Reflecting on 2011... in February

Yes, I know it's February. Yes, I know one would typically reflect on the previous year around New Years. While I did, I must not have submitted my post, and look what I found! Low & behold! A reflection on the year 2011. :) It went a little something like this ::: 

I just love looking back, reflecting on the past year, and thinking of what memories and lessons it brought. This new year is no different.  Some things didn't change at all this year {if you ask me if I have a ring on my finger yet, I might drop kick you. Trust me, YOU WILL KNOW if I ever get engaged!} and some things changed dramatically!!

I think I'll take a stroll down memory lane if you don't mind. Join me if you wish, and if not, well, you might want to stop reading. ;) This also is a great time to reflect on my hair colors & styles in 2011. I went from red to orange to dark brown to blonde to brown to almost black. Just a typical year.

Thankfully, I rang in 2011 with my boy. ♥

I spent January through April traveling back and forth between Hickory and Maiden for my school counseling internship.  Waking up super early after being up super late was not ideal, but I loved Maiden and everyone there and especially loved driving while watching the sun rising every morning!

This picture of my Mawmaw's Valentine's Day flag makes me happy. "All you need is love."

I do not miss these late nights doing work for the last school papers and projects but I do miss Baby hanging out with me while I worked. :)

And March & April was an exciting time! Alex bought his first house & we all spent a month fixing it up, getting it read for him to move in! It sure was an experience, and a trying time for this couple with two different tastes {me: good, him: whatever is cheapest} but we made it! :) We had SO much help from his family & his friends and he/we are so grateful for that! We definitely could not have done it all without them!

Alex and I celebrated {another} two years together on April 4th!

And spent lots of time with these two... :) Tashah & Phil are our permadoubledates!

And enjoyed the presence of this guy (on the left!)... Casey was such a help to Alex as he worked on his new house & we loved getting to know him as he spent time in NC! The boys loved him too :)

Easter 2011

AND let add that I was SO extremely happy to celebrate my graduation (a couple months early) with these folk!! My #1 fans... I love love love them! 

Johnathan, me, and Tori - all RDs at Lenoir-Rhyne GRADUATED!! It was a fun two years but we have to move on to paychecks & big people jobs!!

And I can NOT forget Maria! The one that makes us four! ♥ I shared so many good times with these ladies. I miss them like crazy!

I saw my little bestie graduate from UNCW! :) Such a big year for her!

Happy 25th birthday to my boy!!

I loved reuniting with my family for my cousin's wedding. It's usually Christmas when we're all together & that doesn't happen every Christmas. So it made my heart happy to have us all together!

Granny :)

My cousin, Courtney, the bride :)

Daddddd

Brother Bear

I love this pic of me & Alex!! Jumping off the high dive at the lake, enjoying the last days of summer with friends before we have to be adults & work full-time jobs.

But not before our beach trip with the Mullen family!!

And I got to hold a shark!!!!!

And look at this pretty pretty thing :)

I got to hang out with my Godson, Corbin, a couple times & watch him grow into such a handsome little one-year-old man!!

I chopped all my hair off & attempted to start over on this whole perfect hair journey I'm on.

And I celebrated my 24th birthday with some pretty awesome friends who I love so much!!

And, you know I started my new job, and my co-workers made me feel SO special on my birthday. Seriously.

And I told you it was a big year for my little bestie! She is a married woman now!!

And I got to meet my SECOND Godson, Carson!! He is a DOLL! Lindsey (and Rhine) make beautiful baby boys for sure.

Hahaha. Halloween at work was a hoot. I was E.T. for our costume contest. Yes, we are a mental health agency and YES we have Halloween costume contests. Which my fab new friend Ashley obviously did not participate in. (Boo!) I won runner-up to our executive director! Haha!

Amy!! (Also did not participate)

Alex and I spent many-o-Friday nights supporting our little cousins in their high school football games. They were both seniors & played first strings for their schools so we had to go show them some love!! And Mawmaw flew her Lincolnton flag for one more football season. *tear*

 

In October, Alex and I went with his parents to Boone to watch some Appalachian football and hang out in the pretty mountains before it got so cold I thanked God I didn't live in Boone anymore.  We had a great time! :)

And, the Lincolnton Wolves just kept winning.  So we spent all of November watching them win playoff games. It got cold and I had to constantly remind myself I loved my cousin. :)

We even went to NC State to watch the Wolves in the state championship!! They didn't win & it's a pretty sore subject all over town, but, I'm proud of my little cousin & was glad that he got to experience something so memorable!!

AND Christmas time came around. :) We celebrated with friends by eating, exchanging silly gifts, and waring our ugliest Christmas attire.

Addi didn't join us in the ugly Christmas sweater attire. She said ugly wasn't in her wardrobe. HAHA. Just kidding.

And, more importantly, I thanked God above that I got to spend Christmas with my Pawpaw!! He gave us another super serious scare, and even was escorted to the E.R. via ambulance while the family was at their house on Christmas Eve night, BUT God works wonders & we were able to celebrate Christmas with him the next day!!!!

This is him, showing me how much he loved his much-needed Snuggie.

You'll have to forgive me for posting this in FEBRUARY. My blogger brain must have been pre-occupied. But, as you can see, 2011 brought me lots of happiness and experiences and memories and milestones and life lessons. It was a rough year and it was a great year. I'm glad it happened & I'm glad it's over.

Bring it on, 2012!! I am excited to see what you have in store for me!! 

3 months later, pics from Ale's wedding!

My friend Ale got married in October, and since I wasn't on Facebook, I didn't see her wedding pics she finally posted! I ended up signing on my mom's Facebook to look at Ale's wedding pics. I promise that was it. She doesn't have that many Facebook friends anyways. I wanted to especially make sure Ale hadn't posted any absolutely horrible pictures of me on her wedding album(s) because her wedding day was like one of my worst feeling days. I was running on very little sleep. I was pale. I was fat. and I was having a bad hair day. And I was wearing new shoes and my feet were killing me! It was just not a good-feeling day. {All happy-for-Ale feelings aside! Love you Ale! haha} BUT- here's some pics from her special day in October!

Bride & Groom in a PERFECT Autumn setting <3

Ale, her bridesmaids, & her chocos wedding shoes!

Lincolnton girls <3

Bridesmaids in our monogrammed sweatshirts - MUCH comfier!

Alex joined me at the reception :)

Quick blog

I read this article tonight off of Yahoo's home page and this concept is just speaking to my heart. I know y'all know I love me some Facebook and I've recently said "see you later" to the social networking site.  Although I haven't REALLY missed it {enough to sign back in} YET, I do often times finding myself out of the loop or ... kind of bored.  This is RIDICULOUS as I've always said, "How could anyone ever be bored?" Bored's not the word. Lazy is the word. There's other things I could do with my time, but if I'm tired, I don't want to get up, or get stuff out, or .....yeah, just get up. And I find myself falling asleep if I watch a TV show without food or a computer in front of me. SO. Yeah, I don't know where I was going with that, but, that's that. That's where I am.

Lots on my mind, but my computer's about to die & I'm being too lazy to get my cord out & plugged up. :)

Side note: I wonder if people who have noticed I'm MIA on Facebook have thought to check out my blog? Hmm. I wonder. :) I'm still alive, folks!!

Be In The Know!!

This is just a quick message to anyone out there who reads this and wants to be a part of my Mary Kay email list. If you are interested in knowing when I am having another fabulous 25% - 50% off $ale, send me your email address in a comment & I will add you!! :)

Until later...

Sweet dreams!

I've been tagged! Q&A time!

Sweet Maggie from A Carolina Love tagged me to do this neat little Q&A that I miss oh so much from those Myspace days. When I always got bored wanted to procrastinate I would  fill out those quizzes. Here's an example of one of those old quizzes {from 2005}. Thanks to Maggie tagging me, you now know totally new & completely random things about me! I know, I know....you're ecstatic. :)

Okay, now, here were the rules.

1. You must post these rules.
2. Each person must post 11 things about themselves on their blog.
3. Answer the questions the tagger set for you in their post, and create 11 new questions for the people you tag to answer.
4. You have to choose 11 people to tag and link them on the post.
5. Go to their page and tell them you have linked him or her.

 And here were the questions Maggie asked me....

1. What is the one item you have to have in your fridge/pantry? 

If you know me, you know I am ADDICTED to Mello Yello. It's my absolute favorite drink in the world, and for SOME reason, people don't think stores still sell Mello Yello. Well, they do! I love me an ice-cold can of Mello Yello during a meal. Lucky for me, I rarely finish a can. Therefore, I waste a lot of Mello Yello. But I'd rather waste it than ingest it all. It is a soft drink after all! But, one I have, and always will love. :) Here's proof:

Yes, this is a picture that was taken in my dorm room during my freshman year at Appalachian State. I was {obviously} in love with Mello Yello then...and that was 2/9/2006!! {Don't judge me. I only know this because Webshots tells me when pictures were taken via my old Kodak camera. I just thought it'd be funny to prove my point through a almost 6-year-old picture!} 

2. Is there a song that evokes an emotion/memory from you no matter what? (can be a happy, nostalgic, etc)

The honest truth is that every song reminds me of something...some time or some person or some situation I was in or some time in my life. I love that so much because just hearing a song you haven't heard in such a long time can take you back & you can feel those feelings or be reminded of how far you've come just by hearing a song. 

Side note: I put this blog on hold and had to take a drive. So I shuffled my iPod during the drive to see what songs on there made me think what. And this is what I found: 

Des'ree's "You Gotta Be" reminds me of a summer Saturday in the 1990's, having very little care in the world, feeling encouraged, with the sun shining, and the windows open all throughout the house. It really makes me feel happy, empowered, and carefree. I will always love this song, no matter how silly I think the music video is. Man, I swear I could make such better music videos than 90% of people who actually get to make music videos.

3. What do you feel is your biggest accomplishment to date? Could be personal or professional.

My biggest accomplishment to date would have to be a professional one. I feel like I have not "accomplished" too too much in my personal life, yet. ;) Obtaining my Masters degree in Counseling is something I was determined to do, and did as quickly as possible. I had my mind made up & was motivated to succeed! Of course getting licensed as an LPCA & getting a j-o-b fall right on into this category, because without those two, I can't do what I went to school to do.

4. Would you rather go the rest of your life without ever watching your favorite show/movie or without reading your favorite book?

I would go the rest of my life without ever reading my favorite book again, duh. I've already read it & I seldom read the same book twice.  But I could watch a funny TV show over & over again! 

5. Skydiving or bungee jumping?

Skydiving! It's something I think I'm too chicken to do. BUT I think I would love it if I did it. Tori amp; I did the skydiving simulator on campus last year, and it was fun! :) 

6. Where is the one place you want to go before you die?

NEW. YORK. CITY.
Seriously, if you know me, or have talked to me in the past....year, you should know this. I have blogged about it and said it over and over again to those around me. I think someone's gonna get tired of hearing about it & just buy me a (one-way) plane ticket. :) Please do.

7. If you had a book written about you and your life, what would you want the title to be?

Dang, this is a toughie. I have absolutely no idea. Maybe "Fabulous Fulfillment" - :)

8. What would you want your 15 minutes of fame to be for?


For donating an organ to someone who really needed it and some really cool ironic or coincidental thing happening between myself & my organ recipient.

9. Is there a hobby or activity you did when you were younger that you've given up, but wish could start again?


I really miss sleepovers with my friends. Staying up all night, talking, doing hair, playing games, prank calling people, you know...typical sleepover stuff. The only time I have a "sleepover" is when I visit my out-of-town friends for a night or weekend and need to sleep at their house, but there's not really sleepoverish things going on...you know, because we sleep. I really valued that time with my friends and miss those days so much.

10. What would be the hardest food to give up forever? (Mexican, Italian, cake, etc.)



Chocolate. Basically anything chocolate.

11. If you could be amazing at one thing, what would you want it to be?
Doing.....this:

Wow! What a trip down memory lane for me! :) I love love love reminiscing.
NOW- onto those who I wish to tag! Note: I'm probably not going to tag 11 people. I know, I'm a party pooper! But I'll tag those who blog the most who I think have the slightest bit chance that they'll wanna do something fun like this too! :)
And I choose...
Meredith from The Davis'
Joy from Just The Three of Us
Ashley from Life With Busy Bea
Winter from Deeper Than The Ocean
Erica from My Life as a Ledbetter
Abby from The Randomness of Abby
Laura from Taylor Tales 


Now...your questions are...
1. What is the happiest movie you've ever seen? What's the saddest?
2.  What's the biggest lesson you think you learned in 2011?
3. What bold thing are you just scared to death to try?
4. What is the most out-of-place thing in your purse?
5. What's your favorite app on your smartphone? And if you don't have a smartphone, why in the heck not?
6. Are you Team Kim or Team Kris Humphries?
7. What's one thing you would tell your 16-year-old self?
8. Who is your celebrity look-a-like?
9. What websites do you visit on a daily basis?
10. What's something on YouTube you want to share with others?
11. What is your favorite quote or Bible verse?


Now I can't wait to see who responds! I love stuff like this. :)

I can't do everything but I need to do more.

"You can't do everything." -My dad

My dad warned me of this when I was a teenager. When I was in middle school & high school, trying to run here & there, participate in this & that, make two parties in one night, you know, typical crazy  busy-people things. I don't know if it was age or exhaustion, but I finally realized that {bracing myself to say this} but... My. Dad. Was. Right.

After a long day of working, I would love love love to: eat dinner, spend time with my grandparents, watch some TV shows, do some laundry, do the dishes, blog, read for pleasure, do a nightly devotion.....oh, and see my boyfriend.  The bad thing is is that my nights usually look a little something like this: Work til 6:30-7:00ish, go to my grandparents to eat dinner (kill two birds with one stone), get home around 8ish, thank God my boyfriend doesn't mind traveling to BFE to come hang out with me, watch a couple shows with Mom & Alex, head to bed to play on my phone for a little while I "wind down" & hope to be asleep before 11:30. {It takes me forever to get to sleep.} Guess what didn't get done: everything else.

I don't know what's going on with me, but I am a super sleeper lately. I should say super napper instead of super sleeper because it takes me forever to get to sleep & it is an act of Congress to get me out of the bed in the mornings.  Alex  blames soft drinks, of course, but that's a risk I feel like I'm going to have to take right now. ;) BUT- this weekend, let me tell you, I have slept like a DOG! I have napped until I felt guilty. I have slept, slept, and slept some more. I chalked it up to saying on Twitter, "Saturdays are for being lazy," and "Sundays are for church and napping."

Now, one could argue that I can't get anything done if I nap, but I am being serious when I say that I have felt SUCH the need to sleep sleep and sleep some more lately. I don't know why! But, I know I've got a busy week ahead & I've got to be prepared, and hit the ground running! That is my plan, so, tonight I spend my Sunday evening catching up on paperwork from work, and feeling SUPER rested after a FOUR hour NAP after church this morning. SERIOUSLY. I have slept this weekend away!!

How does that tie in with the quote from my dad? I don't know. I think I'm procrastinating again but I DO think I had a point. And I think that point is: I can't do everything, but I need to find a way to do more.

So, the weekend's almost over. I must go back to work.
I need to figure out a better plan though because this not getting anything done crap is for the birds.
One thing I can say proudly is that FACEBOOK has not been the reason for me not getting things done.
I can proudly say that I have spent 6 whole days OFF of Facebook and I haven't really missed it have only missed it a little. :) Yay me!
I'll be honest: I am tweeting more but, I mean, come on! {I will work on it. I promise.}

Until then: holler at me on twitter: @nsykes0921 -- say hello! I would love to know who actually reads these durn things. :)

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.

He Qualifies The Chosen

Jacob cheated.

Peter had a temper.

David had an affair.

Noah got drunk.

Jonah ran from God.

Moses commited murder.

Giedon was insecure.

Miriam gossiped.

Martha worried.

Thomas doubted.

Sara was impatient.

Elijah was moody.

Zacchaeus was short.

Abraham was old,

& Lazarus was dead!!

GOD DOESN'T CHOOSE THE QUALIFIED,

HE QUALIFIES THE CHOSEN!!!