Head first...

The past few days have been a rollercoaster, to say the least... and I'm really not a fan of rollercoaster rides.

There have been amazing highs (the excitement of watching everything come together for me with broadcasting stuff, school winding down, seeing my family soon, and the holiday season in general), and devastating lows (a phone call from the bestie's boyfriend saying that Penelope had a birth defect and they had to make a heart-breaking decision to keep her from pain, the pain I felt and still feel for them, and then anger at the news I got from her today as she informed me that the breeder is a scam artist and it's not the first time she's hurt someone like this).

So yes, it's been a crazy ride.

But what would life be like if it was all just sunshine and daisies? It would get a little boring don't you think? How would we ever be able to grow, to mature, to learn from things that happen to us, things that are often entirely out of our control?

I think sometimes we just have to have faith. The faith to believe that "this too shall pass" and that this experience will make us that much stronger. And I'm so proud of my amazing best friend to have the strength to do just that. Maybe sometimes we have to just roll with the punches and adjust to what life throws at us. We may as well use the practice, because life won't stop testing us.

I've heard so many times that "life is what you make it" and I absolutely agree. It can be a beautiful thing. So let's choose to walk head first into whatever life has in store for us.

Fearless.

Oh, Edward...

So, like many of you, I'm now in love with a fictional vampire. No big deal. It's no secret that I've had a major love affair with Mr. Darcy from P&P, but I've got to tell ya'll... Edward from the Twilight series has stolen my heart... even if he does want to suck my blood and kill me deep down. He can bite my neck any day.

Well last week I wasn't feeling well and spent 5 straight hours reading Twilight. Nonstop. I went out and bought New Moon right away, but forced myself to not start reading it until I got almost all my school projects done. So yesterday afternoon around 4, I hunkered down and started reading. By 9:45, I was breathless and online looking at Borders.com to see what time they close, contemplating running out to get the third book.

I'm obsessed.

I'm certainly a bookworm. Any of my friends and family will tell you that. I get absorbed in a book and I'm practically immune to anything that's going on around me. These Twilight books are definitely in my top faves and I recommend them to any girl that wants to read a book she won't be able to put down. Literally.

And like the facebook bumper sticker I found says...
My Christmas List:
1. Move to Forks
2. Meet Edward
3. Become a vampire

Haha...

I haven't seen the movie yet because I'm waiting to see it with another Edward-obsessed girlfriend over the Thanksgiving holiday, but I can't wait!

I'm in love. ::sigh::

Happy, happy, happy...

I just found out about an hour ago and I got to my computer as soon as I could to let ya'll know the good news.

I got the anchor position for Seminole Showcase!!!!!!!!

The class was practicing reading some scripts for a filming we're doing later and Triston stood up to announce the main anchors, the entertainment anchor, and the sports anchor. I heard her say Jennifer Milton (another girl in my class that I figured would get it) and people were clapping and next thing I knew Rebecca (my package partner) was turned around smiling at me and clapping.

Huh? I got main anchor?

So it was really exciting. All the hard work, sacrifice, and sleepless nights paid off.

With a little bit of luck, a lot of faith, and overwhelming support from family and friends, anything is possible. Thanks everyone for the well wishes!

love, hugs, and big breaks...

One step closer...

This will be a short post. I just wanted to give ya'll a quick update on things.

My daddy stopped by on his way to GA to meet my mom at the grandparents'. We went to the bookstore so I could get "New Moon" (obsessed with the Twilight series... and in love with a fictional vampire - no big deal) and then we went to the mall to look around. While walking around the mall my package partner from my reporting class texted me "congratulations!" Me - "for what?" Becca - "you got in the advanced class!"

YYYYAAAAAAAYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!

So I just wanted to share the good news because I'm really excited. :-D

Thanks for your thoughts and prayers! Things are once again looking up!

love, hugs, and making the cut...

P.S. the bestie (
Have Your Cake and Eat it Too) got her puppy yesterday! Penelope is precious and i can't wait to meet her over Thanksgiving!!!!

Keep looking ahead...

The past couple of days have been pretty rough. My anchor auditions didn't go as well as I hoped, I found out today that the anchors won't be announced until next week, and also that there are 25 people trying to get in 5 spots for the advanced class. Things aren't looking up for me right now, and while I'm disappointed, I know that things will look up again.

For every door that closes, another one opens.

I know that getting down on myself isn't going to make things any better. I have to believe in myself and trust that things will work out. I have to accept all the overwhelming support from my friends and family. I have to keep my sights on the big picture. I have to keep looking ahead.

As you all know, I'm a big country fan and I love Taylor Swift. I think she says it well (or sings it, I guess) in her new song "Change" which I've been listening to nonstop for about 3 weeks now.

"It's a sad picture, the final blow hits you
somebody else gets what you wanted again
you know it's all the same, another time and place
repeating history and you're getting sick of it
but I believe in whatever you do
and I'll do anything to see it through

because these things will change
can you feel it now?
these walls that they put up to hold us back will fall down
this revolution, the time will come
for us to finally win
we sing hallelujah, we sing hallelujah..."

love, hugs, and faith... because these things will change

Another amusing chapter...

Sometimes I picture my life like a novel, a series of chapters, each one more incredulous than the rest. With all the hilarious and truly mind boggling things that happen to me you'd think I would get used to all of it, but unfortunately, no... my clumsiness and often absentmindedness seem to attract, if not cause, all these insane occurrences.

Well ya'll enjoy this chapter...

Yesterday I was driving to the stadium to film my package partner, Rebecca's, standup. I was jamming out to "Chicken Fried" on my iPod, which was plugged into the tape deck through a fairly long cord. (You've seen those things.)

Anyway... I'm driving along and the song ends so I pick my iPod up off my lap and go to change the song when I realize I need to make a turn. I grab the wheel with both hands, iPod still hanging on in between my fingers when it suddenly yanks out of my grasp and I realize that I've managed to get the cord attached to my iPod wrapped around my steering wheel during the turning process. Unfortunately, I couldn't just untangle it immediately because I still had three more turns to make before I could safely park.

By the time I finally got into a parking spot, I had successfully wrapped almost the entire cord around my steering wheel. No problem, right? Just unwrap it, Ally, duh. Well I would, except the cord had squeezed into the tiny gap behind the steering wheel and whatever the base of it that attaches to the dashboard is called. (Can you tell I'm not very car savvy?)

So I messed around with it after filming Rebecca and 45 minutes later I had it unwrapped. Except then it was caught on something. I try and squeeze my head in between the big wheel and my blinker switch (which kept going off because I kept hitting it, as well as the wipers, which must have been quite a sight to people walking by) and start wiggling the cord to coax it around the small little metal rod it's caught on. It got in there somehow, so it has to be able to get out, right?

Well after getting extremely dirty, apparently my steering wheel had been greased to make it turn smoothly (in case you're wondering, of course I got grease all over my hands and face... not attractive), I finally decided to see if I could fit a finger in the tiny crack and move the little metal rod. My fingernail was just long enough to reach the rod and so I pushed it, and it simply moved out of the way without putting up a fight, the cord came right out, and the rod moved right back into place when I let go.

Yep... all that work and all I had to do was push a little metal rod/button thing. Wow.

It was quite an interesting hour or so and I imagine it will also be an interesting chapter in the Book of Ally.

Story of my life.

Paving the way...

I've had one of those moments. An epiphany, if you will.

This morning I auditioned for the main anchor position for Seminole Showcase, a production that is professionally recognized and would put me on a fast track to success in the news industry. As you all know, I've been pretty dang sick for the past few days, but thankfully (probably due to your prayers and well wishes) I felt pretty good this morning. My voice sounded relatively normal and I wasn't coughing or sniffling much. But as fate would have it, as soon as the teleprompter started moving and I took my first deep breath to start reading, I apparently inhaled a piece of dust and had to fight the urge to cough during the entire audition. Thus, my voice was a little shaky and I probably looked a little funny. I also had to sniffle a little during the break between each story. So as much of a perfectionist as I am - I LOVE to be the best at whatever I'm doing - I was really disappointed with my performance.

So I left the studio in a coughing frenzy and my head hanging. I talked to a couple friends that tried to boost my spirits and it certainly helped. But as soon as I got off the phone and sat back for a minute, I realized something...

This is an experience that I can choose to learn from. I've already accomplished so much, but I have so much more to learn. It isn't the end of the world if I don't get the anchor position. I'll still get a job somewhere. I'm driven, talented, smart, hard working, and young. I've got my whole life ahead of me and there's no way I'm going to let one disappointment keep me from achieving my dreams.

So I'd like to raise my coffee mug and make a toast to not letting little things, or even big things, stand in your way.

Here's to paving the road to happiness.

love, hugs, and triumph...

You Tube, OJ, and Penelope...

Hey ya'll. I just finished my third and final reporting package for this semester. I posted it on YouTube like the last one, so this time just search for "Ally's job search package" and it should come up.

Hope ya'll enjoy it and let me know what you think! I really appreciate all your comments!

Hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend and staying healthy. I'll be spending the rest of my day laying in bed reading a book, taking tons of medicine, and drinking a ton of orange juice. Pray that I feel better by tomorrow morning and wish me luck on anchor auditions at 8 a.m. tomorrow!!!

love, hugs, and Nyquil/Dayquil/sudafed/afrin/tylenol...

P.S. T-minus 6 days (including today) until
Have Your Cake and Eat It Too 's precious puppy Penelope arrives!!!

YouTube this...

I uploaded my feature package about blogging on YouTube so go check it out! Just search for Ally's feature package and it should come up. Hope ya'll like it! Let me know what ya think!

Can you hear me now?

Well you all know by now that things have a tendency of going wrong for me at the most inopportune moments. The trend continues...

I'm working on my last news package for this semester (there will be many more next semester if I make it into the advanced course) and I checked out camera equipment for Monday and Tuesday. I got an interview done, and a bit of b-roll, but had to turn the camera in Wednesday. After I turned it in, I signed up to check it out again on Thursday... well to make a long story short, I was told I could only have it for 3 hours on Thursday. WHAT!? That is not nearly enough time to do two more interviews, film b-roll, AND do my standup (especially considering I can't do my standup until I write my script). Finally, I find a way to get it until noon on Friday. Whew. So I get my interviews and some b-roll, thinking I'll just work on my script Friday after I shadow my professor and then film my standup Saturday or Sunday morning and do all the editing Sunday afternoon. Nope. All the cameras are booked all weekend. So then I had a minor panic attack as I realized I would be spending the majority of the night writing my script and recording my voice track.

Amazingly, I finished the script in only 2 hours and was really excited to be done before midnight. But as you can probably guess, it was too good to be true.

I should mention that Wednesday morning I woke up with a sore throat. I didn't think anything of it and figured it would just go away during the day. Well... it didn't. In fact, it just got worse.
Plan Acourtingly and I went to CVS after going to the bookstore and I stocked up on cough drops and chloraseptic spray (a miracle worker - literally numbs the throat instantly). So I got back to my room, sprayed my miracle spray, and took some meds.

Now back to the point... When I got ready to record my voice track I picked up the mic and started talking, only to realize that my voice was gone. GONE! Like, on vacation in Bermuda gone. So then comes a second panic attack followed by phone calls to my nutrition professor father (who of course doesn't answer the phone) and another heavy dose of miracle spray and medicine.

Finally, I ended up just going to bed and getting up early this morning before heading to WCTV to record my voice track. My voice did come back somewhat, but it still sounds a little weird. Oh well. What ya gunna do?

Oh! When I got to WCTV I found out that Triston, my prof, has strep and so does one of the TA's. Perfect.

Love, hugs, and flu season...

Step aside Katie C.

Last night I fell in love with reporting. At first, I thought I wanted to be an anchor, but interacting with the people last night was so amazing. I can't even begin to describe the feeling.

I arrived to the stadium to meet my photographer, Levi, at 5:30 p.m. He was having some issues with the equipment they gave him, but we finally got to the President's box around 6:30 p.m., got our MTV nametags, and agreed that nothing was going to happen anytime soon so we made a beeline to the food. We had our hotdogs (how much more American can you get than hotdogs? I mean, honestly) and the announcement came on that the CBS correspondent stationed here at FSU would be on air in a few minutes so Levi grabbed the camera and I toted my microphone and various cords down into the stands.

It was really neat to watch Kelly Cobiella work. She was great. I can't imagine how hard it must have been to stay focused and stay solid with hundreds of screaming college students practically climbing all over her to get on TV. I was impressed and totally inspired.

Most of the night was spent helping my photographer get some good shots. My part didn't come until after the results were announced. So around 11:45-ish (I think that's when it was announced) and after about 7 hours of standing and walking up and down the bleachers in heels (I know, my feet went numb eventually so it was ok) we got some great footage of the stands just going wild and I started my interviews, grabbing the few McCain supporters that were left before they took off.

The best interviews, by far, came from a few ecstatic Obama fans. I got some great outlooks on the influence of young people in this election and it just goes to show that, contrary to what most of the world thinks of our generation, we really do care, we do our research, we get involved, whether it's donating $10 to a campaign or volunteering with Get Out the Vote, we came out in record numbers and really made a difference. So I got some great soundbytes from students that were just so excited, and how can you not be? No matter who you supported, you've got to admit that witnessing, or being a part of, history is so exciting. The rush I felt covering this election and hearing different points of views was so invigorating.

Anyway, we headed out of the stadium around 12:30 a.m. and Levi headed to the editing suites to get started. So I got home around 1:00 or so. Much sooner than I expected.

So after a rollercoaster of a morning (my alarm clock didn't go off and I practically ran to the stadium with all my camera equipment digging into my arm and shoulder, leaving corresponding bruises, but I then found out that I was the only one in my political communication class to predict EXACTLY how the election would turn out - which state would go to who - cool huh? Maybe I have a future in predicting the future. Haha, ok maybe a little corny) now I'm flipping back and forth between MTV and MTVU to try and catch my interviews.

So that's that. :-) Now time for some homework and then hopefully a shower and nap before the weekly dinner with
Plan Acourtingly.

Love, hugs, and creating a life...

The Big Day!

"Today is your day. Your mountain is waiting, so get on your way!"

That Dr. Suess knew what he was talking about! Today is the big day and I'm really nervous, but very exciting.

I just got done eating lunch and I'm about to go do an interview with the director of the Career Center for my last news package. After that I have class until 4:30-ish and then I head to the stadium for a looooong night! Let's hope the winner is announced around midnight, because I don't know how long I'm going to be able to stay up! If anyone is heading to stadium for the viewing party at any point of the night, please feel free to bring me a caffeinated pick-me-up (coffee).

Well I hope everyone went out and voted for the candidate of their choice! This night will definitely go down in history and I'm so excited to be a part of it, as I'm sure all of you are. :-)

love, hugs, and making history...

You're gunna be on MTV!? WHAT!?

Oh boy. Right when I thought there was nothing to blog about, I get slammed with a ton of fantastic news! I'll start from the beginning (cause that's always best).

I got up early and headed to my reporting class at 8 a.m. We learned about writing VOSOTs and when 8:45 rolled around I was afraid we weren't going to have time to watch my story on blogs. No need to worry, though, because we watched it and my prof loved it! LOVED IT! She kept saying, "Solid, Alyson. Very solid. You look great. Your voice quality is wonderful. Solid. Solid." My new favorite word is solid. I mean, really. Everyone wants to be solid.

So that was a wonderful start to my day. But that's not all. It gets better. Triston, my prof, tells us that MTV has asked FSU and Ohio State to get college students' reactions to the election tomorrow night. They asked the communication programs to pick up-and-coming broadcast journalists to report this at viewing parties and then send it in to MTV to air on a 2 hour special on TRL and all throughout the day Wednesday on MTV and MTVU. Triston asked whoever was interested to let her know after class and she would pick which one would cover it. I signed up thinking this is an amazing opportunity that I just can't afford to pass up. I didn't think I would get it, I thought someone from her advanced class would.

So I head back to my room. Take a shower. And as I'm putting on some jeans, my cell phone starts ringing. I look at caller ID. Triston Sanders. My hands start shaking.

"Hello?"
"Hi Alyson. I just wanted to let you know you got the MTV gig and you'll be paired up with a photographer, Levi. Here's his number. Ya'll will go to the stadium and cover it from there."
"Uhh... great!" (Still shaking. Feel like fainting.)
"Alrighty! Good luck! You'll do great! I'll email you all the details from MTV."
"Thanks?"

I was shocked. Speechless. Then it hit me and I adrenaline started rushing through my entire body. It was amazing. This rush is amazing. I can't wait to see what it's like tomorrow!

So yes... yours truly will be covering the election from a college student's perspective. Stay tuned!

love, hugs, and big breaks...