New project!

One of my classes this semester is PR Workshop, which is taking the place of my newspaper workshop class. While I enjoyed writing for the campus newspaper, I felt I needed a change so when this class became available, I jumped on it! I think it will give me more experience in the world of PR before graduating. My project for this semester is helping out with the Memorial Marathon, which takes place at the end of April. OC has its own team, Team OC, which has had the biggest number of participants in Oklahoma City for the last two years.

My job is to get as much media publicity for Team OC as possible. I will be trying to get stories in local newspapers, including the Daily Oklahoman, and hopefully some actual news coverage the week before and the day of the event. I've never done anything like this so I'm really excited! I will be going to News 9 next Friday for a question/answer session and to view their daily morning meeting. Hopefully by doing this I will know who to contact when it gets closer to marathon time. I'm going to try to keep my blog updated with Team OC information and how the plans are going as much as possible!

The Year to Come

Happy New Year!!! I know its the 7th, but better late than never, right?! I've been pretty busy spending time with family and friends in Michigan. It won't be long before I'm back in good ol' Oklahoma! I have a lot of mixed emotions about this semester and this year in general. I'm taking 18 hours this semester and will be graduating in April. I'm not quite ready to leave OC, but I guess there is a time for everything. I will also be doing a lot of job hunting this semester. I'm really hoping I will have a place to live and a job by the time graduation comes around. It can be scary thinking about the fact that I may not have a job by that time and not have a way to pay rent. I guess that's what praying is for!!! :)

My New Year's resolution is to get healthy and back in shape. Since I'm still in Michigan, I am beginning this resolution a week late. Monday I plan to start eating healthy and working out to be more in shape and to have more energy. Luckily, I have friends that will be doing it with me so we can encourage each other! What are your resolutions? What are you looking forward to about 2011???

Chilled to the bone

Well, I am finally at home in Michigan for the next 3 weeks for Christmas break! I must say, it is FREEZING here! I don't think my body has ever taken this long adjusting to Michigan weather. At times, it can be almost unbearable. My mom had to give in and give me one of my Christmas gifts early, a pair of slippers, because pretty much the only time my feet are not numb is when I'm in the shower. It's crazy!

On a better note, I'm so excited for Christmas this year! I'm probably one of those really annoying people that have the Christmas spirit right after (or before) Thanksgiving. I usually start listening to Christmas music about a week before Thanksgiving and I watch Christmas movies all during the week of Christmas. Today I watch "A Muppet Christmas Carol," which is my favorite holiday movie! Tomorrow my aunt and uncle are coming into town and are staying with us for the next week. I'm excited for everyone to get together on my mom's side of the family on Saturday and we'll have Christmas with my dad's side next Tuesday. It is the first year I've had more than one Christmas day! We're baking our traditional Christmas cookies in the morning, which consists of sugar cookies, snickerdoodles, and possibly shortbread cookies. What are some of your family Christmas traditions?!

~Merry Christmas~

Almost home free!

These have to be the absolute 2 worst weeks of the semester every year. We get back from Thanksgiving break, which is always great, and have 2 weeks to cram everything we haven't learned into the curriculum and study for final exams. I actually think 2 last couple weeks have been more stressful than next week is going to be. Since I only have 1 final a day and none of them will be that difficult, I will actually have time to sleep! YAY SLEEP!!! But lately, I've been studying for pre-final tests, working on group projects and giving presentations. What I don't understand is why we have to take tests the week before finals. Why can't the teacher just tell us that we won't have a regular test on the stuff we just learned, but know it for the final? In my mind, this would be so much easier for the students because we wouldn't have to study the same material twice and for the teachers because they wouldn't have to grade the same stuff twice. Call me crazy, but it would be easier on everyone! Once I get through tomorrow and Friday, I'll be almost home free. I still have to make my last video (thank goodness) tomorrow and edit it this weekend to turn it in on Monday. Then I just have 2 exams and I will be back on a plane to Michigan next Thursday. I cannot express how much I am looking forward to not having to set my alarm to wake up every morning and being to just sit around. Knowing me, I'll get bored in about a week because I'll have nothing to do, but for now, it sounds wonderful! I'm just praying that God will get me through the next week in one piece. He always does!!!

Goodbye to a good friend

The day before Thanksgiving, my family lost a good friend to cancer. Sean O'Brien fought colon cancer for 7 long years. He was only 41. Today was his memorial service and it was one of the most touching funerals I have ever been to. He was one of my parents' best friends so it's been difficult seeing them grieve. I must say Sean's family is one of the strongest families I will ever know. I can't imagine going through a second of what they've gone through. We could always tell when he was having a good day and when he was having a bad day. He always enjoyed hanging out with friends even if he wasn't feeling well.

One of my biggest regrets was not going to visit him when he was living in Tulsa doing experimental treatments. Sean lived there for a few months and I probably made the excuse of being too busy or not having his phone number to go visit with him. I know my visiting wouldn't have cured him, but I would've been able to be a friend when he needed one the most. Now I know better. I also know that Sean is no longer suffering here on earth, but it completely healed and happier than ever. I pray that if I were to ever get sick, that I would fight as hard as Sean did. And whether Sean had beat the cancer or not, he still won in the end. Thank you, Sean, for being a wonderful friend to me and my parents and an example to us all!!! We miss you and we'll see you soon!

Holiday Poundage

The time of year has come to...gain that extra weight. I'm already feeling it. My friend and I were discussing at lunch how it is almost pointless to begin watching your weight now when Thanksgiving is only a week away. On top of that there are 2 other Thanksgiving dinners to go to before the actual holiday. As soon as that is over, Christmas season is here. I cannot begin to explain how much I LOVE Christmas! Happy people, good music, shopping, and, of course, food! Really, really good food!!! My weaknesses are Christmas sugar cookies, sweet potatoes and anything that has pumpkin in it!!! YUM :)

I've actually begun gaining weight besides the holidays. My freshman year I lost a little weight so pretty much all the clothes (especially pants), which I got for Christmas, had to be taken back for a smaller size. Now I have the opposite problem. No, I don't think I'm fat, but I'm not very happy with my metabolism speed. I have a pretty fast metabolism, but I can definitely feel it slowing down on me this year. I tend to skip the salad bar in the Cafeteria and stick to Ramon Noodles for lunch when I'm in my apartment. Probably not the best idea. I don't snack a whole lot, but I do try to avoid walking to any of my classes. When I lived in the dorms, I would walk anywhere I went unless it was off campus. For some reason, it seems like the apartments are further away from the academic buildings than the dorms, but honestly, it's most likely not true. Now that it's getting colder outside, that just gives me more of an excuse to drive everywhere. What's wrong with me? I know that walking is good for you, I guess I'm just lazy. My friend said that we're actually supposed to exercise 7 days a week, 60 minutes a day on top of our everyday walking routine. Who made that one up??? I don't know anyone who exercises that much, seriously!

Anyway, maybe I should start walking to class when it's nice outside. Maybe I should cut back on the pumpkin pie and sweet potatoes this holiday season... Then again, maybe next year!!! :)

Sick as a dog?

Have you ever heard this expression when you're really sick? I've never really understood it. I mean, what if your dog isn't sick at all? My mom used to say it all the time when one of us would have to stay home from work or school. "...Jennifer isn't coming to school today. She's sick as a dog!" I've been thinking about this expression as I've been lying on the couch the past couple days "sick as a dog." The more I think about it, the more I still don't understand it.

Anyway, I freaked out Sunday night at work when I felt a tickle in my throat and suddenly feeling the urge to drink a gallon of water in about a 30 second time span. This is how I can always tell I'm coming down with something. And knowing my interview at WBTC was coming up in just 5 days, I really freaked out! This is the one thing I didn't want to happen. I would rather go in there having not showered, wearing hobo clothes than go in there sneezing on everyone! It reminds me of a scene in "The Devil Wears Prada" when one of the girls, Emily, is delivering something to the editor-in-chief with a Kleenex in her hand, coughing like a crazy person. The editor-in-chief asks if anybody needs anything else after Emily has left the room and says, "...anti-bacterial wipes, perhaps..."

Luckily, I'm getting over this bug fast. I took off a couple of classes in order to rest and got someone to cover my shift at work last night. I pretty much only have a runny nose left and I'm hoping that will go away at least long enough for the interview, let's hope! Heaven knows nobody wants to hire someone who has infected the whole company with their germs. It's not really a good first impression, needless to say! Also needless to say, I will be bringing hand sanitizer with me to the interview!!!