A Little Venting - Warning! This is not an exciting read

I know that I have been MIA lately with the blog posts (and I promise to get back to it soon, just been a crazy semester), but I need to get this out and this is the only outlet where I can vent and a certain someone won't read it and be offened (although at this point I almost don't care).

I am having roommate trouble - AGAIN!  I am absolutely positive that at the age of 30 (almost 31), I DO NOT need a roommate! Especially one that insists on staying up to all hours of the night watching T.V. and/or having friends over and making so much noise that it is nearly impossible for me to go to sleep.  What was I thinking agreeing to live in this apartment with someone who 1) isn't in classes this semester - which would (maybe) require her to study and have quiet time and 2) is on a completely different schedule than me?  I still stick by my rationalization for it being okay to live with this person in particular because the loose friendship that we had is about to be blasted to kingdom come!

I have absolutely no tolerance for inconsideration and rudeness!  That's just how I was raised (although my parents might say that I didn't learn how to not be rude - Mom may have felt that way just this past weekend - but still).  I made it known from the beginning of this living arrangement that I have to get up pretty early (for college students) for WORK everyday and thus would need to go to sleep at night.  So, when I do get up and know that my roommate didn't go to bed until 5 AM (yes, that's right - 5 AM!), then I try to be quiet as not to disturb her sleep.  You'd think that after all the comments and discussions that we've had about her having people over at night (early morning) and it bothering me, that she would finally get it through her head that I'm trying to sleep, but NO!

I know that part of it is my fault because I have taken on so much this year with work, school, cooking for the church (which is why I'm living in this apt with the rudeness), and babysitting a friend's daughter two nights a week.  However, all I'm asking is for a little courtesy in letting me sleep.  And it's not like I'm wanting her to be quiet at 9 PM (although that would be lovely); but I think that once midnight hits, she could at least suggest that they all go to somewhere else and let her roommate sleep.

I sure hope that we both survive the next 6 months cause I'm sure that I'm going to kill her and dump her in Lake Alice!  It's sad, but I'm looking forward to the few weeks at the end of December when all the students are gone and not only do I not have to cook for almost a month, but she won't have anyone hanging around to be making noise in my livingroom after midnight - so I just might get some sleep.

I know that this isn't an exciting read or anything and I do promise to post some fun stuff soon.  Thanks for "listening" and feel free to leave any comments/suggestions for how I can remedy my lack of sleeping (and I've tried earplugs, but use them as a last resort because I apparently have narrow ear canals and they hurt - which doesn't help in the sleep department either).

Equal representation

Okay, so I've added a picture of my oldest nephew and my adorable niece, but haven't added one of my youngest nephew.  So here he is!

The newest little man!

In this photo he is four months and he is now five months old.  I need to get some more pictures of him.  Sounds like it's time for Mom and Dad to have an evening out and Oba come for a visit!

What a weekend at Gator Wesley!

We had the official Grand Opening of the Gator Wesley Foundation Student Center this weekend.  And I will admit that I dropped the ball and didn't take ANY pictures!  I'll try to get some of the building and add them in.  We had over 150 people at the ribbon cutting ceremony and I would venture we had 250 people at the Consecration service.  It was so much fun to have people who attended Gator Wesley/UUMC various years to come back.  I especially had fun catching up and hanging out with some of my peeps from when I first moved to Gainesville.  We had fun hanging out, eating, and just catching up on each others' lives.

Then on Sunday we had over 200 in attendence at our worship service and the majority of them stayed for lunch!  I was in the church kitchen from 8:30 A.M. to 4:30 P.M!  Talk about exhausted! But it was the good kind of exhausted.  I love the work I do for the church and it is amazing to have that many people attending again.  It's hard to believe that just a year or so ago we only had about 30 people showing up on Sunday mornings!

We are in for a long, wonderful road of ministry at Gator Wesley.  Anyone ever in the neighborhood, please come join us and see the amazing things God is doing in our lives!

Work+School+Church+Gator Football=My Life

So it's that time of year again.  Time for school to start, church activities to get busier, and most importantly, time for Gator Football!!!

I am taking a 4 credit hour class this semester on top of working 40 hours a week.  I'm also the head cook at church and am responsible for planning, cooking, and cleaning up after 2 meals each week, plus the tailgating festivities for home football games.  That in itself will keep me busy enough.  But, my most favorite part of the Fall is Gator Football.

I love me some Gators, but I love the opportunity to have my niece and nephew during the games even more.  Don't get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoy going to the games, but that's not always an option.  I have decided (ever since Jay was born and I got to keep him during that first football season) that I would gladly trade a place in The Swamp for having those kids hanging out with me!

I feel that I miss out so much on their lives since I live 3 hours away from them.  And although I make it home often to spend time with them, we bond so much more when the rest of the family is away cheering on the Gators. ;)  I have some fun stuff for Jay this season (including a Pillow Pet and some Toy Story 3 coloring books) and am looking forward to spending more time with Miss Lily.  Hopefully, we will even get to have Ethan over so all three kids can play together.  I promise to post pictures through out the season and who knows, I may even make it to a game or two.

Go Gators!!!

A Wonderful Weekend

I went home for the weekend before my crazy fall semester and it has been confirmed that I am no longer being called Oba! I referred to myself as Oba all weekend, but he still calls me Aunt Robin. Now, don't get me wrong - I am thrilled that my nephew recognizes me and talks to me and asks me to do things for him (like put him to bed for the night), but I miss that adorable voice calling me "Oba"! Although I haven't gotten permission to do so (still haven't remembered to ask) I'm going to post two pictures from this weekend. One of me and my sweetpea niece and one of the little man (who goes to the potty like a big boy now!). I figure that since so few people visit this site, no harm will be done! Enjoy!

Big Boy!

Sweet Girl!

A Bit of Sad News

I spoke with my Mom yesterday while she had the kiddos and tried to talk to Jay (a difficult task, especially when he is focused on his Brillo Blocks!). As we were concluding our, albeit short, conversation, I told him I loved him and he replied a garbled version of "I love you Aunt Robin". Now, most aunts would be ecstatic that their nephew (or niece) would say that, but I have tried to make it clear to everyone, but especially my family, that I don't want to be "Aunt Robin". Jay started calling me "Oba" almost a year ago and I absolutely loved that that was the name that HE came up with for me. I am very sad to think that it may be slipping (well, may have already slipped) away. It is difficult for him since the rest of the family refers to me as "Aunt Robin", no matter how much I beg them not to! (My older brother has actually said that I'm weird for wanting to be called Oba.)

I will do my best during football season and any other time I have with him (and with Lily and Ethan as they start talking) to reinforce the calling me Oba! I know it's different, but then so am I! I don't want to be your typical aunt. I'm fun Oba!! :)

Tune in later for more fun conversations from a crazy person (me!)! I'll be posting pictures of my new place with furniture soon! I promise.

My New Digs

So, my nomading around Gainesville has come to an end. The last few weeks, my new roommate Laurie and I have been getting things ready to move in. Laurie and her parents painted and replaced the flooring in the living room. We haven't moved anything in yet, but here are some pictures


Living room and Kitchen

The living room started off as the same color as the kitchen. It looks and feels a lot more cozy.

I worked on my bedroom

Before:


After






So that's all I have for now. I'm moving the furniture in this weekend and will then add more photos. Hope to see you soon!

What were we thinking?

This was the question that my cousin Leslie and I asked ourselves the entire weekend. We decided to go with our extended family (13 of us total) camping in Georgia! Yes, I know that is was over 100 degrees and extremely high humidity. Yes, I realize that I don't have a camper with air conditioning and that tents are not the coolest places in the middle of June. But, my family is very convincing AND it was Father's Day weekend, so I went where my Daddy was.

The festivities began on Thursday evening when we all started to arrive. It down poured on us traveling up (with the 24 foot Hi-Lo camper pulling behind us - for my parents, not me). Some of the party were already at the campsite when the rains came and watched the little river run through the campsite (at least we knew where NOT to put a tent). Speaking of tents, I wish I had a picture of our set up - Tent City. We had 2 campers - one pop-up, one Hi-Lo - and three tents of varying sizes. In between the tents were a mess of electical cords so that we could plug in the multiple fans that we brought to try to keep us somewhat cool.

We stayed until Sunday mid-morning (the rest of the party stayed until Monday, but I had to get back to work). We had fun, but man were we sweating. No, not glistening, SWEATING!!!! There wasn't a lot for us to do, but play cards and drink (vodka and pink lemonaide!).

Leslie and I decided that we will not be this stupid again. No more camping during the months of May, June, July, August, or September. Please help us remember that the next time we start talking about going camping.

Here are the pictures that my amazing cousin Leslie has provided me!!! And as a sidenote: it is being discussed about a Galloway family reunion next year - in JUNE! As Leslie pointed out to me, "That is the second finger of the five-finger-no-camping-month!" We'll see what transpires.

Weekend of Friends and Fun

Alright, well I told you from the beginning that I wasn't very good at keeping up with stuff like this :). I've had a little disruption in my life, but that is for another post. Here are the pictures from the weekend of Sara's visit and the Gator baseball games! Thought it was fitting to finally post now that the Gators on are their way to the College World Series!
Friday night, the Gators took on LSU in the first of three games for the weekend. Casey, Sara, and I went and met Sara's brother at McKethan Stadium. We were having fun when we noticed that the sky was getting cloudier and then we started seeing flashes of lightening. It was the top of the fifth inning when we decided that we should start to head to the car (lightening + metal bleachers = bad combination). We were almost out of the stadium when a loud crash came and the game was called. We made it to the car just before the bottom fell out! We headed back to the church to wait out the storm, then went out to the house for a slumber party. Casey was headed home on Saturday, but decided that it would be so much more fun to stay at the house out in the woods than alone at the church ;).

Saturday brought Game #2 (followed by the end of Game #1) and the HEAT! It was so hot that Sara and I only lasted about 4 innings (the game started at 1). After we left the game, we decided that for the final game we needed to make shirts (a favorite past time of ours). Here are our shirts:

Then we made a good ol' Southern dinner: Fried Chicken, Fried Okra, Green beans, and Mac & Cheese



We had a wonderful weekend, especially since the Gators swept the series and sent LSU home with their tail between their legs! So proud of the boys in the Orange and Blue! I'll share two more pictures of Sara and I sporting our shirts at Sunday's (HOT) game:

My future

Okay, so I know that I said that I would be posting about my weekend (and I promise that it's coming), but I just had to share this news: I have figured out my classes and have figured out that not only will I be able to graduate with a minor (as long as it's approved), but that graduation will take place in May '13 instead of Dec '13 as previously thought!!!!! I'm so excited!

Here's what my life for the next few (3) years will look like (on top of work and church activities):
Fall '10 - Applied Research Methods
Spring '11 - Senior Seminar
Summer '11 - Principles of Management (online)
Fall '11 - Family Financial Management
Spring '12 - Ethical Issues in Family, Youth and Community Sciences (online?)
Summer '12 - Principles of Marketing (online)
Fall '12 - Business Finance (online?)
Spring '13 - Evaluation of Family, Youth, and Community Programs

And then I will proudly walk across the stage in the Stephen C. O'Connell Center and accept my Bachelors Degree in Family, Youth, and Community Sciences with a minor in Business Administration!!! :) (and then a trip to NYC as my graduation gift! - get ready Mom)

Welcome to Oba's World

Hello anyone who reads this! "Oba" is the name that my two-year old nephew has given me. At first, I think he just had trouble saying "Robin", but now that he's started calling me that - I don't want him to change it!

Now, for those of you who really know me, you know that I'm not very good at keeping up with stuff like this - journaling, blogging, keeping people updated on my life who aren't in my immediate (or not so immediate depending on who you talk to) voice reach. I want to use this space to keep those interested people up-to-date with what is going on in my life.

So, let's catch everyone up. I am a full-time employee at Shands Healthcare in Human Resources in Gainesville, FL. I am also a part-time student at UF (and my very first class was with Tim Tebow - now of the Denver Broncos). With that being said, I am die-hard Gator fan and, as you know, have been my entire life!!!!

I have a wonderful family that include 2 adorable nephews and a beautiful niece. Once I have gained permission from the parents, I hope to post pictures of our adventures together! I also have lots of amazing, yet crazy, friends that I will most definitely post pictures of soon!

I attend church at Gator Wesley Foundation and invite anyone in the Gainesville area (or passing through) to visit us on the corner of NW 14th St and University Ave. We are an amazing family of friends that like to have fun worshiping and fellowshipping!!

Well, that's me in a nutshell (and I'll be the first to admit that I am a nut!). Hope you enjoy reading what I have to post and I'll "talk" with you soon!