The Miss OBU crown shines the brightest...

For those of you who don't know- this past weekend I gave up my Miss OBU title to a wonderful girl named Kristen Glover! I was so proud to crown her because I know she will represent Ouachita in amazing ways this summer at Miss Arkansas! It was a bittersweet weekend for me in the fact that I knew that it would most likely be my last time to perform on the JPAC stage and be my last time to wear a crown. I wanted to share with y'all what I wrote (with the help of my dad *smile*) for the program! 


"On February 6, 2010, I was crowned Miss Ouachita Baptist University.  This year has gone by so quickly!  Sharing the Miss OBU stage on that special night along with ten deserving contestants was indeed an honor for me.  Hearing my name announced as the winner was truly a moment that will forever echo in my mind. There could be no higher honor than representing this University that I have loved since childhood and called my home for four years. I love Ouachita...each brick, building and tradition...and will cherish the education and every memory made here for the rest of my life.

Of course, the highlight of my year as Miss OBU was representing Ouachita at the 2010 Miss Arkansas Pageant this past July.  Sharing this experience with five beautiful and intelligent women from Ouachita’s student body was also very special to me.  After receiving the Miss OBU crown, I learned that with the encouragement of my loving family and a tremendous support system of friends, along with some good, old-fashioned hard work and perseverance, that much could be accomplished!  Finishing in the final top-ten on the closing night of competition was a personal achievement that I am very proud of.  Of course, standing with my dear friend and EEE pledge sister, Alyse Eady, as she was crowned the new Miss Arkansas, was just icing on the cake for me!  

I will be forever grateful for this wonderful opportunity of representing Ouachita Baptist University.  Like me, the new Miss OBU will grow in personal confidence, talent and poise. However, my prayer for our new Miss OBU 2011 is that she will represent Ouachita with an unfading “crown of character” that distinguishes this title far above many others."




Johnny Apple also put together one of the best farewell slideshows I have ever seen! He did such an amazing job I want to share it with you as well! 

In the words of Bethany Whitfield "Once your a Miss OBU....You're always a Miss OBU" :) 

a wonderful weekend.

Okay so how cute is this coffee sleeve?! When I got home from College Station I had this waiting for me on my stairs! I first saw it when my friend Caroline posted a picture of it on her  twitter and, of course, I instantly fell in love with it and knew I had to get one for myself ASAP! I ordered it off one of her fellow blog friends Etsy store called "Oh Sweet Joy!".  They are so cute and a great way to go green while getting your caffeine fix! :) 

On a side note...I went to College Station this weekend to visit my wonderful fiance, Tyler! On Saturday I got to watch him and some of his friends play in the Pi Phi Dodgeball tournament. Sadly, they didn't get to take home the golden dodgeball but I think Tyler bruised some egos with every 100 mph fast ball he chucked at the other teams stomachs. Ouch! Competitive much?? :) 

I also learned some valuable tips for the next time I visit good ol' Aggie Land: 

1. Fanny Packs are in. Im not sure when this became a fashion statement but I saw more girls rocking the fanny pack this past weekend then I ever have before. Also...the more neon colored- the better. 

2. Large and X-Large Shirts are way cooler to wear then Smalls or Mediums. Im still a little confused on this trend but its growing on me. My theory is that the larger shirts might give off the impression that you are skinnier then you actually are...and im ALL for that. 

3. Gym time?  Just because you wear nike athletic shorts does not mean you are about to go workout after class. I think I was guilty of doing this everyday at OBU. 

3. Poof your hair?? Wha??? Straight hair is in. Poofing is not. *Cue Arkansas girl gasping* I know I know...its tragic. 

4. I was in a social club.  Do not attempt to explain to a sweet random sorority girl what a "social club"or "EEE" is. You get some extremely confused looks.

4. Do not "whoop" unless you are an Aggie.  If you aren't use to "whooping" then most likely your whoop is weak and people automatically know your not an true blue Texas Fighting' Aggie. And yes- this did happen to me. A lot. 

So keep it classy loves and go get yourself a fanny pack and coffee sleeve. :)

Kerning is kool.

I blame my growing obsession with Typography on my OBU Graphic Design professor David Bieloh. Before I walked into that class I thought that fonts like Papyrus, Comic Sans and Bleeding Cowboy were perfectly okay fonts to use, that text distortion was somewhat cool and the word "kern" was some hick trying to say "corn". 

Wrong, wrong, wrong....How terribly wrong I was.

When people ask me what I do and I respond with " I'm a Graphic Designer", I more times then not get a funny look from the other person. That is typically when I hold up the Starbucks cup that’s in my hand and point to the pretty pictures and go, "That's Graphic Design." Then it suddenly clicks with them. What is so crazy is that they actually still haven’t even scratched the surface of understanding the meaning of design. 

I mean, heck, I still don’t get it.

Honestly, when I graduated from OBU last Spring I wasn’t setting my sights on finding a design job anywhere in the Plano/Dallas area. "It isn't my cup of tea anymore" is what I would tell my other design friends. I actually had no clue what I wanted to do and the only thing I cared about after graduation was preparing myself for the Miss Arkansas stage.

Whelp, I know this may come to a shock to a lot of girls but contrary to what I thought myself.... there actually is life after pageants. And life requires you to find a job.

A couple months and several interviews later I found myself sitting in a cubical working for an insurance company. Basically, I was in a major learning curve. I didn’t even know what an insurance policy was but I was determined to make the best of it and soak up every bit of information I could.

After a couple months of pulling myself up by my bootstraps- I hit a wall. I found myself longing to create something. That was the moment that I realized that Graphic Design was indeed my cup of tea.

Long story short I got transferred over to the marketing side of the company by the Grace of God and now I get to let my odd growing obsession with Typography grow and flourish everyday at work and even on outside projects as well! 


Although learning how to sit in a chair for 8 hours a day and stare at a computer was tough- Im slowly getting the hang of it. I feel extremely blessed to be where I am right now. Not many today get to say that they actually love doing what their doing.