2008 Has Been GREAT!

Hola! I'm officially a COLLEGE GRADUATE. As I was sitting in my seat listening to all the speeches, I couldn't help but think "wow, all those years of school and in just minutes I will be walking across the stage to receive my bachelor's," it's almost like a blur to me now. It feels great to just sit here on my comfy couch watching TV and playing on the laptop not having to worry about any research proposals, projects, papers, etc.

This year has been such a blessing. For starters, I married the most wonderful man (and my best friend), we got a sweet puppy who we consider to be our little baby, I graduated from college and I just know God has much more in store.

Thank you for all your support and love!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas ...

I LOVE Christmas, it's such a great reminder of Jesus and His birth. I'm so grateful for Him and my family. I am also very thankful that I am able to spend time with the ones I love. We are very thankful that Toni & Kim (Dustin's parents) gave us our very first tree. We were very excited to put it up and decorate it.

Our little puppy Mia is going to be six months this month! She's growing up. I think she's in the "teen" stage of dog, she's so rebellious. She likes to run around the house as fast as she can and through the tightest parts of the furniture (such as the dining room chairs) and she likes to run a lap UNDER the Christmas tree...and it drives me CRAZY that she does this. She wrinkles up the tree skirt and sometimes she just hangs out back there. If anyone has any good ideas let me know!

Dustin and I before the Jag vs. Titan game it was so much fun and SOO cold.


Our Christmas Tree :)


Dustin and the baby sleeping


Our sweet little girl


Mia under the Christmas tree

It's The Most Wonderful Time of The Year!

I'm so relieved that it is finally December. I finally get to graduate Friday, Dec. 12 at 11 a.m.! I'm so happy. I've been in college for several years. I've changed my major so many times (Kim P. I know you're probably laughing if you're reading this) and never thought I'd be done. Ahh ... I can't stop saying how relieved I am.

I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving. We had a great time. We played croquet in the early afternoon and played boardgames the rest of the night! The Williams family is serious about our games ... well, especially Dustin and I (haha).

The weekend before Thanksgiving Dustin and I had pictures taken with Meg Doyle. She's so good at what she does. We had such a great time spending getting to know her better. Be sure to check out her site. Now we're just trying to decide which picture we're going to use as our Christmas card.

This is little miss Reagan on Thanksgiving playing croquet.


Her "Papa" giving her some pointers ...


She LOVES posing for the camera! Especially in her pretty dress that her great grandmother made for her in just a matter of days ... "Gigi" is very talented.

Where Tragedy Confronts Eternity ... The Shack

I'm not much of a reader but for the last month or so I've been hearing about a book called The Shack that a lot of people I know were reading or had read it just recently. I would listen and just think "that's nice...I have other things to do besides read..FOR FUN!" but I finally borrowed the book from a friend and I CAN'T PUT IT DOWN! It's seriously amazing. It's filled with so much truth. Below you will see the website link you can go to that tells you more about the book. I don't want to tell you too much and give anything away. At this website you can read the Foreword and Ch. 1 of the book.


I have a very busy schedule, but anytime I have a minute I read as much as I can. Recording Artist, Michael W. Smith put it best when he said The Shack will leave you craving for the presence of God.

You will laugh, cry and repent of your own lack of faith along the way. I urge you to check this book out at your local library, or buy it. I plan on buying my own copy soon. If you DO decide to read it, please tell me what you think about it! It's one of those books you JUST HAVE to share with your friends and family.

http://www. theshackbook. com/

Miss Mia

It's been a while since I've updated you all. Bare with me because this will most likely be a LONG post. We've been so busy lately, sorry! Here's the latest...

-We got a puppy!
-We survived TS Fay
-I started my LAST semester at UNF today!

Mia
This past Sunday, Dustin and I added a new addition to our family, Mia. Mia is our 2.5 month old toy poodle. She's so sweet,so cute and so small! As I was walking her this afternoon a girl stopped me and she "she's got to be the smallest puppy I've ever seen; she looks like a stuffed animal!"
I totally forgot how HARD it is to potty train a pup. She's doing good ... she has little pee-pee accidents every now and then, granted it's the size of a rain drop but I don't want her to think she can do that just anywhere. She doesn't really like the grass, she's quite the Diva! I'm reconsidering naming her that name instead...teehee. She is full of energy and I guess I'm getting old because I'm so tired! LOL I feel bad for her because she goes to the vet Thursday for her shots :(

Out little girl ...

Dustin and Mia

Reagan and Mia having a good time!


FAY
Tropical Storm Fay came through our area and stayed for a WHILE last week. Our apartment has a roof leak because of the storm and our area experienced a lot of flooding. Other than that we survived it!

University of North FL

Today was the first day of my LAST semester at UNF. As you can imagine, I'm very, very excited. I'm taking a total of three classes, this includes my internship with Jacksonville Magazine. My other two classes are Mass Communication Research, not too fun. It's all about how to research and ofcourse we have massive writing assignments. We have two projects due in this class. One involves groups and the group must write a 15-17 page research proposal. We also have a concept explication which involves a comprehensive explication of a mass communications concept and the analysis and evaluation of the past research on the concept and this paper is only 5-6 pages in length. My third class is Public Relations Campaigns and it's a hands-on approach to public relations planning. The entire class will work as a full service public relations/advertising agency to develop a complete integrated communication plan which includes research, goals and objectives, implementation, and evaluation, for a non-profit organization. The client is REAL and we found out that the client is Catty Shack Ranch Wildlife Sanctuary The mission of Catty Shack Ranch Wildlife Sanctuary is to provide a safe environment to many of the great cat species that are endangered or threatened due to loss of natural habitat. Our primary focus is in the rescue of cats from serious situations. As a class we will work with this client and create a plan that best meets its needs. The class is basically being transformed into a business and each class member has to apply for a position (i.e. account manager, account executive, campaign director, etc.). We have to have a cover letter and resume and we are to get in front of the class and tell everyone why we feel we are qualified for the position. I'm really excited about this class!

JACKSONVILLE MAGAZINE
Things have been going well at the internship. Some days are more exciting than others. I just finished writing copy for our Top Dentist issue that will come out in October's issue. I'm excited for the upcoming events we will have booths at (i.e. Caring Chef's, Southern Women's Show, Home and Patio Show).

Other than that we are doing very well. We're looking forward to our cruise in December as well as my graduation. It's been quite the year for us and we are stoked about everything!

We're in magazines!

Hi everyone! As some of you may know Dustin and I are in the Jacksonville Magazine this month. Click the link below to check us out. Once you see the page, click on it to enlarge.

JACKSONVILLE MAGAZINE

We are also on Hidden Hills' website too ...

Hidden Hills Country Club

We are also in a Hidden Hills ad which is advertised in Premier Bride Magazine, Northeast Florida's Premier Bridal Guide, Fall/Winter 2008.

This has totally been a conceited post but we are so excited about this!

Home Photo shoot

Today was such an exciting day. Me and another intern, Brittany, assisted the photographer at a home shoot for Jacksonville Magazine's Home edition. The house will be featured in the fall 2008 edition, which comes out in October, I can't wait to see the pictures. Anyway, 33-year-old Molly and 44-year-old Larry are the owners of the home. She and Larry are expecting their first child in seven weeks and she doesn't even look pregnant, lucky! Molly owns her own company, Zeal Interiors; Larry owns an aviation company. She calls her style "modern organic". They have one of the most unique homes I've ever seen. Just about every piece of furniture is from a different part of the world. For example,the baby crib that will be kept in their room is from New Zealand and her front doors are from Beijing China.

Even though she has a lot of imported furniture she also has very innovative pieces as well. She has quite the imagination and best of all it's affordable! "Your home is your sanctuary away from the world. Good, balanced design does not have to be expensive," Molly said.

I had many favorite pieces and rooms today but the coolest fixture was in the master bathtub. The faucet wasn't fixed into the wall as most are. The fixture is located on the ceiling so when you turn the knob it pours down from the ceiling. Just in case you were wondering, KOHLER makes it. Click here, KOHLER to view a fixture similar to the one I am speaking of. The only difference between the one on the website and the one in their house is that the one in their house didn't look like a shower head.

Visit her website at:
ZEAL INTERIORS

Picture** This is actually located in her living room. The necklace not in the frame is from Mexico, where they got married. The necklace in the frame in an antique.

Be sure to visit our website JACKSONVILLE MAGAZINE

Internship

I had the BEST first day at my internship. I seriously learned and did so much. Jacksonville Magazine has four publications, Jacksonville Magazine(the mother ship of all the magazines), 904, Home and Taste. This Wednesday I will be assisting the photographer in St. Augustine with a photoshoot that will be published in Jacksonville's Home issue, I'm really excited. Check out this month's issue of Jacksonville Magazine, Dustin and I are in the wedding section.

One of my tasks today was to gather information and write up sponsorship information for the Wedding Giveaway. Just to give you a glimpse,the wedding venue will be at Serenata Beach Club in Ponte Vedra Beach, they are just one of the many sponsors participating.


This is the MAIN magazine. Editorial ranges from
personality profiles, restaurant spotlights, travel,
local history and current events.



"904 : Northeast Florida’s Business & Executive Life Authority
is set to become the market’s sole glossy periodical designed to
chronicle the region’s unprecedented growth, as well as cover the
provocative people and issues that affect our economic future."
-Info. provided by Jacksonville Magazine website



"Features the area's most elegant homes and well-appointed
businesses, insightsinto interior design trends, professional
perspectives on the creative use of art, antiques and accent
pieces, profiles of leading local artists, guides to local resources
and other topics of interest to the Northeast Florida homeowner."
-Info. provided on website



"Jacksonville Magazineís Taste is an annual supplement featuring
dining listings and menus from more than 250 First Coast restaurants
and bars." -Info. provided on website.

Dustin's college graduation

He did it! Dustin graduated today at 3 p.m. with his Bachelor of Business Administration in Transportation & Logistics. We are all so very proud of him. After graduation we went and celebrated at Pusser's Caribbean Grille ... the name sounds gross but their food is far from that!

Additionally,we just booked a cruise today as well. We'll be sailing to San Juan, Puerto Rico; St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands and St. Martin on Saturday, Dec. 13th (the day after I graduate from UNF). We are really excited :)








Curried Pork Tenderloin...m'mm good...with pineapple sauce








Saturday Dustin had a graduation bar-b-q party. We bar-b-q'd and we all played volleyball ALL day long. Unfortunately, I was playing too and was not able to take any pictures ... sorry! Dustin has really developed an interest in volleyball. For the past several Saturdays him and some of our friends have been playing. They even watch it on TV every chance they get ... they are so funny ... they are SO serious about it too. They spent an entire afternoon practicing their serves. It's cute.

It is finished!

Whoa! I just got done with my press kit. Wow, that was such an intense assignment. I was up until 11:30 p.m. working on the finishing touches. This morning I went to Kinko's and had everything printed on nice business paper. Simple right? Well, after the associate printed my papers I found margin errors and I accidentally had him print the wrong news release...it was one thing after another, he basically printed fifty million papers for me. After several attempts we fixed the errors and I finally was able to breath at ease knowing that it was all printed, finally. I haven't turned it in yet, 2 p.m. it is due. I can't wait to see what grade I have earned.

**Just two more days until Dustin is officially a college graduate! Friday is his graduation and Saturday is his bar-b-q graduation party. I will definitely be taking a lot of pictures :) Have a nice rest of the week, everyone.

Our first home together ...

Hola,

Here are some pictures of our home. We are slowly decorating. We are both really busy with school and work so we don't have too much time to decorate but we do what we can :)

The first three pictures are our living room. We have an office right when you come in the front door on the right hand side.






Our lovely dining room


Our cute kitchen




Our bedroom and view of the patio


Our bathroom