Happy end of summer!
Since I last wrote in here, my RA's have moved, been trained and have moved in all of our residents. The Treehouses are a thriving community of first years & transfer students, and even a bunch of International Students. But before I get ahead of myself, here's a photo recap of the last month or so...
[Lake-Sky: our Hall Director staff, showing JMU pride!]
[Lake-Sky's superhero day...I was The Tree Hugger]
[The Village Hall Directors...on nerd day-clearly, ha]
[The Blue-Hill Hall Directors]
[JMU Hall Directors 08-09!]
HD training ended 10 days after it began. The following day, 7 of my RA's moved in. For the next 10 days, I was busy with their training- coming up with theme days, answering questions, coordinating and delegating. What fun! Our theme days included The 7 Deadly Sins, Highschool Stereotypes, Nerds, Staff shirt day & Landscapes. We had a ton of fun with it, and I'd even argue that my RA's learned a lot, too!
['Which way do we go?!'...2 of my RA's, Justin & Sondra on nerd day]
[Treehouse Nerd Day!]
[Training is 'Risky Business'...Chappelear Hall staff]
[Day 1 of check-in/move-in at the Trees...]
[yes, we have lake-front property...Sondra loves the Trees]
Once move-in was over, I really needed a day away from campus- the move-in process is about a week long with staggered move-in days for the different houses comprising my hall. Everyday we had to be up at 8am and we had to staff the check-in table until 4pm. Needless to say, we were all pretty pooped out by the end of the whole thing. So last Saturday I spent the morning with Christopher down in Staunton and Bridgewater (the college he works at now), where we checked out the amazing farmer's market downtown. We got farm fresh eggs and amazing (amazing) Italian herb bread from a sweet Mennonite lady. We went back to Bridgewater where we made breakfast and played Tetris all morning. I miss him, so it was a needed dose of Chris antics for sure. Afterwards, instead of heading right back to campus, I found some backroads I hadn't had the opportunity to explore and did just that.
How happy was I to then come across this amazing field of sunflowers?! I was incredibly happy. This is something I had always wanted to see in person- a field of sunflowers. Since it reminded me of my Mum, I made sure to get out and take a TON of pictures. Here's the better ones...
How happy was I to then come across this amazing field of sunflowers?! I was incredibly happy. This is something I had always wanted to see in person- a field of sunflowers. Since it reminded me of my Mum, I made sure to get out and take a TON of pictures. Here's the better ones...
[The firleOttobine, VA]
[bumble bee]
The day before classes started (last Sunday), I met up with one of my RA's from last year, Hannah, for coffee. It was absolutely beautiful out, and sensing that the week would be pretty busy and crazy I asked her if she wanted to go for a drive. We ended up in West Virginia (of course) and wandered into the deep woods and atop big mountains- all in my car! Here's some documentation of our adventure...
[A drive-in movie screen?! In the middle of nowhere!]
[deserted snack stand]
[the front of the theater]
[a church on a hillside]
[Reed's Creek Fish Hatchery...]
[Baby golden trout! We thought they looked like banana peppers, ha]
[big fish...trout, I presume]
[grown up golden trout]
[they have CRAZY googly eyes!]
[goats]
[Hannah, defying the sign]
[I love these old, rusty bridges]
[classic West Virginia]
[Uli, my Volvo, is such a trooper]
[click on the monster radio in the top left, and select your connection speed]
We almost made it up to Seneca Rocks National Park, but got tied up on some dirt back road beyond this place called Smoke Hole state park. It was a long, yet beautiful day seeing some of the prettiest scenery that you'd ever see.
On a more mundane note, classes have started and I think they will go well. I don't feel terribly intimidated about them- thank goodness. Simulation University will be more fun than it seems right now, I think. I am the 'Director' of the Academic Advising department at this fake university. Ha.
I am also taking Psych Stats, which I think will be very useful when I need to assess and evaluate programs that we do in my simulation department. Lastly, I am taking group counseling (yes, as a class) which will be interesting. All of us in the class are in the same program, and 6 of the 7 other people in the class are the people I am closest to of my cohort. Here's hoping we don't ruin any friendships in the class- we've heard some pretty nasty things about it from the cohort who had the course last year.
This semester I am teaching a class, too! Which is pretty exciting in its own right. It's a Psych 100 course, which is the class RA's are required to take on community development. Every Wednesday after my group class I'll be doing that.
Lastly, my radio show starts this week: Thursday from Noon-2!! Make sure to check it out if you can- WXJM streams on the web:
On a more mundane note, classes have started and I think they will go well. I don't feel terribly intimidated about them- thank goodness. Simulation University will be more fun than it seems right now, I think. I am the 'Director' of the Academic Advising department at this fake university. Ha.
I am also taking Psych Stats, which I think will be very useful when I need to assess and evaluate programs that we do in my simulation department. Lastly, I am taking group counseling (yes, as a class) which will be interesting. All of us in the class are in the same program, and 6 of the 7 other people in the class are the people I am closest to of my cohort. Here's hoping we don't ruin any friendships in the class- we've heard some pretty nasty things about it from the cohort who had the course last year.
This semester I am teaching a class, too! Which is pretty exciting in its own right. It's a Psych 100 course, which is the class RA's are required to take on community development. Every Wednesday after my group class I'll be doing that.
Lastly, my radio show starts this week: Thursday from Noon-2!! Make sure to check it out if you can- WXJM streams on the web:
[click on the monster radio in the top left, and select your connection speed]
Now it is the weekend. I spent the majority of last night at The Little Grill Collective with Danny & Bianca, listening to amazing old timey music by Red River Roller Coaster as well as the gypsy tunes of Accordian Death Squad. That place always gets me in touch with my pseudo-inner hippie, so I spent today finding Vegan cookie recipes and tonight I made a batch (Oatmeal Chunky-Munky I call them...they're oatmeal banana with raisins and mini kisses. SO good, you'd never know they're vegan!). Tomorrow I am making spaghetti for some old residents. I am very excited to catch up with all of them.
And now, you are all caught up with the life of Leigh.
Exciting, right?
Hopefully this finds you all enjoying the end of summer- It's labor day weekend! Best wishes on first days back to school and have a safe and happy long weekend. I love and miss you all (especially you, little brother!!).
Much love from Virginia,
Leigh
And now, you are all caught up with the life of Leigh.
Exciting, right?
Hopefully this finds you all enjoying the end of summer- It's labor day weekend! Best wishes on first days back to school and have a safe and happy long weekend. I love and miss you all (especially you, little brother!!).
Much love from Virginia,
Leigh
