A Few of my Favorite Links {#21}

April....PHEW. 

It's been a whirlwind y'all, as it usually is. If you've been following this blog for a while now you can totally tell when things are crazy for me at work because that's when posts get a bit more infrequent (usually September and April every single year). I guess that's just the trend in my life! Anywho, we had our final *major* event of the year - Pangy Day - on Friday and it was super successful! We were gambling hard with the weather. All week called for rain and even thunderstorms but kept going back and forth on when the rain would actually begin. We had outdoor activities planned from 10:30AM to 3PM, and according to all of the weather sites rain wouldn't start coming down until right around the time we would be packing it in for the day, so on Friday morning we made the official call to stay outside and we. hit. the jackpot.

While it was quite humid (we were expecting thunderstorms, after all), the sun was shining for most of the day, everyone was in their summer clothes and summer spirits, and everyone was having a blast. It was truly such a perfect day (I keep joking that Mary Lyon was looking out for us) and the weather held right until we got the last person and last piece of equipment inside after breaking down at 4PM when it immediately started pouring, thundering, and lightning-ing. Perfect timing, to say the least! With a smattering of other weekend events, we closed out our year of student programming Sunday afternoon and I can officially say I made it through my first academic year as a professional! We only have Senior Week and Commencement to worry about before we can officially call it summer time! :)

I have a few really awesome links for you today which (per usual) involve 3 of my 

most favorite things in the world - food, dogs, and Game of Thrones. I hope you enjoy!

Super Filling Sweet Potato Tacos

If you've been following my weekly vlogs or if you were around for this blog post, you'll know that I've been making a bit of an effort to be a bit more conscious when it comes to eating meet and dairy products. I by no means have cut them completely out of my life, but lately I have been pausing to consider possible alternatives, often making the decision to take a vegan or vegetarian option when it's available, and have recently made the choice to completely stop eating pig meat all together (yes, including bacon) which was a pretty easy choice as I never was too crazy about it in the first place. It's a journey and while I don't think I'll ever go completely vegan or vegetarian (then again, who knows?), making these decisions little by little will help in the transition.

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Enter, this recipe. I just stumbled upon it yesterday and it is completely vegan! It looks freakin' delicious and honestly not that much different than a regular taco recipe. Just really replacing the meat with sweet potatoes which sounds pretty amazing in my opinion. I definitely want to try these out the next time I'm in the mood for homemade tacos!

Pet Portraits by Incandescent Design

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As I've come to find out, I'm all about customized pet products that create a fun memory of your beloved furry friend. Incandescent Designs offers up these fun pet portraits for a modest (sarcasm) $200. With a finely detailed drawing, a pop of color, and a little twist to show off your pet's personality, I think this would be a fun addition to any room in your home!

Chart of 40 Different Kinds of Pizza

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I'm not sure when I came across this chart but I do know that I came across it when I was borderline hangry and of course fell heart-eyes-emoji in love! There are some items on this list that I wouldn't really want to try, but the vast majority of these pizzas - sign a lady UP. I think the top three pizzas I would need to try at some point in my lifetime are the Scottish Pizza Crunch, the Pizza Cone, and I really want to try Cauliflower Crust Pizza as well! What one would you want to try?

9 Times Actual History Was More F*cked Up Than Game of Thrones

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In honor of Game of Thrones finally returning, I obviously had to include a GoT related link of some sort! This one showed up on my Facebook feed, as most BuzzFeed articles do, and I had to click on it because I love when fictional stories are put into historical context. It's crazy just how messed up the world was back in the day and it was just considered to be normal. I mean, could you imagine hearing about a party reminiscent of the Red Wedding happening in real life?! Yikes.

What links have you been loving lately?

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! :)

I Survived Orientation 2014! *insert T-shirt design here*

Orientation at Bridgewater ended last Friday and I'm officially on a little vacation! WAHOOOO!

Though I'm excited to have some *real* time off for the first time in a long, long while, I'm pretty bummed that the Orientation experience has come to a close. As a graduate student, I only see so much of how BSU really operates (I'm typically either in the office for my GA or in a classroom when I'm on campus) and to be able to experience all that BSU had to offer from a different perspective definitely gave me a new found appreciation and pride for my school. GO BEARS!

1. Sneaky backstage shot of the OLs performing their skits during Session 1
2. Hanging out with Bristaco and some PC members during Session 1
3. Selfie with the OL staff during Session 6
4. Amazingly awesome gift from the Orientation Staff that was given to me during the end-of-sessions banquet!

This whole experience has been so special in ways that are difficult to put into words, but I know that there are moments from this past month that I will be talking about for my entire Student Affairs career. Though many times it was stressful (as large event planning & management tends to be), the connections that I made with the Professional Staff, Orientation Leaders, new students, and family members throughout the month of June will be something I remember for years to come. I'm so, SO appreciative to have been given the opportunity to be a part of the Orientation Staff this summer!

Orientation Leaders & Pro Staff at our end-of-sessions banquet! Such a great crew of people! <3

The rest of my summer is looking comparatively low-key. I took this week and next week completely off from work and class to focus on some quality time with Brett, family, sunshine, running, reading for pleasure, and possibly getting my teeth ripped out of my face (but that's a story for another post... #istillhavemywisdomteeth), but I will be back to work in OSIL July 15th, taking a week-long intensive course July 28th - August 1st, with a smattering of races, work functions, and family events thrown in here and there before the school year starts up again! Don't you hate how fast the summer flies by? >_<

Hope you're all having a wonderful summer so far! 

Let me know what you've been up to in the comments! :)

I'm lucky because...

I have a roof over my head. When the weather starts to get colder, I'm always much more appreciative of having a place to come home to, a couch to lounge on, and a bed to sleep in. It's so easy to forget to appreciate something as basic as your home!

All of my body parts are fully functional. Some people don't have the ability to move freely own their own, and I'm so thankful that I can run and jump and walk around at a moment's notice!

I have a wonderful, loving, and supportive family. They've supported me in every decision I've made throughout my life (even when I wanted to dye my hair pink in 7th grade!) and I've been able to accomplish things beyond my wildest dreams because of it.

Family whale watch adventure circa 2000/2001

I've had the wonderful opportunity to continue my education not once but twice now. I've been able to earn my Bachelor's degree (thanks to the help of my parents and loans) and have been given the opportunity to pursue my Master's for the low, low, price of free - not something a lot of people can say, and I'm very thankful for it.

I've been privileged enough to travel. Even at the young age of 23, I've been able to travel not only to many places throughout the country, but also to the Carribean, Canada, and even across the pond to Europe! There's still so much more I want to see, but even if I never travel again, I know I've been very fortunate to take the trips that I have!

I have people in my life who care. My family. My wonderful boyfriend. A few very good friends. My students and co-workers. I know that I can turn to them as a source of happiness in a time of need and for that I am truly grateful!

*This post was in no way meant to sound braggy, but it may have come off that way.
I'm just really happy and appreciative for all I have in my life! :)