A NOT-SO-TYPICAL POST ABOUT POLITICS

Politics have always been a thing that have kind of gone over my head, or that I have dodged purposely. From what I had seen, politics always tore people apart. My father and I would get in heated debates about once every six months and I tried to never talk about issues with my friends - I just didn't like the discomfort of disagreement, and honestly in my younger age I would say I wasn't the most even-tempered person to have a conversation with.

I write this to say, please don't write off people in your life who seem apathetic to politics. Please don't write off the hotheads you may encounter, please don't write off those who disagree with your beliefs (easier said than done, I know.)

I am so very thankful for the people in my life who pushed me to question what I thought: Ryan and Bobby when I didn't fully understand the larger picture of women's rights, my dad when we would debate the impact of socioeconomic status, my mom when I wasn't sure where I stood on capital punishment, Diana for showing her disdain when I publicly (on Facebook) said I wish people would stop talking politics.

Thank you to Kiera for being so open to conversation over the past year and allowing me to realize that talking about perspectives is not only okay, but crucial in further developing your own viewpoint.

Thank you to Mina for your endless posts and tweets of political coverage. I am honestly so glad people like you exist, working to make people aware of the issues.

Thank you Dr. Pasque and classmates who opened my eyes to a world of real life experiences I didn't know about, and never realized how much politics impacted. Our class was one of the biggest wake-up calls to realize you can't sit idly waiting for change, waiting for others to act.

The list could go on.

I am no political all star, by ANY means, but I'm trying to move in the right direction. I will try my best to reserve judgment, exercise patience, and practice open-mindedness when talking politics with others and it is my hope that you can do the same; a country is not made solely of a president, but of its people, and we will get absolutely nowhere by shutting people out.

DIY HALLOWEEN COLORING BOOK INVITE

Last weekend I was able to head back to Texas to visit home, which is always a blessing because I love my family so much. During the holidays, my mother will buy specialty coloring books and leave them out with crayons at the dinner table for me to color. Let me stop you here, because I just want to acknowledge, yes, I am well aware that I am 24 and this sounds quite juvenile - but it is ridiculously relaxing. And it's something fun to do if there are too many cooks in the kitchen, but I still want to be in their company. I digress.

As much of a getaway as I find coloring to be, I thought the students I work with may benefit from it as well. I had been planning on making invite/reminders for an upcoming event and thought what better way then to combine the two? And thus - coloring book invites were born!

So I headed out to pick-up a coloring book, which was admittedly way more stressful than I expected. My mother had gotten her coloring books at Wal-Mart, but I couldn't find any at either of the local Wal-Marts in our town, nor at the Dollar Tree, nor at the local teacher store in town. If you plan on creating these, you may try calling places ahead, which I ultimately did and twas my luck that Target had one coloring book in the seasonal department!

THANK YOU TARGET.

 I will be honest that I was a little disappointed that it wasn't a traditional coloring book as I was really going for the nostalgia of the greyish paper and thick lines, whereas the Target coloring book has more modern sketches and the paper was pretty much white computer paper. If you're okay with that, you could probably just save yourself the drive and find some Halloween printables online (these are SUPER cute.)

The pages were the same size as the paper I was using for invites so they needed a trim (and I suggest trimming the perforated edge regardless.)

I am proud that I held the paper, cut it, and took this photo all by
my lonesome. #CraftingAllstar if I don't say so myself.

The trickiest part was figuring out what needed to be printed where, which really isn't that tricky at all, but on this particular moment I was struggling quite a bit. The bottom section will be what is on the top of the tri-fold, so for my invites I wanted the name on the outside. The font I used for the names was Alice In Wonderland. The top section will be the first section the person will see when they open the invite/life the top flap. 

The coloring page I placed on the opposite side of the text.

The next step is probably the weirdest to explain...

When making my invites I folded the colored paper first, by itself. Then I opened up the folded piece and taped down one corner of the coloring page on the inside, then folded the coloring page within the invite, and then lastly taped down the other corner. I personally found that if I had taped down the coloring page first and then folded everything altogether, there were weird ripples. If you've perfected double paper folding, then by golly you do it however you want! This was just the technique that worked best for me. 

As I said, bottom corner was already taped, then I started
to fold it all together, lastly taping the other corner as
everything was folded.

Et voila! I had originally bought black ribbon to tie it up nice and neat, but I left it in my car and was in a rush to get these out, so... Overall I liked the way they turned out! I would like to adventure with different stationary, different coloring sheets, and including crayons in the future.

xoxo e

NO-FACEBOOK NOVEMBER

In a little over a week, a new month will be right on our doorstep. While some men (and some women) will be looking to toss out their razors, and others will engage in fervent writing endeavors, I found myself wanting to pick up something new. And then the thought came: why not give up Facebook for a month?

I know plenty who give up Facebook for lent, but my head has never been in the right place to welcome that challenge until recently. I have wrestled with the idea of getting rid of Facebook for a bit, debating whether it was worth it, maybe I would give it up once I graduated. For me, Facebook is yet another way to be always reachable, something I am admittedly trying to escape. Sometimes the feeling of being expected to be available 24/7 is slightly overwhelming. And maybe these are just self-imposed pressures, not as serious as they feel, but I figure what's one month?

With Thanksgiving around the corner, I want to be more appreciative of the people in my life and focus on sincerely communicating with them; without Facebook at my fingertips, I hope to put more energy into connecting with my those I love face-to-face more often.

I think it'll be harder than I'd like to admit, but I'm looking forward to this adventure and hope maybe you'll tag along too!

SUNDAY SNAPSHOT: NIFTY STAFF & THRIFTY FINDS

Changing things up & had a one-on-one with Angela
on the swings :)

TJ's cute Halloween nails!

Thrift store find #1: I like the style of illustration,
cute southern feel.

Thrift store find #2: I wish there had been a matching
set of dishes/platters/etc, but couldn't pass this one up.

Thrift store find #3: A peculiar little box.
Not sure if I'll ever have a use for it, but I liked the carvings.

Thrift store find #4: Cool little album. At this point I'm just
wasting money buying kitschy things...

Thrift store find #5: According to Nicole, this is a
restaurant in Ohio. I just thought the colors were neat!
And I'll never pass up a good 90s tee.

Thrift store find #6: How cute, right? Again, I'll probably
never use it, but it's cool to look at.

FRIDAY FUN: TYPOGRAPHIC VERSES

It's been a while since I've done a Friday Fun post, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to post about this.

In the wild world of Tumblr, I stumble across many a thing. This morning, much to my delight, I came upon a blog that that brightened up my entire day: Typographic Verses. Their description via their page: "High quality typographic designs of verses from the Bible. Made by Jonathan Ogden, with designs from Jonathan and other guest designers."

Completely mesmerized by some of these pieces. I find this collision of traditional text and the ever growing field of typography to be exceptionally beautiful.

Habakkuk 2:14

James 1:17

Psalm 51:2

James 4:5

Revelations 22:13

SUNDAY SNAPSHOT: FOUND PICTURES {FLASHBACK}

I was cleaning through some of my computer files this week and found some lost passive bulletins on my iMac and found some old pictures of my very own floor on my old laptop!

I have a soft spot for glitter and pumpkins. Mm fall.

So cute! Finding Nemo themed floor.

Residents wrote down their names for classes they were in
then they could connect on the floor to study.

 The number one reason I wish I could be an RA again? To decorate. I love decorating like no other, so much that I changed my floor theme 4 times my senior year.. (500 Days of Freshman Year, Sweet Girls , Alice in Wonderland, and Zenon.)

One side was decorated as the tea party.

The other side was decorated as the queen's garden.
Thinking back, I wish I had had those little furry
creatures used to play golf!

xoxo e

MOVIE POSTERS BASED OFF OF FONT TYPES

Last week I started to watch Drive while on a train ride, and was really surprised at the font used for the title (something similar to Mistral.) For some reason it really resonated with me that something so cheesy seemed applicable to this feature film. This sparked the idea to create fake movie posters based off of fonts, and thus, these images were born:

Accurate? Inaccurate? Let me know what you think! And all the "actor" names are made up. Something else I may or may not enjoy doing in my spare time.

CULTURE OF "BUSYNESS"

Recently I came across Joseph L. Murray's 2010 article When Involvement Becomes "Busyness" and I can't really get it off my mind. If you can take the time to read it now, please do, but if you cannot, to summarize:

The article discusses college professionals’ support for students to get involved and what repercussions this message has on our students. Student involvement theories have shown that student participation in activities, clubs, and other programs help students adapt to the university lifestyle quickly and often lead them to be more socially successful in the long run. However, Murray questions whether while faculty and staff are continuously encouraging students to get involved, are we overlooking other needs of our students, particularly spiritually? 

Murray’s team found that students increasingly felt the expectation to be successful, and in order to be successful, one must pack their schedules with a multitude of activities. Murray acknowledges that involvement is necessary, but if students are shuffling about from one meeting to the next, are they taking the time to satisfy deeper individual needs? Most importantly, as staff, are we making them aware that this is an important element of their growth and encouraging it? 

In his research, Murray found universities such as Harvard and Bucknell that had specific co-curricular activities to help create and facilitate conversations between students about deeper life questions they are contemplating. Murray also studied campuses to see what physical spaces had been carved out to allow and encourage students to meditate and reflect (some universities had created gardens, labyrinths, and other quiet havens for their students.)

I would concede that many of us involved in student affairs quite enjoy the "buzz" of the students, but every so often when the campus empties out, I find a certain inexplainable peace: a calmness of body and mind that allows me to recenter and refocus. For me, this article really has me evaluating my practices as a young student affairs professional. 

Personally speaking, I identified with the student in the article who felt there is an expectation to get involved. I am all for involvement, but I like to pace myself, balancing my time between myself and time with others – however, I often feel there is a pressure to join professional organizations and spend time with colleagues outside of the classroom or workspace. Of course I believe that building these relationships and support systems is important, but at the same time I struggle with sacrificing my own personal time and overcommitting to things I'm not fully invested in. At the center of it all, 24 hours is 24 hours - it can only be divided so many ways and once it's gone, it's gone.

If you do not already, I encourage you to think more critically about how you spend your time and the factors and influences that affect those decisions. Even while writing this I think "this is so common sense, how come I haven't thought about it before?" and I think it is precisely because I've allowed myself to get caught up in "busyness."

Going forward, I want to try to be more cognizant of the implicit or explicit pressures I may be placing on colleagues and student staff to become involved in certain organizations or attend certain events. I plan to analyze what opportunities I offer my staff: where can I build-in reflection time both for themselves and in a community setting? This article really set a light in me to support a culture that actively promotes a balance of action and reflection.

xoxo e

SUNDAY SNAPSHOT: HASHTAG #RESLIFE

'ello!

In my last Sunday Snapshot post, I mentioned that the other resident director and I would be venturing to other halls... and indeed we did!

Home Sweet Homa floor! Love it.

Big Bang Theory, Mario, I Love Lucy, and Aliens.
Really got a chuckle out of the alien floor (literally, a chuckle.)

I LOVE PRINCESS AND THE FROG!
Such an amazing floor.

Two buddy RAs did matching Dr. Seuss and it
turned out so well. One of my favorites for sure.

Angry birds! Van Gogh, dinosaurs, and heroes -
that Simba was an excellent use of window chalk.

Also, our center has been flying solo for a little while on account of our supervisor adding a new little darling to his family. We wanted to send him some love...

Last year we started this "tradition" of picking a theme for our marker board and matching things in that category to staff's personality. The only thing I remember from last year was that I was Rachael Harris (celebrities) & a kiwi (food items.) In addition to the two below, we've done Historical Figures and X-Men so far this year. And if you think this is simple stuff, you'd be surprised at how many battles we have about pinning a person to a categorical item (X-Men was created by one staff member, re-done by two disagreeing staff members, only to be reinstated. It gets real y'all.)

I never knew there were so many Crayola colors in the world.

So. Accurate.

And lastly, in addition to working with my RA staff, I get to meet and work with a wonderful group of freshmen ladies in our leadership program. I send them weekly e-letters about application deadlines, scholarship details, and upcoming events. We have our first dinner next week!

xoxo e

DECLUTTERING: PART ONE

The past couple of weeks I have been feeling stressed and bogged down by things that I can only really refer to as "stuff." I felt perpetually behind in all my tasks, each day weighing heavier on my sanity as I either had to push myself to my personal limits to get my slate clean on any given day or dread each morning waking to a longer to-do list. I finally came to the conclusion that my life is in serious need of decluttering. I've often heard the best way to do this is to declutter in stages. Over the next few months I intend to do this and will blog my progress. What with graduating in less than a year, it is best now to get rid of everything I don't need and I'm sure this will add much needed clarity in my life!

So first, my closets.

SUNDAY SNAPSHOT: FLOOR THEMES 2012

It is September 9th, and I haven't blogged in forever. Between training, opening, and school, things have just been such a whirlwind. A lot of things are changing {update on that to come} and from now on I don't only "hope" to blog more, I will blog more. Will will will.

Until then! Our RAs are back in action (and doing a wonderful job at that!) and I thought I'd dedicate this Sunday Snapshot to some of the hard work they've done on their floors, similar to my spring post. This week my Co-RD and I will be visiting other centers, so I'll post another batch of pictures next Sunday.

OU Memes theme - a nod to The Pride of Oklahoma.

Link! Legends of Zelda themed floor.
W has epic painting skills.

A park themed floor, with this SUPER adorable wreath.
She even served lemonade on her floor on move-in day!

This floor is my home :) Love how the olympic circles
spell 'Couch.'

There is usually a HP floor, but I can't even describe how
amazing this one is. I just. Wow. The right side pic?
Yes, an accurate illustration of our campus map.

Our floor themes are really quite broad. On one hand we
have cupcakes & icecream, and on the other we have..
laser beam cats. 

Art themed floor. Originally David had a leaf, but
someone gave him boxers this week!

Willy Wonka. Love the door decs.

Lots of kids themes this year!

Male floors.

So much painting by this year's staff!

Old cinema themed floor, complete with butcher paper
renditions of classic film posters.

Music themed floor - and I included her passive
because I loved it so much! Creative.

What are some of your favorite themes your staff does? Our RAs are a lot of fun and they never cease to amaze me with all their talent. Excited to see what spring brings!

xoxo e