2014 Resolutions

It's that time of year again.  First let me follow up on my resolutions from 2013.  If I didn't complete it fully, then I will continue to work on it the following year.

1.)  Start the Good Thoughts Jar.  I periodically put something in my good thoughts jar, but not as often as I would like.  I will try this again for the next year.

2.)  Read the entire Bible.  I got behind again, but I'm planning on getting caught up at least to where I should be now.  I should finish my one year plan in April.  I do have a resolution for the next year that will be similar.

3.)  Lose weight...a lot of weight.  I think that I did a good job getting on the right track.  I still have quite a bit to go before I hit my goal weight (about 40 more pounds), but hopefully this next year I'll be able to lose it.

4.)  Be more creative.  I think I've been successful with this resolution.  I have done several craft projects and I even started sewing!  I have so many projects to do, it's crazy!

5.)  Cook one new recipe a month.  So this one was more difficult as the year went by, simply because of time, patience, and money.  I'll have a resolution for the next year that will be similar.

6.)  Save some money. So I may not have saved as much money as I hoped, but I got started and I have a plan.  Hopefully in the upcoming year, I can cross off a few items on the "To Save For" list, especially after my tax refund!

7.)  Drink more water. This one was a home run.  Thanks to using my water bottles at the beginning of the year, I've learned to drink at least the  minimum recommended amount of water each day.  Often I drink a lot more because of work outs.  I consider this a habit now.  :)

8.)  Be more appreciative.   I think that I've done a good job (please do correct me if I'm wrong on this!).  I've made a conscious effort to make sure that I tell people thank you or that I appreciate what they do.

9.)  Take more photos, and not just photos of my dog, Butch.   Epic fail again.  I've posted a few things on Instagram, but not enough to consider this resolution a success.  I have another resolution for the next year similar to this one that is a little more measurable.

10.)  Blog once at least once a ...month. I did awesome here!  Last month, I even blogged once a day!  ;)

Now, for the upcoming year, I've tried to get some inspiration from my previous resolutions that weren't 100% successful and from Pinterest.  (FYI: Readers, you may have noticed that I have typically have links in my posts.  I have links in posts for a reason, so click on them!)  Anyway, these resolutions are SMART resolutions, primarily that they are more measurable. 

1.)  Good Thoughts Jar This year, I'm hoping that I will have a "good thought" note in my jar at least once a week.  So at the end of the year, I should have at least 52 "good thoughts" in my jar!

2.)  Photo Challenge  This one is going to be fun and hopefully will finally help me with this resolution!  Anyway this is a two part resolution.  The first part is to take at least two pictures off of this list each month.  The second part is to complete this challenge sometime during the year.  Now, I'll need some help from my readers.  First, follow me on Instagram.  I always have my phone, so I'll probably take a lot of pictures using my phone instead of my camera.  I will most likely post them on Instagram.  Anyway, secondly, help me pick a month to do the second part of my resolution!  (Please don't pick January.)  Leave them in the comments.

3.)  Writing Challenge  Here is another resolution that I found on Pinterest.  Last month, I found it very challenging, but rewarding, to write a blog post every single day!  I want to try this again.  I would like to complete at least this one writing challenge during the year.  Readers, again, I'll need your help here.  Pick a month for me to do this (again, not January please)!  Also, if you find any more writing challenges, post the link in the comments section.

4.)  Fitness Challenge every quarter  This resolution will help me finish losing the weight that I want to lose.  I've seen these Fitness Challenges on Pinterest and I want to try it.  My resolution is to compete these monthly fitness challenge at least once every quarter.  (If I'm feeling confident, then I may even post before and after pictures.)  Anyway, my first fitness challenge will be in January, hence the "don't pick January" in the resolutions above.  If you see one that you think I should try, send it to me!

5.)  Yoga Challenge  One of my yogi friends told me about a Yoga Challenge that someone was doing on Instagram where they take a photo of themselves doing a yoga pose (some were super hard).  I want to complete one of these (I haven't found it yet).  But another part of this is that I would like to expand my yoga practice to more than just two or three times a week.  I know that setting a daily yoga practice is a lofty goal, so I want to set a resolution to do some sort of yoga practice (either at the gym or at home) at least 5 times a week.  I have reaped so many of the benefits and I know that increasing my practice will just continue to make me feel better.

6.)  Healthy Recipe once a month  So last year, I sought out to try at least one new recipe a month.  That got a little harder as the year progressed because I was eating pretty much sandwiches and protein shakes.  This year, I'm changing my eating habits a bit (shout out to Chica for helping me find out a good eating plan) so I should have more opportunities to try new recipes.  My goal is to try at least one healthy recipes each month.  I will probably pick some from here.

7.) Completed craft project once a month  Last year, I said that I wanted to be more creative and I feel like I was very successful at this.  However, it wasn't very measurable.  This year, I want to complete at least one craft project each month whether it be knitting, sewing, painting, etc..  This may be difficult, but I just have to keep in mind that a craft project can be small too!  I already have a couple of ideas.  Again, refer to my Pinterest for all of my ideas!

8.)  Cards  I've had a similar resolution to this one.  I didn't do too well either.  This year, I would like to send at least 5 cards through snail mail to someone.  This can be a birthday card, thank you card, thinking of you card, whatever.

9.)  Bible plan daily  So I started the One Year Bible plan in YouVersion this year, but I got a little behind, so I plan to finish this plan in April.  Even though I got behind, I found it very rewarding to read several stories that I've never read before.  I know that I asked Ryan a billion questions just in the first few books.  I find myself wanting to study more!  This year, my plan is not only to finish my resolution from last year, but to dive into more reading plans where I get a more in-depth study of the text.  I want to read something every day.  That is my goal for this year.

10.) Donate monthly  This one is a new one that most people probably don't put on a resolution list.  Let me tell you a little back story.  Toward the beginning of the year, ETSU launched a fundraising campaign called "Now Seating" to assist in funding a new arts performing center.  I signed up immediately because of my background in music.  I remember being able to perform at the Blair School of Music for competitions and recitals, so I found this project to be of interest.  Anyway, I donated $250 over the last ten months to this cause.  Now that I have paid my part, that's $25 per month that I have back now.  However, I want to pay it forward again.  I didn't miss that $25, so I want to donate it. This year, I would like to donate $25 each month to a cause.  Already, I can think of a few that I will donate to (Mission of Hope, the Epsilon Xi Chapter of Phi Sigma Pi, the Phi Sigma Pi Foundation).  I'm sure I will find other causes that I would like to donate to throughout the year.  If you think of anything, please let me know.

11.)  Blog at least twice a month  I think I have mastered the art of blogging once a month.  I'm going to up the frequency this year.  I want to blog at least twice a month (obviously one month I'm going to be blogging every day).  One of these will include a resolution update because several of my resolutions require some sort of monthly action.  I will include more links, more pictures, and just more in general!

Well, that's a recap and an update for the upcoming year.  I hope to see everyone making their own resolutions!  I would love to add you to my Blog roll -->;  so if you have a blog, let me know!

Happy New Year!

It's so hard to say goodbye...

Every year, really every semester, I find myself having to say goodbye to someone.  Usually it's a Brother who is graduating and moving on to bigger better things outside of Johnson City.  However, this month, I've already had to say goodbye to several people in the past week (one includes a wonderful instructor from the Chemistry department who will be greatly missed).  I will also have to say goodbye to my brother (not fraternity brother), Alex, at the end of the month for when he leaves for the Philippines to be rejoined with his lovely fiancee and to begin his Ph.D. program .

I wanted to post about how I feel about goodbyes.  I hate goodbyes, yes, hate.  When this song played at the end of my 8th grade year of middle school, I cried.  When I left for college, I cried.  I hate saying goodbye.  So, being the introverted self that I am, I tend to try to not say goodbye anymore...if that makes any sense.  For example, when graduate students leave for their next graduate school or to start their career, I typically just do the usually check-out paperwork and get their keys from them.  Never do I really say, "It was nice working with you" or "Good luck with you life".  It seems too final for me!  I often will say, "See you later" or "Have a good day" like I normally would.  It may come across a little cold, but it's just my way of dealing with the fact that I don't want to say goodbye.  

Anyway, so if I had to say goodbye recently or if I'm going to say goodbye to you soon, please don't take my nonchalant conversation and tone as being cold.  I just simply don't want to say goodbye!  I will definitely give hugs (if you move first though, again, I really hate goodbyes) and I will keep in touch if you would like!  I know that all of you are going off to do awesome things!  :)

Thanksgiving: Day 30

Ok...last but certainly not least.  Today I'm extremely thankful for my parents.  Tonight, Mom cooked Thanksgiving dinner for Daddy, Christie, Alex, Ryan, and I.  It was a wonderful dinner!  You knew it was good food when the dinner table was quiet!  ;)  Anyway, I am so thankful for my mom and dad.  I literally wouldn't be here if it weren't for them.  :P  They have shown me so much love and given me so much support throughout my life and continue to do so.  I don't know what I'd do without them.  I could go on about how awesome they are, but I want to keep this post brief.  All in all, I love you both, Mom and Dad, and I'm so glad that I got to spend this weekend with you!

Thanksgiving: Day 29

Today, I'm thankful for retail workers.  This year, many retailers opened at 8:00 PM yesterday evening.  I was saddened by this considering that yesterday was a holiday and many individuals didn't get to have Thanksgiving dinner with their families and had to work instead.  Anyway, I know many of my friends who had to work last night, early this morning, and even throughout the day.  I went shopping today, but not at sunrise (thank goodness!).  I am thankful for all of the retail workers who had to work yesterday and today so people could get some Christmas shopping done and have great shopping experiences like I did today.

Thanksgiving: Day 28

Today, I'm thankful for Thanksgiving Day!  I love this holiday because it brings family and friends together and we eat! ;)  It also inspires many people to think about the things that they are thankful for, just like me! 

Thanksgiving: Day 27

Today I'm thankful that the university closed its offices today.  Ryan and I took a chance and came home to Nashville last night hoping that they would close the university today due to weather.  Classes were canceled yesterday for today early yesterday morning, but the alert stated that the offices wouldn't close until this morning at the earliest.  And they did!  :)  Thank goodness.  I have an extra-long holiday weekend. :)

Thanksgiving: Day 26

I'm thankful that Nashville and Johnson City are not too far away.  I'm able to drive (really ride because Ryan does the driving) just a few hours to get back home for the holidays.  I'm glad that I don't have to fly!

Thanksgiving: Day 25

Today, I'm thankful for Bernina In Stitches.  I've completed my Beginner's Sewing class this evening.  Granted, I haven't finished my project yet because I still have quite a bit of "homework" left.  I was hoping to bring it home for Thanksgiving to show my parents and sister.  Maybe I'll get it finished tonight, who knows.  Anyway, I'm thankful for this company because they offer these classes and they are super helpful!  My instructor's name is Donna and she is awesome.  I'm so thankful for her too!

Thanksgiving: Day 24

Today I'm thankful for my Grandmama's bread.  Some of you may remember my post about my Grandmama's bread from 2011 (the link is in this sentence if you want to read it).  Anyway, this week, I made 15 loaves and a couple of "poppers" because I didn't have another bread pan.  I made them because the undergraduate Chapter of the fraternity had their annual Thanksgiving dinner.  I knew that the Brothers would consumer several loaves and I knew that a lot of people would ask for one.  I ended up giving away all but one loaf!  I'm glad I was able to keep that one loaf because today I have felt awful!  I think all of the festivities yesterday really wore me out.  Anyway, being able to have her bread really gave me some comfort.  :)

Thanksgiving: Day 23

Today, I'm thankful for Suzanne Collins, the author of the Hunger Games.  Tonight, my SAAC Brothers and I went to go see The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, the movie.  It was AWESOME!  It was even better than the first movie in my opinion.  Readers, you know that I'm not much of a book reader, but this was a series that I was captivated by and I finished all three books in a matter of days.  Now that the movies have come out, I'm compelled to read them again!  (I know, who am I??) Anyway, if you haven't read the books, DO IT!  If you haven't seen the movies, GO SEE THEM!  They are awesome.  :)

Thanksgiving: Day 22

Today, I'm thankful for my seam ripper.  A seam ripper is exactly what it sounds like.  It's a sewing tool that rips seams.  As I've mentioned in some previous posts, I'm learning how to sew.  Part of learning is making mistakes.  (I'm made quite a few today.)  Anyway, thankfully, I have a tool that allows me to make mistakes, learn from them, go through a little bit of tedious work to start over, and fix my mistake.  I'm glad I learned about this tool; otherwise, I would have thrown my garment away days ago!

Thanksgiving: Day 21

Today I am thankful for my wonderful, super awesome sister, Christie!  Today is her 24th birthday!  Christie and I have always been close and continue to be close today.  I'm so thankful that I've been able to grow up with such a great person!  I have had so much fun with her while traveling, shopping, and even just being lazy at home.  :)  I love our little Google Chat talks when we both aren't super busy.  I can't wait to see her next week.

I love you, Chica, and I hope you have a fantabulous day!

Thanksgiving: Day 20

Today, I'm thankful for the Epsilon Xi Chapter of Phi Sigma Pi.  Tonight, we inducted Lambda class, celebrated the new chapter of four new Alumni Members, performed a new adoption ceremony, and even performed our first ever Chapter Service Key ceremony.

Ryan and I were awarded the Chapter's first Chapter Service Keys last night.  It was truly a surprise!  Another surprise was that I held it together throughout the hold ceremony with only glassy eyes.  :)  Receiving this award is truly an honor and I'm so happy! 

Epsilon Xi made my college experience so wonderful and brought me so many friends (even across the country)!  I honestly don't know who or where I would be without my Brothers and this Chapter.  It was great knowing that I've been able to give back.  I love you all, Brothers of Epsilon Xi!

Thanksgiving: Day 19

Okay...this one may be a little strange...I'm thankful for my dad's ability to "stick".  I use this term in the medical sense.  When people get their blood drawn or have an IV started, the medical personnel "sticks" them.  Dad has always been "a good stick".  I remember one time I was at the doctor's office to get some blood work done.  I was maybe in high school, if I remember correctly.  Anyway, the nurse stuck me about ten times until I fainted (I'm a fainter when I give blood for some reason.  The sight of blood doesn't bother me at all.  I think it has some subconscious thing about my skin getting pierced.)  Anyway, I got very angry because she stuck me so many times and "dug" for veins.  I yelled at her to get Daddy out of the waiting room.  She went and got him and I told him that she was incompetent and that he should try to stick me instead.  Before she really could object, he found a vein and stuck me the first time with no problems (and without me fainting again).  It was great.

My sister had a recent experience like this.  Many of you may know that my sister was admitted into the hospital tonight with a 3 mm kidney stone.  After she was admitted, the nurse prepared to start an IV on her.  Apparently, she couldn't find a vein and she said that she was "not used to sticking young ones".  Thankfully, Daddy was there and was able to stick her and start the IV as to not put Christie into too much more pain.  So, yea, a little odd, but I am thankful that Daddy is a good stick because he has saved my sister, my mom (I think), and me from horrible sticks!

Thanksgiving: Day 18

Today was a really rough day.  It's amazing how much stuff piles up when you are out of the office for training on a Friday (the quietest day of the week in the Chemistry Department).  Anyway, I'm so thankful for my loving boyfriend, Ryan.  It was a rough day, but he was so sweet and kind throughout the day, even if I was snappy.  He even pushed back his work out time so he could come home and just sit with me and I tried to relax from the craziness of my day.

I don't want to get into too much of the mushy gushy stuff, but really, Ryan is my rock.  I'm so thankful that I have had him in my life for well over a decade (and as my sweetheart for a little over a decade).  He's my bestest friend.  He keeps me grounded and calm.  I love him so much and I cannot say enough how grateful I am to have him in my life.

Thanksgiving: Day 17

Today, I'm thankful for my best friend, Justin.  We met back at the Carnegie Hotel and we've been best friends ever since.  The inspiration of this post is the fact that we have spent just about all afternoon and evening together!  First, we went to a Phi Sigma Pi Initiate event, then played volleyball.  After the games, we set off to our annual tradition: Magical Night of Giving.

My first year at the hotel, Justin invited me to go to Magical Night of Giving at the mall.  We had dinner then shopped til we dropped (really, until Electric 94.9 announced the winners of all of the door prizes at the event).  Anyway, we have gone every year...dinner and then the event.  Tonight, we started off differently by shopping first then dinner second.  We had so much fun as usual and got many of the gifts that we needed to buy.  :)  We even managed to go into Kitchen Collection without buying a single thing!  lol.

Anyway, I'm very thankful that we have been friends for so long and I'm so excited to see what the future has in store!

Thanksgiving: Day 16

Today, I'm thankful for sweatpants and baggy t-shirts.  :)  Weekends are so nice because I can really wear whatever I want that's comfortable, even if it is just sweatpants and a baggy t-shirt.  I don't know what it is, but it's always so comfortable!

Thanksgiving: Day 15

I'm thankful for nurses.  No, I'm not a nurse and I never wanted to be a nurse, but I am very thankful for them.  Today, Ryan and I took a CPR/AED and First Aid training course that was led out by MSHA nurses.  Let me say, they did awesome, primarily because they were so patient!  There were a lot of questions asked the required the nurse to be very patient (yes, I do believe there are things as stupid questions).  Anyway, this is just one example.

I've met and worked with several nurses.  I have several friends who are becoming nurses.  The amount of knowledge, skill, and patient that they need is great.  Most of them are compassionate.  There were a few nurses that I worked with that helped me learn quite a few life lessons.  Had it not been for the doctors that I met while working at the hospital, I may have pursued my career path in medicine because I knew that I would have wonderful assets on my team, nurses. 

Anyway, so if you have an encounter with a nurse, be nice and say thank you.  They may or may not hear that very often.

Thanksgiving: Day 14

Today, I'm thankful for my singing voice.  Okay...here's the inspiration...Glee.  Yea, yea, I know, it's Glee, but I have enjoyed the show.  Granted, I never really wanted to be a Broadway singer or even the next pop star, but I do love to sing.  Most of my current friends don't know that I sing.  I sang in my middle school choir.  I would have continued in high school, but I had to choose between flute or singing and at the time, I wanted to focus on my studies in flute. 

Now, I mostly sing...in the car.  Adele, Joss Stone, Melody Gardot, and artists like them are in the genre that I like to sing.  There's a jazzy, blues feel to them.  I love that.  To me, that kind of music really showcases the artists voice (not the incredible ability of some sound studio technology). 

Anyway, watching the last episode of Glee just reminded me how much I love to sing and how I wish I was confident enough to sing more.  Unfortunately, I'm in an area that isn't conducive for individuals not pursuing a career in singing (or a student in general) to sing.  Oh well.  Maybe one day the university will actually start up that Faculty/Staff ensemble. 

Thanksgiving: Day 13

Today, I'm thankful for genuinely, kind people.  It's been a very rough week so far having students come to the office upset because they couldn't get into a class that they "needed".  However, occasionally, I'll get a kind student who is super nice, even if I couldn't help them right away.  I also have Brothers who are very kind, even if we disagree or even if I ask a ridiculous favor.  :)  So remember, be kind to people.  Ya never know what kind of day or week they are having.

Thanksgiving: Day 12

Today, I'm thankful for the fact that I have food in my fridge and that the reason that I'm hungry is not because I don't have a choice, it's because I'm too lazy to go get something to eat (or I'm trying to lose weight).  SAAC and many of the classes in Chemistry have brought in lots of food for the ETSU Holiday Food drive.  I talked with one of the individuals who is assisting in the organization of the drive and she said that she was so happy that our department has helped out so much.  She also said that there are over 90 people who have already asked for a Holiday basket from the food drive (the food collected in the drive is put into baskets and given away to faculty, staff, students, and other community members in need during the holiday season). 

Thanksgiving: Day 11

Today I am thankful for our country's veterans, active duty military, and their families.  I have been blessed to be living in a country where individuals proudly serve the country to fight for my freedoms, even if they don't know me.  My grandfather was a veteran and my dad served in the military when he was about my age (feel free to click the links to see pictures of both of them in uniform).  I have also had the privilege to work with a Marine and be good friends with someone who served in the military (who currently works on the VA campus) and an army wife who has been so strong for her family.  Thank you all so much for all that you have done!

Thanksgiving: Day 10

Today, I'm thankful for lazy, weekend days.  These past several weekends and the weekends in the future are going to be very busy.  However, today I was able to stay home and just be lazy with Ryan and Butch.  I know, a short post today, but I just wanted to post about being thankful about lazy, weekend days! :)

Thanksgiving: Day 9

Today I'm thankful for smoke alarms.  I know.  This is kinda an odd thing to be thankful for, especially in this "time of thanksgiving", but really sometimes we overlook the small things.  Anyway, here's the inspiration for this item that I'm thankful for.  Mom and Dad went to Gatlinburg this weekend.  To make a long story short (plus it's really funny when you hear it from Mom or Dad over the phone), the inn keeper tried to start a fire with logs and newspaper...in a gas fireplace.  LOL.  Anyway, as expected, that didn't turn out so well and a log broke the glass door of the fireplace and smoke went everywhere.  Thankfully, a big fire didn't start in Mom and Dad's room and that the smoke detectors alerted everyone in the building.

Yes, smoke alarms are annoying sometimes and everyone loves fire drills (::sarcasm::), but I am thankful for them because they are really useful!

Thanksgiving: Day 8

Be prepared to laugh...Today, I'm thankful for Pinterest.  I resisted using Pinterest for a while when it first become a "thing" mainly because I didn't need another website to be addicted to.  However, I have gotten a lot of inspiration from it!  Recently, I made a dessert for SAAC's retreat that was a hit!  Thanks to Pinterest and one my my secret boards titled "Gifts", I already have some Christmas gifts done!  Speaking of Christmas gifts, if anyone wants to get me one (hehe), feel free to get anything off of this board.

Whenever I get my house, I have plenty of inspiration to decorate it.  If I build a house, I have plenty ideas!  Whenever Ryan and I finally get married, I'll have a ton of ideas for the dress, the ceremony, the reception, everything really.  :)  So, if you have a Pinterest, follow me and I'll follow you!  If you ever need any ideas for anything, Pinterest it! 

Just in case you readers haven't figured it out, all of the links are to something on my Pinterest. ;)

Thanksgiving: Day 7

Readers, by now, you should all know that I'm part of a Co-ed National Honor Fraternity, Phi Sigma Pi.  Today, I am thankful for my Littles.  For those who may not know what this is let me explain.  When a person wants to become a Brother of the fraternity, they must go through initiation.  To assist them through the initiation program and through assimilation into the Chapter as a Brother after Induction, they are given a "Big Brother".  I have been blessed to have a large family with many "Little Brothers" (otherwise known as Littles).

Anyway, I've been fairly close with all of my Littles.  My last two, Canaan and Mary Ann, are Littles that I probably keep up with the most simply due to proximity and because even after they completed the Initiation Program, we had lunch at least once a week.  I'm so thankful that even now I still keep in touch.  What's even nicer is that both Canaan and Mary Ann have been there for me to keep be grounded, focused, and even stronger in my faith.   :)

Thanksgiving: Day 6

Today, I am thankful for the fall leaves.  I'm not the biggest fan of cold weather; however, when I see the beautiful fall leaves, I can't help but smile.  The other day when walking on the sidewalk with Ryan, I wanted to go running through a big pile of leaves (he prevented me from doing so which was probably a good thing).  I'll be sad when they are all gone!

Thanksgiving: Day 5

Ok...prepare yourself...today, I'm thankful for my left and right brain. Some people may not believe in this theory, but go with it for me today if you are one of these people. 

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Anyway, growing up, I was fortunate to have people in my life that embraced using both sides of my brain (see image above for characteristics).  Many of my current friends may not know this, but aAlong with my traditional studies, I participated in musical education.  I started with the piano and was later classically training in flute.  I also participated in choir for a few years.  I painted all throughout high school and college.  One of my works is currently hanging in my office at work.

Anyway, back to where I came up with this as something that I'm thankful for.  This fall, I'm taking a sewing class on Monday evenings.  I've always wanted to learn how to sew and I always thought that Grandmama would be the one to teach me.  But going off to college kind of set that goal aside.  When Grandmama died, I got her sewing machine and all the things to go with it.  Now that I'm officially done with school, I have some time to learn. 

During my lunch, I went downstairs to the Chemistry library to borrow the large table to spread out and work on my sewing class homework, cutting the pattern pieces on my fabric.  I had only cut a few pieces out during class (I have lots of pieces for my project) so I still had the majority to finish.  I laid out my fabric and the rest of my pattern pieces to find that it looked like I didn't get enough fabric!  I started to panic and then the two sides of my brain decided to work.  The left brain in me said there has got to be a way to lay out all of these pieces to have enough fabric.  The right brain in me figured out how to fold one of the pieces on the fold to give me just enough fabric to fit the rest of the pieces.  Thank goodness!  After about an hour and a half of laying out, pinning, and cutting, I finished my homework.  So, I thank my brain because without the logical and creative thinking, I would have been frustrated instead of productive. 

Thanksgiving: Day 4

Today, I'm super thankful for sick leave.  I'm feeling quite under the weather today.  I'm just bleh.  I think my body is just over run because of the awards banquet from Friday (that was a long work day), too much fun at retreat, and the volleyball games last night.  Thankfully, I have some sick time so I can stay home and rest.  Hopefully tomorrow I will be back to normal and ready to be productive!

Thanksgiving: Day 3

I am thankful for my body's ability to stay active.  As many of my reader's know, I've been trying to lose weight throughout the year.  I've been fairly successful so far.  :)  Part of losing that weight (at least for the second half of the year) is exercising.  Mostly, I've been doing yoga.  That has helped my strength and flexibility tremendously.

This month, I'm starting a couple of new things.  There are two reasons.  One, I need to vary up my exercising routine beyond yoga (even though I love it).  Two, I hurt my wrist last Tuesday at yoga doing the crow pose (I held it longer than I should have).  So, one thing that I'm doing is running.  I have always hated running, even when I ran track in middle school.  But I have so many friends who love running and are in great shape.  My friend, Justin, started running using an app on his phone and was fairly successful with it, so I've decided to try it for myself.  I've complete day one last week, but I'm starting over again because of all that's gone on.  Hopefully I'll be able to get running consistently.

Lastly, I'm playing intramural volleyball.  I played a couple of years ago on Phi Sigma Pi's team, so I'm playing again this year.  I played two games this evening.  We lost our first game (it was 7 against 4, which was my team), but didn't get creamed.  We won our second game! (7 against 5).  Now some of you are probably thinking, you have a hurt wrist and you are playing volleyball.  Well, I was planning to sit out on the games, but it turns out we had several people show up late or not at all.  To prevent our team from forfeiting and playing a fine, I played.  The second game, I was able to tape my wrist, so it doesn't hurt right now.  We will see how I feel in the morning.

Anyway, I'm super thankful for my body because I feel like I'm physically more capable of staying active than I was during my undergrad.

Thanksgiving: Day 2

I am thankful for Phi Sigma Pi Southern Appalachian Alumni Chapter (SAAC) and its members.  This weekend, the Chapter had our retreat.  It has been wonderful so far!  It's nice just to be able to get away from everything and just spend time with my Brothers.  Last night, even though it was super late, we were greeted by our Brothers, ate awesome food, and played cards.

Sleeping in was awesome today.  Yummy food, card games, and even talks about future events and what not have been the highlights of today so far.  I love being able to be a part of something even after I have graduated.  :)

Thanksgiving: Day 1

One thing that I've always wanted to blog about during the month of November is things I'm thankful for in honor of Thanksgiving.  However, I have always forgotten about it and remembered about half way through the month.  If you know me, you know that I don't like half doing things, so I never posted about it just half way through the month.  Anyway, I will post daily about at least one thing that I'm thankful for and I encourage others to do the same!  These are in no particular order and will probably relate to something going on in my life that day.  So here goes...

I am thankful for students.  Without students, I wouldn't have my rewarding, full-time job at ETSU.  I wouldn't have fantastic friends in the Philippines.  My days would be incredibly boring.  I would have never found my closest friends. 

I wanted to share a few experiences that have made me very grateful for students.  This past week, it was "Thesis Defense" week in the department.  There is one more this afternoon and another later in the month.  Nervousness was quite apparent this week, so I did my best to provide encouragement.  The best thing about the whole week is seeing those graduate students right after they have passed their defenses.  They all have smiles ear-to-ear and many with tears of joys in their eyes.  Like I told Ryan last night, I love having the graduate students in the department, but I lovingly tell them that I would only like to see them for two years so they can go on to bigger and better things.  Three so far have completed that last step toward graduation.  :)

My second experience that makes me thankful for students is with two of my fraternity Brothers.  Yesterday, I was able to have lunch with one of my Littles and coffee with another Brother.  Both are still college students, and one is graduating this December.  Being able to have deep, mature conversations with both of them made me realize how blessed I am to have both of them as friends.  

Lastly tonight, the Chemistry Department is celebrating our most outstanding students who have done well in their studies and/or demonstrated excellent teaching abilities.  Even though I do not have a hand in their education as far as teaching, I am so proud of each of these students.  Chemistry is not an easy subject, but these students have excelled in specific disciplines of Chemistry and teaching Chemistry.  I just think they are awesome!

So, if you see a student, encourage them, celebrate them, and be thankful for them!

Congratulations to My Daddy!

Today marks the end of a wonderful chapter in my Daddy's life.  Tomorrow starts a brand new, exciting one!  I want to dedicate this blog post to my dad.  Tonight, my dad will finish his last night shift at Vanderbilt and then he will retire!  :)  So, first things first, CONGRATULATIONS, DADDY!  :)

I remember when Daddy started working for Vanderbilt.  I was just starting middle school at Meigs Magnet.  At the time, I remember thinking, Dad's just getting a new job and that he would be working night shifts.  I wasn't worried about not seeing him in the evening because he got to bring me to school everyday and pick me up to bring me to Grandmama's.  Even in high school he was able to do that.  I remember fondly of the morning trips to East Literature Magnet School and stopping by Ms. Winner's for chicken biscuits.  :)

However, the first several years that he worked at Vandy, I did not quite understand the significance.  One of the reasons that I remember is the transportation to and from a magnet school which was in downtown Nashville, not in my zoned school.  Being able to attend this school opened so many doors for me.  But a major reason that he started work there was the tuition benefit that Vandy had for dependents of their employees.  Growing up, I always knew that I would go to college just like my daddy and my cousins, but I never thought of how I would afford to pay for it until probably my junior year of high school when Hume Fogg counselors started to nag the students to get working on those scholarship applications.  I was blessed to know that Mom and Dad had already thought about it and Daddy made the sacrifice of a "normal" work schedule so that both Christie and I could go to college without the extreme burden of student loans.  I was able to complete my entire four-year degree without a single student loan thanks to my daddy's hard work and dedication, and a couple of scholarships.  I'm not sure if I've ever outright said thank you to my parents for making this decision, but I am forever grateful.  I have always looked up to my Daddy for his commitment to family by working at Vandy and to all of the hard work he did and still continues to do.

Now, I am just so happy that Daddy gets to retire and have fun, work out (hehe), sleep, and just enjoy life without having to worry about working crazy hours!  What I'm looking forward to the most is being able to talk on the phone with Dad during the weekday nights!  :)

Daddy, I love you big bunches and I'm so proud and happy for you!

Resolutions Update

It's getting closer to time to start making new resolutions (I've got another couple of months or so), so I figured it might be time to do another update.

1.)  Start the Good Thoughts Jar.  I've been doing okay with this resolution.  I occasionally put something in my jar.  However, I don't do it everyday or even consistently once a week. 

2.)  Read the entire Bible.  I'm very behind.  I used the "Catch Me Up" feature on YouVersion several times because I've been bad about it.  I will say that I'm about 51% through the Bible.  According to my plan, I should have this finished in April.

3.)  Lose weight...a lot of weight.  So I gained a few pounds.  It's been harder without going to a doctor once a week.  I'm trying to stay on track, but it's been hard with staying busy.  I've still got about half way to go.

4.)  Be more creative.  Yep!  I took some initiative and I started sewing classes last Monday.  I'll have sewing classes once a week until Thanksgiving and I will have completed my first garment by then!  I'm hoping that maybe I'll have a side project when I'm going through the classes too.  I'm really excited about that.  Also, I've already talked to one of my Brothers about hosting a Pinterest party over ETSU's winter break.  I can't wait for that!
 
5.)  Cook one new recipe a month.  I'm not sure if I've done a recipe every month or not.  I know that this month I've tried two different ones.  One is a breakfast burrito for Ryan.  He said it was pretty good so I pinned it on my success board.  The other one was a recipe for wheat sandwich bread.  It was just...okay.  Not my favorite  and it was a little dense for me.  Honestly, it's also not really worth the time for the taste.  I'd rather use that time to make Grandmama's bread.  Next month I'm going to try a new recipe for SAAC's retreat this weekend.  I'll let everyone know how it goes!

6.)  Save some money.  Eh.  That's been interesting.  Ryan and I did sit down and make savings plans for the next few years.  We are on the right track.  I will say that using my Christmas fund with my bank is making life a million times easier for planning for Christmas.  I got started Christmas present shopping early! ;)

7.)  Drink more water.  Again, this resolution has now become a habit. 

8.)  Be more appreciative. Again, this has been difficult to track.  Definitely won't be putting a resolution like this again (one that's not really measureable).  Anyway, I believe that I've done a better job and making sure that I tell everyone that I appreciate their efforts or doing things for me. 

9.)  Take more photos, and not just photos of my dog, Butch.   I've been okay on this one.  I think I'm going to be keeping this as a resolution for next year. 

10.)  Blog once at least once a ...month. I'm still doing pretty well on this one! ;)

Fall: My favorite season

Yesterday was the first day of fall.  It had already begun to feel like fall in the past couple of weeks, but yesterday, I was certain that it was fall (it was a little too chilly for me to go outside).  Anyway, if you asked me when I was younger what my favorite season was, I would say it was the summer.  As I've grown older, I'm come to enjoy fall much more.

As my readers know, I live in East Tennessee with mountains all around.  The Blue Ridge mountains are just a short drive away for me.  One of my favorite parts of fall is being outside.  (I know, totally weird since I grew up in the "city".)  Anyway, as I told my Brothers at last week's Chapter meeting, my favorite part of fall is the crispness in the air.  It's cooler, more refreshing.  I feel like I can breathe a little better.  I also love all of the fall colors.  For all my friends in the Philippines, the leaves on most of the trees where I live turn bright orange, yellow, and/or red like the fire trees.  It's absolutely beautiful! 

There are many other things that make fall my favorite season.  I'll list a few here:

• Cool enough for a firepit/bonfire
• Roasting marshmallows
• Cute clothes!
• Starbuck's Pumpkin Spice Latte (they are celebrating it's 10th year this year)
• Pumpkin flavored everything!
• Pumpkin scents (can you tell I like pumpkin)
• The Unicoi County Apple Festival
• Halloween fun
• Thanksgiving food
• It's wedding season (Ryan and I plan to get married in the fall whenever the time comes)
• I can wear my hair down and not be too hot

Anyway, that's a short list of why I like fall.  :)  Blog later!

My Favorite Moment of Summer 2013

As many of my readers know, I am part of a National Co-Educational Fraternity called Phi Sigma Pi National Honor Fraternity.  I am a Charter Member of the Epsilon Xi Chapter at ETSU and I have continued to be an Active Alumni Member and Advisor with this Chapter and the Southern Appalachian Alumni Chapter (SAAC), which I am also a Founding Member.

Anyway, Wednesday, July 31, I along with three SAAC Members (all Epsilon Xi alumni) and six Epsilon Xi Members made the long drive to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to attend the annual National Convention held by the fraternity.  We were super excited about the trip!  We packed up in a 15 passenger van and headed on the long 12 hour trip (thanks to traffic and a Cracker Barrel stop it took us about 3 hours longer than expected).  We were greeted by members of National Council which was truly a treat for everyone.

The Van to Philly

Friday was a day for Grand Chapter, which entails all of the Chapters of the fraternity voting on various fraternity business.  Six of the group, including myself, were able to attend Grand Chapter while the other four explored Philadelphia.  Saturday was filled with opportunities to mingle with other Brothers and attend sessions to bring back to our Chapters.  I was able to meet with primarily with the Alumni Members in our special Alumni Track session.  I gathered lots of ideas and sought out some additional opportunities for the upcoming year.  Typically, the highlight of Saturday during National Convention is the Awards Banquet in the evening.

My Nametag!

As a group, we were all hoping that one of our Chapters would win an award; however, because both were so young (Epsilon Xi only 5 years old and SAAC 1 year old), we weren't holding our breath.  We all got dressed up and headed to the ballroom for dinner and the awards ceremony.  We had a lovely dinner and the awards ceremony began.  As the awards were announced and finding out that another Chapter received the "Most Improved" and "Outstanding Alumni Chapter" award, all of us waited in hopes that Epsilon Xi that would have the chance for the "Top in Region" award.  The time came and Epsilon Xi won the "Top in Region" for the Bluegrass region!  We were so excited as this was the first national award that our Chapter had ever received!  Once the pictures were taken and the beautiful certificate was passed around the table, all of us settled down to listen to the last of the awards, the scholarships and distinguished Joseph Torchia Outstanding Chapter awards.

The attendees at the beginning of Banquet

We heard two inspiring stories from the two scholarship recipients and listened to the VP of Membership Development give the speech and award the Gamma Theta Chapter of LSU the first Torchia award.  Embarrassing to write, but many of us around the table were on our phone checking Twitter (the thing to do during convention), refilling our coffee mugs, or taking a bathroom break. Then the moment began...

National Secretary, Chris McCoy, approached the podium to give out the second Torchia.  Ryan looked at me and whispered in my ear, "Why would he be getting up there?  He would only announce if it was given to a Bluegrass Chapter (his home Chapter was in that region)."  I shook my head and thought to myself, "It can't be Epsilon Xi.  They did well this year given the crazy circumstances and all of the drama, but not enough to win a Torchia."  I even remember myself explaining early that afternoon to the delegate and alternate of the Chapter that if they won an award that the delegate would go to the front and receive it and continued by saying, "If you win a Torchia, which is incredibly unlikely, then you all go."  Slowly, Chris began mentioning a Chapter that had come together as Brothers to have an awesome semester.  "In fact, it was only two years ago, the Chapter was at what was described as a 'point of no return,'" Chris continued.  Ryan and I both thought to ourselves, "Man, it must have been a tough year that year", thinking back to how just two years ago our own Chapter was down to only 8 Brothers, a few of which reached out to us alumni for help.  Chris continued, "This Chapter has worked diligently to triple their chapter size..." and he continued to describe events similar to the ones that our Chapter held that past year.   We all started to looking around the table thinking is it even possible that this is us?  

Picture taken by Kyle Williams.  Notice that we are all looking at each other like, "no way, it can't be us."  Justin holds back tears as he knows that it had to be us.

Then Chris said, "From events such as...a Hershey Bar collection 'war' with a local alumni chapter to send to children in the Philippines."  At that point, I couldn't contain my tears.  

Me (to the left) and Josh and Justin (on the right) finally realize that it was us.

Ryan put his head in his hands letting his tears flow as well.  Only one stoic Brother could contain her tears with a smile ear to ear.  All of us were wiping our tears, gradually getting to the point where they were uncontrollable.  "And they are now realizing who they are..." chuckled Chris bringing the attention to the tables around us who began hearing our tears of joy.  

"And they now realize who they are.."

Happy tears are what my Grandmama would have described when I was experiencing.  I thought back to all of the hard times that I experienced as an undergraduate hoping that one day I would be able to leave my legacy.  I remembered promising right after graduating in 2010 to one of my best friends at the time, Sara (Scobee) Beachler as she cried with worry, that I would do everything in my power to keep the Chapter that we started alive.  I remembered two years ago when I was worried that we would have to inactivate our Chapter because of low membership.  I remembered how hard the beginning of last semester was as an alumni.  

Then I began to remember how proud those undergraduate Brothers were at the Bluegrass regional conference in April with their zombie makeup, how motivated the Initiate committee was to make the best initiate program despite the recent, sudden departure of their Initiate Advisor, how easy it was to encourage the Brothers to love one another and challenge each other to be the best, and how wonderful the weekend had already been.  That only lead me to more happy tears.  It was truly an honor to watch all six undergraduate Brothers walk to the front of the room all holding hands to receive the Torchia trophy.  The alumni left at the table just hugged each other thinking, "They did it and we were able to be a part of this."

Epsilon Xi undergraduate and alumni Brothers with National Council with their first two National awards.

The rest of the evening we kept asking each other if it was a dream.  At varying times of the evening when we realized that it was real, tears, hugs, and congratulations were shared.  Even the next morning we could not hold back our happy tears as other Brothers continued to congratulate us.

The president of the Chapter brought the Torchia to Ryan and I to look at because of our dedication to the Chapter.  It was very hard for me to control my tears at this point.

This was truly my favorite moment of the summer.  Phi Sigma Pi has always held a major place in my heart.  It brought me my closest friends, who I can call Brother.  It gave me the college experience of a lifetime and it continues to bless me as I move further into my life.  It has given me a family away from home.  Knowing that the Chapter's hard work was recognized despite all of the challenges from this past spring was a pinnacle moment.  I can't wait to see what this upcoming year has in store!

"The Chapter is just like a big family that helps each other out through the hard times." - Justin Pritchard, 2013 Social Chair, Epsilon Xi Chapter

Update

So, it's been over a month and we are about to hit July very soon.  If I want to keep up with my resolutions, I should blog.  The weird thing is that I don't really know what to say at this point...The end of May and month of June has consisted mostly of traveling.

Starting at the end of May, the family went on the Mission of Hope trip again this year.  I've updated a little bit on the MOH website and there are tons of pictures on the Facebook page.  I also have a small album on my personal Facebook page (I know...it's funny how I think about a 100 pictures is a small album).  In the middle of June, several of my fraternity Brothers headed to Nashville for Alumni Convention.  It was quite different from what I expected; however, I enjoyed it!  I'm looking forward to National Convention the first weekend of August.

June has flown by.  Unfortunately, I don't think July will, mainly because I have a big trip planned (National Convention in Philly) starting on July 31st so it'll feel like decades away.

Speaking of decades away, I've learned over the past few days that I have an issue with patience.  I know that certain situations that God puts me in is to help me grow and understand patience, but I guess I'm just hard headed.  I don't really care to elaborate much right now, some of you who know me well may be able to figure it out.  But anyway...keep me in your prayers because this test of patience has had me down the past few days.

Anyway, hopefully I'll be inspired to blog again soon.

Jillian Quirante, M.B.A.

As of Saturday, I am an M.B.A. degree holder!  I had a fantastic weekend of spending time with family and friends.  There was a lot of celebrating and food.  It was great to have everyone come up and celebrate with me.

Now...to the commonly asked question to those who just recently graduated...what's next?  Well, I'm not quite sure.  One thing I do know is that I will be praying quite a bit about where my life is going to be headed for the next chapter of my life.  We will just have to see.  Until then, I will be content with my current job and I'm looking forward to a couple of trips that will be coming up within the next month or so.  The biggest trip is to the Philippines for MOH.  I also have an Alumni Convention for Phi Sigma Pi in June.  I'm excited about that.

Anyway, just wanted to update everyone that I'm officially a graduate, again.  :)  It hasn't quite hit me yet.  I don't feel any different, but I'm sure that I will definitely be able to tell by the time Summer Session I starts at ETSU.  (I never took a summer off!)  We'll see.  Keep me in your thoughts and prayers for a while.

Confession

Ok.  It's confession time...well nothing super juicy, just some thoughts I've been having today.  I finished a major presentation and it went well.  That is the end for one of my classes.  I'm 2 papers and one book away from graduation.  But it dawned on me, just now, what's next?  I mean, May will be fairly busy with the MOH trip and so will the beginning of June.  I have the alumni convention half way into June, but then...nothing.  No plans, well until convention in August, but that's one weekend.

I'm going to be in yet another transition period.  I don't own my home, so I can't do some awesome DIY projects that I've seen on TV or on Pinterest.  I don't have kids, so there won't be any time devoted to them.   I'm not engaged yet.  No wedding planning yet.  I'll be done with school.  Now what?  I know, I'm hearing people say, but you'll have a job and your MBA!  Well, yea, but what will I do after work?  I guess I'll have to pick up another hobby.

I'm just getting slightly worried that I'll be bored during this transition time.  Did anyone else feel that way?  I would ask my close friends, but they are all in school.  :)  Several of my closer friends went back to school.  Oh, what to do...  Just pondering for now.  Any advice for this upcoming graduate school graduate?  (Don't say school.  I'm not planning on getting my Ph.D.)

More writing

So yesterday, as I was writing a paper, I realized that I haven't really gotten a chance to write for myself.   I've written papers for class, written emails for work, and even written a blog post for one of the organizations that I'm a part of, but I have not written for me!  This is really odd because I feel like I'm approaching a huge life change.  In a matter of 17 days and 21 hours, I will be a graduate again.  I will be Jillian Marie Quirante, MBA!  :)  I am extremely excited, but I'm also extremely nervous.  I've hit the critical point at the end of the semester where presentations and papers are due.  I completed one presentation today.  I have another one tomorrow.  I hope to finish one paper tonight.  Finalize a group paper this evening. And read a book and write a summary paper by May 3rd.  Gosh, looking at all this makes me exhausted!  Anyway, I'm very excited.  I'm thinking about renaming the blog once I graduate.  Any ideas?  I'm not sure either.  I'll have to ponder that for a while.

Well, in other exciting news, I took a huge step as an adult a couple of weeks ago.  I applied for a mortgage and put in an offer on a house!  Since you guys haven't received a moving announcement (I had them picked out and everything!), you can conclude that the seller didn't accept my offer.  It was slightly (and by slightly I mean incredibly) frustrating because they took 10 days to respond to my offer (I was dealing with a bank).  So, no house yet.  Will sign another 6 month lease.  I know I'll find that dream home soon.  Maybe it's just not my time yet.

Ok.  This is all the time that I can dedicate to writing a blog post, so I'll give a quick update on how I'm doing with my resolutions.

1.)  Start the Good Thoughts Jar.  Ew.  I'm still doing really bad at this.  I recently did the Emotional Intelligence Appraisal in response to one of the books I'm reading for one of my classes, and it says I need to take time to reflect on the good things in my life to increase my EQ.  How fitting is this resolution!  I guess I really do need to do better on this.  Ok, here's the plan.  I'm moving this jar to a place that I know I'll actually put paper in.  So, if you come over to the house, ask me where my jar is.  :)

2.)  Read the entire Bible.  I'm still doing really well on this!  I was a little behind last week (by like a week's worth of reading), but I was able to catch up.  I'm about 30% through the Bible now.  I'm learning a lot!

3.)  Lose weight...a lot of weight.  Have you watched my weight tracking widget -->?  I've lost 43 pounds so far.  I've been really happy with my progress so far.  I still have a little ways to go, but I'm very happy.  I have been frustrated a little bit.  When I was getting dressed for my presentation today, I found that the majority of the clothes that I've been saving to when I lose some weight don't fit because they are too BIG!  It's a great problem to have, but it's still a problem.  Luckily, I bought a dress for my big presentation tomorrow that actually fits.  I was planning on wearing it for graduation, but looking at the way I'm dropping sizes, I may have to buy a new one.  We'll see.  Right now I'm at a size 10.  I have no more saved jeans after the ones that I'm wearing, no blank pants that fit, and probably only two dresses that fit.  Looks like I need to go shopping!

4.)  Be more creative.  The extent of my creativeness has been pinning stuff of pinterest.  Get back to me on this resolution until after graduation!

5.)  Cook one new recipe a month.  So far in the month of April, I've tried 3 new recipes.  The first one was a crockpot rotisserie chicken.  EarthFare has a sale on whole chickens.  They were only $1/pound!  Ryan and I bought two.  :)  We cooked one of them and it was sooo good.  The meat just fell off the bone.  I think we are having the other chicken sometime this week.  The second recipe I used as a dessert for my birthday cookout, banana smores or as people in East Tennessee call it banana boats.  The only modification that was made that made it especially delicious (thanks, Justin for recommending it) was adding a bit of peanut butter.  It was sooo good!  The last recipe was banana bread because I had too many bananas left over after the cookout that I didn't want to go to waste.  It was a little high on sugar, so I'm going to modify it with a splenda next time.  I have at least two more recipes to try sometime this week.  I'll let ya know how it goes.  Or you can look at my "Success" Pinterest Board for an earlier update! ;)

6.)  Save some money.  I saved most of my tax return.  Does that count?  ;)

7.)  Drink more water.  Again, this resolution has now become a habit.  I get such a headache if I don't stick with my water drinking schedule.

8.)  Be more appreciative. I still haven't thought of a way to report on this.  Any ideas?

9.)  Take more photos, and not just photos of my dog, Butch.   Nope.  I've been willing to be in more pictures than I have in the past, but I've been horrible at taking pictures.  Maybe it'll get better with this Philippines trip.

10.)  Blog once at least once a ...month. Well, judging on the archives, I've blogged at least once a month so far.  I think I'll be blogging more often after graduation comes.  Besides, I won't be writing academic papers anymore.  I have to keep my writing skills sharp somehow!

Well that's all for now!

Portobello Mushroom Pizza!

Guess what I did last night?!  I cooked!  I know.  It's a shocker for everyone.  Well, if that didn't shock you, it's time that you know that I'm a baker, not a cook.  Ryan does all of the cooking at the house because I am terrible at it.  Now I know that some of you may say, "But Jillian, you make a fantastic lasagna or chicken and rice casserole."  Well, hate to burst your bubble, but that's baking.  There is very little cooking involved in making those recipes. 

Anyway, I cooked last night.  I made Portobello Mushroom Pizza inspired by a pin I found on Pinterest.  I chose this recipe because it actually fit into my diet and I've been missing pizza a little bit.  It's full of veggies, just enough fat with the cheese and olive oil, and Ryan suggested that I add a little bit of beef (we had some venison to use) for some protein.  I did most of the prep.  Ryan fixed the venison and finished chopping some ingredients after I cut my finger :(.  It was super easy to fix though and it was pretty good. 

I learned quite a bit from cooking and even stuck to one of my resolutions!  I'm a little better at chopping than I was before (I didn't use one of those chopping things), learned a lot about different ingredients (had to get the portobello mushrooms and leeks from EarthFare, wish I could shop there more!), found out the fixing dinner right after an intense work-out is super difficult, and that patience is still a virtue.  I'm so appreciative that Ryan was willing to help me and I'm super appreciative that he always cooks.  I don't really find it fun, but I'm so blessed that he does.  I'm so thankful that he cooks so I don't have to eat ramen everyday.

Anyway, that's my post for now. Hopefully, I'll have another one to talk about a successful recipe cooked.  If you don't see a post, then it ended badly.  lol. ;)

Leadership: Part 1

As most of you know, I'm currently an M.B.A. student at ETSU.  I'm taking my last two classes of my program before graduation in May.  Anyway, one of the classes that I'm taking is an Independent Study course that will replace my leadership course requirement (lovely how course rotations never work out the way you need them to).  Over the course of the semester, I have been assigned 5 books along with 5 ten-page papers about those books.  So why am I blogging about this?  Well, again, as many of you know, I'm part of Phi Sigma Pi National Co-ed Honor Fraternity.  One of the legs of our tripod is leadership.  While most Chapters use this leg of the tripod as a service component of the fraternity, I believe that leadership should also be embraced.  This series of blog posts...well, let's just say it's a little bit of what I learned about leadership.  Maybe someone will read this and obtain some inspiration and resources on how to be a better leader.  More and more I'm learning the importance of leadership and how it really does affect my everyday actions.

Ok.  The first book I read was StrengthsFinder 2.0 by Tom Rath.  I actually had the pleasure of listening to Mr. Rath give an executive briefing while I was working as a tuition scholar during my first year of graduate school.  At the briefing, I bought this book, along with Strengths Based Leadership (the longer and more in-depth version of the two books).  I also was able to get him to sign both!  ;)  (Sorry, I'm a nerd.)  Anyway, most of you know that I hate to read.  So what compelled me, a broke graduate student, to buy not one, but two books at full retail price?  The topic he wrote about really intrigued me and sparked a great interest to learn more.

Both books talk about strength psychology and its application to our every day lives.  Rath continually brings up the example of how we as a society constantly try to overcome any personal deficiencies starting in our infancy even to when we are grown adults.  The strength psychology suggests that by focusing on our strengths instead of trying to deal with our weaknesses, we will grow more!  (I personally was interested in how this effective the workplace environment and how it could relate to potential leadership positions within an organization, but again, I'm a business grad student.)

So with the book came a special code that gave me access to the "Strengths Finder 2.0 Assessment".  Basically it was several statements that I ranked myself on whether I was most like the statement or least like the statement.  At the end of this hour long assessment, I was given a report with my "top five themes of talent".  Mine were discipline, strategic, achiever, futuristic, and focus.  Man did the assessment hit the nail on the head!  I had a lot of trouble actually writing the paper because it was hard to write about myself for an academic paper.  Anyway, I learned a lot of how I could apply (or in some cases continue to apply) these to daily tasks.

Now that you have read a short book report...why should you read it?  You might be surprised how much talent you truly possess that can be molded into great leadership strengths!  Ryan even took the assessment and read the shorter book.  It wasn't surprising that we had different themes; however, many of our themes complemented each other.  Which makes sense why we make a great pair! ;)  Anyway, if you are interested, the books are above.  I found them to be very interesting.  I also have copies that I would be willing to lend out to responsible individuals who will return them.  (Remember, they are signed!)

Well, that's enough for tonight.  Off to the next book and start of the next paper.  I've already read the first section and I know this one will be fun to write about.  I already have a couple of people in mind to recommend it to!

Resolutions Update

I don't know why, but occasionally I feel the need to do a resolution update.  Probably because I want to see how I'm doing.  ;)  But I get this urge to write at the most random times!  Anyway, here goes...

1.)  Start the Good Thoughts Jar.  I've been very bad at this one.  I believe the last good thought I put in my jar was the fact that Mary Ann was okay after her car accident.  I think that weekend I moved the jar up to my room, which rarely has pieces of paper to write on!  I think I need to move it again and put some more good thoughts in there!

2.)  Read the entire Bible.  Going strong!  I have kept up with reading every day!  I even got a digital badge for completing the "21-day challenge" that YouVersion had.  I'm learning quiet a bit.  To give you an idea of how much I've read so far I'll list a few books that I've finished.  I've finished Genesis, Exodus, and Matthew.  I'm still in the process of reading Psalms, Proverbs, Leviticus, and Mark.  (I get a variety of verses/chapters to read each day.)  I'm enjoying this resolution so far.  One exciting thing that I read in Matthew that I asked Ryan about and even looked on the notes section of the app is in regards to the resurrection of Jesus.  Maybe someone can help me out here because I had never read this before and it's never been explained to me.  I won't quote the whole thing because it's long, but here are the verses:  Matthew 27: 50-54.  Has anyone else remember reading about this before?  I'm just curious on the significance of these verses. 

3.)  Lose weight...a lot of weight.  As many of you can tell by my widget, as of the last time I weighed in, I've lost 21.5 lbs.  :)  What's even more exciting is some of the numbers I got back from my blood work.  When I started my program, my cholesterol was at 215 (for those not medically-versed that is a little bit high).  After a month later, my cholesterol is 130 (that's really good)!  I've also lost a total of 9.5 inches (cumulative measurements around the neck, arms, waist, hips, bust, and thighs).  I'm super excited and I keep on moving!

4.)  Be more creative.  Well, really the only thing creative I've done has been related to PSP stuff for the Big Brother seminar this month.  I did do a little craft in January.  Here's a pic.  It's really helped with another one of my resolutions!  :)

5.)  Cook one new recipe a month.  Ok.  In January, I tried a recipe using one of my meal replacements.  Let's just say that didn't go so well.  This month, I tried a new recipe for a Valentine's Day event.  Everyone who had them (not me because it had too many things I couldn't have because of the diet) said they were delish!  I'll probably make them again.  :)

6.)  Save some money.  Again...not yet.  :/  This resolution will be postponed until my tax refund check comes in.  :)

7.)  Drink more water.  I'm rocking this resolution!  I have at least 64 ounces of water each day.  Recently, both Ryan and I have noticed a change in the taste of our water here at work and at our house.  So we've been using Mio and Dasani Drops to overcome that bad taste.  So far my favorite of the Mio is Peach Mango and for Dasani it's the Strawberry Kiwi.  Grape is my favorite of the generic stuff.  :)

8.)  Be more appreciative. I think this one was a little harder to measure.  Let me ponder this one for a while and I'll get back to you on that.

9.)  Take more photos, and not just photos of my dog, Butch.  Nope.  I've done horribly!  Butch has some great pictures on my phone.  I need to start taking more soon.  Check back later.

10.)  Blog once at least once a ...month. This is one of the blogs for the month of February.  I'm sure I'll post again before the month ends.  I don't like counting resolution updates as a blog post for the month.  Anyway, I didn't want to go on my Valentine's Day rant again, so I didn't post them.  (Go check out my previous V-Day posts for those interested in my viewpoint on the day.) 


Well that's it for now.  Blog later! ;)

Beautiful AND Healthy

It dawned on me that some may think that I'm a little crazy going on this weight loss program.  Yes, drinking most of my meals for a while and being on a very low calorie diet is a little crazy.  Many people will tell me (whether lying or being truthful) that I'm perfect the way I am and that I'm beautiful at the weight that I am.

The thing is that I know that I'm beautiful just the way I am.  I have a fantastic boyfriend who reminds me of that every day, even if he doesn't say that out loud.  However, I am not considered to be at a healthy weight.  I may be healthy in terms of the fact that fortunately I have no major diseases or issues going on much like I did when I weight significantly less.  However, most people who have ever seen my family's medical history would understand why I have to get this weight off!  Just to name a few...diabetes, stroke, heart disease, and cancer.  Here are some statistics:  42 millions of women have heart disease, 25.8 people have diabetes, and 75 million are considered obese (based on their BMI).  Obesity is a "contributing factor" to the other two, along with stroke, cancer, and kidney disease.  I fit into one of these categories already (you can guess which one).  I don't want to be in the other two! 

So...that's why I'm losing weight.  Not all of it is vanity, while a lot of my reasons may include that.  I need to be healthy.  So, I hope that this clears up a little bit as to why I have my resolution and I hope I have everyone's support because this is going to be a long and probably difficult road ahead.  :)

Resolution Update

Finally, I can post an update. :)  Everyone may think that I'm a little silly for waiting for this one appointment just to blog, but I'm just really excited about this particular resolution.  Anyway, here's a resolution check to see how my first several days of the new year has been.

1.)  Start the Good Thoughts Jar.I started the jar!  I do have a habit of not putting the piece of paper in the jar, but I do write them down.  I even decorated my jar.  :)  I just have to figure out where to put it because currently I have it sitting as a centerpiece on the coffee table (not intentionally!).  Any thoughts?

2.)  Read the entire Bible.  This has been fairly easy getting started.  Like I said in my original post, I'm using the YouVersion app so I can read daily on my phone.  I typically do this before going to bed.  It has created several interesting conversations between Ryan and I (he knows a lot more about the Bible stories than I do).  I have learned that I have this very specific image of God.  Some say that many people put "God in a box" and that's exactly what I've done.  But I'm learning a lot and enjoying creating this deeper relationship with Him.  Anyway, I definitely think I'll be keeping this resolution...just don't ask me for any family trees...I like flow charts but that's too many branches.

3.)  Lose weight...a lot of weight.  This is the resolution that I've been waiting to tell everyone!  :)  I started a new weight loss management program called Resolve.  Anyway, I had my screening appointment this morning, which basically means that I got several baseline measurements and had my program assigned to me.  I won't go into all of the details, but I will have weekly appointments so I can stay on track.  If you want to keep up with how much I've lost, I have a little widget to the right --> just below the "Blog Archive".  :)  Wish me luck.

4.)  Be more creative.  Hmm.  I haven't really started too much on this particular resolution.  We'll get back to that later.  However, Justin did bring up recently that him and I need to host a Pinterest party.  Let's see when that'll actually happen.  ;)

5.)  Cook one new recipe a month.  I'm probably going to start this sometime this weekend.  Part of the weight loss program I'm on has meal replacements.  They gave me a few recipes to make them a little more exciting.  I'll definitely try those!

6.)  Save some money.  Eh...nope.  Not this month.  I didn't expect that I would.  However, I'm hoping and praying for some good news here within the next few months that will make this a little easier.

7.)  Drink more water.  :)  You should be happy to know that I'm on my third water bottle (like a travel water bottle, not one of those bottles of water from a case) as I'm typing.  I'll probably have at least one more before I go to bed.  :)  Mom will be happy.  I haven't done my project yet to help me with this resolution.  Maybe I can do that too this weekend to help with my number 4 resolution.

8.)  Be more appreciative. This what is kind interesting to update.  I don't really think that I have been super appreciative this past week and that's just being honest.  Work has been a little stressful, so I haven't exactly been the super nicest person.  :/  I guess I have a little bit of work to do.

9.)  Take more photos, and not just photos of my dog, Butch.  I'm off to a good start on this one.  I did take several pictures last weekend at our Phi Sigma Pi SAAC event.  Hopefully I'll get a little better at this one.  I should have done something similar to Justin where he takes a picture every day and posts to Facebook.  Maybe next year I'll do a daily photo post....hmmm...someone remind me!

10.)  Blog once at least once a ...month. Well I think that I have done super well already.  This will be post number three for me this month.  The test will be later on in the year. 

Anyway, that's all that I really have right now.  Just keep me in your thoughts and prayers as I transition into a newer, healthier lifestyle.  The first several weeks will probably be the most challenging.  I'm super stoked though.  :)

Just Hello

I've wanted to write a post for a couple of days now, but I don't really want to do a resolution check, simply because I'm waiting for a particular day...really a particular appointment this week to take place before I update.  Anyway, I'm super excited because I see that there are a few people who's resolutions included blogging!  I love reading other people's blogs.  You get to know a lot about people just by the way they write.  Anyway, if you are interested, there are two personal blogs that I've added (look under "Awesome Blogs" to the right) and one blog that I found on Pinterest.

I guess one thing that I can write about is that I have found that this may be a year of unexpected pleasantries and surprises.  For example, yesterday, I went to church with Ryan, Kristina, and fraternity Brother, Joanne. As many of you may know, I'm pretty close with several of my Brothers from Phi Sigma Pi.  However, I never really thought of being able to share in worship with one of those Brothers.  Why?  I'm not sure.  I just never thought of it that way.  However, it is refreshing to know that there are other Brothers who are on a spiritual journey and are willing to continue to grow in Christ with me.  This may surprise many of those reading this post as I am not as open about my spirituality as some, simply because I don't want to offend anyone and, more honestly, I don't want to appear as one of those "high and mighty Christians".  I guess we will see what the future holds.  Anyway, hopefully I'll be able to blog a little bit more about this nice, unexpected experience.

I feel like this year may hold some more surprises this year.  Needless to say, I'm extremely excited about this year.  I'm looking forward to several adventures, including graduating with my master's degree, traveling again to the Philippines, and whatever else has in store.  Well...my brain is starting to lose it's creative will to continue this blog post...so now...I say goodnight.  :)

P.S.  If you have a blog that I haven't found yet, please let me know!  I'll add it to my page.  :)

New Year's Resolutions

It just came to my mind that I forgot to mention something in my last post which is part of the reason I wasn't successful in one of my resolutions (the blogging every week one) other than I was incredibly busy with school...my computer went kaput!  And by kaput...I mean it was too slow to do anything and I was on the verge of putting a bullet in it.  Anyway, luckily, thanks to my wonderful parents, I have a new laptop that is super fast!  Hopefully it will provide me a little more motivation to blog.

And back to the topic of this post: My new New Year's Resolutions.  Like my previous resolutions, I will make ten.  Also, I have added a couple of things that will make these a little bit more measurable and not so subjective like they were last year.  Here we go:

1.)  Start the Good Thoughts Jar.  Because of the past several months, I have found out that I have a difficult time realizing and remembering the good moments in life.  I actually read somewhere (how unscientific like of me not to remember the source) that said that people have to have four good things (thoughts or actions) happen to overcome the psychological affects of one bad thing (thought or action).  So, one day will scrolling on Pinterest, I came across a pin that inspired this resolution.  Christie told me that I need to get some pretty paper to write on.  Anyway, my goal is fairly large...to write at least one thing to put in my jar every day.  It may be a struggle, but I think I will be a better person because of it.  Next New Year's Eve, I'll open the jar and read all of the good thoughts/memories that I have had for the year and then start over.  Hopefully, I'll be able to keep this resolution and then pin the original pin to my "Success" board.

2.)  Read the entire Bible.  There's a long back story behind this that I won't go into (if you want to here it sometime, let's do lunch after church or something).  Anyway, I've never read the Bible in full.  In fact, I don't really know most of the Bible stories or their meanings.  Thanks to technology, there is an app, YouVersion, that has "reading plans" for various topics and even for the whole Bible.  I'm going to do the OneYear reading plan.  Wish me luck on this one.  We all know how much I love to read!

3.)  Lose weight...a lot of weight.  Yep...this is one of my resolutions along with thousands of others out there.  If you read my post entitled "Vunerability", you would know a little bit about the back story.  Anyway, I'm going to a doctor to get a little bit of advice, extra accountability, and hopefully the get weight off in a healthy way.  I'm really going to need some luck with this one considering most of the time I hang out with friends/Brothers food is involved.

4.)  Be more creative.  I've had this one before or something similar.  However, I'm going to put a goal on this one that is measurable.  I need to complete at least one creative project once a month.  Also, I need to host (or co-host, cough::with Justin::cough) a Pinterest party.  I already have a couple of projects in mind.

5.)  Cook one new recipe a month.  (Thanks, Christie for this one!)  I guess I should include that I must cook this new recipe.  As many of your know, I'm the baker and Ryan is typically the one who cooks at the house.  So, with this resolution, maybe I will learn how to cook better and I can try some new recipes out.  I recently started using this new app, Next Issue, so I have access to at least four food magazines.  I should be able to get some inspiration from that, huh?

6.)  Save some money.  This one may be a little bit difficult for me, simply because I need to trim some of my expenses in order to do this.  Recently, when I have reflected on a few things that I would like to do within the next five years, a lot of it depends on how much money I have saved in order to pay for those items (ex. buy a house, wedding expenses, etc.).  So, I will probably work on this throughout the year, first I will need to make a list of what I want to save for and then actually set goals for those things.  Maybe I'll update the blog with that list.  :)

7.)  Drink more water.  I know that this probably ties in with my number 3 resolution, but Mom has always told me that I need to drink more water and less coffee or soda.  I hate water, mainly because I always have to go pee when I drink enough water.  Again, I found another pin (just look at the picture) that may help me with this one.

8.)  Be more appreciative.  I think that many people have (or should have) this as a resolution.  I know that I'm not always the best at saying thank you or I appreciate what you do.  I know that I am particularly worst at this to the people that I'm closest to.  I will have to come up with some genuine ways to tell people that I'm appreciative of it.

9.)  Take more photos, and not just photos of my dog, Butch.  This is still one that I want to keep on my list from last year (and probably from the years before).  I've noticed that I don't have a lot of updated photos of myself or friends.  Like I said, most of the photos I have taken are of my dog.  :/  Maybe I should download Instagram and maybe that will give me a little bit of inspiration.  What do you think?  Any thoughts?  Also, I have maxed out my storage space on Picasa because of the mission trip a couple of years ago.  I've done Shutterfly in the past, but I don't like the interface as much any more, plus it takes a while to upload pictures.  Does anyone have any recommendations?

10.)  Blog once at least once a ...month.  Yea, I'm not going to commit myself to once a week again.  That was super difficult in that I was always trying to come up with new blog post topics!  Anyway, maybe with once a month, I'll have plenty to talk about regarding life.  :)  Also, within my blog posts, I want to have at least one link to something.  I'm on the Internet all of the time and I typically find lots of interesting stuff.  I might as well share them with my blog readers.  I have a few so far in this post, so don't forget to click the underlined links!

So now I make the same call as I do every year around this time...anyone out there going to start a blog as their resolution?  I would be happy to place you on my blogroll.  Just let me know.  If you need a little inspiration too, I would be happy to give you some ideas.  :)