Bomb-Bomb-Bomb

A couple weeks ago I tried to update this thing but my post was all about how monotonous our lives are. It was so boring I deleted. The universe decided to fix that problem by giving us a bomb threat on campus. 

No big, Justin and I are only responsible for about 84 people's safety. 

Just as we got into bed Sunday night we get a text message to stand by we might be going on lockdown and to not let rumors spread. With that vague yet disturbing information we threw on our clothes and proceeded to check on our boys as the message was sent the lockdown had begun. We had to get everyone into their rooms and keep them calm. Which is really hard to do when they say "What is going on?" You reply with "Everything is fine! We just need to make sure everyone is in their rooms to wait for more information" As somebody runs up the stairs and says "Why is there a SWAT team with huge guns all over campus? They told me to go back to my room" We still have no idea what is happening at this point. I say "The authorities are here and they are handling the situation. We just need to make sure everyone is safe in their room to give them further information."

That was a good answer, right? I was super worried and my mind immediately jumped to thoughts of VATech mass murder. It's weird but I felt so relieved that the police were already there and even more relieved when I found out it was a bomb threat. I thought, "I can handle this" 

Justin and I kept super cool the whole time. Some of the boys were prone to panic but we were able to keep everyone calm. A few of the boys thanked me for not being super dramatic or overreactive about it. They said it made them feel better. They all kept coming out of their rooms to be with us. It was like playing wack-a-mole. 

Eventually, we had to evacuate the building. That was the only part where I was a little stressed. People were trying to gather their things and I had a SWAT team behind me helping me push people along. I was super impressed with the SWAT team. They totally just let me do my job and helped me get everybody out. They came from both end of the hall so the people who did not get woken up by me were a little startled. It was about 1:30am at this point. Everybody ended up in the activities center. When I walked in the adrenaline I was not aware of had worn off and my braxton hicks settled in. My RA's made me get water and sit down and one of my boys got me a chair. They were all worried. I was like "If I go into labor because of this stupid bomb threat I will be so mad". I knew that they were fake though so I was not really worried. 

By 3:30am they had our building cleared and we were able to take everyone back and put them to bed. Our RAs and Justin and I had to stay up till lockdown was called off. The RAs told me I had to go to bed and they would handle it. I told them I was not going to go to bed  yet at all. I made it till 5am and Justin forced me to bed. Lockdown was called off at 5:30am. Just incase anyone wants to know last I heard they had a lead but no arrests have been made.

 

It was all very surreal. I have never taken something so seriously yet not been worried at all. Everyone did their job and there was a lot of peace in that for me. I hope the mothers of these boys know how much we worried about their children's safety in those few hours. Talk about stewardship. I feel like you have things you want to experience in life because of who you think it will make you. Like a bucket list. And then you have the things that you never plan for and really shape and build you. I am a huge worry wart but usually do well in a game time situation. I almost felt like I was watching myself and thinking "Wow, you are handling this really well". I am positive I could have handled it better in some ways but I am grateful that I was able to see the effort, love, and care that comes from the administration down through us to the students. I don't think they really understand. I would never have asked to be in that situation (especially being 7 1/2 months pregnant) but I am glad that it was me that got to experience it if someone had to. 

One Year

Justin and I celebrated our one year wedding anniversary on August 25th. I would love to say that we had the most romantic day of our lives but alas, we were married during orientation last year and that is still affecting us today. Many special people were unable to come to our wedding because it was such a crazy time but we knew that when we planned it so we just took their presents to calm our disappointment.

The busiest week for an HRA is right during our anniversary. Our day consisted of waking up super early, eating lunch in the cafeteria with other people, checking in new students, making them go to orientation, dealing with parents, running crazy errands, submitting work orders, and going to hang out at the school carnival so we could be cool HRAs that are involved. Justin had never been to the carnival, lovingly referred to as Knight Games so we did that for our date. He had fun riding a mechanical bull and racing non-pregnant people in a giant inflatable obstacle course. I had fun eating cotton candy, otter-pops and popcorn till I almost exploded. After that we went home and I passed out before 9 p.m. of exhaustion from the week and in preparation for the next day of craziness.

We did find a few minutes to exchange a little gift. Justin got me a beautiful necklace with our oh-so-significant rubies. I love it so much. I got him gummy worms and a homemade card. I obviously did not get the memo about gifts but he ate them so I guess he liked them. I was going to get him an ipad 2 but I don't have a million dollars and we are waiting for the ipad 3 anyway. (And a million dollars) Justin's Mom also sent us a super cool anniversary package with goodies and gifts. We also got a few cards which was unexpected but totally cool that people would remember our anniversary.

So pretty!

We have had a pretty great year. We learned and changed a lot. We both learned how to quickly resolve any issue we see approaching before it becomes an issue. I think when you see a potential rough spot headed your way and you do everything in your power to send it the opposite direction that is a big gesture of love. We have learned how to deal and help each other with our weaknesses. It is amazing how much verbalizing weaknesses that you have never put into words can help your spouse instantly understand and help you. Justin has gotten his fair share of crazy in this marriage and bless his heart he still likes me. Being together is so much fun and we are both dreading that work and school have picked back up because we see each other only for like 12 hours during the day. I know rough! I don't know how will handle Justin having a full-time job. Oh well, I guess that is why we have eternity:)

Here is video of Justin riding a bull

Loose Ends

Summer is almost over. Tragic I know, but for some reason I love the fall semester. It is so full of promise and change! I am not technically in school anymore but Justin has his last semester to finish up so that means I will still be doing a lot of homework:) Justin is always more motivated with someone directing his every move and I am just the girl to do it!

Justin dreads school but he has a pretty light semester ahead of him so he should be able to focus on the big task at hand, SENIOR PAPER(Dun Dun DUN!!!). While I enjoy the process of writing a paper I hated writing my senior paper. It was 25 pages on the agricultural benefits of mycorrhizae fungi. Yeah, you would hate it too. The thing is, I picked the topic and hated it. I would rather have someone else pick a topic for me. Give me a paper on the patriot act, censorship, how to repair America's image with Islam, I will put that sucker in the bag. I just don't really care about them so my opinion never plays a factor. I just write whichever position is easiest. Justin, on the other hand, crumbles under the immense boredom that is bound to ensue from a topic his cares nothing about. Let him pick his own and he will research it for weeks, write it early and revise it a million times and then have me revise it a million times again. I guess that is because he has better writing integrity than I do.

Justin also just started taking the basic tax preparers class at H&R Block. He goes twice a week to Staunton (30 mins away) to take the class in hopes that he will be able to work there this spring after graduation. He really likes it so far.

Next week is going to be the busiest week of our lives. We have orientation and check-in. This is where we make our non-existent pay check. I am pretty nervous actually. We have had the football players on our floor but we don't really have a connection with them yet. Saturday, they will all move to their fall assignments and our friendship needs to begin. How do I convince a bunch of 18-20 something young men that this grumpy pregnant lady is cool? We do have a pinata and brownies for them so hopefully that will help. I also start back at being a crossing guard on Monday so that will be super exciting. My tutoring does not start till after labor day and I am so grateful for that. I swear, I am so glad that I don't plan my life because it would not work out at all, Good thing the Lord is handling all that.

We have been prepping Main Hall for all the new students arrival Yay! Painting, moving stuff, fixing stuff. It has been so crazy! I am so grateful for the help of all the RAs and HRAs. I really like these people especially the ones that help me all the time. Justin and I would never get everything done. We have a lot of great people in our lives. This week we said some painful goodbyes. I am now the only person left that lived in Waggery my senior year. Those were the girls I liked best and was closest to. It is so weird how you think a place makes you happy when really it is just who you are with. I guess I will have to make some new (but not as good) friends. Although, I doubt any will compare since these are some of the best I have ever had. Thank goodness for facebook and stalking.