Have you floated away yet?

With all of this rain, I'm surprised that we aren't all floating around in inflatable boats! Thankfully I live on Beacon Hill so I don't have to worry about flooding. My heart goes out to those families who are dealing with the aftermaths of the storm. Water damage is awful to deal with; where do you put the water, you have to carry, drain, or pump the water out, and it can become moldy if the area is not cleaned well.

On a positive note, I went running with my fellow Ambassador Haley the other day! What an amazing morning, despite the rain! She has been training for the Boston Marathon and helped me push myself to a total of 5 miles. I love to run, but lately I have been finding it hard to run outside. I enjoy working out in the morning because I start my day off in a good mood and that means I don't have to go to the gym later haha. Lately, I have also been eating really healthy. I was very health conscious when I was in high school, but you know what they say about college, sometimes you don't make the best food choices. I have been trying to prepare my meals ahead of time; taking lunch and planning for times when I know I want a snack. This helps me save money too because I am going food shopping rather than spending money on lunch and dinner everyday.

HOME THIS WEEKEND...ahh doesn't that sound wonderful. I am so excited to see my family and enjoy the beautiful weather they are predicting. Even though I do have a lot of work to do, I will be able to read/work outside in the nice weather.

Easter is this Sunday and you know what that means....Chocolate bunnies, decorating eggs with my little cousins, Spring time, and a BIG FEAST. Well I can't say too much about a feast because it doesn't have to be a holiday and my family members eat like kings haha. It is an extra treat because my Mom is having a big brunch for all of our family :)

Keep smiling, sunshine is on the way !

Cheers to all,

Best time of my life....

I have to say, Spring Break 2010 was one of the best experiences of my life. I returned to Mississippi to tackle the issues of hurricane Katrina and poverty in the town of Meridian. Jeff (the other leader) and I had the best group of students with us; they were fun, hard working, intelligent, risk takers, and interacted with the community. AND COUNTRY MUSIC WAS PLAYING EVERYWHERE I WENT!

Everyday was a different adventure......
The first three days (Monday-Wednesday) we worked on some finishing touches of a home that was being built for a hurricane Katrina victim. We did the white trim around the home and then painted it a light gray. It really made the house stand out! Another project that students were working on was cutting the wood to build the front fence on the porch. It was very tedious and we had to make sure that every board was the exact same height and in perfect position before we screwed it in.

Thursday and Friday were my favorite two days of the week. The contractor for the Habitat for Humanity homes, Mike Stewart, had been working 6 day weeks in order to finish homes for families. Now it was his turn to get something big in return. We started building his home on Thursday morning. I had never seen how a home was built and we literally started with a pile of wood and some how by the end of the day Friday, we had built the frame for his home. As we were working on his house, we got attached to him and his family. He had a young son Jeb and a wife Phyllis. Him and his family were the highlights of our trip. To know that we were building a home for such a deserving family encouraged us to work harder.

To know that I was apart of a project that would give someone a safe place to live really makes me appreciate what I have. This family had lived in a trailer their whole life and now they would be able to live in a 3 bedroom home with a kitchen, living room and two bathrooms. The smile on that young boy's face affected me in a way that I never expected. This innocent, young boy was happy even though he did not have the best place to live or the most toys. He used his imagination to play army and solider.

I can really say that I experienced that Southern Hospitality! I even got to meet the mayor! She just came up to me right on the street and thanked me for the work I was doing. The church we stayed in was so accommodating and cooked us breakfast every morning. Lunch was either provided for us by Habitat or was donated by a local church or business.

One last thing before I let y'all go, something hit me this break, what am I going to do with my Public Relations degree when I graduate. Do I want to go into business PR, or magazine, or event planning? Sooo I made a decision to go into non-profits with my PR degree when I graduate. I am working on looking for an internship and getting some experience in the Boston area.

Cheers to y'all <3

MIDTERM IN AN HOUR!

Midterm time has come and it is in full swing. I have my first midterm in Advertising today at 1:00. It is very straight forward but a lot of material to cover. I feel as if all of my professors have piled on the work this week because Spring Break is next week. I have a 7 page paper due tomorrow in History, a Management Accounting packet/essay due tomorrow and my website project due for Design Lab tonight! I also have been sick this week which has not made it very easy for concentrating on writing or reading.

Sleeping at night has also become a little bit of an issue, just because I have so much stuff on my mind. There are so many things I have on my TO DO list but none seem to be getting accomplished. I ultimately am working on writing my own book about college experiences and the different things that we have to do deal with such as academics, relationships, friendships, work, jobs, internships, etc.

I have advising tomorrow too, to start picking my classes for next Fall. I can not believe that after this semester I only have 1 year (3 semesters) left!!! This is crazy.Saturday will be a relaxing day; packing, movies,dinner....sounds like a good day! I really want to see Alice in Wonderland or maybe something else?...suggestions?Teatro tomorrow night for dinner YEAH


Cheers to all,

One Week Until Mississippi!

Yesterday was offically one week until we take off for Meridian, Mississippi. Tomorrow is our last meeting before my group and I head down to the south to work with Habitat for Hummanity. We will be down there for a week, helping to build a home for a family who is still recovering from Hurricane Katrina.

What has really affected me during our meetings is our discussions about the meaning of privledge. Did you know that if you have a roof over your head you are considered privledged? If you have some of these small basic necessities such as food, shelter, water, and money for transportation, you are far ahead of many people in the world. This has made me reflect upon my own life and how lucky I am that my Dad can afford to send me to school and take care of my sister and I. Although my sister and I both work, we are far more privledged than those who have to pay for their own shelter and food. My Dad has taught my sister and I the responsibility of paying bills and what life will be like once we are on our own, but we know that if were ever really needed anything, our Dad would be there to help us out. Many children do not have the advantage of going to any school they want to, mind you, many students are required to take our loans in order to pay for an education. This is why getting work experience is so important because it teaches you the value of a dollar and what things cost.

Meridian is also an area with a 60% high school graduation rate; this is similar to the Boston Public School system. It will be interesting to see what education is like down there compared to the Boston area. I hope that we will get a chance to visit a school while we are down there and talk to young students about what their education is like. When I reflect upon my elementary, middle school and high school years, I always had the best books, school materials, and activities in my town. Are these kids accessable to these after school activities? Do they have enough books for every student in the classroom?

I will be back two weeks from today to give you all an update as to how my trip went!

Cheers to all

Half way though the week....

Happy Wednesday Everyone

Just to report, my Mom's Surprise 50th
Birthday was a success! I think she had a little bit of an idea that we were planning something because we avoided her all day haha. I had a very hard time keeping a secret haha. The food was great, CAKE WAS AMAZING and the band that performed after was awesome too. Overall we had a great night and she really enjoyed herself and got to see all of her life long friends!

On a personal note, life has been busy these past couple of days; between school work and homework, ambassador work, Mooo Restaurant work and Alternative Spring Break just right around the corner, my days are completely filled! Tonight I have to go home and finish reading and then write a report on it.

I am really looking forward to Spring Break and going down to Mississippi. It is nice to be able to take myself out of my life up here and put myself in somebody else's shoes. One learns that meaning of privilege and how lucky we are to be able to go home to food and shelter every night.

Cheers to all,