The Real World

Much has happened since I last posted. I graduated with my Master's degree on Saturday, December 17. I moved back home on Sunday, December 18. I started working at the PGA TOUR on Monday, December 19. I am just now getting a chance to reflect on all that has happened.

I can't believe that I am really done with school. However, while I was sitting at my graduation ceremony I watched a student graduate with his Ph.D. I couldn't help but wonder if one day I would get my Ph.D. For now I am going to work, but maybe one day I'll go back. :)

I moved out the day after graduation. I left Mallory Hall, the residence hall that I had been supervising for the past 2 years. I left my boss of 4 years and the staff that reported to me. I left the wonderful residents that I saw on a daily basis. I left a lot.

I moved all of my things back into the room I lived in during high school. I went through some old high school notes that I had for some weird reason kept. Everything had come full circle. I fell asleep in the same bed that I had slept in before I left for 5.5 years.

Grant was wonderful. He and his parents came up for my graduation. It was great having them and my parents there. The next time we are all together will probably be the wedding.

After I returned my graduation gown and hood and moved back to Ponte Vedra Beach, I began work. I am a Marketing Coordinator at the PGA TOUR. My goal is to increase the use of PGATOUR.com. I spent my first week analyzing a lot of data from 2005 and 2004. I got to know my coworkers. I really am looking forward to taking ownership over the organization of the data collection at PGATOUR.com. I want to make it more organized and efficient. I am looking forward to seeing what 2006 has in store. I am also looking forward to getting my first paycheck!

The TOUR offices are closed this week. They reopen on Tuesday, January 3. So I worked a week and then got a week off. You can't beat that! Grant and I are traveling to Chicago on Wednesday to iron out a few more things for the wedding and spend some time with family and friends. I am very excited, but I am going to freeze!

For now, I am off to the gym and to the mall on my day off. :) No more studying or homework for me!

My Not So White Christmas

So it's Christmas Eve almost Christmas now. During the day the temperatures reached 70 and a little over, so it was definately a shorts and t-shirt day. It doesn't look like I'll get my white Christmas this year but there's always next year :).

Dec. 28th Becky and I will be traveling up to Chicago, I hope it snows just enough to make a few good snow balls ;) and I'll leave it at that... While we are up there I guess there are a few things we are getting together for the wedding and of course also visiting friends and family.

My Fall semester of school ended awhile ago and I just have been to busy or lazy to write something up for this blog. But in the last week of classes there was a meeting for one of my spring semester classes. This class is a Senior Software Project class, so you guessed it! We work in teams on one particular project so myself and three of my computer science friends will be working on a project to enter in the Computer Society International Design Competition. The class is an easy A but the thing is when you enter your project in the competition you don't want to look stupid so I and I'm sure the others will be putting in a bit of time into this project. Also during the meeting our professor/mentor passed out a book he noted that it was a cheap book that he purchased for $5. He went on to tell us that the book is cheap because no one reads this book because! as he said it is for true dorks, the title is, "The Soul Of A New Machine". For awhile now both of my nephews have been calling me a dork whenever I see them but I never believed them...I am hesitent to begin reading this book now.

Well this is my post read it once read it twice enjoy it and praise it for who knows when I'll post again. Well actually i'm working on a picture of Becky and I that I will be posting soon and I'm sure we'll have some pictures from our trip to Chicago so I imagine I'll be posting again.

Grant C.

Class...some people have it, some people don't

Today was my last official day of classes as a graduate student. I told people that it was my last day of classes ever, but I suppose there is always the possibility of going back to get my Ph.D. in a few years. As for right now, I am looking forward to graduating and working with the PGA TOUR.

Graduation is in 10 days. I have two more exams, one on Wednesday and one on Thursday of next week, but that is it. I don't think that it has set in. I am really leaving Gainesville, for good. I have been living here, except for a few internships, since June 2000. Time sure has flown by!

This semester has been great. I have had some amazing moments with old and new friends. I have gotten to spend more time with my first roommate, Erin. I have really enjoyed spending more time with her this semester. At the same time, I am really going to miss having her around when I move back home. However, I intend to come and visit as often as possible.

Plans for the next week include: studying for my 2 finals, packing and enjoying Gainesville. I start my job 2 days after graduation. I cannot wait!

Matchmaker Extraordinaire Update

Last night my 2 friends met. Erin and I went to an improv show and Mike and his 2 roommates met us there. It was nice that they could meet in a group setting. We had a good time. Mike told me he'd call Erin today and he did. They are going out tomorrow! I don't want to call myself a success prematurely, but I am quite excited. They seemed to hit it off last night. This whole matchmaking thing is quite fun - as long as all parties are happy to be involved. :)

Matchmaker?

First, I want to share a funny wedding link with you all. Check this out: Pimp My Bride

Today I presented my last presentation ever as a graduate student at the University of Florida (unless I come back for another degree...). The presentation went well. Today was also the last Friday of classes. I only have three more class days left. I cannot believe that I will be completely done with school in just 2 weeks!

I got an email today from my boss at the TOUR asking me what I want my business cards and other printed products to read: Becky or Rebecca. That is exciting as well! It's the little things that make me happy.

Speaking of happiness...I am very happy. School is drawing to a close. I have a great job lined up. And...I am introducing my friend/office mate to my roommate! Erin and Mike are going to be set up by me, rookie matchmaker extraodinaire. I think that they are both great people that make me laugh. They have several commonalities and if they don't hit if off romantically, I think they will for sure as friends. I will keep you all posted on my first attempt at matchmaking.

Home for the Holidays

Thanksgiving came and went so quickly this year. I went home on Wednesday and left to go back to Gainesville on Friday morning. While I was home I got to spend some time with my family and eat some turkey (gobble gobble gobble!). I also tried on my wedding dress that I got a couple of weeks ago! I love it!! :)

This weekend was a great football weekend with UF, the Jags and da Bears all winning. I always get a little sad as college football winds down, but this year I am looking forward to the NFL Playoffs.

Grant came to visit for the last home football game of the season here at UF. We were able to witness UF dominate FSU. It was great! We spent some time with my old freshman roommate and took some fun pictures around campus. This was one of my favorite weekends that I've had to spend with Grant this semester. We got to spend a lot of quality time together and truly enjoy each other's company. It was very relaxing. We did some homework too!

Sometimes it seems so weird that I live in Florida and go to UF. Growing up, I would have never imagined that I would live in Florida. A part of me also thought that I would move back to Chicago, but I have been down here for over 7 years and recently accepted a job in Ponte Vedra, so it looks like I will be here for quite a while. You've got to love being able to wear shorts in November!

Speaking of employment, I accepted a position with the PGA TOUR. I start 3 weeks from today. I am thrilled. I know that the next three weeks are going to fly by! I have a few more projects for school and final exams, but then it's all over. Part of me will definitely miss working out at 9AM and setting my own schedule, but the other part of me is so ready to see what life has in store. I can't wait to start my career in an organization that I love. Things could not be better. I don't think I could be happier. :)

What a difference a weekend ... day makes

So much has happened since I last posted. Here is a brief summary of this weekend's happenings.

I went to Fort Myers to visit Grant with my mom and sister. When we first got there on Thursday all of the hotels were booked. My mom and I were getting frustrated driving from hotel to hotel. We went to Grant's house and looked for hotels online. We called the Pink Shell and they said they had a room available so we booked it. We drove out there and went to check in and they said that all the rooms were booked. A few phone calls were made and they decided to give my mom and free upgrade to a 2 bedroom gulf view suite! It was wonderful! Grant and I stayed out there with my Mom on Friday night. I am now spoiled.

That night Grant and I went miniature golfing. I kicked his butt. It was great! :)

Then, on Friday my mom, Tess, Grant's mom, and Mandy went to Grant's friend Katie's house to look at wedding dresses. I found one that I loved and took it home! I am so excited that I have my dress. It's beautiful. :)

On Saturday, Grant and I walked for hours all the way down the beach to see some sand sculptures. It was exhausting. I did not realize how long of a walk it would be. Luckily we were able to catch the trolley on the way back. Unfortunately we got back in time to watch the Gator game. That was definitely a low point. However, after the game we went to Grant's friend Anna's wedding. It was really beautiful. I love weddings. I cannot wait until my wedding comes!

My mom, Tess and I left on Sunday. We stopped in Gainesville and I picked up my car and drove to Ponte Vedra.

On Monday morning, I had my third interview at the PGA TOUR for a position. It went really well. I was offered two positions and accepted a position with PGATOUR.com. I am very excited about this opportunity. :)

Now, I have to focus on school for the next 4 weeks. Then, it's all over...or is it all beginning?

200...38...change is coming

It's 200 days until the wedding! I am very excited!! This week I have been working with a jewelry designer to design necklaces for my bridesmaids and I am going to Fort Myers this weekend with my Mom and sister to pick out my dress! It is all coming together and I cannot wait for the big day!

School is moving along. It is now 38 days until I graduate. I finished my last project for my facilities class and presented it today. I am glad that is done with. I still have my independent study, 4 papers and 3 exams left. I also turned in my last comprehensive exam essay today. I am enjoying crossing these items off my list. However, I still have a lot left to do...so no relaxing yet.

I've been spending time with old and new friends the past few weeks. I am really enjoying hanging out with them. Sometimes I get caught up in my school work and other work and don't spend enough time socializing with my friends. The rest of the semester I am going to balance my life more. Academics are still a huge part of my life, but soon I will be leaving Gainesville. I need to spend all the time I can with my friends here.

Today I met with the person who will be replacing my as a graduate hall director. I showed him his new apartment (my current home) and the building. I introduced him to a couple of his new (my current) staff members. Things like this make me realize that I am really graduating. I am really leaving the University of Florida and starting a new chapter in my life. Part of me will really miss Gainesville, but the other part is ready for the change. Going to graduate school was amazing. I learned so much about myself and my chosen profession. At the conclusion of my undergraduate studies I was not ready to leave UF, but now I am.

Wedding Update

I haven't talked about the wedding planning in a while. Here is an update.

-Grant and I are flying to Chicago December 28 and staying until January 3. I have already made an appointment with a florist and plan to make appointments with the bakery and the pastor. We also need to look into hotel blocks and register during our trip.
-I have made save the date Christmas cards and ordered them today. They are very cute. Here is the wording: "Warm Holiday Wishes from the Future Mr. and Mrs. Please save the date for our wedding May 28, 2006"
-I have picked out a bridesmaids dress and a flower girl dress. I even found them online at netbride.com for a great price!
-I am working with a graphic designer on my invitations
-I sent out cute letters to my flower girls asking them to be in the wedding

Here are things that we're working on:
-Limo
-DJ
-Hotel Block
-Hair and Make-Up

I am sure there are other things that I am forgetting, but it's all good.

Happy Halloween!

I had an amazing weekend. My friend came down from Atlanta with her boyfriend. She stayed at our other friend's place with 2 guys from Miami who came up for the weekend. The guys from Miami didn't have any power and there were curfews in Miami so there was nothing to do. We ate, watched movies, laughed and hung out. I laughed so much my cheeks are still sore!

Today is Halloween. I am dressing up as a fiancee ;-). It's a pretty easy costume. My sister is being an Abercrombie model. So she is just wearing the clothes she normally wears. My youngest brother is the only person in my family actually dressing up. He is a fifties dude wearing tight jeans, a white t-shirt tucked in with rolled up sleeves and gel in his hair. We dress my dog up too! Max (the dog) is the same thing each year...a Chicago Bears fan. He wears a Bears sweater that belongs to a stuffed bear. This year he actually has something to cheer about since the Bears are doing quite well.

I went to dinner and to see Saw II with the 2 guys from Miami who are leaving tomorrow, my old roommate, another friend and 2 other girls. It was really fun. I love meeting new people. College is great! I really am going to miss it.

53 Days

The end is near. I am writing my last comprehensive exam essay. I have passed the first two. I am working on one of my last major group projects. I have taken my last midterm exams. I have 53 days left until graduation. I have accomplished a lot, but I still have a lot to do. I have 4 group projects to do, a theory paper and ethics article to write, 3 final exams and 1 independent study left. I can't wait until I can go to work during the day and do whatever I want to in the evening and on the weekends. I am looking forward to reading for fun and spending time with my friends and family. I am looking forward to getting married and finding a place for Grant and I to live together. I am looking forward to life after college. I am looking forward to not living where I work.

While I cannot wait to move on and away from Gainesville, I am going to miss many things. I will miss working out during the day. I am going to miss Gator sports. I am going to miss being around so many people my age and interested in learning and having intellectual conversations. I am going to miss my apartment (I'll be moving home and living in a small guest room for a year!). I am going to miss being just 4 hours from Grant (he lives 6 hours from my parent's house). But I am ready. I am ready to see what life has in store for me and Grant. Graduating is great!

~Becky

The Week of The Midterm

There are only 8 more weeks of classes. With 16 week semesters, that means that this is the week of the midterm. I just finished the first midterm of the three I have this week. It was easier than I thought it would be, so that is comforting. I have one more tonight in counseling for non-counselors and another on Wednesday in Facilities.

As of today I have 61 days left before graduation. I cannot wait! A lot of students around here are worrying about what classes to register for next semester and where to go on spring break. It is weird not registering for classes for the first time in 6 years. At the same time, I will never have another spring break. That is a sad thing. Instead of planning a spring break trip, I am in the midst of planning a wedding. It is amazing to see how much things have changed in the last few years.

This weekend I am planning on going to Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios with some friends. I am excited. It will be nice to get away for a night...away from Gainesville, away from school work.

I better get back to studying. Happy Monday!

Back to work

My last homecoming has come and past. Grant has gone home. It's back to work for me.

I have three exams next week and one paper due. This weekend I plan on being very productive. So far I have finished my rough draft for the paper I have due on Tuesday and I have started my sections of my facilities project that is due November 9. I took notes on the first 2 chapters of 6 for my sociology exam on Monday. I also bought a gift for the bridal shower that I am going to tomorrow.

I am looking forward to having my weekends back after graduation. It's going to be so nice to be able to relax and spend time with family and friends. =)

Homecoming!

It's officially homecoming weekend here at UF. I have a good friend visiting who got in last night. We are going to go to the parade (hoping that it's not rained out!) and then meet up with Grant when he gets here this afternoon at go to Gator Growl. Gator Growl is the largest student run pep rally in the nation. Wayne Brady is the headliner. It's usually a pretty fun event, or at least something different than going to dinner and a movie.

I have been pretty productive this week. I have began work on my independent study. I have a much better grasp on what I am planning to put together. It should be a great opportunity to learn more about research and put some of the theories I have learned into practice. I also got some reading done. I have to proofread my second comprehensive exam essay and get it ready to turn in next Friday. I also have to purchase my cap and gown!

But, this weekend I plan on spending some quality time with my friends. I have am in a pretty good routine of working really hard every other weekend. So this weekend I have off because I worked hard last weekend and I plan to again next weekend. I cannot wait to graduate and have my weekends back! I can't imagine what it must be like not to have piles of homework to do. I am looking forward to reading for fun and going on weekend trips to Disney World and to the beach. It's going to be great!

Until then, I am going to enjoy my last UF Homecoming as a student. :)

October...Already!

So...it is 77 days until I graduate and 240 days until I become a Mrs. (and 6 days until I get to see my fiance!). It's crazy! I can't believe it is October already! I have turned in one of my four comprehensive exam essays and I have written a rough draft for the second one and I am 75% done with the rough draft for essay #3. My goal was to finish writing all of them this weekend, but it doesn't look like that will happen. I think I am tapped out!

I need to start working on my independent study. I went to the PGA TOUR offices last week to get some data, but I haven't looked at it yet. I don't really know where to start. I need to get a good idea of how I am going to put this project together...soon!

As far as wedding stuff. I have signed and mailed the contracts for the caterer and photographer. I also contacted the florist to get her to update the contract with a couple changes and then I will sign that and send it back in. I think that the reception hall contract is at my house and I will sign and send that back when I get it. So I am really getting married! Deposits are down plans are set. =) I sent out a bridesmaids newsletter which was fun. I am trying to pick out a bridesmaids dress too. This is the one I like the best so far (but in pink and black of course!).

I am going to get to bed early tonight. Happy October!

It's great to beat the Tennessee Volunteers!

This past weekend was great! Grant came to visit me and we had a very busy weekend. Friday night we went out for my old roommate's birthday and then went to the Sister Hazel concert. I love Sister Hazel! Then, on Saturday we went out for breakfast and went to the UF v. UT game. We kicked some butt! It was great to be there and see us beat Tennessee. On Sunday I had a BBQ and then we went to Grant's brother and sister-in-law's apartment. It was really nice to see them. I need to make more of an effort to go over there when Grant is not in town. Grant and his brother talked about restaurant stuff, like usual, and Megan and I talked about wedding stuff and about their son. I asked their son to be a junior groomsman in the wedding. It was really funny because when I asked him he asked me if it was on a weekend because he couldn't do it on a school night! How cute?! After that Grant and I went to see Wedding Crashers. It was really funny. He left Monday morning and I miss him very much. But he'll be back 2 weeks from Friday for Homecoming.

This week is a busy one for me. I have my first exam of my last semester tomorrow in Facilities. It is hard to study for it because it seems like everything is common sense. I made notes and I read them while I work out. Then, I am traveling to the PGA TOUR headquarters on Thursday to get some data for an independent study I am doing with them. I am also going to catch up with some old coworkers from the summer and get information for my comprehensive exam essays. On Saturday, I am going on a field trip! My facilities class is going to tour Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex and the Orlando Convention Center. I am staying the night in Orlando with my Mom and sister Tess. We are going to go to Islands of Adventure on Sunday. Looks like another unproductive, but fun weekend.

Wedding update: I got paper samples for my invitations in the mail yesterday. The paper is really pretty! I am so excited to see what they will look like! I also drafted a Bridesmaids Newsletter and sent it out to my wedding party. I love wedding stuff and I can't wait until I can focus more of my attention on it!

Overwhelmed??

This may be my last post on here for a while. Life in because world just got a little busier. Here is what's currently on my plate:

Classes: 1. Managing and Planning Facilities, 2. Sport Sociology, 3. Counseling for Non-Counselors, 4. Foundations and Functions of Student Affairs 4. Independent Study = 13 credit hours

Work: 1. Graduate Hall Director, 2. Graduate Assistant = 30 hours/week

Wedding Planning

and...just added today

Comprehensive Exams: Write 4 10-page research essays due: 9/30, 10/14, 10/28 and 11/11

I am just a little stressed about all of this. I wanted to have a fun last semester at UF, but it looks like I will be working like crazy until November 11.

Can I quit school now?

HTML

Hello, so today has been an html day for me. For you who ask what is html, well it's a programming language for web pages. In my Computer Networks class, my professor wanted us to make a web page on the web space we have through the university. No problem easy enough right? Well never having ever looked at html code this turned out to be some work. Sure I could have used dream weaver or front page to help me along with the simple project but what fun would that be! So I had chosen good ole notepad to write my code in. One thing nice about html is that you can view the source code of any web page you want and implement things you have seen from their websites to yours. It was a day of fun setting up my first ever website made from scratch, with the help of many websites and html tutorial readings. You can even check out the page by clicking on link over on the left called, Grants Webpage. It is just in its first stages of being built but I think it is coming along great! After accomplishing that task, I figured I would take a look into the Html code of this blog. I changed quite a few things minor stuff here and there mostly the side bar. I deleted the majority of their filler code and the page still works and everything is showing so I guess their default code is just for looks. I wanted to break the blog into two or three frames. One for the side bar, Header, and Body but there is a lot of code above for the main area of the blog and did not want to mess things up just yet! So look forward to a new and exciting look around here when I get things going.

Grant C.

Chicago - a brief summary of a great trip

Grant and I went to Chicago last weekend. I have been busy with my 4 classes, independent study and 2 jobs until this current study break.

Grant and I drove down to the Orlando airport Friday afternoon and flew up to Chicago that night. My friend Marin picked us up and we hung out that night at her apartment. It was great getting to meet her roommate and see her coat! (she is in her first year of med school.) We went to bed early and work up the next morning to begin our long day of meetings. Marin was amazing and let us borrow her car while she went to her coating ceremony with her family.

We headed off to our first meeting of the day at a reception location. We got there and wandered down to the basement of the clubhouse and found the main office. We got a tour of the facility, but were not impressed. Plus the prices had gone up since they sent me an email the week before. We made mental notes about this first stop and headed off to the next meeting.

We met with Modern Images Studios. Their office was really amazing. We saw examples of all of their photobooks and watched a dvd with the work of one of the photographers who was available on our wedding day. Her work was amazing. We were definitely impressed with vendor!

Next, we met with the caterer, Noteable Events. We found their office and were met by Ann. Quickly after the food started coming. Mike, the chef and owner, brought out an amazing salad. Then, he brought out char-fired chicken (2 whole chickens!), roasted red potatoes and asparagus. In case we didn't like that entree, he brought out stuffed chicken breasts, mashed potatoes and broccoli. Everything so far was amazing! I had told Ann before the meeting that we were going to order a cake from another vendor, so we didn't need dessert. However, Mike brought out 2 huge pieces of chocolate cake, 8 chocolate covered strawberries and 2 chocolate dipped chocolate chip cookies! And if that wasn't enough food to feed a small army, Mike brought out a HUGE bowl of Bananas Foster. I think I gained 10 pounds that afternoon, but it was worth it. Noteable Events is truly noteworthy!

After we stuffed our tummies full of amazing food we went to the Lindner Conference Center to meet with Brenda. We were in luck too because they were setting up for a wedding that very evening. The main room was absolutely beautiful. There were floor to ceiling windows overlooking a lake, plenty of room for our guests and dancing. I loved it. Brenda was great!

We were getting pretty tired, but we had one more meeting that afternoon with another photographer. This photographer had good work, but was a little more expensive than the one we met with previously. We were not really impressed. Definitely not sold.

We had a few free minutes so we ran over to Grant's Aunt and Uncle's house. I love Beth and Tony and their dog Rufus (a wheaton terrier)! Tony is a Sox fan...I am a Cubs fan...This season Tony definitely has the bragging rights. But there is always next season!

We then went to Jordan's for a bit. I asked her to be my Maid of Honor :). She said yes! I know she is going to do a great job and I couldn't imagine having anyone else as my MOH. She has been my friend since first grade and is always there for me. I could go on and on about her. Jordan is the best!

We hung out with Jordan that night and I got to meet her boyfriend Ryan who was awesome! Marin came by and we watched a movie and talked. It was like old times. :)

We went back to Marin's and I asked her to be in my wedding. She said yes too! :) Marin and I met in first grade as well. We go way back. We were all pretty exhausted and Grant and I had a meeting at 9 the next morning so we went to bed.

The next morning we met with 2 more photographers, both of which were more pricey, but really nice! I would love to have one of them, but I just can't see spending more than I need to. Then, we met with Pastor Dean at First United Methodist Church of Western Springs. The church is perfect! Very tradition and old fashioned, just like I have always imagined. It is in my home town in Western Springs, just blocks from my childhood home. Pastor Dean is amazing too! I just love him. He was so open and nice. He's going to be a great man to work with and get to know more as our wedding day approaches. SO happy we got to meet him!

So that was our weekend, lots of meetings, but we got to cross off 4 things on our list: church, reception site, caterer and photographer. I love Chicago! I love Grant! I can't wait to marry him in the town I love!

Becky =)

How sweet is my fiance?

I got back from my office the other day and this is the message Grant left me on AIM:

"I can't wait to be with you forever it's what I dream of every night and think about every day! You're truly an amazing girl and I'm so lucky to have you. I love you so much it drives me crazy that we are apart. I can't wait to see you again I love you Becky and hope things are going well for you up there."

I miss him too. But I know that each day we spend apart is a day closer to being together forever. I cannot wait. We had a blast in Chicago planning the wedding. I will write more about our trip over the weekend. Until then I have to work my 2 jobs and stay on top of all my school work from my 4 classes. Woohoo! Got to love school!

~Becky =)

After visiting the photographers this past weekend I had saw a lot of different styles of picutres. I have never played with photo shop, but some of their pictures were just too cool to not attempt the try of recreating the effects with some of my own pictures. I thought this was a good picture to start off with. It's from a previous trip that Becky and I took to Chicago. We were at a Cubs game woohoo! Becky sure does enjoy those Cracker Jacks!

To PhD or Not to PhD...That is the question!

I went to meet with one of my professors to discuss my assistantship and independent study that I am doing with him. The meeting quickly turned into a recruiting session with him persuading me to get my PhD in Sport Management here at UF. It would take 3 or 4 years and I could keep my position in the Department of Housing. I am torn. I don't know if I want to get my PhD and become a professor, or if I want to leave school and work. If I want to stay here and get my PhD starting in January I need to apply by October 1. I will definitely keep you posted on this new decision... =)

Grant and I are flying to Chicago tomorrow. (hopefully! There is a hurricane out there and I hope it does not make us change our travel plans!) We have 8 meeting set up over the course of our short weekend trip. It should be very productive! I am hoping to book the photographer, reception site, caterer and church. Once that is set we can book the limo, dj and flower vendors. I am very excited to see Grant! I miss him so much. We will be celebrating our 3 year anniversary on Sunday...in an airplane... =) I am just happy that we will be together.

I will definitely update after our trip to Chicago next week!

The Wait is Over!

For all of you who have been waiting for me to post on Becky's and I blog here I am.
School starts tomorrow for me it should be rather intresting to see how the semester goes. I am loaded up with the following classes: General Biology2 w/lab, programming computer networks, programming methodology, system analysis & design, and telecommunications and networking. So as you can see I will not be having much extra time on my hands. However I will be visiting Becky and going to some of UF's home football games which will be exciting! As Becky said we will be traveling to Chicago this coming weekend and it seems like we have a full schedule. All I really know is what she has posted before this, I'm not really in on the planning just there for show. Maybe during the trip I'll get a "what do you think about this?" unlike when we were looking at invitations. I guess it is a good thing she does know what she wants makes it easier on the decision making process and I don't have to take the risk of picking something out that is hidous to her. This is my 3 pennies and 2 dimes for the day.....week.....month. Well maybe I'll try to stay on top of things more and try to post more often.

Training is over...almost

I have been crazy busy with housing training for the past 18 days. Most of the residents have moved in and almost all of my training is over. This is just in time because classes start on Wednesday.

I was able to sneak out to attend my orientation for school and meet with one of my professors. Orientation was nice because I was able to see some of my friends from last year...and spend some time outside the world of Housing. The meeting with my professor was interesting and unexpected. It was supposed to be about my assistantship with him, but it turned into a recruiting meeting...recruiting me to continue with with my education and get my PhD. I have been spending the past few days weighing my options...PhD or graduate in December and get a job. Any help with this decision would be appreciated!

Other than that I have been getting ready for Grant and my trip to Chicago to begin wedding planning. I have scheduled 8 meetings in 28 hours! We are meeting with the church, a caterer, 2 reception sites, and 5 photographers! Photography is super important to me. We are staying with one of my good friends, Marin. It's going to be great!! I hope to sign some contracts and put some deposits down and get a lot done this weekend.

Be looking for a post from Grant who is still around despite his lack of posts! =P

I love my fiance!

I got back from Camp Weed tonight. I go there every Fall for UF housing training. I went to the office to get some supplies and saw that I had a package! It was from 1-800-flowers. I read the card and it was from Grant. He sent me a cute stuffed puppy that says I love you every time I squeeze it. Too cute/cheesy! I miss him so much! I cannot wait until I get to see him again.

RA training starts tomorrow. It consists of long days of scheduled sessions that I will be spending with my RA staff and other housing people. It is fun, but exhausting. I am so excited to get to know my new staff and spend some quality time with them.

I have a lot to do before tomorrow, so adios.

Back to school

I arrived back in Gainesville last Wednesday. Grant helped me move in and then left the next day :(. I started Housing Training. It was nice to see everyone here again and meet some new faces that I will be working with in the Fall, but I miss my family and Grant a lot. It's not really the same living in my one bedroom apartment. It will get better once school starts and I am busy again, but for now I am trying to find things to fill up my time. It is pretty hard though, because I broke my big toe on my right foot on Friday. After spending 3 hours in the ER I was given tape and a post-op boot to wear for the next 4 weeks and some pain medicine. So much for my work out routine.

My Mom and Tess came to help me feel better on Saturday. We went to the mall and I hobbled around and tried to get used to walking with my new shoe and hurt toe. I look pretty silly. I am going to attempt to go to the Y today and ride the bike. The doctor said no running for at least 4 weeks which stinks because I was used to running every day. I still want to work out, so I think I am going to bike and do more weights.

We are going to a camp for a night tomorrow as a part of training, then the RAs move in and start training for a week and the halls open on the 16th. It is weird being in Gainesville without any classes. I feel very unproductive. I wish Grant were here. I miss him like crazy. Every time I say goodbye to him it seems to get harder. I am missing him more and more.

~Becky =)

One more day

I have one more day of work left this summer. I am going to miss my internship, but I am excited to never be 'the intern' ever again. It is going to be great to have a full-time job one day. I am excited about having a month off from real work. At school I supervise Resident Assistants and I will be working with a professor and taking 13 hours of classes. If you add it all up its 43 hours of work a week...but I don't really count the 20 hours with the Department of Housing work. I really enjoy it. I enjoy classes too, but the exams and papers will be a little work.

Since I just got engaged I am trying to plan as much of the wedding before school starts back up again. Grant and I are making our first wedding planning trip to Chicago August 26 - 28. I have already set up 4 meetings with the caterer, reception site, photographer and pastor at the church. It is going to be a busy day! I still need to get a DJ, limo service and florist booked. I'd like to do that before school starts as well. The more people I contact the more I feel like I am kind of behind 'schedule.' It seems that many people plan weddings a year in advance...and I am getting married in 10 months! Wow...that's crazy to even think about!

I was thinking about how much things will change between now and this time next year. I will be graduated, working in a full time job, married, living on my own...and hopefully I'll have a new car. That is a lot of new stuff! It's exciting and scary all at the same time.

Today is Grant and my 35 month anniversary! Woohoo! What are the big plans? Work, gym, pack for Atlanta (I am going there this weekend to see my good friend Dani and shop for wedding dresses and invitations)...sounds like I have a fun anniversary night planned!

Wedding Planning – Initial Stages

I have begun to plan the big day. I figured that a good place to start was choosing a date, picking a church, finding a reception site and caterer.

The date choosing was easy. Grant and I started dating on August 28, 2002. To share a couple details about that day…It went something like this:: Grant was hanging out with me in my dorm room and turned to me and said, “Becky, do you want to go out with me?” I replied, “Sure, where do you want to go?” Grant said, “No, do you want to be my girlfriend?” I said, “Yes.” The rest is now history. So back to the topic…I decided that I wanted to keep the same anniversary date, the 28th. So I looked at the calendar. We wanted to marry soon after Grant’s graduation in May 2006. Memorial Day weekend looked like a perfect time. So the wedding date is May 28, 2006.

Date...check.

Next, we had to find a church that would hold a wedding ceremony on a Sunday. This is obviously a little difficult. This difficulty was compounded by the fact that I wanted to get married in Chicago and I currently live in Florida. I first contacted the church I grew up going to. However, they would not do a ceremony on a Sunday and they had strict rules regarding the wedding dress. Specifically the dress had to have straps that were at least 4 inches wide on each shoulder!! So I had to search for another church. I contacted the church where my parents got married, First United Methodist Church of Western Springs, IL. They said they could do a Sunday wedding. Grant and I are meeting with the Pastor in late August when we make a trip up to Chicago.

Church…check.

Then, I started a search for a reception site that was available and affordable. This was a daunting task. Many of the places I contacted were either way over my budget or already booked solid. I finally found a conference center that is a part of a seminary in Lombard, IL. The Lindner Conference Center looks like the perfect size and just about on budget. Grant and I are meeting with the event director during our August trip.

Reception site…check.

Finally, in order to have dinner at this reception a caterer was next on the list. This decision was relatively easy. The Lindner Conference Center only has two approved caterers. I looked at both menus and they were both about the same price. I chose the caterer that also caterers the Cialis Western Open in Chicago, Noteable Events. I figure that anyone who can cater a PGA TOUR event can easily do my wedding reception. Grant and I are tasting the menu options on our trip as well.

Caterer…check.

The other details will fall into place with a little work, but I think these are the big four initial steps…date, church, reception site and caterer. I am also looking for a wedding dress. This is pretty difficult in Jacksonville. So, I am traveling up to Atlanta this weekend to shop with a friend. It’s going to be so much fun!

The big surprise!!

So life got better at BG Inc. after the birthday meltdown. Grant got me 2 dozen roses 2 days after my birthday and sent me flowers on June 28th (our 34 month anniversary). I was pretty surprised by that. Little would I know that was just the beginning of the surprises…

I left for Chicago on June 30 to spend some time with friends and family. I was pretty bummed that Grant couldn’t join me, but I knew he was working hard taking a full load of classes and working on the weekends at Steak and Ale. I spent some time with Jordan, one of my best girl friends, on Thursday and spent some time with my family on Friday. I headed out to Springfield, IL, on Saturday morning with my aunt for our annual family get together at my uncle’s.

I called Grant a couple times that morning, but he didn’t answer. He finally called me back and told me how busy it was at work. I missed him lots and wished he could have been up in Springfield with me.

I arrived at my Uncles around 12:30. My cousins were there and I got in the pool with them and had a blast.

I went to dry off for a bit, sitting at a table with my Aunts just talking. Then, someone started massaging my back. I thought it might have been one of my uncles until I turned around and saw that it was Grant! He was all dressed up in a pants and a nice shirt. He stood me up and told me all these nice things that I don’t really remember. He told me about how much he misses me when we aren’t together and how much he loved me and how he wanted to be with me forever. He got down on one knee, in front of my whole family, and asked me to marry him and gave me a beautiful ring! I said yes and then asked him how he got there!? I couldn’t believe he flew all the way to Springfield to propose to me! I was so excited. I called everyone and enjoyed spending the next couple of days with him until he left on Monday.

Grant is the best! So soon we will marry and be together forever! I am so excited!!

A Birthday Like None Other

So I turned 23 on Thursday. It was pretty uneventful. I went to work, at lunch at home like I usually do, and went to the gym and plugged 23 into the treadmill before my run. When I came home I noticed that my Dad had left a present in my room. He got me a Gator cup for my desk at work and a Chocolate covered cookie saying Happy Birthday. This may not seem like much, but my Dad always leaves all this up to my Mom, so just the thought he put into it meant the world to me. I called him at work and thanked him. I went to dinner with my Mom and sister. My Mom had bought me some flowers and we put them in a vase. We didn't do much on my actual birthday because I wanted to share the moment with Grant who was coming to visit.

Grant arrived around 10:30 on Thursday evening. I was waiting in the front room and was very excited when I saw his car pull in the driveway. I went outside to greet him and helping him inside. I told him that we were going out to dinner on Friday and doing cake and gifts afterwards so he could wait until then to give me my present.

I went to work on Friday and was able to leave the office by 3:30. Grant picked me up and we went to see Batman Begins. It was a pretty dark movie, but I like Batman and it was interesting...just a little slow at the beginning. I am a pretty impatient movie watcher. We drove to the restaurant and had a nice dinner with my family. Then, we came back home and had my favorite birthday dessert - angel food cake with berries. My brother's were not fond of my selection, but it was my birthday so I got to choose. Then, I got to open my presents. I opened my Mom's gifts first. She got me a bunch of clothes. It was really nice of her, but I will have to see if they fit and everything. My aunt got me some bath and body works lotions. I got a package from my friend Dani in Atlanta. She got me my favorite gift, a little pink Coach bag.

Grant got me a card. He wrote 2 sentences in it and that was it. He did not make me feel special at all and that is not something I am willing to compromise. I realized yesterday that Grant is a really nice guy. Treats me well, but I don't think it was too much to expect a little gift from him for my golden birthday. In front of my entire family Grant just gave me a card. I am hurt. I was trying to figure out how this situation could be remedied, but I think that it is just going to take time.

Good Morning and GO GATORS!

Happy Friday everyone! Yesterday was my birthday, but I am really celebrating it today. Grant drove into town last night to 'surprise' me, but I knew he was coming the whole time. I was watching the Gator game in the front living room with the shades open watching for his car and conveniently he drove up just as the Gators made the last out in the amazing game yesterday. I ran out to give him a hug and kiss. I was very excited to see him. The 2 hours he did spend with me on my actual birthday are now the first hours that he was able to spend with me on my birthday in the past 34 months of our relationship. I was happy.

I was also happy to see the Gators come back from a 3-0 deficit to beat the Sundevils 6-3. I tutor a few of the players so I love to see them win! Matt LaPorta had a great game, another homerun to add to the list. I am very proud! I just hope that our pitching can hold up against Texas. With Horne injured and Ball pitching most of last night we are a little more shallow in our pool of starting pitchers.

I am at work...which stinks because Grant is at my parent's house sleeping. I should get off early and be able to spend a good part of the afternoon with him. This should be a fun weekend!

Have a great Friday everyone!

How well do you know your 80's music?

http://www.yetanotherdot.com/asp/80s.html

Check out that link to see how well you know your 80's music. I scored a 27.5...pretty pathetic, but it's fun to do if you are having a slow day at work!

I hope everyone's weekends went well. I am super excited for a couple reasons...
1. The Gators beat Nebraska! We play again on Wednesday at 2 PM. I love our Gator baseball team!
2. Grant is coming to see me this weekend! I miss him too much and I cannot wait to see him again. Long distance stinks and we are going on month 14!

And...I am going to Chicago a week from Thursday! I love the summer!
~Becky =)

where I've been...

Many of you probably have been wondering where grant (me) has been. Well, in effort to get done with school as soon as possible I've dedicated my summer to school and of course Becky. I'm taking two classes each 5-week session. So if you can imagine squeezing a thirteen week class into five weeks you can imagine that it is pretty tough. The classes are three and a half hours long, and the are all lecture based so sitting there listening to someone talk for that long is one of the most non-fun things ever.

Now that I know all about photosynthesis and cellular respiration pretty I feel like I'm ready and prepared to tackle some programming or computer work....oh wait biology has nothing to do with how to write a program or how a computer uses instruction sets or how it functions, this class is great! You've got to love general education requirements! I just finished my marketing class for the summer. Marketing is actually interesting and half useful. Starting on Monday I'll begin advanced business statistics. Finally a class with math, now were talking.

Some other exciting news is the surprise I have for Becky. It's going to happen like this......wait she's a part of this blog sorry maybe you'll read about it in the future from her OR you can get the scoop from my personal blog but its a secret shhh! [that is way harsh! I was very exicted until you stopped...~B]

Becky is turning a year older this coming Thursday, so I will be traveling up to see her next weekend and spending her birthday with her. Since we been together we have never actually been together on her birthday and this year due to school I will be getting there late on her birthday, but I will be there on her birthday so it is rather exciting and hopefully it will start the trend of spending every birthday with her. She's the best! [aw, honey I love you! But you said you were coming on Friday~that is NOT my birthday]

Grant*
--------------------------------------end line-------------------------------------------------

Chocolate Anyone?

So here at the PGA TOUR we have a research guy named Ken. His office is the favorite office for many who work at the TOUR. Is it because statistics are incredible interesting? Is it because Ken can tell you how many kegs you would have if you filled each hole on every golf course in the entire United Stated with beer? (Just over 6,200 kegs) No, it is because Ken has a chocolate stash in his desk drawer. Usually in an office a desk drawer would have pens, post-its, paper clips and the like. Not in Ken’s office. Today he replenished his drawer with just over 13 POUNDS of candy ranging from Snickers to Mounds to Milky Way and everything in between.

Those who sit near Ken’s office will observe a steady stream of visitors. Even when Ken is on the phone or talking with someone in his office chocolate lovers will file into his office to get their chocolate fix.

Lesson learned: if you want to have a constant flow of people streaming into your office…buy lots and lots of chocolate and stash it in your desk drawer.

So work is great and all, but I have an idea…I was in the copy room earlier and I noticed a woman unstapling her documents so she could copy them. I remembered how I was doing just the same thing yesterday. I would take the staple out, copy the document, then re-staple the original. The copy machine is advanced enough to staple the copy, but…I think a copier can do more. I just need a good engineer to join me and a financial backer. Then, I am going to invent a copier that automatically with take staples out of original documents and then re-staple the originals and copies at the touch of a button. Who is with me?

~Becky - the only one who ever updates this blog. I should change the name to B Inc.

7 Hours

7 hours...that is how long it took me to get back from Fort Myers on Sunday. It rained, people went slow, accidents happened...it was not fun. Grant is lucky I love him and that I am willing to sacrifice 13 hours of my weekend to see him for less than 48 hours. Now that's love.

I am back at work. Yesterday we all went into my boss's office to hear the Michael Jackson verdicts. It was the highlight of the day. The outcome did not surprise me. I think it will be nice when we can stop hearing about the Jackson case 24-7.

The times for a few of the Gator football games were announced. CBS picked up the FSU and Tennessee games. I am excited because the Tennessee game will be nationally televised at 8PM and the FSU game will be on CBS at 3:30. College football is great. But 1PM games at the Swamp are rough for the players and fans standing for 4 hours in the student section.

In other Gator sports news Matt Walsh will be entering the NBA draft and I wouldn't be surprised if Roberson leaves too. With Walsh, Roberson and Lee leaving (59% of our offense from last season) we are left with Corey Brewer as our highest scorer from last season with 7.5 points per game. Billy D has a lot of work ahead of him!

Oh yeah...and did I mention we are going to Omaha?
~Becky

FYI...Grant is still alive. I did see him this past weekend and his computer works and he is doing well. Apparently he is too busy to post in our blog.
I just didn't want anyone to be worried about him or any rumors to start.

Movin' on up!

I was moved to a cubicle this week from my little desk near the printer at work. I am really excited. I have also been pretty busy which I love. So things at work are going well.

I am going to visit Grant on Friday with my friend Suzy. We are kind of setting him up. Suzy has a friend who lives in Fort Myers. Her friend (Heather) has a boyfriend (Brent) who is apparently a lot like my Grant. So we are taking them all out to lunch or something to have them meet. It’s kind of like a blind date for friends! I hope he likes him.

I am just very excited to see Grant and Suzy. I know that it has only been a week and a half since I’ve seen Grant, but I miss him even more in those days just after seeing him. Plus, I have no homework to worry about so I can spend 11 hours in the car and not feel too bad about it because I have nothing better to be doing. Grant is worth every minute spent in the car anyways.

I should get back to work and get some stuff done today. Have a super Wednesday everyone! And…go Gators this weekend against FSU!! ~Becky =)

I'm Baaack

After 12 hours in my 99 Saturn with no a/c...I have gone to Fort Myers and made it back. I got off work early on Friday and thought that I would surprise Grant by arriving a few hours before schedule. That was not the case. There was traffic on I-95 and I-4. I should have driven through the small towns to Gainesville to pick up I-75. The result was that I got to Grant's around 10:00pm on Friday. I was pretty tired.

Saturday was our friend's wedding, Danielle and Tommy. It was a beautiful ceremony and a fun reception. I got to see a bunch of my friends from freshman year and dance the night away with Grant.

Grant had to work Sunday, so I spent the day with my good friend Mandy, my old roommate Erin and her boyfriend. We went out to lunch and over to Sanibel and Captiva Islands. They look so different since the hurricanes hit last Fall. It is sad. =(

That night Grant got off work around 5 and we took Mandy out to dinner for her birthday and then went to a bar for a few drinks. I am getting really old because I was ready to get to bed at 11. I did make it until 12, but then I had to go or I would risk falling asleep at the bar.

On Monday I packed and spent some time with Grant and his parents. I left for Ponte Vedra around 1:45. Luckily, there was not much traffic on the way back and I got home around 7.

Now it is back to work. I have intern orientation starting tomorrow night and concluding on Saturday. Friday is the golf outing...I hope that I don't completely embarrass myself!!

~Becky
I miss you babe! xoxoxo

Uh oh!

I am taking a summer course entitled: Destination Marketing. It is a distance course which means that I can do everything from home. It includes online lectures, discussions and a group project done online. This should be interesting. We are put into groups of 4-5 people and we each do a section of the project and then put it all together. This project is worth 70% of my grade with the other 30% coming from posting on an online discussion page. I am a little worried. I will never meet these group members. I do not know what kind of students they are. I am usually pretty particular in picking groups for class projects. Luckily, I have met some amazing people at school and we have done many a project together with great results. However, this is a bit out of my comfort zone and it gets worse...

Our professor posted a sample project online. I opened the .pdf file and saw that it was 75 pages! This is a 6 week course. I think she is nuts. This is the first time she has taught a distance summer course. I am not excited about being the guinea pig for this experiment to say the least.

I will keep you posted in July when I start the course. It should be interesting, but I need the credits to graduate a semester early in December. And, I will get an A.

UF Baseball Update:
UF first baseman Matt LaPorta has garnered a lot of accolades this week. SEC Player of the Week, SEC Player of the Year and First Team All-American. In regards to team play, our Gators came back from a 6-2 deficit in the 8th inning to beat Arkansas 9-8.
Go Gators!

Wedding Bells

So I watched Rob and Amber's wedding last night on tv. In case you don't know, Rob and Amber met on Survivor and also played the Amazing Race together. I should really stop watching these wedding shows. I called Grant on many commercial breaks and told him ideas for 'our wedding' and we aren't even engaged yet. I am awful, I know! But Grant is the best! I told him that I wanted to get married in the Bahamas. He said, 'whatever you want honey.' Do I have the best boyfriend!? I think I do!

So Rob and Amber got married at Atlantis and had Oprah's wedding planner - Colin Cowie! They planned surprises for each other, had really fun Bachelor/Bachelorette parties, an amazing rehearsal dinner and reception. Sign me up! However, they planned this all in 4 weeks. They looked worn out and tired during all the days leading up to the wedding. It did turn out beautiful though.

Maybe one day I will get married ;-)

~Becky =)

Is it Friday yet?!

This weekend was quite productive. I cleaned my Mom's house, this is a weekly task since no one else seems to care. I have 3 younger brothers, a sister, a dad and a shedding dog that all live at home. I am constantly cleaning up after them all. As a result, I have decided not to have a dog, or at least not one that sheds. I also went to the mall and bought 4 pairs of shoes. However, feeling buyer's remorse, I plan on returning 2 of them because I do not love them enough. The 2 I am keeping are super cute! But they have high heels and will make me inches taller than Grant. I thought about it and decided that I will just have to get over this because the shoes are adorable and I must wear them.

Now it is Monday and I am sitting here at work...with nothing to do. I would offer to help other people out, but it seems that most people here have barely enough to keep themselves somewhat busy. It will be nice when my online class starts because I will have a ton of time to work on my assignments while getting paid! It seems weird to have interns and give them nothing to do...but at least I am getting paid.

I worked on my golf game this past weekend. I went to the local 9-hole par 3 course. My game was a little off. I got 2 bogeys, 1 double bogey and did not count the other 6 holes. In two weeks I will be playing 9 holes at the TPC Valley course with the other PGA TOUR interns. I have been trying to learn how to play respectably, but I think that I have run out of time. I will be out of town this weekend (going to a wedding with Grant) and working all week, so I have no more time to work on my swing. I need to go shopping too and buy a cute golf outfit. If I can't play well I might as well look cute trying!

So, I am going to see Grant on Friday. I am super excited. I am driving down there right after work...so I should get there around 11:30 or midnight. I am exhausted just thinking about the drive, but he's worth it! We are going to a friend's wedding. The first wedding of a college friend. I am excited to see a bunch of my friends from undergrad and see Danielle and Tommy get married. I think it might be weird to see her walk down the aisle. This wedding marks the beginning of the transition from having single friends to married friends.

This weekend is also Grant and my anniversary. May 28 marks month 33! It sounds like a long time, but it's gone by super fast.

I will write more later I am sure!

~Becky =)

One week down...

Hey all!
I have finished over a week at my summer internship. I have faxed contracts, drafted sponsorship proposals, photocopied contracts and promotional materials and spent the rest of my 8 hour days trying to look busy. I have learned that at this internship the skill I will probably master upon my departure is how to 'look busy.' This skill can only be attained through weeks of practice at a job or internship that gives you no real work to do. For example, yesterday I faxed one contract and photocopied another...and that was it! The rest of my day (7 hours and 45 minutes) was spent trying to look busy. I emailed everyone I knew, checked the facebook, read up on Gator sports and shopped online for airfare to Chicago for the 4th.

I will keep you updated much more often this summer...unless I get a ton of work dropped on my little desk. :)

I'm still here!

Hey all,
This is Grant! I do still exist! Good news huh? I haven't updated the blog in quiet a while; I am sorry for that. I had a crazy end to my spring semester of school. However, I did survive and did well. I had one week off and then summer school started. So I went to Gainesville and helped Becky pack and move her stuff back home where she will be for the summer, as you have read from her previous posts. This summer I will be taking General Biologly 1 w/ lab, Intro to Marketing, and an Advanced Statistics course. Bio lasts the whole summer and marketing is the first half and stats is the second. Taking 10 hours during the summer is going to keep me busy for sure! There is a lot of work invovled but it is well worth it to get school done. On the 27th Becky will be visiting. I am definitely looking forward to that. I miss her very much. On the 28th (our anniversary) we'll be attending her friend's wedding. She was my roommate for some time but neither her nor I were around much so we never really got to know each other. It should be fun though or I at least hope! I had a deadline to make a post on the blog by Friday by Becky. It's now 12 minuntes into Saturday I hope I don't get in trouble =(. (It looks like you get some negative points honey...sorry! ~Becky)

Enjoy not only the day but also the night air you breathe.

Grant

My First Week

I began working at the PGA Tour Headquarters on Monday. I spent Monday shadowing a Marketing Assistant. I learned how to fully execute 3 party agreements and log player phone concerns. At the end of the day I felt ready to do some work on my own.

On Tuesday I still did not have a computer or phone. Consequently, I could not do any work by myself. So, I stuffed promotional folders for the better part of the day. I also read half of a book I brought from home (in anticipation of a day filled with menial tasks).

Yesterday I finally received my computer at 10:30 AM. I was able to answer a set of trivia questions a Marketing Director had asked me to do, set up my email account and try a couple of contracts by myself. I think I did them pretty well for my first try.

Today I have not been given any work to do yet. I am pretty bored. I feel bad bothering the girl who trained me all the time for things to do. She told me that the last intern surfed the internet all semester. At least they are paying me!

On another note, there are just 15 days left until I get to see Grant! Woohoo!

~Becky :)

My Boyfriend's Back!

I have a few bits of news from today.

1. Grant came to visit me today! It is our 2 year and 8 month anniversary today. We went out to eat a Texas Roadhouse. mmm! I am so glad he is here with me. I miss him so much each time we are apart. However, the times apart make the times together so special!

2. I interviewed at the PGA TOUR today. It was apprentice style interviewing. I left Gainesville at 6:15 AM and arrived at the PGA TOUR offices at 8:50 for my 9 AM interview. I was met by the Director of Marketing. I met with him in his office and learned that he was a fellow Cubs fan. It was nice to find some common ground! After spending about 15 minutes or so with him I was escorted to the VP of Marketing and left there to interview with her. We chatted for about 15-20 minutes. I learned more about many aspects of PGA TOUR marketing and my specific job. Then, I was escorted to the Marketing Assitant. I met with her for about 15 minutes and spoke about the specifics of my potential job and about SEC sports. She is an Auburn Alum. I had to tell her that we swept them in baseball last weekend. She then walked me to the director of HR's office. We spoke about start dates and end dates and where to go from there. He told me that he would either call or email me as soon as he knew if I would have the job.

So I drove back to Gainesville where I was met by Grant :). I was nervously checking my email all afternoon. At 5:30 I pretty much thought that I would not hear today and I would have to wait until tomorrow. Grant and I left to go to dinner. In the car my phone rang...and it was the PGA TOUR. I was excited to see that it was them! I rationalized earlier that if I got a phone call it was a 'you're hired' and if it was an email it would be 'you're fired.' The director of HR was on the other end. We chatted for a few minutes. Then, he told me that the decision was unanimous and that I was hired. I am so excited!!! Along with the position comes compensation and free golf all summer at TPC Sawgrass!! My brothers are very jealous I am sure. So, I figure I need to begin working on my golf game. I think I will start by making contact off the tee.

I cannot wait to start working. This is going to be a great summer!

Becky :)

1 year down

Sorry it has been a few weeks since my last post and way longer than that since Grant's last post. I have been busy finishing up my second semester of graduate school. It has been a good semester. I took sport law, research methods and management and leadership in sport. I enjoyed it for the most part. Although, in sport law I wrote the longest paper of my life...23 pages!! It was on sponsorship agreement and the legal issues that surround them. I got a 95!?! I am still in shock. I always have felt that I lack skills in the writing department, but apparently Dr. Connaughton does not agree.

This afternoon I had my last final of the semester. It was in Management and Leadership. I needed a 2.5/20 to secure my A. Consequently, I did not study much at all. Last night I took notes on his in class review. I read over them once and went to bed. This morning I brought those 2 pages of notes to the gym and read them while I ran 5 miles. That was the extent of my exam prepartaion. I definitely think I got my 2.5.

This summer I was planning on working at Front Row Marketing Services (FRMS) in St. Petersburg, Florida. It's an unpaid position in a small office working on naming rights and pouring rights contracts. Pretty interesting, but no money. That was until I got a call from the PGA TOUR yesterday. At first I turned them down, telling them that I had already secured a summer position. Then, I rethought everything and called back. I thought about the name recognition of the PGA TOUR and the lack of recognition of FRMS. I thought about the ability to live at home (my parents live 10 minutes from the PGA TOUR headquarters). I pondered the financial aspects...FRMS internship pay $0, PGA TOUR internship compensation $10/hour. I, then, thought about the most important aspect of a summer internship: the possibility of a job offer post graduation. The PGA TOUR is a place that I would love to work. I could stay near my family and live in paradise. Ponte Vedra Beach is beautiful! After visiting FRMS, I did not fall in love with the company. I do not think I could see myself working there after graduation even if offered a job.

So...I am interviewing at the PGA TOUR offices tomorrow morning at 9AM. I will update after the interview and let you know how it goes. Until then answer me this question: what is your biggest weakness?

Becky :)

Grant is 23...I am 22

Hey...long time no update. Sorry! I could open this entry with a list of excuses why I have not written, but I'll just skip to the point: Grant is now 23..that is closer to 25 than 20. He is getting old.

I went to visit Grant this past weekend. He must be important because I missed the Orange and Blue game. For those of you non-Gators, the Orange and Blue game is the annual spring football scrimage. I work with several football players and as posted previously, I have met Coach Meyer. I really wanted to see them play. Grant must be a special guy.

I left on Friday and arrived at Grant's parents house. I was very excited to see him! He is the best! We went out to dinner with his best friend Richard. I made the wait staff sing happy birthday to Grant. It was great! Just before they sang to Grant they sang to this 5 year old girl. Got to love birthdays.

That night I gave him his birthday gift. I will preface this by telling you that I am the best girlfriend ever. I got him a balloon with shamu on it, a card, and Warcraft 3. Whenever Grant and I go to Target he runs over to the video game section...picks up Warcraft 3...and looks at it for about 5 minutes...then, puts it back on the shelf. I figured he would probably like the game. So I got it. He was very excited and now will not do any school work the rest of the semester.

Also while I was at Grant's parent's house, I got to see my picture on "the wall" (see previous post). It was an exciting moment. I have to admit that Grant and I look really good together in our picture. I think we really have a future together :-p.

All in all, we had a really good weekend. I left on Sunday and had to face 3 tests and 3 papers in the next 2 weeks. I love graduate school!

--Becky :)

Oh man...I met Coach Urban Meyer!

Best Time to Update

I have finally found time to update the blog! Hurray! One of the good things about being a Computer Science major is that the majority of your classes are held in computer labs. Usually, I just surf the web, check my email, or work on projects, but today is a good day for you guys because I have decided to update the blog! The bad news is, I have no exciting news, really =/.

The semester is almost over which means every professor is giving out group projects to do. You would think group projects would be fun and easy since you get to work with friends and there's more then just you doing the work. In actuality, it's a pain. Everyone has conflicting schedules, so finding time to meet is hard and when you do meet not much seems to get done. The work load professors give out is a lot more than the woudl if you were doing it yourself, which isn't bad since there are more people working on it. However, since all of our work is on the computer only one person can work on the file at a time! So, you can only get one thing done at a time which just draws out the project and for procrastinators could be big trouble. This is why I haven't been posting these past few days...weeks..maybe a month =). The semester is almost over; one more month and I'll be back on my regular posting schedule.

Other news, my birthday is coming up! Becky will be traveling to see me and spend it with me which will be nice. How awesome is she!?!?! I really do love her and miss her a ton :).

If you have taken away nothing from this post please take away this: if you have trouble finding time to update your blog the best times are during classes if computers are available, or business meetings or even at an ordinary job where you get to sit behind a computer. :-p ---Grant

I've made the wall

I know it has been a while since I've updated this blog...and even longer since Grant has, but I have some very ground breaking news to share!! I have made the wall.

In many households there is a wall of family pictures. My Great Aunt has almost a whole room with these pictures. You can go in there and see me grow up before your eyes! Grant's Mom has one in her home. When you walk in the front door you are greeted with the smiling faces of the entire family. As of last week, I have officially been immortalized on 'the wall.' Grant and I had pictures taken in January and one of them is now on the wall. One may think that the wall is jut for family...does this mean I am soon going to be a part of the family? I will definitely share that with you when I find out!

I'm waiting...

Until then, I hope our Gators kick some butt this weekend and throughout the tournament! Go Gators!

--Becky :)

Back from the Country

Grant and I returned from our mini-vacation on Sunday. So it is time to reflect.

Liberty, South Carolina
Population: 3,009 (year 2000)

Grant and I traveled off I-85 through the country passing horses, cows, and many churches until we reached Liberty, SC. We drove through downtown, past Hot Diggety Dog one of the 5 hot dog restaurants we saw on our South Carolina trip. We arrived at the home of Grant's brother, his wife and their two children. We were greeted with a lovely chalk drawing on the driveway welcoming us.

Meredith(3) and Randy(turning 6) were very excited to see me...and Grant too. :-p We got the tour of the home and saw Randy's pirate themed room and Meredith's pink princess palace. We went to eat at Texas Roadhouse where Meredith and Randy fought over the opportunity to sit next to me, which became commonplace on the trip.

The next day we ventured to the big city of Greenville, SC, home of Falls Park. Dispite being surrounded by Tennessee Volunteers because of the SEC women's basketball tournament, we had a great time. We ate a Quizno's, one of Grant and my favorite sandwich shops. We walked down Main Street and found 7 of the 9 bronze mice hidden along the street. We also made our way down to Falls Park. It was amazing; a very cute park for a picnic.

That evening Cari cooked for us, making a wonderful dinner. For dessert we played scrabble. I had one of my worst games in a long time. It must have been the pressure to follow up my remarkable win the previous night in Boggle, one of my new favorite games. I did have fun playing, but I was pretty tired after our long day.

We left early on Sunday. It was a fun trip and I miss them already. Hopefully, they will come and visit again soon!

Spring Break -- Graduate Student Style

Spring break is upon me...and all the other lucky Gators with a Spring Break that started in FEBRUARY! What does a graduate student do over spring break? Write a term paper, read a dissertation, and read a book on sport leadership. Woohoo! I just don't see where the 'break' fits in.

This will be my last official spring break, as I will be graduating (finally) in December 2005. It is a bittersweet realization. I think I am spending it pretty productively, though. I went home on Friday and met my friend's new boyfriend. Then, I took my mom, Aunt Diane and little sister to Savannah for the weekend. I had never been there, so it was a nice get away. I managed to do NO school work while I was there. A real 2 day vacation was all I could afford this break.

Now, I am in Fort Myers. I arrived here yesterday night. Grant is in classes all day, giving me plenty of time to work on my Sport Law term paper. I have already written 6 pages with the goal of finishing my rough draft by Thursday. Tonight I am taking Grant out for our 2 and a half years anniversary. It should be nice to have a date with such a hottie!

My spring break adventure continues on Thursday when Grant and I depart for Gainesville. We will spend one night in Gainesville and then head to Liberty, SC, home of Ed, Grant's brother, and his family. I am excited to go see Grant's brother's new home and his new home town. It should be fun. However, on the way there I have to read the dissertation mentioned earlier and the book on leadership in sports. I hope I can read while Grant drives. I haven't tried this yet. I will let you know how it goes.

Grant and I will return to Gainesville on Sunday, thus concluding my spring break. Isn't it great to be a graduate student?!

red tables, green tables, every table

So, Becky claims to be able to handle tables. Ha! She thinks she could handle being a server, yet when you ask her a question about the food, her mouth is frozen. Luckily, she has no future plans on being a server. I usually don't do this, but this one time I will give SOME of our servers at my work credit for being able to keep up and do a good job. Only once have I ever served. The guest had me running around like crazy!

When I started working at the restaurant I was a busser/salad bar person. Then, I moved to a cook, then to a broil cook (grilling), then to manager, totally skipping serving. So, I never really had any serving experience. It was harder then I had expected and the old grumpy people that demand things to be done and brought to them didn't help the situation. This is no offense to anyone's grandparents or parents. But, one thing I can't believe is how cheap some of these old people are! They bring in several coupons or promotional cards and demand to use them all at one time. So, their meal is practically free. One party comes in every Sunday and brings stacks of coupons and tries to use them every time. Sure you can use one coupon per guess or one promotion per table, but stacking coupons and promotions is a no-can-do. What can and can't be used together is not our decision; it's a corporate policy. Got to love the corporate people (sarcasm). But anyway, you think these old people would understand eventually that they can't use all of their coupons at the same time after we tell them Sunday after Sunday we are unable to allow that.

On another note, Becky is coming to visit for a week come this Monday! So, that is exciting and then we will be heading up to South Carolina to visit my brother.

That is that and this is what it was before it became it is this and that was that.

Look for mind boggling puzzle to come soon! I love games!

I'm baaack

I'm back in action on the blog posting! With this post, I would like to show you Becky does not always win. She did come close by trying to use her nonwords and trying to get lucky for them to be scrabble words. I even took this picture of the end results for everyone. Not only does this validate my victory, but provides the actual end score unlike what I believe is a tampered score that Becky had provided you with from a previous game.

How tables can you handle?

So, I was talking to Grant in the Scrabble chat room while kicking his butt 308 to 232. He asked me how many tables I could handle if I were a server.

Preface: Grant works at a restaurant. He has been working at this restaurant for 7 years...that's a really long time!

So, I told him I think I could probably handle 5 tables. He laughs...a lot. How am I supposed to know how many tables I could handle?? I have never worked in a restaurant. Ever. Nor do I ever plan on working as a server. I have actually applied to be one, but I was never hired. :( I guess I am not good enough. But, I still think I could definitely handle 5 tables...I never said they all had to be seated at the same time ;-).

Onto a more important topic. How 'bout them Gators!?!? We kicked some UM (Miami) butt this weekend!! Miami...who was supposed to be #2 in the nation...say hello to the Gators. I love baseball. I love the Spring. I love baseball, in February, in Florida, in shorts and a tank top! The more I think about moving back to Chicago, the more I realize how beautiful Florida really is. But if Gatorade gives me a job I'm on the next flight!

This blog was supposed to be a project involving Grant and Becky...Grant=slacker...where are you babe?

**I beat Grant in the scrabble game for those of you who care. :) I am a scrabble queen!

Happy Valentine's Day!

So today is Valentine's Day and I am sitting here writing a post to my blog. I plan on reading a chapter in my sport law book and in my Research Methods book then I plan on watching the Bachelorette. You may think that I have no Valentine due to the events aforementioned. However, I have the world's best Valentine!

Grant came to visit me on Thursday night. I was so excited to see him!! We exchanged Valentine's Day gifts on Thursday night. He got me Dolce & Gabanna Light Blue perfume that I wanted and I got him Very Sexy Cologne from Victoria's Secret. We watched the Apprentice and went to bed. I woke up Friday morning and carried on with my routine. I went to the gym and came back as Grant was getting up. We ate lunch together and then I had class for an hour. Grant said he was going to visit his brother while I was in class. But, when I got back from class he met me at my apartment with a dozen roses! How sweet is he!?!? I really love him and this weekend proved our connection even more!

We went to the gymnastics meet and to a baseball game and just spent quality time together. I thought I was getting better at long distance. The past few times we left each other after a weekend together I was real strong, no tears. Not this time. I was really sad to see him go. I hate watching him drive away, but each time he leaves I find myself watching his car pull out and holding back the tears, usually unsuccessfully.

I can look forward to seeing him in a couple of weeks when I go and visit him. I cannot wait to kick his butt in miniature golf and go see sunsets. Until then, I have one exam, one 5 page paper, a lot of reading and a ton of research to do for my law term paper. Woohoo! It's Valentine's Day, what a great day to start all this work!

Game Over 

Paul McCartney Halftime Show 

Beautiful Alltel Stadium 

Ben, Tammi and Me before the game. 

Super Bowl XXXIX 

How sweet is Grant...He sent me a dozen chocolate covered strawberries for our 29 month anniversary on 1/28! 

Becky and Grant in Vegas 

The Plan

So, Becky and my plan was to write here on the weekends. Doesn't look like we are off to a good start huh? This post itself is a few days late. In the future, I will try harder to organize my time to make more of a commitment to our lovely blog. This weekend I will be visiting Beautiful Becky! So maybe we will give you a joint blog entry. The weekends are actually the worst time for me to try to get anything done, because my work has me working close to 36 hrs in 3 days! I guess when I said part time and they asked could you work 3 days, I didn't know it was full days. But it's nice to get all my hours in a short time.

School takes up my whole week. Spending Mon- Th all day at school, it's so much fun! I promise! Learning how a micro processor works and having to write a code to simulate it is no easy task. I have a whole class of programming in which the teacher thinks it's fun to have us write code for things we are supposed to think of and figure out how to write it on our own. It's like learning a different language on your own. The assignments usually take me a few hours. Discrete math is cheesy with a bunch of proofs and proving stuff. It's for math dorks but some how CS majors got stuck in it too. The last class I'm taking is a database class. We work in groups and are developing a complete database, interesting stuff. And group work is always fun.

Quick note: Becky and I played a game of scrabble today. I totally WON!.....yes she has won the last few and everyone expects her to but they are usually pretty close in the end. But we also agree not to use scrabble words (words that are not in the dictionary but scrabble considers them words some how) and when she's down in points it seems she starts getting desperate and they usually bring to the lead. This is how she wins. (a note from Becky while she is proofreading...that is so not true. I am a scrabble Goddess and you know it!) Then again I would feel really bad if I beat her all the time. (another note from Becky: It is not possible for you to beat me all the time :-p ) So I let her have her fun and give her a few games. =)

Well as you know I'm going to see Becky this weekend and I can't wait! It has been a few weeks since we last saw each other, so this time will very nice to have.

As you see nothing interesting really happens to me or around here. Later in time I'm going to visit my brother and his family in South Carolina with Becky so I should have some funny stories and pictures then. In the meantime, I will try to create the goods.

grant!

Superbowl XXXIX

So I did go to the Superbowl last night...and I got paid to go! I worked Guest Services at the Superbowl for SAFE Management. I have a few comments about my experience.

1. Part of the management of the world's largest sporting event includes organization. Superbowl XXXIX was definitely lacking in this department from my perspective.

2. People like to eat hot dogs at football games. Knowing this it is not good to run out of hot dogs at halftime.

3. People like to buy merchandise at football games. Once again it is not good to have empty merchandise stands by the second quarter.

4. Women use the restroom. Having about half of the restrooms closed because of plumbing problems is bad...very bad.

5. Superbowl fans like to arrive to the stadium about 3 and a half hours before kick off just to have to pay a whole lot to drink a bunch of beer inside the stadium instead of drinking their own drinks outside the stadium.

6. Lots of famous people go to the Superbowl. In a few days I'll post some pictures, I promise!

All in all, the Superbowl was a good time. I did not get to see much of the game, but I met some cool people and gained a lot of experience. I doubt if it will ever return to Jacksonville given the above mentioned problems, but only time will tell.

A note about Becky and Grant. We haven't seen each other since the first weekend of January. Grant is coming to visit on Thursday and I cannot wait to see him. He's the best, so if you see him let him know that for me!!

--Becky :)

It's the weekend!

It is finally Friday! Woohoo! And the magical spell-check fairy has visited Grant's entry and fixed the 17 errors. It should be easier to read now. :)

This week was another fun one filled with classes, work, reading, homework, and quality Grant phone time. All I can say is that Sprint to Sprint calling is great and I am using more of those minutes than anything else! Am I the only one who gets text message advertisements?? In the middle of the night?? Just wondering...

Well, I am off to kick Grant's butt in scrabble at games.com, a savior to long distance relationships. Just to let you all know, I have a higher overall point total than Grant proving that I am a better scrabble player than Grant. I WIN!

Who's rolling with it!?

It looks like the only person rolling with this blog is me (Grant) and Becky forgot it exists. I haven't had much of a chance to write new post lately because school keeps me pretty busy during the week. Your best bet for new exciting news is on the weekend.

For anyone who reads this that works at a restaurant will get a kick out of this i'm sure and maybe others can relate too. I'm not sure if other jobs are like this or not, but my manager calls me yesterday to ask if I could come in to get some cleaning done in the kitchen. I agreed to come in to get some deep cleaning done. I then found out we have a district manager coming in on Tuesday. NO WONDER! It never fails that if were doing something extra trying to get the place cleaned up or put together nicely someone important is coming. Is it just the restaurant business or other places too? I find it rather funny.

Oh, Becky did something really nice for me today too. She said I should start putting nice things on here about her. I think that is why she actually started this blog so I would post great things about her on here and try to make her look outstanding to everyone. She is a great and outstanding girl. Today she called me and told me how much I meant to her. How nice and romantic! I'm so lucky! So thanks Becky and now everyone else knows too! There will be more to come you better bet ya, I'm not getting in trouble for not posting about her.

Maybe I'll make my own secret blog ;) and write the good stuff! jk

I'll try to keep up with the post more, even though I think there's only one person that knows about and who probably checks it rarely. But who can blame that person since posts are few here =(. We will be rapidly growing these next few days. Becky's should be writing a BUNCH of entrys since she has a slow weekend!

The True Story of the Start

this is grant, I did suggest that we started a blog together just for fun. I was just throwing the idea out there and seeing what becky had thought of it. Once i had gotten the okay from the boss! I would have set the blog up, but becky never gave me the go. she decided to go straight to the bloggers site and begin setting it up. Their will be more true storys comming to a blog near you! seeming how becky turns everything around to make me look like the bad or "lazy" one.

I'm living at home with my parents, sounds fun right? yeah. The times that my classes are at for school are the worst, so I am at school all day long. Maybe i'll actually get some studing done inbetween my class since there is a 3hr gap. I'm a computer science major in my junior year, all the easy fun classes are over with and now it's the important stuff or you could say the hard stuff.

well, Becky is a great person and a great person to make fun of so i'll get on top of that soon, this is just my intro. She does mean a lot to me so it's all fun and games ( i hope ).

My brother has a blog that's how i found out about this. he writes some funny stuff some times i believe their is a way you can make a link to it some how I will try to figure that out soon. I'll probably be refering to it some times to make fun of it, he puts some silly stuff up there. but i will also summarize everything so you don't have to painfully make a trip over to it if you don't want.

silly words of wisdom or "ponder" I think not! but i may but up useful stuff to leave you with to try or apply.

This blog should be updated fairly frequent since their are two people working on it, so i hope to have some juicy stuff up soon for you ( the reader ) to laugh at or make fun of.

Becky and Grant at the Swamp! 

First Entry

So I wanted Grant to make a blog. He suggested that we make one together. We all know that together means: Becky you make one, I am too lazy to make one myself. So here it is. We will see if he decides to roll with it.

I've been back at school for a couple weeks now. I really enjoyed my break and extended time with Grant. It has, however, made it harder to come back here without him. Each semester another one of my friends graduates and leaves Gainesville. I can't wait until I get to leave and begin life after UF.

I often wonder:: Why did I go back to grad school?? Oh yeah, so I can make some money and get my BMW and live happily ever after. Do I really need a master's degree to be happy? Probably not. I am learning a lot and really enjoying my classes. Speaking of classes, I better get some work done.

I will leave you with some words to ponder: There's a choice you have to make in everything you do; and always keep in mind, the choice you make, makes you.

Do you agree? Any thoughts?