Impatient is the word.

Thanks for all your support on my lack of blogging. It feels good to get back to writing (it is my major, after all.)

Okay, time to share the news I've been DYING to spill for months--remember this post?

Mark applied for an internship in Germany. Munich to be exact. It was for an auditing position with Deloitte & Touche, one of the top accounting firms in the world. We found out about it early September and Mark applied in October. He received an email from the Deloitte & Touche branch in Munich letting him know they would be glad to offer him an internship, but there actually wasn't an "official" position for him in the summer. The man said there might be one, however, but it was all up to one company's decision. Who that company was and what they had to decide remains a mystery to me. But the man said it could be "as late as February" before he would know if there was a position for Mark.

Well, let me tell you, the time has dragged. And I am beginning to get IMPATIENT. Dare I say irritable? And I'm not even the one applying for the position. Mark seems pretty cool about it though. (Luckily, patience is one of Mark's best attributes.)

Here's why I'm so antsy: There are a lot of changes in store for us. I'm graduating in May. We're moving (maybe even to a new country). We've been in the same apartment for almost three years. My family wants to go on a trip to Europe over the summer with us. But here's the thing, we can't start planning it, because we don't know when we can go! Summer is going to be here before I know it, and all my plans are up in the air. As much as I like flying by the seat of my pants (which is how I make most of my decisions) I can't handle flying by the seat of my pants with this one.

You see, I miss Europe. When we found out about the internship opportunity, I immediately began searching the net for pictures, videos and apartment listings in Munich. I've been to Germany before, but only to see one castle.

I also recently discovered Google street view, which is available for some parts of Europe, such as Switzerland. I've started browsing streets here and there, seeing places I've been before. This does little to help the situation.

I'm so proud of Mark for applying and coming so close to getting accepted. Hopefully we can get an answer soon so we can close this chapter of our lives and start planning a new one. Let's hope time flies by--and fast.

One street corner I remember standing on in Lucerne, Switzerland. (Google street view)

Hopefully I'll see you soon, Europe!

February=Boredom.

I haven't written anything for awhile. It feels weird.

I keep starting blog entries to post them, because I feel the need to write feelings and thoughts down. Then once I get them down, for some reason, I see it as pointless to publish it. I feel like my blogging capabilities have died! What happened to me?

I'll blame it on February. Or perhaps because I haven't seen the sun in months. Thanks Cache Valley.

Gardenia Knits!

Hey peeps.

Sorry for the long absence, but I bring good news!

I just opened an Etsy store. It is called Gardenia Knits. Gardenias remind me of my grandmother, and since she was the first person to teach me how to crochet, I thought it was a fitting name. :)

You can check it out here. I hope you enjoy!

Yellow, Green, and Taupe Flower Headband.

Days of thanks--take three

Are you back for another dosage of thankfulness? Here it is!

(image from here)

I will forever be thankful for my MacBook. I've had it for three years now and it hasn't caused me a single problem (knock on wood!) nor has it ever frozen up on me! I love the fact that if I don't know something or I want to read up on a topic, all the information in the world is just a few clicks away. One purchase that I will never regret, thankfully.

I'm so thankful for the opportunity to get an education! As much as I grumble and trudge up the hill every day for my classes, I'm thankful for what going to school has done for my life. It's changed me in so many ways. I know that after May, I'm going to miss trekking across the quad and hearing Old Main chime. Sniff.

(image from here)

(image from here)

Yes, I'm thankful for soap. Yet another deadly weapon in the war against all illnesses! I'm even more thankful because I discovered a lady in Logan who makes the most delicious soaps. Thankfully, they're not made with any animal products (unlike the other ladies at the farmer's market who make theirs with goat's milk...ewww...) and they're local. AND--the maker just announced some new winter smells, including gingerbread, peppermint and christmas tree! The sad thing is, I went to buy some today and the shop that sells them was closed. If you want to check out her stuff, it's here.

But believe me, I will venture back down to the store to get my hands on that stuff! I've become uncommonly attached to it. :)

(I think that was my longest thanks ever--now you know how much I really love soap!)

Days of thanks--take two

Today, I'm thankful for:

Jiya Jale. Go ahead, watch it and try your dangdest not to get up and dance. Words can't express how much I've come to love this song, I love the beats and the melody. In fact, it's number four on my 50 most-played list on iTunes. Several songs on the soundtrack were written by the same composer who did the Slumdog Millionaire soundtrack.

Bollywood music rocks.

(image from here)

I'm SO thankful for Smith's Marketplace. Most days, I want to kiss the feet of the genius who brought this store into my town. I love this store because they have an amazing natural foods section where I get my tempeh, nutritional yeast and Vegenaise. In other words, the foods that make most members of my family cringe and say, "Ewww, Candice." But they're my staples, and I probably couldn't live without them. So thank you, Smith's Marketplace.

(image from here)

When we got married, someone gave us a heating pad. I thought, "How nice," but wasn't quite sure when I would need to use it, if I ever did. I'm afraid I'm only confessing my full transition to being an old woman by posting this here, but have you ever put one of these things in your bed? If I'm ever cold at night, I whip this puppy out and stick it under my sheets. It's not a heating blanket, but it gets me toasty enough. Oh, how thankful I am for instant bliss!

Michelle Obama, texting and thanks

Apparently, I've unknowingly taken a one-month hiatus from blogging. Have you missed me?

I don't know where I've been, either. When I think back on what I've been doing in the past month, all I can think of is my couch and my computer (wait, did I just admit this?) Plunking out paper after paper after paper. And reading article after article...

You probably get my point. So many articles have come flying out of my MacBook that I'm just burned out of writing, leaving no hope for blogging. Next articles to be produced: Analysis of media coverage of first ladies and texting while driving.

I've been debating whether or not to do the "Days of Thanks" that I did last year, and I think that I probably should. So here goes, three things that I'm thankful for:

Oh buddy, I'm thankful for the possibility of buying a new couch one day. Two words to describe my current couch: D.I. special. Two words to describe my future couch: Working cushions. (Image from here)

Yes, broccoli. In retaliation of the swine flu vaccine (there's several reasons for this, one being that it is down-right impossible to find) I find myself being thankful for this humble, bushy vegetable. Is my immune system going to thank me and do me a favor? We'll see.

(Image from here)

(Dont they look like babies in this picture? Image from here)

So what if I'm ten years behind the trend? I'm thankful for Harry Potter. I decided to give the books a try after being a snob for many years, and I'm hooked. Or shall I say, someone has put the Imperius curse upon me. Must...read...Harry...Potter...Must...meet...Ron...Weasley...

Why I'm a Journalist

My mind only works past midnight.

At least that is what I've come to discover. I just finished a rough draft for an article for a class, and I blogging now because I know this is a time when I can get it done.

College has been a challenge for me. Not in a sense that it's been a lot of work...well...I take that back. It has been busy. But it is challenging at the same time, in a different sense.

Picking a major was like picking a favorite food. Next to impossible for me. I picked journalism because I liked to write and I liked the news. That's it. How was I to know what I wanted to do if I hadn't really experienced it?

So on I trudged. There were so many times when I would receive a writing assignment for an article and just groan. Interviewing people is not my strength. So why, you may ask, am I in journalism? Good question.

After finally getting up the guts to call someone to set up the interview, my stomach would just be churning. Ugh...do I have to do this? I would be so nervous that it would feel like I was being eaten alive. I never felt prepared and I felt like I was so bad at jotting down notes.

But this year has been an entirely different experience.

For an assignment in class, I was to think of someone who has done something amazing or unique and write an article about them. My mind instantly zoomed to a girl I know who had recently gone to Uganda. Exactly what for, I wasn't sure. But it sure was amazing to me that she had gone there.

I contacted her and set up an interview. We met for lunch and she told me her stories. Along with a group from the university, she went to teach Ugandans, specifically Ugandan women, about public health issues. She explained about the northern part of the country that had been ravaged by war, how many children were killed and how these women remained unbelievably strong.

She mentioned something called the Invisible Children. I, being the extreme novice that I am, did not adequately do my research about the country and I had no idea what she was talking about. Either that, or I had been living in a deep, dark closet all these years. Probably the latter.

There has been brutal civil war going on in Uganda and it is still going. A rebel guerilla group known as the Lord's Resistance Army and the Ugandan army continue to wage war, especially on the civilians. No one is safe, especially not the children. They must migrate into the cities to sleep safely at night, for fear of being abducted by the LRA and being forced to be either a killer or a sex slave.

And by children we're talking tens of thousands of children. Tens of thousands of children who are forced to wear guns and kill. Children.

My interviewee taught public health seminars in this area. What amazed her the most was how happy and strong the people were, even though they were going through a brutal civil war.

Had it not been for a documentary, these children would probably still be invisible, almost non-existent. No one really knew this was happening. Three Americans traveled over to Sudan, looking for a story. They ended up in northern Uganda and witnessed these Invisible Children, and they made sure their story was heard.

My interviewee also told of a young man who was their interpreter on the trip. One of his dreams was to come to the United States to study engineering, in the hopes that he could take what he learned back with him to help rebuild his country. He has found a sponsor in the U.S. who is going to pay for his schooling. As she told me this, I got goosebumps.

Being a journalist makes you realize how much you don't know. How much is going on outside your own little bubble, and in a very real way. It isn't a history book that is lectured to me while I slumber safely in my desk; it's a cold, hard slap across the face forcing me to wake up. Each time I interview someone, no matter what it is about, I leave humbled and opened to a different view of the world.

Every person has a story to tell, no matter how small or large. Every person is significant. My job is to somehow pluck out that single thread, and to weave a story from it.

So for now, I'll keep weaving.

To read a recent article of mine, click here.