I think the only way to start out this week’s blog is to say: ONLY a couple weeks left until this quarter is over. After this week, only 2 more weeks of regular classes, and then finals – can’t wait for a month break from school. The holidays are coming up, and that is always exciting as well. I cannot believe that next week is already Thanksgiving. Time has flown by so fast from summer. I am looking forward to some fun things planned over the month that I have off. My boyfriends birthday is on the 27^th so that will be a blast as well! Also, on this blog I wanted to talk a little about fun trips I want to plan. My boyfriend and I want to go to the Grand Canyon hopefully in March. We have both been there before but want to go back and do some hiking. This past summer we hiked the Grand Tetons in Wyoming, and now we are all about some intense hiking! LOL! Also, my friend Kayci was telling me about how her and her family did a trip to Moab, Utah. She said they had a lot of fun. I have only touched down in Salt Lake City before, so I think it would be fun to do a couples trip there with them. I have a place at the River in Needles, AZ; so we could go there and spend the night as kind of a half way point, then take off to Moab. In Moab, we could go hiking, white water rafting, and even rent a jeep or quads and drive them around. It sounds like so much fun, and I hope we can all go there. Until then, just a lot of writing and reading in preparation for finals. Yay, not so fun!

Let me just start off by saying we are currently only have three weeks left of school, and then finals week! I am so excited that this quarter is finally coming to an end. The only class that I am kind of stressing about is PR Theory. Overall, my mid quarter grade is a high B, which is really good, but we have our individual papers and our group papers that are going to be turned in within the next two weeks. But, I have to say even though I will be rushing to get the papers completed, it is nice that they are due early and not the week of finals. Then I will for sure not be able to procrastinate. Okay, so now moving on. This past weekend was nice and relaxing! My boyfriend, Beau, and I went to his nephew, Wyatt’s 5^th birthday party, and we also got many things done around the house that I have been meaning to do. The party was at Prado Park, and it was racing theme. Beau’s brother BBQ’ed hamburgers and hot dogs that were delicious. Wyatt had a blast opening up all of his presents. Beau and I made a personalized scrap bucket for Wyatt’s birthday present since Wyatt goes around the family yard and picks up scraps with his Grandpa. He loved all his presents! In other news for my blog, last night was the Presidential Election. Without stating my stance, I believed it was important for everyone to vote. And, I would also like to acknowledge something else that I am passionate about. It was said that almost $5 billion was spent in overall campaigning for this election. This makes me very upset since that is money that you will never see again. I understand this is for marketing the President of the United States, but that is money that can be used to cure cancer, or help individuals who actually deserve help. Or maybe even help towards this deficit we are in. Okay, enough political rambling, I already have to see it all on FB. Lol!

Below are two collages that Beau’s sister-in-law Carissa made!! :-) 

I am doing my first field assignment on the California Beer Festival on October 6th, 2012 at Frank Bonelli Park in San Dimas. The event was from 12:30-5 p.m. The The California Beer Festival is put on in four different locations all over California. The locations include: Ventura, Santa Cruz, Novato, and Claremont/San Dimas. This event featured over 70 craft brews on tap, live music, and mouthwatering food. Many vendors were there presenting their businesses as well. Ticket prices were $45 dollars. With the ticket, you received a souvenir cup for beer tastings. The proceeds benefit the Gen Giammanco Foundation, which is a non-profit organization that provides financial support to student athletes to assist in their pursuit of both scholastic and athletic success in the city of San Dimas. Last quarter I did my field assignment on The Taste of Chino Valley, and I found that I really love to cover live events. I interviewed members of the committee who put this event on (email, over the phone, and/or in person), people who attend the event (one-on-one interviews), and vendors/sponsors who support the event. This was a big event that also included three other locations in California. I wanted to explore the process of planning one of these events. The story will include the history on the event itself, as well as what will be in store for the Festival in the future. I also did a small feature in my report about the foundation that benefits from the event. I used the California Beer Festival website to research the event, along with their Facebook page. Their Facebook page led me to many interesting assets to be explored for possible interviews. Their Facebook page also lead to more of the vendors/sponsors information than the website itself. The event itself was extremely entertaining, and I definitely recommend going at least once!

Monday was not a very fun day. I had a midterm for PR Theory….BRUTAL. I studied for it all weekend, and besides the essay questions, pretty much ALL of the multiple choice questions were extremely difficult. There was really no need for me to even study because it really didn’t help. But besides the pain of studying all weekend. My family and I also went to the Cal Poly Pomona pumpkin patch. We decided to wake up early on Saturday morning and go to The Avocado House for some breakfast. We got to the pumpkin patch around 9:30 a.m. and it was already packed. The last time I went was a couple of years ago even before I started at CPP, and for some reason, I think this year pumpkin patch was better. The only downfall was that it was cold and rainy outside. We got back home and carved the pumpkins, ate lunch then took a nap. We were all exhausted. Sunday I spent the day studying, and my boyfriend and I rented the 5-Year Engagement because it was the only thing on FIOS. It turned out to be pretty good though. Well, now that my first midterm is over, I am feeling less stressed, but I still have two papers that are coming up to their deadline, that I need to get on! Overall, I am really glad that we are now halfway through this quarter. I cannot believe that I register tomorrow for my second to last quarter at CPP. Time really does go by fast. I feel like it was just fall 2011 when I transferred to CPP, and now I am already working on graduate school applications. Crazy! It is only Tuesday and I was wishing it was Friday. Well, until my blog next week!

I don’t know what is in the air, but I swear it feels like everyone I know is either getting engaged or married. I mean, I am 23 now and I understand that this is the time when most people start doing that whole engagement thing. My boyfriend went to a bachelor party in Scottsdale, Arizona, two couple I know got engaged on Saturday, and I attended a wedding on Friday from someone in my family. Wedding bells galore. So the wedding I attended on Friday night was my cousin’s step-daughter-in-law’s (confusing I know) wedding. Heather and Bret are a really cute couple and decided to wed in Corona at a country club. Only problem was it’s been freezing outside lately. But all in all, the wedding was really fun. My favorite part was the ceremony. It was like a 5 minute deal at most. I have been to SO many weddings where the ceremony itself is like 30 minute. Basically the way I feel about it, is just get it over with so the real fun can begin. So my huge family was put in the back, next to each other, and it was a riot. My whole family is so crazy and loud and we all just had a blast. Best part of the entire wedding hands down was the photo booth that they had…..by the bar! Everyone dressed up and the pictures turned out so good. They were hilarious! The next morning I was feeling not so good. It basically took me all of Saturday to recover, and that was not good because of the fact that I had a ton of school work to finish by Sunday night. Below is a picture of the bride’s brother in the middle, Sean, and his girlfriend Brittany on the left, and of course me on the right!

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