Friday, January 29, 2010

86,400 Seconds In A Day

The 2009 American Idol (AI) winner Kris Allen's first song is out and its a huge hit. It's also one of my favorite songs at the moment because 1. I'm a huge AI fan and 2. I like the song as it has a good meaning.
One part of the song goes like this:

Yeah... gotta start lookin at the hand of the time we've been given
here this is all we got and we gotta start pickin
it every second counts on a clock that's tickin'
gotta live like we're dying
We only got86 400 seconds in a day to
turn it all around or throw it all away
we gotta tell 'em that we love 'em
while we got the chance to say
gotta live like we're dying
This is a great song about living each day to the fullest. These past few weeks I've been having a few stressful and rough days at work, so it's always great to go home at 4:30 and talk to family and friends and do things for myself. You only have 86,400 seconds in a day, so make the best of it.
I encourage you to go out each and every day and live life to the fullest. I often catch myself working overtime on work projects or doing things for others, but I have to remember to take time out for myself. I don't regret what I do for others, but I don't want to regret what I don't do for myself.

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

It's the little things that count

Last night, was my BB/BS outing with Alexys. She's been wanting to go get her nails done, but she bites her nails so her mother and I told her we couldn't go until her nails were long enough. Since, she was good about not biting her nails for the last two weeks they were long enough. She kept trying to talk me into getting a full set and informed me that her mom said it was okay, but I knew better so we only got our nails painted.


We picked out colors for our nails; she wanted hot pink and bright purple and I settled for a burgundy red. Alexys was pretty impressed by the set up of the nail salon and LOVED sitting in the big chair while she got a manicure. She was amazed by the job that was done and was very excited to get flowers on her thumbs with rhinestones.


Through the process she loved being a girl and getting pampered, but we had a small dilemma. What are the boys at her school going to think?


At recess, she often plays football with the boys but I wouldn't call her a tomboy. I remember this stage growing up as I changed from a girl who played in the dirt to a girl who wears makeup and paints her nails. I tried to relate it into kid terms so we discussed the show iCarly. One of the characters, Sam, is a tomboy but turned into girlie girl to impress a boy. She understood as Sam in the show was very pretty but still had friends that were boys.


I informed Alexys that she is going to have to watch out because once the boys see how pretty her nails look, they are going to have a crush on her. She had a huge smile on her face and was ready to go to school today to show everyone her pretty nails. I can picture the little diva today informing the boys that she can't play football, because it will mess up her nails. Whoops! I hope I didn't corrupt her!


It's the small things like getting your hair done, your nails painted, getting new make-up or buying new clothes that make you feel pretty. I fully believe that when women are feeling down, a quick beauty fix will give you a good boost.

Monday, January 25, 2010

Top 10 Flying Pet Peeves

As I've spent the last 17 out of 24 days on the road, I feel as if I'm becoming a pro at flying and my second home is the Kansas City airport. Through extensive flying over the last few years I have came up with a list of items that drives me nuts when I'm flying. Please remember the next time you fly, to have respect to others on the plane.

1. People who try to roll their bag through the middle aisle of the plane. I'm sorry it doesn't fit.....you have to pick it up.
2. Those who do not put their personal item under the seat in front of them. Please save room for other bags in the overhead bin.
3. The parents who let their children kick your seat.
4. Slow people going through security.
5. Hovering around the baggage claim carousel. If we all step back 5 steps everyone will be able to see. I really get mad when they come and stand right in front of me.
6. The people who see their bag come up out of baggage claim and run to go get it instead of waiting for it to come to them.
7. When you are flying at night and the person sitting besides you decides to stay up and read. Please do not turn on my light for additional lighting. If you can't see your book with one light, then you need to get your eyes checked before reading gives you a headache!
8. People who try to carry on a conversation with you when your not in the mood to chat.
9. When there are window and aisle seats open in the back and they decide to set in the middle seat.
10. Those who bring more bags than they can handle carrying through the airport. FYI: They make luggage straps that you can hook your bags together with and most airports provide luggage carts!

Here are my top 10 pet peeves for flying. I know there are a few others, but that would be the top 10 most interesting people I've met on a plane. I will save that for later.

Thursday, January 21, 2010

One Tough Question

As I edit articles for my junior members for their Scoop newsletter, I noticed where one junior staff member asked twenty 9 year olds the question of what do you want to be when you grow up? Of course, many of them responded with veternarian, policeman, dirt bike racer, professional football player, nurse and teacher. One young lady even wanted to be a pig farmer! (I imagine she will regret that when she reads this article 10 years down the road.)

I believe when I was under the age of 10 this was the easiest question in the book, but once I got into college and currently as a young professional, I feel as if I don't have a concrete answer. At age 5 I knew I wanted to be a teacher, but now at age 24 I have ideas and goals of working in youth leadership and development, but not sure at what capacity.

As I read through the answers these 9 year olds responded with about what they do for fun, what they want to be when they grow up, and someone famous they would like to meet, I wish we could go back in time to my younger days. At age 9, I knew exactly what I wanted to do in life and didn't have to worry about selecting a career that I enjoyed and one that would support a family.

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

I wanna be like you!

After going on several outings with Alexys these past three months, I have realized a few things about youth and who they look up to. One of my favorite movies when I was little was the movie, The Jungle Book, and in this movie is a song called "I wanna be like you". Here are the lyrics, as a little reminder:

I wanna be like you.
I wanna talk like you.
Walk like you, too.
You'll see it's true.
Someone like me.
Can learn to be.
Like someone like me.
Can learn to be.
Like someone like you.
Can learn to be.
Like someone like me!
I realize how much Alexys wants to be like me by the way she acts, dresses, and talks. A few examples are; when we went swimming she wanted her hair up in a pony tail like mine, she had to cross her legs like me in the movie theaters, and she will often see what clothes or shoes I'm wearing and go for a quick change before we leave the house. I guess I didn't realize how much Alexys wants to be like me, until you really look at the small things. This reallys hits home, as I'm a mentor for youth ages 21 and under. Now, with every action I take, every word I say and every article of clothing I wear, I have to realize that someone out there wants to be just like me.
Here is a link to the song:

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Meet Alexys!

Who: My little sister for Big Brothers/Big Sisters
Name: Alexys Knerr
Age: 8 going on 21
School: 3rd grader in Savannah
Brothers/Sisters: One brother, Richard, 19 years old
Parents: Mother named Kamille
Nicknames: Her friends at school call her Sassy or Sassy Pants
Favorite TV Show: Anything on Nickelodeon
Favorite Song: Anything by Taylor Swift
Favorite Food: Tacos with meat, cheese and sour cream
Favorite Place to eat: Taco Bell
Favorite things to do: swimming, exercising, playing the wii, sleepovers, singing, and chasing boys on the playground

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

I love American Idol

I couldn't really think of what to write about tonight, so I thought I would write about one of my favorite things...reality tv. I absolutely love it!! However, tonight is the first episode of this season of my favorite reality tv show....American Idol. I enjoy watching talent and people making complete fools out of themselves. I don't know how some people can walk in there and talk about voice coaches...really those voice coaches need to be fired!

Currently, I am hanging out in the AAA suite at the Denver with other staff members and we are all enjoying a little bit of family time watching AI. We are all trying to do work but our eyes are glued on the tv. It is addicting.

Most people's favorite part is watching the 'rejects' but my favorite part is watching the top 20 go down to 1. I'm so excited. Last year we had a small competition in the office, we may have to do that again this year.

Saturday, January 9, 2010

Bowling with Bumpers


Yesterday Alexys and I headed to the south side fun center for a few games of bowling. I was a touch worried about going to the 'south side' or 238er-ville to the bowling alley because it is not known to be the cleanest part of town, but it is where we have discounts for BB/BS. However, the place was pretty safe and clean. We picked out our shoes and grabbed a few bowling balls and we were ready to get started. I requested bumpers for Alexys, but I guess you can't just set them for one player so I got bumpers too!


Alexys had a blast bowling. We bowled backwards, granny style and she would even bowl and then do the splits (she's destined to be a cheerleader!). I even bowled then pulled one of my stellar moves of falling on my rear end. I was pretty embarrassed until I turned around and saw that nobody saw it. Whew!

Two games and a few laughs later we were on our way back to her house to end our evening. I won't have an activity with Alexys next week because I will be travelling to Denver, but when we get back we are going to get our nails done! Yes, she is a diva just like me!! We love to be pampered!!

Thursday, January 7, 2010

CAB Building Blocks

This week I travelled to Wooster, Ohio to the Certified Angus Beef office for Building Blocks for the junior board members. Building Blocks is a great way for the junior board members to learn about CAB and their different departments. It's also a great refresher for me to hear about the latest happenings in the office. The staff in Wooster provides us with great hospitality. They treat us like family and prepare us incredible meals.




Here is a photo of us at the CAB office.




Coming home, I faced the battle of the winter storm. After five cancelled flights I was able to get a flight 24 hours after my original flight. Due to flights being cancelled in Chicago and St. Louis I had to wait for a flight through Nashville to make it home.

Here is a picture of the runway in Cleveland (yikes!). As I was leaving Cleveland it was just beginning to start snowing. Luckily with some de-icer and some talented pilots I was on my way home.

Monday, January 4, 2010

Happy New Year!!

One of my best friends Stacy Mayo lives in Naperville, IL (a suburb of Chicago) so I decided to head to Chicago for the holiday. NYE consisted of hanging out at one of her friend's house, where there was only 6 of us who rang in the New Year together. Eventhough we were small in numbers, we were big in fun!!




The next night we headed to the big city to go out. There was four of us who took the train to a good time. We experienced many establishments, and they were all very fun. We did visit a piano bar called Redhead. I was pretty excited about the name.


It was great to spend the holiday with one of my best friends. Growing up only an hour apart and going to the same school we got to see each other often. Now, we only get to see each other at special events and football games. I just wish for her to move closer!!!