Back to Work

It was back to work today. I am working 2 jobs this year - one old and one new. I am working in the Human Resources Department on campus as an office assistant just like I did last year. I process applications, file paperwork, and create the Bulletin. The Bulletin is an online newsletter that goes out to faculty and staff each week. It's a creative way to send announcements, updates, and news. I enjoy creating that each week. I also enjoy the ladies that I work with in the HR department, and I'm looking forward to this year with them.

My second job is something I have not done before - grant writing. I will be working with a professor in the business department to write maybe 2 grants. I am interested in grant writing after college, and it's part of what I am doing for my internship in the spring. Additionally, I will be getting class credit for the work I do. For one of my classes we get to pick a topic we want to learn more about and complete tasks to accomplish that goal. I am going to learn more about grant writing by shadowing people, reading about it, and having hands-on experience through my job. It will be a semester of learning and possibly getting some money for a not-for-profit venture!

I will be working 10 hours a week, which is more than I have done in past semesters. It will keep me busy, but I'm looking forward to what I will experience and learn.

A Garden of Friends

I just re-read another book - The Friendship of Women by Dee Brestin. I received this book 2 years ago for Christmas, and loved it when I read it then and apprecited reading it the second time around!

The point I related to most in the book was introduced in the first chapter. The author compares friendships to flowers, pointing out that some are annual and some are perennial. Annual flowers bloom for a year then don't come back, whereas perennials come back year after year. There are friends in life who are only part of your life for a season, and some who come back year after year.

Coming to college, I have definitely seen that be the case. Sometimes you are only friends with someone for the time you are in class together. I was friends with girls freshman year who I don't talk to any more, but they were the ones I made memories with for that part of my life. Since I went to a small school 1-12 grade, I was used to always having the same friends. The concept of annual friends was new to me, and it was hard to see friendships die. However, I have realized that is part of life, and they are still healthy friendships.

I am thankful for my garden of friends - the handful of perennials that the Lord has blessed me with year after year, and the annuals who have come and gone, sharing in my life for just a moment.

Another New Friend

Back in July, I posted about meeting 3 New People and shared about my new friend, Rachel. Later in July I met Audrey. She was at church and had asked about activities for young adults. My friend, Jayce, was talking to her and found out she went to Roberts and decided she had to meet me! He introduced us and we started talking, hitting it off right away. She is a grad student studying social work at Roberts and lives not too far from campus. Eventually, the fact that I had to run 6 miles that afternoon came up, and Audrey was like, "I'll run it with you!" I was shocked because not just anyone will run 6 miles with you. We swapped contact information and decided we would make plans to run later that evening. It ended up she had dinner plans that night she forgot about, so I ran by myself. Well, before I even saw Audrey a second time she had signed up for the half marathon!

Since then, we have run many miles together before church, gone out to lunch, shared ridiculous moments of our lives while enjoying Jitter's, and even dominated at Kan Jam at a friend's BBQ. Audrey is a fun new friend, and I am looking forward to getting to know her more throughout the year. We are thankful that Jayce introduced us that one Sunday!

Baseball Game

I can cross another activity off my list - I went to a baseball game last night! Roberts organized a trip to the Rochester Red Wings game. However, it had been raining that afternoon, so our seats were all wet, and the game was delayed by almost an hour! It did stop raining, and we moved to sit higher up under an overhang where it was dry. The Red Wings lost 1-4, but there where some pretty great catches.

After the game there were some fireworks! I was not too impressed with them though - they were basically big firecrackers, but it was still a fun way to end the game.

Now I only have 8 items left on my list to accomplish before the end of 2010!

Friends in Buffalo

Yesterday I went to visit 2 friends from high school over in Buffalo. Above is Hannah, Danielle, and myself. Hannah goes to Houghton College, but is student teaching in Buffalo this semester. Danielle goes to Canisius College and will graduate in December.

I headed out after class, and Hannah and I ran our 5 miles at a park by her - it was such a hot day! We made our time by 9 seconds - we are definitely ready for this half marathon! Then we grabbed dinner before heading over to Canisius to see Danielle. It was fun to be able to see where they will be living this semester and to spend time with them before we all get busy with school work!

5 Meal Plan

In most dorms on campus, students are required to get the 20 meal plan - a meal in Garlock everytime it's open. However, in the townhouses, you have the option of getting a 5 meal plan - only eating 5 meals a week in the dining hall. That is what I am doing this year. I went grocery shopping and made food for myself all summer, so I decided to continue that for the school year.

Yesterday was the first day that I ate in Garlock - and I'm glad I won't be making a habbit of it this year. I had a terrible stomach ache while I was trying to sleep last night, and I think it resulted from eating 2 meals in Garlock.

I have other friends who do not have the full meal plan, so it will be fun to make meals with them or go out to eat on occasion.

A Procrastinating Perfectionist

Last night at Bible Study, we talked about roadblocks that get in the way of success. One section mentioned that perfectionists tend to procrastinate. I usually consider myself a perfection, but I am in no way a procrastinator! I had to think about the idea for a minute before I could relate to it. Our book says, "The perfectionist often procrastinates from undertaking projects because he anticipates the possibility of failure or the inevitability of falling short of perfection."

Two years ago at a leaders meeting for SIFE, we were discussing our projects and goals we had made for them. The project I had worked on exceeded our goal, and we celebrated that fact. However, it got me thinking about my own life - I was not in the habbit of creating goals. I realized it was because I was scared of not accomplishing what I set out to do. It was either meet the goal or fail. However, I failed to realize there is a middle ground that must be considered. Even if the goal is not accomplished, the steps made to attempt the goal were productive - it's not a complete failure because if you gave it a try you accomplished something.

I now have a list of over 50 goals. I no longer want to be a procrastinator just thinking about activities I want to accomplish - it's time to start thinking about doing them! The perfectionist in me wants to accomplish every single one of the items on my list. However, I must realize, I am not a failure if I am not able to complete the list, but I should be thankful for the incentive it gave me to get out there and try new things, meet new people, and create new memories.