1. i signed my contract and checked into my apartment on dec. 30th. my apartment is less than perfect: i am living in cholla apartments (they are vintage and juniper-esque). i have a love/hate relationship with my new home. my apartment is miniature, old, and lacking some of the luxuries i'm used to.
2. i was spoiled at suu. if i survive this semester, i may have the opportunity to be spoiled here.
3. i hoped for palm trees outside my window: there are many.
4. there is also a pool outside my window.
5. i spent the weekend with my mom and dennis. we went shopping, explored tempe, phoenix, and the surrounding cities. it was really fun. i started falling in love with the area.
6. i wore shorts and a t-shirt on new year's day.
7. i had to buy 3 lamps, a microwave, a kitchen shelf, curtains, and multiple surge protectors to make my apartment near livable.
8. i've only had one freak-out, melt-down, come-apart about being here: so far so good.
9. i met my staff and my co-acd on january 2nd. i love them. all of them.
10. i work in hassayampa academic village west. the buildings i'm over house 900 students in the business, education, or "explorers" programs on campus. i work directly with the ca staff/residents/res college reps from education and explorers.
11. hav-w is a high conduct area on campus. lots of incidents, alcohol, and drugs. i'm going to be pushed and challenged.
12. i had an all-day new employee orientation on january 3rd. i had to pick out insurance and retirement.
13. i ate lunch in a mcdonald's by myself because i didn't think i'd have time to walk back to my apartment from the university services building and get back in time for the afternoon sessions of training.
14. it takes me 10-12 minutes to walk to work every morning. it took me less than 2 to walk to work at suu.
15. barrett, the honors college, has the best dining hall.
16. barrett also has a gelato bar.
17. i get $40 m&g money each week to use all over campus. like at starbucks, chick-fil-a, and subway (and a whole lot of other yummy places). today, i walked to the mu for chick-fil-a for dinner. super.
18. i have a few new friends. the other acds are really cool and i appreciate them welcoming me into their group. i went to a hanukah party on saturday (late because of the holiday break).
19. sunday i walked 0.7 miles to a safeway to get a few groceries. i ate alone again at a whataburger on the way back.
20. whataburger was not that good. however, they have really yummy spicy ketchup.
21. i'm not unpacked. in fact, i started unpacking on saturday.
22. today was the coldest it has been here since i've arrived. i think the high was 65 and i nearly froze to death all day. for real.
23. i work at the largest public university in the country.
24. there are 10,000 students living on campus at the tempe campus alone. seriously.
25. it's not perfect here. there are things i love, and things i hate. but, this is my life now and i'm sticking to it for the next little while.
so there it is. i'll put up some pictures sooner or later. i live-blogged the journey here on my tumblr.
love from sunny arizona.
Keep your chin up, everything happens for a reason! And just remember that there are many people here that are thinking and praying for you! Love you!
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