Transitioning into Transitions

It has been over 6 weeks since I transitioned from OCBP to home. It has been over 4 week since I transitioned out of home to college for Senior Year. In other words, within 2 weeks I did 2 transitions.

Transition from OCBP to Home:
At first, it wasn't that bad. I know I am going to see them again soon. I was determined not to cry though, even though I knew that it might be challenging. I cry quite a bit to be honest. The more people left, the more upset I felt to be without them. 

Transition from Home to School:
We are officially Jefferson (They changed my email even. Last year was just a trial run. I still had my PhilaU email. Now it's real though.). Coming in, I was so excited. I'm a senior. It's almost time for me to graduate. Instead, I found my week fueled with frustration. Move in was Saturday and classes started Monday. That left me 2 days to: prepare for classes, get the books I needed, make sure Human Resources (HR) had my student work study worked out, fill out NCAA paperwork, and get another physical. None of it went as planned though. The book I needed was in the library and HR were closed for the weekend. The NCAA paperwork took me hours to do and in order to train and compete in Rowing, my paperwork had to be done first. I even had to pay to have High School transcripts and SAT scores sent to the NCAA (which is amusing because I graduated High School 3 years ago). Senior year was not going as planned. Things have calmed down a bit now. I'm constantly busy, but I am learning to take a deep breath and enjoy my senior year. Before I know it, it will be time to graduate. I know, scary. 

What I miss:
-Sharing my room with all the girls. I have no roommates at school, so it is always quiet in my space, which I am not used to. 

-Walking around the house and always finding someone to do something with.
-Random pictures and random faces. We all managed to let our personalities shine through in pictures. I was always fond of the pictures with the weird expressions. 

-Sleeping in. Rowing is practicing midday for now, but as of Monday, practice will begin at 5:15 am. Yes, that is really early. I started transitioning into that wake up time. Whenever I try to sleep in, I can't seem to sleep past 7 am. We have a cool boathouse though and I will get to see a lot of sunrises, so I guess it's ok. 

-Being able to catch up every day. Now we have school, work, etc. Our lives are busier and catching up every day is difficult. We still keep in touch through texts, letters, phone calls, Snapchat, Groupme, and more. It's not the same as seeing everyone in person though. 

See You Later...

It's not a goodbye. It's a see you later.  Goodbye's have always been challenging for me. It's not something I particularly like and it makes it final. So here are a few moments that I will miss and some that I won't...

What I won't miss:
- The key fob system thing. The original one, everyone just got in, even if they did not live in the building. Then they replaced it to make it more challenging. Suddenly it took five tries to open the door and you dare not breathe incorrectly or it won't open. 
- Sunburn. I only got burnt twice this summer, which is a record low for me, but I got majorly burnt on the last day (Sorry Natalie. Sunscreen was already packed in the abyss I call a suitcase.).
- Sleeping on a cot. I am so excited for an actual bed!

What I will miss:
- All my loves in the house.
- Coming home to screaming and knowing that John was definitely home.

- Stephen running to give everyone a hug.

- Family dinner at 5:30 sharp(ish).
- Lipgloss playing at full blast every chance we got. 
- One on one's.
- Trinity and Hope's alarm working together, so every morning we would hear "It's 7 am. Time to wake up."
- Heading off to work with Tessa (for that one week we worked together in the Henna Shop in Ocean City).

- Crying (and at times dancing) in the rose garden. Also known as our go to crying area. 
- Worship, Bible Study, Lifegroups, Triad, and all our other "mandatory" events that we would have gone to willingly no matter what... probably. 
- Going to the beach pretty much every day (and singing "Let's go to the beach, each. Let's go get away. They say, what they gonna say.").
- Nothing ever running on schedule and having to learn to avoid clocks, phones, watches, or whatever else I could tell time with after 5:30 pm. 
- AbbyGrace's ever-growing warmth and ability to eat my portion of salad on top of hers. 

- Everyone loving me and being willing to speak some really hard truth into me. 
- The passion for Christ I see in all of my housemates and forever friends. 
- Trinity saying family (if you came and visited or stayed in the house, you know what I'm talking about).

There will be more yet to come. I am sure of it. It's just too much to list right now and one goal I set for myself once I got home was going to bed at a reasonable time and learning to stick with a set sleep schedule. I guess that gets to start tonight. 

Favorite Moment:
It was our last house dinner, not in the house, but as a banquet. We got all dolled up and got ready to head to Ove's for dinner. The guys even ironed (and got help as needed) ironing their dress shirts and pants. Meanwhile the ladies had their own fashion show going on. You could hear us cheering throughout the house as everyone tried on a different dress (I tested this by going to iron Katie's dress). I loved getting ready with all our lovely ladies. We were super supportive and slayed every last moment. 

Strange House Concern:
This is goodbye. Now, it isn't actually a goodbye. It's a see you later. We still have this community. It doesn't go away as we went back home today actually. We get to continue to build our community from a little further away. We have an extra support system. A simple phone call, text (that we take forever to respond to), letter, email, facetime, or whatever method we use away. We are all a bit spread out, but that's okay. It means we just have to do a little more traveling and savor every moment together. 

Featured Places of the Week:
Monkey Bread- Now, I did not pay to eat here, but I found a way to work the system. So, late at night when Monkey Bread goes to close, they give all the leftovers to Henna Shop employees, so I just went late at night when to the Henna Shop (where I work) when I knew Monkey Bread was closing. It was actually pretty good. I think I would have enjoyed it more first thing in the morning when they are just making it, but it was free food. 

Stainton's- This is a store filled with mini stores that supports local artists and small businesses. You pay for everything all at once at the front counter. They have everything ranging from jewelry to handcrafted wood furniture to locally grown honey and pretty much any reasonable small business item (that's for Kyle because I know that if I said anything you would think of then he will ask if they sell something ridiculous like yachts and I will tell him now. He will then proceed to tell me then they don't sell everything, so there, I covered my bases.).

Favorite Quotes of the Week:
-"2 packs of Ramen instead of one."- Tessa(In response to the teacher saying that we should aim to push our food budget once a week and treat ourselves.)
-"I'd rather watch the Bachelorette, but that's in the bible too... Esther." -Jamie (our guest speaker for the week)

What happened when I got back home:
Mind you, I have yet to unpack. I haven't had much time to start. I got Saturday night dinner with my family (as we usually do). As we were eating dinner, I had to keep my one dog, Chai, away from Comet (my stuffed reindeer). My dad kindly moved Comet higher up so that Chai would not get it. It was at a higher height than our kitchen table. Now, one of my other dogs, Java, got to it. He is currently a 5 month old teething puppy and losing teeth. He managed to snatch Comet from the bookshelf and lost a baby tooth in the process, turning Comet into a bloody mess (as you can see below). Don't mind my mother laughing hysterically in the background, as my entire family took amusement in this moment. Apparently, Java was not happy that I was gone for two months and I had to miss out on some of his developing months. 

Amazing Reads: Sabbath as Resistance

Sabbath as Resistance

By Walter Brueggemann

Originally, I wasn't going to read this book. Mike Chen recommended that I read this book though (along with several other books), so I thought I would go for it. Walter Brueggemann writes that the Sabbath is not simply about keeping rules but rather about becoming a whole person and restoring a whole society. We are constantly going in order to be more, get more, etc., but we never really take any time to rest. Keeping the Sabbath allows us to break this restless cycle and focus on what is truly important: God, other people, all life. 

Favorite Quotes:

-“In our own contemporary context of the rat race of anxiety, the celebration of Sabbath is an act of both resistance and alternative. It is resistance because it is a visible insistence that our lives are not defined by the production and consumption of commodity goods.” -Walter Brueggemann
-“Sabbath becomes a decisive, concrete, visible way of opting for and aligning with the God of rest.” -Walter Brueggemann
-“The Sabbath rest of God is the acknowledgment that God and God’s people in the world are not commodities to be dispatched for endless production and so dispatched, as we used to say, as “hands” in the service of a command economy. Rather they are subjects situated in an economy of neighborliness. All of that is implicit in the reality and exhibit of divine rest.” -Walter Brueggemann
-“That divine rest on the seventh day of creation has made clear (a) that YHWH is not a workaholic, (b) that YHWH is not anxious about the full functioning of creation, and (c) that the well-being of creation does not depend on endless work.” -Walter Brueggemann
-“Multitasking is the drive to be more than we are, to control more than we do, to extend our power and our effectiveness. Such practice yields a divided self, with full attention given to nothing.” -Walter Brueggemann

My Predictive Index

Strongest Behaviors
Emma will most strongly express the following behaviors.
- Formal, reserved, introspective, and skeptical of new people; requires 'proof' to build trust in new people.
- Detail-oriented and precise; follow-through is deep and literal to ensure tasks were completed in accordance with quality standards.
- Operationally, as opposed to socially, focused. Thinks, in specific terms, about what needs to be done and how to do it accurately and flawlessly; follows, in a literal way, that execution plan. 
- A relatively private individual, it takes her some extra time to connect to and trust new people. She's serious and reserved.
- With an ability to concentrate on the task at hand, she's generally more focused on the technical matters than the social ones. Consistent and thoughtful.
- Works at a relatively steady pace; best working with familiar processes, environments, and co-workers. Not inclined to change. 
____________________________________________________________________

Summary
Emma is a thoughtful, disciplined person who is particularly attentive to, careful of, and accurate with the details involved in her job. She identifies problems, and enjoys solving them, particularly within her area of expertise. She works at a steady, even pace, leveraging her background for the betterment of the team, company, or customer.

With experience and/or training, Emma will develop a high level of specialized expertise. She is serious and dedicated to her job and the company. Her work pace is steady and even-kneeled, and she is motivated by a real concern for getting work done thoroughly and correctly. Her discipline and circumspect thinking will lend caution to her decision-making; she plans ahead, double checks, and follows up carefully on her decisions and actions.

A modest and unassuming person, Emma works autonomously in her area of expertise. When working outside of her expertise, her drive is to seek specialized knowledge by finding definitive answers from written resources, authoritative management, or established subject-matter experts. She is most effective and productive when she works within or close to her own specialty and experience, and she prefers to stick to the proven way. If it becomes necessary for her to initiate or adopt change, she will need to see cold, hard, evidence to prove that the new way is proven, complete, and yields high-quality results. In addition, Emma will carefully plan the implementation to minimize problems and maximize results.

Emma is reserved and accommodating, expressing herself sincerely and factually. In general, she is rather cautious and conservative in her style, skeptical about anything new or unfamiliar or any change in the traditional way of doing things. Possessing the ability to strongly concentrate on the job at hand, she's most effective when given uninterrupted blocks of time. She has better-than-average aptitude for work that is analytical or technical in nature. 
____________________________________________________________________

Management Style
As a manager of people or projects, Emma will be:
- Focused on providing her team with a sanctioned, proven template by which they will produce high quality, consistent work
- Respectful of authority and established regulations; she will evaluate change with skepticism, proceeding cautiously and adapting slowly after prudent analysis of the outcome
- Loyal and diligent in pursuing the company's goals and protecting it from risk or failure
- Cautious, she delegates to those who have proven to her that they get results, and her follow-up will be close and will ensure that all procedures have been followed and all standards met
- Most comfortable managing functions where she has deep knowledge and expertise; generally these functions will be more technical than social
- Introspective and quiet; she will share her ideas with others after significant analysis and reflective consideration
____________________________________________________________________

Influencing Style
As an influencer, Emma will be:
- Thorough and precise; her primary concern is diagnosing problems and providing proven, tailored solutions
- Focused on the business or technical issues rather than the personal or emotional ones
- Concise and direct; will ask questions, take time to carefully consider the answers, and use as few words as possible to get her point across
- Intent on listening; she will focus on one thing at a time so that she has time to think about what she will say and how she will say it
- Thinking about the steps necessary for successful implementation; she will not over-commit or over-promise on what she can deliver
- More comfortable presenting ideas with which she is intimately familiar and perceivers herself as an expert; with proper training and time to learn, can be adept at presenting technical ideas or concepts, particularly in environments where the relationship has already been established
____________________________________________________________________

Management Strategies
To maximize her effectiveness, productivity, and job satisfaction, consider providing Emma with the following:
- Opportunity to work within her area of expertise to assure high-quality, by-the-book, results
- Wherever necessary, detailed, through training in her specialized work
- The chance to learn and practice in an orderly, stable environment
- Recognition for work well done
- Stability and predictability in her work environment and responsibilities
- A positive, non-threatening approach when it is necessary to correct, change, or criticize her work

Staff-less Week

The staff were gone this week, and I can say without a doubt that I loved every moment of it. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy having the staff around, but the dynamic is so much different with them not here. We get to be more open, more vulnerable. We had the opportunity to talk about things that often got pushed to the side because talking about class was classified as more important. Class is important, but I can't tell you the amount of times that I said we needed to process our emotions on top of that. I'm big into analogies, so the one I often use is when you put a pot on the stove. It can sit there for a while and the water will begin to boil. We are often told that a watched pot never boils. The problem with this is that an unwatched pot can go from boiling to overflowing quickly. On Sunday, as a whole, we overflowed. All the emotions we weren't able to work through finally boiled over. The problem was, I saw it coming for a while, but I couldn't do anything about it. 

This week in class, we talked about academic faithfulness. The most important aspect I pulled from class was that there is nothing outside of God's design. So often, we feel that there is this perfect design for our lives, but there are just some things that cannot possibly fit into his design. So great a wrong was done that it has to be outside the design. The thing is, God just changes his design a bit. He doesn't take away our free will for our lives. We are human and we are going to mess up again and again and again. God still loves us in those moments. We didn't have to do anything to earn that love. We simply exist. That's it. The teacher even drew a nice picture to show what he meant. It looked like this:

There were some great aspects brought into the class, but that wasn't what was on my mind this week. What was on my mind most of the week though was the difference between leading and controlling. We came here to become better spiritual leaders. The problem is, what happens when leading turns into controlling? I looked up the definitions for the two, thinking it would help. This is what I found:
 -leading: providing direction or guidance
 -controlling: to maintain influence or authority over
They are similar, but there is also a big difference. With leading, the other person (or party) still has free will. They still have the choice to agree or disagree with what the other person (or party) wants said or done. The opinion can still be taken into consideration, but it does not necessarily have to be the expected way. With controlling, free will feels as if it is being taken away. What says, goes. There is no say. Control isn't necessarily a bad thing; it just depends on how the control is being used. 

Favorite Moment:
While the staff were gone, we pranked John and Randy. All of their belongings were gift wrapped. Hangers were taped to the ceiling. Broccoli was hanging from the ceiling (that's tied to a previous prank where we hid pieces of broccoli around John's side of the room, putting some under his pillow, under his sheets, on the shelves, pretty much anywhere we could think of). Over 1,000 cups of water were filled and put by the door, so that in order to get in, he had to pretty much overflow the room with water. It was beautiful. (I'm still trying to find pictures and videos, so I will add them once people send me some).

Strange House Concern:
What if we are unprepared? In two weeks, we head back home. We need to take what we learned here and implement it wherever we end up, whether that be at home, school, our local church, or somewhere else altogether. We don't want to be in a depressed mood, where we want everything to be exactly the way it is like here. That's unrealistic. We need to use this opportunity to grow and reach others. 

Featured Places of the Week:
-Jilly's T-Shirt Factory: I like this place mainly because it is one part of an ongoing chain. There is Jilly's Arcade, Jilly's Ice Cream Factory, and Jilly's T-Shirt Factory. When you spend $25 at Jilly's T-Shirt Factory, you can get a free lemonade. It is realistic to spend $25 because a custom t-shirt is about $19 (after tax). Many people in my group have gotten custom t-shirts from here. It's a good price and it doesn't take long to print. 

- The Wear House: This is one of my favorite places to go shopping. They have some fantastic deals. It reminds me a bit of Ross or TJMaxx, but the contents cycle through more frequently. Even if I don't buy anything, I look to see what is new. I found a new brand that I really like, called Silence+Noise (It's part of the Urban Outfitters brand). They have some really nice pieces. There was a pair of pants that I fell in love with and they were the right length, but they felt too tight. It was a sad time, but I'll live.

Favorite Quotes:
-"Mind Blown." -Harrison (every time he hears something he is surprised by during bible study or class

What I missed back home:

My sister just came back from her birthright trip to Israel. From what I've gathered, she had a lot of fun, filled with lots of adventures. She got to join an active archaeological dig, explore the many civilizations that called this land home, and discover what the past teaches us about our present.

My Island Adventure

Now, I don't normally post about my day (usually I just post about my week), but today was an adventure! I needed a redo on my "me date" that turned into me hanging out with every person in the house instead of finding my own adventure. Today, I had off from work and I wanted to get the most out of it. 

From the moment I woke up, my day moved rather quickly, visiting:

Waverly's Surfing Beach: I wanted to check out a part of the beach that I don't normally choose to go to, so I decided to start with Waverly's Surfing Beach. It is on the north side of the island and not that far of a bike ride away. There aren't many tourists, but there are a lot of surfers, primarily because of the nice waves they tend to have. It wasn't necessarily easy to find, but there is a sign of the street lamp in front of the steps that lead to the break that says "Pray for Surf", which helped a little bit.

Cowpen's Island: Yes, this is a place. No, I am not misspelling it. It isn't all that exciting, but there is a pier. It's quiet and not many people were out and about boating in the bay. There wasn't noise from any of the main roads and there was simply silence. 

Discovery Seashell Museum: This was less of a museum and more of a place to buy different seashells. It was still cool to explore the different types of shells and the owner brought his dog to work, so that's a plus. Dogs make everything better. 

Staunton Wildlife Refuge: It is so peaceful here. It's not really off the beaten path, but you hear the birds and see them fly. It's quite calm. 

Ocean Reef: This is a bit of a funny story. I saw a sign that said "Ocean Reef" along with a bunch of other community things. At first I thought, "I didn't know Ocean City had an Ocean Reef." At the same time, it wasn't unrealistic because I didn't know that they had a wildlife refuge either, so I thought I would check it out on the way back. It was only a couple of blocks out of my way, so why not? I got more and more excited as I got closer to the bay. What I found was that Ocean Reef is a residential community. 

Ocean City Historical Museum: This was quite the challenge to find. It was on Stenton Ave. and 17th. The problem was that 17th and Stenton did not intersect, so I had to bike in circles trying to find it. It wasn't easy to find. It was connected to the library and community center and I honestly found those by accident. There isn't much to the Historical Museum either, but that's ok. I was able to find out more about the library and community center events.

Glazed Over Studios: I wanted to do something artsy, so I found an art studio nearby where I could paint ceramics. I went here with AbbyGrace. It was a lot of fun and I'm excited to see how it turns out. I get to see the final product on Friday. Here's a picture of it without it being fired:

Boyar's Food Market: Mind you, I did not buy any food here. I enjoyed walking around the store though. It's unlike the Acme, Giant, Shoprite, or whatever other grocery store you have near you. It has more of a mom and pop feel to it. They don't carry everything, but they carry enough.

TJ's Ice Cream Plus: I discovered this place by accident last night. I went on a bike ride and it honestly looked like a stereotypical Chinese take-out place, with the yellow lights and red lit writing. I don't know my mind assumed Chinese when I looked at it from the distance. Maybe I just wanted Chinese. Who knows? Anyways, I went to TJ's Ice Cream Plus today and tried pistachio ice cream. It was similar to Hobby Horse. The woman that owns it actually went through the Penn State Creamery Ice Cream Institute (yes, that is a thing. You can look it up.). It was really good. Not as good as Tanner's (that's because I'm a home girl and Tanner's is somewhere I went every summer with my family). P.S. The picture is from the night before. It was not this dark all day. 

After that wonderful adventure, I had to do homework (I know, crazy. It's summer and I still have homework. I'm taking Basic Human Anatomy this summer and there is nothing basic about it, so I have to study.) Before I knew it, it was 5:30 pm and time for house dinner. Later this summer, I hope to see the other side of the island, as I only biked from the north side of the island (which starts before 1st Street) and went to 35th Street.   

Shooketh.

What kind of personality do I have? Am I patient? Am I stubborn? Do I feel strongly one way or another?

Now, I know that is quite a bit of questions to ask, but this week was spent examining our Predictive Index (we had to take a quiz and then they analyzed what we said). Here's some of what mine says (I'll type up the complete thing later):
"Emma will most strongly express the following behaviors... Formal, reserved, introspective, and skeptical of new people; requires 'proof' to build trust in new people. Detail-oriented and precise. Operationally, as opposed to socially, focused. A relatively private individual; it takes her some extra time to connect to and trust new people. She's serious and reserved."


Now, this sounds a lot like me. Casey, who was next to me in class, told me that it sounded exactly like me. Reading this though, you would think I have high or low qualities (of dominance, extroversion, patience, and formality- these were the qualities measured). Actually, I don't. Everything was towards the middle of the spectrum, falling into the ranges that included: unassuming, unselfish, agreeable, peaceful, reserved, quiet, serious, sincere, introspective, relaxed, patient, stable, calm, methodical, accurate, careful, thorough, self-disciplined, dutiful. Here's the general chart:

Oddly enough, I am not super stubborn/ domineering. I actually fall on the opposite side of the spectrum, but I gently remind myself that some things are situationally based. Oh, and shocker, I am a subjective decision maker. I will make choices based on what I have presented to me and go from there. 

Favorite Moment:
The staff left on Friday afternoon for staff training, so since we still had the fire pit at the house, that night we set everything up and had a bonfire. We even went to the store and got ingredients for s'mores too. We definitely went past island quiet hours (yes, there are quiet hours for the entire island and it's 11 pm). Thankfully, we don't have neighbors. We did still try to be courteous though. It was a lot of fun. I ate way too many s'mores, but we all had the opportunity to sit and sing together without really being in a hurry to go and do anything.

Strange House Concern:
Will the house fall apart? The staff left on Friday and return next Friday. This means we have a week to ourselves without them (cue the fireworks and applause). This also means that we are in charge of everything that goes into this house running. That means grocery shopping, worship prep class, bible study prep class, getting the guest speaker acquainted, etc. We have to do it all. Will one of us get injured? Most likely. Will we fall apart? Probably not. We'll just have to wait and see. I think we can do this. 

Featured Places of the Week:
Roma's Pizza- I decided to do a me date and take myself out on an adventure. The problem with this is that I have FOMO (Fear of Missing Out). I ended up meeting up with a group and going to Roma's Pizza. They have really good food. I got a gyro (which was absolutely amazing. It was better than the place I tried gyro at last time.). I also got to try Jamie's pizza (which was also delicious. Plenty of toppings and just the right amount of sauce.). I even tried some of Tessa's calzone (that's an inside out pizza. It was a great size for it's price and it was extra cheesy.). Overall, I would completely recommend. There is one on the boardwalk and there is one off the boardwalk. 

Seaport Village Golf- The same night I went on a me date (and didn't seem to spend any time alone), I went mini golfing with a group. Our goal was to find the one with the least amount of little kids. We ended up at Seaport Village Golf on the boardwalk. It was kinda crowded and our group wasn't great at mini golf (we weren't the worst either though), but we had a lot of fun. It took over two hours to get through all the holes, so the $7 per person was worth the money.

Favorite Quotes of the Week:
-"Randy's a great stepping stone." -Me (when I was trying to explain that I was going to try and have more one on one's with the guys and decided that I would start with Randy)
-"So what would I be good at?" -Stephen (in class when we were discussing our Predictive Index. All the letters were close to the middle.)
-"Shooketh." -Unknown (but it is becoming used more often throughout the house. I don't know how I feel about it.)
-"Is there someone playing guitar in the bathroom?" -Hope (while hearing my speaker playing in the shower. It's a JBL Flip 4 and the sound is incredibly clear.)

What I missed back home:
My brother got a job this week! I am so proud of him. He was really looking for a job and he ended up getting one at Petsmart. I'm just waiting for my parents to take advantage of my brother's employee discount.