I caught up on a couple television programs that I usually watch this weekend. I know The Office is a comedy and while I think it's hilarious, it also has a dramatic side that tugs at my heart strings. I watched the one where Toby is remembering a bunch of things that have happened over the years and the Jim and Pam story gets me every time! That sequence of clips made me cry while the scene where Jim dresses up like Dwight and talks just like Dwight to drive him crazy is SO FUNNY. I couldn't stop laughing even though I'd seen most of those clips before.
I started watching Brothers & Sisters about a month before I left Oxford. It's such a good show. I love their family...they tell each other everything and are very close. It's not a perfect family, they have their share of arguments, but in general they communicate with each other to help resolve things. The Walkers are somewhat dramatic, but the amount of love and support that they show for each other makes me want to jump into the television, join their family and change my last name. Desperate Housewives was good last week too, I think this has been a good season for the show.
I've uploaded some new pictures to facebook and to my flickr account...the link is on my sidebar!
Monday, February 08, 2010
Friday, February 05, 2010
Ya'll
I'm afraid to even admit this, but I think saying "ya'll" might be contagious. I've been traveling a lot to West Texas for work and been spending a lot of time with people who say "ya'll." I haven't said it yet, but I hear it so often that I'm afraid I might pick it up. I don't think that I will pick up a southern accent or anything, but maybe just the word "ya'll." It just sounds so simple, warm and inviting.
I've tried listening to more country music lately too, really since the summer, so I don't think moving to Texas has affected this. I learned that there are a lot of country songs that talk about a broken heart and getting through difficult times in your life and that's what really lead me to it. Some of the lyrics are really touching and I can really relate it to my own life experiences. There are a lot of good songs I've come across that are excellent to sing aloud to. I enjoy some of the more pop-country artists such as Lady Antebellum, Gloriana, Sugarland, Keith Urban, Rascal Flatts and Carrie Underwood, among others. I never thought I would enjoy country music, but it's not bad...you should try it. Now, I don't know much about the real twangy stuff with cheezy lyrics, but the pop-country is fun!
In other news, I just want to share that I'm back up in the real world and connected in Microsoft Outlook. Thank goodness!!! It's so nice to be able to use it again...I didn't realize how much I had missed it. =)
My mom just sent me a card that has an article about the new baby giraffe at the Toledo Zoo. He is soooo incredibly cute! His name is Enzi and mom (Elvira) and baby seem to be doing well. That reminds me, I should try to check out some of the zoos around here! OK, I'm off to finish packing for my third weekend trip to West Texas.
I've tried listening to more country music lately too, really since the summer, so I don't think moving to Texas has affected this. I learned that there are a lot of country songs that talk about a broken heart and getting through difficult times in your life and that's what really lead me to it. Some of the lyrics are really touching and I can really relate it to my own life experiences. There are a lot of good songs I've come across that are excellent to sing aloud to. I enjoy some of the more pop-country artists such as Lady Antebellum, Gloriana, Sugarland, Keith Urban, Rascal Flatts and Carrie Underwood, among others. I never thought I would enjoy country music, but it's not bad...you should try it. Now, I don't know much about the real twangy stuff with cheezy lyrics, but the pop-country is fun!
In other news, I just want to share that I'm back up in the real world and connected in Microsoft Outlook. Thank goodness!!! It's so nice to be able to use it again...I didn't realize how much I had missed it. =)
My mom just sent me a card that has an article about the new baby giraffe at the Toledo Zoo. He is soooo incredibly cute! His name is Enzi and mom (Elvira) and baby seem to be doing well. That reminds me, I should try to check out some of the zoos around here! OK, I'm off to finish packing for my third weekend trip to West Texas.
Tuesday, February 02, 2010
LOST, Work and Reunions
Did everyone get to see LOST tonight? Crazy stuff is happening, as usual. And as usual, I'm pretty confused by it. Don't worry, I won't write anything about what's going on, in case people aren't able to watch it or just don't care.
Lately, I've been busy with work, planning lots of alumni football games and traveling with work. We've gone to West Texas the past two weekends for alumni games and it's been fun so far. It's a little tiring trying to get people organized who resist organization and details, but fun at the same time. West Texas is pretty rural, some oil towns and small town USA. We've been getting some decent crowds out there, b/c some of these towns live for football. Both weekends we've played games in the Friday Night Lights stadium, Odessa Ratliff. I haven't seen the movie or the television show or read the book, but I know it's based on Odessa Permian High School and we'll be hosting their alumni game in about a week and a half. Their high school stadium is a smaller version of Yager. It holds about 17,000! For high school football. Crazy. I still can't quite comprehend the idea that I'm getting paid for my work during the week AND I get paid for working games on the weekend. Definitely not used to that! =)
My high school is planning a reunion this year. It will be out 13th year reunion. We haven't had a 5 or a 10, so I guess the class officers had the time to do it now and didn't want to wait any longer. Honestly, I'm not all that interested in going. I always wondered how I would feel about it when the time actually came around to go to a reunion. Now that I live farther away and am still settling in to a new community, I'm not planning to go home for the reunion. I just don't feel the need to go. I'd rather go home later in the summer, around the time a friend is getting married. Maybe I'll feel more like going to the next one. It's not that I feel like a complete failure, like I did five years ago, b/c I feel a little bit more comfortable in my life. It's that I feel like I don't have much in common with what I see people posting on facebook. I'm not married and I don't have kids and that's the stage that most people my age are at in their lives. Part of my hesitation is my underlying social anxiety. I'd rather keep moving forward in my life right now than revisiting my past. Another part of me hopes that by the time we reach the 20 or 25 year reunions, I'll feel even more comfortable in my life and be more inclined to consider going. We'll see! Any thoughts on reunions?
Lately, I've been busy with work, planning lots of alumni football games and traveling with work. We've gone to West Texas the past two weekends for alumni games and it's been fun so far. It's a little tiring trying to get people organized who resist organization and details, but fun at the same time. West Texas is pretty rural, some oil towns and small town USA. We've been getting some decent crowds out there, b/c some of these towns live for football. Both weekends we've played games in the Friday Night Lights stadium, Odessa Ratliff. I haven't seen the movie or the television show or read the book, but I know it's based on Odessa Permian High School and we'll be hosting their alumni game in about a week and a half. Their high school stadium is a smaller version of Yager. It holds about 17,000! For high school football. Crazy. I still can't quite comprehend the idea that I'm getting paid for my work during the week AND I get paid for working games on the weekend. Definitely not used to that! =)
My high school is planning a reunion this year. It will be out 13th year reunion. We haven't had a 5 or a 10, so I guess the class officers had the time to do it now and didn't want to wait any longer. Honestly, I'm not all that interested in going. I always wondered how I would feel about it when the time actually came around to go to a reunion. Now that I live farther away and am still settling in to a new community, I'm not planning to go home for the reunion. I just don't feel the need to go. I'd rather go home later in the summer, around the time a friend is getting married. Maybe I'll feel more like going to the next one. It's not that I feel like a complete failure, like I did five years ago, b/c I feel a little bit more comfortable in my life. It's that I feel like I don't have much in common with what I see people posting on facebook. I'm not married and I don't have kids and that's the stage that most people my age are at in their lives. Part of my hesitation is my underlying social anxiety. I'd rather keep moving forward in my life right now than revisiting my past. Another part of me hopes that by the time we reach the 20 or 25 year reunions, I'll feel even more comfortable in my life and be more inclined to consider going. We'll see! Any thoughts on reunions?
Labels:
Football,
Media,
Social Anxiety,
Work
Monday, January 18, 2010
Life in Austin
Things are starting to fall into place with my new life here in Austin. This past week, I was offered a full time position with Alumni Football USA and we completed our first weekend of games here in Texas. It was a lot of fun and I've met some cool people.
Another thing I'm really excited about is PAX. I was officially offered a position as a Community Coordinator. PAX stands for Program of Academic Exchange. My job is to go to local high schools and see if they have room in their enrollment for foreign exchange students. Once I find a couple schools that have spots available, I find potential host families in the area. I use marketing tools to find families that are interested and then interview them, visit their home and determine if they would be a good fit for the program. Basically, see if this is a family and home that I would be comfortable letting my own kid live there. Once the family clears the background check and everything, then I'm their 'go-to' person for the academic year. I check in on the foreign exchange student as well as the host family monthly and make sure they are both having a good experience. They can come to me with any problems that might come up throughout the year. The financial compensation probably isn't that much compared to the number of hours you spend, but this program is just so rewarding to me. I'm so excited to have the opportunity to meet foreign exchange students, learn about other cultures and meet families here in my own community. There are some potential travel benefits as well.
This week, I'm working during the week and then traveling to West Texas, near Odessa for our second weekend of alumni football games. Should be fun, interesting and hard work all at the same time! That's a quick update from me. I'll try to post something more soon and not go so long in between posts. So long!
Another thing I'm really excited about is PAX. I was officially offered a position as a Community Coordinator. PAX stands for Program of Academic Exchange. My job is to go to local high schools and see if they have room in their enrollment for foreign exchange students. Once I find a couple schools that have spots available, I find potential host families in the area. I use marketing tools to find families that are interested and then interview them, visit their home and determine if they would be a good fit for the program. Basically, see if this is a family and home that I would be comfortable letting my own kid live there. Once the family clears the background check and everything, then I'm their 'go-to' person for the academic year. I check in on the foreign exchange student as well as the host family monthly and make sure they are both having a good experience. They can come to me with any problems that might come up throughout the year. The financial compensation probably isn't that much compared to the number of hours you spend, but this program is just so rewarding to me. I'm so excited to have the opportunity to meet foreign exchange students, learn about other cultures and meet families here in my own community. There are some potential travel benefits as well.
This week, I'm working during the week and then traveling to West Texas, near Odessa for our second weekend of alumni football games. Should be fun, interesting and hard work all at the same time! That's a quick update from me. I'll try to post something more soon and not go so long in between posts. So long!
Tuesday, December 08, 2009
Decorations are up!
I really don't have anything to blog about. Just about all my Christmas decorations are up. I've read a couple good books lately. Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen, it started out a little slow, but then I really got into it. I want to eventually read all six of her books. Bright Shiny Morning by James Frey, I may be weird, but I really enjoy his writing style. This one was a novel and all about living in Los Angeles. It followed several different couples/individuals, from the homeless to movie stars. My Sister's Keeper, by Jodi Picoult, was one my book club picked out a long time ago and I finally go to it, great read, even though it's sad! I like to go to the cheezy Nicholas Sparks novels in between other reading. I just picked up the most recent one yesterday, The Last Song. Right now, I'm going to read up on a nonfiction, Adobe Creative Suite and try to teach myself all about Adobe Illustrator. I'm excited!
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