Backyard Carnival

When Brett and I left to grab some brunch on Saturday morning, we discovered a huge spring carnival being set up behind my building! After eating, we decided to go check it out with Rob. There was so much stuff there! Hamster ball things, a zipline, bungee trampoline, laser tag, cotton candy, ice cream, fried dough, pretzels, peanuts, and those photos you take with your face in the hole of ridiculous scenes.

Such a fun way to spend a gorgeous Saturday afternoon!

Let's Start a Book Club!

With summer and lazy days on the beach right around the corner, I've been getting super excited about diving into some new books. Everyone has a busy life, and not many of us take the time to sit down with a good story and just forget about the world of Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram that we live in today. So why not get together and start up a book club and challenge each other to read more?

Starting May 1st, I'll post up a book that we can all read together, and after a few weeks of reading I'll write my review on the book, and you all can share your opinions as well! It'll be a great way to promote reading and to get each other off the internet and our phones for a change!

For now, I'd love to hear any suggestions of books any of you have. I, of course, have my own ideas of what I'd like to read, but since this is a club that I'd like open up to everyone, I'd MUCH rather hear your opinions! Feel free to leave your suggestions in the comments, or to let me know via Twitter or Facebook. I'll let you know what we will be reading next Wednesday! :)

Moving Forward

Sorry for the silence on this side of the blogosphere over the past week. I didn't want to clog up anyone's feeds with more emotional post about last week's events, and frankly, that was all I could think to write about. It was all that was on my mind. Judging by the lack of posts from the Boston area blogs that I read, it was probably on everyone else's minds, too.

Being so close to the explosions on Monday, and having many of my friends being just 3 miles from the craziness in Watertown on Thursday and Friday, the past week has been extremely emotionally taxing for me. Luckily, all of my loved ones are safe, both suspects are accounted for, and hopefully we can all move on and get some answers. I still can't believed this happened to my city, but Bostonians are strong people. We don't break easily. Big Papi said it best...


Moving forward from this tragedy, I have a few things coming up that I'm definitely looking forward to!
1. I'm meeting with my BSU advisor next Monday to pick out my classes for the summer and fall! As lame as this sounds, I'm excited to get back to school, especially that I'm pursuing my Master's degree. I enjoy taking classes and learning new things, so I'm excited to get back into it. (Now, let's see if I'm saying the same thing come October... o_o)
2. My race schedule is filling in quite nicely for the summer. I'm all signed up for a 15K Trail Race on Memorial Day weekend, will be running the Superhero Scramble in June, as well as lacing up with my parents for the Finish at the 50 and Foam Fest 5K in July! I'm looking to add a half marathon to my schedule for June as well. It's starting to feel like I'm an in-season athlete again! :P
3. Speaking of running, I had a student approach me last week looking for an advisor for a running club he wanted to start on campus. I'm so excited that someone wants to start a running club on campus, because I've talked about wanting to start one with a few people, but was unsure how to go about it as a staff member. I'll finally have some people to run with, and a whole new group of students to connect with! :)
In times like these it's best to look to the positivity of the future. It does not help to dwell on the past.  As one of my favorite sayings goes...  You can't continue the book if you keep rereading the same chapter.

A Strange Day in Boston

I was planning on this post being a super cheerful one, telling you all about my amazing time at Marathon Monday, which is usually the best day of the year at Lasell. It sucks that some coward had to ruin a day that celebrates the strength of the human spirit in order to hurt people. I love my city and I know we'll be strong through this tragedy.

Here's the events of yesterday, from my point of view.

Friday Five {#2}

Friday Five

Five things that mattered to me this week!

1. Last night I organized a movie night social for the ResLife department complete with snacks, a big screen, and stadium seating. We watched The Perks of Being a Wallflower and (as it always goes) the book was much better. Not to say that it was a bad movie, it was actually pretty decent. But they left out some huge plot points that were pretty important to the story. And seeing Emma Watson attempt an American accent was pretty painful. I'd say stick with the book if you want to really enjoy the story!

2. Being the organization freak that I am, I've been drooling over the Erin Condren Life Planners! My friend Joanne has one and I fell in love with it when she showed it to me a few months ago, and after totally forgetting the name of the company, I finally tracked them down. I already have a 2013 planner, but come the new year, I'm totally investing in one of these beauties. Fellow organization freaks, watch this video and drool with me:

3. It's Boston Marathon weekend! If you live in Massachusetts or went to a Boston-area college, you know that this is always an exciting weekend. Lasell was right on the heart of the marathon route, so every Marathon Monday the whole campus would head down to the race and cheer on the runners all day long. It was one of those days where the student body was all together and happy, which really made it the best day of the whole year. I'm planning on going to Lasell on Monday to celebrate with my friends!
4. Speaking of being an organization freak, I've caught the spring cleaning bug. Last night I spent two hours cleaning out junk drawers and organizing the apartment a little bit better. It feels so good to go through everything and throw a bunch of stuff away! It definitely energizes me and inspires me to be more creative, now that I have more space to do so.
5. Rob showed me an awesome Game of Thrones Facebook game called Game of Thrones: Ascent and I'm officially addicted. It's a choose-your-own-adventure-style game that lets you create your own house, align with one of the great houses, go on quests, and lots of other cool things that fans of the show would really enjoy. If you're a Game of Thrones fan or if you're looking for a new game to play online, I highly suggest you try this game out!
Have a great weekend, everyone!

Sunshine and Some Direction

It's ridiculous(ly awesome) how nice it's been outside this week. I feel like those of us that live in areas that go through all four seasons of the year are the only ones that can truly understand the excitement of warmer weather and fresh air. After a long, cold winter, the mere action of opening the windows of my apartment fills me with so much happiness, it's almost absurd. Johnny Cupcakes once wrote something similar about winter in Boston over on his blog, and it's stuck with me ever since I read it...

"Winter makes us appreciate all of the other seasons that much more. All of New England is happy when the trees start to bloom, birds come out, beach days arise, leaves change colors, etc.. Whereas if you live in a warm state, the luxury rubs off quick. I remember visiting Florida and California and jumping up and down like a kid on a trampoline because I was so pumped on the weather. I look around and everyone is walking around like zombies… buzz-kill. It’s not their fault, they’re just not excited about it as they have it every day."

I welcome warm weather with open arms each year, even if I do get a little too excited about it. Tuesday I wore shorts all day long, even when I was out on duty at night time. A few of my coworkers looked at me like I was crazy, but it didn't make me second guess my wardrobe decision. Warm weather is kind of a rarity in New England, so when it comes around, I don't take a single second for granted. Give me all the sun you've got, mother nature!

Yesterday I received my acceptance letter into Bridgewater State University's Student Affairs Counseling program! I'm over the moon about finally getting this letter. I now know where I'm going to be come the fall. I know I'm going to be saving a lot more money than if I were to move down to South Carolina, and I know I'm going to get much more out of a counseling based program than an administration based program. I'm excited to get back to school and learn more about my field, and I'm happy to have some direction for my future!

Home, Hills, and Half Marathons

"These legs conquered the hills of the Great Bay Half Marathon"

Friday Five {#1}

Friday Five 
Five things that mattered to me this week!

1. Spring weather is finally showing its face in New England! Saturday after I got out of work, Brett and I decided to go out back to the practice football field and play some lax and football for a couple hours. So excited for the weather to start warming up and to start spending more time outside.

2. The Badminton Club that I advise kicked off their doubles tournament last night and there were about 20 students there! Never thought I'd be advising a Badminton Club in my life, but helping the president's ideas come to fruition is great to see, and reminds me why I want to be in student affairs in the first place. Although the club is just starting out, I think that it's coming along great. I'm excited for next semester - we're going to try and put a travel team together and play against other colleges!

3. I've been drowning in applications and interviews this week, from both ends of the spectrum. I interviewed for a Study Abroad GA down at University of South Carolina yesterday morning, ResLife has been talking about hiring new staff the past couple weeks, and I've been working on my reapplication for my current position. I feel that every spring, especially in the Higher Ed field, is a time of uncertainty. I'm waiting on replies from jobs and graduate programs, and I'm not really sure where I'm going to be come the fall, but hopefully that will all fall into place in a few weeks.

4. Baseball is back! The Red Sox kicked off their 2013 season with a smack down on the Yankees (yessss!) and even though I'm still wrapped up with my first love (hockey), I'm looking forward to a summer filled with late night baseball marathons.

5. Speaking of marathons, I'm running my second half this Sunday - the Great Bay Half Marathon up in my home state of New Hampshire. Can't wait to race, see my puppies, show my friends around my home turf, and be home for the first time since Christmas!

Have an awesome weekend, everyone!

April Goals

It's the first of the month, and you know what that means! (Or... maybe you don't. I haven't made this a thing yet. >_>) Time to set new goals and give yourself a month to complete them. o_o Debilitating anxiety-provoking pressure aside, I've always been fond of setting goals and never completing them trying my best to reach them by a certain deadline. With this new blog, I thought I'd make it a monthly tradition to set new goals and share them with you on the first of each month. So, without further adieu, here are my monthly goals for April 2013!

I'll check back in with you all at the end of April to tell you how I did!

On a nerdier note, HOW PUMPED ARE YOU GUYS THAT GAME OF THRONES IS BACK ON?! Brett got me into GoT when we first started hanging out a few months ago, and we've both been dying for season 3 to finally start. We even made sigils for our houses out of excitement. Here's mine:

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to watch it last night because I was on duty and we don't have HBO on campus, but I'm sure we'll be watching it at some point today. I'm rooting for #teamTargaryen... How about you?