MK Stylers Christmas Party 2007

On Thursday night we had our annual MK Stylers Christmas party. It's always fun to get together and hang out with your Mary Kay sister consultants. This year our director, Lori, had us all over to her house to be pampered with manicures and/or pedicures. It was very relaxing and such a blast! Here are a few pics of Lori opening her presents.

Guess Who?

Below are some pics of the completed pedicures/manicures from the Mary Kay Christmas party. Can you guess who's hands/feet belong to who?



Patty Mary
Kristin
Pam

Dana
Allison
Angie
Janice
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Finished

I love Christmas, I do....but shopping is getting to be a real pain in my rear. Today was the final day that I'll be going to fight the crowds. There is only one person left to get something for, and that's Scott's dad. He is the hardest person on earth to shop for. Anything he wants, he goes out and buys. I think we are going to have to settle for a gift card...I think those are the best gifts anyways.

2 days and counting

Yah! Two whole days remain before Christmas break! I'm getting really really anxious, as are the kids. Today two out of seven of my classes finished up on their typing tests. So, tomorrow I think I'm going to show a Christmas movie just to pass the time. Then on Thursday we have a choir concert in the morning and the school is showing a "reward movie" for those who did well on ISTEP. Let the countdown continue...

You can tell it's getting near the end of the semester because: 1) students constantly ask, "Do we have to do this?" 2) There is a whole list in the office devoted to "students who are kicked out for the remainder of the year" 3) The teacher's lounge is stocked with cookies, fudge, cake, brownies, candy, etc, etc, etc...4) There is a large amount of subs roaming the halls to fill in for those teachers who are out x-mas shopping 5) After school practices are being cancelled right and left due to the "end of year" gym waxing 6) More and more students are coming to school in their pajamas 7) Less and less homework is being turned in 8) Practical jokes have become an everyday occurrence ( ex. toilet paper crammed in the boys restroom toilets, "hornets" which are elaborate paper wads show up in unexpected places, etc.) 9) There are far too many public displays of affection for 13 and 14 year olds...this happens more and more freely towards the end of the year 10) And my favorite...Christmas music can be heard playing in classrooms from out in the hallway!

More snow please

I love snow! I'm so happy that it has finally arrived and is covering our yard. I always wish for a white Christmas as I'm sure most do. We didn't get nearly as much as some have. I think the final count for Greensburg was somewhere between 2 and 4 inches. We didn't have to shovel any of it out because we mostly got stuck with all the aftermath...the rain, sleet, and "smug." It spittered and spattered, but we did get some. The thing I like most about what we've gotten is of course the two hour delay we were blessed with this morning. I'm always grateful for a few extra hours of sleep in the morning. The best part about it was that I got the message last night and so sleep was not broken up. However, this morning when I woke up, to my surprise, we had no electricity. So, in a panic I rushed and called the assistant principal who told me to take my time that he would cover my class. As I frantically packed two bags to head to the farm (Scott's parents) to shower and get ready, wouldn't you know the power came back on! I was so thankful! I quickly unpacked and rushed to get ready for school. Of course the rushing ended once I left our driveway. It was very slick on the roads and I proceeded with caution. The funny thing is I got to school early, and the assistant principal was impressed. One can wish for another repeat tomorrow morning.

Officially four more days

Wow! Time flies by so quickly. I've not been keeping up with blogging as much as I wish I could. Today was the Schoettmer Transport Christmas party. It was a good time. Everyone showed and it was a success. I started thinking about school later on and I realized that there is officially four more days of school until Christmas break! I can't believe how quickly this semester has flown by. Hopefully, especially after today, that there won't be any snow days. Today is looking really crappy. So far it's snowed, sleeted, rained, and snowed some more. As long as we don't get a bunch more tomorrow, then school should be on for Monday. NO SNOW DAYS!!! That's what I'm shouting. We do not need that around here. There is only one day off between Jan. 3 and Spring break (March 22). If we get any snow days, then we have to make up that only day we get off in Feb. Yuck! I'm not sure I will survive.

Three equals Red

It's a little late, but here is a pic of Carey (my latest recruit) and I at her debut party. Congratulations Carey!

Terrible Tuesday

Wow! Is it Friday yet? This has been the craziest day ever. It seems like everyone keeps forgetting things, redoing things, missing things, etc. Have you ever had one of those days? We had a pretty crappy meeting with our superintendent after school who continues to do nothing for our corporation. The gym called...again...and still has not been able to give me the information I've been looking for. My mom set off the ADT alarm at my house while I was at school and had to figure out how to unset it. So, I received a call at school while I was helping a special needs student who I told not to touch anything while I was on the phone. Guess what? He did and so when I got back we had to do it all over again. The wedding picture people (we ordered yet another set of prints for family) are looped. I think they need to rehire their office staff. Do they even know what's going on? Anyways, I think I'm going to go to bed and start a new day....Bye bye Tuesday.

Happy Thanksgiving...one day late

Happy Thanksgiving to all! I hope you had a great holiday with your family and friends or whoever you chose to spend it with. We made the normal rounds starting with Scott's Grandma's last Sunday. Then, yesterday we went to My Aunt Joy and Uncle Steve's (mom's family) who are new to the Greensburg area. They've just moved back up from Florida. Talk about a huge climate change! After we left there we went to My Aunt Mary's house on my dad's side of the family. Needless to say I was full after so much food. The downfall of the day was that my mom was incredibly sick. She came down with sinusitis earlier this week and couldn't kick it soon enough to join us. It was kind of sad not having her there. Scott and I (being the good kids that we are) took her and my dad some Thanksgiving food so that they wouldn't feel left out. As you can guess, we didn't stay long. It was quickly rush in and back out trying to avoid the germs that were afloat in their house. I felt really sorry for her after we left there because she is in so much pain that she can't even talk. My dad was actually considering taking her to the hospital. However, I think he decided against it since she had already been to the doctor a few days ago and he gave her a prescription. Hopefully, she will be better by the end of the weekend. Get well soon, MOM!!!

mmmmm, Starbucks

The one thing I love more than most is Starbucks! Thank goodness for the chilly weather outside to encourage me to go through the Starbucks drivethru. I absolutely love it when it gets cold enough outside to pull out the big wooly sweaters; bring out the comfy covers; snuggle with the one I love; and of course drink up a grande white mocha.

customer service?

I would like to take a minute to tell you about my extreme dislike for customer service reps. I signed up for a new credit card a few weeks ago and it just came in the mail today. There was a little sticker on it that said I must activate the card before use. So, I called the number on the card and of course, a foreign lady answered. Now, I do not have anything against foreign people. In fact, I am related to a few. However, if they cannot speak English very well, then how are they supposed to properly take care of your account? The lady asked me a few questions to verify that it was me. She then asked for my address. I gave it to her and then she said, "Oh, I'm sorry. The address you've given me has a minor discrepincy (spelling?) and you'll need to call customer service to verify the error in the address." Hello? Aren't you customer service??? So, I had to hang up the phone, redial another number she gave me, and then speak to yet another woman. She didn't have great English, but at least she understood me. I told her the situation and verified my address again. She said, "Well mam, the address is correct. I'm not really sure why she told you it wasn't. But, just to be safe, let's verify some other information." Then I had to go through the whole thing yet again! Wow!

To top it all off....I ordered some shoes online for Scott today for Christmas. Apparently I had made a mistake and ordered him the wrong size. So, I got online again and looked up the order exchange page. It asked me for the confirmation number that was listed on my e-mail they sent me. I tried to type in the number but it was too big. So, I called the number that was given to contact customer service. Here we go again....this time, however, the lady did speak very clear English. It was wonderful! On the other hand....she couldn't help me. She said I wasn't listed in the system. Nor did she believe that my order was through them since the order number didn't match up with anything in their system. How crazy! So, now I guess I wait until they come in the mail...have Scott try them on....wait for him to tell me they are too big....and then ship them back (don't forget the shipping costs yet again).

Isn't customer service grand??

Rain, rain, go away

Wow! This morning when I woke up there were a few raindrops pattering on the roof. Scott and I got up and cleaned up the house and then he made waffles for breakfast. They were awesome! Anyways, as we started washing and putting away the dishes the rain started getting louder and louder on our skylights. It was crazy. I didn't even know it was supposed to rain. After breakfast we got ready and headed to the farm to meet a guy who is looking at Scott's trailor that he has up for sale. Of course Roger (our yorkie) wanted to come along so I've been carrying him around everywhere so that he doesn't get soaked and drag mud into the office everywhere. The rain is coming down so hard and so fast that I was soaked just from the time I got out of the truck and ran into the building (not that far of a distance). Now the lightening is picking up and the thunder is about every 10 seconds. It's incredible...if you like that sort of thing. Good thing I'm not planning to go anywhere important today.

wishing I was anywhere...but here

It's nights like these that I wish I were closer....to whom or what I'm not always sure, but closer. Scott's left for the night again and I'm lonely. I hate nights when I don't have much going on and then it comes that dreadful time when he must leave for work. That's about the time I start daydreaming. Daydreaming of places afar....where my friends are, where my friends aren't, where new friends could be. Sometimes I think it's the weather that sends me into these frinzies of wishing I was someone else. When it starts getting colder and dark earlier I think I become depressed. This sickness that takes over me and pulls me down. It's really kind of crazy that this is happening so early in life. Isn't that one of those things that isn't supposed to happen to you until your older? I really need to get out more.

More Pics from Nat's B-Party

This was awesome...Nat & Tina on the bull! You had to see it in person to get the full effect!

Pics from Natalie's Bachelorette Party

What a crazy night! There was lots of bull riding and fun times.......The Bull
Nat on the bull
Kristin & Tina
Natalie & Tina
Tina on the bull!

Pics from Fall Retreat

Fall Retreat was such a blast! Western night was on Friday so that is why we are all wearing western gear (cowboy hats, etc.) This is a picture of Janice, Linda, & me! Janice is another red jacket in our unit. She is awesome! We've become great buds and now running buddies. Our mission: cars by Christmas! Our goal: Directors 2008! This is a picture of Me & Chatney. She is the #1 director in our Diamond Area. She is also #5 in the nation! She is my idol! She's dressed like a bumble bee because we had a talent show. She dresses as a bee and clogs. It's hilarious! The bumble bee is a symbol in Mary Kay because scientists have proven that bees should not be able to fly because of their weight and wing size. However, it can! Mary Kay believes that God whispered in the first bee's ear "you can do it, you can do it!" In Mary Kay we believe that if you believe hard enough, anything is possible.
Janice & Chatney
Kristin & Janice

Has it really been two weeks already?

Where does the time go? I find myself asking that question alot lately. These two weeks have flown by so quickly that as I sit here and try to remember what it is I've been doing...I can't quite remember everything. Things have been going so great in Mary Kay. I've been working my tale off trying to earn my car by Christmas. Last week, I was really busy through the week with parties and meeting with my new recruit. Then Friday came and I headed off to French Lick to the newly remodeled resort for MK Fall Retreat. That is where our national sales director puts together an event to get us re-motivated in our business. It was amazing! We spent the night and got up Saturday to finish up our retreat. That night I got home around 4:30 and then left again at 5:00 to head to Cincinnati. One of my best friends, Natalie, is getting married October 27 and so we took her out for her bachelorette party. It was great! Everyone had such a great time. As you can see from the pics, there was some bull-riding going on :) I headed back home around midnight due to lack of sleep from the night before.

This past week was chaos as well. Monday meeting; Tuesday (the only break I had) cleaning; Wednesday worked the volleyball game at school; Thursday MK party in New Point; and Friday I got to finally spend some much needed time with my family. My mom and Uncle made dinner for us...it was amazing! Now it's back to the weekend and I'm preparing for the upcoming week. I'm starting to feel sorry for my house (and my dog)...such neglect. Oh well, it's so worth reaching for the dream and working hard to accomplish it.

It's finally happened

That's right...you are looking at the blog of the newest red jacket in the MK Stylers unit. For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about....I have moved up or been "promoted" in Mary Kay. I've finally achieved a higher status other than a just plain ole consultant. A red jacket simply means that you have three recruits. I'm SO EXCITED! I'm not going to be getting much sleep tonight. The only down fall is that I thought it was bad going to work before...now I really don't want to go to work tomorrow. I'm ready to quit and go Mary Kay full time. Can't wait! If you are in Mary Kay and you're reading this....I'll see you at the top!

Goals

Just thought I would share.....
Success is a constantly varying idea held in the mind of each individual, and our personal goals regulate the success we plan to achieve. If we set our goals for the highest possible achievements and follow a few basic steps, we are destined for success!

what a crazy, crazy week

Wow! This week has been so messed up. First of all, may I just say THANK GOD ISTEP testing is OVER!!! That was bad. The kids weren't interested at all. I wish I could say that I give a crap, but I really don't :) I was never more happy in my entire life to see a weekend as much as I was last weekend. Friday night was awesome. I got to hang out with my girls Natalie, Tina, and Marcia. I was so excited. I don't get to see them very often. We had a little "pre-party" for Natalie's bachelorette party. The real deal is going down Oct. 6. I can't wait! Then Saturday we spent at the Knight's of St. John hall in Hamburg. We usually go there every year about this time to participate in the backwards draw. Scott is a member and so we always buy raffle tickets to try and win $800! Needless to say, it never works out. Although, Scott did get lucky at the bucket game and won $100! That was pretty cool. Sunday was a chill/work day. I went with Scott to his office at the farm so he could get things done for a business meeting. What was supposed to be two hours turned into eight! I got tons of stuff done for Mary Kay. I was really excited about that. Now here it is back to a work week, although it is hump day again and I'm thrilled that there are only two days remaining. This weekend should be eventful as well. Can't wait!

We're half way there!

So here it is, Wednesday! At school we call this "hump day." We are over the hump and on to Thursday. One more day of ISTEP left. Tomorrow we test until lunch time and then we are watching a movie until the end of the day. I can't wait!!! It's been such a long stressful week. I feel like I am teaching two days in one because we test all day in the morning until lunch and then we come back after lunch and teach the whole rest of the afternoon. I am always looking forward to the evenings. Although, this has been a crazy week in the evening's too. Monday-Mary Kay meeting...Tuesday- Worked the Jr. High volleyball game...Wednesday- Helped my friend Kim put gravel around her house...Thursday- meeting with a new recruit for MK...Friday- pre-bachelorette party for my girl Nat...Saturday- Backwards raffle at the Knights of St. John...Sunday- Cookout at Father Rob's. Wow! How eventful! I have been taking pictures this week to keep track of the chaos. I'll share them with you at a later time.

The weekend's over

What a great weekend! I thoroughly enjoy the weekends where not much is going on, but just enough to keep you moving. We didn't do a whole lot really. Friday was Jenny's birthday as mentioned before so we took her out to eat at Texas Roadhouse in Columbus. Then on Saturday we hung out with our good friends Kim and Dan. We ended up at the Fall Festival which believe it or not my parents were there hanging out. It was really a funny coincidence. There was a band there that was dressed up as the Beatles and sounded pretty close to them. It turned out to be a pretty chilly night so we drank lots of coffee and cappucino. They were yummy! We left a little early and went back to Kim and Dan's to watch "Zodiac." I must say it was not a great movie and we ended up leaving before the movie was over because Scott was not impressed. Today we just hung out most of the day and I worked some on my business and laid around and watched Lifetime. Gotta love those Lifetime movies :) Later in the evening Kim called and was needing some help moving some furniture. So now here we are, back home doing a whole lot of nothing recapping the weekend and getting ready to head back to work already. I can't believe how fast the time flies by. This week is going to be great...ISTEP at school. Boy, the kids are going to LOVE that !!!!

Happy Birthday Jenny!

I just wanted to send a shoutout to my sister-in-law Jenny. It's her 25th! Have a great one Jen Jen!!!

What great friends I have

Natalie, one of my greatest friends of all time, came up this past week. She made a special trip all the way from Cincinatti just to come and help me out with a Mary Kay project that I am currently working on. We had so much fun! It was back to old times (giggling, reminiscing about the past, and of course, huge discussions on THE WEDDING)! As you can tell from the pic, her makeup turned out really great! Thanks Nat for all you do for me. Love ya girl!

The newest addition to our family

Just thought I'd share the newest baby cousin in my family. This is Jake Allen...he was born August 8. I know, I know. I'm just now able to upload the picture. Enjoy!

It's definately Fall

Well, it's that time again. Can you believe it? I know it's fall because:
1) It's cool enough outside that you need a sweatshirt when the sun goes down.
2) Football season has officially started.
3) I wake up in the morning and can't get my butt out of bed (even worse than before) because it's freezing in my room.
4) My husband is gone 24 hours a day because he is shelling corn.
5) As I type this I hear the semi go by and honk as he is making another trip to the grain bin.
6) My students are already fed up with being in my classroom and we've only been in session for four weeks.
7) We've already held our first in-service (boy, that was a lot of fun!)
8) The city pool is officially closed for the season.
9) The fall festival is going on in town and there are tons of people EVERYWHERE! (you can smell the food when you get out of your car)
10) The cheerleaders are currently finishing up there annual Mum sale to raise money for their squad.

Oh, Fall....it's the best time of year!

God has a plan for you

One of my dear friends sent this to me today. I think it is worth sharing with everyone. I truly believe that God has a plan for everyone. Follow your dreams and believe you can acheive them. Believe that God has put whatever the opportunity is in front of you for a reason.

Your time is coming! The dreams and desires, the things you want to accomplish, the situations you want to see changed will happen. Just because it has taken a long time, or because you've tried and failed, don't give up on those dreams. Don't be complacent about pursuing what God has placed in your heart. I encourage you today to get your fire back! It may be taking a long time, but God is a faithful God. No matter how long it's been, no matter how impossible it looks, if you'll stay in faith, your time is coming. Every dream that's in your heart, every promise that has taken root, God not only put it there, but He has every intention of bringing it to pass. Start declaring today. My time is coming! God is working behind the scenes on my behalf. I will fulfill my destiny! I will fulfill the plan God has for my life! As you declare and expect and wait for the appointed time, your faith will grow. Your hope will grow. And you'll step into the destiny God has in store for you!

Look inside your mind

The quote of the day is:
For some of us, looking inside our mind is like watching an all-day plane crash.
- Michael Bookbinder
So, I did some thinking about this quote. I think it holds true for most. In the movie "Peaceful Warrior," Socrates tells Dan to look inside his mind and see what it is that is truly holding him back from his dreams. He tells him to "Take out the trash. Get rid of all the garbage that is cluttering your mind." I think that we all should take the time to take out the trash. What is it that jumbles your thoughts and prevents you from achieving your goals, your dreams? God has a plan for all of us. We just have to be willing to see it, believe it, and follow it. After that, the rest will fall into place. Have you taken out the trash today?

find your inner strength

I've finally joined the rest of the world and have created something that I can call my own on the Internet. I don't do any of those other things like my space, face book, etc. After seeing my friends Marcia and Rajean's blogs, I thought it would be a great way to stay in touch with friends. I've titled my blog "find your inner strength" because as some of you know, I've recently become obsessed with a movie/book that I've come into contact with. It's called Peaceful Warrior and I truly believe it has changed my life. I highly recommend it to anyone who is looking for their inner strength.
If you didn't know already, I am a small business owner. I work for Mary Kay. I think that being a part of the company forces you to take a step back and look within yourself. Their motto is "God first, family second, and career third." So not only is it a business that allows you to make money, but it is also a business that allows you grow spiritually. In doing so, you find yourself looking for books, movies, and music to help you achieve this growth. However, I didn't go out looking for the movie "Peaceful Warrior" to inspire me. It kind of just happened. I ran across it one night while looking for something to watch on TV. I read the preview for it and let me tell you it did the movie no justice. The movie literally changed the way I think.
Linda Toupin, my National Sales Director in Mary Kay, always talks about turning points. A turning point in your life is a day that you think a new thought and then act upon that thought. After watching Peaceful Warrior, I thought lots of new thoughts. I got to work immediately after I shut the movie off and began frantically writing down the information my brain was processing. However, I couldn't write as fast as I was thinking. I've come up with an entire plan that has renewed the way I run my business. Correction, my life. After doing some major soul searching, I have decided to take control of my business/life. I'm going to become a director and quit teaching. My goal is to achieve directorship by next summer. You might be thinking, "are you crazy? Quit teaching? Didn't you spend four years in college for that?" The answer is yes. But, I think that God has put this opportunity in front of me for a reason. And if God gave you such a great opportunity, one that changes your life and alters the way you think, wouldn't you do the same?