Skiing In Switzerland

"Don't ever come back." are my mother's words of advice today. She is, of course, discussing my France trip. And I do mean trip. While I will be working, I plan on visiting every country, city, region, etc that I have the desire to go to. My mother says I should capitalize on this, I will probably never have this opportunity again ("no nagging husband, no weird children, no bills... ah the life"). So, I am. One of my first trips will be to Switzerland, to ski, of course.

Today I discussed my French excursion/internship with my lovely, wonderful contact at Michelin. I now have, in my possession, details about my apartment, stipend, transportation, and start and end dates. It is quite wonderfully exhilarating and terrifying.

Now, the real question is, who all wants to come live with me in a one bedroom apartment in the mid-south of France for 6 months? Lord knows I cannot live alone.

Being Assigned

Well, I have finally been assigned not only a city but a factory/plant. I will be working in Clermont-Ferrand, the capital of banking and tires in France. This is where Michelin's international headquarters are located, and several plants, if I remember correctly. I will be working in Combaude, with rechapage, which means re-tread. I don't know what type of tires they make at the facility, but the email said "Poids Lourd", which means heavy weight in English. The plant has about 500 people in it.

My "mission" is to study and combine posts to gain effectiveness. I will be doing other "missions" in parallel to this one, but what I do not understand. The problem is that even though I have already worked with Michelin, I was not shown all the parts of the administrative process and therefore have small ideas as to what other plants do and use in their respective plants. Although it is the same company, the French & American plants are run differently, use different softwares, etc. They use the same acronyms, so I can come in already ready to tackle other things and not just the knowledge of how do you make a tire, etc.

I'm a bit scared, and I believe I have every right to be so. I'm moving to a different country and I still have no idea where I'm living, when I'm leaving, and when I'm returning... I am ready to know all this information so I can plan. I live to plan. So does my mother, I believe I get it from her.

Some cool information about Clermont-Ferrand:

• The same guy who created the Statue of Liberty created a statue of Vercingetorix, a French hero, that sits in a public square
• recently started to use a Guided Light Transit, of which I am sure I will discover more when I get over there....
• hosts one of the world's leading international short film festivals... 
• it was the home of Pascal, a famous scientist
• held the French Grand Prix 4 times
• home of Valery Giscard d'Estaing, the president of France from 1974-1981

Pretty cool, right?

Football & Friends

Wow... A TON has happened. I feel like I'm never quite at one set place to be able to sit down and blog.

So I'll just fast-forward to last week...

Wednesday, I had my interview/phone conversation with a French recruiter from work. Needless to say, I was freaking out and extremely nervous. The conversation didn't help either... He spoke faar too quickly. Even in English I can't understand people who speak that fast! He didn't seem quite enthused and I know him not being able to hear me was a problem. Ever since I dropped my phone in the toilet in March it's had horrible service.... After chapter, some of my sorority sisters & I decided to go out to a bar for a few hours!

I love these girls!

After my lovely interview, Thursday was spent going to class, work, turning in homework, and writing my French paper on a movie named "La Reine Margot" or "Queen Margaret". The movie was quite raunchy, I watched it instead of going to the Auburn v. Florida Atlantic game the Saturday before. I finally made J set up a Skype account so we could chat via the internet... And then I packed my bags for Columbia!

Our tailgate spot

Friday: OH THANK GOSH IT WAS FRIDAY. Class, work, packed my car, went to lunch, picked up Sydney... and drove.
The drive was miserable. We left at 1:30 CT to try to bypass Atlanta 5 pm traffic, which we did... but getting on to I-20 was the most ridiculous thing ever. I do not like to break traffic or break the lines in traffic, so I sat and waited my turn FOR THIRTY MINUTES trying to get on the interstate. It was ridiculous.

When we FINALLY got onto I-20, we ran into construction. WHO makes a four-lane highway into a 2-lane highway? (soo, both sides had 1 lane to drive in). We found a detour and made our way around the construction.... stopped for dinner in Augusta (what a horrible place that is too. woof) and then FINALLY made it to Columbia and our hotel.

I haven't seen my best friend Kayla since June, when I met her in Orlando for the weekend. So basically, when we saw each other we both cried. I've known her since I was 14 & we're basically soulmates.... Anyways, after Kay got to the hotel, the 3 of us went out to find someplace to buy some alcoholic beverages for the tailgate. We ended up at some super sketchy Walmart at 10:30 pm... There was a fiiine assortment of people out that evening. Got back home, drank a bottle of wine, and went to bed.

SATURDAY!!!! GAMEDAY!!!
Like any good, red-blooded SEC college girl, I love gameday. A day to wear my school colors (I actually wore orange this week) and to eat food and cheer on my fellow students who happen to be athletes. The University of South Carolina is strangely situated in the middle of downtown Columbia. Which sounds cool, until you get to gamedays... There's NO WAY to get near the stadium unless you want to wait hours on end, trying to find the right traffic flow and find a tailgate spot. So, we hired a shuttle and were dropped off and walked. And walked. And walked. AND WALKED.

Until we found it!

The game:

It was 9-6 for almost the entire game... I walked around because I was bored, hot, sunburned, and dehydrated from all the walking. Good. GOSH.
I was sitting in row A3, (3rd row from the ground) with the player's families and such, and then some of them moved because the seats did not have a good vantage point, which I agreed with. However, what I did not agree with, was South Carolina fans sitting in their seats after they left. I can understand, I really can, however, when you know those are not your seats, and you see that there are families with jerseys on... You need to go somewhere else with that ish & not yell about South Carolina this and Auburn sucks that. I was probably being mean because I was so hungry, but I asked the security guards to escort them away from the row and to their own seats. However, another ticket guy placed OTHER USC fans in front of me, who promptly decided to stand on the benches in front of me. In the Auburn student section, this doesn't really matter... But I had been yelled at that afternoon for standing on the benches as to allow the people behind me to see... which I can understand. However, these USC fans were not asked to sit down. In fact, they were encouraged to stand on the benches. I was not pleased.

But that's ok.

The Final Score

Both teams basically played subpar... I was not impressed, and I did not think that we would come away from the game as the winner... But as my mother always says "Oh, ye of little faith."

 

After the game

Gene being all happy & such

As we were walking back to the tailgate, Syd & I were taunted and yelled at by USC fans. The original plan was to go out after we rested up, but seeing the personalities and overall morale of the USC fans, we decided we should stay in. Angry drinking people are no fun at all.


All in all, the weekend went by too quickly, and I'm back to procrastinating for the two tests I have Tuesday...

Beautiful Mess

Somehow, I always find myself in too many things. Too many extracurricular activities (I mean seriously, an officer in two organizations at once? what was I thinking?), too many hours at work/tutoring, and too many classes. I started off college not doing anything outside of extracurriculars, homework, and school. I sat on my butt, went to football games in the fall and did homework in the spring on the weekends. I was the EPITOME of cool...

Being 21 has definitely changed that. I enjoy going out Wednesday nights instead of spending them in my "palace-prison" Shelby (the College of Engineering building here at Auburn).

Outside of Shelby, facing a street

Which is what I'm currently doing tonight. I feel TOTALLY COMPLETELY at home in Shelby... It is a wonderful building. I feel super safe and there are tons of computers everywhere and everyone is either pretending to do work or actually doing work (I happen to be pretending right now)... and the third floor has rooms that only INSY majors can use, so all these randos in the bottom computer lab would not be able to get into them.

Right now, I'm procrastinating finishing the draft of my resume for my Professional Practices class. I also had to write a cover letter, and it could be generic, but I fashioned it like I was going to apply to a job with Michelin. Let's be real, I can't do generic. I'm also currently working on a super awesome computer program where when processing times and due dates are entered for jobs, I can find the "optimal" solution using a specific algorithm. Whoa, that sounds really difficult... I guess that's why I'm still not done yet, which is totally okay because it is not due until Tuesday. However, if I don't get this dumb "while" loop to work I might have to cut someone or complain.



No big deal. This weekend is supposed to be a super fun one for me, as I am having a visitor and going to yet another thrilling game between Auburn and Mississippi State. Kappa is also having their Parent/Alumni tailgate with Mike & Ed's BBQ.... You better believe I'm going. Me + Free Food = Match Made In Heaven.

Nick Fairley (2010)

I've been yawning and stretching my arms in this computer lab for an hour now, so maybe it is time to go home... But I've been researching what to do when I go to Europe/France and need a phone (for 6 months!). I've decided that I'm going to bring my Blackberry along with me and ask Verizon if they can unlock it for me to use it in France... I also want to get an iPhone but that's beside the point, I need to wait until the iPhone5 comes out this month to Verizon. When I went last Thursday the employees had yet to be told when it was coming out!! Ridiculous... I just need to know when to hound my mother enough so that she says yes :)

Also, the fact that my savings account will decrease two-fold when I go to Europe really stresses me out. What is the point of saving $5,000 if it's only going to be worth 2,500 Euro... and I'm not all too sure that the Euro actually goes further in Europe than a dollar goes in the US... For example... say I were to fly to Greece one weekend.... I don't want to blow my whole savings account on that one trip!

Traveling is MY LIFE. I LOVE TRAVELING. I love museums, art, different cultures, pretty sights, etc. I would be devastated if my traveling was diminished because of the dollar to euro exchange rate.

$1.4 for every 1 euro

All this is for another day though. Happy Wednesday/Thursday!

Game Day: 2011

(This is the song for the 2011 Intro Video for Auburn's football team)

I never particularly cared for football when I was growing up. Being from Charlotte, I was a Carolina Panthers fan & I watched games when I had time, but I never took time out of my day to sit down and watch the whole game. I was a busy kid, with tons of extracurricular activities. I went to all my high school football games my senior year, and I started getting into it. I went to a few college games during my senior year of high school, most notably the UNC-Maryland game in 2007.

Nothing prepared me for Auburn Football, the Auburn Experience. The first game I went to, I got goosebumps when the eagle flew around the stadium, when I watched the drum majors and band run out onto the field, and heard the crowd roar as the team took the field after the intro video. It was a moment unlike any other for me, and I cannot describe how it makes me feel. Once you experience it, you know what it's like. Until then, you'll wonder at why people gush over the experience of a Saturday on The Plains.

I was not an Auburn fan before I started at Auburn University, I was not an avid-Alabama hater, and I still am not. I will always hate Duke more than I hate Alabama, it's just a fact of my life. Growing up a UNC fan, I just could not understand why everyone loved Duke. They were annoying to me. Cocky, self-righteous... And I was a kid thinking this! I watched UNC basketball, and I remember where I was when UNC won the NCAA tournament in April 2005. That season I watched all the basketball games at the same house, in the same spot on the floor. When UNC was doing poorly, I would change my spot or the way my head was tilted or what I was drinking.... It was a great season for me.

Now, I do the same thing for Auburn football games. I watched the National Championship game at my friend's house & almost had a heart attack at the end of the game. I watched the 2010 Iron Bowl game with Reuben at my house & bore a hole into the carpet with my pacing. I took myself outside and walked around my front and back yard trying to calm down (my mother didn't like me yelling so loudly at the tv, it scared her...).

I would never have been this crazed about any football team if I had not had the experience at Auburn University. I may hate the stereotypical Alabama football fan like every other Auburn-lover, but one-on-one with an Alabama football fan, I could never be rude or nasty to them.


Auburn/Utah State Highlights

This weekend was the first game of my "Senior" year of college. As I am staying for another year (yay CO-OP!), it's not my last season. However, for the majority of my friends, it is. It's not going to be a pretty season, but that's ok by me. I just hope we don't have a repeat of 2008, when we lost to Vanderbilt...

War Eagle.

I Can Hear The Bells

For as long as I can remember, I've been planning my wedding. My colors, my bridesmaids, my dress, and my location. I've dreamed about engagement rings, I've even had a dream of walking down THE aisle in a white dress, only to not recognize the face of the person I was about to marry.

I grew up, like most girls/women my age, watching Disney movies. Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast... Thumbelina... Most of them had extremely happy endings, the girl gets the guy & everything works out. Evil is conquered.

It's so weird seeing my friends get married. It shocks me, and yet I've found it odd because I've decided some of it isn't really happening. Then, when I see my friends after they've been married, it's just like old times... Just now they both have rings on their fingers. At least for me, it's just like old times. Sometimes, it's not.

I went to a wedding two weekends ago for one of my marvelous sorority sisters who has been a core part of why I stayed in Auburn, stayed in my sorority, and blossomed into the person I am today. It was strange to see her get into her wedding gown, to watch her walk down the aisle, exchange vows, kiss her groom/husband, and kneel around her as we sang The Pat Song. I hadn't expected it to be like it was. The day went by so quickly. We cheered as her & her new husband walked to the car to drive to Huntsville. I remember thinking, "I really like her going away dress, I think I want one like that for me."

Most of us girls are obsessed with weddings. Getting there, going to one, dreaming of one, etc. We talk about qualities we want or admire in a guy, where we want to live when we get married, if we want pets, children. It's a lifelong goal most of us want to accomplish. The Bible almost literally says go forth & multiply. So let's do it.



It scares me. MY friends are proposing, throwing showers, getting married... And I'm going to France. I'm going to miss some of my best, best friend's huge moments because of my trip abroad to work. I don't want life to change, college was a big enough adjustment, real life is going to kill me.

Now, that doesn't mean I don't look at engagement rings & dresses & picture myself in them. But sometimes the actual commitment scares me to death.

Slacking!

I love Maroon 5. I'm basically obsessed. And, the fact that Christina is in this song just makes it SO much better. This song is so catchy!

Well, it has been QUITE an eventful almost month! I moved out of my house in Dothan... It was so nice & lovely. Large on the inside....

Now, I've moved into this TINY tiny little dorm room...

But, on the plus side, today is the second day of classes. After an exhausting Bid Day (yay for our 67 new Kappa babies! SO HAPPY!!) & a trip to Dothan to get my LAST PAY CHECK, school is finally here.

I've managed to procrastinate so I have absolutely NONE of my books, especially the ones that I so desperately need. It's ok though, I've got them & they are being delivered! Really it's my two French classes I'm worried about. I'm trying to get as much French into this semester as I can so when January rolls around I'll be on top of it!

I'm moving through a state of disbelief and panic throughout the day. Disbelief that I'm back in school & that it's my last semester with most of my friends... And PANIC that next semester I'm going to be almost halfway across the world & miss some very important people in my life. I chose this, and I am under the firm impression that I did not choose incorrectly. This will make me stronger as a person. I believe that 100%. If my relationships can survive this, they can survive anything!

My engineering classes are as follows:
Professional Practice
Manufacturing Systems
Scheduling and Project Management (("really it's more Scheduling Theory" .... WHAT?))
Statistical Quality Control

My Tuesdays and Thursdays are pretty packed, and once SWE meetings roll around, once a month thank the skies above!, then my Thursdays will be packed from 9:30 AM til 9 PM. Which I'm slightly excited about. I'm an assistant/co-chair Membership officer for the semester to help out a new officer, since I'll only be here for this semester it just seemed easier to help than to just sit by on the sidelines & watch it roll right past me.

My baby sister (she's 16 now, how time has literally FLOWN by me!) came to visit today and yesterday with her friend Elizabeth & I had such a wonderful time with them. They're quite hilarious and they want to know so much. They're about to start their JUNIOR YEAR at MPHS... Crazy, I remember starting my junior year. It was so strange to look back into the recesses of my mind and think about all of that.

End of Junior Year?!

January of Junior Year...

But, what's even more crazy & slightly scary is that MPHS has this gossip twitter account, where you can submit stuff to the account and they'll tweet about people. As in, ACTUAL PEOPLE's NAMES and information about them! I cannot believe teenagers have become so obsessed with being rude & gossip-y that they've decided to do this. It may seem like a joke & funny, but to someone else, it's real life. My sister & her friend don't like it, but they don't want anything rude/false said about them, so they continue to follow it on twitter.


To me, I just am in shock that someone out there is willing to risk lawsuits for bullying online. There's also the whole, "freedom of speech" debate, and I understand that. But a childhood is a terrible thing to lose/waste. I grew up too fast, being an older sister to my two siblings. I didn't go out on the weekends, I worked at 8 am every Saturday my Junior & Senior year, worked two Saturday nights a month, and went to church Sunday mornings. I was in IB & I babysat my siblings, making sure they did their homework and went to bed on time. My parents are wonderful, wonderful people, but they're also busy. I became the third parent of the family, and I've never been able to fully shake that.

I love my siblings like they were my own children, and although they're not, I am proud of them when they accomplish things & sad when they face hardships. I slightly wish I had not had as many responsibilities as I did when I was a teenager, but they made me who I am today.

I love my family :) And I'm super excited to see them this weekend! YAY!

Crazy Faith

One of my favorite songs is Crazy Faith, by Alison Krauss. I love it so much, I learned how to play it on the guitar and sang it in a talent show March 2010. How times have changed since then.

I've learned that faith is a funny thing. You don't always remember it, except for when you need something, want something, or are scared. For me, Crazy Faith means that no matter what, I believe there is something else out there. I believe there is a higher power, for me, God, and I believe I need to do right in this world in order to satisfy that higher power.

I know that God loves me, no matter who I am, but just like in a serious relationship, I need to strive to be better for His sake. Yes, he may love me, no, he will not leave me, but shouldn't I show him some love, respect, and confidence in return for this ever-growing, unconditional love?

We all have a purpose, of that I am 150% sure. I found my purpose a long time ago, and it may be a little silly to some, but I know I'm meant to be a mother. I know I am meant to have children. It might not be a literal "having" as in giving birth, but I know I am meant to shape a child's life and show them what my parents showed me. Don't get me wrong, I'm deathly afraid of having children or even being pregnant. I'm afraid of everything these days. It's because the world is slowing sinking in on me, I'm figuring out that there's so much more out there than I used to think.


Do you remember when you were 8? And all you wanted to do was ride your bike to the pool or rollerblade down that big hill in your neighborhood? Climb as high as you could to the top of the magnolia tree in your next door neighbor's yard? Play hide and seek, make believe, dress-up? I do. Those are all my memories. I remember that, and I would do anything to have it back.

While I am ready to have these new experiences, I'm not ready to let go of the past, to let go of the thought that, if I really wanted to, I could go wherever I want.

I've chosen my major. I've chosen an internship, I've chosen what I'm going to be doing for the next two years. The security of it all amazes and scares me at the same time. After those two years, I have no idea. And that's ok, for now.

But, at night, or in church, or when I'm at work, I panic. I panic knowing one day, if God wills it, I will be giving birth, going through one of the most painful experiences in a woman's life. One day, I'll be old. I won't remember anything, because I'm quite sure I'll have Alzheimer's. And I'm scared of that. I took these years for granted, and I would do anything to get them back.


Know this: I will not take these next two years for granted. If anything, I'll use this experience to strengthen myself & come out a stronger person. The Atlantic is just an ocean. It's not final, it's not death. Sometimes we say "we can't" when really, we just don't want to make the decision, the effort, or the risk to do it.

Now, I think of ways to make things happen, not reasons why they can't or shouldn't.

My Brother & Saturday Fiasco

I have quite an amazing brother, he is wonderful, sweet, caring, happy, loving, and funny. He loves people, music, football, sports... all kinds of sports, he likes the information. He loves to read and he loves to be outside or be inside & play video games. He likes movies. He watches Glee with my sister & I.

He tells me how much he loves me whenever I talk to him, and he's 10 years younger than I am. He's like my own child, I had a hand in raising him by changing his diapers, feeding him, & playing with him while our parents were at work or meetings, during the years Mom was the Senior Vestry member at the church... woof.

He was hospitalized Friday with Osteomyelitis... which personally I have never heard of, but it's basically an infection you get in your bones or around your bones. He got it on his right knee, both sides. They scraped it out Saturday morning after cutting a hole into his right knee. They say they got it all out, and they sent some cultures off to be tested. Apparently, this happens to children during the summer, when they're active and outside and their veins have bacteria in them and they swell up. The bacteria is from all over the body, not just a central point, so it's hard to say how it was caused exactly. He was scared, he's never been in surgery before, and neither have I minus the whole wisdom teeth removal fiasco of 2008 (my experience was A BREEZE compared to Margie's... it was really uneventful for me in general actually).

Anyway, after surgery on Saturday the pre-teen got to play with an Xbox. Because at the childrens hospital, they have game consoles or whatever that you can play with.

Attention: If I am ever in the hospital, whether I'm giving birth, having surgery, or on my death bed, that hospital better provide a manicurist & a masseuse for me. If M can play with an Xbox during his stay, I want to be happy too.

Apparently today he is in pain from his knee.
Please keep him in your prayers!!

On another note, I ALMOST DIED LAST NIGHT. I got in bed around 10:30 pm. Ok, strike that, I had not left the bed the entire day but to make meals. I even ate my meals in bed. Saturdays, if I'm too tired from the week, I like to sleep. However, there really comes a time when there is nothing to do if all your friends are at work or busy, like mine were on Saturday. So, I didn't leave my bed. I attempted to study for my final I have tomorrow at 11 am (TYPICAL), but it didn't happen.

After I watched JK Rawling's biography/movie thing, I turned to the Travel Channel to watch this ghost adventurers show with these 3 guido dudes who lock themselves into haunted places, mess with the ghosts, and try to get EVPs. It's cool when you're with someone else. By yourself, FREAKING SCARY. So, by 10:30, this little lady had the lights turned off & was in bed.

With a pounding headache. I don't like taking medicine. Not because I'm all gung-ho about organic crap or whatever, but because when I have a headache I just expect it to go away. It's usually late at night & I'm in bed. I do not like to get out of bed once I'm in it. Just like with car trips, you have to start all over again. My bed time tradition is slightly weird, I do breathing exercises and focus on this one image if I can't fall asleep. It's a black room & I rotate it in my mind until I get dizzy, then usually I fall asleep.

Oh no. Not last night. My head was pounding, and the clock was right next to my ear. Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick. And then, just when I thought it couldn't get any worse, I heard gunshots.


Mother of PEARL. GUNSHOTS?! Saturday night at 11 pm... NOBODY WANTS TO HEAR GUNSHOTS. As I am not a gun aficionado and cannot recognize guns by the sounds they make, I have no idea if it was a gun or a shot gun or a bbgun... it doesn't matter to me. When you hear 10 in a row, it's over. THERE IS NO WAY YOU CAN GO TO SLEEP WHEN THAT HAPPENS.

I may watch too much Cold Case, NCIS, SVU, & Criminal Minds. All I can think about is, who is going to save me if some crazy psycho busts down my door and takes me away. My landowners are at the beach, I'm in the middle of NOWHERE, and I have no sense of security.

After these 10 gunshots happen, my mind is freaking out. I have a sinking feeling that I am going to die... either from somebody else or myself because I feel like I'm going to look over and outside my sliding glass door there's going to be a person.... staring at me.

I am paranoid. And then, about 30 minutes later, another 5 gunshots... Well now I'm freaking out. There are tons of voices in my head, and my adrenaline is going and my heart beat is beating fast & I'm sure in 10 seconds someone is going to break in and I'll have to run out and escape into the woods or escape somewhere. And call 911.

Around 1:15 am, I am still not asleep. I take the clock off the wall, hide it in my closet and take an ibuprofen.

I am still alive though. Barely.

Got A Secret, Can You Keep It?

This song runs through my head a lot these days :) I love the song & it has a special place in my heart.

I learned my lesson a while back that there are a few people that you can truly trust in this world to keep your deepest secrets, regrets, and fears. Because of this, I don't give up information about myself to people willy-nilly. If I've learned anything, I've learned that sometimes it's nice to have secrets, to not share with tons of people, and to keep things special.

I went to church this past Sunday, since I was in town, and it was a wonderful service, as Episcopal services generally are (not including Baptisms or the formal services where you sing every response...). The Psalm for the day was Psalm 139:

¹ O Lord, you have examined my heart
      and know everything about me.
 ² You know when I sit down or stand up.
      You know my thoughts even when I’m far away.
 ³ You see me when I travel
      and when I rest at home.
      You know everything I do.
 ⁴ You know what I am going to say
      even before I say it, Lord.
 ⁵ You go before me and follow me.
      You place your hand of blessing on my head.
 ⁶ Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
      too great for me to understand!

I was blown away by the ability that God has to motivate me to go to church when it's pouring down rain, wait through watching a tow truck drag a car out of a ditch after an accident, turn around & go back the other way, and still get to church on time. It was so moving to know that God knows what I refuse to tell people at times. It's not that I am incapable of trusting, it's that I have learned my lesson on whom I can and cannot trust.

Oscar de la Renta, Resort 2012... In LOVE with this

Yet another week of loving my job. The operators SEEM to care for me & respect me & the fact that I'm a 21 year old girl who knows very little about tire making and machines. They become my friends, my brothers, my fathers... I've had at least 3 operators try to set me up with the same guy. It's funny because I don't think that they discuss this with one another. I really am going to miss them, it's slightly heart breaking to know that next week is the last week I'll see Crew 1 at work, some of my favorite operators work on this crew.

Oscar de la Renta, Resort 2012

And, today & yesterday I got to run a tire making machine. This is supposedly not something that people just do. "New Hires" train for about two weeks, I think, before they're even introduced. I might not have that information correct, but that's ok. I have made friends with most of the trainers, Walter, Kenya, Maurice & Michael, and Walter is training me this week. I made a promise to myself that I would learn to make a tire, and I am well on my way to fulfilling that promise. How can I work someplace & tell people things if I do not properly understand how they work?

I ran that machine for an hour today, with 20 minutes of downtime & changing one product, all with Walter's help. He's this older guy who has gold plating around one of his front teeth. He's got character, he thinks I'm hilarious, and he's nice to me. Ok, he's about 40, maybe 50. I am not a judge of age, do not ever hire me as a bouncer to your bar. Well, today I made 6 tires in about 35 minutes, and yesterday I made 3 in about 20ish minutes. Tomorrow I am running another machine making the same tire, which is a good ol' 16" Michelin replacement tire, meaning that people buy these tires from stores, they don't come with the car like a Ford F150.... It's complicated to talk about, because I don't want to reveal Michelin secrets. However, I have been told they have no secrets in this day & age with the internet, etc, but I sure do not want to test that!

Maybe we should make all of our acquaintances sign non-disclosure agreements with hefty fines if they break the agreement. I have not signed one for Michelin, and I don't know if I will in France either, but it sure would be nice to know that somebody is not going to break your confidence with an actual fear of losing money or something of monetary value.

Also, Pretty Little Liars is on tonight. I'm slightly obsessed.

Has anyone ever truly been able to look at something and say, oh yes, that right there is a millimeter? I can't measure feet, and the operators have to know what 3 mms looks like.... in shabby lighting also!

What A Feeling

Love this song by Diamond Rio...

It's a Saturday, and it just stopped raining. I love listening to the rain, walking in the rain, singing in the rain, and puddles. In high school, whenever it rained, I would go out into the dead end & walk through the puddles, wearing my bright yellow rain jacket. It really is quite yellow, I still have it today. Rain is something that I could always agree with. It either mimicked my feelings or it made me think that I was one of the luckiest people alive. Lately, it's been the latter. I am so blessed to be here, to be making this experience and learning about myself. It's quite thrilling, but also slightly scary.

I saw Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows (Part 2) last night. After anticipation since I was 10, the movie ended. I started reading the first book, Harry Potter & The Sorcerer's Stone when I was 10. When the movie came out when I was 11, I was furious. They left out parts of the book that I had enjoyed, especially when Harry, Ron & Hermoine went to find the stone. There were originally supposed to be seven obstacles, but in the movie there were only five. The one that I most enjoyed was the obstacle set up by Snape, where Harry & Hermoine had to solve a riddle & drink a potion to continue on. However, there was only enough potion for one, so Hermoine stayed behind. As the movies have progressed, I try to distance myself from the books so I can enjoy the story in the movies.

Last night, however, was a different story. I bought the 7th book last month, and have read it three times since. I was not distanced at all from the plot. However, I enjoyed what the director brought to the movie, putting twists on the plot & making me think about it in a new way.

A lot of people don't like Harry Potter, and that doesn't really bother me. The thing is, I don't like things that other people do like, but it doesn't mean that I don't respect them. I've stuck with the books since I was 10, and 11 years later I do not believe it is truly over. For why are their words on paper, if not to be read repeatedly? Something that takes you away from the world and inserts you somewhere else is truly amazing, and I believe that no matter what, it will continue.

There are great books out there that are still discussed, poetry that is still acclaimed, and works written by people who have long since passed away. However, their works are still in print, they are still passed around, still discussed, still analyzed. Works like Macbeth, Hamlet, Romeo & Juliet, The Great Gatsby, and The Bible. I believe that JK Rowling is a fabulous writer & that her works will continue to thrive.

Yes, I know I just compared her to F. Scott Fitzgerald & Shakespeare. Oh well, it's my opinion & isn't that what I'm supposed to be writing about?

Work Drone

I enjoy my job, it's nice to know that I am appreciated for the work I put into random activities, such as taking cycle times. If I tend to talk too much about it, it's because it's extremely time consuming & annoying yet rewarding. I meet people, I listen to people's stories, hear about their lives, and help them out in their daily jobs. I really do appreciate and am awed by the operators who work at the Dothan plant.

It's hard, grueling work. They make approximately 140 tires OR MORE, per person. They change products on these huge metal yo-yos called bobbins. They know their machine that they work, they know down to the millimeter if something is not the way it is supposed to be. I can't even tell if my bed is 3 feet away from my set of drawers... I just compare how tall I feel I am to whatever I'm attempting to measure (which apparently is not 5'3" like I thought it was when I was 15, 16, and 18 and what it says on my drivers license.... WHOOPS)...

But these people stand on their feet for 12 hours, minus 70 minutes a shift where they are on break. It's just mind boggling and I am awed by their determination. I know I could never do it, mentally or physically.


Anyway, I love my job, however I'm not sure I'm entirely ready to grow up. Most of my friends are in Auburn or Charlotte this summer, or their respective schools, having a grand ol' time, some taking classes. I dislike the fact that I'm living alone, so far away from everyone, but I wouldn't change this experience for anything.

Another IE that was recently hired (he actually did his interview on my first day of work) is 24. He graduated from THE OTHER SCHOOL with a Chemical Engineering degree (I didn't even know that they had/offered engineering degrees). He's a nice guy, and is married. He's 3 years older than I am and has been married for a year. A YEAR! That means, in my head.... I have to start dating someone in the next year... Then when I'm 22 I will get engaged and when I'm 23 I'll get married.

Alright, well in 9 months I turn 22. Personally, that freaks me out that he's married. I brought it up, he didn't really understand... Alright.
As a child/teenager, I always thought to myself, I'm going to meet that special someone in college, just like my parents. My parents are wonderful, wonderful people. They are truly in love, from what it looks like to me & to other people including my siblings. They met at ECU, in one of the dorms (Jarvis) when my mother was trying to study & some idiot was playing drunk guitar songs loudly during quiet hours.

That drunk guy, or sober guy playing drunk songs (depending on when the story is told & the storyteller), was my father.
Later on after knowing each other, my mom asked my dad out because he was the only one she knew who had a suit with him at college... She was going to some honors dinner function. She's pretty much the bomb-dot-com.

where my parents met, Jarvis!

In front of the dorm, 27 years later!

To me, they just don't make love like this anymore. Through thick & thin, for better or for worse is something that isn't exactly honored now. For worse just means, when it gets tough, we'll get a divorce.
To me, their relationship might not be perfect, but it works, and they work hard to stay in love & happy. Especially with three crazy kids, and me as one of them!


Wow, I got super off topic... But that's the beauty of it all.

Tuesday Things

As I sit watching HP and the Prisoner of Azkaban, I am soooo sad about Friday. The past 12 years of my life have been filled with the expectation of another book, another movie, another adventure with Harry, Hermoine, and Ron. Is it possible to be truly sad that it is over?

On another note, I love nail polish. Not getting my nails done, why should I spend $20 on a manicure when I can buy at least 3 colors? I love blues, purples, pinks, reds, greens, lavender.... etc. I have painted my nails Russian Navy by OPI from their Russia collection. My mother gave it to me for Christmas two or three years ago, saw it on my nails & named it "bruised toe blue". My sister got Catherine the Grape. I steal it from her every time I go home... Sometimes, not always, I am successful.

Today, an operator tugged my pony tail... Quite strange, isn't it? I wasn't aware I was back on the playground at Selwyn Elementary... He's a Florida fan, so it's not like we could ever be friends.

I've been reading the French Vogue & looking at fashion blogs, etc online... and I really, really wish I was more fashionable.

 

 

luckymag.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pelican Fly

I have a midterm tomorrow for my World Lit 2 class. Instead of studying, I spent 11:30 am til 4:30ish pm doing Kappa recruitment stuff, helping out my sisters Kelsey & Jordan. Let me tell you, I AM SO BUMMED I WILL NOT BE AT RECRUITMENT THIS FALL!!!

It is going to be so fun, so cool, and there are so many awesome things going on. I basically sent emails today & opened recommendations. I'm sworn to secrecy on some things, which I am totally a-okay with keeping.

For those of you who don't know, going to recruitment at Auburn is extremely stressful. There are 17 sororities. You meet all sororities in the first two days, they're called Ice Water Tea days. There's a specific type of dress that you need to wear, a sundress... not a church dress, not a party dress, a sun dress. And then there's the stressful mutual selection process, where the girls going through recruitment choose their top sororities they meet each round of parties (there are 4 rounds) and eventually, hopefully, you find one that you like. You go from 17 parties the first day to a maximum of 3 on the last day (preference day). Then Bid Day is next!

For the girls in the sororities, it's super stressful also. You're charged with meeting a thousand girls & trying to decide if she'll fit into your sorority... ahh. You scream, you yell, you lose your voice, and you have to remember a lot of stuff. I will NEVER EVER forget meeting Kristina Passi during recruitment on Ice Water Tea day... (she's a Kappa now!) We discussed baseball.... and how baseball players hit each other on the butt sometimes when they've done something good. And how other sports players do the same thing... We think it's weird. Even though that was two years ago, it is a memory that sticks with me and with her, and we have a special bond because of that (hi Passi if you're reading this!!)

This video is one made by Baylor University for their recruitment. It defines my life, I love Kappa, I love my sisters, and I AM Kappa obsessed... I can't think of anywhere else I would rather be.


Back to studying? Must I?

Sunday Funday

I love Sundays.
When I'm at home, I go to church. During the school year, I go to church. Not so much during the summer when I'm living alone and basically have no motivation for anything.

On Sundays, I always want a chicken biscuit.... I always want Chick-Fil-A to be open, but IT'S NOT! such a bummer...

Sundays come with Sunday Secrets from PostSecret, which I have been reading religiously every Sunday for about a year. Now I'm realizing I should have saved my favorite ones. Some I like because they remind me of me, some I like because I know someone going through the same thing, and some I just like because they make you wonder.

Here's one from last week:

I just want to know where that waterfall is, I want to go!

This is from this week:

I think that that is so important. To the entire world, with about 7 BILLION people in the world, I am just one small spec. As Horton would say, "A person's a person no matter how small." Which is true, but sometimes I feel we argue about stupid things that really don't matter.

Is it really that important? The world is filled with wars, discord, poverty, and hunger... Just a thought.

Family Time

These are some of my favorite family pictures from this week... And just fun pictures too!

Margie & ME!

Mommyy & beer

Typical family moment

Mom not caring as Drew tackles Michael

Gosh, I just love my family. I need to do a thing about "Things My Mother Says" like the book "Shit My Dad Says".... She's hilarious!

Operators Say the Darndest Things

You've heard of the saying "kids say the darndest things"... well, let me tell you, it applies to operators who work at the plant. Good LAWD, it is RIDICULOUS. As some of you can attest, they're quite hilarious... let me just list them.

"Hey, do you work out?"
1. WHY ARE YOU ASKING ME THIS?
2. That is a very silly question to ask, especially since I can't hear ANYTHING anyway, so he had to ask me 4 times before I heard him. I stop after the 2nd time now, I just can't take it.
3. He was saying that I had tone arms, 


"How much do you think it would cost to send my daughter to AUM?"
1. Sir, I am an engineer, not a financial planner, not an academic adviser... I cannot tell you, you should have thought of this when she said "hey dad, I'm going to college."
2. If you're sending your daughter to school in August, AKA one month.... It's a little too late.
I answered him, in state tuition is about $5,000 at Auburn a semester. He freaked out, saying he doesn't have that. Sir, you should have thought about that before now. Children are expensive!! Especially those who want to go to college. If you want better for yourself & your children, you need to try and save money...


"You won't find any of the brothers there down at the beach, I'm a brother, I know."
This was told to me by approximately a 40 year old man wearing a back brace... He's talking about people going to the beach...


"You ain't got no kin down here?"
Asked to me by an older man, who was very concerned that I was living in Alabama and my closest family was 6-7 hours away.

This one guy was showing me his new tattoo... It was a Wednesday, he got it on Monday. It is of a green koi fish.

There is a yellow koi, orange, and white. and blue. I see no dark/lime green colored fish. I really wanted to tell him that was a stupid color to choose for a koi tattoo. But it's permanent. So, I will not.
But I said it in my head.

I believe I am going to hell....

Summer Sunshine

The past two weekends, I went to the beach with my family. July 1st, we went to a Braves game, then the 2nd we drove to Auburn & gave my grandfather a tour.

Family after the win

Samford Hall, Auburn

Then, after touring around, we went to the beach. It supposedly is a 4 hour drive to Santa Rosa Beach, FL from Auburn, but, we got there 6 hours after we left Auburn. It was an epic fail of a drive. Meg & I almost died twice. However, get there we did & it was GORGEOUS!

Sunset at the pool

 We had a wonderful time at the beach, I did not take nearly as much pictures as I wanted, but the water was beautiful, with some seaweed the first few days.
I went back to work on Wednesday, and then went back to the beach Friday (yesterday) and back to Auburn today!

Wow, what a crazy week...

Mom & I, relaxing after a hard beach day

Little Lie-on Man

Little Lion Man, Mumford and Sons

I like to exaggerate. What some people would call lies, I just call exaggeration. I'll make numbers higher, say "like ten" instead of "3". I tell people what they want to hear for the most part. "No, I'm not mad at you." or "Yes, I love it here." when really I'm furious & I just want to go home.

When I answer a "how are you?" with "doing well" something is wrong with me. If I'm not talking to an adult whom I respect & won't tell my life/week long story to, then I'm honestly not doing well. However, if I answer with "ehhhhh", I'm telling the truth.

My Weekend

This is one of my happy songs, circa Kate's life in 2009.

I had a fabulous, absolutely wonderful weekend. And I stayed in town too! Dothan has been very hard to adapt to, being from a city with around 800,000 people (according to Wikipedia). Dothan supposedly has around 60,000.

On Friday, I went around doing my cycle times. There are 42 machines, I have to get 3 cycles, which are about 3 minutes apiece. It should take me about 7 hours to do every machine, but it tends to take at least 10 (a day and a half of work) to time them all. Sometimes machines are down, sometimes everyone is on break and there is no machine running to time, and sometime I waste some time talking to my operator friends. I like to think I have made at least three operator friends. They are hilarious & wonderful. They have bigger dreams than what they are doing now, and I applaud them for being so driven. It's hard to go to college, get a degree, and then work in a tire manufacturing plant and be proud of that.

After work, I went to La Parilla, a Mexican restaurant, with James. It was DELICIOUS. I had a strawberry margarita, though nothing can compare to my Bama Breeze margarita from Margaritaville. And I people watched, one of my all time favorite activities. We sat at the bar and had a fabulous time making fun of other people.

Saturday, I went to the Grower's Market at the Convention Center and bought blueberries & tomatoes. I made my favorite lunch (grilled cheese sandwich) and then went out and bought myself a new camera. Best Buy was having a sale this weekend, and the cameras I had my eye on were on sale! However, they were out of all of them, so I bought an older version of a Nikon Coolpix. I haven't had a camera since March, when I lost it/misplaced it at my sorority formal (GOSH DARN IT I'M STILL UPSET ABOUT THOSE PICTURES!).

Then, I went grocery shopping, made bread pudding, ate bread pudding, and went to a Japanese restaurant for dinner and had hibachi chicken (yum.yum) and tons of red wine. Cue the UB40!

The Labyrinth at The Episcopal Church of the Nativity

Then, Sunday, I went to church. I had not been on my own since my birthday week, when I went to Holy Week and Easter services. It was wonderful to be back in the Episcopal church, which I know is my home. Everything is so familiar, no matter where I am. It gives me hope, strength, and I find solace in the tradition.

It made me miss Holy Comforter...

Sanctuary Stained Glass Window

"I will send you another comforter from the Father, even the spirit of truth." John 14:16

Too Much...

I am quite aware that I blog far too much, however, I don't really care...

Anna has, once again, introduced me to a fabulous artist, Laura Marling. AND a fabulous duo, Chris Thile & Michael Davies (check out their AWESOME SONG!) too much, I know.

Off to do my Saturday errands in preparation for this upcoming Friday! Camera, grocery store, baking, cooking, laundry. And maybe some Saturday Shenanigans :)

Also, check out Laura's song New Romantic

Dreams

Yesterday, I had a long talk with myself on the topic of dreams. Would I sacrifice a relationship for a dream? Would I sacrifice a dream for a relationship?

As I am currently single, this topic doesn't really concern me at the moment. However, in the future, if I happen to find myself in a relationship and I am offered a dream job somewhere not in the United States, what would I do? I find myself wondering what God would want me to do, because he brought me here to this moment. Had certain things not occurred last April, I would never have applied for an international internship for that same fear. However, it did and I did. And I am thrilled beyond belief to be achieving a lifelong dream of mine... I think about it every day, I worry, I get excited, and I get nervous. Why? Because I have to start over, in French!
When operators ask me what I'm doing on the plant floor when I come by their post, I tell them. Now I'm starting to think about telling them in French! It's a good exercise for me.

So, my question to you is: what would YOU do? Would you give away a perfectly stable & healthy, happy relationship for the dream/job of a lifetime? Or would you give up on your dream to stay with your perfect mate?

Food for thought.


(Also: decided to put music at the top, so while you're reading you can jam out to music! Isn't Santana's voice amazing? So jealous...)

Happiness

A happy Saturday to be sure! I am super excited and basically have decided to take over Al's wedding and plan it for her... haha, a little too eager beaver!

I've already told her I'd sing the first dance song for her... More by Bobby Darin, which is quite an amazing song:

"More than the greatest love the world has known
This is the love that I give to you, alone
More than the simple words I try to say
I only live to love you more each day..."

Or maybe I should just save my suggestion for my wedding day, if I ever find someone insane enough to want to spend the rest of his life with me... Let's be real here, I'm a bit on the crazy side of quirky... And I have stupidly high standards. So, I am content with being the cat lady, the cool aunt who doesn't marry, and adopting children from far-off countries and going where the wind takes me. Which will most probably be France. I hope.

But if I do end up getting married, I'd love to wear this on my head:

Twigs & Honey headbands

My cousin, Anna, blogged about this website and company the other month, and since then I've gone back periodically to check it out! Anna, by the by, is super cool. She is quirky, stylish, fashionable, and artsy. I've always wanted to be like her (now you know!) even though I'm older. If you know her, you understand. You wonder: HOW DID SHE GET TO BE SO FREAKING AWESOME?!

On another note, I wrote a 6 page paper last night. It was due at midnight and I started at 4:30, taking some breaks along the way. I got my grade back just now, and I got a 95. Which is a bit unreasonable because I did not think I did a spectacular job at expressing my opinion... Berini would have given me an 84, a low B. Because she is Berini and an A from Berini requires too much effort and work than I could ever have done my junior year of high school... Ah, the IB days. Pure hell.

At least it is over :) I get to see my family in 7 days and 23 hours! I am so excited, ecstatic, and overwhelmed to see them again. It's been so hard being away but I know it is just a fact of life and I will be stronger at the end of this summer for it.
Plus, I'm preparing for... FRANCE!

In other news, I finally know what it feels like to be relaxed, stress-free, and happy. Although I live alone and have little time to cultivate friendships with the few people I know, I like what I am doing. Working is the highlight of my day. I come home and I read books, which is the second highlight. And nobody at home tells me to clean my room (sorry Mom), so I usually don't.

"She walks, looks, and drives like an ace now!"
Does anyone remember when music used to be good? Beach Boys always remind me :)