Whirlwind Summers End

    A few weeks ago I was anxiously waiting for this day to come, hoping that my financial aide would go though ok and my classes wouldn't be dropped due to no payment. That feels like just yesterday and here I am on a break between classes of my first day back! The end of summer flew by with blessings, opportunities and who could forget Hudson?!

Hudson: The 80 pound cuddler.

    I'm another year older since my last post and the day after my birthday I spent the afternoon assisting my favorite photographer, at my favorite Ohio theme park, photographing my favorite magician, Ed Alonzo! Seeing him perform his show four times in a row was a special times I'll never forget!


Minion Cupcakes I got for my birthday! Loved them so much!

The first time I met Ed Alonzo. I didn't get a picture with him when we went to take pictures of his show.

    I've been faced with great responsibility this summer. Not once or twice but three times. The first was mainly dog sitting with the occasional "bring in the mail and make sure the cat is still alive." The third I have done before, take care of all the cats, bring in the mail and newspaper, clean the litter boxes and give the best cat of all his pill each night. Piece of cake, I knew it by heart.

Annie: the dog from the first house sitting.

Le Stat: the best cat from the third house sitting.

     But the second was a force to be reckoned with. This would be the almighty Hudson and his trusty sidekick Jasmine. I had little to no fear at my abilities of caring for the dogs, just a little nervous to actually stay in the house for the week and have full responsibility of every single detail for an entire week. This really put my perspective in check because not only was I being trusted with a key to the house but also the garage, their pool and the care for this families beloved pets including medicine TWICE a day for Mr. Hudson. It really humbled me that I can be known as a trustworthy person. That was blessing enough but then when the family returned and their house and lovely devious dogs were in one piece they gave me options for my payment. They offered to fix something of mine that was broken. Something that I may not have been able to fix for some time. My heart is so full of thanks towards that gesture and yet they are thanking me whole heartedly for their dogs being happy all week. I think of how someone would feel after breaking someone's trust? Being trusted with someone's whole life and then robbing them blind. Yes they may come out with more "things" but their conscience would eat at them everyday, their trust would be gone and they would never be able to return or even be trusted by others. They will have lost.

Hudson, Jasmine, and Charlie. These 3 were a handful.

    Another excited event that marked the ending to my summer was Vacation Bible School at church. We'd been planning for it all summer. I had saved cardboard from work to build the castle and everyone had little Pinterest projects they were working on to build the set. Finally the week had come, the set was built, and volunteers were there. I was put with team Truman. We had a great group of kids and I think they learned a lot form the lessons each night. It was exciting for me to be on the adult side of VBS because before this year I hadn't been to VBS since I was a little kid going to random church with my cousins to pass time during the summer. I don't really remember much from those days except that it was fun and I always felt safe. Our church gives out book bags full of school supplies to the kids that attend every night so it's such a great outreach and the parents get a big relief on the expense of school supplies. It also opened my eyes to just how different everyone's story is. Every one of those kids have a different background and hardship they have to face every day and hopefully one day, if not already, God will be in their hearts guiding them to make all the right decisions.

Team Truman enjoying a tasty snack!

The other side of the table, same tasty snack.

 

 

    The next point in my summer is best described by the movie Pay It Forward. Paying it forward is a third party beneficiary concept that involves doing something good for someone in response to a good deed done on your behalf or a gift you received. When you pay it forward, however, you don't repay the person who did something nice for you. Instead, you do something nice for someone else. In my case, I went with Lora to a store going out of business and was talked into trying on some amazing dresses. Everything in the store was on sale. My picture was taken in the two dresses I tried on so I posted them on Facebook because you all know how much I have worked at losing weight and I was very excited at how pretty the dresses looked and that they actually fit! I received so much positive feedback and one in particular saying they wanted to take me to possibly purchase one of those dresses. I was beside myself. I couldn't believe it!

The two dresses I tried on the first day.

 

    This was their chance to pay it forward from when someone did similar for them recently. So the next day we went dress shopping and found an even better dress that was smaller, cheaper, and more practical ad far as places I could wear it! I thank that person from the bottom of my heart! Their one request was that I keep the chain going and Pay It Forward and I 100% intend to do that as soon as I am able and find the person of course. Pay It Forward has always been one of my favorite movies and I think if everyone took on this project whole heartedly, the world would be a better place.

The dress that was given to me as a gift.

    So I bring this to an end. I am older, wiser, better dressed, have less hair, more animal friends than humanly possible, a magician following me on Twitter, and currently have poison ivy on my scalp (can't have a summer in Ohio without poison ivy in awkward places, at least I can't) and had lots of grand adventures with family and friends.

The big orange: Ben.

Nevaeh and Gavin at the park.

My girl Jazzy

Pretty Boo Boo: that takes skill.

My new hair cut.

Superdog, Cowboy Hudson, and Sock Monkey Jasmine.

LuLu in a box.

Squeak!

Penny Cat.

I successfully went dress shopping on my own! $11 at Marshall's!

My very last hoorah with my favorite little kids before we all start school. So glad I was able to spend my last free weekend with them.

    Achoo! Uh oh...here comes winter! Stay warm.

#StayHappy
Be Healthy
and always lend a helping hand to anyone in need.

My days are now full of design drawing, history of Interior Design, design basics all 3 days a week, Home Depot 5 nights a week, photo shoots here and there and somewhere in there I will never get enough sleep but hopefully I will still be inspired to write about my experiences. They may not come every Monday just like they haven't for the past couple months but stick with me everyone! Life's a struggle but there's always opportunities to get you through!

 

 

 

 

 

Pity Party of One...

    Being a Christian can be so hard. I've skipped a couple weeks of posting because I have been stuck in this state of self pity where everything either makes me sad, annoys me, or sadly makes me sort of mad. So I couldn't bring myself to be creative and write about something positive and happy when I'm currently not. Plain and simple.
    I am three days from turning 22 and Taylor Swift couldn't have said it better in her song "I'm feeling 22". "We're happy, free, confused and lonely at the same time." I am literally happy all the time, no matter what is going on I can shove it in a drawer and put a smile on. I am for sure confused about a lot of things and have never felt more alone in my life.
    Once upon a time two summers ago, I had three really good friends. We did so much together all summer. Now a hop skip and a jump to the present, I have a completely different lifestyle than all of them now that I am involved in and going to church every Sunday. The three of them are still best friends but I have been dropped and everything just became so shady. It's all very frustrating because I've tried staying in contact, tried to hang out with them but friendship has to come from both sides equally and I just wasn't getting the response back. The most frustrating? (and silliest) I have a list of movies I want to see in theaters and all of a sudden don't have any one to go see them with and I can't face going to see all of them by myself right now.
    So like I said before, I am three days away from 22 years old. I am now friendless and so terrible at making friends. Somehow at Disney last summer I managed to make two forever friends and a lot of acquaintances but I know people that did the college program that have 15+ forever friends. I just have no social game whatsoever. So I guess it's almost time once again to throw myself 150% into school and distract myself completely.
    So I've had way too much free time this summer to think about this, causing this three week long state of self pity but the last couple of days I've also remembered that I am a new person and have someone I can look to with my problems that can take them away for me. But since a few days ago, I was closed up and forgetting that I could pray my problems away. I'm still finding myself closing up for various reasons but I am remembering who can get me through it. I'm praying for patience because I know everything happens for a reason and if I am patient then I will one day have Christian friends like me that understand the happiness that comes with being saved. I am also praying for strength to get me out of this terrible state of self pity and sadness.
    It's really hard being a Christian especially when you are all caught up in your head full of problems not feeling God in your heart wanting to take care of it for you. Being a new Christian is even harder because I am still trying to learn about things. I still haven't read the Bible all the way through because I have to read it on my phone app in New Living Translation just so I can understand it. King James Version just doesn't make sense to me and I feel bad because I can't quote any scripture since what I am reading is completely different words than what everyone else quotes. It is very frustrating but God never promised for it to be easy. This is still the best life has ever been even with my three week long inner struggles. So if I can use my sad, happy, confused, lonely self to still promote being positive then I guess this is God using me because I haven't felt like writing for two weeks and then yesterday I thought of writing about my pity party and how it could still be a positive spin to someone.
    Please, if you feel the way I do currently, lift you eyes up and let Him in. He can and will make it better.
#StayHappy
#StayStrong
#BePatient
#CheckPlease

'Merica!

Happy Independence Day week Everyone!

Short and sweet post this week! Just my favorite song for Independence Day and the Pledge of Allegiance!


"I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."


Lee Greenwood Proud to be an American-

 If tomorrow all the things were gone
I’d worked for all my life
And I had to start again
with just my children and my wife

I’d thank my lucky stars
to be livin here today
‘ Cause the flag still stands for freedom
and they can’t take that away

And I’m proud to be an American
where at least I know I’m free
And I wont forget the men who died
who gave that right to me

And I gladly stand up
next to you and defend her still today
‘ Cause there ain’t no doubt I love this land
God bless the USA

From the lakes of Minnesota
to the hills of Tennessee
Across the plains of Texas
From sea to shining sea

From Detroit down to Houston
and New York to L.A.
Well there's pride in every American heart
and its time we stand and say

That I’m proud to be an American
where at least I know I’m free
And I wont forget the men who died
who gave that right to me

And I gladly stand up
next to you and defend her still today
‘ Cause there ain’t no doubt I love this land
God bless the USA

And I’m proud to be and American
where at least I know I’m free
And I wont forget the men who died
who gave that right to me

And I gladly stand up
next to you and defend her still today
‘ Cause there ain’t no doubt I love this land
God bless the USA

Lyrics from http://www.elyrics.net

 

 

This song always takes me back to when I was 8 years old singing it in the one and only play I was actually in. Everyone of all different ages had to dress in red, white and blue and sing this. I also sang baby face in another scene of the play. I know if you really know me you are stuck on the fact that I was IN a play SINGING right? Yeah me too...

 

 

Well everyone, enjoy the fireworks! I won't be able to see any this year but to stay positive I am remembering this time last year I was seeing fireworks almost every night for 6 months straight at Disney World!

See ya next week!

#StayHappy



Coulda, Shoulda, Woulda...But I'm glad I didn't.

    I've often thought back to when I was in high school an how I didn't really try to stand out or do anything outstanding. I didn't play sports, I quit playing clarinet when it became too hard in 10th grade and my grades were no where near superior. I was the shy girl with a few friends getting into just enough mischief to stay to stay out of big trouble.
    In hind sight, a little more determination and I could have been that girl playing clarinet, getting scholarships of some kind and awards for something. But 4-8 years ago I had no idea who I was. God knew who I was though and he was slowly planting those seeds for my future.
    Lots of mistakes and a couple giant regrets later, here I am forgiven, wiped clean, clean slate, REBORN, new beginning!!
    Everyday I am being blessed by the littlest things that'll make me so happy. In the 3 years since graduating high school I have accomplished so many more things, be it giant or teeny tiny, than I ever did in the 4 years of high school. I can't go on enough about the opportunities that I've been given and how it's shaped me as a person over the last couple years.
    Last semester at school, I tried my best and was so surprised to get straight A's and make the Dean's List. In high school and college for photography I never got straight A's. While working at Home Depot I've tried my hardest to get used to the job and do my best and that hard work paid off and I got a little badge award at the store meeting. It's very small but let's me know that I am doing the right things in this life that I've been given.
    This isn't a post to boast about my many achievements. I was just told by a true friend that if you work hard and your heart is in the right place God will bless you tremendously.
    So if you choose to see everyday as a gift, every opportunity as a chance to learn and grow, try your hardest at everything you do and always be ready to lend a helping hand to anyone in need. God is always watching and He will bless your positivity and kindness.
    Work hard and count your blessings!
#BeKind
#StayHappy

Juice on!

    Last week was day three of our 10 day juice fast that we changed a little bit and then we changed it a little more. Today would have been day 10 except we decided to change it to seven days of 100% veggies and fruits. We made this decision because there were three of us doing it and one was leaving on day 8 to volunteer at church camp for a week and the other one had already had foods other than fruits and veggies so I would have been the only one at home doing it. Plus it was getting harder and harder to stay motivated.
    The first four days we saw so mush weight loss that we got too excited and sort of treated ourselves with more grilled veggies rather than juicing. Then the next day we saw weight gain and got discouraged and by day 6 we were just so ready to have real food back. Our motivation was gone and we knew we had messed up somewhere in Joe Cross' reboot. Of course we knew we weren't 100% juicing and when we were juicing more is when we saw the results.
    About day four I weighed in at 195 and now a week later and 3 days after not eating 100% veggies and fruits I am 200 again.
    So juicing works for getting all the toxins out and losing weight at a fast rate but if you aren't changing your exercise routine along with it then once you stop you will gain some or all of it right back. Exercising is very important. Eating nothing but fruits and vegetables for a week will change your appetite, making you want those healthy options more often. Now that the seven days are over I still find myself wanting an apple or a salad and turning my nose up at fast food and greasy things that are bad for you.
    All in all this wasn't a fail. We didn't get quite the results we were looking for but it did change my perspective towards food forever. I will continue to juice as much as possible and eat healthy. I've been given this one body and this one life, it's about time I start taking care of it from the inside out and I hope you all will do the same!
Juice on!
#StayHappy

We be juicin'

    Well it's not Monday but I've been working on my post since Sunday.
    
    As you should know by reading my first few posts, I used to weigh 300 pounds. For a long while when I first started losing weight my long term goal was 199.9 pounds. I just wanted to be under 200! Well yesterday I reached that goal! I had been stuck at about 212 for a long time and then one day I was so excited to be 209. Then last week I got sick with bronchitis and was in bed for days and lost another 5 pounds. So all of a sudden I was down to 204. It happened so fast and I didn't really look or feel any different than when I was 212.
    Now that I've moved into a new house and new surroundings, I feel motivated once again to get out and be myself and try new things. We watched a documentary called Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead.
    The man, Joe Cross, comes to America from Australia with a skin disease and over weight. He sets a plan to do nothing but drink fresh fruit and vegetable juice for 60 days in the land of fast food. The first 30 days he sticks close to New York City and the last 30 he travels the states with his juicer hooked to a battery in his rental car, sharing his story and juice with everyone he meets along the way.
    Juicing the food makes it so you are able to intake more at a faster rate so it shocks your system with so many nutrients that it can't help but flush out your system of all the toxins and force you to lose weight at a faster rate and cleanses you from the inside out. 4 ounces of veggies will make you full but 4 ounces of juice takes way more fruits and veggies to make and won't make you as full. So you drink more than 60 ounces a day and your body will go into a whirlwind cleanse.
    Joe Cross lost a tremendous amount of weight in a very healthy way and he was also able to stop taking the daily prescribed medicine for his skin disease.
    We were very inspired by this documentary and lots of research was done about how to juice. So a juicer was bought and a garden supply of fruits and vegetables and we are now on day 3 of a 10 day juice fast. We have modified our fast. We are still 100% fruits, vegetables and water but we aren't 100% juicing. The juicing is interesting but we are getting the hang of it. Eating nothing but fruits and veggies has been hard but it has also gotten easier since we've gotten it in our heads that we need to make healthier choices and the water is nothing for me since I've already been drinking nothing but water for years.
    We've also already seen results on day 2 with weight loss! Which brings me back to my goal of 199.9. Sunday June 9th we weighed in for the juice fast and I was 204.6 and on Tuesday June 10th I was 199.8. So I've reached my goal and can finally say I used to be 100 pounds heavier! But I am not stopping here! 100% fruits and vegetables is obviously working along with exercise of course so I will update you again in a week when the juice fast is over! My new goal is 160 and I will be a new person!
    Hopefully this will inspire someone to try this because now that I'm trying it it's kind of like duh why didn't I think of that?! It can be hard seeing all of these commercials of food and all the temptation everywhere you look but it gets easier! So see you with another progress report next week!

Our first official juice. Called The Mean Green. Renamed The Incredible Hulk.

  Be inspired!
  Change your life!
#StayHappy

Don't judge a book by it's cover...

    When you're a new Christian like me and still learning about everything, you look at people and wonder if they've let Jesus  into their heart or not. I also catch myself judging whether someone is a Christian by their appearance, their friends and how they act overall. It's just as wrong as plain judging someone.
    Hot Chelle Rae has  been  my favorite band  since right before they were big and famous. Ian Keaggy is a guitarist for the band and I have always said (jokingly of course) that he is my husband. I've seen them twice in concert. Once in Columbus, Ohio where I saw Ian walking down the street and screamed like a little school girl, I tweeted him saying sorry and he retweeted me saying It's all good ;) I also saw them at Universal Studios Orlando when I worked at Disney. They'll probably always be my favorite because I have their autographs and I love their music.
    Now back to wrongly judging people. Ian, and the rest of HCR for that matter, because of their music, lifestyle, and persona on social media I would have never tagged any of them as Christians and I was wrong and I am sorry for wrongly judging someone. Even though I don't know them in real life, it still counts. Now it's not impossible to change! Maybe all of them aren't Christians but I am so happy (as an avid fan) to see that Ian Keaggy is a Christian and putting it out for the world to see. He's a Christian with a heavy rocker image.
    I was home in bed sick all weekend with bronchitis and not only did Ian's tweet prove he was a Christian but it also meant he felt pretty much like  me this weekend.
    So don't judge a person by their  rocker shell. Especially if they're a celebrity you don't know in real life. =] But honestly everyone has a story and then they have their story of being reborn. Their appearance may not match both stories. Don't judge, just be a friend.

#StayHappy

Holiday Delay. Happy Memorial Day!!

    This week will be kind of short. I've been wanting to post the lyrics to my new favorite song. It's not necessarily how I feel right now or recently but have felt in the past and I know some people who feel like this now and they may get some help from it. I will also post the video!
Until next week folks!
#StayHappy

Tenth Avenue North - Worn Lyrics

Artist: Tenth Avenue North
Album: The Struggle 
    

I’m Tired I’m worn
My heart is heavy
From the work it takes to keep on breathing
I’ve made mistakes
I’ve let my hope fail
My soul feels crushed by the weight of this world
And I know that you can give me rest
So I cry out with all that I have left

Let me see redemption win
Let me know the struggle ends
That you can mend a heart that’s frail and torn
I wanna know a song can rise from the ashes of a broken life
And all that’s dead inside can be reborn
Cause I’m worn

I know I need to lift my eyes up
But im too weak
Life just won’t let up
And I know that you can give me rest
So I cry out with all that I have left

Let me see redemption win
Let me know the struggle ends
That you can mend a heart that’s frail and torn
I wanna know a song can rise from the ashes of a broken life
And all that’s dead inside can be reborn
Cause I’m worn
My prayers are wearing thin
And I’m worn
Even before the day begins
I’m worn
I’ve lost my will to fight
I’m worn
Heaven come and flood my eyes

Let me see redemption win
Let me know the struggle ends
That you can mend a heart that’s frail and torn
I wanna know a song can rise from the ashes of a broken life
And all that’s dead inside can be reborn
Cause all that’s dead inside will be reborn

Though I’m worn
Yeah I’m worn

(Lyrics from songlyrics.com)

 

 

 

When I get where I'm goin'.

    Throughout high school, I had too many interests to choose from and never focused in on any of them. I didn't play sports EVER, art was a joke until senior year and no other activities caught my attention. So I did absolutely nothing in high school besides going to class and getting good enough grades. I never tried hard enough to have excellent grades so I could get scholarships or grants for college. I didn't pay attention to any of that until it was too late. I didn't even want to go to college until half way through my junior year and it's too late to start caring by then.
    So then it's my Senior year and I'm scrambling to make a plan. (I liked plans back when I was making my own road signs instead of just reading the ones that were already there for me.) The plan I came up with was Florida. I ran away to Florida, took a semester at the community college for business, passed with flying colors, (failed the running away miserably) and moved back after 6 months. Plan over...
    Insert more scrambling, more creative road sign making and yet another fool proof plan.
    This one (on paper) says I did not fail. I went to Clark State for photography.

• It was always an in between thing until I figured out the details of Interior Design.
• It was creative. (I love being creative)
• I had an interest in learning photography as a hobby.

    Now onto why I am not a photographer even though a piece of paper says I am...

• I took the whole program while using the school cameras and computers with photoshop so I rarely had extra opportunities to practice or play around on my own and still don't.
• Since it was only for a hobby most of the stuff just didn't sink in.
• I have ADD and started taking medicine to help me concentrate after this program so if I did it all over again I'd probably feel better about my knowledge and skills.

    I'll have to pay for that piece of paper that says, "I'm a Photographer", soon but I don't regret that one bit. I may not have failed the classes at the time but I am certainly not a photographer. But without the photography classes I wouldn't have needed an internship which wouldn't have gotten me that invite to that church picnic I am so thankful for.
    That's where I started putting down the hand made road signs and reading the ones that were already there. You may be making your own plans right now and it seems like its going just right but when it all changes down the road just put down your signs and look for His.
    Now that I'm reading His signs I know I'm in the right school for Interior Design. It's what I've been interested in for a long time so I have little to no trouble paying attention. I was recently very stressed about the commute, money, rent and jobs and once again by following His signs I am relieved of the stress and I know I have made the right decisions for my future.
    So although I have a piece of paper that says I am a photographer, my mistakes of not paying enough attention in the classes and only just passing them and my inabilities prove otherwise. But the photography program was a thread in a different part of my life that I definitely needed to get me as far as I am in my life today. Just another amazing thing God has done for me.

#StayHappy

Concentrate, there's a lot of sparkly things out there to catch your attention.


    ******Now I'm not knocking my mad skills at being a photographers assistant! I did learn enough for that awesome job! Keeping track of things, ordering things, organizing things, ya know that's my thing with a photography spin!******


Now please enjoy the song you've been singing since you read the title...

Ahh...Now that that's all over...

    Now that finals are over and the March of Dimes walk was this past Saturday I can now breath some what easier! There are some newer stresses but that keeps life exciting, right?
    Some times you are thrown a curve ball and you have to decide in a split second whether to swing or take the ball. In my 2-3 week pause I was thrown a big curve ball and I am seriously relying on God to get me through this one. But ya know I had a plan and sometimes you just can't have your own plan because it's not up to you. It's really hard waiting for the signs to show up for the next step for what I should do next (sorry I am being very vague here but to get the message across details don't really matter) but I know it will be worth it in the end. If I hurry too much then I may just run to Disney World tomorrow and ruin all chances of keeping a good job close to school and family because ya know Disney is just way too tempting!
    I have never had such a hard confusing decision to make in my life. I have been so preoccupied with this one thing that I have sort of forgotten to pray or read the Bible sometimes and then I find myself so frustrated because I want answers NOW! But to find those signs and my answers I need to do those important things or I will just continue to be frustrated. I have found myself down in the valley A LOT the past couple weeks. I have mastered the mountainous show but when I am home, I am so confused on what to do, so very lost wandering through the valley.
    So what do I do? I keep the faith, keep my chin up, make the right decisions and stay happy because even though I am walking through the valley right now, I am not alone. (I was told this on church a couple Sundays ago.) Although I may be having troubles on the inside they don't need to spill out on everything on the outside. I can still smile on the outside to make someone else's day a little better. These decisions are consuming every thought in my head but I've got to try to keep positive and make the right decision.
    If you find yourself in a similar situation, I've left it vague enough to fit almost any hard decision in here, then just be patient and look up to God. A couple of Sundays ago I was told the mountain is where you go to be with God but the valley is where God comes to be with you. So you aren't alone in the valley, you will get through it.
    I can feel myself getting through this valley very soon. I am at the end of it now. Just have the biggest decision to make now before I can start climbing the mountain again.
    Well I just had to share a (vague) recap of the past couple weeks and how life as a Christian is still hard but so very worth it. Even though I don't have very many friends I never feel totally alone. He is always in my heart.
    So have a good week every one and hopefully this time next week I will have a decision made and can share the next major step in my life.

Stay Happy!!
Chin up!