Friday, January 30, 2009

Funny Cats ; )

Have you ever seen http://icanhascheezburger.com/ ? It has funny pictures of cats (and other animals as well). The website is great for animal lovers, and it's nice for a distraction as well. Note: There are pages and pages of funny pictures for you to look at during class or at work!

Here are a few of my favorites to get you started:
Enjoy!




Thursday, January 29, 2009

Ode to Mimzy

As promised, here is my post about my beloved bunny, Mimzy.

She became a part of my family on June 30, 2007 when her owners did not want her anymore. I took her in, and she has remained one of the most important "people" in my life ever since! She currently resides in Bloomington with me in my apartment behind my red futon, where she happily munches on her hay, lettuce, celery, and other green goodies that she loves. Her hobbies include running around my apartment, being pet on the top of her head, shredding her phone book and towel, taking care of her stuffed animal, and of course, eating.

Don't be fooled by her fuzzy exterior; Mimzy is a beast. If touched in the wrong spot, she will turn into an attack bunny, and you'd better watch your fingers! Also, she will not stop at anything to be pet as she desires and will nibble your pants until you pay attention. It is best to keep valuables out of bunny reach too, as she loves to chew on anything that she can get her paws on!
This is one of my favorite pictures of the little girl:
I think she's beautiful!

An update since my last post: It took me several days to recover from the video I saw last week. It has inspired me to become more involved in improving animal welfare. I plan to do all that I can to make progress towards this cause. One avenue that I would like to go down in order to achieve this goal is to educate people about animal abuse through my company. I plan to collect some literature about animal welfare to put in my office, and I know about a low cost spay/neuter clinic in Indianapolis that I want to share with others. I have about 400 people in my database of staff--what a wonderful opportunity to tell others about my passion! I also want to start donating food, litter, and blankets to the animals at shelters in town, and if I am able to (emotionally), I will certainly donate my time.

If you are interested in learning more about animal welfare, I am more than happy to share the little knowledge that I have accumulated over the last few days.

Also, I decided to post the video that impacted me so greatly from the other day. Please watch with CAUTION, however. It is very shocking and disturbing, but I think its purpose is to inspire others to make a difference in the lives of animals. Note: I am not a member of PETA, but I do support SOME of the things that the organization does, however, not all. This video is for educational purposes only.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-kvZq4ARg4

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Late night fretting

I really should be sleeping right now, but something's been bothering me tonight. I recently saw this video posted on a blog about animal abuse, and the images were so disturbing. I do not even want to describe the scenes in words, they are so terrible. I have such a soft spot for animals, and I could not banish those images from my mind. The bad thing was, I didn't really want to because I didn't want to make myself think that I took the problem lightly, but I wanted to stop thinking about it so that I wouldn't be in so much tumoil emotionally.

I decided I had to talk to someone about it, so I shared my feelings with Aaron, and we eventually came to the conclusion that there are more animal lovers than there are abusers and that those who abuse are sick and disgusting people. Also, I decided to kind of respectfully remember the lives of those animals who are at the mercy of others and take a moment of silence in their behalf and recognize their struggles. Obviously, I cannot go back into time and change the past or their circumstances, but I realize that there are things that I can do in order to affect the future. I can't convey how much I would love to change those circumstances.

I hope that I'm not sounding over-dramatic. I'm still having a really difficult time moving on from those thoughts and images. I would appreciate if you (if there are any readers of this blog) to leave a message about your thoughts about this or what you do to help animals, or if you just want to leave a message about how much you love your pet. I would love to hear about good people who are spoiling their pets!

I sure spoil my pet rabbit, Mimzy. She is one of my loves. She has her own rabbit house, toys, fresh veggies, and she gets lots of play time when she runs around my apartment for her exercise. Maybe my next post will be an introduction of her-an ode to Mimzy.

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Back to school...grr...

So, classes started on Monday... Since I'm graduating in May, I feel as though this last semester is such a big hurdle. Argh!

I still have one class this week that I haven't been to, which is due to the fact that it only meets once per week on Thursday nights. Here's my general reaction so far: I'm taking a leadership seminar for seniors which fulfills a requirement for the business honors degree. I think the professor is like most management professors; he's charismatic, likes management lingo, and he loooves the topic he teaches. For a first class, I'll take the enthusiasm.

The other class I take on Wednesdays is my favorite. It's intermediate hapkido. Unfortunately, I took a self-defense class last semester, not even knowing that it was related to martial arts, and I loved it, but now, since I didn't take beginning hapkido I'm a bit behind. I went to hapkido club this week though, and I learned some things that I had missed. I wasn't going to go to club this semester because of the cost, but I learn a lot whenever I go. I think it also makes me tougher too. When you're holding the "blast master" (the kicking pad) for a brown or red belt that weighs about 50-100 pounds heavier with a stronger kick, you learn to take the hits without falling over and showing that it hurts. Also, a classmate generously offered to help me learn a couple other items on the orange belt list that I didn't know. They're called joint locks, and with little effort, you can take somebody down to the ground quickly.

I'm also taking a class that deals with economics and government. It's boring. There's not much to say about it. However, I do think it's great that the man announces when quizzes are going to be, and we have three tests, meaning that none of them have much weight.

Next up, my least favorite. It's a "business forecasting" class. READ: statistics. So far, I'm not a fan. I'm pretty sure that won't change as the semester progresses. In fact, I would bet that these feelings that I have will only be intensified as the class gets deeper into the material. GAH!

I don't think the last class will be difficult. It's a thesis class, so I'll be writing a paper and giving a presentation. Fortunately, a friend of mine took it already, and he said that the professor didn't grade very hard. Yay!

I don't want to come across that I expect school to be easy or that I don't want to learn, but because I'll be working for my company full time in a few months, I need to grow it so that it is sustaining. Therefore, I hope not to have a crazy semester with classes AND the business being time-consuming.

I'll be updating...

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Frustrations....

I am so frustrated today....

Here are a few things that are bothering me:

First, I hate that I found full time work for one of my staff, and then he just doesn't bother to show up after his second or third shift. Fortunately, we were able to easily replace him, but I wasted my time to interview him and process his paperwork, and then he made me look bad in front of my client! I also gave a job internally to someone else who failed to show up this morning. I thought the economy was still really weak with scores of people looking for jobs. I guess not.


I'm so mad that my grandpa lets other people take advantage of him, and I hate that my mom has to pick up the pieces.

I hate that I have to go back to school next week. I love working in the office so much, but it's such a tease for me to be there only a few weeks before returning to Bloomington. There are so many things I want to do with the business, and I have so many ideas that I want to implement, but time just does not allow it. I'm getting pretty burnt out on classes too. I'm also looking for a larger office right now. DOWTOWN! I'm pretty sure I've found the right one, and it's one of the neatest buildings, and I wish I could just work in what I pay for.

Without giving details, it bothers me how easily people can be attacked through the legal system, especially over frivolous matters.


I guess that's all.

Thursday, January 1, 2009

Welcoming 2009

This post is going to be a bunch of lists, so look forward to a quick read.

I'm so excited for 2009 because I've been waiting for all the exciting things that are going to happen! Here are a few things that I have been looking forward to for a while that are on the brinking on becoming a reality:

1) Graduation-Woooot! I'll be done jumping through hoops at the Kelley School of Business : ) and I'll be getting a degrees in Business Economics and Public Policy Analysis and then I've got a Spanish minor too.
2) Working full time for my company. I am very optimistic about the quanity (and of course quality!) of businss that we'll be able to do for the year. I would really like to start doing event planning for some of the private parties that we do, and I want to finally start that book that I've been meaning to start about our journey so far.
3) 4 year anniversary--this february marks a four year milestone with Aaron. I am in disbelief!
4) Engagement-if all goes as planned, Aaron and I will be getting engaged sometime this year. I'm sooo excited about that.
5) Moving into a permanent living situation--Every weekend, I pack a bag to come home so that I can work for the business. During the summer, I spent half of my days at the office and the other half was split up between staying at mine and Aaron's parents' houses. It gets a bit exhausting, and Aaron and I are looking forward to keeping all our stuff in one location and ditching the ovenight bags.
6) A new office--Aaron and I are searhing right now for what will likely be the final office that Prodigy Staffing moves into in Indianapolis. I've got a really good feeling about a particular office.

Those are the major events, but now onto my predictions for 2009

1) Gas prices will reach $5 per gallon
2) Beyonce will have a baby
3) There will be some very out of touch people who freak out about their televisions showing static in February
4) Oprah will lose some more weight
5) Sarah Palin will appear on Desparate Housewives and then fade into the background
6) There will be at least one close assassination attempt on Barack
7) China and Germany's GDP will plummet as the world economy tanks as the two country's economies rest on exports
8) Mini laptops will be popular
9) I will have a birthday ; )
10) Most of my predictions will be wrong

And finally, the last list for your enjoyment, some of my goals for the year
1) Start event planning business by march
2) Move out of my parents' house by June
3) Advance to the green belt in hapkido
4) Learn how to drive a stick shift
5) Draw or paint something worthwhile
6) Organize and scan all pictures that are not in digital form
7) Learn to surf
8) Do a cleansing fast
9) Write my personal mission statement
10) Open a retirement account that is specific to entrepreneurs like a SEP-IRA
11) Learn to bartend
12) Make a hole in one, even if it miniature golf
13) Finally learn how to play poker
14) Audition for a commercial
15) Do a 365 day challenge--I've decided on a challenge already. I'm going to get rid of one of my possessions for each day of the year.
16) Publish a youtube video
17) Organize everything and have a "system" for everything
18) Sew an entire outfit for myself
19) Make the soundtrack for my life
20) Ride a mechanical bull