Aggies...oh Aggies...

“Aggies, Oh Aggies
The hills send back the cry
We’re here to do or die

Aggies, Oh Aggies
We’ll win this game or know the reason why
And when we win this game
We’ll buy a keg of booze
And we’ll drink it to the Aggies
‘Til we wobble in our shoes

A-G-G-I-E-S

Yup...that's my school's fantastic fight song. And, after four and a half years I finally felt proud enough to scream those lyrics as loud as possible. Last night the Aggies beat the Lobos 103 to 72. Let me repeat that. The AGGIES beat the LOBOS by over 30 points. Yeah, that's right. Thanks to last nights game I am also one beer and $5 richer (damn, I should have bet more money and more booze)!

We got to the game tipsy and about five minutes late and the only place left to sit was in the nosebleed section. I don't think I"ve ever sat higher than the middle, and I'm even more sure that I've never seen the Pan Am that full. It may seem funny that so much hoopla and excitement was seen from this game, but you have to understand that being an Aggie and going to NMSU isn't seen as something to be proud of most of the time when it comes to our major athletic teams (*cough* we were last in the rankings last year for football *cough*). So, when we can crush a rival and have students actually excited about a game, it means so much more than just winning a game. The Battle of I-25 happened a few weeks ago in Albuquerque where the Aggies lost by two points. Losing by two points at The Pit hardly seems like a victory to me. All that place needed was about 10 more fans there cheering them on and we could have won. Coulda, woulda, shoulda... oh well.

In other exciting news - seeing as how this is our last official week of classes, Laura and I are on a mission to drink every night this week. So far so good. Last night, due to the fact that alcohol was not served at the Pan Am, we snuck in some very tasty SOBE beverages. Talk about making the massacre of the Lobos that much better!

Also, there are some really exciting things going on in the next week and a half. There is an awesome Tacky Christmas Sweater/Apparel coming up - seriously, how much fun is that going to be?! Then we've got birthdays to celebrate before school starts and, of course, graduation. Not to mention there's the whole wedding fiasco the few days before the end of the year. Very busy month ahead of me...good times!

Today is a scarf day

A few of my favorite things: Travel mugs - one of the best inventions ever. Hats - sometimes I can pull them off...I'm bringing hats back this winter. Autumn/fall - simply put, everything about it makes me smile. Scarves - they keep you warm and they can go with just about everything.

Today, I decided, is a scarf day. I woke up this morning and knew I'd be putting on my new red coat and would top it off with a scarf - no way was I letting the frigid weather get to me. Well, not really. I caved and lost the bet with Laura this morning...It was WAY too cold to even get out of bed, so on went the heater.

Right now I'm sitting here at work (clearly not working) sipping my vanilla black tea and jamming out to Christmas songs (playing right now is Brenda Lee's "Rockin' Round the Christmas Tree - from "Home Alone), and thinking about this weekend.

On my way to school this morning I decided that today is just a really great day. The ground looked like God had a party and threw confetti made of leaves all over the place. Everywhere I looked there was burnt orange, yellow, gold and green leaves thrown about. Now I just can't wait for the leaves to dry up so I can go and step on them and make that awesome crunching sound!

I think my graduation announcements come in today, so hopefully my mom and dad can get those sent out. My cousin did an amazing job designing them. Also, I am starting to look at tickets for Europe and figure out when exactly I want to go.

For those of you who are interested, The Round Up is now at this Web site again. I have two articles this week and I'm actually pretty proud of the one about New York Times bestseller Tony Hillerman. Check it out!

Ok. I need to do something 'productive' today.

just breathe

Just breathe...
Current mood: excited
Category: Goals, Plans, Hopes

..You have four years to be irresponsible here. Relax. Work is for people with jobs. You'll never remember class time, but you'll remember time you wasted hanging out with your friends. So, stay out late. Go out on a Tuesday with your friends when you have a paper due Wednesday. Spend money you don't have. Drink 'til sunrise. The work never ends, but college does..." ~Tom Petty

Whew. T-minus a few days and I will be finished with school forever. The last few posts have been very optimistic and happy, in other words, I don't think the fact that graduating had hit me. Well, you'll all be happy to know that while I was walking to class on Wednesday it hit me. After 18 years of knowing how to "do" school, I will have to find something else to do with my life. I have my internship at Albuquerque the Magazine, but I'm going to need another job, or two, in order to make some money. Basically it's going to be like a summer or winter break that never ends... minus the comfort zone of my family in Las Cruces.

Earlier this week Laura, Natalie, Jenna, Emily and I all drove to a concert in Tucson. This was just a random Monday night and we ended up taking off part of Tuesday from school. Will I still be able to do this once I have a "real" job? Probably not. It will also be ridiculously strange to not have all of my friends over at my house until 3 am - as it happens so often over here! Or weird for it to be Laura and I at dinner or happy hour and in a matter of minutes have a pretty large group of our friends gathered around us. I'm going to miss having parties within walking distcance to my house.

That's what I'll miss. I'm not sad to graduate - per say - just a little bit anxious about this next step in my life.

I think i've done a pretty damn good job of not over analyzing what's in store for me and just enjoying every minute that I have down here. There are still some pretty sweet days in store for us Las Cruces crew...even up in Albuquerque (Ginnie and Josh's wedding, New Year's Eve, Matt and Raina's wedding). ...Not to mention the fact that Las Cruces isn't going anywhere and as long as I still have friends down here I will drive the 3 hours down here on occasional weekends =)

With that said...I have to go meet up with some friends for dinner and a movie!

'text-speak'

This is outrageous! Seriously, is this what our language is coming to? I admit that I do the occasional "lol" or "brb" but have you ever tried to actually read "text-speak"? You can't. My freshman year in college I had a friend who would have me look over his papers. Instead of "you" he would have "u" along with countless other shorthand abbreviations. Needless to say, this friend of mine dropped out of school after his sophomore year - too much video game playing... It was annoying. It really makes me sad if this is the way things are going with the English language.

Reading Rainbow

I came home today and instead of cleaning my room - which has to happen sometime in the next few hours - I turned on the TV and started watching Reading Rainbow - yeah... that show from when we were kids! Get this: It's still LeVar Burton hosting it! How crazy is that?

Well, on the show they were talking to a woman who surived the Holocaust. It made me very sad because she was telling her story to her grandchildren. I wish Nany told us all she had stored up in her head.

hotel cafe tour

Jenna and I just bought tickets for the two of us and Natalie and Laura to go see a show in Tucson. I'm wicked excited! It's called the Hotel Cafe Tour and at the show we're going to it features Cary Brothers,Joshua Radin, Rachael Yamagata, Sara Bareilles, Tristan Prettyman and Jim Bianco - basically it's the Garden State Soundtrack and Last Kiss Soundtrack musicians.

I saw Sara Bareilles when she opened for Maroon 5 (you know, when they were still playing awesome music) two or three years ago in London. She is more than an amazing singer/songwriter/pianist. Her music is sorta jazz and pop put together in a way that leaves me addicted to hearing more. I think she's selling a new CD at this show, one that I can't wait to pick up!

I'm just really excited to go on a tiny little road trip for a night to hear some outstanding music and spend time with my best friends!!

Nanny

Nanny was 98 when she died yesterday in New York. We used to joke around that Nanny would live forever - 98 is pretty damn close!

I don't know if my first memories of her are true memories, or moments I remember from old pictures and movies. I do know that we used to make a trip out to New York as often as possible - one advantage to having family across the country was that we always had an excuse to travel.

Nany was crazy! Not in the literal sense, but in the way that when I think about her I have to smile and laugh. We used to call her the "Picker" because she would always, ALWAYS, pick food off our plate. Not a lot, just a little, but she never ceased to soley eat off her own plate.

The last time we visited we were sitting around my Uncle Sid and Aunt Gail's living room and Nanny sat down. She then proceeded to do her exercises. They looked something like a young college student cheering for their favorite team. She was fist pumping with both arms up in the air...this went on for at least 10 minutes, all the while my brother and I were trying as hard as we could to keep from laughing out loud.

Nanny is going to the grave with SO much history left in her mind. She came from Austria during World War 2. She lived when during the time when she would come home and different family members would not return from their daily grind. Nanny was Jewish in every since of the word and religion.

Even before I wanted to be a journalist I knew she had stories inside of her that needed to come out. Every time I was there I proded and asked questions. The only response I ever got was "It's too hard," she would whisper while looking away, "I can't." Every time. I wish I could know more about what she went through and how it shaped who I am.

Nanny is now with my Poppy, my grandpa. I knew she missed him very much. The last time I saw her, the sumemr before I went to England, she thought my brother was Poppy.

I'm very very sad I won't get to be there for the Shiva and just to be around family. After going through the motions with Nana this summer, I know how important it is to be surrounded by family. I don't think the Jewish religion is any different...

red.

I've been in a good mood lately - which I love - and I'm hoping it'll last for awhile. I tried dying my hair red this morning, but it didn't really work out. I guess you can see that it's kinda red when I'm in the sun, but that's about it. Oh well. It's a temporary wash-out dye anyway.

- side note - my lamp might be possessed...it keeps flickering and the bulb is in there tight. Weird.

Also I find it amusing that I'm in such a good mood despite everyone around me being in a 'couple,' getting engaged or preparing for marriage. No joke, there are only a few of us singletons left.

I found out a guy I used to date just got engaged. My first reaction? I laughted and felt really happy that things between us never actually elevated to anything. Then I contemplated telling her what type of a guy he really is. In the end I decided to keep my lips sealed.

Tonight I have every intention of laughing and spending time with my friends and passing out candy to little kids. There will be no costumee for me - maybe i'll put my hair in pigtails or something. As for right now I have to get as much work done so I can play in a few hours!

WORLD SERIES CHAMPS: ST. LOUIS!!!

It's 12:30 a.m. and I'm 18 floors up in the Raddison in St. Louis and through the ringing in my ears I can still hear the roar of people cheering and people honking their car horns. What is all this madness? It's being in a city when their team just won the World Series.

The fans out here are crazy! The cheering and honking and yelling have been going on for AT LEAST two hours - straight. There is no break. One person claps and 50 other join in half a second later. It's nothing short of a spectacle. The only thing I can compare it to is a New Year's eve party that, from the sounds down below, will inevitably last all night long! I'm having a blast!!!

This trip has been great, but I've also been kinda stressed at the same time. Work is making me really really dislike work and making a job at Starbucks look like the best possible choice. From about 9 to 3 p.m. each day I'll I've been hearing about is writing and journalism. It's enough to make me not want to write ever again. (I realize I'm writing now...but this is more of me just clearing my thoughts. It's not going to be read or critiqued by thousands of people.)

I ran into my friend Chris Sanchez, aka the managing editor for our competitor at the Daily Lobo. It was awesome to see him again! We used to intern together at the News Bulletin in Belen and since then we see each other on random occasions. This was fun though because we just tease each other about our papers.

........They are STILL going at it down there.

Thinking about going back to school makes me a little sad. It's nice to escape from things out here - even if my mind is constantly bombarded with talk of journalism and all I still have to write for Monday's issue. Three weeks after I get back we have our Thanksgiving Break and then just three weeks later I graduate. Wow. WOW! heh. Six more weeks of school. Twelve more production nights. 24 more articles. I can do this. I can do this.

I get to see my mom on Friday. Actually, my Mom, Grandma and Aunt Holly. I really want my dad to come down too. They're all coming down for the Renaissance Faire! YEAH - so excited.

Speaking of excited - I honestly think this World Series celebration will actually go on all night long. CRAZY!

Ok. I'm so tired and I have to wake up and go to another full day of conventions.

St. Louis on a Friday morning

The Cardinals won last night which means everyone here is in a good mood, except of course, the Detroit Tigers and their fans. Not knowing too much about baseball, except for the fact that most of the players have very nice ass-ets, I think if St. Louis wins tonight they win the World Series. And that is neat. We're going to try to make our way to the stadium tonight... after we hit up The Cheescake Factory and a mall with all my favorite stores. Thank goodness I'm traveling with a bunch of girls!!

Speaking of girls, we're all getting along very well. I'm not gonna lie when I say I was a little skeptical of all of us traveling together. Traveling to a different city, different climates and different time zones can be a tricky thing. So far so good!

Last night the convention gave away hundreds of passes to see two screenings of Borat and Stranger than Fiction. I don't watch much TV (just my weekly - sometimes - dose of Grey's), so I haven't seen previews yet for these new movies. Boy was I in for a surprise.

Borat is deffinitiely in my list of top 5 worst movies ever. I absoutely hated it. I don't think it could have degraded or offended more people. I felt very, very uncomfortable watching it and had I drove myself to the theater I would have left half way through the movie. Yes there were times, not many, when I did laugh...but for the most part I felt sick watching it. I reccommend never watching it. Ever.

Stranger than Fiction on the other hand, was top-class. I could deffinitely see Will Farell getting some sort of award for his performance. He played a man who realizes he is the main character in a novel...but does not know how the book will end. Will it be a tragedy or a comedy? Will he live....or will he die? It was funny, in a serious type of way. Emma Thompson, playing the part of an author stuck with writer's block (oh how i can relate right now) did an amazing job. I loved this movie, and I wish we never saw the other one.

As for other things, the conference is great. I'm learning a lot about ways to improve our paper in order to gain more readers and give them what they want. After talking to different students from school around the country I also realized that we really don't have it that bad off - at all. In fact, the Round Up should be one of the best ones out there considering our staff, budget and size.

Ugh. Clearly I am procrastinating right now... but no more. I have to start working on this paper... Till next time... GO CARDS!

airports and technology

I decided to keep a blog while I'm on this little trip of mine. Mostly because non of my really close friends are here with me. I've decided that one of the coolest inventions (inovation?) is text messaging. I am currently texting my mom who is in Europe on a cruise. Between 3 texts this morning she found out when I was leaving, where I was going and where I'm staying. I was able to find out that she and my dad saw the Pope in the midst of "millions of people," that she was enjoying a margarita, my dad was drinking a daqari and she was taking a sunset off the coast of Italy. Seriously, how cool is that? While I would rather talk to her on the phone, I think it's awesome that we can keep in touch via text messaging. Neat.

I love airports, there's this addicting energy everywhere you look and every type of person you can imagine. People coming and people going; happy, sad, frustrated, stressed and anxious people. People sleeping, kids running around. It's just great!!! Airports never sleep.

One more thought before I close my Apple: I like flying, but I hate landing. It's as though my body jumps and reacts to every single little bump or semi-loud noise. Basically I become a chicken shit and start repeating the Hail Mary over and over in my head - ok..that's a lie...I just go to my happy place.

Oh, I lied, that wasn't my last thought. My last thought (maybe) is about music. Maybe one of the reasons I have my head so far up in the clouds most of the time - in the sense that I'm a hopeless romantic - is due to the type of music i listen to. It's all romantic and completely hopeless.

That's all. Time to people watch!

I can't sit still

The subject of my blog could be due to the two cups of coffee I've had this morning... or because of a blog I just read. A friend of mine from high school, Chelsea, is traveling the world. Literally around the world, for over a year. I don't know how she's paying for this, but everytime I read what she write I think about what it would be like to do what she's doing.

I would like to call myself a world traveler, but the truth is that I'm not anywhere near that. Sure, I've been out of the country multiple times, but they've been to the same Western civilization countries. I'm curious to find out how she's paying for this trip - there is no way I could ever, EVER finance something like that. But, I want to do it so bad. Reading her blogs make me want to stop everything I'm doing and go see the pyramids in Egypt with my own eyes.

I have a trip planned (in my mind) for this summer. I want to go back to England (and see and stay with my friends out there) I want to go to Norway (a first for me), see the running of the bulls in Spain, stay with another friend in France and then go to Austria. The problem is that there are SO many other places I want to go and see, coming back to the states is so hard knowing there are other things to see just within my reach, but damn money gets in the way.

Right now my parents are in Spain and hearing how much fun they are having and how much they're enjoying what they're doing makes me overwhelmed with happiness and makes my desire to be out there that much stronger.

I'll get back out there - hopefully this summer. Heh. Now I can't even sit still, I'm just going to be daydreaming of different places I want to be.

A different perspective

Life is funny the way things work out. I graduate in two months and I am not nervous, anxious, worried or having a mental break down...yet.

I feel almost confident about graduating (there are still those classes I'm crossing my fingers I'll pass), and I'm excited to move back home. Yes, home. Back to the address I have on all of my official documents, but haven't technically lived there since I was in high school. Back to living with my parents and my brother, all of whom I have only spent a weekend or a few months with during the past four and a half years. Home. It should be interesting.

I'm also really excited to possibly work at a coffee shop. I used to love working in coffee shops while I was in high school, so hopefully I can get a part-time or even full-time job doing that. Albuquerque the Magazine offered me an internship so I will get to keep writing and hopefully work my way into an actual paid position there.

Right now I guess I just need to focus on actually passing my classes and graduating in December. Then I can think about the fun things like redecorating my old room.

I feel a little guilty for not being sad to leave Las Cruces. Guilty because I have met amazing people who I'm privileged to call friends. I will miss having people come over at 3 a.m. on a Thursday night, going out for random happy hours and drinking on a Monday night while playing a board game. I LOVE going out to dinner in big groups and knowing that we have to pull together more tables because more friends keep showing up.

Ever since freshman year I have been surrounded by people. I consider myself fortunate for the staying in touch and hanging out with most of the people I met within those first years. The "Barn Room" will forever be known as the Melting Pot for RGH and the place where we all spent many nights laughing until dawn. Even as we moved out of the dorm we continued to meet at different houses...as though we never even left the dorm.

But am I sad to leave this all behind? Not really, because I know we will still be friends and I will still hang out with them despite me living in a different city. When I graduated from high school I thought it was the end of my life as I knew it. I couldn't see myself living a life anywhere besides Albuquerque and the thought of hanging out with anyone besides my core group of friends was completely out of the question. I think my perspective is a little different this time around, and it's making all the difference.

One month and thirty days to go...

Happy Hump Day.

Things have been slow at work lately. It kinda sucks...but I've been making do with busy work - calling places and email people for the section I'm working on. I've also been compiling a list of ALL the authors and the articles they've written. That's actually been kinda fun because I've been going through all the back issues and reading articles I've missed. I also created a spreadsheet to help with organization for all the different parts needed to get the magazine together. Stephanie really liked it, so it looks like I did good there! Abby, the other intern and I, are spending the next couple of days creating a contest for the magazine. This is what we were told: It should be travel related, get more people online and somehow try to boost subscription numbers. So, we're having fun with this little project! Wanna know what it's gonna be??? Why don't you just pick up the magazine in September, you'll see it there!

I had today off actually...almost everyone in the office was out of town today, so Abby and I didn't have to go in. Things should be picking up significantly starting tomorrow - or so I'm told. I can't believe I only have four weeks left here. It's truly amazing how fast time goes by. Since i had today off I kinda treated it like a weekend. I drove around, went to lots of bookstores, Ikea and the mall. Mia, the graphic designer from work is 26 and invited me to be apart of her book club. Heh, well she just started it with the book we're reading now - Reading Lolita in Tehran. I picked it up today for the awesome price of $4.50!!! Gotta love used book stores :) So far i'm about 30 pages in and it seems really good...

Speaking of bookstores - I could just get lost in them! I went to two used bookstores, Barnes and Noble and Borders today and I wish I could have bought books at each store. It's amazing how you can just get lost in a book. I'm a very fast reader, always have been and always will, but sometimes it really annoys me because I wish I could spend more time in a book. I can start a book and before I know it (sometimes in just one day) it's over. It's my way of escaping. Once I start a book I usually can't put it down, I'm just engrossed in the characters and situations as though they were my own!

What else did I do today? Oh! I got my gym membership to last until I leave. I was on a guest pass which expired today, so I called Larry - the guy at LA Fitness who signed me up and he 'took care of it.' Honestly, it's super shady - the 'deal' I got, not the gym. I gave him $40 cash (one month at LA Fitness should be $75) and he gave me some piece of paper that'll let me use the gym for the next month. It kinda reminded me of The Buckle, the store in the mall. You know how when you go in there the employees are like voulchers trying to get you to buy ridiculous amounts of clothes? Or, actually, maybe a car salesman would be a better example. Just shady...But, since I've been going every morning I know the guy who signs you in and I think he'll be cool about it. He's not out for any commission...

I just finished watching the first disc of Grey's Anatomy and now I need the second disc. The problem is that the Hollywood Video doesn't have it...and I don't know when Blockbuster will get it in. I love Grey's. Love it, love it, love it! Well, I told myself I'd get to bed early tonight...so I'm gonna try to stick to that.

It's raining cats and dogs!

I'm scared of thunderstorms. There. I said it.

I also just realized that the entire time I was living in England,there was never a thunderstorm. In fact there was never thunder or lightning, just constant rain. Such a difference. England = rain ALL THE TIME. New Mexico = no rain, fires and drought. Atlanta = warm and rain.

Right now I have some candles lit and music playing. It's pouring outside, but they sound like little drops - lots and lots of them! Then every once in awhile there's multiple flashes of light quickly followed by what sounds like a crack in the earth. I try to remember what I was told when I was little - that God is bowling up in heaven and thunder is when he gets a strike. Well...God must be having one hellova game because it's very loud down here on earth.

Today, before the storm came in, was good. I slept in, went to the gym and then attemped to 'lay out by the pool' but the heat and humidity only allowed me to stay outside for three songs by Jack Johnson. Seriously... that was not a smart decision on my part...I'll just have to live with the fact that my legs will be whiter than snow forever. The gym and the heat must have taken a toll on my body because when I got back to my room my head hit the pillow and I took a nap! ha, I couldn't help it..my eyes just closed.

After I woke up I decided to see a movie. In order to see as much of the city as possible I decided against going to the same movie theater, so I went to the one at Atlantic Station. So far that's my favorite out of all that I've been to. After the movie I walked around, had a great dinner and listened to a live band outside. Again, the atmosphere was top notch. Not wanting to rack up my parking fee I came home and watched A Bugs Life, and that pretty much leads you to where I am right now.

Perhaps I'll let the rain put me to sleep tonight.

Breakfast at Tiffany's

Hello, hello!

I slept in today instead of going to the gym and I definitely feel different. I usually have this energy from the endorphines and adrenaline used while working out...and now I just feel blah. I'll go swimming this afternoon after work. I think I might also go to the pool at my apartment tomorrow since it's Saturday and I don't have anything to do. I noticed last night the my legs might actually be whiter than snow - and I'm being completely serious.

Speaking of last night, I went to Screen on the Green and had a great time. The whole crowd (the 5,000 plus) was between the ages of about 20 to 40 years old! How cool is that? Not only that, but everyone brought wine and food and blankets, it was just a really nice way to spend a Thursday night. When I got there I had to park about a mile away and then walk to the park. I figured that at 8pm this wouldn't be so bad, but it turns out that at eight the temperature was still well into the 90s and the humidity was sweltering. I got to the park, found my friend from work and just sat there with a fan in one hand and a bottle of water in the other waiting to cool off. I finally did cool off about 15 minutes later and everything was fine.

Breakfast at Tiffany's was good, I had never seen it before so I was glad they were showing it. There were few "Harry Hepburn's" in the crowd...get it? Along with that I should also mention that this week is "Pride Week" here in Atlanta... yes, there is a pretty big gay and lesbian population here. I also found out that there are more gay men than straight men here. Great. Super. That would just make my chances of finding someone here that much harder.

Well..enough wasting time. Time to work.

An update

Sorry for my absence...The only excuse I have is that I've been tired and didn't feel like writing. Still having a good time, just tired typing the same thing every day. BUT, as my mom pointed out to me - this could give me credit so I don't have to take a class next semester...So when it's put that way, I'll fill you in on what I've done at work the past several days.

**We're still getting ready for the next issue to come out, so there is a lot of fact checking, editing and proofing going on. I've had my hand at doing all that at some point in the past days as well as a little bit of graphic design. A little bit. I've been looking for pictures from tourism sites for some of the countries that we're highliting in the issue.

There is also an 8-page advertisement spread that we get to design and put together. It sounds pretty cool - spa's of Eastern Europe - but it's more frustrating and complicated than that... The company who the contract is with (some group out of Germany) doesn't say what they want in the ad..Which makes things difficult to actually make.

Today I think I'm going to work on writing up some PR information to send out to other publications. Travelgirl is trying to branch out and advertise more, so I'm helping with that.

Other than the things listed above I've been working on a section called "Advance Notice." Basically I have to find things going on in the future, get all the details and then write something up. It's a little bit trickier than I thought it would be because it has to be A)travel related and/or B)women related. That presents a problem. Turns out there's not much going on around the months of December-February that have to deal with women! Fear not though, I think I have found my four events...You'll just have to wait for the Sept./Oct. issue to come out to see them!

....And that, my friend's, is some of what I've been up to. I've also been working out in the mornings and I think I can feel it start to take a toll on me - I'm SO sleepy (combine my morning workout with the fact that I forgot to get coffee today and you'll see why I'm so sleepy!).

Tonight I'm going to Screen on the Green at Piedmont Park with Mia from work. I'm looking forward to that...Then I'm looking forward to sleeping!

OH, one more thing - I got invited to go to a wedding in Las Vegas. Not a cheesy wedding in Las Vegas, but a wedding where it says "Black Tie" on the invitation. A wedding where they are flying out a photographer and videographer. A wedding that costs more than my four years at NMSU - no joke! I thought about going and even though I could get there for less than $200, I've decided to skip it. If I was getting some sort of income this summer then I would go, but this is unpaid and I've been very frugal and savvy with my money so far so I might as well keep it up. I'm sure I'll get to witness a fancy/very nice wedding another time!!

Ok, hope you've enjoyed this.

There's a crazy energy in Atlanta - and I like it!

This has been another good weekend in the ATL. I've filled the past two days with driving and walking around and not spending that much time at home! I've found a new coffee shop (ChocoLate Coffee) where the people are nice, the music is good, the coffee is better than Starbucks and the furniture is comfy; all necessary components for a good cafe!

Yesterday I drove about 20 minutes northeast of Atlanta to The Mall of Georgia. Wow. This place was huge, but while it was lacking an Urban Outfitters and Forever 21 (which can be found in other malls here), it did have two Victoria Secret's and two Bath and Body Works...yeah...I http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifdon't know why you need two in a mall..one's enough. Seeing as how I drove all the way out there I wanted to make my time worthwhile so I bought a ticket to watch Cars. I was VERY impressed with the movie! Who knew you could get so caught up in a story entirely about...Cars! It was great, go see it.

Today I decided to check out a church I've heard about called North Point Community Church. This was another 20 minutes outside of Atlanta in a town called Alpharetta. If you've ever been to Hoffmantown Church in Albuquerque then imagine a church that's about two or three times BIGGER than that. Yeah, it was crazy but really, really good. I didn't meet anyone new - didn't really try to actually because going to a new church is intimidating on its own. I might go to their College group thing on Tuesday.

Again, since I was already out there I decided to hang out and see the town. It's cute and has a very homely vibe. I didn't see any white-picket fences, but they should have been surrounding every house I saw. ...I went to another mall. I know, it seems that's all I do, but I enjoy watching people (I'm turning into my dad! - happy Father's Day by the way!!!)

I'll shorten this entry up. Fast forward a few hours and I'm driving around town with two separate directions in my hand on how to get to Piedmont Park, Atlanta's "Central Park." Well, both of my directions were wrong (surprise, surprise), but I ended up finding it. As soon as i got out of my car I felt this crazy energy surround me; I felt alive. I started walking around and I saw all sorts of walks of life having a nice Sunday evening in this gigantic park. There were blacks, whites, children, grandparents, gays, lesbians, dogs of all sizes and lightening bugs - all outside enjoying the perfect weather at dusk.

There was a lake that was so clear it reflected the huge trees and bridge surrounding it. Next to the lake were big 'porch swings' - I claimed on and read part of my book then decided to walk around some more. That's when I saw little flickering lights out of nowhere in front of me - lightening bugs! I called my grandma and told her they had them here and the proceeded to give me a story about lightening bugs when she was a little girl :)

...I made it back home and once again decided how much I love this city and how alive and happy it makes me. Maybe it's because for the moment this is MY city. I don't know anyone who's been here before and for the most part I'm finding things out on my own, driving around and getting lost, but seeing neighborhoods on the way that blow my mind. I feel very grown up in this city and when I drive by restaurants, bars or cafes around town I imagine myself there with my friends. I do the same with the homes/apartments I see. They're all great big Victorian style homes with huge trees and green grass surrounding them. Even the small houses look big!

Sorry this was so long...but it was a busy weekend - I even left part out! Time for bed, I've got work in the morning :)

Single: Sushi, Wine and John Cusack

Today was an awesome day! I woke up and went to the gym which put me in a good mood for the rest of the day. Work was great, as usual. Actually, the more I thought about it today the more I decided that this "work" doesn't feel like work. I enjoy it so much and it's cool to see things I've learned put into practice. There are a few little projects I'm working on. One involves finding events (women related, preferibly) going on around the world to put in the "Advance Notice" section, and the other is finding products, books, travel tips, etc. for the "Travelgirl Alley" section. ....I might MIGHT actually get to write a few of those for the next issue - I don't know for sure, so I don't wanna get my hopes up yet. !!OH!! I've read several of the artcles for the next issue (we're working on the September/October issue now) and the articles are all so good!!! Plus, the covergirl migtht be someone really cool too. If it's who I think it is then I'm going to see if there's any possible way I can go to the interview...it would be awesome. Anyway, I just did more copy editing and looking things up online that could go in the mag and opened some mail.

After work I had to go shopping...but first I decided to window shop a little bit at the very very very nice mall thely have here. Lenox Square Mall reminds me of a mall that would be in the O.C. Everybody in the mall could have been somebody famous - no joke. When I pulled up to park I was wedged in between a BMW and a Mercedes. Across from me were two limos...

All of the African-American guys I saw could have been a rapper or some famous basketball player; I've never seen so much "Bling" in real life! I also haven't seen so much leg in real life...Let me explain. I saw some of the tallest, skinniest African-American women that i've ever seen outside of fashion magazines. These girls were wearing stilettos and shorts that barely covered their frame, but they did all this very tastefully. It was just weird to see legs on a woman that probably came up to my chest!

The white people there also dressed the movie star part; I kept looking at everyone's face just hoping I'd recognize someone! heh, it was pretty crazy!!

After my adventure at the mall I went real grocery shopping and actually had a good time talking to random people at the store. One lady helped me pick out Sushi and the another wanted to know all about New Mexico! Hopefully I'll bring some of the friendliness they have out here back home with me.

Hang with me a few minutes longer...

So I did the shopping and came home and decided to call it a night. I felt kinda like Bridget Jones for what I did next. Heh, I got my sushi and miniature bottle of Pinot Grigio and popped in the "Say Anything" DVD I bought a few weeks ago. Perfect! Good food, good wine and a damn good movie - can't go wrong with John Cusack!

And THAT, my friends, was my day. I don't know what I'm doing this weekend, but I'm already looking forward to it!

Reposting the past.

I wrote this a week and a half before Nana died...

Sunday May 28 - I might be coming home for a few days pretty soon. I don't remember if I mentioned this already (I think I did, so sorry for the repeat), but my grandma has been in the hospital for the past week and they're sending her home tomorrow. Basically, from what I understand, there's nothing left for them to do. She's not eating - hasn't for the past week - the doctors have put a feeding tube in her twice and both times she's pulled it out. My mom told me that the doctors say they'll maker her as comfortable as they can at home, but she should only be expected to live for a few more days.

I have never been as close with her as I wanted to be; she's 91 and has almost 30 grandkids/great grandkids. But tonight while I was driving around on the freeway I broke into tears. I was on the phone with my mom and she was telling me that all of her children were in her room praying the rosery and that my girl cousins were crying. My mom has been awesome at keeping me up to date, but when she told me that I had to pull over. Ever had the feeling where there's this gigantic lump in your throat and the second you blink it's as though a river spouts from your eyes? That was me on I-85 tonight.

I wasn't there last year for my dad and it down right broke my heart. I actually had this ache in my chest whenever I thought about it. I understand there's not much more I can do from home...but I would at least be there. 90f my family (my ENTIRE family) lives within 30 miles of my grandma. I realize I picked this life of travel, and that it is my passion, but it's just so hard! "Life isn't easy," this I know, but maybe living away from Albuquerque isn't all that glamourous if it means I have to miss the things that are actually most important to me, like family.

Right now we're just waiting a couple days to see what happens. I was looking at airline tickets and...well...let's just say I could fly to London from Albuquerque with money to spare for the price it'll take to fly home for a few days. I decided last that I didn't want to go home and see her the way she is right now because the last memory I have of her was a perfect one; she told me good luck, that she loved me and then blessed me. I didn't want to taint that image, but right now I feel like I should be there with my family. Driving alone on 85 and crying isn't exactly the way I should deal with this.

I'm looking to come home this Wednesday and stay as long as needed, so I guess I'd need an open ticket or maybe just one ways...

keep my Nana in your prayers :)

Quick update

Just a short update. Today I started copy editing more stories. I called Italy and Australia to check facts and we worked on getting the next issues line up ready. There is a new intern coming a few days a week - her name is Abby and she seems nice so far. Tomorrow I'm working with Stephanie on some advertising ideas. OH and we got copies of the July/August issue in the office today! There were only about 10...but I got to see what I worked on for the first time in a real magazine form!! I didn't read the articles because...well...I read them plenty of times already. I did see my name in the magazine - SO COOL!!!! Ok, i'm going to bed now. :)

Seven days later...

Seven days and three books later (two of which I read today) I am back in Atlanta after an emotional trip back home.

Last Wednesday, June 7, my Mama and Papa told me that I should get on the next flight out and go home because Nana wasn't doing well - this was something we had been expecting and were just waiting for the right time for me to fly home. I had to change planes in Dallas and as soon as I got off the plane - around 3:10 Dallas time - I called Mama to let her know I landed safely and that I was on the way to get an earlier flight home. From the second she answered the phone and said "hi" I knew. I could hear it in her voice; it was the same tone she had last year when she called to tell me about Papa and Snuggles. She didn't even have to tell me to look outside for a cloud - I already knew. Nana took her last breath around 3:05...even if I took an earlier flight I wouldn't have made it.

I made the somber journey home; not really knowing how to react to what was going on. The next few days were spent crying and making plans. I wrote the obituary and my cousin and I wrote the Eulogy. I forgot how exhausting crying can be. I would be fine and then I'd see my dad get choked up and then I'd cry. I'd cry because my cousins would cry, or my aunts and uncles or even family/friends I didn't know. I cried when I saw there was standing room only in the church during the funeral service. I'd cry becuase I'd see my Nana laying in the most beautiful coffin and it would bring back memories of when my Poppy died. I cried when I saw the Californians hug my family or when friends of my Mom and Dad's showed up.

It will be weird to go to Nana's House and not have Nana there. Chris and I decided that we will always call the house "Nana's House" - it can't be anything else.

Where will you go today?

Today wasn't as interesting as the previous days - the time still flew by, but I had to find things to do. I did a lot of filing and going through more mail. I did however see some pretty sweet things in the mail! Take the wine festival going on at Disney World in September or a free trip to Alaska, California and Colorado... yeah I know.

I found out a little about the advertising. For example, newspapers run based completely on advertisement sales; the number of ads sold determine the paper's length. With a magazine though, or at least travelgirl, does need ads to generate more money for production, etc., but it isn't dependent on them. So, say they decide on a 120-page magazine and the week before they go to print two advertisers pull out. In the newspaper business you'd have to find two more advertisers or pull some stories. Here, from what I understand, they pull PSAs (Public Service Advertisements)to fill the wholes. Today we found a Breast Cancer ad and a "Team in Training Lymphoma" ad. See, now I found that interesting, maybe you did too!

Perhaps you can help me out with this? One of my 'side projects' is to come up with some travelgirl advertisement slogans. Have you heard of this one - "Where will you go today?" Now, it sounds VERY familiar..but does it sound familiar because some other company has it...or because it's catchy enough that a company should have it? You tell me. Seriously. Tell me.

Today I also helped the creative director with her wedding plans! She's getting married in July and is getting kinda stressed. I forgot to mention that she's getting married in Las Vegas! AND...is looking for a photographer who probably won't be from Vegas so she'll have to fly him in.

I pretty much decided that when I 'grow up' and find some rich guy to marry (ha ha ha) - or when I'm making good money (HA HA HA) I will hire THIS GUY as my photographer. The dress i will "buy" is featured in his photographs...but I won't say which one it is in case my future husband is reading this.

....right...now back to reality...

The Break Up - Warning - if you're going to see the movie, don't read this post

The Break Up. - I'm going to ruin the movie for you, so if you don't plan on ever seeing it then read on...otherwise. Stop reading this.

First of all one thing that frustrates me is when movies put out trailers depicting a movie to be one way when in reality the movie has absolutely nothing to do with the way the trailer makes it seem. Did that make sense? I'm sure I could have said that easier. Anyway - The Break Up seemed like it had good things going for it: Vince Vaughn - funny; Jennifer Anniston - funny and pretty; a break up - can be made funny. So if we're all in agreement, the previews made this movie look funny, right?

WRONG.

It was like sitting there through all the uncomfortable parts of a break up. Who likes to do that? Nobody. Who wants to see Vince Vauhn yell, scream and get angry? Nobody. What about Jennifer Anniston crying? Nope. None of these thing are funny. In fact, the only funny parts of the movie were in the previews - go figure.

To top it all off the ending was just...not an ending at all. It left me, the viewer, empty and depressed. Sure, not all movies have to have fairytale endings, but isn't that actually why we go see movies; why we want to be entertained - to escape from our mundane lives and see someone other people live the dream? We don't want realistic because we have to live that everyday.

The Break Up, combined with the pouring rain right after the movie, and a very depressing mix made by a friend put me in a bitter mood. To remedy that I'm going to order some pizza and watch a happy movie.

Happy June 3

To start today's blog I thought I'd show you something I came across today (see left). This took me back and made me think about 'turning points' and if I've had mine yet. I think I'm actually in the middle of that turning point right now. Maybe that book has it right. My 21st year was great and fun...but not all that significant in terms of what will effect the rest of my life. This year, however, I feel myself getting closer to a 'grown up' job. I will gradute before I turn 23 and I can scratch another thing off my "things to do before I die list."

I'm not scared of graduating anymore. For a few months awhile back I couldn't sleep at night because I was scared I'd be working at Dion's for the rest of my life. Now, I know that even if I don't end up at a magazine right after college it's not completely out of the picture. Recently I've also been thinking about the possibility of going back to school to get my masters in more of the design aspect of journalism - just a tiny thought.

Whew. Anyway...today was fun. I went to this thing called something like "Johnson Highland's Summerfest." This mile-long fest was an arts and crafts festival meets young adults looking to have a good time. The arts and crafts weren't things your grandma would want (well...most grandma's at least. For example, I got my mom a hummingbird feeder made out of a beer bottle. There were beer, margarita, daquari stands ever so often complete with sampling of Mike-Hard-Lemonade! There was also a big stage set up in a park right next to the street; I stayed to hear two acts - both good...but never caught either name. One of the coolest things about this was that it was all held on a residental street. I'm not sure how they got ALL the home-owners to agree to it, but it I was impressed.

The ONLY downfall was the humidity. In fact - that's the only downfall I see to this city. I don't know if I would adapt to it either. GRR. Weather makes me angry. But on the plus side - This Book ranked Atlanta as the 7th best city to live in. That is neat.

What else did I do today? Um. Took a really long nap. The heat kinda really got to me. Oh, before I took the nap I got lost. Really lost. Lol. I had to actually get the map out from the backseat to figure out where the hell I was. Turns out I made it all the way to the south of Atlanta...the complete opposite direction of where I needed to be. After I finally figured it out...I took my nap. Then I bought a TV - yea! And uh.. that's about it. Good day if you ask me! Who knows what's in store tomorrow.

OH... today is my Nanny's 98th birthday. She's my Great-Grandma on my Mom's side! How cool is that...98. Wow. I also read in a book today that the average life expectancy is 76-years-old; way to go Nanny!

Time for bed.

Paris and the rain

When I moved out here Chris told me Atlanta was a city where new music continually comes out of and that I needed to pay attention to the radio for the latest hits. Tonight I heard the premier of a song that was ONLY played in this particular Atlanta station. This song was unbelievable - I was literally in awe and didn't know what to do with myself when I heard it.

Are you ready for this? I don't think you are. Are you sitting down? The brand new, never before heard song was done by none other than PARIS HILTON. Yes. I said it. Paris Hilton. Let me say it again just in case you didn't quite catch me the first time. Paris Hilton has decided she wants to be a singer. Her 'song' called "Stars are Blind" sounded more like a whinning Gwen Steffani mixed with Mariah Carrey's newer sound. To be honest, I couldn't stop listening to it, but I think that's because it reminded me of a trainwreck; I just can't believe I was hearing Paris Hilton 'singing' a song on national radio.

I listened to Paris in the rain while driving home from work tonight. It was actually weird to be driving in rain that stayed consistant throughout my entire journey home. Usually in Albuquerque one street will be dry while a road just next to it would have pouring rain. Even though it rained ALL THE TIME in Bournemouth I never drove in the rain. I was at work all day again. It was a little boring during the day - nothing for me to do - but it picked up again late afternoon. GET THIS: My name is going to be in the magazine! Yup, it's in the place called the "masthead" where all the other names are. Granted mine is towards the very end of the list, I'm still ridiculously happy/excited!!!!

And with that - I'm going to sleep.

waiting for work.

So I mentioned Matthew McConaughey in the last blog and I thought I should follow that up with the fact that he's been shooting a new movie in Atlanta for the past month. Not only that, but apparently he'll be here for another month and the movie is being filmed about 10 miles from where I'm living. How sweet is that. I think this would go down in the best summer ever...if I got to see (and take a picture of) Matthew McConaughey *sigh*!

Yesterday, I forgot to mention last night because I was tired, was also cool because I got to call some people back who'd left messages for the editor. One of them was a girl giving a pitch for a story. The woman sold it to me as though I were the editor - it was so weird/cool to be on the receiving end of something like that. After I listened to what she had to say, and took down notes, I repeated it to Stephanie and she wanted to know my opinion on the story! How cool is that?

haha...I realize everything I'm saying is "cool" right now, but I just can't think of any other thing to say about it!!

I guess today we absolutely make sure that everything we have for the mag. is ready to go and get printed. We send it away tonight (or after we finish today) and then the publisher place prints out a BIG copy of it and sends it back. We have until Tuesday to go over any final changes that needs to be done on the BIG copy and then that gets sent back to the publisher Tuesday night. Then...the magazine gets printed. They hit the shelves July 4, but if you're a subscriber you get them a week before...I don't know when we get them here. I'm assuming we get them earlier than that. YEA!!!

I don't know what I'm doing this weekend. Maybe I'll go see a movie tonight. Tomorrow night a girl I work with said her friend is having a party...so we need to exchange numbers. I'm also going to give Nicole a ring and see if she's doing anything. Other than that...I'll just wonder around town.

good day's work.

Oh boy, today was fun!!! Today it was crunch time - time to get all the little ity-bity details just right. I've put in two 12-hour days and I've loved it! I've pretty much been doing the same things each day, calling numbers and checking websites making sure everything is as up-to-date as possible. On the awesome plus side though, I've been writing more captions!! I think all but two stories have my captions on them... and the editor said she really liked them!

People have asked me if where I work is anything like "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days." Unfortunitely there are no Matthew McConaughey's running around and the office isn't anywhere near the size of the one in the movie...but I wasn't expecting that. Today the magazine was literally put together by four people: myself, the asst. graphic designer, the graphic designer and the editor-in-chief. None of the writers are present...in fact I don't know if they even come into the office - I know most don't live in Atlanta. I lie, Janice, who wrote the article on Pushkar, India is from Atlanta and came in yesterday. OH and there's one proofreader who looks at the final draft of the entire magazine before it goes to press. She was here yesterday and today. I was surprised there was only one person, but I was told it's to keep the style consistant.

I've only been here a week, so I've only been apart of getting the very tail-end of this issue out, but it's just been so much fun! We all laugh and get along really really well. The office is full of mostly women - oh, I think I forgot to mention that right next to travelgirl magazine is SRI Travel, a travel agency. Anyway, tonight we stayed late and the four of us were putting the thing together and just having a really good time.

....There's more I could say, but I'm tired now.

It's a cold.

I have this problem admitting when I'm sick. I like to deny it as long as possible...I think by doing this I subconsciously I can trick my body into thinking that it's healthy. Well, last night I gave in and accepted my cold :(

Um, that's kinda all I have to talk about. I'm gonna buy a little TV today, thanks to my parents! Ok. Time to get some 'work' done. I'll write about what I did yesterday later.

a life of travel

I've chosen a life of travel...it's true, but it comes with consequences. Moving to England was by far the craziest thing I've ever done and people gave me the most flattering comments for it. I heard that I was brave, because they could never do something like that. I heard that I was cool for taking a chance on a place I've never been; adventurous, independent, crazy, smart... The thing was, as glamorous as it sounded (and it was a lot of the time) it was also very hard.

There's a thin line with what to tell people when you're in a new place. There I was in England, actually living in the United Kingdom and half the time I was bored, or in my room alone. People don't want to hear that though, they don't want to hear that life can still suck half way around the world! Well, there it is - the truth.

One year later I find myself in the same boat. I'm in Atlanta, Georgia, how crazy is that? I actually drove the 2,000 miles out here, found an apartment to rent and now I'm living here. Working for the magazine is an absolute dream and if there is any chance of me working for it after I graduate I will be down here in half a heartbeat. The thing is, right now I'm bored out of my bloody mind!

There are some free things going on in the city in the coming weeks which I plan on taking advantage of, but for the most part I'm in my room alone reading or watching a DVD I've already seen a billion times. You can only drive around and spend so much gas, and doing anything outside before 9PM is downright out of the question (it's been in the 90s...WITH humidity). The excitement in my life right now (besides going to work) is when my phone rings and I see that it's my mom.

Heh. Ironic because the things we've been talking about lately haven't been the best news and I usually end up crying afterwards (not your fault Mama!!!). My point is, I love traveling, I love driving around new streets and getting lost and trying out new things. But being away from my home, from New Mexico where 90% of my ENTIRE family lives, is hard.

It's hard having this, the internet, as my outlet for getting things off my chest instead of talking to a real person. There's always the phone...but it's still very impersonal. I completely realize my situation is unique because if I did actually move to a new city it would be for a job and I'd be making money, etc. All I'm saying is that right now it's tough being away and I don't see this as glamorous as some people do.

With all that said, these next two months will just be one more thing to add to the story of my life! Now, so I can still have a chance of getting credit for this internship..i'll tell you what I did today!

****Basically I helped put the paper together today! We printed out every page we had done, stapled it, double checked what we had and what had been fixed, what hadn't and put it in a folder. This whole week people are coming in to proofread and get all of the nity-grity errors fixed. I still did more fact checking, called a resort in Vegas, inquired about a fair in Pushkar, India and typed out a section that will be on the web soon. I love how the time flies there! Next week (depending on what happens back at home) I'll help out more with the web, open more mail and get ready for the next issue.

Ok. I think I'm going to get some shut eye now!!

I think I've fallin in love!

This afternoon around 11:00 p.m. Eastern/standard time I fell in love. With Ikea. Ikea was like no place I had EVER been before and a place I will be returning to shortly. I've heard "Ikea" thrown about in different peoples conversations, but I always placed it in the category with Pier One, Crate and Barrel, Places I Can't Even Buy a Fork At, etc.

Ikea is ABSOLUTELY nothing like that. It's modern, funky, trendy and best of all it's more than reasonably priced. For example: I was at Target the other day because I need a lamp in my room. The only thing I could find, without spending over $20 for a simple tiny lamp was an industrial looking desk lamp. Well, today at my new infatuation, I found a pole lamp with two lights on it; very sleak looking in silver and white for only $15 - beat that Target!

I held back - WAY back from spending too much money. While I was there I did mentally pick out every piece of furniture needed for my new room. I even figured out how to buy it all. You see, after this next semester ends and I figure out what I'm doing with my life I'm going to sell all the furniture I do have and buy Ikea to replace it. That might sound a little crazy, but they had FULL bedroom sets for under $1,000.

While I was there I also nabbed a chair. A modern/70's/white/fake leather desk chair. It was on sale from $140 - $35...no girl in her right mind can pass up something like that. The only problem is that it's missing wheals which means it's not as high up as it should be so right now it kinda wobbles - I'll be fixing that...or asking for help soon!

I don't think I can allow myself back in that store for a very long time. I could just go crazy. I'm going to propose to Laura and my parents (yes, i know you're reading this!) that she and I move out here. This is EXACTLY the city we've been talking about wanting to live in - with the exception of living abroad again. The catch would be I'd have to get an awesome job that paid me enough to live up to the standards of Atlanta!

ok...I'm done with this happy love affair now. Time for a new, but not so happy, update...

My new Chair!
The new Lamp

.....SO much more I want from there!!!

one more thing

Ok, I promise (maybe) after this I'll stop writing for the day! So I just went around my neighborhood...again...because I needed to find a store to return something. I found it just up the street in a little shopping center called "Plaza Fiesta."

- have I mentioned I live in a very diverse area? Heh, well I walked into Plaza Fiesta and it felt like I was walking the streets of Juarez; it even smelled like Mexico, no joke. Who knew Atlanta had such a high Mexican population. In fact, I bet I could persuade the language department at NMSU to give me Spanish credit if I worked at one of the stores there!!

Also in Plaza Fiesta is "Atlanta's Farmer's Market" - "Sweet," I was thinking, "I can get fresh food there!" Well, yes, that's true. Along with fresh veggies they had FRESH meat and fish. By fresh I mean they were still alive (the fish for the most part). Anyone who knows me knows I was pretty taken back by this; I hate seeing that. This Market was a combination of Asian and Mexican food. Fresh food. It smelled not so good. I've never seen so much fish in packages with their beady little eyes staring back at me. Eeeww. If I go back I'm just going back for the veggies.

Right, so continue on with me as I drive back to my apartment. I realize I need gas, so I get gas. While I'm getting gas I look around me and notice how many Mexicans there are! I seriously just can't get over it. The cool thing was that since they were talking pretty loud I was able to hear them and I actually understood some of what they were talking about.

This is such a fun place to be! I'm being careful and watching my surroundings, but I just think it's interesting how literally just up the road from me are cultures merging together and then going down the road the opposite way it's the 'rich' area with gated apartment complexes and homes I've only seen in movies. Crazy.

I'm going to attempt to apply for a job at Hollywood Video and then start another book! Take care...and comment...I wanna know I'm not talking to myself...

When life gives you lemons...

When life gives you lemons do you ever feel like taking them and squeezing them over paper cuts??? That's kinda how I feel right now: angry, sad, upset, frustrated, mad - an array of emotions for something I have absolutely no control over.

It seems that whenever I leave home there's a family emergency. My grandma is not doing so well and I may be flying home for a few days very soon to be with the family. The thing that really hurts me is that my parents had to cancel their European vacation.

...Now I don't want you to get the wrong impression about me or my family - Family comes before everything, including vacations...but if you only knew!

When I was studying in England my parents had plans to come out and see me. Not just plans, but EVERYTHING reserved and ready to go. And then my dad was diagnosed with cancer. Cancer stopped him from seeing another country. Cancer stopped them from going on a trip together. Cancer stopped him from everything. And then after too many chemotherapy treatments the oncologist gave him the 'all clear' talk - he was in remission. As soon as we heard that my parents started planning their other trip - this one a Mediterranian cruise with a few extra days in Spain and England.

So here it is Sunday, just three days before they're supposed to leave for paradise and they had to call and cancel their trip.

Simply put, the timiming absolutely sucks. They're already re-re-schedualing it for September but I mean, geez, now I have to put up with four more months of my dad asking me where he can get his London hat - I've told him the place about a million times already!

As for my Nana, I was thinking about this last night before I went to bed. She doesn't really talk to anyone anymore, she just listens all the time, so I kinda stepped back and tried to put myself in her shoes. If I were her I wouldn't have any hesitation for dying. When she gets to heaven there are going to be so many people waiting for her - close family members I've never met because they died before I was born! She'll get to be with her Mama and Papa again, her husband - my grandfather whom I never met, her brother, her son and two of her grandchildren! Obviously that's just off the top of my head, there are hundreds more but how cool is that??!!!!

Well, I think I've officially run out of things to say. I'm gonna go return a lamp.

catching up

:( I have a canker sore that is seriously hurting right now. On top of that my throat is hurting a little...I'm going to have to stay on top of these things and keep healthy. On a lighter note - I finished my second day of work today. I don't really have an excuse for not writing yesterday...

So far I've done a lot of fact checking for the next issue. It is SO COOL to see the magazine being put together. I'm calling all sorts of different resorts, in the US and outside of the country, checking websites and reading over pages and pages of text. I've even contributed to the issue. First of all, a picture of my ipod will be there and I came up with the blurbs for the pictures on the Contents page! Along with that I've been doing some editing and catching mistakes here and there!!! Next week - the week we go to press - everyone proofreads everything to catch even more mistakes. Today, along with fact checking, I opened a lot of mail - some as far back as 2 years ago. The mail was incredible: resorts, cruises, freebies; all these companies just wanting a mention in the magazine!

I might just be in the 'honeymoon stage' for this 'job' but I'm loving it so far! As soon as this issue goes to press they start right up on the issue after that - so I'll get to see it all from the beginning.

I am so glad I"m out here. Despite the fact that i'm stuck in my room right now and my only option is to watch a movie or go to sleep - I can't drive around anymore...already spent money on coffee and lunch. I did apply for two jobs, I'm not expecting anything though. OH! This girl I work with, Mia (the graphic designer), said she'd call me this weekend. Apparently there's a jazz festival in one of the parks.

No clue what I'm doing this weekend - might window shop at Ikea, rumor has it they're having a 50% off sale, and they hardly ever have sales! time for a movie.

My day:

Started out the morning with a full tank of gas.
Slept in late
Stopped by travelgirl - ridiculously nice people. Tiny building. They use MACs to make the magazine
Had lunch at The Varsity - "The best onion rings ever," said Chris.
Took Chris to the airport
Got lost downtown
Went to the Atlanta Aquarium - saw whales, penguins, nemo, jelly fish, octopus, petted sting rays, a shark, starfish and shrimp.
Got lost downtown again
Finally asked for directions
Got lost again
Sat in traffic on the freeway - note to self, avoid the highway as much as possible
Made it back to my area
Drove in circles around my neighborhood.
Bought a lamp. Forgot lightbulbs - it's dark in my room now.
Bought sheets for my bed
Drove some more trying to figure this place out.
Got lost around my neighborhood some more
Found my way back home
Took a nap.
Went out again for a lightbulb, but got sidetracked by looking for coffee.
FINALLY found coffee.
Picked up application to Barnes and Noble
Found my apartment on the first try coming back....HALF a tank later
Watched the series finally of Alias.
Cried.
Now I am going to sleep.

...The last time I was in NYC I decided it was too busy for me to live there; the people were too impersonal and the city literally never slept, but I also ruled out wanting to live in Las Cruces; too low key for me and I got/get bored very easily. Albuquerque fits me like a glove - but sometimes it's a little too snug and I need to get out of there (sorry for that analogy - it sucked, i know). Atlanta seems to be the mix I've been looking for. It's a cross between big metropolitan city and suburbia.

I still realize I've only been here a day and a half, but the weird thing is that I can see myself here (once I figure out these damn streets!!!) in the future. Maybe not forever, but definitely for more than two months and with a job that actually pays me! Speaking of jobs...I go in tomorrow for my first day. Wish me luck.

short

I'm very tired so I'll make this kinda short. Today was good, I'm officially moved into my new place. It's ridiculously white and empty - but it'll more than do.

Chris and I got some bad news this morning that my Nana was admitted into the hospital, from what I hear, she's not doing well. I hate being away from family during crises - this makes two so far. I feel guilty for not being there, but I know there's nothing I can do if I were there.

tomorrow before chris leaves we're gonna tour the CNN Headquarters place... i'm tired and my thoughts aren't coherent even to myself. i'm not even thinking about spelling.

night

Two days later...

Atlanta: Smells like green! Seriously, everywhere we went tonight smelled like the lawn was just mowed - it was wonderful!

After over 20 hours of driving Chris and I made it to Atlanta. The area, I have to admit, is A LOT nicer than I thought it would be. We checked into our hotel and then made the short drive to check out a room I found online...

No more stressing because tomorrow I'm taking my security deposit to her - I got the room! The girl, Laura's her name, just graduated from Georgia Tech and lives in a very nice condo. It's a gated commuinity and my room is pretty spacious - it's a shame I don't have anything to fill it with! The best part is that the location is PERFECT! It's about 10 minutes from where I'll be working and only a few minutes from shopping centers and a mall I'll have to refrain from because I'm pretty skimp on money this summer.

My new roommate (how ironic that her name is Laura!) seems really nice. I'm already crossing my fingers she'll introduce me to people, I don't want to be that annoying girl who doesn't have friends and is kinda just a tag-along, but I kinda get the impression she might invite me to hang out with her sometimes...cross your fingers with me!

Chris and I drove around tonight and I have to say - I already love this city. It's eclectic, trendy, young and I felt an awesome vibe while we were riding around. I think I'm going to attempt to get a part-time job; I'll just have to lie and say I'm moving here.

Oh, on our way over here Chris and I saw some pretty funny town names: Lotawahta, Chattanooga, "Chattanooga Choo-Choo" (I kid you not!), Oglethorpe, Bartow... just funny, or maybe they aren't funny but after you're driving for as long as we did, things just become funnier. We also saw more roadkill than I ever thought possible!

I am SO glad I'm out here right now...so excited for what's to come. I'm also really happy Chris came with me! Hopefully I'll get to stop by Travelgirl tomorrow and see what's going on there, I'd like Chris to see where I'm going to be for the summer. Then, before he leaves to go back home, we're going to drive around the city and see what else there is to do here.

Well, I"m pretty tired...not really used to this two-hour time difference yet...so i'm gonna hit the sack!

14 hours later...

Chris and I just got to Little Rock, Arkansas. To be honest, the 14-hour drive wasn't bad at all...somewhat enjoyable actually!

I picked the hotel we're at right now for their free internet connection because I'm still trying to finda place to live AND I also need to book a hotel room tomorrow night.

I might be a little closer to finding a place to live now...I finally found an awesome listing on craigslist.org - now I'm just literally praying the girl writes back. I'm asking you to do the same, pray she calls or emails me back - I'm tired of stressing about this.

That's all. Time to get dinner and read some of my book.

I don't know.

"I don't know" seems to be the most over used phrase for me in the past week or so. "Where are you going to live?" I don't know. "Are you going to get another job?" I don't know. "When are you coming back?" I don't know...it goes on and on like that. What I do know is that I'm leaving tomorrow (Sunday) at 4 a.m. with my brother and the goal is to make it to Little Rock, Arkansas to sleep. Other than that - I don't know.

Since there's a possibility I might recieve credit in marketing for this internship I have to keep a journal of what I do each day and turn it in to my advisor at the beginning of the next semester. With that said, I will do my best to post daily what goes on, but what I would really like is if you guys (yes, you) would post comments. Ask me questions about what I'm doing, or anything you wanted to know about the magazine business. Once I get out there I'm putting all of my attention on learning as much as possible and the more questions I have to ask the better.

eh

So my newest plan, actually my parents had the idea, is to just go out there and stay in a hostel or on this family friend's couch 'till I find a place. I don't really want to do that, I'd rather just go out there and have a place already.

al;skjdff;aksdj;kasdjf;fkasd;dkfla;skdlj;faklsjdf;klasdjf;laksjf;lkad;lkajs;kldfj;asdkf

I sure hope this internship is really all I'm making it out to be. If not it's only a couple months, right? right.

t-minus two days

yup, it's starting to happen...i'm getting a little nervous about leaving. My routine habits have started to appear, and I can only seem to get rid of the constant headache I have with a glass of wine or sleep.

Still no place to live. I feel like I'm getting closer, but not really. "I take one step forward and two steps back," sings Keith Urban in one of his songs and actually that's exactly how I feel right now! I'm trying to pick a place to live in a city I know nothing about except it's one of the largest populated cities in America and is considered the "Los Angeles of the South" by several tour books. It's compared to Los Angeles because the traffic is almost bumper-to-bumper basically anywhere you are in the city.

What I might do is either sleep in a hostel for a few days so I can actually see some of these places and make sure they aren't taking me for a ride with the prices they want to charge me, or crash on a distant family friend's couch.

...it's time to start packing...

Mike, happiness and moving.

I just got off the phone with Mike. I absolutely love talking to him - we somehow seem to pump each other up about our silly dreams. He makes me feel spectacular about moving to Atlanta and always boosts my confidence about guys (or lack of them). In the same respect, I get equally as excited hearing about the awesome things happening in his life. I love hearing about then new girl he's seeing and how he wants to make a good impression on her. Listening to him talk about what he wants to do in life just excites and motivates me about my life even more.

To be honest, if there was one person I thought I might lose touch with after high school, it was Mike. I made exhausting effort over the past four years, sometime feeling like giving up hope on him - but I think during the past two years our friendship has grown into something I'm proud of and more than content with.

The same can really be said about most of my friends. Now, four years after high school, I am still in contact with those whom I've chosen to stay in touch with. I think I can count them on my own two hands, and I like it like that.

I'm not as nervous or scared about moving to Atlanta as I think I should be. I realize i'm going to have culture shock as well as shock in general (due to the weather, etc), but I'm more excited than anything. I am SO excited to have this opportunity - to intern at a magazine.

I've been in classes at NMSU where we go around and say what we want to do in life. "I want to work for a travel magazine," I always say. The thing is, since I'm taking mostly journalism classes I'm not the only one to say that. Basically saying my dream out loud has always been just that - a dream. Could it be that this is the first step for making this come true? It is very very surreal and unbelievable.

So excited!!!!

.....fyi - a nervous, 'i'm freaked out beyond belief,'- what the hell am I doing moving to Atlanta blog will be on it's way later this week!

Pondering life

I'm on that road to discover who I am again. I hate this road - the one where you have absolutely no idea what is around that upcoming bend. I hate this road - where I have to second guess my every intention, motive and action. I hate this road - when I try to be spontaneous and go with the flow, but in the end it seems that spontaneity ends up just kicking me in the butt. I hate this road, but right now I want to be on it because I know there are other things out there for me.

I've been thinking a lot lately, mostly about who I am and how people perceive me. It shouldn't matter how others see me, but I honestly think people are lying when they say they don't care what others think about them - everyone cares to some degree.

I'm trying to re-evaluate how I act in this world. I think about what type of girl I want to be and the girl I want to stay away from.

When I move back home for the summer I'm want to start going to church with my brother. I want to start meeting NEW people, but I want to be picky with the people I meet - I need them to be good influences for me. It definitely wouldn't hurt if I could meet a good guy, God knows I need one of those in my life.

I have an overwhelming feeling and impulse to be very cynical and bitter towards guys right now - In the past couple years I've been losing faith and trust in the male gender, and I would really like to find someone to prove me wrong.

It's kinda funny - all I want to do is run away from my problems and my life and start all over; be a completely different person. The thing is, I've been there and done that. I moved to England and I tried stepping in the shoes of someone I wasn't. In the end it made me more depressed and made life harder to live. Looking back on how I acted and what I did to become this new person was me just lying to myself and I don't want to do that.

Ok. I think this entry is done - I'm starting to ramble and I think I've said what needed to be said.

wine class is still fun

I've said it before and I'm saying it again...wine class is fun!!! We had 'Italian Night' tonight - aaahhh era cosí buono!! Seriously. I now need to go back to Italy and enjoy the wine and food. I mean, I enjoyed it the last time I was there (just ask my brother about the night I walked away with the bottle from the table), but the next time I go I know I will appreciate it even more. I've found every time I do revisit a place - no matter what city - I enjoy it more! This wine just made me sleep....and want chocolate. BUT, after the food, and alcohol, settles, I'm going to go for a run. Eh, this is turning into me just rambling, and for that I apologize! Or do I?! This is my blog dammit, so I should be able to ramble about whatever I want! shoot. I"m sleepy.

just looking

uh oh....It's started again...my wondering eye! I just spent the last hour and a half looking up jobs out of the state. I sent off two emails, one with my resume attached to Latina Magazine and the other to a Pub Crawl/Walking Tour of Rome I did several times. That one would be kick ass because they pay you daily or weekly...in Rome...for taking people around. Damn.

Me so stupid

Ugh. I just got my story back from Thayer's class and I seriously butchered the article I wrote. There were AP Style problems EVERYWHERE. Not only that, but I could have sworn I fixed some of the errors before I sent out the paper which makes me think I might have either A)forgot to save after I fixed the errors or B)Sent out a different version of the story. Eh, I don't know why I'm making up excuses. I screwed it up - it's my fault. Besides, I already have two A's and a high B in there, I can deal with this. Not only that, but 10% of our grade is based off our portfolio....and mine will KICK ASS!

Dammit..I'm procrastinating again!

Three hour drive

When I was a freshman an upperclassman told me the drive from Albuquerque to Las Cruces (and vice versa) would be easier each drive...I now believe that guy - whoever he was - is a big fat liar!

The drive this morning seemed to drag on FOREVER. I literally thought I would never see the Organ mountains and that I had passed the same curve about three different times. I will not miss the drive when I graduate; I've come to dread it. There are only a handful of times I can think of, when the drive wasn't that bad.

Since I'm obviously procrastinating writing my article...I will continue to tell you about my weekend. Easter has always been a fun weekend for me: There's Good Friday where I climb Tome Hill and have MY favorite meal; mashed potatos, corn and red chile all mixed together; Saturday where I spent the day hanging out shopping with my mom and then Easter, where my family has a BBQ and an Easter Egg Hunt. It's pretty much awesome.

*shoot. I just got REALLY sleepy*

Besides seeing and hanging out with my family a lot I also hung out with my friends. One of the nights we went downtown and had a little too much fun, another night we hung out at a house Jeff was house sitting and just chilled with some wine. Then the last night I spent talking to Mike. I LOVE hanging out with Mike..probably because we so rarely got to have an actual conversation. Heh, last night was great though...I helped him with his portfolio and folded his laundry (I realize I don't fold my own laundry, but maybe it was different since it wasn't mine). I also walked around Nob Hill for just a tiny bit with Jeff earlier yesterday and realized staying in Alb. won't be too bad this summer. I'm determined (as is Mike) to branch out and meet some new people and venture out in our city more!

Ok. I think I'm going to take a nap before I start this article....you know...to refresh my mind.

nothing important

So. I need to find a place to move. The problem is that now that I have this urge to leave...I want to stay. I know - I'm weird.

....I'm going back to Cruces in about an hour - boo.

there might be a change in store

...I've been thinking about changing a lot of things in the near future...

adorable

Standing at the back of a 15-person line this morning to get coffee on campus at Java City let me know I was not the only person whos weekend caught up with them. It's not surprising I'm feeling sluggish and exhausted though..not with the weekend I had!

Las Cruces was graced with the presence of two of my closest friends, Jeff and Eric, this weekend. They, under absolutely no pressure *ha ha*, came down here to hang out.

We spent Friday night hanging out at Hurricane Alley and listening to bands that had the volume up WAY too loud. I still don't really see the concept of a bar: Let's put a whole bunch of (probably) horny young adults in one place with a lot of alcohol. Let's also let bands play really really really loud so you can't hear a single word the person right next to you is saying. In the mean time, you have to try to have, hold and make a good impression with your new friend all while screaming and pretending you understood what the other person was saying. All in all Hurricane wasn't too bad; my ears rang for the entire car-ride back home, but I was slightly on the drunk side so it didn't bother me too much. I was also very content drinking my little 8oz. can of coors Light - ADORABLE! I think my head hit my pillow around 3 a.m. that night - that was after we all watched Cinderella...I mean...we watched Fight Club...

Saturday morning instead of being woken up by the sound of chirping birds or sunlight beaming through my window, I was awakened by the sound of clinking pans, rushing water and the sound of cabinets slamming open and shut; Emily was making breakfast, bless her. About an hour later - still in bed, in and out of sleep - I heard LOUD NOISES coming from the living room - our landlord was in town and decided it would be a fabulous idea to HAMMER the cabinate door back on -gggrrrr, angry face! He was there to turn on the cooler, but instead of doing that we heard hammering on the roof - we don't know what he was doing. What I do know is that we would not be sleeping anymore that morning. I did, however manage to write two articles in the midst of all the noise.

We decided to take a trip into Mexico that afternoon before the party - that was awesome. It was the first time I have been in Mexico during the day - phew, now when I say I've been to Mexico I at least have another story to talk about besides getting wasted for $10!!! We just walked around the mercado and had a pretty good lunch, mind would have been better if it had some green chile on it though! We decided the beer is way better in Mexico...mm....beer.

Instead of taking a nap, like Eric managed to take, the girls and I laid on my bed and acted really silly. I don't even know what we were doing! We started out just talking and then talking went to just saying random words, then random words became silly noises. Needless to say, there was a lot of laughing going on. We were being pretty loud and I actually felt bad for Jeff because we kept him awake!

I hit a low right after that; the house was dark and we were all pretty tired...the last thing I wanted to do was host a party at our house. Nine-thirty rolled around and nobody was at the party...the clock struck 10 p.m. and again, nobody was there. I was fading with each tick of the clock and promised myself if people didn't show up by 11 p.m. I was going to call it a night. Then, at exactly 10:45, our house went from about 7 people to more than 20...the kitchen was full and people started filling up the Fiesta Room.

The coolest part about Emily's 21st is that EVERYBODY dressed up - there were some pretty amazing and creative costumes - I love my friends and how silly we can still act. Here we were, only about two or three people still under the age of 21, and everyone was dressed up as a super hero - heck yes!

I have to admit that the highlight of my night was getting into a pillow fight and water fight. I've seen it happen in movies and I've always thought it looked so spontainous and fun, but I had never actually seen it in real life. I don't know how the pillow fight started, but it was in the living room and it was a lot of fun! I suppose I started the water fight (if we really want to point fingers). I took the liberty of initiating Eric into the "Rub Club" and instead of just enjoying the water on his crotch he decided he needed to return the favor by getting everyone in the kitchen wet! By the time the 'fight' was over, I could wring the water out of my hair and we had to clean up the floor in the kitchen because it was soaked with water! Lol..we scooted around with little towels under our feet - we looked like penguins!

(i'm trying to move this blog along....) Since it was Emily's birthday she got completely trashed, which left everyone to call SAFE-RIDE for a ride back to their house, I found that funny! The last of the party-goers left around 5:30ish in the morning. So much for an early night...I clocked out at 5:56a.m.

Sunday was a nice chill day...had an amazing breakfast at Sunset Grill in Sonoma Ranch - i'll be going back there soon...amazing green/red chile! Then we said bye to the boys :( Sad times, as always. And I passed out until later that night.

I can't believe how fast this semester is going by. Not including this week, we have four weeks of class left. This weekend is Easter so I'm going home..then I'm going back the weekend after for a concert. Basically I have about 20 days of school left - I can do this.

Thanks for reading :)

On top of the world!

Yesterday it felt as though I was on top of the world. Everywhere I went there was a gigantic smile spread across my face that I couldn't wipe away if I tried. This awesome day began when I opened my email after I woke up and found out that I received an email from Travelgirl. Not only did I get an email from Travelgirl, but the Editor-In-Chief, Stephanie Oswald, personally wrote it to me!!!

The incredibly amazing thing is that i just sent out my resume and cover letter last Friday afternoon and by around Noon on Monday she responded. Not only did she reply, but it sounds like there is a HUGE possiblity I might be able to get an internship, which she said could lead to a paid position, at Travelgirl!!! This is THE magazine I have my eyes set on to work for! I can't wait to find out what happens. Just with the fact that she noticed me and responded gives me so much hope for the rest of my career. Sending that off was a LONG shot and I honestly did not expect anything to happen from it. Even if I don't get this internship, I am much more confident about my work.

On the note of work, I also had two of my articles in the The Round Up! Not only that, but underneath my byline it said "Round Up Reporter" and "Arts Reporter," heck yes! I combined all those exciting things with two cups of coffee in the morning and by mid-afternoon I was running on some crazy adrenaline and a huge caffine buzz; it was fantastic!!!

I hope to hear back from the magazine soon, that way I can figure out what I'm going to do. If I'm not going to Atlanta (where the mag. is located) then I should start applying for other internships. Ah. Ok...I'm sure some of you are already tired of me talking about this, besides...I haven't even been accepted to any sort of position, I'm just ecstatic that she wrote back to me!

In other news, I'm procrastinating a little bit because I have a Interpersonal Comm. paper due tomorrow that I need to start. As soon as I post this it's off to writing I go. I think I've delayed the inevitable long enough...

Hope you have a super day:)

Coffee + Good things = Jessica a happy girl

I woke up this morning and I was in a good mood; not a bad way to start a day if I do say so myself! I've been really excited about sending my little package off to travelgirl, maybe realistically I shouldn't be getting my hopes up as much, but I can't help it...I haven't been this motivated in a long time and I'm going to just let it run its course!

With that said, I think I failed my Spanish test today. No joke, I walked out of there knowing I did not pass that...If only I could one day live up to my last name. I drowned my sorrows in coffee though and after that, and two more cups, everything was A-Ok!

So I went to Dion's to talk to Dan (the GM) and told him that I was putting in my two weeks because...I got the job at the Round Up!!! Woo-hoo!!!! Dan was awesome about it and really nice. He said that if I want I can work one day a week (which might be a nice $50 check every two weeks for not much work). I don't know, I'll have to think about it.

Another reason today was a good day was, and this might sound like I'm contradicting myself, I've been working on an article that is due tomorrow at noon. Nothing too out of the ordinary there, except I think I got way in over my head for this one. The article is dealing with medical terminology that I don't know or understand, but that I have to convey it so the average reader (which by the way has 8th grade reading skills) can comprehend.

Anyway, I've been trying to make contact with people to interview for a little while now and as of yesterday I didn't have ANY sources. But today it suddenly all fell into place and about 7 hours later (I had computer problems and a few breaks here and there, of course) I have a story. The problem I have now is that it's not long enough (by the class rubric standards), but hopefully the content will make up for the length.

So that's where I'm at right now. It's a pretty good place; I think I'll stay here for awhile.

I can predict the weather...

It's true, I CAN predict if it's going to be windy outside. This all started after I had knee surgery and now I can usually tell if it's going to be windy a day before the wind starts blowing. My left knee seems to get extra stiff and has a dull, pullsing pain. I looked it up and found THIS ARTICLE, makes a lot of sense! My mom, who had knee surgery YEARS ago can tell when it's going to rain...I can only tell if it's going to be windy. Maybe a qualification for Weather Men should be knee surgery...might help them out, we all know it wouldn't hurt them!

In other news for the day: I'm finished with my cover letter/resume to send out to two magazines! All I need is for my professor to look over it one last time and then I'll mail them. The two I'm enquiring about are travelgirl and Latina. These are two longshots, but I figure there is absolutely NO way I will ever work for them if I don't try...so I'm trying. After I send those out I'll work on getting my portfolio out to a few more realistic magazines; Albuquerque, New Mexico and a few other regional ones. The point is, I'm not going to be lazy anymore...I'm trying to motivate myself, stop complaining and freaking out that I might have chosen the wrong career, and make something happen! Even if I get a rejection letter, or several, at least I know they're looking at my stuff!

Yesterday I was talking to Sean and we were both saying how unmotivated and how our attitude has turned pretty apathetic towards life. He's graduating this year, so he's in the midst of freaking out...I'm just unmotivated. Anyway, I mentioned how I want to get away and go somewhere (like you haven't heard that before!). Then he said something that surprised me and really made me think. He said that if I were to move somewhere else, what would I be doing that I couldn't do here. Wow. He has an amazing point.

I have lived somewhere else and to be honest, even though I was thousands of miles away from here, it was still the same on some level. I started thinking about about what I would want to do if I lived in another city, say Boston, I would want to go out and enjoy its night life....so that's what I'm going to do here, in Las Cruces. I'm going to take advantage of what I have here for as long as I have it. This afternoon Laura and whoever else wants to tag along, are going out for happy hour. :)

Things are good!