Missing in Action

I have been MIA. With good reason.

Recap: Finished Spring Semester. It was kickin'. Celebrated Mother's Day. Those women deserve it. I did a Maymester. While working full-time. That hurt a bit. Lauren Ramsey, my dearest school buddy, you made those two tedious weeks possible. Along with string cheese. I forgot that back in my lunch box days, I really dug some good string cheese action. I went to the beach with my family. God shone down upon me during those glorious days, and I let his dear, bright sun soak into my soul. And my skin. I have the sun poisoning to prove it.

While at the beach, I read "Water for Elephants." It's the first book I've ever read that is starring Reese Witherspoon. It was somber and great all at once. Praise the lord. Vacation is delicious. And now I want to go see the movie.

A few more photos that encapsulate some good Serenbe-family time. We have celebrated my mom there every year. (We were practicing our fake smiles, can you tell?)

Most recently, I spent the past two days with my intern buddies. We conquered the Camp Winshape ropes course up at Berry College in Rome, Ga. It was awesome, and much harder than I had anticipated. I climbed a 45-foot rock wall. I was reminded about how much heights really flip me out. But it was still awesome. And this crew of interns that Chick-fil-A has compiled are all seriously sharp individuals. Vanessa Vogel, I am so flipping excited to spend the summer with you! We are going to have a cow-mooing-blast.

Now that I am past all of this past month's busyness, I am back to the realization that I am moving. Soon.  And I have to get myself organized accordingly. Which means I actually have to start going through my stuff and PURGING. Which means we have to commit to an apartment up north. Which means that I need to have a garage sale this month. And I need to craigslist my bigger items. It's happening people. It's happening.

Cambridge. My Everest.

Well people. We went to Boston. Orientation happened. We are officially moving. (No turning back. We turned in a deposit.) The weekend was legit. We mixed. Mingled. We smiled, shook strangers' hands. We were walking resumes.

But.

We actually met cool people. And the school wasn't pretentious. Not like I imagined. People were REAL. Impressive, yes. Accomplished, sure. Pure-bred academics. But they were actually cool, normal, FUN people. Got me more excited about moving to New England.

Not gonna lie. The gorgeous blossoming trees helped make the whole Boston/Cambridge experience slightly more magical. We basked in this glory. I also took a nap on a heavenly bench during our lunch break. Meeting that many people can really wear a girl out.

We walked Cambridge for an entire day straight, exploring the neighborhoods and trying to narrow down where we wanted to live. We looked at some awesome apartments and houses, and although we didn't sign a lease on anything yet, we definitely got a feel. We vibed the neighborhoods.

This is one of the apartments we took at peek at. But it was on the 3rd floor of someone's house, and the altitude made Stevie a little woozy.

So one morning we woke up and took a jog on the Charles River. We stopped on the HBS campus and, what else, threw a frisbee. That day we proceeded to walk EIGHT MILES throughout Cambridge. It was my Everest. My feet needed rehab when we got home.

The nighttime came quickly with all that walking. We made some friends and hung out in the downtown Cambridge area, known as Harvard Square. Harvard Square, right next to Harvard University, is about a mile from the HBS campus, and this is the home of the local watering holes. Bars, restaurants, shopping, and the occasional drunken Red Sox fan can be found here. In excess. Along with about a zillion historic buildings that dozens of our founding fathers frequented, lived in, or sneezed on. This city makes me want to pull out all my old childhood history books.

All in all, the orientation weekend gave us a really good picture of the lifestyle led by these MBA students. We found out about financial aid (jaw drop), and housing ("HOW much is rent in this area??"), the social life, and the academic load. We definitely saw the ups and the downs (hello, 6 months of winter.) However, we are more excited now than we ever have been. I feel confident that Stevie is going to come out of this school even more amazing that he already is, and I am thrilled for him. And for me, because I get to use the fancy on-campus gym. I'll tell you later about all the perks I get to indulge in... It's mega.

Oh, and apparently Stevie will be in class with Tyra Banks this year. Google it and let me know your thoughts. I'm just cracking up at the thought of him discussing fashion with her in class. Maybe she'll throw me some free swim suits. I'm gonna have a talk with her about the wonders of pasta and see how she reacts.

In the next week or so, I will start posting my virtual garage sale. Clothes, furniture, and random odds and ends that we have to get rid of in order to move. Read: EVERYTHING MUST GO. We are keeping our bed and dishes, and that's about it. So if you're in the business of furnishing something, be it a living room, closet, or storage shed, we might be the people you are interested in. No, actually we are the people you are interested in.

We are applying for Harvard-affiliated housing this week. It's basically the same process you use to register for college classes, but we are registering for some of their off-campus apartments. They are close to the school and pretty sweet. Pray that we get an amazing pick!

And last, but certainly not least - Lena Hunt, congrats on graduating with two graduate degrees. You make us (and Georgia State) so freaking proud to know you.

More details to come!

Two big thumbs up... and the Brazilian butt lift

Monday marked a HUGE milestone for me in this marathon process I am so fondly referring to as "Project Exit Strategy." (Not super creative - I know. But it was the first thing that popped in my head and it just stuck.)

I had a meeting set up with the Kennesaw State University Communication Dept. Chair to discuss my graduation options.

Side Note: In case you're lost (and thinking, "What the heck is she talking about??", my husband has just been accepted to grad school, which means we are moving to Boston. In 4 months. Super awesome for him, super complicated for me, seeing that I have 11 classes left until I graduate. If I tried to transfer to any schools up yonder, I would lose at least a year's worth of class credit - LAME. So, my "Plan A" included begging Kennesaw to let me finish school - even though I wouldn't be living anywhere close. There wasn't really a "Plan B" in place.

So, walking into this meeting, I was prepared for the worst ("No, Mrs. Hale, we don't give exceptions to students who eagerly move away from our institution, now there's the door!"), but I was believing for the very best ("Why, Mrs. Hale, you are a premier student! We would love to help you! And by the way, you are very lovely! Why don't we let you finish school for free?")

So when I sat down in the lovely Dept. Chair's office (who shall remain nameless, because I'm not sure if I'm legally allowed to mention people's names to a public forum without permission??) I was immediately overcome. With sweat.

An embarrassing outpouring took over my body while I nervously explained my situation to her. I shakily handed her my proposal for school - to take a few online Kennesaw classes in the fall semester, then take 4 classes at Boston University in the spring, and then finish up my final 3 classes back at Kennesaw in the summer. It was a bold proposal, especially because I am a Communication major - You can't teach this stuff virtually. The whole point of my degree is to clearly and competently interact with people. They don't even offer any of these classes online! I was hoping that the Boston University classes could be treated like a study abroad - they could just transfer back to Kennesaw and I could get credit for them. (I'm sorry if you are suddenly bored reading - this might be a really tough situation to follow, but if anyone has tried to get around academic red-tape before, you know that these people don't budge easily. They have grown fond of the rule book.)

Somehow, despite my sweaty shaking, that sweet woman seemed to understand my need to make this work. She smiled warmly at me and said, "This is a very exciting opportunity for you. I will be happy to help in any way I can to make this work for you." She proceeded to go through each class of each semester with me, giving her advice on when to take which class and helping re-arrange my schedule. Then she approved the four classes I would need to take at Boston University. And then she told me to keep in touch with her and let her know if I needed any help.

I think I left her office floating.

However, there was one catch.

She recommended that I take 3 classes this coming summer ( bathing suit season is t-minus 30 days away - in case anyone was wondering.) However, I am already committed to a full-time internship, and I was hesitantly signed up for two classes (thinking I would probably drop at least one when summer came around...) Her insistence that I need to take a PR Writing class so soon found me leaving her office with my brain crunching, trying desperately to figure out how to make this one, measly class work. Everything else seemed to fit together so perfectly. Then it dawned on me.

Why not ask one of your current professors to teach you this class online?

It was my second bold proposal of the day, but I was feeling more confident since the first meeting went so well. I marched right up to my PR Principles professor, stated my case, and waited for her response. She paused for a moment, and then said, "I'm sorry, what's your name again?"

Yeah. She did.

I almost melted. The sweats started creeping back.

Doesn't she know me? I sit on the front row! I've gotten A's on all my tests...

I told her my name. I smiled. I wondered what else to do.

Then she said... "If the Dept. Chair is willing to help you, then I'm happy to help you. I'll make an exception and teach you this material online."

I almost yelped with glee as we discussed the format and how we would make this work. We decided to meet once this semester was completed to plan out how we could communicate and make a web-version of her class work for me. She told me that she had been toying with the idea of making her class a hybrid, and now she had a guinea pig to try it on. I told her I was thrilled to be the pig.

All that being said, I had an extremely successful day of two thumbs up. I am feeling more at peace and more excited for my own personal journey to Boston. I am excited about what is to come for Stevie and his schooling, obviously, but now that he's been accepted to school, his path is pretty well known (at least for the next two years.) I am in the process of figuring out what my path will look like. And today was SUCCESS for me.

A happy glass of wine and a flurry of emails to write. Thanks for hanging in there with me and celebrating the broken red-tape!

Sweet sweatshirt from my kickin'-awesome parents. They wanted to dress me and Stevie in style... so they bought us matching sweats so that we could be that couple when we arrive on-campus. In all seriousness though, it is so soft and comfy.

Bless the Lord for parents who are freakin' COOL and like to buy presents.

Side Note - I've done a 5-minute version of the Brazilian butt lift for 3 days in a row and the pain is REAL. Try it out - I'm hoping to resemble a Victoria's Secret model at the end of this month.

So it begins...

I have been tossing around the idea of writing a blog for almost a year. However, it stressed me out to think of having to come up with a blog "theme" or "title", because that felt like I would be dropping a big concrete box around my (seemingly) vast and wondrous world. Some people have blogs devoted to cooking, DIY projects, fashion and design, or even just the witty tales of their burgeoning family. I don't really have a burgeoning family to brag about (extended family - yes, but fruits from my own womb? We haven't arrived at that chapter, yet.)

However, upon entering a new season of life, I feel like it's time to record my thoughts and mark the chapters of this adventure. What adventure, you ask? Selling my possessions, leaving my responsibilities, and moving my life to Boston, Massachusetts. My brilliant husband has just been accepted to Harvard Business School, and we are thrilled and slightly overwhelmed at the journey before us.

So choosing my theme suddenly became a little easier, but choosing a title was a bit harder. I stared at the blank "sign-up" screen for about 20 minutes. I took a break and made some coffee, then came back and stared at the blank title screen. How do I describe my life? How do I put it into one sentence, or worse, one word? What is the common thread joining my thought life with my everyday life experiences? I mean, there are the obvious answers: Jesus, his love for me, my love for him, my basic and positive perception of the world, and the general pursuit of happiness... I go to school, I cook, I believe myself to be a creative person. I sing, I work out, and I attempt to read for pleasure. But none of these things seem big enough or important enough to focus an entire blog on. So I chose a silly title. And if you actually know what this title means, leave me a daring comment and you will impress my socks off.

So from here on out, "Oy with the poodles, already" will be a myriad of thoughts, rants, opinions, and goofy life happenings. And if I know you well enough, be assured that you will make your way into  this collection stories.  Let the games begin!