A dinosaur story.

Dear Reader,

Well, today was a sad day. It was friend and coworker (but mostly friend) Lisa's last day at Highlights. We will miss her! 

It's kind of a thing to take pictures with Giggy. We encourage our tour groups to do it and we encourage ourselves to do it. But Lisa had been here an ENTIRE year without getting her picture taken with her head inside the giganotasaurus's mouth. 

And that just wasn't going to work.

So here it is: Our photoshoot with Giggy! (And thank you to Linda who stayed after work to take all the pictures!)

Oh, and then we decided to let Spot join in the fun. 

We took him on a walk and--

Oh no! A dinosaur!!!

Luckily Lisa is really good at bringing people together. 

The end! 

Oh, and an added bonus: Bailey in bowtie! What a dapper gentleman. 

It's official. And SO AWESOME!!!

Who says toys are just for kids?

Dear Reader,

So I've heard of comic conventions, book conventions, and boring businessy conventions, but I'd never, until a few weeks ago, heard of a TOY convention. So imagine my excitement when I was asked last Friday to go with the Highlights team to the Toy Fair in New York City the following Monday (two days ago).

"Whaaaat????? Heck yes I want to go!!"

I believe that's more or less a direct quote when my supervisor asked me if I wanted to come. And I may have also jumped up in the air I was so excited.

Now I ask you to try to imagine how magical this Toy Fair was. Imagine floors and floors, rows and rows, booth after booth of toys, board games, puzzles, and action figures. Stuffed animals, balloons, science experiments, books, candy, and dolls. Names like Mattel, Lego, Playmobile, TY, Gund, and Melissa and Doug. Retro toys, classic toys, contemporary toys, classy toys, and modern toys. Swarms of people flocking from booth to booth to admire and analyze each company's selections. Sellers trying to catch the attention of buyers. Exhibitors explaining what makes their toys so amazing. And me, the intern, trying to see it all.

Pure. Magic.

I also fulfilled a lifelong dream of meeting Clifford the Big Red Dog (Well, I just said hi to him. He waved back. Dogs can't talk.) and the Care Bears (They just look so huggable don't they?).

Also, shortly after this picture was taken, the Power Rangers walked by. So...yeah, it was pretty awesome. Good to know the Toy Fair was being kept safe from evil space aliens.

It was impossible to see everything at the convention, but I had to satisfy myself with the fact that I at least got to go and get a taste of what it would be like to work with toys all the time. Aka...pretty cool.

I'm going to go ahead and mark that day as one of my top ten best days working for Highlights. Win!

What 2012 has given me so far

Dear Reader,

Like this dresser, I have changed this year. Transforming from a beat-up chunk of wood into a glorious array of colors and beauty. This last month I have been refined and have risen like a phoenix from the ashes...

Ha, just kidding. But seriously, look what I did!:

Before

After

Oh, and in case any of you were wondering what my beautiful piano looks like, here you go. It's wonderful!

Also, since coming back from Michigan I've had two pretty significant things happen that will determine how my next year and a half are spent.

1. Back in November, Highlights offered to extend my internship another year. When I got back from Christmas break I accepted. My title will change to Editorial Assistant (Yay no more intern title! Seriously by the end of this internship I'll have been an intern for a total of 3 years. That's too long. I'm ready to be an editor now, thanks.) and I'll get business cards and be put on the masthead!

AND

2. I was sustained and set apart yesterday as my ward's Young Women president. For those of you who don't know, this is a really stressful, time-consuming, exhausting, and extremely important calling in the church. My bishop could not stress enough how important this calling is. So...no pressure. I really hope I don't break the young women I'm working with...the problem is, I think someone's already trying to break them. I have my work cut out for me.

So long, 2011!

Dear Reader,

2011 is over! Sometimes it's hard to believe. And then other times I feel like it's already about October 2012, since that's where my brain is at Highlights. (We work 10 months ahead.)

This year has been exciting. Let's relive it!

January:
I began my LAST SEMESTER OF COLLEGE. This was both exciting and terrifying, partly because I'd missed school during my eight-months-of-internships break and partly because I would be graduating soon, and mostly because I had no idea what I was doing with the rest of my life after graduating happened.

February:
February was slow. Like Februarys usually are. But I did make lasagna with Natalie.

March:
I participated in the Divine Comedy music video "Firebolt" which proves that wizards are real. If wizards are college students running around with sparklers and stuffed owls.

April:
I GRADUATED!!! And then left Provo for Michigan. And then had an interview with Highlights for an internship, which I guess went well because they gave me the job!

May:
I moved to Honesdale and began my internship at Highlights! I also took a trip to DC to visit Natalie on my birthday weekend when I turned 23. And I found the apartment I was going to live at in Honesdale which meant I didn't need to live in the Highlights cabins anymore:

June:
I went to NYC with Natalie and Amber! And I adopted Bailey.

July:
I hit up DC for the fourth. Nothing like Independence day in the capitol! Especially when it rains really, really, really hard. I went to Chautauqua Writer's Conference for work where I spent 8 days on staff working really, really hard while mingling with awesome people.

August:
I went to Philly to a Death Cab Concert and then visited Natalie and the temple in DC.

September:
Natalie came to visit me in Honesdale!! And I went to pick her up in Philly.

October:
It was finally fall! My favorite season. And I went to a pumpkin patch, ate cider donuts and drank cider. It was the perfect fall experience!

November: 

I went to Portland to go with Natalie through the temple! This trip was long-awaited and sooo worth it! Yay Powell's!!

December:
I helped plan and throw the ward Christmas party, oversaw the craft room at Highlight's Holiday Open House, and then drove home to spend Christmas and New Years with my family!

So I got a college degree, landed the most awesome internship, and traveled to some of the country's most awesome cities all in one year! I think it was an excellently productive year. Here's to 2012! May it be just as exciting--and even better (if that's even possible!).

A Unique Highlights Moment:

Having to figure out where to put the dinosaur head now that the Christmas tree is in his usual spot.

Live long and prosper

Dear Reader,

So two weeks ago Natalie came to Honesdale. Woo! It's about time, that's all I'm saying. 

Even though I've lived here for a few months, I hadn't thoroughly explored Main street. There's a French restaurant that apparently is a little piece of heaven. And France. 

This sandwich was soooo good.

After eating French, Natalie and I went to an antique store. 

There was a lot of cool stuff there. Coke bottles, mirrors, figurines, traveling trunks, and....

Life size cardboard Star Trek characters.

 It's not weird. Why would it be?

I also showed Natalie where I work! Another little piece of heaven.

And this is Giggy. He's my pal. He sits by my desk and keeps me on task. I am very fond of him.

We also walked the train tracks. Like a couple of awesome hobos. 

Yay for friends coming to visit! And small town charm. 

Welcome to Honesdale!

Dear Reader,

I thought it was about time I shared a little bit of this town with you. It is beautiful and cute and wonderful all at the same time.

We'll first start with my home.

OK, well, just the outside of it. The inside is still getting livable. I live in the upstairs. It's super cute, I promise.

This is my roommate. He's a wasp who lives outside my kitchen door. Unfortunately I want him to die. And he probably will soon--as soon as I find someone else to kill him for me.

This is a cute bridge near where I work.

View from said bridge. Oh, and if there was any doubt of whether I could be happy here, please just note the trees.

Enough said.

And now a little bit of where I work!

This is one of the parking lots for Highlights. (P.S. that's my (new to me) car in the background! His name is Jacques.)

I created this little message when I was testing a craft for Highlights. Hm. Why yes, this is the best job ever.

Our beautiful building, built in the 1860s.

One of my favorite buildings off of Church Street.

Alcove of my favorite church on Church Street.

The library! It's insanely cute on the inside, too.

I love how so many cute houses paint their doors bright colors like this.

Luckily for me, this town has a bakery (well, it has a few, but Sweet Eden is my favorite I've been to so far). And they have delicious, cute cupcakes! As seen above.

More updates on Honesdale coming soon!

Birthday Time!

Dear Reader,

Today I turned 23. And by today, I mean the 27th. I haven't gone to bed yet, so even though it's 2 in the morning, it still counts.

Also the reason I haven't gone to bed yet is because I drove to DC tonight to visit friend Natalie for the weekend as a birthday present to myself.

I'm sure you will hear about this vacation soon.

(This is the balloon I found tied to my desk at work today, thanks to one of the Highlights editors. They are so nice!)

The Report

Dear Reader,

So I have worked at Highlights for four days now, and I love it! Everyone is so nice and it's such a cute town to live in!

And I have an apartment! Yay! I'm not fully moved in yet, but it's there and it's waiting to be lived in by me. I'm still staying at the Highlights Foundation cabins up in the hills in the middle of nowhere. To help you live vicariously through me, here are a few images of my drive on the dirt roads up into the hills of Pennsylvania:

This is my favorite little area on the drive. There was pretty much a constant stream of water falling from the sky for the first fews days being here in PA (some may call it rain, but it was so much more than that) and one time this whole field was flooded and it looked really cool.

This is a river that is by the cabins I'm staying at.

And this is my cabin! (Complete with running water, electricity, and wifi! What a wonderful age we live in.)

There will be more pictures of this super cute world I've stepped into soon.

A Year with Highlights

Dear Reader,

Well, as exciting as being unemployed and living in a van by Utah Lake sounds, I will have to postpone any such plans at least for the next year.

And why is that? you may be wondering. Well, I'll tell you.

You may have heard of a little magazine called Highlights (Yes, the one in every doctor's office):

Well, for the next year I will be working diligently at their magazine as their (paid!) intern!

I report to Honesdale, Pennsylvania, next month (exact date still to be determined).

AAAHH!!!! I am so excited. It's a dream come true! I am so ready for an adventure.

Also, I'll be working in an 1860's mansion. Uh, what? Yeah, you heard me. It is that awesome.