And the wedding planning begins

It's officially official! My fiance and I will be married less than a year from today, on June 11, 2011! I truly could not be more excited about everything happening in my life right now. Everyone says we jumped on that one pretty quick with the planning and all, but you just wait until it's your time. Some of these places take up to two years to book if you plan to have a ceremony and reception just the way you dream of. And, if you ask us, we've already been together for over 5 years, and we are beyond ready to finally be married and move on with this exciting next step in our lives. Two years would have just been far too long to have to wait! I love everything when it comes to wedding planning, and it's all especially exciting because this is everything that I want to do with my career and so much more! I have already met and hope to continue to meet so many great people along the way and everything about it is just so exciting! There are so many decisions to be made. We will be having our reception at the Westin St. Louis downtown directly across from Busch Stadium which we both love! Once we get everything finalized with the two biggest and most important decisions (ceremony and reception sites) we get to move on to even more fun decisions like flowers and the cake! 

There is so much that you can truly get caught up in, though, when it comes to weddings, and despite the fact that I love everything about wedding and event planning (and again this is realllllly what I want to do with my life!), I want to make sure that I don't lose sight of what is most important, because it seems like so many people do, (and become the ever feared bridezilla! Ahh!) and that is that I am getting married to the amazing man that I love and fell in love with and have been dating for over five years, and I will be spending the rest of my life with him. That is what marriage is all about, and, in the end, that is of course what is most important. All of the beautiful bridesmaids and flowers and scenery come along with it, and I of course love that aspect of it too (more than I can even explain!), but just don't want to lose sight of what's most important : ) I cannot wait to spend the rest of my life as Mrs. Timothy Lucas and see what amazing adventures are to come. I will be starting a wedding blog soon so I will be sure to keep you all posted on that as well! 

Happy wedding planning to all that are at the same point in their lives as I am today. From what I hear, it's one of the most exciting, and I can already tell : )

I went to Chicago...and came home engaged!!!!!

The time has finally come...I am engaged!!!!! I talked a lot about the trip that Tim (now my fiance!) and I were taking to Chicago in celebration of our five year anniversary, college graduation, and (little did I know) our engagement!!! Part of the reason we chose Chicago as our celebratory trip is because we have both really considered moving there after graduation because it is one of our favorite cities, one which we have both visited several other times in the past, one other time being together just three years ago. As I've already mentioned, Chicago is just overall such an amazing city! I love everything about it!! Aside from anything relating to Cubs of course. Tim and I want so badly to live in the city for at least a year of our lives to have that experience. We'll have to see where jobs will lead us, but there's always hope! We are big dreamers, and I don't think there's anything wrong with that : ) Anyways, back to the main point of this post, while in Chicago, Tim asked me to marry him!!!!! I could not be any happier. I don't honestly know how long it will take for this excitement to wear off! He asked me to marry him on the Navy Pier with the amazing Chicago skyline in the background and the sound of the lake waves crashing against the shore. It could not have been any more amazing. I wish so badly that we could have stayed at least one more night to take it all in a little bit more. It was just such an amazing moment and trip that I wish could have lasted so much longer than it did. You'll be able to read our engagement stories and more about our relationship on our wedding website in a few weeks. Tim's working on it and one of our amazing teachers from high school will be doing our engagement photos in a couple of weeks so once that's all said and done we will have the website up and ready to go!! I've been SO excited these past few days and have done nothing but tell the story, share pictures, and look at wedding magazines. We've even already started searching for venues because we're really hoping to get married in June of next year! I was so excited talking about everything to two of my best friends at dinner tonight that I couldn't wait any longer and asked my bff Jenn to be my Maid of Honor!! (and she said yes!!) I've been trying to think of how I wanted to ask her before I asked the rest of my bridesmaids, and it wasn't exactly what I had imagined, but I just couldn't wait any longer because all I have been wanting to do is talk to her about the planning...but not just as a friend or as a bridesmaid, but as my MOH!! Ahh I couldn't be any happier! I will be asking the rest of my bridesmaids when we get back from our family vacation in Florida in a couple weeks : ) Now I'm going to start doing a wedding blog too!! So much to look forward to and so much I am going to want to write about!! Now with all of this excitement and mix of emotions I've had in the past few weeks with so many huge life changes (first college graduation then engagement with a few amazing trips in between!!) I have lost complete focus on the career search. I will gain back that focus ASAP, but for a few days I just want to soak it all in. Life is far too sweet : ) How's that for a great start to this POSTGRAD life!? I don't think I could be any happier right now : )

It's officially sweet summertime!

It's finally really feeling like summer!! This is after all basically the last summer that I can act like I am a student of some sort...because after this Summer breaks will most likely not be taking place wherever I work. I will not be in any form of education as far as I'm aware so there goes that dream of Summer breaks the rest of my life! Oh well, here's to making this one an extra good one! : ) I spent the whole first week of Summer back home unpacking (or at least attempting to) and applying for more jobs. The weekend was nice because I got to spend it with Tim and some good friends! We went to the baseball game Saturday (I'm obsessed with the STL Cardinals!). It was a pretty hot day, but it was still a lot of fun. After the game we went Patty O's, one of the outdoor bars located right next to the stadium, then we all went out to dinner at TGIFridays. We roamed around downtown STL for quite a while taking pictures of/in front of everything imaginable acting like tourists in our own hometown, and I loved everything about it : ) That's why I love spending time with my friends. I feel like we can always be so random like that and not care about what other people think. Aside from that I did a lot of playing with Bentley and Daytona! They have both been worn out the past couple of days from all of their play time and the intense heat...seeing as it's only May (not even officially Summer by season yet might I add), and we've had record highs the past couple of days in the mid-90s! Perfect pool weather!! Only I unfortunately don't have one. So I do the next best thing and fill up the baby pool we have for Daytona and act like I have a legit pool in the back yard. Ha. The random life I live. Reasons why I love it. We spent a lot of family time BBQing and sitting in the driveway eating peanuts. One of my favorite things about home and this time of the year : ) The start of week 2 of sweet Summer began today, and it's looking like more of the same, aside from a fun trip planned at the end of the week...Tim and I are going to CHICAGO on Wednesday!!! Chicago is one of my absolute favorite cities in the entire world! I have approximately 3 favorite cities (St. Louis/St. Charles or course, Destin because I LOVE beaches and the beaches in Destin are amazing, and Chicago!). These are just favorite cities of which I have visited...Trust me I have a fairly long list of places that I really want to see. I've been to Chicago many times and have loved it more and more each time I've been. I've been with friends a couple of times, and Tim and I have had another trip there a few years ago (goodness we've been together for so long now!! Just celebrated our 5 year anniversary by the way if I haven't already mentioned that in an earlier post!!) during Christmastime. We actually planned this trip for our 5 year anniversary/graduation (POSTGRAD). This will be my first Chicago visit ever in the Summertime, and I am beyond excited! The Magnificent Mile is really, truly magnificent. I am sure I will take 10,000 pictures of the same things I have already taken pictures of, but I love it that much. Better charge my camera battery up now! We of course plan to go to the Shedd Aquarium (Tim's absolute favorite), Navy Pier, and Willis Tower (previously known as the Sears Tower). We went up the John Hancock Building during our last visit. We are also going to the ESPN Zone...this will be our first time there so that should be a lot of fun!! I also want to check out some of the lake beaches that I've never gotten to experience since it's always been freezing cold and of course a little shopping on the Magnificent Mile! All things tourists should do and that I've done every time I've visited, but I love everything about the city and that's the way I love to experience it : ) OH, and I forgot to mention that we also have tickets to the CARDS/CUBS game on Friday at Wrigley Field!!! This is going to be a great trip!! I've always thought that I would grow up and live in a big city like Chicago (because I've yet to get to NY or LA...I dream big), and I don't truly know why I'm not honestly living there yet at this point in my life. Here I am. POSTGRAD. Technically "grown up" I guess you could say. I love everything about the city. I want to live and work in a big city. I just need the job and the $$$ to go along with it, and I'm good to go. I've just got to keep focused and keep working toward my dreams : ) See you real soon, windy city!

So this is it...huh!?

Well the day has come and I am finally, officially, truly a college grad! Postgrad maybe!? I think yes! So this is what I have had to look forward to...the never ending search for a job! haha I knew this would be the case, but I guess since it's what you see on TV and all the movies, I didn't really expect it. I'm not quite sure what I expected though to be quite honest. I've been home for less than a week and feel like I've already been home for months. Right now, I think it just feels more like a typical Summer than anything. Come home, take a week or two off from work and such to unpack, then get to working every day and doing some fun things in between, including visits to Cape which will be few and far between now that I am no longer a temporary resident of the town. St. Charles is officially my real home again. For now anyway. That's what leads me to the job search! I have been applying at a variety of places since the beginning of my senior year of college, but I have been SO busy that I have hardly even had time to follow up! Luckily I no longer have school to focus on and my parents are understanding enough to allow me to take time this Summer to devote to searching for a job. This way I can put in my full effort which is how it should be and every bit how I would want it to be because I want to be doing something that I really want to be doing, and I am determined to find that! I am very open to all types of experience though, and want to gain as much knowledge and experience as I can while I am still young!

I guess this is the official start to that POSTGRAD life I've been dreaming of. For now I will continue the search for a job and in the meantime, enjoy this Summer because it will likely be the last that I will still feel/can still act like a college kid (sort of). And it's nice to have the perks of home for a while longer too : ) I have some fun adventures planned this Summer so there is lots to look forward to! I will post more about all of these fun activities later. For now, I will think about all things Summer and jobs in between while realizing that I think I will finally, officially, truly feel like a college graduate once everyone is moving back to Cape in August...and I'm still here. I'm sure something great will come up in the meantime with my devotion, motivation, and determination, and I am beyond exited to see what that may be!! Now despite the fact that it is almost 1 in the morning on a Friday night...I'm going back to the job search for a bit. That's how determined I truly am : )

Mixed Emotions

The time is finally coming...graduation is officially close! And I am definitely starting to have mixed emotions about this whole thing! I haven't been able to write anything in the past couple of weeks because I have been so busy preparing for graduation and trying to finish out all of my classes. This past week was Senior Week for ADPi. I have absolutely loved all of the experiences I have had throughout the past four years of college, especially when it comes to ADPi, but this past year I have felt myself starting to separate and realizing that I am ready to start growing up...sort of. I am so excited for so many things to come and to see what I will be doing in my future, even six months or a year from now. I have been counting down the day to graduation because I have been so busy with school and my internship this semester I have gotten to the point where I have wanted nothing more but to be done and on to the next thing. But this week, it has definitely hit me. I am still beyond excited, don't get me wrong, but I am far more sad about leaving than I thought I would be that's for sure. Now I'm at the point where I am not wanting to say I graduate next week, because that's almost too soon now! During one night of Senior Week, we read our senior wills and give away a lot of our old sorority and fraternity stuff that we have accumulated throughout the past four years. I was excited about this, until it came down to the point where I had to actually start writing my wills. At first I couldn't even start because I didn't know where to start, but then I just kept writing...and ended up with 12 pages of my senior wills when most people only have about 2 or 3. In Senior Wills we write about our experience in ADPi and usually give shout outs to girls in the chapter remembering stories and other fun times we've had. I'll attach mine in my next post.

Being an ADPi the past four years has taught me so much more than I ever could have imagined, and that's one of the biggest things I will be so sad to leave. I am ready and excited to experience it in a different light, as an alumna member and maybe even as an advisor someday, but for now, I like remembering all of the fun times I've had, the friends I have made, and the things that I have learned. Of course now is when I think of all of those little things I really will miss...like walking in Capaha Park and driving down Kingshighway and Broadway and even going to class (sometimes) ... as odd as that sounds. I feel like these past few weeks are dragging on now and making me think more and more about the fact that I'm about to graduate. Last weekend was AMAZING for one of my last weekends in college...Thursday night out with my class for our PR pub crawl, spending Friday night out with all of the ADPi seniors, the winery yesterday with my friends and all of our Mom's, celebrating my friend's 21st birthday last night, and BBQ at 701 Perry today. Now despite the few things I need to accomplish this last week and the need to pack up my room...I hope it's as fun as last. I'm not a fan of saying goodbye, I have come to realize...so I'm going to go with the "see ya later" that I never truly understood, but now I do. I can't wait for my family and Tim's family to be here Saturday to celebrate our graduation...then it's finally time to say See Ya Later to good old Cape Girardeau. Even just the thought is bittersweet.

Officially DONE!!

Today was officially my LAST day at my internship!!! I can't believe I have finally completed 180 hours and another three credits. Granted it was a lot of time out of the semester, and all for free...it was an amazing experience that I am glad I was given the opportunity to partake in. I learned so much more at my internship at the Southeast Missourian than I ever imagined I would. While there, I had the opportunity to face real life, day-to-day experiences. I was treated more like a full time employee than an intern, which I loved. I got to sit in on meetings and webinars and go out on sales calls. I met so many great people in the process of it all. When I came in today, Stevie, who works in the department I interned in (and whom I LOVED having the opportunity to work alongside for most of this semester), had breakfast sitting at my computer waiting for me!! Including caramel flavored coffee since she knows I don't like the plain stuff : ) I was not expecting that at all. So nice! Then at the end of the day, Les, who also works in the department, gave me his "Socialnomics" book that I have been eyeing all semester...I borrowed it for a couple of weeks then told him I was definitely going to buy it this Summer when I went back home...and he gave me it me before I left! I don't think people realize how much it's just the littlest gestures like that that really make a difference, and that really made my day. : )

I have enjoyed all of the amazing experiences I have had at my internship these past few months, and thanks to that, I now feel much more prepared to face the real world. Bring it on! : )

Last Day!

My last day of my internship is officially TOMORROW!! I cannot believe how fast this semester has gone, and that I'm almost officially done with one of the last stages as a college student. I am asked today the second after I post about tomorrow being my last day at my internship, "What's next?!" My reply? "Graduate from college...and then we'll see!" I've been doing some searching and applying, but no luck just yet. Again with the craziness and busyness of this semester, I have had far less time than I had hoped. My original plan for this apparently "free" last semester of college was to use all of my apparent spare time to do nothing but search for jobs. Wrong. The only time I've really had time, is times like now...midnight and I have to be at work or class early the next morning. I will definitely be devoting a good deal of my Summer searching for jobs. I neeeeeed one soon because A. I am officially a poor college student, soon to be poor college graduate (postgrad of course) and B. I will literally have NO idea what to do without having class, a job, an internship, meetings, SOMETHING to go to every single day! A lot of big changes are certainly in store!

I should go to bed now. I'll keep you posted on how the last day goes.

Oh and side note, my absolute favorite color is pink. I wear a lot of pink and own a lot of pink things (even pens and Post-Its). They've definitely noticed at my internship and comment on a frequent basis...one of the workers even stated that the next intern must be asked in their interview what their favorite color is...in hopes that the answer is pink.

My point? I'm wearing a pink tomorrow in honor of my last day : )