So even though I’m, quite frankly, starving…I decided it was time to update! Dinner can wait.

But yeah, the reason I wanted to post now was to talk about last week…that was spent in Gainesville!! I returned for Career Showcase to recruit for Cameron, and so rather than attending the career fair as a student, I witnessed the other side(which is quite more tiring). I flew back on Monday afternoon to the Jacksonville airport and then drove down to Gainesville. We had about a minute or so to check into our hotel and then it was off to dinner! We went to the Stonewood Grill to meet with some prospective hires(i.e., my friends and classmates). The food was delicious and the company was good, but I was still so tired from the flight and driving that I really don’t remember most of it!

The next day was made of awesome though…I woke up early(ok, not really…around 7) and Rob picked me up and we chilled at his place for breakfast!!! This was one of my favorite parts of the whole week…getting a solid few hours to talk and laugh and encourage and share and be with my best friend…ah how I wish he was here in Houston. Anyway, we talked about a lot of random things(did I ever mention he’s getting married to Laurie this December? No? Well. He is. Yes.) and basically just enjoyed hanging out together. He then had to go to campus and so he dropped me off at the hotel. That was the last time I saw him for the whole week, sadly. The rest of the day was almost just as sweet…I hung out on campus for most of it, walking around the oh-so-familiar paths(taking some pictures while I was at it!) and remembering good times. For lunch, I got to eat with Laura K…sadly we didn’t have quite as long to talk as she had a weird thing called class! But still, the time we had was delightful. Later, I surprised Maryanne right before her psych test at the door of her classroom(weird seeing her in my old haunt of the FLG!) and then I saw Cindy later that afternoon after her physics lab(hah, now THAT brings back memories!). We caught up on events and enjoyed some sweet fellowship before I had to go off to my next appointment…which was my only official “work function” of the day! I made an appearance at the official engineering networking session and spent most of it talking to old friends who also happened to be interested in Cameron. I tried to impart my knowledge of the oil business as best I could…being only a recent hire myself!!

And wow, this entry is getting far too long. And I am getting far too hungry. But I will not surrender to the pangs of my stomach…I will endure for the sake of posterity! On to Wednesday! This was definitely the most tiring day of the week, because it was…Career Showcase!! I will be brief with describing it, but basically I will say I don’t think I’m cut out to be a full-time recruiter. I talked to literally hundreds of students desperate for jobs, knowing we only had 14 interview slots to hand out. Heartbreaking. Every person I talked to, I wanted to help, but I just couldn’t. And I felt terrible.

Also, for anyone curious, while being a recruiter is far less stressful than being a student, it is FAR more exhausting. I was talking almost non-stop for eight hours. I’m actually quite surprised my voice stayed intact!! Nevertheless, at the end of that very long day a dinner party awaited me. A dinner party comprised of David, Dream and I!! They had me over to their place for dinner…and being with them for the evening was pure joy. Able to converse on matters ranging from music to food to politics to the goodness of the LORD…and add in a spectacular meatloaf dinner…well, suffice it to say I had a good time. And I don’t think I can describe it any better than that without diminishing the pureness of our fellowship. But even though I was practically on the floor from exhaustion at this point, was the day over?? Would I cede the point to my tiredness? NEVAHHHH!!! And thus, Dream and David and I went to TCBY’s for ice-cream awesomeness…and the reason it was awesomeness was not because of the ice cream but because of everyone there that I got to see!! Prayer and praise happened during our dinner party, so a bunch of people came from there to meet us. We picked up Laura G on the way(where I got to jump out and surprise her!) and then once we got there we saw Laura K, Bekah Hope, Bekah P, Tim, Galan, Mary, Heather, Allison, and Maryanne!!! This was another of one of my favorite moments of the week(gosh, I guess I had a lot of these, didn’t I?)…seeing everyone again and delighting in the friends and the wonderful gifts the LORD has given me!!!

And as this entry is still nowhere near conclusion, I’m starting to worry about the fate of my dinner. Or lack thereof. ANYWAYS. Thursday! This day started out with interviews, which went as interviews usually go. Or so I suppose, as this was my first time actually being the interviewer instead of the interviewee! Anyways, at the end of my time interviewing, I got picked up by the Lebos and thus began a disc golf adventure!! Mrs. Lebo and George and I went to Northside(on a day which just HAD to be the most lovely day of the fall thus far!! Perfect disc golf weather!) and played a round! Actually, Mrs. Lebo had to go part ways through, but me and George got through about 26 holes. So awesome being able to catch up with George and talk about random stuff(as well as get in our requisite Wheel of Time talk!) at the same time as soaking in the beauty of the day! After that, I spent a little more time at the Lebos’ house(eating lunch and playing Brawl with George) and then back to campus I went.

At this point, I stopped by Marston(hmm, I don’t really miss that place) and saw Cindy and met her boyfriend Robert and after that went to the Christian Study Center for the first time…in a while! And this time, I had no homework to do and no test to study for! Rather, I got to talk to Laurie at the coffee bar like old times! She got to tell me about her wedding dress, but I stopped her from showing it to me. Girls, let me give you a piece of advice…guys really don’t care(AT ALL!) about the dress. They care(A LOT!) for the girl in it. Just sayin’.

Anyways after that I went by the HUB and saw Chris for a few minutes at the end of his shift and chilled with him and again…felt like time had never passed at all. Soon enough, as the shadows lengthened on campus, I made my way to Maguire field…alas not to play flag football. But to watch Maryanne play! Somehow she’d made her way onto the Civil Engineering team and I couldn’t pass up the chance to see her play! Even though I was a bit sorrowful over not being able to play in the game myself. She played well and her team won a sweet victory!! But that wasn’t the best part of the night…the best part was just hanging out with Maryanne!! We walked around campus a bit and then went to Chili’s for dinner. While we ate our delicious classic hamburgers, we talked and talked and laughed and talked some more. This just may have been my favorite part of the week!! I have to admit, it’s still a bit weird realizing my little sister is a student at UF! But more than weird…it’s awesome. After we finished eating, we played around campus…doing a random photo shoot at the fountain and then re-enacting a scene from Sound of Music(“16 going on 17!”) and then met up with Dream for a few minutes! Finally, David and Dream drove me back to my hotel. Where I promptly collapsed.

And the next day, I went home.

The end. Gosh, I wrote far too much…but hey, hope y’all don’t mind reading it. And if you do? Too bad! I could have written so much more about all the actual work I did, but it was much more fun writing about the other stuff!! And while I was tired much of the time…how often am I in Gainesville these days. It was so totally worth it. Every last moment. And I probably should write about the sweet and relaxing weekend I had…but seriously, I am hungry. So to all, farewell!!

Oh and one more thing…

God is good.