"Cause if she wanna rock, she rocks...if she wanna roll, she rolls..."

It’s June! Crazyness! Or…craziness. My bad. I’ve almost been home for a month (One month will be Sunday.) and it feels like a year and a week both at once. I guess I have some backtracking to do…

My car on the drive home

I moved out of Regents Hall on May 6^th, 2011. It was so hard, watching this little room that had really become my home suddenly demoted to a stoic, personality-less place. It was harder saying goodbye to the person who helped make it that way. Not gonna lie, I had to sit in the parking lot in my car (which was full to the brim of my stuff) and just cry for a few minutes. And I know that Alma and I are still friends – it’s not like you’re never going to see the person again – but it’ll just be a different dynamic. I miss having her around to talk to and hang out with. We did catch up one day last week in Vancouver, which was really nice.  Looking forward to her coming to Longview soon.

The reason I left Pullman so quickly is because I had a job interview at Macy’s on May 7^th. Spoiler alert – I GOT IT!  :D Yay! I felt like the interview went really well, seeing as this is the first job that I’ve had to “apply” for. My high school job just kind of got dropped in my lap – awesome for the resumé, but provided little apply/interview experience. I’m so blessed to have gotten this job, I know. Though to my credit, I’d been sending out applications and cover letters for probably six weeks prior to summer. I’m working as a “flex team” associate, which basically means that I fill in any shifts that haven’t been picked up by the regular full-time associates. It’s rather unpredictable as to when and what department I’ll be working in, but I don’t mind that really. And I’m having a ton of fun! It’s challenging for me, because I prefer not to be as extroverted and sometimes pushy as this requires, but I know it will have a great impact on my people/professional skills for the future. And there is also the possibility that once summer is over, I can transfer my position to the Macy’s in Moscow, which would mean I could have a job during the school year. Plus, flex-team associates are only guaranteed 40 hours in a quarter, which basically translates to the minimum I work is one shift a week. Not bad. 

I’ve been trying to jump in feet-first to some ministry stuff around Longview/Kelso. There’s a college-age church called The Vine, which I have been starting to go to on Tuesday nights. That was one of my spiritual summer goals – to find a college age group and do my best to get involved in encouraging them. I like it quite a bit, though I don’t know a whole lot of people there quite yet.

In regards to other social stuff, not gonna lie, the whole friend situation can be a little weird sometimes. People who I want to see more often are either not home yet or gone most of the summer, so I’ve spent a lot of time just hanging out by myself. I don’t mind hanging out with myself, but I just miss the constant interaction with people. And some of the people who are in town haven’t seemed very interested in catching up with me…not to make it sound like I think I’m the coolest thing in the world, but just to say I am a little hurt that they’ve gotten so comfortable “not” being as good of friends. I’m starting to move on now, but the first two weeks? I was so ready to go back to Pullman and see all the people there. All my friends there. And yes, I do consider them my friends now. I’m trying really hard to move past my shyness in regards to developing relationships. I’ve recognized that a lot of the time it holds me back because I’m so scared. I need to not be.

I did agree to be a Core Facilitator for ChiAlpha next year. I’m excited to finally have a ministry role at WSU. After growing up in the church and constantly being in positions of service and leadership, I felt very lost last year just being a “follower”. One more way God was affirming my gifts, I guess. So yeah, I’ll be co-leading a small women’s group as well as doing a bunch of other random things to help the Body there. It’s going to be new for me, because as much as I feel called to leadership, I’ve never lead anyone in a spiritual sense before. I need to focus on getting as good with God as possible this summer so I will be in a place to help my sisters next year. Part of how I’m going to be doing that is going to SICM – which is the Student Institute for Campus Ministry in Bellingham, WA. Basically, it’s a one week conference for college students who want to learn how to be leaders on their campuses (campusi?). I’ve heard amazing things about it, and it’s apparently attracting people from all over the country. I know how much that is going to stretch me, but I’m also really excited. There can’t be anything better than spending a week learning how to do what God wants, surrounded by other Christians who are doing the same thing. Just sayin’.  

So overall, I’d say that summer is currently running about a B/B+. But hey, I’m queen of the optimists! I have faith in an “A” summer. It can happen!

Finding some wifi! :)

Until next time, ya’ll.  :D 

*Rock and Roll, Eric Hutchinson