Ramblings about my job and life... sorry if it bores you! lol

Sooo... I know I said I was "Coach Laura" again but I actually decided to not take the coaching position. I was offered 10 extra hours at my current job since my boss got promoted to the Director of our office so she wont be able to do as many student appointments, it's busy enough already... it's going to be crazy! But I love every minute of my job.

Fall semester has started and the campus is FULL of students. I love it though! Students are still in that excitement phase which is great. I actually have the opportunity this semester to do an internship where I am co-teaching the AFS or Academic Foundation Seminar classes that are for freshman students. In these classes they learn about how to choose a major/career, what resources are available to them, how to use the library, etc., and some of the "soft skills" needed from a college education. My class seems really great and I'm excited to see the projects they produce! :)

Welcome Week is in full swing... it is a series of events that go on at the beginning of the fall semester with lots of free food, games, prizes and fun! I just went to the "Beach Bash" and saw lots of students and colleagues. I also got to see my HUBBY as Waffle House came out and grilled burgers and chicken sandwiches for us!!

Other exciting news at work... I co-submitted presentation proposals for two conferences... one is entitled the NASPA (National Association of Student Personnel Administration) Drive-In in which I submitted a presentation proposal on the Summer Leadership Series I developed this summer with the coordinator of SGA, and the other is entitled SoACE (Souther Association of Colleges and Employers) which I submitted a presentation on Career Exploration Teams, a peer-based "career coaching" model which my boss and I have facilitated in our office. Weeellll, BOTH got approved!!! I'm excited but also extremely nervous at this point. The NASPA drive-in is in early October in Tampa, and the SoACE conference is in December in Nashville. It'll be a great experience!!

I'm also a committee chair planning the fall Leadership Symposium which will hopefully be awesome this year!! I'm really excited because we were able to get one of the higher ups from Waffle House who does speaches all over the country come and talk at our symposium! His name is Bert and if you've ever eaten at WH and see "Bert's Chili" on the menu- yes, it's named after THIS guy! Too cool! David was really impressed when I told him. lol.

I still see students everyday as well helping tem choose a major/career, put together a resume, do a mock interview, etc.... so needless to say, I'm going to be a busy bee this semester, but I'm loving it!

Oh and did I mention I'm taking two classes online? haha!

OH! In other news, I also started my official half-marathon training schedule which I'm super excited about! I took the typical 3 months training guide by Hal Higdon and edited it to be a 5 month training program so I can work at it more gradual. So far it's really going great, and it was the kick in the pants I needed!

Now I have to give an update on the furbabies, as always. Well Starla Kitty just ATE A RUBBERBAND so I'm a little concerned, and I caught Princess chewing on Daddies shoes. Wonderful! She never chews anything other than trash usually, but she has an obsession with David's work shoes. I think because they probably smell like bacon being that those shoes spend the majority of the time at Waffle House. LOL.

Lastly, I CAN'T believe our 1st year wedding anniversary is coming up!! My mom and Aunt were nice enough to suggest having a anniversary celebration dinner this weekend at my aunt's house, so that'll be lots of fun, and I'm sure yummy food, which is key! ;) Hopefully I'll get pictures from that to post.

OK I think I have typed FAR too much. Kudos to you if you made it to the end!!! I will try to have a post with pictures in it soon, as it's been too long.

Hope everyone had a wonderful week. I love you all! :D

* and just for fun and for the sake of randomness, I decided to add in a picture lol. This is me SUPER excited after our wedding because we got a view of the castle! I'm posting it because I would give anything to be at the Grand Floridian right now! lol

Coach Laura again!

It's been almost 6 years since I've coached gymnastics and cheerleading, but I'm getting back into it, for a little anyways! :-) YES, I got the part-time gymnastics/cheerleading coach position! I'm so excited! It's Monday-Thursday, 4-7pm, and I also may be able to work with some of the classes they offer on Saturday morning/early afternoon. So I'll be busy with that as well as working Monday-Thursday 9-3 at Career Services and I typically cover the nighttime (8-10pm) and weekend presentations we have to do for the residence halls and such as well. I'm tired just thinking about it. haha.

Other news... I'm applying for two positions for after I graduate in December that have just been posted at the University of Central Florida (ORLANDO!). So David and I are talking about the possibility of moving there after I finish my masters in December as he may have the opportunity to transfer. It's all up in the air now but keep your fingers crossed. One of the jobs is my DREAM position!! AND the director of that department at UCF used to be the director at the department at UWF where I work now and she loved me, so I figure that can't hurt right? lol.

I know I said I'd talk about training for the Half in this blog but unfortunately, I really haven't done much of that yet LOl and I really need to. I did have a good 4.15 mile run on Sunday which is still long for me (oh how am I going to add nearly 10 miles to that?? lol) and last night did the fun McGuires Running Club 5K which was nice. I definitely need to amp it up though!! I've been having problems getting blisters which is extremely annoying.

I also have to post a funny thing we just noticed about Princess. My ringtone that plays when people who call me that don't have a special programmed ringtone is "The Way You Make Me Feel" by Michael Jackson. Well EVERY time that song comes on my phone Princess starts to like howl and whine along with the song. It's the funniest thing!!!! We tried all the other songs on my phone and she doesn't do it to any other one, just that one. I'll have to do a video of it and share somehow.

Well I guess I've rambled enough... I hope everyone's having a good week! :)

Since this was a boring post with no pictures, I'll include a funny pic of Princess passed out in our bed. LOL.

Updates and Disney!

It's been a while since my last update!

Summer has been going good... the Fall semester is almost here so work is already starting to get more and more busy with lots of projects and events coming up, but in a good way! It's exciting but also scary that this will be my last semester in graduate school. In December I will officially be done with my Masters of Education in College Student Personnel Administration! Can I put my email signature as Laura Crouch, M.ed.? lol.

I'm interviewing for a part-time gymnastics coach on the side next week, so keep your fingers crossed that goes well. I'd really enjoy it, and I wouldn't be complaining about bringing in some extra money. ;-)

David just finished up his vacation time and we were lucky enough to get to go to Disney for a couple of days. If you'd like to see all of them just e-mail me and I can send them to you.... or just get on facebook if you're not already, silly!! lol.

Here's a video I think some of you may enjoy. LOL. It's David and I riding Expedition Everest at Disney's Animal Kingdom. I was cracking UP and could not stop laughing to save my life!!! lol. I sound a little insane, but hopefully you'll forgive me. ;)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2eljcSQrfM

Updates on Princess' eating habits... a few weeks ago she managed to get into a Coffeemate creamer container I had accidentally left out (meaning to throw away) and dragged it to the couch and drank the entire content dry without spilling a drop! At least she didn't make a mess I guess. haha. While at Grandma and Grandpa's she also got into an entire bag of her treats and devoured every singly morsel. Wouldn't you though? I know there are other items I am forgetting.

I really hope to continue this blog up, and I hope I still have some readers. Leave me some comments!! :)