delight & dwell

This isn’t a bucket list…because those lists consists of things you want to accomplish once before you die. This is my ongoing list for life. It sounds heavy but it’s been nagging me and it’s nice to finally put it into words.

1. Start a relationship with God. I’ve always known it’s best, I’ve even experienced the blessings and spiritual renewal by having a connection with God, but for the past two years, I stopped my partial effort and accepted that I didn’t care. I can’t do this alone and for the first time in my life (truly) I understand the importance of church. Sometimes it isn’t just about you and your “spirituality” with God … sometimes you do need sermons to get you back in check and a community to support you when you feel like you’ll never stop sinking. I need to find that place.
2. Care about my body. I really need to cut back on the junk food, the bumming around (now), binge eating, drinks that aren’t water and getting less than 7 hrs of sleep. It’s funny because I really do enjoy eating healthy. It’s not a sacrifice for me – it’s just a matter of convenience. Opening a bag of chips is much easier than preparing a salad.
3. Budget whatever I have left. I did a good job with actually using my savings account my senior year but it wasn’t nearly comparable to the amount I spent. To be completely honest, I can say that I spent at least $1,000 on clothes, shoes, jewelry and more shoes this past year. If I were to pull up all my credit card statements, I’m sure the number will be a bit higher but I don’t want to go there. I love clothes, I do. But I seriously can’t do this anymore. In fact…I’m gonna take a break from this right now and purge my entire closet. I do it every summer and yet I still have a dresser full of clothes I never even look at. I’ll continue this depressing list later…

hire me.

I’m sitting in John Wayne airport waiting to board my flight to Indianapolis. This is the first time I’ve been in alone in weeks. Figured this is the best time to catch up on everything.

I feel like graduation was forever ago. In fact, it was just 8 days ago that myself and 300 other PUC students graduated! The anticipation of this momentous occasion came and left so quickly, I didn’t even have a chance to get emotional. I think I was so drained from worrying about packing, my speech (that wasn’t even finished until 8 p.m. the night before), entertaining friends and family and last minute class officer duties. Needless to say, I was more than relieved when graduation was over. I have had such an amazing experience at PUC and although I did have my down moments, I wouldn’t trade my time in Angwin for anything.

Not all of my family and friends were able to attend (I don’t blame them…I still don’t enjoy that 8+ hr drive up north) but many were able to watch my speech online because it was the first year PUC streamed Commencement. I will post the link to download it once it becomes available.

After taking over 1,000 photos (thanks Steven!), I finally was able to rush back to my room and start hauling everything out of there. After two and a half hours, Steven, Kaliko and I were on our way home. Steven had his truck and Kaliko rode with me in my car. I felt awful for Steven since he had been up since 4:50 a.m. to save seats for my family for grad, then helped pack and load up our cars and then drive all the way down south by himself. Kaliko was an amazing co-pilot and stayed up with me singing to every song on the radio (old and new), talking about GLEE like we knew the characters personally and desperately searching for a sports radio to listen to the Mavs game! (Suck it, Lebron!)

When we finally made it home, a little after 1 a.m. due to heinous traffic, we all crashed. Of course, chipper Kaliko woke me up at 9 a.m. the next day ready to start our vacation. We went over to my cousin Carissa’s house to see her parents and Kaliko was able to see Jenna’s parents also. We felt like shopping, and I already had a good amount of grad money to spend, so we headed over to Tyler mall in Riverside. Four hours later, our arms were covered with shopping bags and we were ready for Vegas! 

The next day, we met up with Steven and he bought me my Macbook Pro. I am so excited and although Lion OSX hasn’t come out yet, I was told I could download it for free since! Honestly, Steven worked so hard to save and buy me something special. His sincere effort to do this is just a glimpse of what kind of guy I have given my heart to. 

On Wednesday, Kaliko, Steven and I headed to Vegas! With our freshly pedicured toesies (not Steven’s…although I’m pretty sure he wished he got one with us), we were so ready to enjoy our long-awaited Vegas trip. We saw KÀ at the MGM (it was awesome – of course), spent the entire day at Wet Republic getting tanned, went to TAO and Marquee, ate at Mix with Uncle Shu and Auntie Karen, laid by the pool some more, went shopping, did a little slot action and had so much fun. Kathlyn met up with us on the second night and she definitely added so much more fun to the trip!

When we got back Saturday afternoon, we went to Panda Inn with my family to celebrate my graduation. Thank you so much to everyone who came out! I hope you’re still not full over the mounds of food my father ordered!

Although we were so tired, we still had to wake up at 6 a.m. to get to La Sierra’s graduation to see Kat and Adam graduate. Seriously…longest week ever! From there, I said good bye to Steven and Kaliko and I headed to my house in Newport. My mom took us to lunch at Gina’s Pizza (yummmmm) and then we went shopping at Fashion Island.

Almost exactly five years ago, my mom took me to Vegas to celebrate our last girls-only days together, since she was marrying Warren in the following month. She was shopping for a Louis Vuitton luggage and I asked if I could have a bag also, perhaps for my high school graduation later that year. She seriously laughed at me and said, “When you graduate from college, then I’ll buy you one.” I’ve never forgotten that statement, but I didn’t want to hold my mom to that since she has done SO much for me these past four years (well..my whole life, really). When we were at Fashion Island yesterday, my mom calmly asks, “Tay, do you want to go to Neiman Marcus?” In my head, I’m thinking, “I never even step foot into Neiman Marcus…what would I get from there?!” And then she says, “Do you remember what I once said?” Immediately I knew we were talking LV and I flipped. My mom kept her promise and now sitting next to me is the prettiest bag I have ever owned.

Graduation has been good to me, to say the least. I am so grateful for the quality time I’ve had with Kaliko, since I rarely see her anymore. Whenever we’re together, there’s never an awkward moment or feeling like we’ve missed out on each other’s lives. We act like we see each other everyday and I am more than grateful that she flew all the way out here to spend Graduation and an extra week with me!

I am going to write everyone Thank You cards for their tremendous help and support throughout my college career, but I’ll say it here now: To everyone who has ever helped me…with anything…especially during these past four years, thank you. Everyone who encouraged me to not give up (although I’ve threatened myself countless times) in school, it seriously helped. Although graduating is a big deal, I still have so much growing up to do ahead of me. When I get back from Indianapolis, I am going to start seriously working on job searching. The two prospective jobs I had have been at a standstill for over a month and I know I must continue to pursue those jobs as well as other opportunities.

My plane is about to start boarding so I will keep you all posted later.

Arrivederci i miei amici e la mia famiglia!

Tay

Last night, my final send off from college was Communication Research. This is a two-quarter long research class that puts students through a whirlwind of papers, surveys, data collection, an amalgam of tests (chi-square: my enemy), studying past studies – killer. But I had two good friends (who by the end of our 20 weeks together became great friends) Aren Rennacker and Brennan Puiia who were amazing to work with and always relieved the stress of this class and life with their witty humor and undeniable charm :).

After I finished my 3-part test last night, I walked out of Irwin and called my mom, who happened to call me twice during my final. I immediately started tearing, I was so relieved to have finished Comm Research (“so” isn’t extreme enough) but I felt this sadness overwhelming me. My mom asked if I was laughing or crying – I couldn’t tell. PUC has been home for me and those students in my Comm Research class have become family. It sounds cheesy but for the amount of TIME we all spent together (in and out of class), they’ve been such a great support group through the hardest classes, the more frustrating assignments and everything else.

I am so proud of our Communication department. Within the four years we were at PUC, the program has improved and literally changed before our eyes. I am so excited for future “Commies” and I know that our department will produce some of the most remarkable career people. The ViewPoint will be overflowing with stories about our class.

To the wild, crazy and ridiculously intelligent professors, the students who were family to me and Room 323, you will be missed. The memories of everyone trickling into 323, immediately sparking conversation with anyone around and having that vibrant connection between us and our professor is so unique to our department, I’ll cherish it forever.

Cheers, Communication Seniors of 2011. I cannot wait to see where we all end up.

All my love,

Taylor

Today, I received an email from Nordstrom Recruiting. I usually receive 3-4 emails per day regarding new openings. The emails are not based on your qualifications, but rather positions you listed you would be interested in. Anyone who knows me, especially those who have had a substantial conversation with me, know how obsessed I am with the Nordstrom company. As a regular customer since practically birth, it only seemed logical that I find a job for Nordstrom.

During the winter season in Florence, I was offered a Summer Fashion Merchandising Internship at the Nordstrom in Arcadia, Calif.

From that momentous point on, I had learned the ins and outs of a company that I had already loved and admired. Every opportunity I had to share something about Nordies, I wouldn’t hesitate. It happened so often, I didn’t even realize how crazed I was sounding. I sounded like I was part of a cult – that’s how much I had immersed myself into the company.

Sadly, I was unable to continue my time with Nordstrom since I was still a student at PUC, located in the middle of nowhere. Having to leave Nordies was a sad day because I had made so many contacts in such a short time and I knew by leaving, I was risking the opportunity to be at the front of these important people’s minds when better opportunities would arise. But instead, I was determined to finish school (no question about it) and hoped a Bachelor’s degree would make me a more valuable candidate for a full-time position.

Okay, getting to the point of this post. Today, as every other day, the Nordstrom Recruiting emails came in. Lo and behold, the idealized career every young PR girl could dream of right out of college was available: Fashion Public Relations Specialist IN Seattle! The job could not be a more perfect fit for my next step.

I eagerly rushed back to my room to start writing my cover letter and tweaking my resume. After spending a good 45 minutes doing so, I proceed to apply online. And then the sentence hits me like a ton of bricks:

Requirements:

• At least 3 years experience in communication, public relations or related field

Umm, yeah. Don’t have that. I have experience communicating and using the skills I’ve acquired from my public relations classes, but none of it was ever seen outside of IH 323.

I’m starting to feel the antagonizing Catch-22 crush my naive young college grad (almost) mentality. I need experience, but the jobs that are above minimum wage require experience. At this point, I know I am under-qualified for this position, but ever since freshman year and people asked what I wanted to do with PR, I’d enthusiastically reply, “Fashion PR!" 

I’m really hoping and praying I’ll get a chance at something I know I will kick butt doing. 

(And no, this isn’t the only job I’ve applied for … but it just seemed so suiting to my freshman year career fantasies.)

Back to studying and patiently waiting for the next step.

Tay

Praying praying praying for everyone taking finals this week. It’s kinda funny because I’ve been so diligent to finish my projects with 100% effort and study better than I have all quarter, but then I keep remembering that I’m graduating no matter what … and then it all doesn’t seem to matter so much anymore. Hah.

But for the time being, it’s probably important to keep focused during these anxiety-filled times. Study well, get some shut eye, eat at least at some point during the day, depend on God and finish this year strong! (Oh and probably resist Tumblr and Facebook until Thursday ;))

Tay

Today marked my last official day of classes. Unlike any other “last day of class” from previous years, the sky was gloomy and the air was damp instead of the scorching 90º heat most PUC-ites are used to. Aside from preparing for my last day of classes, I was also busy scrambling around campus making withdrawals from our class account to start preparing for Graduation and then running around Napa/Fairfield purchasing those necessary items.

I’m not too worried about finals, only two per day. I’m more nervous for what happens after finals are over. My last day of finals is Wednesday and Kaliko, my best friend who lives in Hawaii, will be flying in. Thursday is going to be a perfect day to relax and enjoy it with my friends before the Graduation craziness begins. And then what?

The importance of today didn’t really hit me until that green light on my phone kept going off – another email. All day my inbox was flooded with information about caps and gowns, graduation practice, honor cords, the graduation program. All the emails I had been accustomed to receiving were never as important as the ones I received today because all were in preparation for NEXT weekend. Not three months from now, not even three weeks from now. Everything became real. Don’t even get me started when I hear Pomp and Circumstance. 

It would be safe to say that I am nervous because I’m still figuring out what I will be doing for my “first real job.” But at the same time, I’ve already made/booked plans up until June 29, so I guess that doesn’t really give me an option to start working right after Grad. Honestly, I think it’ll be good for me to settle back down and enjoy the rewards of a very meaningful accomplishment.

In June I already have two trips to Vegas booked, a 5-day business trip to Indianapolis, two Graduation dinners with different sides of my family, all the while hosting Kaliko. This is going to be a jam-packed summer!

Steven has been more than what an average supportive boyfriend is expected of. Every step of the way through my senior year, he’s been by my side. Literally. I don’t know how many times he got dragged into helping set up, promoting events, staying late to help clean up, and everything else an officer is expected to do. Aside from that, when no one else is around, he’s there to listen to me vent and cry and sometimes, just rest my head. I feel an instant calm whenever I think about him. Tonight, we celebrated our 21 months and my last day of classes at Morimoto’s in Napa. We definitely ate our hearts out with our 3-course meal. Just earlier this week, we had another 3-course meal at Meadowood with some friends. Who says college students can only afford crappy food to eat? We both work hard and rewarding ourselves with decadent meals is only fair … right? 😉

Starting Sunday, it’s game time. Here’s to finishing the year strong while soaking in our final days at PUC. Eight more days.

Keeping all the seniors (and everyone else going through finals) in my prayers,
Taylor