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.