Define Family

okay blog-o-sphere. this semester i am taking a class called the family in European history. as part of that class, we need to blog twice a week about family. seems easy enough, right? but last week we talked about what makes a family, and i am coming to realize that this assignment is quite difficult.

what does family mean to me? it means a lot of things. it means my dad. my mom. my brothers. my nanas. my grumpy. my aunts. my uncles. my friends. my community. my staff. my classmates. the church. i have considered myself a part of so many families over the past 21 years, and not just the ballous or the mccarthys, but so many others.

what family means to me is unconditional love. the people who will love you no matter what stupid things you do or how many times you mess up. sometimes there is shared dna, but sometimes there is not.

i have decided as a way to guide my blog-project through the semester, to share the different familial bonds i have experienced over the past twenty one years here on the interweb. so buckle in blogspot, because my families are crazy.

Res-Life, Best Life

all my life, i have been over involved. between choruses and cheerleading and theatre and service it was a busy life in high school. i just reallllyyy like being crazy busy. i don't do well with down time. thats what has lead to me to having a highly "student leader"ized college experience. from retreat teams, to a year as a student minister (i know, what the heck is a student minister? maybe later.)  and finally in my final year here at dear old CUA, i am a resident assistant. 

the homestead

our awesome opus area coordinators

last year, when i was applying to be an ra, my fellow student minister liz was all "i cannot imagine you as an ra" and i had to say i was kind of thinking the same thing. frankly, i hate watching people do stupid things, and being the one who catches them is the absolute worse. but, in august, i returned to cua and found that there was a lot more to being an ra that i initially thought. 

opus loves brunch

my favorite part of being an ra is of course my wonderful residents, but my absolutely awesome staff comes in a close second. are staff meetings are crazy long and crazy fun because we all absolutely love each other, however i'm pretty sure every other staff finds us completely annoying. such was the case when we arrived on campus a few days earlier than the rest of the student body for winter "training." we had a blast hanging out, preparing for the semester ahead and competing with other neighborhoods. it was pretty stellar city and we have some awesome events planned for this semester. such as floor wars. and a safe rave. and a spa-lobby. 

rho time

for days

can't you just taste the cinnamon?

one of the high points of training was the "cardinal cook-off" where each neighborhood had to create a dessert and beverage that defined their neighborhood. since opus loooovess brunch (we make it for our residents, we make it for each other, we go to it together) we decided to go with a baked challah bread french toast served a la mode with a candied bacon garnish and some fimosas with raspberries. we won in the taste category, which let's be honest, is the only category that matters when it comes to a food competition. feast your eyes and try not to get hungry.

well, funnily enough i happen to be the ra on call this evening so i'm off to do some community walks and greet the fine residents of this here opus hall and their wonderful decision making skills! happy mlk day, everybody.