tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-39251088739777583552024-03-13T05:31:40.932-05:00This Is My LifeWelcome to my random world and the thoughts that go along with it.Teganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00799779605257992929noreply@blogger.comBlogger49125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3925108873977758355.post-70837820701636025312016-02-21T17:35:00.000-06:002016-02-21T17:35:00.346-06:00A Season for Everything<span style="color: #454545; font-family: "uictfonttextstylebody"; font-size: 17px;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #454545; font-family: "uictfonttextstylebody"; font-size: 17px;">One of the biggest lessons we learn as a Christian is that there is a season for everything. And these seasons don't last forever. The good and the bad comes and goes. In the valleys we are strengthen, taught to rely on God for our provisions and most importantly to trust in the plan he has developed for us. During the good we get a chance to sit back and marvel at the amazing things God has provided for us, and look back on the journey that brought us to where we are.</span><br />
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My time at City Life started in a fairly shallow way. I wasn't truly seeking God or the plan he had for me. My cousin and his wife had just had baby who I instantly fell in love with. Going to City Life meant I got to spend a few extra precious moments with him each week before and after service. It quickly morphed into more. I started longing to be there, longing to find ways to be involved.</div>
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One Sunday three almost four summers ago, Joey Fink walked up to me to see if I would consider going on the upcoming missions trip as a leader. At this point in my life I had never been on a missions trip, I had only been to the occasional retreat. I honestly didn't feel equipped to do it. In ways only God can design things began to fall into place for me to go. The next thing I knew I was on a bus heading to Indianapolis. Never did I expect those 5 days to effect me the way they did. </div>
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I came back with a desire to work with kids, students. At the time I thought it was just by being a student leader. Almost four years later I know it was setting the path to guide me towards my current job at Wichita State. </div>
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It's funny how God uses seasons. My time with students has lead to probably the most significant development of my faith. I've grown not only in my knowledge of Christ but in the confidence of who God has designed me to be, and for one of the first times in my life I know I'm where I'm suppose to be. God used my time with these kids, to not just develops them but to develop me. I praise him and thank him for the relationships I have gained, the memories it has given me, and the love I've been privy to experience. </div>
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It's with a heavy and somewhat excited heart that I have made the decision to step down from the student leadership team. But what is cool is I'm not completely stepping away from working with students, just moving into a different age demographic. God has presented me with some unique opportunities to become involved more with campus organizations. I'm going to get the chance to hopefully work more with students on campus and help them through their college years. For anyone that knows me, you know my own college years were at time rocky and I wish I had had a someone to walk along side me.</div>
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So thank you Joey Fink for giving me this amazing opportunity. To the student leaders past and present that have become family, I love you and I know students is in very capable hands. To the students, I have grown to love you like my own kids, you are special, talented and amazing gifts from God, thank you for letting me be a small part of your journey. Please know I will always be a phone call/text away. But most importantly thank you God for this life changing season, while there were ups and downs during it, I can see how how you were growing, developing, maturing, and leading me to the opportunities I have now. The opportunities that would not have been possible with out this season. </div>
Teganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00799779605257992929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3925108873977758355.post-78019376765103833072015-08-19T15:58:00.001-05:002015-08-19T15:58:07.974-05:00Being Single with a Faith Like Job'sCan I just start by saying being single is pretty much the worst!!! Sorry but I really had to get that out there and off my chest. I get all these people telling me it is the greatest time of my life. Well guess what... You are a bunch of liars. Maybe they aren't, maybe they really do believe that but it is not the reality for me.<br />
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Have you ever desired something so much and are completely at a loss on how to achieve it? It's really how I feel right now. I feel as though God placed a desire in my heart young, a desire to be a wife and a mother, but nothing is happening. It's just sitting there growing, getting stronger. Slowly, I'm becoming fixated on how to fulfill that desire. <br />
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I thought I met the man I was to marry in college, praise God that didn't happen, but now what. I'll be honest, it's very hard to be in your thirties and single in Wichita. It's not like the bigger cities where there are a plethora of single people. People get married young here, a lot right out of college. (Let me pause here and say I am glad I didn't get married right our of college because I am no where near the same person as I was then.) Most of my friends met their future spouses in college. If they didn't meet them them it wasn't very long after that. I'm now at the stage in my life where friends don't have single friends anymore, and I'm way too old for the bar scene. So what is a girl to do? <br />
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When you add being a strong Christian into the mix it makes things about a million times more difficult. I don't want to lower my standards but in dark times it seems like that may be the only option. Even though in my heart I know it isn't. Many nights I have been in tears praying, asking what more am I suppose to be doing? I attend church regularly, I serve faithfully within my church, I pray constantly, I read my Bible, and I have placed my trust for my future in you. What else is there?<br />
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No, really what else is there? It's not a formula. You can't take all these things add them up and get 6, or in my case a boy. It doesn't work like that, God doesn't work like that. I begin to really question and examine if I am truly grateful for what he has given me. I have a good job, a roof over my head, food in my stomach, my health, a great family and amazing friends. These are things many people in the world don't have. Am I just hung up on this one thing. While to me it is a VERY big thing, but to God it may just be a small part of my journey, a small part of my story. A story that he has been writing long before I was thought of by my parents, a story that maybe one day will be used to help someone else.<br />
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It is very easy to become fixated on the things we don't have, the things we desire, but in doing so we over look the amazing things we do have. I have have this desire in my heart to be a wife and mother, and if it's truly from God then it will come to pass one day. My days need to be praising him and thanking him for the things he has given me. I've been reading in Job a lot the last few days and this reminds me of his story a little. Although, he had way worse things happen to him then I have! Fortunately for me. Job who in his darkest days, when everything had been taken from him, he remained faithful. He questioned why, he looked to his friends for counsel, but ultimately his faith was what got him through. A faith that God later rewarded. <br />
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So maybe the question shouldn't be what do I have to do for God to give me what I desire, but rather how do I have faith like Job? How in this time of feeling like my greatest desire isn't being answered, do I continue to be faithful? It's an on going process one that I don't pretend to be perfect at and
one I will continue to falter with, but the good news is that I'm not doing it alone!<br />
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TeganTeganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00799779605257992929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3925108873977758355.post-20953724003410600152015-06-22T11:51:00.000-05:002015-06-22T15:36:03.624-05:00The Magical Weight Loss SecretSo I'm not one to put my weight loss journey out on social media for the world to see. And let me tell you nearly one year later, 50 pounds less and a half marathon in I have some things to brag about (she says very humbly). There is the occasional transformational pictures. You know the ones, you go back find the worst picture of your self at your heaviest, find the skinniest picture of yourself now and in one of those photo editing apps place them next each other. BOOM you have an instant ego and confidence booster. Soak in all those likes, and comments about how great you look! I've added one just to show you what I'm talking about ;)<br />
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I've been on the weight loss journey with my best friend, she started about 15/20 pounds less then me, lost it faster, didn't plateau nearly as after, started running before me and hit her goal weight while I still have 30 pounds left to go. Let's just say the jealousy can be raging at times, but I love her and am grateful for her.<br />
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Between the two of us we have basically lost a high school girl, 120 pound to be accurate. I'll pause while you do the math to figure out how much she has lost. Got it? Good. For those of you who don't want to do that math that's 70 pounds. Between the two of us we have heard everything there is to hear about losing weight.<br />
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The most annoying comment we get ALL THE TIME is "What is your secret?" If one more person asks me that I may punch them in their face. Ok, well maybe not but still! I get it, with all those different supplements programs, fad diets and get skinny fast schemes out there it's easy to hope there is some magical way to get off the weight that took YEARS to put on.<br />
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I'm here today to tell you what that secret is. I know right, I'm so awesome to pass this along to everyone. So come close, closer... and I'll tell you. Are you ready?<br />
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THERE IS NO SECRET!!!!!!!!!!! What? How can this be? I know, what a let down! Trust me if some how during this process I could have taken a pill and the weight would have just melted off I would have taken it.<br />
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It boils down to two very simple and yet incredibly difficult things. Things that we hear all the time and we all guilty of ignoring.<br />
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The first, eat less and healthier foods. The healthier part has been beyond painful for me since I'm one of the pickiest eaters I know. Before I was eating out about 5-6 times a week at fast food restaurants around where I work and live. To change this habit I downloaded the MyFitnessPal app and tracked every single thing I put into my mouth. This was awful at first, and I got very hangry. Over time I learned how to eat every couple of hours, making sure I was eating snacks high in fiber or protein to help keep me full.<br />
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Secondly, get up and get moving. This started with me purchasing a Fitbit and just getting up and moving around. Instead of calling my boss for something I would walk to his office. Got to get those steps in any way you can! I will warn you this can become quit addicting and if you add friends it can become very competitive. Eventually when I hit yet another plateau I started running. The more ran, the more I saw my weight coming off. It's so weird how that works! I literally was working butt off! <br />
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Trust me I'm like every other person out there, it sucked and continues to suck as I work towards getting these last 30 pounds off. But in the end I'm more confident and wearing things that a year ago there is no way I would ever consider wearing.<br />
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If you are thinking about making a change know that you can do it! And if you have questions I would be happy to share the very limited knowledge I have gained over this last year. I don't pretend to be an expert by any means. If I was I sure would be making more money!<br />
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Until next time...</div>
Teganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00799779605257992929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3925108873977758355.post-39143809425236929582014-01-09T16:43:00.000-06:002014-01-09T16:43:47.018-06:00What can I say about 2013?<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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I’ve been looking back at the last year and trying to pin
point the times where I felt like I really changed. I wanted to write a blog
that would give the high lights and the low lights of the year. One that would
say I met two of the three goals I set for myself last year, one that would
possibly say what the goals for this up coming year would be. I’ve written this
blog over and over again in my head, one I even almost posted, but the more and more I thought about it, the
more I became unhappy in where they were going. Way to much happened for me to give you
that kind of run down. </div>
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To say this year has been the most significant year I have
had spiritually in a long time, if not ever, would be an understatement. I took
so many steps towards a better understanding of who I am in God and where I
feel he is leading me. Although, let me tell you I have no clue what his plan
is for me, and as someone who is a planner I am still learning to except this. Most
importantly I had a believer’s baptism on Mother’s Day. Some may be asking why
at 29 were you baptized. Weren’t you as a child? Yes I was, but a believer
baptism was my choice. I choose that day to give my life to Christ and to
continue walking in his word, his love, his light. Because I was not active in
my church growing up and the church I did attend did baby baptizes this was
never and option to me. Frankly, it wasn’t really something I knew a lot about.
It wasn’t until I started the process to become a member of City Life (done on
Mother’s Day as well) that I started to really understand the significance of
it. How cool is it to make that choice that you will follow Christ and his teachings?
To proclaim that in front of your family, friends and your church! It was a
special moment. I’m so glad that I was able to share it with my mom on a day
that celebrates Mothers. After all she is a large part of why I am the way I
am. </div>
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Since I started at City Life I have felt at home there and a
desire to be involved, this lead me to working in the nursery. Once a month I
was able to get my baby fix, and love on the next generation of our church,
after all these kids are the future of our church. In May Joey asked me to go
as a leader on the student’s mission trip. I still tease him that I was his
last resort since another leader wasn’t able to go. I’ve told Joey this before
but not in this way, this really was the beginning of a huge change for me.
After the trip I stepped down fom the nursery and started as a member of the Student Leaders Team. Working with these kids has provided me with an opportunity that I never knew I
wanted. There are not enough words to describe how amazing the kids are. They
are some of the kindest, loving and most hard working people I know. They are willing
to serve who ever needs it, and do whatever is asked of them. Seriously, if
these kids are our future we have nothing to worry about. We will be in good
hands! I have loved walking with them over the last six months, watching them
grow and mature. The conversations I have heard them have, the advice they have
given each other at times is light years ahead of where they should be.
Sometimes it’s ahead of where I am. I can only hope that I have had half the
impact on them as they have had on me. My dream would be to build such lasting
relationships with them so when they are off at college, or where ever they go
when they leave us, that they will want to continue a relationship. </div>
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I have been amazed at the relationships which have been
built and strengthen this year. There’s a group of girls that I have been
friends with for years and we continue to grow with each other. The
relationships grow and we become closer, something I am still amazed at since
we have been friends for almost eleven years! You would think that by now we
would know everything there is to know about each other and have gone through
everything there is to go through. Somehow new things keep popping up and we
continue to learn about each other. A new relationship started this year, one that will last a life time. My God Son was born. I'm pretty sure I have not yet had such a massive honor in my life as being asked to be apart of Archer's life in this capacity. I was honestly a little nervous about it at first. How was I going to walk with this little guy? Would I have the answers to his questions when he came to me? Over time I just became more and more excited to have been asked by his parents to walk along side their son, someone that was so precious to them. While he is only 4 months old right now and we aren't really having deep conversations yet, I can't wait to continue this journey with him. To show him and teach him about God's love. I guess Andrea and Adam are stuck with my for a while! </div>
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One of the biggest surprise has come from
the relationships with the other student leaders. It was kind of weird, things
just kind of clicked with all of us and we became close pretty quickly. Most of
Sunday is spent together, between church, tear down, lunch, students and many
nights dinner after the kids have all gone home, we seem to always be together.
Then through out the week we find way to hang out even more. You would think we
would get tired of each other after a while! I have never felt a relationship
grow so quickly with a group of people. I truly am blessed to be spending so
much time with them. I’m sure if you asked Joey it is because he has done such
an awesome job at choosing who servers at leaders, he may be right, but I’m not
going to be the one to tell him that.</div>
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This year has exceeded my wildest dreams; I never expected
the things to happen that did. I guess that just goes to show you that when you
give up your own desires and place your life in God’s hands amazing things will
happen. The biggest thing I have learned this year is; the plans you have for yourself
will always fail in comparison to what God has planed for you. That’s not to
say this year was not with out it’s trials, but the more I gave up control the
more I realized that I don’t have to have it all figured out. </div>
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So what’s the plan for this year, you ask… I’d love to say
that I don’t have one, but if I’m being honest with myself I do. After all I am human! Most
importantly, I want to grow in my understanding of God, grow closer to him and
stronger in my faith. I want to really to find a way to really let go of a few
things in my past and start a new. I want to continue to develop, grow and nurture the
relationships in my life, those with my family, my friends, the other leaders,
the students and really any one I come in contact with. And I want to learn to
let go of the things I can not control and rely more on God to give me what it
is I need and not what I think I need. </div>
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“For I know the plans I have for you” declares the Lord. “plans
to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” (Jer
29:11)</div>
Teganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00799779605257992929noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3925108873977758355.post-89528639354590056422013-11-18T06:34:00.002-06:002013-11-18T06:34:57.293-06:00God's Little LessonsIt's been a while since I have been on here and there has been so much on my heart that I felt like I need to write some of it down, this is my way of processing things sometimes. Bare with me here it's 6 in the morning, I've been up since 5, and I'm not normally up this early. I'm just hoping my thoughts come out coherent. <br />
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Almost six months ago that Joey asked my to go on the missions trip with the students to Indy. I had been considering volunteering for a while but wasn't sure if it was what I needed to do at the time, or if I was prepared to do it. Honestly, it was one of the best decisions I have ever made. At the time I never could have imagined the ways it would change me.<br />
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What I wasn't prepared for was how quickly I would form a bond with my girls. With a few I felt myself becoming more and more protective of them, worrying about them and loving them during that trip to Indy, with others it was more gradual. There have been times that I want to hurt those that are hurting my girls. I walk this line between being their friend and a mother duck, but as I do I can feel God working not only in me but I can see it in these girls. <br />
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Growing up due to swimming as much as I was I didn't spend a ton of time in church. My mom and dad showed me a love for Christ and I began to know him, but between practice and school church took a backseat. This is to no fault of my parents they were supporting me in something I loved. However, this caused me to not have a significant knowledge of scripture, my greatest area of concern when working with the girls. I was afraid that because I did not have this knowledge I would not be an effective leader for them. But as I place my faith in God and as I trust more and more in his plan (something that is extremely difficult for me), the more I find myself being at easy with my students. I love sharing with these girls as they triumph, grow and mature, and I hurt when they hurt. <br />
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The last couple of days have really shown me the difference between expensive and cheap love. About how as you truly invest in someone the ways they begin to affect your own life, not just how it is affecting theirs. I find myself hurting when I know my students are hurting. This was the case on Friday. I was brought to tears at work as I learned of something one of my girls was dealing with. I found myself praying over and over again for this girl, her family and her friends, praying that God would show me how to handle the situation.<br />
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I don't tell you this so I can get a pat on the back, but I share it to show you how much these girls are affecting my life in ways I never thought possible. Through them I am learning so many of God's little lessons. To trust in him and his plan for me, something I really need to apply to another situation in my life, that when I trust in that plan he will give me the tools I need to accomplish it, and that by showing expensive love rather than cheap love I will truly see a true, deep and even sometimes spiritual difference in someone. It's always funny the ways God decides to share these little lessons with me, I will forever be grateful to him that he has chosen to share them with me through these girls!<br />
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Well I probably should get ready for work. It's going to be a long day!<br />
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Until next time...Teganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00799779605257992929noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3925108873977758355.post-57721172743428909682013-07-07T15:50:00.000-05:002013-07-07T15:50:33.272-05:00Indy 2013: So much more than just a road trip!So I have sat down to write this blog a couple of times, I have started it in my head even more. Naturally I am deciding to do it while I should probably working on my test which is due tomorrow or my make up assignment from missing class during the trip. I'm not really sure where to start, what is really important and how in detail to go. <br />
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Let me start by saying I had been considering going on the trip for about a month before Joey asked if I was interested in going. When he did ask me my natural reaction was to say no. Those of you who know me know I am hardly an adult. I have avoided being one as much as possible, so going on this trip would be brining me way to close to actually being one. As I started to really think about it the more I felt lead to go. <br />
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For over a year I had been praying every night for my path to be shown to me. I have been looking for a place to fit in within the work force. For something I would really want to do for the rest of my life. I had began to feel like I was being called to work with kids, high school or middle school age. Although, I wasn't really sure if that was something I really wanted to do. I decided to use the mission trip as a way to see if working with that age group was really something I wanted. <br />
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To say the trip was life changing may be going a bit too far and sound a little clique, but it definitely was way more amazing than I could have imagined it to be. I honestly wasn't crazy excited about going, I was pretty blah about it. Hence the fact that at 7pm on the night we were scheduled to leave three hours later I still wasn't packed. But within a couple hours and several different conversations with our students I realized why I was suppose to be there. <br />
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Let me take a minute and just say that I am beyond proud and honored to know the students at City Life! They have changed they way I am looking at the future. If they are any indication of the people that are in this world we will be ok. They are some of the most giving, selfless, and hard working people I know!!! I learned so much from them, their personal stories and their actions while we were gone. I'm pretty sure I came away from this trip changed more by the students we took than the work we were doing. (I really hope that is ok!)<br />
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This trip quickly become about more than just painting a few buildings, pulling weeds or organizing a thrift store. It was about giving hope and inspiration to not only the people who would be using those ministries but for myself and for the students. On the last night in Indy I'm sitting in the debrief with the students listening to them speak about what the week had meant to them, it was then that it hit me, this is what I am suppose to be doing. I am suppose to be working with this age group. <br />
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I have no idea what this is going to look like. Will I get a job some where and work full time with the age group? Or am I being called to just be a leader on our student team? Well for now I'm taking the steps to do both. I have begin applying for jobs within the school district as well as a few non profit organizations, and I am currently in a "probation" period with the student team to make sure I want to be a leader. What I do know is that I want to be part of their walks with our Lord and Savior, I want to go to their games and watch them play/cheer, I want to develop a relationship with them where they feel comfortable to come to me when they have an issue, and I want to see what they will make of themselves and how they will change the world. Because believe me these kids are going to do some AMAZING things!!!<br />
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I want to take a moment and just ask those of you who are reading this to say a prayer for me as I continue to follow this path I feel God is laying in front of me but also please pray for these students. They are not only the future of our church, they are the future of our city, our country and our world!Teganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00799779605257992929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3925108873977758355.post-11472010541685050702013-06-05T22:12:00.000-05:002013-06-05T22:12:02.619-05:00Where To Go From Here?It's been a while since I've been on here and not a lot has changed. I'm currently working at an apartment complex, and continuing with grad school. Not much is going on right now, other than my search for what I want to do with me life. You would think since I am so close to 30 that I would have some sort of idea. Well you wouldn't be alone in this line of thinking. I kind of feel like I should too. <br />
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As a kid I wasn't really the one that knew what she wanted to be when she grew up. Unlike both of my brother who knew from a very early age. Mac basically was born, looked at the doctor and said airplane. This kid could tell you all the specs on a ridiculous amount of airplanes by the 3rd grade. Jarrett was about the same age when he decided he wanted to be a doctor. Thanks in large part to the amazing ones he had as a child. For a while I wanted to be a marine biologist, then a sea world trainer, those are the last jobs I can remember really wanting to do. <br />
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So fast forward to my college years, I was entering WSU with no real idea of what I wanted to do with my life. Upon advice I received from my parents and those around me I declared my business major my first semester of my freshman year. Looking back this may not have been the best move for me. In retrospect I wish I would have taken the time to take a few different classes to see what I really enjoyed. I choose business because I knew in the long run it would end up being a versatile degree but to be honest I never really loved it. (Yes I realize the irony in the fact that I am currently working towards my MBA!)<br />
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Over the last few months as I have been applying for jobs this dilemma I have been facing for the entire life still hasn't become any clearer. I have applied for almost anything and everything under the sun in hopes that somehow thing would become clearer. At times I have begun to feel extremely lost, like I have no idea what the road God is leading me down and what it is I am suppose to do with my life. Nightly I pray that I can see where he is leading me and that he would show me what his plan for me is.<br />
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I have started to feel what I can only assume is a calling towards working with children. My time serving as a team leader for the nursery at church and then my excitement when I was asked to be a leader on the student mission trip this summer has started to open my eyes a bit. What is confusing to me is if this is really my calling or if this is me trying to read into the situations around me. How does one really know?<br />
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Yes, I realize I blog about this a lot, and I know I am constantly saying that I know there is a plan for me but there aren't really any truer words than those. My plan will be revealed in time and when it does it's going to be amazing! Until then thank you for taking the time to walk this path with me. <br />
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Teganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00799779605257992929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3925108873977758355.post-10074165139796196762013-03-28T19:22:00.001-05:002013-03-28T19:22:20.200-05:00The Almost 30 BirthdayI have to admit as my birthday approached this year I was full of dread and almost a sense of depression. There was going to be 365 days standing between me and my scary brithday. In my head I knew I should be happy I was celebrating another birthday. I was getting a chance so many people aren't given. So why am I complaining?<br />
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For the better part of the last week it felt like 30 was just looming over me, taunting me, reminding me I was no where near where I had once hoped I would be by this age. I mean come on 30 seems SO old! Yes I understand it really isn't but lets be honest for a minute, 30 sounds a lot older than 29. It just does there isn't anything I can do about it. Any way, I always thought I would be married with a couple of kids and in a job I loved by now. Insteed I'm single, no kids and didn't have a job. I was just going to grad school, which I realize is a good thing all in it's self but it wasn't enough to make me feel any better. Slowly I began feeling like I was pretty much just failing at life. There were a couple of nights that I was pretty low. I really began to feel as if I was on the edgeof a cliff unsure of what I was to do, or how I was to move from there. <br />
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Through all of this I continued to pray, I would pray that God would show me the path he had for me and work within my heart so I could know what he was telling me to do. So my actual birthday came and went. It was a pretty low key day, spent the evening having dinner with some family and friends and just enjoying the fellowship. It was really what I needed. I was spoiled by everyone and so grateful they took the time to out of their busy days to spend it with me. <br />
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Then today happened and I couldn't have asked for a better day. I was offered a full time job at a local apartment complex and also took on working for a vet clinic here in town a couple hours a week doing some marketing for them. I'm very excited about both of these, I feel like they are going to give me some invaluable expereince! God seems to always come through for me when I least expect it and in ways that I could never imagine. Here I was worrying about finding a job and in one day I except two. I know that I could never have imagined this, only he could have!<br />
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In about 48 hours my entire outlook on turning 30 has changed. No longer am I terrified and unwilling to get a year older but I know say BRING IT ON! This year, my last year in my 20s, the next 365 days, are going to be amazing. There really is so many fun things to be looking forward to. One of my best friends is getting married, our family will grow once again by the birth of ANOTHER boy, and several of my friends are having babies too. I really can't wait! I can tell that this next year is going to be full of God's blessings. <br />
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Now if we could just get a win from the Shockers tonight we would be doing great!!! Heading off to watch some more basketball. I really do LOVE this time of year!<br />
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Until next time...Teganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00799779605257992929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3925108873977758355.post-51592890578973548032013-03-17T21:32:00.000-05:002013-03-17T21:32:05.886-05:00Oh Accounting, We Are Not Friends!OK seriously who invented accounting? Did they have a hatred for business students? I can just see it, and bunch of guys sitting around saying you know what will really screw up future business students? Lets make it as difficult as possible for anyone to ever understand what is going on with a company, we will call in accounting! Why do they ever really need to know what is going on?<br />
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How I made it through the last eight weeks I'm unsure! It had to be by the grace of God. Let me be honest there was a TON of praying going on in regards to this class. Part of it could be my fault, the class kept getting scheduled the same nights as WSU or KU basketball games, we all have our priorities. So maybe I was watching scores a tad bit more than I was paying attention to what the teacher was saying. I also got very lucky to have lots of writing, yes writing in an accounting class, lots of essays which I was able to ace and pad my grade with. However, the best thing to happen was all the snow! We ended up getting a snow day causing our teacher to make our final a take home. (And thanks to Brandon for all his help on that one!) In talking to other students who took the class in the past we had it very easy! Which I'm not sure I would disagree with. The thing that surprised me the most was that our tests were open note, open book. Don't get me wrong in no way shape or form am I complaining, but it was very unexpected!<br />
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All in all I ended up with a B in the class, which I am beyond happy about! Considering there were many nights I would leave the class convinced that I was going to fail this class and get kicked out, or I would end up getting the one and only C for the entire program. Let me tell you I was beyond scared that I would get a C in my first class and then would end up stressed out the rest of the program afraid of getting another one and getting kicked out!<br />
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I have two classes left in my Organizational Behavior class and then I will be finished for the semester. This summer I'm taking two classes for a total of 6 hours, and then taking 3 classes in the fall, for a total of 8 hours. Which reminds me... I need to enroll. Maybe I should get on that! That's all for now, going to enjoy spring break and hanging out with all my educator friends who are off for the week!<br />
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Until next time...Teganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00799779605257992929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3925108873977758355.post-85909725359830609052013-02-15T11:53:00.001-06:002013-02-15T11:53:29.963-06:00Oh Valentines Day... We Meet Again!Yesterday was Valentines Day, the day when we all buy way to many flowers, chocolate, and candy in an effort to show people how much we love them. If you are in a relationship the pressure is on to make the day romantic, this is where so many boyfriends/husbands get themselves into trouble. If you are single you end up dreading the day, it's just another day where you are reminded that you aren't in a relationship. Yay! But this year was very different for me.<br />
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Five years ago I ended a relationship that was beyond unhealthy! It probably should have been ended years before. I spent most of the time being hurt and not seeing that I deserve to be treated better. Over the last couple of years I have talked to a couple of guys and gone out a couple of dates, nothing has really stuck. At times this was beyond frustrating. I mean come on, I may not be the skinniest girl out there, or the hottest, and my friends have referred to me as an acquired taste, but that doesn't mean I'm not worth someones time. Does it? <br />
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Many times I have looked at Valentines Day as a reminder that someone hasn't chosen to be with me. Unlike the last couple of years this year I wasn't at home on my couch, with a bottle of wine, the chocolates from my mom, watching sappy movies by myself. I did spend my night as the token single friend babysitter for Andrea and Adam, but it was nice spending it with Austin and Avery. This did prove to me how happy I am with there I am in my life. It hasn't been until the last year that I have really gotten to this point, and it has taken a lot for me to get here. Thanks to some amazing friends and family, who have walked this last year with me, I have found a new confidence that I didn't know was there. When I started to stumble and started to doubt myself they are the first ones there to remind me of Gods love, and the plan that he has for me. More than anything this has been the greatest source of comfort to me. <br />
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So what is Valentines Day really about? Does it have to only be between a man and a woman in a relationship? Or can it be celebrated between a parent and a child? Best friends? I say yes! Yes it is about a couple, but it is also a day to show those special people in your life how much you really do care about them. Whether that is a parent, a child, a best friend, or a niece and nephew. But should we really wait for this one day of the year to show people we care for them? Don't you think that we should be doing it all year around? Again I say yes. It's nice to be reminded through out the year in small ways that you matter to someone. I don't think it has to be on just this one day. Maybe we all should think about this and decided to show those that we care about they matter to us all year around. <br />
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I'd like to take this moment and thank everyone who has walked with me, all my friends and family. I can't name you all by name because I'm very fortunate to have some many of you! You all mean the world to me and I wish that I could repay you for everything you have done. Because of you I am who I am, and where I am now. <br />
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Teganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00799779605257992929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3925108873977758355.post-67725369522689793552013-02-04T17:31:00.000-06:002013-02-04T17:31:19.356-06:00Amazingness and Sadness All Rolled Into OneI have spent much of today debating if I should write this blog or not, and if I do should I post it. When I am trying to process something I write about it, it helps me to process the feeling I am having. This weekend was spent at a relationship retreat put on by my church, we had group session, as well as two single breaks out session and one for women. To say that I benefited from this weekend would be an understatement! I really feel like in a way it changed my life and changed how I'm going to live it day to day. The real treat was getting to listen to Randy Storm speak not once by three times! So back to why I wasn't sure if I should write this blog or not... I knew today I wanted to write about my experiences but in light of the death of both Randy and Suzy Storm I was unsure if I should do so. Would it be the proper thing to do? Would it make light of the events? I don't want to offend those who had a close relationship with them and are grieving at this time. After some soul searching I decided the message I learned this weekend was to valuable to not share. <br />
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To anyone that knows me, knows that my heart has a desire to be married and to have kids. My past relationships haven't been the best to say the least. I was left with a lot of baggage, a couple trust issues, several scars and I have been unsure on how I will be able to move on one day into a healthy relationship. Through this weekend I came to realize that everyone has baggage and no matter what God still loves us because we are his. We are chosen, holy and beloved in God's eyes. <br />
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The most influential of sessions had to be the ones that I spent listening to Randy speak. While both Casey and Chad did an amazing job on their session, I really identified with what Randy was speaking to us about. As someone who is single I often question how I will know when I will be ready for marriage. How will I know when I have met the person God has intended me to spend the rest of my life with? There were a couple things Randy said that have stuck with me and I wanted to share them. The first was "You are ready for marriage when you are content with being single and know what you wont settle less for." This is always something I think I always knew deep in my heart. I knew that I would have to be ok with being single and had to love myself for who I was before someone else would be able to love me. For some reason this just spoke to my heart this weekend. It just seemed to click. I have no idea if this was Gods way of speaking to me through the words of Randy, if for some reason I was finally ready to hear it or if it was a combination of both. All I know is that for the rest of my single days this is something I will continue to work towards and I will try and live my life by. Which obviously is going to be WAY harder said than done. <br />
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He went on to tell us that when we decide who we are going to marry to pick someone who we want to run Gods race with. After listening to his story and that of his wife's, Suzy, I have a lot of hope for the future. With out going into to much detail about their stories I realized that I don't have to be perfect for God to work within me or to put the person into my life that I am suppose to spend my days with. He will do this when he is ready. I just have to spend however long this waiting period is working on my heart and my relationship with God so that when it does happen I will be ready.<br />
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While I didn't have a personal relationship with either Randy or Suzy they touched my life in a way I never expected going into this weekend. I sat listening to Randy talk to the entire group on Saturday night thinking I can not wait to go through premarital counseling with him. He is going to find a way to get out of me stuff that I didn't even know was there and it's going to be amazing!!! Unfortunately, I won't be able to have that happen, but I do feel lucky to have spent a little time this weekend listening to both of them speak. My life will forever be changed by the retreat this weekend, thanks in large part to Randy and Suzy Storm. As I write this my heart is breaking for all those that I know who had close relationships with them, for those he was counseling, those he had married, and those who will never get a chance to know either of them. Like many I know, I'm taking comfort in the fact that they are with The Lord, together and that Randy can now walk. Their legacy will live on through those who have been touched by them. I hope I am able to pass along the wisdom they gave me this weekend and that it will help someone else with the struggles they might be going through. <br />
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Thank you to them both, even though I won't get a chance to tell you this, you have changed my life in a way I didn't know was possible. I look forward to seeing you again one day and getting a chance to have a personal relationship with you both!!!Teganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00799779605257992929noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3925108873977758355.post-91868381809416719452013-01-19T15:46:00.000-06:002013-01-19T15:46:41.602-06:00Is this really what I should be doing?We are only 19 days into the new year and I already feel like time has flown by. Where has the last 19 days gone? I honestly feel like I have done very little but at the same time feel as though I have been beyond busy.<br />
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I think the biggest change so far this year is starting grad school. Now you may be thinking how can it be that different? You just finished an undergrad and didn't take a break in between, you're just going from one school to another. And in part you would be right. I am in the habit of studying and getting my homework done, but at the same time it isn't that simple. <br />
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On the first day of class, which was also orientation, I sat there as they start going over everything basically making it seem as difficult as possible to get through. All kinds of thoughts just started running through my head... "Why are you doing this?" "Who's idea was this any way?" "Can I really do this?" Over the last few weeks I have started to feel more and more comfortable with everything but it is definitely going to be a tough road. Honestly I expected that. But I'm not sure if I expected it to be this tough. Currently I'm taking Accounting, which is for sure not one of my strongest classes. The biggest difference between grad school and undergrad... Has to be the fact that I actually read the chapter before going to class. It's amazing how much more you understand when you do this! Slowly I am starting to get to know people in my program and a few are even on the same track as I am which will be nice. I know that by building these relationships it will help to make the process easier and seem to fly by a little faster! Or at least I am hoping that it will!<br />
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At times I'm still questioning if this is where I am suppose to be, and if this is what I am suppose to be doing. Especially as I struggle to find a job. It really has been a very difficult process. I feel like I have so much I can offer a company I just don't get why I'm not getting offers. Over time it has really started to mess with my head a bit. Is there something wrong with me? Am I saying something wrong in the interviews? To me I seem to be hitting it off with the people I'm interviewing with but am I really? It really is hard to tell!<br />
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I keep having to remind my self over and over and over and over again that God has a plan for me and that in time that plan will show it's self. It will be better than I can ever imagine, and I know he has a job for me that will allow me to not only serve him but also my community, which is something I feel very strongly that I am being called to do. I guess for now continue with school, working on redoing my mom's study and focusing on the job search. Everything will come in time and it will be on God's time, I just have to be patient!<br />
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Teganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00799779605257992929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3925108873977758355.post-6417693867399406512012-12-31T11:23:00.000-06:002012-12-31T11:23:39.383-06:00Goodbye 2012!As I sit here watching the snow fall and reflecting on the past year, I can say for the first time in many years this has been a great year! The last couple of years have been rough, with something major happening that just seemed to tip the balance between it being a good year and a bad year. It has been a very long time since I have been able to reflect on a year and say with out hesitation that I feel blessed more than I probably deserve. <br />
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The year didn't start out on the best note, a couple weeks into it I lost my job. But looking back, and I really think at the time I knew it too, it was a HUGE blessing. I was very unhappy there, the position wasn't for me, and while the company as a whole was great to work for, the management I was under was not. On most days as I headed to work I dreaded it, it was effecting my health and I was starting to become depressed due to how unhappy I was. It's amazing how God has a way to get you out of bad situations with what seems at the time to be something terrible but in the end it was the biggest blessing there could be.<br />
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For the most part the rest of the year was pretty smooth sailing. By not working I was able to just focus on school and was able to get the best grades I have ever earned since I was in high school. While there definitely were a few classes that tested me on a daily basis, Stats and Decisions Science, I made it through and finished my degree a couple weeks ago. I would love to say that I feel differently but I really don't. Maybe that will change if I ever find a job. <br />
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This year has seemed to bring me a ton of blessings, the birth of some pretty adorable little babies that I can't wait to be part of their lives as they grow and develop. A ton of new friends through my church that I honestly couldn't imagine my life with out now. I was able to nurture several friendships and become closer with friends that I have known for ten years. While at times it may have seemed like I was fighting harder than I should have been to keep a couple, I am beyond happy that I did because with out them I wouldn't be who I am or where I am today. <br />
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But I think the biggest blessing this year has been my church. I started attending City Life back in August of 2011 and have felt at home since day one. Through volunteering in the nursery, City Groups and the friends that I have made my faith has grown by leaps and bounds. For the first time in my life I feel strong in my faith and I have been able to give control of my life over to God, something that if you know me if very difficult for me to do... I may be a bit of a control freak. Boy am I glad that I have done so. God has blessed me more than I could have ever imagined this year and I am so thankful that he has done so!<br />
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So what does 2013 have in store? I have no clue! I know God has a plan, I know that plan is better than anything I could ever imagine and I know that I will learn what it is when God is ready for me to know it. There are a couple of things I would like to accomplish this year. They aren't resolutions because lets be honest how many people actually keep those? Here are a few:<br />
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1) I want to get job. Seems easy enough but in this economy it is not! I'm hoping that I can find a position which will allow me to give back to my community and help those who may need it.<br />
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2) I want to run the Prairie Fire half marathon in October. It's only 13.1 miles... HaHaHa! I ran my first race this year, an 8K and really enjoyed it. Well maybe not at the time but I was beyond happy that I did it afterwards. I have 10 months until the race and I know that I will be able to do it.<br />
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3) I want to maintain a B average in my grad school classes. In the program you are allowed one C, if you get two you are out. This might be the most difficult of the things I want to accomplish thanks to classes in accounting, finance and economics, all classes that I really struggled with in my undergrad. Luckily I have people around me who, for some reason, enjoy these classes and are willing to help me!<br />
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So goodbye 2012, thank you for being such an amazing year! Here's to you 2013, you have some big shoes to fill but I can't wait to see what you have in store for me!!!Teganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00799779605257992929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3925108873977758355.post-21899212957414747482012-12-16T17:57:00.000-06:002012-12-16T17:57:27.263-06:00God's Plan, Not My PlanThis is a blog I have written so many times in my head over the last year or so. I never really had a way to start it, wasn't 100% sure what direction I wanted to take it in an egotistical way was afraid of how people would receive it. But there is something inside of me today that is calling me to write it. So I'm going to. <br />
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My faith has always been something I have struggled with, something I was never very strong in and something I wasn't sure how to really embrace it. As a child I was fortunate to grow up in a church with my older cousins. For the most part it was awesome and I loved it, although at times it was hard to be known as their little cousin. There were a few times I wasn't sure if people were nice to me because they liked me or because I was their younger cousin, very much my own short coming! But please don't get me wrong, I am beyond blessed to have them in my life, as role models then and even now as an adult. I continually look to them for examples of how to live my life and how to be a better Christian. For my mom it was important to for us to have that education and to grow up in the church but my father wasn't, and as far as I know now still isn't, a big believer in organized religion. He believed you didn't have to go to church to be a Christian. At the age of eight I started swimming competitively, and it really didn't take long for it to take over our lives as a family. We were constantly gone due to weekend long swim meets and when we weren't there Sundays quickly became a day used for my brothers and I to get caught up on homework. This is to no fault of my parents, like any good parent they were supporting us in something we love, something I like to think of as a gift God had given us, the talent to do well in swimming. <br />
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Through out my middle school, high school, and even college years I would go through phases where I would attend church regularly but then something would come up, get in the way and I wold stop going. I felt disconnected from the kids I grew up with because due to swim practice I wasn't able to go to Wednesday night youth group, retreats or events. So slowly I began to with draw from those friends and even my cousins to a degree.<br />
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I can clearly remember the night in November last year, where I was lying in bed, unhappy with my current job, unsure if I should go back to school or not and really just unhappy with my life as a whole. There had to be something better, something more out there for me! I remember praying that night and just kept saying over and over and over "God my life is yours, please do with me what you want, please show me the path that YOU have chosen for me" and for the first time in a long time I started to feel at peace about my life. It was as if God was saying to me "I have been waiting for your to say that, I understand and will take it from here" (Is there a chance that this is just what I wanted hear at the time, maybe) Shortly after that going back to school quickly fell into place, my job situation was taken care of and I started volunteering in the nursery at church. Without a doubt I can tell you that was God's plan for me! The fellowship and support I have found by doing such a simple thing as volunteering in the nursery has been invaluable this last year as I have struggled at times with school, and even my walk as a Christian.<br />
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It's been a year now, and the last few weeks I have found my self in the same cross road position as I was a year ago. Although I am not unhappy with my life, in fact I love my life! I am beyond lucky to have the friends and family that I have. But I'm back to being unsure if I should continue with grad school now that I am done with my undergrad, and finding a job has been a real struggle. For a while I found myself trying to figure it out on my own and a couple of weeks ago I had to remind myself my plan doesn't matter it is God's plan that matters. For the last year I had allowed God to work with in my life, why is it now that things are really unsure am I trying to control the situation? Every night I have continued to pray the same prayer I have for the last year "God do with me what you want, that continue to show me the path you have for me " but now I have added to that prayer asking him to show me a position/job that will help me to not only serve him but to also serve my community. I got my first answer last Thursday when I requested some information from Newman on their MBA program. After a phone call, two emails and about 6 hours I had a provisional acceptance, I just need to get my official transcript from WSU and two letter of recommendation turned in. Tomorrow, Monday, I have my first meeting for enrollment . For me this is another situation that I find myself not questioning if this is what I am suppose to be doing, because I KNOW it is Gods plan! There is also a job opportunity that I have really been praying about and am actually really excited about. At this time I won't say what it is but will review more if it works out.<br />
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What have I learned this last year? While I would really like to think my life is my own, because lets face it I am human, it is not. It is Gods! I am here, in the situation I am in because it is what God wants for me. He has a plan for me that is better than I could even imagine I just have to trust in that plan! I struggle like everyone does with giving over control of life and trusting in the plan but when I have he has worked within me in ways I never thought possible. So thank you to everyone who has walked with me this last year, who have helped me to find and grow my faith, who have and will continue to loved me, supported me and pray for me. God has put you in my life for a very special reason and I am beyond thankful! I am a better Christian because of the relationships I have developed this last year. Here's to the future, to the plan that is unknown and to following Gods plan! I can't wait to see what it is!!!Teganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00799779605257992929noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3925108873977758355.post-2166582431998092292012-11-21T10:32:00.001-06:002012-11-21T10:32:51.046-06:00The Search Is OnIt's offical I am only 21 days from taking my last final! Thats right only three weeks!!! But who is counting? Certainly not me :D I am beyond excited and so ready to have that pretty little piece of paper in my hot little hands. I'm mean come on who doesn't want a very expensive piece of paper which basically says the person who has earned it is really good at following directions?<br />
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So being this close to graduating what have I been up to you ask? Well basically I have been looking for a job that will actually use my degree. With the job market the way it is this is WAY harder than it should be. I know... I know... I'll pause here while you collect yourself from the shock of that statements. So weird and radom isn't it? This month alone I have sent out almost 30 applications. Yes thats right 3 - 0!!! <br />
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I'm pretty sure my cover letter has been rewritten more times than I can count. Not to mention all the times that I have changed my objective statement on my resume. I understand that this is all part of the "game" as they call it, but COME ON! There has to be a way to make this easier and more efficent. Don't even get me started on the whole online application process! To me it's sad that so many corporations make their interviewing decisions on whether or not someone's resume has the right words on it is so it gets past the software.<br />
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To be honest this has been one of the most depressing things I have ever done. It's back to that age old issue of you have to have experience to get the job but if you don't get a job you don't have the experience. UGH!!!!!!! It's beyond frustrating! I mean come on people I'm applying for jobs that you only have to have a high school degree for and I have a college education. I'm pretty sure I can do acount recievable work for a hospital! They do make you take accounting and finance classes in BUSINESS SCHOOL. I'm just saying!<br />
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In all seriouness I know God has a plan for me and he is leading me down the road that he has planed out for me. I have to trust in his plan, trust that I will find a job that will allow me to serve him and to serve the community I live in, and trust that in the end it will all work out. For now I will continue doing what I have been doing, praying and sending out as many application as possible each day. If you are a praying person prayers would be much appreciated!<br />
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Until next time...Teganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00799779605257992929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3925108873977758355.post-3166813698906746422012-09-02T16:00:00.002-05:002012-09-02T16:00:58.083-05:00The Truth Behind Pinterest Projects - Month OnesiesOne of my best friends is pregnant and due any day now. Well actually on September 8th but who is counting? It's close enough right? Anyway, I got off track. When my three other friends and I were talking about throwing her babyshower we wanted to do something different. Over the years we have been to so many showers, they all tend to become uniform after awhile, and we wanted to do something different for Megan. But then steps up the wonderful time wasting invention of Pinterest. Man are there a ton of ideas out there!<br />
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Since I started on Pinterest I have had a board to keep shower ideas on. As soon as we nailed down the date for Megan's shower I started going back through it to see what ideas I could come up with. Knowing Megan and how girly she is we decided to make the month onesies and three tutus to go a long. This is another one of those it seemed like a brilliant idea at the time projects.<br />
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Looking at the pin it seemed really easy. You just have to print the month design you like on the iron on transfer paper and then iron it on to the onesies. Easy right? I mean what could possibly go wrong right? Well the answer is A LOT!<br />
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Well nothing went wrong... I guess... It is just another one of those it took WAY longer than I thought it would projects. I learned a couple of things that I would like to pass along to people before they attempt to do this project themselves. <br />
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First, I made the mistake of assuming that when I pulled the paper out of the box it would be clean and there would be nothing on it. WRONG!!! I didn't learn this until after I had printed the first four months and well I didn't really care. And I did go ahead and use them. There was nothing major on them just a bit of dust. At this point in time it didn't seem like a huge deal. So I just continued on. Sorry Megan :D<br />
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Second, even though it said not to you really should turn your iron up as high as it goes otherwise you may be working on those wonderful onesies for the rest of your life. Which is pretty much what I thought I would be doing! On a couple of the onesies it took over 30 minutes and I was less than excited about it. And got to the point where I was not a very pleseant person to be around! But as soon as I turned the iron up I was able to knock out the last few pretty barn cute!<br />
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I do have to admit they are beyond cute and I can't wait to see baby Norah in them each month and I really do hope that Megan enjoys them!<br />
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**During this project I didn't take a lot of pictures but here is the finished project.**<br />
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Teganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00799779605257992929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3925108873977758355.post-65704469283790250562012-08-29T13:35:00.001-05:002012-08-29T13:35:07.536-05:00The Truth Behind Pinterest Projects - Paint Chip Dry Erase CalendarI'm way behind on blogging in general but I'm also behind on blogging about my Pinterest Projects so I guess I will continue to try and get caught up. <br />
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I'm a very organized person and I love using calendars to keep everything straight. I know it's totally weird I get it. For years I have been using one of those plain white and black dry erase calendars but I was getting really tired of it. So imagine my excitment when I was scrolling through Pinterest one day and found the pin where you can make a dry erase calendar out of a frame with glass, scrapbooking paper, paint chips (I borrowed mine from Wal-Mart, they were so sweet to let me use them!) and some tape! This is probably one of the easiest projects I have done, but then again my OCD took over making it take longer than it probably needed to. <br />
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The first thing to do is to decided how big you want yours to be, I made mine 12" x 16". First things first and I had to get my supplies. I got two 12" x 12" scrapbook paper to use as the background and my frame, for 40% off, at Hobby Lobby, and about 20 of each paint chip of the color I wanted to use from Wal-Mart. You can do as many colors as you want so they more colors you use the less of each paint chip you will need. <br />
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First I cut all the paint chips down to 2" x 2", my OCD started to kick in a bit here but it wasn't terrible. Of course I was trying to make everything perfect. This was probably the most time consuming part of the project. After cutting down the scrapbooking paper to fit inside my frame I started to lay out where the squares would go on the background. <br />
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After figuring out where all the squares would go on the background I used regualar wrapping tape to secure all the squares.</div>
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The last step is to just put it in the frame and hang it up on the wall. I would caution anyone that is going to try this project to be aware of the way it will hang on the wall. Mine had those little triangle things on the back and it was a pain in the you know what to actually get hung up. <br />
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I took this project one step further and since I had some scrapbooking paper left over and a few black frames I put the paper in the frames and hung the frames next to the calendar. I use mine for a To Do list and a place to write items I will need at the grocery store<br />
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. Teganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00799779605257992929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3925108873977758355.post-53235951955664911652012-08-28T13:51:00.000-05:002012-08-28T13:51:44.331-05:00The Truth Behind Pinterest Projects - Towel Shag RugMost everyone is on Pinterest and we all have created these boards that have such amazing and great ideas on them. They look so cool, and of course have to be easy to do... Right? If only that was true. I have started doing some of these projects and at the encouragement of my friend Andrea I have decided to start blogging about my experiences with them. Maybe this will give some people a couple of laughs, or give up the truth about these projects, who knows.
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Two weekends ago, Andrea and I were hanging out watching a movie and doing what we always do, looking at Pinterest. She showed me this pin about a rug that was made out of towels, and it was the same pin I had just pinned earlier that day. So we got the bright idea that we would try it out. And I got the even brighter idea that I would make two, a brown one for my bathroom and a black one for my kitchen. Let me just take a moment right here and say that this is not my finest moment is my crafting history. I mean come on I'm the girl that my friends won't let use a glue gun!
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The following day Andrea and I set out to gather the supplies and make the rug. We had no doubt in our minds that we would be able to get it done in one day. Boy were we mistaken! We first went to the west Hobby Lobby to find the rubber mat part to create the base. Well of course they didn't have it, so we decided to head over to JoAnn's fabric. SCORE!!! We were able to get it for by the yard there for $3.99 a yeard with a 50% off coupon. (Jenna would be so proud of us!) Next we headed to the first Wal-Mart, yes thats right the first Wal-Mart. We were able to find the towels that we wanted and they were on sale for $2.33!!!! But of course they only had three, and since both of use were going to be making brown rugs we would need more than 3 total. Hence the trip to the second Wal-Mart, where we got VERY lucky and I was able to get the 3 brown towels and 3 black towels that I needed and Andrea was able to get the 5 brown towels that she needed since her rug was going to be bigger. Happily we grabbed some lunch and headed back to Andreas house to wash and dry the towels so we could get started.
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Note: Terry cloth sheads like NONE OTHER!!! Be prepaired, if you do this project, it will make a mess! A very big one and you will be finding piece of the fuzzy from your towels for weeks after in places that you have no idea how it got there.
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The pin called for the towels to be cut into strips 5-6 inches long and about 3/4 of an inche thick. We quickly found out that this is going to be VERY time consuming. In the time it took us to watch, The Hunger Games, Thor, Captian America, And Iron Man 2 we were only able to cut up 6 towels, and that is with both of us doing it. By myself it takes about an hour and a half to cut one towel up. When we started to tie a few of the strips on we qucikly found that that 3/4 of an inche thick is was way to thick for the base we were using. So we ended up cutting them in half.
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When it finally came time to tie the strips on I found that since the towel is so thick that I was able to skip every other row on the base which cut down the amount of towel I would need. I also, found that when I make the one for my kitchen I will skip two rows in between, as well as skipping everyother square. The one for my bathroom ended up being VERY thick and heavy. So I figure that I won't want the one for my kitchen to be as thick.
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The original pin said that it would only take two to three towels to make an 18" by 2' rug. Let me say that I had to clue what size of rug I was actually making and had underestimated the amount of time it would take to make this and how many towels it would take. I had to be go out to a third Wal-Mart and get three more towels. I think the only person that actually enjoyed making this project was my dog Nikita. Who kept bringing her toys over and laying on it while I was cutting up strips.
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By the time I finally completed this project I was over joyed it was finally over! I ended up running it throught the dryer about 4 times for a 30 minuted to get the majority of the fuzz off the rug. What is nice about it is that since it is made out of towels I will be able to wash it when ever it needs it.
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I will tell you if you do want to make this rug prepair for it to take over your life and for it make a huge mess!!! But I do think that it was worth it in the end.Teganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00799779605257992929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3925108873977758355.post-73329426621451922672012-06-09T12:43:00.000-05:002012-06-09T12:43:13.333-05:00Let's Try This Again -- An UpdateWow, so it has been a very long time since I have updated this thing. Well good news is that I am still alive and my life has changed a lot since my last blog in September. It's been a long time since I have been able to say this but for the first time in four years, I can say with all honesty that the changes this past year have been for the better.
Last December I made the decision to go back to school. This wasn't an easy decision since I didn't enjoy school the first time I did it. Well let me clairify that. I didn't enjoy the school part of it, I LOVED every minute of the social aspect of it! With a lot of pushing from Andrea, who actually did A LOT of research for me, and even more praying I made the decision to just do it. The weirdest part was that it all fell into place very easily, which I know in my heart was a complete God thing. It goes with out saying that I had my fears about doing this, and at times it has been hard and very stressful but I am very happy that I made the decision to do it. I took a full load in the spring semester and ended up with the best grades I have ever had in college. This summer I am enrolled in 7 hours and it is going to be a lot of work. I got an A in my pre-session so I am beyond happy about that. Currently I'm taking Econ 232, which I hate, and Cognitive Pshycology. After this summer I will have only 3 classes left to take and then I will be done!!! YAY ME!!!
Before going back to school I never thought I would even consider going to grad school, but the closer I get to being done the more and more I started considering it. So after a lot of reserach done by Andrea, again, I think I have found the school that I am going to apply to. This is such an huge step for me. I don't have to apply until the end of this summer so I think that I am going to continue to pray about it and talk with my friend and family before I make the final decision. The thing that is hard for is that I'm not getting the support from my mom that I wish I was getting. Which had made the decision even harder for me. I am just going to have to trust that God has a plan for me and I will have to trust in that plan!
I, also, have some how found my way back to the pool. Which is weird for me to say since after State my senior year I was very much over it and never wanted to go near trainiing again. Well ten years later it feels like I am home again. Don't get me wrong I still hate dragging myself there but once I am in the pool I am just so comfortable. There is this feeling of freedom I get when I am swimming, that I think only someone who swims can understand. It has been a very rough start and I definitly am not in the shape I use to be in, but I am starting to feel stronger each day and that is what matters in the end! It has taken me ten years to get this out of shape so I guess I can't expect to be back in shape like I was in two weeks!
I would like to say that I would keep this up more than I have but your never know so I will try but no promises! Untill then...Teganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00799779605257992929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3925108873977758355.post-68932844113101595382011-09-16T20:05:00.002-05:002011-09-16T21:00:17.088-05:00One Interesting AfternoonYesterday started out as any other flex day. I didn't have much planned except for a doctors appointment which has become a pretty normal occurance on my days off. After the appointmen I went for a long workout since the night before I had only been able to get half of mine in and then was suppose to meet up with Andrea to watch a movie and hang out while Austin and Avery took their afternoon naps. Notice that I suppose to there.<br /><br />I think I should have known something was up when Andrea got off work late. Although in all fairness this wasn't anything new. The poor girl hardly ever gets off on time, so I really didn't think much about it at the time. But I'm pretty sure this should have been the first sign that something was a miss.<br /><br />The second sign came while I was at OT trying to rent a movie from the Blockbuster machine there. It took me three times, yes that right THREE times, to the darn movie! First it told me I had the wrong zip code, ummmm... pretty sure I know where I live, the second time it told me the movie couldn't be dispensed, and finally the third time it came out. Recently Andrea, Adam and I had watched Adjustment Bureau. (For those of you who haven't seen the movie it's basically about a group of people who have decided te path you are "suppose" to be on and if you start to get off that path they will throw an obstacles in your way to get back on that path. Nothing major just stuff like someone spilling coffee on you or a bus being late) Looking back it realy seems like the Adjustment Bureau may be something more than just a movie made up by Hollywood. <br /><br />Finally with the movie, drinks, two very yummy cookies, and Nikita in hand I made it to Andreas. For a bit it was just a normal afternoon, we talked while she did some laundry and then just hung out for a bit before going to pick up the kids from the sitter. One of the best parts of my day came when we picked Austin and Avery up. Austin was so excited to see me and it just melted my heart! That child really knows how to work me and get pretty much anything he wants.<br /><br />Nothing was to exciting on the drive home, Austin sang to us a bit and Andrea and I just talked. We got back to Andrea's and I took Austin outside to play while I tried to get Nikita to go potty. At some point I looked over to the fence and noticed that on the other side there were two dogs that weren't nomally there. I asked Andrea about it and she was a little confussed because she thought the people had moved out. But really neither one of us had a second thought about it. We went inside got Austin a snack and sat down to watch the movie.<br /><br />We probably weren't more han 20 minutes into the movie when Ausitn came in and said "The neighbors dogs are in the house". Andrea and I just looked at each other and thought Austin was just playing with us. But he said it again a little more forcefully and if someone has been watching us you would have been able to see us process what he was saying and then jump off the couch. Andrea grabbed Avey, I grabbed Austin, we put our shoes on and walked to the kitchen. And sure enough there were two dogs eating Al's food and a third one in the bathroon head frst in the toilet trying to drink as much water as he could.<br /><br />For a few minutes there was some serious chaos. We didn't know if the dogs were nice, which it turned out they were really sweet, we wanted to make sure the kids were safe, as well as blocking Al and Nikita away from the new dogs. Andrea was on the phone with the landord for the house next door, who said they weren't his and didn't care what we did with them. I tried to get the three new dogs into the back yard so we could get them away from the kids. <br /><br />It turne out that the dogs belongs to the people the landlord just evicted. So these terrible people just moved out and left these three very sweet dogs there with out any food or water. By this time Andrea and I are both fuming about this. I looked down and noticed that two of the dogs had tags from their vet. We called the vet who told just the would contact the owners they had in the system and then get back to us. <br /><br />While waiting for the vet to call us back we gave the three dogs some food and water. It broke our hearts to watch how fast they scarfed the food down. It had to have been days since they were last feed. The whole time I was just getting more and more frutrated with these people for leaving these dogs. I kept asking myself how some one could be so selfish that they would just leave three small dogs who really couldn't take care of themselves there to starve. I would then look at Nikita, who is basically my child, and just get more upset.<br /><br />Andrea has started dinner while we waited to for the vet to call us back. I was holding Avery, and this is then the time that Austin decided he wanted my undivided attention. If I sat down Avery would start to cry, but I'm also convinced that she hates me, so there was lot of walking going on. The phone was ringing off the hook as we tried to fill Adam in, as well as Andrea's sister in law, Amy and nephew Brian that were on they're way over for dinner. So of course at the point the girls across the street over to sell Andrea some stuff for their school. <br /><br />When the vet finally called us back we learned that the owner the vet had on file had given the dogs away and the phone number they gave the vet for those people was disconnected. However, we could bring the dogs in to them and they would take them to the human society if they weren't claimed in 24 hours. We also learned that we could have called animal control and that animal control could charge the people with a felony for abandoning the dogs. As soon as Amy and Brian got there we put the three dogs in Al's kennel and they took them to the vet. <br /><br />To say the least it wa a crazy night. Once the dogs were at the vet we sat down and had a very yummy dinner, talked a bit and then it was time to put the kids to bed Austin yet again found a way to melt my heart by asking me to pick out his movie, and letting me read his bed time books to him. We then said our prayers and he was off to bed. Let me tell you there is nothing sweeter in the world than having a three year old tell you he wanted to pray for you. It really was a moment that filled my heart.<br /><br />It was about 8:30, only about six hours later, that we finally were able to sit down and watch our movie. Needless to say by the times I got home last night I was exhausted and realized that through out all of this I didn't take any pictures. And this would have been one of those situations that really should have been documented!Teganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00799779605257992929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3925108873977758355.post-38839868042288593552011-09-07T11:01:00.004-05:002011-09-07T11:42:20.751-05:00Jury Duty... It really isn't all that bad!<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-iARZPP7zKzQ/TmedQkcLhPI/AAAAAAAAAJE/X7nRxwuosE4/s1600/PHI3315.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 294px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-iARZPP7zKzQ/TmedQkcLhPI/AAAAAAAAAJE/X7nRxwuosE4/s320/PHI3315.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5649657165544916210" /></a><br /><br /><br />So like most people when I got the letter in the mail saying that I was picked to be in a jury pool I had that moment of oh great, I really don't want to do this. To be honest it wasn't coming at the best time. I would have to report one week after I returned back to work from having surgery. I was pretty sure that this would go over like a lead balloon with my boss also, but what are you going to do?<br /><br />So Tuesday morning I show up to the jury assembly room a tad late, found a seat, pulled out my book and prepared to be there for a while. With in a few minutes they started calling out numbers and I was in the first group to be called. We were herded like cattle out of the room and upstairs to a large court room. After getting our assigned seats we waited for the lawyers to come in. At this point I wasn't sure what to expect.<br /><br />After a few minutes the lawters for the prosecution came in, it was a little uncomfortable, they sat in their chairs a stared at us,looked at the seating charts and the stared some more. What do you then? Stare at them back? Look away? I honeslty wasn't sure! After a few minutes of this the lawyer for the defense came in and so did the defendant. This really took me by surprise, I really wasn't prepared for him to be there. <br /><br />There was a lot of show boating from the lawyers and the same questions asked over and over and over again in 40 different ways. Picking on this person or that person for one reason or another. Finally they let us break for lunch while they picked the jury. I wasn't expecting to be picked but was fascinated by the process so far. There were thirteen of us picked to sit on the jury. Twelve would actually end up serving and one would be an alternate but we wouldn't know who that person was until we were ready to deliberate. <br /><br />The trial it's self was rather short, and luckily we came to a verdict pretty easily. But the really amazing part was seeing the system at work. We are so very lucky to live in a society that we have the right to a trail by a jury of our peers. So many people do not have that luxury. <br /><br />I want to encourage people to embrace jury duty if they get called for it. Yes it can be a pain, and yes it can come at the wrong time, but it is part of being a citizen of our great nation. Most people would want the right if they were in the position of needing it so why not take a few days and embrase it.Teganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00799779605257992929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3925108873977758355.post-34362088549419391612011-08-10T10:56:00.007-05:002011-08-10T11:24:58.792-05:00The Hunger Games Series<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XwO8WkpSoGI/TkKsrY5BWzI/AAAAAAAAAIU/QhgG-xhUXW4/s1600/9780439023481_xlg.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 230px; height: 252px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XwO8WkpSoGI/TkKsrY5BWzI/AAAAAAAAAIU/QhgG-xhUXW4/s320/9780439023481_xlg.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5639259544837249842" /></a>
<br />As I sit here in my moms house still recovering, the windows are open, and I can hear the rain, it seems like it is the perfect day to curl up on the couch with a good book. I use to read a lot more as a child than I do now. I'm pretty sure college is to blame for that. There is so much reading that has to be done that there is very little time to read something for pleasure. Now I have the time so I have started to read again.
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<br />I have forgotten how much I love it. There is nothing better than picking up a great book that has your attention from page one and then finally tearing your self away from it and realizing that you have been reading for hours and it's now way late and you know that you will be exhausted the next day at work but at the same time you know it was worth it.
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<br />As late as I am to this party I just got done reading The Hunger Games Trilogy. There are three books, The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and Mockingjay, and I loved ever single page of them! I won't tell you a lot about the books because I don't want to give away the endings but I do think that ever single person needs to go and pick up these books and read them. However, I will warn you that the books are a tad messed up. There were several times, while reading the books, that I was like they are doing what? Can that really happen? The great thing about the book is that they aren't very long and are very easy to read. There is a little bit for everyone in these books, there's some action and adventure and even a little under tone of romance.
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<br />After I got done reading the third book I felt a little sad the series was over. To be honest I would have loved a few more books. I definitly felt that there could have been at least one more book to wrap up the series, but that would be my only negative regarding the series. The good news is that if you read these books and love them they are in the process of making them into movies. The first one, The Hunger Games is filiming right now and will be out March 23rd, 2012. There are so many things in the book that I can't wait to see come to life and I can't wait to see how they do it.
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<br />So now that I'm done reading these books I think that I am going to head out to the book store and pick up The Help. The movie is actually coming out today and it looks really good but I do think that I want to read the book before I go and see the movie. I'll keep you posted on how it is.Teganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00799779605257992929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3925108873977758355.post-35941952126502564252011-08-08T12:20:00.002-05:002011-08-08T12:46:58.477-05:00New Found RespectAll my life I have been around people who have had a surgery for this or for that. My brother Jarrett had surgery a two days of age, and continued to have them through out his life, Mac had several on his face to remove a birthmark, and I've been with friends who have had various ones over the years. I've always tried to be there for them but never could really understand what it was like.
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<br />I started getting sick a few weeks ago and figured it was just a stomach bug, it wasn't until one Thursday, at the urging of Andrea, that I finally went to the doctor. It turned out that I was severely dehydrated and they were thinking that I may be having an issue with my gallbladder. So after a sono, I got a call from my nurse saying that they were going to have to take it out as soon as possible.
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<br />By the next Wednesday my mom and brother, Jarrett, were sitting in the waiting room with me as I waited for my name to be called. Like every time I have ever gone to the doctor they were running late. Finally my name was called and it was my turn to go back. I'm not sure what I thought it would be like but as soon as we got through the doors there were people every where. Running in this direction or that direction each one with a different responsibility.
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<br />It was a matter of minutes and I was on a bed, prepped, and waiting for the lady with the happy medicine to come in. Apprently she did come in because the next thing I know I'm waking up in recovery, a little confused as to how I got there. After talking to my mom I had a converstaion with my mom and I guess I kept trying to tell the nurse our family history. All I remember is really wanting to get dressed and getting upset that the kids got lollipops and they didn't give me one!
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<br />Recovery hasn't been as bad as I was afraid that it would be. For the first few days I spent a lot of time sleeping and in a slight daze from the pain medication. But with in 24 hours my mom had me up and taking walks up and down the street, got to love having a nurse for a mom. lthough I'm lucky that I've been able to have her around, nurses do come in handy every once in a while.
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<br />I go back to work on Wednesday of this week and I'm not sure how up to it I'm going to be. Staying a wake all day is still a bit difficult and so is standing for long periods of time. I guess eventually I will have to find out. I just want to say thank you to all my friends and family who have come by to visit or sent flowers. It means a ton of to me!!! Teganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00799779605257992929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3925108873977758355.post-4148888317280438852011-07-24T12:06:00.008-05:002011-07-24T13:03:38.401-05:00An Amazing Woman<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xitk0ovxfl0/TixXWaRt7VI/AAAAAAAAAHc/32QvYrp-2xM/s1600/scan0036.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 229px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xitk0ovxfl0/TixXWaRt7VI/AAAAAAAAAHc/32QvYrp-2xM/s320/scan0036.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5632973276456021330" /></a><br /><br />I think everyone has people in the their life that helps to shape you but you don't relaize it until they are no longer in your life. These people have a way of helping us to grow in ways that you really don't know they are doing it. A year ago yesterday I lost one of those people, my dad's mom.<br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-sOd9DVeGs9k/Tixa_y104UI/AAAAAAAAAH0/1EtgjSNGcjk/s1600/scan0196%2B%25282%2529.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 314px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-sOd9DVeGs9k/Tixa_y104UI/AAAAAAAAAH0/1EtgjSNGcjk/s320/scan0196%2B%25282%2529.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5632977285959442754" /></a><br /><br />As the first grandchild on my Dads side I quickly became Grandma's Princess, she never missed a chance to tell me this. She spoiled me in ways only a grandma could. One of the best times in my childhood was when we lived next to my grandparents. I never got tired of spending time with them. There were even a few times when I would get mad at a babysitters and go hide in their garage. Usually I would fall asleep at the top of their stairs going into their house and just wait for Grandma to come home and rescue me from the mean babysitter. I'm sure they were making me do something that I didn't want to do, but probably should have been doing it. <br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CalkIo5lG1Y/TixaV1oqbQI/AAAAAAAAAHs/HrgpCu4nVdY/s1600/scan0218%2B%25282%2529.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 222px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CalkIo5lG1Y/TixaV1oqbQI/AAAAAAAAAHs/HrgpCu4nVdY/s320/scan0218%2B%25282%2529.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5632976565155032322" /></a><br /><br />She had this ability to make even what seemed like the worst situations better. As my parents went through their divorce I found my self spending more time with my grandparents leaning on them for support and guidance in one of the darkest times in my life so far. I always knew that I could call her up and by the end of the conversation she would have made my laugh, things wouldn't seem so dark anymore and she would remind that no matter what happens I will always be her little princess.<br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-67hXueSAzcE/TixYTVBn8aI/AAAAAAAAAHk/xpuUj3WgzB0/s1600/scan0253.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 211px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-67hXueSAzcE/TixYTVBn8aI/AAAAAAAAAHk/xpuUj3WgzB0/s320/scan0253.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5632974323018363298" /></a><br /><br />But one of the things I loved the most about her was how honest she was. She was never one to sugar coat anything. If she didn't like something you were going to know about it. Even when she was in the hospital the last time and they were doing an MRI on her arm she didn't not like how hard they were pushing on her arms and boy did she let them know! The best part was when a nurse came in to check on her she told the nurse that there was no way that person was coiming back in there because she didn't like her. All I could do is laugh a bit and apologize to the nurse. <br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GhI-iBc3PnQ/Tixbt7JOM3I/AAAAAAAAAH8/El_reqtcK3g/s1600/scan0261%2B%25282%2529.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 228px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GhI-iBc3PnQ/Tixbt7JOM3I/AAAAAAAAAH8/El_reqtcK3g/s320/scan0261%2B%25282%2529.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5632978078462260082" /></a><br /><br />My grandparents were married for 60 years, and still very much in love after all that time. Yes they did have their fair share of arguments and I can still hear her saying "GORDON!" and my Grandpa answering back "Well Jean!" Which just makes me smile to my self and giggle a bit. But no matter what I always knew that they loved eached other more that they could ever tell anyone. I can only hope and pray that I am fortunate enough to find that someone for myself and be able to spend that much time with them. <br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-aFq-JoC6qnA/TixeQKFkM3I/AAAAAAAAAIM/kjIQhgz8g0c/s1600/CIMG3487.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-aFq-JoC6qnA/TixeQKFkM3I/AAAAAAAAAIM/kjIQhgz8g0c/s320/CIMG3487.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5632980865612264306" /></a><br /><br />I miss her more that I can express. Several times I have picked up the phone to call her just to have her tell me everything will be ok and that no matter what I will always be her princess. I'm hoping that I am able to live my life in a way she would be proud of. I only wish that my children would have be able to get to know her.Teganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00799779605257992929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3925108873977758355.post-19098336097491844352011-06-27T20:07:00.002-05:002011-06-27T20:47:17.856-05:00Missing MacIt's hard to put in to words how much I love my family. It is even harder for me to say how much I miss Mac when he is deployed. He left this morning for a short deployment for some where, not 100% sure where. This weekend was full of parties to say good bye to him. Saturday night we had his close friends over and then on Sunday we had some family over.<br /><br />I know how much I am missing Mac and how the last few days have just made me want to cry even though he is only going to be gone for a few month, I can't imagine having my husband leave for a year or more. Those women who have to go through that are so much stronger than I think I could ever be. Deep down in my heart I know that he will be fine since what he does hardly ever goes in country, unless they are helping to move soliders who are hurt. But part of me is terrified for him, terrified that something will go wrong. As his emergency contact everytime I get a call from an unknown number or a phone number I don't know my heart stops until I hear his voice.<br /><br />After coming home from a swim camp when I was about ten I asked my mom very seriously if she would send the boys back. She of course told me that she couldn't to say the least I was a very disapointed ten year old. But now seventeen years later I could never imagine my life with out my brothers! Now if you ask me this in person I will never admit it but I guess now that it is out here on the internet I will have to.<br /><br />So if you think about it say a little prayer for my brother Mac, his unit and all the men and women who are serving our country! If it weren't for them and the men and women in our countries past we wouldn't be able to be living the lifes we are. <br /><br />Good Night for now!Teganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00799779605257992929noreply@blogger.com0