BUMegan's Blog : Garmin

closer I am to fine....

BUMegan — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 00:00:00 GMT

October 25, 2007.....8 days left of my fall travel season. At this point, sitting at my parent's house in St. Louis I am READY to be done. It seems like I've lived six lives since I wrote last, and I'm not sure as to what I can specifically attribute that to...regardless life has been very, very good. I'm very happy (if sleep deprived!!) with how life has been going these past few weeks. Life is at a good point right now. :)

I am finishing up a week in St. Louis and will be heading back to Indy on Saturday. I took my first trip to Evansville for our reception, which seemed to go pretty well. We had about 40-50 people (students and families) come to The Jungle, a coffee shop/restaurant in downtown Evansville. Hopefully the students that attended had a good time-I think it was pretty informative and I'm glad I got to go and see all that downtown Evansville has to offer! (Right Aaron and Stephanie?!) Quick shout out to the students I took in the van with me-Ashley, Nate, Lissa and Andrea-you all rock! Nate, thanks for the CDs on the way home...I definitely needed them!

My last three fairs went really well-the Chicago fair at the Navy Pier (yes, I definitely make a penny after stopping to get coffee. It's awesome ;) was busy almost the entire time, the St. Louis fair at SLU was very good as was the fair the next night at St. Louis Community College-Meramec. I was pretty ready though, on Monday night, to be finished. Some counselors and I went out to Bar Louie for a bite to eat and a drink after the fair, to celebrate. That was a nice feeling!

To any Blues Brothers fans-I FINALLY saw the movie last week for the first time. I figured since I travel to Chicago so much, I might as well see a movie that's filmed in the Windy City. I must say it's a great movie-VERY funny, and I really like the music too. I finally feel like a real life/almost resident of Chicago....as much as I can be!

Gavin Wally (The Garmin GPS) is working out REALLY well. It's probably one of the best purchases I've made in a really long time. I keep finding new things I can use it for and it is definitely convenient to have in Chicago.

That's about all that I have...except for one last thing. The students I met with Evanston deserve props for the most entertaining visit this fall. They were funny, outgoing, asked a lot of questions and were just really awesome in general. So if any of you are reading this, thanks for keeping me entertained and loving my job!

Hope everyone has a good weekend--HOPEFULLY it's not raining (as I feel like it's been a constant barrage of bad weather recently) and we get some sun. You can't beat Butler during the fall, so I hope I can get back to campus before it's too late and I miss my favorite season!

Please let me know if you have questions-more than happy to help, especially at this time of year. Catch y'all later!

a sleepy blog entry....

BUMegan — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 04:11:00 GMT

Week number five of travel....puts me more than halfway done. That seems so crazy, as time seems to have flown by, this week especially. One fair again this week means LOTS of down time, which is why I am SO thankful to have Troy around. :) This is his last week in Chicago, so we've definitely been getting some good down time in before he heads out tomorrow. Chocolate cake shakes from Portillos, BW3's and Season 1 and 2 of the Office are pretty much the highlights of the week for us! (And Christmas shopping, but SHH it seems wayyyy to early to say that) I had seen a few bits and pieces of episodes from the Office, but had never sat down and watched a full show. Now, after this week, we finished the first season and we are halfway through the second. I am addicted. What a good show!!

So yesterday, I got to go to this really cool restaurant which I have to mention. It was in Aurora, after a fair with Marmion Academy and Aurora Central Catholic High School. Walter Payton's Roundhouse Restaurant/Bar/Brewery is the name, and the place is AWESOME. If you are ever near Aurora (Downtown I think?) go check it out. The food was good and the building itself is pretty neat. It was DEFINITELY a good choice. ;) If anyone is wondering-the fair went really well! The Marmion boys are always fun to chat with, as were the students from Aurora Central. (My first visit there, from what I can remember)

I have a fair tomorrow night at the College of Lake County, which I think will be pretty busy. These next few fairs will get kind of crazy, and I had to call the office today to have them ship me some stuff. (Lame, I know, but I keep running out!) We have the big Chicago fair at the Navy Pier on Saturday, and then I'll be making the super exciting drive down to St. Louis for the big St. Louis fair on Sunday at SLU. (Almost positive it's there!!) Life is pretty crazy for the next week or so, and then everything will finally slow down for my final week of travel in IL the last week of October/first week in November.

After almost completing another year of travel, I can still say that although it's tiring and at times trying (thank you, Chicago traffic!!!) I truly, truly do love what I do and the people I work with, both at BU and the counselors I've met up here. It blows my mind that in just two weeks I'll be back in the office reading applications. For those of you who have gotten yours in-congratulations!! I'm excited to read them, and happy for you that you were so on the ball! For anyone still trying to get everything in--you still have time, and know you can always call me if you need help. :) Good luck getting everything filled out-I know what a pain it can be!

I think that's it from here. I am in some need of a good night's rest, as that hasn't been happening too often lately. (Early wake up calls and running around all day seem like they would help the sleeping thing, but it doesn't!!) Hope all is well wherever you are:) Until next time...

PS-To anyone wondering, I DID name the Garmin. His name is Gavin Wally and I can't take credit for his name. Troy and Mike came up with the two names, and I liked them both so much I used them both. So thank you to both of them and if anyone is thinking about buying one-just get it. They are amazing!!

Side note-Happy birthday to Miss Molly. Hope you had a great birthday!

a Garmin, some sushi and a kia optima-week 2 in the Chi

BUMegan — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 19:39:00 GMT

Week 2 in Chicago...

Is WAY better than last week! I actually was in the office yesterday for our BU101 and it was so, so good to see everyone. The event went really well and people seemed to enjoy it, minus the extremely hot weather. I was able to grab lunch at one of my favorite restaurants, Naked Chopstix (sushi bar, SO GOOD!!) and got one of my favorite rolls, the Maui Roll. If you are ever in Indy and want good sushi (and LIKE sushi!) definitely head there. Also, the most exciting news-I GOT MY GARMIN!!! It's amazing. I am definitely in love with how convenient my life is now up here. I never have to worry about getting lost, it reroutes my directions, tells me what time I'll get there, and speaks with an Australian accent. (You get to choose, and I figure that mine has to be a boy, don't you think?)

Only 2 fairs this week, one for District 211 and one at the Illinois Math and Science Academy. It's just SO nice to have some time off-I can work out, hang out and get some stuff done here at the hotel. My friend Troy and I were talking about how much better travel year 2 is as compared to year 1. Now that I know people up here, traveling with them and hanging out with them makes life so much easier. :) Shout out to all those counselors, especially Troy, Justin, Katie, Brian, Mike, Lamar and everybody else-you all are the best. I'm a lucky girl!!

This past weekend went REALLY fast-we had an SAT test that I had to work, and I went to a college fair in Cincinnati on Sunday afternoon. It was a crazy fair! I definitely wasn't expecting the amount of people, but I was happy with the turnout. Thank you to anyone who stopped by that day-it made my day go so much faster (and much better!)

Same goes for the students I met with last week-I had SO many wonderful visits and met so many awesome students. You all were wonderful to talk to, and is definitely a main reason I enjoy what I do so much. To my students at Barrington and Marian Central Catholic, specifically-you all were AWESOME!!! Thank you for such good and entertaining visits. :)

On a side note- to my friends back home in St. Louis (LIFERS!), I miss you all so much. Glad this email thing seems to work out for us so well. And congrats to Miss Mary, who I hear is now engaged?! Crazy.

Glad to know there are some people that read this, or at least look at it. I brought a camera this time around, so expect some pictures in the near future! Have a good week all, and please let me know if anyone needs anything!!

Chicago!!

BUMegan — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 00:31:00 GMT

Just got in to Chicago...my hotel is AWESOME! They just remodeled and everything is super nice. I'll be here for a week, so it's nice knowing that I have a comfy room and bed as my mini home away from home. This is travel week number 3, and I'll be spending all my time in the suburbs of Chicago. This is an area I traveled last year, so I'm (finally!) pretty familiar with the area and all the different places to go. There are fairs every night this week, so it's going to be pretty busy-but I know we will get some play time in to go grab dinner at a fun restaurant or watch a movie. Anything relaxing that we can do up here is the goal for the week! (To anyone wondering-no PT cruisers this time. I have a black Pontiac G6. It's pretty nice, if I do say so myself!)

Homecoming was yesterday. I managed to get into Indianapolis about 10 Friday night (traffic, naturally) so I went straight to bed to be ready and on the ball for the game and seeing everyone. It was really, really good to see so many people I haven't gotten to talk to in awhile. Especially during travel, I like being able to see friends to remind myself I do have a life, and it has nothing to do with work. Travel season can get hard because you have no life; your work is your life. While I truly enjoy it and LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my job, I'm glad I have good friends to come to in Indianapolis. :) I feel bad for the team, as we took a pretty tough loss. But, we are still 4-1 and I can't wait to see how the rest of the year plays out for them. Coach Voris and the other coaches have done such a great job, and I applaud them and the team for all their hard work-you guys rock. :)

There were a lot of girls at the game from Alpha Phi, my sorority. Those girls are amazing and it was so fun to catch up with some that have graduated and the girls that are still at Butler. Of all the things I did at during school, that was definitely one of the best decisions I made. I've met so many wonderful people in Alpha Phi, and through joining a Greek house. I also got to meet some girls who joined after I graduated, which was a lot of fun as well. Phi's-love you girls! Thanks for letting some old alums join in on the fun and hang out with you all!!

Well, Jurassic Park is on (I know, I know, really cool), and I have some emails to catch up on before tonight. Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend and enjoyed the beautiful weather!

To end-thank you to anyone who reads this. I am DEFINITELY new at this whole blog thing, so feel free to leave comments/suggestions as to how I'm doing. Also, PLEASE feel free to post in the forums or to ask myself or Jerry any questions you might have about Butler, the admission process or what have you. That's what we are here for!!

***Completely unrelated side note-I finally bought my GPS system!!! I am so, so, so excited for it to come in. It's a Garmin Nuvi 350 and I ordered it from Amazon. It should arrive next week, so I will FINALLY have it. I can't wait to get it, and you can be sure I will keep you posted on how it works out. :)