Adventures of Andrea

Like most people, I am sometimes scared of the future. Especially now that I am out of school, where I think the structure of your future is more defined...you know what you have to do in school; do your homework, go to class and study for your tests. Suddenly you graduate, and you're basically thrown on your ass.

I was lucky enough to get a job before I technically graduated. I know that makes me fortunate, as I still have friends that haven't found anything. I guess that part of my future is more stable, but it makes it no less terrifying.

I'm a fan of organization and planning. Most of the time, I want to know what the schedule is for the day and I'm a huge fan of planners and to-do lists.

We're told a million times in school that the real world is different, the real world is harder. And hey, guess what? It is. That part was not exaggerated.

There's certain things that I have to do now that I can't believe I'm doing. I still feel like I'm 16 years old, and I have to open an IRA? My brain can't comprehend this.

Recently, I've been trying to develop a timeline of sorts. I want to go to grad school...how long will that take me to finish? How long will I stay at this job? Do I want to get a new job after grad school? What about engagements, marriage, a family??!?

Yes, those questions don't have to be answered right now, but the fact is that someday they will have to be answered, and that's very intimidating to me.

If you're as freaked out as I am, maybe I can give you a little comfort. Life only happens one day at a time. We've all heard the phrase, live life one day at a time, and I think it's pretty accurate.

Things like pregnancy or planning a wedding are more long-term things, but they're still only planned one day at a time. Everything is. There's something comforting about that. Something could happen tomorrow that could completely change your life and you have to adapt. The only thing you can really plan for is today.

photo credit

With that said, I need to go finish the rest of my work for today and take my car for an oil change (adulthood things!!!) because it really needs it today. 

I was very tempted to write 'Canadia,' but that's only because I kept referring to it as that during our drive. No idea why.

Anyway, I'm currently writing this in Canada! If I look up, I can see Niagara falls from out our hotel room window. It's gorgeous. Before I get to that though, let me tell you about our trip so far! :)

Saturday

Woke up ungodly early (7 a.m., and yes that is early for me). Set out for Canada through Detroit and went over the amazing Ambassador Bridge. Definitely a little scary, considering how much traffic was used and that the bridge was opened in 1929! We made it through the border, and drove to Toronto. By the time we got there, it was later in the evening, so after dinner, we went to bed.

Sunday 

I slept meh-ish, so I was up pretty early again, this time of my own volition. Toronto Zoo was one of our stops, and it was crazy beautiful. In my opinion, it's exactly what a zoo should be. It felt more like a park or forest preserve instead of a commercial zoo. The zoo by my house is okay, but this one was definitely better, and about three times bigger. We spent a large chunk of the day there, and after being worn out completely by the heat and walking (and seeing some giant pandas!!!), we headed back to the car and set out to Niagara Falls!

such a cute panda!

Had to wait a little bit to check into our hotel, but it was kind of a break after walking so much. We actually got upgraded to a higher floor, with a view of both the American Falls and the Horseshoe Falls, and it's crazy. Definitely have been snapping pictures like crazy.

After dinner, we took a walk, since my mom wanted Canadian wine for some reason. We took a scenic view around the falls, but didn't really get too close (although did feel the mist!).

fireworks over the falls!

They set off fireworks around the waterfall every Friday and Sunday during the summer, so we got to catch those which was super unexpected! Fell asleep pretty quickly after that, mainly because I'm tired from all the traveling and sightseeing!

Monday

Another early day! We set out on a tour at about 8:30 this morning, and we drove around Niagara Falls, including out to the Botanical Gardens. We also went up in the Skylon Tower, which has a 360 degree view of Niagara Falls. You can see as far as Buffalo, New York, and on some days you can also see Toronto.

on top of the Skylon tower!

We went on 'Journey Behind the Falls,' which is a series of tunnels by the Horseshoe Falls. I didn't think it was anything amazing, but it was interesting to learn more about the falls themselves.

After that, we took the boat tour which brings you so close to the falls, and you wear the classic poncho and get soaked. This was probably my favorite part of the day, and the trip so far, because we were able to get so close. The water rushing, the sound, and just seeing the water above and below was really cool.

After our tour was over, we went back to our hotel room and I actually took a little bit of a nap. Like I said, I was tired! Dinner was next; we went to a local Italian restaurant and I got chicken fingers. ;)

Next up was the casino, where I got to throw away five dollars on the slots. I'm not a big fan of gambling; I don't really see the point of it. It's an interesting atmosphere though, so I didn't mind too much. Went souvenir shopping after that, and then back to the hotel room for the night!

Tuesday

Last day here! We didn't have anything planned for the day, but early in the morning we decided on the itinerary for the day. First, we went to breakfast at IHOP, and then back to the room to grab some stuff. We headed to the butterfly conservatory, and if you are in Niagara Falls...go. Seriously, it was so amazing. They have 2,000 free flying tropical butterflies. They land on you, fly in front of your face and they are everywhere. It was one of the coolest experiences.

the butterflies scared me at times...

After that, we went on our jet boat ride. The boat takes you to the Niagara whirlpool, which is downriver from the falls. There are class 6 rapids, which are the highest, and obviously are unsafe to even ride a boat in. However, there were class 5 rapids downstream even more, and our boat went right through those. I was in the front row of the boat, and got soaked. Absolutely drenched. It was the best, albeit freezing. The Niagara river is not warm.

It's definitely an experience though, and if I ever come back here, I would even do it again. The boat goes up to 60 mph, and takes you right up to the whirlpool and you get the best views of the river.

After that, we got dinner in the casino, and also gambled a bit more. Like I said, not a huge fan of casinos, but I just wandered around a bit.

Then it was back to the room for the night! Definitely exhausted after all we've done the past few days!

I hope you enjoyed reading about my little trip, I definitely had fun writing it and describing all I did. I would recommend any of you who like to travel to come to Niagara Falls. I think it's something you have to see in your life, because pictures and videos really don't do it justice.

When I was nine years old, my third grade teacher told my mom in a parent teacher conference that I would be the next J.K. Rowling (or the first female president). Those are definitely big words for a third grader to hear, but it does mark the first time in my life anyone paid attention to my writing.

As a child, I was constantly writing stories or playing games where I created a whole world and rules to follow. I was also an avid reader, and took a lot of inspiration from the stories I read.

I didn't always want to be a writer or reporter. I think, during my childhood, I wanted to try every career at some point in time. I wanted to be a teacher, a marine biologist, a lawyer, a politician...like I said pretty much everything you can think of.

I liked writing and English classes throughout grade school and early high school, but it wasn't until my junior year of high school that journalism really stood out as a career choice for me. I never really even thought about it; being a reporter never crossed my mind.

My junior year of high school, being a teacher was probably my first career choice...until I walked into my first journalism class. My journalism teacher, who taught me in junior and senior year journalism, deserves a lot of credit for me picking journalism.

He was the first teacher who really made me a better writer. I was never really challenged as a writer in earlier years, but he pushed and pushed and definitely helped me. The two years of journalism I had in high school let me immediately pick journalism as my major in college and know that I was making a good decision.

Now as the next J.K. Rowling (ha!), I want to point out that in no way do I think I'm the best writer out there. I know there are things I struggle with, and I still seek validation from editors or teachers when turning in a paper or an article. I'm not a huge fan of letting my boyfriend or family members read my articles (especially when I'm sitting next to them!), because I read through the article and find all the things I could have done better.

With all that said, I also know I'm not a terrible writer. (At least I hope not...otherwise that's four years of a college education down the drain...) I guess since this blog is titled 'ramblings of a journalist,' I wanted to talk about how I came to choose journalism and why I like writing.

Anyone out there an aspiring writer? Or is one? I'd like to hear what you have to say. :)

I'm a big fan of getting rid of stuff I don't use/like/need anymore and organizing. I've always been a neat person, and so mess just bothers me. Like right now, I'm thinking about my two desk drawers and how I accidentally untangled a phone charger cord this morning, but I was late for work so I just ran out the door without putting it back in its proper place. It's been in the back of my mind all day now...

Anyway, with all that said, I've been scouring organization and lifestyle blogs for the past two days, and I've discovered lots of '31 days series.' Since moving out is on the horizon eventually, getting rid of stuff and minimizing what I have really appeals to me. So I decided to start with a 31 days of decluttering post (found here).

I will probably do a couple posts on this topic, but since some of the days don't apply to me (for example, I don't have a pantry of my own to declutter). I did do the first day yesterday, and went through my sock drawer.

I texted my boyfriend right after I finished because I was absolutely amazed at how much I got rid of and wanted to tell someone (I told him to go through his socks too, but he didn't seem as excited as I was...). I wish I would have gotten some pictures (I will next time!) but it was late and I was too tired to do much else except sort through socks!

I try to get rid of clothes and such as I wear it and find it stained or ripped or ill-fitting, but I definitely let my socks fall through the cracks!

The post was definitely a nice reminder in the back of my head, because it reminded me that there's no reason to keep socks full of holes or socks that are dirty. My sock drawer was pretty full, but after getting rid of so much, I actually shifted some other things into that drawer since there was room. Even talking about this makes me happy and want to organize more! Is anyone else this excited about organizing? Let me know, and I'll keep you all updated on my 31 days of decluttering.

I love all holidays, but the Fourth is definitely up there as one of my favorites. There's just something about taking a day off in the middle of summer, relaxing on the lake, and watching some fireworks that really appeals to me.

And while there is a deeper meaning to the Fourth that I also respect, I also just really like sparklers. But really, freedom is something that I think many of us take for granted. Especially as a woman, I try to remind myself that many women in other countries are not as fortunate as I; and a lot of that has to do with where I was born.

I hope you took a moment on the Fourth to reflect on that, and I also hoped you enjoyed some burgers and hot dogs. ;)



For my family, we always celebrate the Fourth up at our lake house, and it was so nice to get a weekend off work and relax under the sun. I'll include some pictures here, but I think one of my favorite moments was when my brother in-law decided to walk around wearing this rubber horse head he bought off Amazon.

There were people pointing and laughing at him from the other boats, and one girl was even yelling "Horse man, horse man!" while trying to take a picture. It just was absolutely hilarious, and everyone on the lake seemed to be in a good mood.

That's what holidays are about to me. Making memories. And laughing. And that definitely happened this year.

Well, let's kick off this thing with talking about one of the most stressful parts of a journalist's week and/or life: PRODUCTION DAY!!!

My first experience with production was with my college newspaper. I was on the online side of the newspaper, so I actually didn't have to do much to do with production nights until my senior year. I'm actually kind of sad about that, because a lot of bonding happens on production nights!

Since I wasn't responsible for a lot on those nights, I did a lot of observing. One of my best friends was the layout designer for the paper, and never have I seen a person work as hard as she did (or be as stressed as she was)!

If you're not a journalist or you've never participated in a paper, you may not realize how much work goes into putting a paper together. I certainly didn't.

I wanted to share a quick video that I think pretty well encapsulates layout nights. This was actually our last layout night, so my friends and I were goofing around and taking snapchats and lots of videos. We captured this gem.


So, with starting my new job, I had just the bare bones in experience of production days or nights. Now, the company I work for puts out several papers a week. You could say that Monday and Tuesdays are a bit crazy, but there's definitely this groove that you get into. I'll call it the 'journalist groove', because time seems to fly by and my fingers are whizzing over the keyboard, and I just feel pretty good.

Of course, it's not always like that. It can get hectic. Reporters might not meet deadline, so you might be hassling them, quickly editing their work, and shoving it into the layout of the paper.

Like I said, it's definitely a stressful part of journalism, but also very rewarding. You get to see this finished product at the end, maybe full of your own reporting, and feel proud!

I'd really like to know more about other newspapers production schedules, or how other reporters feel during those days; so definitely comment with a story for me!