School, the wedding, my career, Dennis and I's future... mostly all I ever think about...
School is off to a great start. I really like my professors and I LOVE the classes I'm taking:
Advanced Reporting w/ Williams
(I had him for Ethics and Law in Communication. He's a really nice guy and knows A LOT about law and journalism. His long list of published works in various magazines and newspapers is mind-boggling.)
Black and White Photography w/ Diaz
(He's really young, but very skilled in photography. He told me the camera I bought was the same kind he learned on. The AE-1 is highly recommended for inexperienced photographers, even though there are so many newer models out there. If it'll make me learn more than great than hooray for me- I'll stick with the vintage camera. I never realized how expensive this hobby was. I mean, I knew it wasn't cheap, but buying everything for this course has cost me and my parents $500+. I definitely wasn't expecting that. Now, I understand why wedding photographers charge so much.)
I'm happy I only have two classes to have to spend money on and worry about. I went from having this crazy 7:30 am - 9 pm school and work schedule five days a week with five classes to just two courses twice a week and work four days a week. I'm really happy about this semester despite how anxious I am to take more journalism courses. I cannot take anything else until I take Advanced Reporting and I had a lot of trouble getting into it last semester. I strongly believe that it happened for a reason. Instead of Beasley teaching it, Williams is and because of his amount of experience, I believe I will achieve more out of his class. A lot of people in last semesters reporting class failed, so I'm glad I wasn't able to get into the class.
A nice thing about Advanced Reporting is that you MUST get your article published. By the end of the semester, I will have at least five more works to add to my portfolio. I only have two now- the work for Spinnaker about the 2006 parking recommendations and the article for the Clay Today about the non-profit organization, Hearts, Hands, and Hooves. I mean there's the editing of the entire school newspaper and I was the only person who actually did any sort of reporting for the paper in that high school. I knew nothing about AP style or how an article is constructed, so I was winging it. I didn't even know what a lede was for crying out loud. I was just trying to compile a topic sentence. I just can't bring myself to show others those "fine" pieces of work I used to put together myself after school. Haha. I still look at those old papers to remind myself that I AM improving though.
The Clay Today wants me to write more articles for them, but I don't have that much free time and I'm not sure what kind of newsworthy things are going on in Fleming Island. I guess I did to do some researching. Anyone care to give me some ideas? The things that I know of are... We've got the new construction of those condos for Eagle Harbor and the newly converted Vineyard apartments to the Cobblestone Condominiums. I heard they are making renters from The Vineyard move out of Cobblestone. I am wondering where they plan on moving to and how they feel about the situation. I also heard a while ago that Fleming Island was supposed to get a lot of newer facilities like a bowling alley. I know the real estate market is doing horribly right now and homes are being sold significantly below their true value... but that is everywhere, not just in Fleming Island. I know a bunch of new stores are going to be built around Kohl's in Flemind Island, but I don't want to cover things that other newspapers already have. Anyway, I need to get on the ball with writing more articles.
I've been doing a lot of planning for the wedding. Most of the items are taken care of, besides a few details here and there. I went to Virginia twice over Christmas break to try on my dress and it is gorgeous. I'm excited. When my parents come back home, they are bringing it to Florida for me. I can't wait to wear it. The dress I'm wearing for my rehearsal dinner came in the mail today and it actually fits this time. Invites are going out soon and I feel bad because I think some people are going to feel left out, but we had to limit our seating to 48 guests because of our ceremony location. I can't wait to have pictures of everything and we're having a videographer! We met with our really nice cake maker again yesterday and had more yummy cake. Really, all that Dennis and I have left to do are find decent jobs and find a SAFE place to live. :)
Advanced Reporting w/ Williams
(I had him for Ethics and Law in Communication. He's a really nice guy and knows A LOT about law and journalism. His long list of published works in various magazines and newspapers is mind-boggling.)
Black and White Photography w/ Diaz
(He's really young, but very skilled in photography. He told me the camera I bought was the same kind he learned on. The AE-1 is highly recommended for inexperienced photographers, even though there are so many newer models out there. If it'll make me learn more than great than hooray for me- I'll stick with the vintage camera. I never realized how expensive this hobby was. I mean, I knew it wasn't cheap, but buying everything for this course has cost me and my parents $500+. I definitely wasn't expecting that. Now, I understand why wedding photographers charge so much.)
I'm happy I only have two classes to have to spend money on and worry about. I went from having this crazy 7:30 am - 9 pm school and work schedule five days a week with five classes to just two courses twice a week and work four days a week. I'm really happy about this semester despite how anxious I am to take more journalism courses. I cannot take anything else until I take Advanced Reporting and I had a lot of trouble getting into it last semester. I strongly believe that it happened for a reason. Instead of Beasley teaching it, Williams is and because of his amount of experience, I believe I will achieve more out of his class. A lot of people in last semesters reporting class failed, so I'm glad I wasn't able to get into the class.
A nice thing about Advanced Reporting is that you MUST get your article published. By the end of the semester, I will have at least five more works to add to my portfolio. I only have two now- the work for Spinnaker about the 2006 parking recommendations and the article for the Clay Today about the non-profit organization, Hearts, Hands, and Hooves. I mean there's the editing of the entire school newspaper and I was the only person who actually did any sort of reporting for the paper in that high school. I knew nothing about AP style or how an article is constructed, so I was winging it. I didn't even know what a lede was for crying out loud. I was just trying to compile a topic sentence. I just can't bring myself to show others those "fine" pieces of work I used to put together myself after school. Haha. I still look at those old papers to remind myself that I AM improving though.
The Clay Today wants me to write more articles for them, but I don't have that much free time and I'm not sure what kind of newsworthy things are going on in Fleming Island. I guess I did to do some researching. Anyone care to give me some ideas? The things that I know of are... We've got the new construction of those condos for Eagle Harbor and the newly converted Vineyard apartments to the Cobblestone Condominiums. I heard they are making renters from The Vineyard move out of Cobblestone. I am wondering where they plan on moving to and how they feel about the situation. I also heard a while ago that Fleming Island was supposed to get a lot of newer facilities like a bowling alley. I know the real estate market is doing horribly right now and homes are being sold significantly below their true value... but that is everywhere, not just in Fleming Island. I know a bunch of new stores are going to be built around Kohl's in Flemind Island, but I don't want to cover things that other newspapers already have. Anyway, I need to get on the ball with writing more articles.
I've been doing a lot of planning for the wedding. Most of the items are taken care of, besides a few details here and there. I went to Virginia twice over Christmas break to try on my dress and it is gorgeous. I'm excited. When my parents come back home, they are bringing it to Florida for me. I can't wait to wear it. The dress I'm wearing for my rehearsal dinner came in the mail today and it actually fits this time. Invites are going out soon and I feel bad because I think some people are going to feel left out, but we had to limit our seating to 48 guests because of our ceremony location. I can't wait to have pictures of everything and we're having a videographer! We met with our really nice cake maker again yesterday and had more yummy cake. Really, all that Dennis and I have left to do are find decent jobs and find a SAFE place to live. :)