Random Mumbles

    Hello friends!  Well, summer classes have almost come to an end.  My last final is tomorrow at noon.  I am just so ready to go home for a short time and enjoy spending time with my family!  I know I haven't written in a long time- but honestly you'll want to thank me for that! haha. My attitude lately has been nothing short of whiny.  I mean, I don't really know why I've been so discontent.  I have been so caught up in this summer.  I pictured hanging out with friends all of the time, doing adventurous things, laying out by the pool, camping, and meeting tons of new people. Instead, I have been studying and working.  There really hasn't been anything bad about this summer, though.  In fact, I have gotten to hang out with plenty of people, and made a new group of friends that I am so thankful for.

     In a little over two weeks, my new roommate will move in.  I cannot express how excited I am to have a roommate again!!! I am overall just a happier person when there are people around.  Her parents moved her things into my apartment last weekend, and meeting them made me even more excited to live with her.  They were just the sweetest people, and I know that she is too.  It is so cool to see God's faithfulness.  Every single year I have worried about finding a new roommate, and God has provided me with one each year that I can call my friend.

     Oh!  I just finished my Science of Food class.  I'm really sad that this class has to end.  I loved learning more and more everyday, and looked forward to going to class.  It reaffirms my dreams to be a registered dietitian.  I can tell that alot of people are skeptical when I tell them that I'm majoring in Nutrition and Dietetics.  Many people ask, "And what do you plan to do with that once you graduate?" And honestly, I don't really know.  First, I have to get an accredited internship which is a mandatory part of the process and is very hard to get. Once I make it past that and take my RD exam, I could work as a clinical dietitian, personal dietitian, sports dietitian, eating disorder counselor, school dietitian, weight-loss, etc.  Honestly, I think I would be happy with any of these jobs.  It's something where I'll get to constantly meet new people and help them directly.  That's what I want. I am currently intrigued by an internship in Minnesota... which mom tells me "Devin, that's too far away" or "It's too cold there".  She even google mapped how long the drive would be haha!!  No worries, I've got three more years at Auburn before I can even really think about where I'll be placed for an internship.

      I think I've done enough procrastinating ;) Time to get back to studying.  Thanks for listening to my mumbles :)

"Rejoice in the Lord always, I will say it again: Rejoice!  Let your gentleness be evident to all.  The Lord is near.  Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.  Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy-- think about such things." 

Philippians 4: 4-8

     

    

    

Catching Up

     Hello friends!  I feel like it's a really rare moment when I publish a blog; I actually have started to write around 10 posts, but I never finish them.  I normally end up writing a paragraph and then decide to delete it because it doesn't have enough "sparkle".  But today I was reminded that life isn't all sparkles, you know?  Not every moment of a person's day/week/month has to be interesting... however, I have decided I'm not going to let that discourage me from writing!  :)

     This last weekend I finally got to go home for the first time this semester.  I didn't hang out with anyone except for my family the entire time, but I didn't get bored (actually, this is never a factor... my family is pretty much always entertaining). I got to spend alot of time with my brother, which is great.  We get along so much better now that we've grown up a little bit!!  I also loved getting to see some of my extended family as well, they're great to be around! Athough I'm almost a junior in college (crazy!!!), it still hasn't become easier for me to leave home.  Maybe that's just because I never go home so I have yet to conquer that.  I'm fine once I get back to Auburn, but I hate that moment of telling my family goodbye.

Enjoy some family Easter photos!!!

      So what's going on in my life?  Nothing but straight busy-ness.  I'm still teaching exercise classes but sometimes it can be a struggle.  Tonight I had 12 people, and about 3 of them didn't want to be there.  Whenever I'd yell "freestyle!" they would shut down and laugh at me (I mean, I am a white girl that has trouble getting funky).  Bring on the laughter ;) Despite being laughed at and forgetting the choreography occasionally, I really do enjoy my job.  Especially when I see that people are enjoying it.  Tonight, there was a girl in the back that couldn't keep a smile off of her face... I could tell that she loved it.  THAT is something that keeps me motivated.  Or to see the same people come back to my class. Besides teaching two exercise classes a week, I still have my school classes.  But really, who wants to talk about those!  Except the fact that I have a portfolio due tomorrow that I haven't started on :) Yay procrastination!

     I will be staying in Auburn this summer to take classes and hopefully get a job!  If anyone knows of someone that would want to sublease for the summer, let me know.

Have a great week!! :)

    

Chocolate Celebration

     Each year, we are faced with the same sugary, lovey-dovey, predictable holiday known as Valentines Day.  This year, my roommate and I took a different approach.  Why not have a fantastic time and celebrate friendships?! We decided to deck our apartment in candles, flowers, and pictures of beautiful men (If we're being honest here... I still haven't taken those down yet). Courtney made guacamole, cupcakes, and the Pioneer Woman's "Knock You Naked" brownies. I made the sandwiches, chocolate-covered things, and cookie cakes!  Together, we had a Valentine's Day feast.  We had around 20 people show up throughout the night. It was a great time to just sit around, eat chocolate, and talk about life!  Probably about an hour and a half into the party, a random guy opens our door and realizes that he is in the wrong apartment.  I can only imagine his thoughts on the posters and all of the girls packed into our small apartment!  He apologized for being in the wrong place, and the girls asked him if he'd like some food.  His response was, "Can I really?" and he fixed himself a plate.  The he said, "I don't know what's going on here... but y'all have the right idea!" and left.  It was a good night! Thanks to everyone who came to hang-out! :) My only regret is the lack of pictures haha

 The flowers before they were arranged around the room!

 Behold the feast!

 My friend Kinsey and Zac Efron in the background ;)

      I just talked to my Dad on the phone and that always gets me thinking about when the next time I'll get to go home is.  I almost cried on the phone because I missed them, and I'm not normally an emotional person if that tells you anything! I think the soonest that I will be able to go back (last time I was home was January 6th) will be in 5 weeks.  Hopefully I can convince my family to come visit before then! :) In another news, I've been getting to hang-out with people more than normal and getting to meet alot of new people so that always makes for a great day!

I hope everyone has a great week!

Sophomore Year Shenanigans

     In a hot pursuit to avoid doing homework and studying- I bring to you this blog (also I haven't spoken to anyone all day, I'm getting a little stir-crazy!) WA-LA it only took me half a year.  I figured I'd update y'all on some serious life events ;)

     If you think back to a few of my blog posts last spring, you probably would notice my frantic journey to find a roommate.  As soon as I thought something was going to work out, it wouldn't.  This happened close to 10 times- and the hardest part was thinking that something was final, and all of the sudden it fell through again.  The funny thing is that I couldn't be more happy that this happened.  If it hadn't, I wouldn't have met my current roommate, Courtney.  My small group leader from last year was friends with Courtney, and knew that she was also looking for a roommate.  (Courtney is a 5th year senior studying microbiology- aspiring to be a Physician's Assistant.  She is kind-hearted, understanding, genuine, brilliant, and caring.  She's pretty much my go-to person for any sort of advice, and she's a great listener and loves the Lord.  Oh... and she's a fantastic cook! I could go on and on... it's going to be hard to see her graduate in May. I just don't want her to leave!  But I know that her future is going to be awesome!) So in essence, I have roomed with "strangers" for the past two years... and I don't think it could have possibly been any better.  I consider both of them to be some of my best friends, and I am so thankful that we were brought together to be roommates!  Once again I will be back on my journey to find another roommate, but reflecting on these past two years really helps me to know that God is going to provide and that I don't have to worry about it.

Courtney:

Leigh Ellen:

     In reply to one of my most "dramatic" and viewed posts (The Decision)  (wow it's weird to go back and read some of my old blog posts haha), I have finally picked a major... that I had never even considered.  This past year I have been teaching group fitness classes, and staying in shape and feeling good have become important to me.  I signed up to take a nutrition class last semester, just to see if I was even interested in it.  It quickly became my favorite class- I even enjoyed reading the textbook (which if you know me, this never happens).  The question I get asked a lot is, "What can you do with that degree?".  There's actually a wide range of things to pick from.  For example, you can work at a hospital, school, nursing home, private practice, or health spa... and much more.  It's a career that is very people oriented and is focused on helping. As for now, I'm not 100 percent sure of what I want to do. If all goes as planned, I'll go to school for two more years, get an accredited internship (hardest part of the process I hear), take a test, and become a registered dietitian (But we all know sometimes things don't go how we plan them to. ha!) My preferred place to work would probably be a health spa/gym. It's fun to think about where I could be in 10 years... because I honestly have no idea where I'll end up! As for now I know that I really enjoy learning about it, and I get to start taking a lot more classes dealing with my major in the fall (most of my labs involve cooking :)).  I'm so excited!!!!

Because I don't have a picture of me teaching.... here's a picture of a group fitness dance off! haha.

           As for the summer, I know that I will have to take classes then in order to graduate on time. I had a really great time working as a camp counselor this summer, so it's going to be sad not to be able to do the same thing again. But thankfully I will be getting my last chemistry class over (Organic I booo) and get to take a class with a cooking lab! Also, I'll hopefully get to know more people since classes will be smaller.

     Courtney and I may start writing a cooking blog for other students on simple meals.  It would mainly be recipes and tips that we've tried ourselves, and that we want to pass along!  Whew... all of this writing at once is starting to get me, but I have so much to say!  I guess I'll save something to write about next time... here's a few super random pictures from this past year to leave with you :)

 I put the beard on backwards at the piccolo Christmas party... oh buddy.

 

I loved getting to go to some of the Cope's tailgates!!

 Ali and I at the band banquet

 Passion 2013

 Reppin' Andalusia at the band banquet

 Crihmus Party!

Ice skating fun with Leigh Ellen and Catherine Grace!

    
As an extra bonus, you should listen to One Direction- because their songs are super catchy, get stuck in your head, and may just make you dance like a little kid.  I'm a ten year old at heart.  You're welcome :)

My Summer of Camp

My ride from Alpine to Andalusia was one full of thoughts.  My mind was consumed by memories made over the summer.  I tried to think back and make sense of how so much could happen over 2 months.   I don't even know how to start!  So I guess the first thing that I should say is that I'm HOME (for the week that is).  It's a great feeling to drive up in my car and the dogs run up to greet me. This week, I'll be catching up with people and packing up my room and moving into my apartment in Auburn.  After all, band camp starts next week!

It's weird to look back at the whole summer and think that it's over.  I can't even comprehend it.  Staff training week felt so long because of all of the stuff crammed into one day... but from the start I felt like I belonged there.  I remember having a hard time going to sleep that week because I couldn't stop smiling every night. I hadn't felt like I belonged like that in a really long time.   Basically camp people are the best people ever.  The people that accept your craziness, random dancing, and understand you for who you truly are.  In the past year I've gotten stuck in a rut of tunnel vision.  By this I mean, whenever I walk around campus I'm oblivious to others.  Feeling invisible, I don't speak or smile to most bystanders.  I know this is the norm- but it's quite draining for me. This summer has helped me to undo most of my passiveness and become the same energetic person I once used to be.  I now refuse to be contained by the standards of what is normal- I just want to be me! :) So in an attempt to shortly recap the summer, here's a few memorable moments:

1.  On staff training week, I was stung by a poisonous caterpillar when putting up my hammock.  It was terrible.  That night I had nightmares of thousands of poisonous caterpillars living in my bed.

This is the ugly thing that stung me.  It was killed shortly afterwards.

My arm after the sting.

2.  Tuesday night campout. On Tuesdays, we would make hobo dinners of meat and veggies and put them in tinfoil and toss them into the fire.  While they would cook, we'd take the kids to the campsite to set up all of their stuff.  Our campsite consisted of a tarp on the ground in the woods that the kids would put their sleeping bag on top of.  Most of the counselors had hammocks.  It's pretty much just like it sounds- most of the time the kids would whine and whine about how they didn't want to sleep outside.  Most of the time they got over it, or we even had a group or 2 that wanted to sleep outside, but I had 2 kids that absolutely wouldn't stop crying.  One time a kid brought a fly swatter and an umbrella with them! hehe.  While half of the time I hated campout, mostly I couldn't help but to love it.  Hobo dinners were my favorite meal of the week, and I loved whenever we would tell stories around the campfire and roast s'mores.  The bugs and upset kids were definitely the downfall, but other than that it was a great time!

Protecting the fire from the rain, and Kendall protecting us from the rain! 

3.  Pranks.  Who could forget em?!  I was only involved in 2 of them.  One night, we left campout at around 1:30 a.m. (a kid had to go to the nurse anyway) and so another counselor and I got some cardboard and went into a cabin where a counselor and kids were sleeping and cardboarded her bunkbed up so whenever she woke up it was like she was inside of a box!  We also "spider-webbed" the boys cabin after they hid our shoes.  There were many pranks that I wasn't involved with, like making a zombie apocalypse fort on the aquatramp, shoe pranks (hate those haha), clothes on the flagpole, etc. 

4.  Escape boats.  One day, I was dehydrated and not feeling so good when all of the sudden I look to the lake and see camp's pontoon floating by. Thinking that I'm hallucinating seeing no one in the boat, I start to laugh, and call on people to see if they see what I do.  Then about 5 of us in jumped in the lake to save the runaway boat!

5.  Horses.  For some random reason, I was assigned to work horses.  At first, I wasn't very fond of that idea, but once I worked there, I was hooked.  I loved listening to country music while working in the barn. Even if that involved scooping poop, it's not like I haven't done that before (worked at a vet's office for a year), so that didn't bother me.  I loved the idea of doing hard work and being able to tell the difference.  Eventually they let me lead a few trails, and I enjoyed that also!  One day, a fear of mine came true.  I was riding lead horse, and about 8ish campers and one of my good friends, Jalen, were following me on the trail.  We had more time than usual, and got to go on an alternate path.  Whenever we crossed the road to go back into the woods, there was a small hill.  I told the kids to slow their horses down when we go down hills because horses like to go a bit faster down it.  My horse went down the hill with ease, and so did a few more.  All of the sudden, a horse takes off running down the small hill with a kid on it.  Screaming.  2 more horses took off throughout the woods, and all I could do was watch helplessly. 1 kid had her foot stuck in a stirrup but couldn't get it out while the horse was frantic.  Another kid was laying off of the horse.  Eventually all of the horses weren't in a line, but instead were bunched up together and it caused them to get anxious.  I pulled out my walkee talkee and told the barn director that we needed help.  Then I tried my best to lead the trail back to the barn.  I'm sure my face looked very pale, and I wasn't saying much because there wasn't much to say.  At this point I wasn't sure how the girls were or anything, I was just hoping that they were okay... I got called to go to the ambulance, and I watched as the girls were backboarded.  I got to go with them because they were in my cabin.  God is so good, neither of those girls had broken bones or anything like that!  It was such a relief, it certainly scared me. 

6.  Kids!  Oh, kids!!  There is nothing like being a camp counselor and having the responsibility of taking care of kids.  You are their entertainer, nurse, disciplinarian, parent, and friend for the week.  That involves making sure they get showers, dressed for activities, comfort them when they get homesick, help to mediate fights, and so much more.  Sometimes this means getting woken up at night.  There were some nights when I would be so tired, but duty calls.  Once a kid got duck tape stuck on her eyelid in the middle of the night and I had to get it off!  It was actually pretty funny.  Or hearing crying in the corner of the room.  It's actually not too terrible getting up, because you know that they need you.  I'll miss all of the fun times that I had with the kids.  From making bubble wands, to a cardboard city, to spa day, to them dressing me up, decorating, "raiding" the store, dance parties, making a "cherokee" tree, and so much more, I'll never forget all of the fun that was had, and all that I learned.  They made a great impact on me!

 

7.  Counselors.  I wish I could list all of our good memories we had but it's quite impossible because there were ALOT! The highlight of my summer was you guys, it was great to wake up in the morning knowing that I would have a fantastic day because I know y'all would be there.  Y'all always made me laugh and are the most fun people I know! I love you all and I'll never forget this summer!

In the Cosby Spirit,

Devin <3