Oh 2012, 2012. It's been another year, y'all. God has continued to show up in crazy ways and blow my mind, per usual. I love looking back at the cool opportunities & blessings, the challenges & rough times, and the tough decisions & utter trust in the Lord I had to mature in. This has been a year of trying to challenge myself, too. Let's look back at what 2012 held, shall we?
-The end of 2011 was incredibly tough. Due to extreeeeeeme stress that was seriously negatively affecting my health, I had to resign from my job as an Early Interventionist. I had to have 20+ break-up conversations with the families I worked with (the worst thing ever!) and say good-bye to great co-workers & supervisors. I didn't have a job lined up, but I knew I had to get out before I truly ended up in the hospital. It was so hard & I miss them all, but I know I absolutely made the right decision. My finances and job state were totally up in the air and I had to pray and trust that God had something great in store for me. Thankfully I'm a saver, not a spender, so I had money saved up to live off of while I figured out what to do next. So 2012 started off with unemployment (my decision, but necessary). Blah.
- I rang in 2012 with great friends complete with food galore, fireworks, & Fun.'s "We Are Young" on repeat. haha. There may have been some Jurassic Park & dance parties in there, too.
- With some extra time on my hands I was able to do a Little Red & Big Bad Wolf photo shoot with my fave Katie Foshee. So fun. This began my slight obsession with bear spirit hoods. Ha!
- I served with Kidtown at my church, Midtown Fellowship and finished up the semester as a lifegroup leader with my amazing girls. I also continued to learn & grow so much in my faith- especially dealing with the uncertainty of my future. Still love my church so dang much.
- Got to be a bridesmaid in my girl Callie's wedding! Yes we wore TOMS. Also celebrated weddings of great friends like Kat, Brandi, Lyndsay, Liz, Lauren, etc.
- As hilarious as this is, got the chance to be an extra in a local Kia commercial- made some new friends & made some money. Can't beat that.
- My friends Courtney & Adam had a Hunger Games premiere party and then we went to see the movie as a huge group.
- While I continued trying to figure out what to do job-wise, I got a temp job with a law firm doing business intake and met some awesome people- Laurie, Staci, & Jean.
- Got the chance to do extra work on a film (The Conjuring) in Wilmington. Had the opportunity to be a college student in the 70s. I love period pieces because you go to a fitting & get seen by wardrobe, hair, & make-up. So fuuuuun. The movie comes out this summer & is supposed to be scary as junk. Ahhhh.
- While in Wilmington, we celebrated St. Pat's Day, went to dinner with one of my favorite people, & stalked the Dawson's Creek house. We found it!!
- Went to Aiken for the Steeplechase & cheered for some horsies.
- I was able to go to a few concerts including Drake, Kendrick Lamar, ASAP Rocky, Needtobreathe, Boyz II Men, Gin Blossoms, Taking Back Sunday, Yellowcard, Bayside, etc.
- Threw down some karaoke at Tsubaki for my birthday. Absolute hilarity. I can't even.
- Went to Universal Studios for more birthday celebration. I love The Mummy ride!! Here we are on Jurassic Park...Lort help us.
- Celebrated Memorial Day at the beach with dear friends.
- Went to a Harry Potter party & fake dressed up as Hagrid. Ha! Apparently my friends & I like movies & parties.
- Got a job interview at a place I'd heard great things about, but it wasn't going to be working with kids (which is what I really wanted). I still did the interview anyway to practice my interview skills & make connections, etc. Well, God is the coolest at working things out behind the scenes because after all was said and done, a job was literally created for me to step right into...and it was the perfect fit. It blended my education (Master's in Early Childhood Educ) with my experience (3+ years as an EI) into a dream job. I now work in an alternative preschool program for developmentally delayed children. I'm in love with what I do, the kids, my co-workers, my schedule, the fact that I get to wear sweat pants every day (ha), the families, etc.
- I auditioned for a musical at Workshop Theatre- Camp Rock (yes, it's Disney, don't judge). I just wanted to sing & dance around in the back and maybe have 1 or 2 lines. Well I ended up getting the part of the new girl at camp, Rosie Day. Here's the thing- I HAVE A HORRIBLE MEMORY! I love tv/film because it's ok if you forget a line or mess up...the director says "cut" & you start again- I mean it's not ideal, but it's ok. Live theater, however, scares me to death- IF YOU MESS UP, YOU'RE TOTALLY SCREWED. I remember asking Jeni the producer if she knew how many lines I would have when she called to offer me the part. She was like...um...I can go look & call you back if you want. haha. She must have thought I was a total weirdo. It was at this moment that I decided it was time to challenge & push myself out of my comfort zone (and comfort idol). I accepted the role (not knowing how many lines I'd have) and made a deal with myself that I'd face my fear. I ended up having 25 or so lines & a few short solos and I DID ITTTTTTTT.
- Going along with challenging myself beyond what I thought I could do...I started a love/hate relationship with Shaun T. We hung out 6 days a week for 2 months or so. We had our ups & downs, but my abs sang his praises when the Insanity Workouts came to an end. I never thought I could stick with that intense interval training, but DID ITTTTT. I'm now finishing up week 3 of my second go round with the program. So far so good : )
- Then I thought...heck, if I could push through Insanity back in the spring, maybe I can run a mile in the fall. I've never been a runner & have never liked it when I've tried. When I started in August I could run at 5.2 speed on the treadmill for maybe 1/2 a mile before falling out. After deciding this would be the next way to challenge myself, I found a "From the Couch to 5K" type program with a running plan. I followed it & pushed myself & I've now run a "fun 5K" (The Color Run) and then a for real timed 5K. I couldn't even believe it, but I finished the timed race in under 30 minutes. THAT IS CRAZY TALK FOR ME! I couldn't run a mile 3 months earlier. But yet again, DID ITTTTTT.
- I challenged myself, again, by attempting to wake up early in the morning to read the Bible & have some prayer time. I've never really been a morning person, yet when I waited til bedtime to try to do it, I was falling asleep after "Dear God." Since June, for the most part, I've been waking up at 5:45am each day. Thank you, God, for motivating me in all of these challenges & doing werk.
- I took my best friend Kristie to the Warped Tour for her birthday and we dressed up & bopped around like scene kids. Meeting one of our favorite bands Taking Back Sunday & getting their autographs= highlight! So much fun. Warped Tour 2012
- Went to USC fan day & met Kenny! Cheered my boys on all season. LOVE MY GAMECOCKS!
- Headed up the volunteers at another great Babcock Center dance & giggled when I saw my cameo on the volunteer brochure.
- Some of the kids from my class got to participate in the Ray Tanner Fun Run. Not gonna lie, I teared up something fierce. Fun Run
- Went to the fair 8 million times with my lifetime pass & loved every minute of it. Also spotted JD Clowney & made him take a picture with me. He is huge & I was a tad scared...didn't want to get sacked. Ha.
- Took our class to the zoo. The best!
- Dressed up as Ariel for Halloween. Carolina Night Life represent!
- Then dressed up as Aria from Pretty Little Liars with some friends. Watch out, A is near.
- We tracked down the So You Think You Can Dance dancers when they were in Columbia, too.
4 comments:
that's my baby!!!! ,o,sy
You have such an amazing blog and it has made my life much more optimistic! I just started a blog of my own
Nice blogger
I just loved that!
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