Frustration...and Thankfulness

Ok, so I am a firm believer in the fact that everyone has bad days. But can I tell you that today for me was one of the worst...at least work was. I felt that everything I touched turned to a HOT MESS! There is nothing quite like working so hard and having nothing to show for it. Now I am not trying to just vent my frustration on here but I wanted to dig a bit deeper. First off, let me tell you I LOVE the people in my life who are positive when I am not. I have always seen my role as being the encourager, I try to inspire people and make them smile. But when I cannot be that person...when I need that person, I have them. My awesome friends and family, co-workers and mentors. You guys can really pull me out of my funk and even though you feel like all your telling me is cliches its just knowing you have my back makes the difference. Second, as a bit of encouragement for those who have had a bad day... Its hard not to take thing personally and feel like you are the reason things aren't going right. But life has very rarely gone the way I have planed. Both good and bad. The beauty I have found in life is in the things I have not planed, the spontaneous road trips, unexpected friendships, and all the amazing stops on the journey as Gods leads me. 

So anyways,  I came home after my crappy work day and after a few minutes of self pity I set down to get some perspective. I opened my Bible, well my Bible app,  and was reading a little bit about a man named Abraham.  You see in Genesis God promised to a 100 year old man and a 90 year old woman that they would have a baby. A baby that would be the start of a Great nation that would be as countless as the stars. That the same nation would live in a land that is was currently occupied by powerful armies and kings. All of that came true. Abraham and Sarah had a baby, Isaac. Isaac and his son Jacob did become the start of the great nation of Israel. God came though on his promises. God made another promise and that is found in Jeremiah. "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 a hope and a future."(29:11) Now, I am not trying to compare my little 21st century problems with Gods great covenant with the Israelites but the underlying message is the same. If I choose to believe in Gods promises, even when it seems impossible, or just not going that way right now, my faith may be tested but definitely will come out stronger. 

So what am I thankful for? I am so overcome with thankfulness right now. For a God who keeps his promises. For people in my life who support me in what I do, even when I fail. And the opportunity to share my thoughts  with you, in hopes that this might help brighten your day in just a small way so you can be thankful too!

Also, please feel free to post you own frustration, as long as you also list something your thankful for!

The Start of the Season

Ok, so I know it has been a bit since my last post...like 6 months to be exact. So to catch you up on whats been going on in my life.

 I am back in good old Columbus, Ohio! New York City was great, I loved it and I returned for a visit in October, before SANDY messed it all up. I also spent the month of September in Cincinnati on Business. In June I became the Aunt to the cutest nephew in the world and my new best friend. And I started a new position with my company doing Management training. I guess thats the cliffs notes of the past few months and I am sure I will fill in more of the blanks as we go.

Well now that we have caught up on everything I wanted to share a bit about the start of the holiday season. 

At work today I was thinking about how this time of year brings on the stress. I know there are plans to be made, parties to attend, gifts to purchase, and family gatherings to deal with but the holidays are supposed to be the Most Wonderful time of the YEAR right?! In case I haven't mentioned it before, I work in retail. If anyone has EVER worked in the service industry, (and I am sure many of you have) you know that greeting people is a very basic part of your role...yet to get such rude reactions from people when you just say "Hi" or "How can I help you?" is actually kind of heartbreaking. Rejections come with the territory of working in sales but common curtesy and friendliness can literally turn my whole day around. So I am going to encourage you, be kind this holiday season, Look at people when you talk to them. Smile at people like your waitress, sales person, flight attendant, or customer service representative. Believe me, they will be more inclined to help you get what you want and you can really help spread the holiday cheer.   

A Real New Yorker...

So I had another day off and went out to explore a bit more of the city.  I was asked directions twice and I am pretty sure I pointed them in the right directions! I started heading north and went to Macy's at Herald Square. It really is the largest store ever!! Nine floors and I love how each brand creates its own little "store" inside. I think I have discovered something about myself while taking escalator after escalator, going up and up and passing by floors full of fun new fashion for the body and home. I realized that I walked right past most everything, giving it no more then a passing glance, that I truly thrive in Community. As I walk around New York each day part of it may be a security thing but I try to zone out everything around me except my path directly ahead. Keeping one hand on my cross body bag and one on my phone, I put my bright pink ear-buds in and walk away. However, once I enter the store I feel like I thrive. I am smiling, have no fear approaching people and starting a conversation.

I am bummed because I had wrote much more and then it didn't save... so this is all for now

Overflow

Hello World! Wow its been a little crazy this weekend and I have ht the point of exhaustion that almost overwhelmed me but then came this blessed day off and after sleeping for the better part of 11 hours I feel slightly more refreshed and soon I will head out to do some shopping. So to recap life here for the past few days...Friday I started my new job and lets just say that I am definitely not in Ohio anymore Todo. The people I work with have all been very nice and welcoming. They seem to like me and strangely have a fascination with my blue eyes :) The clients have all been friendly as well and what I have discovered is that confidence goes a long way with New Yorkers. Also they seen to love the fact that I am new to the city and LOVE giving me recommendations on places to see and eat, it gives us something to instantly connect with! Some fun things I have observed so far:

 (1) A lady on her knees in times square belting out "The Sun Will Come Out, Tomorrow" at the top of her lungs and then right when she gets to the chorus she stopped and was like "Oh crap! What are the words?" It was so funny! 

(2) My first street pee. Apparently in New York City it is completely socially acceptable to pop to a corner and relieve yourself. I am like seriously hold it for two seconds! 

(3) Witnessing the NY Giants winning the Super Bowl while standing in Times Square. That was just cool! :) 

Today, after my shopping splurges, I sat down at the Starbucks around the corner with my Iced Chi Latte and spent some quiet time with my Bible and Journal. Some of the thoughts I had I want to share with you! One of them is the idea of pollution. Our society is obsessed with going GREEN. We are careful to recycle and have hundreds of Organic products free of all pollutants. I was reading in Mark today when Jesus was talking with his disciples about how the pollutants he pays attention to are not the ones that we intake. We can not always control the things that are around us, the people we work with, the places we live, or the time that we have to spend doing life things. These things with out fail will pollute our lives at some point. Someone will rub us the wrong way, or goodness sakes be straight up mean. Frustrations of paying bills and my attitude can be affected. When this happens is when I display my character. Jesus said  the pollutants that come out of us are so much more important to him then the one that go in. The words, thoughts, and actions, the influence that we have on the world is something that we can control and since it is an overflow of our heart I strive to let that overflow reflect Christ. Well that's what I have for you today! Thanks for joining me on this journey and I will update you again soon:)

First day in New York...

So here I am in NEW YORK CITY! It is a bit overwhelming and there are literally a billion people everywhere. So after arriving at La Guardia airport and getting my luggage into the car I experienced my first intense Traffic Jam in the city. We literally sat completely unmoving in a line for at least fifteen minutes waiting to go thought the tunnel. But once we crossed into the city things sped up rather quickly. The worst part has been lugging my two suitcases (one exactly fifty pounds), and two carry on's up four flights of stairs! Whew, even if I didn't have a cold that trek is not one that I care to repeat any time in the near future. But now here I am and completely unpacked. On my first outing in the city I decided to browse around within a couple of blocks and see whats all around me. The Goodwill store sadly was not organized very well and didn't have a fun selection but was nearby so I stopped in. The next big stop was Whole Foods Market. Yes I know we have these at home but I stopped to get just a few things to snack on while I am here, but without really realizing it I was STARVING! it was almost 3pm and my breakfast at 7am was too long ago. So my first meal....a slice of delicious pizza and a bowl of mixed berries. It is a bit strange not knowing what the people around me are doing...To my sister at home who always calls to check on my plans for the evening, I already appreciate you more! Well my first day at work is tomorrow morning so as Midwest lame as it sounds I think I am in for the night. Thanks for following and I will keep you posted on what else goes on during my great adventure!

Reality TV...on Camara for the World to See

Hello, and good morning on this rainy January day. So did anyone watch the Bachelor last night? I have this tradition with my gal pals that with each new season we get together to watch the drama unfold. It is so funny to see how this "Love" phenomenon works out with each new Bachelor or Bachelorette. This season its Ben, Winemaker form Cali. and I have to say the girls this season are crazy!! Each episode so far their has been some sort of hysterics. Girls crying, fainting, threatening bodily harm to the other girls...I have officially decided girls make all girls look bad. They are insecure, catty, backstabbing, aggressive, and for many of them fake, all the things guys say girls are. So I quick shout out to Lavern and Shirley, Love you girls and the fun times we have! So far I think our picks for the the final three are Jennifer, Kacie B., and Lindsey, though Emily did make a good impact on us last night. Courtney the model is mentally deranged and such a stereotypical "model/ mean girl" and Blakley and Monica are a bit too diva for my liking. Yes, I  know its not reality but if your are willing to put your best and worst on camera for the world to see then you shouldn't get upset if people comment on how you act. It's actually an interesting concept to live your life as is someone is always watching...because they are. So don't do those stupid things you wouldn't do in front of your parents, or other people you look up to. I want to live my life with integrity so that no matter who I am with or where I am, I am me, 100%.

Cleaning the Clutter

Alright now on to life....I plan on telling you about so many different things. Spiritual insights, fashion and beauty finds, books I am reading and music I like, etc... 

So this morning as I was doing my devotions, and just so you know it is my goal to read throughout the entire Bible in the year 2010, I had two interesting thoughts I wanted to share with you:

(1) The Bible is really chalk full of very dysfunctional families. has any one else noticed this? I am humored by how in our society "good Christian families" are put, or even put themselves, on a pedestal. I think it is often a pride issue that keeps us "towing the line" not the relationship that we claim to have with the Creator. I know I have been guilty of this on occasion. I do or do not do something not because its right or wrong but because its something that i am expected to do or refrain from doing. I grew up as a pastors kid and that came with its own set of rules, these were not necessarily told to me by my parents, rather they were expectations of how I should act from other kids and adults in my life. Sometimes when I look back I realize that those times when I was reprimanded for something I had done wrong, like texting during Church services,  I felt remorse because people expected more from me, I wasn't perfect and that bothered me. It wasn't that I was disrespecting the pastor and not listening to what God had put in his mouth to share with me. If you are a Christian reading this lets begin to notice pride and how it can slip its self-righteous finger into our daily lives. Now that I got off on that little tangent....though the Bible has these stories of people who really screwed things up isn't it amazing to see how God still used them. We do not have to be perfect, just willing to trust in him and ask for his forgiveness when we show our human nature.

(2) I am reading a study by Beth Moore, Paul: 90 Days on his Journey of Faith. And she made a terrific point of talking about how Christians must never forget how to search the scriptures. There have been many entire congregations led astray by a convincing speaker and people who never checked what they said against the Bible. This is how we grow and become independent in our faith. By reading and learning for myself who God is, so when others might say things that I have found go against his character i am not led astray and can compassionately share my faith.

Ok so that is my Spiritual thoughts for the day. 

Each January I do a sort of "Spring Cleaning" it is a time where I go through my closet, clothes, storage tubs, and drawers to clear the clutter out of my life. This year is no exception, and though I am getting a late start my hope is to finish it all up before I head to the Big Apple next month. Oh, that's right I haven't shared with you yet but I am moving to NYC for a temporary position with my company. I am an Interior Specialist with a furniture company and I conduct in home consultations and work with clients to create unique homes they love to live in! So with the deadline quickly approaching I am trying to spend about 15 minutes each evening before I go to bed working through the mess. Yesterday alone I pulled out two trash bags worth of clutter that is going to the dumpster today. Organizing your life may seam like a daunting task but you can set little goals for yourself, like today I am going to clean out my sock drawer and anything that has a hole or no match it outta here!! And next thing you know...poof... your drawers are done. My next area to tackle is the cabinets under the sink in the bathroom. I don't know how I get all these things in there but I tell you Bath and Body Works can really kill you with the size of their lotion bottles. I have over half a dozen partially used lotion bottles down there. From now on I am just going to get the travel sized bottles of scented lotions. It really amount I typically will use before a new scent catches my nose, so why not save some money and some space and still indulge in the new fragrance? Sometimes the lotion can actually go bad so I found this little tips sheet from INSTYLE about when to throw away cosmetics and I wanted to share that with you!

• -Nail Polish 
• 1 year- (The chemical will begin to break down and the color will not go on smoothly)
• Mascara
• 3 months- (Since your eyelashes protect your eyes from dirt, dust, and bacteria imagine what is all over your mascara brush?!)
• Face creams and Lotions
• 1 year (especially if it is in a jar where your fingers go, its the bacteria bit all over again)
• Fragrance
• 2 years ( With each spritz you allow a small amount of air into the bottle over long periods of time this will dilute the fragrance, and honestly if you haven't used up a fragrance in two years then its not your go to so move on and try something else)

Ok, so first I want to say hello to anyone who is reading this. I guess I will start by telling you a little bit about myself and why I am writing this Blog. I am a recent college grad, working at a place I enjoy, living in a great apartment with my sister, and spending my time outside of work with some of the most amazing people I am privileged to call my family and friends. Sounds like a good life right? Well this is what I call living a grey life (and for those of you who think I am constantly spelling grey wrong it is correct spelling of the color grey in England which is where I fell in love with the color, so moving on...).  Now grey is not necessarily a bad thing. The color grey often represents conflict, uncertainty, and boredom. However, when I say life is grey I mean sometimes it just flows. It may not it always be made up of awesome colors but it isn't always black and white either. When I am living my grey life there are little pops of color along the way that surprise me. These colorful spots may come in the little details (...like the feel of fresh towels coming out of the dryer), in big adventures (...Like moving to a new city), or even in the simple conversations with people that make each day different then the one before. So what I want to share with you is my life, the yellow and the grey, and you are welcome to join me for the ride!