Spring break came and went. The snow fell and went again. Haha, yes the start of my spring break came with a foot of snow! It is more like freeze your butt off break! Once the snow mellowed out, I ventured out of the apartment.
I hung out with one of my friends a lot and one highlight was that we went to the park together and had a picnic in the snow! Never had a picnic before in the snow! After the picnic, we flew a spider man kite and got it up pretty high! There were people sledding in the park and it was funny as they all stopped to watch spider man fly around, probably thinking those morons have the wrong season for flying a kite. Oh well, it was fun!
Spring break was relaxing and it was kind of weird to not really have to do anything for a week. The next trimester of school started last Tuesday and it is my first trimester as a junior! I think if I get my stuff together, I should be able to graduate next year!
I have four classes that I am taking this trimester. They are Hospitality Strategic Marketing, Statistics, Cost Control (there is a fancy name for this class but I forgot it haha), and Hospitality Managerial Finance. Marketing is going to be interesting as we learn the ins and outs of marketing and also have to do a marketing business plan for a company we create. Cost control is about controlling the costs of restaurants primarily. I get to do a term project about analyzing a restaurant. And the finance class is about taking what we learned in accounting and applying it to our personal and business life.
I also am CLEP testing out of three classes-sociology, US History I, psychology. I took my first test last Friday for sociology and I passed it! Yay! So for about $115 bucks I saved myself the time it takes to go to a sociology class for a whole trimester as well as about $1,000 or so dollars, if not more.
I have been doing 2 Bible studies and I think I finally found a church. One Bible study is about finding time to spend with God with a really busy life. We are reading a book for it and use a teleconference format. It is unique but allows us a lot of flexibility! The book is "Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World." The other Bible study is based on a book by Francis Chan called "Crazy Love" and that is about being crazy in loved with God! Both studies are amazing and from what I have read out of the books, I would definitely recommend them.
Other than that, not too much has been going for me other than hanging out with friends and studying for classes/tests. My work study job should start up again soon in the next couple of weeks. Plus, I think I have been battling a cold that may be a sinus infection/ear infection since all that happy garbage has been floating around the atmosphere. With all these people in one place and with the weather being 60 degrees one day and snowing the next, our bodies are like ughh what is going on! I cannot believe that March is almost halfway over! Where has the time gone?!
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Friday, February 27, 2009
When One Door Closes Another Opens
I have no idea where to start. I have not written in a really long time and I'm sorry. Life has been crazy busy and it has been a really interesting couple of months for me lately. I've been doing a lot of soul searching within myself trying to figure out who I am. I know a lot of people may think that is a bag of junk but I really am. I am working on strengthening my relationship with Jesus Christ and growing closer to Him!
I just finished my internship. It was an amazing experience. I think I will go back there to work this summer and I'm really excited. I had a hard time leaving there and everyone I had been working with declared they were sad to see me go and hoped I would come back soon! I spent the last month of my internship being a housekeeping supervisor and I had really started to connect with a lot of people there. Although it can be rough being a supervisor sometimes with dealing with cranky guests and rude guest room attendants, there is some bright days to it as well.
After putting over 10,000 miles on my car within a 6 month period, you can surely guess that I am always on the go and always up to something! I am so happy God blessed me with a car out here.
I'm in the midst of my spring break and have made a resolution to take a chill pill for the last three months of this 2008-2009 school year (amazing I know). I will be a junior this March and I am excited for that. I am going to keep my work study job and work about 10-15 hours a week with it. However, this may sound crazy, I am also working on testing out of three general education classes because testing out is a less expensive method and will save me about $6K in the long run if I succeed. I have resolved to pinch pennies and not get another job in order to relax, focus on school, enjoy life, and grow closer to God.
I have discovered some changes within myself lately and this has brought me to change churches. It is a huge thing I know and many question me why I am doing it. I appreciate prayers and concerns for me from those of you that are reading this and may be attending my old church in RI. I guess this is just part of something I need to do to discover who I am and everything.
I guess for lack of better words, I've been growing and experiencing various forms of growing pains. I have been very fortunate to have God bless me with some very loving, Christian women out here to help support me and guide me in the direction I need to go. I also am very appreciate of all the help and support my family has given me while I've been figuring things out with myself.
As for my spring break plans, I'm studying for my first test for sociology that I am testing out of, trying out new churches, relaxing, and possibly hitting up New York for a day with a good friend of mine. I will write again soon!
I just finished my internship. It was an amazing experience. I think I will go back there to work this summer and I'm really excited. I had a hard time leaving there and everyone I had been working with declared they were sad to see me go and hoped I would come back soon! I spent the last month of my internship being a housekeeping supervisor and I had really started to connect with a lot of people there. Although it can be rough being a supervisor sometimes with dealing with cranky guests and rude guest room attendants, there is some bright days to it as well.
After putting over 10,000 miles on my car within a 6 month period, you can surely guess that I am always on the go and always up to something! I am so happy God blessed me with a car out here.
I'm in the midst of my spring break and have made a resolution to take a chill pill for the last three months of this 2008-2009 school year (amazing I know). I will be a junior this March and I am excited for that. I am going to keep my work study job and work about 10-15 hours a week with it. However, this may sound crazy, I am also working on testing out of three general education classes because testing out is a less expensive method and will save me about $6K in the long run if I succeed. I have resolved to pinch pennies and not get another job in order to relax, focus on school, enjoy life, and grow closer to God.
I have discovered some changes within myself lately and this has brought me to change churches. It is a huge thing I know and many question me why I am doing it. I appreciate prayers and concerns for me from those of you that are reading this and may be attending my old church in RI. I guess this is just part of something I need to do to discover who I am and everything.
I guess for lack of better words, I've been growing and experiencing various forms of growing pains. I have been very fortunate to have God bless me with some very loving, Christian women out here to help support me and guide me in the direction I need to go. I also am very appreciate of all the help and support my family has given me while I've been figuring things out with myself.
As for my spring break plans, I'm studying for my first test for sociology that I am testing out of, trying out new churches, relaxing, and possibly hitting up New York for a day with a good friend of mine. I will write again soon!
Monday, January 19, 2009
Time Flies Fast!
Wow! Where did the time go?
Ok, so yes it has been over a month since I've last updated my blog. That just tells you how much trouble I've been getting into haha, just kidding!
I really do not even know where to begin! I just realized that I basically left off on the first week of December. I started my internship and had 2 days of orientation. I loved orientation because it made me realize how much the company cares about their employees and how much the company cares about the tribe's history (I work on an indian reservation). After orientation, I spent about a week being a hostess for 2 different restaurants as well as shadowing some restaurant managers. I loved doing that and am thinking/praying about adding on an associates in food and beverage management. After that week, I spent about a week working in the kitchen for 2 different restaurants. I think the day that I had the most fun or that was the most interesting was when I helped make 500 strombolis which are like calzones but different shaped.
Then we had a huge snow storm hit Providence dumping about a foot and a half of snow within 2 days. I had struggles getting my car into my driveway to my parking lot since I live on a hill and my driveway is a hill as well. I parked somewhere else and spent 2 hours digging my car out to get it into my parking lot. It was an interesting day to say the least. I flew to Idaho the next day in a clear weather window somehow. I was fortunate to pick a Sunday to fly because all flights had been cancelled the prior 2 days. Melissa flew with me to Idaho and we had a great time.
We got to see family and friends and hit up some sites in Boise and get some relaxation in. Melissa and I headed up to Hagerman, Idaho and went to a hot springs site and rented a private pool for a while with the rest of my family. My aunt's family was up from California and I was happy to get to see everybody again.
I headed back to Providence on New Year's Day and came back home to snow again! The day afterwards, a group of about 9 of us headed up to New Hampshire to take advantage of a ski special. For $36 you can get lift ticket, ski rental, ski instructor tips and tubing from 3pm to 10pm. Skiing can be quite brutal and I gave it a shot but I realized I could mess up my back really bad so I had to say no after my 5th fall. I still had a lot of fun though.
I just completed the housekeeping portion of my internship. It was 2 weeks long and I really enjoyed myself. I spent the first day shadowing shift managers and the director and attending various meetings of supervisors, guest room attendants and housemen. I also shadowed a houseman for a while as well as a runner. A houseman is in charge of 2 floors usually and in charge of keeping the hallways clean with the windows, vents, vacuuming, collecting linens from guest room attendants and all sorts of fun stuff like that. A runner is responsible for delivering things to guest rooms when guests request it such as a bath robe, a refrigerator, a microwave, etc.
On the 2nd and 3rd day, I was trained on how to be a guest room attendant. So I mastered how to make a bed hotel style and was capable of cleaning my own room. It was really interesting to see what all guest room attendants do to clean a room. After I did that for 2 days, I shadowed a floor supervisor for 3 days. A floor supervisor is responsible for 2-3 floors and has to inspect every room to make sure that the guest room attendants are doing their job properly and that the room is ready for new guests to arrive. I worked with this supervisor, Holly, who was really nice and apparently is one of the best. She has the higer floors with the supersuites and hopsitality suites so I was fortunate to get to see all the different types of rooms as well as get to learn how to inspect those rooms. After I shadowed and worked with Holly for 3 days, I got to be my own floor supervisor for about 4 days. I really enjoyed it! I forgot to mention that the hotel has about 36 floors and 1200 rooms.
On the weekends between all that I hung out with friends playing games and having movie nights. One of my good friends headed back to college in South Carolina as well so it has been weird to not have them with us. I also have managed to get snowed in twice now at a friend's house which has been quite funny. I cannot believe how much snow we have gotten this winter!
My next portion of internship is front desk so it should be interesting and I cannot wait to start another portion. It has been an exciting time trying out all these different areas. I'm off to go make lunch and run some errands! I hope everyone had a great weekend!
Ok, so yes it has been over a month since I've last updated my blog. That just tells you how much trouble I've been getting into haha, just kidding!
I really do not even know where to begin! I just realized that I basically left off on the first week of December. I started my internship and had 2 days of orientation. I loved orientation because it made me realize how much the company cares about their employees and how much the company cares about the tribe's history (I work on an indian reservation). After orientation, I spent about a week being a hostess for 2 different restaurants as well as shadowing some restaurant managers. I loved doing that and am thinking/praying about adding on an associates in food and beverage management. After that week, I spent about a week working in the kitchen for 2 different restaurants. I think the day that I had the most fun or that was the most interesting was when I helped make 500 strombolis which are like calzones but different shaped.
Then we had a huge snow storm hit Providence dumping about a foot and a half of snow within 2 days. I had struggles getting my car into my driveway to my parking lot since I live on a hill and my driveway is a hill as well. I parked somewhere else and spent 2 hours digging my car out to get it into my parking lot. It was an interesting day to say the least. I flew to Idaho the next day in a clear weather window somehow. I was fortunate to pick a Sunday to fly because all flights had been cancelled the prior 2 days. Melissa flew with me to Idaho and we had a great time.
We got to see family and friends and hit up some sites in Boise and get some relaxation in. Melissa and I headed up to Hagerman, Idaho and went to a hot springs site and rented a private pool for a while with the rest of my family. My aunt's family was up from California and I was happy to get to see everybody again.
I headed back to Providence on New Year's Day and came back home to snow again! The day afterwards, a group of about 9 of us headed up to New Hampshire to take advantage of a ski special. For $36 you can get lift ticket, ski rental, ski instructor tips and tubing from 3pm to 10pm. Skiing can be quite brutal and I gave it a shot but I realized I could mess up my back really bad so I had to say no after my 5th fall. I still had a lot of fun though.
I just completed the housekeeping portion of my internship. It was 2 weeks long and I really enjoyed myself. I spent the first day shadowing shift managers and the director and attending various meetings of supervisors, guest room attendants and housemen. I also shadowed a houseman for a while as well as a runner. A houseman is in charge of 2 floors usually and in charge of keeping the hallways clean with the windows, vents, vacuuming, collecting linens from guest room attendants and all sorts of fun stuff like that. A runner is responsible for delivering things to guest rooms when guests request it such as a bath robe, a refrigerator, a microwave, etc.
On the 2nd and 3rd day, I was trained on how to be a guest room attendant. So I mastered how to make a bed hotel style and was capable of cleaning my own room. It was really interesting to see what all guest room attendants do to clean a room. After I did that for 2 days, I shadowed a floor supervisor for 3 days. A floor supervisor is responsible for 2-3 floors and has to inspect every room to make sure that the guest room attendants are doing their job properly and that the room is ready for new guests to arrive. I worked with this supervisor, Holly, who was really nice and apparently is one of the best. She has the higer floors with the supersuites and hopsitality suites so I was fortunate to get to see all the different types of rooms as well as get to learn how to inspect those rooms. After I shadowed and worked with Holly for 3 days, I got to be my own floor supervisor for about 4 days. I really enjoyed it! I forgot to mention that the hotel has about 36 floors and 1200 rooms.
On the weekends between all that I hung out with friends playing games and having movie nights. One of my good friends headed back to college in South Carolina as well so it has been weird to not have them with us. I also have managed to get snowed in twice now at a friend's house which has been quite funny. I cannot believe how much snow we have gotten this winter!
My next portion of internship is front desk so it should be interesting and I cannot wait to start another portion. It has been an exciting time trying out all these different areas. I'm off to go make lunch and run some errands! I hope everyone had a great weekend!
Friday, December 5, 2008
A New Chapter
Well we all know that when one door closes another one opens right? That definitely has been the case for me!
I left Friday (Nov 21) for Denver. This was quite the entertaining day. I flew out of Boston but to get to Boston I took 2 buses, the commuter train and the subway! Then I took my flight to Cincinnati then onwards to Denver. I think I should make a new goal of attempting to go to as many US airports as possible since I always seem to be going to a different one every time I fly!
My brother picked me up from the airport and we grabbed some Chick Fil A dinner on our way home. Chick Fil A is a fast food type restaurant specializing in chicken! I got to spend the week with my brother which was fun because I haven't had a lot of time with him lately at all!
On Tuesday (Nov 25) I took the time to go see a friend from JWU Providence in Denver and we went to Boulder and had dinner together. It was fun times! On Wednesday (Nov 26) I was excited to have my parents arrive! It was great seeing them!
On good old Turkey Day, my family got our family picture for our annual Christmas card and we took a walk along a nature preserve together. Afterwards, we had dinner which was yummy! Prime rib, asparagus and wild rice and some good homemade chocolate cream pie! Afterwards, my family hung out and played games and caught up with each other.
Friday (Nov 27) I sadly had to leave the family in Denver on a bright and early flight. I got to fly to Atlanta this time around and was amazed to see that the garbage cans were electric as they compacted the trash every time someone threw something away (random tidbit of trivia? haha). Melissa picked me up from the airport which was great because I didn't have to play the public transportation game however it was funny because I got lost on the way home from the airport and made a 45 minute drive last an hour and a half! Oh well, good times hanging with my roomie! Once I got home, found some grub for the tummy, I was on my way again! I just don't know when to stop do I? I headed to a friend's Bible study in Connecticut which was a good time!
Saturday (Nov 28) I hung out with a good friend who was back home for the holiday break. She goes to college in Virginia and I had met her at a Bible study some point along the way (got to keep the good friends you collect close you know). After hanging out for awhile, we went and met up with some other friends and we all played some games.
On Sunday (Nov 30) I discovered that one of my friends that originally was away for the first trimester of school was back in Providence and I went and picked her up and we went to church together. After church, I took her shopping for some much needed cleaning supplies and groceries since when she moved into her apartment she was faced with the discovery that her apartment needed a lot of work! After that, I decided to show my crazy Idaho side by vacuuming my car out in the pouring rain (haha yes it was grand!). Then I picked up my friend from the airport and afterwards I went to a Bible study with some other friends. I love packing a bazillon things into my day!
On Monday (Dec 1) I had my JWU orientation for my internship. However, I first had to go get a culinary chef uniform from the JWU bookstore, I look quite amusing in one and will have to post pics up later haha.
On Tuesday (Dec 2) I started my week of community service. Through my internship, I am required to do a week of community service. For the first day, a group of us went to a middle school and put on a food demo for middle schoolers showing them how to make chili, salsa, quesadillas and fruit parfaits. Then on Wednesday (Dec 3) I went to a factory/medical diagnostics place and put on another food demo to the employees there on their lunch breaks.
On Thursday (Dec 4) I went to a local soup kitchen and helped make dinner for about 300 people then I helped serve it. Overall, my week of community service was awesome and I enjoyed the group of people that I spent it with. We had a lot of fun!
On Friday (Dec 5) I had my first day of internship orientation on site. Another fellow intern and myself car pooled together and met at the hotel. We went on a tour of the housekeeping and front office areas then we dined with some higher ups of the company at a gourmet restaurant (so happy I kind of know my manners haha). The restaurant had a yummy gourmet buffet and an even better dessert buffet. Afterwards, we did uniform fittings and I felt like it was career day since I had to get 4 different uniforms for 4 different areas that I will be working in.
Now I'm headed off to the movies with some friends and I'm ready to kick off my weekend!
I left Friday (Nov 21) for Denver. This was quite the entertaining day. I flew out of Boston but to get to Boston I took 2 buses, the commuter train and the subway! Then I took my flight to Cincinnati then onwards to Denver. I think I should make a new goal of attempting to go to as many US airports as possible since I always seem to be going to a different one every time I fly!
My brother picked me up from the airport and we grabbed some Chick Fil A dinner on our way home. Chick Fil A is a fast food type restaurant specializing in chicken! I got to spend the week with my brother which was fun because I haven't had a lot of time with him lately at all!
On Tuesday (Nov 25) I took the time to go see a friend from JWU Providence in Denver and we went to Boulder and had dinner together. It was fun times! On Wednesday (Nov 26) I was excited to have my parents arrive! It was great seeing them!
On good old Turkey Day, my family got our family picture for our annual Christmas card and we took a walk along a nature preserve together. Afterwards, we had dinner which was yummy! Prime rib, asparagus and wild rice and some good homemade chocolate cream pie! Afterwards, my family hung out and played games and caught up with each other.
Friday (Nov 27) I sadly had to leave the family in Denver on a bright and early flight. I got to fly to Atlanta this time around and was amazed to see that the garbage cans were electric as they compacted the trash every time someone threw something away (random tidbit of trivia? haha). Melissa picked me up from the airport which was great because I didn't have to play the public transportation game however it was funny because I got lost on the way home from the airport and made a 45 minute drive last an hour and a half! Oh well, good times hanging with my roomie! Once I got home, found some grub for the tummy, I was on my way again! I just don't know when to stop do I? I headed to a friend's Bible study in Connecticut which was a good time!
Saturday (Nov 28) I hung out with a good friend who was back home for the holiday break. She goes to college in Virginia and I had met her at a Bible study some point along the way (got to keep the good friends you collect close you know). After hanging out for awhile, we went and met up with some other friends and we all played some games.
On Sunday (Nov 30) I discovered that one of my friends that originally was away for the first trimester of school was back in Providence and I went and picked her up and we went to church together. After church, I took her shopping for some much needed cleaning supplies and groceries since when she moved into her apartment she was faced with the discovery that her apartment needed a lot of work! After that, I decided to show my crazy Idaho side by vacuuming my car out in the pouring rain (haha yes it was grand!). Then I picked up my friend from the airport and afterwards I went to a Bible study with some other friends. I love packing a bazillon things into my day!
On Monday (Dec 1) I had my JWU orientation for my internship. However, I first had to go get a culinary chef uniform from the JWU bookstore, I look quite amusing in one and will have to post pics up later haha.
On Tuesday (Dec 2) I started my week of community service. Through my internship, I am required to do a week of community service. For the first day, a group of us went to a middle school and put on a food demo for middle schoolers showing them how to make chili, salsa, quesadillas and fruit parfaits. Then on Wednesday (Dec 3) I went to a factory/medical diagnostics place and put on another food demo to the employees there on their lunch breaks.
On Thursday (Dec 4) I went to a local soup kitchen and helped make dinner for about 300 people then I helped serve it. Overall, my week of community service was awesome and I enjoyed the group of people that I spent it with. We had a lot of fun!
On Friday (Dec 5) I had my first day of internship orientation on site. Another fellow intern and myself car pooled together and met at the hotel. We went on a tour of the housekeeping and front office areas then we dined with some higher ups of the company at a gourmet restaurant (so happy I kind of know my manners haha). The restaurant had a yummy gourmet buffet and an even better dessert buffet. Afterwards, we did uniform fittings and I felt like it was career day since I had to get 4 different uniforms for 4 different areas that I will be working in.
Now I'm headed off to the movies with some friends and I'm ready to kick off my weekend!
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
The End of the Trimester!
Wow, my life is crazy and random! So much has happened in the past week! Plus I found out today that I'm headed to Denver for a week to chill with my bro and have Thanksgiving with my parents. It is funny that plane tickets are so cheap with such little notice, you got to keep those sardine cans full!
After finishing working on the 10th, I've been quite shocked to find that life can be quite boring without work to do all the time! Although, these past two weeks have kind of been a blur!
Tuesday (the 11th), I found the kid in me again by seeing High School Musical 3 with a friend. It was a light, fun movie with good choreography and my friend and I joked about the movie all the way through. It was also a great way to finish a 3 month spell of work! I also was busy wrapping windows, haha yes, a New England thing to do with them old houses! I have some leaky windows (rather they are all leaky! grr) but I didn't let that stop me from attacking it with this plastic wrap stuff that you tape and blow dry in! It took a while for all of us roomies to figure out how to get the blinds adjusted so that we could still utilize the blinds during the winter and not be gremlins that cannot handle light haha.
On Friday (the 14th), I hung out with a friend and we made cookies together. Once we got them baked, we had a few more friends come over and we had a girls' night together watching a movie and eating pizza and just hanging out. It is great to have positive, Christian influencing women in my life!
On Saturday (the 15th), I went to a breakfast with my college aged group that was hosted at a friend's house. Yummy food and 30 people crammed into a college kid's apartment makes any morning bound to be amusing. Afterwards, Melissa and I as well as a couple other friends headed to Target to do Operation Christmas Child shopping. Operation Christmas Child is where you fill up a shoebox with stuff for kids in foreign countries matching up to a certain age category. These kids often do not know what it is like to experience Christmas and along with these boxes that they receive, they also receive a part of the gospel in their language, so it is a great way to show the tangible love of God.
Afterwards, I headed out to my old job to pick up my paycheck and drop off my uniform. However, I got sidetracked into going to a thrift store as well as heading to the Christian book store. I got a new CD (The Best of Passion So Far) which is sweet as well as a book by Beth Moore! Then Melissa and I met up with a friend of ours and we went to this nice restaurant on Thayer Street that reminded a lot of my parents' place in a few ways.
Then on Sunday, I went to church and did some laundry and took a nice nap. I'm still trying to catch up on all that sleep I've been missing out on! I also grabbed dinner with some friends later that night.
Monday and Tuesday were study days for finals and today was my last day of school for the trimester! I had all four finals today but I made it! This ends another chapter of my life here at JWU with 20.5 more credits done! YAY!
After finishing working on the 10th, I've been quite shocked to find that life can be quite boring without work to do all the time! Although, these past two weeks have kind of been a blur!
Tuesday (the 11th), I found the kid in me again by seeing High School Musical 3 with a friend. It was a light, fun movie with good choreography and my friend and I joked about the movie all the way through. It was also a great way to finish a 3 month spell of work! I also was busy wrapping windows, haha yes, a New England thing to do with them old houses! I have some leaky windows (rather they are all leaky! grr) but I didn't let that stop me from attacking it with this plastic wrap stuff that you tape and blow dry in! It took a while for all of us roomies to figure out how to get the blinds adjusted so that we could still utilize the blinds during the winter and not be gremlins that cannot handle light haha.
On Friday (the 14th), I hung out with a friend and we made cookies together. Once we got them baked, we had a few more friends come over and we had a girls' night together watching a movie and eating pizza and just hanging out. It is great to have positive, Christian influencing women in my life!
On Saturday (the 15th), I went to a breakfast with my college aged group that was hosted at a friend's house. Yummy food and 30 people crammed into a college kid's apartment makes any morning bound to be amusing. Afterwards, Melissa and I as well as a couple other friends headed to Target to do Operation Christmas Child shopping. Operation Christmas Child is where you fill up a shoebox with stuff for kids in foreign countries matching up to a certain age category. These kids often do not know what it is like to experience Christmas and along with these boxes that they receive, they also receive a part of the gospel in their language, so it is a great way to show the tangible love of God.
Afterwards, I headed out to my old job to pick up my paycheck and drop off my uniform. However, I got sidetracked into going to a thrift store as well as heading to the Christian book store. I got a new CD (The Best of Passion So Far) which is sweet as well as a book by Beth Moore! Then Melissa and I met up with a friend of ours and we went to this nice restaurant on Thayer Street that reminded a lot of my parents' place in a few ways.
Then on Sunday, I went to church and did some laundry and took a nice nap. I'm still trying to catch up on all that sleep I've been missing out on! I also grabbed dinner with some friends later that night.
Monday and Tuesday were study days for finals and today was my last day of school for the trimester! I had all four finals today but I made it! This ends another chapter of my life here at JWU with 20.5 more credits done! YAY!
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
The First Half of November!
Wow, when it rains it pours! So much stuff has been happening in my life lately, it has been crazy!
Well I left off at the end of October, I went to Hull, Massachusetts for the weekend with a bunch of other college students from Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Vermont, New Hampshire, Canada, and various other states. We went up on Friday, October 31st and stayed in a hotel right on the beach. It was a little cold but definitely beautiful. We had a great weekend of fellowship and had a great guest speaker that gave 4 messages. During our free time, a bunch of us went to Boston to explore. I ended up going to the aquarium which was sweet to see some of God's handiwork! I also saw an IMAX Dolphins and Whales movie which was amazing.
After my nice weekend, I had a busy week as usual ahead of me. Tuesday, I was lucky and blessed to enjoy a lunch with a good friend that I hadn't been able to catch up with in a while. Friday, I worked at the elementary school and I got to teach some 5th graders about leadership which was exciting. After work, my roomie, Melissa and I headed to our friends' house to play games and have pizza together.
Saturday, I relaxed mainly and slept most of the day away preparing for a busy weekend ahead of me. I was invited to a girl's night (girls from church mind you haha) and the girl that hosted it suggested we all have prayer partners so we could get to know each other better. I was excited for this opportunity to get to know someone better and I think it'll be a great way to put more prayer into your life!
Sunday, I went to church and we are studying about Mark which is an exciting book once you crack into it! Then, Melissa and I decided to go grocery shopping at places we hadn't been. For instance, a Trader Joes opened up near me and I was excited to check it out because I've always loved going there while being in California or Washington. After shopping, we hung out with friends and had a good evening. I was quite fortunate to stumble upon some decent boogie boards as well in a pile of trash on my way home from the evening, I found it to be a great find and wow, it has been awhile since I've trash picked haha.
So I worked Saturday, Sunday, and Monday at the hotel and these shifts are my last at this job. It has been a very interesting experience for me and definitely have learned a lot from corporate hotels. Although, knowing me and my ways, I had to go out with a bang of course! On Sunday night, I was doing laundry (this will be my excuse from now on to not do laundry haha) and something happened and smoke filled the laundry room. Much to my dismay, the fire alarm went off at 3:30am in the morning and I had quite the full house already so I had a bunch of guests on my hands. It definitely made my night interesting especially since the fire department came and I got to talk to all the firefighters and had to explain the situation to them. Apparently, the assistant general manager was proud of me in how I handled the situation because most front desk agents get too scared to do anything. So at least I didn't end things on a total bad note!
I have to say that due to some recent events over the past weekend, I've learned how important true friends are and how they will always be there for you through hell and back. I suppose there's a story that goes along with this but it must wait til next time!
Well I left off at the end of October, I went to Hull, Massachusetts for the weekend with a bunch of other college students from Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Vermont, New Hampshire, Canada, and various other states. We went up on Friday, October 31st and stayed in a hotel right on the beach. It was a little cold but definitely beautiful. We had a great weekend of fellowship and had a great guest speaker that gave 4 messages. During our free time, a bunch of us went to Boston to explore. I ended up going to the aquarium which was sweet to see some of God's handiwork! I also saw an IMAX Dolphins and Whales movie which was amazing.
After my nice weekend, I had a busy week as usual ahead of me. Tuesday, I was lucky and blessed to enjoy a lunch with a good friend that I hadn't been able to catch up with in a while. Friday, I worked at the elementary school and I got to teach some 5th graders about leadership which was exciting. After work, my roomie, Melissa and I headed to our friends' house to play games and have pizza together.
Saturday, I relaxed mainly and slept most of the day away preparing for a busy weekend ahead of me. I was invited to a girl's night (girls from church mind you haha) and the girl that hosted it suggested we all have prayer partners so we could get to know each other better. I was excited for this opportunity to get to know someone better and I think it'll be a great way to put more prayer into your life!
Sunday, I went to church and we are studying about Mark which is an exciting book once you crack into it! Then, Melissa and I decided to go grocery shopping at places we hadn't been. For instance, a Trader Joes opened up near me and I was excited to check it out because I've always loved going there while being in California or Washington. After shopping, we hung out with friends and had a good evening. I was quite fortunate to stumble upon some decent boogie boards as well in a pile of trash on my way home from the evening, I found it to be a great find and wow, it has been awhile since I've trash picked haha.
So I worked Saturday, Sunday, and Monday at the hotel and these shifts are my last at this job. It has been a very interesting experience for me and definitely have learned a lot from corporate hotels. Although, knowing me and my ways, I had to go out with a bang of course! On Sunday night, I was doing laundry (this will be my excuse from now on to not do laundry haha) and something happened and smoke filled the laundry room. Much to my dismay, the fire alarm went off at 3:30am in the morning and I had quite the full house already so I had a bunch of guests on my hands. It definitely made my night interesting especially since the fire department came and I got to talk to all the firefighters and had to explain the situation to them. Apparently, the assistant general manager was proud of me in how I handled the situation because most front desk agents get too scared to do anything. So at least I didn't end things on a total bad note!
I have to say that due to some recent events over the past weekend, I've learned how important true friends are and how they will always be there for you through hell and back. I suppose there's a story that goes along with this but it must wait til next time!
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
The End of October
Ok I think that October flew by the fastest this year for me. Even though I've been busy practically every weekend doing something nonstop, this month has been great.
This past weekend has been fun. On Friday, I worked at the elementary school and the students were doing a walk a thon fundraiser and I participated in that. I went to a Harvest Festival at a small church in Connecticut just over the border from Rhode Island that was just a great time for fellowship, food and fun.
On Saturday, I grabbed some friends and headed to Newport Naval Base to do some shopping which is about an hour away. One of my friends is the child of someone in the military, that's how we got in which was nice. We went shopping around there, grabbed some lunch together and just had a fun afternoon shopping.
On Sunday, I went to church and then did laundry and cleaned things up a bit around the apartment with the roomies. I did find time to crash after having worked the night before and schedule to work the next two nights. After my nap, I headed to a Bible study with some friends and then we all went out to dinner together afterwards and had a great time hanging out.
Monday was an okay day, work, naps and classes primarily but I did get to hang out at a friend's house. My weekdays can be pretty dull and are usually filled with homework, work, school, and sleeping. This next Tuesday shall be exciting since my TNT (Tuesday Night Truth) Bible study will be going to one of the school's dorms to clean up dorm rooms and pass out candy.
This weekend shall be fun as I will be going to be headed to somewhere in Massachusetts along with a group of college students for a weekend retreat to meet up with a bunch of other college students to learn about God and to have a fun filled weekend! Other than that, I hope to have a great rest of the week!
This past weekend has been fun. On Friday, I worked at the elementary school and the students were doing a walk a thon fundraiser and I participated in that. I went to a Harvest Festival at a small church in Connecticut just over the border from Rhode Island that was just a great time for fellowship, food and fun.
On Saturday, I grabbed some friends and headed to Newport Naval Base to do some shopping which is about an hour away. One of my friends is the child of someone in the military, that's how we got in which was nice. We went shopping around there, grabbed some lunch together and just had a fun afternoon shopping.
On Sunday, I went to church and then did laundry and cleaned things up a bit around the apartment with the roomies. I did find time to crash after having worked the night before and schedule to work the next two nights. After my nap, I headed to a Bible study with some friends and then we all went out to dinner together afterwards and had a great time hanging out.
Monday was an okay day, work, naps and classes primarily but I did get to hang out at a friend's house. My weekdays can be pretty dull and are usually filled with homework, work, school, and sleeping. This next Tuesday shall be exciting since my TNT (Tuesday Night Truth) Bible study will be going to one of the school's dorms to clean up dorm rooms and pass out candy.
This weekend shall be fun as I will be going to be headed to somewhere in Massachusetts along with a group of college students for a weekend retreat to meet up with a bunch of other college students to learn about God and to have a fun filled weekend! Other than that, I hope to have a great rest of the week!
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Oh Autumn, Please Stay Awhile Longer!
Wow, New England has such pretty trees in the autumn! So many vibrant beautiful colors, I think autumn is the best season by far for New England! On all my crazy journeys, I've been truly blessed to see the wonderful handiwork of God.
Last Friday, I went to a Beth Moore women's conference somewhere in the depths of Connecticut about 2 hours away from Providence. The drive was amazing, the message was splendid and definitely something that a lot of us needed to hear and the fellowship afterwards was great as well. About 11 women total went from my church.
I also got my internship for next trimester set up and it should be happening at Mohegan Sun Hotel Casino Resort which is a 1200 room resort about an hour or so outside of Providence. I think it should be a great learning experience and I can't wait! That will be starting on December first, however I get to head out there next week to fill out paperwork!
On Sunday, I went to the Making Strides Breast Cancer Walk at 8:30am (yes I worked the night before, I was quite the entertainment for the group of walkers I was in because I had no sleep and was being crazy). We walked about 5-6 miles total then headed off to church. After church, I went home crashed for a while then met up with some friends and went to a corn maze scavenger hunt. There were about 8 of us and we paired up and ran off into the corn to see who could find all the pieces of the scavenger hunt first! My team won.....I won't rub it in anymore (haha). After the corn maze, we all headed off to a Bible study then dinner afterwards. I wrapped up my fun day with work.
Other than that, nothing too terribly exciting has happened, I think I have some weekend plans coming up ahead but you guys will just have to wait and see what happens first!
Last Friday, I went to a Beth Moore women's conference somewhere in the depths of Connecticut about 2 hours away from Providence. The drive was amazing, the message was splendid and definitely something that a lot of us needed to hear and the fellowship afterwards was great as well. About 11 women total went from my church.
I also got my internship for next trimester set up and it should be happening at Mohegan Sun Hotel Casino Resort which is a 1200 room resort about an hour or so outside of Providence. I think it should be a great learning experience and I can't wait! That will be starting on December first, however I get to head out there next week to fill out paperwork!
On Sunday, I went to the Making Strides Breast Cancer Walk at 8:30am (yes I worked the night before, I was quite the entertainment for the group of walkers I was in because I had no sleep and was being crazy). We walked about 5-6 miles total then headed off to church. After church, I went home crashed for a while then met up with some friends and went to a corn maze scavenger hunt. There were about 8 of us and we paired up and ran off into the corn to see who could find all the pieces of the scavenger hunt first! My team won.....I won't rub it in anymore (haha). After the corn maze, we all headed off to a Bible study then dinner afterwards. I wrapped up my fun day with work.
Other than that, nothing too terribly exciting has happened, I think I have some weekend plans coming up ahead but you guys will just have to wait and see what happens first!
Monday, October 13, 2008
Oh October!
Wow, if you really think about it now, this year has kind of flown by it seems. I know there was definitely some slow months but I think the year has flown by.
I'm learning to trust in God and to place all my faith in Him because all things are possible through Him!
Life has been crazy busy but I still manage to keep things interesting it seems. I do not know where I should start since it has been a couple weeks.
I'll start with my full time job. It has been going well, definitely an interesting position to hold because you'll never know what each night will hold in store for you. From weird guests, to random requests, to a mix up of rooms and other funny situations, it all can be oh so interesting! This job has been an awesome learning experience for me and definitely has given me more insight as to how a hotel runs. I do not think I'll be wanting a full time job to balance with the rest of my current life's schedule for the time being (haha). I'll be finishing this job on November 15th as finals will be taking place the following week and then the next trimester of school will start. I will have an internship at a hotel next trimester. My school is very specific on where I can do it at and I have an interview for it this Friday so that is definitely going to be interesting and I will be looking forward to learning more things! However the internship will contain a crazy schedule which will prohibit me from keeping a steady job which definitely has its downfalls.
Next, my part time job is at an elementary school. I supervise fellow college students that are doing community service hours and make sure they are staying on task. I do it in 2 programs, Globetrotters and a leadership one. The leadership one is to help 5th graders transistion from elementary school to middle school by learning how to deal with situations etc. The Globetrotters one is dealing with 3rd graders and there is 4 group of international college students that teach the elementary students about their home countries. It's all very fascinating.
School is going ok. I have no really exciting classes this trimester, just a bunch of boring ones that require lots of busy work which can make life entertaining.
Church is going well, I'm enjoying the college aged group and I think it is going to be a fun year! I have regular church Sunday mornings, a new Sunday evening short study, Tuesday night college aged group, and Thursday night Bible study. Yes, I know that seems like a lot of church but in this world out here, you need all the loving of Jesus you can get and all the fellowship and support of Christian brothers and sisters.
My living situation is going pretty well. We are all getting used to each other of course and all our crazy quirks and what not. We established chore schedules and actually maintain a pretty clean household a majority of the time. I love my roomies and they mean a lot to me and definitely help me out in this crazy world! I'm so happy I have their support!
I have an amazing group of friends in my life as well that are Christians and great to be around. Any night with them is almost guaranteed to be a wild (in a good way haha) and fun night. This weekend, we all went to see the movie, Fireproof, and then had dinner together afterwards. The movie, despite its low budget, was great and I definitely recommend it.
I think that is it for now! Can't wait to see what God has in store for me this week!
I'm learning to trust in God and to place all my faith in Him because all things are possible through Him!
Life has been crazy busy but I still manage to keep things interesting it seems. I do not know where I should start since it has been a couple weeks.
I'll start with my full time job. It has been going well, definitely an interesting position to hold because you'll never know what each night will hold in store for you. From weird guests, to random requests, to a mix up of rooms and other funny situations, it all can be oh so interesting! This job has been an awesome learning experience for me and definitely has given me more insight as to how a hotel runs. I do not think I'll be wanting a full time job to balance with the rest of my current life's schedule for the time being (haha). I'll be finishing this job on November 15th as finals will be taking place the following week and then the next trimester of school will start. I will have an internship at a hotel next trimester. My school is very specific on where I can do it at and I have an interview for it this Friday so that is definitely going to be interesting and I will be looking forward to learning more things! However the internship will contain a crazy schedule which will prohibit me from keeping a steady job which definitely has its downfalls.
Next, my part time job is at an elementary school. I supervise fellow college students that are doing community service hours and make sure they are staying on task. I do it in 2 programs, Globetrotters and a leadership one. The leadership one is to help 5th graders transistion from elementary school to middle school by learning how to deal with situations etc. The Globetrotters one is dealing with 3rd graders and there is 4 group of international college students that teach the elementary students about their home countries. It's all very fascinating.
School is going ok. I have no really exciting classes this trimester, just a bunch of boring ones that require lots of busy work which can make life entertaining.
Church is going well, I'm enjoying the college aged group and I think it is going to be a fun year! I have regular church Sunday mornings, a new Sunday evening short study, Tuesday night college aged group, and Thursday night Bible study. Yes, I know that seems like a lot of church but in this world out here, you need all the loving of Jesus you can get and all the fellowship and support of Christian brothers and sisters.
My living situation is going pretty well. We are all getting used to each other of course and all our crazy quirks and what not. We established chore schedules and actually maintain a pretty clean household a majority of the time. I love my roomies and they mean a lot to me and definitely help me out in this crazy world! I'm so happy I have their support!
I have an amazing group of friends in my life as well that are Christians and great to be around. Any night with them is almost guaranteed to be a wild (in a good way haha) and fun night. This weekend, we all went to see the movie, Fireproof, and then had dinner together afterwards. The movie, despite its low budget, was great and I definitely recommend it.
I think that is it for now! Can't wait to see what God has in store for me this week!
Monday, September 22, 2008
A Week in the Life
Well, there is nothing too terribly exciting happening in my life other than me trying to make everyday be 32+ hours long rather than a mere 24!
Last Monday, I had my work study meeting for SLICE (Student Leader's in Community Engagement). I was excited to get my work placement at an elementary school. Apparently I'm going to be in charge of making sure some school programs are running and mentoring. I'm not entirely sure as I haven't had a day in the life yet. This job gets tied to Americorps where I will do 300 hours of community service and receive a scholarship! I think this job is going to be awesome for me, it should help brighten my week and make my life more interesting (haha like my life is dull!).
Tuesday, I had my Tuesday night college aged group Bible study. I am the missions leader for it so I usually always go and try to meet new people and make new friendships with new freshman to make them feel welcome etc.
Wednesday, I had a full day of classes as well as work which was hectic but I managed. I also had lunch with my old roommates from last year and I think we are going to make it a Wednesday ritual. I also had lunch with my friend Carrie. I'm blessed that her boyfriend works at the school dining hall and lets me eat for free on Wednesdays.
Thursday, I was excited to crash after such a long Wednesday. I had my accounting class on Thursday, it is a difficult class for me because the teacher is new and does not teach it the best. But I guess its a new style and perspective on things for me to learn how to deal with people like that later on. I also went to my Thursday night Bible study which is going through an exciting series right now. It is a great time of food, fellowship, fun, a message and some worship.
Friday, I had a leaders' meeting for church then directly afterwards, I had an orientation meeting for SLICE. I cannot wait to start my new job! Afterwards, later that evening, my roomie, Alissa and I grabbed some pizza and watched a movie together. We were super hungry when we ordered that pizza and we stuffed ourselves to the max that we went for a walk together. Ahh, good times and crazy adventures as always!
Saturday, one of my friends got married and it was a nice, small wedding. Melissa and I helped clean up afterwards as it was a potluck type of wedding. After the wedding, I slept for a good long while as I worked that night.
Sunday, I was bad and slept through church then I got up and did my laundry and went grocery shopping. Then I went to go hang with my friends that live on the border of Rhode Island and Connecticut. We went to these cliffs that overlooked a lake and a whole bunch of trees. It was amazing!
Yes, I am still working at the hotel, I work there 4 nights a week and it is going pretty well for me. I am done with training and I think I'm starting to get the hang of things.
The difficult thing for me right now is trying to find a balance for my days as I mainly nap and sleep 3 nights a week. It is hard to determine when I shower and when I do things that a normal person would do after waking up in the morning and before going to bed at night.
Last Monday, I had my work study meeting for SLICE (Student Leader's in Community Engagement). I was excited to get my work placement at an elementary school. Apparently I'm going to be in charge of making sure some school programs are running and mentoring. I'm not entirely sure as I haven't had a day in the life yet. This job gets tied to Americorps where I will do 300 hours of community service and receive a scholarship! I think this job is going to be awesome for me, it should help brighten my week and make my life more interesting (haha like my life is dull!).
Tuesday, I had my Tuesday night college aged group Bible study. I am the missions leader for it so I usually always go and try to meet new people and make new friendships with new freshman to make them feel welcome etc.
Wednesday, I had a full day of classes as well as work which was hectic but I managed. I also had lunch with my old roommates from last year and I think we are going to make it a Wednesday ritual. I also had lunch with my friend Carrie. I'm blessed that her boyfriend works at the school dining hall and lets me eat for free on Wednesdays.
Thursday, I was excited to crash after such a long Wednesday. I had my accounting class on Thursday, it is a difficult class for me because the teacher is new and does not teach it the best. But I guess its a new style and perspective on things for me to learn how to deal with people like that later on. I also went to my Thursday night Bible study which is going through an exciting series right now. It is a great time of food, fellowship, fun, a message and some worship.
Friday, I had a leaders' meeting for church then directly afterwards, I had an orientation meeting for SLICE. I cannot wait to start my new job! Afterwards, later that evening, my roomie, Alissa and I grabbed some pizza and watched a movie together. We were super hungry when we ordered that pizza and we stuffed ourselves to the max that we went for a walk together. Ahh, good times and crazy adventures as always!
Saturday, one of my friends got married and it was a nice, small wedding. Melissa and I helped clean up afterwards as it was a potluck type of wedding. After the wedding, I slept for a good long while as I worked that night.
Sunday, I was bad and slept through church then I got up and did my laundry and went grocery shopping. Then I went to go hang with my friends that live on the border of Rhode Island and Connecticut. We went to these cliffs that overlooked a lake and a whole bunch of trees. It was amazing!
Yes, I am still working at the hotel, I work there 4 nights a week and it is going pretty well for me. I am done with training and I think I'm starting to get the hang of things.
The difficult thing for me right now is trying to find a balance for my days as I mainly nap and sleep 3 nights a week. It is hard to determine when I shower and when I do things that a normal person would do after waking up in the morning and before going to bed at night.
Friday, September 12, 2008
1st Week of School
Yes, school has finally arrived. I have one jam packed schedule with some interesting classes.
First, I'll start with my new job. It is working out great for me! It is basically my first corporate full time job so that is something to get used to. I enjoy it a lot. I work Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and Wednesday nights from 11pm to 7am as a night auditor. My duties include but are not limited to counting out the cash drawer, taking inventory of the "suite shop", doing security patrols/walks, completing any laundry and folding sheets (I like my new friend the "extra arm" sheet folder helper haha), doing the night audit process, delivering guest receipts and the newspaper, helping set up breakfast and various other duties.
School is going ok for me, I know I have several difficult classes with a lot of tedious projects. I do enjoy my math class though with my teacher. He is this hilarious, really old, French guy that makes so many jokes and he is a great teacher!
My living situation is going great as well. I love my roomies :D. Just the other night, Melissa and I went grocery shopping rather late and we were both in a funny mood and we were running around the store playing hide and seek with all the freight pallets (you know at night, they stock the shelves) and other games (yeah I know so mature! haha).
Things have been going fine. I just have been basically sleeping, working, schooling, eating and going to church, I kind of miss the lazy days, but don't we all?
First, I'll start with my new job. It is working out great for me! It is basically my first corporate full time job so that is something to get used to. I enjoy it a lot. I work Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and Wednesday nights from 11pm to 7am as a night auditor. My duties include but are not limited to counting out the cash drawer, taking inventory of the "suite shop", doing security patrols/walks, completing any laundry and folding sheets (I like my new friend the "extra arm" sheet folder helper haha), doing the night audit process, delivering guest receipts and the newspaper, helping set up breakfast and various other duties.
School is going ok for me, I know I have several difficult classes with a lot of tedious projects. I do enjoy my math class though with my teacher. He is this hilarious, really old, French guy that makes so many jokes and he is a great teacher!
My living situation is going great as well. I love my roomies :D. Just the other night, Melissa and I went grocery shopping rather late and we were both in a funny mood and we were running around the store playing hide and seek with all the freight pallets (you know at night, they stock the shelves) and other games (yeah I know so mature! haha).
Things have been going fine. I just have been basically sleeping, working, schooling, eating and going to church, I kind of miss the lazy days, but don't we all?
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Last Summer Fun!
Well school starts a week from today oh boy! Today, I went in and finished all my paperwork for my hotel job and I start tomorrow which is exciting.
On Wednesday I picked up my friend Kim. Kim had been in Germany all summer pretty much. She is a fellow classmate and has not moved into her dorm yet. She came up to Providence for a few days for a leader's retreat then she headed back to Jersey on Saturday morning.
I went to a leader's retreat on Thursday. It was great fun, there were about 4 of us girls that were able to make it. We grabbed a picnic and then headed to Purgatory Chasm where we went hiking and rock climbing through this small canyon. It was so nice. Afterwards, we headed up to a lodge and brainstormed activities for the year for our college aged church group TNT. It was a great retreat overall.
Then after that, I've been taking it easy the past couple of days mainly. On Saturday, I went to a BBQ and there was a lot of us. We played some outdoor some indoor games. I had a great time hanging out with friends.
On Sunday, I got to help with the little kids at church which is interesting. Afterwards, Melissa and I headed to a friend's house where about 5 of us all headed to the beach. The beach was great fun and the 5 of us had a great time. After the beach we had dinner at a friend's house and just hung out together.
I can't believe that I start my new job tomorrow and then school on Tuesday! It's going to be a crazy year for me!
On Wednesday I picked up my friend Kim. Kim had been in Germany all summer pretty much. She is a fellow classmate and has not moved into her dorm yet. She came up to Providence for a few days for a leader's retreat then she headed back to Jersey on Saturday morning.
I went to a leader's retreat on Thursday. It was great fun, there were about 4 of us girls that were able to make it. We grabbed a picnic and then headed to Purgatory Chasm where we went hiking and rock climbing through this small canyon. It was so nice. Afterwards, we headed up to a lodge and brainstormed activities for the year for our college aged church group TNT. It was a great retreat overall.
Then after that, I've been taking it easy the past couple of days mainly. On Saturday, I went to a BBQ and there was a lot of us. We played some outdoor some indoor games. I had a great time hanging out with friends.
On Sunday, I got to help with the little kids at church which is interesting. Afterwards, Melissa and I headed to a friend's house where about 5 of us all headed to the beach. The beach was great fun and the 5 of us had a great time. After the beach we had dinner at a friend's house and just hung out together.
I can't believe that I start my new job tomorrow and then school on Tuesday! It's going to be a crazy year for me!
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Mom! You have a package on your doorstep!
Haha yeah, that is what I told my mom Tuesday night at midnight while I was standing on her doorstep awaiting for her to open the door!
What started off as a mere joke actually turned me into flying home for a week. I had been making the joke that with no job, I could be twiddling my thumbs in Idaho just as easily as Rhode Island. I made that joke with a friend and then we looked at airfare and found a really cheap window. My friend along with another friend offered to help pay my way home (thanks guys!). I have never done something so random as flying home with 12 hours notice before, it made for a lot of excitement for me!
Well, you know as luck would have it, right as I was getting on the plane to head to Idaho, a hotel that interviewed me about 2 weeks back called me and said they had changed their mind and wanted to hire me. Luckily, they were willing to wait for me to return.
Idaho was good times. I got to spend time with family and friends and it was just relaxing and pleasant to see everybody again. With my schedule ahead, I really do not know when I get to return back to Idaho, who knows what God has in store for me in that area!
I got back to Rhode Island on Monday and Melissa picked me up from the airport (how wonderful to be picked up by a warm smiling face!). Today, I went to the hotel and finished my background check and did a drug test. Then I headed to my friend Carrie's house and we hung out together. We had a great time catching up and playing some games.
Here's the scoop on the hotel, it is a Homewood Suites which is Hilton's version of an extended stay hotel. I am to be doing night audit there from 11pm to 7am, 4 shifts a week which should work out well with my schedule. It is full time and I get full benefits after 30 days and possible tuition assistance. This job should give me a lot of experience and I looking forward to it!
Also to add to my busy schedule, I have a part time job. It's a community work study job where I will get a placement most likely working at one of the area public schools helping/mentoring students. This job will also fit under Americorps which I love because they give you a scholarship if you hit a certain amount of hours. This job also has leadership training workshops as well as other leadership things.
I figured while I was at it, I would put my school schedule in here as well so you guys can know what classes I am taking (that is if you care haha, if not then you can stop reading now).
I don't usually take classes so late in the day like this so this shall be interesting for me.
My schedule (course descriptions listed after schedule):
Monday:
HOSP Human Resources 11:30am to 1:25pm
Leadership 3:50pm to 5:45pm
Tuesday:
HOSP Acct II 9:20am to 11:15am
Wednesday (probably not going to be a good day for me haha):
HOSP Acct II 9:20am to 11:15am
HOSP Human Resources 11:30am to 1:25pm
Leadership 3:50pm to 5:45pm
Math 6:00pm to 9:30pm
Thursday:
HOSP Acct II 9:20 to 11:15am
Course Descriptions:
Hospitality Accounting II
This course is based on the Uniform System of Accounts as approved by the American Hotel & Motel Association. Comprehensive coverage is given to revenue and expense accounting, the periodic inventory method, preparation of departmental and corporate financial statements for a hotel, ratio analysis, accounting for intangible assets, and selective topics in property and equipment accounting and hospitality payroll.
Hospitality Human Resource and Diversity Leadership
Operational and staff managers in today's hospitality-related businesses often manage a diverse group of employees and are responsible for compliance with employment laws and human resource policies. Therefore, managers must be knowledgeable about laws and best practices when working with their employees. This course helps students develop managerial knowledge and skills in several areas of human resource management including recruiting, interviewing, selection, orientation, training, performance evaluation and management, discipline, terminations, and employee and union relations.
Survey of College Mathematics
This course is designed to teach students the basic mathematical concepts and methods that will assist them in using mathematics in both their personal and professional lives. Topics include problem solving, sets, probability, statistics, and the rudiments of college algebra.
Foundations of Leadership Studies
This course draws upon a variety of researched-based theories and applications germane to the study of leadership. Theoretical paradigms of motivation are discussed and applied to communication styles, decision making, risk taking, team building, conflict resolution, negotiation, diversity and inclusion. Leadership traits, leadership styles and roles are examined in the context of ethics, power and social responsibility.
What started off as a mere joke actually turned me into flying home for a week. I had been making the joke that with no job, I could be twiddling my thumbs in Idaho just as easily as Rhode Island. I made that joke with a friend and then we looked at airfare and found a really cheap window. My friend along with another friend offered to help pay my way home (thanks guys!). I have never done something so random as flying home with 12 hours notice before, it made for a lot of excitement for me!
Well, you know as luck would have it, right as I was getting on the plane to head to Idaho, a hotel that interviewed me about 2 weeks back called me and said they had changed their mind and wanted to hire me. Luckily, they were willing to wait for me to return.
Idaho was good times. I got to spend time with family and friends and it was just relaxing and pleasant to see everybody again. With my schedule ahead, I really do not know when I get to return back to Idaho, who knows what God has in store for me in that area!
I got back to Rhode Island on Monday and Melissa picked me up from the airport (how wonderful to be picked up by a warm smiling face!). Today, I went to the hotel and finished my background check and did a drug test. Then I headed to my friend Carrie's house and we hung out together. We had a great time catching up and playing some games.
Here's the scoop on the hotel, it is a Homewood Suites which is Hilton's version of an extended stay hotel. I am to be doing night audit there from 11pm to 7am, 4 shifts a week which should work out well with my schedule. It is full time and I get full benefits after 30 days and possible tuition assistance. This job should give me a lot of experience and I looking forward to it!
Also to add to my busy schedule, I have a part time job. It's a community work study job where I will get a placement most likely working at one of the area public schools helping/mentoring students. This job will also fit under Americorps which I love because they give you a scholarship if you hit a certain amount of hours. This job also has leadership training workshops as well as other leadership things.
I figured while I was at it, I would put my school schedule in here as well so you guys can know what classes I am taking (that is if you care haha, if not then you can stop reading now).
I don't usually take classes so late in the day like this so this shall be interesting for me.
My schedule (course descriptions listed after schedule):
Monday:
HOSP Human Resources 11:30am to 1:25pm
Leadership 3:50pm to 5:45pm
Tuesday:
HOSP Acct II 9:20am to 11:15am
Wednesday (probably not going to be a good day for me haha):
HOSP Acct II 9:20am to 11:15am
HOSP Human Resources 11:30am to 1:25pm
Leadership 3:50pm to 5:45pm
Math 6:00pm to 9:30pm
Thursday:
HOSP Acct II 9:20 to 11:15am
Course Descriptions:
Hospitality Accounting II
This course is based on the Uniform System of Accounts as approved by the American Hotel & Motel Association. Comprehensive coverage is given to revenue and expense accounting, the periodic inventory method, preparation of departmental and corporate financial statements for a hotel, ratio analysis, accounting for intangible assets, and selective topics in property and equipment accounting and hospitality payroll.
Hospitality Human Resource and Diversity Leadership
Operational and staff managers in today's hospitality-related businesses often manage a diverse group of employees and are responsible for compliance with employment laws and human resource policies. Therefore, managers must be knowledgeable about laws and best practices when working with their employees. This course helps students develop managerial knowledge and skills in several areas of human resource management including recruiting, interviewing, selection, orientation, training, performance evaluation and management, discipline, terminations, and employee and union relations.
Survey of College Mathematics
This course is designed to teach students the basic mathematical concepts and methods that will assist them in using mathematics in both their personal and professional lives. Topics include problem solving, sets, probability, statistics, and the rudiments of college algebra.
Foundations of Leadership Studies
This course draws upon a variety of researched-based theories and applications germane to the study of leadership. Theoretical paradigms of motivation are discussed and applied to communication styles, decision making, risk taking, team building, conflict resolution, negotiation, diversity and inclusion. Leadership traits, leadership styles and roles are examined in the context of ethics, power and social responsibility.
Monday, August 18, 2008
Mid-August Update!
Well another week has gone by! The last few mingling weeks of summer are shooting by rapidly!
My other roomie moved in without any issues on Sunday night and I later hung out with some friends that evening. It was great, we played some games such as Bible pictionary and another game. I enjoy having great friends that we can play wholesome games and have good clean fun!
Monday, my roomie and I rearranged things in our room. Made our beds into bunk beds. I get the top bunk, there is no ladder, it makes things interesting for me as half the time I usually slide/fall down off the top but the interesting part of this is that the bunk beds are set upon 7" bed risers making it even higher off the floor! Ahh, yes life has to be interesting! Later, my roomies and I went to the store to get a few essentials and we also had to get a 4th peg that we were missing for the bunk bed. They apparently did not make the pegs or something similar to that anymore so we found a bolt and asked the guys in tool rental to cut it for us (they did, it worked out great!).
Thursday, I had my job interview at another company as the last interview fell through then later on, I picked up my pay check from Best Western only to find out that they shorted me on the hours. So on Monday, I plan to call the Department of Labor or do something as the manager is not returning my phone calls. After that, I went with Melissa to some dance lesson thing at Providence swings with some other friends. I watched the lesson, it was a similar form of belly dancing, it fun to watch. Afterwards, we all took a walk and got ice cream. I'm really enjoying this group of friends I have, we all support and care about each other and they are real people that do not act fake!
Friday, we had our friends invited over dinner and I was kind of in charge of dinner somehow. That made things interesting for me as I had to shop and plan it. Then Melissa was home from work to help me make it but I had decided to make it simple so we had Mexican style with nachos and a burrito bar with homemade guacamole and pico de gallo which turned out really good. After dinner, we all played Taboo and that was so much fun! It is a game where you have to describe words without using certain words. Then when they all left, Melissa and I went to go pick up Carrie from the airport. She had been in California practically all summer long. It was great seeing her again and we all played a game together even though it was late at night, but you can only live young once, right?
Saturday, I found a free couch on craigslist that was in awesome shape. Now as to how to move this couch, we rented a truck for Home Depot for about $19 bucks. Yay for a new couch that only cost $19 bucks! It was in great shape! God really does provide, just have patience and faith!
Today was great! I went to church then afterwards, I went to the beach with Melissa and met up with some friends and that turned into an awesome day! We went to dinner afterwards and then on the way home, our friend got a flat tire. It was kind of funny because we happened to pull into a gas station and there was a AAA guy there already. It was funny because we pulled up in 2 men in black, old fashioned black marquis and you almost would expect Will Smith to be popping out of the car.
I wonder what next week's adventures hold in store for me!
My other roomie moved in without any issues on Sunday night and I later hung out with some friends that evening. It was great, we played some games such as Bible pictionary and another game. I enjoy having great friends that we can play wholesome games and have good clean fun!
Monday, my roomie and I rearranged things in our room. Made our beds into bunk beds. I get the top bunk, there is no ladder, it makes things interesting for me as half the time I usually slide/fall down off the top but the interesting part of this is that the bunk beds are set upon 7" bed risers making it even higher off the floor! Ahh, yes life has to be interesting! Later, my roomies and I went to the store to get a few essentials and we also had to get a 4th peg that we were missing for the bunk bed. They apparently did not make the pegs or something similar to that anymore so we found a bolt and asked the guys in tool rental to cut it for us (they did, it worked out great!).
Thursday, I had my job interview at another company as the last interview fell through then later on, I picked up my pay check from Best Western only to find out that they shorted me on the hours. So on Monday, I plan to call the Department of Labor or do something as the manager is not returning my phone calls. After that, I went with Melissa to some dance lesson thing at Providence swings with some other friends. I watched the lesson, it was a similar form of belly dancing, it fun to watch. Afterwards, we all took a walk and got ice cream. I'm really enjoying this group of friends I have, we all support and care about each other and they are real people that do not act fake!
Friday, we had our friends invited over dinner and I was kind of in charge of dinner somehow. That made things interesting for me as I had to shop and plan it. Then Melissa was home from work to help me make it but I had decided to make it simple so we had Mexican style with nachos and a burrito bar with homemade guacamole and pico de gallo which turned out really good. After dinner, we all played Taboo and that was so much fun! It is a game where you have to describe words without using certain words. Then when they all left, Melissa and I went to go pick up Carrie from the airport. She had been in California practically all summer long. It was great seeing her again and we all played a game together even though it was late at night, but you can only live young once, right?
Saturday, I found a free couch on craigslist that was in awesome shape. Now as to how to move this couch, we rented a truck for Home Depot for about $19 bucks. Yay for a new couch that only cost $19 bucks! It was in great shape! God really does provide, just have patience and faith!
Today was great! I went to church then afterwards, I went to the beach with Melissa and met up with some friends and that turned into an awesome day! We went to dinner afterwards and then on the way home, our friend got a flat tire. It was kind of funny because we happened to pull into a gas station and there was a AAA guy there already. It was funny because we pulled up in 2 men in black, old fashioned black marquis and you almost would expect Will Smith to be popping out of the car.
I wonder what next week's adventures hold in store for me!
Monday, August 11, 2008
First Week of August Update!
So I left off on the last Thursday of July......
Melissa returned home on Monday (Aug 4th) from Soulfest and was extremely exhausted (she was volunteering in a kitchen all day long).
Tuesday, I called up the people that I had 2 interviews with and they were like who are you? Oh that job? We filled the position. I was like great, thanks. Then like an hour after that I got a phone call from a hotel for an interview. God does keep these doors swinging open and closed. I think he's teaching me patience this year.
I went into the interview and it was the best interview that I've had all summer. The guy said he would call me back Friday but that never happened. So I called him and left him a message.
Thursday, I hung out with some great new friends then went to Thursday night Bible study. Friday, I hung out with friends and we played charades. I love having friends that are just able to play good wholesome games and not go out and do stupid crap.
Sunday, I went to church and then went shopping for a couple of things then my other roomie was moving in. That should make life interesting (haha). Then I went with Melissa and hung out with friends. We had a great time and these friends are great Christian brothers and sisters that seem to really support us in general.
As for today, I have no idea what is to be happening, I was going to go to the beach but it is raining so it just may be a rainy day in!
Melissa returned home on Monday (Aug 4th) from Soulfest and was extremely exhausted (she was volunteering in a kitchen all day long).
Tuesday, I called up the people that I had 2 interviews with and they were like who are you? Oh that job? We filled the position. I was like great, thanks. Then like an hour after that I got a phone call from a hotel for an interview. God does keep these doors swinging open and closed. I think he's teaching me patience this year.
I went into the interview and it was the best interview that I've had all summer. The guy said he would call me back Friday but that never happened. So I called him and left him a message.
Thursday, I hung out with some great new friends then went to Thursday night Bible study. Friday, I hung out with friends and we played charades. I love having friends that are just able to play good wholesome games and not go out and do stupid crap.
Sunday, I went to church and then went shopping for a couple of things then my other roomie was moving in. That should make life interesting (haha). Then I went with Melissa and hung out with friends. We had a great time and these friends are great Christian brothers and sisters that seem to really support us in general.
As for today, I have no idea what is to be happening, I was going to go to the beach but it is raining so it just may be a rainy day in!
Friday, August 1, 2008
The last week of July!
Knowing me with my luck, my life seems to hardly ever be dull. Monday, however, was a great chill day with nothing really huge happening in it. Tuesday, I went to the Providence Rescue Mission to help send out 4,000 mailings of support letters since the mission is going through a really tough time right now. I was there for about 9 hours having fun with church ladies. It is amazing the feeling you get after practically spending it talking to God and about God for a day.
During my time there, I received a phone call from a company for an interview for the next day. After spending time at the mission, I hung out with a friend of mine then headed home.
On Wednesday, I had my interview and I think it went smoothly. On my way to the interview, I was walking and this guy in an ice cream truck hollers out to me, "Hey! How are you?" I was not thinking straight and I responded. The guy then turns left into oncoming traffic all the while staring at me, luckily oncoming traffic responded with horns and not anything else. The guy pulled into a parking lot and I did not stick around to see what he had in mind. My day went pretty normal for me after that. It was Cheesecake Factory's 30th anniversary so they were celebrating $1.50 a slice day so a friend and I were headed to that but we never made it since we were stuffed from dinner.
Thursday was a little bit more interesting of a day. I had received a phone call the night before to come in for a 2nd interview. I've never had a 2nd interview before. I headed back into the place and the guy came from his office to get me. He merely said follow me, he did not shake my hand or anything. I followed him into his office admiring his fanny pack (haha not!) and he told me to have a seat. He sat down and started working on his computer. We then proceeded to make small talk for 20 minutes then right at the end he told me what I might be doing if I was hired there then he told me that he would call me. I walked away thinking wow that was odd but I figure it must have been a personality test.
Later on that day, I was taking a bus from downtown and it was my favorite bus driver. I was so excited to see her on my route for once. Right as the bus pulls away from the station, some guy pulls out his stinky fast food lunch and the smell just permeates the whole bus. There is no eating or drinking allowed on a bus. The bus driver asks him to put it away, he does not so then we have to call a supervisor to get this guy removed from the bus. The guy responds back by giving her threats and then the whole bus erupts in noise (it was a packed bus) about the bus driver and the guy. We had to wait 10-20 min for the supervisor to come.
Then later that night, I was taking a bus to Bible study and I get on and it is the same driver that I had when the bus' back door wouldn't close and we got stuck with the bus for 30 min. I should have guessed the next situation with that bus driver. Our back door would not work and we had handicap people on the bus meaning whenever we had to let them off we risked the chance of not be able to go again since the door might not shut.
Bible study was good, it was a mini concert and the guy had never gone public before. He had some great songs.
I'm not sure where my day is going to take me today or the rest of my weekend but I hope everyone has a great weekend :D
During my time there, I received a phone call from a company for an interview for the next day. After spending time at the mission, I hung out with a friend of mine then headed home.
On Wednesday, I had my interview and I think it went smoothly. On my way to the interview, I was walking and this guy in an ice cream truck hollers out to me, "Hey! How are you?" I was not thinking straight and I responded. The guy then turns left into oncoming traffic all the while staring at me, luckily oncoming traffic responded with horns and not anything else. The guy pulled into a parking lot and I did not stick around to see what he had in mind. My day went pretty normal for me after that. It was Cheesecake Factory's 30th anniversary so they were celebrating $1.50 a slice day so a friend and I were headed to that but we never made it since we were stuffed from dinner.
Thursday was a little bit more interesting of a day. I had received a phone call the night before to come in for a 2nd interview. I've never had a 2nd interview before. I headed back into the place and the guy came from his office to get me. He merely said follow me, he did not shake my hand or anything. I followed him into his office admiring his fanny pack (haha not!) and he told me to have a seat. He sat down and started working on his computer. We then proceeded to make small talk for 20 minutes then right at the end he told me what I might be doing if I was hired there then he told me that he would call me. I walked away thinking wow that was odd but I figure it must have been a personality test.
Later on that day, I was taking a bus from downtown and it was my favorite bus driver. I was so excited to see her on my route for once. Right as the bus pulls away from the station, some guy pulls out his stinky fast food lunch and the smell just permeates the whole bus. There is no eating or drinking allowed on a bus. The bus driver asks him to put it away, he does not so then we have to call a supervisor to get this guy removed from the bus. The guy responds back by giving her threats and then the whole bus erupts in noise (it was a packed bus) about the bus driver and the guy. We had to wait 10-20 min for the supervisor to come.
Then later that night, I was taking a bus to Bible study and I get on and it is the same driver that I had when the bus' back door wouldn't close and we got stuck with the bus for 30 min. I should have guessed the next situation with that bus driver. Our back door would not work and we had handicap people on the bus meaning whenever we had to let them off we risked the chance of not be able to go again since the door might not shut.
Bible study was good, it was a mini concert and the guy had never gone public before. He had some great songs.
I'm not sure where my day is going to take me today or the rest of my weekend but I hope everyone has a great weekend :D
Monday, July 28, 2008
Changes Come Around Real Soon
I should warn you that this is kind of a long one!
Did I ever have a work filled past weekend!!! I think I almost worked 50 hours this past week! I worked/got trained on Wednesday for the night shift, it was really slow but I learned what I needed to do and it was pretty uneventful. Thursday, I worked my other temporary job for 6 hours making shakes for this new cosmetic company coming out. The people I worked with on the first day were great and we all got along well.
After work on Thursday, I went to a get together at a friend's house who lives in the beautiful outskirts of Rhode Island/Connecticut border. We ate burgers then played some games. The first game was Mafia which is the game where you have townspeople, mafia, a cop and a doctor and the mafia try to kill the townspeople before the townspeople managed to get rid of all the mafia. It is fun and can be crazy! After that, we played 4 people on a couch. You get into 2 equal teams and then everyone puts their name on a piece of paper and puts it into a hat. Then you draw a new name and that is your new name for the game. The object is to get 4 people of your team on the couch through strategy without discussing how with your teammates. This game was lots of fun as well. Afterwards, we played Catch Phrase. Overall, it was a fun night.
Friday, I worked 4 1/2 hours at my temporary job then I slept before heading in to work at the Best Western. It was going to be my first shift alone. That meant the whole entire hotel was my responsibility from 11pm to 7am including maintenance and security. The first 2 hours were kind of hectic with a lot of requests for towels and blankets to be brought up along with a lot of people calling to request wake up calls as well as a few noise complaints since there was no vacancy that evening. I did laundry, folded towels and pillowcases (sheets get sent out to another company) and put towels away in the maid closet or in the pool room. I did night audit as well (for this hotel it is really simple) and I also set up breakfast which consisted of scrambled eggs, sausages, waffles, cereal, pastries, toast and some other things. Newspapers to be delivered to each room once they arrive. I also swept and mopped the lobby and on this particular night, I also cleaned up the meeting room for Saturday's events.
On Saturday, I went home and arrived back at the hotel at 2pm to drive a shuttle (a Ford E150 7 passenger minivan) to take people to a wedding in a little town called Bristol which was about 30-50 drive away. I was supposed to take 2 groups of people along with another shuttle & driver. The first group consisted of 10 groomsmen for the wedding. I got 6 of them in my shuttle. All 6 were on their 5th or 6th beer and were chugging some down while I was driving, it can be quite entertaining to have 6 buzzed/almost drunk men for that long of a drive. They requested to stop at a liquor store (I passed it already, haha) then they wanted to stop at a local bar before heading to the wedding location to do a round of shots (their tradition apparently). I told them I would stop only if they got the other shuttle to stop as well. That they accomplished and we went to the bar (haha I sat in the car thank you very much!). The men were quick as promised and I dropped them off. I rushed back to go pick up the girls but by the time I got back, the girls had already lost patience and decided to drive themselves to the wedding. The person at the front desk back at the hotel was alone and had a bunch of different jobs to do left by our manager who apparently rarely makes an appearance on the weekends but does plan to have a lot of events and stuff done by various people so we are usually left to make things up and do things on the fly for guests. I offered to stay but both me and the other person thought it best to not stay since I would be hitting overtime and this hotel does not prefer to pay its employees past overtime. I headed home and returned back at 10pm at the wedding to pick up whatever people needed a ride back to the wedding. I showed up at 10pm since it was requested of me but I actually did not manage to get my drunks packed up until 11:40pm since the wedding was still in full swing while I was there.
While I was waiting, I was in the catering area and one of the groomsmen came and found me, he wanted me to go "polish the dance floor" with him but I told him no. I am not a huge fan of dancing that particular way with a drunk guy. He got mad at me for it and made sure to let everyone know how upset he was with me that I would not dance with him (that's why I didn't get a tip but I don't care, my body isn't worth it). Once the wedding winded down, I loaded up my shuttle with 6 people (all of which were really drunk and in a very playful mood). I got the person riding shot gun to be DJ and the party was taken on the road!
I got back to the hotel at midnight and everyone in the shuttle were excited to find out that I was going to be their front desk associate for the night. My night was a little busier than the night before because the hotel was at full occupancy with 2 wedding parties and a softball team. Both wedding parties were pretty drunk and noisey. Earlier in the day prior to my shift was a few food functions at the hotel and the breakfast room was in poor shape with several dishes to be done. I did these along with my usual laundry and as soon as I started getting requests to bring things to people's room (you know, soap, coffee, toilet paper, towels, etc.) I discovered that I had no key to both of the maid closets. I tried every key I could possibly find and I was forced to ignore requests for things which was hard. The room above the front desk was having a full on party (luckily their neighbors were passed out) and I had to make sure nothing stupid was being done (yep they smoked, $500 fine for smoking at the hotel). I did the rest of my duties as best as I could, newspapers didn't arrive until it was too late so that didn't get done.
At 7am, I was ready to head home when I got a phone call from my manager. He asked me how I was feeling and what not, I answered and he's like ok do you think you are awake enough to take the next shift instead of working the 3rd shift on Sunday night? If I switched, that meant I would be working 16 hours straight on barely any sleep as well as not getting any breaks while working and handling any events/functions the manager had arranged for that day. I told him no and I also told him that I would be quitting. He was shocked and disappointed since he was down to like 2-3 people (a person usually works 5 shifts a week) to cover the week's 21 various front desk shifts. I also told him that I would not be working that evening, he was extra upset with me. I did not like the way this company treated its employees as cheap labor amongst various other things and with the support of my father, I agreed to quit this job even though I need the experience.
I had to stay there until someone came in to cover for the employee not coming to work. They didn't arrive until 7:30am and by then I had missed my bus back to downtown Providence. I had been bussing to work. I was upset that I missed the bus especially since the next one wasn't for another hour. I headed outside in the pouring rain. No other businesses were really open this fine Sunday morning so I headed to another bus stop about 1 1/2 miles away in the pouring rain (yes I was smart and forgot my umbrella). I hate to admit that I just was not a happy camper that morning but God definitely had other things in mind.
I was waiting under a bus stop shelter with a guy and I had about 50 minutes to wait. The other guy and I are started talking and making jokes etc which really helped the time go by. It's just not like me to talk to random people like that. Then I got on the bus to head back to Providence. I got on my next bus and I watched as other people trickled onto the bus. I was very suprised to see 2 morman missionaries getting on the bus. They were the first set of mormans I had seen out here and they were also the only mormans that I even knew of out here which can be a shocker. I was suprised to see them sit next to me on the bus and a bunch of questions flooded to my mind to ask them. I started talking to one of them and we had an interesting conversation, the guy even made a joke about mormans which cracked me up and it was nice to talk to him.
Once I got home, I changed out of my sopping wet clothes and hopped on a bus to head to church. The lady across the aisle from me started talking to me and we carried on a conversation all the way to downtown. I walked to church in a happy mood realizing how much happier I was then when I had first started this morning and that I was possibly turning into my mother with me talking to all these random strangers. It was also pleasant to be somewhat social with some people since Melissa had left last Friday afternoon to New Hampshire for a little longer than a week and I definitely miss her.
I went to church then I went to lunch with this one friend that I had not been getting along with. I decided that even though he can be a pain in my rear, I decided to be friends with him since there is no use in having enemies in your company of friends. Afterwards, I headed home where I talked to my mom about my crazy day then I passed out from sheer exhaustion around 3:30pm. I awoke hours later and saw that it was 1am and I continued to sleep. I finally pushed myself awake at 7:30am to get ready for my chiropractor appointment. Yes, I got 16 hours of sleep! Holy cow! I looked at my phone this morning and realized I had been texting people and making/receiving phone calls in my sleep, oh how entertaining of me!
I wonder what adventures await me this week. I do know that I am still tired and plan to head to bed again very soon, haha. I also do know that I need to find a job again. Can't wait to see what God has planned for me in that department!
Did I ever have a work filled past weekend!!! I think I almost worked 50 hours this past week! I worked/got trained on Wednesday for the night shift, it was really slow but I learned what I needed to do and it was pretty uneventful. Thursday, I worked my other temporary job for 6 hours making shakes for this new cosmetic company coming out. The people I worked with on the first day were great and we all got along well.
After work on Thursday, I went to a get together at a friend's house who lives in the beautiful outskirts of Rhode Island/Connecticut border. We ate burgers then played some games. The first game was Mafia which is the game where you have townspeople, mafia, a cop and a doctor and the mafia try to kill the townspeople before the townspeople managed to get rid of all the mafia. It is fun and can be crazy! After that, we played 4 people on a couch. You get into 2 equal teams and then everyone puts their name on a piece of paper and puts it into a hat. Then you draw a new name and that is your new name for the game. The object is to get 4 people of your team on the couch through strategy without discussing how with your teammates. This game was lots of fun as well. Afterwards, we played Catch Phrase. Overall, it was a fun night.
Friday, I worked 4 1/2 hours at my temporary job then I slept before heading in to work at the Best Western. It was going to be my first shift alone. That meant the whole entire hotel was my responsibility from 11pm to 7am including maintenance and security. The first 2 hours were kind of hectic with a lot of requests for towels and blankets to be brought up along with a lot of people calling to request wake up calls as well as a few noise complaints since there was no vacancy that evening. I did laundry, folded towels and pillowcases (sheets get sent out to another company) and put towels away in the maid closet or in the pool room. I did night audit as well (for this hotel it is really simple) and I also set up breakfast which consisted of scrambled eggs, sausages, waffles, cereal, pastries, toast and some other things. Newspapers to be delivered to each room once they arrive. I also swept and mopped the lobby and on this particular night, I also cleaned up the meeting room for Saturday's events.
On Saturday, I went home and arrived back at the hotel at 2pm to drive a shuttle (a Ford E150 7 passenger minivan) to take people to a wedding in a little town called Bristol which was about 30-50 drive away. I was supposed to take 2 groups of people along with another shuttle & driver. The first group consisted of 10 groomsmen for the wedding. I got 6 of them in my shuttle. All 6 were on their 5th or 6th beer and were chugging some down while I was driving, it can be quite entertaining to have 6 buzzed/almost drunk men for that long of a drive. They requested to stop at a liquor store (I passed it already, haha) then they wanted to stop at a local bar before heading to the wedding location to do a round of shots (their tradition apparently). I told them I would stop only if they got the other shuttle to stop as well. That they accomplished and we went to the bar (haha I sat in the car thank you very much!). The men were quick as promised and I dropped them off. I rushed back to go pick up the girls but by the time I got back, the girls had already lost patience and decided to drive themselves to the wedding. The person at the front desk back at the hotel was alone and had a bunch of different jobs to do left by our manager who apparently rarely makes an appearance on the weekends but does plan to have a lot of events and stuff done by various people so we are usually left to make things up and do things on the fly for guests. I offered to stay but both me and the other person thought it best to not stay since I would be hitting overtime and this hotel does not prefer to pay its employees past overtime. I headed home and returned back at 10pm at the wedding to pick up whatever people needed a ride back to the wedding. I showed up at 10pm since it was requested of me but I actually did not manage to get my drunks packed up until 11:40pm since the wedding was still in full swing while I was there.
While I was waiting, I was in the catering area and one of the groomsmen came and found me, he wanted me to go "polish the dance floor" with him but I told him no. I am not a huge fan of dancing that particular way with a drunk guy. He got mad at me for it and made sure to let everyone know how upset he was with me that I would not dance with him (that's why I didn't get a tip but I don't care, my body isn't worth it). Once the wedding winded down, I loaded up my shuttle with 6 people (all of which were really drunk and in a very playful mood). I got the person riding shot gun to be DJ and the party was taken on the road!
I got back to the hotel at midnight and everyone in the shuttle were excited to find out that I was going to be their front desk associate for the night. My night was a little busier than the night before because the hotel was at full occupancy with 2 wedding parties and a softball team. Both wedding parties were pretty drunk and noisey. Earlier in the day prior to my shift was a few food functions at the hotel and the breakfast room was in poor shape with several dishes to be done. I did these along with my usual laundry and as soon as I started getting requests to bring things to people's room (you know, soap, coffee, toilet paper, towels, etc.) I discovered that I had no key to both of the maid closets. I tried every key I could possibly find and I was forced to ignore requests for things which was hard. The room above the front desk was having a full on party (luckily their neighbors were passed out) and I had to make sure nothing stupid was being done (yep they smoked, $500 fine for smoking at the hotel). I did the rest of my duties as best as I could, newspapers didn't arrive until it was too late so that didn't get done.
At 7am, I was ready to head home when I got a phone call from my manager. He asked me how I was feeling and what not, I answered and he's like ok do you think you are awake enough to take the next shift instead of working the 3rd shift on Sunday night? If I switched, that meant I would be working 16 hours straight on barely any sleep as well as not getting any breaks while working and handling any events/functions the manager had arranged for that day. I told him no and I also told him that I would be quitting. He was shocked and disappointed since he was down to like 2-3 people (a person usually works 5 shifts a week) to cover the week's 21 various front desk shifts. I also told him that I would not be working that evening, he was extra upset with me. I did not like the way this company treated its employees as cheap labor amongst various other things and with the support of my father, I agreed to quit this job even though I need the experience.
I had to stay there until someone came in to cover for the employee not coming to work. They didn't arrive until 7:30am and by then I had missed my bus back to downtown Providence. I had been bussing to work. I was upset that I missed the bus especially since the next one wasn't for another hour. I headed outside in the pouring rain. No other businesses were really open this fine Sunday morning so I headed to another bus stop about 1 1/2 miles away in the pouring rain (yes I was smart and forgot my umbrella). I hate to admit that I just was not a happy camper that morning but God definitely had other things in mind.
I was waiting under a bus stop shelter with a guy and I had about 50 minutes to wait. The other guy and I are started talking and making jokes etc which really helped the time go by. It's just not like me to talk to random people like that. Then I got on the bus to head back to Providence. I got on my next bus and I watched as other people trickled onto the bus. I was very suprised to see 2 morman missionaries getting on the bus. They were the first set of mormans I had seen out here and they were also the only mormans that I even knew of out here which can be a shocker. I was suprised to see them sit next to me on the bus and a bunch of questions flooded to my mind to ask them. I started talking to one of them and we had an interesting conversation, the guy even made a joke about mormans which cracked me up and it was nice to talk to him.
Once I got home, I changed out of my sopping wet clothes and hopped on a bus to head to church. The lady across the aisle from me started talking to me and we carried on a conversation all the way to downtown. I walked to church in a happy mood realizing how much happier I was then when I had first started this morning and that I was possibly turning into my mother with me talking to all these random strangers. It was also pleasant to be somewhat social with some people since Melissa had left last Friday afternoon to New Hampshire for a little longer than a week and I definitely miss her.
I went to church then I went to lunch with this one friend that I had not been getting along with. I decided that even though he can be a pain in my rear, I decided to be friends with him since there is no use in having enemies in your company of friends. Afterwards, I headed home where I talked to my mom about my crazy day then I passed out from sheer exhaustion around 3:30pm. I awoke hours later and saw that it was 1am and I continued to sleep. I finally pushed myself awake at 7:30am to get ready for my chiropractor appointment. Yes, I got 16 hours of sleep! Holy cow! I looked at my phone this morning and realized I had been texting people and making/receiving phone calls in my sleep, oh how entertaining of me!
I wonder what adventures await me this week. I do know that I am still tired and plan to head to bed again very soon, haha. I also do know that I need to find a job again. Can't wait to see what God has planned for me in that department!
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
My New Job
I just got a job at the Best Western of Providence-Seekonk. I get to work the third shift for right now which is the 11pm to 7am shift. I am a front desk associate which means I check guests in and out, answer phones, do laundry, handle guest complaints, deliver stuff to rooms, clean the lobby, set up breakfast and keep that well stocked during breakfast hours, insert in reservations, and an assortment of other fun duties.
I was trained today for about 5 hours and then I will be trained again tomorrow at 11pm to 7am then I will supposedly get to run a shift on Friday and a shift on Saturday alone so it shall be interesting.
As well as that job, I also am working for a temporary staffing agency and get to help run a convention this weekend. I work on Thursday during the day and on Friday during the day as well. It is kind of funny how I went from no jobs to 2 jobs within a week and already having to juggle them and their times.
When school starts I'll have these two jobs (the temporary staffing agency one will be a gig by gig basis) as well as a work study job working with the community as well as being a missions leader at church, I think I'll have my hands pretty darn full. I praise God for blessing me with work to do!
I was trained today for about 5 hours and then I will be trained again tomorrow at 11pm to 7am then I will supposedly get to run a shift on Friday and a shift on Saturday alone so it shall be interesting.
As well as that job, I also am working for a temporary staffing agency and get to help run a convention this weekend. I work on Thursday during the day and on Friday during the day as well. It is kind of funny how I went from no jobs to 2 jobs within a week and already having to juggle them and their times.
When school starts I'll have these two jobs (the temporary staffing agency one will be a gig by gig basis) as well as a work study job working with the community as well as being a missions leader at church, I think I'll have my hands pretty darn full. I praise God for blessing me with work to do!
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Mid-July Weekend Update!
I had a fun jam packed weekend! I thought I would share it all with you guys!
On Thursday night I went to a weekly Bible study which had a great message to it this week. Then on Friday, I had to go in to this temporary staffing agency to fill out some paperwork to get a temporary job for next weekend (at least it is some form of money right?) and then I went to go get drug tested (yay!). Afterwards, Melissa and I headed to Sam's Club to do some grocery shopping then later that evening we met up with some of our friend's from Thursday night Bible study. There was 7 of us for dinner @ Texas Roadhouse then 6 of us headed to go see Dark Knight. We came right as the movie was due to begin and there was no 6 seats together so we exchanged our tickets for a later showing and went for ice cream while we waited. Dark Knight was decent however it was really dark and twisted and it was the first batman movie that I can remember watching (I'm sure I've seen others, I just cannot remember them). The night was fun and it's great to get some new friends.
Saturday, Melissa headed to go work at a wedding in Newport all day and I headed over to my friend Rachel's house where she and another friend, Kat were hanging out. We played a junk food trivia game (wow I am so not a junk food junkie!). After we played the game we got into the car and headed to southern Rhode Island to go to a hot air balloon festival where they had 11 hot air balloons set up at dusk with glows going. After the balloons were packed up again, there was a firework display. It was a great evening. After the festival, we headed to Rachel's house for pie and ice cream.
As for today, I had church as usual which had a great message with it. As for the rest of my day, I do not know what all I am going to do but we will see!
On Thursday night I went to a weekly Bible study which had a great message to it this week. Then on Friday, I had to go in to this temporary staffing agency to fill out some paperwork to get a temporary job for next weekend (at least it is some form of money right?) and then I went to go get drug tested (yay!). Afterwards, Melissa and I headed to Sam's Club to do some grocery shopping then later that evening we met up with some of our friend's from Thursday night Bible study. There was 7 of us for dinner @ Texas Roadhouse then 6 of us headed to go see Dark Knight. We came right as the movie was due to begin and there was no 6 seats together so we exchanged our tickets for a later showing and went for ice cream while we waited. Dark Knight was decent however it was really dark and twisted and it was the first batman movie that I can remember watching (I'm sure I've seen others, I just cannot remember them). The night was fun and it's great to get some new friends.
Saturday, Melissa headed to go work at a wedding in Newport all day and I headed over to my friend Rachel's house where she and another friend, Kat were hanging out. We played a junk food trivia game (wow I am so not a junk food junkie!). After we played the game we got into the car and headed to southern Rhode Island to go to a hot air balloon festival where they had 11 hot air balloons set up at dusk with glows going. After the balloons were packed up again, there was a firework display. It was a great evening. After the festival, we headed to Rachel's house for pie and ice cream.
As for today, I had church as usual which had a great message with it. As for the rest of my day, I do not know what all I am going to do but we will see!
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Mid-July Update!
Well I am starting to get better on updating my blog ;)
Yes, I have been busy, there seems to always be something to do that keeps me busy! On July 9th, early morning I flew to Los Angeles, California! My friend, Mauricio, picked me up from the airport and we hung out in Santa Monica and grabbed some In-n-Out Burger. He dropped off at my cousin's (Dimi) apartment. Dimi was getting married that weekend and had rented some guest suites in his apartment complex to accomdate incoming family. I crashed with Aunt Rose that night (it was fun, thanks Rosie :D). Thursday was fun as Tammy (Dimi's now wife) took me along with her sister to her office and then we went and picked up my parents from the airport.
Once my parents got in, my mom's family trickled in over the rest of the day and we all hung out together. Friday, my brother flew in early morning and then we got back to our place and my dad, bro and I took a walk to the beach. We lost track of time and arrived back 4 hours later much to our suprise that we had been walking for 4 hours! There were sting rays in the ocean which was fun and interesting (shuffle your feet!!) to swim around with as well as a fun assortment of shells and sand dollars! Later on Friday, my cousin had a rehearsal dinner during which we saw a few dolphins off his patio which was an awesome sight!
Saturday, my cousin got married and it was a lovely wedding! They got married on the rooftop of the Marriott in Marina Del Rey. What an amazing sight! Sunday was fun as well as about 20 of us went to brunch at a yummy restaurant. Then afterwards, the family hung out and wrapped things up as most of the Blumenschein clan was leaving on Sunday.
My parents and bro flew out first then I caught the 10:30pm redeye to Charlotte, North Carolina. I got in early to Charlotte (5:30am yay! right?) and found a rocking chair in hopes of catching a snooze in. Well, some lonely married business guy came and sat in the chair next to me and we talked for the next 2 1/2 hours about the United States, the gold rush, books, history, evolution/creation, and an assortment of other things. It was a great way to pass the time especially since when I fly, hardly any speaks to me because I usually end up with grump people on the plane to sit next to. I flew the last leg (Charlotte to Providence) and my loving roommate, Melissa came and picked me up.
I had about 3 hours of sleep but I told Melissa I was game for any adventure she had in store. We ended up going to a new swim spot that isn't too terribly far away along with 2 friends from a Thursday night Bible study that I usually go to. Afterwards, we went grocery shopping at Price Rite (where we buy most of our produce) then headed on home. Tuesday, I ran some errands downtown with Melissa and we ended up having lunch with Pastor Andy discussing our plans for next year as I am a missions leader and Melissa is a semester missionary. After that, we went grocery shopping (yes round two, because we get meat at a different store, crazy yes I know!).
That's it for now! I hope everyone is having a great summer so far!
Yes, I have been busy, there seems to always be something to do that keeps me busy! On July 9th, early morning I flew to Los Angeles, California! My friend, Mauricio, picked me up from the airport and we hung out in Santa Monica and grabbed some In-n-Out Burger. He dropped off at my cousin's (Dimi) apartment. Dimi was getting married that weekend and had rented some guest suites in his apartment complex to accomdate incoming family. I crashed with Aunt Rose that night (it was fun, thanks Rosie :D). Thursday was fun as Tammy (Dimi's now wife) took me along with her sister to her office and then we went and picked up my parents from the airport.
Once my parents got in, my mom's family trickled in over the rest of the day and we all hung out together. Friday, my brother flew in early morning and then we got back to our place and my dad, bro and I took a walk to the beach. We lost track of time and arrived back 4 hours later much to our suprise that we had been walking for 4 hours! There were sting rays in the ocean which was fun and interesting (shuffle your feet!!) to swim around with as well as a fun assortment of shells and sand dollars! Later on Friday, my cousin had a rehearsal dinner during which we saw a few dolphins off his patio which was an awesome sight!
Saturday, my cousin got married and it was a lovely wedding! They got married on the rooftop of the Marriott in Marina Del Rey. What an amazing sight! Sunday was fun as well as about 20 of us went to brunch at a yummy restaurant. Then afterwards, the family hung out and wrapped things up as most of the Blumenschein clan was leaving on Sunday.
My parents and bro flew out first then I caught the 10:30pm redeye to Charlotte, North Carolina. I got in early to Charlotte (5:30am yay! right?) and found a rocking chair in hopes of catching a snooze in. Well, some lonely married business guy came and sat in the chair next to me and we talked for the next 2 1/2 hours about the United States, the gold rush, books, history, evolution/creation, and an assortment of other things. It was a great way to pass the time especially since when I fly, hardly any speaks to me because I usually end up with grump people on the plane to sit next to. I flew the last leg (Charlotte to Providence) and my loving roommate, Melissa came and picked me up.
I had about 3 hours of sleep but I told Melissa I was game for any adventure she had in store. We ended up going to a new swim spot that isn't too terribly far away along with 2 friends from a Thursday night Bible study that I usually go to. Afterwards, we went grocery shopping at Price Rite (where we buy most of our produce) then headed on home. Tuesday, I ran some errands downtown with Melissa and we ended up having lunch with Pastor Andy discussing our plans for next year as I am a missions leader and Melissa is a semester missionary. After that, we went grocery shopping (yes round two, because we get meat at a different store, crazy yes I know!).
That's it for now! I hope everyone is having a great summer so far!
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