The "Should be snowy" day

It should have been snowing today. I walked outside and the air felt different. It smelled different. I couldn't put my finger out it. All was quiet when I left Cafe Moka with my gingerbread Americano this morning. The parking lot was still. I felt as though snow should have been on the ground, absorbing any sound.

I cannot wait for snow. The beautiful serene silence, the soft, crystalized look. Snow brings joy, it brings life. I need it.

Goal Success!

I just need to state that I completed all but one of my Thanksgiving break goals. I did not have time to grab porkroll. But it's okay, the pizza and coffee were phenomenal!

Jersey Girl

“How’s the armpit state?” “I have to take a massive New Jersey” “Jersey girls aren’t trash, trash gets picked up.”

Hey, good one! I haven’t heard that one before…

Alright, so I am in New Jersey for the week and I am so happy to be here. Despite the constant ridicule I receive while I am at school, I love this state. While I am here, I want to do some of my favorite Jersey things.

Things to Do While I am in Jersey:
1. Hit up Einstein Bagels
2. Eat REAL pizza (None of that Little Caesars, Virginia!)
3. Go to the beach
4. Run on the boardwalk
5. Eat porkroll egg and cheese
6. Grab coffee at Dunkin’ Donuts
7. Go to the tree lighting in Red Bank (While sipping Starbucks coffee :])

Rock the green and blue.

Our school registered for the conference, and in the midst of our concentration we heard "A different city every night, oh I swear the world better prepare, cause Norfolk State is here."
And that was merely the beginning of the cheers, songs, and chants we would hear throughout the weekend. Was this a cheerleading competition? No. A football rally? Nope. Some sort of youth retreat? Nah.

This past weekend, 9 of the 10 Regent RAs, Ben, Brett, Sarah, Gloria, Lauren, Stephen, Tim, Lance, and I, alongside our ring leader, Adam, packed into a 15 passenger van and ultimately engaged in the most encouraging conference I have ever attended: VACUHO Resident Assistant Conference at George Mason University. Keep in mind, it is the RA's job to be encouraging, supportive, and spirited. Now put 400 RAs in a room, dressed in their school t-shirts, and fully armed with school cheers to see what you get.

Everyone was decked out in their school apparel, shared clothespin painted in school colors, and exchanged university paraphernalia. Everyone cheered for each other, shared in the "school color cheer," and shouted "We are proud of you, say we are proud of you *clap clap*" whenever a school presented something.

Each school had to partake in a roll call, you should watch Regent's, found HERE. We won an honorable mention for that one :].

Speaking of winning things...
I was awarded Best New RA in Virginia. Ben, my partner in crime, received the award for Best Overall RA in Virginia.

Yeah, we were stoked. And I am already making plans and thinking of ideas for next year's conference!

Romans 8:28

This was my train of thought today…

-Looking at my scarves, I said “Hey, that one! I wore that to my RA interview.”
-In my RA interview I said I wanted to work with freshman girls. I wanted the opportunity to make college SO fun for them.
-When I opened my RA acceptance letter, I was assigned to upperclassmen girls. This seemed a bit more challenging to me.
-Now, almost 3 months into the school year, I realized that the Lord totally knew what He was doing in placing me on the third floor.

As this chain of events passed through my head, I instantly thought. “God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28)

In being on the upperclassmen hall, I can be a real part of the wing. I can relate to the crazy schedule of being a junior or senior, I can understand roommate problems because I’ve been through it. I have a place of belonging because I too, am just like my girls. If I were in the freshmen hall, I do not doubt I would succeed, but I can see that I would be lonely, the lone upperclassmen on the hall. God has placed me in the exact spot He has called me to be for His purpose; the place that I will be able to best put my skills to work.

Pretty cool how things work out :].

Psalm 86:11

"Teach me your way, O LORD, and I will walk in your truth;
give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name."

I can see it in you...

I can think of… seven people who I have really seen grow spiritually lately. It is the coolest thing to watch. I mean, naturally there are people like my parents or youth pastors who you can just see God in, but recently I have noticed a whole bunch of people step it up a notch.

Christ just shines through them. I am inspired daily by the way these people live their lives for the Lord, trust Him, obey Him, and seek Him first. It’s incredible. I am so thankful to have them in my life because they are ALWAYS influencing me. Most of these people don’t even know that they have kept me accountable, encouraged me, or provided a word for my life just by being their normal God seeking selves.

They are the kind of people that I see and just say “Wow. God is just IN them.”

It’s cool. I’m diggin’ it.

Christen's Day in the Life

Okay. Let’s take a second to recognize how awesome and nice God is. Ready? Break.

So. I have been praying about a new topic/script for my Producer’s Unit class because my other script was dumb and I hated it. Thanks to twitter, I found out that Dunkin Donuts is holding a video contest! I am entering it. This is an outline of the past 35ish hours.

Tuesday, October 5, 2010:
10:00A- Log on to Twitter, learn about contest.
10:01A- Freak out and try to figure out how I can actually shoot this.
12:45P- Finish the first draft of the script.
2:00P- E-mail professor for approval of the project.
3:00P- Professor confirmation!
6:00P- Talk to some friends about crewing.
9:00P- Locked script complete.
9:15P- Meeting with Director.
10:20P- Spoke with potential Production Designer.
10:30P- Receive offer to use the Canon T2i
10:30:01P- Accept offer to use the Canon T2i.

Wednesday, October 6, 2010:
10:00A- Sort of pay attention in class, but really focus on producing this thing.
11:00A- Film stage reserved for shooting.
11:10A- Cam op selected, crew set, scripts and info sent to crew.
11:15A- Equipment reservation forms sent.
12:15P- Talked with Dunkin Donuts Assistant Manager who gave me info about getting supplies for the shoot.
12:44P- Post blog and leave to try and focus on work.

Hug from God Take 2.

So. Mighty to Save. That’s a good hug.

But now I’m talking BEAR HUG!

My best friend… the lovely, the beautiful, the stunning, the farting, the cinnamon-lovin’ EMILY MURACHANIAN will be visiting me this weekend. Oh, and her boyfriend Stevie is coming too!
I SO SO SO SO need this.

Their visit is SUCH a blessing from God. My heart is happy. I am so thankful. We will go to Trader Joes, eat Skinny Dip, build a fort, go to the beach, go to church, roast marshmallows over the flame, MAKE CHICKEN FAJITAS, drink coffee, go to Starbucks. Okay, so maybe we won’t be able to fit allll of that into one weekend but I will try.

Dear Emily. Thanks for being my best friend. I love you!

Dear God. Thanks for sending Emily and crafting her into a strong, faithful, humble, Godly woman. You rock. I love you, too!

Don't worry. I didn't die.

I just started a new blog.

It's okay, just click here: christenallocco.tumblr.com

Painting” with reckless abandon.

I call this one “Zoro was here”

The Chase is over...

We are finally wrapped and submitted! This weekend, Team Gryffindor competed in the 48 Hour Film Project in Hampton Roads. We had SO much fun. It was crazy, stressful, fun, frustrating; all wrapped up into one.

I am…

Exhausted
Happy
Sore
Zoned out
Tired
Satisfied
Confident
Proud
Dehydrated
Anxious
Excited.

I have learned a lot from this experience. This time I was SUPER on top of my release forms, but next time I need to be more aware of craft services and locations. I think we have a decent shot at winning this thing. July 16 is the Richmond one… I’m thinking about entering that one too. We’ll see :]

Check the pictures at my tumblr here

I finally did it.

Dear Readers.

I am transitioning my blog to tumblr. Yes, it was time. I think tumblr is more compatible with my interactive communication needs.

I will be posting on both blogs for a while, and slowly transitioning to the tumblr.

Check it out at christenallocco.tumblr.com

I think I've grilled enough for the next 3597832 Memorial Day weekends.

I noted in my previous posts that the boys (Derrick, Jordan, and Nic) invested in a grill. Therefore, we found it appropriate to grill every night of Memorial Day weekend. Here's what went down.

Friday: Steak Night! We had a decent sized crew. Just sitting around, eating steak. Oh, and we played DDR. Looootsss of DDR.

Saturday: Jenny, Keith, Chris, Micah, Chuck, Dan and I went to the Pungo Strawberry Festival! I saw pigs race. There's something to cross off my bucket list. Afterwards we haddddddd Chicken Night! Pineapple/honey chicken breast and barbeque chicken thighs and drumsticks.

Sunday: Probably the best tasting night, Fish Night! I made salmon marinated in soy sauce and honey. So delicious. Plus, we had chips, salsa, tomatoe/cucumber/corn salad, America cake, crab dip, and other awesome foods. Oh and we watched the Perfect Score. So ridiculous, haha.

Monday: "Cookout" Night (In NJ, we just call it a barbecue). After a lovely day at the beach, we had hotdogs, hamburgers, sausage, and oatmeal for me (because I didn't feel like paying for more meat). We ended the night by watching (or sleeping through in my case) Tropic Thunder.

Good times.

Chicken Night! :] Thanks Derrick Collins for the picture.

Grillin'

It's Memorial Day weekend. Which means that since the boys have a new grill, we have to grill every night.

This is documentation from tonight. Nic- grillin'. Jesiah, on the phone. Jessica looking gorgeous.

So today Jordan, Derrick, Chelsea, Jesiah, Nic, and I are OFFICIALLY registered for the 48 Hour Film Project in Hampton Roads! We have 48 hours to write, shoot, and edit a four to eight minute film. We will be assigned a genre, line of dialogue, prop, and character to incorporate into our project. The project starts June 4!

For more info, click the picture below..

Congratulations Eric and Jessica!

This weekend I drove to Maryland to celebrate the awesome marriage of Eric Deal and Jessica Sites. I saw my family and friends and took LOTS of pictures!

Me and Alli, my lovely best friend.

The happy new couple during their first dance.

My siblings! :]

The unity sand thing.

The top of the cake. Duff from Ace of Cakes made this one! :]

Me, Cat, Charlie, and Alli!

This is so typical of them. :] Jess beautiful, Eric... well... Eric.

Please look at Eric's face.

Cool window at the reception place.

The bride's bouquet.

First dance.

The awesome cake!

The couple's piece of cake.

Such a wonderful wedding :].

So you're from "Joisey?"

Yeah. I got that a lot this week. Why, you may ask? Because I just returned from my 8 day excursion to the South. Yes. The typical road trip crew, sans Nic, ventured to Louisiana, Texas, and Arkansas this past week. We took some time to visit Jordan and Megan's families while driving, and eating, our way through the South.

Picture time! :]

New Orleans, Louisiana: Beignets and cafe au lait from Cafe du Monde!

Baton Rouge, Louisiana: A craw fish boil. SO GOOD.

Megan and I played golf with my "Wreck this Journal" while Jordan had his eye exam.

Abilene, Texas: I lost at Mousetrap. Yes, that's me in the cage.

Texas has a lootttt of land.

Arlington, Texas: I met my dearly missed friend, Delaine!! :]

Imitating the cat pictures in Barnes and Noble.

Hot Springs, Arkansas: Rolands barbeque. We definitely ate well!

Me on a trampoline! :]

Nic's House, Arkansas: The happy couple and the lonely, missing her friend Christen. Haha :].

Megan and I with KITTENS! :]

Somewhere, Arkansas: A horse that caused a lot of traffic on 40-E.

Somewhere, Tennessee: Me in the middle of the road because...

There was a wreck that held up a lotttttt of traffic for over an hour. Complete stand still.

Despite the accident, there was this beautiful sky :].

Conclusion of road trip: Lots of fun and God is faithful. Throughout this trip I learned about patience, personal prayer, and the power of prayer. The Lord continued to provide and bless me this past week. I am incredibly thankful.

And update: Summer goal ALMOST complete. 4 out of 5 states visited. Who's down for another trip!?

:]

Who is this girl that keeps facebook messaging me?

This is a message for all those Regent bloggers who keep getting e-mails from me telling them to blog...

Hey! I'm Christen. I work with Undergrad Student Services and part of my job is to read your blogs, monitor content, and also encourage you throughout the week :]. I figured it would be helpful to know a little bit about who I am:

Christen-isms:
I'm 20.
I'm short.
Elephants are my favorite animal.
I am a Cinema Television major.
I think I want to be a producer?
I'm big on fitness and healthy choices.
Snowboarding is my passion.
Jesus is cool.
Oh wait, nevermind, he's the coolest.
My family lives in New Jersey. Yes, the Jersey Shore, and no we do not fist pump.
I have a habit of leaving cabinet doors open.
I love scrapbooking/making other creative pieces.
My biggest fear is getting lice.
I love adventures.
I have gone swimming in the lake under the Common's bridge.

I would love to hear feedback on what I can do to best serve the Regent blogging community. Are my blogging prompts helpful/inspiring? Do you like receiving the blogger e-mails on facebook?

Please let me know how I can support you and build this group of bloggers. I'm already seeing friendships form and my ultimate goal is to see this group really interact and support oneanother.

Blessings!

Welcome to the Palace...

I am moved in to my new apartment! Chelsea and I, with the help of our friends Micah and Nic, transported all of our stuff to our lovely townhouse that we are calling "The Palace."

After creating desks out of boxes and crates and going on a midnight Wal-mart run to get air mattresses, Chuck and I are pretty much set! :]

My little nook :].

Chuck's desk on the right, mine on the left.

Chuck's bed on the left, mine on the right.

Our living room. Not really organized yet :].

The kitchen!

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

"Be joyful always;

pray continually;

give thanks in

all circumstances,

for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."

God is always faithful.

He is always God.

He is constantly bestowing his blessings.

How do we not have a reason to be joyful?

Picture of the Day: Just another reason to be thankful.

DONE! (Almost)

In celebration of the completion of my last written/in-class exam here is my fun blog post! (I still have my Studio Production essay questions, but I'm on the home stretch!)

Here are some photos I took from Monday. It rained. A LOT. There was a sudden down pour. We played outside. :] Oh the joys of living in the Regent Commons.

Gabrielle, Ashley, Tommy, Nyckole, and I.

This is my "I'm wet and covered in leaves but happy" face.

Tim, Gabe, Nyckole, and I.

These are my friends. They like the rain.

The group of rainy people.

I have somewhere to live!

Today Chelsea and I went to the apartment complex we plan to live in over the summer and squared everything away! We are living in a one bedroom townhouse. It will be amazing! It's close to Wawa! We sign the lease on Friday and start moving in Friday/Saturday. My wonderful friend Micah will be helping us with his pickup truck on Saturday, so moving in will be so much easier!

I love this new experience. Finding this place is something I did on my own, separate from my parents. I am paying for this apartment. I am signing the lease. I am moving on my own. My parents did not talk to anyone or plan anything concerning this housing arrangement. It was all me and Chuck. I am excited. I am an adult.

Picture of the Day: My future (in a week) awesome roommate!

Like strawberries in the summertime...

Christen's Summer Goals:

- Visit five states I have never been to.

- Learn to play tennis so I can play on the Regent tennis team next year.

- Make progress on last summer's "learn to play guitar" goal.

- Shoot a movie. Perhaps on film?

- Stay in shape.

- Have as much fun as possible

- Walk everywhere

- Do some art projects

Christen's Summer Plans:

- Work full time in Undergrad Student Services

- Road trip to Louisiana, Arkansas, and Texas

- RA Training!

- Go to the Beach

- Eric Deal's wedding!

- Venture back to New Jersey now and then

- Live with Chuck (aka Chelsea Lord)

- Not take classes

Pictures from last summer...

Strawberry picking

Volley ball in the rain!

Virginia Beach

Me, Olivia, and Claire enjoying the summer weather!

The girls at Starbucks!

A sand dollar found in the Chesapeake Bay