It's fall downhill from here...

No. Not a typo. University Day is OVER. That means the rest of Fall is a breeze, for the most part, and we don't have to get stressed again until Spring Preview Day, which is in February.

We had 799 people show up. I'd rather it were 798. Ha! Missing 800 by 1 person is just silly.
But it went well. A couple of hiccups, but there are always things to learn from.

And THIS is how we feel about it.

Keren, the Eagle and I are leaping for joy.

LEAPING. (Or, as the Eagle calls it SOARING)

Michelle was delighted, too. She's just not in the picture. :)

Now it's relaxation time with Hubs. We're currently 1/2 a mile from the Grand Canyon, gonna venture into its depths tomorrow, and then start the trek towards Colorado Springs on Sunday to spend Thanksgiving with Jamie & Tiffany and the kiddos. DELIGHTED.

We have lots to be thankful for. :)

Nationball: Dodgeball on Steroids

In my last post, I shared a little bit of the stresses of my job. Those overwhelming 80's themed trips to the local roller skate rink just stress me out! (dripping...dripping with sarcasm)

So what is it that keeps G from sleeping at night? If you thought 80's roller skating was bad, this is almost unbearable. :)

Every year, near the middle of September, when students are still getting settled into their dorms and familiar with their new class schedules, there is an event that makes all else jump one number down on the priority list. All inhibitions are thrown out the window. All worry of making a good impression? Tossed. Costumes are mandatory, throwing arms a must, and music is blaring as students line up, dorm against dorm, in the biggest dodgeball tournament most have ever seen.

It's crazy.

Stewart (our dorm) is in the red. 

Yes, we consider each one of those red-wearing t-shirts one of our kids. 

We don't start at the infant stage. 

We start at the 18 year old, what's your name again?, really loud college stage. 

They're pretty cool. 

This is Stewart (red) taking on Horton (black). 

There is really hardly any room left to play dodgeball. 

There's a lot of dancing, costume strutting, goofing going on. :) 

One rule that they hold to that I've never seen before is that once you get knocked out, you can still actually play. You can run to the back of the other team, get your team to throw the balls over their heads, and then get them out from the other side. So near the end of the game, 

you've got dodge balls flying at you from all angles. 

A good shot of most of the colors. 

Here are more pictures, with lots of the costumes highlighted. 

Nationball Album 1

Nationball Album 2

And finally, here's a video made by one of the students: 

http://vimeo.com/29180877

It highlights Horton, but shows a lot of the crazy that goes on. 

You'll notice some "rescuing" near the middle of the film. 

The green team is Emerson, a smaller dorm that usually doesn't have a chance at winning so they make it theatrical. This year they were dressed as doctors and nurses and were putting band-aids on the fallen and doing shock treatment on the "mortally wounded". Clever. :) 

There's always something going on around campus. 

Keeps us young, I guess. :) 

We love it. 

The 80's & Overly Edited Photos

Sometimes...sooooometimes...I get a little convicted about only posting really polished pictures or writing blogs about successful projects. Why? Because only about 1.8% of my life feels polished, or super successful.

It feels chaotic.

Here's to the 98.2% of my life that makes up the ridiculous, not acting like a 28 year old portion of which I wouldn't change a thing. (Except in those moments where I wish I had a successfully run etsy shop, a thriving photography business, and a morning routine that included a small town cafe where the waitress knew my name and never had to ask what I wanted to eat...an omelet, a cup of coffee and some toast with blueberry jam, thank you!)

A weekend of Student Ambassador Training.

Lots of crazy kids.

An 80's themed trip to the local skating rink.

A salvaged thrift store dress.

A couple of very dramatic side pony tails.

Dance-skating.

Epic.

Thanks, Biola kids students, for letting me hang out with you and not making me your late 20's supervisors feel like the old fogies. :) Even though only one or two of you were ACTUALLY alive in the 80's...and it was like (like) 1989 and a half.

Red, White and...Candy!

Opening Weekend for Biola University is just two days away! It's crazy that all our work in Admissions for this year is about to step on campus in the form of new-freshman-college-students! 

We are pumped. 

And frankly, so is the rest of campus! 

Every department decorates their entrance so as students arrive, they see-a-sea of red and white! 

This year, a couple of girls and myself signed up to be on the decorating committee. 

I put together the table area, and they did the floor, wall welcome, and ceiling.

The paper on the wall is a "Scathing Warning" to our staff not to touch the candy. :) 

It's for our guests!

We are also doing a giveaway for new freshman and transfers. 

They can win their first dorm pet! :)

You can't see the writing very well here, but it says that in order to win 

"Barry the Beta Fish" (named after our school's president) they need to fill out 

a raffle ticket and drop it in the bucket. Yes, Barry the Beta is also a lovely shade of red.

The circle graphic I took of of The Graphics Fairy blog. 

She has some really unique graphics that you can use for all kinds of projects. 

My favorite, though, are the labels. You can use them for so much! 

I dropped the label image into Pages, a program on macs, and added the text. 

It made for easy labels that I think really helped pull the look together. Other than that, I just bought every white and red candy I could find, took random jars from my kitchen and put it all together. 

Alyssa used streamers that she twisted to write a welcome on the wall. 

 

They also made polka dots and lined the floor as well as grass, birds, and clouds! 

Definitely a fun day in the office! :) 

Last Event and Yogurt Galore!

Today was deeee-lightful!
De-LIGHT-ful!
De-light-FUL!

Today started early and a little panicky, as most event mornings do.
There were balloons, registration sheets, extra student nametags, all topped with a dollop of stress.
And, as most events go, once the check-in table was set up and the first person checked in, it was all downhill from there.

Events have this weird, and extremely consistent way of building, building, building, building...
Lots of preparation...
And then the first person checks in and it's like you're on a roller coaster ride from there. You can't stop it. It's gonna happen whether you're ready for it or not. So you go with it and it's seriously the best part of my job (besides all the great people I work with). Event days are just electric. It's go time, and everything you've prepared for is being put to the test. Totally exhilarating.

The year has been long. The fall season started off a little differently than expected. My coworker/boss left right before the school season started in August. We weren't able to hire someone else for her position until the first of December so all of Fall was just filling in where she used to be. The rest of the year has felt some of those effects, just like a big game of catch up. To finally make it to the end of the year and know that in three months we're going to start this whole thing over again with a clean slate is so refreshing. I get another shot to do my job better. That's pretty exciting.

I had a great event team this year, girls that I couldn't do any of this without. They call me Captain, but this boat would sink without them. :) Once we finished cleaning up from the event today, we headed to Berry Cool to celebrate. For those of you that aren't familiar with California, they love their frozen yogurt. There are so many different frozen yogurt places out here. Yogurtland, Joghurt, Golden Spoon, Pink Berry, Berry Fresh, Berry Cool...the list goes on and on. There's seriously a frozen yogurt place on every corner. And most of them are serve yourself. You pick up your cup, walk through the flavor line where there are usually 10-12 flavors, and then add as many toppings as you want, from fruit to chocolate, to gummy bears. Then they determine the price based on how much your container weighs. It's seriously awesome.

Clockwise from Left: 

Michelle, Maraya, Beth, Heather

Biola Admissions Events: Michelle, Maraya, me and Heather

You girls are the best. Seriously. 

Thanks for filling my days with laughter and for constantly being such a source of joy. 

You are all so amazing. 

What a team. :) 

Olivers and Alleyways

Recently, some of the girls from the office and I went to Olive Garden, which, in my opinion, is always delicious. We had a great time and ate lots of...mmmmmm....de...de...de...licious food.

Afterwards, we had a photo shoot in the alleyway back to our car. *smirk* 

Couldn't help but post the photos. 

There's nothing better than pretending you're something' else. :)

Thanks for work detox night ladies.

I think they keep us all sane! :)

Cayucos Retreat

A couple of weeks ago, Mr. Suhr and I got to take his staff on their semesterly staff retreat. 

One of the girls on staff has a house that belongs to her family in Cayucos, CA. 

It was rainy and cold, but we had a great weekend, very relaxing, with lots of beautiful views! 

(The first five pictures were taken by me, with  my iPhone camera.) 

Hearst Castle

7 of the 9 on Garrett's Staff. :) 

(The last four pictures were taken by the kid in the middle of the above picture with the really cheesy smile)

This picture is not very nice. 

The last picture is absolutely my favorite. 

This little guy was looking for some food, I think. 

He was totally unafraid. 

Climbed right up on my lap. 

I was, obviously, delighted! 

:)

Work Moment

Headphones at work? 

Just what the doctor ordered. 

Over ear headphones that don't hurt to wear.

+ 10 points

Multi-colored stripes on the side. 

+ 10 points

Garth Brooks playing loudly in my ears. 

Therapy for the soul. :) 

Spring Preview Day

Though it may not seem like it from my recent posts, there has been more going on in the Suhr household than just a whole bunch of cake-making. :) 

    

Two weeks ago was Spring Preview Day, an event we host for prospective students here at Biola University. This is my second biggest event of the year, with over 600 students and parents coming on campus to check out the school and see if it's a fit for them. It can get pretty stressful the week of these events and late nights in the office are a common occurrence. Usually, though, we power through and make it happen.

This year was a little different.

One week before the event, I was at Garrett and I's Grace Group (small group at our church) and we were going around sharing prayer requests. I have to admit that I do a lot of things on my own. I just figure it out, push through, and do it. So when prayer request time comes around, there's not much on my mind that I consider desperate enough for a prayer requests. (Not that you have to be desperate to pray about something. I think this is what I'm learning).

We were going around the circle and some people were offering up common life issues as things they were needing to trust God with. When it got around to me, I almost felt guilty. I had this huge event coming up, and I hadn't once stopped to ask God for help with it. So I mentioned this to the group, saying maybe it was my dependance on God that needed prayer. I was serious, but in the moment it also seemed a little funny. My prayer request was that I would have more prayer requests. Not that life would require them, but that I would trust God more with daily things.

The next day I got sick.

I'm talking, coughing every twenty seconds, achy, can't sleep from coughing sick.

How long did it last?

All week.

So what did I have to do?

I had to pray.

I asked God for strength to make it through.

He provided it.

And He provided others who eagerly stepped in and helped carry the load for the week.

Usually, the week before this event means super late nights. Not this time. We left at 6 or 7 most nights, and only stayed till 9 on Friday. The night before each event, I am usually up constantly, my mind racing with last minute details. It didn't happen this time. I slept peacefully. When Sunday rolled around, and all the eager kiddos and their parents arrived on campus, I knew this time was different than others. It had truly been a team effort, and one that God had orchestrated. The event flowed smoothly, and there even times I was standing around a little unsure of what to do with myself. Everything was covered. 

Thanks God, for a lesson in dependence on You. 

I may need a recap here soon. Keep reminding me of my own frailty.