Oh my goodness! It’s been over a month since I have written! I know you are all disappointed 😉 A lot has happened since my last post (so much so, I can’t even recall).

I am still enjoying everything, and can’t believe how quickly time is going! I am doing well on all of my teams and projects and enjoying the experience. Honestly, I’m a bit ready for the waiting to be over and to have a little more settledness in my life… but am soaking up the experience every day and enjoying it. As I explained this to someone the other day, he kindly reminded me to enjoy the process because once you have a real job that doesn’t have a specific end date to it is very different. Thinking about that is so true, my whole life everything I’ve done has had an “end’ associated with it. You go to grade school until 8th grade- then it ends.  High School for 4 years- then it ends. College for 4 years- then it ends. My internship, 4 months- then it ends. Then what is next? It could be a long time until there is another end at the end of whatever it is…

Anyways- the last trip I went on was to the beautiful sunny state of California! It was AWESOME, I could see myself living out there for a little I mean why not every day was sunny and 75! I even got a chance to run the race which was awesome- very muddy and I really appreciated it since I know how much work goes into the whole thing! I am now working on the planning team for the Warrior Dash in South Florida coming up! Very exciting and I can’t wait to get down south for some more sunshine! Although the weather here in Chicago has been so nice!

Thinking back to what I’ve been up to… we had our field trip about a Month ago which was pretty fun! It was all a surprise so we didnt’ know what was in store! It started out and we were grouped off into teams… then we headed to Johnny’s Ice House where the Chicago Blackhawks practice! We played broom ball on the ice- it was awesome and I wish it was an intramural! So very cool :)! Then we headed back and learned how to make our very own Sushi- yum it was delicious. After, we had some drinks and a dance party in the office and then headed to our final stop which was a paint party! I don’t know if you’ve ever been  to one but they are crazy. We had a great time until it was over and realized the paint would NOT come out of our hair! It was crazy… anyways

Other than that just have been busy in the office and hanging out on the weekends! This past weekend Emily came to visit it was seriously so great getting to see her and show her the Windy City. We walked around A LOT, and had a good time! I miss her and everyone else, but having her come here made me appreciate the opportunity i have living in Chicago because she just kept saying my life is like a movie and exactly what I had said I wanted, so very true!

I have to go do a few things but will really try to write more as I go!

Love ya all! -Em

Falling into Chicago…

So life as a tadpole is still going well. I’ve had a full week in the office and won’t be traveling again until the end of October. It’s different not traveling the country as much, but it sure is nice to be able to have a little routine in my daily life. Life in the office is basically unreal, it is difficult to explain the every day happenings to someone who doesn’t spend each day at Camp Red Frog. Some mornings I wake up and just want to be in a bad mood because I slept through my alarm and just want to be crabby- just because. But the moment I step into work I’m greeted by 45 smiling faces who give me a high five or hug just because. The other morning as I walked into work there was a large cardboard box sitting right in front of the large glass door. Thinking nothing of it, I walked past it only to be scared as Julia (a fellow tadpole) jumped out of it to scare me (she continued to do this for almost each person who walked in, and it never got old especially once we started video taping people’s reactions)- it’s things like that, which make it just another day in the office.

Everyone at work really knows how to have fun and work hard. I’ve learned how to work with people who are all leaders, and want to be in charge and I’ve learned how much people who have the same goal can accomplish- it probably sounds like I’ve been brain washed or something, but really i’ve just had a great experince so far and have had a lot of time to think about what I’m doing. The biggest thing I’ve learned is that life is better with nice people. Not saying other parts of my life haven’t had nice people, but when you have a positive attitude and are nice you can get a lot more accomplished. Yes there are a million moments in the day when you want to just scream and roll your eyes, but then you look around and think why waste your time. It’s also pretty cool when answering phones (we all have phone shifts throughout the day where we answer phone calls to help participants or people who call that have questions) and the people on the other end say, wow people in your office are really nice 🙂

I’ve definitely had an array of experience. There are so many random things that I’ve done that when looking back I kind of just have to laugh at.  I can tell you how much it costs to rent 9 utility vehicles, 50 porto’s, 1500 pieces of security fencing and 180 bales of Hay from Randy’s Tractor and Supply in middle of no where Texas. I have also probably made more cold calls to places in Iowa, trying to find a property with about 180 acres plus for a Warrior Dash then any other human being will ever make!

It’s all been so much fun and every single day is different. It’s extremely challenging but a lot of fun. It’s also been nice to have a bit of a life outside of work… I recently joined the gym (it totally made me feel like an adult) I’ve explored my area and other parts of Chicago which I’m really beginning to like! The weather has been AWESOME too which is a big plus. Yesterday a group of us volunteered at the Chicago marathon. We were at the finish line and in charge of handing out free Chicago brewed beer to the amazing athletes that ran the whole 26.2 miles (some in 2 hours, others in 6) 🙂 It was a hot morning but pretty good experience seeing that 45,000 people ran and there were about 1 million spectators in the city… i’d say it was crowded! Anyways, after that I walked downtown and stoppd at the Apple store. Outside the glass store fronts were COVERED with post it notes all commemorating Steve Jobs. It was pretty amazing to see what an impression he left on so many people…

I also competed in the Great Urban Race this weekend in Normal, IL. It was a lot of fun but VERY tiring. Julia and I were a team and drove down with Sara and Keri for the day! Julia and I probably ran 4 miles across the city to solve the clues and complete the listed challenges but it was well worth the experience and the fun!

There is so much more I could write about but need to go change over my laundry (boo to having to pay $ to wash your clothes… I’ve never appreciated quarters more!)

Thanks for reading and sorry SO SO sporatic.. I will try my best to update more frequently to avoid this!

Cheers (or should I say “See you on the Battlefield”, which is how many of us sign off on our e-mail inquiries to participants of Warrior Dash!)
Emma

Keep on Keeping On

Wow. It sure has been a busy few weeks. I’ve been to Oregon back to Chicago, Tennessee back to Chicago and I’ll be heading to Texas on Thursday! I really need to keep reminding myself to take it all in and enjoy the process because it is flying by!

I have been super busy these past few weeks, traveling the country, getting organized with all of my assignments and tasks and everything in between. I have been assigned to several “teams” these include volunteer management where I will be dealing with those who are interested in volunteering for our events, partnership marketing, the blog, social media for Warrior Dash. It is hard to explain everything but overall- I’m pretty happy with my teams!

Trying to think back, Warrior Dash Oregon was literally CRAZY! We were so busy and I don’t think i’ve ever worked so much i my whole life it was a very good experience though! The place we had the warrior dash was literally in the middle of nowhere! It had no cell service, peacocks everywhere and old hippies who walked around with their shirts off all day. It was also nothing but dust, like pure dust… it was a lot of fun though and we all had some pretty good laughs a long the way! I think we worked over 90 hours in the week, and man were we always up early…

Tennessee WD on the other hand was completely different- it was so easy and I don’t really know why haha! We were able to head out to Nashville for a night on the town which was really cool to see and a lot of fun! The event went smoothly and then before I knew it, i was back in Chicago!

I am getting used to living in the city a lot more and feel more comfortable with my surroundings which feels nice! I haven’t done much exploring as I’ve been working SO much almost 12 hour days on average… crazy but it’s enjoyable work for the most part and the people are all very nice and fun people!

I am super tired, so will be heading to bed! Pictures will be coming soon! Miss you all and love you lots :)!

 

Day 3 and up.

SO, back to writing about my first week.

Day 3, as i mentioned was Safety Day! We took a school bus to the warehouse and became certified in first aid, even got to practice some wraps, as you can see from a picture in the previous post. Then we drove around some golf carts and learned how to wrap giant cargo loads of merchandise with ceran wrap stuff. It was HOT out there but a good day…

One of the nights was spent later in the office where i was able to test out the zip line, play some dance central on the giant screen! Then this Friday was “W” day, which meant you could dress in anything you wanted W. I wore all white and intended to put a sign that said OUT on my shirt, to be white out however I never got around to it. People were WNBA players, washing machines, witches and everything in between. Guess thats what you get being with super creative people all day.

I am pretty busy with work already which is crazy, but good. We all started venue searching for Warrior Dash, I am in charge of Iowa which is cool. Then had some team meetings for the two races I am going on which are Oregon and Tennessee. I am in charge of volunteers in OR and tickets in TN. Should be pretty exciting! I am leaving Tuesday for the race and will be pretty busy! I’m excited to see how that goes though!

Mom, Laura & Mary just left. It was SO nice to see them for the weekend. We did a lot of walking around the neighborhood exploring my area, the Lincoln Park Zoo, downtown and Navy Pier. The weekend was so nice, and the weather couldn’t have been more perfect! They brought all of my things, which has made my room seem a lot more like home and a lot more comfortable which has made me a lot happier! I was thankful to see them 🙂 We were also fortunate enough to meet up with Uncle Pat & Mary’s friend Fr. Bernardi fromLoyola of Chicago and get to mass with him there and then eat a delicious brunch!

I have learned a lot in this first week. I am not making presumptions or anything, but I think I am glad I am committed to the city for only 6 months. Don’t get me wrong, I love being in a happening place, but I am going to have to adapt (which I am slowly doing). It’s definitely an experience and I am pretty lucky to get to experience it the way I am! Woo Ha!

I am pretty tired after an exciting few days with them, so I may just go take a nap now!

Love from Chi-Town.

What a Week One…

Day 1 & 2

Whirlwind. That’s the one word that comes to mind when asked to describe the last two days. It’s been overwhelming, but a good overwhelming. I guess I will start at the beginning, which I’ve heard is a good place to start.

Day 1:

I took the EL into work with Danielle which was pretty comforting! We stopped at FedEx before work to pick up the Fall EC Orientation Guides then headed to the office. It was about 8:30 when I arrived, and didn’t want to be 1/2 hour early on my first day… so as we approached the office I noticed 3 other interns, who looked just as scared as I felt hovering outside of the office. I walked past them, then turned around and thought, “Well, I might as well just say hi now, there is nothing to lose.” We decided to wait a few minutes then take the tiny (very tiny) elevator to the office.

As we reached the 5th floor we entered the office and were welcomed with many, MANY smiling faces and welcomes! We grabbed a bag and stuck on a name-tag (which I may add have been vital for getting to know everyone). We then headed to the “cafeteria” (an awesome big, bright room with bright red picnic tables, and lily pads hanging from the ceiling). We were then welcomed by Joe & Ryan (the head honchoes) and two other Frogs. We were told that between 6-8 thousand people applied for our 40 spots this Fall, so we all brushed a little dirt from our shoulders and got a major boost of confidence.

After the intro’s we were broken into groups and headed off to hear several different presentations all about what Red Frog is and each of the events. Of course each presentation was extremely entertaining and awesome. We did some games, ice breakers and a heck of a lot of question balls. So basically, it was right up my alley. I was pumped! Of course each presentation was held in one of the amazing conference rooms, which consist of the LEGO room which has the amazing table made of 50K legos with a giant Red Frog logo in the middle. Then there is the puzzle piece room, where the table is made of three giant puzzle pieces, and the picnic room which has a giant picnic table, empty jam jars hanging down as lights and faux green grass. Each presentation was informing and a little overwhelming with the amount of information thrown out.

We had Red Frog Family lunch, which happens every Monday. We had Chicago hot dogs, and subs and of course it was delicious! Then we did some more presentations, learned all about the e-mail and the Jungle (the server)!

It’s been great meeting everyone, there are about 40 EC’s in the Fall class and each one is super nice and VERY interesting. Most people have had awesome past experiences, such as internships in a billion countries, they’ve designed their own clothing lines, hosted radio shows, run marathons and climbed mountains- you know “no big deal”.

After work a few of us headed to O’Leareys for a quick drink and then I went back to Danielle’s packed up and lugged my bags to the EL station and across town to stay with 4 other EC’s until my apartment is ready! I thought for sure I would get a lot of strange looks walking down the street with a giant bag and back back but nope- nothing is weird in the city… that’s one thing I really have liked so far. You can be whoever you want to be and no one is going to look at you funny or whisper to their friends about how “weird” that looks… nope it doesn’t happen because no one is the same walking down the street and that is very cool to me.

Once I got to my temporary home, we all just hung out and went to bed as were were pretty exhausted from a senses overload first day.

 Day 2: 

We walked 40 minutes to work this morning. It was literally a straight walk, and it was a BEAUTIFUL morning so it was quite enjoyable.

Today consisted of more presentations, speed dating (with the Frog’s) and Chicago style deep dish pizza for another family lunch. We took pictures for the Culture Book. I sat on the GIANT trike and smiled!

I felt a lot more comfortable today, I felt I got to meet a lot more people and got to know some of them better. I am really enjoying the atmosphere and everyone is genuinely kind. People work hard and they play hard. It’s nice to be in a place where people are happy and enjoy what they do, it’s not “fake” it’s inspiring and I can only imagine how great it’s going to be once I’m totally oriented and diving deep into the everyday life of a Tadpole.

P.S. I saw someone get “iced” for the first time today. Iced: (verb);. When someone places (plants) a Smiernoff Ice bottle in a secret location, in the hopes that someone discovers the bottle at which time everyone points in excitement and the poor soul who found the bottle has to graciously take a knee and chug the drink until it is empty. It was rather entertaining as I saw it happening 5 people gathered around which the rest of the office carried on in their busy day not even phased by the “icing” activity being performed. I guess that’s just another day at Camp Red Frog!

Overall, it’s been great! I’ve already learned so much including how to navigate public transport, balance on an exercise ball during presentations, that everything at RFE has a nickname and a lot more!  I am looking forward to moving into my own place and being a bit more settled, as well as getting a chance to really explore the city!

Well more from the Windy City soon!

Emma -xoxo

Day 3: 

Safety day. We took a school bus to the warehouse and learned a lot of things- FAST. Then again, we’re learning everything FAST!

*Okay, so I am going out with some friends but when I get back will fill in the parts about the rest of the week!*

I’ve also decided to include some pictures from the past few days!

All of my things waiting to come to Chicago!

I’m here!

I have arrived. After some changes in original plans I hitched a ride with one of my dads former soccer players (Kevin) who lives in the city. The ride was entertaining, I heard a lot about my dads glory days as a coach with his “favorite” team to date at Heidelberg.

Anyways, after miles of corn, more corn, Indiana and more corn we edged up into Illinois and the skyline of my new home stood before me. I was a little excited and nervous all at once. We rolled down the windows for some fresh Chi-town air and drove into a lot of traffic (I didn’t care). I enjoyed watching the pleasant folk of Chicago enjoy a beautiful sunny 75 degree day on the beaches and parks that border Lake Shore Drive. I took a couple deep breaths to soak it all in. I was in shock thinking this is where I’m going to be LIVING. Yes, living for the next duration of my life- the city was so alive with people doing stuff and I thought wow, ” how have I not lived here before today”?!

Okay so being a little dramatic, but you get the point. I’m so excited 🙂 we drove past my apartment on Surf St. (what an awesome name right?!) and then I was dropped off at Danielle’s who also works for RFE and also went to High school with.

So now were about to venture out to the city to Whole Foods and get a salad. Then work tomorrow at nine! It totally hasn’t hit me yet-I’m working at Red Frog. I’m like really working there! Ah so crazy!

More to come soon 🙂

Emma

Let the Journey Begin…

It’s one week before I head off to Chicago for a six month internship at Red Frog. Anything is to be expected, and I can only imagine the fun I’m going to have! I am creating this blog as a journal for myself (and those who are interested in following the life of a tadpole).

Yeah, I said tadpole, that’s what they call interns at Red Frog, I’m not offended- especially after reading this definition:

“A tadpole or polliwog (also pollywog or porwigle) is the wholly aquatic larval stage in the life cycle of an amphibian, particularly that of a frog or toad.”

Go ahead, have some fun with that one.

It is my plan to upload photos, videos, and anything else to try to best explain my day to day activities at Camp. I’ll start with one already: the poem I sent in when I applied to RFE:

I can already tell I am going to need to provide a small index for some of the lingo I’ll be using. Here is a start:

Dictionary for Understanding;

• Camp: the office
• The Pad: also the office
• Tadpole: Me, intern(s)
• Awesome: the next six months of my life.

Let the countdown begin: 8 days.

-Emma