A Lot Can Happen In A Week

My life has changed quite a bit since my last post. As of that day, I had dropped out of school and had no direction in my life. A lot can happen in a week.

The afternoon that I had dropped my classes, I called a temp service I had been working with to let them know I was looking for any day, week, or month jobs they might have. I wasn't looking for anything permanent. They called me the next day to say that a company had called them needing a receptionist for that day. I figured I could work for a day so I agreed to the job. (Plus, I thought the temp service wouldn't call me with any other job offers if I kept turning them down.) I ended up working for the day at a radio station. Actually this company managed three radio stations. My responsibilities were to sit at the front desk, answer incoming phone calls, and help people that came into the office. Otherwise, they let me text, email, and surf the Internet all day! It was a great job! I had so much fun! After I got home from work that day, I called the temp services and left them a message about how much fun I had and if they had another job come through for the radio station that I wanted to go back.

The following day, the temp service called me again. They said unfortunately the radio station didn't need me but asked if I would go be a receptionist at another company. I told them yes and continued to get ready to go. A few minutes later, the temp service called back and said the radio station called and wanted me back for another day. I swapped jobs and headed back for another fun-filled day of giving out prizes at the radio station.

Soon after I got to the job, I was called into the office of one of the bosses. I thought they were going to yell at me for texting, emailing, and surfing. On the contrary! They offered me a permanent position as their receptionist/administrative assistant. I told them I wasn't really looking for a permanent position because of the opportunity I might have to be in the Christmas Spectacular and I would be gone for two months out of the year. They told me that if they got a temp for those two months I would be gone to cover for me, if I would accept the job. That sounded almost too good to be true to me so I accepted the job.

I began working full-time for Millcreek Broadcasting in Salt Lake City last Monday. The radio stations they manage are U92, 94.9 The Blaze, and Mix 107.9. I don't listen to any of these stations. I can't even get any of those radio stations on my radio at home. I will stick to my country stations. The atmosphere is very relaxed and I enjoy going to work each day (so far). The only drawback is the commute. I'm sure I will really be complaining when the snow begins to fall.

I am still amazed about how everything fell into place over these last couple of weeks. As some of you know, I was a mess before school started. I was really confused and troubled. Now that all of this has happened, I feel much more settled and like I have a purpose again. Thanks for sticking it out with me!

That Was Close!

This is going to be short and sweet. Today is the first day of classes, or would have been the first day of classes on my journey to another Bachelor's degree. After tossing and turning all night, I decided that is not the journey I want to take! Sorry to disappoint all you lifelong learners! I spent the morning dropping all my classes and returning books instead of sleeping (oops, I mean, sitting) through a lecture on public speaking.

I'm not sure exactly what road I will be traveling now. I am currently looking for a job that would be oh so kind as to (maybe) let me leave for two months to be in the Christmas Spectacular in November and December. (I have not been offered the opportunity to be in the Christmas Spectacular this year.)

I have auditions for the Christmas Spectacular in June in LA. Then I probably won't hear anything (if I hear anything at all) until August.

Have a great day!

I Can't Find My Trapper Keeper

I have some big news. Not big like I'm getting married! But big like it will occupy my time for the next few years (not eternity!). I have made the decision to go back to school. Did you know that they don't sell My Little Pony Trapper Keepers anymore?! This made me very upset and almost made me change my mind.

I have decided to go back to school and get another Bachelor's degree. You say, "Another Bachelor's degree?" Yes, ANOTHER one. Degrees are like shoes, A Girl can't have too many degrees (or shoes). The first one was in Marriage, Family, and Human Development with a minor in Travel and Tourism Studies. People always asked me what I was planning to do with that degree. I told them I would marry a rich man and travel all the time. As we all know, that didn't happen. As a good friend told me BEFORE I got that degree, you can't do anything with it. After 6 years of hitting the pavement, I have decided that she was right and I should have followed her advice. Hindsight is 20/20.

So you are probably asking, What is she going to try this time? Well, here it is....Accounting. Doesn't that sound exciting?! I know you guys can hardly contain yourself. Take a moment to catch your breath before continue reading. Okay? To make it sound a little more exciting, I thought I would tell you what sound most appealing to me in the world of Accounting. It is Auditing! I know! Sounds SO much fun, doesn't it?! I already strike fear in the hearts of all children just by coming in contact with them. I thought Why stop with the children? I might as well strike fear in the hearts of adults as well. We'll see once I get in the classes, what I actually decide to concentrate on.

So in case you are keeping score, here's what I have so far and what I plan to have when all this education is complete:

1 One Year Certificate in Business Management from Salt Lake Community College (SLCC)

1 Associate of Science Degree in General Studies (SLCC)

1 Associate of Science Degree in Business (SLCC)*

1 Bachelor's Degree in Marriage, Family, and Human Development with a minor in Travel and Tourism Studies from Brigham Young University (BYU)

1 Bachelor's Degree in Business Accounting from University of Utah (U of U)*

1 Masters degree in Accounting from BYU*

OR

1 MBA with Finance Emphasis from BYU*

The degrees with * are not completed yet.

Do you think that is enough paid education for one person? Do you think I can get a respectable job with those credentials? I'm not so sure! We'll see what the future holds.

The education journey begins May 12th. I decided to start out with an easy load my first semester of a measly 18 credits. Piece of cake! I figure if I'm gonna do it, I should just jump in with both feet and not look back. I'm not getting any younger! It should take me about 2 1/2 years to complete the Bachelor's degree and another 2 years if I add a Master's onto it. I am still undecided on the Master's degree. I will have to see how I feel when I get closer to getting my (2nd) Bachelor's degree.

Since I don't use my first Bachelor's degree, I figured I would sell it on ebay. I need to get some money for tuition. Higher education prices haven't gotten any lower in the past decade. I figure maybe someone else can use it.

So I'm not really sure if I should be wearing blue or red so I've decided the new color is purple. I'm grateful there will only really be one day a year usually between September and December when I really have to make a choice.

I guess the blood that runs through my veins really is blue because I called BYU about getting another Bachelor's degree and they denied my request. The rules at BYU are one Bachelor's degree per person so I was out of luck. So I had to settle for the University of Utah. Sorry all my Ute fans. I don't mean to dog you.

Well, this will be quite the adventure! I will have to keep you posted from the walls of higher education. I will keep you educated on everything I am learning OUTSIDE of class! It should prove to be interesting. Stay tuned!

Hey Baby Lets Go To Vegas!

Where have I been last week? Vegas, baby! My parents had a Convention in Vegas and were planning to drive so I figured I would tag along. There is nothing like free transportation and accommodations. Since I had no income, I figured I would see if I could make a little dough on the slots or at the tables! Just kidding!

As I was telling my friends that I was planning to go to Vegas for a few days, some of them asked me what I was planning to do since I don't gamble. There are a MILLION things to do in Vegas besides gamble. I told them that since I don't gamble, the second thing that Vegas was known for was weddings. I told them I was going to get married. Too bad I never found a suitable groom! Oh well! This trip turned into a shopping trip.

I absolutely love Vegas. It seems that people either love Vegas or they hate it! There seems to be no middle ground.

My dad got to attend meetings the three days we were there. My mom and I seemed to be anywhere but at the convention. We went to both of the outlet stores located on the north and south ends of the strip. My mom got some great deals at the stores on the south end of the strip while I hit the jackpot at the outlet stores on the north end of the strip.

In case you were wondering where the best deal on the Strip is, I have the answer for you. The best deal is $1 per scoop of ice cream between 2-4 PM everyday at Betty's Diner in the Imperial Palace. It is the best kept secret on the Strip. In case you were wondering where the Imperial Palace is, it is across the street from Caesar's Palace and next door to Harrah's. The scoops are HUGE and one scoop is very satisfying!

We spent one morning at the Las Vegas Temple. It's amazing how two places so opposite are just a few miles from each other.

We did attend one show that was part of the convention. We saw a hypnotist perform on some people in the audience. It was very entertaining! I totally believe that those people were hypnotized! I'm a believer! The human mind, it's an amazing thing!

My parents and I all said the same thing the morning after we got home. We were all gratefull to sleep in our own beds in our own rooms. We would never survive in a third world country where we would have to share a one room house.

Is a passport required to go to IKEA?

A few weeks ago Mark and I renewed our passports and decided to spend the evening at IKEA. Yes, it took us an entire evening to conquer and see every last inch of IKEA. We met in the oversized parking lot at 4:30 PM and I did not arrive home until midnight. (Granted, we did some other things besides IKEA but still....) We spent three hours of our life at IKEA! I am still debating as to whether it was a good use of my time.

So we started upstairs in the very large IKEA. We found these comfy chairs right away and sat there for a while catching up on old times. That was basically how the entire night went. We walked for awhile, commented on stuff we saw, sat and chitchatted, and then moved on to the next display. We acted as if every display was our house. We slammed the kitchen doors, sat on the sofas, looked in the closets, laid on the beds, helped ourselves to the stuff on the bookcase, etc. You get the picture. It was a very hands on experience.

Here are some things we learned:

I have the strength of ten men. I accidentally ripped off a handle in one of the kitchen displays.

Not all the kitchen cabinets have the slam protected feature.

At least one of the TVs in the displays actually works.

All of the books on the bookcases are in Swedish. (I'm not really sure it was Swedish because neither Mark nor I speak Swedish, but we both know it was NOT English!)

Everything we thought would be expensive was cheap and everything we thought should be cheap was expensive.

The food in the restaurant was delicious and well worth the few bucks we spent on it.

There were some things that neither Mark nor I were sure what to do with??

Two out of every three women between the ages of 18 to 50 that we saw were pregnant. (I told Mark to stay away from me, especially when we were trying out the firmness of the beds!)

Imaginations are a must.

The boxes of games on the bookshelves do not contain the games. (They were empty boxes.)

The employees are not very happy if you take the place setting from the kitchen displays and use it in the restaurant.

I am not a very good driver of a shopping cart when Mark is in it.

The carbonated pear juice in the wine bottle causes a lot of air in the stomach which results in some pretty good belching.

Apparently every man in America needs 100 tea lights, according to Mark. I'm not really sure why?! We did learn that you can't light a tea light from the cigarette lighter in a car. (All it will really do is create smoke which really kills the mood.)

There you have it! My review of IKEA. It was nice to go there once, but I hope to never do the full tour again! Sorry, Mark forgot his camera so there are no pictures. I'm sure if you call IKEA and ask for their security surveillance tape from that evening, it will have caught all of our investigations.

Out of This World!

Mark had a brilliant plan that we should go Cosmic Bowling last weekend. We decided to meet there at 9:30 PM so we could put our names on the list for a lane. Mark decided to grace me with his presence around 10 PM. I put our names on the list and they told us it would be an hour wait for a lane. We didn't mind waiting. Just after Mark got his tokens from the machine to play some arcade games, they called our names for our lane. It was definitely not an hour wait. It was more like a 10 minute wait! Anyway, Mark and I have decided that based on our performance, we will not be trying out for a league anytime soon. We could try out for the Gutterball Goonies, since that was where our bowling balls spent most of the night. Mark did get a few strikes and spares. I managed a few spares of my own. All in all we had a great time! We just realized that we are definitely not high schoolers anymore and we are more than happy to leave Cosmic Bowling to the next generation. Here are some pictures of our humiliation. Enjoy at our expense.

The Long Awaited Cabela's Pictures

Well, here they are. The long awaited pictures from Cabela's. I am blaming the full moon for me being able to get these pictures. Enjoy!

I decided to go gangsta'

Innocent aquarium watching

The infamous feeding of the fish. This video is rated PG-13. Caution: Contains violence.

My reenaction of the fish feeding

I would advise not to get between a woman and her gun

Me and Mark preparing for the Uintas