Summer internship news

Boston, here I come! My internship will be with Northeastern University and the orientation program there. I'm extremely excited to work with orientation again and the staff seem wonderful. It will be an exciting summer in a new place! If anyone's looking for an excuse to visit Boston, here you go! I'll be there mid-May through mid-August.

In other news, I'm heading to Washington DC tomorrow for a conference. Reasons I'm looking forward to the trip:
1) Seeing Amy (since she's doing a stint in the capital city right now)
2) Seeing Kevin
3) Spending time with Carolina friends/colleagues outside work and class
4) Meeting the other Northeastern summer intern
5) And of course, learning lots :)

Have a great weekend, all!

Busy, busy spring

It's been an eventful semester here, to say the least! Classes, work, and life in general have been keeping me busy. Here are some highlights from the past month in SC...

Comprehensive Exams aka "Comps" -- The second years in the program took comps in late February and everyone celebrated the end of the big day. After the exam ended, all the second years could touch the 'horse' out in front of the School of Ed...tradition says touching it before the exam means you'll fail!

Waiting patiently for our second year friends

Champagne toast around the horse

GARP -- The recruitment weekend for our program was right before spring break. It was a very full couple of days (and weeks of planning) with interviews, etc, but very exciting to meet future classmates!

Lauren, Erin and me - the three of us spent a lot of time together leading up to GARP!

Spring break -- Ashley and I made the trek to Richmond for a sisters' weekend. It was a fabulous time...we explored Amy's new city, ate lots of great food, and had a great time with each other. Not to mention, the weather was perfectly sunny and warm for us!

We met up with Amy's college roommate, Nicole, too!

Charleston -- Several girlfriends and I took a short trip to Charleston over the break...again, the theme continued...great weather and food, and so much fun!

Enjoying the beach...even though it wasn't quite warm enough for swimsuits!

Week in Orlando

Before you start thinking about how nice a vacation must have been, let me tell you about my "vacation". I was in Orlando for the 28th Annual Conference on The First-Year Experience which is the largest confererence hosted by the National Resource Center each year. It was pretty amazing to experience the sheer size of the conference (around 1300 attendees) and the history and tradition.

The conference was a week of educational sessions, award receptions, networking, etc. It was incredible to see an event I've been working on since starting my job finally come together. I was blown away by the poise of the people I work with in managing such a large group of people, incredible amounts of information and responsibility, and doing so after long days and not enough sleep. It was eye-opening! The week was also an opportunity to get to know my coworkers a whole lot better outside of our professional sides -- we all took a bus down (a mere 8 hour drive) and then spent all day, every day together! Quite the experience!

I did get to step outside a couple times to enjoy the sunshine, but there were no trips to Disney World...sad times. All in all, a fantastic and exhausting week.

Exciting news of the week...

First things first...congratulations to Jeremy and Gina! Looking forward to their celebration in summer 2010!

Other big news of the week: I am now the proud owner of a Mac...it's treating me well so far and I'm hoping it can handle all the papers and research in store this semester!

Finally, I had a late start this week due to snow. Talk about exciting! Granted, it was less than an inch, but I am in the South. An editorial in the student newspaper about the snow and reaction to all the school closings drew my favorite comment...

"It annoys me when northerners scoff at the idea of schools closing for ice on the roads here. So, with everyone who grew up north of the Mason Dixon line in mind, NO ONE HAS TIRE CHAINS AROUND HERE!! There, i said it. I will venture ever further to say that none of you even brought your tire chains with you."

Enough said.

Welcome back

After a relaxing break with the fam, it's good to be back in Carolina. I went for a walk by the river this afternoon and only had to wear a fleece! 60 degrees in January works for me. The new semester kicks off tomorrow, so I'm off to prepare. Enjoy the last few hours of the weekend!

7 days of Christmas...continued!

Day 5: Christmas day is traditionally our low-key day with just the immediate family. It's a glorious day when we sleep in, open presents, watch movies and relax. The highlight for everyone (except Dad) is staying in pajamas all day, so to spare you, there will be no pictures from day 5!

Days 6-7: The O'Connor Christmas was in Indiana at Dan & Jess' this year. We made the 6-hour drive to Indianapolis to spend the weekend with Mom's family and celebrate the holidays. And the pattern of overeating and laughter continued...luckily, everyone was able to make it except cousin Derek. (We missed him dearly!) The long drive made some of us a little crazy (see photographic evidence below) but we still managed to have an amazing time!

5 Kennedys + 1 vehicle + 6 long hours

Cousins + Aunt Jeanie...love it!

Ashley and her mini-me...Shea

Aunt Amy and Daner...too cute!

The ladies playing horserace, the calm version :)

Daner and Shea Shea, my buddies

Regan was excited about the telescope loot!

Guitar Hero and Wii were a big hit throughout the weekend. The highlight might have been watching Dad get in there!

Get it, Aunt Judy!

Check out that form...a professional bowler!

It was a whirlwind of a week, but a great one. I hope you all enjoyed the holidays as well. Now it's time for me to get to working off all those Christmas cookies and wine! Thankfully, Ash is around to help me stay "motivated"...

7 days of Christmas...

The past week was full of preparations, celebrations, family and gluttony for the Kennedys. Christmas lasted for 7 days and I'm hoping I can work off a fraction of the calories I took in over the next year! I've included a not-so-brief summary for you all to enjoy!

Days 1 & 2: Cookie-baking with the O'Connor ladies...yes, we took two days to bake enough for everyone!

Auntie Sheila and Mom, ie the Peanut Butter ball rollers...
Can't tell they're sisters, can you

Dane, Rachel and Ali working quality control!

And in between the cookies - after lots and lots of anticipation and excitement - Ash made it home from Spain!!

We wanted to welcome her in her new language of course!

Look at how cute our little European is :)

Day 3: The Kennedy Cousin Christmas party was graciously hosted by Katie and Jeremey. They've done an amazing job renovating Grandma and Grandpa's old house, so it was great to see. The night was full of good company, weird coincidences, lots of laughs and reminiscing...including, but not limited to: Ms. Betty W. and the County Fair. Can't wait for next year!

Days 4: A long-standing tradition -- Christmas Eve with the Kennedy family! It was great fun to see the whole family together and catch up. Of course there was way too much food, laughter, gifts and (yes) caroling. Good times all around.

Dad and his sibs

The traditional piano recital had a Hawaiian flair this year thanks to Mia

Cutey Keana

Lady Kennedy Cousins - missing a few

Princess Sophie and her pearls

The night would not be complete without goofing around...

Grace hiding from the camera

One word: Payback :)

Days 5-7 coming soon!