bic for her pens

trust in the Lord

finally getting around to writing this overwhelming experience and hoping that there's a little lesson for all of us to learn from it.

if you know me, you'll know my terrible luck with cars in the last 2 years.

i had an experience yesterday (last sunday) that shook my emotions and nerves with the most frightening experience i've ever had.

i was headed up north to kaysville, utah for a close friend's mission farewell. i left my home at 8am to arrive at 9am. it snowed the night before so the morning snow on the ground was semi light/semi frozen. i decided to take my pathfinder because of the 4 wheel drive instead of my parent's van. the four wheel drive felt kinda funny, but maybe cause it hadn't been used in a while..? i don't know.

but i get onto bangerter highway just going 30 mph making sure i stay on semi solid ground. i tried to move out of some slippery patches, but failed and started to slide! and i'm not talking just a little swerve, but my whole car starts turning and all of a sudden i am moving with traffic but facing backwards.. my heart has stopped just thinking about it. i was freaking out not knowing how to stop or face forward. thankfully only a couple cars were passing and were able to dodge me. i wanted them to stop to help me, but obviously they couldn't. i did the one thing i knew about sliding is that you don't put your foot on the brake and just let go of your wheel. pretty much just let everything go and trust that it'll straighten out on its own. i didn't know it was true or would work with my situation. but i did it. and i stopped shortly after and facing kinda backwards at an angle, still facing against traffic.

i just paused for 30 seconds taking in what just happened and imagined the worse thing that could have happened. i was soo gratueful there weren't more cars traveling on the road and that i finally stopped.

the story doesn't end.

i slowly get moving again on bangerter, enter I-15, and get to about 11400 south exit, riding right next to an SUV, tried to dodge a slippery spot, failed and again, started to turn!! i was in even more shock because now i was on a freakin interstate!!! my car turned left and i was in deja vous facing against traffic. the next couple seconds become a blur and i suddenly found myself stopped and facing with traffic this time. i looked in my rear view mirror and thankfully noticed no one coming up the rear. i turn on my hazards and just took a deep breath in thanking my lucky stars. you can bet i was shaking. a lot.

i don't know how i got so lucky to not even hit anyone on the road, to hit a median, or even flip. i could have been severely injured or even lost my life. i was saved. by the grace of God i was saved. i have a greater purpose and work to do on this earth. and even greater reason to accomplish it.

lesson learned - just let go. let go of the wheel. don't hit the breaks. don't try to take control. just trust that everything with straighten out. God has control. He made you. He knows what your life path is. let go and put your trust in Him. also, make sure your vehicle is fit for the course. daily check up. fix errors immediately. and keep it clean of negative substances. i'm sure you can make those connections.

additionally, love others. and express your love. that's the only way you will then feel loved in return. and it's because it's the God's love you will be feeling in return as you serve and love others. it's the greatest love to receive and feel. you, me, and everyone deserves to be loved. God's love for all is eternal. we need to allow ourselves to find it and feel it. do it before it's too late. it's getting harder to live in this chaotic world. appreciate what you have and express your gratitude to those on earth and those above.

jedi

baby talk

funny things these pregnant ladies talk about at work -

cheap breast pumps
designer diaper bag deals
"is your belly button poking out yet?"
"everything was great until the third trimester. now it's like.. whatever dude."

work place

please don't clip your nails at work...

hurricane sandy

and this is only the beginning...

(source)

A worker retrieves a grappling hook on the dock next to Bubba's Restaurant in Virginia Beach, Va.

Waves crash over Winthrop Shore Drive in Winthrop, Mass.

The most empty you'll ever see Times Square.  

Storm surf generated by Hurricane Sandy pounds Rehoboth Beach near Wilmington Avenue

Terry Robinson wades through high water after retrieving some of his belongings from his flooded trailer at RV Park on Oct. 29 in Kitty Hawk, N.C.

Leaning into the strong wind and rain off the Chesapeake Bay near the Chesapeake Bay Bridge tunnel in Virginia Beach

Shoppers emptied the bread shelves of Waldbaums Grocery store in Long Beach, N.Y.

Waves crash over Winthrop Shore Drive in Winthrop, Mass.

Sandbags protect the New York Stock Exchange. The exchange was closed Oct. 29.

...I think they just a couple more...

love the little things

before and after of our ward bulletin board

( elders should say brothers )

i am so grateful for my job

seriously, i couldn't have asked for a better company to work for. it definitely was not the type of industry i would place myself in, but it's exciting and really growing on me.

i train property managers how to use their new online tools that help them with resident applications, resident rent, prospective residents, creating leases, etc. all the tedious office paperwork stuff. i am still training on the products myself, but i am eager to interact with people and get them excited about property management software!

we had a department meeting today to brainstorm ideas on how to make training interesting and have property managers feel like the training was worth their time. it was really fun actually! my team is great and also very excited about training!

now i have to brag about my boss because she's the main reason for this blog post. she is incredible. seriously. she's the type of leader i want to be. she's aware of her employees, she cares about their lives outside of work, she always has a smile on, she wants her employees to receive the proper training, she wants her employees to get paid well for their hard work, she is an efficient communicator, she praises great work, and she is sincere. and there's more that i'm discovering about her. she motivates our team towards unity and towards a shining goal within the work that we do.

and what's interesting, is that i don't think i would have appreciated her as much as i do if i hadn't had the experience i had in NY. loved my time in NY and all that i learned. one of the things that i learned from my internship specifically is how to work with people - both good ways and not so good ways. and not that the leadership i had was terrible, but i didn't feel that it catered towards individuals. the corporate world is very cut and dry. very stiff and regiment. not exactly my style. i believe in tailored leadership for individuals and not an organization. and i believe in everyone as equals. everyone has opinions and feeling and should be treated and honored as such. i hate to think that advertising isn't for me. i love the industry because of it's creative nature and how it motivates people to act. but i don't like the agencies that are like what i've described. and maybe it was just the team i was on.

in any case, i'm SOO glad that i've seen both sides. i value my time here even though it's not where i expected to find a job. i look forward to what i will learn here and what sort of impact i can make while i'm here.

my goal has been to move to ny in jan. and i would love for that to still come about. but at the same time, i've got a lot going for me here. i don't plan to stay for 5 years, but maybe i need to stay here longer than 3 months.. we'll see.

inspiring ad

this ad was published just this week and came up after a letterman clip. 

great inspiring video to start the day :)

thank you google chrome

a conference to always remember

what a wonderful day it has been and wonderful news we have heard. 2 new temples announced, immediately followed by the announcement of a lower age for eligibility for elders and sisters to serve. 18 years old for elders (high school graduate) and 19 years old for sisters. incredible! i don't even know that i would have been ready to serve at 19. probably knowing that was a possibility. but man, would it have been a totally different experience. i think for this growing generation of youth, the need for immediate missionary service is wise. think of all the eligable youth RIGHT NOW and the existing missionaries in the field! the work is going to explode! i can't want to see what will happen. and the dynamic at BYU is going to change drastically. all freshman girls :) haha. 

i really enjoyed President Uchtdorf's talk about not worrying about the ending, but participating and being active in wholesome activities because of the journey of the experience. don't worry about the last note. enjoy life in the moment. he also said to find something each day to enjoy; look more with your heart. lastly, he has met too many people who wished their life was happier. how sad is that? 

here's some neat facts about us mormons...

i'm old, and i'm coming back

overused

the iconic "i heart ____" is first seen in 

then i remember seeing this

    

THEN all these started coming out

and it doesn't stop there.

ahh! WE GET IT! you love what you do. but sorry, you're not creative by just sticking a symbol in place of a heart. no offense to any soccer players from san fransisco or canada. even nbc did a commercial with their show actors holding up signs of "i 'nbc symbol' nbc". gag! sorry. not impressive. if anyone can find me an image of that commercial, please send it my way. 

the ONLY design that i've seen, that i recall, that takes the idea and makes it unique and customized to their brand in People Water. grand applause! 

new and improved portfolio

{ click to view portfolio }

cool friends

new far east movement music video with my friend as a backup dancer :)

{click here}

something new

what i learned about the city this week

{ click me }

week's worth of adventures

here is a very general synopsis of my week. i will include pictures later today

fri - left for LA, downtown disney, fireworks attempt no. 1

sat - newport beach temple, bubba gump on the santa monica pier, beach, venice beach, in n out, justin masterson in beveryly hills

sun - church in san diego, bbq with liljestroms, ed!, prescotts, mormon battalion, fireworks attempt no. 2, mcwhirter's with the skaggs, trepanier, jeni, sean, and spencer

mon - coronado beach, matt, old town, seals, jk no seals, kristen's grandparents in rancho, drive through the night

tues - arrive in provo, pack and clean, thank you to allyson, cynthia, and lance

wed - leave for florida, arrive in florida, swim at disney all-star music resort with debbie

thurs - disney world!

fri - clean and pack, arrive in new york city, trader joe's

sat - target, coney island, indian food

sun - sleep in!, church, break the fast

september birthday blues

i meant to post this on may 8, 4 months til my birthday. september birthdays are the worst because it's the exact time that people usually start new jobs, classes, living situations, and around a new slue of people. so when i meet people in aug/sept, i don't want to say, "my name is sarah and my birthday is next week." so my birthday always ends up being with a small group of people. and to be quite honest, i like surprises, but people don't know me enough in september to throw me a surprise party or do something fun like that. oh well. thanks mom and dad for celebrating new year's.

94 moons have passed

(thank you jess for inspiring me on this post title)

well y'all. i did it. after 8 years, i've graduated from college. technically only 6 years cause of my mission.

i don't know exactly how i feel. yesterday and today has been great because i don't have the feeling of deadlines on my shoulders.

but guess what? if you haven't heard, i will be interning at GREY in New York City! and i'll be shadowing the account supervisor over their COVER GIRL account! how rad!? it'll be a whole new ball game working with such a largely known client and at an agency where the positions are set up a little differently than i'm used to and where people really know what they are doing.

i'm really excited because i never thought i was capable of having an experience like this! i've always kinda told myself i would be ok just living in salt lake city til i found something a little better. the way i got this internship was pretty remarkable.

first off, i was selected by a faculty member to apply for an advertising minority award. i had 2 days to put together all the paper work! i was then selected as a finalist with an all expense paid trip to new york for the Most Promising Minority Students conference and banquet. i went with 5 other students from my program. there were 55 students from across the nation there in total. we toured at different agencies in the city, attended a recruiter's fair, had several networking workshops, and were recognized at a big luncheon/banquet. at the recruiter's fair, i handed out several resumes and portfolios to agency recruiters. i then interviewed with Leo Burnett and Ogilvy! i had met the recruiter from Leo Burnett just a couple weeks prior at our BYU career fair. she was looking forward to meeting with me again. it was also there that i spoke very briefly with a recruiter from Grey.

it wasn't until mid march that i heard from that same recruiter and she wanted to interview with me! it came as a surprise because i kinda forgot about meeting them, but i remembered that they had great clients and work. it was a phone interview and it was great! very conversational and i could tell she wasn't just reading pre-determined questions. 3 weeks later - she called with an offer!

i told her i was super excited, but i wanted to have the weekend to think about it. other options i had for the summer were the nauvoo pageant, leo burnett, ogilvy, sundance doing seven brides, efy, people water, or richter 7. by the time i found out about grey i found out i hadn't gotten ogilvy, the nauvoo pageant, and efy. but i had just set up an interview with richter 7 for the following tuesday. i followed up with leo and didn't get it. and richter suggested i take grey and contact them if i came back to utah.

so i accepted! i'm excited to see friends on the east coast i haven't seen in forever! but i'm also sad to leave the new friends that i've met this year. it's a bitter sweet.

back to graduation (now that it's a week later) - i feel great! it's a big accomplishment for my family because i am the first in my immediate family to graduate from college on schedule (kinda). my mom is just now starting school cause she didn't go to college in the philippines. and my dad graduated when he was in his 40's. he began the military at a young age. and my brother hasn't finished school yet; jumped right into working. so it was a neat milestone for my family.

i am grateful that i switched majors. even though it took me longer, advertising has brought on so many more exciting opportunities that if i had stuck with dance. and i know that i will always be able to dance without having a degree. at the least the direction that i want to take with dance. i have competed in two national advertising competitions, i was selected to go to new york for a minorities advertising conference, and i have an internship in a month in new york with the 7th largest advertising agency working on one of the the largest cosmetics brands, CoverGirl. so much better than teaching in utah my whole life.

i am grateful for the musicals that i was able to perform in at BYU. because of the directors and choreographers i worked with, it provided me performing jobs in theaters outside of BYU. i'm glad that i've been able to develop musical theater skills while receiving an advertising education. i felt balance and enjoyment in both fields. and the other performers in each of the shows have been a blast to work with. there were always a select few though, in each show, that i know i needed to meet. to them i am so grateful for their acceptance of me and my imperfections and taking a chance to get to know me.

i can't forget to mention how grateful i am for the opportunity to serve in BYUSA for 2 1/2 years. with what i thought was just a volunteer position to help me gain experience in advertising provided me with an enriching experience with students and faculty that could not have recreated by any other organization. it's sad to think that students don't understand or appreciate what BYUSA is or does. i am grateful for the other students examples that gave me confidence in the goodness and many benefits of the organization. it's in BYUSA that i found the people i connect best with; those who are selfless and non-judgemental in every way. i found some of my greatest friends in BYUSA. i grew intellectually, spiritually, mentally, and emotionally every day that i served. and even though i didn't serve in BYUSA this past year, i still felt connected to the student leaders and i was able to be part of the 2012 student body elections. congrats brandon and jessica!

i did a lot in my undergrad, and i don't regret anything! and there really wasn't enough time for me to do everything that i wanted, but i think what's most important is that i met the people i've needed to meet. looking back at it all, timing was perfect. i needed to go on a mission. i needed to go to BYU. i learned what i needed to learn. cried over what i needed to cry about and joyed in the most joyous things.

thank you to my family who supported me along way, even though my steps weren't what they expected for me. i've turned out ok.

hello new york!

words of advice

dedicated to my fellow graduates!

growing up is hard to do

my checklist while I'm still 25

Sarah Burroughs' Portfolio

{ click image to view portfolio }

good morning

came into work. 8am. and...


girl at work is on the phone with her mom and is freaking out about her wedding, "i don't want a line!" and complaining about other things that are taking up time in her life - church calling, school, work. "i just want a break!" ..oo now she's just getting bitter. 

calm it down. calm, it, down!

massage

when on a date, don't tell a boy that your back and neck hurts.

can't stand this!!

advertising portfolio

 { sarah with and h's advertising portfolio }

How to Make Your Own Pattern : Clutch Purse

finding love

{ click the title links to read the full article }

stop obsessing about finding love
do the things that will make it easier to find him or her. make more time in your day, be the person that would attract the kind of man or woman you are looking for. be ready to find love because you feel ready, not because of social pressures or because you feel old.

how to love yourself first
some of us have been hurt by being ourselves. we have become afraid to be ourselves and try to be what others expect us to be. do what you love. don't be ashamed. and find someone who will support your dreams.

attraction of deprivation vs attraction of inspiration
attraction of deprivation gives one fear of abandonment and constant need to prove oneself to their partner. attraction of inspiration allows one to feel accepted and ease in displaying mutual respect and humility.

3 steps to hope
you're closer to love than you may think. try it out.