It's Not a Secret Anymore...

   Three weeks ago, Rachel and I received an e-mail that changed our lives. Our good friend, Mary Katherine, is currently studying through Baylor in New York City and has become the Victoria's Secret Public Relations Intern. Rachel, Mary Katherine and I are the Senior Class Officers for Baylor, so the e-mail was pretty typical, just Mary Katherine responding about some Student Government business, but this one had a "PS" at the end.
   I was sitting in a worship service at Vertical Ministries on this particular Monday night and I could see my phone continually lighting up on the floor underneath the pew in front of me. I had no idea what was going on, but didn't want to check my phone until the service was over. When I pushed the round button on my iPhone I had missed calls and text messages from Rachel, asking if I had seen the e-mail Mary Katherine sent. I opened up the e-mail on my phone and read regular Student Government business (cool, Rach), but then I saw that infamous "PS."
   It read something like this: "PS- I have 2 tickets to the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show and would like for you all to come and play, if you can find a way up here."
I screamed, showed all the girls walking out of Vertical with me (yes, I was excited about a lingerie show as I was walking out of a church) and we immediately started discussing what I should wear. Next thing you know...

Rachel and I bought two roundtrip tickets and three nights in a hotel to New York City. We flew to the city on a Monday night, spent Tuesday exploring downtown, shopping, eating pizza, and saw the evening Broadway showing of Jersey Boys. When people would ask us why we were in NYC, we always told them we were going to the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show (because it's instant cool points), but the question that always followed was "Oh, are you guys in it?" in which our response was, "Yes, yes we are!" (because that's even cooler.)

Wednesday we spent the morning in Greenwich Village, shopping SOHO, eating in Little Italy, and finding our way on the Subway.

That early evening, we went to The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show and met up with Mary Katherine. The runway was solid glitter, the "outfits" were over the top, and we sat second row. We watched tall, skinny, gorgeous models walk, Katy Perry sing her heart out, and Akon perform/flirt with all the girls. It was magical, and because we are not the Hilton sisters, we will probably never be invited again...

Katy Perry (taken with my iPhone)

Afterward, we went to catch one more Broadway performance and got tickets to Westside Story that night.

And we went home at 6 a.m. the next morning. It was the best, missed week of school ever. And a special thank you to Mary Katherine who gave us the hook-up of a lifetime!

**This trip was particularly exciting because I had ditched Rachel my senior year of high school to take my boyfriend at the time with me on my NYC senior trip, instead of her. It's a sensitive subject, but I was glad that I got to re-do the trip with my best friend!

Reverence

These next two weeks are already stressing me out. My planner is so scheduled that I added paper into my week to write down more tasks. My "To Do" list is out of control, but there's hope.

To Do List

Class Work:

• Non-Profit Marketing case study and presentation (due Monday)
• Service Marketing case study and presentation (due Wednesday)
• Social media paper (due Tuesday)
• Ourblook assignments and group meeting (Tuesday)
• Social Dance performance test (Thursday)
• Non-Profit Marketing test (next Monday)
• Service Marketing test (next Monday)
• 8 pages of research paper due (next Tuesday)
• Service Marketing Research Project 
• Start online porfolio for media programming

School:

• Meet with Student Government advisor
• Have A&M game day shirts approved, ordered and in my hand by November 8th
• "If it weren't for Baylor..." essay for Ken Starr's alumni Christmas presents (due Wednesday)
• Scholarship application finished and mailed (Friday)
• Graduate school application finished and sent (Friday)
• Petition filled out and approved for minor concentration (Friday) 

Internship:

• After hours event (5-7pm Monday)
• 2 interviews for articles--and articles written
• Organ donor ceremony (Saturday)
• American Heart Association Pledge Drive (next week)
• Deliver pledge promotional cards (Monday)
• Meet with boss about upcoming tasks (Tuesday)

Other:

• Put my car in the shop--hopefully get rent car
• Take checks to bank
• Babysit Thursday afternoon
• Get money from Robinson Tower for rent
• Pledge Song practices
• Vertical- Monday night
• Church- Wednesday night
• LAUNDRY AND CLEAN ROOM 
• Breathe, eat, sleep and see my friends occasionally 
• Oh, and GLEE- Tuesday night!

Luckily, church this morning was about priorities and running out of hours in the day. We focused on these encouraging verses:

Hebrews 4:10-11  “...for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from his 

own work, just as God did from his...make every effort to enter that rest…”  

Proverbs 10:27  "Reverence for God adds hours to each day;  

so how can the wicked expect a long, good life?" 

Proverbs 3:5-6  "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on  

your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and  

he will make your paths straight." 

Awesome. Reverence for God adds hours to each day. How cool is that? I keep reminding myself that God WANTS me to succeed in all that I do, He just wants me to do it through Him. He wants to be the strength through it all, He wants to be the comfort in my weak moments, and He knows that I cannot do it without Him. I can see Him begging for me to not try to do this on my own, because I will get bogged down and fail every time. The goal this week is not to get everything finished, but to keep my priorities straight for the duration of the time. I pray that not only do I find my quiet time with Him every morning, but that I can find a moment of rest and thankfulness in each day. The Bible says to make "every effort to enter that rest." Who knew rest was so important? In this busy life we always focus on what comes next and soon enough your life has passed you by and you haven't accomplished anything you wanted. Rest in Christ. Love the people around you. Focus on the important things in life and leave the stress to God, who is more powerful than you. And my final goal for this week? Do everything with a smile!

"I Wanna be a Millionaire so Freakin' Bad..."

Lately I have had to interview people to fill different positions in campus organizations. Of course, this isn't a real job, BUT many of the same interview rules apply. No matter what you are interviewing for (and I have been through SO MANY interviews between organizations and internships), it is crucial to show the position's importance to you. As a graduating senior, I have been consistently reading about resumes and interviewing and these are some of the best tips I have found. 

20 Tips to dominate your next interview:

1. 10 seconds to sell or say so long
Unless your resume catches the interviewer's eye in 10 seconds it's over, you're done. So the big question is how do I catch the interviewer's eye? Here comes the best advice on how to get a job interview you'll ever get. Cater your resume to the job description! I can't stress this point enough. It's imperative that you cater your resume to each position you apply for. And I mean taking each line on the job description and writing a line on your resume to reflect your experience with regard to that line.
Yes, it takes more time than sending the same resume to 100's of jobs, but you're far better off applying to a fraction of those jobs with a resume specifically written for each job. Put yourself in the interviewer's shoes. Their job is to hire the most qualified candidate. They've been given a set of qualifications to look for: aka the job description, and that's exactly what they're after, so give it to them!
2. Be on time
There is no excuse for it, none! You don't want a pissed off person interviewing you. Leave extra early, do whatever it takes. Blaming it on traffic or anything else doesn't matter (even if it's true).
3. Cell phone off
Obvious but easily forgotten, at least it was with 2 of the people interviewed. Double and triple check to make sure your cell phone ringer is turned off.
4. Know the company, and why you want to work there
Google the company you're interviewing for. Learn as much as you can about the company's mission, objectives, goals, and future plans. If you're asked why you want to work for the company, you best answer something better then, "I like the company's location", which was said.
5. Bring resumes
Your interviewer(s) will likely have a copy of your resume but bring spares. It shows you're prepared and serious about getting the job.
6. Bring a notepad
Very few people bring a notepad with them to a job interview. It's a very subtle thing that makes you stand out. Take notes when appropriate.
7. Dress in a clean conservative manner
Make sure you go into a job interview having showered and wearing clean clothes. If you like wearing cologne or perfume, don't wear any on the day of the interview. What's subtle smelling to you may be overwhelming to your interviewer.
8. Profiles to private
If you don't think interviewers Google you or look you up on Facebook or MySpace, you're crazy. Hiring managers I've talked to all do this, as one put it, "to weed out people who wouldn't be a good fit in the company's culture." Don't give them ammo to not like you, set your profiles to private.
9. Don't make jokes
Too many people think they are funny when in reality they're not. A job interview isn't the place to test your material. Be friendly and outgoing, save the jokes.
10. Don't babble
When answering a question, answer the question. Don't start out answering a question and then veer off to talk about something else. Make sure your answer directly reflects the question being asked.
11. Don't badmouth a boss
Bad mouthing a previous boss in a job interview is a huge negative. They may have been the worst boss in the world but expressing that in a job interview is a huge mistake.
12. Don't flirt with the interviewer
Even if he or she is really attractive...
13. Don't play with your face/hair
Interviews can be a nervous experience but rubbing your chin, twirling your hair, or anything else along those lines makes you look like you're lying or lacking confidence, both not good.
14. Less is more
Sometimes certain details of your life are better left unsaid.
15. Have good eye contact
Staring at the floor, ceiling, or wall when speaking or listening makes you appear disinterested. Again, simple and obvious but happens way more then you'd think.
16. Have goals
Maybe you don't have any idea where you want to be in a few years professionally but figure out something to say. If you don't and you're asked, you appear un-ambitious, which leads an interviewer to think you'd be a lazy employee.
17. Have accomplishments
Be prepared to talk about something that you're proud of accomplishing, whether professionally or personally (or a failure and what you learned from it).
18. Have passion
Be able to express why you want to work in that field/industry and what you do to further your knowledge (books, blogs you read). The more intelligent or informed you are the more impressive you'll look.
19. Ask Questions
At the end of the job interview make sure you have some questions to ask. If the interviewer doesn't offer you a chance, ask to ask. Again, it reinforces your strong interest in the job.
20. Send a thank you note
It's easy to send an email but take the extra effort to mail your interviewer a hand written thank you note. It reinforces your interest in the job. It doesn't need to be long, just make it sincere.
There you have it. The best job interview tips you'll ever get. Stick to them and you'll be on your way to getting hired!


www.howtonailaninterview.com

Not My Time (yet)...

I have a habit of getting on Facebook Sunday mornings before church, and every Sunday morning there are at least five new engagements on my NewsFeed. Basically, everyone wants to get engaged on a Saturday night (guys...come on. get more original) and by Sunday morning all the girls have put it on Facebook. So far this year I have received SIX "Save the Dates." I can't fit much more in my schedule and the more weddings I have, the smaller your wedding gifts get. So in the midst of this engagement frenzy and wedding planning craziness, I have thought of a few reasons why I am not in a hurry to get married.

21 reasons Rachael Gilbert is not getting married at 21:
1. You can walk into my bathroom and know it's not going to smell.
2. You can sleep horizontal in your bed.
3. You can eat all of the "dinner for two."
4. You can have girl nights without consulting anyone.
5. You can watch TLC without complaints.
6. You can spend your money on whatever you want.
7. No one sees what you look like first thing in the morning.
8. There's half the housework to do.
9.  I don't like touching toilet seats.
10. You can have all the closet space.
11. There's no pressure to make the bed in the morning.
12. You don't have to trade miniskirts for minivans.
13. No one is financially stable yet.
14. I still have a lot of school left.
15. You'll never have another first date.
16. You can move to any city you want.
17. Weddings are expensive and I am broke.
18. Only your music plays in your house.
19. It doesn't matter if you burn dinner.
20. He might find out your crazy, or worse-you might find out there's actually someone crazier than you.
21. Because no one asked...


Disclaimer: Shout out to my boyfriend Kyle and all the weddings I am in this year. I still love you guys!

Papa Turns 70!

Here are a few good pictures from Papa's birthday party on October 1...

The Great Divorce

   I am working on an extensive crisis research paper for my Media Programming class. Our assignment was to choose a crisis in the past two years and research on how the media covered it and the public relations efforts that were implemented. I thought about it, but it didn't take long for me to come up with what I thought was a HUGE crisis. Many people would choose something normal...the BP Oil Spill, the Toyota mess, the toy recalls...but I chose the most important...The Divorce of Jon and Kate Plus Eight! 

I mean, who can deny this was a huge crisis for America, for television, for TLC and for the family itself? I am in the process of researching the statements TLC released about the tabloid allegations and the statements released from Jon and Kate individually. 

Of course, I have my own opinions (Jon is a tool bag), like most people do, but it will be interesting to see how the media framed my opinions along with the public opinion. Until then, watch Kate plus Eight and stay tuned to be influenced on your opinion of Jon Gosselin!

Mission Possible.

My group has continuously been working on the OurBlook.com public relations campaign this week. One of my assignments was to write a mission statement for the Journalism Resource Center. This sounds easy, but don't be fooled. Trying to come up with a mission for someone else's company is difficult, and this statement represents the company and it's goals for the entirety of its existence. In order to draft the mission statement for OurBlook, I first did research about what a good mission statement should include. It needs to provide direction, a vision and a goal. 

Then I got hungry...and started craving my new favorite food...

So naturally I looked up Chick-Fil-A's mission statement and it said, "Be America's best quick service restaurant."

Genius. I think they have accomplished this, but that's just my opinion.

Here are some great tips I gathered before I wrote the mission statement:

1. Bring in many perspectives. 

    In order to do this, I talked to the company employees as well as my group members to     see what they thought should be included.

2. Allow enough time. 

    I am glad I did this. I started drafting ideas, made changes as I read it the following days and got input from my fellow members.

3. Be open to new ideas. 

    To be close minded is to be ignorant. My group members saw different perspectives than me and our collaboration is what will make this a successful campaign.

Here is what I came up with for OurBlook.com's Journalism Resource Center:

"The mission of OurBlook.com's Journalism Resource Center is to provide the journalism world with a dynamic online atmosphere that will empower students, professors and practitioners to acquire the tools and knowledge they need by engaging in conversation about subjects that will define our future."

"Fashion fades, only style remains the same." - Coco Chanel

Have you ever wondered how the Associated Press got to make all the grammar rules for journalists across the world? Why do they get to decide whether I write website or Web site in my article? Why can I say teenager but not say teenaged? 

No matter what my thoughts are, the AP Stylebook is important to the journalism world. Each year a new addition comes out with new changes, and it is important for journalists to stay on top of the changes. Since I have been in college, MySpace has become a lesser used source than Facebook and Twitter was developed. These are used in many stories and journalists need to have a blanket, common way to reference them. 

The AP Stylebook also includes text/IM abbreviations, such as G2G (got to go), BRB (be right back) and POS (parent over shoulder). I thought there was a different meaning for POS, but that is another story. AP Stylebook, you are just so young, hip and internet savvy. I'm impressed! Maybe parents should get ahold of this book to understand their children's texts, or maybe they should just go to UrbanDictionary.com. 


AND just incase you were wanting to freelance write about the teenager you met in your backyard while promoting a policymaker's online fundraising event in the Midwest, you need to look at this chart for the new spelling changes...

I think that is enough style for today. At my internship at Hillcrest Hospital, I have been working on stories for their next newsletter going out. One of my stories is on their Wellness Center and how to burn calories by doing daily chores. Stay tuned if you want to fit back into your skinny jeans!


Until then, TTYL, BRB and G2G.

Hello Kylie.

Recently I found out that Kylie Borgen stalks my blog posts. It's flattering, really.


   Today in Media Programming we talked to Sandy Ordinez via Skype conference call. Sandy works for OurBlook.com which is a philanthropic site that takes a topic, has experts blog on it, then combines all the blogs into one online book. Blook. 

    I was the first in the class to ask Sandy a question in which she told me that I asked a great question! Thanks Sandy, I love confidence boosters! After a few more questions were asked, I realized that Kylie, Ashley, Kelsey and everyone else also had a "great question!" Darn. So maybe mine wasn't so great after all, but here is what I asked:


What would you say OurBlook.com's key mission is?


Answer: To provide the journalism world with authoritative information and to give journalism and communication students access to tools and skills they need because STUDENTS ARE THE FUTURE; therefore, the more educated the student, the better the industry.  


I am the future. My classmates are the future. Isn't that scary? 
Anyway, our class is creating a PR campaign for OurBlook.com to implement at the end of the semester. We are doing everything from press releases to social media to competitions. This is a big project, but I am excited to see what our group can come up with. Watch out Sandy, you're going to get blown away!

The Capstone Course

   This semester I am taking Media Programming. This is the final class in my major requirements and it combines all the skills I have learned in my past classes and requires multiple projects to implement everything I have learned. My teacher kept referring to it as a "capstone" course. "Since this is a capstone course..." and so on. I kept wondering what I had agreed to. It reminded me of "Princeton Review course" or some kind of extra effort honors course that I accidently got myself into. I felt ignorant that I didn't know what the word meant. I guess my not-so-hot verbal GRE score was an accurate reflection of my vocabulary. The last time she referred to the course as "capstone," I looked at Ashley Dunn next to me and whispered "what in the world is capstone?" She just smiled and shrugged. We were both clueless. Finally, I raised my hand and asked. Dr. Moody just laughed and said it only means that it's a class that combines all the classes you have already taken. I already knew that, just not the term. 

A capstone is actually the stone placed on top of the pyramid. Makes sense, right? This is taken from the dollar. The "eye of the capstone."

When I left the class I was walking to Social Dance (my next class- don't be jealous) and right outside the building there was this truck...

I am not sure what capstone means in their case, but it looks like the word will be with me for a while.

   One of my assignments in this class is to keep up this blog! Cool, right? I also have to "tweet" on my Twitter four times a week. I have to create a Twitter Party. I have to work on a Facebook crisis. I have to be social media savvy. Life is awesome. There's a catch. I have to blog and tweet about public relations trends. This will help me get familiar with what is going on in my career world. I am aware this is a personal blog, so I am going to mix my personal life with the public relations trends I discover. It will be real. It will be fun. It will be real fun. 

   In other news, I got a great internship at Hillcrest Baptist Hospital! I will be working in their marketing/communications department. The department covers everything from marketing to media to public relations. I will be able to get my hands on a little of everything. I have a meeting in the morning with the department to go over my semester assignments. I am very excited and will keep everyone updated on what I get to do! I know you are all dying to hear it.

   Back to business- In class we discussed terms that we might not know. For those of you who don't know what Twitter is, (shout out to Grammie) it is a social networking site where you basically post something that is 140 characters or less. You can say anything from "I am taking the dog on a walk" to "Today President Obama played basketball with each of his delegates and won by a huge margin. Go get em' Pres!" It's your thought. Say whatever you want. It's a "status update" for those who are on Facebook. I also learned Twitter lingo. A hash tag (#) is just a tool for tracking topics. My tweet could say "At the beach, soaking up the sun, watching surfers and drinking a lemonade #lovelife." The "#lovelife" will go to a separate site where other people have tagged one of their posts to "#lovelife."  (Grammie, are you confused yet? Letters are easier, I know.) I also learned about Twitter Parties. I create a Party and invite people then we all get online at the same time and talk to each other. Sounds like a party to me! I don't know how this is a great tool for the career world- but feel free to let me know if you think it is.

For those who aren't sure what public pelations is and only know that I am majoring in it (shout out to Mom)... Public Relations is the art of creating an understanding for , or goodwill on behalf of someone or something. Public relations basically creates an image. It places importance on people, cooperative problem-solving and building strong relationships. It leaves room for challenges, creativity and has a high level of importance in society. Most people don't realize public relations when they see it, but watch out, it's surrounding you!

Are You Smart Enough For Graduate School?

I have had the GRE scheduled for August 6 since May. Since May, I have not studied for this precious graduate school entrance exam. I have been planning on pushing it back until the end of September. When I went to reschedule it online at 1:30 a.m. Tuesday morning, I found out that I was an hour and a half too late to reschedule. It had to be done Monday by midnight. So, surprise! I am taking the GRE on Friday. That's right, 2 study days away. Except I am babysitting on Thursday, so correction: 1 study day away. I just did a set of 10 verbal questions. Here is my first one:




Choose one entry for each blank from the corresponding column of choices.


1. The Objectivist mantra, "A is A," is of course a (i)________ with which no logical person could disagree. The problem is that those who cite this axiom invariably proceed to substitute in different concepts for the first A and the second, in a feat of verbal (ii)________ worthy of a stage magician, and then proceed as if the interchangeability of these concepts is indisputable.


    (i)                   
filigree
tautology
quandary


    (ii)
peregrination
prestidigitation
peroration




Am I an idiot or does this sound like hog wash to you too? Looks like my 4 hour test on Friday is going to be a BLAST!
((disclaimer: I actually got this question right. A pure genius guess.))

Too Early for Fall? Oh Well.

Oh, I have so much to catch up on! Are you ready for this quick 2 week recap? Let's go!


Last weekend we had a girls weekend in Dallas. The ultimate mission was to take Mary Katherine, Kristen and Hannah to Sprinkles Cupcakes since they had never been. We met up with Courtney Novak who lives in Dallas and she was our tour guide for the day. Mrs. Novak welcomed us into her home for dinner after a long day and we had such a delightful trip! LOVED it.

Courtney, Kristen, Me, Hannah and MK @ the Novak residence

                                      

@ Sprinkles Cupcakes

The rest of the week had a few highlights also. Hannah and I had a tendency to spend late nights on the couch watching movies and The Kardashians while working on scrapbook projects. We just laugh at how pathetic we are. One night we watched Revolutionary Road...BIG MISTAKE. I really hope marriage isn't like it is portrayed in the movie. We just started laughing afterward. I am not sure if we were laughing because we were so nervous about our future, shocked, or depressed. Either way, we quickly turned on an episode of Sex and the City for relief. I also watched The Other Boleyn Girl and Where The Heart Is this week. Of course, the Boyeln girl gets beheaded so that was pretty depressing and did you realize that the end of Where The Heart Is is filmed in the quad on Baylor's campus?! Go check it out, it's awesome. Oh, and did I mention I should have been studying for the GRE? oops.

In other news this week, I ran out of kitchen trash bags. Because I couldn't seem to remember to get a new box of them, I became very environmentally friendly. I would only make food and do things that would cause minimal trash. For instance, if you make a sandwich you typically have no trash! The bread loaf still had a lot left, and I just used some peanut butter and honey. You can't drink anything out of a bottle either, that causes trash, so you can only use glasses. A real problem came when I made spaghetti for Hannah and I one night. We ended up using the tiny HEB bag that the meat came in for our trash bag. I even dreamed that my neighbor came over and offered me trash bags. Too bad that didn't happen. Come on neighbs!  

HIGHLIGHT-- After having a brand new washer and dryer dropped in my living room by my landlords for a week and a half... I finally got it installed!! The guy hooked it up backward though, so my cold is really hot, and hot is really cold...but that's ok. No complaining here!

So this weekend my little sister and Mom came up to Waco. We drove to Canton, TX on Saturday morning to have our first Trade Days experience. We woke up at 7 a.m. and didn't go to bed until we were finished decorating at 2 a.m. the next morning. I was so proud of my mom, she worked so hard WAY past her bed time! I ended up bringing home a dining room hutch, a shelf for my room and an antique fireplace mantle for my room. To get this all home we had to lay down all the back seats and Hannah, my little sister, sat on the console in the front seat for the two hour trip back. What a great sport! We also decorated the house for fall already. A little early, but I won't have time or mom here to help me during school. Want to see pictures? I bet you do!

fireplace fall decor

My new hutch-- the back is made out of an old wooden teal door!

close up in the hutch cabinet 

the dining room is ready for fall too

the new shelf in my room

new mantle in my room

didn't you want another view?

That's all for now.

OH DID I MENTION KYLE COMES HOME NEXT WEEK? VICTORY!

"Unwanted Babies", Best Friends, Hips, Bachelors and Boyfriends...

Well, I found out people actually read my blog. I didn't post anything for a week and got 4 e-mails and a few comments from friends asking why I hadn't updated anything. I was surprised, but it's all about supply and demand, so here are a few highlights from my last week:
I feel like I have become an honorary member to the "mom's club" at the country club in Waco. I babysit 2 precious kids every Thursday and then randomly throughout the week. Katie is 6 and Jackson is 4 and they are the most entertaining part of my summer. We have become regulars at the country club pool and have lots of fun conversations in our many car rides like: why some girls are pregnant without being married, why I am old but don't have a baby in my tummy, how it's possible to have a baby in your tummy when you don't want it there, what to do with a baby in your tummy that you don't want, why I live with another girl at my apartment, why boys go potty standing up but girls sit down, why Kyle doesn't live with me, and my personal favorite...why do I "get" to wear a bra and Katie doesn't, even though we are both girls? These are very thought provoking questions and my simple answers usually just lead to more tough questions. They are smart kids and I am constantly fumbling over words to try and give them a good answer without too much information! We have lots of fun together. Their mom always acts excited when I say that I will come keep them, she should know by now that I will never say no.

Jackson's tiger face paint @ Kid's Day

Katie @ Kid's Day

Jackson and Katie @ the children's museum

This weekend I got to see my best friend, Rachel, for the first time all summer! She has been a camp counselor in Colorado and drove up to Waco on Saturday morning and we drove together to the lake house in New Braunfels. We spent Saturday floating the Comal River and Sunday we skied/wakeboarded on Canyon Lake. It was Rachel's first time to get up on the skis and she was a pro. We had a great time catching up. There were lots of laughs and memories made!

our grasshopper friend we found on the front porch

on our way to Gruene for dinner

Rachel on the skis

My face of determination

ZUMBA. If you don't know what I am talking about, go YouTube Zumba so you know what you are missing out on. I hate working out, I really really do, but I have recently become a Zumba addict. I go to Zumba class Monday-Thursday for an hour each day. It is by far one of the best times of my week! It is an awesome work out and so much fun. A bunch of my friends go with me and we get to shake our hips and break out some crazy dance moves all while sweating our tails off! It's true, our hips don't lie.

Bachelorette-- Chris or Roberto? I am so torn. Chris cracks me up and is so sweet. Roberto is smokin' and really genuine. I'm glad I am not making the decision, I would feel bad cutting either of them.


I get to see Kyle almost everyday on Skype. Skype changes lives, seriously. What if we had to do this the old fashion way where we just wrote letters back and forth? Romantic, maybe. Practical, heck no. Annoying, definitely. I get to see his face every single day. I am a lucky girl! We are going to have a Skype movie date soon, where we will both watch a movie on my computer, even though we are across the world. Precious, I know.


I am still working on Crazy Love, slowly, but surely.
I have had a song stuck in my head all day and I think the lyrics are so beautiful...


What do I Know of Holy by Addison Road


I made You promises a thousand times
I tried to hear from Heaven
But I talked the whole time
I think I made You too small
I never feared You at all No
If You touched my face would I know You?
Looked into my eyes could I behold You?

What do I know of You
Who spoke me into motion?
Where have I even stood
But the shore along Your ocean?
Are You fire? Are You fury?
Are You sacred? Are You beautiful?
What do I know? What do I know of Holy?

I guess I thought that I had figured You out
I knew all the stories and I learned to talk about
How You were mighty to save
Those were only empty words on a page
Then I caught a glimpse of who You might be
The slightest hint of You brought me down to my knees

What do I know of You
Who spoke me into motion?
Where have I even stood
But the shore along Your ocean?
Are You fire? Are You fury?
Are You sacred? Are You beautiful?
What do I know? What do I know of Holy?