When it Rains.... it pours

The day began like any other day, calm, quiet, and great weather. The sun was out and the birds were chirping. I sat at my desk without the slightest clue of what was coming...

an event, an event that would change everything.

I started the day making contacts with prospective students. Renovations in our area had finished and the Financial Aid office was officially moved in. As I sat at my desk speaking to a parent, a feeling came over me that something was wrong... very wrong.

I began to hear what sounded like rain and I looked up toward the corner ceiling at the window. It was at that moment that the man upstairs decided to make it rain.

And by man upstairs, I mean construction worker. And by make it rain, I mean make a pipe burst.

The parent on the phone with me then heard something along the lines of "ma'am there's water, lots of water pleaseholdsorry!"

And within seconds a storm rained down. Picture a comic strip character with a cloud of rain above him and only him. That was me. I raced to eject my laptop, phone, unplug my monitors, keyboard, move books, papers... but the water kept coming. It was pouring all over me. And it poured in the office next to me where my coworker also raced to move his things. As it filled our office with at least 3 inches of water, it seemed as if the situation had gotten the best of us. The people who work at Angelo State were in crisis mode....

This was the call they had been waiting for and they would answer that call.

Before we knew it everyone in our office was moving things out, working together to stop things from getting wet. Maintenance arrived and began working diligently to stop the flood of 2010. When the pouring stopped Angelo State employees didn't. We moved mountains (desks) to continue our jobs. Our offices have been waiting to be renovated and this has just moved us to the top of the list. The carpet in our old office has now been completely removed and a handful of us have been relocated with the help of everyone to great new temporary homes until the renovations finish. The pipe that burst tried to get the best of Angelo State, but it didn't.

ASU Employees - 1 Pipe - 0

And after looking at the color of the water...

I was sent home, to shower.

Roscoe's Modern Life

Jamie picked up Roscoe today from the vet. We went for a good walk considering he was a little out of it from being sedated from the procedure (getting fixed). We set up his area with a bed, kennel, dishes and a toy. He's been a big cuddler today and really exhausted. So there isn't much to tell but here is a picture of him in his bed.

Angelo State University First Week

Today I finished my first full week at ASU. My first impression of the campus and my co-workers continued to be great. The weather got up to 70 early in the week followed by a snow day when we got what couldn't have been more than an inch (ASU didn't get a snow day but all the schools in the area did. The streets had no snow on them by late afternoon. Texas hates snow or loves it so much that they cancel school at the sight of it, I can't tell yet.

I got my office set up with my cool university laptop (awesome benefit that comes with a docking station) this week and was able to get settled in. Discover ASU got great reviews (that was the event I spoke at that I mentioned in an earlier post). I have been able to tour the campus multiple times, have begun accepting students to the college, and so many other things to try to catch up with everyone else. I found out my first trip will be to Houston for a couple days with Thinh and Kati (2 co-workers) and a couple days after that to Austin with Kati. I have been assigned my district and will be covering the Austin and Central Texas region (which is awesome because it's the region I wanted the most). Next week I will have a counselor page up at this location: http://www.angelo.edu/dept/admissions/counselors/index.html; you should be able to check it out by the end of the week. It is incredibly relieving to finally have a job that offers great benefits and a job that allows me to utilize my college degree. I haven't had a chance to play disc golf on campus but will probably try to fit that in during lunch next week some time. So to sum it all up, after the first week, the job is great, the campus is great, I can't wait to get to travel, the people are awesome and work finally doesn't feel like work.

Jamie's Service Project

Jamie's service project for Americorp focused on spreading the positive word about volunteering. She came up with a great idea to have some young students paint a picture about volunteering that would be put on display in the San Angelo art museum. The students also volunteered their time to different organizations around San Angelo. She also had me make a video that can be put up on Youtube and used to spread the accomplishments the students had made. You can see the video below.

Angelo State University Update

I had my first day Thursday at ASU. The first impression ASU made on me was a great one. My new co-workers are all awesome. Two of the student employees who work with me are members of the Beta-Alpha chapter of Lambda Chi Alpha here at ASU. The Lambda Chi chapter here is really strong and its great to see that again. Our office is awesome and has huge windows overlooking one of the disc golf holes from the course that has been built throughout campus. Once I get comfortable and settled in to my position a bit more, maybe I'll be able to get back involved with the fraternity.

Angelo State is a beautiful campus. Picture Iowa State, but smaller. There is even a Stephens Arena, basically Angelo State's Hilton. I'll try to add some pictures of campus when I get a chance to take some.

But being small only brings the ASU community closer. Everyone here seems to know each other. We have great educational programs from what I have learned and my favorite, a ton of student organizations! I love being back on a college campus. ASU is easily the best looking place in San Angelo, and I get to work there. On my third day of work, I got to speak at half court to more than 600 people for Discover ASU. It was a lot of fun to play a role in the admissions team so quickly. It's been a great start to my new career and I look forward to the things to come.

Angelo State University

It's official! For those who haven't heard, I recently received a job offer from Angelo State University. While I was working at AT&T and they were great to me, this was an opportunity I couldn't pass up. It was hard to quit AT&T because of how not only the company but all of the employees there treated me. Everyone was awesome to work with and my boss was incredibly understanding and made what could have been a difficult situation (me quitting after just finishing training) into an extremely professional positive experience. I don't have a single negative thing to say about AT&T and hope the best for the individuals I worked with in the future.

As many of you know I applied with Angelo State University back in August when we first moved down here. Unfortunately I didn't get the job offer at that time, but they were interested and said they would keep me in mind if another position opened up. I received a call from them letting me know another position as an Admissions Counselor had opened up and they were interested in me. The wheels went into motion and before I knew it I got the job offer. Everyone is really excited and supportive of my decision to accept the job. I have my first day this Thursday. So to sum it up for everyone, since we have moved here I have sold cars, TVs, cell phones and now I'm going back to college (to work)! I'll put another post on here after my first few days of work, it should be a great new experience.

Austin Marathon and Half Marathon

Today Jamie ran 13.1 miles. Before that the farthest she had run was 7 miles, and yet true to Jamie form, she just went out and did it anyway. We had a blast in Austin and the Half Marathon was an experience she will never forget. Below is a sort of "highlight video" that allows me to write less. Hit Play and Enjoy!