I have a life plan!!!!! (kinda)

I'm moving home. Neither of my job interviews led to a job, although I did get some really great feedback from Norwich University. Thus on August 10th(ish) I am moving back to El Centro, California, where I was raised. I had every intention of moving home my first summer but 5 years later it just never happened, and now it's time. I need time to regroup and figure out a life plan. My little brother is starting Jr High this fall and I want to be there for him, he's a big deal. I'm going to try and substitute teach while I'm home and just continue to apply for jobs. Anyone who has ever been to El Centro is thinking "Why on earth would she move back mid-August?" It's the absolutely most disgusting time of the year. But it feels right, and I haven't had that feeling in a long time. So to help my positive outlook I want to share with you some of my favorite things about El Centro.

Let's start with the basics: location.

Fun Facts:

-We are the largest city in the country completely below Sea Level.

-2 hours from San Diego.

-10 miles from Mexico.

-4 hours from Mesa, AZ, home of Cody Noel Alderson and Katie Elizabeth Hawkes.

The Courthouse is my absolute favorite place in El Centro, hands down. It's gorgeous, and I have so many great memories there.

The Blue Angels train at our Navy Base for 3 months out of the year and we get to watch all the time.

The Sand Dunes we have are the biggest in the country and completely mesmerizing.

Just keep swimming, just keep swimming swimming swimming.....

The End of an Era

I remember walking out of the book fair at Desert Gardens Elementary School with Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone. I didn't like books about witches and wizards and dragons but my arch nemisis was reading them and thus I had to be up to date. I finished the first two books in three days and it killed me that I couldn't go out on Sunday to buy the 3rd. You better believe that as soon as Costco was open on Monday morning I made sure I was there with my mom. I got the 4th book at midnight at 5th Avenue Books in El Centro. The 5th book came out the day after my oldest brother left for his mission and I can't begin to describe the comfort it brought. I have memories of sitting in the Juniper lobby after the 6th book came out talking about whether Snape really was good or not. And then the last book came out. It came out the day I was supposed to drive to Santa Barbara from Cedar for EFY and I took a day off my Cedar job to get to Santa Barbara a day early so I could have all weekend to read before EFY. I got to the prologue right as the fireside started and afterwards I just couldn't read it. I couldn't let the end happen. I waited a week to read the prologue. And when it was over, I knew I still had years to come with the movies.

This past weekend the last movie came out in the Harry Potter Series and it was a a bitter sweet moment. The last part of a story that defined my childhood coming out the summer I graduate college, kind of poetic right? It was a beautiful cinematic experience. That moment that Professor McGonagall starts arming the castle? Chills all over my body and tears welling in my eyes. Some other thoughts about the movie:

-Draco's mom? So tender. I love the overall theme of great mothers in general throughout the series. The love of Harry's mom being what saved him? Mrs Weasley is the ultimate mom, I would love to be her when I grow up.

-The sweet guards that come alive at the end? Were those in the book?

-Neville Longbottom, I am IN LOVE with him!!! Is it too much for my first son's name to be Neville?

-Ginny Weasley as a grownup reminds a lot of Dana Savage.

-Coincidence that Harry's initials are HP? I think not.

-I've always loved the message of good vs evil that this series has taught people and I was reading other people's thoughts online. Someone brought up that the name of Kings Cross Station might be a Christianity reference. So that last scene between Dumbledore and Harry in the glowing white Kings Cross Station had a little more depth the second time.

Because yes I have seen it twice in the last 5 days since it's been out.

T Swizzle

Do you ever just have that song where you've likes it but then when it finally applies to your life, you fall in LOVE with it? I've always said Taylor Swift has a song for every female emotion, but tonight she hit those emotions with a bang.

I feel like this blog has turned into an "I NEED A LIFE PLAN" rant but it is the thought that consumes all thoughts. I have no clue where I'll be living 5 weeks from now. Ideally I'll have a job by then but who knows? I have two phone interviews this week for Alumni Events jobs at school in Vermont and Michigan, so keep those fingers crossed and those prayers a coming! However if in five weeks I have nothing, I am homeless. My contract at Campus Lofts is up and I don't want to start something until I have a job. Who said being a college grad is glamorous? I'd like to punch them in the face.

P.S. Be proud. First youtube video on my blog. I was inspired by all the music on Nat's. But can someone please tell me how to make it fit in my blog area?

Independence Day

Some random thoughts...


Everyone looks good in red, white, and blue.

I love the movie Independence Day. No matter how many times I watch it, I can watch it again. I hate sci-fi/alien movies. Go figure.

Favorite July 4th you may ask?

It was honestly the worst summer but the BEST 4th of July. What I would give to have all these girls back in Cedar.....

Dennis Effing Busch

I wish I could remember the first time I met Dennis Michael Busch. It had to be early freshman year. He was the hall director of the dorm I lived in. In the last 5 years he has become my rock. He's always been in Cedar; always encouraged me in everything I've done. I jokingly refer to him as my life mentor to many but that's really what he is. He worked for housing and I wanted to work for housing. When I hated the first two communication classes I took (schnifty nifties!) he encouraged me to try other teachers in the department. When he ran for Academic VP I helped him put up signs at 2am using the housing mule, and wore his shirt with pride. When he worked for Alumni Relations, I soon followed. When I decided to run for Activities VP, he was there for me, for every breakdown during the campaign and term, and was more than willing to help at any activity when asked. And as if to not miss a single detail of trying to be like him, I also finished math (fingers crossed) in the summer. I sit here in an empty Alumni House with my eyes a little moist because today is his last day in Cedar. He'll finish up a few items here and pack up his car and drive to Salt Lake tonight for what I'm sure will be an amazing adventure as the new PR and Marketing Director at the Riree-Woodbury Dance Company. I can't imagine a Cedar City with out Dennis Busch. He is truly one of the best men I've ever met.

Virginia Slims

I'm sitting on my bed, my legs and feet are on fire, and I can't even begin to count or organize the emotions in my body right now. Tonight was the opening ceremonies of the 2011 Utah Summer Games. Nothing went as planned, and let's be honest, nothing ever does. To give you an idea, it down poured during pre-show on all our lovely brand new video equipment, the torch didn't have gas, my headsets never worked, and the wind was too high for our sky divers.

And I LOVED every minute of it. I wish I could explain in words the adrenaline it produces. I saw a boy who has spent months on this, stressed to the max, on an injured knee, jamming out like there wasn't a care in the world. He understands the adrenaline.

But as it wound down and the crew started to leave, it hit me. This is most likely the last time I'll work with these people. From the grounds crew, to facilities, the fire marshall, the electrician, Poll Sound, the Advancement and Summer Games staff, and most important, Dennis Effing Busch. The last four years these people have taken care of me, taught me, and become my family. We really do have to most amazing crew.

What am I going to do without them?

Triple Deuce

The 222nd division of the National Guard is based out of none other than Cedar City, UT. When I was a freshman they had just returned from a tour Iraq and that's all I really knew about them. Throughout the last 5 years I have learned more about them, met people who served, and heard stories of their families. Cedar has become my home in those 5 years and even though I don't know most of the men in the 222nd I love them because they are Cedar City. This past year a boy named Sam joined SUUSA and he was also in the 222nd which we found out in December were being deployed again. They leave on Saturday and last night I went to a send off for them in the Centrum. It was pathetic. They hadn't advertised the event at all, it was horribly produced, but worst of all no one was there. It made me think a lot about my profession of choice and how big of a difference a good event can make. I felt bad for those soldiers and their families who were giving so much and had to sit through that pitiful event. Then I started thinking about how much they were really giving up. It's one of the most selfless acts they can do on this earth and I am so grateful for the men and women who serve in the military everyday.

I'm obsessed with this country. Have you ever really thought about how absolutely wonderful it is to wake up in the morning and know you can express yourself however you want without fear of prosecution? As a very opinionated women it's something I can't be thankful enough for. I know this country was founded by divine revelation so that there would be a nation where Christ's true church could be restored and thrive in. I feel so blessed to be a citizen of that nation. So to the men of the Triple Deuce, come home safe. And to everyone else who has served and is currently serving, thank you from the very bottom of my heart.