Tis The Season...

...For Pumpkin Spice Lattes!!! I cannot fathom enough how much I LOVE Starbucks' Pumpkin Spice Latte or Starbucks in general. They make my life so much better! It helps that they made my favorite kind of pie into coffee, but the downside is they only sell it between the beginning of September til like the end of December. This is my 2nd pumpkin spice of the season, so there will be more to come. Starbucks is also my best friend when it comes to all-nighters. I will go to Starbucks around 10:30 p.m. and get a grande coffee and be ready to finish whatever it is I have to do and I think those nights are coming sooner than later. And because I went to the grad school fair today, I got a $5 giftcard to Starbucks... yes please!!! So right after my class this afternoon, I went straight to Starbucks, not that I needed any caffeine, but who wouldn't go? Some people would think it is stupid to spend $4 on a cup of coffee, but it's really, really good coffee. I don't get it that often (except for this time of year) so it is a special treat to myself. I think I deserve it once in a while, don't you? I am actually thinking about investing in a coffee maker and buying like a pound of Starbucks ground coffee at a time so I can have it whenever I want! So what do you like to treat yourself to once in a while?

Pumpkin Pie & Apple Cider... YUM!!!

Fall is one of my favorite seasons. It's a lot better in Michigan, but I guess I'll take it anywhere! I love when the leaves on the trees change colors to red and orange and yellow...it's so pretty. I love how it is chilly enough for a light jacket in the early mornings and then warms up after lunch.

My absolute favorite thing about fall is the food! Pumpkin pie is my favorite kind of pie in general, but it just tastes better for some reason in the fall months. Apple cider is great too...cold is definitely better than hot. Growing up, my parents would take me and my little brother to the Cider Mill every year. In Oklahoma, nobody has heard of Cider Mills...what a shame! We would go and ride the hayride, drink apple cider and eat fresh, warm cinnamon sugar doughnuts. Then we would buy really good Michigan apples and apple cider to take home with us. I can still feel the hay poking my through my clothes and smell the freshly made doughnuts! Those are some of my favorite childhood memories of this season. Even if I do end up living in the south, I will take my family on a special trip up north to a good ol' Cider Mill!

Senior Year v. Freshmen Year

In one way, it seems like I arrived at OC a couple days ago and in another, I feel like I've been here my whole life. But life as a senior is completely different than life as a freshman. I'll give you a list of difference I notice looking back:

Freshmen Year

• Once you've arrived on campus, you feel like you've just made the worst mistake of your life.
• You stay out right until curfew just because you can. Forget about being tired or having homework that is due the next day. And on the weekends you stay up until 3 or 4 in the morning.
• You eat in the Caf for almost every meal because there is only 1 kitchen in the dorm for about 200 other students.
• Community bathroom become a way of life.
• "Open House" night is what you look forward to every month because it is the only time you can have the person of the opposite sex in your room.
• Everyone knows everyone in their dorm.

Senior Year

• You call school "home" even when you are actually home on vacations.
• You're in your apartment by 8 r 9 at night and go to bed by midnight at the latest. Make it 10:30 if you have an 8 a.m. class and are still in bed by midnight or 1 on the weekends.
• Your homework gets done because you know the consequences of failing a class...
• You try to avoid the Caf at all costs unless you are going with a friend because a) you don't know anyone there, b) the immaturity level is crazy, and c) you actually have your own kitchen to cook in!
• You now share a bath and a half with only 3 other people and nobody is fighting over the shower.
• Your friends of the opposite sex can come visit because it is no longer awkward since you have a living room with a couch instead of just room with a bed. (Believe me, that was so weird)
• You barely know your next door neighbors because you mostly just stay in your apartment.

Instruments or no instruments - the big controversy

I've grown up in a Church of Christ my entire life and I absolutely love it and I wouldn't change a thing about it...even the a cappella worship. Tonight I went to an Acappella concert (the guys happen to be friends of mine) at a local Church of Christ. There is really only one difference between the Church of Christ I attend and this Church of Christ. Every Sunday they have 2 services - an a cappella service and an instrumental service. This was actually the first church I visited in the area when I moved to Oklahoma (pre-instrumental service) because I had a friend who was a member there. I decided that it wasn't the church for me because it was too big with a membership of about 800. Which is funny now because the church I go to has about 3,000 members!

Anyway, besides Acappella performing, their worship team led several songs as well to support Habitat for Humanity. I must say, I was not the most comfortable in the setting. I am just not used to seeing drums and guitars and keyboards on a church stage. Please do not get me wrong, I don't think it is against the Bible to play instruments and I am not against people in any way who worship with instruments, it's just tradition for me sing a cappella while in church. I found myself focusing more on the song leader than on God and I got distracted easily. I could barely hear the people around because the music was so loud. Most people looked like they could feel God in their presence,which is great and awesome, but to me, when I sing with all I've got and can hear everyone else around doing the same, that's when I feel God's presence. They sang a lot of the same songs we sing in church, but at first I couldn't tell what songs they were because it seemed like they were sung completely different than how I would sing it.

Probably the most uncomfortable I felt was when a woman led an entire song. I grew up being taught that women are to be quiet in the church. Now, this does not mean we cannot speak, in fact, women can be very influential parts of the church. It just means that the men are the leaders of the church, including preaching, song leading, passing communion, leading prayers, etc., just at Christ is the head of the church. In school the rule is, once the closing prayer is finished, women can get up and make announcements and in the church I grew up in, women were allowed to make prayer requests to the congregation. I guess I just felt like it wasn't her place to be on stage leading a worship song. Once the Acappella guys got on stage, I felt about 1,000 times better and they were excellent, as always!!!

Needless to say, I was uncomfortable, BUT I think it is a good thing to sometimes get out of your comfort zone to find out why you believe what you believe. It can make you question some things, but it can also be very reassuring.

Graduation

I know it's still 7 months away, but graduation has been on my mind a lot lately. The fact that I am now counting down in months instead of years is scary as it is. A lot of my classes this semester are senior level classes and I think most of us don't know where we'll be a year from now. One of my recent homework assignments was to find a PR job or internship in the city where you'll be living in next summer. Uh...I have no idea. My plan was to stay at OC and do my master's program, but I'm thinking I may need to wait until I pay off the school debt that is on my shoulders now instead of just building it up. I would still like to stay in the Edmond/OKC area, but what a job offer comes my way and it is 500 miles away? I don't want to leave my friends who will not graduate with me or are getting jobs here, but I also don't want to pass up a 1 in a million job. It wouldn't be ideal either if I have to move to an area where I don't know a single soul. Where am I supposed to go?

There has also been a lot of talk about internships in my classes lately. I technically have one this semester with TOMS Shoes, but they haven't been very helpful at all in telling me what I need to do. We had a couple of guest speakers (who were classmates of mine last semester) come into our PR Principles class to talk to us about their jobs with a local PR Agency. Their biggest tip was to get an internship and get your foot in the door before graduation. I think I applied for 15-20 internships last spring and most of them wouldn't call back or they didn't want to receive phone calls regarding the job. It was a lot more frustrating, stressful, and time consuming than I thought it was going to be. One thing I don't like about being a PR major is that the field is so competitive. If you're wanting to intern for a non-profit, they'll hire you in a second because most non-profits don't pay their interns. But if you want to be able to actually pay your bills and only work 1 job, you are less likely to get the position because everybody else wants the exact same one! Why can't they just tell me they like my personality and give me the job??? I know it doesn't work that way, but it would be convenient!

Sometimes while sitting in class, I wonder what kind of field I've gotten myself into. Even after taking 2 full years of PR and advertising classes, I still don't know what some things mean. What gets me is, it seems like the freshmen and sophomores in my classes know more about my major than I do! Needless to say, I feel like the class dummie a lot of the time! It seemed like last year I understood a lot more, but I think it all washed away during the summer :( So, what do I need to do to not feel stupid in my classes and to be prepared for post graduation come early May?

New Apartment, New Beginning!

Last week, I decided to move to a different apartment. Things weren't going very well at my old one and I thought it would be best for all of us if I moved out. So, Kayla and I spent the day yesterday moving all my stuff...luckily it was just down the sidewalk! We actually got it all done in about 2 1/2 hours, which I think is a record. I still had time to go to Walmart, set up my TV and TiVo (so excited about that!), go out to dinner, and be on time to work. I am really hoping and praying that this move will be a lot better environment for me and I can actually get my homework done! I had a feeling once I walked in the door that it was going to be better.

Today, I need to get a few groceries and some supplies for my Video for Media class (I'll be talking about that class later...), TRY to get some interviews for my newspaper story (don't ask), and finish getting my room organized and decorated.

OH, I almost forgot to mention another great thing that happened this week...I am going to be an AUNT!!! Okay, not biologically, but one of my best friends, Stephanie, and her husband, Robin, are expecting their 2nd child in May. They have one daughter, Gabby, who is 12 and I consider her my niece even though I have known them for less than a year. Everybody is really excited and cannot wait for May to get here! I also got to see my good friend, Jonathan, whom I haven't seen or talked to since school ended in April and got to catch up with him :)

So, even through busy and stressful school weeks, God will put good things in your life...just make sure you don't overlook them!

The Honeymoon Does End

I recently had a good friend of mine tell me that their recent married life was very difficult. I really did feel for them, almost to the point of tears. This could be because I pretty much knew from the engagement time that this couple would not be happy together. My question is: what would God say about this, especially these days. I know that the Bible says the only reason for divorce is unfaithfulness. I also believe that any kind of abuse is reason to leave your spouse. But what if you know almost right away that you made a mistake and married the wrong person? Is it okay to call it quits or do they need to suffer the consequences? These days, sometimes you hear more about divorces than you do weddings or lasting couples. Don't get me wrong, my biggest dream in life is to marry the greatest man in the world! But when you have a friend come to you and basically says they are unhappy, how do you respond? All I could say was, "Everyone's marriage is difficult and every marriage needs work." I felt like my answer was kind of cliche, but I didn't know what else to say. Should I tell my friend that if they ever need someone to talk to or vent to, they can always call me? In a way, I feel like it's none of my business and in a way, I feel like I should've said something before they actually went through with the wedding. I don't know...you tell me what to do.

Life of a Newspaper Writer

You may or may not know that I have been writing for my school newspaper for almost 2 years. I am not going into journalism, but it is a part of my PR curriculum. We have to take at least 4 semesters of Newspaper Workshop during our college career. This is not exactly my favorite class, although sometimes I get lucky enough to land a really interesting story and get great facts about it. I've also made the front page 3 times, which to me, is a pretty good! But there are definitely cons to this class/job (although I don't get paid for it). Sometimes you get a really boring story that you know nobody will read because you wouldn't read about it either. One time I had to write a feature story about taxes...that's right, taxes. It was awful! It can also be difficult when you contact people to interview for the story and they either do not want to be interviewed or they don't have 5 minutes of their time for you (that's literally how long an average interview takes). Not difficult in my opinion. Let me give you some tips on what to do and what not to do if you are ever asked to be interviewed by a journalist (most are do-nots):

• Do not give 'yes' or 'no' answers...explain them (it gives the write more words)
• Please know something about the topic before the interview, if you don't know anything just tell us right after we ask so we have time to find someone else.
• Do not ask for an email interview because you're too busy for a real one and then either not get back to us at all or wait until the day after we've turned in the story to reply.
• Do not bail on us the day of your interview unless it is days before the story is due.
• Speak up so all your words can be heard on the recorder.

Environmentally Friendly or Just Plain Stupid?

Every year, my school makes improvements around campus, like adding a new science wing and a new walking trail. Most of the time I like when the renovate the campus to make it look nicer and newer, but the latest "improvement" is not my favorite. OC decided to get rid of our Cafeteria trays so they could "save" on hot water. In my opinion, this makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. The trays made it easier for students to carry all of their food and drinks and to get it into the dining area in one trip, if possible. So now we are stuck carrying only 1 or 2 plates at a time, and mind you, some of the plates are extremely hot and most of the time we have to go back for our drinks. I also do not think it saves on hot water much at all because the only thing they are cutting back on washing is the trays...everything else still has to be washed and sanitized. I mean, is it really that difficult to spray off a tray and then put it in a bucket of sanitizer??? I get that OC is trying to "go green" on a lot of things, but I honestly do not think this is going to help any. So, thank you, OC for taking away our Cafeteria trays and our sleds for the Winter time. Good job.

Senioritis

I know, I know, it's only day 3 and I'm ready for graduation...which is in April! My classes are really hard this semester and all of them are my major classes. Last night was my first night of homework and I couldn't even do that. It kind of feels like I didn't have a summer and I never actually left school. I have absolutely no motivation to do anything. It could be that I was extremely busy last week helping my cousin with her wedding and then coming back and having one day to recover before jumping back into the books.

On a better note, I had a GREAT birthday, even though it was on the first day of school! My roommates and about a dozen of my friends threw me a surprise party after I got out of class on Monday. We had a really fun time just talking, laughing and eating! The celebration will continue when I go shopping this weekend with my birthday money and then we are all going to Flatire for dinner on Saturday and maybe go see a movie. All in all, it has been a fun and exhausting couple of weeks, so hopefully this weekend I can also catch up on some much needed sleep!!!