's been a productive week and a half. i've worked a few nights, i've gotten a lot done in the office, kat came up for the weekend, i got some resources for my research on pepperdine, i've gotten other homework done...so overall a good couple of weeks plus the pens, steelers, and nittany lions haven't lost in a while (although some games have been scary). i'm definitely ready for thanksgiving break to get here to see my best friend get married and enjoy some cooler weather not to mention eat some amazing food!!

Changes

i find it very interesting that as one goes through life his or her goals change pretty drastically. from the time i could walk i had a bat, ball, & a glove and my only dream was to be a professional baseball player so that i could have my own trading card...that dream lasted until i was in little league and realized that i was not good enough to rely solely on my athletic abilities to develop a career in baseball. so i had to come up with a backup plan. when i got to Jr. High, i saw that our trainer got to come in and be around sports all the time, so until i was about 16 or 17 i wanted to be an athletic trainer, then i found out the crappy hours and crappy pay (not taking into account that my trainer had an affair with the volleyball coach while he was married w/ 2 children and another one on the way...that was probably a factor in me changing my mind as well). so it was time for another back up plan...or plan c, which consisted of me becoming a history teacher. i had 2 really good history teachers in high school, so i took every social science class that my high school offered and felt fairly well prepared to take on history education in college at Freed. this goal lasted until about July or August between my Jr. and Sr. year of college (yes i know...not exactly a convenient time to realize that you don't want to do something). i realized after spending some time in different classrooms and studying about all of the policies, crappy pay, realizing that teaching isn't just a 8-3 job, that i didn't want to spend the rest of my life with immature, unmotivated, and hormone filled creatures. so my mentor at freed told me about a degree in higher education. so plan d is now the path that i'm on. plan d though involved getting into grad school...which for some may not be difficult, but for me, it was very difficult for many reasons.
1) i had to take the GRE....and get a decent score on it.
2) i had to spend just about $700-$800 on application fees, transcript fees, and other grad school stuff
3) for higher edu, you have to go to interview days to try and get an assistantship for your program
4) student teaching doesn't give you "days off" to let you go to the interviews

it was definitely a nerve racking experience, luckily a higher power exists, and somehow and for some reason, God gave me an opportunity to go to FSU with an assistantship (even if i didn't get an offer until the end of april) and pursue a degree in higher education.

what inspired me to write about this was a class on tuesday in which the VP of Student Affairs here at FSU came and spoke to our class about her path to where she is now. it's funny how i don't think anyone grows up thinking "i want to be a VP of student affairs when i grow up" yet people who have all sorts of different goals growing up earn these positions and most are very successful at it.

it's funny how things change...

Under the weather...

the past week now i've been a bit under the weather. that's not good for many reasons 1) i hate being sick 2) i have a lot of classwork to do and no energy to do it 3) i have a lot of work to do and still no energy to do it & 4) my job requires me to supervise late night events such as concerts and comedy shows in which i don't get home until 1 am usually...none of which are good/easy when you aren't feeling 100% nor does it help you to get better...it's also frightening because health officials talk about how swine flu will impact the campus, so that's always a pleasant thought.

the past week has been productive though, i've been able to stay almost caught up on school work, tonight after my football game i'll write a 2 page paper and create a few powerpoint slides with it and tomorrow i'll read for my classes. then my next huge project is to select a research topic and start writing because i have 3-4 pages of it due next thursday. being a grad assistant is great because you earn a masters degree without going 30-40K in debt...BUT it does put me in an interesting situation where i have to balance being a student, adviser, and employee all at once. time management is still very challenging for me, because the last thing that i want to do when i get home from work is homework or study. my mind is usually so fried by the time i get home that i can't focus on anything that requires me to use my brain. my job isn't really that hard, but it requires me to use parts of my brain that i really haven't used before or ways that i've used before. people aren't telling me to do tasks really, i'm being given an idea or resources and having to synthesize my own tasks, or projects...which is a really good skill to develop it's just that i've never really had to do that before so it's taking me a bit to adjust...being sick is not making that very easy though.

Kathryn came up this weekend and we got to hang out and do a lot of nothing which felt amazing! that was the highlight to an otherwise very tiring and short weekend. i worked thursday, friday, and sunday nights in which the earliest i arrived home was 12:45 am. also every football team i've ever rooted for has generously blessed me with the worst weekend of football i've ever experienced (which for any of you who truly know me, puts me in SUCH a great mood {sarcasm}) so needless to say, i was not a very pleasant person to be around saturday night and sunday....to make matters worse, my roommate is a cincinnati bengals fan (i didn't even know people rooted for the bengals). i'm hoping that the rest of the week will bring a bit of sunshine into an otherwise very gloomy week.

Clueless...

no not the cheesy girly movie, but my life right now. last week my boss was sick and took off, i was felt like my favorite childhood book "the puppy without a boy" (or something like that, my mom would know). i felt like i had no direction. i realize that it is times like this where i should take initiative and make work for me to do...but i also feel that i've only been in this role for about a month now and that without direction i really don't know what to do. i found that i'm not very good with initiative right now...at least with my job. if it were next year, i feel that i wouldn't have any problem with it, but right now i'm still overwhelmed and trying to take in everything like an overfull sponge. but i'm still learning and will hopefully continue to improve my initiative skills. grad class assignments aren't too overwhelming with the exception of the reading. i told fink, my best friend, that i've read more in one week of grad school than i did the whole way through high school. the reading is important BUT i'm a slow reader so having to read over 300 pages per week is pretty much impossible, so i've had to improve my scanning skills very quickly so that i can keep up with the rest of the class. well enough about classwork...

this past weekend adam gave me friday off so i drove to tampa to spend the weekend with Kat. friday she cooked some awesome steaks and we just relaxed and watched a movie since i got there late. saturday we went to crate & barrel (really really really expensive housing/furniture store), giordano's pizza (really good chicago pizza place, it was really good and the only time i've ever been full from eating 2 pieces of pizza {don't worry NY pizza is still my fav} but it was still definitely top 5 pizzas i've ever eaten), then we played mini-golf at a really cool course which we placed wages on it BUT we tied!!!...o well it was fun. i came back to tally last night after watching the depressing steelers game...it's gonna be a long season if we can only put up 2 scores per game.

today we had our first IM football game tonight...our team name explains the team very well "We Try." we lost by 2 scores on 2 big plays...our offense is pretty bad but our D isn't too bad. it was a bit frustrating b/c of the rules, i've never played co-ed football so it's very different for me. this week should be a good week with school and work. i'm caught up on reading so hopefully tomorrow i can work ahead a bit!! that will be nice!

First Times and Wet Times

this week has been CRAZY busy. the world of student activities never really has a "down time." this week i've been planning a retreat, doing research for information to present at the retreat, advising students, helping students plan events, and the list goes on and on. but as a grad assistant i also have the added responsibilities of completing my homework on time and making sure that it's done right (in grad school the phrase "to the best of your ability" is thrown out the door, they don't care what YOUR BEST ABILITY IS they want it done their way). i also have to work the different functions, events, and activities in the evenings as well. somedays my day looks like this:
7:30 get up,
8 try to find parking,
9 maybe have found a parking spot,
9:30 finally get to the office after the 30 minute walk across campus in the nice FL weather, 10-12 attempt to get caught up on homework or office work,
12-3 meetings, tasks that i'm assigned to do by adam, or help my students with their events,
3-4 meetings, find food, walk to class,
4-7 class,
7-1am work event,
1:30-2 am get home/bed,
7:30 am--do it all over again....

i feel like no much how sleep i can get, it's never enough on the weekends or weekdays that i don't work events. i'm still trying really hard to figure out a schedule that i can balance things out. friday i worked my first concert in the club. it went pretty well, we had about 250 people there for the bands. it was the first time for the manager to work as well so it was a very good educational experience for me. i got home around 1:30ish and had to get up at 7:30 to get ready for our Union Productions Retreat at Camp Weed (which is in Live Oak, FL). Retreat was a lot of fun! it was also a great bonding experience for the group. adam said that this is the best group, in that aspect, that we've had in years. we had A LOT of rain; which for those of you who know me know that i just love rain...we went on a walk during our free time and i got soaked to the bone because in the middle of our walk the bottom just dropped out of the sky. the rain finally subsided by the end of the night and we were able to have our bonfire which i lit with a flare lol. this morning we covered a few more subjects, did some planning, did "fears/concerns in a hat" which is really cool (if you ever have a team building retreat you should do it). then we cleaned up and left. i got back here at 2pm and now i'm ready to try and catch up on sleep. it's going to be a great/busy week this week. IM football practice tonight, homework due this week, lots of concerts/events in the club, penn state game saturday, and steelers game on sunday!!

Way Behind and On Pace at the Same Time...

i spent this past weekend with kathryn in tampa. it was great! we went to siesta key on saturday afternoon (in which i got SUPER burned), we met up with Rick and chatted for a while, then we had all you can eat shrimp at redlobster! sunday we went to church and chilled in the afternoon. monday we got up, went to ikea, toured tampa, went to clearwater beach (where i got even more burnt, BUT i helped Kathryn face her fears of getting into water in which she can see the bottom, what i didn't mention is that there were stingray/jellyfish sitings at the beach that day, which made the "getting into the water" ordeal all the more fun!...at least for me). we then went to quaker steak and lube, which if you know me, makes me very very happy, then we drove over the skyway bridge (which is one of my favorites).

i find it interesting how human nature does not naturally let a person let go of old/bad habits. i have never dated a person that has really made an effort to make me happy before, so dating kathryn is a very new experience for me. the thing i have trouble with is letting her make me happy. it's a bad habit that i'm trying to break. she made chicken spaghetti on friday night which was amazing! BUT then on monday i was stubborn and wouldn't let her make a PB/Chocolate pie...so it's just something i need to work on.

this week has been very interesting at work. i'm planning the retreat for this weekend for my staff. i've never done this before so it's been a little difficult and unnerving. today was a very interesting day, Cam'ron (a low key rapper) was supposed to play a concert tonight BUT at 9am this morning he texted our talent buyer that he was in NYC and couldn't find a direct flight to Tallahassee...(and this surprised him?!) soooo he contacted us around lunch time that he found a flight BUT it was $5000...only $2000 less than we were paying him for the whole concert...SO at around 1 or 2 today Cam'ron cancelled the concert....SOOOO it was a very very intense day in the office so hopefully it'll be better tomorrow.

So even though i FEEL way behind...i'm on pace at the same time with school work, work, relationship, and just life in general.

P.S.--it's been a great day, i got my A/C fixed in the jeep for good!, my best friend Fink got home from Iraq and i got to wash the jeep!!!

Adjusting....OR....Getting My Butt Kicked?

ok so i knew grad school was going to be tough, and that i was going to have to adjust to a completely different lifestyle...but i think i've passed the "normal adjustment period." i believe i've now hit the "i'm just getting my butt kicked now" phase. so FSU decided to do a "favor" for their students in letting EVERYONE have a car and campus and instead of charging each of them separately, they just included everyone's parking fees in the fees hidden in their tuition...do you know what happens when 40,000 people have cars and there's only about 20,000 or less parking spaces?? let's just say if i don't get to the school before 7:45 am, i'll be paying $3 that day to park at a catholic church parking lot across the road...so this week dave and i have been getting up at 6 or 6:30, getting to school around 7:30 (sometimes working out, sometimes just going straight to our offices) my office hours don't start until 12 pm usually. so i've been usually getting 5 hrs. of sleep, working from 8-3 (no lunch break) class from 4-6:45, getting home around 7 or 7:30, making supper, cleaning, and by that time it's 10 or 11 and i still haven't started reading for class yet which depending which class ranges from 220 pages per week to about 50 pages per week per class. my supervisor was correct in saying that from this point on, i'm never going to be ahead in the game, it's just going to be a constant state of trying to catch up. which i'm not used to, i'm used to having a plan, and doing things at a decent pace. it's a much different lifestyle than i'm used to in good ol' dayton, where life is simple, where people relax. but this is my new life, the life of a chicken w/ my head cut off just running around. this week has been crazy, but it's been very good. i've gotten a lot accomplished at the office. and the only thing i didn't get done is the massive amounts of reading that were assigned, but i still was able to catch on and learn in class which was good.

steelers preseason is now officially over, now it's time for it to count and i'm super excited! it's also time for fantasy football (let the trash talk begin!). Fall is definitely the BEST time of the year and this is why: best weather of the year, college football, pro football, mlb playoffs & world series, changing of the leaves (@ least in the North), Hockey season starts, and pumpkin lattes at starbucks!! i am in my happy place for the 2 months of fall. see in PA fall lasts from sept until the end of november, fall in TN lasted from mid october until late november, in FL idk if fall exists...this could be a very depressing fall if not...

Happy Times

i would never recommend long-distance relationships to anyone...BUT the one great thing about long-distance relationships are those few moments that you get to spend with that person. i truly believe that i have found the person that best fits me. we both have our imperfections, but i think together, we are perfect for each other. kathryn came up this weekend and we had an awesome weekend. we went to a UP event on friday night (which was very interesting). on saturday we did homework (which i feel like many of our times together for the next 2 years will involve school work). we went to BWW for dinner and had to wait forever for seats, who knew that UFC 102 would bring out all of tallahassee to eat chicken wings lol. then kat, dave, amanda, & i went to the movies in the SLC which is free for fsu students and it only cost kat $5 (which i paid don't worry). sunday we went to church and there was a really good guest speaker name Slate who spoke about how we need to revive the passion in the church and in our own personal evangelism. i liked him and his perspective on the church. after church it was nap time, study time, cleaning time, & cooking time. then Kathryn had to leave...which saying goodbye is never an easy thing to do for us. so after she got on her way i left for the gym. it's nice finally having a roommate who encourages me to workout and who will push me in the gym. although right now, nice isn't exactly the word that comes to mind...more like very painful...luckily this week i don't hurt as bad. my goal is to lose 40 pounds by may 2011.

i started my grad school homework tonight and realized how much i don't know, and how much knowledge i've lost just since finishing undergrad work...i hope i learn quickly or it's going to be a very long 2 years.

my mom told me something that made me laugh for 30 minutes apparently my dog mazy had a BM on my dad tonight hahaha!!! if you don't know what a BM is...look it up. it reminded me of a skit that jeff dunham does about his pet chihuahua.

ps- watch this video...it's pretty cool!

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/video/video.php?v=641583150436&ref=mf

One Long Week...

to say the least it has been a very interesting week. the start of classes, start of really a new life. i've had my first one on ones with a few of the students that i will be advising which were very informative. it's interesting that within 6 months i went from the person asking Tony Allen all of the questions to the person who is asked all of the questions...it really makes me realize how much i don't know lol. class on wednesday night REALLY made me realize how much stuff i have to learn in the next 2 years. some people in my program majored in areas like organizational leadership and know a lot of the terms that are used in strategic management...i on the other hand majored in education...in which we use NONE of those terms, theories, or systems...so it was quite intimidating sitting in the class and feeling completely incompetent. i'm starting to feel a bit more comfortable in my role at school. not completely there but working on it. last nights class was awesome it combines my 2 favorite things history and education, but in a way that i've never seen done. it's a class that covers the roots of education in america starting with native americans and by the end of the semester we are talking about contemporary issues within the student affairs world. someday once i retire from being a VP or Dean, i would love to become part of a higher ed faculty and teach a class like this. after class my cohort went over to bailey's house and had a huge get together which was good for me b/c i'm not a social butterfly so it forced me to talk to people that i wouldn't have talked to. today is a pretty nice & relaxing day. except that i got an email stating that i now have a exec board meeting on friday afternoons which totally sucks because i didn't want to have to work at all on fridays! o well...such as life i suppose...

Student Affairs 101

I have chosen the perfect career path for me i believe...BUT most people either have no idea what student affairs is OR they say "O so you get to just put on concerts and fun stuff like that..." when i first thought about going into student affairs i was pretty cool with people saying that. but now i realize that it's so much more than that, and what i want it to be. yes putting on concerts and fun stuff CAN be part of my career if i chose that path. having a degree is student affairs is like being a spider who just finished creating a spider web and is now standing in the middle of his/her creation just seeing all of the different directions he/she could go and how each of those directions is connected somehow. I want to do so much with my degree, i want to bring out the best in every student i come in contact with, i want to challenge each student to do his/her best, to help them realize the potential they have to change the world for the better with the skills they develop as student leaders. so being in student affairs is not just full of kicks & giggles, it's a serious career with very rewarding results.

this week has been a very educational week for me, i'm learning how to "walk on my own 2 feet" per-se. adam has been helping me make the schedule for security and the bar, also helping me communicate with and plan meetings with students that i will advise and other departments that i will work with. DISCLAIMER(i'm definitely not in kansas anymore {or Henderson for that matter} i do not completely support everything that i'm required to work with, nor some of the things the people i'm around do) I want to make sure that everyone who reads this realizes and knows that my morals, beliefs, and lifestyle have not changed just b/c i'm around ppl who don't believe the same things that i do. if anything they've gotten stronger b/c they're mine now...not forced on me by my peers or a school.

1st day of class was great we had a snack break...how cool is that!! my prof is very down to earth and is very comparable to jenny johnson at freed who is definitely in the top 3 professors i had at freed. Dr. Guthrie has a passion for what she does, just like i do and i'm excited for this semester. i hope the rest of my classes are like that as well!

http://www.cdu.unionproductions.org/

this is the link to what i do. hope all is well wherever you are!!

Ty

Do the BEST with your BEST

this was a quote from Tim Stutzman, the preacher/class teacher at the Timberlane Chuch of Christ in Tallahassee. he's a great preacher/teacher, he really brings things into perspective. he's originally from indiana PA, so we have a lot to talk about usually. in the young adult class we're going through the study of David's life, and we were talking about how David turned down Saul's armor and sword and chose a simple sling shot to fight the feared Goliath. and the reason being is b/c that's what he was trained with. in some ppl's hands, a slingshot would just be a toy, a worthless piece of cloth, but in David's hands, along with God's help, it was a deadly tool that he had killed lions and bears with. this spoke volumes to me. i'm not skilled in many many many areas, but i feel that God did bless me with the ability to be a good leader and possibly teacher. i feel that in the career path that i've chosen to take, i can use those talents to help make this world a better place, by training young adults to become leaders, and not just leaders, but leaders who will use their talents to also influence this world in a positive manner. i was not given the talents to preach, or to teach bible school, or to be super creative, or fix mechanical problems, or to build space shuttles, but God did give me talents, that i need to use and it's my goal in life now to use those talents to influence the people that i come in contact with everyday with my words and most importantly my actions.

in his class tim also talked about how are souls are always in a state of growth or a state of decline. i feel that in the past few years, my soul hasn't really grown, yes i've had some brighter moments, but i feel that for the most part it has been in decline, i haven't used my talents that God gave me to influence people in a positive manner and it's time for that to change. it is time for my soul to grow again. i ask for the prayers of everyone who reads this so that i can figure out all the different ways i can influence the people that i work with in a positive manner. i'm not asking for advice, just prayers so that i can learn from god and on my own, how to use my career as a way to influence people positively.

i've learned that as i grow, my perspectives, wants, & needs change constantly, and i feel that right now is one of those times. i'm wanting things that are more pure now, i'm wanting things that push me to be better, and i believe that in order to attain these wants/needs, that i may have to make major changes in my life.

on a lighter note:
last night Union Productions put on our first major concert of the year with the White Rabbits and the Walkmen. it was a great show, everything ran smoothly, we had about 1000 ppl there. also i got home before 12 am for the 1st time this week and it felt great!!

God Bless

Ty

Graduate Assistant Time

well after about 2 weeks of information overload, i have started my graduate assistantship. one thing about grad school that i've noticed is that they don't tell you a whole lot. it's like they expect you to learn everything on your own. ron white, from blue collar comedy tour, has a line in his act about how one time his son was flying to see his grandparents by himself when he was 12, and the lady at the desk asked ron if he had someone waiting at the airport to pick his son up....and ron said "nope...i just put a $20 on him and said goodluck..." i kinda feel like that's what grad school is like. once you're accepted they say alright congrats...and goodluck. and that's the last thing you get, everything else is left for you to figure out by yourself. i wasn't able to register for classes until yesterday, b/c there were forms i had to get processed that i didn't know about until i got here, you can't get a parking pass until you've registered for class, i can't get a paycheck until mid-september b/c i didn't have my HR forms done...none of this was told to me before i got here. i know i'm in grad school and supposed to be responsible, but i think there comes a point in which i should be informed of things BEFORE 3 days before the deadline.

so needless to say, my grad school experience has been baptism of fire so far. we are in the middle of seminole sensation week, which is like a welcome back week with lots of free activities, concerts, give-a-ways, and other acts of kindness provided by the Student Activities Center (SAC). it's also a big change in hours of sleep for me. the spring semester and summer, i was usually home by 10 and sometimes even in bed at 10:30...now i'm getting home at 1 or 1:30 and going to bed at 2 or so. so next week when i have office hours, class, meetings, and work late at night....it'll be interesting learning how to balance all of that. i love FSU and i love the ppl that i work and go to class with, it's just a bit overwhelming right now.

i hope this post finds everyone in good health and good times. for all of those at freed i miss you guys and i'm really jealous of all of the UPC members getting to use the high ropes at MSYC AND a lockin at Crews...

Ty

New Places & New People

SOOO...we had a TORCH reunion this summer, AKA Nate and Karen's wedding in Birmingham, AL. my family and i drove my jeep with a trailer on it (which ol' red didn't like one bit). the wedding was nice and the reception was very fancy and cool. it was great getting to see nate actually get married (which if i remember correctly just a few years ago he didn't think he wanted to do lol). it was also great to see a bunch of TORCHers, it was like a huge family reunion. sis's b/f also came down to visit her so it was good to see him too. his name is Luke for all of those wondering, i think this is her first b/f that has a decent head on his shoulders, so if he keeps it there i may even get to like him. (i'm just a bit overprotective...)

my family and i then drove to tallahassee (my new place of residence) dropped my stuff off in storage and headed to fort walton beach for our annual family vacation. it was a blast and very relaxing. i learned that a white boy from pa should ALWAYS wear sunblock on the back of his knees if sleeping on the beach. unfortunately i had to learn the hard way and either pulled/rolled my shorts up to richard simmons length for 5 days or i walked like an oldman/frog for 5 days...a very painful lesson to learn in every aspect. sis and i went parasailing and jetsking during the week and of course we ate like royalty....or at least we ate a lot lol. poor dad is not a beach vacation kind of guy so he spent quite a bit of time relaxing in the hotel room, but it was still better than working. dad and i did go mini-golfing and thank goodness it was cheaper than golfing on a course in AL...lol instead of paying over $150 for 2 games of 18 holes we payed $3.50 per person...that's definitely more along the lines as to what i want to pay for entertainment lol. after vacation the fam and i traveled back to tallahassee and we moved all my stuff in and got organized. it was great having my family help me move in, it made things MUCH easier.

After my family my roommate moved in and i helped him for a little bit then i left for a few days in Sarasota visiting friends that i haven't seen in a while. it was a great time and i hope to be able to see them more often since i'm only 5 hours away now. i then helped Kathryn move into her apartment in Tampa. her roommate is actually a girl who interviewed me for the assistantship that i have now. she has a nice apartment and a nice complex to live in for a while. i stayed in tampa to help her for a few days then i left for tally to go on a retreat with the student activities staff.

the retreat was great, it was at st. george beach. the people i work with are great and i got to know them pretty well over the weekend. after we got back to tally we had a week of orientation which was information overload.

Summer Time

well this summer wasn't very eventful. other than my adventures in honduras, a trip to michigan, and bringing Kat to the Burgh, not a lot happened other than a few interesting experiences installing medical equipment in some patients' homes. apparently some patients get pretty lonely and i can understand/deal with talking to them...it's another story when 1) tries to get you to have sex with their daughter (who is missing teeth, has a prison tattoo, a beergut, and is wearing a bikini top....yes please picture that so you may suffer as i suffered) 2) lays down on the bed where you're sitting with her head almost on my leg while making little purring type noises....who would think that installing medical equipment would be such an interesting job??

so that's enough about work, i get chills just thinking about those experiences (not good chills either). Deanna gave me a wednesday off earlier in june and so after a softball game on a tuesday night i left and drove through the night to surprise Kathryn who was working in Grand Rapids, MI as a girl youth intern. i drove til about 1 or 2 in the morning and got up and drove another hour to surprise her at 8 am on her doorstep with roses and donuts. the funny thing was that when she answered the phone, she was not a happy camper (not a morning person AT ALL!) and the first response i got was "are you serious?.....I didn't even brush my teeth..." meanwhile her eyes are barely open and she's walking out into the driveway with her PJ's on lol. so we spent the rest of the day hanging around the Walker area and went to church that night w/ her kids and hung out afterwards w/ the kids. we went back to the house and hung out w/ her host family then i got up at 4 the next morning and drove back and went straight to work. it was a quick hi/bye trip but i was just glad to see her!

i then flew her back to the burgh in july after i got back from honduras. (as usual nothing can ever go as planned with us). her flight from grand rapids to chicago was delayed for a long time and she missed her flight from chicago to pittsburgh. SO they gave her a food and hotel voucher which was a 5 star hotel so it was pretty nice. she finally got in around 9 or 10 the next morning and we spent the day at home visiting people. then the next day we spent in the burgh and went down to the point and hung out there until her flight around 2 or 3 so once again a hi/bye trip but it was good.

that pretty much wraps up the majority of my summer, other than the hundreds of dollars i've put into the jeep just to keep her running.

Honduras

This was definitely the most interesting trip I've taken to Honduras. About a week before I left Dad came into my room with his "this is serious" tone/look. The news he shared with me was that he had talked w/ Terry and that during the length of our trip, there was a possibility of a political disturbance. I really wasn't nervous or anything b/c i know that God always takes care of those who trust him. so i was really counting on Romans 8:28 to hold true. so i along with the Roberts, Tricky, Jenny, & Terry flew down on wednesday june 24th to get some things set up so that once the rest of the group got there that we could get straight to work. wednesday and thursday went by and the small group of us didn't do a whole whole lot but we did some and got ready for the rest of the group which came in on friday. friday we spent most of the day at the airport welcoming the rest of the group. we did work on saturday THEN it got interesting.

Sunday morning at around 5 or 6 am, military personnel captured the president and exported him to costa rica. BUT not before the president made a radio/tv message to all of his supporters to come to the presidential palace to support him. then the government shut down the electric for about an hour or 2. riots began happening throughout portions of the city. we were completely safe and actually if we didn't have anyone telling us what was happening, we would have never known. so that night terry met with all of the leaders and decided collectively to fly everybody out asap. not because it was a danger, but we didn't want to get stuck there if the airport shut down. so the nashville group flew out monday, some more people flew out tuesday, the pa group flew out wednesday, the in group flew out friday along w/ the ky group and dad and i, tim and mark then flew out on saturday, which was very good b/c the airport shut down on sunday for a while.

we continued working throughout the week. we built 6 houses, gave out about $2000 worth of food. we also gave out fresh food from the market. we had devos everynight with speakers from all over the US. we ate lots of cake this trip. apparently lots of ppl were born in early july or late june. (i missed my mom's bday for the 9th year in a row and i'm really sorry about that, i still love you though mom!) probably the biggest event throughout the week was brett getting the truck stuck on the side of a mountain lol. it was a productive trip and i feel bad that we had to leave early. i love this country so much and i hope to some day work for a university that will let me take students there and train them how to coordinate and lead short term mission trips and represent TORCH missions and really carry out what TORCH stands for.

it's been a while...

well i really haven't been keeping up with this blog for 2 reasons...1. there's really nothing going on in my life that's exciting, 2. i keep pretty busy with work. but a few things that i have done. i went down to see the pens game on the big screen with 12,000 other pens fans outside the mellon arena last tuesday. i also played the first softball game in 8 months and struck out for the first time in my entire life in slow pitch softball...it was definitely a humbling experience but at least i made up for it with my defense. work has kept me pretty busy driving all over western pa installing medical equipment in patients' homes. i signed a lease for a condo in tallahasse for the next year while i'm down there so that's pretty exciting you can see pix of it here jgoldsworthy.myphotoalbum.com i like it a lot and it was a really good price for that area. i just got back from the TORCH retreat in centerville, tn. it was very productive...but it was definitely a short trip...and the church van is not a vehicle you want to spend 10 hrs in... brianna is now looking for a jeep cherokee to buy so if you know of anyone who is selling one for about 6000, please let us know. by the way if you've never visited slickdeals.net you need to. i just bought a pair of teva water shoes that were 80 bucks for 20 bucks b/c of this website!! check it out, it's got lots of coupons on it for different things. well i hope everyone is doing well!

FINALLY DONE!!!

i apologize for not writing sooner. i feel like i've been going non-stop for the past 2 weeks. so now it's time to catch up. the last week of school was great!!! i had a conference on monday to end student teaching forever. the meeting itself lasted an hr...how long did my advisor make me wait after the meeting to meet with him???.....2 long boring hours. but that was the only thing i had to do alllllll week. it was great. i got to play basketball, ultimate frisbee, and just feel like a real college student again. i also helped Mr. Gover (a man who's really tight with PKA) tues, wed, and thurs. we planted new tomato plants, mowed grass, fixed the shed, and went under the foundation of the house to check for termites (definitely not my favorite) i still think he's trying to stop my claustraphobia (idk how to spell it). the Govers are probably my favorite people i've met over the past 4 years in henderson. they've got so much love and care for PKA and they love to share their wisdom with us.

tuesday night i went with ty and we met stubbs and evan in nashville for supper. we went to an awful restaurant in mount juliet then went and played basketball at the park for a while. that may sound uneventful but with us 4 playing ball....it's always eventful lol. wednesday night i took kathryn on a really nice date to Texas De Brazil in Memphis...it was the most expensive meal i've ever eaten...but it was also worth every penny. all you can eat meatfest....it was heaven on earth for this fat kid!! then for dessert we split a 7 layer chocolate mouse cake that was amazing!!! i was so proud of kathryn...she ate 4 filets wrapped in bacon!! usually she doesn't eat much but not on this night, it was great!

the rest of the week was pretty boring. just getting stuff packed up and ready to go. graduation rehearsal on friday morning then mom, dad, grandparents (dad's parents) showed up in the afternoon. they packed sis up and out of her room then we all went out to eat. afterwards sis, luke, kat, & i went to luke's house in humboldt and set off fireworks, it was a lot of fun...except the next day my feet looked like i was diseased with all of the bug bites on them.

graduation was on saturday...it wasn't very eventful. Dr. J Wiley wore his gigantic shiny bling so that was pretty funny and the speaker was pretty good too. after the ceremony i got to the gym but my parents got stuck in loyd because apparently God thought it would be hilarious to set the worst storm we've had in about a month to go off right as about 2000 people were walking to the sports center....if anyone doesn't think God has a sense of humor...you didn't see all of the soaking wet people in their nice suits, dresses, etc. walking in the door of the sports center lol...my favorite are the women who cake the make up on their faces and when water hits it, it looks like their face is melting hahahahaha...just another reason why women shouldn't wear so much makeup. after graduation the begnaud and steffy families went out to eat, along with luke. then the begnaud's left for tupelo and the steffy's helped me pack up my stuff.

after that my family left and i went to run some errands to tony allen and the mcdowells. on the way back from the mcdowells, apparently the TN state police thought that a ticket was the perfect graduation gift for me. so i got my 1st ticket for going 62 in a 55. (really 73-55) but he was a nice guy and gave me a break. so kathryn and i both got tickets this past week in my jeep, at least mine wasn't as bad as hers though lol. so i drove to tupelo very very carefully. i spent the next few days in tupelo with kathryn and her family. we helped out the finns on sunday afternoon and went to the atlanta bread company with a few people sunday night. monday kathryn and i went to buffalo park in tupelo. it was awesome, we got to feed goats and a giraffe. if you're ever in tupelo i strongly recommend it! monday night after dinner we went to the fountain which is really neat as well. on tuesday we went to oxford to eat at a really neat restaurant called the bottletree bakery. it's a really artsy place, so those of you who know me well know that i didn't exactly "fit in" lol. but it was fun and the food was pretty good. then we went back to tupelo and i packed up and left around 4....not a fun goodbye, it was sad. i really don't know when the next time i'll see kathryn again for at least the next 3 months. so i drove the wonderful natchez trace (sarcastic!!) the whole way to nashville. although i hate the trace i must say that it's much better in the day time. i spent the night with terry & margaret in nashville. i then made the 11 hour drive home on wednesday. i feel like anytime i'm driving to home or to school people to decide to wreck on the interstate and make me stand in traffic for an hour. i finally got home around 11:30 pm on wednesday night. it feels amazing to be home finally.

thursday i got up and went straight to work. i had a nice busy day, then i picked up alisha (my cousin) and we went to the Pens playoff game on thursday night!! it was hands down the best hockey game i've ever watched on tv or have seen live. it was high scoring, there was a hat trick, there were a ton of fights, ppl behind me got in a fight and ejected, players got ejected, and we won....i mean seriously what else can you ask for at a hockey game???!!!

but that has been my life for the last 2 weeks, i'm sure now it'll slow down for a while. i hope all of you are doing well. o nolan grossman's grandpa passed away so pray for him, also nolan's wife kayla is due in september and has a kidney stone that they can't do anything about until after the baby is born so please pray for her as well. God Bless and take care....until next time...adios!

Happy Mother's Day

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY MOM!!

well i hope you enjoyed the video...it's like an ecard...but much better lol...i just wasn't in the mood to sing i suppose.

well this week has been pretty boring. i finished my student teaching BUT i have to go back to adamsville b/c i'm sooooo responsible and forgot my charger for my laptop...here's what happened. someone, idk who, left a half full stiraphome cup of some brown substance and while i was cleaning up my area it spilt all over the place so as i scrounged around to clean it up, i forgot to put the charger in my bag and took off without it at the end of the day...so after my seminar on monday i have to go back and get it. but it was a good last day full of thank yous and goodbyes. i was educated about southern culture from 2 of the more veteran teachers and it was hilarious. i learned where the infamous "bless your heart" came from. i learned why every southerner calls a pop or a soda "coke"...and i also learned that whatever you call a carbonated beverage typically dictates how you will vote... if you don't believe me look at a county chart of what people call carbonated beverages and the county charts of this year's presidential election...it's kind of neat. but i didn't do a whole lot this week, other than find out what NOT to say to make people happy lol...i'm planning on taking Kat out tomorrow to memphis for lunch...we'll see if i can get in, it's pretty packed so we'll see...pray for us! lol. this week i'm going to have a relaxing yet busy week trying to pack everything up and get out of here after walking across that stage on saturday. i hope you are all doing well!

The End Is Nearing!!

This past weekend was a great one! Friday rain spoiled my idea of taking a nice walk, but instead i took a nice nap with the rain tapping on my roof and praying that my roof didn't collapse on me like it did on that poor dallas cowboy's coach. those of you who have seen my house understand what i mean when i say that. eventually i awoke from my slumber and i took kathryn out to eat at the new los portales (which i recommend anyone who visits henderson to do). meanwhile tornado sirens were going off and it rained harder than i've seen it rain in a long time. after that we chilled at her apartment for a little bit then we went and got ice cream at shell. peanut butter/chocolate & mint chocolate chip ice cream milkshakes are my favorite!!

saturday i got to sleep in and relax then i got all clean and dressed up and took kathryn to the Chi Beta Chi Spring Banquet. it was held in Florence, AL at Dale's resturant. for those of you who are familiar with dale's steak marinating sauce, this is where it originated. it was really really good. it was a buffet style banquet...those of you who know me or call me puffer...you know that it was paradise for me! the chicken tenders and roast were amazing! they also had really good potatos. it's really nice dating a girl who doesn't eat a lot because that means i get to eat more! brianna and her new boyfriend (luke searcy) were also there and had a good time. (i'll give a reward if you can get a background check and any other information about this kid to me) i'll admit...this is the first guy she's ever dated that i actually slightly like....maybe i'm loosing my edge and becoming softer with age. but he's a nice kid, and he went skydiving like me so i like the kid. afterwards i drove to kathryn's house in tupelo on the natchez trace parkway (who created such an awful road then put the speed limit at 50, put not guard rails, and no lights on a curvy road....#1 worst road i've ever driven on).

sunday we went to church, lunch at chili's, lowes then i took another nice nap while kathryn went to one of her 4000000000 wedding showers. then we headed back to freed in the lovely rainy weather. i thought it was april showers bring may flowers....apparently the big guy is a little late this year lol...well this week is the last week of student teaching aka...purgatory (as one of my fellow teachers called it) so i'm rejoicing...now it's just a matter of dotting my i's and crossing my t's with all of the paper work and next week i'll be walking across that stage and right on out of western tennessee. i hope this finds you all in good health and good times...

TY

Blogging again!!!!

well my fellow friends and family members. i am finally on the radar once again. i'm now going to try and be a better citizen by keeping my blog up to date (as well as i can) so that those of you who are either bored to tears or are interested in what i'm doing can having something to read.

in just 2 weeks i will graduate freed-hardeman university. i will be graduating with a BA in secondary education: History. i have been student teaching since january, and i'll be quite honest, it takes a very special person to be a teacher...i unfortunatley found out the hard way that i was not that kind of a special person. i have not enjoyed teaching and have chosen to follow a different path in continuing my education so that i can pursue a different career. it has been a long 4 years and i will be glad to move out of western TN and hopefully i will choose to live in a place with more than 4 resturants, a torn down water tower, and the biggest attraction in the town is a burger joint that doesn't even take debit cards whenever i get a job someday lol. after graduation i will probably spend a day or 2 with my girlfriend Kathryn and her family at their house in tupelo, MS. then i will make the 14 hour trek home to Dayton, PA. i will be working for a visiting nurses agency for the summer. my summer also will include a trip to nashville for a TORCH meeting, honduras trip, nate's wedding in Birmingham, Vacation in Destin, and Moving to Tallahassee, FL for grad school on August 1. i will be working on my masters for the next 2 years in the area of college student affairs which will enable to pursue a career in college administration within student activities, campus recreation, career development, judicial affairs, etc. i'm very very very excited about this opportunity!!! i have a grad assistantship in which i will be working with students and the union board to organize events on campus for the students while working with a very very very large budget. if any of you know of anyone who has a place for rent in tallahassee please let me know. thanks. so that is my plan for the next 2 years. my girlfriend kathryn will be attending the university of south florida to pursue a masters degree in art history. it's in tampa, fl which is only about 4 hrs away so hopefully i'll get to see her about once a month or so.

i hope this blog finds you all in good health. if you would, pray for me so that i may be successful and remain healthy enough to be successful in grad school and someday be able to attain a decent job, and possibly have a family. i love you all

Godspeed

TY