Penfolds

Ok, this wine (or something along those lines) reminds me of my college roommates. Earlier today I was at Costco and I found it. And I had to share my story behind it.

During our senior year at Grand Valley State, our landlord was Paul Penfold and he claimed his family made this brand of wine. We didn’t believe him what-so-ever. He gave us a bottle of his “family’s” wine as a graduation gift. Paul forgot to take the Meijer price sticker off, again showing us that he was lying. We finally cracked it open in May of 2009 (we graduated in 2005) and it was absolutely terrible (isn’t wine supposed to get better with age?).

I am thankful that Paul gave me this memory. Thanks Paul Penfold… where ever you are.

LinkedIN

Well, today I took a big step. I finalized my profile on LinkedIN. You can find it here. I know a lot about the various Social Media sites and I use them often, but for reason I never got into LinkedIN. Today, everything changed. I realized the importance of LinkedIN. It’s like Facebook but for your career. People always used to tell me: “It’s not what you know, but who you know.” I think that LinkedIN is trying to prove this “saying” correct. Networking (not only social) is important. And in order to be successful, networking needs to be done effectively.

Well, thank you LinkedIN for serving your purpose. I am hooked.

The Sunday Paper

My husband and I subscribe to the Grand Rapids Press on the weekends. It’s only $9 per month; so I don’t think that’s too bad. And considering I make a valiant effort to get at least $9 worth of coupons on Sundays throughout the month, I feel getting the paper is well worth it.

To be honest, coupons and the Best Buy ad are the only reasons that my husband and I subscribe. Everything else just gets recycled. Take that back – the Target Ad is nice to look at too. Oh wait… Meijer too.

On Saturday and Sunday, I wake up and retrieve the paper from our front porch. I then take it out of the plastic and set it down on our coffee table. On Sunday the paper instantly gets opened up and the ads get sorted. Best Buy, Target, Meijer and Coupons in one pile – the rest in the other pile (including the paper). Later on in the day I will find myself surfing around MLive reading the news. News that I could have read about in the paper sitting on my coffee table in the “un-needed” pile. The paper is dirty… and MLive is so much nicer on the eyes. Not to mention that if you type in http://www.grpress.com you will get re-directed to MLive (Grand Rapids specific).

We will continue to subscribe to the paper – no reason not too. Well unless Best Buy, Target and Meijer stop their weekly ads.

Apple iPad

Well Apple released their new toy today, the iPad. And to be honest, I love it. It has it’s drawbacks, but when the iPhone came out back in 2007 it did too. Nothing on the first try is perfect. But Apple does a great job of making people believe their products are perfect on their first release.

There are a lot of bloggers out there talking about what the iPad is missing, what Apple should have done, and wondering why Apple only released the iPad at their keynote today. On the other hand, there are bloggers that marvel at it’s every move and could care less about anything else. People are claiming it’s an over-sized iTouch and I agree. It does everything the iTouch does, but at a larger scale.

My first impression of the iPad was complete awe. I followed it on Gizmodo.com and I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. The iBook function, the expanded app store, the size, the weight, the look…. the list goes on. Nice work Apple. But I think I will wait for iPad – Generation #2. I want my multi-task and the ability to down load apps freely (non-app store).

Keep it up Steve Jobs. You and your staff do amazing things. Please continue to put technology to its limits.

A few blogs I have found interesting:

http://joshuawithers.wordpress.com/2010/01/28/the-ipad-think-about-it-like-this/

http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/27/live-from-the-apple-tablet-latest-creation-event/?sort=newest&refresh=30

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/1WYJMV/everything-everywhere.com/2010/01/27/what-the-ipad-will-mean-for-me-and-traveling//r:t

Back to School… Back to School

I started my MBA at Davenport University a few weeks ago. I was very anxious to start, but I knew it was going to be tough. My first class (3 credits) is Financial Management. And I have 36 more credits to go. Davenport offers 7 week classes, so I only have to take 1 class at a time, but 2 per semester. I am still up in the air whether or not I like the idea of condensed classes, but I guess I really don’t have a choice. My next 7 week class will be Marketing Strategies. I am looking forward to that class.

I went back to school for a few reasons:

1. Enhance my resume.
2. To become more well-rounded.
3. Get promoted at work.

3 weeks in and I am still glad I went back to school.

Ultimate Throw Blanket

The best throw blanket ever. I love you Pottery Barn for selling this wonderful product.

Really Useful Box

The label doesn’t lie. The box is really useful. And we found out that it comes in different colors and sizes. We found the really useful box at Staples. The box says that it is really useful to reassure you that it will do what it says. Whew. I was worried.

Me and My Parents

My parents came to visit my husband and I over Thanksgiving break from Texas. We had a great time!  One of my favorite memories from their visit was watching the show Curb Your Enthusiasm with them. We also spent time relaxing, shopping, and of-course eating!!

Emma at my Office

After picking up my sister and my niece at the airport, we headed to my office to meet some of the people I work with. The picture is my niece, Emma, sitting on my lap. She’s a good little helper.

Something to Think About

Keep your thoughts positive

Because your thoughts become your words…

Keep your words positive

Because your words become your actions…

Keep your actions positive

Because your actions become your habits…

Keep your habits positive

Because your habits become your values…

Keep your values positive

Because your values become your destiny.

-Anonymous