The Packing Chronicles, Part 2

Read: Packing Chronicles, Part 1

Packing Chronicles, Part 2

This past Friday, I gave myself three things I wanted to accomplish over the weekend:

1. Dye my hair
2. Cook/bake all the food in my apartment
3. Apply for jobs

 Things from that list that I actually accomplished this weekend:

1. Dyed my hair
2. Attempted to cook/bake all the food in my apartment

Operation Dye My Hair

So I successfully dyed my hair. I've had the hair dye since before graduation because I had wanted to dye my hair for graduation. Clearly that happened. It's a medium auburn brown. So really it's just my hair color (maybe a tad darker) with a hint of red.

Just a hint of red. Easier to see in sunlight.

Operation Cook Everything

I decided I would cook/bake all the food in my apartment so that I could start packing my kitchenware. This way all my food could be in the freezer and all I would have to do is microwave it. Then I could pack up my pots and pans, most of my dishes, most kitchen utensils, and other kitchen stuff that I wouldn't need. Well, Operation Cook Everything was a bit more of an undertaking than I thought it would be. Plus, I actually have a life (surprising, I know) and didn't want to spend every minute of the weekend getting adventurous in the kitchen. What I accomplished to cook/bake:

• Lots of macaroni and cheese
• Lots of fried rice
• Vegan chocolate cupcakes with almond "buttercream" frosting
• Coconut cupcakes
• Couscous
• Quinoa with black beans and corn

Vegan chocolate cupcakes.

Coconut cupcakes and vegan chocolate cupcakes

Coconut cupcakes with coconut pecan frosting and topped with shredded coconut.

Operation Get A Job

Well, I looked at job postings. That's as far as that went. A little lacking in motivation at the moment for that. None of the jobs really appealed to me, and I guess I shouldn't be picky, but whatever. Something will happen. Speaking of jobs, I had a dream last night that University of Hawaii offered me a job and I couldn't decide if I wanted to accept it or not. I woke up feeling completely stressed out - not a great way to wake up. Also, not really sure what that dream means other than I have no idea what I want to happen.

The Packing Continues...

So I'm hopefully going to go full force with packing this week. I have clothes, kitchen stuff, bathroom stuff, and not much else to pack. Oh yeah, and a fish tank. I started preparing today to move my fish tank over to the Housing office, who are inheriting my fish tank because I really can't move with it since I don't even know where I'm moving to. When I say I've started preparing to move the tank, that includes buying a new fish... because that's logical. Oh well.

Meet Cyrus. My new fish, that will soon become Housing's.

My packing/moving advice continued:
3. If you don't want to be distracted while trying to pack, just break up with your computer. By which I mean the battery is dying and needs to be replaced. Not a big deal, it just needs to be plugged in all the time. So, charger stops working. Told my computer that I think it's right about us needing a break. Unlike TSwift, we are getting back together as I gave in and ordered a new charger. I'm lucky enough that I can borrow a work laptop in the meantime.

My Hawaiian Alaskan Adventure

A lot of people have never been to Hawaii or Alaska. A week ago I was one those people. Now, I can say I've been to both. I never would have imagined that in one week I would go to the two states that are not part of the continental US. I'm very blessed to have had these incredible opportunities. Both trips were for interviews, one with the University of Hawaii Manoa and one with the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Last Tuesday I left Pensacola and went to Honolulu. Thursday I left Honolulu, arrived back into Pensacola on Friday morning, and 3.5 hours later (seriously) left Pensacola for Fairbanks, AK, and returned yesterday. I had a total of 10 flights (all with Delta) in only 7 days. I am completely exhausted between all the traveling, interviewing, and time changes, but it is unbelievably worth it for the adventure I was able to have. Both trips I had some time to explore and it was pretty incredible. The interviews went well, and I'd be completely happy working at either place.

Ready to take on interviews.

My first night in Hawaii they took me out for curry (delicious) and then for dessert where I got to try mochi covered ice cream (incredible). After my interview day we went down to Waikiki Beach and got to walk around down there. We ate dinner at a restaurant overlooking the water. Pretty amazing. For my 'fun day' they took me to Pearl Harbor, which was incredible. It was very meaningful and educational. The weather was also amazing! After Pearl Harbor we went and got lunch at a diner. Then went and got shaved ice (at Obama's favorite shaved ice place) which was incredible. It's probably not what you expect, but trust me it's delicious.  After that we checked out a couple less tourist-y beaches which were gorgeous. Then it was back to the airport. Hawaii is now the furthest west I've ever been.

Mochi covered ice cream - green tea, mango, and chocolate espresso flavors

Got a lei for my interview day!

The view from the housing office

Waikiki Beach

The Japanese garden on campus.

USS Arizona Memorial

Kailua Beach

Lanikai Beach

I was back in Pensacola for 3.5 hours. Useless. I had a friend pick me up and take me to breakfast. I switched out my suitcases and it was back to the airport. I was exhausted by that point and had so much more to go still. So I got some caffeine in me and kept going.

Alaska was pretty spectacular. The view from campus was pretty breathtaking, as you could see the Alaska range, including Mt. McKinley. I got to see a baby reindeer! After my interview dinner they gave me a driving tour of Fairbanks. After that I met up with a friend from college who lives in Fairbanks and a friend of his. They showed me the town. I got to see what they called "Fairbanks Beach". Not much of a beach. We went and saw the pipeline (I touched the pipeline!). Ended the night up at this place called Murphy's Dome where we watched the start of the sunrise, and on the way up we saw a couple of moose. We met some people up there and joined by their fire since it was chilly. Then the next day we got brunch at a place on the river, played mini golf, checked out Pioneer Park, wandered about downtown, drove up to Chena Hot Springs, went into the ice museum, drank appletinis out of ice glasses, and then grabbed dinner. Alaska is now the furthest north I've ever been.

The view from campus. It's hard to tell, but you can see the Alaska range.

I was pretty exhausted, but going strong.

Possibly my favorite part of the ice museum.

Me and the pipeline

This is "Fairbanks Beach"

Had brunch here and played mini golf.

Pioneer Park.

The sunset just before midnight and rose just before 4am. It was weird and difficult to adjust to. It never really got dark, just dusk-like. It was pretty cool. The view of the sunrise at Murphy's Dome was incredible and totally worth it.

The view from Murphy's Dome.

This was as dark as it got.

The next day it was back to the airport and back to Pensacola. It was one heck of an adventure and I'm so glad I had the opportunity to go to both Hawaii and Alaska. Now it's back to the waiting game until I hear from the schools.

Secrets of Success

30-Day Challenge #1: TED Talks
Day 6

Alrighty. So yesterday I said I'd look for something a bit more serious than tying your shoes correctly, and maybe a little funny. At least I think I said that, and I'm just running with it anyway... So I did just that. Today's talk by Richard St. John is about the secrets to success. It's another short one, but he very quickly lays out the 8 secrets to success. I think he points out very good characteristics that people often forget about. We all want to be successful in life so this is relevant to us all. It related to my day a bit too, but I'll bore you with that after you watch the video.



Okay. So I hope you liked that. It was short, but informative. I personally found this one fitting for me, especially today. I am in grad school and in less than two years will be entering the professional world so I hope to be successful. I hope to be successful in school and in my career. This is really relevant to me today specifically because i just got back from a meeting where I got to talk with people in various areas and stages of student affairs. It gave me an idea on what they've done to be successful and they were able to give me advice on how to be successful. A lot of what they told me are things that are mentioned in this talk.

One thing with these TED talks that I want to mention is that it's important to reflect on the knowledge we take in. We learn a lot through reflection; reflection on our lives, our mistakes, our achievements, our work, etc. So it's important to take in what the speaker tells us, but to also relate it to our lives. Take these 8 secrets to success and reflect on whether or not you're using those secrets. I know that I have passion, I work hard, I certainly persist, I have ideas. I do serve and do some good, but I could probably serve more and do some more good. I could definitely push myself a bit more and focus a little harder. I could brainstorm for ideas a whole lot more than I do. I know my strengths and I know my weaknesses and I try to work on making my weaknesses not so weak. People sometimes focus only on what they're good at, but it will make you far more successful if you maintain your strengths while improving your weaknesses.

So that's my bit of knowledge for today. Also, I learned today that October is apparently National Careers in Student Affairs Month (CSAM). So if you're interested in Student Affairs as a career, or have no idea what it is then you can check out the website about CSAM which will tell you all about Student Affairs and how to become a part of it. Or ask me some questions and I'll answer what I can. :)