Unbroken

It is safe to say that this post is LONG overdue.  But there is an explanation for the delay in the post and I am finally ready to sit down and reflect on everything that has been happening over these last few months.  In addition, its coming up on my ONE YEAR mark, so I think its appropriate timing for this latest post.

As most of you, if not all of you, already know, Matt and I decided to go our separate ways at the beginning of March.  I won't get into the details of the split because at the end of the day, I do have respect for our past relationship.  Also, my close friends, sister and parents already know the story and I would hate for them to have to re-read it.  But the most important thing for you all to know at this point is that it has been almost three months since the split and I can honestly say that I am the happiest I have been since I moved here.

That might be hard to believe considering that the first two months here were filled with blogs about paddle boarding, food festivals, kayaking and Cubs games.  But when I reflect back on those first couple of months here, I realized I was relying solely on Matt for my social life.  I spent most of the days job searching and when I wasn't job searching, I was exploring the city on my own while Matt was at work.  When he was home, a lot of our social life revolved around his co-workers and his friends.  Don't get me wrong - that was the "life" I chose at that point in time.  I knew moving here meant that until I found a job, I would be relying on Matt and his friends.  Remember, he moved up here a full month before I did with a job.  In the basketball world, that means you already have a family and a group of friends waiting for you.  You don't go through the normal process of trying to meet new people in a new city.  You are already thrust into that world.

I knew this would be a huge change for me because Glen Allen was my hometown.  I had my lifelong friends, my college friends and my VCU friends there.  I was the one that was used to welcoming new people into a group.  I was the one that had my arms open to the new wives that joined the VCU family and the new friends from graduate school who were unfamiliar with Virginia.  However, when I told Matt that I would be more than happy to move, I knew that the roles were about to reverse.

June 5 marks my one year anniversary in the city and June 8 marks the three month anniversary of the split.  As I think about everything that has happened in this past year, and more recently in the past three months, I have no doubt in my mind that someone has been watching over me.  There is a reason that within in a month and a half after moving here I was hired part-time by DePaul and eventually hired full-time.  There is a reason that within in two months I had met a group of girlfriends who would ultimately become my biggest support system away from home.  Someone was telling me that there were bigger reasons for moving to Chicago other than to be with Matt and this is where I am supposed to be. 

When Matt and I first split, I kept thinking to myself, how could this be happening now?  Last year at this time, we were in the best place of our relationship.  VCU was on an incredible run in the NCAA tournament and we were about to find out that we would be moving to Chicago to begin a new chapter in our life together.  We were about to embark on some amazing summer adventures together in one of the greatest cities in the country.  How could he not remember all of that? 

But then it hit me - as great as last summer was, I KNOW this summer is going to be twice a great.  I have a full-time job that I love, I have an unbelievable group of friends that have been there for me when my family could not be and I am, for the first time in my life, living completely on my own.  THIS is what this move was all about.  It was about finding a place for myself in a much bigger world than Glen Allen.  It was about stepping outside of my original comfort zone and facing challenges that I may have never faced if I had stayed home.  Ultimately, every single one of those challenges has made me a much stronger individual.   

I may have had my heart broken, but I will bounce back from that.  I am a big believer that you have to put yourself our there in order to really find love and to be loved back.  It doesn't always work out and you may even get hurt.  But one thing I will not do is have any regrets.  A lot of friends and family who saw me go through the break-up probably questioned why I held on for as long as I did.  The answer is simple:  I wanted to make sure when the relationship ended, I had no regrets and that there were no "what ifs".  On March 8, when we went our separate ways, I walked out of that apartment knowing that I had nothing left to give him.  I gave him everything that I had and with that, I had no regrets.

Last year, I read a book called "Unbroken" that changed my outlook on life.  Without spending too much time on the details on the story, its a true story about an American pilot during WWII that becomes a POW in Japan.  The things he suffers through are horrendous and there were times that I could not believe he survived.  When he returned home, he naturally struggled to reintegrate himself into civilian life and struggled to find his faith in God.  Now, you all know me.  I am not one to openly discuss my faith or any struggles I have had with it.  So when I got to this part in the book, I was extremely apprehensive.  I didn't want this to turn into a story that preaches the goodness of God - at times, that can make me very uncomfortable.  I have always felt that faith is a very personal experience and every individual has their own struggles with it.  As I continued to read on with some skepticism, there was a line in the book that changed everything for me.  As this man was walking out of a church service led by Billy Graham. convinced that if there was a God He would never have let him go through what he went through, Billy Graham uttered these words:

"If you suffer, I will grant you the strength to go forward."

 As you can imagine, this stopped the man dead in his tracks.  The rest of the story is about how came to the understanding that no matter what obstacles in life he faces, God is the one helping him get through them.  He is not moving those obstacles out of the way, but helping the man scale them. 

I take this quote a step further.  While this quote has helped me fully understand where I stand in my faith, it also falls a bit short.  I see it more as no matter what obstacles I face in life SOMEONE is always there to help me get through them - and I WILL get through them.  Maybe in some circumstances it is just my faith.  But in the past year, it has been so much more than just that.  It has been my friends from back home that even from 13 hours away have listened to me on the phone at all hours of the night.  It has been my family who dropped everything they were doing to get on a plane to make sure I was okay.  It has been my friends here that embraced me from day one.  They didn't know me very long before I started having problems with Matt but that didn't matter.  As my mom put it, they have been my guardian angels. 

I got my heart broken and that's a fact.  But I am unbroken because of the people in my life that love me unconditionally and the faith that I have been able to find in the past year.  There is not enough thanks in the world that could do justice.

I will leave you with the other quote that I feel defines who I am and who I have become in the past year.  Its a powerful one that I have pinned up in my office right above my computer.  Courtesy of Maya Angelou:

"I can be changed by what happens to me.  I refuse to be reduced by it."

I will not be held down and held back by difficult situations that I face.  I was raised to be a fighter and keep pushing forward.

Thank you to all of you who have been patient with me as you have waited for this post.  I hope it gives you some insight into the strength I have found from the people in my life.  Almost a year ago I made a decision to leave my friends and family behind for love.  Even though that original love faltered, I have found new love - Love for this city, love for my friends that have made this place home and love for the life that I am leading.  Its a beautiful thing to be able to wake up knowing that this is where I am supposed to be and that I had so much support along the way.  I may just be the luckiest girl I know.

Pizza Crawl with an Illinois License

Thanks to my best friend of over 14 years now, I have been notified that I have already broken my new year's resolution by not blogging last week.  AND my grandparents pointed it out as well.  It lasted ALMOST a month.  That's not too bad, right?

As most of you know, I turned the big 2-5 this past weekend.  But the bigger news this weekend: I surrendered my Virginia license for an Illinois one.  After almost 10 years with a Virginia one, I have no more actual identification from the state in which I was born and raised.  It was a bittersweet moment.  Especially when Carlene, behind the DMV counter, told me she was taking my Virginia license from me and not giving it back.  I mean, I get that they don't want other people using it.  But let's be honest.  I am 25 years old.  I am not hanging around too many 17 year olds.  Really, not even many people under 21.  I am the baby in my group of friends here.  I'm just saying - I really wanted to keep my Virginia license just to keep.  Even if the picture was in black and white and looked like it a mug shot.  It was MY mug shot from my home state.

I also discovered why people in Chicago cannot drive.  There are actually multiple reasons.  The first of which has to do with the physical look of the written test you have to take.  Clearly, these people do not care at all about this test and its immediately obvious when you sit down with it.  First of all, its three pages (with text only on the front) and the pages are stapled together in the MIDDLE of the top of the page.  I have never in my life seen that.  It was just weird.  It also looked like it had been typed up on a typewriter.  Like an actual typewriter - not just the font courier new on a computer.  Then, I actually started taking the test and could have slapped myself for even studying for it.  I was literally studying every night for about 4 nights in a row because I was panicking that I would fail the drivers test.  I kept telling myself that even if I fail, I can still get an ID card.  But how the heck would I explain that one to people?

Then I started reading the questions.  Sample question number 1:

If you see an animal on the side of the road, what do you do:
a. Lean on the horn until it runs away
b. Swerve into the other lane to avoid it
c. Slow down

Sample question number 2:  While driving through a construction zone, you should:
a. Speed up to get through the construction zone as soon as possible
b. Honk your horn at the construction workers
c. Slow down

Yikes.  I don't feel that great anymore for getting all the answers correct.  All that means is that I should never be pulled over with a Virginia license plate.  Clearly I am automatically a better driver just for having taken the Virginia drivers test.

But, at the end of the test, I got to sit on the other side of a camera and was allowed to smile for my picture!  That's right my friends - I no longer have a mug shot for my license!  I was so excited that I even asked the guy taking my picture if  I was seriously allowed to smile.  No question he thought I was 16 years-old getting my first driver's license.

Overall though, the DMV trip was not nearly as painful as expected.  I was in and out of there in less than an hour, treated myself to some Dunkin Donuts and still made it back to the office by 9:00 AM.  And that was just the beginning of my birthday weekend. 

Friday night, Matt and I celebrated at a famous steakhouse in Chicago called Gibson's.  The staff from the team goes to the restaurant after every home game.  Since I not a wife, I never get to go.  This is actually perfectly fine with me considering most of those dinners do not start until almost 10:00 PM.  As expected, the food was amazing and we had a great time.  Just like at the Mastro's restaurant, we were the youngest people in there by about 10 years.  But, Matt knows all the waiters and staff because they are there so often so that was kind of fun.  This basketball world is an entirely different world than most normal people live in...

Saturday I actually had to work in the morning, but then had plans with a girlfriend of mine.  We went to THE best Italian restaurant that I have been to since moving to Chicago.  And it is a 5 minute walk from my apartment.  I have been dying to go there and Lizzie decided Saturday would be the day that I finally went.  Those of you who are able to come visit me up here, we will absolutely be going to Rose Angelis. 

For my actual birthday on Sunday, I treated myself to a massage.  And by treated I mean used a gift card that Matt gave me for Christmas.   After my massage, I hit the gym because Sunday night was dedicated to a pizza crawl.  Tracy had the brilliant idea of doing this instead of a bar crawl since she knows I have a love affair with pizza.  She mapped out 5 different pizza places throughout Lincoln Park and Lakeview, all of which served pizza by the slice.  The weather was actually pretty mild, so we were able to walk every where.  Somewhat took away the guilt of eating 5 pieces a pizza.  Who am I kidding?  There was no guilt eating that pizza.  Every single piece was delicious and the perfect ending to my birthday weekend.

I will admit it was very strange being away from home for the first time for a birthday.  But thank you to everyone who called, emailed, texted, sent cards, etc.  You all added to my weekend! 

But, reality hit hard after Sunday.  The past two days at work have been 12 hour days.  A little bit of a change from the weekend.  But, I just have to make it through April and things will slow down.  Then, Matt and I will be heading somewhere for vacation in May!  Details still to come.

I hope everyone had a great weekend and I will be back on next week.

Have to Laugh to Keep from Crying

New Year's Resolution number one: limit amount of sweets to only 3 days a week.  Complete fail.

It happened the day after my last blog entry.  I believe I had already hit my three day limit for the week.  But after a long week at work, I couldn't resist.  The box of mini Charleston Chews that Matt bought for me was just starring at me as I cooked dinner.  Well, as I thought about cooking dinner.  I think what I ended up resorting to a bagel and the rest of the cox of the delicious vanilla-covered chocolate candies. 

I tried.  I really did.  But then this week, cookies magically appeared Monday in our office.  And then muffins yesterday (let's be honest - muffins are sweets too.  They are cupcakes without frosting)  Today: chocolate cupcakes with homemade peanut butter frosting.  Those were my fault since I was the one who baked those last night and brought them in today.  Since I ate a turkey burger last night for dinner after an hour cardio workout, I thought it was only fair that I treat myself to one of them last night.  Along with the rest of the batter.  They are delicious, by the way.  They only thing that MIGHT make them better is if they had chocolate chips in the batter too.  Believe me - I thought about it.  But sadly, I used all my chocolate chips in chocolate chip cookies I made right before the holidays.

But good news is, so far I am keeping up with second New Year's Resolution of blogging once a week!  Two weeks in a row!  Nothing too exciting has happened since last week's post seeing as I have been working 11-12 hour days.  Apparently, parents and guidance counselors think that we have nothing else to do other than look for missing materials for their ONE student or child.  I get it - I know my parents would be annoyed if a school lost my materials.  But 99% of the time, its not our fault.  And with 14,000 applications pouring in during this application season, your kid is not going to be my priority if you think its appropriate to yell at me because he/she messed something up in the application process.

Here is a fun little fact for you: I have had ONE dad call me SIX times in TWO days.  Apparently, his daughter is missing additional essays as part of her application.  I re-sent a VERY self-explanatory email to her yesterday since she misplaced the last one telling her the next steps in her application process.  Apparently, it is not self-explanatory enough because he keeps calling.  Best part about this story is that he let me know that every single email his daughter receives from a college or university, he has her forward it to him so he can see it.  Apparently he has tried to change it so that all of her emails come to him directly. 

I think he might be one of those parents that ends up buying a house in the city where he daughter chooses to go to school.  He might even try to help her with her homework or have all of her professors' emails forwarded to him.  I am not sure who I feel worse for: the daughter or the college the daughter chooses to attend in the fall. 

Thank goodness there are chocolate cupcakes here today.

Along with the snow!  The winter snow has made its way to Chicago.  We are on the lookout for between 4 and 8 inches tonight.  I am going to try and remember to take pictures tomorrow morning before work and post them here so you all can see that I have officially survived the first snow here.  Four to eight inches - what would Virginia do?

And I just overheard one of my co-workers say that by 5:00 tonight, the snow could be coming down one inch per hour.  Thank goodness one of my girlfriends is coming over tonight with a big bottle of red wine.  After this week in office, it is more than needed. 

I am crossing my fingers for a much less stressful day tomorrow in the office.  More importantly, I just want to get through it so that I can head out for our weekly girls' night.  Matt leaves Friday for their game at Louisville on Saturday, which means Friday night out with the girls!  Hopefully the guys can bring home a win Saturday, but Louisville is good...don't tell Matt I said that.

Hopefully snow pictures will follow shortly.  I am not guaranteeing anything, but I will try to produce some.

And so it begins

Happy 2012!  Thanks to my Grampy, one of my new year's resolutions is to blog once a week.  I feel like that is extremely do-able and not overwhelming.  Plus, it gives me a full week to allow for anything exciting to happen!  What's my second new year's resolution you might ask?  Limit myself to sweets only 3 days a week rather than 7.  This one is going to be much harder than the first.

We Hiltunen's have a massive sweet tooth and I know that without a doubt I eat some sort of sweet or dessert every single day.  Just today I had three mini Charleston Chews before my workout this morning followed by birthday cake at the staff meeting today.  After the DePaul-Pitt basketball game?  One of the key lime pie-flavored cookies Mom put in my stocking.  And that, my friends, is just one day.  And so many of you ask why I work out every day...

So, we will see how long the second on lasts.  I already hit my 3 day limit today and I still have Friday-Sunday to get through.  Yikes.

And how has the new year started off?  Well, it started Monday morning with 17 missed calls, 36 new emails and 3 angry voicemails at work from guidance counselors and parents regarding students' applications to DePaul.  While I thought I was fully ready to go back to work after 10 days off, I was not prepared for that.  Its fascinating to talk to some of these parents.  One mom spent 5 minutes explaining to me how, normally, she would never call a college admission office for her son.  She believes that if you are old enough to go to college, you are old enough to go through the application process on your own.  I was so excited to actually hear this from a parent after weeks of "helicopter" parents calling in FOR their kids.

However, she then proceeded to blame DePaul for telling her son that his application was complete when in fact it was not.  In her mind, we should have received the application and someone was not telling her the truth.  After further looking into the matter, we discovered that her son never hit the sumbit buttom on the online application.  Then, I asked her if her son had checked our online database that shows students the status of their application.  She said no because her son's uesername and password was not working.  I then asked her if her son had called our Help Desk to obtain a new password and username as directed in his letter thanking him for applying to DePaul University.  She said no.

So, to recap: apparently, she thinks her son is mature enough to go through the process alone, ended up blaming us for her son's incomplete application, only to find out that her son did everything incorrectly.  I wish my job was not so customer service-based sometimes.  I wish I could have told the mom that if son could not figure out the application process, then maybe he should be applying elsewhere and they should stop pointing fingers.  But instead, I had to apologize for any confusion.  I hate every minute of it.

However, the new year took a turn for the better tonight!  DePaul men's basketball played Pittsburgh here in Chicago.  DePaul was picked to finish last in the Big East and Pitt has been ranked almost the entire season.  DePaul has not won a Big East game at HOME since January 10, 2010.  That's a true statistic.  Until tonight.  We beat Pitt at home at the buzzer.  I get a text message 30 minutes from Matt that said "that is why I sleep at the office."  Not a bad excuse and not a bad start to the Big East season. 

As far as the winter season goes - wait for it - I am SURVIVING!  I have had to break out the shin-length coat that mom bought me, but it was so worth it.  That baby is amazing!  The only thing it doesn't cover is my face, but I think between the numerous scarves, hats, neck warmers, etc., I should be covered.  We did have snow here on Monday morning, but it wasn't even a Virginia snow.  I did break out my snow boots through just because it felt right.  First snow of the season. 

Funny thing though - my co-workers love to point out how mild this winter has been.  One of the assistant coaches for the team even told me that once I am here for 3 or 4 more winters, I will realize how mild this one has been.  Oh, and don't worry - they like to tell me how it WILL get worse. 

First of all - I don't care if this is mild or not.  It is by far the coldest weather I have experienced.  My face literally hurts sometimes because of the cold.  Secondly - I do not need to be reminded that its going to get worse.  I don't want to imagine it being any colder until it actually hits me.  And by hits me I mean when my eyes are watering because of the cold and then the tears freeze.  Apparently that happens here...

The positive to all of this?  Today it was in the high 40s and it felt like spring.  You all remember one of my first posts about people being out in bathing suits in 70 degree weather?  Makes sense now. 
So, I'd say the new year is off to a pretty good start other than the crazy parents I am dealing with.  The NBA is back on TV, college basketball is in full swing, the Patriots are going to kick butt in the playoffs and I just celebrated the new year's with some amazing friends who have made this move so easy for me.  What else could I ask for?  A visit from my parents next month?  Oh yeah - that's already happening.

I hope everyone's new years has started off great and definitely keep an eye out at least once a week for a new post.  I have a feeling there are going to be some good stories in this new year....

Big shout out to Grampy for holding me accountable for my posts.  I know him and Memere are constantly checking for updates, so this one if for you two.

This One's for the Grandparents!

It's been a while, huh?  I have to apologize for that but give a big shout out to Memere and Grampy who made sure to remind me that I had not posted in a while.  There is a reason for this, and not just that my ADD kicked in and I lost interest.  These past couple of weeks have been a complete whirlwind and it doesn't look like its slowing down any time soon.  Just a brief recap of the past 2-3 weeks...

For those of you who don't know, my best friend of 13 years got married on Halloween weekend at a vineyard in Charlottesville, VA.  I hopped on a plane late Thursday night to make it home in time for the festivities that weekend.  I left Chicago wearing jeans with a pair of tights underneath, and a jacket under a second jacket.  When I landed in Virginia, the pilot informed us that it was 67 degrees.  That's more like it. Mom met me at the airport, which was great of her since my flight landed after midnight.  Best part was I had to turn around and drive up to C-ville that next morning.  Good thing Lauren is worth it :)

Friday, I spent the day with Lauren and the other bridesmaids getting our nails done for the big day then headed off to the rehearsal dinner.  And this is where the debacle began (and by debacle, I mean best weekend ever).  After dinner Friday we headed to a local bar where we met up with all the out of town guests, which included about 150 people just from Lauren's family.  I MAY be exaggerating with 150, but I'm not sure its that far off.  Every part of that gathering was amazing.  I honestly cannot remember the last time I laughed that hard for that long.  It was all topped off when one of the bridesmaids tripped down the steps, landed flat on her face in front of her parents, and tried to play it off like one other other bridesmaids pushed her down the steps.  Classic.

Best part about the night?  Around 11:00, we looked outside and it was snowing.  Are you kidding me?  Apparently Thursday it was 75 degrees.  And then I show up from Chicago and it snows.  It carried over into the next morning when it rained like crazy.  All I can say is that Lauren was THE best sport ever.  I have never seen someone so calm on her wedding day especially since the wedding was outdoors.  Her positive energy clearly made an impression because the skies cleared up literally just hours before the wedding began.  It never did quite warm up, but we all sucked it up because the backdrop for the ceremony was breathtaking.  Lauren and Brad got married outside in the vineyard with the mountains in the background.  Lauren was by far, the most beautiful bride I have ever seen.

Then, before we knew it, it was time to party.  And if anyone partied hard, it was my mother.  Just ask dad.  It was hilarious.  She somehow even managed to get dad out on the dance floor for a good number of songs.  For those of you who watch Friends - my dad dances like Chandler.  And dad, I absolutely love it!  I don't know what was better - watching my mom catch a marshmallow on fire while trying to make a s'more or reading the text messages my dad was sending to my sister after he had a few drinks.  They were not in English.  I think they were in that broken French he thinks he can speak ; )

Unfortunately, the trip couldn't last much longer and I had to jump back on a plane Monday and get back to Chicago.  The following Saturday I was leaving for Philadelphia for a week for work.  So, I had four days in the office to get caught up and get my act together before hopping on another plane.  It was my last week of travel and unfortunately, it was the longest trip - a full 6 days.

Oh Philly.  I wish I could say I love it the way Lauren loves Philly.  But I just don't.  I think it all started when the guy at the hotel told me that it was only a $15 cab ride from the hotel to downtown.  A co-worker of mine from R-MC was in town for the same event I was there for, so we decided to meet up Saturday night downtown.  Her school is nice enough to pay for her to stay right downtown.  Mine, well, they were nice enough to let me stay out by the airport.  But clearly the guy at the hotel was confused, because when I got into the cab, the driver set the meter to $30.  It was a flat rate from the airport to downtown.  Welcome to Philly - enjoy your $60 cab ride.

The next morning led to another adventure when I was trying to make my way to the convention center for the massive college fair.  Instead of listening to the GPS when I got off the interstate, I muted TomTom and just started looking for the signs to the convention center and parking.  Sure enough, right as I got off the interstate there was a parking garage labeled "Convention Center Parking."  I should have known it was too good to be true.  I didn't realize how shady it was until I left the garage to head down to the convention center.  As I walked out of the garage, I noticed that there was barbed wire around the garage.  Seriously?  Not off to a good start.

I then realized that I had parked in the farthest parking garage from the convention center as possible as I walked 8 blocks with 50 pounds worth of materials.  My poor luggage is a little beat up.  It just got better once the fair started and we were swarmed with middle schoolers and their sticky fingers taking all of our COLLEGE material.  I'm not mad that middle schoolers attended the fair.  I am mad that the middle schoolers seemed to be unattended the entire time.  But, they were better than the high schoolers in that they didn't ask unbelievable questions like some of the high schools did.  See below:

Me: What are you interested in at DePaul?
Student: I dance.
Me: What type of dance?
Student looking at her friend: I have no idea what she is talking about.

Student: Do you have CSI?
Me:  Do you know that actually involves?
Student: No, not really.

Mom: Oh, you guys are in Lincoln Park?  Like the cartoon?  You guys must get that a lot.
Me: Um, I am not sure what you are talking about.
Mom: You know, with the boys that say bad things??
Me: I am sorry, I really am not sure what you are talking about.
Son: South Park, Mom? Are you talking about South Park?

I wish I had my little notebook that I carry with me to these things. I had even better ones written down.  But no worries.  We are in application season now.  I PROMISE you there will be even better essays than there have been questions.

So that is pretty much how the entire 4 hour fair went.  My co-worker from R-MC and I then headed across the street to the "famous" Reading Street Market.  Matt told me it was one place I had to go while I was in Philly.  It was an indoor "market" with different places to eat, a ton of different candy shops, little gift stores, etc.  It reminded me of a smaller version of the Fanuel Hall in Boston.  When Caitlin and I finally found somewhere to eat, no sooner had we sat down when a homeless man wanders by our table and asked us for our food and money.  At least our homeless people here in Chicago talk to themselves and don't bother us.

My day in Philly ended appropriately enough when I left the parking garage.  It was one of those garages that has no attendant, so you pay first, then the machine takes your ticket.  And you don't get it back.  DePaul does not reimburse you for ANYTHING if you do not have a receipt.  6 hours later and $15 of my own money, I was ready to get the heck out of Philly.

I did have to head down to Baltimore for two days and I ran into another one of my friends at the Baltimore fair.  She had also been in Philly and had been with Caitlin and me throughout the day.  She was upset with us in Philly because we did not want to do sight-seeing in Philly after the miserable fair.  So, she did it on her own.  She did proceed to tell me that around 5:30, after she asked a woman at one of the stores she was shopping in what other things she should see before leaving.  The woman told her "you have seen everything you need to see tonight here.  You need to go back and get in your car now."  My friend was basically told to get the heck out of Philly after dark.

Lauren - I know this must be annoying to read this because you love Philly.  But I promise not to COMPLETELY judge Philly on this one trip if you promise not to be mad that I didn't love it :)

The rest of the trip was pretty uneventful and I made it home Thursday night just in time for Matt's first game of the season on Friday.  The Blue Demons are currently 2-0 with another game next week down in Florida!  And, VCU opened up their season with a win as well.  My two teams are off to a great start!

I head home next week for Thanksgiving and am SO excited to have a weekend at home with no plans other than spending it with family and friends.  Thank you all so much for being patient with my lack of blogging lately.  I hope this one made up for lost time!  Happy early Thanksgiving to everyone!

Conversations from the road

My sister's latest blog recounting conversations between her and her students and volleyball players inspired me to post my recent conversations with prospective students at a college fair.

Student: Do you have a major in pi-cology?
Me: In what?
Student: Pi-cology
Me:  Do you mean psychology?
Student: Yeah, psychology.


Student: Can you study specific things here?
Me:  I am not sure I understand what you are asking.
Student: I mean, do you have specific things you can study?
Me: Like majors?
Student: Yeah, do you have majors?
Me: Um, yes.  We have 250 majors.


Student: Do you have pre-med?
Me: Yes, we do have a very excellent pre-med program.
Student: (mind you, this is the SAME student that asked about pre-med) Do you have cosmetology?
Me: No (and I am not sure you should go into pre-med if your back up is cosmetology....)


Student: Do you require anything here?
Me: What exactly are you asking?
Student: Like, do you require anything to get into DePaul?
Me: Like an application?
Student: Yeah, do you require an application?
Me: Yes, yes we do.


Student 1: Do you offer study abroad?
Me: Yes, we actually offer many different options for studying abroad.
Student 2: What does abroad mean?


Student 1: Do you guys have a good soccer team?
Me: Yeah, we do, actually!  A you are like the 15th student to ask me about soccer!
Student 2: Its because we are all Mexican.


Mind you, these are students who are looking to go to college NEXT year.  Lord help us.

DC Disaster

I feel like this is the first morning I have had in weeks to just sit down, collect my thoughts, and write. I take that back - Last Saturday I could have but I decided instead I would sleep until noon and get up just in time to rush over to DePaul Men's Basketball first practice of the season, which happened to be an open one.  Tracy and I made a quick run to the Dairy Queen up the street so we could try the pumpkin pie blizzard.  Tracy had just run 16 miles that morning.  I ran down the street to make sure I was on time to meet her.  So naturally that constituted me ordering a large blizzard.

The past two weeks have been a complete whirlwind.  After the opening weekend of "Blue Madness" (first day the basketball teams can officially practice), I was off at 5:30 am on Monday morning to catch a flight for DC.  I wish I could say I was headed to DC to then head home to Richmond, but alas, it was a work trip.  A couple of college fairs, high school visits and a counselor breakfast were on the schedule for the quick trip.  I think the highlight of my trip ended up being Monday night when I had a girls night dinner with Matt's sister Catherine.  It was just what I needed before starting a crazy 4-day trip.  Since DePaul will not NOT pay for even one alcoholic drink on a work trip, we started with wine at her place to save everyone money.  Also, just to note - DePaul gives us $35 a day for food on work trips.  I spent $33 that day between lunch a dinner.  Welcome to DC.

Speaking of "Welcome to DC"....

Only in DC would a COLLEGE FAIR be cancelled because fights break out amongst students.  My second day there (and really the main reason for sending me out to DC) there was a national college fair hosted at the Washington Convention Center.  Over 450 colleges from around the country were in attendance and its a great place for students (especially juniors and sophomores) to at least get an idea of what colleges they MIGHT want to look further into.  Its not a great fair for seniors because at that point, its so late in the game to not have any idea of what you are looking for.

The first part of the fair was supposed to last from 9 am to 1 pm.  Since I was staying in Fairfax, I was up and on the road by 6 am since set up started at 7 and getting to DC is AWFUL.  I know we have traffic here in Chicago.  The difference is, traffic is only on the HIGHWAY.  Traffic in northern Virginia and DC is EVERYWHERE.  Side streets, back roads, highways.  Its miserable.  At times, you just want to slam your head on the steering wheel.  At least it would take the focus off wondering why the hell you are sitting in stand still traffic on a back road at 1:30 in the afternoon.

The second half of the fair was to take place from 6:00-8:00 pm.  For those of you who are not familiar with college fairs, all college fairs that take place during the morning on a week day are ALWAYS a joke.  They are overridden with students who are there just because they can get out of class.  The majority of them are not there to get information about college.  They are there to hang out with their friends and basically stop of tables, ask us really mundane questions, and get us to sign off on a sheet that says they talked to 5 colleges for class.  Now, imagine that with 6,000 students.  AND at least a third of those were MIDDLE SCHOOL students.

I should not have been surprised when we looked around at 12:00 during the first session and noticed that there were no more students in the building.  Looking back, we all should have asked questions.  But instead, we were so pumped that we were able to leave for an early lunch.  Since we had the evening session later one, every representative left their materials at their table and went about their day.  I had one high school visit then headed back to Fairfax to answer an insane amount of emails and get some work done.  At 4, I left the hotel and headed back into DC.  At 4:30, while I was literally one block away from the Convention Center, I get a call from my supervisor who informed me that the evening session was cancelled.

Apparently, in the first session, fights broke out amongst students and all the students were evacuated from the building, hence the early release for us counselors.  What?  Your telling me that rival schools were bused into this event, 6,000 students were left with a minimal amount of chaperones, and fights broke out?  Shocker!  Again, Welcome to DC.

The worst part is that apparently it took 4 hours for the convention center to decide to cancel the event.  Instead of making the decision while all of us counselors were still in the building at 12:00, they waited to send out the email at 4:00.  Most counselors did not even know why the event was cancelled because they did not receive the email. They found out when they arrived at the convention center and saw a simple sign just stating that the event was cancelled.  My supervisor had all the dirt, so I was the lucky counselor who got to tell people the real reason why it was cancelled.

So, there I was, stuck in DC at 5:30 pm and I had to LEAVE DC to get back to my hotel.  My college roommate actually lives in DC, but she had dinner plans that night with friends, otherwise I would have told her to meet me at a bar after the day I had had.  Forget the fact that DePaul wasn't paying.  I could find $8 of my own for a drink at the point.  I thought about staying in DC for dinner and waiting for the traffic to die down but then I remember that I am BLIND when driving in the dark.  Its really hard for me to see street signs at night, and let's be honest, with the luck I was having that day, trying to find my way out of DC would have been a disaster.  Did I mention that my GPS broke and I was navigating through DC and northern Virginia with paper directions courtesy of googlemaps?

I made the decision to just get the heck out of dodge while I could.  I had to laugh when my supervisor told me the enjoy my down time and read a book or do something fun.  Annie has never been to northern Virginia or DC.  She actually thought that at 5:30 PM I was done for the day.  She had no idea that even though I was only 13 miles from my hotel, I would not make it back there until 7:00 pm.

And that was pretty much the tone of the entire trip in NOVA and DC.  Thursday could not come quick enough.  My only regret was that I did not find time to visit Georgetown Cupcakes.  No explanation needed.  I don't think I have ever been more excited to get into the office before.  Thank goodness for fabulous co-workers who made my Friday so much fun.

This weekend is off to a good start with a date night last night with Matt.  Today, is a big day.  I just recently found out that, wait for it mom and dad, Chicago just opened a CRUMBS store!  For those of you who are not familiar, Crumbs is a NYC-based cupcake shop.  Every year, when Mom, Dad, Buddy and Donna go up to New York, Mom and Dad always bring back cupcakes from Crumbs.  They are the most glorious cupcakes ever.  Words cannot describe them.  Well, one of my co-workers informed me that a Crumbs has opened up here recently!  Scavenger hunt initiated.

Tonight, one of my co-workers is having us all over and then we are going out later on in an area called Old Town.  Its a really unique area about 2 miles from out place, with some really great bars.  A lot of really young professionals and away from all the college bars in our area.  I am trying to get some girlfriends to go with me tomorrow to an apple orchard that is about an hour from here.  Apparently they make the best homemade apple cider donuts (I know, I spelled it the way Dunkin Donuts does).  I'd drive an hour for that.

More importantly, this time next week I will be helping my best friend of 13 years get into her wedding dress!  I can't believe its coming up so quickly!  I cannot tell you how excited I am to be heading home to watch my best friend start her new life with her new husband, see my family, and see the best girlfriends I have ever had.  Just have to get through this week at work and its home for a long weekend!

One last shout out and note.  One of my college teammates, Nicole, is on a mission trip for one year in India.  Her story is absolutely incredible and what she is doing over there is amazing.  However, she is still $5,000 short of her mission goal.  For those of you who have had the opportunity to meet Nicole, you know what an unbelievable person she is.  I just want to post two things: Her link to her blog that she is writing while in India and the link to her fund.  No pressure, but just wanted to make sure its out there for anyone who wants to help.

http://gamc.pcusa.org/give/E210409/
This link takes you directly to her fund.  All proceeds go right to her individual fund.

http://livesimplylovedeeply.blogspot.com/
This is Nicole's blog, where you can read about her doings in India.

Finally, I love you all and see you soon!

Hello, fall!

Well folks, I survived my trip to Cincinnati!  I tasted both Skyline chili and Graeter's Ice Cream and both were fabulous.  After a long week on the road, I came home to fall in Chicago! Enjoy the pictures - they are from our neighborhood!  Not a bad view in the morning.

A week in the life of an Admission Counselor: Cincinnati

Hello, Cincinnati!  My home for the next 5 days.  Well, actually, its Covington, KY because apparently its cheaper to stay here in a hotel than it is in Cincinnati or anywhere else in Ohio.  But, I can see the bridge that takes me to Cincinnati from my hotel window.  Along with the large cinder block wall that holds the river back from the hotel.  Either way, I will be here for 5 full days for work purposes. 

I drove in from Chicago yesterday afternoon.  It was about a 5 hour drive which I had to mentally prepare for.  And I did not plan very well (I know my mom is shocked by that) because I forgot to eat lunch before I left at 2:00.  Needless to say, about an hour into the drive, I was starving.  So hungry in fact, that I thought Taco Bell sounded delicious.  I opted for that over Potbelly's, Subway and any other decent sandwich shop in the area.  Although, the diet Mountain Dew that Taco Bell offered me was a lifesaver for the drive.  Extra caffeine, no calories.  Perfect since I got my fair share from the chicken quesadilla and taco that came with it.

Overall, the drive was very uneventful save for one event.  I will get to that later.  But talk about a gorgeous drive.  The highways here in the Midwest are very different from back home.   The roads are not surrounded by trees on either side like they are in Virginia.  In Virginia, I feel like you could drive for hours and the only scenery you see are trees.  In the fall, its absolutely gorgeous as you can imagine.  But, I totally understand why my mom used to say "it was a boring, long drive."  Here, all you see is open spaces.  Farm houses, silos, and farm land for miles.  Its breathtaking.  Definitely a different change of scenery than from back home.  But, the most stunning thing I saw on my drive came in Indiana...

I was about 2 and a half hours into the drive when I saw something off in the distance.  At first, it was just a bunch of white specks, but as I kept driving, the objects came into better view.  It was solar wind-powered field.  In the distance, these solar windmills looked about the size of trees.  As I kept getting closer, I realized how wrong I was about their size.  To explain how large these things are is impossible.  Basically, they make telephone lines and trees look like pick-up-sticks.  And there were HUNDREDS of them.  Our highway ran right through the middle of this 5-10 miles stretch which made for a very interesting feeling.  We were literally surrounded by these monsters and their long, spinning arms.  I pulled over and tried to get a picture of them with my phone.  But my phone is from 1993 (not literally) so the camera function is pretty pathetic.

After the solar wind field, I had about another 3 hour drive which again was pretty easy.  It got tricky when I was arriving in Cincinnati and found out that my exit for my hotel was closed.  I knew this ride went too smoothly.  On top of that, my Tom Tom was not functional because the plug in the car thatI n eeded to hook up to was not working.  I found that out when I got in my car to leave for the 5 hour drive.  But, the googlemaps I had were just fine up until this point.  The nice thing about the GPS is that if you need to take a different exit, it can reroute for you.  Physical paper directions don't do that for you.

So, I decided not to panic and just get off at the next exit.  Once I got off, I figured I would just get back on the highway and get off on the same exit on the other side.  Turns out if you do that, it takes you to the heart of downtown Cincinnati.  It was actually pretty cool since I drove by the Duke Energy Convention Center and the Cincinnati Reds' stadium. What wasn't cool was the fact that these areas were completely deserted and it was about 8:45 at night.  Fabulous.

So, surprisingly, I actually stayed pretty calm and called my wonderful sister.  Courtney was the absolute best and found exactly where I was and got me back to Kentucky.  So, shout out to Court for getting me to my hotel safely.  AND shout out to Court for finishing first in the women's division with her roommate in the Peanut Race last weekend :)

I do have to work today which was against God's will when he created Sunday's, but I guess since it pays the bills, I can't be too bummed.  There is a Bengal's game today, so if I get out of the college fair in time, I might have to wander over to a bar and check out the crowd.  Since Virginia doesn't have a professional football team in the area (I refuse to count the Redskins as the hometown team), it might be awesome to be in a city where the majority of the people are pulling for one team.  I know I have that living in Chicago, but I haven't been  able to go to one of the hundreds of bars in our neighborhood yet to see a game.  Last weekend was Lauren's bachelorette and the weekend before was the Patriots game.

I will keep you all updated about my time here in Cincinnati.  I am sure I will have some interesting stories after 5 full days of meeting with students.  But more importantly, I have a list of things I have to do/try while I am here.  Most involve food.  So, I will make sure to keep you all in the loop, just in case you ever find yourself in Cincinnati.

Enjoy your Sunday.  One final shout out to my dad:  I am not sure how he has been able to take the heartache of the Red Sox for 35 years.  Court and I experienced their worst choke-job since we have been following them.  I was with Matt watching the entire thing that last night of the regular season.  I told him that if it wasn't so embarrassing, I would cry.  I am not ready to only watch football.  And with the NBA headed in the direction of a long lockout, all my hopes for Boston sports teams have to be placed in the Patriots.  And they only play once a week.  And I have to listen to ESPN talk about every other football team that I couldn't care about any less.  And I refuse to watch the playoffs unless I know TB or the Yankees are getting their butts kicked.  I will NEVER root for either of those teams to win the World Series.  I can't do it.  I think I am pulling for the Tigers this year to win it all.  I hate the Phillies (sorry, Lauren.  I still love you though!) and I couldn't tell you who else is in the post-season for the NL other than the Cardinals. 

So, I am pulling for the VA native Justin Verlander. Remember, the Skankees hold the record for the worst choke job in post-season history.  So even though the Tigers got spanked last night, I still have faith.  Maybe they will half-ass the rest of the series like they did the last regular season game against the Rays...

And Tito...you will be missed by the fans.  But, I would LOVE it if you came to Chicago....Cubbies could use a manager like you.  Afterall, you brought two World Series titles to a team that couldn't win one in 86 years.  Always a Red Sox fan, but still a Tito fan :)

Let the Travel Season Begin

Wow, yes, I know it has been a while.  Lauren has already gotten on me about how she needs something to read at work, so hopefully this will keep her occupied!  And to my loyal followers, I am promising to do better with the blog in the next couple of weeks.  It should actually be quite entertaining.  I am getting ready to start my travel season here at DePaul which means I will be out on the road for three weeks talking with prospective students and their families.  There is no doubt in my mind that I will have some great stories to share after interacting with teenagers for the next three weeks.

So, what have I been doing these past two weeks that made me completely neglect this blog?  Full-time job.  Who knew it would take up so much time?  Don't get me wrong - I was not 100% satisfied with working part-time so this is a much better situation.  I can afford rent and groceries so that's a huge plus.  Just from day one though, it has definitely not been a 9-5 job.  It actually works out great because Matt's schedule is getting ready to pick up so we both are staying extra busy with work.  Its a huge plus that my co-workers are amazing since we are all stuck with each other for over 8 hours a day.  So, basically, it has been gym, work, hot yoga and bedtime.

Yes, hot yoga.  AMAZING.  A co-worker (Sarah) and I signed up for hot yoga through Living Social a couple weeks back and have been doing it twice a week ever since.  We are not doing that insane hot yoga where it takes place in a room at 105 degrees plus 40% humidity.  No way is that healthy.  We are doing yoga in a 95 degree room.  Its basically like doing yoga outside in Virginia during the summer.  And I used to go running in that weather, so it was nothing terrifying for me.  We have gone 4 times and I have loved it each time.  Its so relaxing but surprisingly challenging at the same time.  Apparently most people who do yoga are flexible.  I missed the memo on that one.  When we are told to hold our position in downward dog or pigeon for more than 30 seconds, my body starts to violently shake.  My hamstrings get angry with me.  But, once the yoga instructor has us lay on our backs and breathe deeply, I am all over that.  One time I am pretty sure I dozed off.  My body did that dramatic twitch thing that it does right when you are about to fall asleep.

Last night's yoga did stress me out a little bit, which is a contradiction to the whole point of the class.  Long story short, but I let a friend borrow my yoga mat for beach yoga and she returned it to me full of sand.  Excellent.  Thank you for that.  So, I had forgotten all about it when I showed up for class with sand trailing behind me.  Not only was my mat covered on both sides with sand, but then I had to lay on it the whole class.  I had sand in places that I didn't know I could get sand in by the time I left.  On top of that, the yoga instructor could not sit still.  She kept walking around the room while we were doing all the positions.  So, naturally, now I panicking because she is going to walk right through my sandpit and then I am that girl who showed up with a nasty yoga mat and got sand everywhere in a hot yoga studio.  As expected, she stopped coming over to my mat after a while.  I guess she was tired of getting sand all over her every time she had to readjust me.  You actually thought I did every position correctly?  You did read the kayaking blog, right? 

As far as work goes, I am knee deep in travel logistics.  I am in the middle of planning my trips to Cincinnati, DC and then Baltimore/Philly.  It is definitely more of a process here than it was Macon.  I know hindsight is 20-20, but I wish I would have fully appreciated the amount of flexibility that my director gave us when it came to travel.  Here, we have to have things double and triple checked before we can get anything done.  Which is why I am writing this blog at this time of day.  I am waiting for my trip to DC to get approved. 

And now the latest adventure: Lauren's bachelorette weekend!  I apologize to those of you back home who I was unable to see this past weekend.  I was literally home from Friday to Sunday with only about 4 hours in the entire trip being dedicated to being home with my parents and Courtney.  But, totally worth the whirlwind trip!  We had an amazing time in Richmond and hopefully Lauren loved it!  I know it was no trip to Vegas but we all have bills to pay.  And I would like to have the money to pay those bills.  I will tell you that we ended the weekend with a trip to Godfrey's Drag-Show brunch where the world's number one Reba McIntire impersonator made an appearance.  It was pretty impressive.  I mean, these "men" looked JUST LIKE WOMEN.  Well, I mean, completely over-done, football-sized women.  But still.  Dad and Courtney were just thankful that they did not have to witness this debacle, but I think it was a perfect way to finish off the weekend.  Mrs. Foley even got a picture with one of them.  Its on my friend Dani's phone if anyone wants any incriminating evidence.

After a completely exhausting day yesterday trying to recover from the weekend, I am back in the office getting ready to leave for a college fair 3 hours away.  Dunkin Donuts coffee is screaming my name and my Tom Tom better be ready for the trip today.  I did print out hard copies of the directions since Tom Tom usually has other plans for me.  I am not sure if I want to fully trust him on my first college fair visit of the travel season.

Stay tuned for travel season updates.  Like I said - there are bound to be some great stories from the road.  Hopefully they will keep me laughing so that I won't cry thinking about how the Red Sox are performing the largest choke job in the regular season...ever...

I will also let you know when I can perform downward dog without body shakes. 

Kayaking - 1, Amanda - 0

If paddle boarding was an example of my self-proclaimed athleticism, then kayaking was a blatant example of my awkwardness and complete lack of coordination.  So begins the story of my first kayaking experience through Living Social...

I should have known it was going to be a rough one when I got stuck in traffic for 30 minutes just trying to get to the event.  We were supposed to be there by 5:00 to great the guests who actually BOUGHT the adventure, but 5:00 comes and goes and I was stuck in my car on North Ave where apparently, its normal to do construction during rush-hour.  When I finally showed up, I was THE last Living Social worker to arrive.  Excellent.

The next 30-40 minutes were fine - just checked in the customers and directed them to the "cubbies" where they could put all their stuff that they didn't want to take with them on the river.  Most of the guests asked the typical question of what was the likelihood that they would get wet.  I pulled some stuff out my behind since I have never kayaked before and simply said "it just depends - if its windy out there, we might hit some waves that get us a little wet."  Sounded good to me and apparently it was a good enough answer for the guests.  Mind you, I have never in my life been kayaking.  But then, one young lady asked me "so, what are the chances of capsizing?"  Um, excuse me?  There is a chance I could CAPSIZE out there?  I mean, I am a good swimmer, but I am definitely one of those people that if I get pulled under water in an unnatural way, there is a good chance I will panic.

I am not sure I was able to convince her as easily as the other guests since I had a deer-in-headlights look on my face.  Instead, I awkwardly laughed and told her I am pretty sure there is a very small chance that that actually will happen.  Then I walked away.  No way was I going to continue conversation with her and allow her to sense that I had no idea what I was talking about AND was panicking.

So finally, we wrapped up the check-in and headed down to the river (Chicago River) for our brief lesson in kayaking.  We got the basics - how to steer, how to slow down if we were going to crash into someone or something - you know, the important things.  It was just me and one other Living Social worker (Morgan) manning the group of 34 guests.  We did have 2 people from Kayak Chicago, the company Living Social works with for both paddle boarding and then this ridiculous adventure.  The first thing we did was go through the instructions on land.  Everyone climbed into a kayak that was on land and we walked through the different paddling techniques.  Lucky for me, there was no kayak for me at the point, so I had REMEMBER what the Kayak Chicago guy said for when I was actually in the kayak and had a paddle.  Great start.

After about 10 minutes of instruction, we headed down to the dock where, one by one, we hoped into our kayaks and started out on our hour and a half kayaking adventure down the Chicago River.  I was the last person to get into mine, thinking that it would just be best if I rounded out the back of the group and let Morgan round out the front.  What I DIDN'T calculate was the fact that I might not be that good at kayaking and that by rounding out the back, I would actually be in dead-last struggling to keep up.

As we started to kayak down the river, I tried to find a rhythm.  I mean, how hard can it be?  Paddle on one side, then paddle on the other.  Piece of cake.  Fail.  Big time.  I couldn't find a good balance between each stroke, couldn't find a good place to put my hands on the paddle, and because of that, I was splashing water into my kayak on every paddle.  I did manage to get ahead of at least 3 of the 34 people.  Once my ego kicked in, I refused to be dead last, not matter how awkward I looked trying to stay ahead of the others.

Kayakers look so smooth going down the river.  Each paddle looks like its done with ease and there is never any splash coming up from the water.  And then there is me.  Not only was I slashing water into my kayak the entire 4-mile paddle, I was also splashing water on the kayaks around me (that's WHEN I was actually close enough to other people).  On top of that, I kept hitting the paddle on the size of the kayak.  We all know how loud heavy plastic on heavy plastic sounds.  I was making that noise all night long.  I would get a couple of good strokes in then BANG!  BANG!  Paddle, meet kayak.

Then, instead of gracefully placing the paddle back into the water, every stroke sounded like someone dropping a brick into the water.  KERPLUNK! KERPLUNK!  So, imagine that PLUS the sound of the paddle hitting the side of the kayak.  The only thing I was missing for the whole imagine to be complete was a nose plug and a bathing cap.

I finally caught my stride with about 15 minutes left in the paddle.  But before then, I made a decision that got me through the hour and a half trip.  I decided that there was NO way all those people who were ahead of me for the fist half of the paddle were going to beat me back.  Ok, well, some of them were because they were SO far ahead of me.  But, I knew that at least half of them were going to be exhausted on the paddle back.  I mean, its a serious upper body workout and some of the people on this trip looked like they had not done a push-up in years.  No judgment - I just used this as motivation.

So, for the last half of the trip back, I was determined not to coast like so many of the guests were doing.  I was going to paddle the entire way back, no matter how uncoordinated I looked or how wet I got.  I was going to beat the majority of the people back whether they liked it or not.  I crossed the finish line well ahead of the majority of our group and did a fist pump in my head when I didn't fall out of my kayak when I was getting out of it on the dock.  That was probably the biggest accomplishment of the night because if anyone was going to fall out, it WAS going to be me.  I'm sure nobody would have been surprised after seeing me kayak like I was a 3-year old girl playing splash in the bathtub.

The night ended with a cookout, a bonfire  and games of cornhole right by the river.  Guests enjoyed cheeseburgers, beer and chips before heading home.  One thing that was amazing about the adventure was the fact that we followed the river into downtown Chicago just as the sun was setting and all the buildings were starting the light up.  It was breathtaking.  I wish I had my camera, but then I remembered I was sitting in 5 inches of water that I paddled into my kayak, so it was probably a good thing I didn't bring it.  Again, one of those moments where I couldn't believe I was living in Chicago and getting to take part in all of these experiences.

So, just when I surprised myself with my ability to stand-up on a paddle board, I also surprised myself with my complete inability to kayak gracefully.  I can officially cross that off my bucket list.  I am pretty sure it was NEVER on my bucket list, but now, I can say I have done it.  Been there, done that.  I'll take a paddle board and strut my "athleticism" any day over revealing my true lack of coordination.  If only someone had a video camera, it would have made an excellent youtube video.

Until next time, much love.  Live Socially!

DePaul Invasion: Watch out Ohio!

I have been on cloud 9 since Wednesday.  For those of you who I have not been able to tell yet, I found out Wednesday afternoon that my admission counselor position at DePaul University will go FULL-TIME on Septmeber 12!!!  I just want to say a quick thank you to everyone who kept their fingers crossed for me and kept me in your prayers.  I cannot tell you how excited I am to join this staff full-time.  As I have mentioned in the past, my co-workers are amazing and I am finally ready to be BUSY!  There is only so much time I can spend bothering my other co-workers because I have half as much work to do as they do before they kick me out of their offices.

Part-time has been great in terms of having random days off.  For example, on Wednesday, I spent the day walking around Lincoln Park and spending too much money at TJ Maxx and Bed Bath and Beyond.  My intention for the day was to come home with a new shower curtain.  I DID come home with a shower curtain, so that was successful.  I also came home with new perfume, new sunglasses, a new collage picture frame and a new decortative wall-hanging for the bedroom.  Those stores are just dangerous.  I mean, where else can you find Calvin Klein sunglasses and perfume for 50% off the original price?  And they put that stuff right at the top of the escalator so you have no choice but to walk by it.  I think they have talked to the Ikea people...

About an hour after I got home, I got the phone call from staffing offering me the full-time position.  The lady on the other end of the phone call got a little carried away talking about the great benefits DePaul offers to its employees.  I wanted to just remind her that I was already working part-time at DePaul and that she could just offer me the job and stop trying to convince me to take the job by reciting the benefits manual.  Finally, she got to the point where she asked if I would accept the job and I felt like a kid in a candy shop.  I said yes and immediately called mom and dad to let them know that their daughter was FINALLY contributing full-time to society.  I also don't have to be such a Frugal Fran all the time and don't have to hear Matt laugh at me when I complain about having to buy a $20 shower curtain.  Still a Baller on a Budget, but with a little more wiggle room :) 

Best part about the job: I get my own office!  This will be the first time EVER that I have my own office.  At Macon, four of us shared the attic upstairs in our office (which was an old, three-story house).  Don't get me wrong - we had some very fun times.  Sometimes work got put on hold because of it the casual atmosphere, but when four people are making phone calls at one time, it just gets weird.  And currently at DePaul, I am in a cubicle next to the student interns.  So, I feel like a real professional being able to move into my own office for the first time.  Matt's not the only big-timer now, thank you very much.  I have MY name on MY door too.

I start traveling next month and I will be visiting the exciting state of Ohio for about 5 days.  But the following weeks I will actually be heading back down to Northern Virginia and DC!  Our travel manager swears she didn't plan it that way, but I am not complaining.  They will be quick trips though, filled with college fairs and high school visits.  It will just be nice to start out my travel season in areas that I am familiar with (other than Ohio).  But right now, its just a waiting game.  I sill have to work part-time next week but only from 1-5 every day.  It will be a nice way to transition into being back in the office full-time and catch up on some much needed sleep after dragging my butt out of bed for 6:30 AM workouts.  My body does not approve of those, by the way. 

I celebrated with my friend Tracy (the academic advisor for the men's basketball team here) on Wednesday night.  She treated me to dinner, drinks and desserts.  I think those are my three favorite words in the world that start with D...nothing says classy like a cheese pizza, sangria and cookie dough ice cream.  For those of you who are thinking that Matt is a total skeeze for not taking me out to celebrate, he was actually at a work dinner with the entire staff that night.  So, it was date night for Tracy and me.  Matt and I are celebrating next Friday night at  restuarant downtown that he went to when he came up for his interview in April.  All I remember him telling me about this place was that they serve mashed potatoes with pieces of lobster in them and they have a butter cake for dessert.  Yes, I WILL have both plus my entree.

But this weekend is reserved for not only enjoying the last official weekend of summer, but spending time with GREAT friends from Virginia.  I am over the moon about seeing Scott and Amanda Day - Scott is the Sports Information Director at VCU and Amanda is his lovely wife who has so bravely left their 2 month-old baby boy Connor at home to make this trip.  VCU Field Hockey is playing at Northwestern and Scott was able to get Amanda on the trip.  Not sure what the plan is for tonight, but tomorrow I hope to show them around the Lincoln Park area and find a good place where the guys can watch college football and Amanda and I can catch up. 

In the meantime, I hope everyone has a fabulous Labor Day weekend.  I know my parents probably have something fun planned with neighbors and friends, and I hope everyone else enjoys the last official weekend of summer.  I know, I know - you all will still have about a month and a half left of summer weather.  I will be living vicariously through you all when it suddenly turns cold here.  I have heard fall is amazing in Chicago (the one month that it lasts), so hopefully I can enjoy it.

Happy Labor Day weekend - enjoy the time spent with loved ones! 

IKEA = Domesticated

Sorry for the delay, folks, with the blog.  So, I will just jump right in!

Matt got back LAST weekend after a 10 day trip to France with the basketball team.  Thanks to an international phone plan the staff was hooked up with, I actually was able to talk to him multiple times when he was on the trip.  The team traveled to Paris, Monaco and Nice before heading back to the states.  Most importantly, the guys went 4-0 against a couple of the French club teams!  Hopefully, the guys came home with some confidence in themselves and their teammates so when practice starts (in less than a month!) everyone will be ready to to work.

While DePaul was putting the hurt on the French teams, Georgetown faced its own kind of hurt when a fight broke out between their team and the Chinese team they traveled across the globe to play.  Apparently, one thing led to another and the Georgetown team found itself outnumbered and on the other side of some punches.  When I talked to Dad about this, he said he hoped nothing like that would happen to our guys.  I reminded him that we were playing the French and that they don't fight back for anything...

I wish there was more to write about during those 10 days while Matt was away, but I mostly worked.  I lucked out in that I ended up working 8 of the 10 days that he was gone, so at least I kept plenty busy.  The first weekend, one of my co-workers had us all over from the office to her place for a get together and the following weekend was another co-worker's birthday.  One thing I absolutely love about our office: everyone actually hangs out outside of work with each other.  Apparently they even had a sand volleyball team this year but I joined the office too late to participate.  Next year, though.

Catching up to speed, Matt and I were very domestic this weekend.  Yesterday, we took a trip out to Ikea!  It was my first time to an Ikea EVER and Courtney warned me I would be overwhelmed.  Had we not been on a mission and knew exactly what we needed, I definitely would have had an anxiety attack.  We got off to an obnoxious start when we noticed that someone had placed a flyer on the windshield of my car.  Apparently it had been there so long because it had melted to the windshield and we couldn't get it off.  Thankfully, the guy at the gas station we had to stop at to gas up had a razor blade (weird, but I didn't question it...) and scraped it off for us.  Then, we noticed that we had to drive on toll roads and neither of us had cash or change.  So, back to the house it was.  

We had no idea how much the toll was going to be, so I grabbed the entire canister where we keep out change just incase.   A half and hour later, we were FINALLY on the road.  While Matt was driving, I fished out $5 worth of coins.  Turns out the ONE toll we hit was $.50.  Fabulous for my wallet but obnoxious that neither of us even had $.50 before hand.  

So, our mission in Ikea was a new bed frame.  We moved to Chicago with one but it is just straight up noisy.  I am a VERY light sleeper so whenever either of us would move in our sleep, I would wake up.  I am not sure I have even gotten a full night's sleep since I moved here.  For a while, I was just refusing to buy a bed frame.  I am way too cheap and was just going to work through it.  But, the other day, I just snapped.  I couldn't take it anymore.  So, Matt suggested a trip to Ikea for that specific purpose.  Again, thank goodness we had a game plan because we both could have spent some SERIOUS money in that store.  Its unreal.  I would pay someone to just box up entire rooms and come set them up in the same way in our apartment.

Matt kept us on track until we stumbled across the living room furniture.  There, he eyed a new entertainment center/TV stand.  And the color matched perfectly with our bookshelf and coffee table.  I didn't think I was one of those people that needed furniture to match.  Turns out I am.  I hate that sometimes our apartment looks like a college apartment because we have mix-matching couches and end tables.  So, I was pumped at the idea that we would at least have all our main furniture (minus the couches) match one another.  I started feeling like a real adult.  

After making our way through the store, we had to find all the pieces to our new bed frame and TV stand and get the heck out of there before we bought anything else.  We had high hopes that we could fit everything in my little Hyundai.  Matt figured out that my back seats fold down giving us some extra trunk room.  I had no idea my little guy did that.  You learn something new every day.  

We spent 15 minutes trying out different ways to make everything fit.  Finally, we realized that if one of us had stayed home, we definitely could have fit everything because we could have used the front seat.  So, we had to change plans and have everything shipped to us.  Nice thing about Ikea is that they ship same day for $50 (if you are in a close enough area, which we are).  Crappy thing about Ikea is that they give you a 4-hour delivery window.  So, we drew the lucky time block of between 5 pm - 9 pm.  

On our way back to the city, we actually met up with one of Matt's friends that he has known since 3rd grade.  He moved to Illinois when he was in 9th grade, but they have kept in touch on and off for a couple of years.  Dan happened to be just outside of the city for the day, so we met him for lunch.  Of all the places there are to eat in Chicago and the surrounding areas, the guys chose Buffalo Wild Wings for lunch.  Really, guys?  But the two of them had a great time catching up, so I managed to swallow my annoyance for the slow service at BW3's and let them have their time.

Matt and I finally made it home right around 4:30.  Again, we were trying to be optimistic about the delivery time.  I guessed it would be here about 6:45.  Matt guessed 7:30.  Fail on both sides.  The truck rolls up at, that's right, 9:03 PM.  Fabulous.  All the while, there was a live band playing at the park right down the street from us.  Unfortunately, we were not able to enjoy the beautiful night with free music because we were waiting for Ikea.  Good thing we like each other or that could have been an annoying way to spend a Saturday night.

Once it finally arrived, we were both way too excited to NOT put it together.  We tackled the bed first and  by "we" I mean mostly Matt.  I really did want to help but we only had one screwdriver.  I was there for moral support.  You know, I brought Matt water when he got thirsty, cleaned the kitchen from dinner, read a book in the bedroom while he was working JUST IN CASE he needed a extra hand...

All I can say is Matt is the best.  He put that entire thing together in 2 hours and for the first time since I have been here, I had an undisturbed night of sleep!  It was incredible.  I felt so good that I went to the grocery story to buy breakfast food to make us a nice big breakfast which consisted of a turkey veggie frittata and fresh fruit.  Fancy, I know.  

Today, we have just been spending the day in and out of the house.  We spent a good amount of time in the park since its sunny and 75 degrees.  We were entertained with a kick ball game that was going on.  Being a film guy and basketball coach, Matt was analyzing everyone's footwork in the game.  I was too distracted by the obviously drunk center fielder who kept turning around and flitting with a group of guys laying out.  She looked so sad when she turned around for the last time and realized that they were gone and didn't event bother to get her number.

Tonight, we have a double date with one of Matt's co-worker and his girlfriend.  Great way to end a gorgeous weekend!  

BUT, more importantly, so glad to hear everyone back home is safe after this crazy week of natural disasters!  I miss you all and am glad everything I have heard from people is "we are lucky - it could have been way worse."  Matt and I are thinking about you all through all of this!  Hopefully next weekend will be slightly different :)

Change of Pace

There is a new show on TLC called Surprise Homecoming where members of the U.S. Military surprise their families and friends by coming home and not telling them ahead of time.  Some show up at their daughters' schools unexpectedly, others surprise their moms' at work.  Every show is emotional and if you cry easily, you cannot watch this show without tissues.  Its a breath of fresh air compared to the other reality shows that flood our TV.  People are addicted to the joke of a show Jersey Shore as we idolize 20 somethings that are literally making money from partying, tanning and physically fighting.  I am no different.  I have a weakness for Real Housewives and justify this ridiculous obsession by saying it makes me feel better about myself knowing that I would never act the way that these out-of-touch-with-reality women act.  No matter how much I try to justify it, I am one of the millions that encourages this type of behavior by being a loyal follower of their sickening actions.

This new TLC show is the first reality show that really does put things in perspective.  You do not need any justification to watch this show and if you cry, do not apologize.  It tears at your heart strings as you watch these families come together after months and even years of being apart.  In most cases, the loved ones of the military personnel have limited contact with their husbands, mothers, sons, daughters, etc and are left on a daily basis worrying about the status of their servicemen and women.  In an age where you are only a text message away, I cannot imagine being in that position of not knowing.  So, when these men and women come back from serving overseas to surprise their loved ones, its hard not to feel the emotion that pours out from everyone involved.

Its hard to remain stone-faced when you see the 7 year-old girl crying in her dad's arms because she is so overjoyed to have him safely home.  I was blessed to have a dad who was at every home basketball game, at every softball tournament and every one my sister's and my big life events.  We were lucky to have a mom who greeted us every day when we got off the school bus, most of the time with freshly baked cookies.  Its easy to take for granted everything our families were able to provide for us thanks to the brave men and women that fight for this country on a daily basis.

I have also been blessed to have met the love of my life who works in the very chaotic world of college men's basketball.  There are long nights at the office, long road trips and once he becomes an assistant coach, there will be long recruiting trips.  It can make for lonely nights and rough weeks, but at the end of the day, I know exactly when he is coming home and that he is safe.  I know that after a game at Notre Dame, the team will hop back on the bus and come home.  He might not make it home until 2:00 AM, but he is coming home.  Worse case scenario, he will be upset over a loss.

Our first year of dating, Matt and I hit some rough patches in our relationship because we were both adjusting to life as a coach at VCU.  I will never forget the moment that gave me an entirely new perspective on our life together.  Before this TLC show aired this year, there was a short-lived TV show on another network with the same concept.  I had been traveling for my job at R-MC, so I did not have to go into the office that Friday morning.  After being on the road for a week, our boss would let us take the morning off and come in around lunch time.  That Friday morning, I kissed Matt goodbye as he headed into the office and I remember him making fun of me because I was getting ready to watch this new TV show.  He knows how sensitive I am, knew I was going to cry, so he joked about getting out of there as soon as possible.

As I sat there in Matt's apartment watching the show I had DVR'ed the night before, it all hit me like a ton of bricks.  I had been feeling sorry for myself because Matt worked late nights and traveled a lot - for a GAME.  For a game that I love as much as he loves it.  Matt's life isn't on the line each day.  He is not facing a war zone and I don't wake up every day wondering where he is and if he is okay.

When you are facing your own problems and issues in life, its so easy to forget to take a step back and put things in perspective.  Its easy to get sucked into feeling sorry for yourself and wishing things were different.  At VCU, I was blessed to have an amazing support system through my girlfriends who were all facing the same thing.  Even here in Chicago, I have unbelievable co-workers that have helped take my mind off the fact that Matt is in France for 10 days.  It goes without saying that my parents have been there for me during all of this as well.  As Matt and I continue in the basketball world, I will no doubt continue to meet incredible women who have supported their husbands throughout the years and have made it through the ups and downs.  But as tough as college sports can be, nobody has it harder than the families of those serving our country overseas.

Whether or not they want us to feel sorry for them, I think it should be noted that these men, women and children are the strongest people I think any of us will ever meet.  I pride myself on being independent and being able to go about my life even when Matt is not around.  I cannot honestly say that I would 100% be able to do that as a military wife, daughter or girlfriend.  Who do they use to gain perspective?  I mean, when times are tough for Matt and I, I always just take a step back and thank God that he is college basketball and his life is not on the line every day.  I cannot imagine being in a position where it is.

Even though the show is hosted by the overly-cheesy Billy Ray Cyrus, its worth watching if only to take a short break from the useless reality TV shows we are all so used to.  If anything, it puts things in perspective.  If you don't see the show, just remember that whatever you may have going on in your life, there are others who are battling as well.  But more importantly, its not just the men and women overseas that are sacrificing themselves for us, but also their families.  I have the utmost respect for these men, women and children and cannot imagine ever being in their shoes.

I know it sounds harsh that I use their lives to help me feel better about my situation, but it is out of pure respect and admiration.  God bless all the men and women fighting for us here back home - and just as importantly, God bless the loved ones of these me and women who are strong enough to be constant support for them.

There is a quote from my favorite book I have ever read - Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resistance and Redemption - that I have come to live by.  I have always had a very different relationship with God than the rest of my family.  I have always questioned a lot of things surrounding religion and faith especially with the state of our world.  But I stumbled across this quote and I think its appropriate for this post.  The book is about a WWII U.S. pilot who survived for 34 days on open water in enemy territory before being taken as a POW by the Japanese.  For years, he willed himself to survive as the Japanese did everything they could to try and kill him.  He eventually made it back home to the U.S.  but could not adjust to life back in the states.  One day, his wife was able to get him to go listen to Billy Graham in Los Angeles.  The man was so out of touch with religion, as would be expected, that he got up to leave in the middle of sermon.  As he was walking out of the tent, he heard Graham say the following quote as referring to God:

"If you suffer, I will give you the grace to go forward."

In this true-life story, the man turned back around, sat down and from that day on spent the rest of his life working with troubled teenagers who were dealt a bad hand.  It is the most heartbreaking, disturbing, inspiring and unforgettable book I have ever read and I highly recommend it to anyone who is has a passion for non-fiction.   But more importantly, it is the quote, that along with some serious perspective, has helped me through difficult times.

I know this post is way out of the ordinary.  I am prone to blogging about my missteps paddle boarding or finding the most amazing nacho helmet ever.  But its hard not to blog about this as I sit here in my Chicago apartment, watching the end of Surprise Homecoming and missing Matt while he is in France.  This is all part of my experiences and adventures here in Chicago and I felt like I could not leave this one out just because it didn't recount an incident of me living it up in the big city.  I can't promise that every time Matt is gone on a long trip that I won't feel sorry for myself even if its just for a brief second.  But I have come to realize that I am blessed beyond belief and that nothing will be put in front of me that I will not be able to get through without the help of perspective and truly believing that someone is granting me the grace to go forward.