Stephany Writes

Categories: Recurring Series

Wine and Love, V.3

This is only my third time participating in Walking With Nora’s Wine and Love series, but it’s easily one of my favorites!

Wine-ing about…

  • Getting sick. On Saturday morning, I woke up with a swollen throat and the impending doom that I was getting sick. I get allergy-like symptoms every 3 months or so and it always feels like it comes after a child in my center coughs on me. Sigh. Swollen throat turned scratchy which turned into a stuffy nose and all around feeling of blah-ness. Luckily, it seems to have passed and I’m on the mend! I’ve been trying to keep it easy for the past few days because these tend to last for a week or longer because I don’t take the time to slow down and let my body get the rest it needs.
  • Finding being healthy to be such a chore. I’m now paying $40 a month to attend Weight Watcher meetings and use their online food and exercise tracking tools. And I’m not using either to its fullest extent. I have felt so off this week, especially with my eating. I’ve been watching what I eat, but not tracking it. I’ve been exercising, but not putting my heart and soul into my workouts. I know this has something to do with being sick, but it has just felt so hard this week.
  • How long this week has been. This week has just absolutely dragged. On Monday, I thought it was Tuesday. Tuesday, I thought it was Wednesday. (And started drafting a Wine & Love post in my head to post the next day…until I realized what day it was.) It’s just been so long and I have no idea why. Today is seriously only Thursday?

Loving…

  • Having interviews. Changing my focus of job search engines from Monster to Craigslist has been the best decision I have made in this job search journey thus far. I have gotten so much more responses and interviews and on Tuesday, I went on one of the best interviews I’ve ever had. I felt immediately at ease with the interviewer (also the person I would be working under) and loved the company and atmosphere. I’ve never felt more at home in a place. This feels like my job already, so I’m going to be absolutely devastated if I don’t get it.
  • The comments on my friendship post. Honestly, I didn’t do it for attention or “woe is me”. I debated posting it, but in the end, I did because I had to know I wasn’t the only person feeling this way. And the comments and e-mails I received were just absolutely freaking amazing. I’ve been thinking about friendship a lot lately, especially about how I don’t seem to have a close-knit group of girlfriends – or even a close-knit group of blog girlfriends – like I see others have. The truth is, I just need to reach out because now I know I do have people who want to make closer connections with me. (I’ve been over my head in interviews and life, but I promise to get to those comments soon with e-mails and replies! Check your inboxes!)
  • The NFL lockout looks to be ending soon! We should have word today, announcing the end and I can’t even tell you how excited this makes me! For a while there, it wasn’t looking good and I can’t imagine my Sundays in fall and winter without football. That’s a world I never want to imagine.
Categories: Recurring Series

50 Questions That Will Free Your Mind, Part 7

31. At what time in your recent past have you felt most passionate and alive?

No doubt in my mind: when I was on my cruise. How could you not feel alive while waking up surrounded by the ocean, the budding excitement of visiting different countries and doing incredible adventures in them, of having your fill of relaxation and busyness? It was such an amazing five days for me and all my mom and I can talk about is when we’re going again. Cruising will definitely be an annual thing for us.

32. If not now, then when?

If I ever got a tattoo, this would be the perfect one for me. I feel like I’m constantly asking myself this question. And I constantly have an answer for myself. At first, it was school. Now, it’s finding a job. And once I find a job? I know I’ll come up with something else: I’m trying to figure out my finances first. I need to focus on my career. Blah, blah, blah. I’m pretty much a Professional Excuse Maker and the time has come to say: Now. Now is the time. Now is the time when I will put my whole heart on the line to find love. Now is the time I will shed all my previous notions and lose the weight for good. Now is the time I will stop making excuses and start doing.

33. If you haven’t achieved it yet, what do you have to lose?

Failure. The thing about not achieving something is that you don’t have to risk failure. And failure is something that I fear the most. I took timid steps to show my fiction to mediocre reviews, which I think is why I’ve put fiction on the backburner again. I’m so afraid of failing at something I’ve wanted for my entire life that it’s just easier to not even try.

It’s a terrible attitude to have, but I try to be as honest as I can be on this blog and there you have it. Yes, not even trying is sometimes worse than failing but by not trying, I don’t know the taste of failure. But I also don’t know the taste of achievement.

34. Have you ever been with someone, said nothing, and walked away feeling like you just had the best conversation ever?

So, this is kind of a weird question but I think I understand it. These times happen infrequently and only with people I know well. Well well. People who I can talk about matters of the heart, but also know my sarcasm that a single barb doesn’t make them flinch. It happens with my best friend from work. It happens with my mom. It happens with my brother. It’s just about knowing them, backward and forward. Knowing when they need a minute to themselves, when they need a hug, when a joke will make them feel better. Knowing when to talk and when to be silent.

35. Why do religions that support love cause so many wars?

I can’t answer this question. Honestly, aside from the basics, I know very little about the politics that went into all the different wars. This question does make me a little itchy, though. If anyone cares to enlighten me, feel free!

Parts 1-6

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.