on the flip side...

So, on the flip side [of laundry, that is!] I found $10 in the pocket of a pair of jeans today.

They were MY jeans, so obviously it is MY money...but hello Mr. Hamilton!

Maybe next time I can do YOUR laundry and you can leave me a Benjamin Franklin!

On second thought, just send your dirties out to be laundered and send me that Franklin via USPS.

laundry

I am one [itty bitty] person.

Yet, the only thing I can manage to find time for [aside from school, church, family, etc.] is laundry.

An endless stream of dirty clothes fill the wicker waiting room with dreams of detergent and H2O.

That endlessness transfers to a new basket awaiting the steam of the iron and the resting place of a hanger and that large-ish closet.

I'm am weary of laundry, particularly the ironing.

When I am employed again, I may seriously consider sending my dirties out to be laundered.

Yes, I am very serious.

photo here

Speaking of Wal*Mart

Yesterday, as I meandered through the feminine hygiene products at my favorite shopping paradise, I hear this:

"Mom, I know I'm better than him"

...[pause]...

"he's trailer trash"

...[pause]...

"Mom I know I can do better"

...[pause]...

"he's trailer trash"

...[pause]...

"he's a loser. What do you want me to do?"

And then she was too far away to hear.

I thought for a moment that I could totally relate to this woman. And then I started to feel sorry for people who live in trailers.

I'm sure they're not all bad. And no one is "trash", we're all Heavenly Father's children, after all.

photo found HERE.

Wal*Mart & ethics

I could complain about a lot of things, as a matter of fact, I should complain less...much less. I have such a great life, I struggle [who doesn't?] but I always seems to make my way through the loads of crap in my way. Sure, sometimes I am the reason there is crap in my way, but not always.

For the past two plus years I have sat in classes with professors trying to be creative and spark some sort of intelligent conversation from students who would rather be somewhere else. Anywhere else. Some professors actually succeed and students are intrigued and stimulated and the hour and 15 minutes [or 2 hours and 45 minutes if you are so unlucky] pass by in a blink.

But then there are the times, you know them, when you would rather be cleaning the toilets in the boys locker rooms than be in that class. I had one of THOSE classes the other day with my most irritating professor. We were talking about ethics. Let me be frank, we have talked about ethics for two solid weeks now because this man [the professor] can't manage to come to class prepared to talk about anything other than sports or his family. This means that completing a topic in the course/syllabus takes five times longer than it normally would have.

The first time he asked for examples of ethics in the workplace students in my class talked about when they worked at a pizza place and the boss was doing drugs in the back of the store. One student gave an example of showing up late for work and I thought I was going to die right there in that class. Of all the examples of unethical behavior in the world today, that is all we can come up with? Bother.

So Professor Unprepared brought up Wal*Mart. I would rather talk about drugs in the back room of the pizza joint than Wal*Mart. Do you know why? Because no one ever has anything intelligent to say, gaffs at the means they achieve such low prices, and gives endless reasons that they think the place should be shut down.

Fast forward a few hours and there they are, strolling the aisles with a blue buggy, Great Value products loaded high and happy as a clam. So no, I am not interested in talking about Wal*Mart again!

Pick a new topic, this one has been beaten to death and none of you, not even Professor Unprepared, know what is going on in the Wal-World.

I am Wonderful

"One Brick Shy" reminded today:

HELP...persuasion assignment

People, I have an assignment for my persuasion class and I need your help. Here is the exact statement from my professor:

Your assignment for next week is to create at Symbol to represent yourself. It cannot be your name. Design and print your symbol to show the class and turn in.

So, I need some ideas people. Quick! It is highly unlikely that this will take me an easy 10 minutes to put together and since I have not one single idea I am really counting on all 7 of you that read my blog.

COMMENT....please!

i got noth'n

I have been trying, unsuccessfully, to think of something exciting to blog about. Truth is, I got noth'n. It's sad.

I could tell you I got a perfect score on my reference paper for Communication Theory (I worked really hard on it and so far I don't know anyone else that got a perfect score). But I am bored of telling you about school. [so very bored with school...I want my life back!] And besides, if I told you about that perfect score, then I would have to tell you that I only got an 84 on the exam I took in the same class this morning. I also worked very hard and studied like a true college student...but obviously I need to reassess.

[Catching on to the mouse/cookie, moose/muffin routine I've got going on here?] And undoubtedly, if I tell you about those grades, I will have to tell you about the test I took tonight. And since I am sure I bombed it (absolutely) chances are good I do not want to share THAT grade.

The worst part about that class (Persuasion) is that there are grammatical mistakes in the documents from our professor. And not just an honest mistake of one simple error, we are talking A LOT of mistakes...on her Power Point presentations and even on the test. That is bad. I felt like correcting them as I went through the test, but I think she doesn't like me to begin with...there is a small chance that would only irritate her more.

Because no one likes a post without a photo (hint) next I am going to talk about Charley. I know, I talk about her (and my other littles) a lot, but oh yeah, this is my blog.

Carrying on...

This past Saturday I watched Charley while Kelly was at work and Justin was out of town. We have had so much rain (as you may have heard) that it was the muggiest day on the planet here in Georgia. You just don't know humidity until you know a day like that in Georgia.

Kelly and I had been talking about taking Charley's 1-year-old photos, but with all the bad weather and so much else going on we hadn't had the chance. But when I got to Kelly's on Saturday Charley was dressed in my favorite little skirt outfit and I was super thrilled I had stashed my camera in my bag. I knew it would be hard to wrangle Charley without anyone there to help, but she did great! Here are a few of my favorites:

OK, well that just about does it. I think it's best to end this post on a high note and that is definitely photos of Charley.

the _____ in Spain stays mainly in the plain!

It is raining. again.

I might need a boat.

btw: my 30 15 days of giving up sweets was great whatever.

Now it's over and that really is great.

lost puppy

I am loving this new commercial from AT&T.

I have AT&T and I'm not all that about it, but the fact that the teenage boy helped that little girl without being asked, is so cute.

rain, flooding, and school

Yeah so...hate that we had so much rain. So far the total life loss count is 8 and I know of at least one still missing. My heart aches for those families, I hate to imagine the pain they are going through.

On the bright side, class are out again tomorrow! I know it's going to be rough trying to catch up in class, but I'm enjoying this time for MY catch up.

I have been out of bread for a few days now and I finally had time to throw together a batch tonight. It's rising in the oven right now...my apartment already smells so yummy.

I even had time to clean out the fridge today while Charley slept. Now I just need to take my garbage out. Maybe after Biggest Looser is over. I better hurry though...Discovery channel played the entire season of The Colony today in anticipation of the season finale tonight and I MUST WATCH IT!

I better go...I'm sure I need to put in a load of laundry or something!

rain.

One day it started raining.

It has not stopped.

I love the rain.

Now I need to see the sun.

Photos from here.

Suspending the sweets...day 8

So not eating sweets is kind of hard. It's like I don't even think about it and I would eat it. Now I am freaking out at the cravings to put a sweet (of any kind) in my mouth.

Friday night after Chinese food with Sarah +3 I ate a stale fortune cookie without even thinking about it. Like I said, I automatically just put it in my mouth. It wasn't good, so I'm not counting it as a sweet. For all I know it was made out of noodles. It was harder once I realized what I had done, to NOT eat the cookies and brownies that Sarah brought out.

Oh how I love brownies. Brownies are manna. Divine.

22 days and I shall enjoy a brownie.

Side note: have lost nothing. Zero. Zilch. Pathetic...and I even worked out twice last week and RAN during my workout too. I, Katherine, ran. Shocking. Make note, it may never happen again.

OK, it will likely happen again, I'm trying to condition myself to running. I ran for a full minute without stopping...that's huge! This week I'm going for broke: 2 minutes!

Wired & Wonderful Wednesdays

Yesterday was another Wired Wednesday with the girls and it was wonderful. I have no pictures to show, but that's not because we didn't try. It just didn't turn out, so maybe next time.

We started out watching:

But about 20 minutes into the movie my VCR decided it had had enough and just stopped running. I thought it might be the tape, so we tried another...no luck. I think the VCR has officially called it quits. I was really sad too, I wanted to watch Cinderella and the girls had never seen it. Because the VCR is a lost cause we had to choose from my children's DVD's. That's easy, since I only have one...

The girls still like the "panda movie" so that was fine. And btw: Kung Fu Panda is one funny movie!

While I was sitting on the floor next to the girls, trying to figure out what was going on with my VCR and explaining that we could not watch the movie with the pretty girl and the cute mice, Ab said "you could go fix dinner after you get the movie to play" ha! ha! ha! ha! That girl is a trip!

After I explained we had to watch Kung Fu Panda (again) Abs said "I'm wild at the panda movie!" This time I took "wild" to mean that she approved. That girls is so funny, she is "wild" at a lot of things lately. I have no idea where she picked that phrase up.

At Abs request I went ahead and started dinner. It was only about 30 minutes later that Claire woke up and was so upset. It must have taken me 20 minutes to calm her down after changing her dirty bum. Sweet Jenna even came over to talk to her...hoping seeing her familiar face would help, but that didn't last long. Pretty sure it had something to do with Jamiee being there when she went to sleep, but not there when she woke up. I think she will get used to me eventually.

She hung out with me in the kitchen while I made dinner and managed to relax a little more as time passed. I have these little stuffed animals I got at Ikea for something like $0.09 a piece. She likes to throw them to the ground and make me pick them up.

Dinner was hilarious! I made stroganoff and the girls ate it up! I gave them the choice of peaches or apple sauce and there was nothing left on a single plate. Even Claire ate it all up and just loved the applesauce. We decided spoons work better with rice based dinner, but we had to have our forks for the peaches.

And just because I am saying no to sweets for 30 days, doesn't mean the girls have to. So I fixed them a nice big (for little people) bowl of raspberry sherbet. The girls L.O.V.E.D. it. Especially Claire. I have to admit, it was hard not to fix myself a bowl.

We didn't do a craft today and that is probably just fine by all of us. We watched the rest of the movie after dinner and were still enjoying the funny credits when their Daddy showed up. It was really rainy last night so we were all cozied up in the apartment just enjoying a little time to relax. Abs even said to me, "I think I'm just really tired." So grown up, that little girl.

Until next Wednesday!

DNA

Did you know that three men, James Watson, Francis Crick and Maurice Wilkins identified the structure of DNA? Their discovery was heavily based on the work of one Rosalind Franklin, used without her permission.

The sad thing...those three men (Watson, Crick & Wilkins) received a shared Nobel Prize. Rosalind died of cancer 5 years after their discovery and since Nobel Prizes are not given to deceased persons, she never received one.

Just thought I would share. Maybe you would like to read more about this HERE or HERE or HERE.

Mormon Youth Chorus

It has been right about 10 years since I was a part of the (amazing) Mormon Youth Chorus & Symphony (MYCS). I was one of the lucky ones, accepted on the last leg before the Chorus was disband and all things musical changed on Temple Square.

I have been looking for my friend, Chantelle Bench (I can't remember her maiden name, but her husband is Lincoln.) for years now. We lost touch when I moved out to Georgia and I have no idea where she lives.

During one of those Internet searches for her I found that MYCS has a group on FaceBook. I joined, even though I hardly remember anyone from the Chorus, but still hoping that I can find Chantelle. No luck, she was not there...and I pretty much knew that would be the result, since I have searched FB for her many times before.

The MYCS group had some photos posted so I decided to drag mine out and start scanning them to share. I know...I don't have ENOUGH going on! Oh well, it's fun for me...being a part of MYCS was an amazing experience. So I thought I would share some photos on here, just for fun. And hey, maybe someone else knows Chantelle...you know, one of my 11 readers.

At the end of MYCS we went on a tour to San Diego. One of the locations where we sang in S.D. was an military aircraft carrier. There is a chance it was the Midway, but it's been 10 years and I just don't remember. We were able to tour the carrier before our show and of course we had to touch everything we could get our hands on! You will see a reoccurring theme with the men in uniform. Oh come on, like you expected anything different from me!

I remember taking this picture especially for mom & dad...ha!

I have no idea who this statue man is, but Chantelle and I were trying real hard to get his attention!

That's all for now, I don't have many more, but one of my favorites is coming soon! I know...you're waiting with baited breath.

Garage Sale Prep (again)

Remember back HERE when I was going through boxes preparing for the upcoming garage sale? Well tonight I tackled two more boxes. The first one was innocent enough, full of frames and most even had photos having been displayed in my home at one time or another. The second box was another story. Well, technically it was a plastic bin and it has been sitting right inside my closet since I moved in more than 2 years ago.

Let us take a moment and recognize that I have lived in one location for more than 1 year. You're welcome family and ward, I knew you would appreciate not having to move me so soon. Never fear, the time is soon approaching! I can feel it in my bones...oh, and yeah, that count-down clock helps too!

Back to the boxes...so I have not really looked in that plastic bin for quite some time. My guess is that it was moved into this apartment with little more than a discounting "just put it in my bedroom" request and that was that.

In that box I found literally hundreds of recipes, recipe books, and copies of recipes. In addition to that I found a few dozen old Ensigns. I always get a little perplexed when it comes to the Ensign. I can't lug them around for the rest of my life on Earth, but I hate throwing them away, oh, but you can find EVERYTHING on line now. Keeping that many Ensigns is just not an option.

But the real reason for this post is what I found at the bottom of the box.

MEDALS
I'm a winner!

What am I supposed to do with those?! I am pretty sure I have already disposed of some metals earlier because I remember having this same dilemma before. Ugh!

Sure, sure, there is sentimental value. And if I had a little boy that liked to dress up like a military man, I would consider keeping them and adding them to the dress up box. Alas, no small military men in my life. And my boy would be too smart to play with these having recognized they are medals for vocal competitions and not for winning a war!

So, what do I do with them?!

Suspending the sweets...day 2

Day 2.

Giving up sweets is like giving up breathing. What a brilliant idea I had!

I'm thinking while I am giving up sweets I might as well give up fast food. Yeah?

Suspending the sweets...day 1

An update on the No Sweets Speedway I am currently driving on. I'm dying.

Went to Costco today, they had about a half dozen people spaced around the food giving away samples. I could smell the Ghirardelli brownies from the front door. Evil.

Also, my back hurts worse than it has hurt in a very long time. I want some Starbursts and cold water NOW, because I am sure that will make my back hurt less.

I am strong. It is only 30 days. I can do anything for 30 days!

Sweets

I'm giving up sweets, 30 days starting today.

Sweets = candy, ice cream, cake, chocolate, cheesecake...why do all of these start with "c"?

Anyway, you get my drift, no sweets.

So don't try to sweeten me up and bring me goodies...I will have to give them away.

I remember...

Graduation anyone?

I have the best news! Well, really it's just the best news for ME! But this is MY blog, so guess what? It's perfectly acceptable for this to be ALL ABOUT ME! ppuuuhhh!

Back to the best news!

Exciting news #1: If you go HERE you will find the Graduation page of the KSU Registrar site. When you scroll down you may notice that tickets are required to attend MY (College of Humanities and Social Science) COMMENCEMENT CEREMONY ON TUESDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2009 at 10 a.m.

And below that you will see a link to the Prospective Graduation List. If you were to click on that link you would see MY NAME right there on that list. MY NAME!

I'm sort of emotional and keep tearing up when I think about graduation...I am THRILLED!

Exciting news #2: As soon as I fill out the paper work (and get approval) I will officially be a member of the Communication Honor Society, Lambda Pi Eta...which will mean I graduate with Communication honors (and a colorful cord to dress up my gown!). Technically my grades are what allow me to graduate with Communication honors...but hello! a colorful cord to dress up my gown!

Exciting news #3: If I make straight A's during this, my final semester of school, I will graduate cum laude...WITH HONORS! Holy crap! I don't know what is more scary, the fact that I am that close, or that I have to get ALL A's. No pressure!

OK, I'm done now, for now. I tried to find an appropriate photo to represent my JOY! but the one in my head is far more fitting for me. Maybe I will share it with you in 95 days, 14 hours and 23 minutes!

Wired & Weary Wednesdays

It's that time again...WIRED & WACKY WEDNESDAY!

All the girls were sick last week and Claire was even more sick over the weekend so I knew this afternoon was going to be tough. I was right...Claire threw up within 10 minutes of Jamiee leaving the apartment. And then she continued to cry every time I left the room, put her down, or did ANYTHING without her.

Regardless, we still managed to watch our Wednesday movie:

And by "we managed to watch our Wednesday movie..." I mean "the girls managed to watch their Wednesday movie..."

I had just hit play when Claire got sick. By the time I joined the girls again it was slightly past 4 p.m. and Abbi turned to me and said "Are you going to start dinner now?" They had just finished snacking on gold fish but she was very clear "I'm hungry now."

It just dawned on me that I might need to skip the snack and have dinner ready sooner, since I had to encourage Miss Jenna to finish all of her waffle tonight.

We did enjoy our (fresh) blueberry waffles with strawberries & dream whip and sausage!

we cleaned our plates!

And we made owls! OK, Aunt Kathy made (the very challenging and not easy to assemble) owls and the girls colored them.

Claire only wanted to eat and tear up the owls...she got upset when I kept pulling her away.
Next time I guess I'll just give her her own paper plate.

You have to admit...those are pretty darn cute owls.
Find directions on making your own HERE.

Does anyone want to come over around 4 p.m. on Wednesdays? I will feed you!
I was not meant to be a single parent...I knew the plan made sense, but now I FEEL how the plan makes sense! Dinner time is the worst, there is not enough of me to go around.

And all was well by the time Jamiee came back to pick up the girls. Aside from a monstrous hooting scene when she showed up and a fight to be the first to get the bag of cookies, I'd say we all survived unscathed. Poor little Claire, I hope she gets to feeling better soon!

Labor Day Weekend

This past weekend was filled with family, food and good times. I have many a photo to post, but I thought I had better post at least one from the 1-year-old birthday party of the century!

Miss Charley all dolled up:

Charley & her Mommy in matching outfits:

(Kelly made them!)

Happy Birthday Charley!

My niece Charley is ONE year old today!

Happy Birthday Muffin!

xoxox, aunt Kaka

(cause yup, she says my name!)

A screw...

There has been a screw sitting on my kitchen counter for weeks...months...who knows, maybe even years. It is an intimidating little screw, one that just looks like it belongs somewhere.

Why is it not there now?

Will someone please give me permission to toss it?

I suppose I could just put it in that box in the closet. You know the one. That box that holds the sort of things my tool bench would, if I only had my dream house, with custom built and air conditioned work shed.

Wired & Wild Wednesday...Sept 2, 2009

Wired & Wild Wednesday's...are wonderful!

It's the one day a week the vacuum must be run before and after the visit.

It's the one day a week that the kitchen must at least START clean.

It's the one day a week that I enjoy a decent meal...and so far I'm batting 2/2 on enjoyable food!

It's the one day a week that I enjoy at least part of a good movie.

It's the one day a week that I get to play with arts & crafts.

This past Sunday I visited Jo and she sent me home with about 6 or 7 child appropriate movies. (THANK YOU!) I was eager to see which the girls had not seen. Turns out, they had only seen one so we are set for a "new" movie for at least another month or two. Not to mention the one that they have seen was Cinderella and I have a feeling they will watch that again & again!

Jamiee told me they have not seen a lot of the Disney movies that have been locked away in the Area 51 vault. So, if any of my family has those and wants to share, let me know.

Tonight's movie choice:

The girls loved it. I even caught Claire watching it a few times. During the really exciting parts I was in the kitchen making dinner and I heard Jenna & Abbi say "Oh no, watch out!" and "Oh, the baby!" And when the bad guys came on...the "Oh!" and "Grr" sounds coming from the couch were too much. So funny! They were glued to the television the entire time.

We have already decided next week's movie is Flubber (with Robin Williams)...I'm super excited!

Hercules was paused about half way through to have dinner. Taco Night! By request of course.

I think those girls would eat tacos every other night if they could. They do not however, like refried beans. Lesson learned there, although they did eat the majority of what was on their plate so they could have dessert! "Worms in Dirt!"

I didn't put much in each serving, but the girls still didn't eat even half and ended up taking it home to finish tomorrow. Claire really enjoyed her "dirt" too.

"worms?"

"mmm...worms!"

After dinner we made our maracas and finished coloring our "get dirty" t-shirts.

Aunt Jo let us borrow her fabric markers. I was a little nervous letting the girls just go hog wild with them, they are super fine point and really pretty and new. They managed to do OK, but I'm not sure I will venture down that road again any time soon.

This one is Abbi's, she drew that smiley face guy with the square nose all by herself. I did not help at all! And that ".iH" in the top corner, I think that was the beginnings of her name. Pretty good, pretty good!

Jenna was digging some purple. I had to convince her that green would look pretty too, but in the end she went back to purple.

And Claire colored on hers all by herself too ;)

Dinner eating time is still the toughest part. I suppose anyone out there with children has probably experienced this, but I'm just not used to it. For me the best way I can describe it is like giving birth to a 1, 2, and 3 year old all at the same time...about a week ago. So I didn't get used to them while they got used to their bodies. Just a little reality check for my biological clock. Don't misunderstand...I don't think my is speeding up and about to stop ticking, I think mine is stuck in 1990.

Either way, next week we are having breakfast...waffles. Or, maybe stroganaff if I end up needing to use my sour cream. We shall see.

Not sure we will have a craft of any kind, but that may change if I find something super cute. The girls are just a little young and have such little patience...hmmm, sound familiar? Nothing at all like their aunt!

Wild & Wired Wednesday Craft decision...

I made a decision about which craft the girls and I will make tomorrow. John & Jamiee are going to be SO excited about it.

We are going to make paper place MARACAS!

See how to HERE.

8 Cow Wife...

This afternoon I was at this place I like to call Hell. Waiting.

I met a man named Peter or was it Paul? Let's say it was Peter. We talked a lot, we were waiting for a very long time. Peter is married, he has been for 2 years. His wife is from Zimbabwe. We debated details about what it takes to have a successful marriage. And yes, I have expertise in this field because I have had a lot of failed relationships and seen a lot of both successful and unsuccessful marriages as my examples. Being an outsider I see things differently. It's a gift.

Back to my story...

So Peter tells me that he met his wife here in the states. When she agreed to marry him, before he could go visit her family (to be accepted) he had to send 4 cows to her family. Did you hear me before? They have only been married for 2 YEARS! That means they got married in 2007. I might have expected something like this in 1907 or even 1937 or even stretching at 1957 in some places in the world.

I told him he needed to go home and look up the movie Johnny Lingo on YouTube. I even made him write it down. In honor of this exciting lesson (that daughters are still being traded for cows) I present to you, Johnny Lingo Part I:

You may find part II of this excellent movie HERE and part III HERE. Oh, you can't fool me...I know you are going to rush right over and watch them now. I did.

What else we can learn:

It is not nice to call anyone ugly.

It is possible to ask for a woman's hand in marriage and get married the very next day.

It is possible to go on a honeymoon that lasts many months.

It is possible to think the title of a movie is Johnny Lingo for over 20 years, only to find well after graduating from seminary that it is actually called Worth of a Soul.

And did you hear the boy at the beginning of Johnny Lingo..."she looks as though she missed too many meals" as if that was a bad thing. I love it.

My favorite part was the end where Johnny explains things to Mr. Harris. sniff, sniff. It is divine. Where is my Johnny Lingo? My +1? My E.C.?

Enjoy the movies.

You're welcome!

Growing up...

Sometimes when I dream, I am a completely different person. I mean, I'm me, but just in a different life. Some of you are in my dreams, but you mostly do different things too.

The other night Grandmama visited my dreams and we talked for a very long time about all sorts of things. I remember she gave me things, I don't remember what they were, but I remember they were precious to her, so they were even more precious to me.

On some nights my dreams are so realistic that when you come to "visit", I wake worried you have enough blankets, that I left you a pillow, didn't lock you out when you are expected late, or that I didn't make enough room for everyone staying at my little B&B.

Lately I have been dreaming of growing up. Not like growing up as in growing out of being a teenager or going on your first date. More like growing up, getting that first real job after college. But for me, it's different. It's scary. I've already been there and had that "first" and now I have to do it all over again.

I have a plan for growing up. I'm a planner, so I need a plan. Plans make me feel better, more secure. They don't always work, and mostly all I do is spend time rearranging the plan, but I still have a plan. I have decided that graduating in December means I need to start seriously (and I mean seriously) campaigning for a new career. I say career because it is a career...this is long term, this is not just any old job, this is what I have worked my butt off for 2.5 years to achieve.

I am already a little burnt out on this semester and feeling drained to the point of not really caring anymore. Is that bad? Yes, that's bad. I know. But ugh, I am so over all of it. Having professors tell me day in and day out about how I will have to meet with company executives and give presentations bores me to tears. I have already done it, I have already met with, wowed and sold them on so many thing. I rock in front of an audience and I love giving presentation (as long as I am prepared), so please stop trying to freak me out in an effort to get me to pay attention. Give me knowledge. Fill my head with all the good things I have not heard or done and all the things you know and want to share to help me (OK, us) succeed.

When it comes to growing up and dreams, now a days they are starting to resemble more of the nightmarish quality. I need a change, and I know that. I need to feel like I am headed somewhere with my life. I want to see my work in major magazine publications, in Time Square, on bill boards running down the freeway. But which freeway?

Now comes the question: where do I want to live? Where will I start campaigning for a career?

Boston: Visited this fair city back in the days of that DNC and didn't really see much but homeless people and hardhats. I have heard that this is a great walking city and has wonderful culture. I know not a soul who has lived in this city and need a frame of reference. It's an east coast city and that is one of my top 5 wants.

Philadelphia: Have never really ventured to the City of Brotherly Love, but did fly into the airport and quickly crossed the bridge. I have heard good things and it is a smaller city by comparison to others I have visited and contemplated living. Another east coast city, so that's a plus.

DC: Our countries capital, what could be better! I have visited, but never played the true tourist, so maybe I should make that happen. This is one city that I have heard mostly good and it is truly in my top 2. Oh, and think of the history! This could be the greatest city to live in. Totally on the top.

Chicago: Um, Windy City might be at the bottom of my list, but I can't rule it out...not with it's large corporate following and potential for great advertising agencies. But wind & cold and Katherine do not get along so much. We'll see.

Charleston: The other city in my top 2. Within driving distance to Atlanta (HUGE plus) and right on the coast where many a great day at the beach can be had. (GIRLS...imagine the HOV trips right there to visit me!) This little city has a good amount of southern hospitality and I can see myself living here, much like I can see myself in DC. I want a place rich with history and culture.

Salt Lake City: This is my blog, so I will just have to say it. The only reason this city is on my list is because of the religious culture of the area. The only thing beating out that point are my friends, but unless my friends have some amazing contacts with the ability and desire to use them, in the area that I want to pursue, SLC is right down there with the Windy City. And been there, done that!

Denver: I have never lived in or near Denver, but I have heard good things. I know it snows there, which is not all bad. How cold is too cold? But it has to be on the list, at least in the beginning. And other than SLC, I doubt I will go any further west than those Rocky Mountains.

So, what cities am I missing?
Where do YOU think I should be searching come November 1, 2009?

Oh yes, November 1, 2009. That is when I have decided I will start this process. I need to get closer to graduation and I figure employers would just think "She still has 4 months of school, why should we hire her?" if I started applying now. But what do I know?

Thoughts? Suggestions? Seriously...this is my life we're talking about...all voices needed!