Well, last Wednesday I tendered my letter of resignation (fyi... it's still resigning, not quitting, even if you've only been employed for 9 months) from El Centro College. I was surprised at the reaction, and grateful for the happiness those I work with had for this opportunity in Leigh and I's lives. I have realized in the last couple days that I will miss this place. I have grown so much and learned a lot about myself and about so many populations I knew little about prior to this experience. The tagline for the Dallas County Community College District is "It all began here." I find it ironic that applies to my professional career, and I feel that while I struggled at times here, El Centro College has proven a formidable foundation upon which I can build my career in higher education.
So things are moving forward. We have found a place to live! It is a 4 bedroom cabin on 20 acres of mountainous woods about 15-20 minutes outside of Boone. At first the commute seemed a little long for a student, until I realized there were times at A&M when it would take me 10-15 minutes to get to campus (now I ride a train for 35-45 minutes). Leigh found it searching the county classifieds online, and the landlord (whose name is Dipper... yes... this is going to be a WHOLE new experience) gave us a good deal on it since we are a married couple.
We've posted pictures on our online photo album under "The Cabin..." Leigh likes to refer to it as the Vagabond's Refuge... I'm thinking more like the Uni-Bomber's summer home. Regardless of what you call it, it will be home, it's gorgeous country, and any of you are welcome to come visit (we do have FOUR bedrooms for two people and a dog). I am sure our recently purchased Nissan XTerra will look just lovely outside this rustic cabin. Ha.
We have been making purchases left and right getting ready too… something we’ve never been good at, spending large quantities of money in a short period of time. We recently upgraded from a full to a queen size bed (now my feet won’t hang off the end). We have acquired a variety of book shelves, and inherited a washer and a dryer. We are learning that it is time to be “grown ups” and make “grown up” purchases.
Well, the official move day is July 9. We will be driving two cars and a U-Haul out to North Carolina, with the help of Bob (Codename: Dad, Leigh’s dad), Kelsey (Codename: Wallace Leigh’s sister), and Adam (Codename: McKnight, our friend that is “large in stature” from A&M). I’ll fly back, and Leigh, Bob, Kelsey, and McKnight will road trip it back. On the 14th we go to Brazil for 10 days (not a bad thing to do before diving head first into grad school right?).
I’ll fly back out to Boone on July 25th (the day after we get in from Brazil… please pray that I do not get any diseases or bit by any not friendly bugs. Haha. I'll start my training on July 26th. Leigh will be driving out with Chaco (yes… in all honesty, the moving schedule is completely based around Chaco… sad but true) the first weekend in August. While I’m in training, she will be working to get things situated in the house (with the help of my sister Kristina who is flying in for a week and a half from Boston).
Leigh is waiting to start looking for a job (planning to start working in September). From the looks of things, she’ll end up working at the hospital there in Boone doing something similar to what she does now (making people who the world tells there’s nothing to be happy about believe that life is as great as it can be… she’s pretty good at that by the way… we could tell stories, but that would probably get us busted for HIPAA violations J ).
We are feeling nervous, anxious, and a handful of other emotions right now. This is a new journey, to a part of the US where we know pretty much no one, and I will be going to a school where I know know just about no one, and hoping to impact the lives of thousands of students within my first couple weeks there. I have done a lot of big things in student affairs, and feel that I have been rather succesful at just about everything I have attempted. Regardless, this still scares me to death. I know in my heart that Appalachian State is where we are supposed to be, and RHA is the position I am supposed to be in, I'm just working to convince my brain that now.
Sam's Club MS 150
86 miles of adventure and a little rain... just a little.
June 08, 2009
Smiles before the "storm."
I have been asked by numerous people how the MS 150 went. I rode the Sam's Club MS 150 scheduled for May 2-3, 2009. Well needless to say it was an adventure... but one that I would not have missed.
In January I agreed to ride the MS 150 from Frisco to Ft Worth, TX, with the hospital Leigh works at, Medical City Dallas. My training started a little slow, but as the event drew near, I began to feel more confident in my riding and I began to accept the fact that I could actually do this. As we drew near the event, changes began to be made. First, the finish in Ft Worth was changed to another location as Tarrant County placed a ban on large public gatherings on account of the spreading of the Swine Flu (Tarrant County was also one of those counties that closed EVERY school in the county... a little much, but I guess better safe than sorry).
The ride started at 7:00am, but our team probably ended up waiting 30 minutes for the traffic (it takes a while for 2000+ cyclists to get going) to clear. Early on, I was introduced to a doctor riding with our team, Dr. Duffy. We ended up riding the rest of the day together, and in the end, I'd say we had a great ride (one flat, 15mph average over 86 miles, good tailwind most the day, lots of talk, lots of laughs).
There were times that I hurt, where I cursed whoever created the idea of a hill (or at least the up side of a hill), but really I could not complain. We had a pretty good cloud cover most the day, and we were told the temperature never got over 75 degrees. Now, the last 6 miles was a pretty different story. All weekend we heard about the possibility of severe weather during the weekend. Needless to say, we got to see it firsthand those last 6 miles.
After departing the last break point for the day, the clouds started to roll in heavier. With about 8 miles to go, it started to rain a little, and the next thing you knew, it looked like it was 8:00 at night. The riders started to stay a little closer together, those of us with headlights and tail lights decided to use them. Soon we were able to see Texas Motor Speedway where the finish was… what we didn’t realize was that the finish was about 4 miles around the back side of the speedway. Eventually we got there, cold, wet, and laughing because by this point, how could we be mad, we couldn’t get any wetter!
At the finish line, Leigh was standing there in her rain gear, smiling and cheering. Dr. Duffy and I looked at our watches and were shocked that it was just after 2:00… it felt like 9:00. We visited for a couple minutes, before deciding it was time to get out of the rain (especially with the fast approaching lightning on the horizon). Leigh and I decided to forego the team tent to get on the road back to Richardson before things got worse. Fortunately Leigh brought the Xterra, which I soon found that when you fold down all the seats, makes a great changing room!
As we drove home, the storm cleared, came back, and cleared again. We were told that there was the possibility the second day could be cancelled since there were tornado watches all across Dallas that night and the next morning. When we got home, I felt great. I put my stuff, threw my clothes into the washer, and made myself dinner. This was a stark contrast to the last time I rode the MS150 and spent the night after Day 1 laying around, having hot/cold flashes, and pretty much just miserable.
Around 8:00 we got the message that Day 2 was cancelled because of the weather. I was heartbroken to say the least, I felt great, and I KNEW that I would have been able to finish the 2nd day without much of a problem. On the other hand, having worked in risk management and event planning, I recognized the need for the decision based on the information they had at that time.
In the end, it’s not about the ride, the miles, how fast you did it, or anything like that. It was about raising awareness of MS. When all was said and done I had raised $1,000 to go be donated ($700 more than my goal!). As those donations came in, I truly believe that was what got me off my rear and out training, getting myself ready. To everybody that donated… thank you. To everybody that supported me, rode with me, didn’t mock me too badly for riding on an indoor trainer watching old Tour de France videos… thank you. To my wife, for believing in me, supporting me, pushing me, listening to my frustrations and whining with a smile, for spending money on gels and other training needs for me, and standing in the rain with a smile to see me cross the finish… THANK YOU.
Quit Playing Games With My Heart!
Appalachian State makes its decision...
February 04, 2009
So last Friday was January 30, the day that Appalachian State said they would notify all students if they had been invited to the interview weekend. Well January 30 came and went and Andrew had heard nothing. This resulted in a lot of frustration, a lot of doubting of himself and his faith, and maybe a little sulking. He was baffled how he could put so much into another school and get turned down by my top choice again (de ja vu of Miami University last year). Most the weekend he spent trying to put it behind him and start focusing on our future at Bowling Green or the University of Arizona.
Leigh said it wasn't the end of the world, and that she really believed that it was just timing, and they would soon let him know he got in. If only we all had as much faith as Leigh does.
Well, Leigh was right. Yesterday Andrew received a phone call from Appalachian State. It seems that he should have believed all the people (especially Leigh) that told him they were probably just a little behind schedule, and this is normal for these types of programs. So Andrew has been invited to Appalachian State's interview weekend February 19-21! We are so excited about this because this is his first choice and has become probably the best location for us and our future.
Is The Light Getting Brighter?
Andrew gets accepted to another graduate program...
January 28, 2009
Is Bowling Green our future home... time will only tell!
So it seems that the light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter. Late last week, Andrew received an e-mail from Bowling Green State (it's in Ohio, not Kentucky) inviting him to attend their upcoming interview conference! What does that mean, well basically he's admitted to the program, pending his ability to land an assistantship during the interview conference... which we are sure he will be able to!
Bowling Green State is respected as one of the top, if not the top student affairs graduate program in the nation. That being said, it was a very humbling experience for Andrew to even be offered the chance to interview, after being rejected from all the schools he applied to last year.
The interview conference is February 8-10, so keep Andrew in your thoughts then. Whether he decides to go there or not, this will be a great practice run at interview conferences preparing him for the others that we are sure will come!
Let's See How Far We've Come...
Our 6 Month Update
January 19, 2009
So we’ve been living in Dallas now for about 6 months. For those of you who we have failed to keep in touch with, following our graduation from Texas A&M last May (2008), we moved in with Leigh’s parents in Richardson, TX. We were not sure why we were moving to Dallas, and it has been some adventure.
At first, the search for jobs was disheartening and unprofitable. With time, the Lord began to bless us. Just before heading to Andrew’s family reunion in Breckenridge, Colorado, Leigh was hired as a Hospital Unit Coordinator (HUC) at the Medical City Hospital working in the Pediatric Oncology department. If you watch any hospital TV shows, she’s the girl that sits at the desk that answers the phone, does the paperwork, and tells people where to go. The way she describes it is that she’s a glorified receptionist. Everybody else likes to call her Super Man. She is a great person for the patients, their families, and the hospital staff. They like to say things are always a little bit better when Leigh is working.
In September, Andrew interviewed and was offered a job at El Centro College, a community college in downtown Dallas. He is working for an office that provides financial support, academic advising, and other services to underrepresented and underprivileged Dallas County high school graduates. This is a great experience for Andrew as he prepares for a career in student affairs. He has his good days and bad days, but we’re realizing that this is not where Andrew wants to be long term.
Chaco the wonder dog is doing well (see his personal page by clicking on the link to the left). He loves having a whole house to himself. He is healthy, hasn’t grown much, still around 50 pounds, still runs funny, and has goofy ears.
Andrew is currently in the process of applying to graduate schools to get his master’s in Higher Education and Student Affairs. He has now been accepted to the University of Arizona, and we are waiting to hear back from Appalachian State (NC), Vermont, Ohio State, and Bowling Green State (OH). Right now, his top two choices are Appalachian State University and the University of Vermont. We hope to be hearing back from the other programs in the next couple weeks.
So what’s changed for us? Not a whole lot really. We live somewhere new; our social lives are much smaller (the joys of working full time), and Andrew's gained some weight (again…. joy of working full time). In November we decided that we needed to get a hobby, something that got us out of the house, exercising, and strengthening our relationship. What did we decide… rock climbing! Yes, rock climbing. It’s something new to both of us. We go every Monday night at a climbing gym a few minutes from our house. We have had a blast, and are getting better. For Christmas, we bought each other climbing gear… it was cute.
So that’s our update… we are hoping to be better about updating this in the coming year. Here’s to hoping to coming months bring happy news for us!
Graduate School...
Yes, there is light at the end of the tunnel!
December 28, 2008
As many of you may know, Andrew is pursuing a career the field of student affairs (think Student Activities Advisor, Dean, Vice President of Student Affairs… that type of job). The next step to fulfill his dream is to get a Master’s degree in Student Affairs and Higher Education or College Student Personnel. He applied last year to three programs, and was turned away from each, Andrew believes because at that point in his life he was not completely behind the idea. The past few months Andrew has been working to complete and submit his applications. Recently we got some good news… Andrew was accepted to the Higher Education and Student Affairs Master’s program at the University of Arizona in Tucson! We are so excited to see positive results coming back so quickly. He has been invited to attend an interview conference on February 20-21 to interview for an assistantship position. This is great news and definitely a light in a long dark tunnel. Andrew is still waiting to hear back from Bowling Green State, Ohio State, the University of Vermont, and Appalachian State. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers in hoping that the University of Arizona is the first of many to invite Andrew to attend their program.
*One week after the submission deadline, The University of South Carolina notified Andrew that he had been turned down for acceptance to their program… ONE WEEK! It’s ok though, who really wants to be a Gamecock? What is a Gamecock anyways?
Under Construction
Patience... it will soon be here...
September 23, 2008
Us at Andrew's brother Alex's wedding in Colorado.
So now that we're both graduated, we have decided with our free time we should be better about updating our website. Over the next couple weeks we will be working on getting pictures and stories up about us and where we're at in life. Thank you for your patience.
Life in a whirlwind!
Here's a 6 month update.
December 28, 2008
Annie's Ring Day.
I apologize to all of you diligent bloggers who keep asking me when I am going to update the family site so you have a general idea of the chaos that is our lives. Here you go.
Over the last 6 months, we have had the opportunity to take part in some wonderful things. We will start with November. The Alzheimer's Association put on a walk here in College Station. Annie and I headed up a team and began fundraising for our team: Color Me Plaid. Our team was dedicated to the memory of my Opa (German for Grandfather) who was taken from our lives far too soon because of this wretched disease. When we began the fundraiser, we had a little under 3 weeks to raise money. We set our original fundraising goal at $250. Man were we off. Our family and friends were phenomenal and helped us raise $1500!! Our team was made up of a motley crew, including Chaco. We walked around a local park here in College Station and had a grand ol' time. Thank you to all of you who donated and helped to raise money for more research to eradicate such a terrible disease.
Later in the month of November, we were able to take part in a wonderful Aggie tradition....Aggie Ring Day. Annie Stoddard became a full fledged Aggie. No more of this 2% stuff. Her family came from far and wide to celebrate this momentous occasion. We had bar-b-que and happy memories made.
Christmas found us in Conroe with Andrew's family. All of his siblings except Ally were able to make it and it was one of the first times since Thanksgiving 2004 that many of us had all been around each other at one time. It was neat to spend Christmas with small humans again (4 of our nieces and one nephew....all under the age of 7 were with us). Their excitement over all that has to do with Christmas was inspiring and contagious. My favorite part was by far the nativity that we acted out. We all had our different parts and costumes to put on a magnificent show. Bammy and Papa Ricky were the narrators, and we were the cast.
We were able to keep a couple of Andrew's siblings with us for an extended period of time. (Alex and Lupe). They joined us as we headed to Dallas to spend New Years with my family and see our pup again! Chaco had spent the entire Christmas break with my parents and we were sorely missing him.
It was good to be in Dallas, even if it was just a short stint. Family bonding time is always enjoyed and the cause of great stories for later. It was good to also see my brother Zachary one last time before he boarded a jet plane bound for Australia, where he will be spending the spring semester. (Lucky bloak)
Muster
September 18, 2007
Please be sure to check the Life page for the most recent excitement in The Carruth house!
We hope everyone is doing well and enjoying all that this semester has to offer!
Love, Leigh, Andrew & Chaco
Andrew + Leigh= The Carruth's
Wedding Bliss
September 13, 2007
The wedding party
The weekend was the 19-20th of August, 2005. The places were the Houston Temple and the Alexander Mansion in Garland, TX. Over the course of the weekend, Andrew and I were sealed for time and all eternity and celebrated the momentous occasion with our family and friends.
