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Wednesday, December 24, 2008

...as slow as Christmas...?

Although we all "can't believe Christmas is here..." IT IS! Whether your shopping is done or you forgot that one person while you were shopping for yourself (I have never done that...!), there is no denying the fact that it's Christmas-time again! Thankfully, we got our bonus checks at work the week before Christmas which significantly helped me out this year. I'm not one for the holiday mall chaos considering I worked at Express for four years and had to fight the "slow-walkers" and "panik-y last-minute" shoppers just to get to work on time. I made my way to Ross, Sports Authority and Books-a-Million to finish my shopping and took my time in doing so...nowhere to be...no one rushing me. I finished all of my shopping in one day! Altough you may be proud of that...or even jealous...it's not because I wanted to stop shopping! You can only shop for so long when you don't have any money in the bank! ouch...harsh reality! Anyways, I wrapped everything and carefully placed each gift under the tree to make it appear as if I had won the lottery! Big bows, tissue paper, and overflowing gift baskets are wonderful illusions to the human eye!! Hopefully, the day when I'm rich..the gifts I give (...and receive) won't fit under a tree!
Although Christmas is obviously about the birth of Christ and is the "reason for the season," traditions cannot be overlooked when you begin hearing Christmas music everywhere you go. A Christmas Story, It's a Wonderful Life, and Miracle on 34th Street are all classic Christmas movies that everyone should see atleast once! Well, I wanted to add a couple things to your viewing Christmas pleasure that you can remember year-after-year! Now...keep in mind these videos are completely different from eachother as one is a SNL skit and the other is a church skit.

This link will take you to a skit from Discovery Church in 2006. Don't underestimate the seriousness of this skit because of the humor. It is great!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9CNxi5_G20

Now...this link will take you to a hilarious SNL skit with Justin Timberlake as the 'Cup o' Soup.' I laugh every time I watch it! You will never look at the Salvation Army bellmen at the Wal-Mart entrances the same again! Enjoy!
http://funny4me.com/2007/08/08/justin-timberlake-snl-cup-o-soup-sketch/

Have a Merry Christmas!

Friday, December 19, 2008

My Late Wish List

Seeing that I haven't written a "Dear Santa" letter since my 3rd grade teacher assigned it as homework, I took on the task from Mama Kat's previous writer's workshop and decided to get blogging!


Dear Santa,

Please bring me peace. Not world peace...not a peace movement...not a T-shirt with the peace symbol on the front...not the Peace Corps...not even a Nobel Peace Prize. Bring ME peace.

Fill my stocking with inner peace. Lately it seems there's always something that is beyond stressful and at times overwhelming. Learning to 'accept what is' and understand that I cannot change everything that 'needs' help will become so valuable to me. I've found that I tend to focus and linger on too many things that will just not change...no matter how I try to help. I know that when I receive this gift it will be so fullfilling that nothing else could compare! But why stop at my stocking, right...? When you're finished filling my stocking so full that it can't even hang from the mantle anymore, please put my peace & quiet under the tree.


"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven...a time to be silent and a time to speak..." -Ecclesiastes 3:1, 7b
This year has been a very 'loud' year for me. The chirpping Blackberry that constantly reminds me that I am ALWAYS at work...followed by the radio in the car and the phones ringing off the hook in the office. Answering the phones only leads to needy brides (and their mothers!!), customer complaints, and "what can you do for us..." conversations. (I'm not even back home yet!!) Walk in the front door at home only to be greated by the barking dog and the 'meow-ing' hungry cats. Text messages...text messages...text messages. Bar music and football games on big screens... and the daily family drama. Until now, not much has ever given me an epiphany about things I thought were so miniscule until I read a devotion about the power of silence (peace & quiet). Take a look at your typical day and try to remember a time when you were surrounded by silence without feeling awkward. Opening the gift of peace & quiet on Christmas morning will make me so grateful as I feel the devil has made it his business to fill our lives with noise, hurry and crowds...all because he is very aware of the power of silence. My human need for peace & quiet is to completely do away with stress and worry. The stress that if I don't meet some expectation at work, I will be fired. The stress that I may be so incredibly broke next week that eating a candy bar at work will "...just have to do...again." The stress that my family is going to completely fall apart in front of my eyes and that there is nothing I can do to save it. The stress that my heart has been broken so badly..and so many times..that I now, not only have a brick wall surrounding me, but a barbed-wire fence and assasigns on gaurd to "shoot-down" anyone who makes an honest attempt towards me. Believe me, Santa, peace & quiet will not be shoved in the back of my closet!
And, finally Santa, could you wrap my peace & quiet with peace of mind? Uncertainty is a human emotion that I believe is necessary to keep us motivated and work towards our goals. The worry about losing a job...danger confronting our family and friends...surviving paycheck-to-paycheck...oh, the list could go on! However, if I were lucky enough to recive the gifts on my wish list, any situation that would present itself to me would become much easier to overcome. I would be able to live a fulfilling life surrounded by stress, turmoil and anger...however I would have such a sense of peace and purpose that it would not be able to affect me anymore...do you know why? Because the only way for me to acheive this level of peace is through the Prince of Peace...
I know this wish list is kind of short-notice...but I think He will be able to help you out! Please see what you can "pull together" for me...and feel free to pass along any left-overs to everyone else!



Sunday, December 14, 2008

Apples

Girls are like
apples on trees. The best
ones are at the top of the tree.
The boys don't want to reach for
the good ones because they are afraid
of falling and getting hurt. Instead, they
just get the rotten apples from the ground
that aren't as good, but easy. So the apples
at the top think something is wrong with
them, when in reality, they're amazing.
They just have to wait for the right
boy to come along, the one
who's brave enough
to climb
all the way
to the top
of the tree.
I have heard this quote before, but I found it online not too long ago and thought I might share my thoughts with you. My hope is that there are still girls (and women) that have the foundation instilled in them that will keep them at the top of this valuable tree. If I have a daughter, I want this to resound in the back of her head forever...
Looking back, when women were not considered strong, independent, or valuable assets to our society...they were forced to be dependent on men and therefore made to feel of little worth. However, what I find so ironic about these women is that their morals and ethics were so important to them that they took it upon themselves to find their own worth...without looking for it elsewhere. Today, women are just as capable of voting, working, and learning as any man, yet it seems we have lost sight of what is really important....what we emotionally, physically and personally have to offer.
While I was growing up...especially through those awkward pre-teen years...I always felt as if I was the ugly one in the group. All of my girlfriends were dating different guys and seemed to have such confidence (a false sense I later found out). I was so jealous and self-concious because I didn't understand at the time why the popular guys were so interested in them...and not me! My mom always told me that it was because they were intimidated by me and could not find the nerve to talk to me. Yeah right...try telling that to a 13-, 14-, 15-, 16-year old girl who is consumed with the acceptance of her peers! haha! Still at 23 it can be hard to understand this!
I later found out that "those girls" were lowering their standards (what standards they had to begin with..??) and being so easy for the guys to get. The guys knew that they wouldn't be rejected by them...so they were easy to pursue. Shocking... The girls weren't ugly and they could get any guy they wanted to...without lowering their standards. I'm not preaching on my blog...as I have no place to do so. We have all made mistakes in order to fill some kind of human need we think is necessary at the time...only to feel dissapointed at the end (disapointment: (def) a feeling of sadness or frustration because something was not as good, attractive, or satisfactory as expected, or because something hoped for did not happen...very important emotion God gave us to enable us to learn from mistakes....)
In college, I have gone from boyfriend to boyfriend without ever really making anyone pursue me the way I would have liked. Although I have many regrets from each relationship, I have found out so much about myself and what I don't want in my next relationship. I refuse to be the spoiled, rotten, easy apple at the bottom of the tree. Over the past few years, I have taken a step back and looked at myself and what I believe I have to offer to people...and it is far from something that will come without a price or a fair amount of work involved. I am an attractive, hard-working, independent, Christian, fun-loving, easy partier, humorous, college-educated, stylish, southern, goal-oriented, motivated...woman. Why should that be so easily won over by a man who does not have the same to offer me ?? You think I am going to give all of that..my entire self worth...to someone who is egotistical, lazy, rude mannered, prideful, co-dependent, needy, selfish, consumed with physical appearances (FYI: I won't look this way forever...and neither will you...) incincere, hypocritical, dishonest...??? Hell no!
I'm sorry hunny, if your climbing gear is malfunctioning...your apple will be waiting for you on the ground.


Wednesday, December 10, 2008

November's Over...

Now that I have November "under my belt," I have found a little free time to get back to my poor blog! As you all know, I moved out of my apartment and into a (super cute) duplex downtown Greenville! My brother and I finally got everything moved in and although we are still getting situated, it is definately the answer to a much needed change! There were the few problems when we first moved in..the HUGE deposit required for our gas heat to be turned on and learning to enjoy hardwood floors.


The first week we moved in, our heat was on and working beautifully considering it was getting down into the 'teens' at night. Everything was great until we came home one day and the house was 65 degrees!! Oh my gosh...have I ever mentioned that I hate cold weather and that it makes me mean?!? If not...now you know why I like the southern humidity and sunshine!! Well, I found out that I had to pay a deposit to turn the heat back on. After I paid the deposit, they told me it would be a week-and-a-half before they could get someone out here to reconnect the gas. Initally I was okay with the calendar appointment they so kindly set up for me...I already had one big space heater and was planning on getting two smaller ones for our bedrooms. So...I made my way to K-mart (yes...there are still K-mart's...who knew??) and bought two small space heaters. When I got home, I soon found out that older homes and numberous plug-in appliances don't "mesh" well. Everytime we plugged in all three heaters the breakers would flip! Two heaters and a hair dryer...??? How about two heaters, a lamp and the TV...??? None of these combinations work either!! We've learned to cope with the fact that we can't have EVERYTHING in our house plugged in at the same time! Who knew?!? Well, needless to say we have heat..thankfully!!


My previous apatments and townhouses have all had carpet and/or tile floors, but I've never had hardwood floors. I love the fact that I don't have to worry about all of the pet hair having somewhere to hide and even more...I don't have to worry about cleaning the carpet after my pets use it as their personal bathroom! It's super easy clean-up (for the most part) and I love that my house doesn't constantly smell like pets! But...it has gotten more difficult to SEE the pet urine on the floor...if you know what I mean. My cats use the litter box (for the most part) but its my dog that I'm having a problem with. When I lived at the apartment, we were on the third floor and didn't train him to go outside. He learned to use puppy pads and in the beginning it was convenient...until he turned a year and started "marking his territory..." I have found (the hard way) that it's easier to train a dog rather than break a bad habit. I have absolutely no idea how to teach him to go to the bathroom outside! He will actually hold it until he comes in the house! Maybe I can be on "The Dog Whisperer...." Bruiser needs to learn who the pack leader is! ha!

So...you may ask...what do you like about it?? Well...the park is less than a block away. If you listen, you can hear the monkeys from the zoo. Bruiser can play outside. No More Stairs! Trash pick-up! Nice neighbors. Attic space. Ceiling fans!! Cheaper rent! I think it balances itself out!


Tune in soon...there's alot of November stuff I have to write about!! Thanks for being patient and for keeping my blog company!! xoxo



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About Me

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I am a 20-something young woman growing up and experiencing the things my mother warned me about...love, friendship, hard work, disappointment and success.