For me

I have intended to blog for so long... but when it came down to sit down and actually write I didn't know what to say, where to begin, or if I should even bother. For the last time I put off blogging simply because I don't have a computer and blogging from my phone isn't the easiest. I now have an android tablet, which I absolutely LOVE, so I lost a huge chunk of my excuse. But ultimately it's for me, not for anyone else. So here I am! :-)

When I did blog, I took more pictures and I could actually remember what I did with my days( or what months). I honestly have no idea where 2012 has disappeared to, ha!

I have been at my new job for a little over 2 months. I like the people I work with and the basic jest of my join. I worked as a recruiter under our corporate office in Jacksonville for the first month. During that time I rent like the guinea pig. :-) I was the first full-time recruiter working at the  branch level, so it took them a while to figure out what the wanted me to do or how they want me to do it. I rent like a definite yo yo. I now work as a branch employee. I actually like it better. Before I was a corporate member sitting in the branch. Now I actually feel like I am more a part of the team. The only problem is that his the corporate recruiters view me as competition. From my understanding, they eventually want to do all recruiting it of the branch so if I succeed then their books are at stake. Recruiting from a branch level is much more effective than doing all of their recruiting out of a call center. I just don't know that I am cut throat enough to succeed at this as a career...  but I have been praying for contentment and for a better attitude. I know God brought me to the job for a reason. I think the hardest thing for me is that my work does not get to speak for itself. My success and income is dependent entirely on other people - whether they accept the job, site up to test, pass the test and go to work. Thankfully I do have a livable salary and I am not dependent on my hire compensations. I'm learning less of lessons in faith and patience too. :-)

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Production entrance

I am in my second week of this movie. It will be over before I know it. Not sure how I feel about that. I don't like contract work at all but those are typically the best paying jobs. IF I do work another movie I am hoping to work with an actual production crew team. In this industry education and experience don't seem to matter. "It's all about who you know, not what you know."
I'll be moving in the next couple of weeks. I have until the end of April to move out of my little midtown manor. I'll be moving into a 1 bedroom apartment on the other side of town. Away from downtown, within walking distance of the studio and in a safer part of town. I am most excited about space and upgrades. My house is do little and has nothing in the way of storage, especially in the kitchen. Speaking of kitchens, I will never take dishwashers or double sinks for granted again. This whole single sink and no countertop business killed my "don't go to bed with the kitchen dirty" habit. Ha. On a bright note, I got off work an hour early yesterday and when I got to my house to get ready for date night Tuesday Justin was sitting on my couch, my kitchen was completely cleaned and Nemo's litter box cleaned. I SO appreciate the little things. :-) It was such a relief and breathe of fresh air.

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Time flies

It's March already? Excuse me, but where in the world did the time go? It was just Christmas! :-)
Obviously making a big blogging comeback was not part of my new years' resolutions. I still read and comment when I can. I've been computer-less for 2 months now. I miss my laptop terribly! I mean, imagine how much more time I could waste in pinterest, blogger and social media. Haha! I do miss coupon inch though. *sigh* It just takes way to much time to do the matchups on my own.
What has happened in the past two months? Good question. I was so good at taking a picture a day for the first couple of weeks of 2012, a feeble attempt at documenting my life in some form. In the mundane day-to-day I just don't think to take pictures.
I was able to go home a lot in January and February, so I have some pictures from that. Unfortunately they're on my camera and I can only blog from my phone right now. Rather than try and even post document my life, I'll document the here and now. I am no longer the manager at work. I resigned and now bake. The hours are not full-time but the schedule is super flexible which is exactly what I will be needing in a couple of weeks. Remember on my crazy, ridiculous workaholic summer last year when I was working a day or so a week for a movie company here in town? No? Didn't think so. Haha. Well they gave offered me a full-time contract position. The start filming their next movie in a couple of weeks and will film for 8-10 weeks. I will work for them Monday though Friday. I will also continue to work at the bakery for atleast a few weeks on weekends. My biggest goal is to put the extra income from the movie into savings and my entire bakery paycheck towards debt. I paid off my first credit card on Friday and it was so nice. I finally felt like I was accomplishing something! I also plan on going back to school, either in the summer or fall. I WILL get my bachelors degree. I'm putting my stubbornness to good use!

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Ringing in 2012

I probably had the best New Years Eve of my life this year. Rather than having a plan, I followed Justin's suggestion and just went with the flow. We had sushi for lunch at Rock N Roll sushi in the mall. We don't typically eat there because their sushi is on the higher end, but our favorite sushi place closed and we both wanted sushi. However, since we were celebrating New Years and still celebrating Justin's birthday(December 30th), we decided to go again. We got one of their signature rolls and tried some of their new, less expensive rolls. The atmosphere is great, the service is awesome and I can honestly say it was some of the best sushi I have ever had. And I love me some sushi!

We did a little bit of shopping after we ate. I found a fuzzy jacket in my favorite color at Forever21 and it was marked down to $10! And I bought my first pair of leggings. Ha, yeah, I am a little behind on that trend.
Justin finally found the perfect watch(my Christmas present to him). It was a little late but I am glad he finally found the exact one he wanted.

After we shopped, I came back to my house and took a nap. There was no way the old  lady in me would have been able to ring in the new year without a nap. I got a good little nap in before the neighbors started shooting fireworks.

Justin and his friend Kevin came and picked me up. We made our way downtown. I completely forgot they were having a parade until we literally ran into it. We had dinner at a new restaurant downtown, Cabo(a mexican cantina). Of course, it was crowded so rather than wait for a table of our own, we were able to split a large table with another group. The food was delicious! We will definitely be going back. The people that we initially shared our table with left and 2 ladies asked if they could have the other end of our table. After they sat down, we all started talking. It turned out to be one of those situations that only God could have orchestrated. They both work at Austal(where Justin just finished his training and will start working Tuesday) and are both very high up in different divisions. One lady, Elizabeth, is the executive assistant to "big whig" of Austal(not sure what his official title is). Her son is only 20, started Austal when he was 18, and has already worked his way up through the ranks as a welder. He is going to be working in the same area as Justin so they enjoyed talking for a good long while.

We had to make a trip back to the car before going to find a spot to watch the Moon Pie drop. Despite the crazy crowd, we were able to catch up with my "sistah friend" Jessica. Yes, here in Mobile we have a Moon Pie drop. Our 10% tax is being put to good use. ;-) It was a fun experience. They were supposed to do fireworks over the water on both sides of the bay but, unfortunately, it was too foggy so they didn't do the big fireworks.

All in all, it was a wonderful New Year's Eve. 2011 was a good year. Much better than 2010. It was filled with learning, growing, and challenges, lots of smiles, laughter and love. I am really excited about 2012 and what God has in store!

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Preparing for cooler temps

My landlord came and replaced my gas heater last week. I have a fireplace but unfortunately they have it blocked off at the top. So the gas heater and I are going to be really good friends this winter.

This is my original heater. 

 It was ancient but fit the house's character.

This is the new one. And I am not going to lie. It looks so odd and out of place in my older home. But I am sure I will appreciate the energy efficiency of the new one once the winter gas bills start rolling in.

I have already decided I need these to help me make it through winter:

A cute winter bath robe. It is going to be super cold in my little house with it being off the ground and having all wood floors. So a robe is a must. (photos from Belk.com)

I am not much of a slipper person, but I love warm, fuzzy socks. Let's be honest, if your feet are cold then your whole body is going to be cold. So we have to take care of the feet. :-) (photo from littlemissmatched.com)

Yes, I do know I live in southern AL and it isn't like we get REAL winter weather. But after our serious summer heat, it does seem cold. My body just doesn't like cold weather. The only consolation is that fall/winter also means boots and cute jackets!

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Fruit of the Spirit

This post is completely raw and an open view into my heart. I needed to write it for myself. I want something to document the changes in my life and to hold me accountable. 

Saturday we had a free cupcake day at work. Needless to say, it was a long 12 hour work day for me that started at 6am.

Justin and I were having a heart to heart that night. He had said something several weeks ago but it wasn't until that conversation that it really hit me. Hard. He told me that I had lost my sweet spirit. Honestly, it floored me. He didn't mean it in a mean or callous way. He said it gently and in a way of keeping me accountable, something I definitely need. But it hurt. A lot. Over the last several months I have changed and it was so gradual I hadn't even noticed. It is so embarrassing to admit but I have been less than pleasant company. I know I am quick to get angry, beyond impatient, ridiculously nit-picky and flat out over-opinionated and rude. I wasn't happy and because I wasn't happy I was snapping on anyone and anything in reach. I seriously cried for hours on Saturday night. I don't want to push away the people I love and care about. I don't want to isolate myself because of my miserable countenance. What in the world was wrong with me? Why have I become like that?

Looking back on it I think it started when I decided I needed to pick up a second job. Through the entire past year I have been trusting in God's faithfulness and His promise to provide. He had shown it occasion after occasion. Yet I took things in my own hands and took on a second job, working 2-3 12 hour overnight shifts. It wore me out physically, mentally and emotionally. And it went down hill from there. My quiet time became non-existent with my insane schedule. I became ill and irritable. My priorities weren't straight and my heart was definitely in the wrong place. The last several days have been beyond humbling. I realized that I had become a person I didn't want to be. My parents hadn't raised me to be controlling, impatient, irritable, demanding, stressed, worrisome... I could go on and on. I sat down Saturday night trying to figure out what Justin had meant about my "sweet spirit". I didn't get it at all. After much prayer and digging into the word, I realized where I had strayed and what my character and countenance has been lacking. I've started studying each of the Fruits of the Spirit and the characteristics of love individually. God has much work to do in my heart, but my eyes, ears and heart are open. I want so desperately to be happy and content again. I want my faith to be stronger, my life to be what it should be. 

^{Galations 5:22-23}

²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

^{1 Corinthians 13: 4-8b4} Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵ It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8 Love never fails...

I started with patience. I know it is something that I have always struggled with. It's already been a really humbling, eye-opening experience. 

Despite knowing what all needs to change and how far I have strayed from where I need to be, today has been one of the most peace-filled and content days I have had in a long time. I started off my morning early, around 5:30am, with prayer and more praying while I was showering. I actually took the time to make my bed up, a very rare occurrence. Strange how something so simple can make you feel a little more put together. HA. I then got to have a good quiet time and sharing with my mom via text messages. She always knows exactly what I need to hear. I can never explain to her how much I appreciate her wisdom and understanding. I worked 9-4:30 and ran some errands before hitting the gym. I made it home and I wasn't ready for dinner so I decided to work on my personal planner I've been creating and attempt at gluing some of my puzzles together. Then I had a yummy dinner of Parmesan pesto tilapia and green beans. Healthy and delicious. I know it doesn't sound like much but you know the biggest thing. I smiled the whole day. Not one thing bothered or irritated me and I didn't lose patience at all. All little steps but it was so refreshing and did my heart good to know that change is possible and it is going to be amazing. I feel refreshed and renewed... and very hopeful. 

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Monster Cupcakes

Gearing up for the fall season and Halloween at work we have been playing around with some cupcakes. We needed a chocolate based, kid friendly cupcake to replace the Cookies and Cream cupcake for a while. Here are some of my little creations from this afternoon. I love this little monsters!

This was the first little guy that I did this afternoon. I accidentally broke one of my pretzel sticks but honestly, I think it works. :-)

One of my favorite things about these cupcakes is that they don't have to be perfect. In fact, I think they look better in all of their imperfections. Case in point? Check out the Coconut Long Boy candy I used for his ear collapsed and curled up. I think it just adds character! And you can change them around a bit to create a different look.

 Two of the monsters in the bakery case. The cupcakes are upside down, so packing them to go is a bit tricky. But it's convenient to already have them plated.

These are SO much fun to make and oh so easy!

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