Inspiration...

Just heard this song on the radio on my drive home and I am instantly in love - thank you Katy Perry!

Do you ever feel like a plastic bag
Drifting throught the wind
Wanting to start again

Do you ever feel, feel so paper thin
Like a house of cards
One blow from caving in

Do you ever feel already buried deep
Six feet under scream
But no one seems to hear a thing

Do you know that there's still a chance for you
Cause there's a spark in you

You just gotta ignite the light
And let it shine
Just own the night
Like the Fourth of July

Cause baby you're a firework
Come on show 'em what your worth
Make 'em go "Oh, oh, oh!"
As you shoot across the sky-y-y

Baby you're a firework
Come on let your colors burst
Make 'em go "Oh, oh, oh!"
You're gunna leave 'em fallin' down-own-own

You don't have to feel like a waste of space
You're original, cannot be replaced
If you only knew what the future holds
After a hurricane comes a rainbow

Maybe your reason why all the doors are closed
So you can open one that leads you to the perfect road
Like a lightning bolt, your heart will blow
And when it's time, you'll know

You just gotta ignite the light
And let it shine
Just own the night
Like the Fourth of July

Cause baby you're a firework
Come on show 'em what your worth
Make 'em go "Oh, oh, oh!"
As you shoot across the sky-y-y

Baby you're a firework
Come on let your colors burst
Make 'em go "Oh, oh, oh!"
You're gonna leave 'em fallin' down-own-own

Boom, boom, boom
Even brighter than the moon, moon, moon
It's always been inside of you, you, you
And now it's time to let it through

Must.stay.awake.....

I am currently sitting in the career center of one of the schools I manage, and I'm trying my hardest to stay awake.  I had a 7 am flight this morning, and I was planning on being fast and getting up at 5 to leave by 5:30, but I think out of fear of oversleeping or who knows what, I woke up about 4:15 and then didn't have time to fall back asleep.  So frustrating!  Needless to say, I could now fall asleep at this table and sleep for hours!  At least we only have an hour more here to go, a quick debrief, and then back to the airport to catch my flight home.  Of course when I get home, I still have e-mails that have to go out tonight, but I won't think about that until after I hopefully catch a quick cat nap on the flight back!  ;) 

Things are looking up around here lately.  My second 1st round interview yesterday went really well I think.  I really clicked with the person who was interviewing me, who would also be a part of the team I will hopefully work on, and overall I was satisfied with my performance.  No regrets!  I should hear later this week if I made it to the 2nd round or not.  Keeping my fingers and toes crossed!  :)  I also got an e-mail yesterday from one of the colleges in the area near I live that I had made it from the 80 applicants down to the final 15 for an Associate Director position in their career center.  I was thrilled because I applied completely on a whim, and they wanted someone ideally with an MBA.  They asked me to fill out about 10 pre-screening questions about my experiences, work style, and things like that, and then are supposed to narrow it down to 5 candidates to bring in for interviews.  I should hear something on that as well in the next week.  I don't know if I would take it/get it in the end, but it's awesome to be considered and boosts my self confidence to know there are options out there.  Here's hoping one of the two works out and soon because this traveling and crazy hours and my boss issues and everything else are really adding weight to my shoulders and I'm ready to have some time back for me! 

Okay well I will stop boring you with my life for now and try to make it awake for another hour before we go!  I'm really excited because my husband and I's 6 year anniversary is coming up soon (and it's the first time it's on a Saturday since we got married), so we are going to get massages and pedicures and stay at a hotel downtown and have a nice dinner and I can't wait!  We really shouldn't be spending the extra $$, but every now and then you just have to do these nice things for yourself especially when we have both been through a lot with work lately.  11 more days until pampering and relaxation!

Check another box

I spent the good majority of yesterday afternoon reading and studying for my last class, and I'm happy to say that I'm finished!  I have now passed all 3 classes and will receive my Masters Certificate in HR Management soon.  I'm really happy that I accomplished everything I have in the past 4 months, and I am hopeful this is a sign that good things will continue to come!  :)  It felt so good to finish, and then I got to spend the night with my loves at a yummy dinner at one of my favorite Tex-Mex places and watching the hot air balloons light up and then some fireworks at a local festival.  Great day!  Today is Cowboys football watching, laundry & cleaning, and hopefully some reading and relaxing too!  Let the good times continue!

One down, one to go (for 1st rounds at least!)

I spent 45 minutes yesterday in one of the most difficult interviews I've ever had.  Not because the manager was super mean or difficult or anything - just because she asked some really thought-provoking questions that I had to quickly think on my feet to solve.  I think I did really well though so I'm proud of myself because I know that no matter what, I gave it a great effort.  I have a call on Monday with the other project leader for this position, so we'll see what she has to say.  Then they will debrief and let me know if I made it to round 2.  I'm really hoping this all works out.  If it doesn't though, I"m trying to convince myself that it's only because something better is headed my way and now is not the time.  But hopefully it will all work out and give me another great opportunity while getting to stay in the same company!  Keep your fingers crossed!

Thoughts and prayers please!

I have this opportunity that has come up, and it's really good.  It is within my company so I would still get the same great benefits and get to work with the people that I truly love.  But it would be a slight promotion (and hopefully raise), way better hours, way better travel (super minimal), a new boss (!), possibility to work from home some, and in an area that I'm super interested in and passionate about.  I have interviews for it tomorrow and Monday for the 1st round and then we'll see where it goes from there.  I have already had e-mail and one phone conversation with the manager that I think went really well and she said a lot of positive things about my experience and resume, so I can only hope that I am able to impress and have this opportunity come true.  In the meantime, I am just wishing and hoping and praying that it does and would love any positive energy and thoughts you could send my way!  This move would mean the world to me - would give me my life back on the nights and weekends and summers, would give me more time with my family, would give me more time to devote to my health and other things, and would be a great step in my professional development as well.  Here's to hoping for the best!  :)

The photos I've Been Promising

Since it's taken me forever to figure out how to post photos, I am going to post a few of the wedding flowers I did back in June plus some from our Alaska trip.  We took almost 1000 pictures in Alaska and they are almost all really good so I have a hard time narrowing it down but here's a glimpse.  I started putting them individually and it took FOREVER and then the computer shut everything down and deleted most of it (I was really happy ha!) so now I just put a bunch of thumbnails and captioned them.  The photos of the flowers are all the ones I did for the wedding!

My little love being kissed by a moose (luckily not a real one!)

On a little hike around the Mt McKinley Lodge

Wedding centerpieces

Top of the front pieces for the ceremony

One of the front ceremony pieces

The other front ceremony piece

Puffballs that were along the aisle

The "tree" of placecards

Bride's bouquet

Bridesmaid bouquets

Bride & bridesmaids bouquets

Centerpieces before they went out

Groom's bout & one of the groomsmen bouts

All of the bouts

Groomsmen bouts

Polar bear in the Vancouver airport

Coming into Vancouver

We had towel animals every night - this one was a monkey - and part of my little guy's favorite things about the ship!

Sea otter with a fish

In Ketchikan with his Alaskan flag

On our duck tour in Ketchikan

Mendenhall Glacier in Juneau

Sea lions lounging on the buoy

One of the whales we saw up close and personal in Juneau

Another whale tail

Inspiration Point in Skagway

See the train on the mountain?  We were on one just like it headed that way 

I want to say this was near the Canadian border

Glacier National Park

We were TV stars for a day!  :)  Not really, just got to pour the champagne waterfall on the first formal night and they put our pictures on the ship TV channel the next day!

Hubbard Glacier

Our ship in Whittier - Island Princess

Snow "waterfall"

One of the views on the train

I think this was a moose

In Denali

On the bus searching for animals in Denali

At the end of the ATV tour - this was like 9 pm at night

Natural rock

Little guy by a stream

Moose and her babies

Missing in action

I admit it - I have been missing in action for way too long.  I am trying to increase readership and yet I go and disappear for over a month.  I hope to start writing more and wanted to get something on the page for now so here are a few things that have happened while I was "gone" from the blogging world:

1) I went on a trip to Alaska with my parents and my husband and son.  I saw some AMAZINGLY beautiful things and had some experiences that I will probably never have again in my lifetime in terms of pure, unadulterated beauty of nature.  But I also had an awakening experience with my parents in realizing that no matter what I do or say or try to do to make things better, my mother is NEVER going to change.  I had thought we were on the right path since things had been going more smoothly for the past year, but I was very sad and disappointed when this trip turned back to the same old same old.  It makes me sad for myself, it makes me sad for my husband, and it especially makes me sad for my son, who has never done anything but been loving and sweet to them and try to get to know them and only has received criticism in return.  Maybe one day I will open this can of worms a little further but for now that is all I am going to say on that subject!  ;)

2) My work has picked up full speed.  Starting on Thursday, I now have to travel for at least 1-3 days every week from now through October 22 (with the exception of the week of 9/27-10/1).  It is going to be brutal, it's going to be long hours with no extra pay, and it's going to be hard on my husband and my son.  I just pray for the strength to get through it and in two months it will be over.  I am going to maintain the most positive attitude I can about it because it is part of my current job and there isn't really any changing that right now.  At least I am earning hotel points and airline miles and can take another fabulous trip (with just my hubby and son this time!) in the future for free.  :) 

3) I have grown as a person in the past month.  I know that seems strange to say but I've really developed my leadership skills and am working on increasing my powers of influence and leadership in my office.  I was elected to represent the administrative staff to the management in helping to "fix" some of the issues that make us question our jobs.  It isn't easy and it's not always fun to say the tough stuff, but I'm learning that there is a way to professionally go about things to get your point across and still maintain your integrity and respect.  I am making my voice be seen and heard - I am making sure people are aware of the things I have accomplished and want to accomplish.  Even though this is not specifically part of my job, I know these skills that I am developing will really help push my career and make my day-to-day work life better, so I am thankful for this opportunity and hope to use it for all that I can to make my life and those around me better.

4) I have one more class left to complete in September & October, and then I will have my Masters Certificate in addition to my professional certification.  I am proud of what I have accomplished over the past 4 months and hope to make more strides to finish this year strong.  I wanted 2010 to be "my year" but I think with the economy and everything else that is still going on in the world, I need to stick to my routine, do the things I can do to make myself better, and see what 2011 brings.  I am happy for my health and that we both have jobs (husband's work did a TON of layoffs last week but he is fine) and that our son is doing well (he just started PreK!).  Life is as good as it can be right now, and I will just continue to work hard, plan ahead, and pray for good things to come when it's time!  :)

That's all I got for now - need to do a little more work before I leave.  Hope to keep up a little better - maybe I can do a road journal!  Ha!  :)