Coffeeshop Happiness

Tunes: Iron & Wine

As most of the people who read this know about me, I'm a huge fan of local coffeeshops. It's irrelevant if they are local to a specific locale, I just like going to a place that is run by friendly folks and that isn't a cog in some corporation. I recently found one in Worcester called The Bean Counter over by WPI where the waitstaff is all hippie and wonderful, but there seemed to be something missing. How lucky I am then that today I was able to find a place called the Acoustic Java down on Main Street by Clark University. The man behind the counter, whom I assume owns the place, is so pleasant-- he seems to be a local professor, as well, which just means he is so much my kind of person. When I told him I had never been in here before, he smiled and was patient with me as I asked him about the sandwiches they serve and the coffee they roast. He later asked about where I'm from and what I do-- it was like being in the south again. People rarely ask those kinds of questions of strangers up here.

I've had the pleasure of watching an awkward first date take place between a raggedy, dirty blonde boy and a pretty, yet plain, blonde girl. They've chatted over their disposable coffee cups for a couple hours now-- as I have puttered away at a few letters of recommendation for past supervisees. I doubt they realize I've been watching them more than writing. They both seem to want to feel comfortable with the other, however most of what their both saying doesn't seem to be sitting well on the other end. It's tragic-- they want so bad for it to work, for the date to be successful. It just isn't going that way.

There's also a smart man in black trench coat in here. Well, he was in here earlier. He shares with me that he wishes he had enough money to collect so many books that he'd devote a whole room in his house to them. There'd be shelves from floor to ceiling, filled with stories and articles and philosophies, bound with leather, tattered, torn and well-loved. There'd be so many books he'd need a ladder that rolled along the edge of the shelves all the way around the room. Like in the movies. I smile and share his wish for a moment.

I look forward to frequenting this place. Perhaps with no work to work on. With a book to read, or a boy to meet up with. Here's hoping!

Rejuvenated!

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!

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! :)

So many things have been happening!!

Tunes:"On Her Own"//Ben Kweller

It's been a whirlwind couple of weeks since I last stopped and updated everyone on my life! I have the attention span of a small child at the moment, so I believe I will keep this short at sweet...

-I graduated from Grad School! Now when I make business cards for myself they can read: "LeighAnn M. Soucy, M.Ed" ...which I think is super sweet.
I have no pictures yet of myself and my cohort in our ridiculous, purple robes, but will be sure to post those as soon as I get them.



[CSPA Class of 2009- Cheers!]

That was a pretty amazing weekend. My family came down on Thursday and got to meet so many of my favorite people- Bianca, Josh V, Amanda, Chris & Ashley from Little Grill...and then my entire cohort. The program put on a super nice reception (where the above photo was taken) and they recognize each of us through reading excepts of letters that our supervisors have written about us. It was a really humbling and gratifying to feel like I made my mark here. And I got so many hugs from people that mean a lot to me.

Next thing to report:
-I got a job! I will be a Resident Director at Nichols College in Dudley, Massachusetts starting this July!




I'm pretty excited. My campus interview went really well and I got to meet the entire student affairs division as well as some students. The school is way small- about 1500 students with about 900 living on campus. My hall, Shamie, has about 300 something first year students...with laundry on every floor! My apartment will be on the 3rd floor and I can even have a pet, so I will be looking for the perfect dog this summer at local SPCA's. Best of all is that Dudley is only about an hour and 45 minutes from home. It's also only about an hour to Boston, Hartford and Providence, so I'll be close to home AND centrally located in New England. Such a great thing!

With this means that finally:
-I'm moving out of Harrisonburg this Sunday.




While I am anxious to see people back home and happy to have a job, I am not at all excited about leaving my NEW home completely behind. Alie and I talked yesterday about how I'll probably end up back here. I've come accustomed to life in the Valley-- the scenery, the people, the attitudes and ideals...I'm going to miss my friends, sure, but moreover, I'll just miss this place. Everything about it, tied together. I love the music here, the sunsets, the shops, the food, the coffee...

I'm already trying to plot out when I can come back here to visit and think I may shoot for a week in early June...come down for a long weekend then take my time heading back up to NH by stopping at Kristen's in Jersey and Mel's in Albany. We'll see how Summer pans out.

And now, I should probably start packing.
<3 you all (and I'll see you all soon!)
-Leigh

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