I am so Ready

This morning, I had a dream that a few of my friends, my sister, my brother, and later in a big surprise my mother, were all lost in France. I think it was probably brought on because yesterday, after hearing multiple songs en Français at my work, I realized that school is going to start in a little over a month, and I haven't studied French once since school got out in May!

After my crazy dream, where we lost my brother, and we couldn't communicate in French well enough to find him, I decided to look at my school schedule and see what I'm taking this Fall, and if its going to help me get to where I want to go with Graduating as soon as I possible can! These are the classes I'm taking in the Fall:

FRENCH 1020: Beginning French, Part 2.
POLS 2100: International Relations
SW 3500: Social Welfare Policies
PSY 3400: Abnormal Psychology
MATH: Yuck.. I should have taken this SO long ago, but kept putting off, so yahoo for starting off my first semesters, of three semesters of Math. OH boy am I excited!

Yes. I am taking 18 credits, wish me luck.

After looking at my classes, I noticed that the Spring 2010 schedule, or at least the beginnings of it, are already posted. So I looked at the classes and got excited when it was easy to put the classes I need, together, without much effort. Yay! So, after having that much luck, I decided to try and put the rest of my classes together in a few more semesters, and successfully fit it all so that I can officially apply to my program in July of next year, and then Graduate May 2011. Yay me! This means that I will be taking at least 19 credits each semester, which might make me a not so nice, stressed out person, but I am determined to finish and get going with life after a Bachelors Degree!

.. even if that just means I will just move on to Graduate school.

Now I just need to figure out super Volunteer positions or Internships to go along with school. Any ideas? I am going to look at the following and see what I decide..

• Senator Matheson's office (I know its not directly related to Social work, but its related to Nicole, and her interests.. haha)
• The IRC
• DCFS
• Adoption Agencies
• A hospital
• The Ascend Humanitarian Alliance

The only depressing part of any of this, is that I am going to have to remain poor until May 2011. Ugh. But maybe the gift of school will keep going? haha, what I mean is, last year I was super poor, so this year, I am receiving more financial aid than I have ever even dreamed of. Perhaps if I keep being poor, I can keep receiving that financial aid, and somehow figure it all out. Let's cross our fingers.

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Dr Pepper is Heaven

I haven't written in awhile. At least, not really written with updates and information on my life; just with little tidbits and lists here and there. So, I thought on this Saturday morning I would start by babbling. Babbling is one of those things.. I do best ;) haha.

A week and a half ago or so, I went and saw KITE with Kim at the University of Utah. It was a very interesting film, and I really liked it. It focuses on life with an ever changing border - between Lebanon and Israel. They have a Middle East Center at the University, and they are sponsoring Middle Eastern films there, about once a week, that is open to the public for free. This is how we saw KITE. It was fun, I hope to do it again and go see another one of the films. They are also having discussions and workshops as well, there is one about Middle Eastern Women that I really want to go to. After the movie, Kim and I went to Lunaberry on 4th South. It was really good! I had never been there before, and Kim was right, the crepes are really good! And they have funky French music playing. I like it.


Right after seeing the film with Kim, I got sick. Yuck. My dad and I both had the flu, and Tim was sick too, but I'm not really sure if he really got what we had because he was only sick for a day or two. So yuckie. I still have the stupid cough and am really tired. I hate being sick. However, having so much "down time" and not wanting to go around and get everyone sick, it gave me a lot of time to read my books and really make a dent in my 50 book project. I managed to finish Anderson Cooper's Memoir, which I LOVED. It was really fun to kind of "get in his head" and see things from his point of view. I loved me some Anderson before, but now its even worse. I'm sure I'm driving my sister crazy with my "Yeah, and did you know.. ?" comments of random Anderson Cooper trivia. Oh well.
I also read Veil of Roses, by Laura Fitgerald; and The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kid. I enjoyed both books. Quite a lot. Veil of Roses is about an Iranian girl that has escaped having an arranged marriage so far by going to University in Tehran, but now she is done with her studies, and will need to get married soon. Her parents are able to get her a passport and one-way ticket to visit her married sister in Arizona. She has three months to find a husband, and get married, so that she never has to go back to the oppressive "Revolutionized" Iran. It was more of a fun read then a cultural one, but I did enjoy seeing Victoria Secret and Starbucks through the eyes of Tamila in the book.

The Secret Life of Bees.. I loved! It was so good! I really need to go rent the movie now that I have read it. The story is really good, it's during the 1960 Civil Rights movement in South Carolina. I really liked it, it was one of those feel good, southern books. Almost reminded me of Fried Green Tomatoes.

Being sick also kept me from going to my first day of Tutoring with The IRC, which is a bummer. But I am excited for this week! We are going to have a Valentine's Day themed party, and teach the kids about collages. I am excited. I wonder if I can take pictures of the kids. Hmmm.

I don't talk about my Daddy very much. BUT I do have to mention that my daddy loves me. Haha. A couple of days ago my dad was going to go pick my brother up something to eat at KFC. He asked me if I wanted anything and I asked for chicken fingers; and then I was like "OOOH! I want a fountain drink! Will you get me a Dr Pepper?" (anyone who knows me.. knows I love me some fountain drinks! They are so MUCH better than from the can or bottle!). Anyway, so my dad said yeah he'd get me the drink and went on his way. When he came home he had two drinks in his hand, one from KFC, and one from the gas station. They didn't have Dr Pepper at KFC and he had gone to the gas station to get me a Dr Pepper fountain drink! How nice is that?! I love my daddy.

In other news, my Grandma Jean is home! I am so excited. I haven't seen her yet, or much really this week, I didn't want to get her sick so I stayed away! My whole family has been pretty sick with different things, (my mom had a bad bout of asthma too), so we haven't really visited much. I think my extended family is mad at us for this, but I would really rather not see Grandma and have her not get sick and them mad at me, than the other way around!! My Uncle and his wife.. ~ sigh ~ BUT that's not the point, family drama will always be just that: drama. But my Grandma is home now and that just makes me so much happier. I HATED seeing her in the Nursing Home. It made me sad every time. She didn't belong there. Sure she has some problems, and needs a lot of assistance right now, but she's still very much there "upstairs."

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24 Things

I decided, that I am a list person. And, now that I have been 25 for one week, I have decided that 24 was a good year, and before I get too old 
and senile, I am going to write a list of things I accomplished when I was 24. 

So here we go.. 24 Things I did when I was 24 - in no particular order of course.

1. I started this AWESOME blog.
2. I then got addicted to writing this here blog.
3. I learned how to properly fold Macy's textiles - very important.
4. I got snowed on in JUNE. 
5. Became VERY obsessed with Barack Obama
6. I almost crashed on a plane while landing in Amsterdam, in The Netherlands.
7. I moved back in with the parentals - and started sharing a room with my sister!
8. I saw LOTS of aminals at Yellowstone.
9. I got hit on by a German-Italian waiter in Berlin - who then gave us free Fanta.
10. Got mocked by a Turkish-German man in Potsdam - who then gave me a free Döner.
11. Planned to move out of the country.. 
12. Then fled from a Crazy Germany family - on a train - by myself.
13. Realized how much I truly need people to remain sane.
14. Especially my sister, Ashley and my brother, Timmy-kins.
15. I was involved in planning a huge literary event.
16. I dressed as my true self for Halloween - A HIPPY!
17. Volunteered at a big fancy Charity Gala - where I was in the room as they wrote checks for millions and millions of dollars!
18. Voted for David Cook at least a thousand times. Yahoo!
19. Was BITTEN by the Twilight Saga
20. And was then pissed off and disappointed by Breaking Dawn.
    
21. I visited Lagoon three times
22. Listened to former-President George H.W. Bush and German Chancellor Angela Merkel speak at the re-dedication of the U.S. embassy in Berlin - on July 4, 2008.
23. Worked a long 15 hour day at a poll center on Election Day.
24. Plugged along in school - even when I wanted to strangle my Grant Writing professor.

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The Game of LIFE

I should probably just save time and repost my ramblings about needing an awesome job, in a perfect world, that I wrote when I got home from my German "fiasco." Because, those fabulous job wishes still stand. However, now it's more like I am making money at Macy's, while I look for something better, so that's an improvement. And, I AM working with UHC, making some extra money there so that is good as well. It just sucks that both jobs will run out. ARGH. So I am again almost at the beginning of a new school semester and I don't know which classes to take because I don't know where I will be working. Man oh man, Life is a crazy game.

Speaking of school.. there is one Sociology class that I can take. It is one of those special topics ones that always changes. It is a study in Thanatology. Which, is basically the study of death and dying - and different society's beliefs about death, the afterlife, and different rituals. I think it sounds kinda cool. BUT perhaps I should ask though. Do YOU think it sounds cool? Because, I thought my Grant Writing class from Hell sounded pretty awesome when I signed up for it in August. So any thoughts? I don't really want to make that mistake again.

Today, at Macy's, I worked in Mens. Instead of RAMP. It was SO MUCH better!! I think I am going to ask tomorrow about who to tell if I'd like to stay on permanently after seasonal is over, and if I could.. and all of that. I really like the Manager and the Associates in Men's. MMM~Hmmm. Even if I did see some people today that I was like AH! must run away from. I'm rude like that.

I also applied for a little Nanny job part-time, that's in American Fork. I sure hope I get it. It'd be one 3 month old baby, just 4 or 5 days a week, for 4 hours or so. My life would be so "put together" if I could do this Nanny thing, Macy's permanently part-time, and be able to go to school and take all the classes I need. <~ Crossing Fingers ~>
HMMM.. Maybe I should ask Santa...

AFTERTHOUGHT: Sigh, I also need to find a new cool awesome, resume-building Volunteer experience too. If anyone knows of anything super neat.. please, oh, please let me know. I don't have a lot of time to organize all of this into a meaningful meaningfulness.

5 days to Christmas! And not enough shopping done. But that can wait for another day of wishes and hopes. haha.

Happy Holidays Everyone!

Related post: The necessary evil of a job, from July 2008.

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October has been Good

I usually like October. And this October has really been a pretty good month, so far. And we still have Halloween left! And the entire point of my job: the Book Festival. I love the crispness of the fall air, and the colors of the Leaves. I have practically become addicted to taking pictures of the different colors. I just love it!

I've also had some fun with friends and family this month. I love hanging out with my brother and sister, and the random fun we have. This last weekend, we played Clue over and over again and it was a lot of fun. We even have fun watching the Presidential debates together. I love watching things like that with my brother and sister, and especially lately. My brother is at a point where he wants to LEARN EVERYTHING and I love it. I never get sick of answering his questions, and this month has been full of them. "Wait, what's the DOW? and, why is it dropping?"

This month, I also went to dinner with Heather and Kim. I wish I had brought my camera! I had planned on it, and somehow the camera didn't make it to Paradise Cafe with me! I love those girls. It's so great to have friends you can talk to about just about anything! We talked for hours about politics and our love for Barack Obama, but mostly our hatred for Sarah Palin. We talked about our TV addictions, and the beauty of DVR (ok, well I talked about DVR. hehe). We talked about our old work, and how each of us has definitely grown out of the people we were when we worked at the Library. Sometimes I am still surprised that after leaving the Library 2 1/2 years ago I still have strong friendships with some of my favorite people from that place. It's awesome and I love it!

School has been kind of hard, I feel like I have to try SUPER hard on my Grant Writing class. Which, frankly, isn't something I've always had to do. I hate when I have to try to learn things! haha. But in reality, it will be a really good asset for me, to know how grant writing works, and be able to apply for them. I've seen how much drama a grant application can cause at a nonprofit.

Work has been fun. I have done things that I have never done before. Like learning how to do public relations, writing press releases, organizing signs for a big event, designing and organizing book marks, postcards, etc for the event and making sure they all get to production on time - with everything spelled correctly, and no sponsors missing. I have really enjoyed it. I will be glad when it's here, this Saturday, and we can focus on "festival wrap up." However, I don't really have a plan for after this job. So I need some time to find a new job! I've been applying, so hopefully something will work out, and I will be able to work it with my class schedule for next semester.

A woman in the Development department at my work has asked me to work part time, from home, just kind of catching them up in their data entry, after the book festival is over. It won't make me rich, but it should be a good experience, more experience with a different facet of a nonprofit can't be a bad thing right? Plus, it will be a little extra money.

I am also starting a new 8-week volunteer assignment on Thursday, with the International Rescue Committee (the IRC) and I am excited! A little nervous, because it is working with kids from different countries, and we work with them, tutor them, etc. I think it will be a lot of fun, I just hope I can understand the child I am placed with, and he or she can understand me and that I start a new friendship.

Well, that's my October so far. How was yours?

Last thing: I am fund raising for UNICEF again this year. If you'd like to donate to my Halloween fund raising effort click here. Make Halloween Count. :)

Haha, one more thing... I know that anyone that even kind of knows me knows that I believe in Obama, and I love him and support him very very much. I love that Colin Powell has endorsed him (see video below). However, I do have to say, no matter what EVERYONE should Vote! It's despicable to me that anyone would not use their voice. I used to have a sign in my Apartment that said: "Don't Vote? Don't Bitch!" and I firmly believe that.

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