the most wasted of all days is one without laughter – e.e. cummings

I’m pretty sure that if we could give office superlatives, I would be the “office clown,” because of my goofy dorkiness. I find humor in any situation, and I just think that life is too short to be serious. Don’t get me wrong, I know when it’s time to get to work and get things accomplished; I just think that if you can take a few moments out of your day to laugh, share a joke, or smile, your day will be a lot better.

I don’t goof off to be the center of attention. Truthfully, I hate being the center of attention. I act the way I do and I believe so strongly in optimism because maybe (and hopefully) I’m helping to make someone’s day a lot better. I think a day goes by quicker and becomes less stressful if you can take a minute to laugh. Why not?

Anyway, sorry to my dedicated readers (ha ha) for not updating in a little over a month. I’ve been slacking! I still adore my job, what I’m doing, who I work with, and my life in general. Nothing is certain, but everything right now seems to be perfect. Perfect to me, at least.

I owe all of the happiness to the people in my life. I’ve just come to realize that as you grow up, there are people in your life that guide you to a certain place, but it is up to you to let them go once you get there. There are just people who are meant to only be in a portion of your life, and there are others who will be by your side for the rest of your life. Be thankful for those in your life: past, present and future. Those who have helped you get to where you are today, those who are helping you survive everyday and to those to come. Learn to let go of unnecessary junk.

…and always remember to take a moment out of your day to laugh!

nightswimming deserves a quiet night

After the 4th of July celebrations Saturday, I drove home from Kelly’s and took a different route to avoid the traffic. Naturally, I got stuck in traffic with all of the other folks avoiding the traffic, so much for that. I drove past my old high school and was stopped at a red light. I looked around, and the streetlights and the Corner Deli brought back so many memories from high school — long walks back to my parking spot, celebration/disappointment walks back after football games, shooting stupid videos for class, getting kicked out of Coach’s class and heading to the Corner Deli, getting drenched in the rain, hearing the marching band on Friday mornings, etc.

Fast forward four years, and here I am. A lot more mature, a lot more knowledgeable. I attended a PRSA|GA luncheon today with my friend, Kay. I’ve attended luncheons before with my friends in Jacksonville with the NFPRSA group, but this time I attended as a “professional.” It was awesome to be able to explain what I do and why GGC is a great place to work. It was an even better feeling when people recognized the name from the news, the Web, etc. I also got to give a few pointers for social media techniques, and that was amazing.

I just love where my life is going. I’m glad I can go back and remember good things about my past, all of which have made me a more determined person today. I’m learning a lot in my new position, and I hope that I am doing an okay job. I’m working on a few pages for the Web site, so keep checking back to GGC’s Web site for updated info! And follow us on Twitter: @georgiagwinnett, and fan us on Facebook!

Shout outs: Ms. Kay Hearn & my friends in Jacksonville with North Florida PRSA!

she believed she could, so she did.

I’m still adjusting to this “grown up” world. I wake up at 5:30 in the morning, hit the gym with the other early risers, get ready for work, hit up starbucks (sometimes), then head to work. I work at GGC during the day, and on some days, I head to the Loft for the closing shift. I just like to stay busy, and I think after six months of not doing much, people fail to realize that I can be a contributing member to society. I sleep better at night, and I just feel a lot better about myself.

I always knew that I was growing up, but it suddenly hit me last weekend. I was at my friend’s house after our friends got married. I was thinking about how things change so quickly. We have friends that are getting married, buying houses, and thinking about having children. Then I found myself thinking about buying a house; how I can get approved for a loan, build credit, etc. Who am I?

Anyway, work has been great. I haven’t done as much since they’re still getting my paperwork processed, but I love the people that I work with. Everyone in the Office of Public Affairs is different, but everyone works great together. I think it’s a great opportunity, and I’m doing what I love to do. Hopefully I’ll prove to everyone that I was the one they meant to hire!

By the way, I finally bought “Always Looking Up” by Michael J. Fox. Such an awesome book so far! I love optimism and optimists!

Mommy, wow! I’m a big kid now!

Well, I’ve got good news! Six months after I graduated college (almost exactly) I received good news from Georgia Gwinnett College, a place where I had interviewed more than four weeks ago. They offered me a position, and I gladly accepted. My first day is Wednesday, June 24. My position is called “web author,” and in the position, I will create and edit content that goes onto the school’s Web site. I’m really excited, because this is a great position for me. Also, there is a lot of room to grow within the public affairs office. I’ll have a pretty laid back schedule, I think, but you better believe I will be busting my butt to prove that they chose the right person.

I also have a part-time position at Ann Taylor Loft, one of my favorite clothing stores EVER. They’re also very accepting of my new schedule, and I will still be able to work there and get the benefits of working there…40 percent discounts!

I’ve also lost 30 pounds since January! Not exactly my goal, but it’s encouraging because I am getting there. I go to Life Time Fitness, and there is a location about five miles away from GGC, so it all works out. Thank you, God, for letting my life come together, finally. I just needed to learn patience, optimism, and humility. I am not the best at what I do, and I can’t expect people to make my life easy. I have to overcome the obstacles and remain positive and stay patient, because things will work out in the end.

I’ll be back in a few days to let you know how the “grown up” world is treating me.

in this economy, you have to say, “in this economy” a lot

So I was laid off two weeks ago. I wasn’t exactly sure how to feel about it. I guess it just wasn’t a good way to start the day. I got to work and put my things down and started up my computer when my boss came to my desk and said, “I’ve got some bad news.” Not thinking too much about that statement, I asked, “What’s up?” He said, “I’m gonna have to lay you off…Want to finish the rest of the day?” I mean, how does someone respond to that? This was my first “big girl” job. Although I wouldn’t say it was my dream job or something I loved getting up to do, it was still work and still something that put money in my bank account. But there that went. Business is slow for his small business, and he just couldn’t afford to keep me on much longer. True, I didn’t have much work to do, so I finished the day and finished my last project and left.

It’s weird. I just had a birthday. Here I am, 22-years-old. No job. I mean, I guess being 22 is an advantage to me. I still have the rest of my life ahead of me, so the big dilemma is what do I do? I’ve had a few interviews, some that seem more promising than others. Do I wait to hear back? What if I want to go back to school? What exactly do I want to do? I’m beginning to second guess my decision to a PR/Marketing career path, especially after an awful interview at a marketing agency. I left the interview, two and 1/2 hours after it began, with the worst taste in my mouth for marketing agencies. PR/Marketing people, to me, have always been extremely organized and know what they want. There I was, trying to figure our what about me would assist their agency to becoming a better one, but she really had no idea what she wanted the position to be, or why she felt as though she even needed a position. Why was I there?

So I’m stuck. I’m itching to go back to school. As crazy as that is. I just don’t know for what. I have so many different interests, but there is not one thing that I can truly pinpoint as my “dream job.” I would love to work for the Atlanta Braves, but I realize that dream is out of my grasp, especially since I do not have any connections in the area…I keep hoping for a miracle, but maybe I need to spend that time and energy on something more practical.

I have absolute faith in our current president, and I am hoping the Obama Administration can pull this economy out of the toilet. I’m tired of including, “in this economy…” with every sentence. I want that phrase to have a positive connotation.

so hard to stay, too hard to leave it

How do you know that it is time to just let go? I guess deep down in your heart you know, but just how do you do it? I think the biggest problem for me is the fact that everything that I have in my possession, whether it be material or in my memory, is something that has made me who I am today, even if it was a bad memory.

I think that’s why I have such a hard time letting go. My room is full of random “junk,” but everything reminds me of something. I have photos from middle school decorating my wall. I have an old pair of jeans that I used to love that I think I might wear again someday. I have a snowman lightbulb that my friend gave me as a gift my junior year of high school. I have a book of nursery rhymes that I used to read, which I have absolutely no use for now. I have a lego collection that I asked back from my little cousins because it reminded me so much of my childhood when my brother and me would play for hours.

See? It’s a serious problem. It’s not just items like that, but I guess there are people in my life that I just need to let go. I just have to come to the realization that certain people come in your life for a reason, but they can leave just as quickly as they entered. He was my best friend at one point, but in a sense, it was almost a comfort title. Were we really best friends? Or was it just convenient? I’m doing pretty dang good, if you ask me, without much effort on his part to be in my life. So why do I think about it so much? Probably because in the same sense as my “junk,” I’m afraid that if I throw things away, those good memories will forever be gone.

So maybe I need to figure out how to be less of a pack rat and get my life going in a positive direction. I need to make room for newer, better memories! I think I owe that to my mind and especially to my heart.

the glass is half full

A few years ago, I was brainstorming ideas for a persuasive speech. I could have done the typical – gun control, abortion, global warming, etc. I wanted something that I could truly defend. I did a little research and decided to persuade my audience to be more optimistic. It’s better for your health, will allow you to do better in school, and it makes you a better you. As an optimist, you do realize that there are terrible things about there, but you choose to think that there will be positive outcomes from the negative. It’s different than being ignorant, because you would ignore the negatives altogether.

My mom watches Joel Osteen every Sunday morning. I’m not really sure why she does, or why I decide to watch it with her. This past Sunday’s sermon was interesting – it was titled “Be Glad Continually.” He quotes 1 Thessalonians 5:16, “Be happy in your faith, glad-hearted, continually and always.” It’s so simple – even during a severe rainstorm, the sun is hiding behind it shining so brightly just waiting to come out.

If you’re not willing to wait for it and accept that the hardships come with the positives, then you’ll never see the sunshine. He says, “When you lose your joy, you lose your strength.” Problems are inevitable in your life, so why dread them when they occur?

In my speech, one of my main points is when you begin thinking negatively, it takes time away from making the most of an awful situation. If you go to a test and you’re nervous and you tell yourself it’s going to be terrible, you don’t have the time to focus on the test. When you tell yourself that it’s going to be okay, then it will be just that. It’s cliché, and I know that, but the glass is half full.

Anyway, the point of this is that I’m starting to get stressed about this job situation. I’m not really happy with how these past four and a half months have gone, but I’m still optimistic. I know that there’s an opportunity hiding behind the storm clouds; I just need to take this time to really think through what I want to do – not just jump into the first thing that offers me a job. I’m still smiling, and I’m arranging my mind in the right direction. Let’s be hopeful for good things to come.

the boys are back in town

I can’t explain how excited I am that baseball season has officially kicked off. I always feel this way at the beginning of the season, then halfway through it, I can feel my heart shattered into a million pieces, and I wonder why I am so crazy over baseball. I’m not sure if it’s the weather, the fun days at the ballpark, or the sport altogether. I just love it. I become superstitious, and a sunflower seed addiction surfaces. I stayed glued to the television if I cannot physically be at the ballpark. If I’m not near a TV, I’ll turn on Gameday on mlb.com. It’s seriously a problem.

My team of choice, if you haven’t noticed, is the Atlanta Braves. I grew up watching the Florida Marlins, and they still have a large part of my heart. But since we moved to Atlanta almost 12 years ago, I guess I’ve grown to love the Braves. Okay, maybe I am a little obsessed, but we’ll keep that between you and me. It has gotten so bad that Sarah (my friend and Plans & Campaigns partner) chose the Atlanta Braves as our client and their All-You-Can-Eat Seats for our product. We spent the entire semester researching the product and devleping a campaign to increase awareness and sales for the product.

Last night was the season opener and the Phillies home opener. The Braves were the visiting team, and I was pumped. Brian McCann hit the first homer of the season, then Jeff Francoeur, then our new centerfielder, Jordan Schafer. It was a great sight to see that the off season really helped the Braves. I know, it was only the first game of the season, but it gives a fan a lot of hope. The 20 pounds B-Mac lost in the offseason, the new stance Frenchy took, and the new players Frank Wren decided to sign. Thank you, Frank Wren, for at least making one good decision in your career for the Braves: signing Derek Lowe. Eight scoreless innings for Lowe…amazing.

I must admit, I held my breath the entire time Mike Gonzalez was pitching. I love watching Gonzo pitch, but boy does he make me nervous. He did get the job done, and the Braves are now 1-0. I couldn’t sleep last night because I was so excited. They still have some communication problems (Kelly Johnson/Casey Kotchman and Kelly Johnson/Jeff Francoeur), but hopefully they’ll get all of that together.

Home opener is this Friday versus the Washington Nationals. I’m not sure why, but there is something about the Nationals that I absolutely loathe. Maybe the fact that the Braves were the only team in the NL East that couldn’t beat the Nationals, but whatever it is, I hope for a glorious game on Friday.

Until then, I’ll be tomahawk chopping. Go Braves!

the Internet killed the newspaper star

Google Adwords, a great tool to advertise your company/business on Google. I’m assisting Mike Hardesty at Hardesty Hackett & Partners with his public relations/marketing efforts, and I set up the account yesterday. It’s a trial-and-error process to determine which keywords work, how much we’re willing to bid on a first page ad placement, and if the clicks actually lead to contact. Of course, if you’re like me, you’ll get curious and click on the ads. I used to be weary of those ads, but it clearly works for those companies.

The purpose is to find the keywords that will actually get Google’d and will eventually lead to the clicker to contact your company with more information. For example, if you are a doctor that specializes in sinuses, then you’ll want to attract new patients. How do you do that? Get on Google, set up the account, and maybe use the keywords “Sinus Infection”. If it’s a popular keyword, then you must place a higher bid to get your ad placed on the first page of the Google search, because let’s get real, who is going to open the fifth of sixth page to find a solution to their sinus pains?

We just launched the campaign yesterday, so let’s hope it will lead to positive results.

I love being able to play on the Internet and find ways to promote a company. Unfortunately, the Internet killed the newspaper star. It’s a sad concept to grasp, but that seems to be the trend. Slowly, people are getting their news from online subscriptions and free articles. You don’t look in the newpaper’s classified section anymore. For that, there’s CraigsList, and the thousands of other Web sites with free listings. The Internet is just easier. It does the work for you. Typing in one keyword, and Google knows exactly what you’re looking for.

It’s scary, but it’s 2009.

twenty-one and invincible

During my short three and a half years of college, I was convinced that I was going to rule the world one day. Okay, not necessarily, but I had big dreams and nothing would get in the way of those dreams. I still feel that way in a sense, but I’m a little more discouraged than I used to be. I guess I’ve come to the realization that the real world is tough, and I don’t think I ever was taught that in school.

…Or maybe I was taught that, but I was too blinded by the big dreams to get in all of the “real world” hype. Graduation was in December. Don’t get me wrong, I have enjoyed the relaxation, but idle time is killer. I’ve made searching for jobs, applying for jobs, and waiting to hear back about jobs a career path, one that chose me. Too bad it doesn’t pay, because I’ve gotten really, really good at it. I’ve followed twitter updates thanks to tweetmyjobs, and I have almost every job board web site on my favorites list.

I guess before I was thrown into the real world, I didn’t think any of the bad news could ever affect me. I was, in a way, cocky about the skills I had, and I thought that I was at the top of my game. I could get whatever job I wanted, and HR managers would be knocking on my door.

…Totally not true! I know, it’s the economy. Tell me another story. It’s just discouraging getting the “Thank you for your interest” e-mail messages. It almost seems as if what I was taught and my achievements up to this point just are not good enough. That hurts when you convince yourself that. You get to the point where you almost convince yourself that you wasted a few important years of your life in the wrong major doing all of the wrong things. It’s hard to get your dreams crushed little by little every time you receive another “Thank you for your interest” e-mail.

At this point in my life, I wish I was back in school. I don’t regret graduating early at all. I do regret the feeling of being invincible before I graduated. But despite all of that, there are still remains of hopefulness in me somewhere. I wouldn’t continue looking, applying, and waiting for jobs if I didn’t believe that this just might be the day of good news. I have faith in our country’s current administration to do the right thing, and I have faith that I did choose the right path for my future.