Tunes:"somedays"// regina spektor
This weekend was amazing. Virginia is where my heart seems to lie these days and going back there really helped me see that I need to get myself back to the south. I am not, however, allowing myself to do that until 2011 at least. So. New England can enjoy me for now.
Anyways, this weekend was wonderful because of all the great weather (and sunshine!) and old friends and haunts that I got to see. Nothing beats driving to the top of Reddish Knob with the foliage being red, bright yellow and bright orange. Nothing beats listening to Aretha Franklin late at night catching up with 2 dudes with whom you could spend DAYS talking music and life with. Nothing beats breakfast at The Little Grill in good company...or FLAXJACKS! Nothing beats pitstops in New Jersey to see one of your best friends. Nope. Nothing.
I feel rejuvenated. Seeing some folks reminded me of things I'd like to get a handle on in my life. Reminded me that I need to get more motivated. So I'm going to try and do that.
In the meantime, I wanted to share a quote I recently found from one of my most favorite authors, Edith Wharton. I have always loved her; she wrote House of Mirth and Ethan Frome...she was a revolutionary in so many senses, and at the same time she was a rebel...a guilded-age Riot Grrl, you could say. She wrote books-- often racy, often blowing the doors off of the sham-glitzy lives of the privledged-- and did so beautifully, in a time where men dominated literature. Men still do. She's STILL a revolutionary. Anyways. Here's the quote...
"Habit is necessary; it is the habit of having habits, of turning a trail into a rut, that must be incessantly fought against if one is to remain alive." -Edith Wharton
As if it were possible, I love her more now than before.
In any case, things are well, life is good and I am pressing onward. I get to see the family this weekend! Very excited about that. Tyler and I also have a craft project to get working on. Pretty pumped about all things. It feels good be be rejuvenated!
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Friday, October 2, 2009
Back in New England...& back to blogging?!
Tunes:"Walcott"//Vampire Weekend
Months have passed, haven't they? I have honestly lost count of the times I've sat and thought to myself, "I should really go update my blog. Uncle Dave and Uncle Claude read this and ask about it. You should really go update everyone on how life's been." And the one thing that's stopped be this whole time? My blog title.
Ridiculously enough, I feel sort of silly now that I'm back in New England to be writing in a bog entitled "The Transplanted New Englander"...as I am transplanted elsewhere no longer. Finally I have gotten over that, realizing I will likely be on my way living somewhere else eventually, so I might as well keep the same name on here.
That is not to say that I intend on leaving anytime soon. True, I miss Virginia more than I had imagined I would. Some days it almost feels to be an ache for the place; I wake up, roll out of bed and completely forget that there's no mountains outside my door or a valley to explore, with countless farms to drive through and get lost amongst. When I play my favorite Emmylou Harris record and bake cookies, I can swear I'm still in Virginia. But I am not! Now you can find me residing on the 3rd floor of Shamie Hall at Nichols College in quaint (tiny) Dudley, MA. My apartment is awesome. My coworkers are amazing. I'm only an hour from Boston (and my best friend! Ricker's in Allston these days, it's great)...life is good!
Living here has been filled with a-ha moments, challenges and fights, to be honest. The students I'm responsible for (all 377 of them) are great overall, but goodness- some of them just like to get into tussles. I have never encountered such an challenging group...probably because drinking here is also a lot more commonplace, especially since this school is pretty secluded, leaving students with little to do on weekends. My student staff is fantastic; 11 driven individuals who do the job without asking a million questions about everything. They understand that sometimes they just gotta do what's asked of them. I bake them cookies every week for our staff meetings. :)
Aside from work life, things are going well enough. I'm still getting my bearings living in Southern Mass. I go to Boston just about every weekend to stay at Ricker, Ryan & Katy's. It gets me off campus and gets me around the kind of friends I don't have to think much about being around...they've known me for years, so it feels so comfortable with them. I seem to have also met a dude, but it's nothing even remotely serious. He's real cute and I like being around him, but he's about an hour and a half north up near UMass...so we don't hang often. My best friend from Virginia, Bianca, moved up here in July-- she's living in Nashua, which is sort of awesome. But her Americorps job at the Nashua Red Cross seems to keep her just as busy as me. Bummer. Hopefully seeing her this weekend, actually. Whew.
I'm also planning a visit to Virginia for next weekend to see friends and get another dose of the mountains/south/little grill before winter time comes. Eugh. Winter. I forgot how much I enjoyed not dealing with snow and freezing cold. Although, I am totally enjoying the beautiful fall weather right now. Mmm. That crisp, cold air. Nothing beats it.
So, there.
A proper update.
I'll be sure to be more on top of writing in here, getting pictures up and everything, soon. Much love from Dudley...you should come visit me! :)
Months have passed, haven't they? I have honestly lost count of the times I've sat and thought to myself, "I should really go update my blog. Uncle Dave and Uncle Claude read this and ask about it. You should really go update everyone on how life's been." And the one thing that's stopped be this whole time? My blog title.
Ridiculously enough, I feel sort of silly now that I'm back in New England to be writing in a bog entitled "The Transplanted New Englander"...as I am transplanted elsewhere no longer. Finally I have gotten over that, realizing I will likely be on my way living somewhere else eventually, so I might as well keep the same name on here.
That is not to say that I intend on leaving anytime soon. True, I miss Virginia more than I had imagined I would. Some days it almost feels to be an ache for the place; I wake up, roll out of bed and completely forget that there's no mountains outside my door or a valley to explore, with countless farms to drive through and get lost amongst. When I play my favorite Emmylou Harris record and bake cookies, I can swear I'm still in Virginia. But I am not! Now you can find me residing on the 3rd floor of Shamie Hall at Nichols College in quaint (tiny) Dudley, MA. My apartment is awesome. My coworkers are amazing. I'm only an hour from Boston (and my best friend! Ricker's in Allston these days, it's great)...life is good!
Living here has been filled with a-ha moments, challenges and fights, to be honest. The students I'm responsible for (all 377 of them) are great overall, but goodness- some of them just like to get into tussles. I have never encountered such an challenging group...probably because drinking here is also a lot more commonplace, especially since this school is pretty secluded, leaving students with little to do on weekends. My student staff is fantastic; 11 driven individuals who do the job without asking a million questions about everything. They understand that sometimes they just gotta do what's asked of them. I bake them cookies every week for our staff meetings. :)
Aside from work life, things are going well enough. I'm still getting my bearings living in Southern Mass. I go to Boston just about every weekend to stay at Ricker, Ryan & Katy's. It gets me off campus and gets me around the kind of friends I don't have to think much about being around...they've known me for years, so it feels so comfortable with them. I seem to have also met a dude, but it's nothing even remotely serious. He's real cute and I like being around him, but he's about an hour and a half north up near UMass...so we don't hang often. My best friend from Virginia, Bianca, moved up here in July-- she's living in Nashua, which is sort of awesome. But her Americorps job at the Nashua Red Cross seems to keep her just as busy as me. Bummer. Hopefully seeing her this weekend, actually. Whew.
I'm also planning a visit to Virginia for next weekend to see friends and get another dose of the mountains/south/little grill before winter time comes. Eugh. Winter. I forgot how much I enjoyed not dealing with snow and freezing cold. Although, I am totally enjoying the beautiful fall weather right now. Mmm. That crisp, cold air. Nothing beats it.
So, there.
A proper update.
I'll be sure to be more on top of writing in here, getting pictures up and everything, soon. Much love from Dudley...you should come visit me! :)
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