The Highlights

I had an incredibly busy week and work but I survived! I won’t bore you with another play by play of my week, but a few great things did happen that I wanted to highlight.

1. Tuesday Night Church

I went to church again on Tuesday with Abby from work. Although I was sad to find out that I wouldn’t be able to join a small group, I did make some new friends. I won’t be able to join a small group because they are a year long commitment and you have to join the main church that runs The Porch.  I did however meet some girls with the help of Abby so hopefully we will be meeting up soon. Abby and I had a heart to heart as well talking about faith, our lives and work. I finally feel like I have connected with someone so hopefully I will be able to open up more at work and really get to know people.

2. WIFI

After three and a half weeks, I finally have wifi at my house.  It was so nice to be able to write this entry on my computer instead of my phone.  There isn’t much else to say since I’m pretty sure that if we’ve talked in the last three weeks I have most definitely complained to you about it.  It was nice to have wifi though since it’s supposed to rain all weekend and it will be nice to have something to do other than watch TV alone in my room. I also had the chance to Skype my mom and FaceTime George multiple times. It was great to be able to talk to the important people in my life and to see their faces.

3. Pumpkinfest

The weather was horrible on Thursday and Friday because of a hurricane that was was off the coast of Mexico. Since it was a Level 5 we felt some of the effects in Dallas! On Saturday, the hurricane was downgraded to Level 4 which meant it stopped pouring but was still sprinkling. This wasn’t ideal but the show must go on. The church was hosting their annual Pumpkinfest and I signed up to volunteer. I got there early and helped set up. I enjoyed talking with everyone before the event started and helping to make sure that event was a success. I worked the sno cone machine for a while and even participated in the cake walk. I got really lucky and won right away so I got to choose from some yummy options. I didn’t end up with a cake but the pie just looked too good to pass up (p.s. it was worth it!). Everyone was dressed up and it looked like the kids had a blast. I was really happy because one of my friends in B1 dressed up as a Packer player. I had a ton of fun but I left before the event ended. I wanted to get home since the trains and buses run less often on weekends.  It was nice to get home though and relax. I even had the chance to watch some Scooby-Doo before heading to bed. It was a great festival and I was happy that the weather let the event continue. 

4. Saying Yes To The Dress!

Even though I missed my friends wedding on Saturday, I did get a little wedding fun. Elizabeth FaceTimed me so I was able to see some of the fun and there were a few snapchats too. Ben’s wedding looked perfect and Melissa looked stunning. Although I couldn’t celebrate with them, I did have some excitement here in Dallas.  After church on Sunday, I headed to David’s Bridal to try on my bridesmaid dress and shoes for Janelle’s wedding next year! I tired to do it by myself since I got there early but I needed help so I had to wait a while. The dress is absolutely gorgeous. It is definitely not meant for people with hips or boobs but it is still wonderful. The timing worked out really nice too because my mom and sister were able to order the dress in Wisconsin right after I tried it on in Texas. I am sad I missed when the group went but it was still nice. I also sent a photo to Janelle of me in the dress and she loved it!

5. Personal Milestone

After a busy Sunday of church and laundry, I achieved a personal milestone. I have started running lately and today I ran 5 miles! That is the farthest I have ran in one time since I ran 6 miles for the Bellin Run at least a decade ago. The weather didn’t cooperate so I wasn’t able to run on Saturday but Sunday was rain free and I was determined to stay on my schedule.  After I finished running, I felt great and I made sure to stretch. I was extremely proud of myself. 

It was another extraordinary week in Texas and I am so happy I took this leap of faith and moved last minute. The time has been flying and it’s already Halloween next weekend!

New Experiences

On Monday, I got to work a little late but the day went really well. I was able to talk to people about projects I want to help with and my day wasn’t too rushed. Tuesday was a little more busy. I got a couple new projects and I am going to be able to blog a little more too! I also remembered to bring my mini-pumpkins in so I was able to decorate my desk. The best part was of Tuesday took place after work. Abby, one of the other interns, invited me to one of her church events called The Porch and it was really wonderful. Before the event, we met up with her friends and got dinner from one of the food trucks. It was nice to meet more people and one of the guys used to be an intern at Golin. I got a free bible after the event and I was so happy with the event that Abby said she would be willing to drive me every week! I’m looking forward to next week.

 

Food truck where I got some yummy BBQ chicken

Main stage where the live band played.

When I got home Tuesday night I was sad to find there was still not wifi but hopefully it will be here soon. Wednesday came and went in a flash and after work I headed to Carlos and Paulo’s house for dinner.  Paulo was working but Carlos was there and we had a nice time talking and catching up. I really miss it there.  It was really wonderful to see him and the dogs again. When I arrived, we ate right away and then had a lovely dessert that Paulo made. After that I just chilled with the dogs until Carlos brought me home.

In a blink of an eye, it was Friday and the work week was ended. I finally went shopping and stocked up on my groceries before relaxing a bit. That evening I went downtown to Aurora, the special art exhibition. The event featured modern art work, music and interactive art.  I don’t really enjoy modern art but this was special because everything was lit up and beautiful. I really enjoy seeing Dallas at night. I stayed pretty late but I still got caught in a packed train on my way home. I had a great time although I was sad that I never heard back from the girls from church who were planning on going too.

  
After a long night of walking, exploring and smiling, I slept in and relaxed Saturday morning before heading out for the day. I found out that some of the museums are free so I went to go check some of them out.  I went downtown and first went to the Dallas Museum of Art.  I surprisingly spent a lot of time in the kids creation area because I wanted to make my own artwork. I only went through half of the building because while I absolutely love museums, I like to go multiple times for short periods. This is also the reason that I usually only go to free museums because I get overwhelmed when I feel like I have to see everything in one time because I paid to be there.

  
 After the museum, I headed next door to the Crow Collection of Asian Art. The collection was really wonderful because there was an outside sculpture garden area and works inside. Asian Art is always extremely detailed so every piece is a tiny masterpiece in my opinion. My favorite part was the paper cranes walkway. It reminded me of the book I read in elementary school. Everything was so gorgeous and it was just a perfect day to enjoy some artwork and walk around Dallas.

       

After viewing the full collection and finding out more about their events I headed over to Thanksgiving Square to finally go in the chapel. While I was able to go inside and see some incredible artifacts, I was frusterated to find out the chapel portion with the beautiful stained glass was closed. Despite being disappointed, I was happy I did finally go inside part of it. I then began my long trek to the Park Cities Festival. I had to take the train, bus and walk 20 minutes to get here so I was disappointed to see that it wasn’t really much of anything. I did get to see a singer who played the Phantom of the Opera in Germany so that was really nice but other than that it was a bust.

Chapel at Thanksgiving Square

Park Cities Festival

When I got home, I cooked a bunch of chicken and then relaxed for the night as I knew I was going to be busy tomorrow. Sunday morning, I headed to church bright and early for class and service.  It was a wonderful day and with friends and faith! After church, a group of us went to the fair. I have never been to the State Fair of Texas before so I was really excited. We headed out on the train and got there easily. I was a little bummed because I could have gotten in free but that’s alright. When we first arrived, we had to buy tickets to get food. None of the vendors take cash so it was weird. After some crazy long lines, I had an incredible corn dog, saw some cute animals and ate deep fried carrot cake! It was a pretty warm day but we were in and out of buildings all day so it was fine. I had a wonderful time but I was definitely ready to go home after a few hours. I was happy to have went and to spend the day with friends!

Big Tex and a corn dog. it doesn’t get much better than that!

It was packed for the last day.

Kermit at the puppet show.

Zebra at the petting zoo.

B1 church group at the State Fair!

I had another great week in Texas and I have been having a great time.  I also found out the dress Janelle picked for us to wear in her wedding so it was an even better day. I’m happy and all these new experiences and adventures have made me feel blessed!

A Week to Remember

The week was extremely long and busy. I didn’t even have a chance to take a lunch break on Wednesday. I’ve got some pretty big great projects but I also have quite a few tedious, time consuming tasks. It’s a good mix but a tiring one. I love being busy though since it was even more painful not being busy. On Thursday, I published my first blog post for the Golin tumblr. I never used tumblr before so that was really nice. I got quite a few compliments. I am really blessed to be one of the six interns at Golin this semester! I also had a chance to meet with my mentor and everything is going really well. She was really happy with my blog post and said that she already heard feedback from one of the team members I work with with about how great of a help I’ve been. I was so happy to recover that feedback and to know people value my work!

Zakiah, Mary Anna, Kenitha, Abby, Courtney and me at the office.

The weekend finally came and I was so excited.  On Saturday morning, I mostly just relaxed until the evening when I went to the Southern Methodist University campus to the Meadows Museum for Discover Spain! It was very enjoyable and I even got a free snack during the Taste of Spain portion that included a free wine sample. The event included dancing, music, presentations and of course some incredible artwork. I couldn’t believe the event was free and the location was beautiful. Even though I didn’t too that much on Saturday it was still a great day.  I was also able to relax and talk with my sister too. 

  
  
 On Sunday, I went to church in the morning and I enjoyed the morning class. I was a little late because I took he later bus but it wasn’t too bad. Most of the people I talk to went on the camping trip to Arkansas but it gave me the chance to talk with others.  After class we went to the service and were able to see a baptism. It was really cool because there was a full pool that is in a balcony above the alter. The moment was also really special because they were able to live stream the baptism for her family who were not able to attend. After church, we headed to lunch at a Mexican restaurant. It was really nice and I got invited to a pumpkin patch after. After lunch, Carly dropped me off at home and I quick changed before heading to The Pumpkin Farm. It was really hot but I was able to get some pumpkins, go in a corn maze and have a great time with friends! I even had a chance to drink apple cider for the first time this fall.
  
  
Once I made it home with my pumpkins, I headed to downtown Dallas to see the city at night. I planned to go to Oak Cliff Lively Festival that evening but it got to late and because there wasn’t much time left after the pumpkin patch. It was still a great day and downtown Dallas looks incredible at night. I finally made it to Klyde Warren Park and it is incredible. There are so many lights, kid parks and areas to relax and play games. Most of the food trucks were gone already but I was able to see some of them.  I sat on the grass for a little while and just enjoyed the evening. It was a gorgeous night to be alive and I felt so blessed.     

All in all, I had a busy week and weekend but it was one to remember. I can’t believe that I have been in Texas for a month already! I’m looking forward to the next two months.

Time for some Weekend Adventures!

To put it simply, the weekend was pretty great.  On Saturday, I woke up early and headed downtown to the DanceAfrica Festival. On my way there I stopped at the Cancer Survivors Plaza and saw a glorious church. The festival was really small and only had one stage and half a dozen vendors but it was still really nice.  It was a beautiful afternoon and the performances were great. There was also a free Zumba class which was a lot of fun. I’ve haven’t done a Zumba class since I was at UW-Stevens Point. Needless to say, I was ready to dance my butt off!

  
  
  
After the festival, I went back to the house and got ready for the party that night. I had a little bit of extra time so I also went shopping and made some cookies. I enjoyed the chance to relax and take a break after the festival. That night, Courtney, the driver of the carpool, picked me up and we headed to Denton for Allison’s party! The car ride was long but we talked and I enjoyed getting to know them. The party was good and it wasn’t as crowded as I was expecting it to be.  There was so much yummy food and I met quite a few people from church.  I’m not going to lie, it was a little boring since we were just watching college football but it was still nice to get out and talk with people.

Intense football watching session.

I made some new friends!

Life got really stressful though when we tired to leave and the car alarm wouldn’t stop going off. It was crazy because of the three of us we couldn’t get a hold of anyone to get help. Eventually we called Allison and got her over with a tool box to help us figure out what to do. After about an hour, we got a hold of Lance who is one of Allison’s friends and he walked us through removing the horn fuse. We were able to take the fuse out and stop the horn but then the car wouldn’t go in gear.  That was an easier fix though and we made it on the road soon after. Even though I didn’t get home until around 1am, I still had a great time and I made some friends.  It was really stressful but also really funny for some reason.  I learned a lot about cars and I can say that now I have some idea how to find the fuse boxes, how to disconnect the battery and how to unlock the gear to put the car in drive.  That only really applies for a Honda Fit but I have some idea now.

Trying to disconnect the battery and find the fuse box.

Found the fuses and figured out which one to remove!

On Sunday I went to church. I always have to go super early because the bus only goes every hour. I rallied in the morning though and made it to the B1 class in the morning before church. The class was thought provoking and I was glad to hear from others about their journey with finding God. After class we all headed to church for the service. It was really nice but I do miss the beautiful organ Ray plays at church back home.  After church, we all headed back to the B1 classroom for a chili cookoff. That was a lot of fun and the food was really yummy. I got to meet a lot more great people and after we went to a nursing home to sing. I didn’t know all the songs but I followed along and it was pretty great. It was a wonderful morning and afternoon with some great people and I was sad to go home after. Lauren gave me a ride home so that was really nice too.

Chili cook off was quite busy.

Song book cover for our performance.

Sunday evening was a little less exciting. When I got home, everyone was there to watch football so that was a little uncomfortable.  I FaceTimed George though and that was so great since I hadn’t had a chance to see him in over a week. Later I ended up going back with them to do laundry and such.  Since I never got to use the Internet before, I couldn’t go to the fair because I wanted to stay so I could go over and use the Internet and do my laundry. I was happy to get that all done but I really hope that soon I will get internet at my house soon.  After heading home from doing my work, I moved into my new room and set everything up.  It felt so good to finally move everything into the right place and to stop living out of the suitcase.  Dallas is starting to feel like home and I am looking forward to the rest of my time here.

Another Week Done

On Monday, I headed to work for my third week at Golin. Things were a little different because I had a new route but everything went smoothly and I made it to work just as I normally do.  My day was pretty boring but I still got quite a bit done. My ride home went smoothly and I didn’t have any issues catching the train after my bus ride. When I got home, my new room wasn’t set up and I found our internet and that furniture wouldn’t be coming until the weekend. That was a little disappointing but I did get a chance to message one of the girls I met at church. After talking with her, I was able to join the Facebook group and I was invited to Allison’s house for a get together this weekend! I’m so excited to hang out with everyone and to make some friends.

The first step growing my relationship with God and making new friends.

 
My week was pretty busy actually! I had been running low on things to do for a while and I got some exciting news on Tuesday. I found out I will assisting on the Cision account at Golin. I was happy to find out that I will be joining another account and hopefully getting more big projects.

Wednesday went by extremely fast since I got more projects for my new account. I am learning a lot and it seems like the days are going quite fast. Thursday and Friday went just as quickly and I was just as busy.  I am starting to understand how crazy busy agency life can be but I love it! Friday was pretty exciting because I pitched my first media pitch. I was busy all day so I was looking forward to going home even more. I talked to Anthony and I was finally going to get to do laundry and use some wifi. They were also going to be brewing beer so I was hopefully going to learn too! Unfortunately, Anthony never got back to me after I called a couple of times so I never did get to go. The furniture did come though so I’m one step closer to a new room!

Making some progress!

It was a long tiring week and it will be nice to have a break. I was quite happy though because I finished another week at work and I’ve been in Texas for three weeks now! Friday was pretty disappointing but on the bright side, I found a ride to Alison’s house this weekend for the event with my church group! I am looking forward to the weekend and I hope all goes better than Friday.