J -O -B !!!

My word for the day...
...along with a big big wake up call!

And not how you might think
So many people, what with the upcoming election and all, are talking talking talking about jobs, and the economy and the election on and on and on.....

Don't get me wrong, that is important - but I have something MORE important to talk about today.

J - O - B   JOB in a word.
PASSION in a feeling.
Mine - in particular.
(and in turn - yours too!)

I am an Ultrasound Technologist.

I have been a waitress, a bank teller, an admin assistant, a sales associate, a bartender....
In a nutshell  -I have always had a job!  A "show up, do your job, go through the motions, go home and pay your bills" kind of JOB.  No real passion
For anyone following my blog, you will remember that only a few short years ago - I left my full time job at the time, to go back to attend full time Ultrasound school!  This was a huge decision.  And a life altering one no matter what the turn out from school might be.
But nonetheless, I felt that I was in a position at my current job of going nowhere and my passion was lying somewhere else.  {it HAD to be!!}

As I went through school,   I - as does everyone else   - thought
"OOOOHHHHHHH babies!!!  I'm gonna ultrasound BABIES!!!  I'm gonna show people their babies and smile and oooohhh and ahhhhhhh!!!"

And I do!!!    But.....

Even after I learned QUICKLY that was not ALL I was gonna do....

Even after I learned there are OTHER things we look at....

Even after I learned (shortly after working) that there would be happy oooohhh ahhhhh days - and definitely NOT so happy, cry days....

Even after all of that
I vowed to NEVER be cold and heartless
to NEVER be that tech that doesn't shed a tear and turns a shoulder at sad news.
I vowed that EVEN when looking and scanning and "showing pictures" became so routine that I could do it in my sleep ( for anyone that does ultrasound - you KNOW that should never happen!)  even then - I vow to be PASSIONATE about what I do.

And for the most part - that is still true!

Now - don't get me wrong.... for those of you that work in health care - you know there are some crazies out there.  Heck - for those of you that leave your house EVER, you KNOW there are some crazies out there!!!!

But my favorite (shhhhhhh) moments are when I'm doing a boring arterial and I'm describing what I'm about to do to the patient and she smiles and looks up and says "You love your job don't you??  I can tell!!"   Yeah - I'm that bubbly on your nerves tech that you wanna smack when your having a bad day....
BUT I'm also that "love my job and will hold your hand and cry with you" tech when your having a sad day.

Sometimes I'm afraid I lose that.  Some days I feel cold and heartless
And then I read a story like the one I'm about to share with you.
And it REJUVENATES my passion for what I do working in healthcare.   It rejuvenates my faith in doctors and nurses and ultrasound techs and everyone involved in a person's healthcare needs.

It REJUVENATES my passion and keeps me strong
and it makes me keep my heart and it LET'S me cry with the mommy that gets bad news.... and also cry with the mommy who gets good news.

Some days are fun and some days are not.
What we have to remember is - the patient is just that - a patient.  A PERSON.  And they have a story too.  And the cold bitter shoulder - or the warm tender compassion you show them can make all the difference.

I am blessed to have a job that I truly LOVE.
I am blessed to have the interaction with people that I have EVERY day.  (crazy and all!!)

I believe I am where I am for a reason......
God placed that passion in my heart and God put me where he could use that passion to glorify him.  I believe that.

Please read the link I have posted below.
What a tragic sad story with such an uplifting, passionate and GOD GLORIFYING family.  Grab your Kleenex, you will need it.
And when you're done reading - say a prayer for that family - and then THANK GOD for all the blessings that he has given you.
and for those sad days.... Thank him for those too - because they can somehow be used for blessings.

It is Well with my Soul

My favorite quote from this particular blog -

"I am convinced His ways are not our ways. They are far better."

 

Linking up with SHELL!!!!!!!!

Never enough

as women, we are our worst critics
for SOOOOOOo many reasons....
We will literally run ourselves to the GROUND to keep from letting someone say that we didn't do "enough" or we didn't "pull our weight" or we don't "look" a certain way...

TRUE?

Well today I got up well before I had to be at work.  I showered and when I got out, instead of looking at myself in the mirror and judging myself and then hurrying to put on a robe and cover myself - I spent some time just being thankful for WHO I am and what I am.  Instead of looking at myself and making a mental list of things I need to do to better myself... instead of being my worst critic.... today I decided to start my day differently.

I am officially closer to 40 than 30 this year (thanks to another birthday)  and honestly - I am VERY proud of who I am - INSIDE and OUTSIDE!!!!

I walked around my house... that I bought... ME - MYSELF.... and I looked around at all the things its filled with.  I did that.  I looked upon a wall where my degrees (that's plural!) hang... an education that I pushed myself to pursue and paid for myself (well... I'm still paying for it! ha)...  I walked upstairs and looked around at my teenage son's room (which is not surprisingly... a mess) and I took a minute to thank God for the strong smart independent young man that I have raised....
I walked around my house this morning... not hiding a thing... not pretending a thing.... not running.  Just looking at myself for who I truly am and everything and everyone I have surrounded myself with and I smiled.

Society and people around me may look at me and think ugly judgmental things.... ya know.... I need to lose weight, I need to work out, I need to wear different makeup, I need to wear different clothes, my house is too small, I haven't done enough, I've failed my child, WHATEVER they want to say........

But today = YOU can't phase me!!!

I love me.
I love my life.
It may not be what YOU think it should be..... but every day I stand on my own two feet and I fight through yet another day and I do and give as much as any one person can do or give!

And for that........ I'm proud of me!  :)

You'd be surprised at how much better your day and attitude can be if you just start your day being happy with who you really are and all that you are blessed with - rather than letting any fool make you feel like any less!

Have a GREAT Tuesday - look at yourself for everything that you ARE today, as opposed to everything you are not.

MUCH love!!!!
You don't have to WATCH this video - but push play and put it on repeat and minimize it.... chill out and enjoy your day!

Shredded

Do you ever have a day....
one of those days where it's like EVERYTHING is on your nerves?!!
I mean EVERYTHING!!!!!!

and it's not that I'm in a bad mood - I'm really not
It's more like I just don't have any tolerance for stupidity or anything that isn't.... (this will shock you) Black or White!!!!!!

I feel like a million gazillion people have their hands on my arms and legs and ears and face and fingers and toes and MY SOUL.... just pulling.... tugging - and I just wanna SCREAM

I don't want to THINK.

I wanna run away to a town where no one knows my name.
And sit at a table outside and enjoy some coffee and watch people pass me by....
and not talk...
or think...
OR CARE!!!!!!

I need an adventure
or SOMETHING

Do they make a pill for this???!!!!!!  LOL

Probably

BUT - here's my solution.......


Whatever you focus on, you will soon become!!
MAKE.  IT.  POSITIVE!!

I have a GREAT job!
I work with some pretty great peeps.
I have an AWESOME family
I LOVE my son! He's GREAT!  (even with the teenage attitude!)
My vehicle is paid for and I'm almost completely debt free!
I have spectacular friends!
One of my besties just got married!  (she's in Jamaica and that makes me a TAD bit green - ha)
I have a roof over my head
and running water
and food on the table
and GOD on my side!

Isn't it amazing how that changes your perspective INSTANTLY!

My advice to you - the same advice to myself when I get like this:   Push all the hands away and make a list of the many blessings in your life!

I.  Am.  Blessed!  :)
And thank GOD!

{{I could still use a beach and some vacation}}   ;-)

Merry Christmas Eve

I just wanted to take a quick minute to wish every one a VERY Merry Christmas and remind you all....
Please remember the reason for the season.
This time of year we tend to get so caught up in the hustle and bustle and keeping up with who got what - that we lose focus of the true meaning and blessings of the Christmas season.

Today - tonight - tomorrow - some time over this holiday, do something selfless.  Not for the glory, but for someone else.  Stop focusing on the THINGS of this world and focus on the things of the heart!
There is something so much bigger out there than that iPad.

James 1:19-27

Listening and Doing

 ¹⁹ My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, ²⁰ because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. ²¹ Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.  ²² Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. ²³ Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror ²⁴ and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. ²⁵ But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.
 ²⁶ Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless. ²⁷ Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.


Tonight, in honor of Jesus' birth and in the spirit of giving, I (following the example of a friend) went to Walmart, went in and bought a gift card, and then staked out the parking lot, patiently waiting for a tug leading me down the path I should go.  I found a lovely family, politely walked up and handed the mother a gift card and wished them a Merry Christmas - and walked away.   The little girl with them softly said "awwwww...." as I was walking away.   And with that - I was gone.
Tonight - I will say a special prayer that the family will be blessed a special way this year.

From there - I went on to purchase a gift for an anonymous person that I pray for regularly.  This gift will arrive and never be acknowledged.  But I will pray tonight that this gift does not go unused or unanswered.  It was delivered with a special dose of love and prayer.  Special blessings to this person and family.

I hope that you all stop and remember how blessed each and every one of us are - in our own individual way.
Wishing you all a VERY Merry Christmas
I am VERY thankful for my savior's birth, death and resurrection.

I.  am.  BLESSED.

Looking Back...... (no Garth.... not YOU)

 

  {{Don't you put that song in my head!!!}


I just looked back at posts from a year ago....
My oh MY how much has changed in one short year and OH the blessings I have in my life!!!

Since I haven't had time to post a Thankgiving "thankful" speech
please allow to somewhat do that now.......

First - go back with me a little.......
One year ago - I fell in love with the man I now call my husband.
Yes that's right....
in less than ONE year....we fell in love and decided we didn't want to go on through life without being a part of each other's forever.
ahhhhhhhhh - weren't things simpler back then?!  LOL


GO BACK and read THIS post from Thanksgiving 2009

In one short - VERY busy..... and did I mention SHORT.... year - I have fallen in love, expanded my family, started ultrasound school (which I am now ALMOST to the half way mark of), quit my job, gone back to waitressing, found some new friends, lost some old ones....   oh the list goes ON and ON and ONNNN!!  But just for one minute, I just want to gloat!
I want to BRAG!!!!
I want to look back at where I was at Thanksgiving last year...... (sooooooo HAPPY) and look how much my life has grown and flourished in just that one short year.

Ain't God GOOD!!!!!!!!

That is all   :)

Some days are just harder than others...........

Have you ever met or do you know someone (or is it YOU) who is constantly bitter and angry and lashing out at life.  They feel like they are being punished for something or that God just doesn't care about them - or has passed them by? 
Or maybe its not even all the time....
maybe its just occasionally...
maybe its just a rut now and then...

but then I guess - don't we all have days like that?!!

Days when you feel like nothing is going right... and the direction that you were going suddenly gets halted by something out of your control... I know I have days like that....
But tonight - I was thinking about this.....

The thing is .... God deals you a hand full of blessings every day.
They don't have to be profound things.... just little things that we forget to count as blessings.  The sun is shining OR the rain watered your garden so you don't have to.  Your child tells you they love you.  Someone tells you they are proud of you.  You get to work on time because you hit every green light that morning.  You're a nickel short on your breakfast and the guy behind you gets it. 

What we DO with that hand is what he also gives us - called "free will"
{look again}
The sun is shining {WHY is it so HOT already?} OR the rain watered your garden so you don't have to {I hate rain, my hair is a mess!}. Your child tells you they love you {he MUST want something}. Someone tells you they are proud of you {that was just a stab because they think I'm a fake!}. You get to work on time because you hit every green light that morning {I hate my job!}. You're a dollar short on your groceries and the guy behind you gets it {When am I EVER going to get my finances straightened out?!}.


A funny thing happens as time passes... all those days you spent bitter and wondering what to do and how you got yourself into this mess... in time, you look back and realize - from the outside looking in, you were surrounded by blessings.  You were surrounded with life.  You were surrounded with love.  You were surrounded by people and circumstances that God gave you....You were surrounded with things that should have made you smile... things that should have made you happy.... things that you had been ASKING God for but were so caught up in the negatives and the what if's and the why's that you let those blessings pass right on by with never even a blink.
We get so caught up in trying to "HELP" God FIX our lives, that the life he has for us - just passes on by... and we never realize it till it's too late.

I could write on here for DAYS about the mistakes I've made and the crap I've been through and the things I have done that I would be embarrassed to even tell my dog!!!
OR
I could write on here for days about the blessings and life and love that I have realized far too late that has just passed me right on by....
OR
I can talk to you TODAY about all the good in my life... all the things that I AM blessed with... all the things that I know to be true and hold dear to my heart and treasure with everything I have.  and when I do THAT - all those bad things going on around me, just don't seem so important anymore.

FREE WILL
your choice......

I have been broken, I've been battered, I've been bruised, I've been let down, I've been disappointed, I've been laughed at, I've been called a liar, I've been told I could NEVER, I've loved and gotten nothing in return, I've given and asked for nothing, I've watched my heart shatter to a million pieces, I've been filled with hope and dreams and faith for someone - only to find out that person never believed from the beginning, I've believed in people who didn't believe in themselves, I've been here, I've laughed and I've cried, I've yelled and been yelled at.........
but through it all...........
I can look back and know this.....

that everything I have been through.....everything I have felt.... all the pain, all the heartache, all the let down - is NOTHING compared to what Jesus went through on this earth and it is NOTHING compared to what we put God through every day.
and yet.......
HE STILL LOVES US!
he still hands us blessings on a silver platter every day.
he still answers prayer....

Most days we are just too bitter and blind to catch it.

Open your eyes....look around.... look through all the bad things that are happening "to you" - and think - ARE they happening TO you or are you swimming around in that little hole you dug out for yourself.  Are there blessings right on the other side that you refuse to see?

Stand up

Look around

Open your heart

and know that a man loved you enough to give his life on a cross for your soul.
Is that not enough reason to smile and take everything that he sends your way?!  =)



I can't imagine or even PRETEND to imagine the pain of losing a child like that.
But the fact that this child's father looked around and found good from tragedy is ONLY something God can give you.  You just have to choose to believe in it.

Count your blessings.
Every day.

Another good quote:
"If the problems of today are fully yours to solve...you should worry. If they are God's to solve, you should relax."

I almost forgot it was "pour your heart out" day until after I had already POURED MINE OUT!
So I'm linking up with Shell.
Please feel free to pour yours too and run over to Shell's and catch up on some others' awesome posts!

Motivational Monday :)

HaPpY MoNdAy to you all!!!

another beginning to a fabulous week! 

BRING IT ON!

Here's the thing... it's Monday and alot of people look at that as a bad thing.  But I say - every day when you get outta bed - you make a CHOICE on how to look at your life.

Happiness does not come from seeking new landscapes,

but from having new eyes on the same life you've always been living.

In other words, you don't need some grand gesture or some big CHANGE in your life to be happy.  Simply take the time to sit back and re-evaluate your life, look at it from a different perspective.

I could make a list of all the "crappy" things in my life....  I could go back and rehash every mistake I have ever made and cry about how it changed my life and made things so much harder - and beat myself up time and time again.

OR

I can wake up every day, thank God for all the blessings in my life and know that all those mistakes and crappy decisions and consequences made me who I am today.  I learned from each and I'm a better person today for it.  Thank God for bringing me through those dark and rainy roads and bringing me back to see His face again and His hand at work in every single part of my life.

I get comments all the time on my blog about being positive and happy and being inspirational....

Here's a little secret....it makes ME happy - to make OTHERS happy.
It's what I love.  Knowing I can put a smile on your face, puts a smile on mine.
I hope everyone has a GREAT week and take the time to look at your life from a new perspective.
We are ALL blessed in different ways.....you just have to take the time to appreciate it!