Anne Pressly

Anne Pressly died in Little Rock tonight from her injuries from last Monday's brutal, vicious, and fatal attack. My prayers are with her and her family.

Arkansas Elections and Early Voting

It's election time again, and now more than ever, it's important for everyone to get involved. First, please note that Early Voting in Arkansas has begun. Details below:

• Early voting begins at 8am on Monday, October 20th and ends at 5pm on Monday November 3rd.
• The hours for early voting are 10am - 6pm Monday through Friday and 10am to 4pm on Saturday.
• The location varies by county. Most counties offer early voting at the county clerk's office and some off-site locations. Check out your local paper for details.

If you have any questions concerning early voting, please contact the Arkansas Secretary of State Election Department by email (electionsemail@sosmail.state.ar.us) or by phone (501-682-1010).

Also, besides the obvious offices we're voting on, there are five other issues on the ballot you might not be familiar with. The Fayetteville Flyer has a great page that breaks down these issues into terms that we can all understand and that will hopefully help you make your decisions. Note, even though this information is found on the Fayetteville Flyer's site, these are statewide issues and not specific to NWA.

Happy voting to all.

Chile Pepper 10k

This morning Michele, her sister Mandy, and I ran the Chile Pepper 10k. The race was held at University Farms in Fayetteville at 7:45 in the morning. As I'm training for my half marathon in December, Michele and Mandy are training for theirs in November. It was Michele and my's first competitive race. And it was so much fun! I want to do one every weekend. We all finished, running the entire time. Michele ran it in 56 minutes and 11 seconds, averaging 9:03 minutes/mile and I finished (a little behind her) at 59 minutes and 37 seconds, averaging 9:36 minutes/mile.

For more information on the event visit the Chile Pepper Festival's Website.

26.

Last weekend was my birthday and I turned 26. Yay. And thanks to my great family and friends, I celebrated for an entire week. The weekend before, Cole and I went to LR (and Hot Springs) and I was able to celebrate with my entire family - and eat my weight in good food and birthday cake. The weekend of my birthday, I celebrated with my friends in Fayetteville.

Below is Kim, Katie and me at z330 in Fayetteville.


Then, on my actual birthday Cole and I took a day trip to Branson to shop and eat. But, not before Cole surprised me with a red leather bag for my laptop, a rain guard/sunroof visor for my car - which he installed himself, and brand new floor mats. This is very exciting to me because when I got my car, the floor mats were the only thing I didn't like - they were pretty stained. And in Branson we found a Macaroni Grill on The Landing, which was a good end to my birthday.

Shameful.

I don't care who you're voting for, but all who vote should be informed. And these people, sadly, are not. It will hurt your heart to see that some people really think this way and are this uninformed, unintelligent and simply living in a different time. Wake up America. See beyond.

Happy Birthday CJRW!

Yesterday, October 15th, was CJRW's 47th birthday. So, of course we took advantage and celebrated with a very wonderful cake from our favorite - Rick's Bakery. For me, CJRW has been a wonderful place to work and more importantly, learn.

Founded in 1961, Cranford Johnson Robinson Woods ad agency is headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas, with offices in Dallas and Northwest Arkansas. The agency also owns Jones Productions,one of the region’s leading film and video commercial production facilities. The agency has more than 100 employees and an estimated $84 million in capitalized billings.

The Young and the Breathless

Thanks to my wonderful best friend Sarah P, I will be joining her and a couple other girls to compete in (rather, participate in) the Memphis Half Marathon on December 6th. Our team name is "The Young and the Breathless." I voted for "Are We There Yet?" since I'm pretty sure that's what I'll be screaming the entire way. I've really gotten into running these past couple of years, but as of recently, I'm officially "training." And it's hard work.

A half marathon is 13.1 miles total - my goal is to run the entire time. I want to set a time goal for myself as well, but I'm still thinking about what that might be (I hate to set myself up for failure). So far, I've run up to six miles at once - I've only done it twice but it's a start. I'm very proud of myself for my six miles, but at the same time I realize I have seven more to add to that.

I'll keep you updated on our progress and I cannot wait to post pictures of the race and let you know how we all did. And if anyone would like to come and cheer us on and then play in Memphis that Saturday night, please do - we want support, and I want a driving partner to Memphis!

Money Problems Hitting Home

As we are all aware, the economy has hit quite a slump and we are all fortunate enough to feel the effects. Just kidding.

As many of you probably know, Heba (my step-sister) is studying abroad in France until December. So, I am living at our house by myself. And in my efforts to save a little bit of money each month I've managed to cut my cable bill in half. First, I switched to a slower Internet speed as I only use the Internet to surf - so I figure I can afford to "slow down" a bit. Second, I did something I've never lived with before - I walked away from my expanded channels. So now, I only have channels up to 22. No E! or MTV. I feel it's a little spoiled and superficial to feel I need those channels. Plus I don't watch them enough to warrant the extra almost $30 a month. And I can watch them at Cole's house when I want. :-) I promise to let you know if I cave and add them back.

So, this gets me wandering - what are you guys doing to save money? Everyone seems to be saving money in such creative ways these days and I need more ideas!