Today as I was driving home from work, a friend of mine text me. He mentioned he had a job opening he wanted to talk to me about. He has just recently moved to Texas and become the director of media, student ministries, singles ministry, and marketing at a growing church. He has a great role of influence in leadership and is doing well there. He mentioned to me that the pastor of that church had told him he wanted to hire a staff writer/research assistant to help with writing curriculum and researching things for sermons, books, etc. My name automatically came to his mind so he contacted me.

I graduate from college next May and have an open door as to where I go from there. I have been communicating with a school in Virginia that talked about having me teach high school history. But nothing is set in stone yet.

So the question is: do I want to teach or do I want to write for the rest of my life? Over the past two years I have had a job as a writer/editor/proofreader at my church’s publications company. It really broke me into writing and introduced me to the world of journalism. I have enjoyed using my writing skills and developing them more. But I have also seen the stressful side of writing as well. Meeting deadlines, pleasing the boss, working, working, and reworking things until they are just right. While this is all normal and to be expected with a career in journalism, it can be a bit nervewracking nonetheless.

But on the flipside there’s teaching. And in saying that, I must mention that I’ve never taught before. Yes, I’ve taught the ocassional Sunday school lesson to the 4 year olds at church. But nothing like being in a classroom for 8 hours a day, every day. I love history and would love teaching history. But am I ready for it? Am I really meant to teach? I have no idea. Like I said, I don’t have enough experience to warrant a knowledgable answer to that question.

So what now? What’s the next step? I honestly don’t know. But I know I’ve been given two great opportunities, opportunities that I will not take lightly.

Tragedy
Storm
Death
Disease
Cancer
Death

Why do bad things happen to good people? It’s a question asked by many people. After the attacks on 9/11 many people wondered why God would allow such a tragedy to happen. While we all wondered this, the question takes on a whole new meaning when someone you know and love is hit.

I just learned that my high school English teacher and mentor in my life was diagnosed with cancer yesterday. She truly was and is a “good person.” She never hurt anyone, went out of her way to help others, and not only taught but mentored her students. I am getting my college degree in English in large part because of her. I want to pattern my teaching after her. She impacted my life in a great way.

I wonder how many times I told her that. I wonder how many times I thanked her for all she’s done for me. Does she even know she’s influenced me? I am ashamed to realize I’ve never thanked her for all she’s done.

This cancer has opened my eyes. Life is so short. Why waste time on what will never matter when there is so much that needs to be done?

Life is short. Don’t waste your life.

Over the past few days I have been debating as to how to spend my economic stimulus check which comes June 20. My first thought was to buy an Apple Macbook but my check isn’t that much! I will get around to making the investment in a new laptop in a few years. The one I have now is only two years old.

My next idea was to open a separate bank account with the money and set up a new savings plan with plans to use it on a rainy day. But then I figured that defeated the purpose of the economic stimulus plan since it would in no way help stimulate the economy. Plus I already have a savings account and some money stored away.

Another thought I had was to invest it in the stock market. I have had some stocks in the past but currently do not own any. I thought this would not only be a great way to help the economy but could also double or triple my money. But after a good talk with my brother (the stock market analyst of the family) I decided against it.

I also considered saving it and putting it toward my school bill in the fall, but that thought quickly left me.

So here I am with money in my pocket, just itching to be spent. And not only do I WANT to spend it, but the government is telling me I HAVE to! I have never had problems spending money before. I have easily dropped a couple hundred at the mall or on a spur of the moment purchase of a new gadget or toy. So why is this so hard?

But after some long time of thinking and debating I have decided to do two things with it. I believe they will most help the economy and take full advantage of this opportunity I have to help out struggling companies. Here they are:

My first purchase is going to be an Apple iTouch. My current mp3 player has been lacking and I have had my sites on a new one for quite some time now. I use this mp3 player mostly at the gym and while doing various different things around the house when I do not wish to carry my laptop around. I also use it for long trips or car rides. I travel regularly and find myself wearing down the battery on my laptop by listening to music or watching movies. But the iTouch does all that and more. It has 32 gigs of storage (7,000 songs, 25,000 photos, and 40 hours of video). It also has wifi internet connection, a map application, email application, and up to 22 hours of battery life. It also has the ability to download audiobooks and podcasts. Overall it’s perfect for the travel enthusiast. I look forward to taking full advantage of my first purchase while enjoying my second which is…

I am planning a trip! Just recently I have connected with an old friend I haven’t seen in 11 years. While we were talking, we found out that we live 4 hours away from each other (under 2 hours flying). So while we were talking I got the idea that I could fly over some weekend and see her. After checking our schedules and checking airfares, I found out that on the weekend of July 4th I can get a plane ticket for $78, roundtrip, to go see her. Now I just have to work out all the details (like work, etc). If it all works out, I would leave Thursday and come home Sunday. This would be a time of shopping, spa treatment, baseball games, and just hanging out. I am looking forward to this and I hope everything works out.

Of course, my stimulus check is not THAT large and some of this money would come from my savings, but I am doing my best to stimulate the economy during this time.

So, what are you going to do with your economic stimulus check?

By the way, here’s a chart for when you should be receiving your check.

Life has been one large roller coaster ride lately. Within the month of April, I have spent more time in a hospital than I ever want to (over 70 hours). Here’s how the story goes:

April 1: My baby niece is born. I already wrote a post on this, but it was a whole day spent in the hospital nonetheless.

April 11: Around 3 am, my dad wakes up with extreme pain in his kidneys. My mom takes him to the emergency room where they wait for several hours before being seen by a doctor. I spend the night awake by the phone, waiting for her to call with details. After he is seen by the doctor, she calls to tell me that he has kidneystones and after they picked up his medicine they would be home.

April 12: Dad still in extreme pain from the stones. The vicodin is no longer working for his pain.

April 13: Still in pain. Enduring it. Doctor said to wait and come back in on Monday if things weren’t better.

April 14: Sunday, more pain. Poor dad can’t take much more.

April 15: Monday. We encourage him to go back to the doctor. He wants to wait one more day. We give in.

April 16: 2pm He can’t take it anymore. Mom takes him to the hospital near our house.

5 pm I get a call from mom saying that the kidneystones have lodged in his kidney and they are blocking his kindeys from working…they are failing fast. The hospital doesn’t have a urologist who can take a look at him, so they are going to transport him to the nearest hospital, covered by our insurance, that has a urologist: 45 minutes away. They load him up in an ambulance, hit the lights, and take him away. I find a ride home from work, change, grab dinner, and wait for my mom. Mom comes home, we leave.

Baby Chloe

Originally uploaded by seminole.girl

Well. It’s official. I am an aunt. My sister in law gave birth to beautiful Chloe Marie Goddard at 9:36 on April 1, 2008. She was 8 lbs even and 20 inches long.

Mommy and little Chloe are doing well. More pictures are definitely to come.

Well I know I haven’t posted in a while so this is my filler post to let you know what’s going on in my life.

First: this week is Spring Break for my college so I worked a lot during the first part of the week and took Thursday and Friday off. My family and I are in St. George, Utah, as I write this post. We drove up here yesterday and spent the day today hiking and sightseeing around Zion National Park. If you have never been there, I wholeheartedly recommend it. Even if you don’t enjoy hiking per se, there is a free shuttle that tours the different sights. The most beautiful hike though was the 1.5 mile hike along the Virgin River in a valley between two large plateaus along the Pa’rus Trail. It is foremost a bike trail but is for pedestrians as well. Most of the trail is paved and takes you over several bridges and through a camp site. Tomorrow we drive home, but this has been an experience I will never forget/ I am glad we came. I will post photos when I have them uploaded.

Second: my sister in law is due to have my niece today, but as is the case with most first born children, she is late. So that is another exciting moment I am looking forward to in my life. I will post pictures on that as well when it happens.

And last: this summer I will be traveling back to Washington DC to finish sightseeing and to talk to a school about possibly working there when I graduate college next year. I would be teaching history in a high school in Herndon, Virginia, just outside DC. I know the administration of the school and would love to work there, especially since it is so close to DC.

So there it is…my life. Thanks for reading.

Enjoy a little Irish dancing and be thankful for the little lads and lasses ye know from the Emerald Isle!