Chapters

The past couple of months have been a stressful time for me. My day job becomes very demanding for the first 6 months of the year, and I don't get out much because of it. Winter transitioned into a wet spring, and everything inside of me just wants to BE OUTSIDE IN THE SUN!! This has also been somewhat of a reflective time in my life as I've evaluated where I am and think about where I'd like to go from here. Maybe it's the season of closed chapters and new beginnings that's making me think like this; I don't know. (Side note: as I write this, I am listening to the pitter-patter of rain through an open window... it's a strangely soothing sound.)

As I thought of a title for this post, I thought of "Chapters." My immediate follow-up thought was "Oooh, that'd be a nice name for a restaurant or coffee shop." (I hereby stake my claim on that name!) At any rate, I've been thinking about how I can grow professionally, where I can do that, and how the effort I put into that will reap personal benefits.

My dream "job" is owning my own business. The hard part is that I can't decide what that business would be. I would love to own a store, a cafe, or an event planning business... I would also love to own a parking lot in the middle of downtown, a self-serve car wash facility, and a self-storage facility. The first three ideas represent my interests and talents while the latter three options represent less work and high cash flow! ;-) 

I don't know what I'll end up doing, but what I do know is that I need to be watchful for open doors. Those doors can be all shapes and sizes, and behind them are hallways and stairwells that lead to different places in life. I just pray for the discernment to know which door to walk through, the courage to go through it, and the faith to continue down the path that lies behind the door.

Happy Easter!

I made an e-card for you because I can't send you the Easter treats I made (pictured above)! Check the card out here. (E-card made through MyPunchbowl.)

Happy Easter!

Singles Awareness Day

An old high school classmate of mine posted a note on Facebook that he is banning all couples from his news feed until after "Singles Awareness Day." I literally laughed out loud because Valentine's Day is definitely a day when, if you're single, you are AWARE that you are, in fact, SINGLE.

Then I thought about the people who might think about me this Valentine's Day... and wondered if any of them would be interested in buying me a present because I am single. :-) Of course, since my parents are probably the only ones who will read this, I figured I have a decent shot at getting a present out of them just because they miss me.

Here's a photo of my new favorite hobby/piece(s) of jewelry:

This is what's known as an "Italian" bead charm bracelet. I love it because it is a charm bracelet, but with bead charms, not dangling charms. So far I have a cat, a snowflake, and a running shoe, along with miscellaneous colored glass beads. If you are interested in buying me more charms, please check out Chamilia, my favorite brand of beads. :-)

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!

Whoa

I don't know why, but this week has been a strange week of news. No, I'm not talking about the State of the Union address (I didn't even watch it). :-)  I've been hearing news from people about health issues in their lives, and it is making me wonder "What the heck is going on?" Co-workers, families we serve at work, people from my past... the news hasn't been good for them. I feel helpless at times; I want to say an encouraging word, but not something cheesy. I haven't experienced most of the situations they are in, so I don't really know how they are feeling or what they're going through. All I feel I can do is say a prayer (or prayers) for them, thank God for my own health and blessings, and seek to be kinder, more compassionate, and more perceptive towards others.

Busy Little Bee

I have been a busy little bee lately, mostly with work. I have a fundraising auction coming up in 5 weeks that we hope will bring in over six figures. There are so many little details that are clouding my brain, and I worry about forgetting something important. Nevertheless, at the end of the day, everything usually comes together with a lot of hard work and manpower from dozens upon dozens of volunteers.

Keep your fingers crossed that the Gonzaga Bulldogs (Division 1 men's basketball powerhouse team) keep winning their games and get a bye for the first two rounds of the WCC Basketball Tournament... if they don't, then they'll likely be playing during the auction and THAT is a distracting factor for the majority of our guests who happen to be Zags fans. Funny little event details that I've got to worry about... :-)

Digital Scrapbooking

Most of you know that for awhile there I was really into scrapbooking. Like REALLY-- to the point where I was trying to open a scrapbooking store. Long story short, I got burned out on scrapbooking because I didn't have a lot of time to do it like I wanted, and I was quickly running out of space for all of my scrapbooking stuff. Literally, I had closets full of stuff... organizers... tote bags... storage containers... you name it. Anyway, last spring I cleaned out a bunch of stuff (along with a few other near-and-dear scrapbook supply fiends), and we held two scrapbook supply garage sales. The success was HUGE! So, we're going to whittle things down even more to have another sale in the spring.

I enjoy the idea of preserving memories, and I definitely enjoy the creative aspect of the whole hobby. However, I've decided to move on with the times and get into digital scrapbooking. I kind of already do the whole concept anyway with Microsoft Publisher to create flyers and such for work. I was super lucky to find some Adobe software that I needed at a fabulous discount, so I bought it! The best is that the software cost less than what I would have spent at a scrapbook supply store to make someone a custom album. I'll mess around with it some more and will post a few sample pages when I complete them.

New Year- Fresh Start

Hello to my friends and family who are probably new to my blog because I just sent out a holiday letter letting you know I actually have a blog. That's fun news, but the not-so-fun news is that I was not really all that diligent in keeping up on it this year because Facebook is just easier. BUT, Facebook doesn't allow just anyone to stalk me on the Internet, so I figured my blog would be a nicer way of telling stories, sharing photos, and creating a nice online fan club for those of you who are not on Facebook. I promise that with the new year, I will make a more concerted effort keep this blog current.

Thank you for stopping by, and please leave me a comment letting me know you were here. AND, please visit again soon! I'll update shortly with holiday photos.