Well, I know it's been a little while since my last blog, but I've finally been able to sit down for more than 30 minutes and get some stuff done! A quick recap before I go into detail...

-busy at Children's
-busy databasing
-summer birthdays
-moving out
-trouble with tuition...again
-surprise parties at work
-LAS VEGAS/21!

Okay...so busy at Children's...yea, that's a given. But there's been some really good things going on! I've gotten SO much more experience than I thought I would. It's been amazing and I've never been happier at work. I began to realize that whenever I came home from work at my other jobs, I've always been exhausted and cranky. I think that's because I hadn't found my niche. Now, I'm finding myself coming home with new stories and excited for more. The 40-hour work week was a little hard to get used to, but after 2 weeks, I found that I love that schedule! A couple things that were really cool.

1st- I completed my first article in Columbus Parent. Catch the August, September and October issues of Columbus Parent magazine for the Pediatric HealthSource article that I wrote.
2nd- I completed an entire story by myself. Sounds pretty easy, but let me tell you! it wasn't as easy as it sounds. First, we received this email from someone at the hospital about gaining media attention from a project they were doing. So, I pitched the story to a media outlet hoping that they would like to do a story on it. A couple days went by, so I figured oh-well that happens all the time, but then one day right when I got into work, the reporter called...she wanted to get the story in that day! So, I start making tons of phone calls to get everyone's schedules for that day and luckily, after 2-hours of calling, it finally worked out. So the reporter comes, I take her to go interview the nurse, then the reporter leaves to go talk to the Columbus Police Department (the other interview I was trying to line up) and we're all set. So, the 5 o'clock news comes on, and they do this 2-minute story on what I pitched! That was awesome because normally those kinds of stories don't get that much air-time, so I was thrilled! It was frustrating and rewarding at the same time, but it worked out so well at the end.

So, I am specifically the Media Relations intern at the hospital, and I come to find out that they're actually hiring a full-time Media Relations Specialist. First off, I'm EXTREMELY bummed because that is exactly what I want to do. Second off, my supervisors keep telling me that if I would've graduated, I would've had the position. So, by that point, I feel honored that they would think of me for that, but then again, it's like dangling something you can't have right in front of you saying HAHA. I eventually got over it and had to tell myself that at least they think that highly of me, I don't think I'll have a problem finding another job. I now have the title, "Super-Intern"...gotta love it. I know my co-workers at Sunny are probably reading this so, yes, I can share the title between both companies :) This internship is slowly winding down, and I hate the fact that I'm almost done. I work with great people and love the job so it's going to be hard to say goodbye.

Databasing...still doing that for Sunny, so that's taking up most of my time at night when I get home from Children's. Not the greatest job, but hey, at least I get paid to do it.

Summer birthdays...well, probably like most of you, A LOT of my family/friends have summer birthdays...including myself, but I'll wait for that one! It was my little brother's birthday in June...17 years old. That's not weird. Then, it was my niece's 2nd birthday, so Chris and I went over there for her party, then it was my roommates and other friends 21st birthdays. We went out that night, so I'll watch out for pictures towards the end of the blog. Then it was my step-dads 49th birthday :) Haha, almost there Greg!! So, it's been a busy summer with work and birthdays, but still always fun.

We've been in the new apartment for almost 2 months now, and I still love it! It's quiet and a safe neighborhood, two things that we were all looking for. I actually got to enjoy the pool for the first time yesterday, despite the overcast skies. I can't even begin to tell you how relaxing that was to just sit back and relax and not worry about anything else. This is the first weekend I have had completely off, and it's reaaally strange for me! This never happens because I like staying busy. but it's the weekend before I leave for Vegas and my birthday, so I thought I'd give myself a break!

Trouble with tuition...a little bit about school here. A long story short; thought we had the FASFA all filled out in April, evidently there was something wrong and it didn't go through. So, had to re-do that, and then wait for my scholarship letter. Got it back, said I had more than enough for school this year. That didn't end up working on either, I guess I still owed some and by this time, it was the date where everything had to be figured out. So, go online, apply for a loan. That goes wrong too. Something to remember...Chase customer-service is TERRIBLE. They were extremely rude and not patient with me at all. So, I think everything worked out after a week and a half of doing stuff with them and school, so we'll see. Always fun right?

Now, to the fun stuff! We had two surprise parties at work! One for my manager; it was her 30th anniversary...yes 30th, how crazy! and she is going to be a grandma soon! and the second was for my supervisor; she's getting married next week so we threw her a wedding shower. The first one was so much fun because she had NO idea. We invited her whole family, so it was great. The second one, I had a bigger role in. My other supervisor and I were in charge of the planning, so it was a lot of work! One night, instead of paying $450 for catering, we made fruit skewers ourselves. Oh man was that a crazy job! But it was still really cool because I got to hang out with my supervisor away from work. Both the parties were a huge success...I'm definitely going to miss them!

SO! My birthday is on Tuesday...and I'm pretty sure I mentioned this in my previous blogs, but I'm heading to Vegas! I am SO excited! I leave tomorrow with my mom, step-dad and my twin brother! What a great way to spend your 21st birthday! I'm not sure what they have planned, all I know is that we have to be at the airport at 7am tomorrow morning...I am totally sleeping on the way out there! Unfortunately, you wont' be able to check out pictures from my trip because this is my last blog. You'll have Chris back though! It's been so much fun being able to share my experiences with prospective students (and co-workers aparantly!) so I want to thank Krista for giving me this opportunity! BTW! Congrats if I don't see you! I can't wait to see your baby boy/girl?!

I hope everyone was at least a little entertained by this blog. I know it was fun for me to write! So, I'll leave you with some random pictures! Hope you guys have a great rest of the summer! Be safe and have fun!