Blessed

I don't even know how to describe how grateful I am for the blessings in my life.

My internship is up next week and this past month has been so stressful trying to figure out my next plan. I had submitted so many resumes and cover letters to businesses in Utah and was frustrated that nothing was working out. Then, in the space of five hours, I got accepted to teach English in Taiwan, had an interview set up in Provo, and was approached about a position at Southwest. I was so overwhelmed! I went from having zero prospects to having three incredible opportunities.

I hadn't really considered staying in Dallas up until this point, but from the moment I was told about the position, I knew that it was right.

So here is my big news, I am staying in Dallas for six more months!

I get to work with the Chase Co-Brand Team in Marketing at Southwest Airlines. I am so excited for this opportunity and can't wait to get started on my projects. I still get to work a little bit with the team that I interned with, but I get exposure to a different side of marketing and get to work with the Chase Credit Card. I am so grateful for this job and know that I am blessed. The position is a Contractor position, so in six months I will either be asked to extend, offered a full-time position, or I can be on my way to my next adventure.

I found a roommate and an apartment today and I am so glad that I get to live with somebody from the ward. I was afraid that I would end up living all by myself and Rebecca is wonderful and we are going to be great roommates!

Everything has been falling into place and I know that it is because I have been doing all that I can. We have to go through some crazy trials before we get to experience joy, and all I can say is that I have been tried and I am so happy now. Dallas just feels right, it's as simple as that.

The past four months I have spent so much time traveling and hanging out with other interns and I am excited to get to know the people in my ward and spend more time in Dallas. I am excited for my Dallas adventures!

Airplanes

Happy Birthday Kelsey!

To celebrate Kelsey's birthday... Erin and Jada made a wall of balloons over Kelsey's desk and wrapped her chair, computer, and phone in plastic wrap.

We had tornado weather and had to go to the storm shelters!

Tess, Jada, and I took Kelsey to Chipotle for dinner.

Tess and I bought Kelsey her favorite food staples, wrapped them up, and displayed them on our mantle. We bought her Doritos, spaghetti, popcorn, M&M's, and bowls.

She was surprised!

Happy Birthday Roomie!

Weekly Five

1) Finding connections with people. My new friend at work is from Moses Lake, WA and went to BYU. It made my day!

2) Volunteering. We spent 2 1/2 hours on Wednesday sorting tangerines at the Food Bank. It was pretty neat and I got to bond with some of the other interns.

3) Buy one package of shredded cheese, get one free!

4) $0.10 off per gallon at the gas station. One full tank of gas and one happy Shana!

5) March Madness. I don't even know what else there is to say. This is my favorite time of the year. I love getting emotionally involved with every single game. My bracket is a winner so my teams had better get their acts together! :) Oh how I love this.

Song of the Week

Weekly Five

I'm bringing back the weekly update of five things that make me smile. This week was full of great moments!

1) Hearing "Swing, Swing" by the All-American Rejects on my Pandora station.

2) Free lunch at work, leftovers the next day, and then free lunch again!

3) "I've heard great things about you!" It is always nice to hear this from people in the office.

4) Watching my brother attempt to slurp chicken noodle soup the day he got his braces put on.

5) Google+ Hangouts. I love my friends!

It's Official!

Be Happy

It has now been two months into the new year and I am amazed at how quickly time has flown by. When the new year hit I looked back at the list of resolutions I made for 2011 and was disappointed to see that I failed miserably. I decided for 2012 that I was going to have one resolution: Be Happy. Yes, it is a simple and vague, but it is exactly what I need to focus on this year.

Am I happy right now? If I'm not, what is keeping me from being happy? FIX IT!

I have already noticed such a huge change in my life. I am working on one thing at a time, taking it day by day, and I truly feel happy. When you bombard ourself with a bunch of unrealistic resolutions, you are setting ourselves up for failure. You can't wake up one day and say that you are going to change five things in your life starting today. You pick one, work on it for a week or two or even three, and then when you feel comfortable, you move on to another facet.

Two months ago I left everything that was familiar and comfortable in my life. I moved to a new state, started a new job, and had to make new friends. I am an introvert, that is fact. It has been extremely hard for me to branch out but I have become so much stronger because of it. I have learned so much about myself and this job has set me on a path of self discovery. I am proud of who have become and I am happy.

I LUV New York!

Let me tell you about my New York trip... it rocked!

I went with Erin and Kelsey and the three of us had a blast. Kelsey had a

friend that was living up there so we got to stay for free.

The three of us slept sideways on a futon. It was an adventure.

We landed in New York around noon on Friday and our shuttle picked us up for the airport at 2:50 Sunday morning. Quick trip. Best day and a half. I loved it.

We didn't get to see the real Statue of Liberty, but I think we got the picture.

We ate Pizza at Sal's in Little Italy.

Grand Central Station was so neat!

We found the Whisper Room. If you stand at opposite corners and talk into the wall, you can hear each other. We learned that from Arthur. It was cool!

We also got to hold actual Oscar statues. It weighed 8 pounds. We felt like celebrities.

Tiffany's. Wow. The rings were gorgeous!

One of our favorite places was FAO Schwartz. I swear I am really a 5-year-old kid at heart and I thought it was the most amazing place ever.

We went to Central Park.

We bought hot dogs from a street vendor.

Times Square was one of my favorites. The ads were so neat! I feel pretty content with my major, advertisements make me extremely happy.

We had a successful weekend!

Hanging with Herb

Today I got to meet Herb Kelleher, co-founder and former CEO of Southwest Airlines. He kissed my cheek and told me our picture looked very romantic and he liked it. After spending a whole 10 seconds with him, it was easy to see how Southwest got its culture! Good job, Herb! You've helped create and build up an amazing company and I am so glad that I have the opportunity to work for Southwest!

Valentine's Day!

I have never liked Valentine's Day. Yes, I am one of those people that likes to whine and complain about how much I hate seeing happy couples everywhere, while I remain single. It is on my bucket list to have a real Valentine, but obviously I'll have to try again next year.

Even though I find the holiday rather depressing, this year was a completely different experience and I must say that I had fun. The interns got roped into helping the Marketing Culture Committee with the festivities. We volunteered ourselves to do singing telegrams. We advertised to the all of the marketing department and let people order grams to be sent to other people, both in marketing and throughout headquarters. We had about 60 ordered without singing and 40 with singing. On Monday, a few of us stayed pretty late getting everything in order and making sure all of our deliveries were good to go. Tuesday afternoon we spent 2 1/2 hours walking around, singing to unsuspecting employees. It was great! Erin and Kelsey worked on lyrics and we changed up the words to Baby by Justin Bieber, Hero by Enrique Iglesias, The Way You Make Me Feel by the amazing MJ, My Girl by The Temptations, and We Found Love by Rihanna. All of the lyrics were Southwest themed and a huge hit!

Logan

This last weekend I got to go back to Logan! It was great!

Getting to SLC... not so great. I went through five different plans before I was able to find one that worked. I ended up going from Dallas to Kansas City to Portland (delayed 1 1/2 hrs) and finally to SLC. It was a long day!

Jake was kind enough to pick me up from the airport and that night we just chilled and watched a movie. Traveling is so exhausting.

Saturday I went to breakfast with Rick (the french toast and Kneaders = Amazing!). Then I went to see The Vow with Kimmi, Kaela, Tessa, Karen, and Shelby. I was not impressed with the movie, it was a little bit of a disappointment. Kimmi and I made Valentine's and watched Pirates of the Carribbean. Jake and I ate dinner at a Chinese place in Hyrum. I got to hang out with Dumb a ton. And finally, I went to Mardi Gras with Bill and Kenzie. It was a packed day!

Sunday morning, Kaela drove me back to SLC super early and I spent the day in airports once again. I was able to make to Phoenix and El Paso very easily, but then I had to wait five hours to get back to Dallas. I did fly to El Paso with the New Mexico State Basketball Team. One of the poor players was packed into the seat next to me. I can't imagine being over 6 feet tall and sitting on an airplane.

All in all, it was a good weekend, but I did feel a little out of place. I love Logan and I love USU, but I honestly feel like I don't belong in that scene anymore. Walking around Mardi Gras felt so weird. I can't even describe it. I really want to move back to Logan, but I don't think I can handle any of those events anymore. Not my scene at all. I saw a lot of ridiculous people. I'm not trying to get on soapbox, but I am so glad my mother taught me to respect myself! It never ceases to amaze me how girls dress. Do they not realize that hanging out of their clothes really isn't that cool? Shorter is not better and tighter really is not better. Sure, guys will glance their way, but really... is it worth it? I want to be respected and I don't see respect coming from dressing like a hussy. (Please excuse my wording... but come on...) And there it is. My soapbox. Thank you for mom for showing me that how I dress speaks volumes about who I am. I will always be grateful for that lesson.

ISTJ

Yesterday I had the opportunity to take the Myers Brigs Type Indicator. I have taken the assessment before, but it was really fun to take it again and compare my type to the other interns.

Read this description... it is almost scary how perfectly it describes me!

ISTJ: Introvert-Sensor-Thinker-Judger Introverts tend to be reflective, reserved and private. A popular misconception is that Introverts are shy - this is not necessarily so. They draw their energy from their own thoughts and the time they spend alone. Introverts do not need people around them all the time. Sensors live in the present. They rely on facts, handle practical matters well and like things to be concrete and measurable. Thinkers make decisions using logic and impersonal analysis. They think with their heads rather than their hearts. Judgers prefer a lifestyle that is decisive, planned and orderly. They like a life that is organized and controlled. When you turn out to be an ISTJ, then: Your Jung personality type is stereotyped as The Trustee An ISTJ at-a-glance You are a no nonsense type of person who is reserved, very responsible and dependable. You say what you mean and mean what you say. With good reason, people rely on you. You are conscientious and have traditional values. You have strong concentration skills and focus on what's necessary to achieve the task at hand. You see a job through to the end - with a great amount of commitment. You are not threatened by constructive criticism and you stay cool when others are loosing control. Although you care about the feelings of others, you can remain utterly objective and make the tough calls when necessary. You are not very demonstrative and may find it difficult to be spontaneous. Your reserved nature may prevent you from broadcasting to others just how great you are! You may tend to hide your strengths and dry sense of wit. However, on other occasions, you will surprise and amuse people with your ideas and humorous view of life. Your probable contributions to an organization Each Personality Type has a different set of skills, talents and attributes that they bring to an organization, group or relationship. Here is a list of those most commonly associated with Personality Types like you - ISTJ. Is hard working and prefers uninterrupted privacy. Is thorough in everything he/she does. Values ceremonies, rituals and celebrations. Feels that logistics and getting material to the right place at the right time are his/her forte. Pays attention to systems, procedures and getting the job done. Is strongly and precisely oriented to details. Respects lines of authority and works through stated channels. Values the steady accomplishment of work on time. Brings a strong dose of reality, objectivity and measurable results to an organization. Acts quickly and accurately when a decision or action is necessary. Is predictable and focused on achieving results. Excels in stable, orderly environments. Puts work first, then family and community organizations. Recognizes solutions and works skillfully when surroundings and materials are organized and systematic. Is focused on action, as well as the present and preservation of the past. Has a no-nonsense attitude when meeting objectives. Honors commitments and likes timelines, deadlines and structure. Prefers to maintain the organization and its ways of doing things. Is accountable and trustworthy with a strong sense of loyalty. http://www.123test.com/ISTJ-personality-type/

San Francisco

San Francisco was amazing!

Getting there was an adventure. We were afraid that Tess wasn't going to make it. Kelsey and I got in to Oakland around 6:45 and we sat around the airport and car rental place until 1:30 a.m. Tess was pulled from one plane and then had to detour through Denver where it was storming. Her plane got in a little before 1 a.m. and she made it over to rent the car right as it was closing. It was such a long day and were all exhausted. Traveling is draining! But Tess made it and we had such a great time.

We stayed with a family friend of Kelsey's and they took such great care of us. We rode the BART into San Francisco on Saturday and spent the entire day there.

The first thing we did was rent bikes. Our plan was to ride across the Golden Gate Bridge and we ended up riding all along the bay. It was great and the view was phenomenal. We are all a little sore from 3 1/2 hours of biking, but it was worth it.

We loved the Bay!

The bridge was so crazy! They currently have one side closed off so pedestrians and bikers had to share one side. Tess almost died twice and Kelsey hit a man. It was definitely an adventure!

We ate lunch down at Fisherman's Wharf and it was delicious!

After lunch we walked up to Ghirardelli Square and bought ice cream. Then we walked to Chinatown and Union Square. We may have underestimated the distance... and walked for a really long time. We got to see so much of the city though and it really was such a great experience. I loved San Francisco and spending the weekend with my roommates.

Austin

My first non-revving experience was to Austin. It was a blast!

Elise, Me, Erin, and Tess

We toured the Capitol.

Erin, Elise, and Tess

We met up with the boys at Bikini's for lunch... us girls were not impressed.

We found this star outside of a museum and there were a couple of older men taking pictures under it with their bikes. It was quite amusing, so we took our own fun pictures next to the star.

Later that night we met up with the boys again and hung out on 6th Street. The power went out on the entire street and it was absolutely crazy! Austin was fun and I love the other interns. We all get along and have a good time. I am so blessed to have made such great friends here!

Me, Tess, Erin, Elise, Josh, Kelsey, Alex, and Scott

First Day of Work!

Yesterday was my first day at Southwest and I love it here! I don't really know what to say, but I am so glad that I decided to come to Dallas. This internship program is one of the top in the nation and all of the people are incredible. I absolutely love the company culture, it is so fun! The managers decorated all of our cubicles for the first day. It was great!

Racquetball

One time Kimmi convinced me that I needed to learn how to play racquetball. It was a fail. I was terrible! Someday I will attempt again... but not for a while.

Kimmi, Brian, Jake, and Shana

Kimmi's Victory Walk