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In my role as Registrar and Systems Administrator at the American Institute of Alternative Medicine, (AIAM), in addition to serving in the Registrar–records management–capacity, I am also the manager of all of our information systems, to include student information system, which houses all of our students academic data. As of just a few weeks ago I’ve begun a brand new system integration process. Our old system is called DiamonD and it is an Access-based system. Given this, it is a relational database with very limited intuitive capabilities. The system that I am now integrating, Populi, a fully web-based, comprehensive, and highly intuitive system. Honestly, to most people it would appear as the Facebook of student learning/management systems! I integrated Populi at the institution I worked for prior to joining the Leadership Team at AIAM, and had tremendous success with it. Not only does the system serve as the environment where administrators, such as myself, manage data and information, it is also a student portal and a faculty/course management system. It is fully all-encompassing college-wide. VERY EXCITING UPGRADE!!!

As we now begin the adventure of integration once again…I’m looking forward to the challenge!

I cannot believe the summer is going by so fast! Time really does fly when you’re working full time, a part-time doc student, and still somehow finding time to have fun with family and friends. 🙂

In my two classes this semester, we’re flying through the material since the summer term is only 3/4 the length of time of the traditional semester scheme.  Beginning in the Autumn semester I’ll be taking 3 classes…spending 3 afternoons in a row during the week on campus. I typically try to integrate an online class in my semester to allow for a bit more flexibility in my schedule, and also, to give me an additional evening that I can do my schoolwork at home or elsewhere. I guess this year its back to feeling like a traditional student again.

Back to school!

Pelotonia is a grassroots bike tour with one goal: to end cancer.  In 2013, Pelotonia was one of the largest cycling events in the country with 6,723 riders coming from 41 states and 9 countries.  Additionally, Pelotonia had 3,482 Virtual Riders and 2,445 registered volunteers.  Pelotonia 13 raised $19 million, bringing Pelotonia’s 5-year total to $61.3 million for cancer research. Pelotonia 14 is well on its way to breaking records once again!
The Pelotonia 14 experience will occur on August 8-10, 2014 with the ride spanning two days and covering as many as 180 miles.  Because operational expenses are covered by Pelotonia funding partners, 100% of every dollar raised is donated directly to life-saving cancer research at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center-James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute.

Freddie and I are riding the 50 miler since this is our first time, with aspirations to go well beyond that next year!! The link to my profile page is below. If you are able, please visit it to read additional information and to donate to this wonderful cause!! http://pelotonia.org/OneGoal_DA0079             ONE GOAL – END CANCER!!!

 When contemplating what else to write about on my blog… I thought, “Well, I’ve covered all of my favorite things….My Freddie, traveling, cycling, studying, spending time in my garden, what else is there?” FOOD!! I seem to be the quintessential foodie. And what better city to be a food than beautiful Columbus, Ohio. Columbus is known regionally as a hotspot for people who love food, dining, cooking, and well…anything else related to food. 🙂 Foodies like me take pride in making recommendations to people from out of town on where to grab a quick bite, have a nice inexpensive meal, a cultural immersion, or a romantic dinner for two. One of my other more unique favorite foodie-esque things to do is take pictures of food. It sounds corny, but I enjoy it and appreciate the presentation and different styles that are evidenced by what is brought to you on a plate. Food is actually quite beautiful–or can be…especially when it is shared among family and friends. Food is a social experience and one that everyone takes part in one way or the other. Not only do I enjoy the social experience of sharing a meal with friends…I also love taking pictures at the market…seeing all the beautiful, fresh produce and goodies that the farmers have to offer. I love to cook a meal too…especially when I’m able to incorporate fresh vegetables from the garden or herbs from my deck herb garden. All of these foodie experiences are so enjoyable… Cheers!

 Since we have been together, my boyfriend Freddie and I have been visiting historic Gettysburg Pennsylvania on a yearly basis. Until this year, each of the times we’ve been there have been during the Fall or Winter months, most notably during the Christmas season. The historic charm of Gettysburg at Christmastime is lovely. This year though, we thought…how have we not been there during Fourth of July week!? Not to mention, during the week that the commemoration of the battle of Gettysburg takes place…the same time each year, on the exact same days that the battle occurred–July 1-3rd. Also, celebrating the Fourth of July near the nations capital, which is only about an hour and a half away from Gettysburg really appealed to us.

So, this year we spent Fourth of July week in Gettysburg Pennsylvania…witnessed a few re-enactments, rode our bikes through the battlefield park, and it was an incredibly powerful experience to say the least. We also were blessed to spend the day in Washington DC for the Fourth of July holiday. Definitely recommend that experience to anyone who has not yet done so! There was a huge cultural festival on the National Mall, a concert on the Capital lawn featuring artists that are known around the world, and the fireworks at the end of the evening, over the Washington Monument on the National Mall was just incredible. What an amazing amazing Fourth of July trip we had.

We are so very proud to be Americans and so blessed to be able to experience our nations history in this way!!

This year Fred and I decided to plant a vegetable garden in our large side yard. While each of us have had a bit of experience in planting a vegetable garden in our separate pasts, this year is our first “go” at planting one as a couple. We talked about it the last two summers and this year, we went for it! It was a long time coming, but we now have a garden beginning….

Right at what some would consider to be the end of the initial planting season we spent a full morning visiting Oakland Nursery, Lowe’s, and a few stores where we purchased our long list of supplies and plants. The main challenge and one of the main reasons that we delayed in planting a garden was the fact that for both of us, aesthetics is important. Gardens can often be very fruitful and healthy, but look cluttered and are placed in an odd spot in the yard, and appear disorganized, overgrown or messy. Having a well pruned, visually beautiful garden space was a priority to both of us…regardless of just how important that really is in the long run. 🙂

We purchased simple weather-coated wrought iron look-alike fencing to line the garden, giving it a clean line and providing us with a large enough, squared off area to plant all the plants that we wanted to. Our vegetables include tomatoes (5 varieties), onions, cucumbers, zucchini, green, yellow, red, and purple peppers, and kale.

Now, we’re several weeks in and our well groomed, well watered, sun-soaked garden is doing really well. Awesome team work. We’re already enjoying the beautiful fruits of our labor too!

I’m looking forward to learning Photoshop during this course! :)I have thousands of pictures…of everything from everyday random snapshots…to magical, amazing, once in a lifetime event photos that I’ve taken over the last several years.

Learning Photoshop will provide me the opportunity to take these photos to a whole new level…or at least I hope it will!

To start, I’m going to be using a few photographs of myself with my fiancé, and the others of our trip to Disney World and recently to Italy. I have thousands more where these came from.

Looking forward to a new learning adventure!

Welcome to my blog page!

While I originally designed this page as a supplement to my online course design course class last semester, I’ll be using it for a new purpose now…web design!

In my exploration of online learning tools, one of the most fun tools that I have come across thus far is Voki. 🙂 Click on the play button below!

Thanks for visiting!!