Birthday Weekend and Then Some...

This past weekend I celebrated 23 years of life! To say the least, it was AMAZING! On Friday I went out with some girlfriends to meet JEF HOLM!! If you don’t know who he is, he is the winner of the latest Bachelorette. And what a cutie he is!

 

 

I’m kind of sad these two aren’t together anymore because they were SO cute together. Oh well, now we all have a chance with him. ;)

 

Jef came to little ole’ Rexburg to promote his business People Water. He is highly involved with bringing water to people in less fortunate countries.

After Jef spoke about his business he opened up the floor to questions. The questions varied from, “How did you get involved with humanitarian aid?” to “Will you go on a date with me?” Since it was my Birthday the next day, I asked Jef to sing Happy Birthday to me. So, along with everyone else in the room, Jef sang Happy Birthday to me. It was awesome!

 

To top off the night, we got to pose for a picture with Jef. Ah, I’m still star struck!

 

 

What a great way to spend my Birthday weekend! To top things off, I’m officially done with this semester. No more assignments, no more projects, and no more tests! Well at least for 3 weeks then I get to start it all over again. I only have 3 semesters left! Hopefully, if everything goes according to MY plan, this time next year I’ll be a BYU-Idaho graduate! So exciting! 

With no homework to do I don’t know what to do with my life. I’m so bored! I guess I need to start packing for Florida. I’m so ready for warm weather, this wind is killing me. No snow or frigid cold, but still, I need some warmth.

Quick Trip and Picture Swoon

Thank goodness it’s Friday! The week after a nice vacation is never fun because reality sucks. Thankfully, I only have 2 weeks left of school! Not even! J 

Thanksgiving break was soooooo much fun! I flew to Florida to see my family and my lover, boyfriend, fiancé, Justin! We spent Thanksgiving weekend at my Grandmother’s house in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. The weather was perfect! We even took some ‘unofficial’ engagement pictures, but some of them turned out really good thanks to my sister and cousin’s sweet photo skills. Take a peek…

 

 

 

 

Our Blue Steel Impression

 

 

Christmas break is almost here I can smell the mistletoe! I can’t wait for:

*Gingerbread House Making*

*The Nutcracker*

*Christmas Movies*

*The Lake Helen Train Ride*

*Christmas Lights*

*Gift Giving*

*Late Nights*

*Hot Chocolate*

*Eating Tons of Cookies*

*Santa Clause*

*New Years*

Therapy Session

Have you ever been so mad you wanted to punch someone in the face? This is how I feel right now. So instead of writing about why I’m upset I’m going to write about things that make me happy to get my mind off of negative things. 

Knowing that I go home in a week makes me super happy! I can’t wait to be home in Florida with all my family, and to spend time with Justin. It will be a nice little break from the snow and school. 

 

 

Spending time with my fiancé always makes me happy especially because we don’t see each other that often. So when we’re together I’m happier than ever! 

 

 

There are only 4 weeks left of this semester. I have been running around campus like a chicken with its head cut off. This semester has been crazy busy with juggling 16 credit hours and an internship. I may have taken on too much, but I’m almost done. 

Planning a ward service project has surprisingly made me happy despite the little hiccups I’ve faced while planning it. Knowing that I will be making someone smile during this holiday season makes me happy and thankful for all that I have. 

Having the knowledge of the gospel of Jesus Christ in my life makes me happy more than anything! The gospel means “good news” and when I’m having a hard day (like today) I need to remember the good news in my life. 

 

 

Remembering what makes me happy in life has already made my day better! I hope you are having a great day. If you aren’t, remember what makes you happy.  

Justin lives by these words:

 

 

He loves saying this to me when I’m having a bad day or when things aren’t going my way. It definitely helps! J

Half way point: 3 weeks to go!

Halloween has come and gone and the holiday season has officially kicked off. Well, for me at least. Justin thinks I’m crazy because I’ve already started listening to Christmas music. I just love the holiday season! I’m especially excited this year because I’ve been away from all my loved ones. 

Three weeks until I fly home to Florida! I really can’t wait! Justin’s family and my family will be spending Thanksgiving in Ft. Lauderdale. There will be lots of food, some “unofficial” engagement picture taking, and of course Black Friday shopping.  

Black Friday is a HUGE holiday in my family! My mom, sisters, and I love getting up really early to shop until we drop. Literally! So much exciting things to look forward I just wish these three weeks would hurry up. 

This past week Idaho has gone from fall to winter then back to fall again. We had our first snowfall last week. 6 inches! Thankfully, all the snow has melted and I’m able to enjoy what’s left of fall.

 

 

 

 

 

Not the ideal walk to class.

 

 

 

Despite the snow, my roommates and I had a Halloween party. We dressed up as the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. There was so much food and not enough people to eat it all. So we pretty much ate ourselves into a food coma.

Jell-O worms, brownie eyeballs, hotdog mummies, and Halloween decorated cupcakes

 

I hope everyone had a great Halloween and ate lots of candy. I wish I could’ve gone trick-or-treating, but they don’t like the college kids going.  

 

This semester is half way over and I’m SO ready for a break. I’ve been trying to plan my wedding here and there, but it seems impossible to plan a wedding in Florida while I’m living in Idaho. Oh well, Justin and I have plenty of time. We have a deployment and a college degree to get through first. But, if anyone knows of a great photographer let me know! J

#PRSSANC: I Left My Heart In San Francisco

This week has been crazy trying to get back in the swing of things because ya know…I’ve been in SAN FRANCISCO!!! PRSSA had their National Conference, and I’m so glad I was able to attend. We had the opportunity to hear from some amazing people who are successful in their PR careers. It is truly inspiring to be taught by people with so much passion for what they do. I aspire to have that kind of drive in my future career. I would like to share some of the things I learned at the conference because, really, it can apply to anyone. 

We live in digital world that is constantly changing. It doesn’t surprise me how important social media is becoming in all careers. To illustrate the world of digital media, Timothy Jordan Senior Developer Advocate for Google, shared an interesting statistic. He said, “For every child born there are three smartphones activated. That’s crazy! But that just shows you how digital media is evolving.  

A common theme I noticed throughout the conference was discovering a passion for something. Recently, I have been digging deep into the PR world trying to find what I love, and what I want to do within the business. It’s hard to find one thing I’m passionate about, but I’ve narrowed it down to a few things: fashion, life and style, and entertainment. Knowing my passions puts me one step closer to a career. 

Being a PR major you always hear the phrase, “Learn how to write, and be good at it.” I can’t tell you how many times I hear this in a single day, but it’s something I need to know how to do if I’m going to be successful. Between writing for my communication classes, maintaining my personal blog, and the Color in Motion 5k blog, I’m getting tons of writing experience. I just hope I have the writing skills needed for PR.

 

The highlight of the whole conference was combining with the PRSA, which is the professions PR society. We had the opportunity to hear from the co-founder of Twitter, Biz Stone. I’ve recently become a frequent tweeter so it was really neat to hear from one of the guys that started it all, and he offered some really great advice. He said, “In order to succeed spectacularly, you need to fail spectacularly.” This is true in all aspects of life. All successful people failed many times before they reached the top. 

 

 

Another thing Biz talked about was manufacturing opportunities. I look at my life and think of all the great opportunities I’ve had, and realize how hard I had to work for them. Nothing in my life has been handed to me, and sometimes even when I work hard I still fail. I’ve realized that when you REALLY want something you have to go above and beyond. Don’t wait for opportunities to approach you, approach opportunities. 

Now as much as I know you all would just love to continue reading about my super awesome experience, I know you want to see some pictures from the beautiful San Francisco. So here you go!

 

PRSSA knows how to throw a party!

 

First day of classes

Chinatown!

 

Clam chowder in a bread bowl. So good!

Ghirardelli Square where I bought some delicious Pumpkin Spice chocolate

We paid many visits to Starbucks

 

 

Catching my first taxi!

Golden Gate Bridge!

 

 

Awards Ceremony and Dinner

 

Needless to say we had an AMAZING time! I’m so glad I got to share these wonderful experiences with great friends. J Every time I go to a conference like this I get super excited about PR and want to so many things. I have to remind myself to take it one day at a time. 

 

The next few weeks I really have to crack down on school. I’m going on a business trip with my internship next month to help out with the first Color in Motion 5k race in Dallas. I’ll be heading down to Florida a few days after that for Thanksgiving! I really can’t wait to see Justin! We have been apart for too long! So much excitement I can’t contain it! 

 

Xo

General Conference Weekend

It was a fun weekend out here in the good ole’ west! Some of my roommates and I were able to attend General Conference. So of course my weekend was splendid! For some of my friends who aren’t familiar with General Conference I’ll explain it briefly. 

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints holds General Conference every 6 months. It is held the first weekend in April and the first weekend in October. General Conference is a time for us to hear inspiring words from our beloved prophet and his apostles. All words are inspired from God and the prophet provides us with counsel on how to improve our lives. Being in the presence of those men called of God is a wonderful feeling. You can sense the feeling of the spirit in the Conference Center. It testifies that what we are hearing is indeed true!

Of course this is only a brief description of what General Conference is, but I wouldn’t mind explaining it more in detail with anyone that wants to know more. J You can also visit Mormon.org or lds.org for more info. 

One of the highlights of this weekend was spent outside the Conference Center in Temple Square. I just love seeing the Salt Lake Temple and all the beautiful scenery. It was nice getting out of Rexburg for a couple days and not worry about school. Every time I go to Salt Lake I always have fun. Here are some pictures from the weekend.

 

Inside the Conference Center

 

 

The BEAUTIFUL Salt Lake Temple

  

 

 

 

 

This coming weekend is going to be another fun weekend of traveling. On Friday I head to San Francisco where I will be attending the PRSSA National Conference. I’m super excited because I’ve never been to California except for the one time I flew into the Long Beach airport.  

I’m can’t wait to meet other PR lovers like myself and to hear advice from PR professionals. It’s going to be great! I can’t wait to blog about it! You won’t want to miss it!

My obsession with fall continues...

This week was super crazy! I started my Internship with Color in Motion on Wednesday as their blog writer, and I had so much to do for my other classes. My days are so long, but I’m enjoying every minute of it because everything I’m doing is going to help me in my future career. So, you won’t see me complaining even if I walk about 3 miles every day with a heavy backpack on. It has actually been quite nice walking everywhere because I have been able to witness the beauty of fall all around. Living in Idaho may seem like a boring, brown place to live, but I have pictures to prove that it’s not. 

I went on a run this morning, and it was probably the best run ever. So much color! For all my Florida friends who don’t get to experience fall the way I do, these pictures are for you.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My obsession for fall will probably never end. I could live in this season forever!

 

Well, off to enjoy the rest of my weekend. Bonfire and s’mores tonight with my PRSSA family!

 

Short Post BIG News!

In my last post I said that this week could be the start of something exciting. And it most certainly is! 

As a communication major, we are required to have an internship in order to graduate. I’ve been looking for an internship since January, and I haven’t had much luck...UNTIL NOW! Let me just say that Twitter is a WONDERFUL thing! (You can follow me here @_christielsmith) Without Twitter I wouldn’t have found out about the internship!

 

Color in Motion 5k is the company I will be interning with. I'm going to be the official blogger for their website. Super cool, right?! Some of you may have heard of the color run, where you run a 5k and by the end of the run you’re all decked out in color; Color in Motion is the official people who put on the color run. 

 

 

My internship couldn’t be more perfect for me! I get to write about something I love doing. Running! 

So that’s the exciting news! I hope I didn’t disappoint anyone. ;)