She did it again!

I somehow missed the opening of SNL last night (I saw the rest)and didn't realize that Tina Fey was back! This made my entire Sunday night!

p.s. I'll write about this weekend sometime tomorrow.

LA

As most of you know, I've worked for a company (let's call it LA) for several years. I started working there the summer after my sophomore year of college and have worked every summer and spring since (in a variety of capacities.)

The other day after I had skyped with my friend Maddy, I started thinking about all that it has given me.

1. The company has given me the opportunity to travel FOR FREE. I've spent two summers and a few weeks each spring in D.C. I've also traveled to California to see San Diego, San Francisco, and San Jose. Being young and broke 99% of the time I know that without LA I would never have gotten the opportunity to travel to such fun places. I think about all of the culture I've experienced as a result and I get even more excited.

2. I've learned to deal with whatever life throws me professionally. I can multitask with the best of them. I can deal with parents. I can deal with students. I can work on almost no sleep (actually I can work for days at a time with little-to-no sleep.) I have learned a zillion other little things and now that I have I feel that I can roll with the punches at any job.

3. This opportunity has given me some of my very best friends. The bond you build at LA is unlike any other. I once heard someone describe it as going on the show "Survivor" because you're held on a college campus for 8 weeks, working like crazy, and all you have is one another. While that seems outrageous, it's a pretty accurate description. When we have reunions it's as though nothing changes. We love to get as little sleep as possible in order to enjoy one another's company for as long as possible. I just love it.

This post could never do justice to what I feel and believe about the wonderful people I've met through LA. There is never a day that I don't think about someone I know through the LA experience. They always understand me like no one else and I feel that I can go to them with any problem (er... opportunity?) and they will listen, console, laugh, and support.

I love each one of them with my entire heart.

Thanks, LeadU.

home tomorrow.

Tomorrow night I will sleep in Carlisle. The next day I will get to see some of my very best friends. The entire weekend I get to see my family. I couldn't ask for more.

I probably won't blog while I'm home but I'm sure I'll have tons to say when I get back!

have you ever read post secret?

www.postsecret.com

This is a site that was started several years ago... Millions send their secrets to this one specific address and then Frank, the creator, picks 20 secrets out to put on the site every week. Some are sad, some are funny, some are outrageous. But it truly does help a lot of people feel like they're not alone. He updates every Sunday so it's always something to look forward to.

Here are a few of my favs this week:






See? Funny. Sad. At the very least they make you think.

work. work. work.

Last night I got off work at.... 4:30 in the morning. "WHAT?!" you ask? Yes. It's true. We had a Dawgs After Dark in the rec center here at UGA and we had to wait for all of the stuff to be packed up. It took a little longer to expected and one of the employees for the company we use had a seizure while working so that ended up also delaying things as well. (He's ok!)

So needless to say... I'm tired. Really tired.

I'll leave you with a pic from last week... It's of one of my new BFFs, Christy, and I from a birthday party. We had a great time!

ben was here. :)

My friend Ben came to visit this weekend. We had a great time. On Thursday we went to dinner in Atlanta with his good friend (who was also an Alpha Gam) and her husband. We went to Six Feet Under. DELICIOUS. Great view of the city, great seafood, fun atmosphere. Loved it.

On Friday we got up and went downtown to get coffee and check out some of the shops. We went and got sushi for lunch. It was a beautiful day in Georgia... warm but no humidity (what a concept!) We had a wonderful time enjoying Athens!

Come back, Benji!

things that i am looking forward to...

1. Benji visiting on Thursday! i am so excited to have one of my bffs Ben here on Thursday night. I'm going to meet him in Atlanta to have dinner with his friend Rachel and then come back here to Athens for the night and for the day on Friday. Yay! He will be my very first visitor. I have so much to do before he gets here (clean, hang pictures, etc.)

2. Going HOME next week. On Thursday I fly out and on Friday I make my return to Columbus. I'm only going to be there for the day so I don't have much time... That being said I get to see 3 of the people who mean the absolute world to me: Jim, Abby, and Amanda. I'll be sure to take pics. I also get to see my family and plenty of my hometown friends and on Sunday my mom's side of the family is getting together for an enormous breakfast. I cannot wait! The last time they did this I wasn't in OH and I heard it was sooo much fun. This time I wouldn't miss it!

3. The power coming back on in OH. If you haven't heard, Gustav sort of screwed over Ohio too. There are major power outages that have stopped my hometown in its tracks. My brother didn't have school today and won't tomorrow either. My dad went in to work today and they sent him home because they were being forced to turn off the water. Luckily (or unluckily?) my mom's office did have electricty and water so she was able to go in. Gov. Strickland has declared a state of emergency. It's just crazy!

4. Knowing where my practicum, internship, and future job placement will be. If you know me well you know I am a planner at heart. I hate the unknown, I love to make lists, I love to plan my future. For the past 24 hours I've been trying to figure out what I can be doing to make myself more marketable to future employers while also trying to figure out where my true interests lie. Couple this with the fact that I am trying to find money to pay for my rent over the summer so I don't have to completely move all of this stuff out and you can definitely spell s-t-r-e-s-s. I know I know... I haven't even acclimated to the city and my current job... how can I worry about future ones already? I don't know poeple. I just do.

So much work to do... And so much procrastination going on...

the highlight of my weekend...

this was definitely the highlight of my weekend. a few weeks ago (when they originally announced she was going to be the candidate) my friend holly suggested that tina fey play sarah palin... and she was right! i was literally laughing out loud as i watched this. whatever your political views you must agree that it's uncanny how much they look alike! tina fey pulls of the accent and the mannerisms (and gets a few good jabs in there too. :) )

enjoy! and happy monday!

OSU vs USC

Today is THE day.

Watch this to get you in the mood.

GO BUCKS! :)

HOME!

So... over the past week or so I was battling a pretty intense case of homesickness. Well... I guess it wasn't that intense but I was homesick nonetheless.

SOOOO...

I've decided to go back home for a weekend! Hooray! I'll be flying back to OH on September 25 and coming back here on the following Sunday (the 28th.) So far my plans are:

Fri: breakfast with Amanda, lunch with Jim, hang out with Abby. Brother's football game that night!
Sat: Go to brother's JV game and then see him off to the homecoming dance. :)
Sun: Hang until I leave for GA.

I hope to see you if you're back at home!

okay... better get it out there.

I'm a Dem. Did you know?

A prochoicegetthehelloutofiraqgivegaysrightseveryoneneedshealthinsurance Democrat.

The thing about it is this... if you're a Dem too, great. If you're not a Dem, great. I get it. You have your opinions and I have mine.

But what I won't stand for is for being told that I "just don't get it." Or that I'm "naive." And no... I'm definitely not "confused." (That's my Dad's fav way of telling me that my views are wrong. He's kidding... sort of. :) )

I am educated about the issues. I read. A lot. I watch the news. A lot. Am I an expert? No. But do I know what I believe and why? Yes.

I am SICK and TIRED of getting laughed at in a condescending tone. I hear the whispers... "why does she like him so much?" The rolling of the eyes and the shaking of the head. It's gotten old, folks. Really, really old.

November 4th can't get here fast enough.

I'm a sucker for...

courtesy of www.postsecret.com

There's nothing I love more than a good "feel good" story. You know... the kind community organizers tend to be a part of.

I-N-D-E-P-E-N-D-E-N-T...

... do you know what that means? (this is in reference to a rap song. listen to it here.)

Well it's been a while. Once a day I think to myself that I need to update... I formulate posts in my mind... but I always forget. So here goes...

1. School. So far it's been really great. I always say that my classes are like free therapy. We talk about theories and student development and then apply the things we learn to ourselves. When I say "we" I mean my cohort. There are 16 of us that all come from very different perspectives. It's an interesting dynamic... we're all so different yet very similar. Here's a rundown of the cohort:

Me: Recent grad from OSU (obviously.) Assistantship: University Union
Lori: Graduated from Rome College (it's in GA) and worked as a staffing recruiter for several years before returning to school. Assistanship: Pandora (the yearbook.)
Christy: Graduated from Texas A&M and traveled for Kappa Delta for a year. Assistantship: Arch Society in the Center for Leadership and Service.
Brad: Graduated from Rhodes College and worked at Christian Brothers University for a few years in admissions. Assistanship: Dawg Camp in the Center for Leadership and Service.
Kevin: Graduated from Indiana University and worked for Golden Key National Honor Society. Assistantship: Leadership Resource Team.
Samantha: Graduated from University of Pittsburgh. Traveled as a consultant for Kappa Delta. Assistantship: Greek Life
Lindsey Ann: Graduated from Clemson. Assistantship: Greek Life at Georgia Tech.
Larry: Graduated from Georgia Southern. Assistantship: Volunteer Services at Georgia Tech.
Danielle: Graduated from University of Florida. Assistantship: Housing.
Will: Graduated from Indiana University. Worked for a small methodist school in Minnesota. Assistantship: Housing.
Bonnie: Graduated from Elon University. Assistantship: Housing.
Caleb: Graduated from Millikin University. Worked there in housing. Assistantship: Academic initiatives in housing.
Catie: Graduated from Georgia Tech. Worked for Georgia Tech for a few years. Assistantship: Career Services at Georgia Tech (I think.)
Amy: Graduated from the College of Wooster. Worked in Chicago at a university. Assistantship: Something at Gainsville State.
Dawn: Graduated from University of Central Florida. Assistantship: Int'l Student Services?
Jason: Graduated from California State University at Chico. Assistantship: Alumni Society working with undergraduate initiatives.

There we are. A really really great group.

2. Work. Work is work. But it's really fun. Everyone I work with are incredibly laid back. My bosses are all about making sure that I understand the culture of Union. Our students are amazing. They're hard working and have great attitudes. So far I've had the opportunity to work a movie preview, a comedy show, a Dawgs After Dark, and a lecture event. It's been pretty fun so far. It can drag at times... but I have confidence that it will get better. I guess I should enjoy the down time.

3. Friends. There are some members of my cohort that I've instantly become close to. The entire Campus Life crew (Lori, Christy, Kevin, Brad) have become close and I've loved that. Pretty soon we're all moving into new offices and we'll be so close to one another! We're pumped. Last night I had Christy, Kevin, and Sam over for dinner and it was so nice to be able to have other people in my apartment (more about my apt in a minute.) Last week Brad and I spent the afternoon laying in the sun while I was dog sitting for my boss and it was nice to actually talk to someone about something more than a theory in class. My relationships here are really coming together.

4. My apartment. I still love it. It's coming together more and more. I put together an entire dresser for ikea by myself this past weekend and I've been putting together pictures to go up on the walls. As soon as they're done I'll take pics and put them up.

5. OSU. I miss osu more than anything. Every time I see anything scarlet and grey, anytime I see something about buckeye football. Any time my professor mentions osu (two of them got their PhDs there) I almost lose it. I finally watched the OSU vs Michigan HBO special and I was a mess by the end. I was by myself and crying like I had lost a friend. But I guess that's the thing about OSU... it's been my romantic involvement for the past 4 years. My one true relationship.

6. Jimbo. Yes... my BFF Jim got to go to Denver for free because of the Obama campaign. The opportunity was unreal. He got to meet Obama and talk to him before he gave his acceptance speech. He got to be a VIP at all of the big events. And right before he left Denver... he got to meet Oprah. He was living my liberal dream. He got to go because he won a competition the campaign held called "Backstage with Barack." Google it and read about it. So so so cool.

7. Politics. Well... that deserves an entire post. I'll post about it later. promise. Just know that I've watched more CNN lately than is probably healthy. And NO. I don't like Sarah Palin.

I promise to update more. So keep checking (well... it may just be my mom reading... but she'll check back.)

All my love from GA,
Daph