Friday Favorites!

Happy Friday! YAY! :D Since I havnt posted in awhile outside of the ACPA post, this one will also be sort of a catch up.

1) IPAD 3!!!!! AHHHHHH! John surprised me with an IPAD! We had talked about getting one for awhile and did a lot of research on them. I was trying to convince John to get it in time for me to take it to the conference, but I didnt think it was going to happen. Then one day BOOM! it shows up. I love that man :D

On the back you can get something engraved, so of course he got "The strength of the wolf is in the pack"- DUH.

2) Sick Days- so the reason why sucks, but I did get TWO whole days off last week! I woke up one morning with pink eye :( John and I thought it was just really bad dry eye- but it was kind of crusty. This happened on Saturday, so I waited until Monday to see if it would go away and it didnt. So I went to the doctor and she said it was pink eye and in both eyes- YUCK! It itched something fierce. AND I couldnt wear my contacts for 10 days :( That's why all the pictures from ACPA have me in glasses. lol. I didnt realize just how contagious pink eye is! I had to wash everything and sanitize everything too. I did enjoy the days off though! haha

3) LIS! I already posted about her but I love her to death and it was SO good to catch up!

4) 6 Miles! Yes, you see that right. I ran 6 miles. I had to stop and stretch twice and after the first and second mile I walked for 2 minutes each, but after that it was all jogging the entire way. I was SO sore! BUT SO proud of myself. I even worked out twice at the conference, but since I took so much time off between runs, I was only able to do 3. Dang. lol. but 6 miles?! AH! :D

5) TOMORROW!- It's John's Birthday! :D Now he can finally stop calling me old since we will be the same age :D Unfortunately, I have to work the first half of it, but I'll make it up to him! I am excited to give him his presents and celebrate his special day :D

6) Krystal- she just keeps popping up in my favorites;D One night the boys were playing Xbox, so we got on the phone and talked FOR HOURS! it was awesome!!!! I really miss them a lot and cannot wait for them to come visit in less than 2 months!

7) Daisies! John surprised me with daisies when I got home from my trip :D I sure do love that man!! and flowers!

8) Carter- He is always a favorite too- he just makes my life better. His excitement when I got home from my trip was just amazing. I dont know how I ever survived without a dog! Here is a picture of him watching me get ready for work in the morning. :D I just love him so much! (please excuse all of the dog hair you see!)
We were also letting him swim in the canal not that long ago and found a bunch of duck eggs! How neat! Unfortunately, he cant swim in the lake or canal anymore :( We have an 8ft alligator visitor. I dont need my dog to get eaten up! lol
9) Sweet Sixteen! NC State made it to the sweet sixteen!!! We lost, but I am beyond proud of them. Next year is going to be awesome! We have 3 top recruits AND most of the Carolina players will be leaving! SO excited for my Pack :D Maybe next year will be our year to crush that title drought? I may be getting ahead of myself. lol
We made Carter wear his NC State hanky for all of the games :D He just looks so cute in it!
Aside from all of that, we have really been praying about direction in our lives. How long should we stay in Miami, should we move home, where should we go?! We like living in Miami, there is SO much to do! but, we have really learned just how much our family, friends, and Raleigh mean to us. and we miss them a lot. So prayers for direction in our lives, doors to open, or for us to continue to see what we are supposed to do here would be awesome!

Have a great weekend! :D

ACPA

First of all I cant believe it's been 2 weeks since I have blogged. Shame on me. haha BUT that is largely in part because I was away at a conference.

Last Friday I left with some of my colleagues, Anthony and Ivan, and headed to Louisville, Kentucky for what we call our ACPA Conference. It's a student affairs conference where we recruit and interview for our openings for next year and attend sessions to professionally develop ourselves. We didnt get to attend many sessions because interviews took place at the same time a lot of the conference took place. We interviewed for a few days- all day long, which was exhausting. However, it was nice to have a change of scenery. That and it was kind of chilly! It definitely made Miami more hot when I got back. haha. Anyway, we were there until Wednesday night.

As I mentioned I went with Anthony and Ivan. They will be who I work the closest with next year, so I was excited to get to spend some quality time with them. After the trip- I am very excited about next year. They are both laid back and easy going and really make me feel valued and that I have a lot to offer as a professional. Plus, they are a lot of fun :D Work has been a struggle with me this year (as I am sure you could see through my past posts) and so I am excited for sort of a fresh start soon.

Where we spent most of our time when we didnt have conferency things- it's a lot like the "Power Plant" we went to in Baltimore

The dynamic trio with Colonel Sanders!
At the conference I also roomed with the one and only Lis Ellis! :D She was my supervisor when I was an RA and we have been good friends ever since. It was really nice to get to hang out with her and catch up for most of the trip. I miss people like her in my life! I also roomed with one of the people she worked with and she was awesome too- would be a great mentor for anyone!
We spent a lot of time at this pub- it was one of the only things open late enough for dinner that didnt cost an arm and a leg! Me with mama Lis!
The guys we supervise! Anthony and Dennis- great guys!
The last night at the conference NC State had a social. They were celebrating 30 years of the higher education program. I made Anthony come with me since he pulls for Carolina. He had to see all the love the Wolfpack has :D It was SO good catching up with old colleagues and professors and housing folks. I miss that family SO much. Shoot- I miss NC SO much! It just made me super homesick, both personally and professionally.

Anyway, I was SO glad to get back home- but I did have a great time! Of course I missed John and the pup. Carter stopped eating the last two days and was very mopey. I know John was glad I was home to help take care of Carter some and to snap Carter out of whatever it was he was in. When I got home Carter freaked out! lots of hugs and kisses from him :D And then he went straight to his food bowl and ate some of his food. He's been picking at his food since I got home, but has been getting better and better. I think his stomach was just messed up from going on a hunger strike. lol.

Friday Favorites!

It's technically my Friday because I have tomorrow off! SO YAY! if I dont write these today, I'll forget :D

1) Spring Break!- I really do love the students being gone for awhile. That and most of my coworkers have been at a conference, so it's been SUPER quiet!

2) Cooking- I really do love cooking :D I have very much enjoyed it this week! Plus, we have gotten to eat some very yummy things!

3) Friday- I HAVE FRIDAY OFF!!!!! WOOT! A 3 day weekend will be wonderful :D It will be spent watching the NCAA tournament and hopefully going to the beach at some point :D

4) SOAP- I mentioned Dashing Dish yesterday, well Katie shared on her blog a method of journaling about what you read in the bible and reflecting on it. It's called SOAP- it stands for S- Scripture (you journal which scripture you chose from what you read) O- Observations (any observations you have on what you read) A- Application (how you can apply it to your life) and P- Prayer (write a prayer for how God can help you apply it to your life. It really helps you focus more on what you are reading! Anyway, I started doing it last night and it really does help to write everything down! I've never journaled about what I have read in the bible before, so I am interested to see what the Lord shows me through this :D

5) Crab cakes, Ginger Lemon Asparagus, Roasted Potatoes, and Frozen Hot Chocolate Milkshakes- Dinner last night was amazing. All new recipes that all tasted amazing! :D Just click on the item and it will take you to the site where the recipe is. As a note- the crab cakes could have used a little more crackers and I didnt make the sauce and you can tell the milkshake isnt fully a milkshake (it's actually a protein shake) BUT it still tastes SUPER close and I really enjoyed it :D Plus it's only 215 calories!
Dinner:D All for under 500 calories!
Dessert- of course it's in an NC State glass :D and it's hard to see bc I took the pic in our man room. Sorry!
6) Running- I got 4 runs in this week! 2 that were 3 miles :D YAY! I really do have more energy when I get off work. As it gets hotter, I guess I am just gunna have to suck it up and deal with it though! I'm feeling more motivated this week and hopefully it will continue :D Plus- I decided to actually hand it all over to God and have Him help me :D

Happy Friday y'all!

A Southern State of Mind

So, as you can tell I changed the name of my blog and the picture. I have been wanting to change the title for awhile now and the picture was an engagement picture- I needed a more updated one! And one with Carter :D

I thought for a VERY long time about the title. I just wasnt happy with anything. I wanted the title to be something that could be permanent regardless of what stage of life I am in and something that really encompassed the entire blog. So that meant no Miami, no Wolfpack, no marriage, etc. But I still wanted it to be about me.

I think the thing that will stay true about me always is that no matter where I am I always have a southern state of mind. I posted about this awhile back, but it's true. I didnt realize how "southern" I was until we moved to South Florida. My ideals, morals, values, and just my very way of living is different than life down here. I plan to raise my children the way I was raised and I plan to do that back in the South. So regardless of where I am, I am always in that state of mind. Ideals, morals, values, and way of living just dont change. Well I guess they can, but I like being southern so that wont change :D

Just wanted to comment on the update :D

Spring Break!

Unfortunately, that doesnt mean the same thing as it used to :( no week off for me. I am not a fan of the real world and big girl jobs some times! I am always thankful! but sometimes not a fan :D

However, it does mean that all the students are gone! YAY! It's SO quiet around here!!! AND it means the dininghall is closed. While it stinks because we have to spend money on food, it's exciting because I really do love to cook. :D I have started cooking more lately, but really cant justify spending money on a full month of groceries when we get to eat for free everyday. This week I get to though! So I am excited :D

The menu this week looks like this:
Monday- Chicken Pot Pie w/ Zucchini
Tuesday- Bubble Up Enchiladas with Cilantro Lime Rice
Wednesday- Crab Cakes w/ sauteed asparagus and roasted potatoes (milkshakes for dessert!)
Thursday- NC Pulled Pork w/ sweet potatoes fries
Friday- Mexican Pulled Chicken Tacos (I've made this before but it's just too yummy not to make. I also made it will pork last time, but since we are doing pork on Thursday I decided on chicken instead)
Saturday- Parmesan Crusted Chicken w/ squash and garlic bread

I am SO excited! Most of all MOST of the above is a low-cal recipe and ALL of it is pretty simple. It was also not that expensive! The crab was ridiculous, but the rest was not too bad at all! The chicken was on uber sale and most other stuff I got discounted! I played it smart :D

So far I have made the chicken pot pie- which is always delicious! I actually went ahead and made 2! We ate part of one, had leftovers and then I froze the other for some other time when we dont want to eat at the dininghall or want to cook :D While I made the pot pie I also make some Peanut Butter Banana Oatmeal Muffins- they are fab too! And only 147 cals each- my breakfast the past few days :D
I also made the bubble up enchiladas. They are to die for. It was REALLY simple too. I found the recipe on pinterest and it just so happens to be a weight watcher recipe:D We had a lot of leftovers, so guess what I had for lunch! MMMM! Here is a link to the recipe: Bubble up Enchiladas . Next time, I want to make them a bit more mexicany. Enjoy!


Krystal also shared a new blog with me today called Dashing Dish- Katie, the girl who writes the blog, is just amazing. She takes the food we crave and makes a healthier alternative that still tastes great- hence the only reason we are having milkshakes tonight- they are only 215 calories! There are TONS of recipes to check out! Most of all I love her blog because she gives all the credit to Lord and truly lives her life for Him. It's very inspirational! I would love to have the kind of focus she has on her relationship with Him. So, I will be taking some of her suggestions when it comes to reading the bible and I'll let you know how that goes too! :D

Friday Favorites!

Happy Friday! :D SO glad the weekend is already here!

1) Date Day with John- Saturday was an AMAZING day! John and I decided to head to a different part of South Beach for the day. We started by hanging out on the beach for a few hours- boy was it HOT! Then we went to change and walked Lincoln Road. We have lived here for almost 2 years and it's the first time we went. Sad! Its like an outdoor mall with TONS of shops and places to eat. It's a great place to people watch for sure! We decided to explore this area because someone recommended a place called Shake Shack on Lincoln Rd. Before we headed there though, we tried one of the few microbrews in South Fl.- Abbey Brewery. It was a tiny hole in the wall. I dont think we would have ever found it if we werent looking real hard for it. lol. Anyway, they had delicious beer! After that we headed to the Shake Shack for dinner. It was amazing. We will definitely be going back! They had great burgers! :D Afterwards we headed home in hopes to catch the Duke/Carolina game- BUT we got stuck in some very heavy traffic! We were literally stuck in traffic for about 2 hours. But- luckily it was a beautiful night so we jammed out with the windows down :D I sure do love that boy! We had an amazing day together :D

I felt like such a tourist taking this. lol The red is all the traffic- yikes!


2) Lazy Sunday - Sunday we did absolutely nothing! It was wonderful. We napped on and off all day :D

3) Monday - I took Monday off and I ended up sleeping almost 12 hours. I musta needed it man! I then reorganized my entire kitchen. It makes so much more sense now and it had been driving me crazy for a long time. All I have left is under the sink and the fridge. YAY! John also came home at a good hour, so I got to spend the rest of the day with him. :D I feel so spoiled having such a great man!

4) Eastern NC BBQ- Wednesday night John made me dinner! Again- great man :D He made Eastern NC BBQ- which was right on the money! We also had some corn and garlic/curry/other yummies I dont even know mashed potatoes. It was SO good and we had leftover that we had it last night too :D

5) NCSU Win! NCSU won their first game in the ACC tourny! Here's to hoping we can pull out another win today! :D LOVE MY PACK!

6) Al Golden- I got to meet UM's football coach this week! He came to speak at the pep rally for the 5k I am running (yes, it's not until the end of April. I have no idea why they did it 1 1/2 early?) YAY! He was really nice. I took a picture- but I cant figure out how to not make it upside down on here :(

Hope you have a great Friday!

Friday Favorites

This has been a great week! See what having a positive attitude has done to my weeks?! YAY! :D

1) Salsa/Taco Cupcakes- John and I made homemade Latin food this past weekend! John made the salsa- AMAZING. And I made taco cupcakes. They were also delicious. It was also just a lot of fun :D The recipe for the taco cupcakes: Taco Cupcakes and the salsa he used a base recipe for homemade salsa, but did his own thing too. SO YUMMY!

Salsa! I cant figure out how to turn this picture. lol
Taco cupcakes! They are only called cupcakes because they are made in the cupcake pan. lol
2) Holocaust Survivor- That was definitely a life favorite!!!

3) Gone With The Wind- I finally watched the movie! If you havnt read the book, it would be incredibly hard to follow. But otherwise, I enjoyed it. It was neat to see what they made priority in the movie from the book. YAY! It also helped me start my goal to watch 15 AF's top 100 movies!

4) Our apartment- I realized that we have lived in the apartment we are in now for a year! A whole year! I think this is the first time we have lived together in one place for an entire year! YAY! :D

5) NC State Win- ALWAYS A FAVORITE!! YAY! and I could hold my head up high at work :D I think I forgot to post pictures from when we went to the NCSU game v. Miami here. So here ya go! YAY for beating them twice this year! HAHAHA. :D
GO PACK!
6) Vera Cruz Dinner- Our neighbor is from Vera Cruz and she hosted a program for my residents this week. She cooked food that is special to where she is from. It was DELICIOUS! We were also able to learn a lot more about her! I am going to buy her cookbook :D

7) Running partner- Last night I went running with Monica- one of the faculty members that lives in my building. She's in her early 30's and had a baby a little over a year ago. She bounced back fast from it too! But she wants to get into running again (she used to run 6 miles a day). So we went together last night. She kicked my butt. I have now made her my personal trainer :D We have decided to go 3 times a week together. While I thought I may die last night- I didnt! and it only made me stronger and wanting to do better :D SO EXCITED! plus- it's really nice to have someone to run with and someone to motivate me while running! I'll be faster in no time :D Also, running in the evenings is WAY better for me :D

8) Avocado Fries/Lemon Chicken Cordon Bleu!- I tried both of these new recipes this week and YUMMY! I will make some adjustments to the chicken (smaller ham, thinner chicken). Also- the fries dont last long, so only make as many as you are planning on eating. They dont hold well.
Chicken! (I made them on my pizza stone, so that's why it's that color)
Here's to a great weekend too! Happy Friday!

High School

I found out some information the other day about a friend of mine from high school. Some really sad and unfortunate information. I'll share that in a minute. However, the entire incident made me think about my high school friends, how much I actually do miss some of them, and how much we have all changed over the past 8 years. WOW. 8 years. Our reunion will be in 2! That's just crazy to me.

Anyway, when I graduated high school- I could. not. wait. to. be. done. I am sure most high schoolers felt this way. I never really missed it though. I missed some of my friends, yes. And I missed the easiness of the classes, but I was never one to go back to visit or really wish to be back in high school. Now I'd do college over again in a heart beat! but I have never really missed high school. That was until the other day, when I received this information. It just made me really miss all the fun of high school and really miss the friends I had then. Going through facebook profiles, it's amazing to see just how different we all really are. For these reasons, I am actually looking forward to the reunion (if it actually happens!).

The information I found out was about my friend was unreal. I wouldnt say we were super close, but he was the type of friend I would eat lunch with, hang out with at football games, and just joke around with. We had classes together and both shared an interest in potentially going to med school one day. One of my best friends went to prom with him and dated him for awhile. He came to my surprise 18th birthday party and helped film it all, so I would remember it. He was a decent guy.

Well, I found out that after college, he dropped out of grad school and lied to his parents about it. He told them a lot of lies about getting a job in Fl and graduating from grad school. His father came to help move him out of his apartment and help him move to Fl. While finishing loading up his stuff, he became afraid of his family finding out about all of the lies and shot his dad. He killed his father. He has now plead guilty to 2nd degree murder and will be going to jail for 9-12 years.

WHAT?! I was astonished. I still am. How could this really nice kid from high school murder his father because he didnt want his secrets out. That doesnt even make sense to me. All his secrets are out now AND his father is dead. AND the rest of his family has to deal with all of this. It's just a horrible story and I feel so bad for the family. I just cant imagine having to deal with something like that. It was hard enough when my father passed away from illness, but to have had my brother kill him? Unforgivable. I would hope the Christian in me would be able to find peace and forgiveness, but it would be incredibly hard and I dont know if I could do it. He got off so easy because he was cooperative and had his family supporting him. I dont know if I could be that supportive. And 9-12 years? I dont know if he should get out! It's not my place to decide these things- thank goodness- but someone with that kind of anger who can murder his own father? I just dont think so. Hopefully, he is receiving the type of help he needs, because clearly something in his life more than the lies went severely wrong and he clearly has some anger issues. Geez. One of my high school friends, now a murderer of his own dad. Just unfathomable.

All of this made me think about how others have changed. How life has treated all those people I once shared a classroom with and once ate lunch with. What else dont I know about my high school friends? I dont think I want to know! Ignorance is bliss, right?

I will be praying for his family, as well as him. The Lord can forgive everything, so I just pray he finds the Lord.

Holocaust Survivor

I am obsessed with WWII and the Holocaust. I have been ever since someone put Anne Frank's book in my hands when I was younger (I think 5th grade?). I also read it in the 8th grade for school. Anne Frank was an amazing girl and I was fascinated by her story. Reading it at such a young age, I still remember the line that had the biggest impact on me "Despite everything, I believe that people are really good at heart." I told myself then that regardless of what happens in my life, I hope that I can always see the good in people. If she can, I can! Right? While this has gotten me in trouble (not everyone has good intentions all the time), the fact that someone so young going through one of the worst periods in our history, can still say that- I am just in awe.

When I student taught in college, I was lucky enough to be able to teach my 6th graders about this time period! I was exposed to all kind of books that I never even knew existed. I think I read about 7 or 8 different books. Probably my favorite book was one written by Miep Gies- Anne Frank Remembered. It was her view point of everything that happened. Wow. What another courageous woman! When I was younger, my mom brought me a news article that stated I could write her because she knew how interested I was in the time period and how much I loved Anne Frank. I regret now that I didnt. Shame on that younger Anna that wanted go outside and play instead.

Anyway, through all of my years of reading and re-reading these books and learning about this time period, I have yet to visit any concentration camps or even meet a Holocaust Survivor. Even when I went to Germany after High School graduation, we didnt go. Both my brother and sister went. My brother even went to the building the Frank family was hidden in! I would DIE if I could go there! It's on my bucket list for sure. While he was there, he bought me two books from there, now a museum. Sweet brother of mine :D I devoured those too.

And to the point of my post! A few weeks ago one of the faculty members I work with said that a Holocaust survivor contacted her and wanted to host a program. He had just finished writing a book and wanted to share his story with some college students. This past weekend, we had the program and I got to meet him!!!!! Words cannot even begin to describe how I felt. I was so excited, but at the same time I just wanted to hug him and cry (I didnt, dont worry). How very neat was it that I got to sit in the same room, shake his hand, and listen to his story. A part of history- the part of history I am most passionate about- in my presence! Telling me about what he went through! Just amazing.

His name is Leon Schagrin and he was 14 when the Holocaust started and hit his town and is now 90. He cant read or write anymore because of a neurological condition he has from the war that has gotten worse over time. He also had the number tattoo, but he said after the war he felt the numbers imprisoned him, so he had a panther tattooed over the numbers- in the same color as the numbers so they were never to be seen again.

He was a horse adjutant and that "profession" saved his life (14 year olds dont have professions, but he thought it may work and it did!). I wont share his entire story, because that would be me rewriting his book for you all, but I will share a few things I learned! Apparently, when a boy and horse are young and they bond, the horse cannot be without the boy. Or else he misbehaves. This is what saved his life. The horse one of the Generals on the Nazis side wanted was his horse. So Leon had to chauffeur the General around. Eventually, he too went to a camp- many camps. His last stop was Auswitch. When he was in line to check in, the Nazis were asking what profession each of the people had. If you didnt have one, you were out of luck. When it was his turn, he told the Nazis that he was a horse adjutant. They laughed at him. Then they had him explain what that meant and told him to go to the left. Everyone else was going to the right, so he headed that way anyway, but a solider grabbed him and made him go to the right. All the people that went to the right were gassed, he later found out. Words just cannot express how I felt when he shared that.

I just feel so honored that I got to be in the presence of one of the few survivors left AND I got to hear his story. I have his book and am in the process of reading it. His mission ever since he watched his entire family die was to share his story (at his fathers request). He wants as many people as possible to hear the story, in hopes nothing like this ever happens again. What an incredible man. So this is me, sharing my passion for the time period AND helping him get his story out. If you want to borrow his book, just let me know!
Mr. Schagrin and me!