Monday, October 17, 2011

Run for a Reason

My friend Leslie and I have decided to run the Houston Chevron marathon together in January. We didn't want to just run it for ourselves, we wanted our efforts to go to a good cause as well. Originally I had been approached to run for St. Jude Children's Hospital but after talking to Leslie she wanted to do a charity that was close to her heart. I thought it would be better for us to work together towards one goal, so we decided Bo's Place was the best option for the both of us.
The goal for each runner is $2000. Beginning this journey I thought, "Well that should be fairly simple to raise." Needless to say, not exactly. It's always difficult asking people for money, especially for a charity most people have never even heard of. The first few weeks we got donations from friends and family which for the most part added up to about $600 for me and about $1100 for her. Our next step was hitting coworkers. For the month of September we brought breakfast for the company kitchen on Friday's with a donation jar for those who felt inclined to give a donation. This brought in about another $300 for each of us, including several donations from some of our bosses and partners.
The third effort was hosting a football square pool for our coworkers where half the money collected would go to the charity and the other half to the winner of the pool. This was a great success because it not only brought in money for Bo's Place but it also was exciting for those who participated because it gave them the chance to make a little extra money as well. The football pool brought in $300 for us to split, which brought my total to about $1300 and her's to $1850ish. We were almost there but running out of ideas and people to bug about donating.
Our last idea was a charity garage sale at my mom's house in Tyler. We began hitting people up for their unwanted junk to donate to the sale. The majority came from my mom's friends and people from her church. I went home this last weekend to get everything together with the hope that there would enough "unwanted junk" to make up for the difference in our goals. Once walking into the garage I quickly realized we had more than enough stuff and just hoped that people would be willing to buy!
The sale was a great success and we raised an addition $1045. Which put our totals over $2100 each along with a few other donations from friends over the weekend.
The journey of fundraising was fun and very fulfilling. I feel blessed to have the opportunity to raise not only money for a great cause but also raise awareness about a fairly unknown charity that could enhance the lives of those that it comes in contact with. I've realized that when you really want to meet a goal, if you put forth the time effort and brain power you can accomplish your goals in no time. Leslie and I are very proud to be supporting such a wonderful charity and hope to make them proud by successfully completing the marathon as well.
I would like to think the hardest part was raising the $2000 but I know I'm just fooling myself. Running 26.2 miles is a huge commitment and hopefully with just as much time and work we can meet that goal as well. Wish us luck!!!
Thanks to all those who supported us, financially and emotionally!!!!

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Much needed change...

So after reading my last blog I've realized that it's definitely time for an update. I always say how much I love change and experiencing new things and these last few months are just a testament to that. If change is what I wanted I definitley got it!
You never really realize the reality of situations until you are on the outside. It took a shocking blow to realize how unperfect my life was. I was convincing myself that being content was good enough and overlooking the important things that mean so much to me.
I never thought it was possible to be as happy as I am right now. My life is in a place I never thought possible and it feels good to finally be in control.

I've "lost" about 210 pounds and it feels amazing not walking around with all the weight on my shoulders. I breathe so much easier. I have friendships that I've always wanted and my old ones are better than ever. I'm doing things I've always wanted to do, for example running a marathon in January. My job gets better everyday as I learn more. My relationships with my family have grown stronger and I realized how much I really do depend on them for support and love. I feel like I'm in control, not chasing someone's elses dream but building my life for myself for once. I've always prided myself on being an independent person but these past few months have given that a whole new meaning. I'm finding out WHO I really am and feeling like I'm getting back to my true self.

There's really only one word to perfectly describe my life: FREE!

Friday, June 17, 2011

Almost one year!!!

It's been almost one year since my last blog, so long overdue. So much has happened that it difficult to give an update on everything, so I'll just keep it short and sweet.


In October I was hired as a two week accountant contractor for Limerock Resources. The opportunity was such a blessing and I was ecstatic! After the first week I was asked to stay for an undisclosed amount of time to continue working until they no longer needed me. Fortunately six months later I was offered a full time position as General Accountant and accepted the job. I love working here! It's a friendly, hardworking company that is growing faster than we can keep up. I have made several friends while working here and have enjoyed the type of work I've been doing. I saw a great quote the other day that described my job pretty well. "Not every day is good, but there's something good in everyday." Let's not forget it's a job and there are going to be good things and bad things but I am 100% happy here and am grateful that such a wonderful opportunity came along.

Brandon finished his clinical rotations in May and graduated the first weekend in June. His rotations led him all over Texas including, San Antonio, Ft. Worth, and Houston. The Ft. Worth location was too far for me to visit so we went four weeks without seeing each other but it flew by so it wasn’t too bad. San Antonio was a great location because it was only a 2 hour drive for me from Houston so I went to visit half way between his 4 week rotation. While there we relaxed in his hotel room and spent the other days hanging out and eating on the Riverwalk. We also took a short trip to New Braunfels where we shopped and had dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, The Gristmill. His last rotation was completed in Houston, thankfully. The best part was I finally had a person to car pool with so I could take the HOV lane! It’s the little things like that, that make me happy. Hahaha! It was nice for us to finally be back in the same city and living together again.

The last week in May, Brandon and I as well as his parents and mine, traveled back to St. Maarten for the graduation ceremony. The trip started off with a few glitches (delayed flights, cancelled flights, plane malfunctions, and lost luggage) but all in all the vacation and ceremony were fabulous! We had a wonderful time vacationing with our families and then relaxing just the two of us once they left. It was great to see the island again and tell stories about all the fun things we did while living there. Not much had changed, mainly roads and a few restaurants but the school looked just like we remembered and so did our old home. We spent a total of 8 days there and needless to say it was plenty. While I’m extremely grateful that we had the opportunity to live there for two years, I’m glad that chapter of my life is over.

I’ve become attached to the city of Houston and thoroughly enjoy living here. I have tons of family to see any day of the week I want. There are unlimited shopping, restaurant and entertainment places to keep me occupied and best of all, warm weather basically year round. For the past several months I’ve tried to make a point to go back to Tyler at least once or twice a month. Recently though I’ve decided it’s a little bit uneconomical to be making so many trips and it isn’t really giving me the opportunity to enjoy the city I love so much. I’ve made a few friends here and there in Houston but nothing compared to the one’s I have in Tyler so that’s what keeps me going back so often. Being able to see my sisters everyday has been one of the highlights of living back in Texas again. They have changed so much in the last 3 years that we have been traveling. Lura is a teenager now and every bit of a brat! LOL J/K. I love her to death. She is one of the sweetest most thoughtful people I know but she’s turning into a teenager now and things are changing. It’s difficult to see your little sisters change so much. I want her to stay little and cute and sweet. She’s growing up, flirting with boys, getting involved in cheerleading, talking about taking college level classes, etc.! AHHH it’s all too much.

Cameron is changing as well. We’ve become good friends since living in the same city. I wouldn’t trade our sisterly talks for anything in the world. She’s fun and crazy and gives some of the best advice.

Whitney started back to school this summer. She’s planning on going to nursing school in the future. I’m so proud of her! She texts me all the time telling me about her test grades. I know she’s proud and so am I! Coy and Cooper are getting so big. Coy is in school now. He has lost his four front teeth, on top and bottom. I saw him last weekend for the first time since they’ve all fallen out and he looked so cute. He looks more and more like MaKenzie every day. Cooper is my sweetheart. He’s so rough and has such a funny personality. He’s really getting big and sometimes even beating up his own brother. They both are the sweetest little nephews anyone could ask for and Whit is doing such a great job as a mother!
I always talk about how lucky I am and how grateful I am to have my life but it’s honestly the truth. I wouldn’t trade my life for anyone’s. While there are still many things I want in my future, I am totally content with where I am now. I look forward to more upcoming changes.
Until then…

Hopefully I can keep up with my updates more often now.