World Wide Kate

New goal

This is the penguin paperweight I received for Christmas from my Godmother, Carol.

I love him.

Upon receiving the little fella, I thought for a moment and said “I’ve never petted a penguin”. To this, my brother Jimmy and Carol’s daughter Amanda laughed.  But I was serious.

I want to pet a penguin!

In the last 6 months, I’ve held a koala, ridden a camel, gotten my photo taken with a tiger and sat on the back of an alligator…

New goal: Pet a penguin.

If anyone has any information on how I can achieve this it would be greatly appreciated. Also, a name for my paperweight. Think on that.

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Happy Holidays!

You know what? I don’t care if my current subject material isn’t pertinent to my future employers. This is my current life and I’m not ashamed of it! (Ask me if I am in 6 months and you might get a different answer.)

As for what’s happening right now…

The Sticehold (that’s how I refer to the Stice household) had a very merry Christmas.  Dale got the car that she wanted (actually a picture of it but the car should be in the driveway sometime in the next month) which was a relief for all of us.  Good ol’ Sandy scared the be-ge-zees out of me Christmas Eve when he started setting out Bloomingdales and Nordstroms boxes around 9pm.  No amount of those boxes could have made up for the absence of that car.  (She hasn’t had a new car in 11 years and is currently driving my brother Jimmy’s 2000 Ford Explorer.) YAY SANDY!

During the my absence from WWK I have somewhat learned how to throw a pizza.  My friend Peter and I spent an evening trying to toss one out of dough we made and learning from online instruction.  No action shots, sorry! Goal accomplished but, like driving stick shift, I probably need a few more lessons! In the end we ended up using pre-made pizza crust for our pizza and spent the evening throwing dough at the wall.

Also in the past month I made a trip over to NOLA.  The best city on earth.  Just bragging.

Went down to Orlando to visit my sorority sister Nikki who was home for the holidays from her new residence in Alaska.  Figured my parents were more likely to send me down to O-Town than up to Fairbanks. 

And what exactly is Nikki doing in Alaska you ask? She’s working as a waitress.  Yes, she is crazy!

We took a day trip over to GATORLAND.  I would like to say it is the most awesome place in the world but that would be overselling it.  It was fun though. Probably because I was in good company.

So as for what’s going to happen in the New Year? 

Who knows. 

Hopefully the economy picks up as of January 1 so that everyone who resolves to get a job will be able to fulfill their goal. I love goals :)

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An explanation

So you’ll notice a few ‘Back to America’ posts are missing.  This is because in my cover letters I’m placing a lot of emphasis on WWK and I don’t think future employers really care to read about my Facebook fast or that GA Tech beat FSU for the first time since 1975 and how bummed I was about it!

Now you may say, “Kate, should you really be sending this site out to future employers?” to which I say yes, because although some of these posts chronicle my ridiculous adventures I’d like to think they also show what kind of person I am and hopefully highlight that I am a competent writer.

If any prospective employers think otherwise, please call me and we can discuss the matter over lunch :)

Also, I really enjoyed running into people over Thanksgiving who (especially after a few drinks) admitted how much they read WWK.  I will never ever think you are creepy for reading the site and am always happy to hear your opinions, thoughts and compliments!

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New Plan!

So I had a meeting with my dad last night to discuss my future during these rough economic times.  

I haven’t been able to find a job, and Santa at Phipp’s never called me back!

So for the next 6 months (or so) I’m going to be interviewing different people about their jobs to find out about their typical weeks, their favorite things about the job and their least favorite.  I want to find out if I would love a job in the their field or if their job was nothing like I had expected.

Where do I belong? Do I even know the job exists? What am I going to do until the people at Travel Channel realize they need me? 

If anyone has any contacts in the Atlanta area who are involved in PR, event management, hospitality, travel or another field that might suit me, please send me their contact info so I can take them to lunch and pick their brain!

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Twilight…

“It’s about this girl who falls in love with a vampire…” <pause> “But it’s better than it sounds I swear!”

That’s my Theta roommate Lindsay speaking… The 4 months we lived together she had this series of books she couldn’t put down.  The Twilight series.  Actually, it was her, Jenna, Lauren and Nikki.  My 4 best friends in the Theta house.  All addicted to books about vampires.  Puh-lease.

Fast forward 6 months.  The Twilight movie is coming out, the girls all have pre purchased tickets to the midnight premiere in Tallahassee. 

I meet up with Lindsay and Jenna the next day at Jenna’s lake house in Pell City, Alabama.  On Saturday we head into Birmingham to go shopping.  And attend the 5:25 showing of Twilight. 

Do I get a choice? No.  Had they just seen the movie 35 hours before? Yes. 

I don’t even know the plot.  Girl falls in love with a vampire, played by an actor who I’m not sure what the fuss is about.  The theatre is 95% female with some boyfriends in tow.  Sweeeeeet.

Fast forward to the movie being let out…

“O-Mi-God. Thank you for making me go. That was amazing. Amazing. Wow. Thank you. I never would have gone if you hadn’t made me.  That guy was so hot.  Like he isn’t hot…  But he’s so hot.  When is the next movie coming out? Oh my god. That was good.”

There aren’t even words.  Go see it! Go see it!  Go see it!  If you’re in Atlanta, call me and we’ll go see it together! Yay for vampires! 

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I need a job!

I need a job like WOAH.  Been searchin’ the net- every nook and cranny of every travel related site.  As it seems, no one is hiring fun, adventure-loving recent college grads.  If anyone knows of anything please gimme a holler- I will pour coffee, I will walk your dog, I will pick up your kids from school in the afternoon and take them to tee ball practice! Anything is fair game, tell me what you need cuz I need a J-O-B!

HIRE ME!!!

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Taylor Swift

She’s 18, she’s got an adorable personality, she’s gorgeous and oh yes, she can sing.

Not that I have anything against country, I just haven’t bought a country album since Garth Brooks: Double Live came out in ‘98. But this girl isn’t just some country crooner, she’s kind of like a country/pop princess.  But then again, she’s not the next Britney Spears. She writes her own songs! 

Basically, she’s one big ball of awesomeness.

Writing her own songs and being 18 this album screams “high school”.  All but 2 songs are about boys, who she is in love with, has a crush on or broke her heart. But hey, I’m 22 and I love every song on it so maybe labeling it high school isn’t too fair now is it?

Speaking of heart breakers, this girl doesn’t have much sympathy- she’s been pretty dang public about her split with the middle Jonas brother. In her interview in Blender, Taylor says, “I’ve had a lot of guys complain about either things that I say about them in songs or things I say about them in the press. I think it’s kinda fun to call out your ex-boyfriends. Why do this if you’re not going to get the opportunity to always have the last word. It’s so much fun.”  One of the songs on the album, “Forever and Always” was a last minute add on and it’s about the break up.  Fantastic. The more I know, the more I love.

So basically, every girl should go out and buy this album, then come over to my house for a movie night and we’ll dance around the kitchen in our PJs singing along with wooden spoons…

I think she has replaced Lindsay Lohan as my favorite celeb.  Which may not sound that impressive but for those in the know, it’s pretty darn impressive.

Maybe I can get a job on her road crew? That would be quite an adventure…

Go watch this video::: you’ll have a new favorite celeb too!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pp5Y7zSGbPU

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Look at Jocelyn! The Russian Circus performer!

Remember when I went to the Russian Circus in Moscow?

I don’t know about the rest of you but something in that post inspired Jocelyn.  

Here she is in her fabulous Halloween costume::::

Yes, that is WWK.COM written on her chest.

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The lake house

This past weekend I headed to Clayton, GA, to visit my grandpa Bar* for his 87th birthday.  Although I sent postcards to Bar’s house on Lake Burton at every stop throughout my trip and I thought of it fondly while walking around Norway, I almost forgot how much I love the lake. 

The lake house my grandparents built back in the early 80s on 3 acres of property on Lake Burton may not look like the colossal houses you see sprouting up just down the road, but to me it embodies everything a lake house should be. 

With two boats, one for fishing and a pontoon for joy riding (okay so yes we are missing a ski boat but my dad sold it promising to get us a new one and instead bought my mom’s old car with the money!), a dock, enough land with enough shrubs for an old fashion Easter egg hunt, and enough beds and pull-out couches for you and all your friends, the lake house does its job.

There’s that smell that seeps into your clothes that’s hard to describe but everyone who enjoys a trip to the mountains knows what I’m talking about.  Mountain musk.  It could stay in your clothes for years if you let it and if you don’t, years from now, years after never smelling that smell, if you catch a whiff it will immediately take you back.

Spending a weekend with my grandpa for his birthday was nice.  I love hearing his old stories, some I’ve heard and some that were new.  The teaching of life lessons- don’t go to meetings with whiskey on your breath or you will get fired, the reteaching of things I thought I already knew- how to pour cereal into a bowl so you get the biggest serving.  These are the things only a grandparent can get away with telling you and you actually listen instead of rolling your eyes.

So how has my grandpa lived to be 87? He says he ate a lot of chocolate to get this far.

*”Bar” is short for Bobby because my oldest brother Jimmy couldn’t say Bobby so Bar just stuck

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Shootover Canyon Video!

As promised, my video from Shootover Canyon Swing in Queenstown, New Zealand. 

CANYON SWING

 It takes a minute to load so please be patient :)

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