"It's just a little crush...

...not like I faint every time we touch."

I have been feeling like a middle-schooler lately. Why, you ask? Well, college graduates (albeit recent graduates) do not develop crushes. However, I have. I have a ridiculous "do you think he likes me? I think he's kinda cute" crush on a guy.

Do I think anything will come of it? I haven't a clue. I spent about half an hour talking to him yesterday which was the first real conversation we had ever had (he said "Hi" to me at a Christmas party), yet I have had a crush on him for about 2.5 months.

This is silly. I don't develop school-girl crushes that I can see being fruitless. Yet I have one. But, I guess it gives me something else to think about....

And he's cute and a poli-sci major (drool). *insert girlish-giggling*

"I've been hanging around...

...this town on the corner."

I feel like being a loser tonight. I don't want to go out, though I have had a couple of offers and phone calls. I just feel like hanging out alone, so here I am, watching Freedomland, drinking chai, contemplating supper, and researching the next school I'll be interviewing with.

I am getting better at phone interviews, but I don't think the butterflies are going to go away despite how many of these I do. I have another one next Wednesday and it is with a school I am really excited to go to. Georgia Southern is right up my alley and the responsibilites and job expectations are what I want out of my internship. Plus, it would pay $800 more than the other 2 interviews I have had and will fly me to Miami in March for a weekend. I wouldn't mind working in one of the New York schools, but Georgia really excites me. I just hope I excite them back! But, I was the first person they called to set up an interview time. I like this fact and it makes me feel more confident before I sit on my futon and chat with the higher-ups next week. Long story short: I want this job. A lot. And I'm going to get it.

Side note: Miss South Dakota, Callee Bauman, has been rocking it in Vegas and is a Miss Congeniality finalist. Regardless of any negative feelings I have ever felt or expressed about Callee, she would make a great Miss America. And I'll be watching her on Monday night with a heap-ton of her supporters (some of her biggest ones in fact) and wish her the best. And so should all of you!

"A new world whispers in the shadows...

time to fly, time to fly."

I had a job interview today. They called me yesterday and set up a time for today. It was a phone interview because I guess the State University of New York (SUNY), Potsdam didn't want to fly me out there. I had never done a phone interview, but I feel like it went well and look forward to hearing back from them. I have another phone interview next Monday at another New York university (College of Mt. St. Vincent) that I am looking forward to and preparing for.

I am excited that this is finally starting. I realize how much I want a job not in the Midwest, working with Orientation programs. It is what I love.

So yeah. There's an update. Eventually, after it gets resolved, I might tell the story of why I am mad at school right now, but I am excited about the job stuff right now. And I got a job today for the semester--I am a barista!

And done.

"There's not a star in heaven we can't reach...

...we're breakin' free!"

This girl's taking a break. I am heading to Vermillion to visit a friend for the weekend. I won't be making any pageant calls that aren't mandatory, I won't worry about school, and I won't fret about internship calls. Okay, maybe I lie, but that is the plan as of right now. The end of this week has not been fun. I got sick yesterday and Nick had to come bring me medicine, threaten to take away my computer, and order me to take a bath and go to bed. My apartment is freezing, so hopefully balmy southern Vermillion will offer me higher temps.

So yeah. And hopefully my GPS system gets here before I leave so I don't get lost on the way to Verm-town. It'll be fun.

PS: Who knows where the title came from? My current, completely guilty pleasure!

"Your talents are tested...

...and I believe the snow queen lives somewhere in the hills."

I needed a break. I have been planning a preliminary Miss South Dakota pageant in my hometown next month, and I never could have dreamed the amount of work it takes. Really, it is just making phone calls, but I have been on the phone pretty much constantly for the past 5 business days. I have been calling monetary donors, food donors, prize donors, jewelers for my crowns, bridal shops for dresses, girls to compete, and a slew of other people who are important in the pageantry-world. These calls have taken over my life, but I finally got my titles named (Miss Riverbend and Miss Dakota Garden) and am on the Miss South Dakota website finally. I haven't had a free moment to myself!

Except for today. Today I took my break. It snowed last night. Nick called me from work to tell me it was snowing. I was at a friend's apartment, so of course, we went out and played in the snow.


It was great. Today we went ice skating (and I am really sore) and then went out and made snow angels. Now I am back on the phone (okay, so I am on Nick's Bluetooth wireless set, but still...) but an handling it just fine.

If you aren't doing anything on February 10th....come to a pageant!

"The back of your eyes look like my mother's...

...where we gonna go from here?"

So, I haven't written in here for a long time. Seems to be a pattern. Lots of things have happened since my last post--the biggest was graduating from college and working on getting accepted into grad. school. That, and the fact that the last two numbers I write in the "date" line on my checks has changed. Here is a recap of 2006.

In 2006 I...

*got a college degree*taught over 100 young people*made a difference in the lives of a lot of those students, big and small*picked up a hitch-hiker*began living on my own*realized how much I love roommates*made a four-course meal with different wines for each course*bought a digital camera that I love*took lots of pictures with said camera*wrote a 20 page research paper on mother-daughter relationships in Afro-American literature*judged an award-winning team*realized how much I need some people in my life*got a new betta*got 3 new cousins*went to a ton of weddings*quit my job*got an iPod*made some really bad choices*got over the repercussions of these choices*sat in a coffee shop for 6 hours just talking to a great friend*saw RENT*went on a date without knowing it*judged a beauty pageant*judged a goat show*judged public presentations*judged photography*got into ridiculous fights*realized how ridiculous these fights were*found out how important texting is*had a school-girl crush*had an "evil" Secret Santa*fell in love with 'Grey's Anatomy' and 'Nip/Tuck'*decided to apply for a job across the country*

..........and realized how much so many people care about me and how much I care for them. So here I am, thanking those people in my life for being there. You are all amazing and I need you more than you know. I am self-reliant and self-sufficient, but without your individual presences, I would not be who I am today. Thank you.

2006 was by far not a great year. In fact, there were many parts of it that downright sucked. So where are we going? Up.