Year #1: A Reflection

Today, as I reflect on this past year, learning to be a wife and to do life with someone else, I realize how beautiful of a day it is. I know someone's getting married today, and probably outside because they were a risk-taker like myself.  Well lucky for them, there's a 0% chance of precipitation today in this part of North Carolina. {As much as I want to "get over it," it's still hard. BUT} somewhere someone is getting married outside today and it will rain. First of all, I hope you have a plan B. And second, I hope your plan B is as beautiful as mine was. My plan B wedding was beautiful, but what made it the most beautiful was the people there. I will never forget that day as the day spent with all my loved ones, supporting Alex and I as we began our life together. The efforts from those who had to move things around at the last minute, get wet in the rain, and stress for me did not go unnoticed and I will forever be grateful. I promise you that. 

But, today I am not really reflecting on our wedding day, but the crazy year following that wedding day. 

They say the first year of marriage is hard. I'm scared to say it's the worst, because you never know what the future holds, BUT-- I can see how some people say it's the worst. As you may or may not know/care, Alex and I did not live together before we were married. So it went a little something like this: You have the hustle and bustle of wedding planning, followed by one of you moving (for us, it was me...fun), and then all of a sudden you have a roommate, who is not only a boy, but is now your HUSBAND! That's a lot to do and a lot to figure out in a short amount of time. The good news is, we have the rest of our lives to figure it out.

This past year, a lot has happened:

• I moved (like I said) for the 11th time in eight years. (No joke. I am not a fan.)
• We spent a week honeymooning in paradise. (We highly recommend Sandals Grande Riviera in Ocho Rios, Jamaica.) 

• I finished my first and (little did I know) last full school year doing school-based therapy at Bessemer City Middle School. I really miss the staff there and most of my kids. ;) That had the potential to be an amazing job. 

I spent two months taking a break from life, work, and stress. I consistently worked out, slept well, ate carbs again, and didn't gain any weight back from my pre-wedding diet. I had lots of girl time with my gal pals and spent lots of time at my in-laws' pool. It was amazing.

I started a new position at work in August. I absolutely hated it and unfortunately, it showed in and affected every area of my life. 

In September, we had less than a week to decide if we were going to move. An opportunity arose for us to invest in another fixer-upper and we jumped on the chance. I say that lightly, but putting our house on the market, fixing a house up for a month, and then moving (for my now 12th time in 8 years) was taxing. Taxing, but worth it. 

"Before"

"After"

• By November, I was looking for a plan B. I signed up to take the Praxis so I could obtain my school counseling licensure. Working in mental health was not what I thought it was going to be and I couldn't let the negatives of my job continue to affect the rest of my life. I wasn't even seeing clients anymore, so I didn't have much left to miss. 
• I learned a great lesson. I learned that no matter how perfect something seems, if it's not God's will, you need to be able to walk away. I had the most amazing job interview. I nailed it, or so I thought. We laughed. I answered all their questions promptly and with ease. We discussed start dates and me having to put in a notice at my current job. They told me they valued my integrity. They complimented me often during the interview. And more importantly, I had connections. I was told I'd hear from them within 2 days as I was their last interview. I waited patiently to hear back. Christmas break came and went. I never heard another word. As perfect as it had seemed, I had to let it go. I was still miserable at my current job, but knew God had something better in mind. As perfect as I thought that job opportunity was, it obviously wasn't. (Note to employers: Don't say you'll notify an interviewee either way if you don't plan on doing so. That's just mean.) It's a perfect life lesson to take with me in all aspects of life: Just because something seems perfect, doesn't mean it's for your best. Let God do the working out; you'll thank Him later. 
• We celebrated our first holidays as husband and wife. We've been together many-o-holidays in the past 10ish years together; however, we've never actually celebrated all holidays fully together. It was awesome and different and a learning experience. I am grateful we have so many loved ones to visit. Balancing how to see them all in a decent amount of time without going crazy will be something we hope to figure out in years to come. :)  

Merry Christmas from the Mullens!

• I started my new job at the end of January. Saying "see you later" to my life working in mental health, and to my amazing co-workers was tough, but I knew it was necessary. I didn't worry about seeing my co-workers again. Almost all of us have left now and we get together on a regular basis to have girl time. Real friends stay in touch. I value my time, experience, and relationships formed from working in mental health, but now it's time to start new experiences and form new relationships. 
• I have yet to complain about my new job. It may come in the future, but it's 10x better than the day-to-day I previously faced, emotionally speaking. It is absolutely draining to hate your job. Once I started my new job, I had to figure out how to get my life back. I (of course) had gained back every pound I had previously lost. (Stress and depression will do that to ya.) I had to get back to eating better, getting rest, exercising again, and trying to be the wife and friend I knew I could be.  That's tough--knowing you need to do better in 10+ areas of life and trying to improve in them all at the same time, knowing it's what you and your husband deserve. That alone is stressful, but I am thankful for the opportunity to be able to try. I am super grateful for Alex being as supportive as he has been. He is so thankful for my new job as well, and he tells me he sees a difference in my mood, spirit, and energy since changing jobs. He was there on days I needed him to give me a lift. He was there for me on days I needed him to hand me chocolate and just let me wallow. And that's reason #261 why I love being married, and love being married to Alex. 
• We just spent our last week of year #1 in Mexico, celebrating our one year anniversary.

...and Alex started his new job the day we came back from vacation.

That's a lot of big changes. That's a lot of transition, which brings lots of emotion. Learning to juggle those emotions with learning how to live with a new person and BE MARRIED is tough stuff, which probably has something to do with the fact that people say the first year is the toughest. But man oh man, I wouldn't trade it for the world. I am eternally grateful to say that I am married to my husband, to his family, and to our life together. I am no longer me, I am part of an us. A for-real, legit, committed, signed and sealed official, and ready-for-the-long-haul version of us. That's scary but so awesome at the same time. I am no longer responsible for just me (which I have always struggled with), but I am also responsible for half of us (and sometimes both of us, haha) and that's something I need. It's good and healthy for me to learn to live, grow, and be with my favorite husband. It's good to have someone you can be 100% vulnerable with, and I think it's even better that we chose to wait to figure life out together until we were married. This way, there's no exit option. ;) Haha.... but really, we chose and vowed to not only live life together, but to figure out how to do it in a way that's best for us and hopefully glorifies the Lord along the way. We have learned a lot about life, each other, and what it means to be married this year. But all in all, we know we have a LOT left to learn. We are newbies at this. We WILL mess up but we WILL figure out how to fix it, some how, some way, at some time. We are in this together and for that, I am pretty excited to see what year #2 holds. I'm sure it'll bring some sort of transition. Each year seems to do that. But togetherness is what it's about. I am so thankful for the other half of my us. I feel secure knowing he tries to make every decision with my and our best in mind.

I always hoped I'd get to marry my high school sweetheart; he had a lot of great qualities. Thank God we're not who we were in high school, but as we grew up, still gravitated towards each other. I thought I liked him when I was in 10th grade...but high school Alex has nothing on adult Alex and I am so thankful I got to marry adult Alex!! Like I said above, "Just because something seems perfect, doesn't mean it's for your best. Let God do the working out; you'll thank Him later." 

Staying tuned to see what favor we'll experience and lessons we'll learn together in year #2..... ♥

30 Blogs in 30 Days: Day 7: My Dream Job

Day 7 of 30 Blogs in 30 Days {Which should be called 30 blogs in 100+ days as slow as I'm going...} has me tell all about my dream job! This is ironic because I've been talking about my dream job here & there for a couple weeks now to various individuals.

I will say that. I am on my way to working at my dream job. {So far} As of right now, I think my dream job would be to do counseling of some type.  I would love to work in a hospital one day, counseling individuals dealing with adjustments of various kinds, or family members of patients.

Call me lazy if you want, but I would love love love LOVE to not have to work an 8-5 five days a week. That's probably my dream. I would love to have some down time in a week to not have to rush, to be able to space my to-do list out, or you know, a day to sleep in. ;) But if I 110% loved what I was doing, it wouldn't feel like work, and I don't know if I'd mind working 40+ hours a week.

I think my dream job would be able to schedule clients according to MY schedule, have them come see me in MY office, and to make enough money to be able to pay my student loans off A-S-A-P!

Is that too much to ask??

For now, I'm a provisionally licensed therapist. I have another 2ish years left to be supervised once a week. I can't wait to be a fully licensed therapist. For one, I'll be able to bill more insurances, and so many more doors will open for me. My company is growing so darn fast, so I'm sure there will be something of interest for me to do down the road. Until then, I'm just so glad I have the opportunity to do therapy before I'm fully licensed. I love my clients and love having the chance to gain the experience I need and to learn more and more every day.

Hopefully this Fall I'll get to start something different. That's the plan, but we'll see. I think I'll like what I'll {hopefully} be doing then. I love the company I work for so I'm very lucky to be able to have done {now} four different positions in the company, even since I've started in September. I'm just happy not having to do something I don't like doing. :)

Click here to read my other blog posts from 30 blogs in 30 days. 

My Week

Warning: This is not going to be a depressing post, but it may be long. :)

So, as you know, I had been having a pretty tough time lately.

Work has definitely been stressing me out lately.  I don't like being behind, but I don't want to commit to begin working all day, all night, and all weekend.  I know if I start doing that, I won't stop.  I've learned from my co-workers and quickly! Burn-out is all too much of a real thing in my profession and while it seems like you're just being lazy or not being a "team-player," I would like to call it actively attempting to avoid burn-out.  So, with that being said, when I'm scheduled for evaluation after evaluation, and left with little time in between each one, they quickly begin to stack up! There's supposed to be a two day turn-around for these evaluations, but if I get them scheduled one after another day after day, then that leaves a stack of them pending and deadlines out the window. And I hate that. But I think I would hate working 24/7 a little bit more.

SO- with that being said.... my sweet boy decided that I was a bit too stressed out lately and said the one thing that probably could have helped me the most. He said, "I'm going to pray for you." and then he did. He prayed that God would find a way to release some of my stress and find a way for some of my upcoming scheduled appointments to cancel, or no-show, or reschedule, or SOMEthing so I could have some time to actually sit and get caught up on work, at work. 

Let me tell you that God is still in the blessing business!!
Tuesday I don't remember what happened. But I know my 1:00 appointment didn't happen and my 3:00 did. I thought, "No biggie. I've had some time today to work. What's one more added to my list?" I was attempting to do something I've had a hard time doing lately. I was being positive! It probably helped that I woke up to a really nice text message from a friend (at 5:45 AM, mind you) and did a little work out in my living room before I got ready for work, felt like wearing a dress and fixing my hair & attempted The Double Bun from The Small Things Blog. I got lots of compliments on my hair-do & even got a tweet from Kate! :) Good sleep and good hair days really do help lift a girl's spirits!! Thanks Kate!!

Happy Tuesday!! 

Now Wednesday. Wednesday I had 3 appointments scheduled.  These appointments are a 2-hour time slot, so between that time, a lunch break, and the little things that need to be done or come up throughout the day, that didn't leave much time to catch up on my stack of evals pending, not to mention the three that were supposed to be added to that stack. (Now mind you: these evals get two hours of productivity, but are never finished in a two-hour time period.)
Well, on Wednesday my appointment times were at 10:00, 2:00, and 3:00.
Due to billing issues, it made more sense for me to switch my 3:00 appt with my co-worker's 4:00 appointment.
Then my 10:00 canceled.
Then my 2:00 came and I thought "Crap, I thought I was going to catch a break."
THEN my 2:00 got sick. All over the hallway.
Luckily I got to dodge witnessing that, and she rescheduled!! (Get well soon, 2:00!)
Then I kept working away until my now 4:00 appointment time...
Meanwhile, the 3:00 showed up! Phew! Dodged that bullet!! ;) (No offense, 3:00!)
Then my 4:00 no-showed.
I was 0 for 3 which is typically unheard of!!!
When I left at 5:00 I wasn't caught up, but I was closer to being caught up and I immediately called Alex and thanked him for his prayer, which was definitely being answered!!

Then Thursday I was scheduled for a 9:00 appointment in one city, and a 1:00 in another city.  This is frustrating when I want to get work done, but I don't mind the 30-minute drive listening to COSMO Radio!
Well, to make a long story a little bit shorter, both appointments no-showed, I took the afternoon off, and then made myself work on evals that evening while I watched American Idol.

It was a BEAUTIFUL 80 degrees on March 1st in North Carolina and I was taking 100% full advantage of it! After I waited for my 1:00 to show up late, and they didn't, I had to go run a work errand. Then two of my co-workers told me they wanted to meet for ice cream later, so, y'all know I didn't deny that. In between, I stopped by Gastonia's new Plato's Closet and found a couple little gems!

Candie's brand sheer tank for $5

Purple New York & Co. cami (goes great with my tank!) ~ $5

Another silky "work" tank ~ $5

Dana Buchman capris ~ $15

I need hours of free time to go back there & browse the aisles & try on everything. They have a TON of jeans there which I am determined to buy, but with the different brands there, I have to try on everything, which stinks! Amazing deals are worth it!! & I definitely needed some retail therapy ;)

After I headed back home I took advantage of the beautiful weather & walked a couple miles around my neighborhood. Oh and got a mani/pedi. :) It had been way too long & I am loving my dark purple shellac nail polish & bright pink toes!

Good sleep, good hair days, and mani/pedis....yep, that's the key to lifting a girl's spirits!!

Friday will be recapped with bullets because I realize how long this post is getting.

• It was an amazing work day. Caught up on work, more, but not definitely. Helped two clients and may blog about this at a later time. My clients melt my heart sometimes. ♥ 
• Alex & I double dated with Phil & Tashah to Outback to have our my usual... 6 oz. sirloin, sweet potato, and green beans. One of my most favorite meals!
• And I practiced two more hairstyles of Kate's:::

Day look

Then before we went to dinner I attempted the Double Bun again. This time I didn't get a good FRONT picture. I'll get better at this hairstyle sharing one day!!

Disclaimer: I can see how this appears to look like a messy bun.

I should have tucked that piece behind my ear so I didn't look gross. But you see here how it's a TALLER version of the messy bun, which paired with the curled bang looked halfway fancy.

So there you go! My fabulous week was definitely an answered prayer!! I am so so glad I could be more positive, get out & exercise and enjoy the beautiful days and be productive!! THANK YOU to those of you who read my previous posts & lifted me up. Y'all are angels and I love you! ♥

My current financial to-dos.... {Yuck}

This is a bit personal, but a more realistic, and it's what's on my mind, and I just feel like sharing. :)

There's definitely some things I need to cross off of my to-do list in order for me to NOT feel like I have things looming above me, things holding me back, or whatever else negative I am feeling because of these things.

I really need to :::

Get my 2011 tax information together. This basically involves my Mary Kay business.  The lady who does my taxes wants things categorized a specific way, etc. and she was nice enough to show me last year how to best organize my information so that coming this year to get my taxes done would be easy peasy. So much for that. I got my taxes done last February for 2010. So I thought- I'm only 1 or 2 months behind with the whole "get my tax information organized" thing... I'll get that done & spend the rest of 2011 organized & stress-free. CHYEAH!! So much for that!! I SERIOUSLY spent a YEAR telling myself the SAME thing OVER and OVER. Seriously, something is wrong with me. With everything going on, as it often happens in life, I just chose things that were to be pushed to the back burner and dealt with later. And now look, I'm avoiding going to find out if I'm gonna have to pay or get paid, all because I procrastinated!!
Yeah, so, I seriously need to get on that.

I also need to get my student loan repayment information ready to go.  I owe about a billion dollars in student loans {joking but it's not funny} and I can not afford to spend $234,324,988.59 every month on MINIMUM PAYMENTS. Thanks but no thanks, government! BUT thanks to the handy Income-Based Repayment Plan, I can make sure that the sum of ALL my loans' minimum payments do not exceed 15% of my gross income!! That is a definitely silver lining!! It'll take me longer, but hey, at least I can buy food & gas. {Still joking but not funny.} The thing is- they make it SO hard and COMPLICATING for someone to get all the right paperwork done for them to be able to get on this IBR Plan. They know what they're doing and they are very very mean people.  I can NOT wait until the day I am DEBT FREE!! That WILL happen one day!! I am claiming victory over these student loans!! I may be 99 years old, but I will rejoice...one day!! Until then, I'm going to work to make sure my children won't have to deal with the same financial CRAP I've had to deal with.

If I can get those 2 things done, I will have a serious weight off of my shoulders. Then I can focus on paying off my credit card!! Living without income from May to the end of  September was ROUGH, and I had to take desperate measures to fill up my gas tank, buy myself food, pay bills, EVERYTHING. I stooped to putting items on credit  & am STILL paying for it.  I hate hate hate credit cards, know how they should & shouldn't be used, but zero income equals zero income. What else was I supposed to do?? I was driving back and forth 30 minutes a day to an unpaid internship for eight weeks, plus moving. Plus living life. Plus had bills to pay.  I KNOW, nothing but EXCUSES. But what's done is done and I will rejoice when I get this thing paid off!!! I just had to spend $700 on tires. That's a chunk of change and I had to save up to be able to do that. I'm proud I am able to do things like that, and thankful for friends who are able to save me about $300 {Yes, my tires were going to cost $1,000} but, I wish that money could have gone to pay off that STUPID credit card with a 20-something percent interest rate. UGH, I hate credit cards!

Did you notice that these 3 things that are super stressing me out are all financial? And I want to be a stay-at-home-wife/mom. HA! I need to be thanking the good Lord above that I have a j-o-b and PROBABLY looking for a second job!  (Yes, I know Mary Kay is a second job. We can discuss this later if you wish.)

PS: Is it silly of me to wish that I had a job as a cashier somewhere?
Anyone know anyone hiring? :)

Where I've been, and where I haven't...

Life has officially taken over. As I began my transition to full-time outpatient therapist and clinical evaluator, I found my time consumed with work, playing catch-up, and making sure I am set to begin this career. I've been doing research, getting organized, and taking my time to make sure I am getting done all that I am required to do for this new position.  I am so thankful the time has actually come for me to be able to do what I went to school to do, what I believe I was Called to do. The only thing is: I am a TOTAL newbie. I have little experience. I am so so new to this. The to-do list for an outpatient therapist in a non-private-practice mental health facility is ever-growing. I not only have to figure out what I was originally supposed to do, and how to do it correctly the first time, but I am having to figure out what all this & that paperwork is and when it's required, etc. for all the new responsibilities of us therapists! It's a lot to take in, but I am trying! I am grateful for my job, and the experience, and the supportive co-workers I have, and the supervision that is provided free of charge! {Supervision can get EXPENSIVE!} And y'all know I'm grateful for that pay raise. CFNC is knocking at my door & it's about time I let them in so we can hang out for the next 100 years. {Grr!} Luckily Dave Ramsey Alex is on top of my finances & is getting me on track to succeed! I am so thankful for him, and for his love for organized & successful finances! Even if it does mean that I have zero privacy when it comes to money.

So, between that & my mission to simply my life, that's where I've been.

Speaking of...I'm doing a couple extra things to get my life on the right track!

I am officially o-f-f of Facebook! Can you BELIEVE it?!?! I don't know how long it'll last, but right now, I'm not missing it. A friend of mine sat at the restaurant for three hours had lunch and I became convinced that I should get off Facebook think about getting off Facebook. I have a million reasons why, and maybe one day I'll share those, but...

I became 100% convinced that I should get off of Facebook during our first night meeting for our Made to Crave small group. More on that later, BUT, I basically realized Facebook is something I crave, just as much as I crave FOOD!! Stupid crazy, so something had to give. I am on Day 2 without Facebook and honestly, I haven't even missed it......yet.

Now I swear if I found a good makeup train case my life would be a lot less cluttered!! :) I'm working on that.

Thankful in 2012

Lots has gone on since the last time I posted. Christmas and New Years came and went. Christmas was far from normal & probably one of my worsts. When I'm feeling kinda of blah, like I am right now, I like to stop, snap back to reality, and remember all the things that the good Lord has blessed me with!! I need a reminder every now and then of things I am thankful for, of things I have been given, of things I probably typically overlook or take for granted. 

Let me start off by saying that GOD DOES WORK!! I have nothing but thankfulness and joy in my heart when reporting that my Pawpaw is doing SO much better!! He is at HOME now, getting better every day!! I am so glad to have him back with us, being so glad to see us walk through the door, asking how our day was, and fussing about something he saw on the news. I wouldn't have it any other way! :)

I am super thankful for Alex's family who took me in on Christmas Day & treated me as if I was one of their own! I love them for that! Heck, I love those guys anyways! It feels so reassuring to date someone with a good Christian family. I don't know what I'd do if I had to worry about future in-laws, or passive aggressiveness, or any other negative thing other people seem to have to worry about. 

I am thankful for new beginnings! 2012 is here. It started off with a 4 day weekend and for THAT I am thankful! I needed time off, sleep, and just some good ol' R&R. It TOTALLY jacked up my sleep schedule, but heck, isn't that what the holidays are for?!

I am thankful I can say that Alex and I spent another year being able to say "happy January 4th" to each other.  9 years ago we went from best friends to boyfriend & girlfriend.  We have had our bumps in the road but we are getting stronger every day!! I am so glad that we made it to year #9. ♥

I am thankful that my pay raise went into effect two weeks earlier than I thought it would! To some, that's nothing. But to me, that was something extra for those I love at Christmas time, and it makes me so happy to give to others!! I wish I made enough money so that I could buy people presents every time I saw something in the stores and thought, "He or she would love this!"

I am thankful for heated seats in my car, hot water coming out of my shower, and for the fact that I do not live in Boone, NC anymore!! Man oh man I am sick of the cold weather already!! The thermometer in my car read 22 degrees the other morning!! That is just stupid!!

I am thankful for so much more. Really, I am. But right now, I am thankful for my bed, my comfy sheets, and my iPhone that will wake me up in time to go to the JOB I am thankful for! ;)

Happy Halloween....5 days later!!

One Another thing I love about my job is the fact that they all love to celebrate! We had a Halloween party {slash "staff meeting"} and it included a costume contest! I had little time to search for a costume and zero money to buy one just for one hour. I was offered a Wilma Flinestone costume {thanks Erica!} but the wig looked like Wilma had way too much fun the last time she appeared {haha!}, so that costume idea was out. I got home late the night before & was bummed that I wouldn't have a costume. Mom said, "Why don't you wear the E.T. costume in the garage?!"

Now, please let me tell you. My grandmother had this costume MADE for my aunt in the 19EIGHTIES. I've seen the thing taken out of the box only like a handful of times in my life, and definitely made fun of it every time. This thing has been in a box SINCE my aunt wore it, again, in the 80's. But something struck me and I thought this idea was the best! I got so excited and hoped that it would fit!! We pulled that thing out of the box, and I tried it on.

That thing definitely smelled like the 80's, but thank you Febreeze for helping me out in that department!! The mask was a little smushed from being in a box for 25 years, but, behold the final product:

I just had people hold my mask out so I didn't look like a monkey!!

Do you see my glowing heart & red fingertip??

My only regret with this costume is that I didn't bring Reese's Pieces!!

Also- meet my work girlfriends {or 2 of them anyways!} Here's Ashley & Amy!! Ashley and I share an office, listen to 90's music on Pandora, and talk about so many non-work things! I love it! Amy is no longer working with us, but I'm not as super sad about it as if I would be if I wouldn't be seeing her for movie nights & texting on Tuesdays about New Girl and comedy-relief Wednesdays!! I ♥ these girls!

Becoming an LPCA....

Can I just tell you how anxious I am to become an LPCA? I am so over the licensing board & their stupid timelines and requirements. Since July, they've made all applicants complete a Jurisprudence Exam. It's basically an online test of laws & statutes that relate to the counseling field. Let me just tell you- that was a $45 waste of time. You have no way to prepare for this exam, as the link to the board's webpage doesn't work. So you're basically best guessing your answer to these 55 questions, and after you're done, you have to "re-take" the questions you missed the first go-round. You basically keep answering the questions until you've got them all right and can print a Certificate of Completion. Are you kidding me? Seriously, this is a requirement for LPCA licensure!! That is so annoying and inconvenient and seriously a waste of $45.  Since I'm not licensed yet, I don't have $45 to waste on money-making requirements for a board that won't answer their telephone!

Can you tell I'm frustrated?

I am not nearly as frustrated about it as I seem, but is that not stupid?! I would be more frustrated if I wasn't approximately four weeks away from becoming a Licensed Professional Counselor- {Associate.} Provisional or not, I'll be able to have clients, do therapy, do clinical evaluations, and sign "LPCA" beside my work-related signatures. :) I am pretty excited about it!

Until then, I had Alex basically kill all my hopes & dreams of ever shopping again and work out a hardcore budget to last me until I get a raise for the rest of my life.  It's going to be hard but going to be SO worth it. It's so discouraging to have a personal conversation with homegirl at CFNC and extend your 10-year student loan(s) to 25 years just so it'll be under $800 A MONTH!!! Seriously, I don't know if my education is worth all that. All I know is I better love counseling and do it for a long, long time.

I think I might. :)

Sweet Surprises

Seriously, this is so unlike my life- but I have felt the love lately!! I have felt so blessed, surrounded by such positive, uplifting, encouraging people in my life. I recently talked about my girlfriends, but today I want to give a shout out to my fabulous co-workers.

As you probably know, I passed my NCE (National Counselors Examination). That was a Friday & I took the day off of work to take my test in the morning and to head to the mountains for one of my best friend's weddings.

Well, Monday morning when I got to work, this was on my desk:

That in itself was so nice of them to do! I felt so happy seeing that. Everyone congratulated me and we went out to lunch to celebrate me passing the NCE and a co-worker's birthday! It's not often most of us get to take off work for an hour, together, so that was nice! Then at the end of the day I got a surprise!

Some nice-smelling goodies from Bath & Body Works & a card signed from everyone in the office!!

Seriously, how sweet is that?! I am so blessed to work with such great people.

I often whine & gripe about things that annoy me....so I thought I would take this time to remind people that there are nice people left in thsi world...and I am lucky enough to get to work with them!! :) Thank you, Lord!

It's Test Time Again!!!

Hey guys! I've been completely missing from the blog world lately. I hate that because blogging is something I enjoy doing.

Can I just say that when I tell people that "I blog" or that "I have a blog" they make all kinds of fun of me. Do they now knot that blogging is in?!  I've been referring to my blog a lot lately for "things from the past" so I completely feel it's necessary to continue blogging as long as I want. :)

Now, I have some BIG news!! But here's a little background first.....

As you know, I started working for Support, Incorporated in September. I interned there this summer and LOVED it. I have really been blessed to work in such a positive place. But, until I'm licensed, I'm not really qualified to do anything there. So right now I am "Clerical Support" and basically help anyone with anything that I can. At first it was kind of slow but we are a growing company & I am a busy girl now!! :)

Well, to become licensed as soon as possible, I submitted all my necessary paperwork & money by September 9th, which was the deadline to turn everything in for the OCTOBER board meeting. Why they need it 3+ weeks early, I don't know, but I didn't question it. At this time I submitted my buttload of money to the NBCC (National Board of Certified Counselors) so that I can register to take the NCE (National Counselors Examination). They said that it'd be four weeks after they get your money before they will notify you that you are able to register to take the test. SERIOUSLY. Okay, so, four weeks to the day goes by & I get an email saying it's time for me to register to take my test! I immediately do what I need to do to register, and realize that they only offer the test during the first two weeks of every month. I found out on the 7th, which means that one week has already gone by!! Holy cow... 'kay, so I said a quick prayer & hoped that there would be availability THIS month for me to take my test....otherwise I'd have to wait until NOVEMBER, just to take the stupid thing!! Not to mention that it's 4-6 weeks after you take the test that your scores are sent to the LPC (Licensed Professional Counselors) Board.

Okay so here's the BIG news....I was blessed and was able to sign up on the ONLY day left that was still available....this coming up Friday!!!! So that means I have a week (from yesterday) to study for this darn thing! That's more than double the amount of time I had to study for the CPCE (the "practice NCE" I needed to pass to enter into my internship) so, I'm trying not to freak out. But this info is less and less on my mind now that I'm out of school...it's been 2 years since I've had some of these classes, AND it's not like 99% of the information I'll need to know for this test will ever relate to ACTUAL counseling. Pretty frustrating!

So basically, this test is a big deal! It's all that {I'm aware of that} is standing between me getting licensed as a counselor!! Why do I care so much?? Well, because while I love helping everyone out at the office doing anything I can, I can't wait to do what I actually went to school to do! I can't wait to have clients who come to therapy on a regular basis, and get to see progress from them, and know that I made a difference!! That and the fat pay raise I'm going to get AND WILL DESPERATELY NEED to begin paying off those beautiful school loans that will be due in just one short month will not hurt either!!

So with all that said, please please please pray for me that I am able to focus and devote my time to studying this week. It's all the time I have & need to use as much of it as possible. And y'all know I'm not good at studying! My ADHD will kick in so quick....this is no joke! A lot is riding on the results of this exam. And pray for me that I don't fREAk OUt remembering that all week. And Friday, pray for me that I am a good guesser...because I have a feeling I'm going to be doing a LOT of "eenie, meanie, miney, moe"-ing. :)