more adventures.

today my smoke alarm went off.

WHILE I WAS MAKING TOAST.

i think my smoke alarm is just super-sensitive. i've made toast here before without any problem, so maybe it's just playing it safe. and it's better to have it be more sensitive than less sensitive, i guess.

other adventures this week: flood coverage in necedah. a gas leak in merrill. water rates increasing in abbotsford. birds being flooded out of their homes in a wildlife refuge. a city that is suddenly opposed to a downtown revitalization project. and wisconsin taking greater strides against puppy mills. so far...an interesting week.

i love that i get to work on different stories every day. my mind is constantly churning...thinking about what else i can dig up...what other stories are out there that need to be told...what my viewers need to know...stuff like that.

oh! and today while i was out on the streets doing interviews, someone told me she had seen me on the news before. crazy!

life is awesome.

having a little bit too much fun...

i've been working like crazy this week (including breaking news from 1AM-9AM on friday morning -- which included me doing 5 live shots -- and from 4:30-1030PM that night!) so yesterday i tried to get some much-needed rest. i spent the day unpacking and got some basic necessities for my life (like shampoo and more yogurt). my bishop dropped off a dresser (that i want to paint) and some other things that hopefully i can use in my house. one of the boys from my station offered to help me put together my bed frame and then a bunch of the channel 9 and channel 7 reporters went out to celebrate one of our reporter's birthdays. we went to this dancing place and it was a lot of fun...until someone behind me stepped on my shoe, making me trip and fall on my butt. today i woke up to a glorious sight:

hello, twisted ankle that is twice as huge as my other one. luckily today was pretty low-key so i could try to rest it but i don't have any ice so i just took some ibuprofen and tried to keep my ankle raised when i could. hopefully it will be better by tomorrow. or maybe at least i can buy some ice cube trays or something.

p.s. i never felt like a truly "poor" college kid. i always had food and clothes and everything that i ever wanted so i never worried about stuff like that. and now...i don't even have ICE for my swollen ankle. welcome to my poor post-college life ( :

oh! and remember this movie?!

...i feel like meg. love those weak ankles.

the pictures you've been waiting for...

i moved into my awesome apartment dream house!!

^ here's all the stuff i had in my car.

...seriously. be impressed.

it was quite the feat getting it all in but now i'm working on unpacking and settling in and soon i will have pictures of my awesome new apartment that i love.

did you know that i've been working at channel 9 for six days now

...and i've been live on location for three of them?

check out my live shots:

the first: breaking news -- an explosion at a factory in merrill

the second: a new bike path opening in weston

the third: flooding waters in portage county (today)

in other news, i can't eat anything*.

*that involves the use of a microwave, can opener, blender, cooking sheet, silverware, knives or measuring spoons.

plus, i have an oven / stovetop...but nothing to prepare food in

(like pans, baking sheets, etc.)

no worries...i'll go shopping this weekend / next week. but for now, it's mostly granola bars, carrot sticks and sandwiches. yum ( :

home sweet hotel.

number one best thing about living in a hotel:

^ you never have to make your bed...

but it's always made when you get home from work!!

i've been living in a hotel for about ten days now.

(i brought in some of the stuff that had been living in my backseat so i could see out the back window, but it's still mostly packed up)

i thought it would be all glamorous and awesome...and it is.

but also, it's a hotel. not a home.

so even though i've been having fun hanging out in my temporary residence, it will be nice to move into my apartment tomorrow night.

^ this was the view outside my window on the first day of work (last wednesday). can you see lex?? the clouds were pretty so i thought i'd take a picture to commemorate the day.

if you didn't know, i stayed at la quinta my first few nights in wausau and then moved to a super 8 when i found out how expensive it was to stay at LQ over the weekend...

^ as you can see in this map, i moved all the way across the parking lot to my new hotel and i've been here ever since.

(LQ is the green one and S8 is the tan one)

if you're wondering how life is at newsline 9...

rest assured that it is AWESOME and i absolutely LOVE IT.

yes, the hours are long, but they are so worth it. especially when you go live on day 3 of work and when you make your way back to the newsroom, your news director comes up to you and says, "are you sure we just hired you this week?" i guess maybe other reporters don't get on the air so quick (or maybe not live? i don't really know) but regardless, it's always a plus to be on the boss' good side.

the ten o'clock news.

while i was growing up in ohio, the evening news was always on at 11 PM. the fox station ran a newscast at 10, but it was mostly lame and i was not a fan. so you can imagine my distaste for the 10 o'clock news once i moved to utah -- all because the prime time schedules are different in mountain time. i told myself that i couldn't wait for the day when i could go back east and watch (or report on) the news at the "regular" time again.

well, let me tell you something. the central time zone has the same weird scheduling thing as utah so we also have news at ten (with a fox newscast at 9). but considering my epic amount of being-tired lately (and wanting to curl up in bed by about 10:15 each night) i am SO GLAD we have news earlier instead, especially since i will be a nightside reporter in the not-so-distant future.

p.s. this is not to say that i go to bed at 10:15 every night. i wish.

p.s.s. yesterday i worked from 9 AM to 8 PM. and today -- 9:30 AM to 7:30 PM. that might have a little bit to do with how tired i've been...

welcome to wausau.

i like that all the signs say welcome "home" to wausau.

i live here now.

it's still kind of weird, but so far i LOVE it.

the first thing i noticed about wausau was the stoplights:

^ they are sideways!

the next thing i noticed?

there is water EVERYWHERE.

^ this is the river that runs right through downtown wausau.

^ i love all the bridges too.

want to see a couple weird traffic things?

(you do.)

there are a lot of these:

^ railroad crossings! right in the middle of the city.

many of them don't have the arms at all so you just have to be careful when you cross in case trains are coming!!

^ if you can read the sign, it says: "left turn lane" and it has a nice little arrow showing you where it is. maybe it's in case people don't know what left turn lanes are? there are a TON of these all over town.

^ also...instead of all numbers, some of the roads are letters.

^ here is my favorite part of downtown wausau.

the brick streets are so pretty and i love that there is a park right in the middle of the city!

^ plus, that's where i found the theatre!

and mom -- the blue man group is coming to town in january in case you want to come check it out ( :

^ this is the sign i've seen most frequently here in wausau.

^ not even kidding.

^ pretty much every road is 35 mph!

okay. now are you ready for the best part?

^ this is where i work!

pretty and purple and...

^ ...right across the street from a GIANT cemetery. literally.

anyways. that's wausau.

well...at least a little bit of it.

stay tuned to hear about where i'm staying (now), what my new apartment is going to be like (next week) and what it's like at WAOW.

my first day is TOMORROW!!

wish me luck ( :

on my way...

i've taken some pictures of wausau between today and yesterday, but what would those mean without looking at my journey first?

here's my car.

it looks a little full, doesn't it?

no, i could not see out the back.

yes, that was probably dangerous.

no, i didn't get into any accidents.

but yes...someone almost hit me because they were an idiot.

but now i'm fine.

psh. and andrew said i'd never be able to fit all of it...

somehow i did.

(p.s. i can't open the back passenger door because it'll all fall out)

but there wasn't really space for anything / anyone else ) :

it was seriously like tetris. but with luggage.

^ wyoming.

here is a picture of i-80 (the road i was on for nearly half the trip)

with clouds and windmills, two things that i've grown to love.

^ nebraska.

love love love clouds and beautiful sunlight.

^ iowa.

not going to lie...not the most interesting looking state ever.

but...finally!!

^ wisconsin ( :

p.s. thanks to mom & dad for my new camera, with which i love taking pictures. also thanks to sarah and ruth and drew (and his coupon) and dustin for helping me pick it out!

stuck in the middle with you.

^ that's where i'm going to start working next week ( :

that's right.

i got hired to be a reporter for WAOW.

(a news station in wausau, wisconsin)

so...where is that?!

^ oh look. right there in the middle.

look familiar?

where's columbus?

^ oh. right in the middle of the state.

and provo?

^ (it's the star)

not totally middle. but close.

and me?

middle child.

midwest girl.

with mid-length hair.

maybe it's destiny.

p.s. COME VISIT ME IN WISCONSIN!!

september already?!

...am i the only one who thinks summer went by too fast?

over the weekend, i moved my entire life 20 miles away to springville to live with my bff, her bf and her bff while she was growing up in florida. plus her florida bff's adorable 2-year-old. everyone i know started back to school and i hit the streets on tuesday to put together a news story in one day (by request from a station i have been interviewing with) -- something that is pretty much a requirement if you want to work in local tv news. despite some major complications and setbacks, i put together a story i am happy with (click HERE to watch my story about the possible demise of the deseret news).

so, a few job interviews in the past few weeks, my documentary premiere on the horizon and who knows what will happen next. but for now...the most exciting and awesome thing about today:

college football is back!!!

my ohio state buckeyes are playing against marshall tonight in their season opener. plus byu kicks off against washington this weekend and that should be a good game too. yay football!