Christmas Break Come Back!!!

The break has come to an end, which gives me mixed emotions..I am sad because I have had such a good time traveling to see my family and working on stuff in my house. I was actually really productive during the break and got a lot done that I have put off this past semester due to school. I traveled to Iowa and spent time with family during Christmas. I also went home to my parents for a couple days. Although I am sad the break is over, my "Christmas" with my family hasn't even begun. I have so many siblings, sibling in laws, nieces, and nephews, that we have not been able to have our family Christmas yet. Therefore, we are all going home this weekend to my parents to celebrate and open presents from one another. It's also my birthday this weekend :) so it will be fun to celebrate with my family.

Although I am sad that the break is over, I am excited to begin my last semester of school. I have spent time over the break applying and looking for jobs. HOPEFULLY, I will find something soon. Since I studied abroad this summer and received 6 hours of credit, I only need 9 more hours to complete my degree! This schedule will give me more time to look for jobs!

This past year has gone by SOOOO fast. I can't believe we aren't the "new kids" anymore. Seems like just yesterday we were doing the case competition that the new class will be competing in tomorrow and getting to know each other at orientation. I have had such a great experience this past year, and I am looking forward to what lies ahead!

Distractions while Studying

So, today is my last final....woohoo! This is our accounting final, and it is comprehensive over the whole semester. While studying for several hours, I seem to get distracted by reading other blogs, checking facebook, or watching funny videos. While studying for my accounting exam, I decided to take a little break and watch a few "weird news" videos from msnbc.com. There are usually crazy and funny videos from around the World. Little did I know that I would come to find a video that was not only about the University of Arkansas, but a friend of mine is the reporter on the story.

Two University of Arkansas freshmen were caught buying reptiles online and keeping them within their dorm rooms, with the intent to sell them online. The two students were fined not only for violating the "no pets" policy in the University of Arkansas dorm room, but also for the intent to sell the reptiles without a license. If you want to read more on the story, check it on msnbc.com.

Now I guess I should get back to studying. This test and a marketing research project report is all that stands in my way of Christmas Break. :)

Thanksgiving Break

Thanksgiving break is over...back to school I go. It is Sunday night, and I am up at school working on one of my last projects. I can't wait for these next two weeks to be over with! My Thanksgiving break was wonderful, but definitely too short. I went home, which is Harrison, Arkansas for 4 days. My brothers and sister, and their kids all came home as well. It is rare for all of us to be in the same place all at once, so I value the time I get to spend with my family.

We celebrated my niece & nephews 1st birthday on Friday. Their birthday was actually November 6th, but this past week was the first time we were all together so we had a birthday party for them. I bought them both cakes from Rick's Bakery in Fayetteville before I went home last week. (Their cakes are AMAZING if you are looking for a good bakery in town) This was really cute because we put bibs on them and let them have it on their cakes. Here are some pictures of them with their cakes. Matthew LOVED his, as you can see from the pictures. He managed to get cake everywhere. Madison, on the other hand, was much more careful with her cake and did not like getting it all over her hands.

This picture is of my four adorable nieces and nephews: Macy(3), Jack(19 Months), Madison(1) and Matthew(1). My mom bought them matching PJ's so we could get some good pictures for the Christmas card. As you can imagine, it is tough getting 4 young kids to take a picture together!

Well, better get back to working on my project! I just have to keep telling myself we only have 2 more weeks.... :)

Crunch Time!

As I said in my last blog, this is when the year gets really crazy and intense. I have 3 presentations I am currently working on and a couple tests I am preparing for in the next couple weeks. Thanksgiving could not come at a better time! I am ready for a little bit of a break so I can see my family, get some sleep, and prepare for the last few weeks of school.

Presentations started Monday in our Management class. So far, the presentations have been great. We were put into groups at the beginning of the year. In these groups, we have discussed and completed 5 case studies over the semester. The other group assignment we are responsible for is to complete an HR Plan for a fictitious company. Three groups presented on Monday, two presented today, and two will present on Monday of next week. We have heard HR plans from Duff Beer to the ever so famous Snuggie to "Lame Busters"(a party planning company that helps parties to be "not lame"). We have lots of creativity in our class which makes these presentations very interesting. My group will present on Monday, which I am looking forward because it will be one more thing checked off my list!

Other presentations and projects I am working on are: Marketing Research Survey Analysis Project and a Shopper Buyer Sustainability Project. My marketing research group has been working on getting surveys completed by undergraduate and graduate students. We have around 100 surveys completed, and are starting the analysis process of the project this week. Our surveys are looking at how consumers perceive the new Great Value packaging, and how the package appearance influences their purchases. As for our Shopper Buyer presentation, we are looking at what countries are doing differently as far as sustainability. Also, how much the government is involved, what people think, and so on. It has been pretty interesting so far, and I will be sharing the results in a future blog.

We have one more accounting project that is due in a couple weeks, but fortunately we do not have to give a presentation.Hopefully I can be really productive over Thanksgiving break and get some stuff done! This is probably the first time I have ever been excited about having a break from school, so I can have time to work on school...wow.

What a Week!

This has by far been the craziest week of my semester so far. I had an accounting project due Monday, Memo due on Monday, had to print out 100 surveys and have them filled out, marketing research assignment, marketing paper, and a 2nd interview where I had to prepare a 10 minute presentation about myself. On top of all that, I had 10 hours of Professional Development class that I had to complete. Phew! It is a good thing my GA is very flexible!

The interview I had went very well. It is for an external GA position that would start right away. This would be such a great experience. We are supposed to find out by Tuesday. I am looking forward to finding out! This next week is going to be pretty busy as well. I have a couple presentations that I need to work on. I would like to get them done this next week before we leave for Thanksgiving Break. I know that if I do not get my stuff done, then I will be working on them instead of spending valuable time with my family!

Is it really November 3rd?

I can't believe it is November 3rd! This semester has gone by SOOOO fast! This is when things start to get really hectic. I guess that explains why I spent my Sunday up at school, trying to get stuff done. This weekend ended up being a pretty great weekend. Friday night, Austin Bray, a fellow MBA classmate had a Halloween party at his house. Quite a few people came and we had a really good time! Austin even gave out prizes for the best costumes. He was such a great host!

Saturday was Homecoming and the Hogs played East Michigan. Hogs won pretty easily, 63 to 27. I went to the game with my parents, their friends, and my boyfriend. Before the game, we ate lunch at Hog Haus then tailgated for a couple hours. I love being able to see my family on the weekends, since they live pretty close to Fayetteville. Here is a pic of my and my boyfriend, Justin, and a pic of my mom and dad.

I wish I could have spent Halloween with my nieces and nephews, but my sister sent pics to me so I could see their costumes. My sister's children, Madison and Matthew, were monkeys. They are turning 1 this Friday! They are so sweet, and I love when I am able to get away to see them! My brother's children, Macy(3) and Jack(18 months), live in Fayetteville, but I was unable to see them on Halloween. I was unable to get a pic of Jack, because he is in that stage where it is impossible to get a picture of him! Jack was Buzz Lightyear, and Macy was a doctor. Here are pictures of Macy, Madison, and Matthew.

Wednesday Night Fun

We have started a little tradition in the MBA class. Every Wednesday night, a bunch of us get together and have a game night. It is a fun way for us to get to know each other, and give us a break from thinking about exams, projects, and homework. We are going to rotate it for those who want to host each week. This week, I had the pleasure of hosting it, and we had so much fun. Some students bring friends along, who we all have gotten to know through one another. There were about 20 people at my house this past Wednesday night. Here are some pics!

We had a battle of the sexes, and played catch phrase: boys vs. girls. Girls won! :) We also played Apples to Apples and Loaded Questions. Tonight is the MBA Open House and Social. I am helping with it at 5 then going to the Social to mingle with everyone. Tomorrow, I am going to Russellville to see my sister and her twins. We are going to go to the Henderson vs. Arkansas Tech football game. It is alumni weekend at Henderson, and my sister is a graduate from there. She needs help with the twins, so I volunteered to help her out. Her husband, Ryan, is also a football coach for Arkansas Tech, which is another reason we are going to the game. GO Tech! Hogs play tomorrow against Ole Miss. Should be a good game! Hopefully, we will have better refs than we did last week against Florida. GO HOGS!