I've figured it out!

Two things I've always enjoyed in life are 1) being creative and 2) helping people. With the realization that I really am graduating from college soon (as in five months soon), I backtracked in my mind a bit and found that my course of study is a perfect fit for those two things I love. Good thing, because after coming this far I'm not changing my major again!

Why journalism? Why public relations? How do these two aspects of my major correlate to being creative and helping people? Simply stated: everything!

In journalism, it's my job to inform people, to bring topics of interest within reach for them. It also requires a large amount of creativity. I'm not only informing people, I'm trying to get them engaged and interested in the news topic at hand. This cannot happen without some degree of creativity. In public relations, my entire job is (or should be) devoted to helping people. Whether I'm on the outside looking in or on the inside looking out, it is crucial to be helping those in my organization and/or "public." Tackling this responsibility (among others) also requires a great deal of creativity.

It's exciting for me to have finally figured out that this major was for me. Sure, when I was an FCS major and later a piano major I could've been creative and helped people, but not quite to this degree. I absolutely love what I'm learning and can't wait to use it all in the world outside of academics in a few short months from now.

My only question to myself: Why did it take me this long to figure it all out?!

On the hunt

With Father's Day soon approaching (too quickly, I might add), I'm searching for that perfect gift for my amazing, yet not-so-perfect Dad. I love him dearly, but he is so hard to shop for. You'd think after 22 years of celebrating this holiday with him that I'd have this gift-giving thing down. Wrong. Every single year I'm plagued with this inability to find a gift for him.

To aid me in this traumatic experience, I ask him, "So, what do you want this year?" Without fail his answer is, "Oh, I don't need anything. I'm just glad you're in my life." Aww, now isn't that sweet? Maybe, but it doesn't help me! Those who know me (even just on the acquaintance level of the friendship scale) know I'm very indecisive. I'm so indecisive, I even wrote a column about it!

Since my dad won't help with my gift-hunting efforts, I decided to check the media. After all, there are always articles about "Top Dad's Day Gifts" or "Trends for This Father's Day." Sure enough, I found this article. The headline? "11 Great Gadgets for Father's Day." Wonderful! Dad can use more gadgets. But if you look, you'll quickly notice that most of these "great gadgets" are not very college-budget friendly.

So, I'm stuck again. I don't want to pull an "Oops, I forgot it's Father's Day," and resort to giving him yet another necktie. Oh! He loves doing laundry and frequently mentions that we don't have enough clothing hangers--but I give them to him for part of his Christmas gift every year. I will not be buying more hangers for him!

Well, while I'm "jogging in oatmeal" on my gift hunt, I might read more news articles in hopes of finding that perfect (and budget-friendly) gift. This is going to be one long marathon!

I made the big switch

to a Mac! This change, however, didn't come without its problems--or complications. I have to agree with a friend who wrote this column about her new Mac experience a few months ago, that switching from a PC to a Mac is different, but I don't regret it.

Although my switch was a bit complicated. You see, there was this sale and I'm Asian, and I love sales. So I waited patiently for this student promotion (buy a Mac get an iPod) to begin. The day after I buy my new Mac, I read in the Seattle Times of a newer Mac that had been released that day. Yep, the this always happens. Right after I fork over (or more like swipe the plastic in this case) the money and hope I won't regret my big purchase, something bigger and better comes out. I know the marketing strategy behind that, but seriously, the DAY after? Come on!

Well it's no big deal that there's a new Mac, right? Not exactly. This newer one is faster. And has an illuminated keyboard. And has a battery with the potential 7-hour charge. And is not only a Macbook but a Macbook Pro. And lastly, but most importantly, it was CHEAPER. What? How could this be? I could save more money? What was I going to do now?

I look at my receipt and find that I can return my opened Mac, but I would be charged $120 because it was already opened. Hmm . . . was it worth the trouble? We would soon find out. Skeptical of my ability to return and re-buy, I went to the Apple Store and talked to their "specialist." Sure enough, I could return my open Mac and purchase the newer Mac. Believe it or not, even with the 10% restocking fee, I would still get money back--for a better computer!

So, now I'm the owner of a newer Macbook Pro. And I saved money. That's what I call a deal!

Just because I'm bored

I used to enjoy doing these dumb little surveys, but since then I've had too much "other stuff" to do. But, I figure since I'm a bit bored at the moment, I'll let you know a bit more about myself via this dumb little survey. 

What is your salad dressing of choice?
Soy ginger or raspberry walnut

What is your favorite sit-down restaurant?
Cheesecake Factory or Fuji Sushi

What food could you eat everyday for two weeks and not get sick of?
Rice

What are your pizza toppings of choice?
Sausage, olives, onions, peppers

Chocolate or Vanilla?
Dark chocolate

How many televisions are in your house?
Two

Do you have a laptop?
Yes, my HP is practically broken, so I'm buying a Macbook! 

How about a desktop?
Yes, but it's not functioning quite right

How many cell phones do you own?
Three, but only one is activated

Are you right - handed or left- handed?
Right

Have you ever had anything removed from your body?
Umm, like parts of my body? Only teeth

What is the last heavy item you lifted?
A bookshelf

Have you ever been knocked unconscious?
If I have, I don't remember

How many pairs of flip flops do you own?
Two

Last time you had a run-in with the cops?
A year ago when I locked my keys in the car . . . with a child in the backseat . . . completely unintentionally

Last person you talked to?
On the phone? Kristine

On chat? Molly

Last person you hugged?
Eli

Favorite Season?
Summer, but before it gets too hot

Favorite Day of the week?
Friday

Missing anyone?

This is not supposed to sound cliche, but I really miss my Collegian family

What are you listening to?
The wind blowing the trees outside. Exciting, huh?

Watching?
Nothing

First place you went this morning?
Eli's house

What's the last movie you saw?
UP

Do you always answer your phone?
I'll confess, I screen my calls and ignore the people I don't care to talk to

You get a text message at 4 a.m. Who is it?
One of my Twitter friends (tweeps)

If you could change your eye color what would it be?
Someday I'm going to have purple eyes

What flavor do you add to your drink at Sonic?
Strawberry limeade, light on the ice

Do you own a digital camera?
Yep

Have you ever had a pet fish?
Unfortunately

Favorite Christmas song(s)?
Jingle bell rock

Can you do push ups?
Yeah

Can you do a chin up?
Potentially yes, probably no

Does the future make you nervous or excited?
Excited

Do you have any saved texts?
Yep, lots

Ever been in a car wreck?
Yeah

Do you have an accent?
Thankfully no . . . at least not a natural one. I pretend I'm boater sometimes though and can make myself have an accent

What is the last song to make you cry?
There Will Be A Day

Plans tonight?
Sleep is last on the to-do list for today

Have you ever felt like you hit rock bottom?
Several times

Have you ever been given roses?
Yep

Met someone who changed your life?
Lots

How did you ring in the New Year?
I don't remember, isn't that sad?

Would you go back in time if you were given the chance?
Sure, why not? 

Have you ever dated someone longer than a year?
No

Who was the last person you took a picture of?
Some random lady at Target who sported one heck of an ugly mullet

What kind of music did you listen to in elementary school?
Steve Green

Are most of the friends in your life new or old?
A few old, a lot new

Do you like pulpy orange juice?
Yes

What were you doing at 12 AM last night?
Outside in my tent watching The Office 

"The Game of Life"

I've always liked playing this game. That game being the board game. OK, so I've been enjoying myself in the real deal too, but I'm beginning to wonder which number I'll spin next. Which spot am I going to land on? Will it give me money or take it away from me?

So in the game, you choose one of two paths of life: the college or the career (something like that). I clearly have chosen the college. Now supposedly, I'm supposed to be ahead in the game, theoretically making more money in a better career than those who chose to just tackle life and its problems without a degree. Props to them. Maybe? The way things are looking now, I wonder if the $68,000 I will have spent by December for my degree will set me apart that much from my peers. Let's be optimistic and hope so because that is a lot of money that's come from my pocket in the last four-and-a-half years. Oh wait, I've never had that much money in my pocket, so add a few loans and a large percentage of interest to that number.

The game continues and you choose an occupation, a house and a car. Well, I know I want my occupation in the fields of journalism and public relations--preferably together. I've been researching, contacting and keeping reference files for each organization I would like to work with. It sounds like great pre-planning now, but December is only six months away. As for a house, I have no clue. None whatsoever. I want to move out on my own after graduation, but again money plays a big roll in this factor. Do I rent from someone? Do I share with roommates? Then a car. I have a nice car that was given to me for graduating from high school, but it's not really mine. So do I lease a car? Do I buy a clunker? Do I walk? We'll have to wait and see.

Then we're all familiar with the bumps in the road, unexpected costs and taxes and other "pay this amount" spaces you potentially land on in the game. I've already experienced quite a few of these in real life, and I know they'll just keep coming.

Game continues. Marriage. Job promotions. Kids. Taxes. Vacations.

Anyway, you get my point -- I'm beginning to wish life was as simple as the game. But since I know it isn't now and won't ever be, I might as well be happy with what I have now and plan as best as I can for the future.

As scary as it is, I think I'm ready to tackle life. Bring it on!

Who knew bleach was for cleaning?

So I just finished cleaning the upstairs bathroom. It definitely took long enough. No, not because I'm a slow cleaner, but because my sibs have saved so much JUNK in there.

Seriously, how many bottles and tubes of shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste and hairspray does one person need? OK, so there are four of us, but there were enough of these half-empty bottles to start our own discount convenience store. I mean, if they were half-full, I would have kept them, but these were clearly half-empty! Ridiculous.

I'm definitely not a pack rat. I hate keeping things. So I had a lot of fun (or at least I tried to tell myself it was fun) throwing all my sibs random stuff in the trash. I hope they won't miss their stuff!

The next enjoyable part of cleaning was bleaching. Yes, I like the smell of bleach. And no, I don't sniff bleach for fun. I promise. But after bleaching the shower/tub, counters, sinks, toilet and floor, I think I'm done smelling bleach for a bit!

Another reason it took so long is because I got distracted by Twitter texts, Facebook updates and the radio. But I limited myself and continued cleaning.

So now that the bathroom is neat and bleachy-clean smelling, I need to go find something really fun to do!