1 Week!

ONE WEEK! oh my goodness. I always knew that it would arrive, but now it's finally here! so here is the countdown:

 1 day until I leave Madison :(

 

7 days until I fly to Rhode Island

  

9 Days until Graduation! 

  

10 Days until my birthday!!

  

11 days until my family is complete again! 

Lots to do!

Not that I am wishing that time would tick by any faster, but at midnight tonight it will be Wednesday, which means it will be ONE WEEK until I arrive in RI. I have so much to do!

To Do (in no particular chronological order):

1. Pick out potential outfits
2. Get haircut/touch up the grays (yes, I really do have gray hair...blame genetics)
3. Confirm flight
4. Cancel reservation at beautiful hotel (I'm happy about the navy lodge, I swear)
   
5. Pack everything at Madison up, load it into my sisters Civic and haul it back to Chippewa
6. Do mountains of laundry
7. Spend quality time with the family 
8. Figure out how to pack new additions to my arsenal of things (including but not limited to 4 pairs of shoes and at least 5 new books) into the same two already overstuffed suitcases that got me here
9. When #8 proves to be physically impossible head to the post office for some serious shipping costs
   
10. Mail Austin's LAST Monday card
11. Figure out a way to say goodbye to all the amazing people in Madison
12. See Dark Knight 
13. Wrap up all of my mountains of work/schoolwork and get it in before the deadline
14. Say goodbye to family :'(
15. Get Excited! (as if I could possibly be less excited as time winds down)
    

Ack! 8 days till RI!

 That is all. woo!

Last weekend in Madison (!?!)

 

 Finally some dirty martinis to be had...

  

 The capitol at night...I will miss this view. 

  

Tricia and I, outside of Ian's on State Street. This time I had mashed potato, chicken and bacon pizza and she had mac' and cheese.

 

Hamming it up in Urban Outfitters during the sidewalk sale craziness known as Maxwell Street Days.

  

 On the capitol steps!

I was determined to enjoy my dwindling time here and Tricia really helped me feel better this weekend, all things considered. (This is why she will be a great student affairs professional! <3 )

On a much happier note...

Here are some updates about Austin :)

He is officially a full fledged Officer Candidate Candidate Officer now. (His full title is Candidate Ensign Gage) He is acting currently as a liaison for H class, leading them to and from all of their appointments, teaching them tricks of the trade, etc.  He really likes helping them learn and really, really likes seeing how far he has come.

His orders still have not come in, even though they were supposed to be there last week, so cross your fingers for soon.

As far as graduation is concerned, here is the rundown of the schedule:

Thursday

• morning: Change of Command ceremony, those in town welcome to attend, but not necessary. (his words, not mine...)
• afternoon: Lunch on the town with family and friends, followed by general merriment and hanging out :)
• night: "Hi Moms" dinner, let me or him know if you want to attend

Friday

• 0500: Graduation run, 1.5 miles. Family and friends welcome to run with (but feel free not to, so I can have some company because you know I am not going running at 5 am) followed by breakfast and running quick to change
  
• 0700: Private commissioning service, where Austin's dad will swear him in (tears to follow, I will bring the Kleenex)
• 0900: Graduation Ceremony
• rest of the day: Celebratory events, TBD

**These are our best guesses on times so far...hopefully he will be able to get me some nailed down times in the next few days.

10 days. Wow.

"Good men must die, but death can not kill their names"

I have been a little hesitant about posting about this, but I am just going to go ahead and do it. On Friday I found out that my great-grandfather, Luther Pettis (my dad's grandfather) passed away in his sleep.



Grandpa Pettis certainly lived a long and very full life with my great grandmother Mayme. They were married for over 70 years, had seven children together, tons of grandchildren, and a myriad of great grandchildren. He was very loved by many people in the community and always volunteered when necessary. He lived such an interesting and varied life, which included publishing books about his experiences such as those on ranches in South Dakota in his youth. He was a man of very great faith and I am taking comfort in the fact that he is in a better place.



The funeral service will take place on Friday morning, so I will probably be leaving my internship a little early to make it up there with my family. It saddens my heart to know that I will be ending such a great experience in such a depressing way, but I will always remember this summer for the highs before the lows.



Friday will also mark five days before my trip to Rhode Island - I am hoping to be able to continue focusing on the way that Grandpa Pettis impacted my life and not the way that his passing has affected me so as not to be an emotional mess while I am there.



I will leave you with the title quote from proverbs "Good men must die, but death can not kill their names."

"What have you done for fun today?"

My boss told this story in our staff meeting the other day, and I liked it, so i thought I would share it with 'all y'all' out there.

This weekend she was grocery shopping with her little daughter Marnie, and because she could not get all the groceries and the baby to the car together, she decided to use the drive up service. As she was helping load groceries into the back of her van the man from the store asked, "So, what have you done for fun today?"

"Well, nothing," she replied, tipped the man and drove away.

She said she pondered that simple statement for the rest of the weekend, and it spoke to her -- just an honest question from someone who was just doing his job. She tried to remember the last time that she just had fun, honest to goodness fun, and she couldn't remember. So with this simple statement she has resolved to have more fun, or find the fun in the things that she is already doing (like taking a baby to the grocery store).

I really liked this story, I feel like it could be a simple change that many of us could make, myself included. Summer is an easy time to have fun, at least for students. The responsibilities are far less and there are so many more opportunities: outdoor concerts, just eating outside, fairs and festivals, etc. The daylight drifts on, and people are more apt to linger.

But, I am really going to try to strive to have more fun -- everyday -- even when I have a million things due coming back to school in the fall, and I challenge you all as my friends to do the same, or at least to keep me in check. I think this time apart from Austin, my home and my friends has really helped me to value the time that I do have with loved ones, and once I settle back into the routine of normal life, I hope that I don't lose sight of all of this...so, spread the fun.

<3

2 Weeks Out!

and I think I have strep throat :/

Nevertheless I am excited for this mile marker! It seems measly in comparison to the 11 1/2 weeks we have already been through.

Now if I could just get over whatever this is so I can get to this looming pile of loose ends here in Madison...

...and I have a picture with Kevin

Here is the result when Kevin and I decided to take a picture together so that he too, could be on the blog:

 

LOL.

Here are a few more from that night, courtesy of my own personal paparazzi, Tricia :)

  

The lovely ladies of SOAR

  

Tricia and Peter, who does not work with SOAR, but we let him hang out with us sometimes anyways ;)

  

The other side of the booth...this is Jase, he was an NSL last year. 

OSL: he looks strikingly similar to TJ, no? 

Goodbye Marina...

Austin got us into the Navy Lodge of Newport...which I am happy about...really...I am. (she tries to convince herself)

It will be good...it is much cheaper than that other gorgeous place (and who really needs to stay at a place that pretty?) The lodge does look nice and Austin says that this one is right on the water too, so hey, at the end of the day, I get to see him either way so this will be great. 17 days till touchdown in RI! woo!