Check, Check, Check

I just gave Huntington the excusive pleasure of attending to all my banking needs. You’re welcome.

The job hunt continues. No news isn’t good news.

But the apartment is coming together! I love having my own spot. Slowly it is beginning to show a few of my true colors and I love it. Photos to follow!!

Mrs. Messi's Musings

I want to thank my dear sis, Mrs.Messi, for inspiring me to Blog again and helping me get started. Frankly, she's got the whole blogging thing DOWN! 100 followers, giveaways, etc, etc. I love it! I'm proud. :)

If you are reading this, check her out, follow her, and win her giveaway!

Yesterday I finished reading “The Traveler’s Gift” by Andy Andrews. It was an interesting blend of self-help advice and historical novel and I found it very easy to dive in and relate to the jobless (haha) hero David Ponder who was arriving at the desperate believe that his life was beyond hope for himself or his family.

David travels though time, meeting along the way the likes of King Solomon, Christopher Columbus, Anne Frank, and others, who each teach him a valuable lesson about living in such a way that he could not only better the quality of his life, but also the lives of those around him and for generations to come. 
 In a nut shell, David learns:

1. The buck stops here. I am responsible for my past and my future.
2. I will seek wisdom. I will be a servant to others.
3. I am a person of action. I seize the moment. I choose now.
4. I have a decided heart. My destiny is assured.
5. Today I choose to be happy. I am the possessor of a grateful heart.
6. I will greet this day with a forgiving spirit. I will forgive myself. 
7. I will persist without exception. I am a person of great faith.  
   
   (Andres, Andy. The Traveler’s Gift. Thomas Nelson, Inc:
   Nashville, 2002. p. 204.)
   
   
   I love reading books like this. I love KNOWING that there is so much potential in me and in those around me. That it is ok that I want a life of excitement and adventure and learning and influencing others. That is ok that I don’t want to just settle into a ‘normal’ life. I want more. That is ok. Better than ok. :)
   That being said…time to wash dishes. Wink!
   PS. The roof stopped leaking after a work crew arrived at 7:30 yesterday morning to dig out all the ice….they will be back this afternoon to start patching things together!
   
   
   And….My eyes! My eyes!! The burning!!! ;) Suns finally out!!!
   

Here's Looking at You Kid

Pinky...and the Brain

Water, Water, Everywhere

Yesterday as I was walking to the post office I noticed a huge mound of snow and thought to myself, “I sure hope we have a slow thaw. I don’t know where all this water will end up if we don’t!”

Then I found out.

I had Landon’s family over last night for a Mardi Gras Honduran meal. Keith said he thought he heard water and looked up….right at a ceiling tile about to explode! We ended up having to move two totally ruined ones and a few partly soaked ones only to discover significant water damage.

I live above a laundry mat, and right out my “dining room” window is an exhaust pipe. It appears that the heat from the pipe is melting the snow, but as it has nowhere to go because of all the ice backed up in the drain pipes, it wiggled its way into my apartment!!

It began as an annoying trickle and has morphed into a constant stream. Keith came back this morning and created a makeshift water catcher with a tarp and bucket that seems to be catching 80% of the water. My clever bucket and paper towel combos seem to be getting the rest of it.

Oy vey.

Hopefully the guy Keith hired to knock all the snow down will get here soon. I’m beginning to wonder what will happen in the whole, water-clogged insulation mess comes down….I’ll get my very own sky light!!

Going to get my Ashes tonight. Happy Lent.

Uncommon Sense

I love reading. Usually I have three or four books going at one time. Right now I have more, I think…..I’m not even sure how many! But I can knock one of my list, which turned out to be one of the best, most inspiring books I’ve read in a long time. It was “Sense of the World: How a Blind Man Became History’s Greatest Travelers” by Jason Roberts.

I read and reread Robert’s words:
“As best as can be reconstructed, by October of 1846, when Holman stepped off the Channel packet, his travels totaled no less than a quarter of a million miles…Alone, sightless, with no prior command of native languages and with only a wisp of funds, he has forged a path equivalent to wandering to the moon.”

It is easy for me, and most, I assume, to make excuses for why we are not creating the life we truly want or are living up to the potential that God has placed in us. Most people don’t, I believe. So why should I be any different? Why take incredible steps to live an inspired, creative, world-changing life? All of us have a matter of chips against us. That is just how things are.

But…

There are some people who simple take excuses away. James Holman was one such person. He had dozes of reasons to settle into a sheltered, simple, conventional life. Valid reasons! Poverty. Illness. No family. Interrupted Education. Loss of full sight at the age of 25!! But he ignored social stigma and common sense and created a life he could only imagine and a life that continues to inspire.

What will I do today to achieve my dreams?

Snow, Snow, Go Away....

....Come again another day.....or never. Ever.

I want to like all this snow...it really is beautiful. But it is so darn cold. And messy. And EVERYWHERE!! AND STILL COMING!! Another 8-12 inches tomorrow to add to the foot that fell over the weekend. Boo.

Spring?? Anytime now is great for me!

We did make the best of it, though. Landon and I got snowed in at his mom's, and spend the weekend watching movies with her and playing. I learned to drive a snow mobil, and Landon showed me how to built a fort out of a snow drift...big enough that both of us could fit in it!

Still. I'm ready for spring....or maybe building a snowman. We'll see. ;)

Ps....Is there a way to check my spelling in here? I can't find it!

Free, Free, Free!!

So Lucky Magazine is giving away way cool prizes for the next 45 days. You should know that. Enter here, win, and share it with me. ;-)

Going Hunting

Job hunting, that is. Seriously, what do you do when there just are no jobs to apply for? My job search is getting broader, I'm willing to commute up to an hour (and on these icy country roads, that is saying something), and I'll even work for pennies.


Today I applied to be a secretary at a jail, for Pete’s sake.


But, I WILL find a job. That’s how it works...you hunt to get the kill!!


Landon's Dad and Stepmom are coming for dinner. Time to get back into a good mood. Folding laundry should help! Wink.

Back!

What a fun weekend! Yay for days off. I'm glad Landon gave them to me. We had a fun visit with Aunt Rita on the way to VA, and spend a great weekend with my family.


The snow followed me to VA. Then back to OH. 2 inches last night. I'm ticked. ;)

Lisa is having a girl!! I'm so excited. Baby kicked me once...I was really glad I got to feel it. I'm so sad I am missing my sisters pregnancy. I really wish I could be there more.

Still nothing from the job....It looks like my search continues. Boo. Sigh. God knows. Patience.

Chocolate Chip Pancakes for dinner. Life is very good. <3