October post ... at nearly the end of November

Ugh. I broke my New Year’s Resolution. Damn it. I said I was going to blog once a month and I had been doing so well at it until the fall season hit. I have been so busy that putting off writing this post was much easier than actually sitting down and writing it. I could kick myself. Even worse, the first day of October, my roommate and I went apple picking and I took a ton of pictures so I could write all about the shenanigans. Great job, Andrea. (Even worse ... I'm just now posting this almost a month after writing it. Slacker.)

Enough of that, I guess I’m going to have to step it up as we head unwillingly into winter. First, with a condensed version of my October:

Apple picking with Jackie. So much fun! We picked 20 pounds in probably 20 minutes, then topped the day off with apple cider, caramel apples and apple salsa. Boom.

 

WTF is this Gangham Style crap? Jenessa so kindly introduced me to this when I was home visiting and since then, I see and hear it or about it everywhere. I don’t even know what the guy is saying in the song other than ‘sexy lady’ and ‘gangham style’ (and I don’t even know what that means) or what he is doing in the video. I will admit it has a good beat and the dance is entertaining but I still don’t get why everyone loves it so much. Our field hockey team even made a new warm up CD for their last game just to include this ode to sexy ladies.

Other than the fact that I go to bed by 9:30 p.m. , here’s a sign that I’m nearing real adulthood – I feel like Halloween didn’t even happen. Normally I would try and find the best costume possible or at least think about my options, but this year, I was more focused on making sure my athletic events ran smoothly. Other than the fact that I dominated pumpkin-carving with my sister mid-way through the month, the bus was crowded with people donning costumes on the 31^st, the never-ending supply of candy at work and the few trick-or-treaters that came to my door, Halloween wasn’t really a big part of October’s end.

When I put it like this, I guess I celebrate Halloween. Go figure. 

Going off of the comment above, I also can’t believe fall has come and nearly gone. It’s like already Thanksgiving. Don’t get me wrong – I love Thanksgiving and everything about it, but already? I also haven’t had time to get an early start on Christmas shopping like usual so I think that’s contributing to the whole holidays-sneaking-up-on-me thing.

I’m currently at day eight of my 21-day no sugar cleanse. Why I thought this was a good idea, I do not know. I guess it was the growing bowl of Halloween candy at work that got me thinking about how I could totally not eat sugar if I didn’t want to. I already don’t eat much sugar in the form of candy (unless it’s Halloween because I love candy corn) so I decided to cut back on all things sugar – dried fruit, juice, you name it. 

Yesterday I found out that I won a drawing! I know this sounds foolish, but I never win anything and when I dropped my name into the bucket at this art store (I’m getting cultured!) in Shrewsbury I figured my inability to win things would take over. But it didn’t and I’m the proud owner of this awesome painting by Billy Jacobs. I was obsessed with it in the store so I’m pumped to hang this baby up!

I’m also hard at work at a ‘thankful list’ which will be posted on the last day of the month. I had heard about this before and a ton of my friends have been posting their individual lists on Facebook so I jumped right on the bandwagon. For those of you who haven’t heard, every day I’ll write something I’m thankful for that had meaning in my day. Eight days in and I think I could seriously write a new thing every day for an entire year.

I Hate Change...at First

I hate change. So. Much.

More than tourists.

More than bugs.

Even more than the Yankees.

I just really don’t like change and needless to say the last few months haven’t been the easiest for me. As I have written about several times, in June, I had to leave my beloved Ithaca and everyone in it. That truly sucked. Then, I went home for seven weeks and worked at my usual summer spot on the ocean (doesn’t sound that bad, right?) Well, it wasn’t. I really enjoyed my time at home with my family, but by the time I got used to being there again, it was time to leave. Finally in August, I made the move to Boston and began working in the Harvard Athletic Department.

 

To say the most recent move required some change would be an understatement. I went from living in a town of 30,000 to living in a city with over 4.6 million people in it. I no longer drive my car and instead take public transportation. I live with new people in a new house that is just feet away from the house of my new neighbors. Oh and I work a full-time job that actually requires about 50-60 hours a week. So ya, a whole lot of newness and change. 

Between the new job and the new lifestyle, Boston was a rough adjustment. I didn’t expect it to be as easy as my move to Ithaca (that was piece of cake, a really good piece, too), but I also didn’t expect it to be as challenging as it was. I knew no one and in a city of almost 5 million and an Athletic Department of about 200 it was kind of lonely. I missed my friends, I missed the things I did for fun, I missed my old routine, my sister, my parents cooking for me. It wasn’t pretty and I kept chugging along as I tried to get into a routine and then… 

BAM!

I realized that I liked it. It took a bit longer than I expected but once I started to make friends in the department and recognize familiar faces things fell right into place. I had never realized how important it is to me to feel like a part of something. I was telling my mom late last week after a volleyball tournament that as much as I have complained about small-town mentality in the past, there are things I really appreciate about it. I’ve met a ton of my student workers and I think I’m really going to like working with them this year. I also have a couple of games that I’ve managed under my belt so things are becoming more familiar and I’m realizing that I made the right decision coming here.

Now that I’ve gotten all of that off my chest here are some snapshots of my time here thus far:

View from the top of Harvard Stadium

Field Hockey

Some Harvard swag

And more Harvard swag

A break in action at our volleyball invitational and a new water bottle to hold the rest of my Harvard swag

And of course … the family has been super supportive and awesome in the move and has already come to visit!

 

Everything is really good so far – roommates, apartment, work, being an hour-and-a-half from home – all of it.  And I think things are only going to get better from here...

Wordless Wednesday: Emails from DeRusso

The day after I got back from Ithaca, Sam sent me a ton of pictures from a night that we watched the sunset and goofed off at Myers Park with Jackie. I was going through my inbox today and found all of these gems ... So there ya have it - my  Wordless Wednesday!

Oh and this one's from Jackie ...

GLAM!

Happy Birthday to Me!

So Sunday I turned 24 and my family showered me with some glamorous gifts and super fitting cards. I also got fun gifts from Sam, but that just may be next week's Wordless Wednesday or maybe even my weekend blog. Let the birthday highlights begin ...

23 Memories of my 23rd Year

Today, I am 24. Yikes. Like, really?! It's actually pretty funny to think back to when I was 10 and where I thought I would be now back then. My prediction wasn't even close. But you know what, I couldn't be happier. I have an awesome family, the best friends I could have asked for and so much unpredictable excitement ahead. I love looking back at all the good and not so good things that have lead me to where I am today and so here's yet another ... my 23 best memories of my 23rd year. 

Last night out in Maine - All of the really great people in my life out at the same time the night before I left for Ithaca. Such a bittersweet night.

Ithaca hosting D3 Women's Basketball Regionals - The Ithaca girls basketball team made the NCAA tournament and hosted the first round. I love watching any Ithaca team do well at the national level, but it was even more exciting because Southern Maine (my undergrad, gooooo Huskies!) and Bowdoin traveled to Ithaca for the tournament, too. Two of my favorite things in one place.

Gorge Jumping - When I first saw people jump off the 45-foot rock and into the Second Dam gorge I thought they were crazy. Then I added it to my Ithaca bucket list and checked it off the list with a little help from Nina and Tony. I am sooo glad I did, it was scary and I screamed but it was awesome!

Jello Museum and Wine Tour - A little requested and unexpected fun on the way home from Rochester turned out to be one of the most fun days ever. Tony acted like a good father and took his ever-so whiny children (aka Sam and I) to the Jello Museum, which we all discovered while working on a final paper weeks before. Sam followed with an off-the-cuff idea to do a wine tour and there you have it - great day in the books. Definitely one of my favorite memories with these two.

The Uprising of the Gronk - He went from being some random tight end that I thought my dad stupidly drafted on his fantasy team to becoming my new NFL obsession. I loved watching him go crazy on the field running over defenders and most importantly celebrating each touchdown with a super awesome Gronk spike. This also led to my friends Gronk-spiking everything. So awesome.

Curling in Vancouver - As a little kid my grandmother forced me to watch curling during each Olympics and this winter I got the opportunity to try it out myself. I had only seen it on television and never really appreciated how hard it actually is. Needless to say my Olympic curling career began and ended that day, just as my biathlon one did days later.

Hanging out of Marshawn - I'm not really sure what prompted this photo shoot but Jackie and I thought it would be a great idea to take pictures in, around, outside of, hanging out of and on top of Tony's car. We had his keys and he wasn't there so we had a little fun. This will always be one of my favorite memories because the pictures make me laugh every single time. And of course a special thanks goes out to our photographer, Liberty.

First Ithaca hike - At this point early in the year I didn't even know Sam but for some reason I trusted her to take me hiking in the unknown woods. We scaled mountains, squatted down cliffs, took pictures, shared random stories and I figured out that Sam would be one of my best friends for the rest of my life that day.

Spring break - Again, my not-so-typical spring break makes an appearance on a favorites list. Maine, Washington D.C., Rochester, Candor, Ithaca. My best friends. Nine days. Boom. So. Much. Fun.

Photo-bombing Jon's office - This takes the boss-prank cake because it was totally not planned. Sam and I actually thought of it mid-workout and then plastered Jon's office with 270 photos immediately following. That was Friday. Everyone else saw it over the weekend and poor Jon didn't see it until Monday. Sucker.

Birthdays in Seattle - Turns out six inches of snow in Seattle is the equivalent of four feet in the Northeast and shuts down absolutely everything. It seemed like the worst thing ever after 10 days in Canada with a few boastful individuals until we turned it into a double birthday party for two of our fellow travelers. I would do this night over in a heartbeat.

Taking GA pictures - As part of our going away gifts for our bosses the four of us GAs took specific group pictures for each individual boss. Since each picture had meaning and memories behind it, we had so much fun taking them, laughing about the year and anticipating their reactions to them. It was such a fun way to sort of recap our year.

Sledding with bros - Since we legit had no snow all winter, we took advantage of it when we could. Even when it was only three inches we threw on our snow pants, blew up tubes and made hot chocolate. Pretty sure it'll be really hard for me to find friends that will do this with me in the future.

Syracuse Basketball with Dad - The first day of Christmas break Dad flew to Ithaca to accompany me for the six-ish hour drive back to Maine. We caught a Syracuse basketball game that night and took our time getting back to the Pine Tree State the next day. I had missed my dad-daughter time and was so excited that we got to explore a new place together.

Tyler's Birthday - Since I met Tyler that first week of the year, I was excited for her birthday. Not that every other night wasn't awesome, but I knew to expect lots of fun on that February night. And it was a Tuesday, which meant trivia, which always meant fun. No pictures from this night are necessary.

Anything involving Super Bass or House Party - Those songs always led to fun. We played them at night, screamed at the bar DJ to play them, played them in the morning, played them in the car, played them at the gym and even quoted lyrics on a regular basis. Chances are if either of those songs were involved, it was a phenomenal time.

Easter Egg Hunting - Even though I couldn't go to my Maine home for Easter, I was able to go to my Rochester version and celebrate with my New York family and a couple of my closest friends. We even had a super awesome Easter egg hunt that totally brought me back to being a little kid. Memories like that are the best.

Graduating with my Master's - I can't believe I received my graduate degree before I even turned 24 and needless to say, it was a very proud moment for me. I didn't really appreciate it at the time, but it is pretty cool and will eventually lead to a PhD.

Family photo night - A photo shoot with three of my best friends. Couldn't have been better.

One night at Andy's - I believe Andy refers to this night as 'four words' and that's exactly what it should be referred to as. At one point I had permanent marker on my face and at another I was eating protein bars with a best bro of mine. The rest of the night ... well ... it was even more fun than that.

Coddington Games - A memory that started with 'I bet you can't pick up that bag with your foot and bring it to the counter without touching the floor' turned out to be one of the best moments of this last year. Like I said earlier, I can't imagine it will be easy for me to find friends that will join me in Olympic-like competitions with household items.

The night our infamous Moonies competition name was created - Although we may have opposed this name in the initial five seconds of hearing it, we embraced it from there on out. I also believe this was nearly the start to the establishment of an awesome trio. Can't wait to bring this back when we visit next year.

I think it's pretty cool that I have 23 awesome memories that I wouldn't even think twice about recreating from an unforgettable 23rd year. I consider myself super lucky for all I have and for all I've done. I can only hope I have half as much fun every year in the future. Bring on 24!