Dear Jamie Lee Wallace,

I am so glad that you decided to write about this topic! I have to admit, I am a college student at Southern Illinois University and I always used to think that audio books were for older generations. I remember often taking car rides with my grandmother and always having to listen to audio books. I know though now I appreciate them greatly, I live about two and half hours away from my hometown and I spend a lot of time in the car. I got tired of listening to the same music, switching radio stations and having to switch playlists on my iPod. I was in the library one day and saw an entire audio books collection, so I decided to give it a shot. I was surprised to find that there were current books and “popular” books available, I have read so many already! It really has changed my car rides as well. I think that it is safe to say that I am a fan of audio books now. Thank you again for sharing this.

Ellie

Jeni,

I am so glad that someone decided to post a comment about pinterest! I am seriously obsessed, I constantly check for updates. A friend of mine actually got my hooked and I am currently waiting for my request to be approved! I already have started so many craft projects of my own and I cannot wait to get started on more. I think that I am even going to make some homemade Christmas gifts this year! I love that there is such a verity on the website, you can literally post anything that you like. I personally enjoy the home decorating tips, craft ideas, funny pictures and of course all of the gorgeous wedding ideas. I am already seeing so many things that I like for my own wedding haha to bad it’s like forever away! Thanks for your post about pinterest, I am glad that I am not the only fan!

Ellie

I hope that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving break. I certainly did, I traveled to my Grandmother’s house and had dinner with my entire crazy family, and all I can say is stressful. It was good to see everyone but I can only take so much, everyone that has a big family, I think you understand. I am now back and unpacked at my apartment in Edwardsville again and I am already dreading the start to this upcoming week. It was very nice to get a break but I know that these upcoming weeks are going to be very busy and very packed with projects, papers, exams and quizzes. I have been reading different blogs trying to get some ideas on how to distress and relax in preparation for the end of this semester. I have actually found some very helpful tips that I am excited to try! I encourage everyone out there who is stressing out to actually take a look around wordpress; there are people out there who are going through the exact same thing as you are.

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One of the blogs encouraged its readers to try something new and out of the ordinary. I have been going through a tough time and I definitely needed to do something out of my comfort zone. My older brother is in the military and so is my father, they suggested that we go to a shooting range. This would be my first time shooting a gun; I was a nervous wreck the whole ride there. Once I fired the gun for the first time, I was no longer nervous, it was actually exhilarating! I imagined all the stress in my life in the target and then I fired! I went through an entire box of ammunition and I even got to keep my target. I think that I am going to hang it up in my room to serve as a reminder. I had a ton of fun and I definitely felt stress free when I left the range! Go do something fun and different, even if it is a little scary, you will feel so accomplished when you are finished!

Ellie

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My Listy List: 5 Ways to Enhance Night Time and Morning Wake Up by: Palm Trees & Bare Feet

Dear Palm Trees & Bare Feet,

First of all I wanted to tell you how much I love your title and tagline. I live in Southern Illinois, which is unfortunately not really any where close to any beaches. I wanted to comment on how much I enjoyed reading your post! I am a college student and I nanny for two families as my full time job. My job demands me to be up and out of my bed at 5:00 in the morning, which is not unheard for some people, but for a college student it’s pretty rare. I always find myself tossing and turning while I lay in bed simply because I am stressing about how I have to wake up early! These past couple of nights I have tried some of your tips and honestly they really did help me! I am glad that someone feels the same way about sleep that I do! I wanted to thank you again for the awesome post, keep up the good work!

Thank You,

Ellie

Dear Jeni,

I absolutely loved your blog post; unfortunately sitting down with nothing to do but just enjoy myself is something that I rarely get to participate in. I am a student at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville and let’s just say that the life of a college student is plenty busy. I often feel like the only time that I really have to myself is at the end of my day when I eventually lay down to go to sleep. Balancing school, work and a social life is often hard to do at times, but after reading your post I decided that I absolutely need to set time out of my day to relax and unwind. I really liked the fact that you mentioned various ways that you can try to relax. I found out after reading you tips that, I thought I was doing things for myself when really I was still distracted and multitasking. I have started jogging a new trail around campus when I have free time and normally when I do exercise, I have my iPod with me but I have found that it is much more relaxing leaving the iPod at home. I don’t have to focus on what song is playing, how loud it is, or maybe what song is coming next. Instead, I get to hear the crunch of the leaves beneath my feet and the sound of my breath. Thank you so much for sharing your insight, I really appreciated it and it has definitely affected my day-to-day life.

Ellie

Dear Cassie,

I am sure that your essay is more than perfect and I am definitely jealous that you are applying for this program! I would have loved the opportunity to sign up and have a chance of going however; I am unfortunately only in my second year here at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. I think that this program offers such an amazing experience, not only do you get to travel the world for really not a lot of money to ask for, but you get this amazing work and life experience along with it. One thing that I personally enjoyed learning about was the fact that you would actually be shadowing someone who actually works in international public relations. I think that the shadowing aspect of this program will really be something amazing! I feel like you would get to learn so much just in the four weeks that you would be gone for. Not only would you cover the material but you actually get to see the material in a real life-working environment. I hope that you get this opportunity to travel and broaden your experiences! I will definitely keep my fingers crossed for you! Thank you again for sharing this post with everyone.

Ellie

Dear Jeni,

I absolutely loved your post about TOMS, I am glad that I am not the only one that has a special place in my heart for this company. I started buying TOMS a couple of years ago and I think that I can safely say that the idea of TOMS is growing by leaps and bounds. When I bought my first pair of red TOMS, I felt like I was one of the only ones that knew or even liked TOMS. I know that today, I see TOMS in all shapes, colors and patterns just around the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville campus. It makes me extremely happy to know that more and more people are hearing about this company and making the decision to make a difference. Even if an individual just likes TOMS because of the style or the fit, they still are choosing to help! Whenever I am near a Nordstrom I make sure to always stop in and see what kind of TOMS they have on display. I recently found out that TOMS sometimes makes exclusive designs just for certain retailers like Nordstrom, after I heard this I made sure that I always check out the new styles. I also loved the fact that you included other merchandise that individuals can buy to support the cause, if someone did not want to purchase shoes! I definitely did not know that even if you bought a tee shirt, you could still directly affect a child’s life and make a difference. Thanks for your post Jeni I really enjoyed reading it, keep spreading the word of TOMS!

Ellie

By now, most of my college peers are already home with their families and enjoying a little time off from classes. I wish that I could say the same for myself, but don’t worry I will be able to enjoy my Thanksgiving break soon enough. As I get older, the more harder it seems to find time for myself and time for my family. When I was younger, I did not have to worry about taking time off, I would just head simply head straight home the minute that my last class got out, but that’s not how my holidays work anymore. I know that I am not the only one who has a job; most responsible, older college students have to have a job. When I was living in the residence halls last year, I did not exactly have to worry about writing out a rent check every month. I have to give up a little of my break this year in order to work, but I see all of this as a blessing in disguise.

There is something that my family does every Thanksgiving, we go around the table and friends and family members take an opportunity to say what we are thankful for. I am sure that we are not the only family that carries out this tradition, but this is something that I especially look forward to when I arrive back home. As I reflect on this past semester, I have more than enough that I am thankful for in my life. This year has certainly held some challenges that I had to face, but I am a firm believer in the theory that everything happens for a reason, whether or not I can see or understand that reason now. I know that we all must face obstacles in our own life, no matter how big or small they are but if we face them with courage we will almost always succeed.

If I had not gone through the challenges and the tough times that I have had to go through, I simply wouldn’t be the person that I am today. Living on my own, making my own money and maintaining a steady job all while in school was something that was a bit of a challenge at first, however I know now that it was doable and not such a scary thought. This Thanksgiving break, I encourage all of you to reflect back on this past semester and year and find something that you are thankful that you had to go through that was hard at first. I think you will find out that you really are proud of yourself and so are the ones that love you. Enjoy the Holiday everyone!

Ellie

I recently was looking over my blog posts and I noticed something. I sound so serious all of the time, there are moments in my blog that are light-hearted but for the most part, I seem dry! That really is not how I am at all, but I guess I was just trying to find issues or topics to blog about. Our professor says that this blog can really be used for whatever we want to make it and right now looking at my blog posts, I would say that I am looking rather grim. I wanted to do a fun post something that is quirky about me but also something that I love. I thought about what quality or hobby I would post about and then it hit me, I knew exactly what I was going to talk about.

I have a secret love affair that not many people know about, looking at me I would bet that many of you would have never guessed it, but it’s true, I have an undying love for dinosaurs.

 I am utterly obsessed with dinosaurs. If I could have my way, my entire room would be dinosaur themed and coordinated…but then it would look like a nine year-old boy lived in my apartment, which is just plain awkward. I own all of the Jurassic Park movies and frequently watch them, over and over again. If I could live in Jurassic Park I totally would, despite how I know how the movies end up, I think I would still do it. This past Tuesday night, I was doing my homework and was channel-surfing and then AMC came on. For people that don’t know AMC, also shares my obsession with dinosaurs and I guess has a soft spot for dinosaur lovers. AMC was playing Jurassic Park 1 and 3 (the best ones) back to back, every night this week. I literally stopped doing all of my homework, which I had to do, and watched both movies back to back and I did the same thing last night. I know, I deserve a slap on the wrist for being bad student, but it’s dinosaurs!

I know that this post is a little out there but I really wanted to share this with all of you and I hope that this lightens up my page! I hope that everyone is having a good day and enjoy the last day until Thanksgiving Break!

Ellie

I am really looking forward to sharing this with all of you out there! As some of you may know, I am a Speech Communication major and logically I have to take a variety of speech classes. I am currently taking Advanced Public Speaking, along with taking my Public Relations class! In my advanced public speaking class, we were just assigned a big group project where we have to market a new product or service in various ways and present about it. Now, I must admit the only thing that I am not thrilled about is the fact that this group project is due on the Monday that my college returns from Thanksgiving Break. Realistically, of course I would love to be stuffing my face with turkey without a care in the world, but that really is not how the real world works is it?

I am really excited to be working on this project though, I am working with some great people and even if I have to work on it over break, it is definitely worth my extra time. My group thought of an idea that many college-aged individuals would absolutely love and even have a demand for. I attend school at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville and yes you may have not heard about us, but we still are a “party school” (every college is). The one problem with this picture is that while our students may love to have a good time, they have no available taxis to call for a ride home in the surrounding communities. Now, to me that just seems crazy, why wouldn’t you have a taxi service in a university town? Turns out, our community has a love hate relationship with our university and does everything in their power to prevent to the town from turning into a giant apartment complex for students. I understand that completely, I am not a typical “college student” and to tell you the truth I really wouldn’t want my neighbors throwing parties every night either.

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I am getting off track a little but you get the point, my group and I have decided to take on the idea of a sober ride program. The sober ride would pick any student up, no matter if they were drinking, and give them a ride home, as long as they have their student identification card the ride is free! I think that it is an awesome idea and I definitely post more when I do some more research, I just wanted to share my thoughts with everyone out there!