Singing

Tomorrow I'm going to be filmed singing my American Idol audition song on the step's of WMU's first campus building for a story for our alumni/WMU stories website.  The website is mywmu.com.  I will post a copy of the video here, but you can also view it there once it is posted.

The vice president of the department wanted to share my story of bravery (and my skill for singing) with our alumni/campus audience.  It will be crazy.  I don't know that I've ever watched myself singing before.

~Cristina

On the note of singing, this is my favorite performance of all time (by Carrie or anyone):

More Job Updates

Sorry for ONLY job updates, but it is what is taking over my life right now.

My internship in Alumni Relations is ending tomorrow, and I have not heard about the position that I interviewed with them for.  I am not sure what is taking so long, but I should hear soon.

I have an interview TODAY with WMU Residence Life's Hall Director position from 12:30pm-4:45pm!
I am excited and nervous, and I know it is going to be draining, but good. :)

I just heard from KVCC today, and I have a 2nd interview scheduled with them for next Wednesday!

Apparently I had lots of job related news.  I should (in theory) know about all of these jobs by the end of next week.

Wish me luck!!

~Cristina

Job Updates

I am still waiting to hear about the Coordinator of Alumni Relations position.  My boss is out of town this week, so I doubt I will hear anything until next week.

BUUUUT, I have heard from TWO of the jobs I recently applied for.  First, I was called for an on-campus interview from Western Michigan University for a hall director position.  Last year, I was a graduate assistant hall director, so I know how this department works, and the benefits package for this position is great. $34,000/year plus a furnished 2 bedroom apartment, free utilities including cable, reserved parking space, and a meal plan.  The downside is being on call 24-hours a day basically.

The other position is a Strengths Coach at Kalamazoo Valley Community College.  This position is in the Student Success center and works with student leadership and career assessment by employing StrengthsQuest, a leadership assessment.  I love strengths psychology and I know I would love the work being done in this department.  I am interviewing TODAY at 11am (just over an hour from now!).  The downside, it is only 29 hours/week, so I would be working part-time.

We'll see how things turn out, and I'll keep updating!

~Cristina

Motivation

I need some motivation.

I have been doing ok in my weight loss goals and plan.  I am tracking about 80 percent of my food and I actually tracked throughout the weekend which NEVER happens.

I just don't feel like I'm 100% in it.  I'm hoping that just writing this post will be what I need.  Knowing that I am recording this journal for whoever wants to read it makes me feel more accountable not to quit.  This wasn't the greatest week food and exercise wise so we will see what the scale says on Wednesday....

In other news, I started reading The Help this weekend.  I am only about 20 pages in, but I'll keep you updated on how I like it!

One of my favorite shows of the summer is The Glee Project.  Who else is watching it?  I am obsessed.  The concept seems very genuine, and they seem to be looking for a real person to fill a role on the show Glee.  Next week is the finale and I can't wait!  I want Damian to win--he is the cutest Irish guy ever! :)  Here is a video of him singing:

I have give credit to Lindsey's performance of Defying Gravity-- SO good! (see below).  She used to be my least favorite, but this week I've started to like her more.  She could def. give Lea a run for her money if she made it onto the show.

Anyway, I love this show. :)

~Cristina

They're here!

I had a lovely package on my doorstep last night with the books I ordered.  I'm excited!  Unfortunately, I still have 3 chapters to read for school so I can't reward myself yet.

I can't decide what to read first.  Take a look and let me know what you think. :)

~Cristina

More on the Job Search...

Today I had my second interview for the Coordinator of Alumni Relations position at WMU.  I was interviewed by approximately 8 people from the office (all of which I know from my time interning here).  They asked some challenging questions.  Challenging in a good way though.  Some of the questions I have been asked before.  Some were:

-What will you teach us?
-What do you believe the WMU student perspective of WMU is?
-How could you change the attitude of an alum who did NOT have a good WMU experience?
-How can we touch a broader audience?

I feel good about.  I know they are interviewing other people on Friday, so I am hoping to hear sometime next week.

On another note, WMU also posted a Residence Hall Director position that I applied for today.

~Cristina

This made me laugh.

I love burning calories while doing chores!

Yesterday my roommate and I did some gardening at our house since the previous owners left everything to become extremely overgrown.  A couple of things:

(1) Gardening is hard work.  My back is SO sore today!

(2) I burned a lot of calories. According to My Fitness Pal, 375 calories in a little over an hour.

(3) I love black eyed susans.

Here are some pictures of the finished product.  I wish we had taken before pictures, but just picture a crazy overgrown mess of weeds, and that is what it looked like.

~Cristina

Singing

I have been singing my entire life.  When I was 2 years old, I became the youngest soloist at Butterflies and Bullfrogs Preschool when I sang Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer solo at a Christmas show.  My parents will never let me forget it. :)

This year, I decided to try out for American Idol.  I've never done anything like this, but since they have a maximum age of 28 years old (I'm 27), I thought I should give it a shot.  I went to Denver, CO for auditions, sang my heart out, but didn't make it through to the "real judge" auditions.  I sang the best I could, and therefore, have no regrets.  Will I do it again?  Only time will tell.

Here is a picture of me right after I arrived to Denver and registered for the competition.  The 2nd picture is of me singing at my family reunion with my nieces.  They requested Taylor Swift's Love Story. :)

Videos to come soon!

~Cristina

Job Hunt

I will be done with grad school in 1 week.  That is crazy to me.

I've been job searching for a few months now.  I am searching locally in the West Michigan area (within an hour or so from Kalamazoo), and there have been some prospects, but until recently, nothing that has seemed promising.

I just heard this morning that tomorrow I will have a second on-campus interview at Western Michigan University in the Alumni Relations department for the Coordinator of Alumni Relations position.  I currently intern in this department, and I have grown to enjoy the office environment as well as the work they are doing here.  I believe I am one of 3 being considered.  It is tomorrow at 1pm and I am excited and nervous!

I have also applied for the Strengths Coach position at Kalamazoo Valley Community College, but I haven't heard anything yet.

Wish me luck tomorrow!

~Cristina

Before Pictures

I'm going to call these my "before pictures." One is with my beautiful cousin, Michelle, at our family reunion this July 2011, and the other is last summer in Australia.

I'd say I probably weight 160ish in both of these pictures.

I'm not particularly fond of either picture of myself, but I think posting them here is helpful for motivation.  I have a picture from high school that is my motivational picture for the opposite reasons (it is more like my GOAL picture, and once I find it and scan it, I'll post it here.

~Cristina

Reading

I have 2 weeks left of graduate school.  I cannot wait to read for fun again!  Yesterday I ordered the following books from Amazon.com (some based on recommendations):

1. The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein
2. Sugar and Spice: An L.A. Candy Novel by Lauren Conrad
3. One Day by David Nicholls
4. Room: A Novel by Emma Donogahue
5. The Help by Kathryn Stockett
6. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

# 1, 4, 5, and 6 came from recommendations.  Let me explain #2.  From time to time I like to read young adult novels, and I have been surprisingly impressed by Lauren Conrad's book.  People argue how much of these books she actually wrote, but I enjoy them either way.  This is the 3rd and final book in the L.A. Candy series.  One Day I bought because I saw a preview for the movie and it looked really interesting so I thought I would read the book.

My plan here is to read each of these books and as I read them I will post my own reviews of them.  I will do my best to not include spoilers, and I will give a yes or no recommendation based on my experience with the story.

I should get the books within the next week or so, and by then I am hoping to be done with reading for school so I can get going!

~Cristina

Weight Loss Plan

I've done Weight Watchers (WW) before and was extremely successful.  I lost 30 lbs. in a matter of months.  However, when I couldn't afford the program anymore, I gained all of the weight back.  I'm trying something different this time.  I'm using myfitnesspal.com for a few reasons.  One, my sister recommended it to me, and I trust her. Two, it is free. Three, it is very similar to WW except you are counting calories instead of points.

Here is a link to my profile on that site: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/crimiller

So far I have found it motivating with lots of users and message boards, and relatively simple to use.  I've lost 5 lbs. so far, and I can't wait to lose more!

Current Weight: 155
Small Goal Weight: 150
Goal Weight: 130
DREAM Weight: 121

~Cristina

Here I am

Here I am starting a blog.  In 2 weeks I am graduating with my Masters degree in Higher Education & Student Affairs Leadership from Western Michigan University.  I have lots of plans follow graduation including getting a job (hopefully!), reading for fun, and so much more.  I want to keep an account of what will be coming up in my life for me to have a document of this, but also in hopes that my experiences have the opportunity to benefit someone else's life.

This blog will be about:
-My job search and hopefully a new job
-Reading..I plan to do some book reviews
-Weight Loss (a month ago I began a new plan)
-Cooking (I recently became a vegetarian and have been experimenting with new food and recipes)
-Television..similar to reading, but I will be doing show reviews
-Singing.  This is a big one.  I love singing, and I recently auditioned in a competition for the first time.  I didn't make it, but I want to display my singing here in hopes that I can stay motivated to keep singing after a disappointment.

I'll leave it at my introduction for now, but don't be fooled; I'll be back soon to start blogging!

~Cristina