Adventure Is Out There! Part Four

We had started with 175 people.. it was down to about 40. I was standing in line, talking to new friends. I was feeling kind of nervous to show the judges my tattoo... what if that took away from my chances of playing a character? To my relief, most people auditioning had tattoos of some sort. My turn came, and the judge looked up at me with a... well it was supposed to be a smile, I'm pretty sure. But it came out as more of an "oh-my-gosh-I-have-looked-at-a-million-tattoos-and-now-I-have-to-look-at-40-more" grimace. Poor guy. I stuck out my left arm, showing him the cross inked onto my wrist. "It's one inch long, half an inch wide," I recited. He grunted and pointed to where his fellow judge was taking pictures of all the auditioners. He,too, looked like he was ready to smash his fist into the next person who so much as said "cheese". What a lively pair. 

I bounced over to the red velvet back drop and offered the weary fellow a sympathetic smile. Nothin. So... I did what every high school cheerleader does when a photo is about to be take. Hand placed on hip? Check. Hip popped? Check. Head tilted? Double check. And... SMILE! Quick. Easy. Painless. Well, I at least looked less awkward than this poor person who looked like they were suffering from severe constipation. Probably just nerves...

So after everyone had taken the "tattoo walk of shame", we were instructed to spread out so we could learn the next set of choreography. Now I will confess to you that I was scared that this dance would consist of prima ballerina moves. You know, "First you're going to À la seconde into a chasse' into a grand jete' ".. that kind of stuff. the choreographer stepped to the front, looked us dead in the eye, and informed us that the dance would be ten 8-counts long. Ten. 8-counts. Long. Now, for those who may not be as familiar with dancing, for an audition dance, that is long. I was a cheerleader. Most of my dances were eight 8-counts at most. So this was going to be a challenge. I sucked in a breath of air and let it out. I planned on meeting this challenge head on. 

We began. The learning process was as follows: "ok, here is the first 8-count. Repeat. Got it? Ok, moving on!" There was no mercy. None. The first three 8-counts were pretty easy. More complicated than the parade dance, but I did it with no problems. After that... my fear was confirmed. He started speaking in French that was occasionally interrupted by an English word or two such as  "French word, French word, TURN!, French word, French word, NOW WITH THE MUSIC!" Wait, what? What just happened? 

At this point, many people, including some of the males, were distressed. Ok, I noticed a couple of tears. I was almost included in the tears category. I don't like not being able to do things. But I bucked up. This is Disney; they are  going to be looking for a smile at all times. So we proceeded to do the dance to the music (hahaha more like shuffle and slide around like newborn horses and hit the ending pose). Now there were about three people (including the no-nonsense Rockette girl) who rocked the dance. They could kick their feet all the way up to the back of their heads, the whole bit. I'm pretty sure there was a group of girls conspiring in the back to murder them after the auditions were over, but I'm sure I was mistaken! 

We ran through the dance two more times, and then we moved on to the animation sequence. This was the saving grace to all the "newborn horses" in the group, myself included. We were given two scenes: "At the Beach" and "Washing Your Dog". We had to perform an 8-count long mime scene, doing whatever came to mind. We just had to include a beginning, a middle, and an end, all wrapped around something funny. It sounded pretty simple. We practiced a few times, but soon found out that it wasn't as easy as it sounded. We had to over exaggerate EVERYTHING. Literally. If we were putting on sunscreen during our "At the Beach" scene, the sunscreen bottle had to be bigger than us. If we were laying a towel out, that towel had to be as heavy as a sheet of metal. Little things like that make the scene. 

Now I wanted to stand out. I didn't want to surf or lay out on the beach.. everyone else was doing that. I said a quick prayer to the Lord, asking for an idea. Immediately a though popped into my head: chasing crabs. That's it! I'll spot a few crabs on the beach, and chase them around; I'll pick one up and it will pinch my finger- there's the comedy aspect. Perfect. So I pantomimed like I had never pantomimed before.. I actually never had pantomimed anything before.. but it was fun! It was like acting like a four year old in public, but it was completely socially acceptable! 

It took about 45 minutes all and all to rehearse everything. Then we were told what the final audition would be like. We would be in groups of five- only the five who were auditioning would be in the room with the judges. A song would start playing, and we would begin scene number one, "At the Beach" , at the end of the scene, we would do the dance. Then we would do do scene number two, "Washing Your Dog", and repeat the dance one more time, and it was over. 

Everyone went into the holding room, waiting for their number to be called. Meanwhile, the people who had the dance down helped the rest of us. I had just gotten in place to practice the dance, when my number was called. I was in the first group to audition. Great... good-bye practice time! I took a deep breath. I didn't know the dance past the first three 8-counts.. so my only hope was to absolutely kill the pantomiming. The five of us walked into the audition room. The judges looked about as cheerful as this... 

..so I felt pretty confident. ;) Anyways, the music started. I had no idea what song was playing. But it was annoying. Extremely annoying. I chased some invisible crabs like a dog going after the mailman. I did the first three 8-counts of that danced like my life depended on it, *shuffle shuffle shuffle* HIT END POSE! Then I washed a tiny, invisible dog with some invisible shampoo that smelled like the tears of Jesus. Then I did the dance again, and I owned that end pose. I owned it! Because this is Disney, and at Disney we own things we don't really own! 

So that's it. I walked out of that audition with my head up.I had such a great time, meeting new friends, acting like a four year old, and living that expression "dance like no one is watching"... because you will NEVER see me dance like I danced in that audition. :) 

A couple of weeks later, I got an email from Disney. All I saw was 'Congra-", and that's all I needed to see. I became this cyclone of happiness. I had been accepted into the program AND I had been offered one of the most difficult positions at Disney to get. Character performer. I've never felt so much pride and joy before. At the same time, I was completely humbled because God had blessed me with a HUGE opportunity. What a gift! 

So, finally at the conclusion of my Disney auditions...My advice to anyone who is thinking about doing this... DO IT. Don't think about it. When you are at the audition, don't pause and think about how silly you feel. Guess what? 150 other people feel exactly the same way. And that's what Disney is looking for! The goofiest goof ball who ever goofed the world. 

So I now, when people ask what my job is, I get to say, "I'm a Disney character performer". But when I actually get there, I plan on answering, "I make believe." :)

Adventure Is Out There! Part Three

The next morning I woke up energized and excited. I put on my cute lil audition outfit, my dancin' shoes (literally dancing shoes... I bought them at Academy for 20 bucks! Booya!), and threw my hair up in a poofy pony tail (thank you cheerleading!). My hotel provided a lovely breakfast consisting of oatmeal and a blueberry muffin. I was feeling pretty darn good. 

The audition sign in started at 10:00 AM, so I figured arriving at 9:30 would be perfect. Well the hotel shuttle was leaving at 8:30 AM, ready or not. So I ended up leaving with the driver, Alberto, and another passenger earlier than I expected. I double checked with Alberto that he had directions to the dance studio, where the auditions were being held. We dropped off the other passenger first, since I didn't have to be at the dance studio for another hour. I didn't mind the idea of being first in line; that would let the judges know I meant business. 

Alberto and I were driving around, having a really nice chat. I love meeting new people and hearing their stories. It's so interesting to hear what others have done. I found out that Alberto has been a driver for the hotel for eight years, he has five kids, and he loves driving because he gets to meet so many different people. But then he got very quiet. He kept glancing at his printed driving instructions. I asked, "Alberto, do you know where you're going?" He paused. "Um.. no." I laughed, putting him at ease. We had plenty of time, so I pulled up the address on the GPS on my phone (again, thank God for this handy little thing... such a life saver!). 

We made it to the dance studio at 9:00 AM. The line was waaaaaaay out the door- I was shocked! There were so many people! I don't know about you, but when I'm doing something crazy like auditioning to be a Disney character, I feel like I'm the only one in the world doing it. This was a reality check. About 100 people were at this tiny dance studio! And we still had an hour to go! 

Alberto wished me luck, and I hopped out of the shuttle. Most of the participants had come with parents, so I felt a little awkward walking up alone. But I pulled my shoulders back, determined to at least look confident, even if I didn't feel it. I went to the back of the line where three perfectly normal looking girls stood chatting. I decided if I wanted to make some new friends, it had to be now or never. So I introduced myself, and to my relief, they were all  SO nice. So the time passed quickly as we all swapped stories. It was also a relief to know that I wasn't the only one there with a "pending" application. In fact, one of the lovely girls I met had done the College Program the previous year, and was returning for a second run! So at least I know she loved it! 

Finally, at 10:00, they opened the doors. We all walked in and began to sign in. We were assigned numbers... I was number 20. Then they took our height... I was 60 inches (that's five feet even, for the record). Then we all just sat around and stretched for a good 30 minutes while everyone else signed in. I took this opportunity to check out the different people. There were SO many different types of people of all shapes, sizes, ethnicities, etc. One girl had a Rockette jacket and duffle bag. She kept to herself, doing pushups and crunches the entire time. Other girls were stretching like they were made of Twizzlers. Good Lord... some girls were putting their feet behind their heads... why? No idea. What made me roll my eyes the most was that there were three girls walking around, actually more like floating around, giving random people compliments. It was so Disney princessish. "Oh my goodness, what lovely hair you have!" was often thrown around with doe- like eyes wide open. Ugh. Really?! Could you be anymore obvious?! And the answer to that question is YES. A couple of people brought head shots.  But one girl in particular took it to a new level. In her head shot, her hair was bright red, she was wearing a purple bikini top, green leggings, and she was laying on her back by a river with her hair splayed out beneath her head. I had a bit of trouble placing who she reminded me of... any ideas? 

Anyways... all that to say.. there were a lot of people there! Finally, everyone got checked in. About 175 people were there in total. Two men stepped to the front. I was expecting a "Welcome to Disney character auditions! We are so glad you are here! What a magical time we are going to have!" Hahahaha... no. They said a short "welcome", but that was it. They had us stand up and immediately a choreographer taught us a parade dance. It was a simple two 8-count dance. I was thinking the entire time, "This is cake! Hallelujah!" The song "Firework" by Katy Perry was playing, and you could tell this was the choreographer's song. He was very... flamboyant shall we say? He was a great teacher, but he was so fast paced. After we learned the parade dance, it was time to audition for round 1! We were split into 3 groups: Group one was numbers 1-50, group two was numbers 50-100, and group three was 101-175. I was number 20, so I was in group one. 

Here's what we had to do: "Firework" would be playing the entire time. We would each dance in groups of four. For the first 8-count, we had to act like character on a float. We had to wave and blow kisses to the "crowd", acting like Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy, etc. I picked Minnie Mouse. Then we had to move right into the parade dance, marching from one end of the room to the other towards the judges. We got to watch everyone in our group. It was great getting to watch others because you could really see who was good and maybe get some ideas from them. 

After group one was done, we were moved to the "holding room". We had to wait for the other two groups audition. It was agony waiting and waiting and waiting. I've never been so nervous. Once the other two groups finished, the two judges entered the holding room. With no greeting, they said, "If we call out your number, say 'here'." They began to called out "1, 4, 5, 8,9,13,14..." I didn't breath. We didn't have a clue if this meant we were cut or not. "...20..." "HERE!" I squeaked. I started shaking. My new friends kindly put their hands on my shoulders. I probably lost the color in my face... what little I had anyways ;) They called the last of the numbers. Silence. More silence. "Ok, if we called your number please get your stuff and move to the other room; you made it. If not, thanks for coming out, but we are letting you go." It didn't sink in for me. I dumbly looked at the three girls I was with. What did that mean? Am I going home? No?! I made it?! OH MY GOSH I MADE IT PAST ROUND ONE? Yes. Ok. Ok. 

I gathered my things and followed the jubilant procession into the next room. We were all busy congratulating each other, we didn't notice the two judges step to the front of the classroom. "Congratulations, you made it past round one. Now the real work begins. Please fill out these forms. We're going to need a description of any tattoos and/or body piercings you have, then we will take a photo of you. Then you will learn the second part of your audition." 

Stay tuned for Part Four! 

Adventure Is Out There! Part Two

I arrived home from the Disney cruise, still heavy with "after vacation-itis". But unfortunately, I didn't have time to dawdle. I needed to prepare for my trip to audition for a Disney character position. I knew I would have to travel alone. That was enough to give me butterflies. But I was excited too. I would get to embark on yet another adventure! I decided that the AmTrack would be my best mode of transportation, so I got online, booked my train ticket and hotel room, and started unpacking. If you're anything like me, unpacking usually takes at least two weeks. Ugh. But it was crunch time. So I became a tornado of clothes, launching them from the suitcase into the washing machine. 

After unpacking, I realized that I would need transportation from the train station to my hotel. I have never, ever been in a taxi before. Why, you ask? Uh, have you seen Taken? No thank you. No taxis for me. So I hired a concierge service. I had to giggle. I mean concierge... it sounds so fancy! I was still skeptical about letting a stranger drive me around in an unfamiliar city. But it would have to do. 

My departure date arrived quickly, and my mom was gracious enough to get up early to drive me to Oklahoma City. Thanks to GPS, we managed to navigate Brick Town. That's a small miracle. We arrived at the train station, and it was nothing like I expected. I was expecting a scene from Little House on the Prairie, but it was nothing like that. In fact, we were greeted by a man with exactly two teeth. I clutched my duffle bag. This was not the sort of place to let my guard down. 

Once I got on the train, I relaxed a little. The seats reclined, and there was plenty of seats, so I didn't have to sit next to a stranger. I like to have my personal space. Respect the bubble! Anyways, I was traveling to Fort Worth, Texas before boarding another train that would take me to Austin.Upon arriving at the Fort Worth train station, the first thing a person said to me was, "What the *(rhymes with duck)*? Watch it!" Welcome to Texas, y'all! That rubbed me the wrong way. But I was determined to have a good experience. I straightened my back, held my head high, and marched right inside. I was starving, so I made my way to the Subway inside. I ordered and went to an empty table. Behind me was a table with two suitcases, I assumed saving someone's spot. Sure enough, soon a young man and his lady friend slipped in behind me. They were very loud. Soon, these two old ladies came up to the table behind me, and said that those were their suitcases and their table. I just knew that the man and woman would be kind and move immediately. WRONGO. They both stared at the ladies (who were wearing the most precious old-lady hats.. how could you be rude to these women?), and told them to buzz off... in a much less civilized way. I was appalled, disgusted, shocked, you name it. 

Finally, it was time to board my train to Austin. It was a pleasant trip; I got to read and listen to my tunes the whole time. But I was getting nervous.. soon I would have to get in a car with a stranger. I concocted a plan. I would keep my headphones in my phone and pretend to be talking to someone. But I would really have the GPS on with the hotel address plugged into the phone, so I could watch and make sure he was taking me the correct way. Genius! 

When I arrived in Austin, I found Anthony, the man driving me, and sized him up. He looked nice enough. He didn't smile. At all. But he seemed very business like, despite his short gym shorts. Ok, I was a little worried at this point. I must say, I put on a performance worthy of some sort of award. I was talking to my friend, Stephanie, and we were discussing her troubled love life. It was very convincing. But the whole time I had my eyes glued to my phone screen. Our little arrow stayed on the blue line. Ok, so far so good. Wait. Wait. WAIT. We are going the opposite way now. We are off the blue line. So I thought fast. "Stephanie" asked me something about the auditions, and I told her "Oh I'm so impressed with how thorough Disney is! Well they know who is going to be there because we had to sign up. They had us provide an emergency contact, so if we don't arrive at the auditions, they will call them to let them know we are missing." None of that is true. I don't know what happened, but immediately we got back on that blue road. Take note, lone travelers! Nothing is too embarrassing when it comes to keeping yourself safe. Including having a fake phone conversation.

I arrived at my hotel. I was exhausted from 12 hours of traveling, so I immediately went to my room. I felt like Mia Thermopalis from Princess Diaries. The room was amazing! Two beds and a huge bathroom. I, being a mature adult, jumped from bed to bed for about 10 minutes. Then I readied myself for bed, and passed out beneath the plush comforter. I had to be up early for the auditions in the morning. 

To be continued! 

Adventure Is Out There! Part One

Phew! It sure has been a while. My life has taken a left turn at Hectic Street. But let me tell you, it's about to get even crazier. And I mean that in the best way possible.

Earlier this year, I was talking to a good friend of mine after church. We always have these delightfully long chats, you see. And we got to talking about life, college, and what the heck we are going to do with our lives. She mentioned the Disney College Program. Maybe you've heard of it? Well, I had not. This friend of mine has this contagious excitement about her, and before I knew it, I was fist pumping the air declaring triumphantly, "WE ARE GOING TO DISNEY!" And then she said it.

"You have to apply first."

Well. There goes my chances! I thought of mountains of paper work piling up in my room. Nope. Not for me.

Fast forward a month or two. My church hosted a ladies Q & A night. Anyone could submit a question, and hope that it would be answered by the wives of the pastors of the church. This was my opportunity. I submitted the typical "I am a young woman who doesn't know what to do with my life" question. And to my giddy surprise, they answered it! And that answer changed my life.

All the pastors' wives agreed on an answer: Go on an adventure.  Do something crazy fun. Do something you won't be able to do once you're married with kids. You're young, you're unattached. Go do something that you can look back on when you are old and grey and think, "yeah, I did that." And at that moment, the Lord spoke to my heart. He told me to apply for that Disney College Program.

Immediately after arriving home, I got online to sign up for the program. Only they weren't accepting applications. So I selected to receive email updates. This would alert me as soon as the application process began. It became a waiting game.

Early September. I'm at home, chilling on the couch in my sweatpants. *ding* "The Disney College Program is now-" That's all I needed to see. I texted my friend, alerting her that the application process had begun. I opened my laptop, and applied, giving my general information and resume; I also had to identify which positions I was most interested in. (I put "Disney Character" as my top pick. Who doesn't want to be a Disney character?!) Immediately after applying, I received an email telling me to begin the Web Interview. I began the timed Web based interview answering case-scenario questions on a scale of strongly disagree to strongly agree. About five minutes after I had completed that, I received an email telling me I had been identified as a "strong candidate", and I needed to schedule a phone interview. I scheduled the interview for September 15th at 5:15pm.

September 15th rolled around. I am not a prideful person. But I rock at interviews. Face to face interviews. Phone interviews are a completely different story. I have never been so nervous in my life. At 5:17 pm, I received the phone call. I was already sweating profusely at that point. Disney was two minutes late... this can't be normal. I have to be honest. The interview did not go very well. I couldn't really understand what my interviewer was asking because the connection was horrible. I'm not making this up. At one point, I got so tired of asking, "I'm sorry could you repeat that?". I was determined to make my ears stretch, so I wouldn't have to ask that again. She asked a question. "Have you ever worked with mermaids?" I pause. Careful, girl. This is Disney. Mermaids, Ariel. Ok, makes sense I guess. "Well, I have not worked with them, but I've heard they are a delight to work with." Silence. "What?" I take a breath. I will not ask her to repeat her question! "I have not worked with them, but I sure would love to." Silence. I can't take it anymore. "I am really sorry, but I don't think I heard the question correctly." She enunciated every syllable. "Have. You. Worked. With. Money." Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Face palm! The interview lasted an hour and 15 minutes. I also had to identify the dimensions and placement of my tattoo. That made me nervous too. Because the "Disney Look" does not allow visible tattoos.

I get an email soon after, giving me the character audition dates and locations. I was going to have to go to Austin, Texas two days after arriving home from a week long Disney Caribbean cruise. At this point I was starting to spiral out of control with excitement. And then........

*stay tuned for Part Two!* :)

Late Night Ponderings

Instead of lying here staring into the dark, I'm going to share my thoughts with you. And in a way, I'm going to ask a favor of you. It begins with a confession.

I seem (and always have seemed) like a girl who has an abundance of friends. I am bubbly and energetic, so my personality tends to draw people towards me. However, I do not have many friends. At all. In fact, I haven't had the best experiences with friends. Whenever I get close to a person, they disappear. I have been dropped by more "friends" than I care to admit. I have experienced more heart ache and hurt in that department than I would ever wish on my greatest enemy. 

I'm not going to reveal any names; that's not the point of this post. But I do want to share some examples of what I have gone through, so my point can be made clearer. One of my very first best friends I met when I was about five years old. We were close enough to be sisters. What made this relationship even more fun was the fact that we lived about 10 minutes apart from each other. We went to school together and became even closer. Then one day during my sophomore year, she stopped talking to me. Literally, overnight, everything changed. I tried to ask her if I had done something wrong. But she wouldn't answer anything I asked her. So that relationship fell apart. Fast forward a year; I became extremely close with a girl a year older than me. I won't go into much detail, but come freshman year of college, we had a fall out over a communication gap. Meanwhile, my BFFE (Best Friend For Eternity) moved to Kansas years before that. I was crushed. Luckily though, she remained my best friend, and to this day we still consider each other best friends. I met people, and got along with them. But anytime I would attempt a relationship with people, they leave. And I have no idea why. 

I can also attest to the "never room with your best friend". I roomed with mine, and now we have absolutely nothing to do with each other. And it ended in a series of chidlish notes. She changed. I changed. And one little misunderstanding made it blow up. I wish I could rewind time, because we really were the best of friends. I have so many great memories with here, and I still wish her the best in life. 

I'm not saying this to invoke a pity party. Believe me; that is the last thing I want. I do, however, want to use my story as a warning. When you form a friendship with someone, treat it like it deserves to treated. Don't assume your friend will stay forever "because that's how things work". It's a two way street, people. You have to show your friend what they mean to you. Talk when you have problems.  

Friends are...they are so important. And if you are lucky enought to have a few TRUE friends. Hold on to them, and let them know how much you appreciate them. 

The Brain, The Heart

The brain and heart... such a intricate relationship. They work completely separate, and yet are so delicately intertwined. Obviously, a body cannot survive without both a brain and heart. But if one is damaged (depending on the extent of the damage), the body can still survive.

The brain and heart are featured in many works of literature, The Wizard of Oz being one of them. The Scarecrow wants a brain, so he can think; the Tinman wants a heart so he can feel. Sherlock from BBC paints a more subtle picture. Sherlock represents the brain. He solves everything with almost no difficulty. In fact, it's his very way of living. But he is extremely detached from his cases. Watching him deduct a murder, he might as well be discussing his favorite flavor of ice cream, just with an unusual amount of gusto. John on the other hand is the heart. He cares. He often become angry at Sherlock for his detachment from the victims of the case. I adore how the two correspond and balance each other.

In the literal sense, the heart and brain work very similarly. The brain often tells the body it occupies to stay aloof. Don't care to much; it will only lead to- a play on words is coming up!!!- heartache. But your heart often falls too hard too quickly. How many memes do we see on Pinterest showing the heart pummeling the brain, egging a person to call up their ex? Or the brain holding up a sign saying, "I'm with stupid". It's a comical truth.

But these two parts are so vital to who we are. Neither can exist without the other. So, dear readers, listen to both. Listen to both. Working together, they function at their best.

And that, dearies, is my thought of the day.

Single Lyfe

To all of my OCD readers out there: not to worry. The misspelling of "life" has a point. I promise.

I find it disturbing that being single is frowned upon. I have ran across too many people that cram being single and getting their finger nails yanked off one by one in the same category: AGONY BEYOND BELIEF. It's confusing. Singleness is a gift! Yes, I said it- a gift! 

Check out what the Bible says about it in 1 Corinthians 7:32-35: 

³² I want you to be free from the concerns of this life. An unmarried man can spend his time doing the Lord’s work and thinking how to please him. ³³ But a married man has to think about his earthly responsibilities and how to please his wife. ³⁴ His interests are divided. In the same way, a woman who is no longer married or has never been married can be devoted to the Lord and holy in body and in spirit. But a married woman has to think about her earthly responsibilities and how to please her husband. ³⁵ I am saying this for your benefit, not to place restrictions on you. I want you to do whatever will help you serve the Lord best, with as few distractions as possible.

That says it all. Being single allows us to focus on our walk with the Lord. It allows us a chapter in our life with no strings attached. We just have to devote ourselves to God, and when we do that, we can enjoy the single life to the fullest! 

Don't get me wrong; I love love. I think that marrying your one true love is the most amazing thing in the world. And I know that God has someone in store for me. But I can't just sit around waiting for God to plop a Prince Charming into my life. I want to be busy! I want to enjoy life! Getting into a relationship is not going to "fix" me. It's not going to solve any of my problems. God is the only solution. So I have to become the woman that God created me to be. Then, and only then, will a man come into my life. 

So singles, the "y" in life stands for YOU! Focus on yourself and your walk with God. Do things that you won't be able to do when you are in a relationship. Go to your favorite local cafe with your Bible and journal; order your favorite drink (forget those calories today!), and just let God speak to your heart. Ask Him what your next step is. And then take it. 

I'm going to close with a quote that changed my life. It really made me refocus myself. 

"Become the you that the person you are looking for is looking for." 
~Andy Stanley

Read it once or twice... it'll hit you :)

Old Fashioned

I am old fashioned. 

I saw something on Pinterest the other day that said, "Stop waiting for your prince. Get up and go find him; the poor idiot may be stuck in a tree or something." I think this is absolutely SHAMEFUL. This is the problem with society. This is why our status as "lady" is almost nonexistent. Men have no reason to have any gumption any more. Why would they? Women will come up to them and initiate things. 

And women like this are the reason that women like me have a hard time finding and keeping decent men. I firmly believe that men should initiate EVERYTHING. Yes, EVERYTHING. He should approach me first. He should ask for my number. He should ask me on a date. Now, my job is to show encouragement when appropriate. I think playing hard to get is also stupid. Be honest. But don't throw yourself all over guys. 

It's just so annoying to come across posts like I stated in the beginning. LADIES, WAIT FOR YOUR PRINCE. THERE ARE MEN OUT THERE THAT STILL BELIEVE IN CHIVALRY.  

Imma Workin' Woman

Welcome, February! 

It's been a while since I've been on here! So, hello, readers! Let me update you on the happenings in my life. 

I have a job. I have joined the Hallmark family, and I couldn't be happier! I actually enjoy working there. It's such a relaxing atmosphere. And the smell! Oh my goodness, it smells amazing. When you walk in, the whole store seems to whisper, "Hello there. Welcome. Come in and smell the relaxation. And while you're here, look at all the charming goodies. And get out those checkbooks.. you will be walking out of here with $30 worth in cheesy cards alone." But the most lovely part of my job is my co-workers. I get to work with the most wonderful women. They are so sweet and so caring. Immediately they took me under their capable wings. I have connected with two of them in particular. Every time I go to work, I end up laughing the time away. I am so blessed to have this job! 

Beatrice is growing like a dandelion in the summer. I mean that in more than one way. She has gained weight (she is up to 3 pounds and 11 ounces!), but she kind of resembles a dandelion too! Her fur is all poofy! She is maturing so well. She sleeps through the night, from around 11:00 PM to 6:00 AM.  Now mommy would like her to sleep longer, but us moms don't always get a say, do we? She is also learning quite well. We are working on "sit" and "stay" and "DON'T POTTY THERE!" She likes "WEEEEEEEE THIS IS FUN MOM LOOK!" the best. "Sit" is her best event as long as I have a treat handy. She is also very  good at "fetch". Overall, at 2 and a half months old, she is coming along quite nicely. 

So February has started off wonderfully. I can't wait to see what else is in store! And don't forget to stop by your local Hallmark to pick up your Valentine's Day gifts! 

Low

We all have those days where you just say, "Wow. Really?" Today is that day for me.. and it's only 8:00 in the morning! 

I have been up since 5 AM with Beatrice. I haven't slept passed 7 AM since I don't know when. I was summoned by Bea, so I went to get her out of her crate. I took her to the bathroom to eat,and I was going to sit down on the floor beside her. I was tired. I wasn't really aware of my surroundings. As my head went down, my eye socket connected with the door handle. That was problem #1. Problem #2 followed quickly. I was having breakfast with the parentals when I accidentally knocked over my drink- with no lid. It went everywhere . Beatrice, meanwhile, was screaming (literally, her bark sounds like a scream when it gets intense enough). Problem #3 is now taking place. I am sitting in my living room wearing my black sweats; my eye socket is throbbing.  I am not confident that my eye won't pop out at any second. I have dark circles under my eyes. My hair is...  well I don't know what my hair is. It is not "in place". I'm still quite thirsty (but that can be amended as soon as I finish up here). And you know what the ironic thing about this whole ugly mess is? 

I signed up for every bit of it.

I had no idea that bringing home a new puppy would result in chaos like this. I had no idea that the changes I have made recently in my life would heap all this stress on my shoulders. I had no idea that I could feel this low. And yet I press on. I re-read my "Just Keep Pushin'" post... and that was for me. I gotta keep going. 

I know that "this too shall pass". I just feel so low. 

 

V-E-T Doesn't Spell Fun

Beatrice had her first veterinarian appointment today. She was her usual, happy self all morning. I put her in the car and looked in her brown eyes. She had no idea what was coming. I checked her in at the front and answered the standard questions. The front desk lady told me to "please take a seat, and the doctor will be right with you". I put Beatrice on my lap and whispered comforting words. She looked happy as a lark, still completely blind to what was about to happen. 

The vet's assistant came out and told me to come with her. We went to a room in the back that was painted green. I mean it was like stepping inside a lime! I set Beatrice on the table, and she put her paws on my stomach, still blissfully unaware... but that blissful expression was about to be wiped off that sweet, little face.

Beatrice had to get three things done at the vet: a fecal sample, heartworm ointment, and vaccination. They happened in that order. I will never forget Beatrice's face when they took the fecal sample. Her eyes grew 10 times their normal size. I am pretty sure I heard her say, "WHAT IS HAPPENING TO ME!?" I just held her tiny body and tried to comfort her. The vaccination was the worst part. They wouldn't let me hold her. So the doctor and the assistant held her while they put the needle in. And oh, she cried and cried. It broke my heart! I actually started sweating. But it was all over and done. We left with Beatrice utterly exhausted. She fell asleep in my arms as soon as we left.

On the bright side, she now weighs two pounds and 12 ounces! She has gained a whole eight ounces! 

Just Keep Pushin'

If being lazy was a hobby, I think it would be my favorite hobby in the world. I absolutely love "lazy days". Curling up by a roaring fire with a cup of chai tea in one hand, and a good book in the other is my ideal day. I love being home just lounging around in my jammies. I will take the comfort of my couch over going "clubbing" any day. 

However, I have to be careful. It would be so easy to do that every single day of my life. But I wouldn't have a fulfilled life either. I would kind of be quitting life. The easiest thing to do in life is quite. It's true. It is so easy to throw in the towel, put the "do not disturb" sign up, and burrow under the covers. But we can't do that. We have to push on. Even when days get so tough and so hard, we have to keep going. Philippians 3:14 says:

I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.

God is telling us to press on! The definition of press is to act upon with steadily applied force. We can apply this to life. We have to steadily, or continually, keep going in life. Take life day by day by day. Not week by week. Not year by year. Day by day. Sometimes we can only take it hour by hour. And that's OK! 

Just don't fall into Satan's trap of depression. He will come to you at your weakest moment, and he will tempt you with the idea of quitting. "Just go back to bed... forget about your responsibilities as a    fill in the blank  . Nobody will miss you. Nobody will care." Well guess what? God cares. And it breaks His heart to see you broken and defeated. He gave you His armor to wear daily! Put it on and push on! His mercies are new every morning! Each day is brand new! Don't lug around yesterday's mistakes and worries. Drop them at the Cross, and press on toward the prize God has for you! 

Follow the Leader

Reading the Bible is an essential thing we need to do daily. But sometimes it's hard to know where to start. I run into that problem constantly. I don't do the "flip to a random page and point" thing. It doesn't work for me. Instead I use www.biblegateway.com This website is absolutely brilliant. On the "Home" page, it provides a "verse of the day". These verses are always thought provoking and applicable. Today's verse is Ephesians 5:1-2:

[Living in the Light] Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children. Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God.

Eye opening, isn't it? Think about it. If we imitated God, if we copied His thoughts, actions, and words, we will automatically live a fulfilled life. We would be kind, bold, compassionate... everything that is good and holy we would be! 

Of course, to be exactly like God is impossible in this world. However, we can strive to be imitators of Him. The definition of imitate is to follow or endeavor to follow as a model or example. Notice the "endeavor to follow". We can't be exactly like God because we aren't perfect! But we can use Him as our model! We can look to Him for advice. We can look to Him for our actions and words. 

So basically we get to play "Follow the Leader" for the rest of our lives! What fun! And we have the best Leader in the world! Imitate God, and you can't go wrong.

Mood Songs

Music is quite remarkable. It's amazing how it can influence your attitude! It can emphasize your mood, or it can completely change it. I'm going to provide you with a list of my five favorite songs according to different moods and situations.

Working Out
1. What Makes You Beautiful- One Direction (no shame here!! I love boy bands!)
2. Glad You Came- The Wanted (yes, another boy band!)
3. Chasing the Sun- The Wanted
4. Let It Rock- Kevin Rudolph (the clean version, of course)
5. Burning Heart- Survivor (love the oldies!)

Chillin'
1. Anything by The Piano Guys
2. Even If It Breaks Your Heart- Eli Young Band
3. Anything by Norah Jones
4. House of Healing feat. Liv Tyler- Lord of the Rings sound track (my inner nerd...)
5. Gift of a Thistle- Braveheart sound track

Dance Partayyyyy!!! (Can take place in the car!)
1. Just Dance- Lady Gaga
2. Glad You Came- The Wanted
3. What Makes You Beautiful- One Direction
4. Poker Face- Lady Gaga
5. It's Tricky- DMC

Cry It Out
1. What Hurts the Most- Rascal Flatts
2. When It Rains- Eli Young Band
3. You Are Mine- Mute Math
4. Breakaway- Kelly Clarkson
5. For the Love of a Princess- Braveheart soundtrack

Country Swag
1. Even If It Breaks Your Heart- Eli Young Band                                
2. Copperhead Road-Steve Earle
3. Good Time- Alan Jackson
4. When Will I Be Loved- Linda Ronstadt
5. Jolene- Dolly Parton

Sittin' and Thinkin' 
1. Just A Game- Birdy
2. Anything by the Civil Wars
3. Princess of China- Coldplay
4. Somebody That I Used To Know- Gotye
5. Alone- Heart

This is called passionate singing.

And there you have it... along with a picture of me rocking out last New Year's Eve. Enjoy. Now go listen to some good, quality music! 

Mommy Troubles

Beatrice is the world's cutest puppy, I'm pretty sure. Like I stated in my description, she is half Shih Tzu, fourth Maltese, and fourth Japanese Chin. She is right at 6 weeks old. 

This is my baby!

Before I proceed, let me say that I love this furball to death. I am so glad she is mine, and I wouldn't change a thing.

 I am trying to crate train her, so that it becomes her "room" at night. I don't want her to view the crate as a scary or bad thing. I want it to be a source of comfort. Well, I break sometimes. OK, most of the time. I usually let her fall asleep on my bed, and then I will quietly slip her into her crate and shut the door. Then not two minutes later she will start yelping like an ax murderer is in there with her. So I get her out. The routine is repeated two or three more times. And she ends up sleeping the rest of the night with me.

Last night was no different. Last night was HORRIBLE. She has had accidents on my bed before. Luckily not on my mattress, just on the quilt. But last night I woke up to her tinkling on my quilt again. It soaked through the top three covers. Ok, I thought. No biggie, just take them off, and go back to sleep. I will wash them in the morning. An hour later, I woke up because I felt something warm on my chest. BEATRICE WAS TINKLING ON ME. Is this really happening? I thought. Yes, yes it is. Holy crap. Holy crap. HOLY CRAP. Immediately I said, "NO!", got her off the bed, and set her on her Potty Pad. I changed shirts, got Beatrice, and went back to bed, thinking she can't possible have any more pee in her. This is it. HA! Wrong-o! An hour later she tinkled YET AGAIN on my pillow. That's when I became firm, and I put her in her crate. She was surprisingly quiet. She could tell I was angry, so I think she knew it was not the time to yelp and cry. I slept the rest of the night "in peace"... I was cold from not having my top three covers. She is now banned from my bed until further notice.

I know she is just a baby. I have to keep that in mind. She is bound to have accidents. But I am at my wit's end! If there are any master dog trainers out there, any suggestions? I just want to potty train and crate train her. I understand what new mommies go through now. And I have the utmost respect for them. Hats off to you, mommies!

Unbreakable, Unashamed

It's no secret that we live in a world where morals are fading into the background. It's becoming increasingly difficult to make good decisions without being looked upon as "weird", "strange", or "uptight". I have watched as strong Christians conform to this world and get sucked into drinking, partying, etc. because they so desperately want to fit in with "the crowd". 

It's so sad to witness. My pastor said something during last weekend's service. He said, "Most of those who walk with the Lord do not finish." My heart kind of dropped. What do you mean? Most Christians fall away from God? Yes. That's exactly what he meant. What a scary thought. However, God addresses this. He tells us what to do. My mom read this to me, and I had to share it. This passage is from Philippians 2. 

¹⁴ Do everything without complaining and arguing, ¹⁵ so that no one can criticize you. Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people. ¹⁶ Hold firmly to the word of life; then, on the day of Christ’s return, I will be proud that I did not run the race in vain and that my work was not useless.

Powerful stuff. It is easier said than done, I know. But the joy of the Lord is our strength! Cast all our cares on Him! He will uphold us with His righteous hand! The Bible is filled with words of encouragement. We as Christians just have to hold on for dear life. We have to set examples to future children of God. Verse 15 says to shine like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people. 

Take today to be that shining bright light for someone. Don't break. Don't give in to this world's ideas of fun. Then we can stand in front of the Lord unashamed, for we lived clean, innocent lives. 

She Smiles At The Future

HELLO 2013!

A new year calls for celebration! The slate has been swiped clean; the floor has been mopped spotless; second, third, fourth (and even beyond) chances are once again being given. We have been given another 365 and 1/4 days to give this thing called Life another go. I am incredibly optimistic about 2013. This is going to be such a great year! 

Now, I know what you're thinking. Everyone starts out so positive. What about when 2013 brings sorrow and anguish? I have no doubt that 2013 will certainly have its sorrows. But it will also have many, many joys. I know this because God has promised us blessings in Life! He gave His Life so we could have Life, and have it more abundantly! (John 10:10)

God knows the plans that He has laid out for us. HE CREATED THOSE PLANS! He has it all figured out from the moment we were conceived to the moment we meet Him in His House. He has plans for us to prosper, not just get by, but PROSPER. What good news! (Jeremiah 29:11)

This is why I can be so optimistic about 2013. This is why I can smile at the future (just like Proverbs tells me to do as godly woman in Proverbs 31). So my friends, do not be afraid. God is an awesome God. He will never leave us nor forsake us. 

2013, bring on the good times!