Jessa told me I needed to write a blog. She pointed out that this blog is suposed to be our blog and recently it has turned in to her blog. So I'm sitting with her now at her night audit shift with my laptop trying to figure out what to blog about. I like to come sit in the lounge and work while she is at work... it gets me out of the house, gives me a nice quiet place to work and lets us spend time together when we normally wouldn't be able to.

I've recently moved back up to Gainesville, why? That is a good question. There is really nothing about Gainesville as a location that has any redeeming qualities about it. It is one of, if not THE worst place to live in Florida during the summer. So really the only reason to live here (Gainesville) is the people. Jessa was living here and I had friends here from when I lived in Gainesville previously so it just made sense to move back.

So what about work? Well, I picked up a couple telecommute jobs. One if full-time out of San Francisco and the other is contract work out of London. Both are developing with Python and both are so far, going well. I'll probably do a more detailed post about what my typical work week looks like and maybe some tips on how to not let house life distract you from work time, for people interested in telecommuting.

Besides that, it has been just the usual routine. Jessa is still focusing on getting in to graduate school for Student Affairs. I've been working and trying to find the spare time to convert this site to HTML5/CSS3 and blogofile.

I don't know, I've been lacking motivation to actually sit down and write a blog post. I know, I suck. But since Jessa is forcing me to do this one it might trigger me to write some more this upcoming week. If not, expect to see another one at least by the end of next week when Jessa forces me to write another one.

The original wording of this Day 10 post is strange and I'm not going to use it.  So instead I'm going to give you 10. A picture of the person I've done the most silly and fun things with. You've already seen this person in and around my blog, particularly in the New Years Eve post and as someone who makes me laugh in my Make Myself Happy posts.  This lady is my go-to lady for anything new that I want to do.  When I'm bored or need company or need to go out, I call her.  We used to live together, and then we lived blocks from each other in Saint Petersburg so we had easy access to each other. We've drunk from coconuts, we've danced, we've raised money for the American Cancer Society, we've had screaming fights in the pouring rain, we've dressed up for a PinUp themed benefit AND for a ridiculous halloween costume party (She was Snooki and I was Jessica Rabbit). We've gone to baseball games together and sat in ZZTop's Comped Box, we've taken exercise pole dancing classes, we've sung spice girls together, we went to Vegas together (and did all that stuff that stays in Vegas), we threw a baby shower together.   We've made other people cry, we've made each other cry, we've donned mustaches for a Dali party.  She's my person that I make memories with.  And I loves her. [gallery] 1. A picture of yourself and 15 facts about you 2. A picture of you and the person you've been closest with the longest. 3. A picture of the cast of your favourite show 4. A picture of your night 5. A picture of your favorite memory. 6. A picture of a person you’d love to trade places with for a day 7. A picture of your most treasured item 8. A picture that makes you laugh 9. A picture of a person who has gotten you through the most

Still to come in the 30 Day Challenge…..

11. A picture of something you hate 12. A picture of something you love 13. A picture of your favourite band or artist 14. A picture of someone you could never imagine your life without 15. A picture of something you want to do before you die 16. A picture of someone who inspires you 17. A picture of something that has made a huge impact on your life recently 18. A picture of your biggest insecurity 19. A picture of you when you were little 20. A picture of somewhere you’d love to travel 21. A picture of something you wish you could forget 22. A picture of something you wish you were better at 23. A picture of your favorite book 24. A picture of something you wish you could change 25. A picture of your day 26. A picture of something that means a lot to you 27. A picture of yourself and a family member 28. A picture of something you're afraid of 29. A picture that can always make you smile 30. A picture of someone you miss

As some of you already know I've been concentrating most of my efforts on my applications into Master's Programs in Student Affairs and Student Personnel for awhile now.  For the past two weeks I've been funneling my energy into trying to secure myself an assistantship - which is essentially a "part time" job with a University where you'll get to apply the student development theories that you learn in class to the work that you're doing with actual students.  For two of the programs I applied to, that includes interviewing on site if at all possible. Last weekend I went to the University of South Florida in Tampa for two days and participated in their social activities, their networking, their question sessions and their interviews.  It was eye opening and educational to say the least and I learned a whole hell of a lot, but the best part of the entire weekend was the people that I met who were also applicants!  As I've grown older I've noticed that I now have the ability to pinpoint who I'll have the best connection with almost immediately.  Deanna, Trish, Selena and I formed an instant pack that Selena affectionately referred to as "The Bad Girl's Club."    We've been keeping in touch by text ever since to try to support each other as we wait to hear about placements and processes.   Even more of us have been communicating on facebook (although this seems a little less altruistic and a little more competitive).   It's amazing that my very first experience in SA resulted in a mini support system already! [caption id="attachment_955" align="aligncenter" width="549" caption="These are my bad girls. From left Selena, Deanna, Trish and I!"][/caption] Ever since I began doing research on the student affairs profession and started attempting to create for myself a learning platform on social media and blogs, I've heard over and over again that the profession is tiny.  It's said that between conferences and frequent job movement and professional development you'll see the same people over and over again.  I've now experienced that to be true in just one week, which is mind boggling. For the past two days I've been experiencing University of Florida's Open House here in Gainesville.  Same concept but COMPLETELY different approach.   I met some pretty amazing people in this process as well, including a first year in the program that seems like she could be my doppleganger, and a possible assistantship supervisor who is fun and interesting and excited to challenge me! There were a few people at UF's weekend that I had originally met while at USF and what was especially interesting to me was being able to compare and share our opinions about the obvious differences between the programs.  I was able to learn a few things about the diversity of the student experience AND it's terrific being around so many people who are SO PASSIONATE about Student Affairs.

I'm so excited to hit the ground running because being surrounded by these people every day is going to be an amazing experience.

Here are the 5 things I'm most grateful for today... in order of their affect on my life today. :)

• 1. My amazing boyfriend who made me delicious late night snacks and helped me with all of my UF Assistantship stuff until 4 in the morning. <3
• 2. My down comforter for a snuggly and sleepy morning.

• 3. This lady.  She is Director of the Student Personnel in Higher Education Graduate Program - of which I filled out all of the paperwork and information way too late.  She is making me feel so much better about that and helping me to participate fully.  Will meet everyone tomorrow! And I already know that she ROCKS!

• 4. This stuff.  Cause I was looking pretty gnarly in the hairs department and I've got good impressions to make tomorrow. :)

• 5. My Lab Rats.  All the people who hang out at the lab during the slow times and sometimes stay here just to keep me company because it's slow and they don't want me to be alone.  I'm particularly thankful for Bobbo today because it seems like the assholes are out today.  The idiot people who are acting like they know everything - until I prove that I know more about anatomy than them or throw their own inane humor back at them and piss them off.  UGH.  I can't handle them right now.  They're all stressing me out.  As I type this there is some randomly super awkward girl trying to talk to me over the karaoke about the state of her sinuses. SRSLY!?

Bobbo is my savior right now.

Inspiration for this post derived from Earth Mama's Blog... but she's way sweeter than I am and the things she's grateful for seem nicer. :)

I joined a swap at Craftster and my job was to make a stranger some jewelry that followed the themes "Harry Potter" and "Alice in Wonderland." Here's what I came up with... (Sorry in advance for the not great quality camera phone pictures - dunno where my camera is!) [gallery] I used this tutorial by Little Miss Momma to make the roses but had to make a small adjustment.  The felt backing just wasn't sturdy enough to hold the shape of the bib so I used a thicker plastic material between two sheets of felt to create the backing.   I can't wait to make more of these pretty roses!