awestruck and exhausted

(Sorry folks, no pictures tonight, just rambles…)

So here it is, 1 a.m. and I’m writing a blog titled “awestruck and exhausted”. If you’re so exhausted, Sarah, why are you not SLEEPING?! The answer is simple: my mind is racing and pacing in 101 different directions. So much to do and think about and 1 a.m. is a rather quiet and calm time to garner some focus. I passed out on the couch for a cat nap around 8 p.m., so I'm good to go. So far, I’ve tried to keep this blog focused on my crafty endeavors, but I just can’t hold back my ramblings on other aspects of my life anymore. Personal and professional blahdy blah to follow. Lucky you.

I am in awe of how much my life has changed since assuming my role at the Emergent Media Center at Champlain College. I LOVE it. L-O-V-E it. In the past, I have only imagined being one of the lucky few to say that I loved my job, but here at 26 years old, I am able to say I have found meaningful, exciting, and utterly gratifying work. I won’t go into details about what the EMC and our mission is all about. For those of you who don’t know – its freaking awesome, so check out our website for the background info. The guts of our work (and by “our” I mean a MASSIVE amount of student effort and dedication in addition to us staff members) is so powerful, so full of heart, and at the risk of sounding totally cliché – so world changing… life changing.

It all sounds too good to be true, right? I know, but it’s not. Case in point – a team of 18 of us (students, staff, and faculty… and Corinn – Hi Corinn!) are traveling to South Africa to conduct extensive research for a project that is being funded by the United Nations Population Fund. The EMC has received a grant to create an electronic game for young boys in developing nations targeting at preventing violence against women. See what I mean? Life changing. This is a complex and very difficult challenge and we know that. It’s not going to happen overnight, but the power of the students is incredible… something you have to witness to really understand. Without rambling on too long, I’ll end the topic with this… Countdown to South Africa – 6 days!! Over the weekend I’ll be posting awesome blog link sidebars regarding this project and other projects at the EMC. And on the crafty front, I can't wait to see what is in store in South Africa!

Next on my mind… (without jinxing myself here) we are in the process of buying our first house!! Excitement abounds! Not to give out too many details, because we’re still crossing our fingers, you never know what could happen until it’s a sealed deal at closing. All I can say is that the home buying process is a lot of work and you’d better have a flexible work schedule for all these meetings! (Thanks boss for being super!) Haha. Pending all goes well (send positive vibes our way PLEASE!), we’re set to close on September 22nd, our one-year wedding anniversary… isn’t that sickly sweet?

So, ya know… not much on my mind other than events of earth-shattering, life changing proportions. Oh and we’re uprooting the EMC and moving to a brand new space (which is amazingly fabulous and built just for us)! Ann and I picked out the color palette today and its going to look ridiculously splendid.

So much happening… so many things to think about… so many things to do… SO many good reasons to be awestruck and exhausted.