Monday, March 25, 2013

Sometimes words are not enough.

    You may be wondering why the link to this blog is 'water water banana'? Well I named it "By a series of amazing events" first and it is a spin off of Lemony Snickets "A series of unfortunate events". I like to find the positive in every situation or the reason for why it is a seemingly "bad" day, since everything happens for a reason. I witness people living their lives with so much negativity and their day to day lives just seem so much harder and stressful. It's much simpler to be happy and positive in all that you do!
    So since I had Lemony Snickets on the brain I had to do a spin off of my favorite line in the movie when he is pointing out what he will get the kids from the store he says, "Soda, Soda, Banana." Since I only drink water and I do like bananas it seemed fitting.

    After I started this blog I found a quote from the movie and it fits very well with what I am trying to prove here.
 
    So if it seems like your every day life is always rough and nothing goes right, slow down, relax, and just beleive that it is either the beginning of the journey you've been guided too and every thing will get better as you begin to understand them or you just aren't listening at all to the right signs being given to you, telling you that you made a wrong turn. It's not too late. There are always detours to get you back to the right path. Slow down and read the signs with an open heart. It will still be a little rough but you will notice the negative going away and the positive taking over. It will be amazing.
    Make a priority list and stick to it. Things will change around you and at times it will be scary and so different from where you used to be but once you get there you will feel so much better every day!!

 
 
    Have an adventure! Most of my every day tasks are adventures for me. You can call it being childish but if I am getting the job done safely and having fun while doing it why can't everybody? I don't have to be here today, I don't have to have 2, technically 3 jobs, graduated from college and going to school for another degree. None of this is my doing. I was given all of these opportunities throughout the past couple years and without them I don't know where I would be. So I would feel greedy if I lived this amazing life I was given with a negative attitude and expected everything to be handed to me without working hard for it. So with every opportunity I have (even learning something new on the job) I take it as another thing that I didn't have to be given so I will go at it with my best heart and seek the fun in it.
    A great example of a simple adventure for me took place after church yesterday. I met up with family for lunch and then some of us went to Walmart. Yes Walmart is pretty much taboo and you should just go get your things and get out quickly. But what is the fun in that? My nephew was running around having great adventures and half of them being guided by me and the rest of my family. We played with the giant display of bouncy balls, we wanted to start a game of cards in the garden section, we looked at fish, and played iSpy Gavin in a few departments. So if you are running through this life you have so graciously been given slow down and have an adventure! As you can see they don't always have to cost money. Seek adventure in all you do! There's much to see out there and God made it all. Or just go to Walmart with a 2 year old and see life through their eyes. It makes for an exciting life full of memories!
 




 
 
 
Practice smiling at yourself everytime you look in a mirror. I'm not sure when I started doing this but I'm sure it's been a huge part of boosting my confidence over the years. If you can smile at yourself in the mirror then you can make someone's day and smile at them. And it gives you practice for when you get your picture taken. =]
 
Stay happy! Be excited! Have an adventure!
See you next week.
Sarah.
 
(I'll take the stuffed Easter boy in the shadow behind the white lamb.)

 


Monday, March 18, 2013

Char Char come here!

Lets jump to the present. You've read how I got here, now what am I up to?
    This is where I should tell you that my nickname is Ireland. It was given to me on one of my first photoshoots as an intern because of the shirt I wore and stuck because of my love for Ireland. Well I guess that's just a random tidbit because it doesn't really fit in to where I am going with this...oops.
    Well anyways, I'm working two jobs. Actually I technically have three jobs:

LKC Photography where I help turn this:
 
Into this:
 
Photo shot and edited by Lora Krugh Campbell of LKC Photography
   
 
Home Depot Garden Recovery Freight Team where I am the only girl on a team of 9 or so guys. Makes the four hours a night very interesting.
 
I am also a seasonal cast member at Disney World. This means I have to get 150 hours a year and I can keep all of my lovely perks and shiny discounts.
 
 
    This seems like a busy schedule right? No way! Add in 2 classes twice a week a half an hour away and of course church on Sundays! Not that is a busy schedule. It seems busy but its managable. In the Fall I will be switching to full time student at Sinclair so I will have to manage my time well. Sinclair is where my dream is finally coming true! What I've always wanted to do when I grew up is being unfolded in front of me. In about three years I will have an Associates degree in Interior design! I'm not exactly sure how I want to use it but I want to go to New York and love in the City for awhile!
 
    I'm still trying to figure myself out so that doesn't leave much room for a personal life. I'm always on the go and I just can't sit still. So I am obviously not married or even close to being and even further away from kids. And if I keep living with my niece and nephew for awhile then the idea of me having kids will drift away forever. Living with kids that aren't yours is great birth control.
    I do however have a fourlegged kid who will be six this year. I've had Charlie for five years and he's the best pet I've ever had. Much easier than training a real kid.


 
   
 
 
    I was obsessed with this video when we got him so that's what he's named after. He's my furry best friend. He helped me pass photography. I don't think there are very many people that can truly say they took their dog to class everyday. Everyone who meets him loves him and I am so blessed to have a friend who loves him almost as much as me and wants to watch him whenever I go out of town. I hold this four legged fur ball so close to my heart and although I get by with not having to teach him to read ot help him with homework he is my son in many ways. He does however have an obsession with getting into the trash that I can't break him of. I can't wait to live in a tiny managable apartment where he won't have a chance to get into the trash. For now I just have to watch him close.
    I'm not sure if you all can leave comments but please do if you can! Feedback would be great! I think you can be anonymous! I think I will be posting every Monday or close to it. If I can't figure out something creative to write then I have plenty of pictures of my lovely adventures that I can post!





*Always find the positive! Random acts of kindness are a win win for everyone.*

Sunday, March 17, 2013

Kicking a lost button up and down the isles.

     I've stared at this empty blog since I made it a few days ago. I made it all pretty and exactly how I wanted it but then I didn't know how to start. How do you make your blog different from Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram without it going on and on about boring stuff? I still haven't quite figured this out...So please bare with me! I guess I'll go ahead and get my history out of the way. A quick compilation of amazing events that changed my life. If they wouldn't have happened where would I be?

  

    Would I still be her? That's the "old" me at 300 pounds in High School. After graduation I decided to move to Florida to live with my sister at 17, almost 18 years old. I was so excited! Finally, it was my chance to be the next success story for escaping city I was born and raised in. I was seeing the world!
    Boy oh boy was I wrong! I was 18, still a child, naive and very inexperienced at life. I found myself struggling with guilt and anxiety for not being able to find a job, not having a license or a car and not being able to pay my way through life. But I was also living with my sister and her family so nothing felt like it was mine. I was doing nothing on my own.
    A word of advice? DON'T MOVE 4 STATES AWAY WITHOUT HAVING YOUR LICENSE! Seriously! It's a vicious cycle. You need a car to get to your job. You need a job to buy a car and you need a license to be able to drive said car to said job. A vicious cycle that could have been a little easier if I would have had my license.
    By a series of amazing events...
I did not have my license when I moved! I am so thankful for that because there are so many visions of what my life would have and could have been if I would have found a job and had a successful move to Florida.
    Three other things happened while in Florida:

  1. Extreme Makeover: Home Edition came to Gainesville and built a house and I was able to witness the crew really build the house in less than 7 days! It was an amazing experience to watch. To go from just watching the TV show every Sunday and then all of a sudden there's a build happening in the city you live in is such an inspiring good time.    
  2. Being so full of guilt and not bringing in my own money pushed me to make a great decision for my life. Instead of drinking the juices and soda that cost money, I tried to be invisible by just drinking water. Pretty soon that's all I wanted and the cravings for sugary drinks subsided. I am still, 4 years later, drinking water and have inspired others to do the same since it has been the main cause for making me look like this:
 This is the most recent picture of me and although it is only my head, it really does show my weight loss. I haven't reached my goal of 199 yet but I am now a much healthier 215!
 
3. The last amazing thing that happened was I decided to move back home. Nobody ever wants to be defeated and move back to the city and state they thought they escaped from but looking back, it was my only good option and it was the end of a brand new beginning.
     Moving back to Springfield made me realize that I didn't hate it so bad. My friends and family were here. I knew the public tranportation and I started making new plans for my life immediately.
    Of all the things, a tv show was my biggest inspiration in 2010. The Buried Life was a series that followed four guys who made a list of things they wanted to do before they die and for everything they crossed off, they always helped a stranger cross off something on their own list.
    I've had this giant roll of paper for as long as I could remember so I got busy and made my own list. I lived through my list, I talked about it all the time. Like most things in life, my list has been placed on the back burner. I haven't forgotten about it but I have just been given amazing oppotunities that should be placed on the list just to be crossed off because they are THAT amazing! I am also trying to figure out where to fit my list into the newest part of my life. I will get back to it and it will get completed.
    In a later post I will create my list and show what is crossed off with some pictures. My list, like the water, has inspired others to make lists or just chase their dreams.
    If I didn't have my list I wouldn't have had anything to talk about to all of the amazing people I've met since moving back.
                                   *****This would be a great time for an intermission*****


 
 
Welcome back! Hope your break was nice. Did you get some popcorn? It's gonna get good! Sorry about it being so long. Actually I'm not sorry! This is my blog!
 
 
So as I was saying...those amazing people I met while going to Clark State for photography. I found myself needing a major and the one that sounded the funnest was photography. What would my life be like if I chose business again?! Boooooooooring!!!!
    It took me 2 years but I finally completed the certificate. I learned so much and made life time friendships that never would have happened without photography. I'll get more into these in the later posts but you should know who you are!
   
 
 
*********Can you smeeeeeeeeell wear this post is going?!******
 
            Disney World!!!!!!!!
    
 
     Florida to Ohio to Clark State photography back to Florida and DISNEY WORLD!!!
I had to do an internship for photography so I did mine with Lora Krugh Campbell Photography. A year and a half later and I am still working for her and still loving it! She introduced me to another amazing opportunity that would change my life forever! I looked into it and...
    By a series of amazing events...there I was back in Florida 3 years later on completely different terms. I was going to Disney World for the first time EVER and not leaving for 6 months!



    
     But lets back up a few months because Disney is a whole blog in itself!
    One day during my internship for photography I was invited to a church picnic. The best decision I ever made was to attend that picnic because I was then invited to start coming to church on Sundays. Before I knew it I was going to church three times a week, helping with church plays, and slowly but surely learning all about God. While in Florida, going to a church close to Disney I was saved on April 4th, 2012. I accepted Jesus into my heart as my savior and an overwhelming peace took over.
    I'm still learning about everything but it's all so positive and great living with guidance and assurance every day. Upon my return from Disney, I officially joined my church and on November 4th, 2012 I was baptised at First Free Will Baptist in Springfield. My journey with God and through church has been incredible. They have become my family.
   Spring/Summer is coming up! Would anyone like to come to a church picnic?!
 
***********************************************************************************
 
What is one thing that would have changed your entire life had it never happened?
 
What do you want to do before you die?
 
Don't have your kids say cheese, it causes an unnatural smile.
 
Try drinking water and order the Mickey Shaypid Wayful at Disney!
 
Don't worry everyone that was the life story post. Now it will most likely be things that pass through my day, short stories that I'd like to retell or major happenings in the series of amazing events. I'm only 21 and life has changed so drastically in the past 4 years that I want to share with others how God guides me through the upcoming excitement as I chase my dreams and reach my goals!
 
Thanks for reading and I hope you'll return!!
 
BE HAPPY. It looks good on you.