
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Tis The Season...

Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Pumpkin Pie & Apple Cider... YUM!!!

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!
Friday, September 24, 2010
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.
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Instruments or no instruments - the big controversy


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.
Saturday, September 18, 2010
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?
Sunday, September 12, 2010
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!
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
The Honeymoon Does End

Sunday, September 5, 2010
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.
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Environmentally Friendly or Just Plain Stupid?

Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Senioritis

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!!!
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