Many apologies, I have not posted in a year. Who does that? This chick apparently! Alot has happened in my life in this past year: good, bad and indifferent. My hair is growing, my daughters are getting smarter (mouths. lol.) and bigger, I have reconneccted with my husband after 2 years and we have a very nice home. I found a job, but after 6 months of stress and drama I left to focus on school. You know one of my words is Eliminate (the unnecessary)! I will graduate next year so that is exciting. I am wanting a Buick LaCrosse as my graduation gift... There are some possibilities for me in the near future that I hope play out in my favor. I will share more, if it happens. Please pray for me to be at peace with the outcome regardless. I definitely plan to post more because this last vaca was a bit ridiculous. In the meantime, stay blessed.

Elevate, Eliminate and Celebrate!

MIA

My life has been crazy since the last time I posted. I apologize for the long hiatus. I have started my online classes, completed more Real Estate classes, gotten fired from hourly job, adapted to some hard personal changes... And life goes on.

My first online class was a drawing class and I really surprised myself! I got a 99.8! Yay, me. I am taking a computer class now and it is going well. Here is my final project...

Losing my job was a blessing. I will be ok financially for a couple of months, in the meantime I am devoting myself to Real Estate full time. I should have a closing this month!

I will complete my last post licensing class next Friday so my provisional status willl be removed...

I have had to say goodbye to a very special person in my life and though neither one of us have said 'goodbye' it sure feels like it. But I am taking it one day at a time and though its hard I am grateful that I had my season. (You know who you are...)

Overall, life is great. The weather is changing. My girls are healthy. I have more free time to volunteer, write, read, chill, enjoy nature... Yep, I could complain but what would that change? I ask that you keep me in your prayers that I learn more about myself and as I do that I learn to appreciate and value myself more.

As always in closing: Elevate, Eliminate and Celebrate!

End of the year, not end of life...

I would first like to wish everyone Happy Holidays! Be cautious of those that might want to cause you harm, seems there is alot of stealing and robbing going on right now. Also be careful of other drivers as this time of year is hectic, especially on the road...

Now that I am done with the pleasantries and well wishes... I am find myself a bit frustrated. I have been waiting since before Thanksgiving to get approval for my husband's GI Bill to get transformed to me. I don't undermind the great amount of work that anyone may have on their plate right now, but I have come to the conclusion that I should hold off on expecting anything business related to be completed before January 1.

It's really ridiculous. I think the only people that are still working are the bill collectors (way to go!). My suspicions of nobody finding it neccessary to be helpful during this time was further confirmed today. My youngest daughter has bronchitis and started a coughing spell last night. I gave her some cough medicine this morning and took her to daycare, but they called a little after 11 this morning for me to pick her up. I called my husband to go get her and he felt that he should take her to get seen... Well, he calls the clinic that she usually goes to and they told him that he would have to call back at 4pm because everyone was having a Christmas party... REALLY? I have an idea... why don't you hold Christmas parties outside of office hours? True enough, if it is an emergency we could spend from now until Sunday morning waiting in the waiting room, but that's not the point I am making.

I spoke with a client of mine the other day who is looking for a rental property. She called one of the local real estate offices who has a house listed she is interested in. She was told to come by to retrieve the key and return it by a certain time because they would be closing early to have their Christmas party.

I am not knocking Christmas or the celebration of it, but I feel there is a time and place. It's the end of the year, not the end of life. While you are picking over food that you don't want to eat cause you don't know who brought it or wishing that the party punch was spiked, please realize that life is still going on outside the conference room.

To the non-party goers (including myself) that are trying to get last minute business handled during this time of year:- how could we be so rude to think that someone should have been assigned to answer the company phone or attend the receptionist desk during normal business hours to assist us! There is egg nog and fruit cake to be consumed... So go find a party to attend yourself and put life on hold until January 2nd cause we all know that January 1st is booked up too!

Signing off: Elevate, Eliminate, Celebrate

Interior Design... here I come!!!

As you know by now, my sign off is: elevate, eliminate, celebrate...

Today, I CELEBRATE!!!

I will be obtaining a second BS in Interior Design at Art Institute of Pittsburgh Online. I am so excited! Interior Design was my first choice of study, but I decided to follow the advice of others and pursue a different career path. Twelve years later... I still have that burning desire for design. The opportunity came for me to do it and I ran full speed ahead to my dream. I am so overwhelmed by all kinds of emotions and feelings. The costs alone has me gasping, but by the grace of God and the fine military of the United States. I will only be out of $218 of my own money. (I still can't believe it.) So come January 10th- it's hands to the plow! And while I am sending up praises. I am also grateful that I will be able to get my broker post licensing for real estate free of charge! 2011 is looking real good!!!

Remember: Elevate, Eliminate, Celebrate

Stress Less and Drama Free

So when my feet hit the floor this morning I felt unusually light,
Didn’t have to open my blinds for the sun was shining extra bright.

I went to look in the mirror and fell in love with the person staring back at me,
We agreed today would be a good day- stress less and certainly drama free.

Found a five in the pocket of my favorite “you go girl jeans”,
Thanked God for another blessing amongst the many He’s bestowed on me.

Called to pay a bill over the phone and the customer service chick said, “don’t sweat it, we overcharged you last month so your account has a credit!”

Smiling hard; showing all my teeth like a kid in a candy store,
Cause I haven’t even left the house yet and don’t think I can take much more.

But all good ended as soon as I got to my car,
There was a scratch down the side that looked like it came from some handle bars.

I didn’t get mad- I took a breath as I remembered my vow to me,
Today would be stress less and certainly drama free.

Got to work and our team of 8 had become a workforce of 4,
Half of the staff was out sick with some mess I never heard of before.

At lunch I ordered my favorite meal: a #5 with a Dr. Pepper, no onion add cheese,
But when I got to the office and opened my sandwich, it was cold and it had enough onion to bring a grown man to his knees.

I looked at the clock only an hour to go before this work day would be over,
Then Belinda bops in and announces overtime, due to all the work that needs to be covered.

I didn’t get mad- I took a breath as I remembered my vow to me,
Today would be stress less and certainly drama free.

When I get home my dog’s been in the house for 10 hours straight,
I open the door to find poop all over the place.

I tossed a pizza in the oven while I took my shower,
Forgot to set the timer and cooked it for 2 hours.

My day started out great and ended up pretty bad,
But at no point in time did I get mad.

You can only control your reaction to what happens to you,
In the morning, vow to have a good day- you’ll be amazed when you do.

Elevate, Eliminate, Celebrate!