best friend

I read once, "Friends are like the bacon bits in the salad bowl of life." Well, I'm not a huge fan of bacon bits so this didn't resonate with me very much. I then thought of a salad with feta and craisins....and it finally made sense. So let me rephrase that quote with my edits,

"Friends are like the feta and craisins in the salad bowl of life." Yum. I get it now.

I am privileged to have a combo salad. Not only are my feta and craisins my friends, they are my best friends. And not only am I lucky enough to have more than one best friend, I am proud to call my mother one of those best friends.

My mom has taught me what it means to be strong and supportive. I have learned what true selflessness and sacrifice means by observing and experiencing my mom's love and actions. She is who I call (probably too often) when I need to talk, she is who I lean on when I need support, and she is who puts me in my place when I am over-reacting...which never happens. :)

Mom, without you I don't know where I would be. I hope I can be the mother and wife you are and have been one day when it's my turn! I love you.

eight days

Only eight more work days with NiSoft. Where on earth did this summer go? I can't believe how quickly it has passed.

8 days until the end of my internship

9 days until mom flies to Colorado

11 days until we drive to Azusa

15 days until we fly home to Seattle

23 days until I see my best friend, Ana, in Eugene

27 days until I drive back down to APU

36 days until I begin my senior year of college

I don't even know what to think right now! Where has this summer, this year, my time at college, all gone?! Looking back though, I realize how much I have done and I am so grateful for the time I have spent in Denver. I was at dinner last night with Doug and we were discussing how wonderful it has been for both the company and myself to have this internship. The employees have learned a lot by having to teach me about their job. The company has benefited from my input, ideas, and completion of projects. And I have learned and grown so much in these past 9 weeks I wouldn't trade the experience for anything! What a blessing to walk away from a work experience with that mindset.

I feel so prepared and confident going into my last year at school and beginning some very intensive business classes. With real life experience under my belt, each topic, term, and case study will make much more sense and mean so much more as I can refer to my time at NiSoft as I am learning in the classroom. I have such positive feelings about this school year, I can't wait to begin.

in a perfect world

introduction

This is a blog I wrote for NiSoft's internal website, NiGate. There is a blog link on there called e-clips. Eric wanted me to write about my time spent interning this summer. Here is what I wrote!

____________________________________________________________________

in·tro·duc·tion

[in-truh-duhk-shuhn]

“A preliminary part, as of a book, musical composition, or the like, leading up to the main part.”

-www.dictionary.com

After finishing three years’ worth of business classes at Azusa Pacific University I had my doubts that business administration was the major I should be graduating with. When presented with the internship at NiSoft, I figured actual work experience related to my major would help establish a firm conclusion regarding my chosen career path. NiSoft has been my introduction to the business world. My eyes have been opened, my mind has been filled with new knowledge, and my personality has been tested by foreign environments and experiences. Not only has NiSoft been my introduction to the corporate community, but it has also been a great introduction to the “main part” of the rest of my life. Like a book or musical composition, my career must have a beginning, middle, and an end. At the young age of twenty-one, I believe this internship at NiSoft has been the perfect introduction to the composition of my story.

I have learned a number of lessons regarding interfacing with coworkers and clients, general knowledge in relation to software and computer programming, and how to grow into the individual person I was created to be, even within the corporate world. The ten weeks I have spent with NiSoft have given me a sense of confidence in myself as a business woman and a feeling of assurance that being a small business owner is the correct career path for me. With the introduction to my story written, I am anxious to see how each chapter of my life unfolds as I utilize the lessons I have learned at NiSoft.

I hope the company has benefitted from this experience as much as I have. I am excited for future interns to experience NiSoft’s generosity and positive impact as I did. Thank you to everyone for a wonderful summer.

life

i can read (clipped to polyvore.com)

piles

This week has been defined by piles.

I started out the week sick, therefore I was buried under a pile of tissues. I had a low-key weekend and I think that relaxing for a couple days allowed my body to let down its guard and the sick germs flooded my system! It was a good reminder to rest and catch up on reading and sleep.

After heading back to work on Tuesday, I found myself presented with many new projects to work on. Piles of projects. I guess word got out that room was going to be opening up in my schedule and many people took advantage of that! It has been great to be used though. This week I have made two new Orgnization Charts for the company. One is more department-based while the other is more region-based. Doug liked both. I have scheduled a conference call for Monday morning to meet with a few of my coworkers in Belfast to get their input and explain the process behind creating the charts. I sent out the Outlook invite meeting this afternoon and little did I know the system auto-corrects the time according to the recipients timezone. So my nice effort to go ahead and change the time for them turned into me inviting them to a meeting in the middle of the night their time! Oops!

This week I also put together a full IT Asset inventory for the Denver office. I do not want to look at another serial number for a long time! I recorded each and every mouse, computer, keyboard, phone, scanner, projector, etc. that we have in the office. It's crazy how much stuff we have that I just don't notice!

My online summer internship class ended this week as well. I had piles of homework to finish this weekend, that I possibly could have timed better and spread out throughout the month....but I didn't! Oh well! It was a relief when that was finished. One of the assignments for that class was to create an online resume on www.resume.com. I posted mine at the end of last week. As a result I have had piles (not really, a small pile of three) of interview invitations waiting for me in my email inbox! The next morning I woke up with two offers, one from Aetna health insurance and one from Eastlake Views, a real estate company in Seattle. A few days later I woke up with another email in my inbox! This time from Global Finance, an online financial magazine. The positions I had been invited to interview for are mainly administrative assistant positions including data entry, payroll, customer service tasks, and some human resource tasks. I was pretty excited to see some feedback already! It was quite encouraging.

I had quite the excitement this week weather-wise as well. Doug and Rachel are out-of-town this week so naturally we get pounded with the worst storm I have ever experienced while I am home alone! On my drive home from work it started raining so hard that cars had to pull over on the side of the road and wait. You could not see the lines at all and when you got close enough to the curb, a wall of water shot up from under your tire. It was nuts! Also, the thunder and lightening was incredible. As I left the super market they wouldn't let anyone out with a shopping cart to eliminate the possibility of getting struck by lightening. Running out to my car, I soaked through my clothes and couldn't see out of my glasses from all the droplets of rain! Eventually I made my way home, walked in so relieved to be in the house, ready to start dinner and relax....I hit the light switch in the laundry room and nothing goes on. Great! I am experiencing lightening and thunder that shakes the house, rain that makes me consider building a boat in case of Flood 2, and now the power is out (I'm very scared of the dark)! I search for candles and flashlights, finding nothing but tiny fake candles that have a very dim "flame" on them. Cool, I am in store for a very romantic, but terrifying evening with myself. After calling mom multiple times throughout a couple hours, the power finally went back on. I was so relieved!

This week has been quite the week but I am still trying to soak up the last month I have here in Colorado and at NiSoft. SO much to learn!

worship

"The most common mistake Christians make in worship today is seeking an experience rather than seeking God. They look for a feeling, and if it happens, they conclude that they have worshiped. Wrong! In fact, God often removes our feelings so we won't depend on them. Seeking a feeling, even the feeling of closeness to Christ, is not worship."

-Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Life