Just pluggin' along..

So, I've been "kindly" told by a few folks lately that I need to update my blog.  I can't imagine WHY!?  It's not like it's been THAT long since I last updated!!  haha! ;o)  I was doing really good about blogging once a week, sometimes twice, before I left for my trip to WI, but then when I was IN Wisconsin, I just wanted to relax and have a good time and "blogging" was the last thing on my mind.  Now since I've gotten back to my home and job, I've been going NON-STOP and any time I do slow down, it seems that I just want to lay down and take a nap.  So...I have been! :)

Things really have been going good, though.  I had a few rough days after I left WI and I was just feeling sad.  Luckily, a good friend of mine was passing through town a few days after I got back to WY and a good long visit with her over some coffee really did the trick to pull me out of my sadness.  I have been glad for that visit ever since! :)

As for work, I've been working lots of overtime to GET caught up and then to GET caught up AGAIN!!  It's kind of frustrating some days, but in all reality, it IS job security! :) Thankfully, though, I really like the work I do, so I don't necessarily mind being at work, but there are moments when I'd like just a leetle break!  haha! :)  I think the thing that becomes the most "trying" is that students are becoming more and more DE-pendent on people and on having others do things FOR them because they just don't want to take the time to figure it out for themselves.  So, a lot of my day is spent saying the same thing(s) over and over and just trying to teach them how to help themselves.  It's like being a parent!  haha! :)

Anyway...as you and most of the internet world know, I turned 30 last month and it's certainly been...different.  It's silly to think that you go to bed one night as a certain person with a certain outlook on life only to wake up the next morning and find that you feel differently about things, but honestly, that's really how I've felt about a few things since turning 30.  It's been kind of "freeing," I guess.  One of the things that I've been thinking a lot about this year are my new year's resolutions.  Now, I don't know that I've ever actually completely followed through on my resolutions, but I do enjoy making them and writing them down and pondering on them throughout the year.  I guess I'm more about LIFE changes than new year's changes, you know?  So, as I've turned 30 and as I've really thought about life, here are my two main LIFE resolutions that I've come up with for this year...

• The idea is that you become more "set" in your ways as you grow older, so I want to really start focusing NOW on being the person that I want to be in another 30 years.  That way, when I'm "set" in my ways, I'll be set in things that are good, with a countenance that's full of love, kindness, friendliness, helpfulness, sincerity, honesty, simplicity, quietness, peacefulness and so on.  (The list could go on for ages, really, but you get what I mean.)  There's so many things that I see in life and that gets me to thinking that, "I don't want to be that way when I'm older!" and so I've decided to start BEING the way I want to be NOW so that when I am older, I'll be exactly the way I hoped to be.  Does that make sense?  I hope so. :)
• The second thing that I've really come to learn about myself is that I really live in fear.  A lot.  Since being diagnosed with cancer years ago, I have completely realized my tendency to gravitate toward fear with many situations and experiences in life.  What I haven't realized until the last six months or so is that I've allowed fear to take such a big hold on my life that it dictates choices and decisions that I make in my life on a regular basis.  Without a doubt, fear envelopes me and controls me and it's only been recently that I've really come to understand its hold on my life.  And do you know what brought that up?  A grad student was talking to me about how big her Biology class was on campus and my first thought was, "I wonder if she ever thinks about some person coming in with a gun into that classroom..."  The answer?  It never crossed her mind.  Unfortunately, it was my first thought and my internal reaction was fear.  And it just got me to thinking about how many times I do that to myself!  My initial reaction is toward the negative with a fear of what could possibly happen that it has turned my standard response into one of avoidance.  What a great life THAT will be, huh?  Living life in fear of what could happen and ultimately working to avoid "the bad" by just staying home and not venturing out anywhere. Yeah...a really fulfilling life, eh?  And so I really want to start focusing on that fear and on combating it in a positive, intentional manner.  I want to start looking that fear in the face and intentionally taking a step toward (or into) that fear and conquering it.  I don't want my intial thoughts to revolve around fear anymore, but, instead, I want them to revolve around LIFE and around the wonderful experiences THAT I'M HAVING versus revolving around all the bad that COULD happen.  So...here's to a more filling journey that revolves more around faith and believing and less around fear...much less. :)

So, I do hope that your year has started off fantastically and that you're doing well and having good days!  All-in-all, I'm doing really well and can't complain about much (except maybe cold, bitter WIND...grrrr!!!), so I'm going to really try to make a better effort with updating this blog and with keeping you updated as to how my LIFE resolutions are progressing, along with how LIFE, itself, is going.  All for now!! : )

Happy New Year!

Well, first blog post of the new year and all I'm going to do is update you and let you know that I'm back in Wyoming and have FINALLY felt a little settled back in to my routine today.  I still have some things to unpack and organize, but so far, so good!!  It was quite rough to come back this year and I was really sad up through yesterday.   :(  Oh, well...what do you do!?!  I just have to stay focused and remember that my LAST semester of school starts tomorrow!!!  YAHOO!!! :)  Work-wise, I don't feel ready, but class-wise...bring it on!! :)

Anyway, I will update more later when I can, but I wanted to say Happy New Year to everyone and I hope that the new year has started off well for you!!  I have finally come up with a list of resolutions, so when I get them all organized, I'll be sure to share them with you.  I'm actually kind of excited about them! :)

All for now!  Take care!

Still here!

Hello there!  Well, I'm still in WI and will be here for another five days yet.  The time just flies by, though, and I can't believe that I've already been here for two weeks!  I suppose that it's due to Christmas being right in the middle of it all and there's always lots to do before and after the actual day.  Oh, well...such is life!!

I've been having lots of fun here visiting family, playing Scrabble with Mom, playing dominoes with Mom & Luke (my brother), going on Therapy Dog visits with my Dad & Buddy (the dog), and just relaxing and having a good time.  I'll be sad to leave next Tuesday but I'm also kind of anxious to get my semester started and to get it finished so that I can have my bachelor's degree IN HAND!!   Yahoo!! :)

I hope that you are having good days, too!  We'll be home for the next few days (no big travel plans) and we plan to bring in the new year quietly and just here at home.  There's a storm that's supposed to start and last through tomorrow, so we'll see how that ends up, but it sure makes me glad that we've gotten the majority of our traveling OUT of the way!!  Have a safe and Happy New Year and we'll "chat" here again in 2011!! :o)

Wisco

Hello!  I thought that I had better get on here and give a quick update as to what's going on in my life! :)

I had a wonderful birthday on Thursday!!  It was such a special day and I felt very lucky to have as many friends as I do who helped celebrate the day.  I was THRILLED to start the day off with breakfast at Brent's house with JT, Shannon, Danny, Jane D., and Justin (and me and Brent, too :).  Brent served up biscuits & gravy, eggs, waffles, bacon and OJ...yum!  What a great start to the day!!  Then, I had lots of visits, phone calls and e-mails throughout the day, I enjoyed lunch with my good friend, Meegan, and then spent the evening with some great friends in Elk Mtn.  It was just a spectacular day and it made turning 30 a special event!  (THANK YOU, Kristi, for no black balloons that night!! :)

Then on Friday, it was time to fly to Wisconsin, but guess what...I woke up feeling TERRIBLE and was pretty sure I had the flu.  I really wasn't sure what was going on, so I decided to take off anyway and see what happened.  All in all, I felt crummy all day, but I made the trip and now I am safely in WI (yay!).  Even though I was pretty sure that I was coming down with the flu, now I'm starting to wonder if I was just over-tired because I'd had several late nights this past week.  I slept WELL last night but still felt a little "iffy" this morning.  I just told myself to get over it and I went on to enjoy my day.  I've felt fine since.  Anyway, we drove about two hours this morning to have breakfast with some of my aunts & uncles and cousins from my dad's side of the family.  After breakfast we went to my aunt & uncle's house and visited until three this afternoon and then we headed for home.  It was a GREAT day!!  I'm glad the weather cooperated, too, and let us travel. :)

So, I'm here at mom & dad's and enjoying being here already.  Except that it's C-O-L-D and it seems much colder than WY, so I've been kind of whiney about that... haha! :)  Hope you're doing well!  I'll update when I can, but no promises for regular posts!! :)

By the way...straight A's this last semester.  YAHOO!!! :o)  I now have one semester left with only two classes to take and I'm THRILLED about that!  *laugh*  :)

I'm 30 today!!!

Oh my goodness...I am 30 years old today.  YIKES!!  haha! :)

Really, I have been totally fine with turning 30...until the year arrived.  Starting the day after my 29th birthday, I just started freaking out about being 30!  It lasted all year long and finally about two weeks ago, I started to feel like it might not end up being so bad after all.  haha! :) 

With this birthday coming up, I've been thinking lots about who I am and what I am and it's been good for me to ponder that for a little bit.  For the most part, I'm pretty happy with where I'm at in life.  There's a few things that I've decided I'd like to see change from this point on, but it's nothing that is a deal breaker and so that's pretty good, I think! :)

So, here I am...30.  My day today is going to start out with breakfast at Brent's house (he's a good friend of mine) with a few other friends joining us (Julie S...do you remember doing that for Brent's 30th?! :).  Then, I'm going to have lunch with another good friend, Meegan, and I'm really looking forward to that, too!  Finally, at the end of the day, I'm going to go join my friends west of here for an evening of Pampered Chef and some good visits.  All in all, I think it's going to be a wonderful day!! :)

I hope you have a great day, too!  I'd sure love to hear any comments from those of you who have experienced 30, whether recently or awhile ago, and what you have to say about it.  It's always fun to hear peoples' opinions on different milestones in life. :)  Take care!

Look what I got!!! :)

These arrived in my office today from my good 'ol Papaw!! :o)  Aren't they beautiful?  If you click once on the picture, they'll zoom in and give a bigger, better view.  Dad sent them to me for my birthday this week.  THANKS, DAD!!!!  xoxoxo

(sorry the pic quality isn't the best...these are from my camera phone. :)

DONE!

Well, I am officially DONE with this semester of school!  Wahoo!  I just submitted my last assignment a half hour ago (just in time for the midnight deadline!) and it feels SO good to be done.  Now I'm going to relax and ENJOY the holiday break.  No classes or homework until January 10...whew! : )  On a side note...guess where I fly to on Friday?!  Can't wait!! : )