Desk duty thoughts 9/17

yoohoo in a juice carton and banana chips tonight :)

also have my skype up on my laptop so I can chat with friends since some have agreed to stay up and talk to me. So awesome of them.

Considering joining Phi Sigma Rho (math,science, and engineering sorority)- I went to dinner tonight and they gave me a bid. I have til Sunday night to decide...

Powerade is amazing when I seriously am thirsty.

I have stressed myself out this week but this weekend has a day of football and relaxation. Just 10 hrs away!!

My eyes are so heavy tonight. I'm actually afraid of accidently falling asleep.

I like dancing in my chair when no one's around

It's been a busy week with RESPECT. SO many hours of work!

Writing people up isn't fun

Just keep going, just keep going...an hour til sleep :)

Can't wait to watch the Hogs beat Georgia!

I wish they would get the A/C fixed down here on the first floor...

"I know the heart of life is good"- I really like this lyric by John Mayer

How hard is it to follow a 3AM curfew?! Go to bed!!

I have a new name badge to wear when I'm working for RESPECT. It's all official with my name and photo id and everything :)

What this blog was originally about...

The title of this blog is Rachel's Ramblings, based on the fact that I tend to ramble whenever I talk. I've gotten better about this over the years, but I'm considering an experiment; typing up all my random thoughts during my midnight-4AM desk shift. I have so many things that I would normally say or text people about, but no one is awake. I also wouldn't want to be one of those annoying facebook friends that update their status 12 times a day. I just want to type them out, read them later, and decide whether or not it's actually worth typing. If nothing else, it should produce some (not actually) funny ideas.

Football game is in Little Rock this weekend, leaving the campus half empty. Apparently, if you're not at the game, you should be home. Luckily, my parents are coming up here.

My car scares me. It almost didn't stop going down a hill and then skidded all over the road on the same hill when I was driving the other day. Dad came and looked at it, and said there was nothing wrong. I'm still not completely convinced, but I'll have to drive it again eventually.

I feel weird putting up a "Back in 5 min" sign to leave the desk, when I haven't seen anyone for almost 20 minutes.

the RA on duty is always entertaining to chat with, because you're both "sleep-drunk"

sleep drunk involves the delirious way you start acting from lack of sleep

Route 44 lemonberry slush is the perfect desk companion

How did I not get a Pandora account years ago?!

Sleepy RA's hunting down a beetle at the front desk...great footage for Reggie :P

Rice Cake snacks are a healthy option; until you eat the whole

Making my schedule on Excel seems so "adult" but it has to be done

Why in the world would other people be up right now? Other than RA's, you have no reason to stay awake til 4!

Somewhere over the rainbow, way up high- dreamy song while sleepy :)

Tingly, asleep foot is really bothersome

My phone pretty much needs charged every night, and I'm always afraid it will die before it gets charged

My friends and I are amazed at how dumb guys can be. When you try to politely say you just want friendship, they assume you're playing hard to get. It's an age old problem and we keep using Pride and Prejudice as an example.

Why is there such an abundance of post-its around here?!- every size, color, and style I can think of.

Only a handful of people know I blog, and even less have read it. Maybe once I get this as a constant thing, I'll let it go more public...

Well that wraps it up for tonight (..er...this morning?) Time for my relief and some sleep.

Don't forget that I posted two blogs tonight if you're trying to keep tabs on me :P

And so it begins. Year II....

So to start off, I can already tell this year is gonna take every last bit of my patience and strength at times. Why? Well, let's just look at what my life is about right now.

1) Once again separated- It's almost like Freshman year-part 2. Not only am I away from my family, I no longer live with all my friends from last year. Disadvantage- not knowing what's going on with all my friends and feeling disconnected from the Pomfret group. Advantage- making so many new friends and getting to know my staff. Which brings me to the second point.



2) R.E.S.P.E.C.T.- my job. I went through training #1, now have training #2 going on. Until it's done, I'm trying to remember the girls I meet in my dorm, working with the RA's and figuring out good programs for the organization. I've got my calender all sorted out with events and Also, desk duty from 12-4 AM every Saturday morning. It's quite the show. I've learned to embrace my authoritative side, and have found it extremely useful/effective!



3) Classes- Cal 3, Honors Cultural Anthropology, Spanish Intermediate II, Discrete, and Philosophy have my brain going in so many different directions. I feel like I need to sit and study more than ever, yet have less time than ever. It's going to take a study schedule for me to keep on top of everything this year.

4) Frequent caller minutes?-If there were such a thing, I'd have a whole stack of them from the amount I have talked to my mom in the past month. I not only want to check on her in light of recent events, but also because of how fast my life is. I will call her and tell her everything so that she knows before I forget to tell her later. Some days, the busy/stressful one, will be a series of short check-ins while others are long deep conversations. I know there are other people that I could talk to, but it's just easier to talk to her when I already have another reason to call. I just hope she's not getting annoyed with all of the random calls.

I wrote this about three weeks ago, but just got back to it and tweaked it accordingly. It may sound a bit stressed/whiny, but that was before I got into a feel of things. It's been quite the adjustment for the past month, but I'm getting it. No matter what comes, you gotta keep living and pray for the best.

22 days left of my 90 days of summer...

Where have the other 68 gone?!

I feel like I was too busy rushing through work and school at the beginning of the summer, that I forgot to slow down and enjoy it. I have less than a month left and most of that time is claimed by my job. The most frustrating part is that I don't even have that many hours at work. The hours I do work restrict the things I can do before I go in, and I'm too tired after to do anything. I wonder if having a job was really the best idea. Looking back, I had a "wish" list of things I wanted to do this summer, and maybe I've crossed them off the list....just not how I thought I would.

*See something that moves me- when I first thought of this, I thought of an act of kindness, possibly going with a volunteer job. However, I was really moved when I went to the OKC memorial this past weekend and went through the museum. I was only 3 (about to be 4) at the time it happened, so I didn't have much memory other than the trial. The sudden impact it had on countless lives and the rush to aid those in need got to me. I found myself biting back tears walking through the museum; some of sadness, some angry, and some happy for the support of the families affected.

*Visit friends- I dreamed this may have something to do with out of state trips to friends, or frequent trips to Fayetteville. Instead it's been more of a goal to get to see my friends that are living around here. We have to schedule at least a few days in advance to make sure we can see each other. I still can't wait to see all my Fayetteville friends in a month.

*Make new friends- This, I assumed from previous experience, would come from my summer class. While I did meet a few people in there, most were older and didn't really relate to me. Surprisingly, I've made a few friends at work, and I'm actually going to be a little sad leaving some of them in a little over two weeks. I thought I'd be glad to be gone after my first week there.

*Spend family time- If you know my family, you know this was going to happen, regardless. My sister having a baby and my brother getting married just added more time than we usually all have together. I've seen my sister for as much time in the past couple of months as my whole freshman year probably. I'm glad to be able to see my niblings grow up.

*Vacation-Usually my family takes a week long vacation during the summer. Since my parents took vacation days for my new nephew and my brother, we had a short vacation to OKC to see my 7 year old nephew play baseball. We got to take my niece to the zoo, soaked up some sun, and (as mentioned before) stopped by the OKC memorial on the way out. It was a packed 3 days, but left me well rested.

*Become stronger in faith- I'd printed out a Bible study before I left school, but now it's lost in my boxes and shamefully I haven't even attempted to start on it. I had plans for going to church every Sunday, which was cancelled out by working every Sunday. The only thing that has gotten stronger about my faith is my praying. The stress of work and school brought me to states of utter insanity. It's not that either was hard, just time consuming. I prayed, and still do, for patience and calm. There were a couple nights my last week of school (when I had a quiz, class presentation, and final on top of 35 hours of work) that I thought I'd just be good to get by through it all. I ended up making an A on all the class stuff and not having any kind of mental breakdowns at work.

*Learn something outside of books- Class discussions brought up many interesting and controversial topics, as to be expected in college. The most interesting thing to me though was my Kenyan professor's point of view on world events as he gave us a picture of what things are like over in Africa. It made me think of studying abroad, not neccesarily to Africa, but I'm a bit afraid to cross the ocean.

*Learn something with books-It's amazing to me how much history doesn't get covered in public high schools. I was lucky to get past World War I, and it was so nice to go into detail about the causes and events leading through World War II, Cold War, and into present day terrorism.

*Read for fun- I imagined I would have all this time to relax and read. I have no idea what I was thinking! I finally got around to checking a book out a couple weeks ago, started reading it, didn't like it, and then realized today it's past due. I think I might give up on this one.

*Forgive and forget-This one has to do with forgiving those who hurt me. Honestly I have forgiven, it's the forgetting that isn't easy. I'm working on being friends, but it's hard. Unfortunately there's been another added to the list during the summer making the job that much more.

*Organize- If you know me, you know I'm a mess. I was hoping to get things under control this summer in practice for living in a room by myself come fall. This is still a work in progress...but there's still hope!

*Be helpful- I'd planned to help out more around the house; clean a bit, cook dinner, etc.... but mom's always home for dinner, whereas I don't get home til around 9. Cleaning is hard to do when you're sitting at home with no motivation or help and a list of a thousand things you'd rather be doing.

*Volunteer-I'd hope to at least take part in the Habitat for Humanity work that I'm an officer of, but it seems that no matter what days I get off, there is never a build on that day. I guess I'll just have to save it for fall.

*Study for fall semester- I'm actually attempting this starting this week. I have my Spanish flash cards and Calculus book. I'm going to try to get a head start on Spanish Intermediate II and Cal III to keep good grades this semester so my honors college status isn't in jeopardy.

*Re-style myself-This originally was thought to be a hair cut and work-out routine. I've decided that the work-out will wait til I'm better equipped on campus and my friend talked me into waiting to cut my hair. We're going to both donate our hair at the same time, so I have to wait til her hair is long enough. Insteadk, I've made minor changes, new make-up, a bit of a tan, and new "girly" clothes.

I hope that everyone else's summer has lived up to their expectations, and if not, look again. You may have done everything you wanted in a different way.

What I Learned My Freshman Year of College...

I've been meaning to write this blog for over a month now, but with finals, then baby Jacob being born, starting work, starting school, my brother getting married, Hogs making it to Super Regionals, and other craziness... I just now have the time to sit down and write!

Being in college for just a year made me learn a lot, some of it important, some not so much. I can already tell that I've changed from the small town high school girl I was, and I'm curious to see how four more years of college change me.

Don't forget your flip-flops in the shower, don't bathe in the
community bath tub.

Get to know everyone you can. The people living around you, the
housekeeper on your floor, professors, T.A.'s, people in your class. Everyone.
You never know who might become one of your best friends or a great
reference.

While first impressions are important, they can be changed over
time.

Don't worry about what others think of you. Worry more about
what you think of yourself.

One bad grade isn't the end of the world. Just realize you have
to study harder next time.

Your friends will help you tremendously. Don't ever doubt the
effectiveness of a midnight food run when you're stressed/feeling
down.

Get out and make friends. Don't sit in your room
studying/playing games all the time.

If you need help, ask for it! Don't wait til it's too
late.

Get involved. Whether it's going to sporting events,
volunteering, study groups, or all of the above, do it! You'll meet a ton of
people.

Get in line EARLY for football games. It's good bonding/making friends time and the seats are so worth it. Just make sure to cheer loud.

Don't go to your first basketball game student section alone, not knowing ANYONE if you are a girl. Take at least one friend the first time, get to know some of the people, then start hanging out with the student section crew. Otherwise, you may just meet some creepy dude that you don't realize is creepy til he stalks you on Facebook.

Heartbreaks happen, but so does love. This is true for any part of life, just take the good and the bad...and well "Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened"

Don't run up the Death Climb when it's iced over even with snow boots on. Unless, of course, you want your knee to be black and blue.

Don't fear rejection. Whether it's a scholarship or job
application, yeah it sucks to get turned down, but you're no worse off than
before. Don't be afraid to apply because you think you won't get it.

Put pictures in your room. It's a nice distraction to remember the stories and it tells your guests a little bit about what kind of person you are.

Don't be stupid. Just because there might be"cute boys/girls" at frat/sorority parties, doesn't mean you should go. I unfortunately walked down frat row one night with some friends on our way back to our dorm, and I don't see how girls degrade themselves enough to talk to guys who act like that. They need to go back to Junior High.

Don't dwell on your past, but don't forget where you came from. Sadly, as much as I went back home this year, I had a hard time keeping in touch with my friends from high school.

Sit outside and just watch the clouds or read a book from time to time. My favorite was going out with the girls on Friday nights and laying in the Greek Theatre, looking at the stars.

Go to class. You may feel like it's pointless sometimes (and sometimes you may be right) but if the teacher sees you in class often, they are more likely to boost your grade.

Keep your dorm somewhat clean. I'm not talking about spotless-could-eat-off-the-floor-clean, but enough that your room is presentable out of respect for your roommate and friends that come over.

Keep the syllabus around. Some teachers won't remind you of test dates, but will expect you to be prepared since they are scheduled.

It's ok to be a nerd, especially in college.

Disney movies, coloring, play-doh, and basically any other childhood things will be a neccesity for sanity sometimes.

These are all of the lessons I can remember, but trust me there are a LOT more. Hopefully I'll finally find some time to do this blogging thing, but considering my past blogging, probably not.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T, find out what it means to me!

The past few weeks have made me crazy, happy, scared, anxious, amazed, frustrated, curious, and most recently, totally grateful. I'll go topic by topic to outline just all the roller coaster happenings in my life.

Friends: My friends and I don't spend as much time together as a group anymore, mainly because we're all busy with our own things. Ciara and I have had crazy volunteer schedules, mixed in with intense class studies. Spread this out among four girls and the timing just doesn't work out well. The girls and I got to spend a lot of quality time together on our 10 day Spring Break trip. We started out in Kansas City, MO at Ciara's house, then headed to Pepper's house in Oklahoma, and finally wound up back in Arkansas at my house. It was so cool and funny to see every one's "at home" lifestyle. So many funny adventures and pictures from that trip!!

Boyfriend: Things with Nathan and I are going extremely well. He's helped me embrace even more of my inner nerd. It's awesome to watch Star Wars, joke about Big Bang Theory, and just geek out in general. It's going to be hard over the summer, but technology makes it pretty easy to keep in contact.

Finals: So the most stressful week of the semester is coming up, and I have to do well on tests to keep up good grades. I only have to keep only one A and I've already covered it to keep the GPA to stay in Honors College. I definitely am worried about World Civ because my teacher is crazy random about grading. I have two tests back to back on Saturday and my Cal II final on Thursday. It'll be crazy studying this weekend!

Summer: So far my summer plans are to take a class or two at UAFS and I have a job as a checker at Harp's. I'll not only have more money to spend and put away for the fall, but less time to hang around and use up all my money. I'm not for sure about a vacation, or even if I'll be able to take one, especially with having to ask for some days off at the beginning of the summer. Speaking of, the first few weeks of my summer, which begins in 8 days, will be exciting. My sister is expecting her baby the week after I get out, and my brother will be getting married at the end of the month. Two new family members in less than a month!!

Next fall: Perhaps the most exciting news about my Sophomore year is that I have a job! I'll be working as a Reid Hall Respect Intern, and I get free room and board. My class schedule is pretty awesome as well. Two math classes, and none of my classes start before 10:30 and end by 4:30.

So crazy, so fast, so little time!

Lose your identity, lose yourself

So the past few days have been hectic to say the least. On Thursday, I lost my wallet & keys, meaning I lost everything. I had no drivers license, student ID, debit card, keys to my truck, keys to my dorm, and even my social security card was gone.

I ended up having to cancel with the school that I tutor at on Tuesdays and Thursdays, because I had no good way to get there. Frustrated, and feeling guilty for letting down the students and bugging my friends and boyfriend who were helping me look, I went back to the dorm. I kept looking at my checking account, calling all the lost and founds on campus, and talking to my dad trying to figure out what I could do.

I had little cash and no student ID, so I couldn't eat in the cafeteria. My friends tried to take me out to eat, but I refused to let them buy me dinner. I, instead, opted for eating Ramen and a egg & sausage biscuit in my dorm room alone. It helped me think out how to go about things, and it calmed me down.

On Friday, I woke up with the hopes that someone would turn in my wallet and keys and that all would be ok. I kept checking every lost and found, to the point they recognized my voice when they answered the phone. They didn't seem to understand why I was so insistent and thorough about finding my stuff. I just wanted to scream,"You would be too if you lost all your identification, money, and keys. You try to function without them!".

All the constant looking without any progress or reward was making me more and more crazy. I felt confined and I had to depend on my roommate to give me rides and let me in the room. I just wanted to be able to drive somewhere, or do something.

The weekend passed with no news. Saturday, Ciara and I just sat around our room together because our friends had gone home for the weekend. I kept getting online and trying to find my wallet, but university offices close on the weekend. Mom and dad brought up my birth certificate and other information on Sunday.

Today, I've been able to get a new student ID and drivers license. I made sure that my debit card was still frozen, and I'm looking into getting a new one of those. I have extra keys to my truck now, but I'm still without a room key and door opener to get into my dorm.

I don't know how I would have made it through this without my parents, friends, and boyfriend, who all made me take a step back and realize that while it's an inconveinience, it's not the end of the world. I'll be able to get my life back in order before long.