Alphabetical Advice

I've been doing a lot of alphabetizing lately so this seemed fitting. 

Challenge: Create a list of alphabetical advice. 

A: Ask questions.

B: Be there for those who need you.

C: Clear your mind.

D: Destroy what destroys you. 

E: Enjoy each moment.

F: Find a place that makes you happy to just be there. (Mine's the beach)

G: Give without receiving.

H: Help others.

I: If you can't find it, stop looking for it, and it will suddenly be there.

J: Jump as high as you can.

K: Keep moving forward.

L: Listen carefully.

M: Make your voice heard.

N: Never let others bring you down.

O: Open your mind. 

P: Promise only if you can fulfill that promise. 

Q: Quiet times should be appreciated.

R: Read for fun. 

S: Start your day right (whatever way that might be for you).

T: Take care of the planet. 

U: Understand that you are as strong ad you think you are. So hold yourself up high (but be humble).

V: Visualize your dreams.

W: When you think you can't go any further, take one more step.

X: X-ercise to stay healthy not skinny. 

Y: You have to love yourself inside and out before you'll open your heart completely to someone.

Z: Zoom through life and you'll miss out on some amazing experiences. Don't be in such a hurry all the time. 

I hope you find some of this advice useful. Happy Saturday!!

There's beauty all around us, but we must take the time to appreciate it.

The Packing Chronicles, Part 1

Packing Chronicles, Part 1

So I'm moving! In case you didn't already know that. Where to, you ask? I'll let you know when I know. That's right, I've been packing up my apartment (read: my life) and am getting ready to move to a place to be determined. As you know it is potentially Alaska or Hawaii (still awaiting their calls). If that doesn't work out, then I'm likely staying in the Pensacola area, living with friends, and working at Panera Bread. Sounds like a not so ideal plan, but some days it's the plan I'm most excited about. Everyone keeps asking me which job I'd prefer. Some days it is Hawaii, some it's Alaska, and others it's neither. It's complicated and my emotions are a roller coaster basically (Army Wives isn't helping!)

I hate packing. I like the actual idea of moving, but hate the actual process of moving (except for the awesome road trips involved sometimes). Knowing this about myself, I start packing nearly a month ago, meaning I started gathering packing supplies, getting rid of stuff I don't need, and "organizing" (read: destroying) my apartment. The real packing has been occuring in the past week or so. Really I only have two and a half boxes packed. Not much I know. I am however proud at the amount of stuff I'm getting rid of, but still amazed at how much stuff I have. I'm making progress, but it's slow. I gave myself a move out date... June 18. We'll see if I stick to that, and we'll see where I'm going.

2 full boxes. Not a  lot accomplished.

The start to my list of packing/moving advice:

1. If planning (or potentially planning in my case) to ship boxes to your destination keep an inventory of what you put in each box, and instead of labeling the box with what's in it label it with a number that corresponds to the inventory list. This makes your boxes less vulnerable to theft.
2. Don't get really distracted by something. In my case, it's Army Wives. I watched the first three episodes last Wednesday night and am now about halfway through season 6. Yeah. Packing gets a little distracting from watching Army Wives. haha
3. To be continued... (Apparently I'm not full of advice right now.)

So with all this packing, I'm trying to get rid of all the food in my fridge, freezer, and cabinets. So the next couple of weeks will consist of whatever concoctions I come up with. A couple nights ago I made brownies from scratch. I tossed in some walnuts and some sprinkles. I got a little bit distracted and cooked them a bit too long (see #2 above). So they tasted good, but they were dry. So what could I do with them? Realized I had some whipped cream and cherries that would go well with them. Then I realized I also had chocolate syrup, caramel syrup, and more sprinkles. So really all I needed was some ice cream. Bought ice cream and brought it all over to a friend's where a group of us had an impromptu sundae party. Worked out well.

Tonight's dinner was an interesting concoction. Made a tuna and green bean casserole. I used ziti, tuna, green beans, cream of mushroom soup, cheddar, mozzarella, and parmesan cheeses, paprika (of course), and panko bread crumbs. Probably not the combination of ingredients you'd immediately think of, but it turned out to be delicious. So this one is a success. Hopefully I'll have other successes as well.

Doesn't look or sound like much, but it tasted great!

Secrets of Success

30-Day Challenge #1: TED Talks
Day 6

Alrighty. So yesterday I said I'd look for something a bit more serious than tying your shoes correctly, and maybe a little funny. At least I think I said that, and I'm just running with it anyway... So I did just that. Today's talk by Richard St. John is about the secrets to success. It's another short one, but he very quickly lays out the 8 secrets to success. I think he points out very good characteristics that people often forget about. We all want to be successful in life so this is relevant to us all. It related to my day a bit too, but I'll bore you with that after you watch the video.



Okay. So I hope you liked that. It was short, but informative. I personally found this one fitting for me, especially today. I am in grad school and in less than two years will be entering the professional world so I hope to be successful. I hope to be successful in school and in my career. This is really relevant to me today specifically because i just got back from a meeting where I got to talk with people in various areas and stages of student affairs. It gave me an idea on what they've done to be successful and they were able to give me advice on how to be successful. A lot of what they told me are things that are mentioned in this talk.

One thing with these TED talks that I want to mention is that it's important to reflect on the knowledge we take in. We learn a lot through reflection; reflection on our lives, our mistakes, our achievements, our work, etc. So it's important to take in what the speaker tells us, but to also relate it to our lives. Take these 8 secrets to success and reflect on whether or not you're using those secrets. I know that I have passion, I work hard, I certainly persist, I have ideas. I do serve and do some good, but I could probably serve more and do some more good. I could definitely push myself a bit more and focus a little harder. I could brainstorm for ideas a whole lot more than I do. I know my strengths and I know my weaknesses and I try to work on making my weaknesses not so weak. People sometimes focus only on what they're good at, but it will make you far more successful if you maintain your strengths while improving your weaknesses.

So that's my bit of knowledge for today. Also, I learned today that October is apparently National Careers in Student Affairs Month (CSAM). So if you're interested in Student Affairs as a career, or have no idea what it is then you can check out the website about CSAM which will tell you all about Student Affairs and how to become a part of it. Or ask me some questions and I'll answer what I can. :)