Texas Here I Come!!

I moving to Texas. I decided this probably about four weeks ago. I had casually been looking online for job opportunities and I always found myself looking for jobs in Texas before any other place. By the way, it is not easy to find true public relations listings. Most say they are looking for someone in public relations, but they really are looking for customer service are sales... However, back to my story. While looking for jobs, I thought I would be staying in the Utah / Idaho area, but I wasn't really excited about this. I started to pray about where I should live after graduation, but nothing was really coming for a while. One Saturday night / Sunday morning at about 1 a.m., I was thinking about looking for jobs so I decided to see if the Internet would work. (I don't have the Internet, but the apartment complex next to me has free wireless.) The wireless Internet connection hasn't been working, but for some reason that night it was. So, I started to look for public relations agencies in Dallas, and I knew that that is where I am supposed to go. There are a lot of options in the DFW metroplex, and I am going to get a job there. I am a little nervous about starting a job...I always am, but I am really excited about this part of my life. I am very confident about my choice and now that I've made it, I can't wait for graduation, the move and getting started on this new chapter in my life. It cannot come soon enough -- especially since it snowed today. Yuck!!

Now, for the first time in five and a half years, I won't be moving every four to eight months. I will be able to (hopefully) get my own apartment soon. I will be a nomad no more.

Donating Plasma

So after five years of living in Provo (should I admit I've been here this long?), I finally fell into temptation and donated plasma today. I guess this is publicly announcing that I'm really hurting for money, but I was so excited that they pay $30 a donation -- because $30 is a huge amount of money to me. It is depressing how I'm now having a hard time deciding what to spend it on because there are so many choices...rent, gas, electricity bill, tithing, laundry, credit card, groceries, etc.

The experience wasn't all that bad. I was really nervous because I have only donated blood once before. I was a senior in high school and 17. After donating, I went to my English class and we were watching a movie. Mrs. Cole was fighting all of us students to not put our heads down and fall asleep -- except me. She made me put my head down because I looked so sick. Well, when donating plasma, they put the red blood cells back in you, so you can donate more than every eight weeks. But...I still got really sick. It was very hard to make it to my car, drive a stick shift -- because I donated from my right arm and the tape they put around me was so tight it hurt -- and make it into the house. By the time I made it in the house I felt nauseous and Ashley said I was so white -- which is even more sad because I am super burned from working at a food drive all day Saturday. Overall, I am glad I did it because like I said, $30 is A LOT of money to me, and it makes me just a little less stressed.

One of my many many fears

Okay, so after I came home from work on Monday night I saw a story on the news that really bothered me. This is really a rare experience for me. My roommate, Ashley, actually had the news on -- which is almost unheard of, because she hates the news. Anyway, back to the point. There was this news story on about this woman who was driving on I-15 who was impaled by a 8-foot-long pole. Okay, for the second part of this story, I have to confess that I have tons of fears. I once hear this story about someone being decapitated by debris on the freeway. Ever since then I have a tendency to try and duck out of the way whenever a big bug or rock is flying my way. So, naturally I really hated this story. What bothered me even more, is that at the end of the news story the camera showed the pole that the lady pulled out of her head. It still had the blood on it...

The chances of this happening are really rare, but this isn't the first time. This Salt Lake Tribune article tells the story of a woman who was hit by a 10 pound ratchet in 2004. I've seen dangerous materials on I-15, and almost hit one before. The police say the best thing to do is run over the item -- as opposed to swerving out of the way. However, that is who this situation happened, the car infront of this lady ran over the pole and it flew into the air, right threw her windshield, into her cheek and our her neck. Thankfully, this unknown woman is still alive, albeit in critical, but stable condition and undergoing surgeries to repair her face.

So, a call to everyone out there: please take an extra few minutes to secure everything you are carrying on your trailer, or whatever; report debris on the highway to the authorities by calling 911; and most of all, please drive safely.

Here is the Web site to the Salt Lake Tribune article:
http://www.sltrib.com/ci_5502266

Spring is FINALLY here!

Today is the first day of spring. I'm so excited. When i left for work this morning it was raining and overcast, which to me makes it seem so much more like spring. I'm really happy that there wasn't any snow coming down -- thank the heavens. The day turned out beautiful and in the 60s, which I know think is the perfect tempertures. Yay for spring, rainy overcast days, sunshine, blooming trees and flowers and warmth...especially warmth!! :)

Life of Pi

For the past couple of weeks I’ve been reading the novel Life of Pi. My boss wanted me to read it so she let me borrow her copy of the book. The book is about this 16-year-old boy whose family emigrates from India to Canada with their zoo animals on a Japanese cargo ship. The ship sinks and Pi finds himself alone in the Pacific Ocean on a life boat with an injured zebra, a hyena, an orangutan and a Bengal tiger. After a few days, all that is left is Pi and the tiger. However, the story continues and the boy stays alive at sea for something like 224 days. It really is an amazing story. I would recommend people read it, however there are some gross descriptive parts – but what can you expect now that you know the zebra, hyena and orangutan all die in the first few days and Pi is on a life boat for over 220 days? I think everyone should read it and then tell me what they think.

Road Trip to Las Vegas

Last weekend (March 9-10) I went to Las Vegas. I left at 1 p.m. on Friday afternoon and drove the 5 ½ hours down to Vegas. It was a fun drive. It is pretty and I talked to people I hadn’t talked to in months. Plus I had some good music on and I sang at the top of my lungs. It makes me so happy to be behind the wheel, with Provo in my rear view mirror, beautiful scenery outside my window and singing as loud as I can to the music on the radio. I decided to go to Vegas after my aunt’s sister-in-law, Andy, asked me to come down and meet her there. So, I took the opportunity and with my tax return deposited in my checking account I hit the road.

On Friday night, Andy and I bought a mono-rail pass and we went down the strip. Well, we really only saw one section of the strip, but went spent several hours touring around.

At around 11:30 we started to try and find our way back to the mono-rail and we couldn’t find it, but we did happen to run into two different sets of guys that offered us drinks and more… It was awkward and made me vow to never by on the strip at night again without a boy. We did eventually find our way back to the mono-rail and then to our hotel.

On Saturday, Andy and I went to the Hoover Dam and looked around / took a tour. The weather was absolutely beautiful, I loved being able to see the dam and go on the tour. It was very informative and now I know how dams work. I am really glad we went out there. Lake Mead is so pretty and clear (It made me want to go wakeboarding) and seeing the dam is a magnificent site.

After dropping Andy off at the hotel, I then said my goodbyes, and after 25 hours in Las Vegas I left at 6:15 pm. and started the six hour drive home.

The drive home was a lot harder than the drive there. It takes a little longer because you’re climbing 4,000 feet in elevation and I was so tired I didn’t have the energy to go fast. There were times I was 10 mph under the speed limit and didn’t even notice or care. I listened to some wonderful talks on tape – I’d recommend The Wounded Soul by Jack R. Christianson. But I made it home at 1 a.m. and fell asleep a few minutes later. What a trip…

New Year's Resolution

One of my New Year's Resolutions was to keep in touch with people better. Well, I can say I've done better in the past three months than I did probably the entire year last year, but I still could do a lot better. I guess this idea started when I went to a PRSA (Public Relations Society of America) luncheon with my boss and the topic was blogs. So, here I am setting up a blog. I realized this was a great way to keep in touch with people, to get experience blogging (it is becoming a big thing in the public relations world) and to have a way to write about the happenings in my life so other people can read it -- as opposed to my journal. So, here I am...in the blogosphere. YAY! :)