Stephany Writes

Categories: Recurring Series

So…June? That Was It?

I don’t have much to say about June. These past 30 days have flown by without much happening. I’ve been working, applying to jobs, exercising, and trying to enjoy this season in my life. Scratch that. I haven’t been enjoying it. I’ve been worrying and stressing and wondering what’s wrong with me-ing. But what June has taught me is that all I can do is play the waiting game. Do what I can to improve my resume and cover letter writing skills. Seek out better places to apply (i.e., not only popular job search engines like Monster and Career Builder). Begin networking. But above all that, just trying to enjoy this time as I know soon my weeks will be filled with 40-hour work weeks, projects, challenges, and mind-numbing learning and training. (Although, to be honest, that sounds much better than what I do with my weeks now.)

One thing I’ve been learning in the past few months is that I’m not a child anymore. I know that seems like such a silly statement coming from a twenty-three-year-old, but I have a tendency to cling to the past and forget that I am an Adult and can do Adult Things. (Not, adult adult things. Well, I can do that but that’s not what I’m talking about. Ahem. Moving on.) I’ve started to take more action with my finances, with meal planning, with standing up for myself. This was most apparent when I had to confront someone at work. I said my piece, which terrified me, and the result was not pleasant. But it was a big moment for me. I’ve never been known as the girl you don’t mess with. I’m quiet and shy, keeping to myself. This was the opposite of who I’ve become and it’s exciting. I only hope I can continue to capture opportunities to stand up for myself and make my voice known.

Weight loss seemed to stall this month. May was a terrible month where I seemed to be in vacation mode the entire time. June was my month to get back on track. My mom and I started going to a new meeting, with our old leader. The meeting is farther away but we were a little fed up with our other meeting. The leader was also great, but the people were stuck on being perfect. The meeting we’re in now is so much better. The people there are real and struggle. It’s refreshing. That said, my weight loss wasn’t impressive but I’m determined to get on the right track. And really, that’s all that matters. I know I’m still going to struggle, have bad weeks and good weeks (bad months and good months), but all that really matters is that I get back on the horse and keep on truckin’.

I think one of the most exciting moments of June was when an impromptu #winetoreach was started on a Friday night and then the topic of Harry Potter was brought up. I mentioned I had never seen any of the movies and only read the first two books. Luckily, I wasn’t the only one but it caused a lot of shock and horror. And caused Erin to come up with the ridiculously awesome plan of reading through the entire Harry Potter series this summer. The plan is absolutely nuts but Erin has reminded me that these are children’s literature and fast reads. I trust her and I’m totally up for the challenge. (We’re also discussing the books on Thursday nights on Twitter, 10:00 p.m. EST.) So far, I’ve read through the first book and I’m halfway through the second. And guys? These books are good.

How did your June pan out?

Categories: Recurring Series

Wine and Love (V. 2)

Things that are making me fill up my wine glass (or in my case, reach for a plate of cookies):

  • I’ve been feeling very uninspired and unfulfilled lately. I don’t know if I’m suffering from vacation hangover or the fact that my life has become very mundane for the past month or so, but it’s leaving me wanting more.
  • I need to write a very hard e-mail that I’ve been putting off for a few weeks now. I’m worried that the person I e-mail will think less of me and want to punch me in the face. Or maybe I’m just overthinking things?
  • Last week, I was doing quite well with getting to bed before 10:00 p.m. and getting close to 8 hours of sleep a night. But this week has been nights of going to bed around 11:30 p.m. or later and not getting as much sleep as I need, which leaves me feeling very lethargic and slow. It was amazing to see what sleep did for my energy levels so I need to get back to my 9:30 p.m. bedtime!

Things that are filling me up with love:

  • Kicking off my week by giving a killer interview. At least, it felt that way to me. I find out today if I was as killer as I thought I was and make it to the second-round interview. Cross your fingers for me, because this is the first non-sales interview I’ve had and I’m really excited about the job possibility!
  • Becoming a gym rat. Joining the gym was one of the best decisions I’ve made all year because it’s really helped me to ramp up my exercise. I’m taking two spin classes a week, two weight-lifting classes a week, and getting in so much other cardio that my body is happy. And sore.
  • Making plans to spend a long weekend in Orlando next month. Yes, I realize I just took an amazing vacation last month but my mom barely ever does anything for her birthday and she really needs a weekend to get away from it all. Plus, we have yearly passes to 4 parks in Orlando so all we have to pay for is the hotel and food that weekend! Pretty sweet.

*Hosted by Walking With Nora

Categories: Recurring Series

Ten on Tuesday – The Perfect Edition

1. What’s the perfect meal?
If you don’t yet know about my obsession with Publix subs, then we are not as good of friends as I thought we were. I have them at least twice a week and challenge you to find a sub that’s more yummy and filling than this one. Subway has nothing on Publix. Sadly, they only have locations in the Southeast with Florida being the state with the most locations.

Anyway, I still haven’t answered the question. Perfect meal: a Publix sub with an ice-cold Coke. Yum, yum, yum. I have this once a week as my “cheat meal”.

2. What are the perfect pair of shoes?
Anything that I can comfortably walk in for a long period of time. My foot has a high arch so sandals and flats usually make the arch hurt (it literally feels like the skin on my arch is stretched to the max and any heel-to-toe foot strike makes my arch sting and feel like the skin will rip apart. You’re welcome.) so I’ll have to be lame and say running shoes. They offer the perfect support, although there are certain flip-flops I can wear that don’t hurt my foot as badly.

3. What is the perfect afternoon?
Napping, especially if it’s a weekday. I’m usually busy applying for jobs, blogging, and cleaning during the afternoon so my afternoon naps have decreased over the past month. But it is a pleasurable way to spend an afternoon, I must say.

Now, if it’s the weekend, the perfect afternoon is usually spent at a water park. I have passes to 3 different water parks in Orlando and I’m looking to use them to their full extent this summer! Water parks are the perfect way to spend an afternoon in Florida, because it’s just too hot and humid to do anything else!

4. What’s the perfect house?
I’m not exactly sure. Somewhere that feels like home, that has comfy furniture and homey accents. Somewhere where I’m not afraid to kick my shoes off and curl up on the couch.

5. What is the perfect outfit?
Something comfortable. Are we sensing a pattern here? Yoga pants, shirts that don’t cling to me, tank tops.

6. What’s the perfect wedding song?
My friend Anisah’s first song with her husband was “At Last” by Etta James and to this day, I cannot think of a better first dance song. It’s poignant, slow, and romantic.

7. What is the perfect job?
Right now, any place that will hire me! Ideally, something in communications where I can combine my passions for writing and marketing into one pretty sweet job.

8. What is the perfect hairstyle?
I really don’t know. I love my hair short, but keep daydreaming about growing it long. But really? A ponytail. That is the perfect hairstyle. It’s off my neck and out of my way so I don’t have to bother with it.

9. What’s the perfect music festival?
I love Christian music festivals, I really do. I’ve been to 2 or 3 and they are my absolute favorite. Being surrounded by people with likeminded views and singing praises to God is amazing. I feel at peace and completely whole.

10. What’s the perfect day to yourself?
The last part of that question is the key: to yourself. Having a day to yourself is awesome enough! I would sleep in, read, go to the gym, read, catch up on blogging, read… Do absolutely nothing that required work I didn’t want to do.

Ten on Tuesday is run by Chelsea of Roots and Rings. Find the questions here.

Categories: Recurring Series

May, you were good to me. Let’s meet again soon.

How is it already May 30? I feel like I was just submitting my last school assignment and preparing for graduation.

May was an amazing month for me. One of the best I’ve ever had.

It started off with me sending off my last assignment, a take-home final exam, and then worrying myself silly that I would somehow fail a class. Although there was a mix-up regarding my final short story, it all worked out and my final grades were what I expected. (And I just received an official letter congratulating me on my diploma, but I still don’t think I will be fully relaxed until I have that diploma displayed on my wall.)

May was the month I went on my first interview, only to be sorely disappointed the job was for door-to-door sales. And as my job search has yielded no positive feedback, sometimes I let myself wonder if I should’ve tried harder to get that job. But I also know that it is a job I would’ve hated and I need to keep searching until I find a job that fits me better. I’m not idealistic in the sense that I have to find my dream job, but I’m also not going to accept a job doing something I don’t like.

Two big things happened in May: I graduated from college and went on a five-day Western Caribbean cruise.

My graduation was amazing. Simply fantastic. It was a culmination of 7 years of hard work and lots of stress. I went through a lot to obtain my degree, including being oh so close to graduating with my education degree. I think I made the right decision in switching, even though it probably threw a lot of people for a loop. It was exciting to be surrounded by the people I had seen throughout my 2.5 years as a journalism major because they all get it. There are times when I just think, I don’t have to be a student ever again if I don’t want to. But mostly, I think, hm, graduate school? Maybe someday.

And then there’s my cruise. It was one of the best experiences of my life and it’s all I can do not to click back onto the Carnival site to find another cruise. I’m officially a fan and I will find myself on another ship before 2011 is over. I have so many pictures to show you guys and so many stories to tell you about. From kissing sting rays in the Cayman Islands, touring Mayan ruins in Cozumel, and waking up each morning to an amazing view of the ocean, I’m very sad my vacation is over. (And so not excited to go back to work tomorrow after a lovely 10 days off!)

I’m not sure how June will ever live up to May. Perhaps if I’m offered a job?

How was your May? What stood out for you?

Categories: Recurring Series

30DC: In Ten Years…

In 10 years, I will be 33 years old. There is a lot I want to accomplish in the next 10 years. When I think about where I was 10 years ago, at age 13, and where I am now, 23 and a college graduate, I know I have made some major changes. I have accomplished a lot.

In 10 years, I would like…

…to be a wife and a mother. Being a wife is something I know I was meant to do and I know my time will come someday. There’s no time limit on this but I would be lying if I said I would be content with singlehood for the next 10 years. Along with becoming a wife, I also desire motherhood. Pregnancy, babies, new life. As I watch how much work my brother and his fiancee put into their son, it exhausts me. Being a mother is more than a full-time job but I imagine they could never imagine their life without him. Fewer hours of sleep are worth it. Likewise, I could not imagine my life as a single woman, without a husband and children in my home.

…to be healthy. I want to maintain a healthy lifestyle and consistent exercise routine over the next 10 years. Since this running thing is going pretty well so far, I’ll even venture to say I want to run more races and perhaps even a triathlon someday. (A sprint one…I’m not looking to do anything crazy just yet!) Mainly, though, I want to have conquered my bad eating habits and not be on an endless cycle of weight loss. I want to be at my happy weight and confident in my body. I want the healthy choices to be the easy ones and for exercise to be as much a part of me as my flip-flops.

…to be a published author. And to do this, I should get started on my novel, huh? In all honesty, I never knew the dedication and time it took into writing a novel. Writing my short story took everything out of me, made me doubt all my abilities, but also realize that this is what I want to do and that I do have what it takes. I had some tough criticism to listen to but it didn’t crush me as I thought it would. It’s a tough world out there, but I’m going to give it my best shot. Who knows what could happen?

…to have a successful, fulfilling career. The job search has been on for a few weeks now with very few bites. Nothing substantial. A major goal of mine, though, is to have a career that makes me happy. Maybe not every single day and maybe it will take a while to find said job. But I do want a job where I feel happy and satisfied, putting out my best work and growing as an individual.

…to have traveled the world. Well, maybe not the world, but I do want to travel a lot more over the next 10 years than I did during these past 10 years. I want to visit Europe and Asia and Australia. I want to see more of the United States and Canada. I will probably want to go on more cruises. I want to visit blog friends and have girls’ weekends away. There is so much of this great world I have yet to see.

What is one big thing you want to have done in 10 years?