The Good, the Bad... and Everything in Between

I'm back, just not here.

2008-08-19T00:52:00.005-04:00

When I feel the need or need to break from 8th quarter, I'll be blogging on our wedding blog at www.mywedding.com/belshaharris.

Oh, did I mention we're engaged?!? Yep, read all about it! Not sure what I'll be doing with this particular space, but until I graduate and get hired, I hope to not have so much "drama" - at least not much that doesn't revolve around insane floral quotes and debates about the color of the groomsman's ties. I'm so excited!

Fred Heads 08

2007-09-06T01:05:00.001-04:00

Fred Thompson for President!

2007-09-06T00:00:00.000-04:00

Former senator and actor Fred Dalton Thompson announced he is "runnin for president of the United States," Wednesday night on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno! I couldn't be more excited. He hasn't spent any money yet and he's second in the polls. That definitely says something! Meanwhile, the other Republican candidates are in the middle of a debate. Gee, I wonder what people chose to watch, the debate or the Tonight show. Smart thinking Fred. ;)

I knew it was coming this week, but I'm so glad it's finally official. I've been listening to all the candidates up to this point in debates and interviews with Sean Hannity on his radio show, and he is by far the strongest candidate. Some of the others don’t represent conservative values at all, i.e. Ron Paul who was ranting about pulling out from Iraq in the debate tonight. He said — and I quote — “We should not go to war when it’s an aggressive war!” Hmm, aren’t most wars aggressive? (I didn’t even know who this guy was so I’m not worried about him.)

I've already became a "friend of Fred" weeks ago at I'm with Fred.com which has just become his official campaign site announced just minutes ago.

Now that my choice is officially in the race, you'll be hearing more from me on this subject in the months to come.

They should bring back the talent competition

2007-08-28T09:40:00.000-04:00

(Sorry, I have to remove this video until I find out why it's messed up my format)

When I heard about this, I felt sorry for her. Then I watched the clip. It was a strange question to begin with, but her answer wasn't even coherent. I've had friends in the Miss Teen USA Pageant and I know they are more intelligent than her, so how did she get to the final five?

The "USA" pageants are going downhill and this is just another example. May I remind you of the numerous scandals in the past year.

I blame it on not having a talent competition. That's why I stopped watching. It takes a more focused person to work on a talent and prepare it for a national performance. Otherwise these girls are just being judged on their "fitness level" because it's obvious the pre-interviews haven't screened for intelligence.

Poor thing. Maybe her mom should stop taking her out of school for pageant stuff.

8.

2007-08-23T10:02:00.000-04:00

My dad was a merman!

Or so I believed until I was ten or eleven years old. Long after I found out that Santa Clause and the Easter Bunny weren't legit, I believed my dad was really a merman, and if he was a merman, I must be a mermaid. (And if that was the case, I was a decendent of Ariel.)

This picture was above my mom's desk in the kitchen for as long as I can remember and I seriously thought it held a huge family secret that only showed in pictures of him underwater. I never told anyone this, not my mom or my brothers; especially not my dad. I figured if he'd tell me when the time was right. Meanwhile, I would put salt in the bathtub every year or so to see if my tail would show.

Maybe it's because of The Little Mermaid, or maybe I was just a strange kid, but I still hold onto the dream that it's all true.

Datablitz: 8 Things You Might Not Know About Me

2007-08-23T09:54:00.000-04:00

Here it is, finally, my Datablitz. I know you've all been waiting ;)

Delta Lost My Luggage!

2007-08-20T23:51:00.001-04:00

It may have been American Airline’s fault, but since Delta was not helpful at all last night, I’m placing the blame where I see fit. As I waited in line amongst a dozen other disgruntled travelers, I overheard one of the Delta crewmembers tell another, “WE don’t ever transfer the bags from one airline to another,” or something to that effect in a semi-sarcastic tone. Sucks for me; I thought they did.

I wouldn’t be so upset except my camera, glasses, pearls my dad gave my mom and mom gave me, a gold bracelet and necklace, 2 favorite dresses, 2 pairs of dressy sandals I love with matching purses ¬– a girl needs options even if she’s only traveling for 24 hours – all my best makeup, 2 curling irons, Andy’s suit, two Banana shirts and three ties – he only needed the options to coordinate with all my options – and so much more are in there. Not to mention three new Intimacy bras worth twice what Delta will give you alone if they can’t find it! I won’t bore you with the whole list but let’s just say I’m not a happy passenger.

Andy and I spent the weekend in Lubbock, TX, where went to the wedding of two of my friends from college, Alyssa and Craig. Alyssa and I sat next to each other in the soprano I section of the FUMC Chancel Choir for three years, and being two of the five or six young people in the choir, we bonded, sharing relationship dilemmas and planning our weddings from the balcony of the church where we sat with the choir at the beginning of each Sunday service. When she started dating Craig, everyone could see that special sparkle. He gave me some seriously useful relationship advice not long after, that somehow stuck more than what the rest of my family and friends were saying. I have to thank him for that.

The ceremony was absolutely beautiful. The bride and the bridal party were beautiful. The church was stunning as always with its stained glass windows, huge organ, carillon, high ceilings and of course, amazing choir.

I realized just how much I missed singing in the choir every Sunday and rehearsing very Wednesday. It was strange not to be up there with them. At the reception, my friend Josh and I decided for my wedding, I need to just fly the choir to Ireland or wherever my wedding ends up. That would be easier than getting everyone into Lubbock. ;) (Did I mention you pretty much have to fly to Dallas or Houston to get anywhere else from Lubbock? Not very convenient.)

Oh yeah, I CAUGHT THE BOUQUET! Alyssa totally planned it, but that’s ok with me. If I ever get my bag back, I’ll include the pictures, complete with Andy’s bright red face.

We flew back from Lubbock to Dallas on American Eagle. Our flight was delayed for 30 minutes, but that was ok and fairly expected. We saw the bride and groom again waiting for their flight and wished them well. When we finally arrived in Dallas, we had to sit on the runway for another thirty minutes while we were towed in by a Chevy because the steering went out – and this was the second plane they sent, makes me wonder what was wrong with the first.

I waited to post this blog because I thought my stuff would be here, but it’s not and now I can officially complain about it!

Dream Diary: Shotgun Wedding?

2007-08-16T14:07:00.000-04:00

Disclaimer: I know I have high expectations and I want my wedding to be perfect, but I know that's not the important thing, the marriage is. That being said:

Last night I had a nightmare. Weddings have been on my mind for – well – probably since I saw Cinderella the first time. I use to not be able to see the groom, but now I see Andy, only, in my dream last night, I saw him before the ceremony. Dressed like normal and acting like everyday, like nothing special was about to happen. I definitely don’t think the groom should see the bride before the ceremony, so I was asking him what was going on and generally freaking out, but that’s just the beginning.

I’ve had the dream before (in various ways) where I know it’s my wedding day but I don’t know who the groom is or if I do, I know we’re not ready. I freak out because I can’t remember any of the fun stuff, like the engagement, but worst of all in my mind: I didn’t plan anything. When I look around, everything is tacky or not decorated at all and the reception site is awful.

In my dream last night, I didn’t even recognize the church. I showed up in a dress that was awful on me and as soon as I got out of the limo, it got dirty somehow. The next thing I know, Andy was there, saying not to worry. I was really confused at that point but kept thinking that everything was ruined. I must have changed into street clothes and I went into this tiny bathroom to try to do my own hair and makeup. (Yikes)

Someone was with me – one of my friends or girl cousins – and I was telling them how upset I was about doing my own makeup and how nothing is the way I want it to be, but I told her, “At least I’m not showing yet.”

Yeah, and that was the turning point from “bad dream” to “nightmare.”

I then realized I was missing my makeup bag so I started running down the hall of the church looking for my mom and I ran into the choir room where a mix of my church choirs from home and Lubbock were gathered, about to start getting ready to sing at the ceremony. To my disgust, they started singing, "Here Comes the Bride," which is so typical and cheesy that I definately don't want it used at my wedding, especially not sung! My director from home, Mr. Galasso, saw me come in and said I should hurry and get ready. I ran back into the ladies room crying hysterically and then I started a sneezing fit.

I woke up and immediately sneezed three times.

Sunday Night Blah

2007-08-12T22:24:00.000-04:00

Friday night has so many possibilities:

But this is Sunday night, Andy is kicking me out so he can go to bed:

Sunday night depresses me. After church and lunch, on a typical Sunday, the night is spent in preperation for Monday. I think I've finally realized how quickly weekends go by when you have a real job, and I don't even have one yet. And as much as I'm looking forward to being "out in the real world," when I am, I really hope I can find time to do other things I love and spend time with family and friends. Andy's got a set schedule now as a teacher, so I guess that got me thinking how once you grow up, free time is few and far between and weekends fly by. It's not like I didn't know that, but I'm not gonna have summers off like he does, and I'll probably be working longer hours, etc. Makes me sad. all the more reason to find a job I'll love.

Somehow, Monday is quickly approaching and I've managed to hardly accomplish any of my targeted tasks. The first of which would be my data blitz. It's a work in progress. I keep changing my mind. I'll probably do my "Eight things you might not know about me" which is for this blog because I was tagged – unless anyone has a better idea. ;) I guess I can't dance with Ty again.

I spent the rest of the afternoon trying to figure out HTML to make this blog better. Keep checking for updates. I may just change this whole thing, you never know. Off to bed; bring on the week.

Dream Diary

2007-08-08T09:32:00.000-04:00

I have incredibly random dreams. Almost every night, I have at least two bizarre dreams that I can vaguely remember and if I hit the snooze button, there are usually more – especially lately. In the past three nights I’ve probably had 12 strange dreams. The night before last I had three nightmares involving sharks(I’m not typically afraid of them) and woke up scared but now I can’t remember any details. So, I’m gonna try waking up and blogging about my dreams right away before I forget everything. This should be entertaining if nothing else. Maybe some of y’all will have some input as to what they mean…

The dream I remember, before Andy called to wake me up the first time, was about InDesign class. Yes, I had that class last night and it went on for the full five hours. I’m really enjoying that class and learning so much, but reliving it in my dreams is a little much. There were two sections. In the first, it was sort of class as usual, except we were working in a much cooler lab with colored walls, ergonomically correct chairs, track lighting, etc. (I never dream about actually being in PC).
In the second section, Belfi, our instructor, wanted us to bring in a stack of some of our old T-shirts. My stack had four shirts, all very similar, all very nerdy, all from this ice skating show called Stars on Ice that my mom and I went to every year. I would always get a T-shirt, even though they never had them in my size so they were always way too big. I know I kept them at home, in a huge bin filled with all my shirts from school organizations, All-State choir, pep squad, drill team, etc. My mom said she was planning to make a quilt or something from them one day. Eek. Anyway, I put one of the shirts on and it immediately changed from white to bright red (I almost always dream in color) and Beli started saying what a great piece it was, like it was a work of art or something. Completely random, I have no idea what that means.

My next dream makes a little more sense given that I’ve been wanting to go ice skating lately. If I haven’t mentioned on here before, I used to skate competitively for over five years. I miss it. Anyway, I dreamed I was going up to Canada to visit my friends to celebrate Big Foot Day. These are friends from Lubbock, TX, (Lizzie, Alissa, Josh, Blake, Craig, James (all from the church choir I was a part of while I was at school there). I just made arrangements to fly there and see them all for Alissa and Craig’s wedding this month, so I guess they were on my mind. Lizzie is from Canada, so maybe that explains the reason I was going up there, but Big Foot Day? Random.
I arrived in Canada and went straight from the airport, walking with my luggage in the snow, to some sort of dance and ice skating clinic. We did tap, jazz, ballet, lyrical and then changed into our ice skates and skated for a while. Blake and Josh were always dancers in the shows we did at church with me so they were there dancing too, but then Lizzie showed up for the ice skating portion and was telling me all about Big Foot Day and how much they were all looking forward to it. Then we were sitting around the dance studio, taking off our skates and the instructor came up to me and said she gave me a 6.5 for skating and asked me if I was out of practice. The power went out. And I woke up.

So there you have it, two of my random dreams. At least I dream in themes.

"Adverteasing" the Game

2007-08-07T11:05:00.000-04:00

I woke up to this text message this morning. At first I just thought it was like a business "Shoots and Ladders." I had to zoom in to read the titles. How funny. The copywriter pulling her hair out– what reassurance.

As some of you know, Andy will start as a high school teacher officially this Thursday for business and computer software classes. He found this game in his classroom this morning and plans to use it. It's more or less a learning tool.

Oh, and for some of you out there who aren't as proficient as you'd like to be in the Adobe programs, they are teaching them in high school now. Scary, huh. So learn them before these kids get out and steal our jobs! Even scarier, Andy will be teaching them. Just kidding, he'll be great once I teach him. ;)

Astros vs. Braves

2007-08-06T10:32:00.000-04:00

For our six month (semi-)anniversary, Andy surprised me with tickets to the Houston Astros vs Atlanta Braves game! I'm a huge Astros fan and I had looked forward to this game all year. It's been so hard not being able to watch them play at all and instead, having the Braves games on practiclly every night. I recorded the first game of three games Tuesday night and was so upset when I watched it. Astros lost 4 to 12! Yikes. I put my jersey on the next day, hoping for a miracle, and witnessed another dissapointment. We had a great time though. ;) Andy got us fabulous seats — for all the Braves home run action.

(And a really great view of my favorite catcher, Astros #11 Brad Ausmus. Seriously ladies, look for yourself. He made last summer when my dad and I went to at least 10 games together much more pleasing. ;)

Because of both upsets and because I had class Thursday night, I didn't bother to look at the results from Thursday's game. Of course, Astros won.

The Video I Promised

2007-08-04T17:47:00.000-04:00

So, this woman woke us up with her speech at 8 am when we entered Glacier Bay and kept talking on and off for hours, sometimes with minute-long pauses in the middle of a sentence. I think she needs acting lessons to pump up her enthusiasm just a tad. You be the judge.

Let me rant for a moment:

2007-07-28T13:50:00.000-04:00

Why can't chargers and USB cords be universal? I'm so sick of having to keep up with two or more freaking cords for every electronic device I own.
I have a cell phone charger,
a cell phone USB(but apparently I don't need that because I have bluetooth),
a bluetooth headset charger,
a camera battery charger,
a camera USB, a video camera charger,
a video camera connector to the TV,
a video camera USB connector,
an ipod charger,
an Ipod USB connector,
and my MacBook Pro charger(which they sell for $80.)

I don't even consider myself that high tech, these are just the things I had to take with me on the trip. Somehow, I came back with one that I have no idea what it goes to and missing the one for my video camera, because apparently none of the three cords I can find for that are what I need to load the movies I took from the trip. AAah. They make such a huge profit off all these stupid cords, because people have more important things to worry about than keeping track of 15 chagers and after wasting time looking for the right one, they go out and buy a new one. The old one will eventually turn up, but the company has already made extra profit for making things difficult.

I had to plea a similiar argument when my last cell was broken. Under the insurance, they had to replace my phone, but thy couldn't replace it with a phone of the similiar line, nope. It had to be a totally different phone with totally different chargers that I had to buy seperately. Luckily my Marine brother convinced them to include the chargers and they gave me a phone that was at least equivalent to the one I had, but that's another story. ;)

I'm off to look for that freaking video camera USB charger. Stay tuned for video from Glacier Bay and the women who nearly made all of us jump ship just to avoid having to hear any more of her lecture.

Why couldn’t I just stay there?

2007-07-25T10:51:00.000-04:00

I wouldn’t want to miss out on the amazing educational experience that Portfolio Center has to offer. The idea of kayaking in front of a glacier every morning is incredibly intriguing though. Maybe I could really follow Alissa’s advice: make a living from blogging and freelance and then live wherever I want and travel whenever I have the urge. Just a thought, although I think I’ll stick to my set plan of becoming a copywriter then creative director in five or so years. We will see.

With that said, I love Alaska. Last I wrote, I was on the boat, just getting into glacial waters, not sure exactly what to expect from the excursions we signed up for or the towns we were set visit. I thought nothing could top the view from the ship:

The farther inland we went, the more massive the mountains appeared. As a petroleum engineer with a love of geology, my dad would have been like a kid in a candy store looking at all the geological evidence from millions of years of seismic activity and glacial movement. Here's a great example of that from the next day. This is somewhere between Skagway, Alaska, and the Yukon in Canada. (Did I mention we also went to Canada? I'll save the horseback riding and canoeing stories for my next post.)

We docked in Juneau on Tuesday morning, Andy and I set off to Kayak by the Mendenhall Glacier. I still need to get those pictures developed from my waterproof camera, but here’s a side view from a river my mom floated down during her excursion.

On the lake in our two person Kayak, we were joined by an adorable seal. He just followed us around and floated by our group. We were also lucky enough to see three bald eagles, soaring overhead. Before racing the other couples back to the beach(we really got a hang of kayaking together), Andy and I decided we needed to move to Alaska one day, or at least get a kayak.

Five Blogs: Assignment

2007-07-24T03:05:00.000-04:00

Five Blogs worth checking out:
1. http://www.theliberalslies.blogspot.com/
2. http://www.littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/
3. http://www.neptunuslex.com/
4. http://www.crawfishboxes.com/
5. http://www.bloomeryweddings.com/blog/

Random note: I have a great specific blog topic, but I have to get engaged first...or maybe not. Hmm

25 Knots to Alaska

2007-07-16T17:37:00.000-04:00

Sitting on the deck of the Norwegian Pearl, traveling 25 knots to Alaska, I'm in heaven — or at least on my way there. My dad always wanted to go to Alaska and had been planning to as soon as he got better. It's been three months since he passed away and I realize now, more than ever, how important it is to not put things off. Carpe Diem.

In that spirit, my mom and I jumped at the last-minute chance to accompany Andy and his family and church on this trip. There were two cancellations last week. After debate and careful consideration, we decided we couldn't turn the offer down. This is for dad. I, more than anyone else in the family, shared his love of mountains, snow and cold. That's my heaven and I know he's looking down and enjoying the same view as me right now.

I'd like to make a shout out: *Thanks to wireless internet ($.75 per minute) for making this cruise possible for me! Without you, I'd be sitting in PC with no AC, blogging about blogging and missing out the chance of a lifetime. :) With you, I can get all my work done and have fun, too!

Georgia Renaissance Festival

2007-05-28T23:21:00.000-04:00

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I grew up going to the Texas Renaissance Festival every year, so when I found out they had one very similar here I was pretty excited. Andy didn't want to dress up, (he thought it was nerdy or something) but I convinced him to go and we had a fabulous time.

I got pulled on stage to be a zombie in the Ded Bob Show(basically me getting hit on by a skeleton puppet), and Andy got called up to juggle with another entertainer. I didn't know when I volunteered him he would be juggling knives! He did an awesome job though, and the guys sitting underneath the tossing area were not harmed. :)
Can't wait for next year!

Sami and Lucus are MARRIED!

2007-05-12T21:24:00.000-04:00

Yay! Finally!!! I know it isn't real, but I'm so relieved! After years of anguish, Sami's troubles, Kate's plotting and the drama with EJ, Sami is now Mrs. Lucas Roberts! Days of Our Lives is one of my guilty pleasures – so sue me.

On to other weddings, my Uncle Pete's wedding was beautiful. They kissed like teenagers, complete with a leg kick. Very sweet. I love weddings. Sometimes I think I'd make a great wedding planner, but then I realize that I'd probably make all my brides go over budget – or crazy – trying to make their wedding into what I envision as spectacular. I can't help but critique all the weddings I go to. From the floral arrangements, to the lighting, the cake, the music, the dresses, and the list goes on. I can already see myself becoming a little bit of a bridezilla when my day comes. But of course, Mom, I know that the marriage is what's important. ;) (We've had this discussion before whenever my princess tendancies come out).

Oh, and Andy was making fun of me just now for blogging about Days, but he would love the fact that Lucas read Sami this old Irish wedding prayer:
"By the power that Christ brought from heaven, mayst thou love me. As the sun follows its course, mayst thou follow me. As light to the eye, as bread to the hungry, as joy to the heart, may thy presence be with me, oh one that I love, till death comes to part us. …"

Gráim thú, Andy!

This is supposed to be fun...

2007-05-01T00:12:00.000-04:00

Shopping for Shoes
So, this weekend I'm going to Chicago for another Belsha wedding. This time it's my uncle(my dad's brother) who is getting remarried to a wonderful lady that we all adore. This is the sixth wedding in the past 5 years, so every year it's the same. This part of my family is from Chicago, so it's always there, and the reception always lasts at least six hours long. The difference this year is that I am finally bringing my date! YAY! My ex could never make it for one reason or another.
The other thing that's always the same is me shopping for a super cute dress and shoes. I got the dress a while ago( actually got three at once – I love White House Black Market – but, I can't find any shoes! I usually have so much fun shopping for shoes, but not when no one is making what I have in mind. It's so annoying to have that picture in your head of exactly what you want and to not be able to fnd it. It's amazing the crap you can find out there. I should be a shoe designer.
That's why, for our writing for the Web project where we have to create a Web site for a magazine, we came up with a brilliant idea. Our magazine is Blackbook, a fashion/art/culture magazine for men and women. The idea that would solve my shoe dilemma is to have a search engine in the fashion section, where you could type in what you're looking for (in this case ivory dress sandals) and it would tell you where in Atlanta to find them. Meredith's extension of this idea would be to have personal shoppers for those items that may be more difficult to find, that you could hire to find them for you. I need one right now. When I begin to dislike shoe shopping, something's gotta give.

Radio
I was really looking forward to this class, but now i'm not sure what to think of it. I went in there today with what I thought was a great concept and a couple of my peers felt the need to bash it, which I wouldn't mind if they had something constructive to say. I think(in all my free time) I'm gonna work on more clients and concepts alone so I can be sure to actually get something out of this for my portfolio. At this point, I'm not liking any of the assignments we have had, besides this past one. That doesn't matter as much as the fact that this class is subjective and I've come to realize this particular instructor may just not like my style and I will take comments from certain peers with a grain of salt.

I better go practice the song I'm singing in this wedding...
until next time ;)

Back to "Reality"

2007-04-23T23:21:00.000-04:00

Today was my first day back to class, and it was a long one - or maybe it just felt that way because I stayed up till three writing a radio ad. I'm not sure what our instructor is looking for in that class, but apparently no one is doing it. I want to hear his criticism, but there's constructive and then there's just criticism, which is what I feel like I get from certain other students in that class. Oh well, I know who has a clue and who doesn't, but how irritating.

I know it's best to jump back in and do everything so that's what I'm trying to do. It's just hard to get back in the swing of things after the past couple of weeks. nI'm just glad I have my friends and especially Andy to keep me calm when I feel overwhelmed. By Thursday (or Wed night girl's night), I should feel a lot better, especially if I have time to do the stuff I really should like laundry and grocery shopping. For now, I have a little over 24 hours to come up with a children's book and rough sketches. :)

My dad

2007-04-20T11:06:00.000-04:00

Most of y'all know what happened after my previous post, but if not, I'll explain why I haven't written in over a week. Tuesday, April 10th, after four years of waiting, went in to get his liver transplant. He called before he went into surgery, excited and looking forward to hopefully feel better. We said I love you and he told me to go to class. ;)
Since my senior year in high school, he's been sick. First they though it was cancer, but after surgery at MD Anderson, he was diagnosed with Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis (Walter Payton's Disease). When they went in to get his old liver out, there were so many complications from scar tissue and extra blood vessels that the surgery took much longer than normal and his body was too weak to accept the new liver.
I flew home as soon as I knew the surgery was going too long and was there by his side with the rest of my family when he passed. I can't believe he's gone. I just keep telling myself he's in a better place doing all the things he was too sick to do anymore. He was the greatest father and role model and I'm lucky to have had so much time with him. Here's what we wrote for the paper to share some insight into his life:

THOMAS CARL BELSHA, SR., beloved husband, father, brother, son and friend, passed away 4/10/07 of Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis. Born in St. Louis, MO, 3/18/1952, to Elmer and Ruth Belsha, he grew up in Jennings, MO. He attended The University of Missouri at Rolla from 1970-74, where he played football his freshman year. After graduation in 1974 with a B.S. in Petroleum Engineering he worked for Amoco Production Co. in Andrews, TX, and Houston, TX, where he met and married Robin Glasgow Richards in 1977. He later worked for Union Texas Petroleum in Houston, Lafayette, LA and Denver, CO, and once again in Houston. For the remainder of his career, he worked for Scana Petroleum and Seagull Energy which became Ocean Energy, now part of Devon Energy. Active in his community, this Eagle Scout was a leader in Boy Scouts and Indian Princesses. He devoted many years supporting his children’s activities at J. E. Taylor High School parent groups for football, Pacesetters and choir, chaperoning many choir trips. As a 23 year member of St. Peter’s United Methodist Church in Katy, he served on the Board of Trustees, Finance Committee, youth group leader, Sunday School teacher, Usher and sang in the chancel and men’s choirs. Memberships included Kappa Sigma Fraternity, The Society of Petroleum Engineers, and Trinity University’s PAWS football parents group. An avid sportsman, he especially loved football, baseball, basketball, golf, hunting, snow skiing, camping and any activity involving his children and friends. He is survived by his cherished wife of 28 years, Robin Richards Belsha; their children, Thomas Carl Belsha, Jr., John Logan Belsha, Rebecca Marie Belsha, Jerissa Poulson Belsha his daughter-in-law; his mother Ruth Abstein Belsha; brothers: Dennis, Peter, Robert and Craig; his mother-in-law Mary Lynn J. Richards and a large extended group of family and friends. Thomas Carl Belsha, Sr.’s warmth, wit, kindness, ethics, leadership and dedication to the important things in life were an inspiration to all who knew him.

My brothers and I planned the memorial service with scripture and songs that meant a lot to him. We put together a slide show and recorded the songs, Psalm 139 and Recollection of Joy:

I Thank my God when I remember you, for he has blessed my life with yours. In every prayer of mine for you, I'm filled with joy! For I hold you, I hold you in my heart.

Say a prayer...

2007-04-10T02:07:00.000-04:00

My Dad is having liver transplant surgery as I write this. He's been on the list for over four years, and finally got a call this moning that they had a match. He's been under for about ten hours a this point and all I know is that due to his previous surgeries, things are complicated. So, please say a prayer. Andy and Chrissy are here with me. We've been watching "The Bachelor" and my new favorite movie, "The Holiday." I'm so lucky to have such a great guy and friends that are here for me to distract and think good thoughts.

It seems silly to me that I'm here working on an "art object" – a shirt with huge wings that is supposed to tell the story of who I am right now – while my family is in Houston waiting at the hospital.

To blog about anything else, I had a nice Easter this weekend with Andy and his family. This was the first Easter that I haven't worn a new dress because it was 30 degrees outside. I had the cutest one picked out too, but I'll have to save it. Andy's mom is so sweet. She made me an Easter basket and for my birthday, baked my favorite kind of cake and got me the cutest outfit from Banana Republic! I think his parents like me ;)

Six Flags or not

2007-04-05T08:28:00.000-04:00

I got up at 4:30 this morning (at the first ring of my alarm) to meet Chrissy, Mer and Ty at 5:15. Apparently, that was not early enough. The radio station 100.5 was letting people into Six Flags this morning for free between 6 and 9 am. We figured if we left my place around 5:15, we'd be there early enough, but on the way a around 5:50, they announced that Six Flags was over capacity. Over 15,000 people got in before 6 am and the doors closed. They even had to close the exit ramps off I-20. Craziness.

I had assumed there would be a crowd, but nothing like this. I didn't know it was spring break for Georgia schools. :/ Oh, well, we'll go later when it's not as packed.

I'm back blogging officially now. You can expect at least 3 blogs a week, yay! (Mom, I know you'll be excited.)

Just to catch everyone up, I just started my third quarter here at PC in the ATL and I'm really excited to get down to business again. Break was a lot of fun. I went home to Houston and brought Andy with me. My family and friends think he's a great as I do, of course. :) We had a great break and it was great to see everyone (especially my girls Ashleigh and Ashley)!!!

I'm off to wok on wings for my "art object" project for my Children's Book class. Later, (promise)!

I Know You've Missed Me

2007-02-04T01:28:00.000-05:00

Ok, you've been checking my blog everyday for almost a month, wondering what's going on with me or why I haven't been writing? In short, I've been having too much fun. :)

When I first moved here last quarter started, I went to the Pottery Barn to hopefully find a desk. I'd looked literally everywhere and hadn't found what I wanted at a price I wanted. I found the desk I wanted and my mom found a tall, totally cute sales guy to ask about the price. As is her habit, she practically told him my life story. We talked a little. I bought the desk and he talked me into the matching bookshelf. He sent me a message on facebook and we talked periodically last quarter but never got a chance to get together.

A few weeks ago, he took me on our first date -– THE BEST FIRST DATE EVER! (Those were the words we both used to describe it to our moms). He did his homework and read myblogg (the last entry). I mentioned I wanted to go to the Aquarium so that's exactly where he took me. We had the best time! Completely hit it off. We have so much in common and agree on all the important issues. We're both just genuinely happy people. He's so refreshing to be around. He loves to talk as much as I do too. :)

Crazy coincidences: our birthdays are exactly a month apart (times a month and an hour to be technical), we're both Highlander fans (who knew right), my parents were gonna name me Andrew if I had been a boy(so glad they didn't name me Andy) and we're both totally into our Irish heritage (he now loves my favorite band Gaelic Storm).

Ok, that's all I have to say for now. I just thought I should share the exciting news, and know that when I refer to Andy, as I'm sure I will, it's my wonderful boyfriend!

With that said, I'm back to try to write poetry. I'm so happy and bubbly right now, it's impossible to not write about being happy and in love! I know if I go into poetry with my sweet, happy "outburst of love" poem, it'll be bashed. Why is everyone in this school obsessed with tragedy and sadness? I have come to the realization that I don't fit into the norm here for that reason, among others. Maybe I'll write an angry outburst about that. Nah- I'm too happy :)

Resolutions for the New Year

2007-01-04T10:13:00.000-05:00

It's the beginning of a New Year and I have not one resolution, but a list. So many things changed for me last year: some great, some not so great, some I'm still not so sure where they fall. I don't think I made a real resolution last year besides the cliche loosing weight pledge.
I don't think it's right to regret or dwell, but these are the things I could have done differently last year or I learned I need to do differently through last year's experience. This is a list of the things I will do my best to do or not do, whatever the case may be. I'd also like to give my friends the ok to call me out if they see me breaking a resolution. (No, Tyrese and Karelia, this doesn't mean I give you a dollar every time I break it. :) At least not at this point.

1. Stop procrastinating. Set a realistic schedule and stick with it. As much as I love staying up all night, it goes against my next resolution.
2. Live the healthiest lifestyle possible. This means (and here are some sub-resolutions):
-run at least 5x a week
-ballet, pilates or core at least 3x a week
-arms at least 3x a week
-less fast food, more healthy food at home (this means adding more to my cooking repertoire b/c mac and cheese doesn't fit into that category :/ )
-sleep at least 4 hours a night
3. Concentrate more on my writing
4. Read more, and by that I also mean more variety. That does not mean I'm giving up my romance novels, just mixing it up a little more than usual.
5. Go to church at least 3 times a month. As much as I miss church choir, I have a class on Wed night so I'm not adding that to the list. If I have the time, I'll join a bible study or small group. This plays into my next:
6. Meet more people outside of PC
7. Keep in better touch with friends and family back home and in Lubbock or wherever
8. Go out at least once every weekend
9. Three drinks absolute max-counting shots; it only took once to learn that lesson
10. See more of Atlanta: the Aquarium, the Fox Theatre, museums, parks, etc.

There are a couple more but I'd rather not post them on my blog for all the world. I think this list is a good start and will help me keep things more in focus. Good luck to all of you with yours and Happy New Year!

John's Catch...

2006-12-28T02:57:00.000-05:00

Christmas morning. This is the first video on my new Sony Handycam... We're all around the pool playing catch -- probably not the best idea in the word but it seemed to work at the time. I threw one to my brother John and this is his gallant catch.

Aside from that fall, my dad took a pretty bad spill down the steep, brick driveway while playing catch wih the same brother. He's ok -- just trying to come up with a good story for the guys at work to explain both black eyes and the scars on his arms. No trips to the emergency room yet this trip though... and for our family, that's an accomplishment.

On Christmas Eve we held our own carol service with Uncle Walt reading the Christmas story from Luke. Then we opened our Christmas morning pj's as is tradition.

And more family pics:

I saw Aunt C's stylist today and she did a fabulous job on the cut. I actually did the color myself... well my mom and my cousin did it this time but I'll do it in the future. Way more affordable than getting it done and it actually looks pretty good. :)

We took the scenic route home and stopped for lunch in Malibu:

Long time, no blog...

2006-12-20T00:24:00.000-05:00

Me, my cousin Kristi and my bro John in LA, California!

So, I haven't blogging in forever... I'm on the plane, on the way to LA and so incredibly bored. I even stayed up till 5 this morning hoping I would just sleep through most of the flight. didn't work. I slept just long enough to miss the first snack/meal thing. I'll take this opportunity to update those of you I haven't spoken to since critique.

I finished everything! That's a feat in and of itself. I was very proud of everything I presented for typography and design aesthetics. My critique panel said they were very impressed -- especially with the Yu'pik dollhouse and magnetic dress-up penguins. I'll have to add those pics to this blog too. I could tell they weren't particularly impressed with any of my writing. I know I have a lot to work on in the creative writing arena. I pretty much knew what they would say before they did. Hopefully next quarter I can focus more on writing. It would be great to actually do some advertising writing! Copywriting is what I signed up for after all.

So, critique came and went. A lot of buildup for nothing, if you ask me. I know it's more about the finished product, but I was expecting a bigger deal. Not sure what exactly, just more comments maybe? In the days after critique I was a slug. I cleaned my place of course -- finally! Oh that reminds me, I forgot to take pics of the place for the fam to see. Oh well. I deserved a couple days to be totally lazy. I didn't make my long-awaited massage/ mani/pedi appointments in time so I still have that to look forward to in Los Angeles! And, who knows, I may come back with a completely different hair color, too! Depends on what Aunt C's fabulous stylist recommends.

I got teary-eyed as I left my apartment today. I had to leave Shelby. Mer is gonna look in on her, but I feel like I left my child home alone! Dramatic, I know, but she's my baby.

This is lame, instead of showing a new movie or something remotely entertaining, they are showing Scrooge with bill Murray. Thanks, Delta. (And, the creepy guy next to me is staring at every word I write -- finally he got up for a second so I could write that. :)

So, Happy Break to everyone for now, I hope you all got to your destinations safely! Tyrese- have a great time on that cruise! I'll be expecting lots of good pictures objectifying men, k! I'll keep in touch better from now on :)

MEOW

2006-11-25T18:42:00.000-05:00

Y'all have all told me what a sweet and pretty cat I have. What do you think now? Last night, Chrissy called and told me there was a cat outside her door and had been there for a while. The cat had a rabies vaccine tag and a collar so it was obviously an indoor cat. Chrissy couldn't bring it in with her roommate's dog, and it was freezing outside, so I took it up with me. Shelby was pissed, as you can tell from the first picture. She's is VERY unfriendly to other cats! She's only been around two but this is how she acted both times. She growls and hisses and then just stays in one place until the coast is clear. She stayed on the dining chair under my table all night until right before I took it home and she cornered it in my closet.

Chrissy had told me that someone else would get it when they got home last night but they never called so between the visitor cat meowing like crazy ALL NIGHT and Shelby's growling -- she even growled at my door when the other cat was shut in my room -- I didn't sleep. I didn't get much work done either. Paige, the other cat, kept meowing and rubbing all up one me and my key board.

Luckily, the vet was able to give the number for the owner when I called first thing this morning, but the guy didn't bother to call me back until after noon. The guy was such an idiot too, he said she was kinda an outside cat now... Well, PUT A FREAKING TAG ON IT WITH YOUR ADDRESS AND NUMBER! Plus, if you don't have a yard, I don't think it's right or intelligent to let your cat roam around the neighborhood, but that's me. No more taking in lost cats for me. Next time it's someone else's turn.

Update: Chrissy called again lat night after hearing an awful meow for help and big thump. Paige was outside, huddling in the bushes, and hiding from the head stray cat in the neiborhood. After all I went throught the other night, this Zack guy let his poor sweet cat out again to fend for itself and she wandered back to Chrissy' door. When Chirssy called Zack he said he's be over in like 20 minutes. He never showed. Poor Paige...

A Happy Thanksgiving

2006-11-24T00:07:00.000-05:00

After my last post, I was feeling sad about missing out on all our fun family Thanksgiving stuff. Chrissy and I were stressing about projects and we had almost decided to eiher just go out to eat or order pizza. I couldn't let that happen. I took it upon myself to fix the whole thing. Honestly, I blew myself away. I didn't think I could cook all that by myself. The guys were commenting on what a great wife I'd be. HAHA Ok, usually, I'd be like "What? My future husband is doing all the cooking," but, really, I enjoyed it. I surprise myself! I really like playing hostess. I would make a great senator's wife or first lady.

Here was the menu:
Turkey
Ham
Stuffing
Asparagus Casserole
My dad's special jello/coke/banana stuff
Mashed potatoes
Rolls
My mom's cranberry/rum slush
Pumkin pie/ whipped topping and ice cream
Double layer spice cake

Too much cake and pumkin pie for Ben.

I'm amazing! I didn't even burn anything!!! Good thing I went overboard; my small dinner turned into 8 people- 5 of which were guys. I actually have leftovers. Today was great. It was so nice to sit around the table with friends and say grace. I really have so much to be thankful for. :)

A little insomnia... A little homesick

2006-11-22T00:05:00.000-05:00

[My dad and bro John this past summer at an Astros game]

[This past Easter: Me, Mike, Kristi, brother Tommy and his wife Jerissa]

After three or four days with only a couple hours of sleep, I crashed after Sylvia's class but woke up after only two hours of sleep. Is my internal clock so screwed up that I can only sleep for a couple hours at a time now? I woke up and couldn't get back to sleep. I was in that mode where I wasn't totally awake yet but already worrying about all the things I have to do for class and for this Thanksgiving dinner I guess I'm gonna try to cook.

I thought I'd be fine not going home for Thanksgiving -- I mean I really don't have time -- but I'm kinda sad. My dad called the other day and asked me again if I was sure I couldn't come home. Totally made me cry. I always miss my family but I'm not the type to get homesick. I think with my dad's health he's more sentimental than ever before. He's on the liver transplant list because of Walter Payton's Disease (basically scarring of the liver). He's been on the list for 3 years and it's getting harder and harder to wait. Plus, my brother John is coming home and I haven't seen him since my cousin's wedding this past July 4th. I miss them.

Only 26 days 'till I go to LA for Christmas break! I'm not going to Texas at all, instead I'll spend the 18th through the 1st in LA and maybe some time in San Diego at my bro's. My favorite and closest relatives: my Aunt Candie, Uncle Walt, and cousins Kristi and Mike live out there. My cousin Mike had a surfing accident in Hawaii this summer just before his 16th birthday. He's paralyzed from the waist down right now. He's an incredible athlete- quarteback of his football team, basketball player and all that - so his rehab is helping. I know he'll walk again; he has that determination. Anyway, my aunt and uncle are taking him for some special new procedures first in Baltimore then in Colorado, before and after Christmas so it works out that I can go and spend time with Kristi. She's a senior in high school and getting geared up for college, plus she's been doing so much for everyone since the accident -- taking care of the house, etc. She needs some fun sister/cousin time and I'm so excited I can be there for her. We're already planning a day at Universal, Rodeo Drive, Malibu and where ever else. I can also get their house all decorated and ready for Christmas so it'll be nice when everyone else gets in.

No matter where I am for Christmas, I'm the one that does the tree and wraps all the presents. Maybe it's because I'm the youngest in my immediate family, or because I'm a perfectionist. I get it from my Aunt Candie. When it comes to all my home decorating and hostess tendencies, I patterned myself after her at a young age. We are very much alike in many ways. It's funny because Kristi and my mom are that way. People think I am Candie's daughter and Kristi is my mom's, which is even funnier because she's adopted.

[Aunt Candie and me: see the resemblance?]

I think I'm gonna try to sleep again.

Get to Work

2006-11-18T18:01:00.000-05:00

So, I've spent the day avoiding Sylvia's assignments. I slept in, went running, and came home to find water pouring through the fan in my bathroom ceiling! The maintenance man finally came by after the water had stopped pouring in and he informs me that the people living above me must have had a toilet overflow. YUCK! So, I spent the rest of the day Lysoling the bathroom and finally cleaning the whole apartment, too. One I get started cleaning, it's hard to stop.

I really have no idea how I'm gonna fix this bag. (Tyrese's blog explains the bag thing if you don't know what I'm talking about)I spent 12 hours putting it together and I was so proud of it on Tuesday afternoon. When I showed it to Sylvia she had this awful unimpressed look on her face and then went to say it was a bad design and needs something to pull the eye around the whole bag. ??? I'm still trying to figure that out.

I find it funny that the spell checker on this blogspot.com doesn't recognize the word: blog.

What a Tease...

2006-11-15T18:43:00.000-05:00

So, not having anything particularly exciting to write about today, I was going tell you all about my fabulous new blender I just bought. It has a food processor AND this little 'to go' blender that's just a thermous so you can make a single serving smoothie to take wherever you go! It's such a thrill. Ok, not so much, but that's what I was gonna write about and then I signed in and realized we have options on font now! I try to change my font to a friendlier arial and this is what I get:

An attempt to modify formatting failed unexpectedly.
A possible solution may be to save your post as a
draft and reopen this post and apply formatting again.

What's that about? I have all these options and I can't use them! What a tease. Let me know if any of you are able to actually use your new choices.

Charles Gibson is reporting from the Atlanta Aquarium tonight! I met him on the set of Good Morning America in NY when I was on a mission trip with my church choir 6 or so years ago. I was wearing my brother's etter jacket that had a letter for journalism on it so he took a commercial break to talk to my brother and I about how he got into journaism and asked about us and what we wanted to do. Really nice guy.

So, I just saved my post as a draft and gone back hoping to use the new formatting choices, they are gone! !?!

Lesson Learned

2006-11-12T14:43:00.000-05:00

Last night Meredith, Joe, his girlfriend Ashley and I went to Cosmo and Lava. Mer has been talking about this place since the first night we went out, so this was highly anticipated. After sitting in traffic for almost an hour, we made our way across the parking lot and to th door. The place was packed!

I stuck to a couple amaretto sours but with three shots on the side. Bad idea. I'm still paying for it. I think two of them were red headed sluts but I have no idea what these guys bought us. It tasted like a jelly bean. Mer and I met a couple gorgeous med students and we talked for te rest of the night and of course, did another hot. I didn't realize how tipsy I was until we walked back to the car. Luckily, Mer had only had one drink at the beginning of the night; she was our dd.

So to make a long story short, I've been regretting all those drinks, all last night and this morning, while puking up the pieces of the Wolfgang Puck pizza I had last night. I finally fell a little better now, after wasting more than half the day.

Moral of the story: Don't take a shot if you don't know what it is... and My new limit: 1 drink every 2 hours.

Red

2006-11-08T23:56:00.000-05:00

Joe took that picture last night for a photography class on color. He's a super-talented first quarter photographer here at PC if I haven't mentioned him on here already. :) (I wish i'd had time after Sylvia's class to fix my hair though.)

I'm not understanding many of my fellow Americans tonight. It's amazing to me the things that people believe and the disreguard for truth and justice. There is such a contrived idea of what the War in Iraq is about. I support the War on Terror, The War in Iraq, The President, and most importantly, our troops.

"Don Rumsfeld has been a superb leader during a time of change...Don Rumsfeld's a patriot who's served our country with honour and distinction. He is a trusted adviser and a friend, and I'm deeply grateful to his service to our country." - President Bush

A friend of mine from Tech came into town this week. It was so great to see her! I took her into PC and showed her around and she was very impressed wih all the projects displayed. She'll be back in December for her work and I can't wait for her to meet everyone!

Hoedowns

2006-11-05T17:54:00.000-05:00

I glanced at the Hoedowns Website to get directions right before we left and was surprised to find a detailed description of etiquette for the gay country western bar. The list instructs novices to "stay on the outside or off the dance floor" so as not to get in the way of any real dancers. I had been excited to go country western dancing but I didn't dance. Our guys not only didn't know how to two-step, they were intimidated by the dancers already on the floor and wouldn't let me teach them. Dissapointing. Meredith got a dance lesson from a big, burly guy though. For her first country western dancing attempt she did a pretty good job!

The atmosphere was typical western: wood, stars and spurs, the dance floor closed off like a corral. Posters of half naked cowboys on the wall elude to the gay part. It was strange to walk in and into a wall of men, all of them just standing around holding their Budweisers and checking out all other "prospects."

I am from Texas and I had never seen the specific line dances these people were doing. They have classes at this place during the weekdays and I really think they make up all their own line dances to show off on Saturday night. I want to find a real country western place here where our guys will actually dance. :)

The Tavern and CJ's

2006-11-04T14:27:00.000-05:00

I spent half the day yesterday debating whether or not to go out. I have a lot of work to do but I think I'd go crazy if I locked myself in my apartment alone all weekend. Tonight we are going to Hodown for Tania's class and tomorrow I have plans, so we tried to keep it low key last night.
Meredith and I met up with Joe and Ben at the Tavern and enjoyed a couple of drinks. The boys also enjoyed the view of the waitresses in extreamly tiny school girl skirts and cleavge-enhancing shirts while Mer and I enjoyed the bartender, Craig -- bodybuilder body, blond hair and blue eyes! He only made me pay for one drink of the four I had on my tab. :)
For Ben, we went to CJ's to meet up with Kathleen. Cj's is a huge hole-in-the-wall but fun. There was a cover band downstairs. They weren't too bad if you have no musical background and can't tell that the lead singer was slightlly flat ALL NIGHT. Of course, Joe and I were the only ones that cared. Upstairs was a tiny room packed with people and one really annoying DJ playing old hip hop. He was telling everyone how to dance and saying we were "too white." It's funny that when Mer asked him to play B.I.G.'s "Juicy," he was like "Who?"
All in all, it was a fun break from work. Enjoy the pics!

Dating Analysis

2006-11-03T00:31:00.000-05:00

Why do we -- as women -- analyze everything in relationships? That's mostly what "Sex In the City" is about. Carrie makes her living doing it. Obviously it doesn't get her far, she's single after 6 seasons of dating just about every guy in New York.
I'm trying to be over this analyzing thing. What's the point? I can talk to my girlfriends about our relationship issues for hours, but in the end, there's never really a conclusion. The one with the issue usually ends up more confused than they were before. Sometimes I think I overanalyze; sometimes I wish I had analyzed more.
I just looked at Facebook and out of the blue my ex of 3.5 yrs is now listed as "in a relationship." I'm happy for him but it's weird to think of him with someone else. I broke things off -- and I'm glad I did -- but weird. You'd have to know him to understand that. Part of the reason I realized we weren't' right for eachother is because he's kinda anti-social, to the point where getting him to come out with me and my friends was like pulling teeth. He's a really great guy in a lot of ways, but when I met someone that was pretty much his opposite -- fun, outgoing, life-of-the-party type -- I was totally drawn to him and we dated from the day after I broke up with Mike to pretty much the summer. We never officially announced it on Facebook though! Unlike Mike and this new girl, we kept both our relationship status' to "single." It's so funny how Facebook has now become such a part of the college life, from meeting people and talking through messages to keeping in touch, to announcing to everyone that you're in a relationship. Ok so it sounds like I'm stuck on this, but really I'm just illustrating my point that girls spend way too much time and effort analyzing relationships too much, from before they really start to long after they have ended. What a waste.
I vow to not -- ok -- to TRY to not analyze (too much) anymore. :)

Did I mention that another ex of mine is moving to Georgia?... Just trying to keep this blog interesting!
Hope y'all enjoyed my ramblings!

EEEWWWwwwww, I'm totally admitting that I'm nosy, but this girl wrote the grossest thing on her wall about my ex mike bc his last name is Sampler: "By the way, the sampler is finger-lickin good!" EEEEwwwwww!!!!!!! That is so NOT RIGHT! Yuck! Oh well, good luck to them with that, ewwwwwwww!

I love Wednesdays :)

2006-11-01T21:00:00.000-05:00

I actually slept in this morning -- such a great feeling after not sleeping for two days! I'm usually such a morning person but this whole situation here has completely changed my habits. It's not so bad. :) Wednesdays are great because I can sleep in and not feel guilty for relaxing. I'm watching lost and chillin on my couch while I write this and I'm not even thinking about what needs to be done for class. Ok, I kinda lied, I'm about to work on grammar stuff but for the next 30 minutes or so I'm still in my relaxing Wednesday mode.

Adrian and I went looking for a park to throw the football around at today and found the tree in the picture. Gorgeous isn't it?
We don't see trees like that in Texas -- especially not in Lubbock or El Paso. When we stopped to take the picture an older woman in the street with her granddaughter. She was so cute with her bright red lipstick and white bun! She talked to us for a long time about Atlanta and drew us a map to get to Chastain Park by way of Habersham. She called it the prettiest rode in Atlanta and from what I've seen of Atlanta so far, I would agree. Gorgeous houses, hills, big beautiful trees and a creek running next to it. Very charming. Chastain Park is very harming too. It's so nice to see so many people outside enjoying a park on a weekday. There are baseball fields, tennis courts, a golf course, playground and equestrian center all in the middle of this cute neighborhood with the sweetest colonial-style school. If I end up in Atlanta I would totally want to live there.

Ok, now it's time for my Wednesday bubble bath! Until next time...

Halloween Festivities

2006-10-29T17:54:00.000-05:00

Happy Birthday Charlotte!

I spent practically all week looking forward to last night and I was definitely not disappointed. There hasn't been time for much of anything lately -- including writing in my bog, sorry -- so, it was so nice to have one night to dress up and have fun. As you can see in the pics, I went out of my usual cute or sweet costume and dressed up as a dark angel. Thursday Meredith and I went shopping for outfits and ended up @ Lenox Mall. She talked me into a pair of black leather knee-high stilettos, a sexy red halter and a tiny pair of shorts. I topped it off with the cutest pair of back wings and a black halo and finished off the look with dark and glittery looking eye makeup and huge curls. Not to sound conceited but I looked hot! :) I love dressing up!

I think that's one of the things I miss most about not skating or dancing anymore. My mom and I would spend months concepting and creating costumes for my skating routines or choir/theatre productions. I'm watching Skate America right now on ESPN and getting a premier of this season's new costumes an routines. After the free skate, my mom will call and we'll talk about the new outfits and what we would do differently.

I baked a pumpkin cake for Charlotte's birthday and Chrissy and Chrissy made Halloween Jello shots for the pre-party at Adrian and Kevin's place. Saturday, Meredith and I got ready at my place before cautiously making our way down the hill to the boy's place (Stilettos, downhill, with a cake in hand -- think about it).

The real party was later at Blake's house, packed with PC people. It was a blast to see what everyone turned out dressed as. Five upper-quarter guys al dressed in full green sweatsuits and said they were each a finger of the incredible hulk. Funny! We left from there to Moondocks (I think), where we took full advantage of the time change and danced on the stage until we all started coughing from either too much fog from the fog machine or someone sprayed pepper spray. Not fun- I couldn't breath.

I am thoroughly enjoying Skate America men's free program right now! Evan Lysacek is my new favorite skater! Tall, dark, handsome and straight!!! Not your typical figure skater!I predict he'll win World's this year. :)

Johnny's Hideaway

2006-10-22T03:49:00.000-04:00

Also know as "Atlanta's only Nightclub for Big Kids"...exceeded my expectations. I actually had a fabulous time. I'm happy to say all of the copywriters are fun and entertaining dancers. I can't stand it when there's that one person in a group of friends that hates dancing and abstains from having fun with the rest of the group. Luckily, no one is like that in this group so I predict many more fun times ahead!

Johnny's Hideaway is a place where time travel is possible and mature adults can transform into carefree, young adults for an evening at a time. The music is a loud mix of swing, Sinatra, Michael Jackson, Elvis, and a vast array of popular music from the 40s through the 90s. It's lively every night of the week, packed with people from all walks of life, the majority over the age of forty. We were the only twenty-somethings in sight.

The dance floor was overflowing. Couples danced closely to "The Way You Look Tonight," and singles "shook their grove things." We observed how this resembled a wedding reception. It's so refreshing to go out and really dance as opposed to the usual booty-dancing and grinding. Don't get me wrong, they have their place, but people my age don't appreciate real dancing anymore. I sound like my mom. Eek.

We made a deal after our kick-off toast to all dance with an old person. Chrissy, Meredith and I all danced with older men -- all creepy in their own way. (At first I tried to get out of it seeing as I had already danced with Adrian and that could have counted as my older man -- seeing as I'm 22 and he's a whopping 26 :)-- but I played along and danced with the first guy that asked.) Adrian was a total player. Every time I looked over he was surrounded by women. When I started dancing with him one of the women elbowed me! I'm not making this up! Oh, and Tyrese decided he was too cool and didn't dance with anyone but us. (He really thinks he's cool like Tyrese the model. Just kidding, Ty!)

All in all the night was a total blast. I think I had the best time I've had since I've been here. :)
Now it's back to work!
(Chrissy has my camera so pictures will be added later!)

Almost?

2006-10-20T18:51:00.000-04:00

Now I know what the coyote feels like every time he fails to catch the roadrunner. I have been working on this assignment for over a week and it's still not exactly right -- almost -- but it's not there yet. "It's still not yupik enough, a little too cartoony still..." Sylvia informed me this afternoon. I waited almost two hours outside of her classroom for her to tell me I have more work to do. I asked her for advice on how I could make it more Yupik and she asked me questions that make me wonder if she even knows what Yupik art is supposed to look like. She asked if they have totem poles; they don't. "Do they have anything growing from the ground?" no! I've explained numerous times that they carved into ivory and they made masks. Add the parkas that they made and that's it, the extent of their cultural art.
So, here I am, DAY FOUR of my attempt to redo this poster and I still feel like I'm never going to catch the roadrunner and succeed in my mission. I'm not positive on what my mission is at this point but I will get back to you on that.

Welcome Distractions

2006-10-18T18:36:00.000-04:00

After my crash-and-burn yesterday in Sylvias class, I tried to regroup but spent the whole night looking up more Yupik art. I'm soory if this is offensive, but compared to the other civilizations, they didn't have any art. They just made masks and most of those were very simple. I'm trying my best but i'm not happy with what I have at this point.
Last night everybody came over again to work on thier stuff. I had fun but was distracted. Happends all the time, but that's my fault and usually my distractions are invited:
~Blogging
~Facebook ( I am a facebook junky and the cute guy I met when I was buying furniture keeps sending me messeges so I can't help but check to see if he's written me)
~Days of Our Lives
~Desperate housewives and Grey's Anatomy
~Shelby, my kitty
~Kevin, dancing around my apartment like a crazy JLo(it woun't let me download the movie I made last night :( )
~Music
~AIM
~Cleaning
~Working out
~Just about every sound outside
~My fantasy football team
~Eating -- what a distraction...
~Sleep, or lack thereof
~And of course, all of you who keep stopping by, calling and texting
I'd be bored without this stuff though!

You're all WRONG!

2006-10-17T20:10:00.000-04:00

Forget that picture I posted. It was all WRONG...I didn't incorporate my civilation enough -- well I incorporated as much as I could but the composition wasn't Yupik apparently. AAAAAAAHHHHHhhhhh! I am VERY confused. I tried talking to Sylvia and I guess I understand what I need to do but now I haveto redo all the stuff I spent last week working on. Plus, the assignment for next week is unbelievably time consuming. I just got back from class and I'm already behind.

Emotive writing wasn't any better today. we all left feeling bad about ourselves instead of feeling bad for our charachters. I'm so used to writing journalisticly and only including facts that I'm lacking in depth and description. It didn't help that I didn't do what Tania assigned really. I included myself too much. I'll start rewriting that tonight, as well as redrawing all my Civilization pics. Oh well, I need to work harder. More work, less play. :) I feel like I'm back in freshman year of college and I'm skipping the frat party to write a paper. At least everyone around me is working too.

Study Group

2006-10-17T01:30:00.000-04:00

For my fairly small one bedroom apartment, I had quite the group over tonight to work on Sylvia's stuff. Working around at least one other person helps so much with these projects. Chrissy and I spent nearly all day Sunday working on our civilization/animal drawings and I think it helped. There is a very noticible improvement on my work form last week. I'm actually proud to of the final picture I'll be showing tomorrow! I'm almost done with everything form he class and now it's time to finish writing my sympathetic story. The person I chose I can't stand for so many reasons, so this will be a task. I'm trying not to be predictable in my writing so I keep eliminating ever idea I come up with. Pretty soon I'm gonna need to pick one and run with it -- and that means NOW. :/ Back to work...

Saturday night in :(

2006-10-14T23:14:00.000-04:00

I can't belive I spent all day working on this typography stuff. I really need ot get Adobe Creative Suite 2 for my new Mac. Photoshop on a Pc is so slow! Oh well, I still had fun hanging out with Chrissy and Ben. Last night a group of us went ot this sports bar/club called Famous. I'm always surprised when a bar or club is full of people and hardly anyone is out on the dance floor besides the creepy guy trying to do the robot and the typical skanky couple -- you know the one with the girl in the tiny skirt, sharing more with everyone around than we ever needed to see. After a couple of games of pool and mor drinks, I got the group onto the dance floor. Well, two of the guys were mostly just standing there watching the amateur pole dancers while Joe, a totally fun first quarter photography guy, and I got down to "Sexy Back." The more I hear that song the more I love it. So, instead of my crazy fun Saturday night plans, I'm plannin on staying in and working these awful penguin designs -- not what I had in mind when I asked if I would be able to take a design class or two!

In emotive writing on Tuesday, Tania asked us to do a character by association excercise. Here's my list about me:
If I were an animal I would be a penguin.
If I were a flower I would be a yellow rose.
If I were a tree I would be a pink dogwood.
If I were a color I would be pale lavender.
If I were a food I would be a cupcake.
If I were a counry I would be The USA.
If I were a car I would be a 2006 Ford Mustang GT convertiblle with pink racing stripes!
If I were a kitchen utensil I would be an icing spatula.
If I were an odor I would be the amell of freshly backed sugar cookies..
If I were a playing card I would be the queen, only because there are no princesses in a deck of cards.
If I were a month I'd be April.
If I were a radio station I would mostly pop with a mix of new country.
If I were a body of water I would be the Atlantic.
If I wereIf I were a brand of soap I would be Zest.
If I were a piece of jewelry I would be a 3 carat diamond ring set in platnum -- preferably Cartier. Or a tiara, but that's no your typical "piece of jewelry."

So You Think You Can Dance Tour!!!

2006-10-13T12:30:00.000-04:00

This summer my mom and I got hooked on the show,"So You Think You Can Dance." As a thank you for being the wonderful daughter that I am she got me tickets for the show (because for some reason, instead of going to Houston, Tx. they went to Duluth, Ga., go figure).

Adrian just laughed at me when I cheered for Benji and Travis like a 14 year-old girl. The show was fabulous and I had so much fun. I can't wait till next season!!!! It made me miss dance and figure skating. I'm so going to audition next year... nah.

We only kinda got lost on the way back. I've been known to take the scenic route just about everywhere in Atlanta. Yesterday I left Target and tried to take a shortcut home. I ended up in mindtown.

Ok, so I just bought the "Suddenly I See" song from iTunes! Adrian knows what I'm talking about... they played it sooo many times last night but I love it. My mom called this morning and told me she just made that my ringtone for when I call her. :) It's by an English artist Katy Tunstall -- the same one that wrote "Black Horse in the Cherry Tree." all her songs have such vivid descriptions. I wonder if the words from that would count as my excerpt of good writing from class. Probably not. Now that I have a couple more inspirational songs for my iPod, it's time to go running!

Storms and Signs

2006-10-11T19:40:00.000-04:00

I lOVE storms! I like rain but I love it when the sky opens up and just pours. A raging storm with lots of lightning and wind is so exhilarating and passionate Afterwards, when the rain dies down there's such a calmness to everything. I'm happy I have a big enough balcony now that I can sit outside and enjoy or leave the doors open and just listen.

Today a group of us got together to work on our typography projects. Chrissy, Adrian, Kevin, Meredith, Ben (he's a design student and the one I captioned as Simon a few days ago) and I piled in my Nissan Xterra -- and I do mean piled. There were six of us so Adrian and I sat in the back section. Luckily, Ben was a great driver so we had no worries. Ben, Chrissy and I are all in one class with Melissa and the others have a different instructor, so our projects vary somewhat but we all have to take pictures of all the letters of the alphabet and numbers 1-9 from signs and whatever else around Atlanta.

I think it's funny how all of us were armed with our cameras all day but no one took any pics of us as a group. I got some great shots for my project though.

At three, Ben left to go work on Sylvia's stuff and the rest of us went to The Loop. It's nice pizza place on Peachtree and... yeah, I have no idea. We were waiting for our pizza to come out when Kevin said "woah." I looked to see what was in his line of site and saw a story on CNN. A plane crashed into a residential building in Manhattan. Of course the first thing everyone thinks is terrorism but so far they are saying that it was just an accident. The plane belonged to a pitcher from the Yankees. That's all I've heard at this point.

In my car, Kevin found my "Wicked- Origional Broadway Cast" CD and I was so happy to hear that he loved it. I haven't gotten to see it yet but I love the music. We put in on and sang along to my favorites, "Defying Gravity," and "As Long As Your Mine." :) Good Times.

Sleep-deprived

2006-10-10T19:33:00.000-04:00

My personal clock is so screwed up at this point I've only taked a short nap and I feel like I'm ready for the new day. I feel like running or pilates Shelby's personal clock is more confused than mine. While I was working on my design assignments last night and into this morning she couldn't have been more of a distraction, constantly meowing and jumping up on my desk to get in from o my face. She's doing it again tonight; she just brought me her toy. She's sitting in my lap as I write this -- quiet for the first time in an hour.

My Yup'ik penguin designs were not appreciated. Sylvia said most of them didn't really look Yup'ik. Hmm. As I've already mentioned, my drawing skills lack and apparently so do my pictures. Sylvia and students in the class said they looked to cartoon-ish and sweet and not Yup'ik. They weren't all criticized, a couple people pointed out one or two that they liked. The only actual constructive criticism I received I honestly didn't understand, so we'll see how this next assignment goes. Looks like I have a lot of work to do!

I was asleep for the first time in over 2 days just now when Meredith called. We got to talking about dating games that everyone plays and why guys say and do the things they do. She tried to address my question at the end of my last post, but I'm really trying to not care anymore. I'm glad I'm here single in Atlanta.

It's been six months since I officially decided to come to Portfolio Center and I'm so glad I did. It's weird to think how different my life would be right now if I hadn't stopped to decided exactly what I wanted. It's crazy to think I could be married right now had I not stepped back and reevaluated things this past April. It was the hardest decision of my life but I feel great knowing I made the right one. He's better off now too and I am very happy for him. (Different guy than the one I talked about in the last blog if that's confusing) I'm more excited about this PC experience every day!

I'm off to bed...Finally!

First quarter party and wall hanging chaos

2006-10-08T18:57:00.000-04:00

Bottom pic: America Idol judges: Randy Jackson, Paula Abdul and Simon Cowell

Although the promise of free beer was not kept; our first quarter party proved to be worth while. we arrived at Octane Coffee as "The Copywriters (minus Adrian who ditched us for design people)." The majority of Portfolio Center people were mingling outside in the patio area. The night started with a slight separation between 2nd quarters and 1st quarters but toward the one o'clock hour everyone seemed to be interacting and enjoying eachother.

I understand that most of what we have to talk about at this point is class, but I was ready to scream if another person said "Sylvia's class!" I mean really, why not learn something else about the people we're spending the next two years with than their animal and their tribe!!! I really didn't want to think about my design alphabet and how it really wasn't coming along as swiftly as I hoped.

I'm still working on it. This is my break so I'm trying to make it the best. I'm taking advance of my wireless internet and writing this from my balcony. I just saw Adrian and his roommate Kevin walking by on the sidewalk. Kevin looks like Harry from Sex in the City -- you know, the bald guy who married Charlotte. I told him that today and I'm afraid it offended him. It's really just the bald head and the grin. They shouted from the other side of the street that they were going to get food and asked if I wanted anything but I can't take an actual break right now, I'm too far behind. (Especially if I want to finish my design alphabet in time to sketch penguins while watching Desperate Housewives!)

Back to last night, a good group of us stayed until they kicked us out of the parking lot around 2:30. Tyrese and Chrissy got another ride back to Colonial Homes to work on their project for you-know-who's class. I'm usually the type that would be stressed about this by now too but I am remarkable calm. I'm also procrastinating with every word I add to this blog!

The title says it all about this morning. I don't like to criticize but it really was chaos. Not much organization went into planning the this morning. I figured since this goes on every quarter we'd be given our tasks and we would be able to finish them quickly, but no. It was more like standing around for thirty minutes after 9 until people decided to show and then too many people were there and not enough tasks were assigned. I really am the cruise director that Tanya labeled me in class the other day. It's just in my nature to do things efficiently.

My actual drama of the day just occurred while writing this. I'll spare the long story and the details, but what does, "It'd be good to get some separation time in" mean. Wow, why say you're going to still be friends with someone that supposedly you aren't dating anymore only because of distance and say that. I don't know what to think. I guess the only thing to do is forget about him.

Experiencing Atlanta: Assignment I

2006-10-07T13:40:00.000-04:00

The Copywriters! (*After three attemps, I think the first group shot was the best!)

It’s 3(ish) Saturday morning and I just returned from a night full of
excitement! I’m still under the influence at this point so I’ll be editing
before posting, but Tania recommends “getting things down” and then
editing so I’ll follow her expert advice.

First of all, I would like to say my copywriters are fabulous! You know
who you are -- all five of you -- y’all are great! This was such a fun
first night out in Atlanta, (strange, but fun)! I’m looking forward to
the next two years!

I really had no idea what to expect getting ready for this evening. Tania
could have mentioned this was a strip club. Here I am thinking it’s a
regular club. My designation of a “club” was dancing and a bar. Clermont
Lounge fit into that broad category, but come on; it’s not the same at all.
I had no idea that the dancing would be taking place ON the bar. When I
got into the car I told everyone, “I brought my camera so I can get some
good pics for our blogs!” Chrissy asked if we were allowed to bring in
cameras. That’s when Meredith admitted it was a strip club. She had
mentioned she’d been there before, but definitely didn’t mention that!

There were signs all over the bar and outside at the entrance that no
cameras were allowed. If she hadn’t have told me this was a strip club, I think I probably would have caught on when I saw those. (Adrian actually almost got kicked out by attempting to take a picture of the Clermon Lounge T-shirts pinned on wall.) The exterior of the building also foreshadowed what awaited us inside. We parked next door and someone shouted to us from another bar that the lot was for their bar only, so Mer went to move her car while the rest of us waited. She parked in the front without noticing towing signs for that lot, and was asked by a man sitting in a car by the hotel entrance if she was there to work upstairs!

Being as this was my first strip club experience, it wasn’t even what I
expected a strip club to be. In the basement of the shady-looking
Clermont Hotel, a different culture exists. One where people pay to see
old women -- or men in some case (I’m really not clear on that) –strip. I
was shocked when I walked in the dingy bar to see what appeared to be
either a very skinny man or a very unattractive woman in a curly brunette
wig dancing on top of a moderately crowded bar. I wouldn’t even call it
dancing really; it was more like pacing and posing. I don’t understand
why people would go to this place regularly. Adrian pointed out their
“Best Club” certificates on the wall from the city of Atlanta. We
laughed.

After detouring our little group to a table because we appeared to be in
the way on the left side of the bar, we found two tables in the corner to
survey the scene. Meredith looked to be enjoying the show going on two
tables down; and by that I mean she was getting a kick out of it. I think
the rest of us were a little more surprised by the entertainment but we
were all laughing. Adrian turned to me and said, “I want to buy Tyrese a
lap dance.” I agreed that was a fun plan so when the opportunity
appeared, and she asked if our table wanted a lap dance, Adrian pointed
at Tyrese and we all said, “…but he does.” He was a great sport but it
couldn’t have ended sooner for him. At least she hadn’t been as violent
as the first stripper we watching give a lap dance. She was slapping her
breasts on the guy’s face. (I wonder if he paid extra for that.) Tyrese’s
woman just encouraged him to spank her, which he obeyed. I couldn’t help but wonder during all of this, why had this person decided to become a stripper? Is it because they need the money or because they enjoy it, or
some of both? And once again, why do people find this entertaining? I’m a
romantic; therefore, even if there were male strippers at this place I
don’t think I would have been turned on or anything. What brings people
back here week after week- because I could tell there were many return
visitors by the looks we received when walking in.

At that point we were all on our second round of drinks- or maybe only
Adrian and I were…not sure about that. Meredith decided we needed to do a round of shots and toast to being the five copywriters of 1st quarter. Tic-tacs are my new favorite shot. I could barely taste the vodka. I began to feel the buzz. (A month without drinking at all does that.)

Our next adventure at the Clermont took place in the bathroom. I don’t
know why I thought it would be like any other bathroom with actual stalls.
There is no shame at this place. The stall was a thin curtain separating
the “lounge” section from the toilet. If you aren’t careful closing the
curtain, it would be easy to become the center of attention. Strange but I
couldn’t hold it so I took the chance. I had Mer and Chrissy in there to
keep a lookout. They were busy writing something about copywriters from
Portfolio Center on the wall. The second time in the ladies lounge, a
boxy blond stripper was changing from her French maid costume into her
Little Red Riding Hood getup. She asked Mer which way she should put the sleeves- on or off the shoulder. Why that mattered is beyond me; she was about to take it off anyway.

After a couple games of pinball and a brief flirting with German business
interns, we concluded our visit to the Clermont. We went to Hole in the
Wall for what was left of the night. I was very surprised by the guy/girl
ratio, intrigued actually. Being a recently
single-the-first-time-in-a-long-time girl, I took notice. I also couldn’t
help but realize I was being noticed. With my current circumstances that
was nice. I had the urge to dance all night; I’m pretty sure that is what
alcohol does to me, so Adrian joined me on the dance floor for a couple
songs before “The Last Dance.” We got everyone on the dance floor and
enjoyed the cheesy song that signaled the end of such an eye-opening
night.

Fire drills?

2006-10-06T15:50:00.000-04:00

I was abrupty awakened from my dreams this morning by the echoing sound of power drills on metal. My apartment shares a wall with the elevator shaft which is being remodeled this weekend. As if that wasn't enough announcement came on the intercom- I didn't realize we had intercoms- saying there has been an emergency and to please walk to the stairwell and vacate the building. Before the message was over it shut off. What??? You can't be serious! Do we have to vacate or not?? After being jolted out of bed they now wanted me to vacate my apartment! I had been concentrating on blocking that awful noise and writing my 100 facts for Sylvia's class- and now they want me to what? Go downstairs in my pj's and hang out to be sure all is safe?? I put sweats on in case the message came on again. Otherwise, I decided to stay and continue working. I didn't see anyone leave so I figured everything was ok and they must have accidentally hit the emergency button.

Four hours later The alarm went off again. This time I decided it might not be a drill so I grabbed my purse and went down to see what this distribution was all about. I ran into three other girls about my age coming down the stairwell vocalizing all the questions I had. Two of them were carrying their Mac Book's -- I had thought about it but decided it was probably another false alarm so decided against it. One of the girls had a margarita in the other had -- I didn't think of that!

Turns out it was a false alarm like I had predicted. As we exited the building through the lowest garage level and climbed up the driveway to the lobby Julie and Scott, the managers, opened the doors and let us back in. "Sorry, false alarm." They laughed at the girl with the margarita.

This did make me contemplate the cliche question: If your house was on fire and you could only take three things what would they be? My answer would be more practical now than it was as a child. I would include my stuffed animals as one lump thing out of the three. Or later on, my ice skating, singing and dancing trophies and metals. Like I could grab all of them in one arm with my dog and my photo album in the other! Luckily I know all those silly things are still safe at my parent's house -- knock on wood. The great thing about digital cameras now is that all my priceless photos are safe on my tiny flashdrive and my laptop, along with all my music. I'm sure at one point I would have wanted to take all my tapes or CD's but decided they were replaceable. Now they are all safe in my itunes folder.

So, I would definitely take my brand new Macbook Pro with all my assignments, pictures and music. I spent what I consider an outrageous amount of money on this thing anyway and hopefully I won't have to replace it for a while. My Gateway desktop can melt for all I care! I have backups of everything on that because it crashed so many times during the last semester of college when I really got into all the Adobe Creative Suite software and it wasn't powerful enough to handle my final advertising campaigns project. That's why I got the most power and whatever else put into my Mac.
Obviously I'd grab my kitty Shelby. I need to find her lease so she doesn't run away while we're outside with all the other people from my building and their dogs. She'd probably be scared so maybe I'd just put her in her carrier.
And, hmmm... I have renter's insurance so what else? My purse doesn't count right??? Like how an airline allows so many bags plus a purse? Besides that I guess I should take my diploma maybe. I'd make sure my passport and social security card and all that are in my purse cause those take too long to replace.

Funny to think about that kind of thing. Anyway, I can' wait for our field trip tonight! I'm sure that will be my next entry!

Always has to be the center of attention... she gets it from me

2006-10-05T21:50:00.000-04:00

Here I am, trying to find information on the Yup'ik civilization, and this annoyingly adorable kitty leaps onto my desk and sprawls onto my notes. This is Shelby- I have turned her into a spoiled brat-princess. I love her.
I should have known that distruption was coming from her. I had been sitting at my desk for at least an hour already working and organizing and she kept meowing and bringing me her toy. She plays fetch better than my labrador. Good thing I have a door to my bedroom and not a studio apartment. I have a feeling i'll haveto use it to keep her off my desk from time to time.

This morning's seminar featuring Parish Kohanim fascinated me. His photography is absolutely breathtaking and I really enjoyed the way he explained the story behind each photograph or shoot. The helpful tips he shared will be valuable to me as a writer as well as to the phtgraphers and designers.

So, I'll spend the rest of tonight creating my Yup'ik alphabet and Grey's Anatomy -- of course. Maybe I'l actually go to be before 2 am.

It's so comfy, but I woun't have time to sit on it!

2006-10-04T23:15:00.000-04:00

Before I even begin to discuss the drama that was today, I'll explain a little about what I thought was important last week. Here I was, just moved to Atlanta, ready to furnish my apartment. I knew what I had in mind and it took me a week to find it here. I sat on every sofa in this city and nothing compared to this beauty- at least not in my price range. But, It was out of stock and they told me I'd have to wait until the 4th! I didn't want to wait until after classes started to enjoy my fabulous sofa- but of course I did (after three more days of trudging through furnature stores again I gave in and bought it). They finally delivered it today! Maybe I'll find some time to enjoy it.

That's ok, my Core workout ball which serves as my desk chair is just as comfy. ;) Today my ten classmates from Sylvia's class and I got together to embark on the journey which will be that class. It seemed like a simple assignment, but no. Put eight designers and three copywriters together to create a value scale using 1" squares of black and whie type from magazines and you have entertainment. At least, that's what we were for the other students in the quad that have been through this class and probably enjoy watching the next class struggle with the same issues.
I think the real reason she assigned this project is to get us all working together and learning about eachother. We are going to be working with the same people for two years. This was an interesting and potentially valuable opportunity for us to understand how we work as individuals and with eachoher- or not in some casses. It's always interesting to me to see how personalities and personal values and beliefs show through when working in this kind of a group.

I spent another part of the day working on my individual portion of Sylvia's assignment. I monopolized the penguin collection in the children's section at Fulton County Library and compiled my list of 100 facts about penguins. Emperor penguins to be exact. I've loved penguins since I was a baby. My Papa had a stuffed penguin in his study and I would always find it first thing when I went to his house. Mimi, my grandmother, gave it to me after he passed away and I brought it with me to Atlanta. So, moral of the story- if you are ever on "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire," and you're stumped on a question about penguins- I'm your girl!

So, I'm trying...

2006-10-03T21:12:00.000-04:00

Ok, I have been trying for an hour now to figure out how to customize this template or create my own! Seriously, do they have to make it so difficult? I am totally in the dark about all this HTML stuff so, I'm working on making this prettier and more me but I have so much to do we'll see if I have time.

Today was the first day of classes for me at Portfolio Center and I feel like I've hit the ground running... finally! This summer was just too long - I missed classes and learning. I couldn't wait to get started and I am definitely starting now. This class- emotive writing- I'm really excited about. I've wanted to expand my writing skills and I know I will do that here. Also, I can't believe our first assignment is to go to a club! I would have never guessed! I'm sure we'll have a great time- all 5 of us :). I still can't believe there are so few copywriters here. Oh well, more fun for us when we get around to working with the designers.

Speaking of design, the other class I had today was design aesthetics. Everyone had said things about Sylvia's class yesterday but I had no idea. I'm sure I'll get a lot out of it. I wanted to take a design class and boy, am I taking a design class. It was funny to look around the room during our sketching exercises today and see everyone's primitive animal drawings- especially the three copywriters! My design ability is fairly limited but at least it comes naturally; NOT my drawing ability! I'll be working on it.

Here's another pic of me today in a good mood before I start working on Sylvia's project. We'll see if I'm smiling next time...

Welcome!

2006-10-03T10:07:00.000-04:00

In this blog I will catalog exactly what the URL describes - the daily drama of a Texas girl. I am in a transitioning phase in my life. I just graduated from college, moved from Texas and am begining my classes at Portfolio Center. This is all part of my transition from college student to exceptional and successful copywriter and from college student to grown up. I am a very dramatic person and I'm sure my daily drama will prove entertaining if nothing else.