Help Me Meet My Goal!!

Listen up, blog followers!!

As you may know, I sell Mary Kay. I have a personal career goal to sell $400 by the end of the month! That's less than  a week at this point! I am on my way to reaching my goal but need YOUR help! I don't care where you are in the country, if you want some Mary Kay, I'm your girl! You can always browse my Mary Kay website and check out all the amazing products, or, if you already use and love Mary Kay- you order something you're out of or something new you've been wanting to try! I will ship it to you for free!

Also- as always, I am offering a free gift to anyone who makes a $40 or more purchase!!

And this goes for you men out there too! Mary Kay has a men's line of products. While it's not nearly as large as the women's line, you can still get some pretty awesome products geared to you guys out there! BUT, don't forget that you can also totally buy your favorite girl a present for an upcoming holidy, or ya know, for no reason at all. :) {She'll LOVE you for it. You can thank me later.}


If you want to help but have no idea where to start, email me at nicolesykes@marykay.com and I would love to help you figure out something that you can use and will love for your budget!!

Can't help financially? Please pray with me that I am able to meet this personal goal of mine. :)

Don't forget, ANY little bit HELPS! No matter if it's a lipstick, lip gloss, concealer, eyeshadow, foundation, skin care product, mascara.....whatever!! Any little bit will get me one step closer to meeting my goal!! I would appreciate it SO stinking much- you have no idea.

And if you want to spread the word, PLEASE do so!
That's what's so awesome about us bloggers- we're great at spreading the word!! ;)

Cycling hurts...but it feels so good!

First of all, let me start this by saying- you may be an avid runner. You may work out every day. You may be a health nut. But I am NONE of the above! So, with that said...

I am so proud of myself! I ate light & healthy today & then had the workout of my life! Drew's {Alex's brother's} girlfriend, Ashton, invited me to the Spin/Tone class at our local gym and let me tell you {oh wait, I already did...} it was the workout of my life! I was so stinking hot & soaking from sweat when I left that place! It felt great! I am gonna be so sore tomorrow...I just have that feeling! & I definitely need to take some Tylenol because my "butt" bone is bruised I swear! How on earth do people "cycle" on a regular basis and NOT hurt their "butt" bone?? I'm the first to say, I have a huge butt. But it wasn't cushion enough for that bike!! I am thinking the part where you stand up while you while you pedal is supposed to be "the hard part" but let me tell you, I look forward to getting up off that seat! OUCH!

This is gonna be Alex on Wednesday!

Oh, and speaking of "OUCH"...those lunge holds were killer!!! But, I will definitely go back! :-) It does feel great to be productive & knowing I'm working towards my goal! I just can't wait to start seeing some results from all this time spent and pain gained. Hopefully soon!!

But, I am MORE proud of myself because of how healthy I've eaten today. For breakfast I had Special K crackers in the car on the way to my internship {with a Mello Yello}. I have to have a soft drink first thing in the morning! I can't imagine drinking the dreaded WATER first thing in the morning. Yuck!! For lunch I had some more Special K crackers with a Laughing Cow light creamy swiss triangle {for lack of better words.} I love that combo & together they are less than 150 calories! Oh, and I had some yummy strawberries too. :) Surprisingly though, I was full- so I just stopped eating. Shocker, I know! Then on the way home I had some grapes. And then after that workout, I had a yummy Granny Smith apple with some peanut butter. Only, I had one more bite I didn't finish because I swore I was gonna hurl it back up! Talk about FULL! Blugh!

But, it feels good to be full, happy, and I haven't even had chocolate today!!! I am starting to think that this whole thing is possible. It feels good to have hope! I just hope I keep it up!

A Fallen Marine is Remembered

Today I had the honor of witnessing the funeral procession of a fallen marine from Stanley, NC. I intern in Gastonia and his body traveled from the airport in Charlotte to a church in Gastonia where a memorial service was held in honor of this soldier. I'll be honest- I don't watch the news really and I hardly ever read a newspaper. So I've been in my own little world and hadn't known that this had happened. But as the day went on, I heard about the memorial service, but what was most talked about was the fact that members of Westboro Baptist Church were planning on protesting this hero's memorial service. SERIOUSLY. I had heard about this stupid church and it's completely UNchristian, UNloving, HATEFUL mission before but I didn't know that really. come. to. EVERY. fallen soldier's funeral. I'm not going to link to the church to support their website visitation {in case they get paid per visit or something} but you can Google them if you want to know more about them.

One thing I learned about today & witnessed was this:

There are some groups of motorcyclists who take to their bikes to protect families from Westboro Baptist Church protesters. The American Legion Riders and Patriot Guard Riders are both national organizations, that make a presence at soldier funerals. Both groups are open to all kinds of people, with the goal of respecting the soldiers and their families and let them mourn without distraction. Even with the protesters members of the groups say they manage to keep it peaceful.
"We don't confront the Westboro Baptist Church. Their goal is to promote their particular world view and that's fine. We just don't want them to bother the families of the soldiers as they do it," said American Legion Rider Chris Radloff.
They will only show up at the funerals with families' approval.

I think this is such a great idea-- Something/Someone to barricade the family from the evil protesters so they aren't hurt anymore than they already have been. They've already given the ultimate sacrifice....what more do these idiots want???

Can you tell that these people annoy me?

But anyways, back to the GOOD stuff...

The town of Gastonia {and probably the surrounding towns as well} asked their community to come out and line the streets of Hwy 74, the highway the procession traveled. They were supposed to come through the area around 1:15-1:45 today. Well, about 2:10, they came by. Luckily my internship site is on Hwy 74 so we got to go out & witness it to honor Lance Corporal Nic O'Brien.

Here's a little bit of info I found out about O'Brien. You can google more info if you wish:

Lance Corporal Nic O’Brien, 21, was killed June 9 in Afghanistan after being hit by an improvised explosive device (IED). He was serving in Helmund province, one of the most dangerous parts of Afghanistan.
Josh Cathorne, O’Brien’s best friend and fellow marine, was seriously injured by the explosion.
O’Brien was an East Gaston High School graduate who played baseball and soccer. He was offered an academic scholarship to college but went into the Marines, something he’d talked about doing for years.
O’Brien’s memorial service was held Monday afternoon at the First Assembly Church of God on Myrtle Road in Gastonia. The service was open to the public.
O’Brien will be laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery with full military rights June 28.

And here's a video of the funeral procession....check out all those motorcycles from The American Legion Riders and Patriot Guard Riders!!

I am so thankful for this boy giving his life so that I can live in peace and have the freedoms I {try not to} take for granted!

Attention Deficit Disorder

Having ADD myself, this video is like an AH-HA moment! Of course I could have told you this was what I was doing all along, but watching a silly video of "myself" just makes me realize that I need a good cattle prod every now & then to finish a task! I have a couple hours to kill before we go eat a fabulous Japanese steakhouse dinner tonight, so, I think I'll go finish an incomplete task I have floating around....I can see a couple in sight right now! Who's with me?? :)

Happy Friday everyone!

I Drive Myself Crazy

So, as a future counselor, if I have a client that comes in, super stressed out with the world on their shoulders one approach in helping them would be to help them figure out what they can & can't change, and then working with them on figuring out ways to help them change/control what they can & worry less about what they can't fix. For those of you who ARE "that client," easier said than done, right? Right! I know I can say that with an exclamation point because I am "that client." I always stress out way too much, get upset about things I can't control, and then don't take time for myself, focusing on what I can control. One thing I should be controlling, and should have been controlling for years is my to-do list. Things should never stay on your to-do list for months. Seeing the list grow is just anxiety forming. Then follows the guilt of not accomplishing tasks, false promises of doing better tomorrow, tomorrow approaching and you're in over your head again, pushing your tasks to the side, holding them off until tomorrow. Then the whole cycle repeats, doesn't it? Drives. Me. Crazy. But I do it anyways, knowingly! Drives. Me. Even. More. Crazy! But really, I am aware, and I am a big girl. What I do or don't do for myself is my own fault, my own choice, and I'll face my own consequences. 

I have so many things I WANT to do, for myself. So many things that I blogged about it last month. Since I blogged, what have I done? Well, I have started to work out, and I have started to run again. I went to "the beach" but I didn't see the ocean- so I don't think that counts. I must make another trip! ;) Other than that, I've been slacking! Oh no! I also have been reading Made to Crave and going to church on a weekly basis! So, I guess I didn't make my summer to-do list too unrealistic, but I definitely should have added 300 hours of interning to that list to make myself feel better about devoting so much time to "things" off the list.

I would like to start a girls get-together/Book club/Bible study/whatever else you want to call it. Like I said, I'm reading Made to Crave and LOVE it and feel like so so so many girls need to read it too, and would love it with me! It's something you can read by yourself, but I can see why they have groups of women read it together. Accountability is such a powerful thing! If you are in the Lincolntonish area & would like to join me, let me know! I would love to share this experience with you! 

Well, that's enough for tonight....

My hot shower made me sleepy and I need to NOT be up until 1:00 again tonight. So, I'm going to try to get some rest earlier than normal tonight. I'm really really really trying this normal sleep cycle thing. It's not working out well, but darn it, I'm still working on it! :) 

"If at first you don't succeed, try and try again." 

♥

TLC Shows, Internship Situation, & Gym Distractions

So, I'm sitting here...winding down from my not-as-busy-as-usual, watching another ridiculous show on TLC. Tonight, we're not watching some stupid British or Irish teenage gypsy girl, planning the over the top wedding of her dreams because that's what she'll be remembered for (because she can't read or write, dropped out of school at age 13, and is doomed to clean her and her super douchebag of a husband's trailer for the rest of her life). No, tonight we're watching stupid moms living vicariously through their five year old daughters who they allow to tell her what each one of them will do, while wearing fake teeth, hair, tan, nails, after their spa facial and emotional breakdown. SERIOUSLY! These people exist! Kudos to TLC for exposing, I mean sharing, the madness because I am hooked! 

So what have I been doing? Have I not been blogging because I've been watching TLC? Yes and no. I actually started my internship(s) a couple weeks ago & have been spending a lot of time there....and attempting getting on a real sleep schedule. I had a little "issue" with my internship so, here's the short story:

To work with substance abuse clients, you're legally supposed to be registered with the NC "Substance Abuse Board" (NC Substance Abuse Professional Practice Board). Some internship sites will let you basically work there for free, getting the experience, and don't care if you're registered with the board or not. My internship site isn't taking any chances, and asked that I be registered before I do ANY, and I mean ANY work with substance abuse clients. I got my internship later in the year, and didn't know I had to register, then had to wait to get the packet, met with my supervisor to fill it out, and it took a week for me to get someone at the police station to fingerprint me, and then I sent it to the board probably the 1st of June. Problem is: it takes about 4 WEEKS to get it back saying I'm officially registered!!! Until I'm registered, all I could do was observe...which is great at first, but my internship's only about 8 weeks long & I can't spend half of that time only observing! So, I'm spending all of my time at my other internship site, which I LOVE, until I'm officially registered with the board. If I get registered before July's over, then I'll get to do some court-ordered DWI groups for offenders. I observed a number of these groups & really am excited about having the {potential} opportunity to do some myself! Fingers crossed! :) 

Side note: In the end, it wasn't the police officer's, or the station's fault- so don't hate on them. :)

So, I've been interning! And watching TLC! & GOING TO THE GYM! Alex has been dragging me to the gym and I love him for it. I'm sore as can be today but plan on going back tomorrow. I know it's not a big deal to you, but I ran for 10 minutes straight yesterday. That's a big deal to me! That NEVER happens. There has to be something good on in front of the TV for me to stay focused distracted enough to run more than like two minutes. I lost my iPod's ear buds and music really doesn't do it for me anyways. Wish it did though! I want to download some podcasts or something to listen to to keep my mind off of running {while I run}- it might work! 

Any podcast suggestions for me?

 Because ESPN seems to be on the TV there all the time, and if you know me, you know that's not gonna hold my attention long. 

Oh, and still haven't figured out how to get each blog's "labels" to appear below it. Grr! Feel free to send me a suggestion!

&& Hump Day's over! Enjoy the downhill part of the week! :)

Blog help!

Hey guys! I'm having a little difficulty & I'm just wondering if any of y'all know anything about this.....I wanted to add each blog's label at the bottom of each blog. & I clicked the little check mark to show them & they won't show! Anyone know anything about this & wanna help me out?? :) I'd sure appreciate it!!

Dear 16 Year Old Me,

This video is being passed around Facebook and it's so great, I can't not share it!

It really does make you think! And it makes me think that I really need to find a sunless tanner that isn't horrible and doesn't break the bank!

What sunless tanning suggestions do you have?

DigiTwirl

I have definitely been MIA in the blog world lately, but trust me, it's not because I haven't had something to say! I started my 2 internships lately & have officially said GOODBYE to summer! More on that later...Right now, I have to finish something that's due today for our first internship class. Yep, I'll be in class for FIVE hours today, and other days this summer. I'm just hoping it doesn't interfere with my direct client hours (that I need!)....

Until I have time to really catch up with you, I wanted to share with you a website I found yesterday, reading I'm an Organizing Junkie's blog. It's DigiTwirl's website and it's "The weekly web show that makes tech work for you." Sounds iffy, but I'm not gonna lie....I spent time yesterday watching all of her videos. There's some pretty good stuff on there so I thought I would share! They are three minute videos to "solve your modern day headaches." t's definitely worth checking out, especially if you're like me and like things organized and like to use technology to help whenever possible! 

Happy Hump Day!!