I said, "wait a minute, Chester, you know that I'm a peaceful man..."

Tunes:Real Housewives of New York City

I am approximately 2 and a half weeks away from movin' on out of here. Reality has been slowly settling in as my to-do list actually (miraculously) dwindles and my shoulders relax more and more each day (I store all my stress in my shoulders, apparently). Reality also set in last week when I got my tattoo. I've been thinking about this bird since moving here and getting it was an act of closure while also serving as an act of tribute...

The last two years here have been the biggest and most important learning experiences of my life. While living at UNH served me so well and helped me become who I am, the last two years here in Virginia I have totally come into my own. These last two years I haven't been able to fall back on home being a half hour away or my group of friends always being around. I've had to really evaluate who I am. That is hard to answer when you're constantly surrounded by people who know you well and have always supported you. It's become clear to me that who I am when no one else is around is truly me, and who I should strive to be even when everyone is watching.

Chester-Kay, my Cardinal, is a reminder of all of that. It's wings are spread, like mine are, and it's flying onto wherever the wind blows. I've put him on my shoulder so I can easily look back and remember the people and places that have become such an essential part of my life here. "Chester" is a name I stole from a song by The Band. "The Weight" is the this song Lauren, a wonderful classmate and good friend of mine, introduced me to last year. At the end of our Group Counseling course, I organized a mix of songs for everyone in class. Each class member gave me a song that they felt really encompassed what they gained from the class. Lauren's pick, "The Weight," struck me more than any other. While explaining why she picked it, she alluded to the chorus of the song-- "take a load off, Annie, and put the load right on me."

These classmates and friends of mine have done this for me so often while I've been here. When the weight on my shoulders has been far too much to carry, they have found such simple and subtle ways to help take the load off of me, and carry it for a while themselves. "Kay" is per request of Lauren, and I had to oblige. I've gone through a lot with her and everyone else in this program, and Chester-Kay (as silly as this name sounds) will act as a literal mark on me-- to signify the mark that this experience and Virginia has left on me.


Today I completed 3 big portions of my to-do list (1 of these things I've been putting off since the end of last summer), had a really great evaluation meeting with my supervisor and got my staff super ready for closing the building. I have mentally prepared for Thursday- my trip to Massachusetts for my on-campus interview and met with my group for my final project. So productive today!

I feel like I have earned going to bed early, but at this point it's 1:30 am and clearly not early at all. I'm going to instead go to bed now and not feel bad about sleeping in. :)
Much love!
-LA

Birthday Weekend Recap! (Lots of Pictures)

Tunes:"Foggy Lilac Windows"// Frontier Ruckus

The last week has been a pretty great one, minus the terrible sun burn I got this past Saturday. There's nothing fun about a sun burn's itchiness keeping you up at night. Last night was the first I slept soundly through since before Saturday...perhaps the long phone conversation with an old friend right before had helped. Not to mention rolling over at quarter til' 12, which rarely happens.

Regardless of the semi-sleepless nights, my past week was filled with good people, sunshine, fresh air, campfire, folk music, crafts, baking and singing loudly when no one's been around to hear me. All things I love, really.

Friday was beautiful-- sunshine, a warm breeze, a free schedule. I spent the afternoon sprawled out on a blanket at my favorite park reading Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris, followed by dinner with Alie & Emily up on the roof of Dave's Taverna. We haven't hung out just the three of us since last summer, really. So it was long over due. Saturday I slept in and eventually moseyed to the other side of campus for Festival Fest- an annual outdoor concert and Earth celebration here at JMU. It was BEAUTIFUL and the music was wonderful, as was the company...

[Alexis (right) & the crowd]

[Trent Wagler & The Steel Wheels!]

[beautiful ms. Amanda...loves pigs]

[Sunshine & Taylor...]

[Josh Vana & his harmonica]

After I watched the bands I had really wanted to see, I ran over to Walmart to pick up some things for a BBQ and met up with 12 or so friends to drive up to Reddish Knob. I used my birthday (on Monday) as an excuse to get people together up there, and it worked. We roasted hot dogs and marshmallows and took in the view. It was wonderful...

[Kim explores the mountain top]

[Savannah, Danny & Bianca watch Josh make the fire]

[Stacey!]

[Like a 7 year old, Danny enjoys some Kool-Aid...]

[Kristen beneath the setting sun]

[Bianca, Sarah & Josh- 3 of my most favorite people]

[Kristen, Myself & Stacey...CSPA love]

[The View...]

[Everyone!]

[The reason we go up there...the sunset]

I slept so soundly Saturday night. Sunday Kristen and I went to the Little Grill for eats to start our day off right (Mum- I'm going to bring you all to the Grill on the Sunday you leave! You need to experience it). Spent the day getting some work done and prepping for the RA Recognition Celebration (or "Rec-Cel" as we affectionately call it). My staff looked sharp and I think overall had a really fun evening being dressed up, snapping photos and sharing a nice meal all together. I know I enjoyed it, despite the sunburn and everything...

[Treehouses 08-09]

[Trees...again...being our goofy selves]

[Bianca and I]

[2 of my best friends here- Bianca & Amanda...& I]

[dynamic duo- Bianca & Josh]

[Justin, LaRhonda & Liz...in a staredown?]

[Matt & Sondra]

[Oh, Bryan...]

[Whole staff! Wish Paigey would open her eyes, haha]

[My favorite Jersey girl, Kristen & I]

Monday was my birthday. It was gloomy, but still good. I got a lot of sweet things in the mail from people I miss tremendously and phone calls from family...I can't WAIT to go back home!

Posting all of those pictures took a while, so I'm going to get a move on with the rest of my day. Thank you for all the birthday love!
Hope all is well wherever it is you are!
<3 LA

Spring! Sprang! Sprung!

Tunes:"chinese translation"// m. ward

It's already been about a week since I updated last, hasn't it? This week began as most weeks do- and I felt completely overwhelmed by the amount of things I needed to get done in just the span of a few days. Also, as most weeks go, it hasn't been as bad as I thought it would be.

This weekend I was on-call for the campus meaning every RA needs to call me if any sort of emergency happens in one of the 27 halls. It wasn't as bad as it could have been (Easter meant lots of people went home) but I did have my fair share to deal with. Needless to say, I missed out on a fun weekend home with my family...which was a tremendous bummer. Not only was their Easter on Sunday at Aunt Joce's but Saturday night I missed Aunt Kim's 50th!
In trying to keep myself busy, I prepped and made a huge breakfast for my friend Amanda, her parents, her boyfriend- Josh (he's an HD here with me) and another girl I'm an HD with, Sarah. I was even impressed with myself; I wasn't sure if I'd be able to pull it off. But the Panuline's loved it and I felt really great being able to feed a bunch of people on a day that I'd normally be spending with family...they were my surrogate family for the morning. It was nice.

At current I am on duty for one of my RA's...sitting in the office, goofing off on my computer and doing rounds? I feel like I'm a sophomore again.
What's making this better is that I am eating lofthouse cookies...



Yes, the cookie IS as delicious as it looks. And yes, I have a lot of pride for the Sox lately...although they're kind of killing me. 4th to last place in the league?! Beckett suspended for 6 games??!! It's too much. I can not WAIT to be able to watch games on TV again.

Which reminds me, I got a phone call today from Nichols College up in Dudley, Massachusetts. And I will be visiting their campus/interviewing on the 1st of May! Exciting to feel like I'm making some sort of progress...even if they're the only on-campus I have lined up. I really like this school, though- so this really could be a great opportunity for me. Don't worry, I'll be sure to keep you all posted.

Tomorrow I'm going with Bianca to get her first tattoo...she even let me design it! While there I'll be talking to Margaret, the tattoo artist, about mine. She should have a sketch all ready for me and then hopefully I'll get it in the next few days!

There has been entirely too many exclamation points in this post. Sorry about that!!
ha.

Off to finish duty...and I'm going to bed EARLY.
so excited about it.

Much love!
-LA

Getting there...ever so slowly

Tunes:"good enough"// westbound train

So close to the end (exactly a month away from graduation!), yet so so so much to do and get done. I feel like I have talked like this all year. But really, the light is shining at the end of the tunnel. It's just a matter of time (a month) until I reach it.

In the meantime, I am finding ways to have fun amidst all of things I need to accomplish. Last weekend here in Harrisonburg was MACRock. It's this annual college radio conference where a lot of popular, college radio bands play showcases all over town and the public gets a badge and can go to all the different venues to check out the different musicians. BEST weekend all year. The weather was beautiful, the company I was in was wonderful and the music was just fantastic. Nothing beats some good live tunes. Nothing.

Highlights were these 2 bands:


[maps & atlases]


[patten is movement]

It was the best release to not have to worry about things, walk around town in the sunshine, drink cold beer on tap, watch some rocking bands up close and just...be. I feel so often down here I am constantly stressing about what I should be doing or need to do eventually. Last weekend though, nope. I just existed and had some fun. Was good for my soul!

As my time here is, again, winding down, I've been trying to determine the specifics of the tattoo I want to get to commemorate my time here and sort of cap it all off. I've been planning on getting a Cardinal (the bird) since last year and now it's a matter of finding the right style/picture/place. I'm getting there. My friend Erin is drawing me something along the lines of this one: here
My hope was to get it on my birthday in a week or so, but I might settle for getting it either when my family's here (want to hold my hand, Mum?) or if and when Ricker comes down to help me move home. I want it essentially in the same spot- on the back of my arm so I can "look back on" it (and the experience, too!)...I'm excited about it.

Now that it is 1:30am, I am going to get to bed.
I'm helping with load-in for a concert tomorrow. Fun!
Much love from the (getting green) valley!