I AM Still Alive...

Just super-duper busy! The past few weeks I've been buried under graduate school decisions, job applications, tons of events and exciting things at SECCA, visiting with family/bf/friends, and lots and lots of other things that I'm working on.

Just wanted to give a quick shout out to let you guys know that I'm still here, still blogging (eventually), and that I love and miss you all!

I'll be sure to catch you guys up on everything soon!

Cupcakes and Chocolate, Tennis and Tickling, Fondue and Fogo, Cards and Cuddling, and Lots of Love!

Okay, I know that this title is completely about all the incredible things that made up my wonderful Valentine's weekend, but I also need to catch up on everything that happened last week leading up to this weekend. I'm snuggled up in my bed with some fabulous PJs, so let's go!

Last week seems like kind of a blur/was a little bit boring. We were all recovering from our WS Shuffle the Saturday before and didn't really have too many big things going on last week, so it was pretty relaxed overall. I've got a few things that I'm working hard on right now, so I'll just add some details about last week that way....

The Intersections Project: an awesome way that SECCA interacts with the education community, focusing on blending the arts with other subjects. We build artist residencies with local educators and the 2 groups (artists and teachers) work together to create and implement lesson plans that illustrate the importance of art in all subjects. I'm really excited about working with Lakeside HS in WS on a project involving our upcoming Munoz exhibit. We had a meeting with the art teachers last week and I might even get to work with the dance department too! SO exciting!

Community Day at SECCA: a partnership with Reynolda House (our neighbor and another art museum, although they have a permanent collection and are fairly different than us). Coming up in March, this day will be a blend of activities and art that tie together themes from the Munoz exhibit. I've been working on lots and LOTS of ideas about ways to do this/translate his work into things that are relevant for children/families. Water is a common theme, so I've been thinking about activities like water glass music, water drumming (awesome!) and channeling my HS drumline and their show using water on top of steel drums. We (my supervisor Michael and I) have had a lot of meetings last week and this week too with community members and other people involved in the planning phases. I'll keep you posted on everything and if you have ideas to share, definitely let me know!


Crossroads Concert: It's THIS Saturday! I feel like we've pretty much got everything in place except for a few last minute things, like cutting gels for lights and setting the different scenes, picking up random things like table cloths and pizza, and other fun things....I'm going to be helping with lighting a little bit this week I think, which I've found out that I really enjoy. :) Also related to Crossroads, I got to help hang the artwork of Jim White, one of the performers that actually is from Athens. Funny story: his daughter is also friends with my sister. Small world! It was exciting getting to help install some work, which I had never done before and will be a great skill in the future. Adding it to the resume, along with backwards parallel parking, which I did the other day in order to park in front of TJ Maxx. I swear, Winston-Salem had more parallel parking spots than any city I know!

Social Media Marketing: I'm getting a little sick of it, but hey, it's good info/experience/reveals the true intricacies of successful marketing/PR.....


This week I also got to help with the de-installation of 2 of our shows: Shinique Smith and Glenda Wharton (not yet on Glenda, but I hope to). Each of these exhibits were really different in scope, technique and material and it's interesting to see the different techniques that are used to pack everything up. It's also surreal to see the "dissection" of some of the pieces. Literally the day before this pile of materials was "art" that no one could touch, get too close to, or breathe on but today we put on our white gloves and very carefully take this piece apart, package it in bubble wrap (I had to keep myself from playing with it the whole time) and pack it safely away to the artist or next gallery to be reconstructed, installed, and become "art" again.



Okay, so enough about all the worky stuff (and I'm sure I'll post more later this week). On to the fun Valentine's stuff and lots of pictures! :)

I had an absolutely INCREDIBLE weekend in Georgia with my fabulous family and bodacious boyfriend! :) I was able to make it to Mel's first tennis match

and then baked some delicious Valentine's cupcakes while spending some quality time at home

and then I headed down to Atlanta to see my boo (aka Nick my fantastic BF!) He surprised me my taking me to Atlantic Station where they had a valentine's dipping station with lots of chocolate and lots of things to be dipped in it: strawberries, rice crispy treats, cookies, and all kinds of delicousness! He even got me a cute teddy bear. And everything benefitted Make-a-Wish Foundation, which is supah awesome :) Then we went to Kilwin's and picked out some truffles to share before heading to Ikea for adventures in towel bar searching, furniture investigation, and all around fun.  When we got back to the Phi Kap house it was time to get ready for a surprise dinner at.....Fogo de Chao! It's an amazing Brazillian steakhouse that I'm pretty sure has it's only location in the southeast right in Atlanta! Nick has been telling me about it for literally months because he and his fraternity brothers usually go once every semester (at least) and I can see why now. It.was.delicious!

After resting/getting over our "meat coma" at his fraternity brothers aptly call it, it was time for Partygeddon at the Phi Kap house!

It was great to see all the bros and their awesome girlfriends/fiances and everyone else down in Atlanta, especially Johnny!. :)

I got to swing by and see my family before heading up to NC and we had a great "nicnic" on the porch in the beautiful sun. I really couldn't have asked for a better Valentine's with so many people that I love! :)

Home Is Where The Music Is...

I just got back from visiting Centenary United Methodist in downtown Winston and I had to take a minute to try and reflect on all the "soul searching," realizing, recognizing, and rejoicing that I've experienced in literally the last 12 hours. Last night was our WS Shuffle battle of the bands and it was absolutely incredible. There were all kinds of performers and instruments: mandolins (and octave mandolins), guitars, basses, miniature pianos, banjoes....and so much more. It really and truly made me feel like I was "home" to hear all the different styles of music that I grew up around and lots of new styles too. I think that we all feel a deep connection with music (at least I know I do), but I have experienced this even more so in the past few weeks.


As I'm struggling (maybe not struggling...trying?) to make a temporary "home" for myself here in NC, I think that I've become more and more aware of the power of music in my life. Whether dancing like a crazy person to my ipod, listening to the chapel bells play my favorite songs, discovering new radio stations, or singing songs from my childhood with the congregation at a Sunday morning service, the last few weeks have presented me with musical experiences that have helped me to know myself better through music.

Soirees and Social Media

This week has been a mixed bag of all sorts of experiences, people, celebrations, and opportunities.
It was back to the office on Monday for our 9 am staff meeting where I found myself dozing off a little bit. Not because of the content, but I guess driving all over 3 states in 3 days the past weekend had finally caught up with me. Our curator Steven Matijcio, who is extremely creative and bright, presented lots of information about our upcoming Oscar Munoz exhibit, which I hope to help install when it comes in March. Munoz is a Colombian artist who works with video and multimedia, including newspapers (which I immediately connected to because of my love for collaging) and sugar cubes...delicious! :) I spent a lot of time this week thinking about how to tie in Munoz's representation of memories with concepts for Community Day and am really excited to (hopefully) come up with some cool ideas for performances, activities, etc. 


Monday evening was the Winston-Salem Women's Fund Marvelous Monday gathering at SECCA. (what a mouthful!) My Aunt Patti is a member and it was really nice to see her and all 115 women having a great time. They had only expected about 40-50, so it was great for everyone (and especially our attendance numbers) that so many people came to see how wonderful SECCA is. 




Tuesday and Wednesday I worked a lot on researching/brainstorming more things for community day, organizing my calendar, and taking care of other necessary tasks. I had the unique opportunity to meet with the Programs Committee of our SECCA board and the exec. director of the Hispanic Arts Initiative that is working with us as we continue planning for our Community day. I'm thankful that I've gotten to meet so many different people up here and that I'm able to see how the "bigger picture" of everything works into what I'm doing everyday.


My other main project for this week was social media!!!!! And lots of it....Almost since I started interning it seems like I've been brainstorming, refining, presenting, and finalizing my ideas for how to use our social media (blog, FB, Twitter, Flickr, and YouTube) for promoting things like our concert series. I called my first "big girl" meeting with some other staff members this week, which went really well. I also made up a timeline for how to implement promotions and how to phase out 2 of our THREE Facebook pages (which we weren't aware that we had.....most had been created and abandoned-ish by other interns years back...). I got lots and lots of positive feedback on my ideas today, which was really exciting. It's kind of terrifying to put your ideas out there in an organization you've only been a part of for a few weeks....


Okay, that takes care of (most) all the worky stuff. Now it's time for the recap of the highlights of my week.....


Groundhog Day!
Why? 2 beautiful reasons.....


1. Both Punxsutawney Phil and Groundhog Gus of Athens did not see their shadows. Bring on the spring!!!


2. I got to celebrate the Chinese New Year with my cousin Jonathan, Miho, and their beautiful baby Emi. We had delicious dumplings, watched the ceremonies on their Chinese TV channel, and had a lovely evening. I also got to talk to Lina, my boss from Number One China back home where I worked for years. :) 


The Chapel Bells at Wake Forest


Last night I was headed over to the WF Wesley Foundation services. If you've read some of my other earlier posts you know that I've been struggling with finding a "church home" up here and wasn't really sure about how I felt about Wesley Foundation. I really do want to build connections and friendships with people by own age, but the services haven't really been that great for me. In fact, last nights service wasn't even the reason I walked away feeling so happy, blessed, and fulfilled. It was the chapel we had the service in.


I left work at around 5, parked on campus across from Wait Chapel, and as I was about to call my mom (I had a little while till the service started),  I heard the bells in the chapel ringing. I rolled down my window, letting the freezing air hit my face, and was greeted by the beautiful, complex music of the bells in the tower. I listened for a little while with that nagging feeling of "I know this song" until I realized that it was "Here Comes The Sun" by the Beatles. This has always been one of my favorite songs and I recently had been listening to it a lot because it reminds me of home, my mama, and just feeling happy and warm and sunny. It was so exciting and heart-warming that I had to call my family and hold the phone up for Mel to listen. And then.......another song came on after I got off the phone with them. The tune? "Can You Feel The Love Tonight" from the Lion King, which of course was a sign that I had to call my best friend Lisa! I hadn't talked to her in a little while since we're both sooooo busy with internships (and she's had 5 o'clock am shifts!), but I held the phone up for her to listen and we had a really great conversation catching up about our visits home in the past weekend, internship adventures, and how life was going. :) (I also have to make note that the Lion King was also one of our bus movies for Redcoats this year and the song reminded me of all my sousa and flagline family, who I miss dearly. One love!) 


I know it sounds a little bit crazy, but hearing these two songs sitting in the parking lot while talking to some of the people that make me feel more like myself after just hearing their voice really made my day/night/rest of the week. I'm still in awe how little things like this can make such a huge impact. This experience reminded my of one of my favorite quotes from John Muir: "when one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world." No matter how overwhelmed we get with how big the world seems, we are each an important strand in the beautiful tapestry of life. 


Valentine's Cards


I <3 <3 <3 them! 'nuff said. :) 

I've Got Lots of Catching Up To Do...

So let's get started!

When I last posted it was the night before our first theatre show, which went off without a hitch last Saturday night. We had a pretty good crowd and I think people really enjoyed the show. I was a tad bit disappointed that I didn't get to work the sound or light board (Sacred Heart and Wake Forest had their own people to do it), but that's OK, I'll be "working it" plenty in the next few weeks. ;)

Sunday I went to fellowship at the Unitarian Universalist with my Aunt Patti again, which was quite interesting.....I had a great time being her stand in mentor to a 7th grader named Ellis who was absolutely adorable, but I really didn't get much out of the service. At. ALL. I honestly was more spiritually fulfilled driving around later on that gorgeous Sunday afternoon listening to old choir hymns on the public radio station being reminded of what an incredible and inspirational person my grandmother Atkinson was  and soaking in how blessed I am to be here in Winston-Salem with the opportunities that I've been given. I may start exploring new churches, which can be kind of intimidating when you go by yourself but I think I may need to find a different spiritual "home" while I'm up here....

Monday it was back to work at SECCA and we had our first staff meeting, which went really well. It's kind of hard to say what else I did last week because a lot of it is a blur but here are some things that I know I worked on:

1. My blog! It's finally up and running on our SECCA blog! Check it out! http://seccablog.wordpress.com/

2. My questionnaire for the gallery. After much editing, passing around for review, more editing, and a "good job" from the executive director, my very own personally designed questionnaire is printed, cut, and in the gallery! Now, if we can just get people to fill it out....

3. Info about our upcoming exhibits (Oscar Munoz and American Gothic)

4. Lots of other stuff that I can't remember right now...

***Also this week I took care of the dreaded UGA Masters of Public Administration grad school application that was really not as bad as I had thought it would be. I kind of had a mini-freak out on Sunday night when I realized that the deadline for assistantship consideration was February 1st, but Nick helped calm me down, my mama was awesome and helped me edit papers, and I knocked it out in about 3 days and sent it off on Thursday morning. Boom. I don't ideally want to go straight to grad school right after finishing my undergrad, but at least this way I (hopefully) will have the option. I need to look around to see if there are other programs that I really feel led to, but at 75 bucks a pop for applications I think it's going to take some pretty serious convincing. They'd better have some fancy dancy brochures if they want any mo' of my money right now....


After a long week of work, I got to enjoy some much needed FAMILY/BF/FRIEND TIME! WHOO!
Thursday night I got to see my cousin Steph who was home to pick out a business suit for one of her classes, although I know this was just her excuse for coming back to see me :). I went over to her house on Thursday night for a great dinner with her and her parents and we had a really good time talking about how awesome our entire family is and how many good memories we had together. It was really nice to see her, but I was exhausted and had to go home and finish packing for my trip to GEORGIA!
I got everything that I needed together, but also ended up having a nice (long) talk with my Aunt Deanna before heading upstairs to make a "Home" playlist, at which point it was 2 AM! After getting some rest and knocking out the rest of my Friday, I headed down to Atlanta to see my wonderful boyfriend Nick! It had been about 3 weeks since we saw each other which, as he pointed out when I was so teary about leaving at the beginning of my internship, is what we're pretty much used to doing as a long distance couple. That's one of the advantages of this whole internship/relationship balance: we're used to being apart for a while, although somehow being 2 states away instead of having the option of driving down to Atlanta if I needed to makes a bigggggg difference and I still miss him a lottttt.

After checking in at the Phi Kap house and catching up with everyone, we walked to dinner at Golden Buddha in Atlanta (walk = lovely, food= so so). After that we had a nice movie/margarita night and hung out with some of his Phi Kap fraternity brothers, their girlfriends/fiances, and other friends. It was really nice to be back in Atlanta to see everyone and of course one in particular. ;)

After a Saturday brunch at the new WaHo (that Nick is super proud of, and I'll admit the bouncy waiting couch is tons of fun) with "Other Nick" and his gf Kati, it was time for me to head out to D'ville to see my incredible family! My sister Mel just made her middle school tennis team and we spent lots of time that afternoon playing together with my dad and our exchange sister Airi while Mama was the "ball girl" and walked laps. :) We had a fantastic dinner of steak and mashed potatoes (my favorite!) with my other sister Maribel and her bf Stephen and then played one of our fav family games: Uno Attack! It was a nice evening, but it was also kind of hard realizing that I had to leave the next day. I didn't fell like I really got to spend a lot of time with my sister Maribel, which was really difficult but I was thankful to have been able to see her anyway. :)

Sunday we all went to church together, which was really, really nice and then we got to go swimming (one of our favorite Montgomery pass-times) at the Y! We stopped at Fox's pizza (Mel's fav) on the way home to get the GIANT Big Daddy pizza (complete with neon box accents and square pieces) so that we could have a picnic (or as Maribel used to call it when she was little a "nic nic") outside on our porch. It was lovely to be soaking up the sun, spending time with some of my most cherished people, visit with my pets, and enjoy the splendor of the day. We even planted a new tree that should be blooming in the not-so-far-away spring. :) After a lovely weekend, it was finally time to pack back up and head back to Winston, which was bittersweet but also a lot easier than the last time I left because I know that I'll be back soon. The drive really isn't that bad and I'm so thankful that I can come back and visit everyone. If I didn't get to see you this time through Georgia, hopefully next time I'm in town we can meet up and you're definitely welcome to come visit me up here too!

I Never Want To See Lights Again!

Ok, just kidding. I actually love the light (natural and otherwise). My most favorite room in my aunt Deanna's house that I'm staying at is the living room with huge, nearly floor-to-ceiling windows that look out over the lake. It is absolutely gorgeous when it's snowing, sunny, or pretty much any time of day.

Actually, I'm just sick of theatre lights. And not really those either because they're pretty cool, but I spent way too much time with them today for our production that is coming up tomorrow night. Today I spent a solid 3-4 hours programming a 20 year old light board, crawling around on the catwalk, adjusting lights, searching in the SECCA basement for power sources to the dimmer packs, and all kinds of other things I had no idea how to do before today. It's exhilarating to learn new things (and to be 25-30 feet above the stage), but today was a very, very long day.

I'm still kind of stressed about getting everything together for the show tomorrow, but I'm just going to let the professionals handle it and help out where I'm needed. It's going to be a longggggg day tomorrow and I'm really enjoying my evening in tonight. At approximately 6 this evening I had already taken a nice, hot bath, changed into my pajamas, and talked/Skyped with my family and Nick. Eventually I made my way downstairs for some dinner and a nice talk with my aunt Deanna and now we're both sitting in the living room. She is working diligently on student reports and I am blogging and about to play with my GPS.

MLK, SH, EC, SB, HP, WF WF, and TGI(almost)F!

Ok, some explanations of all my acronyms:

MLK = Awesome. You should know what this means. SECCA was closed on Monday in observance of MLK Day, which meant working from home for a few hours, spending some time with my aunt and uncle for dinner, and Zumba-ing at the local Y which was TONS of fun and probably the best Zumba class I had ever taken! Overall, a pretty awesome day, although working from home is a lot harder than working in the office. Plus, I didn't have all that much stuff to work on besides updating my calendar and finalizing a survey that I've created, but somehow I found enough hours to make it work.

SH = Sacred Heart is the name of the group that is putting on our show this weekend. It's getting closer and closer to Saturday and you can feel the excitement (or maybe it's just the stress) in the air. The group has been in the space since Tuesday setting up and rehearsing and it's been really cool to see it all come together, although I would really love to get a technical run in tomorrow or at least before the show on Saturday so we can practice our cues. I sound a little bit like I know what I'm doing, although I've never, ever had experience with light boards, sound boards, or many of the things I've been learning about this week.

EC = Emi-Chan, my lovely cousin and the granddaughter of my great aunt Deanna (who is so graciously hosting this North Georgia exchange student).  Deanna's son (my second cousin) came over Tuesday night to grab some things out of his old room, the one I'm staying in, and invited me over for a delicious dinner made by his wife Miho. We had a great time dining and laughing at baby Emi who is now walking all over the place.

We played harmonica...

and cuddled with the Hippo that I got her for Christmas/played on the couch while we watched the UGA and UNC basketball games.

SB = SOUND BOARD!

Wednesday I got to meet with Rob Gelber, one of the many awesome people I've been working with so far. He and I spent about an hour learning about our HUGE sound board in the theater. Check it.

It's giant and I'll admit kind of intimidating, but we started right in with the basics about sound boards, the different equipment we had, and our needs for our upcoming concert series "Crossroads," featuring Jim White (of Athens!) and The South Memphis String Band (sorry folks, I could only find the MySpace link for them as of now).  We'll get to practice more next Tuesday evening when our SECCA Board member Andy Tennille is able to get a local band in to rehearse on stage. It was a really great feeling to have been able to learn a brand new, useful, and just generally awesome skill. Rob even tested me by making me close my eyes while he messed up the board and then had me fix it, which actually wasn't as hard as I expected. I'm pumped about getting to try it out for real next week and I'll be sure to keep you guys posted on the adventures of DJ Mercy.

HP: Harry Potter! (you should watch the video link!)  Last night I was sooooo tired after a particularly long day/evening so I decided to hit the hay early, finish The Chamber of Secrets, and get some good rest. I dreamed about meeting to Obama's, which was a lot better than the night before when I dreamed I couldn't get back home and Maribel was super mad at me. Dreams are crazzzy.....

WF WF = Wake Forest Wesley Foundation!

The Wesley Foundation is a Methodist student group that exists on many campuses, including UGA and Wake Forest! Tonight was my second time visiting the WF Wesley Foundation and it is verrrry different than what I'm used to Athens: much, much smaller, we get to eat, only 3 worship songs, and then more of a guided Bible reading than a sermon/message. It's been interesting to see this new style, although I don't really know if it's the right fit for me. I go straight from SECCA to Wesley and by that point I'm usually pretty dang tired, plus the service is just not as fulfilling to me. I think I may start looking around for other college services/groups. I definitely plan on continuing to go to the Unitarian Fellowship with my aunt on Sundays and hopefully I'll find the right group for me. While I know that all Wesley Foundations are not at all the same, I guess I was hoping that it would be an instant fit...

TGI(almost)F! = hopefully I don't need to explain this one. While this was only a 4-day work week, I definitely feel like I've done a lotttt this week. I'm trying to get used to this whole 9-5 thing, sitting at a desk most of the day, and basically the "real world" that everyone always talks about. I know that this weekend is going to be pretty busy with the show, but I'm looking forward to having Friday night and Saturday morning to chill...

Frozen Georgia Peach

It's only been a few days since I last posted, but it honestly feels like forever. So much stuff has happened in the past few days, so I'm going to try to (briefly) up date everybody :)

Wednesday was booooorrrrrrringggg. I ended up leaving the house that evening just to go grocery shopping (more like grocery roaming because I don't think I really bought anything) just so I could get out of the house. Oh, but I did find a Rugged Wearhouse and got a pair of white leather flats for $7. Booyah.

Thursday--I FINALLY started my internship!!!!!!! YAY! I spent the morning reading strategic plans, survey info, and a constituent segmentation study, which was actually a lot more fun than it sounds. It is kind of cool to see the things that I've learned about come to fruition in a much more tangible way. :) I also met with our contact at Wake Forest that will be helping with our upcoming production "The Key Said Run and The Door Said Fly" (Check out the description here. It's really trippyizle). I went to lunch with my co-worker Kristin (our programming assistant/graphic designer) down the road at Reynolda at a restaurant called Simply Yummy and it was just that. (I got a grilled cheese sandwich that had brown sugar in the butter. soooo good!).

The rest of the afternoon I traveled to DT Winston to put up flyers, which was a great way to get out and see the city, even if it was fah-reezing! DT W-S is a lot like Athens, but about half the size. Oh, and replace some of the bars and all the ritzy-bitzy shops with art galleries, theaters, and arts councils. I'm starting to finally get my bearings around town and everyone was so friendly!

Friday we had an awesome staff breakfast, which happens every week! Woo hoo! After sharing lots of crazy youtube vids like the rat on the subway and a man getting hit with an icecream truck, my supervisor Michael and I met with Rob who will be doing sound for our concert series (featuring an artist from Athens that happens to have a daughter that is friends with my sister). I'm going to be helping him run the sound board, which I have never, ever done but am excited to learn next week.

The rest of Friday was spent running errands DT with Kristin, like dropping of a grant application and visiting local college campuses and trying to find a place to put up even more flyers. I also had lots of fun cleaning my OFFICE! Yes, I have a super fancy grown-up girl office with a view of the front lawn and little birdies sing outside my window.  I feel like a modern-day Snow White, except I already have a fabulous prince. ;) I kinda geeked out and took pictures after it was nice and clean.

Friday night Kristin and Ashley (a SECCA volunteer) and I headed DT to check out the local "establishments," which was really chill and a lot of fun. We even visited the super cool brewery (that kind of reminded me of Copper Creek in Athens) that is sponsoring our concert series. :)

Saturday I slept in, which was lovely, and then headed over to my Aunt Patti and Uncle Ted's for the weekend. We went to Salem College, which is an amazing place to visit. They have dorms from the early 1700's/1800's that are still in use and lots of cute little shops with Moravian wares and culture. It was so picturesque! Then we headed to Lowe's Foods for a couple of things (and saw a lady back into a car) and then headed back for some delicious stir fry and an evening of "Shrek Ever After," which I definitely recommend!

Sunday we headed to the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship service, which was a totally new experience for me! It was UU Cafe, headed up by my own Aunt Patti, so we were busy in the kitchen before and after the service, ate lots of yummy food, met lots of fun people, and had a great morning filled with a nice message about peacemakers such as Ghandi and MLK. It wasn't the kind of service I'm used to, but I'm definitely thankful for this opportunity to grow in my knowledge and faith.

This afternoon we went to walk around Reynolda Gardens, but it was a tad bit chilly so we headed over to TJ Maxx to kill some time. I was tempted by a lot of fun things, like disco-ball shoes and a perfume that I really like, but considering the fact that I haven't found a definite sub-leaser I just bought some much needed socks. :)  My aunt and I headed over to another one of the Y's to pick up a class schedule and give me a chance to check it out before we headed back home for a dinner of chicken marinara and now I'm chilling on the couch and (semi-) watching Sunday night football.

Although I went through a complete nightmare with my internship paperwork, had a downright terrifying driving experience in downtown Winston, and had a few other challenges this week (moving 2 states away from everything I've ever known and loved, switching to a completely new schedule and setting, and starting the first step in my professional career so far), overall I've had an incredible time. I know that I am surrounded by friendly, caring, loving people both here and at home (via Skype and phone) and I really feel like this opportunity is just "right." I can't much help to echo something that I mentioned in one of my earlier posts. Although this semester is probably going to be the most challenging, I think that it is truly where I am meant to be at this time in my life. I am able to try something totally new in a completely different environment with the support of my friends and family here and at home. And even when times get tough, I can remind myself that I am not bound to this organization or location past my 15 weeks, although I really do love Winston so far.

The first time I met my best friend Lisa's dad last summer we were talking about internships and the (potential) craziness that lay ahead for me and Agent L. He was one of the first people to help me realize the unique opportunity that I had in Winston to try something totally out of the ordinary while still being surrounded my family and not completely tied down to one thing. Now that I'm actually here it's kind of crazy to look back on that conversation that seems so long ago, as well as when my mom mentioned a sign for SECCA when we were up here over the summer and saying "What if you interned there?" I know that I've only interned 2 days at this point and this semester is going to be a long one, but overall I think it promises to be a pretty fantastic experience. :)

Snowed out?

Dear snow in Athens,

Please go away. You're making everyone cancel UGA stuff and my important MOU letter is sitting on President Adams' desk, which he can't get to because of you. I know that you are very beautiful and I love you a lot, but I think that you need to give your affair with Athens a break and come visit me this weekend in Winston-Salem so I can build a HUGE snowman. K?

Love,

Mercy

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The past few days have been completely and utterly stressful/confusing/frustrating. I've been given all kinds of different answers about when I will be able to start my internship (yes Tuesday, no Tuesday, yes Wednesday, Oh UGA decided to close again. NO Wednesday. Maybe Thursday???) and this is really all I want to say about it because I feel like I've been telling the story over and over again, updating everyone who has been gracious enough to put up with all my worries. Thank you so much to all of you who have reminded me that, yes, it is going to all work out in the end and that you love me no matter what dumb paperwork stuff happens.

All in all, this whole experience has helped me realize/rediscover a few things:

1. As my grandmother and mom would always say, "patience is a virtue." This is something that I very often need to remind myself of, especially in times like these. I've been preparing for this internship for what seems like forever but maybe this waiting period will make me that much more enthusiastic about starting at SECCA? I think I'm honestly just ready to get out and do something productive too. :)

2. I have SO many wonderful people that I can count on to talk me down when I'm stressed beyond measure or just reassure me that I've done all I can. I am deeply thankful for every time you guys tell me "it's going to work out." It really means a lot to know that I have such amazing support from such wonderful people.

3. I firmly believe that everything happens to bring us towards a greater good in our lives, whether we realize it at the time or not. I will never know, nor can I imagine, what would be different if I had started interning today. Perhaps I would've tried to brave the icy, snowy roads, possibly putting myself and others in danger. Maybe I just would have had a really not-so-great day. Who knows? Whatever the reason or the impact, I really think that even the most minute aspects of change or challenge are part of the greater plan for my life. Although the purpose behind challenges and roadblocks may seem pointless or just plain frustrating at the time, eventually I always see their impact on other areas of life and the rewards that have come from them. It doesn't always make dealing with them any easier, but I hold tight to the fact that something good will come of not-so-great things.

Happy New Year/Internship/Life! (and Snow Day to all my folks in Georgia!)

Hooooookayyyyy, so.

It's been forever since I posted, but life has been amazingly busy/lovely/incredible/emotional/wonderful over the holidays and I chose to spend time with my fam/bf/friends instead of bloggin' (plus we don't have wireless at home). Anyway, it feels good to be back to getting my ideas down and out and I hope that I'll have more time/set aside more time to do a post. I don't know how much I can write tonight before my computer dies (one of the many things on my to-do list for tomorrow: get a 3 prong outlet adapter so I can charge my computer!) or I fall asleep, but I'ma give it a shot.

I  don't really know exactly where to start, because I have so many thoughts bouncing around in my head and so much has happened over Christmas break that it's hard to narrow it down. I guess I'll just start with today....

Waking up this morning knowing that it would be the last time I was in Georgia for a while felt really weird. It was kind of like I knew that I only had part of the day to spend at home, but I didn't quite know what to do with the last few hours because I guess I was afraid of wasting them, or something crazy like that. I really am not at all good at good-byes because I tend to draw them out, delaying the moment that I have to let go of someone's hand or stop hugging them.  I really am trying to get better (promise!), but I really just want to soak in every moment so that I can remember every detail in times of homesickness or when I miss someone.

My family and I went to church together this morning and heard a fantastic message, which really helped me put things in perspective and know my direction going into this uncharted territory of interning. Our pastor, Dr. Sheila Bookout, spoke of Jesus' baptism and the importance of remembering the significance of our own baptisms, whether as a formal ceremony as child, adolescent, or adult or a simply claiming our place as children of God.  It was definitely a message that I needed to hear and helped remind me about the purpose behind all of the challenges and opportunities in my life.  I often question/worry about where I am in my life and if I'm doing the "right" things. Lately I haven't been feeling as "full" and joyous as usually, probably at least partly due to the stresses of moving 2 states away, finding a sub-leaser since the first one bailed, and realizing that I have to say goodbye to the most important people in my life. But after today's service I feel renewed in spirit and direction. I know that while there are a lot of unknowns about my internship, in the end I am called to a greater cause that is part of a bigger plan to develop and strengthen me in the fullness of life.