A Weekend in Phoenix

This past weekend I got the opportunity to leave Tucson for a few days and spend some time in Phoenix!  Not the most exciting or exotic trip, but even so it's always nice to leave town for a few days.  I had been planning on going down Saturday night for a Sancus Real concert (a Christian band) and ended up decided to drive down on Friday night and stay until Sunday night.  Whitney (my roommate) and I drove down together because we were both spending the weekend in Phoenix and I stayed at my CRU friend, Kayla's house.  On Friday night a bunch of CRU people came over for a BBQ at Kayla's house and then we all spent a few hours playing volleyball and football at the park, which was pretty fun.  During the school year we have been playing volleyball every week, so although I'm no pro, I am getting a lot better.  I can also throw and catch a football now!  I literally used to run away when someone through a football at me, but now I can catch it pretty well.  Not so bad if I do say so myself.  Saturday I spent most of the day hanging out with Mike.  We went out to breakfast, saw a movie, and I got to meet his parents before the concert on Saturday night.  Sunday we all went to church together at this huge mega church is Phoenix.  I was really excited for this, because all of the churches I've ever been to have been pretty small.  This one has 5 services with thousands of people at each one!  It's basically like a campus in itself with a cafe and bookstore and a bunch of different buildings.  The service was really good and it was fun going together with my friends.  On Sunday night, we went up on a mountain and watched the Solar Eclipse.  If you didn't hear about it, they happen really rarely and last night was one of the best ones that will happen in this area for about 20 years.  It was a little difficult to see, but with sunglasses we were able to watch the progression of the moon slowing covering up the sun.  It was really cool!  Then of course I had to come back to Tucson to spend the week working.  So not anything amazingly exciting, but still a really nice weekend away :)

Summer Life in the Adult World

Almost done with my first week as an adult!  I mean, I've been an adult for the past 3 years, but living in a house and working a full time job definitely makes it feel more real.  I'm pretty much all set up at my job and working 7-8 hours a day.  It's kind of weird, because even though during school I'm working wayyyy more than 8 hours a day, I'm not sitting in an office the whole time.  But I like it and I like the people that I'm working with a lot.  I sit at the front desk now and answer phones and do administrative stuff along with a lot of paperwork and random projects.  They bought me a Mac to work on which is kind of awesome and I've learned to successfully book flights and hotels for the executives and order lunch for board meetings!  Not exactly accounting tasks, but useful nonetheless. 

Getting off of work is another weird experience for me.  When I get home, I have pretty much no obligations.  I've finally started reading the Hunger Games and I've been going to bed super early just because I'm tired and I can (and I get up early)!  I'm planning on trying to get involved in some church stuff over the summer, but I haven't quite had the chance yet so right now the evenings are pretty chill and relaxing.

Eating is another thing that is becoming new and exciting.  I now grocery shop and cook!  It's pretty great, but I never realized how long it takes to put together dinner!  One of my biggest goals for the summer is trying to eat healthy and learning to like some vegetables and expand my food horizons a bit.  So far I've gotten a pretty good start.  We buy and eat a lot of fruits and vegetables and try to cook a healthy dinner every night.  I am currently willing to eat lettuce, carrots, corn and cucumber, and I tried some cooked zucchini tonight that wasn't so bad.  I also tried celery this week, but I'm not so sure that's going to grow on me.  And there is still so much time to go!

I'm finally all moved into my room and its lovely to have bathroom of my own for a while and be able to shower without wearing shoes.  My housemates and I are getting along really well and I think we will have a pretty pleasant summer together.  So my life is not anything to exciting, but comfortable, happy, and a nice break from school!

Ending something beautiful, starting something New

As I sit here writing, I am in my single little dorm room for the last time this year.  Well really the last time ever as I will be living in a new room next year.  The entire dorm is empty except for the few exceptional students who move to summer housing tomorrow and I am the last RA left in charge for the night.  Pretty much all of my friends have either moved away for the summer or are home for a few days before returning to Tucson, so you could say its pretty lonely.  Despite my tiredness and inner insistence on being somewhat grumpy, I'm feeling pretty relaxed and looking forward to the idea of moving into a lovely house for the rest of the summer.  I also feel a little reflective.  It's been a long, crazy, speedy year and I've changed so much and learned even more.  Nearing my 21st birthday I am feeling legitimately like an adult and I remember my mother's words a few weeks ago when she saw me of "Wow.  You have really bloomed into a young woman."  Or something like that.  And its true.  Even though I still like acting silly and childish sometimes, I'm a full fledged adult.  It feels weird and kind of like I don't belong but wonderful at the same time.  This year I've learned to work really, really hard.  I've learned to balance huge amounts of responsibility and give myself time for fun too.  I've learned to be slightly more tolerant of those who aren't like me (still working on that one).  I've developed deep, Godly friendships and become much, much better at listening instead of talking.  And I've begun to understand what it means to be content with God's plan for my life.  That's definitely never an easy thing for me, but occasionally I feel like I am getting it just the tiniest bit.  Because every time I think I know what I want, He corrects me and shows me something better.  Ending this year is bittersweet.  I am looking forward to a relaxing summer, but also really looking forward to starting again in the Fall with new challenges and the same amazing people.  Right now, I really really love this blessed life that I have.

My CRU Family :)

A Little Time for Fun

The past few days have been some of my favorites this year.  Finally feeling the relief of *almost* being done and not being required to study all of the time has been kind of amazing.  I only have one religion test and half of an online final to go and it feels sooooo good! 

Wednesday night, Eller hosted its annual Night with the Stars to honor the students and faculty who had received awards this year in Eller.  It is mostly for seniors but there are other award recipients such as the Undergraduate Dean's Award and McCord Scholars that are invited too.  So I dressed up fancy and Mom and Dad came all the way down to visit and attend the event with me!  It was at a really fancy clubhouse, however the event itself wasn't really that exciting.  It was really nice for my parents to be able to see me interact with other Eller students and faculty and get a little glance into what my life here looks like.  I meant to get a picture of us together, but Dad left his camera in the car and then I forgot! So sad.

After the Eller event, CRU was also having a fancy Night at the Oscars award/say goodbye to everyone night.  It was sad, but so much fun and we took lots of pictures!  Here are just a few...

All of the Sophomore ladies :)

Some of our departing staff!

My discipler is on the left

My lovely friend Britney

My East High Community group ladies :)

We had an amazing night and I ended up staying awake much later than I expected!!  The past few days afterwards have been filled with little responsibility and lots of fun.  I have loved having some extra time to hang out with my CRU friends who I will miss so dearly over the summer! Can't believe I'm moving out in one week!

An afternoon at the McCord's

So today was pretty awesome.  Being a McCord Scholar definitely has its advantages (aside from the amazingly generous amount of money), and one of them was being invited to go to a reception at the McCord's house today in Phoenix.  The McCord's invited all of the scholars from UA, NAU, and ASU as well as the Dean's of each business college and other faculty.  We all got dressed up in business-wear and carpooled down to Phoenix for the afternoon.  When we arrived we found that the McCord's had hired a valet to help park the cars as well as a catering service to provide awesome and beautiful displays of food.  The house itself was gorgeous as was the backyard area where the reception was held (despite the record breaking temperature of over 100 degrees).  Susan McCord was incredibly sweet and it was awesome to get to meet her and thank her in person for the wonderful gift.  We all mingled and drank fruity drinks out of wine glasses which felt very classy and sophisticated.  Additionally Karl and Stevie Eller, the namesakes for the Eller College of Business, were present at the reception.  I was really really excited to get to meet them and got to take a picture with them both!  Stevie Eller, classily able to pull of a totally golden yellow outfit and pink lipstick, chatted with us for a while and was super sweet and entertaining!  I have literally wanted to meet them so bad for the past two years.  To top it all off, there was a photographer taking pictures of pretty much everything that we did, making it feel even more important.  And even though I was the least of those in the room, it felt pretty cool to have the opportunity to be part of the event.  I'm hoping to get my hands on some of the pictures that were taken to display proof of the afternoon!

Leadership!!

This past week has involved all kinds of leadership!

On Friday and Saturday, CRU had our annual Spring Leadership Retreat where we spent about 28 hours in a church really bonding as a leadership team for next year.  We had devotionals, training, games, and just some random hang out time.  At first, I was a little stressed about going because it was going to take up so much of my weekend, but the time ended up being really refreshing.  We had about 40 leaders for next year which is really awesome!! During the weekend we had a great opportunity to get to know ourselves and each other more and really bond as a family. I'm pretty excited for how next year is going to go, and for being a second year leader!

In the middle of Leadership Retreat, I had to leave for a few hours on Saturday to have a meeting with my new RA Staff for next year.  I am back in La Paz again, and we have 12 returning RA's and 7 new ones.  It was cool to see the new people we will be working with next year and kind of weird to be one of the "returning RA's."  We definitely have a lot of diversity on our staff and I'm sure next year will be different, but I'm looking forward to seeing how it turns out.  Additionally, I found out that next year I will be changing rooms to be the RA of the Co-ed hall of the Business Wing, which I'm pretty excited about.  Having a co-ed hall will definitely be different, but I think it will be a really fun challenge.

THEN, tonight we had Executive Board elections (that's like officers) for Eller Ambassadors and I was elected the new VP of Administration for next school year!  It's actually a pretty big job and involves being in charge of all of the tours that happen throughout the year in Eller as well as other administrative tasks.  However, I'm really excited to have the opportunity to be part of E-board because I really love the ambassadors :)

All of this seems like such a crazy lot of leadership and things to do and at some points I wonder if it will be overwhelming and if I am kind of crazy for taking on so much.  But then I remember how much I love everything and how I could never really pick anything to abandon.  When else besides college do you get the opportunity to get involved with these kinds of things?  So I'll take and advantage and hope that I'm doing something right! :)

What the British think of Kingman

I generally leave all of the funny stories to Nicole since her children are much more humorous than my life on a daily basis.  However, I think this will be something at least those from Kingman will appreciate. (I could have taken it offensively, but I am rarely offended by anything.)

The CEO at my new internship happens to be from Britain, so imagine his comments throughout this dialogue in a British accent and mine in an "American" one.

CEO (to me) : Where are you from?
Me: Originally? A really small town in Arizona, about 5 hours away.
CEO: What is it called?
Me: Kingman
He thinks a little and doesn't think he has ever heard of it
Me: It's on the way to Vegas, like an hour away.
CEO (whose wife is from Vegas) : Oh! The place with the McDonalds!
Me: Yes...
CEO: Where your kids can play!
Me (laughing a little): Yes...yes.
CEO:  Man...there is nothing for like 4 hours before you get there. (Seems honestly distressed)  That must have been terrible growing up there.
Me: Well, it wasn't that bad.
CEO (seriously):  So if you're from Kingman...do your parents own a gas station?
Me: No, no they don't.

Hahahahahahahaha.  This is what people think of Kingman.