» Life and Balance

A Semester of Fortunes

Nicole — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 16:25:24 +0000

Sometimes, I can be a little bit superstitious.

Heading into my job search, and a semester that I knew was going to be pretty rough, I somehow ended up with a rule that everytime it was reasonably possible, I HAD to eat a fortune cookie. I don’t know how many this ended up being, but there were a few in particular that definitely marked my semester… right up through my job news (Yes, I have one)!

“Prepare yourself for a big change of events in your personal life.”

This one showed up in my dessert a few days before my trip to Seattle. Getting out of the midwest was nice and definitely a good change of scenery that reminded me that I need to get away from my job now and then. The vacation was definitely needed.

“You will either be happy over a proposition offered or a new job.”

This one came a few days before my first job offer… and right about when I got a call about my final on-campus interview.

“A wish will be granted after a long delay.”

I had this one at breakfast on Thursday (they have fortune cookies in the food court. Which means that since it was reasonably possible, I had to eat them at every visit, even breakfast). This one was frustratingly true. I was waiting to hear from the University of Northern Colorado. I’d had a great campus visit on Monday, sought advice from mentors, and they’d checked my references-with every second, I was truly wishing that my phone would ring.

Soon, it was time for me to go to knitting group (7 pm) and I had just about resigned myself to NOT going in favor of moping in front of the TV… when my phone rang. A few minutes later, I had the job offer (start date: July 1)!

“Everything will now come your way.”

And this is going to be the last of the fortunes… This one was from lunch on Friday. I think it means I’m on the right path. That I’ve got things figured out (for now, at least).

On epic projects…

Nicole — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 22:48:21 +0000

I had this crazy idea a few weeks ago. That since I’d finished an epic sweater project last semester, I could finish an epic sweater project this semester. Because my unpaid intership, job, classes and job search weren’t enough.

Anyway, over Thanksgiving break, I bought the yarn and then on the eve of the new year, I cast on for the epic project. The sweater in question? Venezia.

Certainly a much easier project than the one I knit last semester right? Haha. I kid.

I haven’t worked on it for like a month… but I did about 8 rounds last night and I think I can commit to doing a little bit each day. Want to see the progress?

Isn’t sooooo pretty that you want to eat it up? I know. Me too. Last semester, I spoke of the sweater as a hot affair. Venezia doesn’t lend itself to such wanton adjectives.

No. Venezia is a state of mind. It’s my escape. My daily vacation… away from my frustrating students and …. everything. It’s the land far far away where it’s just me, some wool and a pattern that requires me to look at the chart every 8 stitches or so. Grrr.

My Holiday

Nicole — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 00:08:00 +0000

What a great weekend! We’re a great, crazy bunch. Here’s how the weekend went:

I at some raspberries. Fresh from my mom’s bushes.

We played some cards and ate some yummy food.

We hung around and waited for the fireworks to start (there were 30 of us watching the fireworks).

They were bright.

And a little crazy.

And beautiful.

All these photos taken by me. On my honor. With help from this tutorial.

There were babies.

Adorable, very photogenic babies.

Such cute babies.

There was some intense cardboard boat building.

Some intense boat racing.

A huge crowd to cheer on the boaters.

We don’t actually know who the people in the real boats are. Apparently they thought racing cardboard boats was an oddity worth watching.

There were some prizes. My team won the titanic award. We literally went down in flames.

There was the charity auction. My sleep mask brought in $55. The bottle of Oliver wine that I donated at the last minute brought in $70! The total donation from the auction? $5,600!!!!

And because we’re not fun enough… we had a pinata too!

Whew. I’m exhausted. Click over to the flickr set for more photos.

On cow shit.

Nicole — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 23:32:33 +0000

So. As you may know, I’ve been in New York for the summer. I’ve had an internship at Columbia (working for one of the departments). I’ve done a ton of cool stuff - seen 4 shows on Broadway, been to a few museums, scored an awesome couture dress, torn it up at a few yarn stores and done some good knitting (although definitely not as much as I thought I’d need - I brought a whole suitcase of yarn - that was unneccesary - although it did give me a head start on getting stuff on Ravelry) and I’ve made some fantastic friends like Rachel, my roomate, pictured below.

First, thoughts on the internship: I’ve learned a lot from this internship. The first is that in future job searches, I should ask a lot of questions along the way. In all honesty, I didn’t know what kinds of questions I should have asked until I went through this process - but now, I have a big list of question for use in the future. I’ve also learned that in future job searches, what I’m actually doing on a day to day basis is much less important than the kind of supervisor I have. A supervisor, in my opinion, can make or break an internship. (I’m ecstatically excited to get back to IU - because I already have a great relationship with my Fall supervisor - heck, I’m knitting her a baby blanket…). How the organization is structured is also important and something that I’ll keep in mind in the future.

Thoughts on being a supervisor: I’ve only been able to do a little bit of supervising this summer (that’s me and one of my 1:1 “people” above- one of the girls I got to supervise more closely) - but its been just enough to learn that this is totally 100% what I want to do. I am a student affairs professional (or I want to be one in the future). I like being a mentor and I like helping people achieve their goals. Student affairs is a fun profession and it’s one in which I do well.

And at the end of this whole thing (well, technically I have like 16 more days left, but who’s counting - plus I have to pack and stuff so I might not blog for a bit)? I am at very least a country girl - but probably a midwestern girl. True I’m absurdly liberal - but there’s something about smelling garbage day in and day out that makes you crave those few days a year when the farmers spread out the fertilizer and the whole county smells like cow shit.

Sometimes, when I think about it a lot, I almost start crying because I miss the Indiana nights. I miss the sound of the crickets, the cicadas, the birds and the frogs. I MISS THE SOUND OF RAIN!!! When it rains here, I only hear it as the cars drive through it on the streets! It doesn’t even hit my window!

And while we’re on the topic of water, I want to be able to touch wet things and know that it’s from the morning’s dew or a rain storm - and that it’s safe to touch! I want to stop having to carry around this pocket size bottle of antibacterial gel.

I miss being able to lay in the grass and being the ONLY one doing so - and yet not get any stray glances because of it. I miss people asking me if I want a pop (not a soda) and I want a can of this pop for less than a dollar! I want to walk around with my fake chinatown Prada bag and instead of fitting in, I want to feel as pretentious and superficial as I ought to feel.

I’m such a country girl. Pardon me while I go knit, in my rocking chair, while I listen to some Kenny Chesney. And then I’m going to make my mom’s potato salad recipe. And go outside and look for some stars in the sky. I don’t expect to have any luck.