My Thoughts

Bolder Boulder 2011

2011-06-11T23:33:00.006-04:00

This year I have decided to run a 1/2 Marathon, the Denver Rock and Roll- October 9, 2011. Some close friends back in Fl inspired me to run when they all ran their first Marathon in November 2010. I certainly have come a long way in my training. When I first started the longest I could run was 5 mins, now I can run 60mins. I have been doing several 5k's but with October approaching thought it was time to kick up the distance.

The Bolder Boulder is a 10k road race held on Memorial Day in Bolder CO. This was the 33rd year. It is one of the biggest 10k racing in the country and there were people from all over who were in attendance. After everything was all said and done it was reported that there were over 55,000 people who participated that day. Holy Cow! I knew there were a lot of people but never would have guessed that many.

With the horn sounding and adrenaline pumping I was off, embarking on a big milestone in my life. I was off to a good start about 11mins in and out of nowhere I got double shin splits. Are you kidding me? I had been getting shin splits pretty constantly in training but it was only one shin. I have to tell you I was in so much pain, the tears were flowing. I prayed to God to take away this pain..I had worked so hard for this and wanted to finish strong. However the pain remained, mentally I was defeated and I was about to call my sister to come pick me up. I fought with myself, I was already here, had already paid. I was going to finish this race if I had to walk the whole thing. It wasn't until mile 3 that the shin splits went away.

The thing that is really cool about the Bolder Boulder is that they have like 30 some bands who are lined up along the course, as well as slip n slides, belly dancers, people with marshmallow guns, you name it they pretty much had it. It was also great seeing all the different costumes.

This was a very emotional race for me, as I ran I just thought about how far I had come. It wasn't but 4 mos prior that I sat on the couch and stuffed my face as I watched the Biggest Loser. Amazed at the transformation they went through and disgusted that I could not or more importantly would not do it for myself. But here I was in the middle of a 10k and again the tears flowed down. For the first time in a long time I was proud of myself for my accomplishments. As I got closer to the stadium and heard all the people who sat and cheered I was amazed and couldn't help but let the tears fall. (Yes, I was crying again) Then once I entered the stadium and saw all those people I was so overwhelmed. I pretended that they were all there to see me run, I felt like I was on top of the world. It was also great that my family was there to cheer me on, thank you Mom, Nicole, Eric and Ariel! (also Brett and Christina) Thank you also to everyone else who has been there with encouragement through Facebook as well as txts, it all means so much to me!

I finished my 10k in 1:33:10:76 and it felt incredible to cross that line. Here are some of my other stats:
Overall place> 38429
Divison place> 645 out of 741
Gender place> 19107 out of 26317

Still have a long way to go but looking forward to that 1/2 in October. I will keep you udpated!

Flip

2011-05-21T22:30:00.002-04:00

So a few months ago I bought a goldfish, I don't know why, guess I thought I needed some company. I bought a little tank with a filter and everything, I was gonna do the right by gosh. It was a Comet Goldfish and all of the fins had black tips on them. So I wanted to come up with a cool name for it, but couldn't think of anything clever. I was going to name it Tips, but thought that was to stupid, then I thought Onyx...nah. The fish went without a name for about a week until finally I just name him Flip. I know it's not cool and kind of corny, but Flip it is. About a month in Flip stopped eating and was acting really funny and I realized that the filter was dirty, so I ran out and got a new filter and changed the water and in a few days he was back to normal.

Things were going along fine until about two weeks ago. I got busy, forgetful, lazy, whatever you want to call it and didn't do the weekly tank change. One week turned into two which brings us to tonight. Earlier today Nicole made a comment about how Flip was swimming kind of weird. I said "I don't know why, he is just weird." I was gone most of the day , when I got home I went to feed Flip and couldn't find him in the tank. And seriously (not even kidding) my first thought was that someone stole my fish. Honestly Vicki, who would come into an apartment to steal a fish!?!?...a $0.13 fish at that! I found him hiding in the plant, I got the net and tried moving him around but he wasn't really responding. He swam away from the plant but in a very slow manner, I then felt guilty and proceeded to change the water (since that's what I had neglected to do in the first place) But a little to late, he was already starting to float to the top as he swam.

Long story short, Flip died tonight. It was kinda sad, even though he was only $0.13 does not mean I wanted it to die. I'm just not a good pet owner, not sure if I will get another. I mine as well though since I have all this fish stuff now.
SORRY FLIP......

Ariel turns TWO!

2011-05-07T19:53:00.001-04:00

My niece, Ariel, just celebrated her 2nd birthday! I can hardly believe it, it seriously just feels like my sister was calling to tell me she was pregnant. And I know everyone says that...."it feels like just yesterday..." , but that is really how I feel. We had a BBQ at the house with family and of course Elmo made an appearance. Elmo balloons, Elmo cake, Elmo bib, Elmo dolls, Elmo, Elmo, Elmo. Ariel absolutely loves him, but it's kind cute hearing her say his name and the way she gets so excited when she sees him.

For the last two years I have taken her yearly pictures. It is so much fun taking her pictures now because I really don't have to pose her, I just let her go and I just click away. Here are some of my favorites from the shoot.

Laundry Drama

2011-04-28T20:46:00.002-04:00

It's no secret that I move a lot. Whether it's apartments, houses or states; I guess I just bored...or frustrated and end up moving. The current complex I'm in is absolutely is driving me up the wall. One of my biggest pet peeves is that it doesn't have a washer/dryer in the unit. Which I knew when I signed the lease but I thought that I could handle it. About six months ago, someone stole 5 pairs of my pants as well as a skirt from the dryer in the laundry room. First of all WHO DOES THAT?!?!? So now I have to sit and wait for my laundry to be done. (not horrible I guess just an inconvenient) Another thing I don't like is the machines don't take quarters, there is a special card you have to buy from the office and you fill and refill the card in the leasing office. My hours do not always coincide with the offices, so when I'm ready to do my laundry but have no money on my card, I'm just out of luck.

The reason I'm ranting about my laundry is because of what just happened. I am currently scrapping the bottom of the clothing barrel, really struggling to put outfits together for work. So I remembered to put money on, got all my laundry ready and then I couldn't find my laundry soap. Seriously! After searching high and low, I finally found some. I get to the laundry room and I can't remember the code to get into the building...and guess what, the office is now closed....ARRRGHHH!!! this is not happening! This was my only free time to do laundry until Sunday. I'm definitely going to have to more some stuff around, since I don't have clothes to wear to on my outings anyway. I can not wait to move-3 more months and believe me this next place will have a washer/dyer!!

Maybe I should just get a washboard and do my laundry in the tub@!

My Easter Adventure

2011-04-25T12:00:00.007-04:00

I received a email from a local farmers market about dying Easter eggs organically, without the hassle of chemicals and all that jazz. So I thought that I would try it out see how it turned out. I attempted to do 5 different colors.
Blue: Blackberries & red cabbage, Green: Spinach, Red: Red onion skins & pomegranate juice, Pink: Beets, Yellow: Orange & Lemon peels, turmeric, cumin.
First of all it was very time consuming. Second it was kind of a waste of food. Third the way it told me to cook it didn't even cook the eggs all the way. Finally it didn't really work, as you can see from the pictures the eggs are very bright or vibrate. The worst part probably was I was so consume with doing this that I didn't really get to watch and participate in Ariel dying eggs for the first time. I had my camera there and didn't get one picture. Next time forget it I'm gonna get the $1.99 kit.

For Easter I pick up a few extra hours and went in around 10am. However this was hinder me from going to dinner with my sister and her family at my brother-in-law's parents house. But I LOVE ham, so I decided that I would cook my own Easter dinner. Mind you I have never attempted anything like this before. But boy was I going to have a feast. I made a ham (of course), along with homemade mac n cheese, scalloped potatoes, rolls, green beans, and for dessert pound cake. I also had sparkling cherry juice. I started making stuff the night before but I was partically cooking all day, that was so exhausting. I give props to the people who do that multiple times a year.

How did it turn out you ask? It was delicious, I was super proud of myself. Clean up kind of stunk though.

Easter

2010-04-23T18:26:00.004-04:00

I have been searching for a church since I got to Colorado and it has not been pretty. I had been to several different churches and it was just like I didn't belong in any of them. Either they weren't friendly, the music was off, or the preaching or both. So I was looking forward to another bad experience...on Easter. I went to a church just don't the road and was just blow away the minute I walked in. I was greeted with smiles and friendly faces. Their worship leader and team were amazing and for the first time I felt like I belonged. I knew within the first 5 minutes that this was where I wanted to go, so YAY for finding a church.

So I went to the early service, came back to the house and got ready for Easter dinner with Eric's family. With had a photo shoot with the baby in her Easter dress and took some family pictures as well.
We (Nicole, Eric, Ariel, Pazu and I) went to Eric's parents house. It was great to be surrounded by family and amazing food...wonderful desserts. I have to confess I ate way more than I ever should have, I know thats the common theme associated with the holidays but man I really need to get a handle on that. It was such a good day!

5 month summary

2010-04-14T19:50:00.010-04:00

To anyone who is still out there checking this blog, I am so sorry I have absolutely been neglecting it. So much to catch up on....
NOVEMBER: For my birthday day this year my day started off with balloons, flowers, and chocolates on my desk at work. Then I was treated to lunch by the ladies from the office. Follow by my wonderful friends, Kim and Jay, who organized a surprise birthday dinner for me and it was so wonderful. The funny thing is I didn't have a clue, not even a little, in hine sight there were so many signs that I should have caught in to (but I'm glad I didn't, it made the evening more special). I turned the big 27, inching my way towards 30...wow that's crazy!
DECEMBER: I was given the honor of leading worship for my church on Christmas Eve. This was something that I had never done before and had anxiety leading up to it, but when the time finally rolled around it was amazing. It was so great to be able to be apart of such a special night. Thank you Rob so much for giving me that opportunity and experience. Singing is something I really enjoy and hope that it is some how apart of life in a future career. After service I enjoyed an amazing dinner with wonderful fellowship.
December was also the month that I decided to move to Colorado to be closer to family. There were just to many incidences that occur that were to coincidental, after praying about and talking it over with Godly counsel, I felt the time was right to make the move. At this time in my life I feel that it was the right decision.
JANUARY: Every holiday season a hotel in downtown Orlando, Gaylord Palms, they have something called ICE. I guess it was in a tent of some sort, but everything in it was made out of ice. It was so cool, ha ha no pun intended. It certainly was incredible to see the things they did with ice. They had the Nativity Scene...that was just beautiful.
It was really hard leaving all of my friends (who became family) over the last 3 1/2 yrs. It took me 2 days to make the drive with all of my worldly possessions in the car surrounding me. Not something I want to do for a while.
FEBRUARY: Still trying to settle into my new surroundings, love waking up to the sound of Ariel (my niece) laughing and screaming....happy screams. Obtained a part time job. Went to the Denver zoo on one of their free days, that was exciting, it was both mine and Ariel's first time there.
MARCH: Nothing really happened, just mostly worked and signed up for a gym membership.

I know that that was really brief but I hope that gets you caught up a little. I will certainly do a lot better job at keeping this thing updated. Thanks for hanging in there with me.

At Last it's Growing

2009-10-29T18:08:00.002-04:00

So I finally took my braids out, I had my hair done in braids for a total of 5 months. Let me tell you it was so great waking up and not have to hassle with have to do my hair, just get up and go. It had been a total of 8 months since I last saw my hairstylist, Erin. I was going to try to do my hair natural, and sport a little Afro but that turned out not to be a good idea. So I went and got my hair done, Erin said that I had about 3" of growth...which is amazing. I think that I will let my hair rest and then in a few months possibly get braids again.

March 2009

October 2009

Live Wire

2009-10-12T13:07:00.003-04:00

My church's youth program merged with a partnering church's youth group about 2 months ago. It has been a great experience, I enjoy spending time with the students. They are all really good kids. We have the Jr. High service on Sunday nights and the Sr. high service on Monday nights. Turns out the Youth Pastor had his ten year high school reunion last weekend and was out of town. The other two leaders were out celebrating her 30th birthday. So that left me in charge of the Jr highers.... I did have some help there was a couple (who are parents of one of the students) stay and help me last night. I had them play a game involving balloons, which I must not have explained very well because by the time the game was over there was no winner. They totally missed the point of the game, but they definitely had fun popping them. I was also in charge of giving the message last night. This was going to be my first time speaking in front of this group of students and thought that I was going to be super nervous, surprisingly I wasn't. I spoke on cliques and the importance of getting rid of them and if I do say so myself it went rather well. I actually liked it, it was great and I look forward to the next time I get the opportunity to speak. Who would of thought!

On Your Mark

2009-10-12T11:45:00.003-04:00

I recently returned from a two day Leadership Conference in Atlanta GA, Catalyst Conference. I was blessed with the opportunity to go to this conference free. I was accompanied by three other awesome people, Rob, Glenn, and Kailey. God wasted no time hitting me with it hurt. The conference was filled with a lot of wonderful speakers and I took a lot away from each of them. The theme of Catalyst was On Your Mark, making a mark on the world (through leadership). Not just your mark, but allowing God to make his mark through you.
God has been dealing with me in the of a career. I think I know what it is God has called me to, but I would still like to have a little more confirmation. At the conference there were a few speakers that said things that spoke directly to me, somewhat of a mini confirmation. I guess I'm just hesitate to publicly proclaim what I feel God is telling me, because I have gone down this road a few times already. I really just want to make sure that this is what God has called me to do, so I'm still praying about it and I will wait for his timing. There was something that Rob Bell said that stuck with me, "Whatever Christ has for you to do, may be costly, bloody, and hard; but there is a difference between difficulty and burden. God will not give you a burden."
The main point that was universal with all speakers was God has invited each of us to play apart/role in HIS story. It's not about us, it's never about us, it is always about God. Pictured above: Glenn, Kailey, Rob, Mark?, Phil, Me
Two days before I left for the conference I lost my credit card (actually it had been missing a lot longer than that but I hadn't noticed). Then while I was in GA, I somehow managed to lose $50 and I also left both pairs of my prescription glasses that the Hotel. Geesh, I called the hotel and they are sending them back to me, I also lost my ear buds to my ipod. I'm not sure what the deal is but I sure am tired of losing things. All in all it was an awesome trip and I am so happy that I was able to go!
P.S. We stayed in the Marriott!

Think Pink

2009-09-11T14:44:00.004-04:00

So my hours have been cut at work, but for some reason my bills didn't get the memo and are still going strong. So I'm in the process of being a Substitute Teacher with Seminole County Public schools. I should know something within the next week or so. I know, you're thinking Sub?...Vicki do you know how kids treat Subs?? Yes I know I used to be one of those bratty kids, but I've decided to pursue a Certification in Teaching again. Since I already have a BA all I have to do is take 3 tests and the I'll get a temporary teaching certification good for 3 yrs. This isn't my first attempt with this I took the first of three test last year and missed passing it by 4 pts. Let's just say I didn't take that news well and gave up to quickly. Very rarely does anyone pass the first time. The only thing that stinks is the school board has raised the prices of taking the test. Last year when I took them it was $50 and then $100 for re-takes. (I know shouldn't re-takes be cheaper..I don't know, doesn't make sense to me) Now it is anywhere from $150-170 for the first time and $220 for the second. So since money is an issue I don't see me taking these test anytime soon.

Having said that I am proud to announce that I have started my own business with Mary Kay. I am now an Independent Beauty Consultant. I had my Debut party last night and am ready to get things rolling. I haven't used Mary Kay in over a 11yrs so I been enjoying all the new products Mary Kay has and pampering myself daily..fun, fun! There are a lot of perks to working with Mary Kay, like setting your own hrs, moving up in the company as slow or as fast as you like, getting your products 50% off, earning the use of a company car. Once you get access to a car Mary Kay will pay 85% of your car insurance and you get a car every 2yrs. That's one great deal. I am here for any of your Mary Kay needs whether it be products, questions, or wanting more info on becoming a Consultant yourself. I do have a website that you can go to, to simply look at what we have to offer or to shop. www.marykay.com/vbeachman

Heart Full of Pain

2009-07-28T15:45:00.007-04:00

I don't even know what to say right now, my emotions are all over the place. Over the course of two months there have been seven people who have passed away (either that I have known directly or a loved one of someone close to me) Yesterday a co-worker died of a massive heart-attack (I just saw him earlier that day). It's getting to the point where it just seems so surreal, like some big joke and they're all going jumped out from around the corner at any moment. The last time I dealt with these many deaths clustered together like this was my senior year in High School. That year I attended five funerals, all of friends I went to school with.

My heart is just aching for the families and friends of those who have gone ahead. I never realized that my heart could hurt so much for others. I know what it is like to lose someone close to me and I do not wish that upon anyone. But at the same time I know that is un-realistic, death is an inevitable part of life and we will all experience it, directly or indirectly. I know that they are in a much better place but that doesn't ease the pain any. My heart, thoughts, and prayers go out to those who are dealing with the aftermath of losing someone. I pray that God's peace and comfort would encompass you and those around you.

"The Lord gives strength to his people; the Lord blesses his people with peace."
-Psalm 29:11

The Light Show

2009-07-05T16:50:00.001-04:00

I have lived in Florida for almost three years and this was the first year I have seen the fireworks here. I started off the evening with a BBQ at Rob's house, followed by some Guitar Hero, and then the fireworks. It was great being able to hang out with friends, making memories. It was hilarious, as we were waiting for the show, Haley (Rob's daughter) started dancing..... 'like a Rock Star'. This conversation followed.
Haley: "Vicki dance with me!"
Vicki: "Haley, I don't dance"
Haley: "Yes YOU do!!!!"
(You see occasionally I babysit her and her brother and I have been known to let loose)
Vicki: "Haley, what I do at the house isn't exactly something I do in public!"

She still wanted me to dance but kind of left it at that. The fireworks were great, I even went to the ones downtown the following night with another group of friends.

I'm a Winner

2009-06-26T15:09:00.002-04:00

Before I left for vacation I won a prize package through a local radio station. The only thing I really had to do was write in a 100 words or less why I deserve this package. My little entry didn't really make sense because I thought I was entering another contest. I guess they just felt sorry for, however it doesn't matter because I got free stuff, YAY! Ok, so this is want was inside:
John Tesh CD, a t-shirt, a $100.00 gift card, vitamins, a pack of granola bars, facial cleanser, hand cream (a little bag to put them in), a book (Will work from home). I haven't really used any of the stuff yet, have to finish up the stuff I already have first. And I'm saving the gift card for a rainy day.

Happy One Month!

2009-06-06T16:20:00.005-04:00

Today Ariel (my niece) is one month. I can't believe it, she is growing up so fast. She is the cutest little thing in the world. I know I keep saying that but, look at the pictures I'm not lying. So I decided to take a photo shoot of my little niece here are just a few.

Our Rose

2009-06-05T22:28:00.001-04:00

I had briefly mentioned in another post that my grandmother had passed away and kind of just left it at that. I'm not sure why that was, maybe I wasn't emotionally ready to write about her or maybe I thought writing about her would make others sad. But after reading my sister blog and the things she wrote about my grandma it was quite the opposite. It wasn't sad it was good remembering the memories we had/have of her.

When we were younger my family would spend some of the summers in Ohio with my grandparents. Carole (my grandmother) wasn't one to take crap from anyone. Whenever my sister and I would act up she would always ask if we wanted pork chops (which meant a whoopin). I remember the first time she ever said that to me, I had no clue she was talking about a spanking. I don't remember what I was doing but I'm sure it wasn't good, Carole said "I'm gonna give you some pork chops?" I was little and a little smart alec (yes believe it) so I said "Good cause I'm hungry!" Ha Ha. That was pretty much a summary of mine and Carole's relationship. We were so much a like. I miss Carole, but I'm glad she is no longer in pain.

Fun With the Greenes

2009-06-04T18:41:00.002-04:00

So we made it to Colorado safe and sound and to my surprise Ariel was a very good traveler. She definitely had a way of letting you know when she was hungry, she wasn't messin around. I just can't believe how stinkin cute she is. It has been so great getting to spend time with Nicole, Eric and Ariel, it's times like this that I wish I lived closer. I feel like I'm going to miss out on so much of her life.

What are some of the things we have been doing you ask. Well Nicole, Ariel, Pazu (thier dog) and I go on a walk in the morning, then come back and take a nap while the baby is sleeping. After we wake up we all ate, watch a little tv, did our best to keep the baby awake (with no success). When Eric got home we would pass Ariel off to him, for Daddy/Daughter time, and later play Wii (which I bowled 270, ya buddy!) together. During all this Ariel is usually sleeping and plotting how she is planning to keep all of us awake during the middle of the night. We danced and sang the Hokey Pokey..GOSH did we sang the Hokey Pokey. Apparently this is Ariel's favorite song, when she was crying if we started singing it or play it from the cd she would calm down. Holy Cow it was magic!

Family Time

2009-05-24T08:25:00.005-04:00

VACATION........finally! I had planned a month long vacation to visit family because it has been 16 months since I have seen them. I know way to long. I was supposed to leave on Saturday, but had to take off a few days earlier because my grandmother passed away. It was great to reunite with family, however under the circumstances it was bittersweet.

So I have been in Ohio for a few days now and I was able to meet my niece for the first time. She is the cutest, most adorable child ever.She so itty-bitty and I couldn't stop looking at her and taking pictures of her. I have like a hundred pictures of her, no lie. Upon leaving Ohio I will be riding back to Colorado with my sister, brother in law and niece. I have never travel cross-country with an newborn, so we will see how this goes.

She Is Here

2009-05-11T09:47:00.000-04:00

Ariel Madison Greene, the name of my beautiful niece. Ariel was born May 6 2009 at 10:03am. She is the cutest thing ever, but of course I am only basing my opinion solely on pictures. I have not be able to see my niece yet, due to the fact that I live half way across the world. I haven't seen my family in 15 months, and boy am I ready to go home. I will actually be leaving for Colorado at the end of the May to see my sister, Eric, Ariel and Pazu (their dog). I'll be in Colorado for a week and a half. Upon leaving Colorado I will be flying into New Mexico to see my parents and friends. I will be in New Mexico for a little over 2 weeks, and then back to reality. (*sigh*)

My trip is a little over 2 weeks away and boy is it dragging. Hopefully time will pick up a little bit. But until then I am going to have to settle for pictures of my niece.

Miracle Grow

2009-04-26T19:02:00.003-04:00

I found some amazing stuff that helps your hair to grow super fast. Alright so I didn’t, wish I did because then I would be rich. No instead I decided to get braids. I have be going back and forth on this for awhile, I just thought that braids were something that I couldn't pull of and that it would damage my hair. But as you can tell from the recent haircut I had damaging my hair down to a science.

I went in yesterday, and I was alittle nervous since I never had this done before and plus all the ladies who braid hair are from Africa, so they have thick accents. So this nice endeavor took a total of 9hrs, I know that's what I said. But I am very happy with the outcome, life has gotten so much easier (at least as far as getting ready in the morning) I am now able to sleep in an extra 20mins...it's great! I love the braids and have been getting tons of compliments on them also.

IOA 5K

2009-04-17T16:00:00.000-04:00

So I thought that it would never happen, but it did. I took part in my first 5K ever (Insurance Of America 5k), for those of you who don’t know, 5K is three miles. Ya, so three miles isn’t really that big of a deal, I realize that, but for someone who doesn’t really exercise and hates running…that’s huge. My church was getting a group together to enter this race and somehow I let my roommate talk me into doing it. There were over 11,500 people at the race that day. Too any people for me.

Things were pretty crazy leading up to the race and the next thing I knew it was race day. I had no intention on running, but thought that maybe I would run on and off throughout. As I was preparing for the race my time was consistently at 45 minutes. So my goal was to just come in under 45 minutes. My roommate Kim ended up doing the race at the last minute and decided to walk with me, which was great cause she really pushed me. We ended up finishing in 44 minutes…YAY! YAY, for making my goal. I realize that it is only by a minute but I still did it. And BOY was I tired and sore the next day and lucky me, I got to work both jobs the next day.

Hallelujah It's Over

2009-04-14T16:17:00.004-04:00

Yay, Joy, Happiness, the diet is over!!! And we got to celebrate but eating amazing food Easter Day, what more could you ask for. That was the longest, hardest 7 weeks ever. Although I learned tons of stuff while on it boy am I happy that it is over. I started off strong and then frustration kicked in and then I don’t know what happened. By week two I had lost 5lbs and then by week two I had gained 3lbs. Then we started eating out more, as our schedules got busier, by week 7 I don’t even think I was still on the diet. By the time the diet was over I think I had lost about a very sad 3lbs, however I did lose quite a few inches. I don’t know how many inches I lost because I didn’t think to take those measurements at the beginning, but I am able to fit into some jeans that have been collecting dust in the closet. I’m still trying to be healthy with the choices that I make when it comes to eating and I exercise more now.

The Importance of Obeying Signs

2009-03-26T18:05:00.003-04:00

So as I mentioned the house is doing this crazy diet and one of the things we have to do is exercise everyday. Walking gets boring after a while and my butt doesn't do well (on the bike I've had since 8th grade). So I decided to get some roller blades. Why?, you ask. I have no idea. I remember having roller blades when I was little, neon green, purple and black. I thought they were the coolest things ever. I also remember trying to use them once, failing miserable and never putting them back on again. Yes I was a fickle child. I went with Kim and one of her friends on their weekly walk. By this time I had had the blades for about a week and hadn't really mastered the skill of stopping, a pretty important skill to have when rollerblading. To get to the trail you have to go on an overpass above the road. As we enter the overpass there was a sign that read "No Skateboards and Bicyclist must dismount". So Kim says are you going to be okay coming down?" and I said "No I'm probably going to die!" You see going up was a steep incline, so naturally coming down would be down hill. I don't know why I didn't just turn around right then, I guess I was just trying to be cool. This wasn't just a straight shot, it was straight for a bit then turn (like in an L shape) went down a little more and then turn one more time.

So as I start going down, I gained to much speed and started to apply the brake....and it wasn't working. CRAP!! CRAP!!! CRAP!!!! Panic was definitely running through my body. What I failed to mention was there was a brick/concrete wall at the end of the first turn. So since I couldn't get my brake to work I then had to figure out a way to stop before I slammed into the wall and flew over the edge. Trying to be smart about my options I decided to slam into the side wall before I got to the end, which slowed me down a bit but still ended up running into the wall and falling on my butt. I have a nice little scar to remind me of that wonderful day. I'm just glad I'm alive.

An Irish Week

2009-03-24T16:04:00.001-04:00

Our church had a team of 5 from Ireland come to minister throughout Orlando the week of St Patrick’s Day week. This is the second year they have come to Orlando and we have sent two teams over to Ireland. It was so weird the week before they arrived I was working like crazy and then when they came I practically had the week off, and was able to spend a lot of time with them and helping them get around town. Lets see, we went to the beach, hung out at the Pub while they played their Irish music, went to a nursing home, had a blast at Disney, and enjoyed some good food and fellowship.

I’ve lived in Fl going on three years and never have really been able to experience Disney in its fullness. On this day I went to Hollywood Studios, Epcot, and Magic Kingdom…yes in one day. Holy cow was I tired, however the day did not end there after the Disney Park we went to Downtown Disney to enjoy some free chocolate samples and ice cream (that I wasn’t supposed to be eating because I was on the 7 week house challenge…shhh!). When I go back to Disney I want to do the American Idol Experience, if you are the best singer of the day you win some Disney prize package. Not sure what is in it but it would still be cool to win it.

7 Week House Challenge

2009-02-25T09:08:00.004-05:00

Jay, Kim, and I have decided to do a 7 week challenge on being more healthy. It is crazy strict on the things that we have to eat and do. It based of a book called 'The Makers Diet', focused on eating food the way God meant for it to be eaten, without of the chemicals and hormones and stuff. We can't eat anything from a pig, or anything that comes from a cow (like, cheese, milk..that kind of stuff). We can however have meat from grass fed cows. We eat like goat cheese, goats milk, so it's not that we can't have milk and cheese, it just can't be from a cow. We have to eat a lot of fish, exercise everyday and some other crazy things. I don't really know that much about it, I just pretty much just do whatever Kim tells me to do and eat. We have been on it for three days and so far so good, I'm let you know in a couple weeks and see if it is still going equally as well.

A Night Of Singles

2009-02-15T08:29:00.000-05:00

For Valentines Day I went to a friends house, where she cooked us dinner. It was Chicken pesto over noodles, topped with mozzarella chunks, tomatoes, with salad and garlic bread. It was yummy to say the least. We hung around the apartment for awhile and then decided to go Putt Putt. We went to Congo River, a safari themed place. We spilt up into two teams, and the competition began. I made a disclaimer to my team that I sucked at Putt Putt, but they didn't believe me as I started off fairly well. However, they learned quickly that I was telling the truth. Our team lost and to top it off I came in dead last, out of 9 people. I suggested going bowling, that is definitely more of my element. Over all it was a really fun night.

As you first walk in there is an area where you can feed the baby gators. In the pic from left to right: Mark, Kevin, Scott, Eric, Matt, Shannon and Melissa.

New Hair Do

2009-02-13T21:46:00.004-05:00

So there has been a constant struggle between the health of my hair and myself. It seems that my hair always seems to lose that battle. I noticed that my hair was not growing and was very uneven and unhealthy so I decided to go in for a trim, only it was a lot more unhealthy than I thought and I ended up getting four inches cut off. So here are some pics of the new do. I'm still getting use to it, but seriously it is just hair and it will grow back.

School Switch-A-Roo

2009-01-31T12:51:00.003-05:00

Anyone who knows me knows that I dislike school with a passion and that I was hesitant to jump back into the whole school thing. Southeastern was where I thought I was supposed to be, but it turned out to just be to expensive. The 5 years it took me to obtain my first degree cost less than one year at Southeastern. That to me is ridiculous. So due to the fact that I couldn't get approved for a loan and me not being happy at the school I decided to withdrawal from Southeastern and transfer to one of the Community Colleges near by. It will be an AA or AS (I can't remember) in Music. I will start taking classes this summer and it should take me around two years to finish. Southeastern is an awesome school but it just wasn't for me. I am however not sad about my decision, I think it is the best thing for me.

Snow Day

2009-01-22T17:55:00.006-05:00

HURRY TURN ON THE NEWS!!!! It snowed in Fl, look at that doesn't it look gorgeous?! Alright, alright, it's not snow...can't a girl dream? Due to the extremely cold (freezing) weather we have be experiencing, they put some chemical on the plants so that they will not freeze and die. It is actually a foaming substance, it kind of looks like bubbles from a bath but is actually like a spider web when you touch it. It was so funny I walked out of my room the other day and saw this white stuff on the ground. But it was only on the plants so I knew it couldn't be snow since it wasn't everywhere, but it did throw me off for a second. Tonight our low is going to be 32*, seriously? Our high the other day was something like 54*. Heeeelllo?, it Florida, this is complete craziness. It has been cold like this for about the last week and a half, and quite frankly I'm over it.

God is a breathtaking artist!

2009-01-20T14:14:00.004-05:00

Ok I was out walking around campus the other day just as the sun had set and darkness was setting in, I was able to capture this AMAZING picture. This by far is my new favorite. The colors and the silhouette is just awesome, it almost looks like a painting. I Love it! Alright that was all I had to share.

Welcome Back!

2009-01-18T16:11:00.015-05:00

Alright so last week was the first week back to school. I still can't believe that it is already 2009! If the next 3 years go by this quick I will be one happy person. I have made the plunged and moved into the dorms on campus. It's a little weird being one of the older ones if not the oldest one in the dorms. I was supposed to have a roommate but she moved off campus instead, so I have the room to myself which is great, but also somewhat lonely.

I really love the campus it is a very beautiful campus as you can see.

I'm taking 8 classes this semester and now I'm starting to get into the tougher stuff, Music Theory, Aural Theory all that fun stuff. I feel like I'm already struggling and the semester hasn't even really started. I see a tutor in my future.

One of my goals this year is to stay current with my blog, so check in with me periodically.

In case you guys are wondering what these pictures are of let me explain briefly. I guess the very first one needs no explanation. The second one is just of one of the buildings on campus. The third one is the main road/walkway on campus called El Prado, this is just one side of it. The next one is of Bush Chapel, this is obviously where we have chapel and also where some of our concerts and theatre productions are held. The last one is a fountain here on campus, it is of Jesus washing the disciples feet. This is really the theme of Southeastern, to have a servants heart. I will post pictures of my dorm as soon as I get everything where I want it to go.

If you are wondering why some of the text is blue and underline I have no clue, it just did that and I can't fix it.

Finals Week!

2008-12-12T12:13:00.002-05:00

So I'm sure you can tell by the title that this was finals weeks and compared to other finals week this one was mildly stressful. Out of six classes I only ended up having to take four finals. It was so hard trying to balance work, church, the holidays and studying.....I guess you could say LIFE! The final that I was spazing out the most about was my vocal final. Only because I'm super self-conscious about my singing, I had to sing two songs. One song I had to pick and the other the Jury (four teachers from the music department) would pick the other one once I got there. I had four songs to choose from so I had to know all of them equally as well. I had two Italian songs and two English songs. I picked one of the Italian songs "Caro Mio Ben" and they chose for me to sing "American Lullaby". One thing my private voice lesson teacher consistently kept telling me was to sing with confidence, that I don't trust myself. So I was afraid that my lack of confidence would shine through again, so during the week I sang in front of Kim (which went horribly) I also sang in front of this guy from work, and again for Kim along with Joy and Jayme.

So the day of the final I'm freaking out, nervous as nervous can get. I felt like I was going to loose my breakfast at any moment. I had tons of people praying for me and before I went in I prayed "God I am not asking for you to Supernaturally make me sound amazing, all I am asking is that you provide me confidence, that your peace would come over me." Holy Cow, I can't even tell you how great my final went. I was so pleasantly surprise, it was such a great feeling. God was definitely with me (like I knew he would be) it was so clear. I wasn't nervous at all, I wasn't jittery, my voice didn't quiver nothing, it was amazing!

This is what I wore to my final, I had a purple headband as well (not pictured) I also had purple eye shadow.

Tree Shopping

2008-11-29T22:43:00.002-05:00

Wow, so I can't believe that it is already Thanksgiving break. Break is almost over and I can't say that I have really been enjoying it, since I'm having to do homework, but I guess it comes with the territory. I was able to spend Thanksgiving day with Jay and Kim and their families. I have to say I'm definitely not a custom to eating two meals back to back, but some how I rose to the occasion. The food was great and it was just good to get out of the house.

Today Jay, Kim, Fawna (their dog) and I went to go pick out a tree. This was my first time picking out a real tree from an actual tree farm, it was a little overwhelming. They had a petting zoo, well kind of, you weren't actually able to touch the animals. There was a sign above one of the animals that read "I bite". Doesn't that just make you want to pet it? There was a bonfire where you could cook hot dogs and a "hay ride" that drops you off when you are ready to find that perfect tree. The funny thing about the whole thing was I walked out of my room and to my surprise, Jay Kim, and I were all wearing green, as you can see in the picture. It was a good day with great memories that I will cherish.

This is the tree I wanted but Jay and Kim wouldn't go for it, isn't so cute!

Shuttle Launch

2008-11-14T22:15:00.002-05:00

Tonight I went was some friends to see a Space Shuttle Launch from Kennedy Space Center. I have lived here for 2 1/2 yrs and have never seen a launch, so I was excited to go. I went with the Miller family, Nathan and Jeanie, who I had met when I was in Master's Commission. They moved away but were back in town visiting. It was so super crowded, we were not to terribly close, we didn't feel the ground shake or anything but it was a very cool experience. If it wasn't dark outside it was just look like the sun.

Another Year Older

2008-11-05T21:05:00.003-05:00

Happy Birthday to me, yesterday was my 26th birthday and also a very important election day. I knew that this year wasn't going to entail anything super exciting, seeing how I had to go to school and work yesterday. So my day started at 5 am and I ending up staying up all night. I usually come home from school and go straight to bed, to take a little nap before work, but I didn't want to go to sleep because that would have made for a lame birthday. Instead Kim and I made cards, which was super fun, we made some pretty nice cards too. My mind was all over the place in class yesterday, all I could think about was getting home and partaking in some sort of birthday celebration. This was a picture that I drew during my Theology class. My stick people friends threw me a surprise birthday party, cake, balloons (not pictured) and everything, I didn't suspect a thing.

I didn't do much for my birthday but it was a great day, thank you for all the birthday wishes and presents!

Once again

2008-10-10T17:28:00.000-04:00

Well it looks like that time...again! The time I was trying to avoid with everything inside of me, moving to Lakeland. I thought that I would be able to handle being a commuter student, but it doesn't look that way. It is only two days a week but it is so draining and not to mention the strain it is putting on my new car. It's amazing how quickly the miles add up. I will be moving in January, the location is still to be determined. I thought about moving into the dorms but I have messed emotions about that, since I've already been down that route. We will just have to see what happens. I am, however, extremely sad about living the place I've called home for the past five months. Kim and Jay have been awesome and there have been tons of memories, good and (bad--Jay!) to take with me. If all goes according to plan I will be done with school in three more semesters and that would be grand it that room was still available.

Just for the record this will be the fourth place I have lived since I moved to Fl two and a half years ago. *Sigh*

Tropical Storm Fay

2008-08-29T17:07:00.000-04:00

Tropical Storm Fay, remember how I told you she ruined my drive the first day of school, well she darn near flooded parts of Florida. As you can tell by the picture we received plenty of rain. This is a picture of palm trees in the Lake Jesup River. Yes that is how much it rained that the water reached all the way to the top of the trees. This was just one area affected, there were plenty of other places that look just as bad if not worse. But I have to say a Tropical Storm is a lot better than a hurricane, so I guess I should count my blessing and just buy a boat.

The Day of Obstacles

2008-08-22T14:56:00.005-04:00

Alright so yesterday was my first day of school and boy was it a dozy! The night before I went to bed around 9:30, which was so hard for me seeing how I usually stay up much later. But I found that my body did not like this idea of an early night, so I lied awake for a while. I did finally reach the wonderful stage of R.E.M (rapid eye movement) and then it was snatched from me. I had to wake up around 4:45am but for some reason my body thought it would be cool to get a head start, so I ended up waking up at 3:30. So I just play around on the Internet. Once I got ready and on my way to make that hour and fifteen minute drive, nothing but rain in my sight. I have Tropical Storm Fay to thank for that. So it was just a miserable drive down there on top of being tired. Things were going great until I got to chapel and my body started to settle down, and I started to fall asleep. Did I mention how incredible tired I was. Later that day I had my voice audition to find out whether or not I'd be accepted into the music program. Well I was accepted YAY!!!!!!

As I was walking to my car I noticed a little pink piece of paper on my windshield. I looked around to see if any other car was decorated with this lovely accent paper. Sure enough I took it off and was welcomed with a ticket. Are you kidding me, the first day of class, no warning or anything. They said that I was blocking the walking way....whatever, I was parked in front of it but it wasn't blocked and besides it was a grass parking lot how was I supposed to know where to park. And on my way home I got lost and it was pouring once again. So what should have taken me an hour and fifteen minutes took me almost two and a half hours to get home. Once I got home I ate dinner and went to bed, because I was exhausted. I was in bed by 8am and I didn't wake up until 7:30 this morning. If my math is correct that is 11 1/2hrs, Holy Hannah! (And all I want to do today is take a nap, as if I didn't get enough sleep or something.) I am going to be crazy busy this semester, I have five classes, and have to get 14 books, and a private voice lesson . In a couple of the classes I have to journal on the books I read. There are a few classes that I am concerned about but there are a couple classes that I am completely excited about. I am also looking to get involved with the worship team on campus which should be tons of fun.

That was my first day of classes in a nut shell, hopefully this was not a preview for what is to come.

It's Finally Here

2008-08-20T20:30:00.003-04:00

Alright so tomorrow is the big day....the first day of classes. I'm excited but also very nervous, I seriously can't believe that I am going through this process again. I felt like a little kid as I was packing my lunch for tomorrow. My day will start very early, the school is a little over an hour away and my first class starts at 7:35am. I know early, right, but that time was the only one left (I wonder why).

During orientation I found out that I will have to do my audition in to the music program to. AAAAAAHHHHHHHH! I still don't have a song, He said that all I need to sing is one hymn...easy right? Not exactly. I need to sing a hymn, not only that I know but that will also show case my talent. I was thinking Amazing Grace, but seriously how many people do you think that hear do that song. So then my back up songs are As The Deer and Oh Lord You're Beautiful. Have no clue which one I'm going to do, but I'm just praying that whichever one I do I don't let my nerves get the best of me.

Well have to get to bed early if I'm ever going to wake up in the morning!

I Don't Wanna Leave

2008-08-19T22:00:00.001-04:00

Well I just finished going through my orientation for school. Orientation started on Saturday and went all the way until today, I have never heard of an orientation last so long. Well actually I left Monday night because that campus was closed Tuesday because of the Tropical Storm Fay. One thing that I really enjoyed was Chapel on Sunday. The President of the University does the majority of the preaching, but Sunday he didn't really preach much from the bible, it was more of a talk to the parents and students. Comforting parents that their child are going to be ok and that its not easy to let go but its a step that needs to be taken. And encouraging, us, students to take advantage of the resources available and not to be afraid to ask for help.

There were a couple songs done at the beginning done by a student lead band "The Josh Heirs Band" (which I hope to one day be apart of) and they were truly amazing. They did a lot of original songs which was awesome, and just being able to witness their passion and love for who they serve and what they do. To see them dancing around on stage was great. But what really touched me was after service, once the majority of the people scurried off to eat lunch, the band did some more songs and it was awesome to just worship. I felt almost like I was at camp, it was just so intense. The last song they did absolutely just blew me away, I don't remember the title but the lyrics were: "I am satisfied in your presence... I don't wanna leave, one day I won't have to." Holy cow that's powerful, it's such a true statement, how amazing will that day be when we won't have to leave/stop worshiping and praising our God!

Art Gallery

2008-07-21T14:31:00.000-04:00

My Church, Orlando North Community Church, held it's first Art Gallery last night and it was truly Amazing. I was simply blown away by the art that was displayed. There were two theme of the night one was Creation and the other was the Parables of Jesus (Parables=Stories/Lessons). I did two creation pieces; first I did photography-seven different pictures that represent something created that day. And the second thing was a globe of the world that I made out of creation. For instance such Continent was made of something different, like South America was made out of sticks, North America was made out of shells, Europe was leaves and you get the idea. I'm trying to get picture up of the things I did and some of the other art but I'm having problems getting the pictures up here. Our church a year and a half old, so we are still working to build up our congregation. We had 120 people walk through our doors last night and that is the highest our numbers have been to date, so that was exciting for us as a church. It was a cool experience and I can not wait to for the next one.

Make Time

2008-07-19T14:08:00.003-04:00

Wow I really have lost site with keeping up with this thing. It seems like forever and so much has happened. At the beginning of this month Rob (My pastor) challenged the church to devoted an hour a day for our quiet time (reading the bible and praying) for the month of July. It was really hard to make yourself allot for that time, but once I did it I felt good. That was something that I had been struggling with for the longest time and now I feel that I have a better handle on it. Every morning that is how I start my day, I find that if I don't do it first thing in the morning it tends to slip away from me, because then my day as started and things that 'I have to do' keep popping up. If you don't currently have a time set aside to reading the Bible and praying I encourage you to start one and just see how God works in you life. You don't have to start off doing an hour a day, try doing 30 mins at first. I don't really think that it is the amount of time that matters, but the fact that you are doing it. When it starts to become a habit the time will increase on its own. Make time for God in your life!

Letting Go Of An Old Friend

2008-07-07T22:41:00.007-04:00

Today I went to the dealership to get my 'much need' car fix. The check engine light has been on since last September, so wow almost a year. I took in to get it fix in March and after $400+ I walked away with the check engine light still on. They gave me some bull crap story and I left. So here I am 4months later and I'm thinking that my car is going to blow up any minute. God has truly blessed me, in regards to my safety in the car. I get there is morning and the initial quote was $208.90 just to see what the problem was. Well after an hour the guy comes in the waiting room and tells me that there is something wrong with my 3rd cylinder whatever that means, and that it was very serious and needed to be worked on right away. The only problem was they had to take it apart to figure out what was wrong with it and that was going to cost like $450, just to figure out what is wrong with it, not to fix it. It was just adding up and not making any sense, so after talking to my parents we decided that it was just time to let it go. So I went through the longer horrible process and got a new car today. Brand new 2008 Hyundai Elantra, I love it the dash board lights are blue and it looks so cool at night. I was able to get an AWESOME deal but it was very stressful, trying to buy a car for the first time with no family here to help. Jay, was very kind as to fill in the gap when my family was not here and I am so grateful for that.

It was kind of sad though, saying good bye to the Red Beast (at least that is what my dad called it) that was my last piece of New Mexico I had, that car and I had been through so much. That car got me here to Fl, man that car was a trooper, and I sure will miss it.

My Room

2008-06-18T17:21:00.008-04:00

O my gosh I can't BELIEVE IT, the impossible has been done. I moved in with some friends last week and was overwhelmed with the amount of stuff I had, I could hardly move. I knew it was something that had to be done, but I just didn't really know where to start. Well one week and many long hours later I finished it and it looks wonderful if I say so myself. I actually just put all the stuff in the garage (shhhhhh, don't tell Jay). Anyway take a look at the before and afters.

One Step Closer

2008-06-12T22:00:00.001-04:00

YEAH!!!!! I am officially a student of Southeastern University. I will also be receiving a $1.500 scholarship. I am so excited to start in the fall but also dreading it at the same time, the thought of doing papers again makes me what to vomit.

And now there are THREE

2008-06-11T23:34:00.004-04:00

So for the last week or so I have been moving into my new place and let me tell you I do not want to move again until 1) I get married or 2) Jay and Kim kick me out. I never realized what a pain moving really is, although I should because this is the third residence I have lived in since I more to Fl in less than two years. Anyway, Jay and Kim, the couple I am living with are awesome people. They were 2 of the 10 that I went with to Ireland last October. I get along great with Kim, I'm still trying to figure out Jay. All in all I think it is a good fit. But today was the day I got to hand over the apartment keys once and for all. I'm not gonna lie it was kind of sad leaving for the last time. It was a great apartment in a great location it was just way to expensive.

It was really tough trying to fit a one bedroom apartment into a single room. So instead my stuff is scatter all around the house. There are now 4 couches in the living, a table along with a bunch of boxes in the garage, a dresser and coffee table in the spare bedroom and lets not even get started with my room (O and the crap full of stuff still in my car because I didn't even want to deal with it). It makes me want to throw up just looking at it. I just spent 2 hrs working on it and it doesn't look like I did anything. I will have to show pictures of before and after later. I should go to bed but I think I'm gonna work a little more on this room.

Update!

2008-06-01T04:00:00.004-04:00

He has been caught and released back into the wild and now I'm going to bed. Not sure if it is worth it or if it is just going to make me more tired in the morning. If I go now I can get 3 good hrs, tomorrow is going to BLOW.

***Read blog below to understand what it is I am talking about***

My Eyes Are Wide Open

2008-06-01T02:48:00.007-04:00

Today started out as a good day, I woke up at 10:30 this morning (something that I never do). Got up ate some breakfast, watch a little TV, then decided that I wanted to go back to bed. So around 12:30 or 1, I went back to sleep and didn't wake up until 3:30. Ooooo it was so amazing! I then did some laundry took a shower and than headed over to a friends house for girls night. We went out to eat and where we encountered the rudest server ever and we over indulged. With full aching bellies we headed over to the grocery store to pick up snacks for our chick flick. We watched 27 dresses, it was cute but very predictable. Our bellies hurt to much from dinner that our snacks just sat there. But of course I had to try an cram crap in my already not well tummy and made things worse. I know I'm a genius!

I left Michele's house around 1am, I have to be at work at 8 in the morning so I figured I needed to get some sleep. As I arrive at my door who or what was there to greet me??? Oh just Mr. Frog hanging out on the wall right next to my door. After I shooed him away I came in and got ready for bed. I had gone in my room several times but hadn't turned on the light, well because there was really no need I guess. So I'm sitting on my bed ready to lay down my tired little head, when I remembered that early in the day I noticed a sliver fish on my ceiling but I was to lazy to kill it at the time, so I wanted to see if it was still there. When I turned on my light to my surprise I didn't not see the sliver fish instead I saw a lizard on my ceiling. ARE YOU FREAKIN KIDDING ME!!!!! So now I'm thinking crap I can't just leave it there, what if if crawls on me while I'm sleeping. But I didn't want to kill it 1) it was a baby 2) that just seemed to cruel. So I sat there and looked at it for awhile then I attempted to catch it using a shoe box. I scared it and it jumped off the wall, I screamed and it went behind my dresser. Any normal person probably would have left it alone but there is no way that I would be able to sleep knowing there was a lizard in my room. So I tore my room apart as you can see from the pictures. It was great that he happens to be the same color as my carpet.....Perfect just STINKIN PERFECT!! I came across him one more time and then lost him, I think he is somewhere under my bed or in my closet I don't even know. It is now 3:30am and there is nowhere I'm going to sleep in this house tonight. I don't know how I'm going to sleep tomorrow night either because I won't know if it is still here. So I guess I am pulling an all-nighter tonight, I have to be at work in 4 and a 1/2 hours. Tomorrow's going to be a fun day?!?!

Dairy Free....I Think Not!

2008-05-25T15:41:00.007-04:00

In April when I gave up meat for a month I started noticing that I was having issues with my stomach. I just thought it was from the increase of fiber and the fact that my body was getting used to the changes. Well almost 2 months later the problems are still here, I even added meat back into the picture. When nothing changed it got me thinking about what it is I'm eating, the only thing that stayed consistent was dairy products. I am a yogurt fanatic. I was eating probably like six servings of dairy a day, I don't know what the recommended servings are but I had dairy covered. (three of those serving were yogurt....man I love yogurt)

Which is weird because when I was little I was eating Trix yogurt, you know the one with the Rabbit and it had all sorts of different colored swirls and stuff....yum! Well I noticed that it was lumpier than normal but it didn't phase me until I was almost finished and felt something strange in my mouth. To my surprise I pulled a grasshopper leg out of my mouth. Let me tell you how traumatizing that was for a little kid. It took me awhile before I would ever go near yogurt again.

That was a huge side note, back to what I was saying. So Friday morning I had cereal and yogurt for breakfast and I felt pretty ok. For lunch I had PB & J, salad and yogurt and my stomach was starting to act a little funny. Well that day at work they had ice cream for all the employees and of course I had some of that. And that's when I noticed a problem, it wasn't long after I ate the ice cream I was experiencing some stomach rumbling and gas. (I can't believe I am telling everyone this) And that's when I put two and two together......hello it's the dairy. So after talking to my mom we came to the conclusion that I'm Lactose intolerant. I wasn't aware that you could acquire it, I thought it was something you were born with. So I did a little test this morning and sure enough that's what it is. I bought some Lactaid pills and now I fine. These pills are going to be my best friend because there is no way I can give up dairy. I just thought that was strange.

Food+Friends+Music=A Stinkin Good Time!

2008-05-17T23:30:00.002-04:00

So I had a little get together with the band members from my church. (well most of them) I prepared tacos, with refried beans and spanish rice and brownies for dessert. I have to admit I was a little nervous at first, about the meal, and not have anything to talk about and that it was just going to be a train wreck. But to my surprise it turned out great it was fun hosting again, I really miss doing that. We've decided that this is something we want to keep doing, rotating between band members houses. It was just really great getting to know the people that you serve with every week.

That's What I'm Talking About

2008-05-01T17:49:00.004-04:00

Heck Ya, the April challenge is over and I completed it successfully and I lost some weight in the process. I think I'm going to continue not eating meat for a little while longer, it's kind of grown on me. I have been craving chocolate and cake like crazy on the other hand, I haven't given in yet, I think that would be a bad idea right now. Anyway I was just super excited that I followed through with it.

My future unfolding...

2008-04-28T22:31:00.000-04:00

God is stinkin AWESOME!!!! (even that sentence is an under statement) He has just been showing Himself to me lately. Not only did I get the job grading the other tests, but He has been showing me things that my future holds. And by showing, I don't mean a literal picture, it's really hard to explain but for once in my life I have clarity. I know exactly what I want to do with my life, I am a little nervous about some things that will be happening, but I trust that God is going to prepare me and equip me with the tools and knowledge I need to succeed. Some of you know that I am looking to go back to school in the fall, to a very amazing school, Southeastern University in Lakeland FL (about an 1 hr away). It's a Christian University and I will be going to get a degree in Church Music, so that I can become a worship leader. I also will be working very closely with the youth in my church. I am excited on so many levels and I can't wait to begin this new journey with God. Trusting God has not always been easy for me but He seems to be working with me in this area, pray that this trust is not only in the good times but in the valleys as well. I hope your week is as good as mine has started out to be.

Man God is Awesome, just wanted to make that clear!

SLEEP, SLEEP, SLEEP....I Want

2008-04-22T22:44:00.002-04:00

I know it has only been a couple days since my last post but it is amazing how things changed since then. I walk into work this morning drained, I had no energy and I was very quite (which was rare for my co-workers to see) it just wasn't a good situation. Let me tell you it was like the last day of high school, having to say good-bye to the people you had gotten so close to, knowing that you will probably never see them again. So now I'm kinda just waiting in the wings to hear back from the temp agency to see if I can continuing working. The best things about all of this is I finally get to SLEEP!!! So bring on tomorrow, I can sleep in wake up eat and then go back to sleep if I want.....AWESOME!!!!

Busy Busy......

2008-04-20T10:43:00.001-04:00

My goodness April has been a busy month and I can't believe it's almost over already. Well at the beginning of April I started manage to get a temp, and I absolutely love it. I don't think I have been able to say that about any job I have ever had. The people I work with are pretty cool too. There is a possiblity that I could be keep this job for the month of May as well, I am praying to get to keep it, hopefully I will found out sometime next week. I still have my Target job so I'm staying pretty busy and really don't have time for much, my only days off are Saturday and Sunday and some how I have managed to get talked into working the last two Saturdays and then Sundays are hectic because I have to fit seven days worth of stuff into one day. Which hardly never works out because I have worship practice and church set up at 3pm. (So forget about ever sleeping in) But I honestly have to say I like being busy, I would like it even better if I were sleeping at night, this double job thing really started to kick my butt this last week. My favorite thing about all of this is the double income thing....I love money and it has been so long since I actually had some. Anyway that is what I have been up to lately.

A Night Of Fun

2008-04-12T03:24:00.000-04:00

I had the pleasure of watching the Duford kids tonight. It was a night full of fun, first we started off with planting tomatoes and flowers and then we danced and sang along to High School Musical, well me and Haley did Caeden said that was girl stuff. He likes the boy basketball song, but if you have never seen or heard High School Musical you have no clue what I am talking about. After that we played outside in the front yard. It was such a great day outside that later we ate dinner outside. For dinner I was just going to cook one of those pre-made pot pies. Well I didn't look at the cook time until they were ready to eat and it took like an hour to cook in the oven. Well the kids wouldn't going to be able to wait that long and the boxes were already open. So it had microwave directions on it, it was like 10 mins per pie. The microwave wasn't big enough to put both in so like 35 mins later we were outside ready to eat. Later found out that one of the pies came out alright and the other one was a bit on the crispy side. I guess you could say that was a learning experience. So for all of you out there who are planning on taking the "easy way" out and cooking your pot pie in the microwave, don't do it. I grantee it might take longer but it'll taste a whole lot better if you do it in the oven. After dinner we created some artwork outside, I had one more project I wanted to do with them but just ran out of time. They ended off the night with a slumber party in mom and dad's bed. There is definitely never a dull moment when I watch those kids, some of the things that say are just hilarious!

It's Back!

2008-04-08T17:30:00.000-04:00

It's BACK....my camera that is!!!! It's not the same one, it's a new one compliments of my Mother. Thanks Mom! This is a picture I took at a local state park, Wekvia Springs. It was amazing that I even spotting this resting critter. Well I think he/she was just resting but I watched it for a while and it never moved, blinked or anything. So I hope it wasn't dead because that would make this a picture of a dead squirrel and I think that would be a little morbid. WOW, that was a rabbit trail. Anyway just wanted to let you know that I have a camera, so I will be posting originals again.

In other news it has be a week since I started the April Challenge, and I have to say I'm not really phased by it. I thought it would be tough not eating meat, or sweets (candy/desserts) on top of giving up soda for a year. Somehow I'm managing and can't believe how easy it has been. I've even lost a couple pounds. I need to learn how to modify my bread intake, however. I LOVE ME SOME BREAD!!!!!

The Results Are In....

2008-04-02T22:21:00.000-04:00

Some of you may know that I took the Elementary Ed test, working towards my Florida teaching certification. I got the results today and turns out I didn't pass. I missed passing by 4pts, which is kind of ironic because 4 is my favorite number. 4 measly pts, this stinks!

The April Challenge!

2008-03-31T17:41:00.001-04:00

Well it's that time again....I'm not going to eat meat starting tomorrow and lasting for the whole month of April. I did this once before in February but only did it for 13 days because I had gone home and didn't want to miss out on all that good home cookin. In addition to not eating meat I will not be eating desserts/sweets as well. I know, it's going to be a lot to handle all at once and will probably be pretty cranky for the first week or so. But I'm hoping that this will help me 1) find ways to eat healthier and 2) learn how not to over indulge in sweets. When I did it in February I actually enjoyed it and have been looking forward to doing it again. I don't think I would ever become a vegetarian, though, because I LOVE meat way to much. But you never know!

Trust Is EVERYTHING!

2008-03-19T23:13:00.000-04:00

I don't know how many of you knew about the whole ordeal with my voice last year....long story very short. I had a polyp (a growth) on my right vocal chord and it was obstructing my ability to sing. I was experiencing shortness of breath, raspy voice, voice cracking, dizziness, and the list goes on. I wasn't able to sing for 9 or 10 months. It was a miracle but God healed me. Well sadly the polyp has return, not full force because I am still able to sing. I just get dizzy, I notice my voice cracking a lot and I'm losing my vocal range. I am not going to let this get me down this time. God has really been helping me through this and my attitude about it has really surprised me. I believe that He is trying to teach/show me something and until I get it I think this is going to be a re-occurring thing. So trusting in Him is all I can do.

A Piece of Ireland ...Here

2008-03-18T18:15:00.000-04:00

Wow! What a week. This past week we (my church) had a team of six people from Ireland. They came across the pond to do ministry. The team was a group of musicians who played at a local Pub, Fiddler's Green a totally three times while they were here, they also played at a block party in our Pastor's neighborhood, and did two church services as well. Their band is stinkin AMAZING! The band consisted of a Sweet Drummer (Lily), it's a Celtic drum don't remember what it is called, an awesome Banjo/Vocal/Guitar playing (Joe), an Amazing Guitar/Panio/Kazoo/Vocal/Harmonic player (Ken), and a Talented Piano/Guitar/Tuba/Whistle/Celtic Fulte/Trumpet/Vocal and like five another instruments that I can't remember (Noel). Noel's wife, Heather (who can also sing and play piano) was on the trip along with Lyndsey the youth pastor.

It was good getting to see them again. A team of ten went to Ireland in October 07 on a mission team and that is where we first encountered the Irish. God did so cool stuff around Orlando, in the Ireland team and also awakened some things in myself. I definitely will be going back to Ireland, it's an amazing country, wonderful people and a huge need.

I Didn't Get It

2008-03-11T12:14:00.000-04:00

Well I just received a phone call from the School for the Teacher's Aide job and I didn't get the job. No big deal I'm just happy that they called me. I do have something lined up for the next month, but come May I'm gonna have to do a search all over again.

When Will It End?

2008-03-07T12:05:00.000-05:00

ARGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That's all I have to say about this job situation (or lack of).

Looking For A Change

2008-03-05T12:31:00.000-05:00

Alright everyone I have been thinking lately about cutting my hair. I have been trying to grow it out, but I almost think I need to start all over again...less split ends and less damaged hair. So now I need your help, which one of these styles do you like better, I guess that they look similar but give me your opinions. Thanks a bunch!

Gotta love Interviews!

2008-03-04T23:41:00.000-05:00

Today was such a crazy day, so I had my interviews today. My first one was at 9:30 am but I woke up super early so I had enough time and plus I had to got to the store as well. So it's around 8:30 and I'm like one exit away from arriving at the first interview..I know a whole hour early I over estimated rush hour traffic. So as I'm thinking this I get a phone call from the person I'm about to see and she says is the any way that you can come in this afternoon? Are you kidding me?!?! But what could I say I was like of course and I turned around and went back home. Once I got home I was really tired, my next interview wasn't until 2 pm, but I couldn't lay down or go back to sleep because my hair was done nice. So I just killed time watching TV and organizing old notes from high school (that's another story in itself)

I left around noon so that I could check out a camera shop that was near by my second interview spot. However the camera shop didn't impress my much or maybe I just wasn't in the mood to look at the time, I don't know. Anyway so I was in and out and on my way to my interview. It was an hour and a half before I needed to be there but whatever. Long story short mapquest failed me yet again and it took me 45 mins to find the place, that was literally about 15 mins from the camera place. So the interview went awesome, I have never be able to walk out of an interview and say that. I was interviewing for a Teacher's Aide at an alternative school for at-risk youths. I really hope I get this job, it's going to be a challenging job for awhile but it is going to be so rewarding in the long run. They are going to narrow it down to two people and I will know Thursday if I need to come back for a second interview or if I didn't get the job. So I super excited and I hope everything will work out.

So then I went to the other interview where I found out that it wasn't an interview at all it was a Temp Agency. ARGH! I will definitely keep you guys updated on the job situation.

Today Is Definitely Better!

2008-03-03T13:59:00.000-05:00

Yay! for me. I am having a much better day then I was the other day. After having a dry spell as far as finding a job, I received two phone calls about positions I applied for. I was waiting to have lunch with a friend and was trying to kill time, so I was just walking around in Ross and I got the first call. And seriously not even a minute later I get another call and it was the second person. They both scheduled a interview with me tomorrow, so will see what happens. Hopefully I be writing and telling you about the job (FULL TIME job) I finally have. I'll let you know how it goes.

And The WAR begins...

2008-03-01T19:30:00.000-05:00

Finally back in Florida, and it's very bitter sweet. It was absolute awesome begin home, but if you read a couple blogs ago I was looking forward to coming back because there are some changes that I needed to make. Anyway, so I got back to Florida and it appears that I don't have a job anymore (I said appears, have to go talk to them tomorrow), nor do I have a check because, long story, just mailed them out yesterday, which really doesn’t help my bank account.

Then today was the big test day (K-6, for my teaching certification). I had been studying this stupid book that turns out didn't help me at all. I mean seriously this test was ridiculous; the type of questions weren't even similar to what was on the test. I should probably be as positive as possible but I don't feel condifient after walking out of there. Not only was it a waste of time and money taking the test but also
purchasing the stupidest, most ridiculous, piece of study material known to man. I'm pretty sure if I had that book to study for about 2 months it wouldn't have made a difference, a lot of the material that was asked on the test WASN'T EVEN IN THE BOOK! *This picture explains exactly how I felt after taking that test, and from reading that book!*

While I was in New Mexico, my last night there actually, I dropped my camera. No big deal right? People drop their cell phones, and probably cameras, all of the time. That's exactly what I was thinking because after I dropped it I was able to still take pictures. Well apparently it had a delayed reaction and is now broken. When you turn it on a picture of the logo shows up and then goes to a white screen. I can view previously taken pictures I just can't take any new ones. Yes it's just a camera but this is huge for me, especially because I had an up coming project I needed it for.

Once I got back from the test and had a little emotional melt down, I realized that all the things that have happened in the last 24 hrs were attacks from the devil. He knows the things that I came back here to and he doesn't like it and is trying everything he can to get me off course. I can't believe I almost fell for it; I'm not going to let him defeat, distract, or distress me. I have to stay focused. Thank you for letting my vent, I feel a lot better now.

Rate My Photo

2008-02-28T20:46:00.000-05:00

I submitted one of my photos (Florida Sunrise) to Pictures.com awhile ago. Well now they are having a 'Rate my photo' contest. It's mainly just for fun but there is also a possibility of wining $50, if your photo gets the most votes. $50 could come in handy right now but whatever. If you go to the link below you can vote, there are also a lot of other really good pictures too.

Rate My Photo, Click Here

Lost Pieces...Found

2008-02-28T13:54:00.000-05:00

Ok seriously I have no clue what is going on in my life right now! It's like my life is just flip flopping all over the place. In a good way don't get me wrong, in a amazing way actually. Coming home has been absolutely awesome, God has truly blessed me with amazing people in my life. Things are starting to make sense.. I don't, however, have all the answers. There are little pieces to the puzzle that are now appearing on the table. I believe these pieces are a very crucial part and I'm glad that they have finally arrived. There is definitely going to be major praying and fasting about these up coming decisions/areas in my life, but for once I feel like I have direction. It just has to be approved by the one who really matters, God. I am so excited and don't understand why I never thought of it before. These plans are going to remain under wraps until I can get absolute clarity. But definitely stay tune to the things that will be unfolding.

A Moment of Clarity

2008-02-25T17:01:00.000-05:00

During these past couple of weeks, I've had time to think and reflect. There were some areas in my life that I was focuses on too much and others I've been neglecting. So when I get back to Florida there are going to be some changes. After talking to a friend, she opened my eyes to some things and encouraged me not to be idle, to pick up the ball and run with it. She said something to the affect of, It's better for someone else to drop the ball, than for the ball to drop in your court. Ok so that was a definite paraphrase, so if she reads this just keep that in mind. That is exactly what I have been doing in a certain area, I've been waiting around for someone else to make things happen, but if you really want something you've gotta go for it, ultimately God is going to guide my steps, open the doors I'm supposed to go through and close the ones that are not right for me. It's good to wait and rely on God but at the same time I think God wants us to help ourselves.

And on the flip side there are somethings that I feel I need to give up for the time being. So it's a good feeling to get a little clarity on things. Now I'm ready to go back to Fl and tackle life, to get through this job dry spell, to stop focuses on the negative and the things I don't have and to just rejoice in the things God has blessed me with. I know that God has something amazing for me, I just have to be patient and rely fully on Him.

This is quickly becoming one of my favorite passages of scripture:
"When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the Lord, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior..."
Isaiah 43:2-3

Dinner with friends

2008-02-24T02:42:00.000-05:00

Tonight I had dinner with friends (old and new) at cute little place in Ruidoso called Dreamcatcher's. The served something called Gyro's that everyone was raving about. A Gyro, which is pronounced Euro (like the money), anyway it has lamb, tomato, and cucumber, with some kind of dill sauce, that had yogurt in it. I was leery at first but it actually turned out to pretty good. They also made a pretty yummy smoothie. So anyway it was just a great time to hang out and enjoy each other company.

Left picture: Britney and myself. Right picture (from left to right): Britney, Katie, Me, April, Bethany

Sweet Singing Candy!

2008-02-23T17:00:00.000-05:00

So I was boycotting studying and really doing anything productive for that matter. So while watching tv an M&M commercial came on. So I did what any normal bored person would do and I went to the website. Well at the website you can make a an M&M character, so this is me as an M&M doing what I love.

*You can click on the picture to make it bigger*

Mo Money!

2008-02-21T11:12:00.000-05:00

Yesterday my parents and I went to the Casino for my Mom's birthday. I was a little hesitant about going, for the simply fact that I had never been before. Well we went and once we got there (Billy The Kid Casino) my Mom gave each of a roll of quarters, and we were off. My Dad and I stuck pretty close together seeing how neither one of us knew what we were doing, so we played the slots. I keep hearing quarters dropping and people getting all this money, even my Dad was getting some (it wasn’t much but it was something). It is came to the point where I was out of money, my Dad was kind enough to give me some of his quarter stash. All of a sudden in the background this lady behind us won big, not jackpot big but big enough I guess. I was thinking to myself, “Man that stinks, I want some money. So I put my quarter in and low and below quarters just came falling down, my jaw dropped. I had just won $20.50, that’s what I’m talking about.

So when you think about it I only really won $10.00 since it took my whole roll of quarters and some of my Dad’s to win, but hey it’s something. As I was waiting for my parents to finish up I found myself continuing to put more quarters in, by the time we left I cashed out with $15 (not bad)! It’s amazing how many older people were in there, I guess their either loaded or just using their retirement checks, you could tell some of those people have been there awhile. Then we went to the Inn Of The Mountain God’s where none of us did well, except for the lady next to us. After that we went and got some grub. All in all it was a good night.

The 24 Club

2008-02-18T03:00:00.000-05:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BETHANY!!!!!!!!
We (Bethany, Britney, Katie, Me & Bethany's Dad) started the night off at Chili's, followed by a trip to Hasting, then stopped by the pool hall where we pretended to know what we were doing, and the night ended with watching the Martian Child. (cute movie by the way). It was a fun night and I'm glad I was there to celebrate with her.

Finally Home!

2008-02-17T19:27:00.000-05:00

Wow! I can't believe it has been over a year since I've been home, well I finally made it home yesterday afternoon. Of course I had to come during Winter, coming from Fl I can't believe how brown it is..I completely forgot. It's good to be back though and to see all these familiar faces.

I think the majority of you know that I am going through the process of obtaining my teaching certification in Elementary Ed. I take my first test (of three) March 1. So I have been trying to brush up on my Elementary Ed knowledge and BOY is it overwhelming. So this is the book helping me through this, problem is it can get so boring at times.

My weak area is definitely Math and I'm strong in Science. So hopefully I can catch up in the other areas.

To eat meat or not to eat meat...that is the question?

2008-02-14T23:15:00.000-05:00

Alright so I was trying to not eat meat for a month, but picked a hard time to pursue it. Going home was not the time to give up meat. Anyhow I went 13 days without meat and it wasn’t as hard as I thought it was going to be. I did however have a big fat cheeseburger tonight and it was stinkin awesome. I’ll have to try this again another time at least I know that I can do it.

Snow Day

2008-02-14T16:36:00.000-05:00

So I have been in Denver 4 days now visiting my sister and Eric (her husband). We got around 4 inches of snow today. Snow, oh my gosh I haven’t seen snow in so long and boy is that apparently clear from the lack of warm clothes in my suitcase. I guess it’s official, I’m a Floridan, I’m out West visiting family (where it is WINTERTIME) and I somehow forget to pack a coat/jacket, I did however manage to pack a hoodie, which isn’t keeping me that warm. Luckily I have been able to borrow stuff from my sister. I do have to admit it was fun waking up to snow.

Invasion of the Fairies

2008-02-13T21:00:00.001-05:00

While visiting my sister I had the privilege of meeting her God-daughter, Ysabella, today. She just turned a year old last month and is the cutest thing (see pictures). We had fun playing with each other, with Pazu (my sister's dog), we also enjoyed the Colorado weather and went for a walk. I had a blast hanging out with Ysabella, she even taught me how to speak a new language...Fairy. This language was foreign at first but as the day progressed I became fluent and we were able communicate without a problem. As our day came to a close we decided to have a photo shoot, here a couple pictures from our day.