Busy weekends and grant writing
And just like that, another month has gone by without so much as one single word from yours truly. Geez Louise! I really have no idea how it's suddenly December, two weeks until Christmas and three weeks until 2015 as we know it is gone forever!
I suppose the primary contributing factor to my prolonged absence is that from the first weekend in November until last weekend (heck, even this weekend), I have had something going on every. single. weekend. Now I'm a borderline introvert/extrovert, but man y'all...I haven't had that much going on in a long time. Sometimes I wish there were two of me. Don't start.
Nov 7th I channeled my inner Top Chef and participated in the first annual Diced Community Cooking Challenge, which was sponsored by my rockin' awesome place of employment, the Kentucky Association of Food Banks, and the Madison County Public Library. Given a very eclectic bag of ingredients (just take my word for it on this one), I and three other contestants chopped, sauteed, and whipped up concoctions in order to try to please the taste buds of three judges. Unfortunately, I was not selected to advance to the championship round, but it was such a blast. SUCH a blast! But hey, I got a pretty sweet apron out of it! :)
Nov 8th sis and I trekked up to Northern Kentucky University to attend a concert: Chris Tomlin with Rend Collective. Rend Collective was a great opening act- they're a fairly recent Christian group from Ireland (Yes, Ireland!), and they are just so. much. fun. Plus their music is just awesome :) I'm a bit impartial to their song "Joy of the Lord", check it out on YouTube if you get a chance! And then Chris Tomlin...woaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh dudes! Sis and I hadn't seen him live since ICHTHUS 2006 so we were definitely excited! His music is so hugely popular, but once you hear his story, he just had the craziest and humblest of beginnings and probably never imagined that his career would end up where it is now. But I love his heart for Jesus and I love his music too...I think his stuff was my first exposure to Christian music. I've been wrestling a bit this year with some tough questions, mostly regarding God's timing and His plans, and some prolonged hurt and disappointment after some stuff went down earlier in October, and I just walked away feeling refreshed, inspired, and encouraged. I don't really have a favorite song by him, but his albums "Hello Love" and "Love Ran Red" are probably my favorites. Oh, and his new Christmas album...UH. MAY. ZING.
The weekend after that, the 13th- 15th was Berea's homecoming. I love homecoming so much it's not even funny. Not only is it another excuse to hang around Berea and its beautiful campus, it's really the one and only consistent time of the year in which I get to see my friends! I also got to meet my friend's daughter, Autumn, who was born in June. Such a friggin' adorable baby, and hilarious! I think we spent most of the weekend in stitches. I'm so grateful for homecoming weekend, and for my friends, because Bereans really are friends for life!
The weekend AFTER that, so the 21st and 22nd, I braved rain (and just ridiculous weather in general) and some traffic-y parts to attend an AmeriCorps alumni event in Cincinnati. By ridiculous weather, I mean that it was 63 degrees and partly cloudy/breezy when I left my apartment in Richmond, and by the time I pulled into my parking space in downtown Cincinnati not even 2 hours later, it was 40 degrees and raining! Oh Kentucky weather, when will you cease to elude me? Anyway, met a few new folks and got to spend some much-needed time catching up with a really good friend. It's an interesting situation, as I've mentioned before, and although things didn't go quite the way I hoped there for a bit, I've gained a hell of a friend out of all of this, to which I am very thankful. So anyway, we got to catch up quite a bit, and it was nice. Really nice. Plus, hey, the food and beer was good too!
The last weekend in November, WE WENT TO OHIO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can see some of you thinking, holy crap Holly, settle down. No. Do not even go there. Before Thanksgiving break I hadn't been home since January.
And now for the fun stuff- grant writing!!
I suppose the primary contributing factor to my prolonged absence is that from the first weekend in November until last weekend (heck, even this weekend), I have had something going on every. single. weekend. Now I'm a borderline introvert/extrovert, but man y'all...I haven't had that much going on in a long time. Sometimes I wish there were two of me. Don't start.
Nov 7th I channeled my inner Top Chef and participated in the first annual Diced Community Cooking Challenge, which was sponsored by my rockin' awesome place of employment, the Kentucky Association of Food Banks, and the Madison County Public Library. Given a very eclectic bag of ingredients (just take my word for it on this one), I and three other contestants chopped, sauteed, and whipped up concoctions in order to try to please the taste buds of three judges. Unfortunately, I was not selected to advance to the championship round, but it was such a blast. SUCH a blast! But hey, I got a pretty sweet apron out of it! :)
Nov 8th sis and I trekked up to Northern Kentucky University to attend a concert: Chris Tomlin with Rend Collective. Rend Collective was a great opening act- they're a fairly recent Christian group from Ireland (Yes, Ireland!), and they are just so. much. fun. Plus their music is just awesome :) I'm a bit impartial to their song "Joy of the Lord", check it out on YouTube if you get a chance! And then Chris Tomlin...woaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh dudes! Sis and I hadn't seen him live since ICHTHUS 2006 so we were definitely excited! His music is so hugely popular, but once you hear his story, he just had the craziest and humblest of beginnings and probably never imagined that his career would end up where it is now. But I love his heart for Jesus and I love his music too...I think his stuff was my first exposure to Christian music. I've been wrestling a bit this year with some tough questions, mostly regarding God's timing and His plans, and some prolonged hurt and disappointment after some stuff went down earlier in October, and I just walked away feeling refreshed, inspired, and encouraged. I don't really have a favorite song by him, but his albums "Hello Love" and "Love Ran Red" are probably my favorites. Oh, and his new Christmas album...UH. MAY. ZING.
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| I just became an iPhone user, and I am in. love. with the camera! :D |
The weekend after that, the 13th- 15th was Berea's homecoming. I love homecoming so much it's not even funny. Not only is it another excuse to hang around Berea and its beautiful campus, it's really the one and only consistent time of the year in which I get to see my friends! I also got to meet my friend's daughter, Autumn, who was born in June. Such a friggin' adorable baby, and hilarious! I think we spent most of the weekend in stitches. I'm so grateful for homecoming weekend, and for my friends, because Bereans really are friends for life!
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| See. Friggin' cute, right? :) |
I crashed with a college friend, who just became a big kid and bought her own place this year. Yes, bought. I'm telling you...Bereans are friends for life! :) It's a gorgeous place in a gorgeous neighborhood and I couldn't be more happier for her if I tried.
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| Cincy in the rain |
Did you hear that, y'all? JAN. U. ARY. That is way too long for a girl to not enjoy some home comforts.
So it was the usual shenanigans that occur when we go visit the parents: too much food, too much laughing, some kind of board game/card game thrown in there, long talks, music being played through YouTube, and a spoiled-rotten Basset hound and a way-too-cute-for-her-own-good kitty cat. My family's basically the best. just saying.
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| Spent a lot of time going through old pictures. Here's sis and I circa 1998 |
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| See? Rotten. But so sweet |
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| Family selfie :) |
And now for the fun stuff- grant writing!!
Holy crap.
For the past few weeks my co-workers and I have, quite literally, been eyeballs deep in one grant right after the other. I can't go too much into detail, but please heed my advice: Do not procrastinate, and do not be afraid to delegate. Especially with federal grants. I'm working on one now, the first one I've written primarily by myself (I've had some GREAT help, mind you, and I'm pretty sure that's why I haven't lost my mind yet). It has come with its wide share of learning curves and almost panic attacks, the biggest one being that I've spent an entire work week and a half invested in this thing. But I take comfort in knowing that I am learning some rather marketable skills and, hopefully, something will come from all of our efforts. So stay tuned, and if anyone out there would like some advice on grant writing, etc, let me know :)
So there you have it. One last full week and a big push before Christmas break and heading into 2016. Been a wild year, that's for dang sure. Be well and be kind, all!
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