Hectic August

As it often promises, August has been hectic, hectic, hectic. I'm on 150% every time I walk into the office and I don't slow down much when I get home at the end of the day. As a result, I've been pretty exhausted lately and am always worried that I'm forgetting something. Once the school year starts and get back into a rhythm with my insane schedule, it'll be a lot easier. The anticipation of the year is never helpful in on the anxiety front - I just want the year to begin!

It hasn't been all stress though. I've managed to fit a few fun things in these past few weeks!

Two weekends ago, the family and I headed up to Maine to see our extended family on my mom's side. We stayed at my aunt & uncle's house in Lincoln (well, we tented in their yard). It was awesome to see everyone - I hadn't seen them since Christmas 2012! We swam, we tubed, we played our usual cousin card game, but my favorite part of our family camping trips are always our fireside chats. Having all of us in one spot just telling stories and listening to one another is truly something special, and I wish we could do that more often.

Did I mention there were 8 dogs there? #heaven

Upon my return to work, a few of my colleagues took it upon themselves to fulfill their ALS Ice Bucket challenges. I got to witness a couple of them in all of their freezing cold glory, and even played a role in one of the videos! Yes, I know. I basically have the funnest job ever.

Walking Matt down to his challenge site. 

Aaand that's my boss! Awesome.

I got a few days off in the middle of last week, so I headed over to Nichols to see Brett. He's in full swing of football camp, so seeing each other is pretty difficult at the moment. (It's even hard for us to speak on the phone at night with how tired he is at the end of the day!) I got to hang out in the "Bison Den" (lounge/office where the coaches work) and got to see him in action at practice! It's always funny to see him in Coach Angel mode because it's so different from how he acts when we hang out, but he's a great coach and you can really tell that he wants to make his athletes the best they can be.

Friday I met up with Rob and we headed to the beach! We wanted to spend one more relaxing day before the craziness of grad school and work suffocated us again, and we hadn't seen each other since June so we desperately needed to catch up. The weather was absolutely gorgeous and we chatted the whole day long. We did a bit of wading in the waves and sunning ourselves (trying to get rid of our ghostly glows), and when the tide made the beach disappear, we walked along the shore. 

We grabbed a couple cold treats and enjoyed them in the sunshine. After our mid-day dessert we walked to the other end of the beach and found a smattering of surfers, including a kid's surf camp! (Why didn't I go to that summer camp as a kid?) On our way back, we stopped into a beer garden for a couple drinks and an amazing fried clam strip basket to split. Such a yummy way to end our afternoon together!

Though I had to go back to work on Saturday to spend the weekend with PC Executive Board for their retreat, I had a blast reconnecting with the students that I hadn't seen all summer and really enjoyed gearing them up for a successful year. We had some great, productive conversations with them, and we also had a lot of fun and a lot of laughs throughout the entire retreat! Sometimes I don't realize it in the moment, but when I reflect on experiences that I have with the students I work with, I'm always reassured that I'm in the right field and going down the right path in life. My students make everything worthwhile! :)

Pictured above: Proof that I work with the coolest/funniest students.

CA's move back to Dean tomorrow and although that's a sign of another hectic year right around the corner, I'm SO excited to see everyone again! The campus is much more fun (and loud) with students around and I am so looking forward to watching them grow and develop along the way!

Door decs I made for my staff! :)