The joy of learning....

Learning....

It's everywhere. In academics, obviously. In every day life, absolutely.

Over the past 9 weeks, I've been learning about New Media in the IMC program online through WVU. Learning about how electronic media works and what is the best media for different programs/companies. I start a new term on Monday, so I'm excited to see what I'll learn in the new courses for the term. (I'm doubling up this summer...yeah I'm a crazy woman!)

Through my work with nonprofits, I'm learning about how communication (internal and external) can make or break a company or organization. Many nonprofits don't spend a lot of time or money on communication planning and then wonder why funding, support, and services aren't as successful as they had hoped. I do a lot of technical assistance and training for nonprofits in my work and I have seen over the past few years, the turn around in focusing on communications. Many groups, once they have a plan in place, have seen a huge return! So, not only have I learned this, I think that nonprofits are learning this as well.

In life, I'm learning many other things. What I like to do, how I'll spend my time....

I'm learning so much. I'm excited to see what I'll learn this week! Seems as though life is as adventurous for me lately!

The old adage is that it's important to "never stop learning". I guess I'm on the right track!

What is this thing for anyway?

Okay, so I'm torn. I like utilizing my blog to share family stories and what is going on in my life. However, I don't want this to turn into a sharing of personal info and that kind of crazy stuff. I know folks who have those kind of blogs and it's just like, "Uhm...ok and WHY do you think that you need to tell me that?" HA HA

So, I'm going to try to explain what's been going on with my life without going into great detail.

I'm no longer married. I am living on my own again. I am struggling with being single again. (It's been a LONG time since I've been single.) I wonder if I can handle taking care of the house on my own. I wonder if this is all going to work out. I wonder if I'll be okay.

Some days are great. Some days are hard. But I'm praying a lot and spending a lot of time with family. I think that it will all work out because I have friends and family who love me very much.

Ok, so I was successful....I left out the details. I didn't get too personal. I walked that fine line and I think I made it across without falling off.

So, my question for you is where do you draw the line on your blog. What's personal, what's information you should share, and what's the grey area?

Hope you are all having a great week.

I'm BAAAACCCCKKKKK!!!!!

Okay, so the title is a little cheesy..... but it's true. I am back to the blogosphere.

I am making a comeback (or attempting it) because of a multitude of reasons. Between my marketing class this term which covers blogging and other new media as well as other things in my personal life, I realized how much I miss blogging!

So, here I am. My goal is to post once a week, if not more often. Hopefully, people can read the posts and they are interested and they actually want to read it! ;)

Stay tuned for the updates that have been going on in my life for the past few months! You don't want to miss this! Okay, so maybe you do...heck, some of them I wish I could have avoided!

Be back soon! :)

Too many things to name.

Do you ever feel like your "to do list" just keeps growing instead of shrinking? Like you can't get anything done and when you do, there are three or four more things added to your plate?

It's almost like I should repeat the line from Animal House, "Thank you sir, may I have another?"

School has been going well and I got a great score on my first assignment. Let's just hope I can keep it up. I love the online class discussions. It is great to get insight from other marketing professionals. Lots of insight and new ways of thinking. It's great!

Lots going on.....new and different things at work, which can be interesting and challenging at the same time. Then there is school and volunteer duties..... So, we'll see how I can juggle this. Bad news is, I can't juggle. Well, tasks maybe, but not like a circus juggler.

So, I guess my wish is that my friends pray for me. I need sanity and strength at this point.

Thanks! :)

Countdown is quickly approaching!

SO MUCH GOING ON! There are great things happening! I'm dealing with change fairly well and work is going great!

It's late and I am so sleepy. I wanna share the wonderful stories of the outreach we've been able to do. I promise that I will post it this week. PROMISE PROMISE!

I hope that you guys are having as great of a week as I am!!!!!!!!

Dr. Panucci and her staff are amazing!

Trying to think about the postitives.......
There's lots on my mind.....politics, the war, school starting soon, and man other things. I could have posted about any of them. I decided not to. I've already had my blood brought up to the boiling point several times today....I didn't need another.

So, I decided to take a moment to praise my wonderful orthodontist, Dr. Donna Panucci and her staff (www.panuccismiles.com) for amazing care, customer service, and skill. They took great care of me and have changed my smile...and me forever (that is as long as I wear my retainer!)
(pictures at right - pretreatment pictured first then post treatment)

I got my braces off on June 22, but I hadn't formally thanked the staff for an amazing job!

If you want an idea of what they can do....look at the photos.
I am so proud of my new smile! Most of all, I am so grateful for the wonderful care that the staff provided to me.

Dr. Panucci did not pay me to say this. I promise. I just want to thank her and her staff! I have NEVER had this level of professional yet very personalized care by any medical/dental professional in my LIFE! She has customer service down to a science! Me and my new smile! (at right)

I can smile proudly now! Orthodontic treatment is expensive. However, the treatment that I received was worth every penny! (and more!) I am honestly going to miss seeing the gals at the office every 8-10 weeks! (I'll miss them too much that I'll probably take them some baked goodies every once in a while!)

Tom Cruise...before and after

WARNING! STUPID POST.....Just an observation that I thought was worth commenting on....

I came up with this post as I flipped through the TV channels today. Not one, but TWO wonderful Tom Cruise classics were on today. At the same time, on two different cable channels, Days of Thunder and Cocktail were on today. I started watching Days of Thunder, then flipped over to Cocktail and got wrapped up in it and didn't flip back to DOT until nearly the end. It made me a little sad.....no not the movies....but the wonderful actor and guy that Tom Cruise used to be. He went from famous to infamous, or so it seems. His relationship with Nicole going sour (one of the few Hollywood couples that I really thought had a chance), his shortlived relationship with Penelope Cruz, and his weird relationship/marriage/pregnancy with Katie Holmes. And I haven't even mentioned his inconsiderate comments about postpartum, his reaction to Katie's weight gain from the pregnancy, the wedding, the birth of the baby...and I'm not even going to talk about the religious beliefs. (I won't talk about it b/c I believe that everyone has a right to their beliefs. I think he's weird, but not b/c of his religion. I just think he's turned weird on us.)

Seeing the movies of his glory days really made me long for the Tom Cruise of the good ol' days. You know, the guy from Cocktail, Days of Thunder, Top Gun, and others....and we can't forget Jerry McGuire......one of my personal favorites. Gosh he is too cute in that movie.

I guess things change, people change. I can't expect every person to stay the same. I know I've grown and changed since the first time I saw Tom Cruise on the big screen. So, who am I to call him weird for changing, too?

Anyway, I just thought it was interesting that we have forgotten about how people were many years ago. I had forgotten about the young Tom Cruise......just as we often forget about the wonderful woman and songstress Whitney Houston of years ago.

***NOTE I didn't realize this until today.....Brian's (Tom Cruise) bartender friend, Doug, marries a beautiful blond in the movie Cocktail. She is the same girl that plays the doctor who falls in love with Dalton (Patrick Swayze) in Road House. (Another personal favorite!!!)

Banana Clips and Lycra Leggings....

Okay.....I'm officially OLD!

I've always heard that the first sign of getting old is if you see a trend come around the second time. Well, it's official, I'm OLD!

This weekend, my husband and I went to the mall. As usual, we save time by separating and going to our favorite stores and then meeting up at a specific time and store.

I don't often go into Claire's (an accessory store targeting the 10-15 demographic), but a new line of jewelry by Mariah Carey caught my eye. As I was looking around, I saw some really pretty earrings, etc. But, while I was looking over the hair accessories, I saw banana clips.......OH MY GOODNESS! I thought my eyes were deceiving me, but according to the sales associate (who was obviously younger than me) stated that they were in style. I'm not sure that she knew that they were BACK in style as opposed to being "a new style". Then, as I was walking around the store to see what deals I could find... I saw black leggings in two lengths....capri and ankle....with lace. Okay, I wore these under skirts when I was in middle school.... (about 15 years ago)

I hadn't thought about it much, but then I realized that I had seen several teenage girls wearing these under super short shirts over the past few trips to the mall....and this visit was no exception.

I vow that I will not follow this trend. A few years back, a friend told me that "friends don't let friends wear ponchos"....well, I make this comment....."If you wore banana clips or leggings the first time around, don't wear them the second time around....They weren't attractive then and they are still unattractive now!"

I know that I'm not "old" yet, but I am getting older. I also know that I have far outgrown the attire of the "youth" of today. I still feel that I keep up with styles...but they are styles for my age. I never thought that I would say this....I swore I'd never be this way, but we always say NEVER SAY NEVER. Okay, so here it goes.....I can't believe some of the skirts that young girls are wearing. I'm just thankful that they are wearing the black leggings under the skirts now. I'm tired of seeing girls with skirts so short they can hardly walk b/c they are afraid of showing off more than a little leg. I even attended a wedding this Spring where a teenage girl wore a skirt that could barely be considered a skirt. Even wearing this skirt to a club or a party would be a stretch, but a WEDDING??!!!!!!! OMG!

Okay, so the lesson is what is old is new again and I am getting old and I have turned into my grandmother.....which I've realized...isn't such a bad thing. My grandmother is a respectable lady and has always looked gorgeous, and has always dressed in good taste.

**Here's another observation from this weekend. Okay, maybe in some magazines, it is "cool" to wear the collar of a polo shirt flipped up, but it just looks a little rediculous to me. I am not the MOST fashionable by any means, but I have never seen a flipped collar look good on ANYONE.