Sister Sunshine

Live by What You Stand For

[sister-sunshine143]

It's Not Goodbye, Just See Ya Later...

On October 12, 2013, I married my best friend. Two days ago I dropped him off for boot camp. He is in the Army and his MOS is Nodal Systems Repairer. I've overcame a lot that life has thrown at me, but dropping him off was by far one of the hardest blows life's ever hit me with. I cried for days before he left and then the day he left I kept randomly crying throughout the day.... I'm a tough cookie but my husband and I are inseparable; we're always glued to one another and do EVERYTHING together. The worst part so far is not being able to come home and talk about our day while we curl up and watch Netflix. Our dogs are super confused on why he's not here and they look for him and wait by the door a lot. At night they don't know if they should sleep in the bed or if he'll be home soon to curl up next to me and they definitely don't like me crying. Boot camp is about 3 months long but luckily his timing to leave was perfect--he gets to come home for Christmas. I can't wait to see the dogs' reactions and to spend some time with him. I know people do this every day but it really is tough. My brother is a marine and I remember when he left. Having a husband in the military while you're stuck in a city away from your family, have very few friends, and rarely go anywhere because you're alone is just horrible. I wish I had more friends and I wish I could go see my family more but with college and work, it's hard. I'm excited for our new adventure but I hope this first part flies by. I'm interested in finding out where we get stationed--kind of hoping for another country but anywhere is fine as long as I'm with him. I'm so proud of his decision to enlist and thankful to have such a wonderful husband. I just can't wait till my Christmas present comes home. Next time you see a soldier, please thank them for what they do. It's a huge sacrifice as a whole and the ones who give their lives for this country deserve serious gratitude. This is the home of the free because of the brave.

Now for your enjoyment, Soldiers reuniting with their furbabies<3

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iD3cgDRsDck

[sister-sunshine143]

The Best Month of the Year!

It's October! My favorite month of the year<3 It's when the leaves start to really change, the weather cools down, and everywhere you look there's a pumpkin patch, corn maze, or hay ride. I've always loved October for so many reasons. All the classic horror movies are on TV and it's tradition for me to watch as many of them as possible. As a kid, October, especially Halloween, was a HUGE deal in our household. We would spend 3-4 days decorating our front yard, transforming it into a frightful delight! Each year, all of our friends would come to our house with pillow cases and we would knock on every door till the cases were full! Once I became a teenager, I started going to Halloween Horror Nights with friends. It became a tradition instead of going out and getting candy. Once I got into college, the costume parties became a major highlight (yes, I'm 20 years old and will always dress up for Halloween till I run out of ideas!). However, this Halloween I'm really looking forward to a new tradition. My husband and I just bought a pumpkin which we're going to carve together (I always carved my own pumpkins! LOL). And, he's never been to Halloween Horror Nights and LOVES zombies-- so of course we're going this weekend! I'm looking forward to him screaming like a little girl!(: And for Halloween, we're dressing up and going to find something fun to do! Him and my big dog, Derp, are going as Scooby and Shaggy and Lola, my little dog, and I are going as a dinosaur and a pirate! YARGH! My husband leaves in 28 days for the Army's Basic Training.. He'll be gone for 10 months but I'm so thankful we'll get to have a great Halloween together<3 In honor of my favorite month and most favoritest holiday (lol) I'd like to leave you all with some pretty interesting Halloween facts!<3

http://facts.randomhistory.com/halloween-facts.html

[sister-sunshine143]

I Belong with You, You Belong with Me<3

Yesterday when I got home from my Social Media class, I walked in my apartment. It was covered with candles and one of my favorite songs was playing. My boyfriend was there, kneeling. Needless to say, I’m one happy girl and officially engaged! In celebration of this great new chapter in my life, I decided to blog about social media and weddings. I read two interesting articles about how to incorporate social media in your wedding day. According to Mashable, there were some great ways to tastefully use sites such as Twitter and Flickr! I’m super excited to use the twitter idea; I’m going to encourage guests to use a hashtag so they can comment on things such as what song to play next or even to post their best wishes for our marriage. The article also suggested displaying this at the reception so everyone could read all the tweets. I might even incorporate the same idea with Facebook and to get an estimate on how many people might be coming, I intend to create a group event that includes our guests that use Facebook.  Mashable also did a study and reported that 79% of brides use social media to plan their weddings and 2 out of 5 brides use Pinterest to pin their ideas! I think I’m going to create a Pinterest too. The other article by SAP had a great infographic which included cool statistics like 1 in 10 women change their Facebook relationship status within minutes after getting engaged and that 1 in 3 change it within a few hours after the proposal. The infographic also stated that Orlando is the 8th most popular honeymoon destination.  Both these articles are great for people in my ideal career because….”Each of these couples is looking for unique ideas, doing research, pinning photos, asking for recommendations, and organizing their wedding planning to help ensure the perfect day…These conversation threads provide insights that, if monitored and understood, can help businesses better identify new avenues of growth and opportunities to better connect with customers” (SAP). Doing my own research is so intriguing, especially discovering this! Because working in advertising and my targeted audience being couples getting married or newlyweds could be almost as fun as working in advertising for animals! Oh, the possibilities of my future are endless but I know one thing, I’m marrying my best friend and going to have a great future with him!

Check out the entire articles I mentioned-- cool ideas and great statistics!

http://mashable.com/2010/11/09/social-media-wedding-etiquette/

http://blogs.sap.com/innovation/sales-marketing/uncovering-insights-from-the-new-social-media-wedding-0376114

[sister-sunshine143]

How it Began...

When my Junior year of high school was approaching, I thought I knew exactly what I wanted to do with my life. I was going to go to Full Sail for Music Business; I was obsessed with the idea of all the "behind-the- scenes" that are part of bands and concerts. After researching more about the industry and checking out Full Sail, I realized that it might not be something I'd enjoy and the Music Business programs are very specific..I needed a stronger fallback. I checked out UCF and liked the idea of Radio/TV because I thought it would keep me in the music industry...after one semester at UCF and talking to some Radio/TV students, I discovered it wasn't for me. I checked out Ad/Pr and thought it'd be fun...wasn't too sure what I'd do with that degree but seemed like a creative industry. I switched majors and decided to give it a shot. When I took my 1st Ad/Pr class, ADV3008, I fell IN LOVE. I love the advertising industry and could care less what job I have as long as it's in advertising. Joan McCain made me fall in love with the industry, specifically dog food advertisements and anything animal-related. I would love to work for the ASPCA, PETA, or even the Ad Council so I could do animal related commercials and advertisements. Both my dogs are rescues and have a very special place in my heart. I'm obsessed with their goofy personalities and love them dearly-- I know advertising in the pet industry is my calling, it just took me some time to discover my true passion. So, I'm going to leave you all with some animal facts and some of my favorite advertisements, ENJOY!(:

FACTS

6-8 million animals handled by animal shelters in the U.S. each year. 

EVERY 8 Seconds, a puppy dies in puppy mills.

3-4 Million= # of cats & dogs euthanized each year

Check out PETA and ASPCA websites for even more information and how you can make a difference.

http://www.peta.org/

http://www.aspca.org/

My favorite commercial:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SVnrNaNv7A

I LOVE Pedigree Ads<3

[sister-sunshine143]

All I need in this life of sin<3

[sister-sunshine143]

Have You Ever Really Danced on the Edge?

My mama always told me I was destined to be different. Today, I take that as the biggest compliment I’ve ever received. I believe in embracing my flaws, in random acts of kindness, in smiling just to simply smile. I believe that laughter cures everything, that puppy breath is the greatest scent of new life, and that life is all about the little things. I always wish on eyelashes and sit in clover patches in hopes of finding some luck. I talk to animals and I refuse to ever hide the child I am at heart. I strive to be my dreams and aspirations. And at the end of the game, it’s not about wins and losses-- it’s about being successful and successful is what I shall be.

My name is Jenn; I'm 20 years old and a Junior at UCF. I spent most of my childhood in the north Georgia mountains then moved to a little island smack dab in the gulf--Cedar Key (Google it, it's small!). I graduated as valedictorian of my class of 12, packed up, and moved two and a half hours away so I could attend the biggest university in the country. I recently turned in my application for the Advertising and Public Relations program and have been keeping my fingers crossed. If my plans work out in my favor, I hope to work in advertising, somehow being around animals--I LOVE dog food commercials. As long as I'm working in advertising, I'm sure I'll be happy!