Random Tuesday Thoughts . . .

1) I have a huge craving to go abroad right now. I went abroad in April 2010 and April 2011, but not this past April, so I feel overdue for some serious international travel. Seeing beautiful travel pictures posted by my friends who are studying abroad this summer is not helping this urge! Ideally I would travel abroad at least once a year. Top of my list right now would be to go to Italy. I also want to go to South Korea, the Holy Land, India, Ghana (because the sweet little girl I sponsor through World Vision lives there), Russia, the Galapagos Islands, France, and Thailand. There's something really inspiring about the thought of sipping coffee in a Parisian cafe, or seeing the sun set from a faraway island, or walking in the African savannah. There's SO many places I want to see and not enough time to do all the traveling I want to do.

2) I mentioned one of their songs recently, but I just bought the Sidewalk Prophets CD called "These Simple Truths" and it is the best CD I've bought in a long time (well, I actually hardly ever buy new music, so that's not saying much, but this CD is fantastic!) These wonderful Spirit-inspired songs have been blessing me all week. You should check them out! I'm probably going to go buy all their CDs eventually.

3) I need to get motivated to do a summer deep-cleaning extravaganza in my apartment this weekend--we're talking about scrubbing out the kitchen cabinets, cleaning out the freezer, dusting the ceiling fans, wiping down the baseboards, etc. I've lived here for 10 months and I haven't done one yet, so I think it's high time for one of those occasional but necessary heavy-duty cleanings. What I actually think would be good would be to get a group of friends together for a Saturday to go around and work together to deep clean each other's apartments, then top off the day with something fun, like a movie or dinner out. Call me crazy, but I think that could be fun! (I'd just have to find some friends willing to do that with me!)

4) I officially love my job (working in law school admissions). I'll admit that it wasn't my first choice for the summer--I wanted to work in a law firm, but the competition for that is pretty tough, especially since this is a law school town with lots of students trying to get the same positions, and it just didn't work out that way for this summer. But I work with pretty much the best group of people on campus--they are all so nice and so supportive, and I also get the chance to interact with professors, deans, and career services staff almost every day, so I know I'm having the opportunity to build some valuable connections. I've been able to lead a lot of tours for prospective students, have great conversations with them about law school life, etc. And today, the dean of admissions asked me to lead a school tour next week for a group of high school students who are aspiring attorneys, and then to speak at a luncheon for these students. I am thrilled to have the opportunity to be a role model for these students and to help encourage them to pursue their career goals. And even though it will probably be relatively informal, this is my first real "speaking engagement"--so I'm pretty excited. I love getting to work with people all the time and feeling like I can help them make important decisions (like what law school to go to). I feel so blessed to have a job that I really like, and I'm interested in possibly working in admissions/ student recruiting for a couple years after I graduate while I pay off my loans, so I'm sure this experience will pay dividends in the future, even if it's not at a law firm.

. . . and if I had any more random Tuesday thoughts this entry would be ridiculously long! :)