How I Know I'm In The South...

Here are just a few quick things that remind me...nearly daily...that I am in the south.

1. You don't get into a car accident, you get into a wreck.
2. Living on the side of a mountain and having a deer trail for a drive way is normal.
3. Two drinks are served at meals...water and sweet tea.
4. There are restaurants here named Bojangles.
5. Riding around in the back of a truck is perfectly fine and normal. I personally have ridden in the back of a truck more times in the last 2 weeks than I have in the last 15 years.
6. If you say "bag" in a northern accent, people will make you say it again and wonder where you are from.
7. People are shocked when you have never eaten at a Chic-fil-a.
8. Caribou is non-existent and Target is over 2 hours away

Now these are just a few small things that remind me that I am a very long ways from MN. While I love it here, I look forward to the day I get to be back in the Midwest. I miss seeing the sunset and chipotle. But for now, I will gladly enjoy my time in the south with all its quirks!

And So It Begins!

Tomorrow marks the beginning of RA training - GET EXCITED!! (ASU's University Housing Catch Phrase) What it basically means is that for the next two weeks my life is owned! Most days run from 8am until 10pm at night, with a few breaks in the evening. It will be a little nuts but I'm actually really looking forward to it. My RA's have started moving in and I have met all but one. They are great so far and we spent a couple hours tonight just hanging out and getting to know each other. Being with them is so refreshing (I think that statement clearly moves me from being an introvert to an extrovert). When I get to spend time with them and have fun with them, that is when I am reminded that this is what I love doing! I told my best friend once that when I work with college students I feel I am the closest to being who the Lord wants me to be and doing what He wants me to do. And, let me tell you, that is a great feeling! I will probably intentionally work myself to the bone just so I can be the best supervisor I can be for them, and I will probably be totally ok with that! I'm just so thankful to be here and to get this chance to do this as my job! I know I have a lot to learn and I will probably make some mistakes throughout all of this. But I'm just so thrilled for this growing opportunity, especially since it's something I am so passionate about!

Pray that I will be able to establish healthy boundaries with my staff and for myself. Also pray for team dynamics and that I will be observant these next few days to see how the staff are meshing and working together.

Thanks all! Love you!

First Week in Boone

Well, I have now been down here in Boone for a little over a week and things are going pretty well. We started training last week on Monday and let me tell you, I have been over-whelmed for about 75% of the time. I think my biggest struggle with being trained on how to be a Resident Director is my lack of context for the position. I am not familiar with the culture of Residence Life so when they are talking to me about hall programming, hall council, RA Duty, RD Duty, and all the other million things that are involved, I haven't had experience with this before so I have no frame of reference. Which is in some ways good because I don't know what I don't know - and that keeps me from becoming too overwhelmed. Also while in the midst of training I often forget that being an RD isn't the real reason why I moved to Boone. Sometimes I have to remind myself that I am actually here for grad school! Oh gosh...I just got overwhelmed! Add that on top of being in charge of 8 RA's and 300 co-ed freshman residents! WOOF! But now the 2nd year GA's have arrived and they have been such a blessing. One of them was just at my place and I was able to ask any and every question possible. It's so great to get their perspective and they are all so encouraging that each day I feel more and more equipped to take on this giant task in front of me. RA's start moving in soon, and I still have a lot of work to get done before they arrive. But I'm just trusting that the Lord is going to help me in those situations where I am completely at a loss. I have already experienced His blessings and faithfulness and with that I am finding myself completely at peace with where I am. I know that I am supposed to be here and only here for this time. Which is such a great feeling to have! I ask that you please pray for me as I still have a lot to learn and will be learning throughout the entire year. Pray that I will not doubt the gifts and abilities the Lord has given me and that I will place my confidence in Him!

In other news, favorite moment of last week was going to Boone UMC with my supervisor Sarah. The first thing I noticed was that there was 2 guitars, a mandolin and a banjo! Of course, why wouldn't they have a banjo apart of worship?! And then they started singing and wow, it was so twangy! I had to fight back laughter throughout all of worship. I couldn't help but thinking "Yes, this is where I live now. Boone, NC. Awesome!"

Well, that's the update for now! Hope you all are well!

I have arrived in Boone!

The time has finally arrived and I am now in Boone North Carolina! Woot Woot! Yeah, I wasn't so excited to come here the last couple months. I was really worried about entering into something that I was so completely unfamiliar with. But I knew once I got down here that things would just click and I would be reminded of why I first fell in love with this place! So Boone in July is gorgeous! The hills are incredible and campus is stunning. I definitely moved to a beautiful spot! The hall that I live in is called Coltrane Hall. It's over in Stadium village on campus so I have a nice short walk to this fall's upcoming football games! I think I have more space here than I have in any of my living situations over the past 6 years.

I mean, I have a closet just for my shoes. And I don't have that many shoes so I may need to work on filling that space a little better...with more shoes of course! My kitchen is huge and completely void of food and other vital kitchen necessities.

My bathroom, again twice the size of the one I just left! My bedroom is great..minus the fact that there is zero air conditioning! However my bed is 4 ft off the ground and I fear that one day I am going to take an accidental roll the wrong way and real do myself in. And, there are these horrible corners that the mattress leaves exposed. I know one day my knee and one of those dreadful corners are going to have a very painful meeting! Tomorrow I start training, bright and early at 8am! Hooray! I'm really ready just to get started and meet some people so I don't just sit up in my room by myself any longer! I am so excited to see what all takes place on this crazy journey! I know I am going to learn a lot and be stretched a lot! Bring it on! I'm ready for it!!

I'm Not Ready To Leave

It's less than a month away until I move to North Carolina for Grad school and I have noticed this internal emotional battle going on within myself. I know that I am supposed to go to North Carolina. I have never felt so sure of something and am very confident that this is where the Lord wants me for the next two years. That assurance has been an incredible comfort to me as I push forward to prepare for the next step in my journey. However, as time is slowly slipping away, I find myself becoming more and more anxious about leaving. I struggle deeply with feeling that I am abandoning people here at home. I know that isn't true and that my dearest friends do not feel that way at all, but I do. And it breaks my heart! I have the most incredible friends and I would not be who I am today without them. And as I get closer to packing up my life and moving it half way across the country, I feel so selfish for leaving them! It scares me that I won't be able to be for them as much as I want to be over the next two years.

On top of that, a couple weeks ago I got to spend a week with a team from SportsLife and just fell in love with them! They are so stinking awesome and I treasure each moment I get to spend with them! And now what do I get to do, leave them. "Hi, I'm Jacki. Let's be really good friends. But only for the next month because I'm getting out of dodge for the next two years." I wish that I could physically have these incredible people in my life for so much longer. And the thought of having to say goodbye to them so quickly makes me really dread going to North Carolina. I can only imagine how I am going to feel as July 22nd draws nearer. But for now, I must not worry about what happens when I'm gone, but really enjoy each blessed moment I have with the people I care most deeply about.

SLC Is In My Veins

For the last three years, there has been something in my life that has caused me an incredible amount of joy, it has helped me grow as a person, it has challenged me to the point of breaking, and it has seeped into my pours and has become a part of who I am. I am sitting here at the SportsLife Camp training for this year, and I feel at home. The sounds, the movement, the language and even the smells are all so familiar and are things that pour out of me naturally. I love it. But I am on the verge of experiencing my first summer in a few years not doing SLC all summer long. And I'm ready for it, I think. But when I'm here, when I meet the staff and I know what is a head of them. I miss it. And I wish I could be doing it too. I wish I got to be in on all the stories they will be sharing throughout the summer. I wish I could be at camp hanging out with all the crazy kids. But that isn't in the cards for me this year. It's suppose to be this way, but part of me wishes it wasn't so. It's hard to walk away from something that has really shaped who you are and then turn from that to something COMPLETELY unfamiliar! It's time for something new and I'm really excited about! And I know that I can enter into this unfamiliar territory with confidence because my time with SLC has prepared me for it! I think no matter how long I am away from SLC it will always be a part of me. It runs through my blood. I. AM. SLC. And proud to have it that way!

Another Great YouthWorks Moment

Friends, I want to share with you a little about where I was last week and the great things I experienced and learned from my time away. A couple weekends ago marked the beginning of YouthWorks staff training - called RAMP, and I was headed to Philly to help out! Getting out of the office for a few days was needed desperately and I was excited to get a better look at what a YouthWorks summer was all about. Four of us, Jake, Sam, Kirstie and I headed to the airport at 5am to start the journey over to Pennsylvania. Thinking the airport would be a ghost town at such a time of day, we found ourselves mistaken as we waited in a security line for over a half hour. Loved it. The one thing that kept us moving forward was the hope of getting some great pastries and coffee at French Meadow Bakery. Friends, it was worth the wait! The flight was a great one as I got to sit by a dad with his young son - probably around the age of 5. From the moment I sat down, he was talking my ear off. "Hi! I'm Gavin!I have Toy Story boots on. My grandma got them for me...". And thus continued the conversation. Thankfully, both Gavin and I fell asleep for a majority of the flight. Then I woke up to Gavin grabbing my shoulder and looking at me with such honesty and saying " I love you!" His Dad then inserts that he just met me and he doesn't even know my name. Sounds like the making of a country song to me! Finally we touched down in Philly. We had to wait a little bit to get picked up, and while we were waiting connected up with two great friends Josh and Molly! Soon we see the "Family Vehicle" pull up which was the glorious 15 passenger van! First stop for the crew was to pick up the van that were in storage. Which took us to a rather interesting place within Philly. Later on in the week I found out that this part of Philly is the southwest side and is considered the "Dead Zone" by the police. Awesome. Then after making the 20 minute drive in a lovely brown astro van into Wilmington Delaware, we were given our next task. Little did I know what I was walking into. I have hear rumors about YouthWorks grocery shopping trips, but I never could have accurately imagined what it is truly like. 3 vans and 5 people headed to Costco to tackle the job of getting food for over 90 people for the week. No small task. Friends, when you have to huddle up before entering the store to discuss strategy, you know you are in for an interesting shopping experience! Kelly Daniels and I took off to grab produce, bread, and freezer items. Each grabbing a cart but soon ditching them for two larger flat beads. At this moment I am feeling very uncomfortable in my driving capabilities of this beast of a cart while the rest of the crew has done this many times before and this feels entirely normal. Yeah of course. What isn't normal about filling up 2 flat beads and 4 carts FULL of food? 316 items and $2,000+ in groceries later we slowly filed out of the store. Not without getting some of the strangest looks and comments about the amount of food we were purchasing. Believe me people, I am in shock too! But while refraining from being completely overwhelmed, I decided the best thing to do in this situation is just laugh! Somehow the craziness of that experience just brought me a ton of joy! This was just the start of some more great YouthWorks firsts. I loved being at RAMP, even though I was only for just a short time. I loved being able to meet the staff that are going out and serving this summer in 18 different communities. Even doing random duties such as making signs or driving staff to take a much needed shower, my time there brought me life! I had a pulse again and it reminded me that it is so important to do something that brings you life. So while others who have had many more intimate experiences with YouthWork RAMP may take a different view to the week, I am very thankful for the time I had away! Oh to breathe again!