Summer/New York/

This summer was so much fun, there aren't even enough words to describe how wonderful it was. I had the  opportunity to go to New York for a month and stay with my aunt and do an internship with her at her work. She works for Conde Nast and she is the Senior-Vice President of finance. She oversees the budget for the company as a whole.  Conde Nast is a publication company and they publish magazines such as: Vogue, GQ, Allure, Golf Digest and Golf World. It was very interesting to see how much time and effort goes into every page of a magazine.  It was even more interesting to me to be able to see what goes on in the editorial part of the magazine and the advertising side as well.  I helped my aunt with the budget spread sheets for the 2012 plan year, I couldn't see the salaries or anything because that is confidential information.  I saw Sarah Jessica Parker in the elevator because she was on the cover of the August addition of Vogue and she came to see it to see if it turned out as well as she expected I suppose.  I also caught a glimpse of Anna Wintour she is the editor of Vogue, she is the editor that the Devil Wears Prada is about. In her defense she does not throw her coats or her purses at people. She is a very busy lady though and just doesn't have time for chit chat which is understandable for someone in her position and she is very good at what she does. I also saw Mr. Newhouse in the Cafeteria at 7:00 am on the dot every morning.  He seems like a very interesting man and seems to be very involved in his business. Conde Nast's cafeteria you must google it. It is one of the most fascinating cafeterias one will probably ever see in their life.  It is truly phenomenal. I also had the opportunity to go to the Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art aka..."MMOMA." I got to see an art exhibit before it was open to the public all the executives were invited, it was a very unique opportunity and of course I took it.

Conde Nast is known for having black cars everywhere in the city and other places all the executives have them and anywhere we wanted to go the driver took us. That is very nice to have something like that at the tip of your fingers. We stayed in the city for 3 days so my aunt had the driver pick us up at the house in New Jersey and took us to work because if you stay in the city you don't really need a car. WE stayed at the Manhattan Club which we had a view of Central Park from our room. It was all so nice.

My aunt also set me up with a speech coach, which was very beneficial because I am taking speech in the fall. He was very informative about the different southern accents and he could do every one of them, it amazed me and he isn't even from the south an he could do them all perfectly.  He is truly amazing at what he does. Of course I have a southern accent being from Alabama (The Deep South). He said a southern accent is very charming and soothing and that it is very pleasant to listen too He also told me not to lose it......but that does not mean don't pronounce things correctly because that is when people will begin to mistake a southern accent for ignorance.  I also had Golf lessons while I was up there and was very surprised at my results. I think I could be rather good if I played regularly.

I must say that I ate very well in New York, my aunt married into and awesome Italian family (that should explain the good eating.......lol)  From fresh mozzarella to imported Italian prosciutto it was all amazing. While I was there this time I had Indian, Spanish, Cuban, Italian, Greek, Japanese and Thai. All I can say is that I et very well while I am up there.

I always have so much fun when I go up there. I get to do it again next summer too. VERY EXCITED! :)

An Amazing Weekend

I can't even describe how fortunate I am to have such great friends and family. We all had a blast on the lake Saturday with the family who came down from Tennessee. The river today with the Tuggle's and the Faulkner's was so much fun! I have not laughed and had that much fun in a long time! It was so great to go somewhere different for a change too. The Warrior River is a great place to go and have fun.  This weekend on Saturday the 28th God gave me the desire of my heart and allowed me and Molly (my best friend) to give dating a try, and so far everything is going well. God promises that he will give us the desires of our heart if we remain pure hearted and that is what he did. I am so blessed to have such supportive friends and family. Our God is an Awesome God!!! Thank you Lord for everything that you have done! This has by far been the best weekend I have ever had. :)

WOW!!

I have never seen so much destruction in my life. Never have I experienced so many tornadoes all at once, almost every town getting hit right after another all across the state. I have seen things like this before on the news, but I never dreamed that it would happen where I live it is just totally insane. Over 200 tornadoes hit alabama yesterday, over 200 people in alabama alone are dead so far.  My friends and I are so blessed that our houses did not get destroyed unlike some people we know.  Florence is the only city for miles that has electricity, so everybody from other cities are coming here for food and gas.  Many of my friends hometowns are almost completely destroyed.  The amount of destruction is almost unfathomable especially if you have never seen it to this extent before. This makes me realize how blessed I am and to not take anything for granted that the Lord has given me.  

WOW!

This week has made me realize to not take anything for granted, and trust in God with and for everything! Always be a good friend and be there for the people who need you the most! Things might not always turn out as you think they are supposed to. Everything works in Gods time not ours, that is something people need to realize though in many cases it is very hard to understand that concept. God is so much greater than us, he has a divine plan for each and every one. We just need to let God work his wonders and sit back and watch. He will show you the way through the darkness that seems to have no end. He is the light at the end of the tunnel.

"Cast all your anxiety on the Lord because he cares for you." 1 Peter 5:7

Studying

Once again, like many times before me and my friends are out studying in the studio but it is usually in the halls. Two of my best friends Kyle and Anna Grace.  We usually always end up splitting up because we talk to much and can't get anything done. Just like Anna Grace had to go to her room and study because me and kyle couldn't shut up. But anyway I think I accomplished a lot tonight. Crap I have to go to Spanish Lab tomorrow and do my assignments before friday. I am glad I remembered that. Well......good night! :)

New York/New Jersey

New York and New Jersey are two of my most favorite places in the world! Partly because I have family that lives in New Jersey but when I go up there we always go into the city to eat and to see a broadway. I love to go to NYC and just take in all the chaos, everything moves so quickly compared to Alabama.  I have been going to NY and NJ since I was a baby and I love it up there so much. I miss my family that is up there but I see them just about as often as I see the rest of my family down here. They always make time for us to come up or for them to come down even if it is just for a weekend! I am closer to my cousin from NJ than I am to my cousins who live down here. That maybe because they are much older than me, I mean because they all have families of their own now. I cannot wait to go to NJ for my spring break, I am going to have so much fun, as I always do. I will also get to see my grandmother which I am very excited about. I can't wait to see my family!! :)

School!

Everything is happening so fast in school, and all I want is for everything to slow down but that is not going to happen.  I am freaking out about my math test monday. I am actually looking forward to the study group we are having for math sunday afternoon. I am doing well in all of my classes but math is just kicking my butt all over the place. I will pass it though I always do. Blaaahhhhh!!