It's been about a week since my last post so I figured I would update something while I had some free time (or maybe I'm just forgetting something). We had the official grand opening for Exhale Day Spa on Saturday the 12th and it went well. We have started having calls and booking appointments and selling a ton of gift certificates! I am cautiously optimistic that things will go well with it. :)
I can not believe that is already so close to Christmas!! It has seriously just snuck up on me. Grr. Every year I say that I will finish my shopping early, and every year I will finish the week of Christmas! I did get Emma's big gift purchased so that is a good thing! I can't wait to see her face when she opens it!! I think I'm more excited about it than she is.
I recently wrote a status on FB kind of complaining/venting/praising about working two jobs. I have been working at the spa from around 9-4pm then 3-4 nights a week working at the poker room from around 7-2 and then getting home and in bed around 3 am just to wake up at 6:30am and do it all again. I seriously do not see how some people work like that all the time. Major props to those of you who do it!! I don't think I've ever been so exhausted...physically and mentally. But, I do know that I'm blessed to be ABLE to work 2 jobs and provide for myself and Emma and get to live my dream. How many of you can say that? :)
I guess this is all for now. I'm off to clean up the kitchen and get ready for bed! Hope everyone has an amazing week!!
Sunday, December 13, 2015
Monday, November 30, 2015
A dream come true..
Well, Summer and I did it. We have opened our own day spa in Callahan. We are so blessed to have had this opportunity handed to us to do what we've both wanted to do. It will be so much easier with our schedules and with Emma and Nehemiah. Our official grand opening is December 12th but we are seeing clients now. Eek! It is called Exhale Day Spa and you can find us on Facebook if you want to look it up. www.facebook.com/exhaledayspaofcallahan is the link.
On to other things, Emma and I are so ready for Christmas. We've had our tree up before Thanksgiving (don't judge us!) and got the outside of the house decorated last night. There is nothing more exciting to me than seeing the look on her face at Christmas. Oh to be a little kid again! Elvis, the elf, should show up tonight. I can't wait to see what shenanigans he has this time! ;) If you and your family have an Elf, I'd love to see your pictures. I guess this is all for now. I am going to go clean up and get some work done on the website. Hope you all have an amazing week!!! Until next time....
On to other things, Emma and I are so ready for Christmas. We've had our tree up before Thanksgiving (don't judge us!) and got the outside of the house decorated last night. There is nothing more exciting to me than seeing the look on her face at Christmas. Oh to be a little kid again! Elvis, the elf, should show up tonight. I can't wait to see what shenanigans he has this time! ;) If you and your family have an Elf, I'd love to see your pictures. I guess this is all for now. I am going to go clean up and get some work done on the website. Hope you all have an amazing week!!! Until next time....
Thursday, November 12, 2015
Forgiveness...not the easiest thing to learn
This will be a little bit of a different blog post than I usually do. Very few know that I have this blog and then a private blog that I write under a whole different name and just write more of a "journal" if you will. I'm deciding that I might just make this blog a little of both..with that being said, I will not care to discuss anything I may write about if you get the impression that I wrote it just to vent. ;) Thanks for understanding.
So, now on to the reason for this post. I have been doing a lot of evaluating my life and trying to see what are some things that I do/don't do that may keep me from being the happiest I can be. One of the main things that I keep coming back to is forgiveness. That one word probably has been the hardest thing for me over the last 6 years or so. I'm not writing this post to blame or anything of the sort..just want to share my journey somewhat and then show appreciation. I am not going into personal details of my marriage but I will say that forgiveness is something I prayed for for a long time. I was so angry, hurt, confused, sad and a million different emotions, but the one thing I wanted was to be able to forgive certain people and move on with my life. I found that being all of those other emotions took more out of me than I even realized. Holding grudges and blaming others for your own happiness or sadness takes more work than just forgiving them. Now I know, that is a lot easier said than done. :) Trust me, I know. Forgiveness takes a lot of work but it is so worth it in the long run. I forgave the people I needed to and that in turn, has made my life a much happier place. Don't get me wrong, I still have moments where I feel the anger starting to come back when I think of the what could have beens (not with any certain person, just situations) but then I feel like it truly was a blessing. I will forever be grateful to my ex for the beautiful daughter we have and the friendship we still have. We don't always see eye to eye, but I know without a doubt that if I ever needed anything they (yes they!) would be there. When I say they, I am also appreciative of my ex's girlfriend. I was angry at her for a long time too...how could I ever be friendly with someone I "thought" helped ruin my life? Now I know that she too is someone I am grateful for. Forgiveness in that situation turned into gratitude. I am thankful to her that she is there when I can't be. I know without a doubt that whenever my child is with her and her dad, that she will be taken care of. I also know that she will treat my daughter like she's her own and she has never tried to overstep my role as Emma's mom and her role as one day, Emma's step mom. :) This post was something I needed to write more for myself than anyone else. I hope that if someone else reading this is in a similar situation that this will help. If you are reading this and want to talk, I'm here. Whether we are friends or not....I will listen. So, I guess my post on forgiveness is more likely a post about my journey to appreciation. Appreciation for the struggles I went through that taught me to forgive others, but more importantly, to forgive myself and allow myself to experience true happiness in whatever form it may be.
*I must add, I do not ever re-read my blog posts. I am afraid I won't post them if I do. So I apologize in advance for any grammar, spelling or other errors. :) And I also hope that those reading these see these posts for what they are and nothing more*
So, now on to the reason for this post. I have been doing a lot of evaluating my life and trying to see what are some things that I do/don't do that may keep me from being the happiest I can be. One of the main things that I keep coming back to is forgiveness. That one word probably has been the hardest thing for me over the last 6 years or so. I'm not writing this post to blame or anything of the sort..just want to share my journey somewhat and then show appreciation. I am not going into personal details of my marriage but I will say that forgiveness is something I prayed for for a long time. I was so angry, hurt, confused, sad and a million different emotions, but the one thing I wanted was to be able to forgive certain people and move on with my life. I found that being all of those other emotions took more out of me than I even realized. Holding grudges and blaming others for your own happiness or sadness takes more work than just forgiving them. Now I know, that is a lot easier said than done. :) Trust me, I know. Forgiveness takes a lot of work but it is so worth it in the long run. I forgave the people I needed to and that in turn, has made my life a much happier place. Don't get me wrong, I still have moments where I feel the anger starting to come back when I think of the what could have beens (not with any certain person, just situations) but then I feel like it truly was a blessing. I will forever be grateful to my ex for the beautiful daughter we have and the friendship we still have. We don't always see eye to eye, but I know without a doubt that if I ever needed anything they (yes they!) would be there. When I say they, I am also appreciative of my ex's girlfriend. I was angry at her for a long time too...how could I ever be friendly with someone I "thought" helped ruin my life? Now I know that she too is someone I am grateful for. Forgiveness in that situation turned into gratitude. I am thankful to her that she is there when I can't be. I know without a doubt that whenever my child is with her and her dad, that she will be taken care of. I also know that she will treat my daughter like she's her own and she has never tried to overstep my role as Emma's mom and her role as one day, Emma's step mom. :) This post was something I needed to write more for myself than anyone else. I hope that if someone else reading this is in a similar situation that this will help. If you are reading this and want to talk, I'm here. Whether we are friends or not....I will listen. So, I guess my post on forgiveness is more likely a post about my journey to appreciation. Appreciation for the struggles I went through that taught me to forgive others, but more importantly, to forgive myself and allow myself to experience true happiness in whatever form it may be.
*I must add, I do not ever re-read my blog posts. I am afraid I won't post them if I do. So I apologize in advance for any grammar, spelling or other errors. :) And I also hope that those reading these see these posts for what they are and nothing more*
Monday, August 3, 2015
End of Summer already?!
How is it the end of the summer already? I don't want it to be over. I get so sad when Emma has to go back to school. She will be starting school on August 11th and will be in second grade! I can't believe she is already 7!! We had an amazing trip to Disney World at the end of May. This summer has been spent making lots of good memories. I am getting off of FaceBook for a while now, so I will try to update this a little more regularly. School starts for me at the end of August so I'm not sure how busy I will be with both jobs, school and Emma but I'm sure I can find some time. Hope everyone has a great week and I will update later! :)
Sunday, May 3, 2015
Time to Update :)
Wow! What a weekend! First let's just start with last week since I haven't updated since the week before. Last week was a pretty good week of just baseball games, work and school for Emma. On Thursday they had "Bring a Parent to PE Day." That was pretty fun. It was also Emma's principal's last day of school so they did a flash mob for her. It was so fun to watch the whole school participate in that. After that on Thursday, Emma went to her dad's for the weekend since they were out of school on Friday. Friday night I got to spend the day/night with the boyfriend. It was nice just to go to dinner and relax and just spend time with each other. Saturday we went fishing with my cousin then decided to go camping! It was his first time ever camping! :) I love being able to show him new things that they don't really do up north (or at least he didn't...he played sports a lot). We spent the rest of the day in Fargo at the river camping and fishing. He also caught his first fish ever...a butter catfish! I think I was more excited than he was, haha!! After camping we decided to go ahead and go to my mom's house to stay there since we were planning on going there Sunday anyway. We got to mom's and talked and talked. Today after all got up and moving, Emma's dad brought her over there. What I have always thought would be an awkward situation (my ex husband meeting my new boyfriend) was actually enjoyable! I honestly think Drew trusts my judgment and he said that the boyfriend seems nice and he knows Emma really likes him so that was all he was concerned with...that definitely took a weight off! This week will be a busy week! Monday, Wednesday and Thursday Emma has baseball games. Tuesday I go to the college I will be attending in August to take a math placement test (wish me luck!) It has been forever since I've had to do any kind of formal math so I'm hoping I do well on it. I will also be getting my financial aid stuff finished and hopefully a schedule of classes I need to take. I'm super excited to start! Oh, I also got mine and Emma's magic bands for Disney in the mail this weekend! I can't believe we will be at Disney World in 22 days!! Eek!! I'm also really looking forward to going to Pittsburgh with the boyfriend at the end of May. Hopefully they can understand me up there! :) This is all for now...gotta finish reading some of my book! Hope ya'll had a great week/weekend! Until next time...
Tuesday, April 21, 2015
2 posts in the same year..I'm on a roll!
See? I remembered the login and it didn't even take a year! Yay! Not much has happened since the last post really... just living life and trying to make the most of it! I just got finished doing some stuff to get on track to start nursing school in August. I'm a little worried that it will be too much and that I won't be able to do it but I am ready to give it all I have. I just hope that working two jobs, school, and taking care of Emma doesn't get too overwhelming and I can keep my sanity through it all...afterall, it's only a little over a year right?! That's what I keep telling myself anyway. Well, that, and that this will make life a whole lot better for myself and Emma. :)
On another note, Emma and I are going to Disney World for the first time at the end of May. Eek! How exciting is that?!? I can't wait to make these memories with her. We will be spending 2 nights at a Disney resort hotel and 2 days at Magic Kingdom and one day at Animal Kingdom. I don't know if I'm more excited or her? After we get back from our 3 day trip there, I may be getting on an airplane (yes, I know!) and flying with the boyfriend to Pittsburgh. I'm so excited to be going with him there (well anywhere to be honest) but I'm extremely scared of the flying. He assured me that the flight is under 2 hours and a direct flight and we won't die....we will see. He must be pretty special if I'm getting on a plane! ;) I can't wait to go see where he's from and his family..should be fun.
I also wanted to discuss something that has been on my mind since I changed my relationship status on FB and started posting pictures of him and I. I have found that people that I thought never paid attention to any of that have all of a sudden came up and started asking questions about our relationship. None bad of course, just general questions. Yes, I know it's been a long time since I dated anyone or since Drew and I got divorced. Yes, I waited a while before he met Emma. That absolutely had nothing negative to do with him, I just wanted to make sure him and I were going to date before I introduced her to him. I know that everyone wants the best for me and Emma and I appreciate that, but please if you want to know something, private message me or email me or something...don't ask me while I'm at work. LOL. I don't add a lot of people from the poker room for a reason so please don't bring up my relationship, my child, or anything that you know is super personal for me in front of players (especially the weird ones, lol. jk!) But seriously, I will answer all questions you want to know but just do it not at work. ;) Thanks ya'll.
I guess this is all for now. I am multi-tasking and looking up the classes I need to start taking as well as watching re runs of Teen Mom OG. (I love Catelynn and Tyler). I hope everyone has an amazing week and I will update this weekend or Monday. Emma is spending the weekend with her Grandparents in Georgia so this will be the first weekend I don't work all weekend and the boyfriend doesn't have any visitors so we are planning some fun stuff! Also, sorry for calling him "the boyfriend". I haven't asked for his approval on this blog stuff and posting his name haha! Oops.
Until next time ya'll,,,
On another note, Emma and I are going to Disney World for the first time at the end of May. Eek! How exciting is that?!? I can't wait to make these memories with her. We will be spending 2 nights at a Disney resort hotel and 2 days at Magic Kingdom and one day at Animal Kingdom. I don't know if I'm more excited or her? After we get back from our 3 day trip there, I may be getting on an airplane (yes, I know!) and flying with the boyfriend to Pittsburgh. I'm so excited to be going with him there (well anywhere to be honest) but I'm extremely scared of the flying. He assured me that the flight is under 2 hours and a direct flight and we won't die....we will see. He must be pretty special if I'm getting on a plane! ;) I can't wait to go see where he's from and his family..should be fun.
I also wanted to discuss something that has been on my mind since I changed my relationship status on FB and started posting pictures of him and I. I have found that people that I thought never paid attention to any of that have all of a sudden came up and started asking questions about our relationship. None bad of course, just general questions. Yes, I know it's been a long time since I dated anyone or since Drew and I got divorced. Yes, I waited a while before he met Emma. That absolutely had nothing negative to do with him, I just wanted to make sure him and I were going to date before I introduced her to him. I know that everyone wants the best for me and Emma and I appreciate that, but please if you want to know something, private message me or email me or something...don't ask me while I'm at work. LOL. I don't add a lot of people from the poker room for a reason so please don't bring up my relationship, my child, or anything that you know is super personal for me in front of players (especially the weird ones, lol. jk!) But seriously, I will answer all questions you want to know but just do it not at work. ;) Thanks ya'll.
I guess this is all for now. I am multi-tasking and looking up the classes I need to start taking as well as watching re runs of Teen Mom OG. (I love Catelynn and Tyler). I hope everyone has an amazing week and I will update this weekend or Monday. Emma is spending the weekend with her Grandparents in Georgia so this will be the first weekend I don't work all weekend and the boyfriend doesn't have any visitors so we are planning some fun stuff! Also, sorry for calling him "the boyfriend". I haven't asked for his approval on this blog stuff and posting his name haha! Oops.
Until next time ya'll,,,
Sunday, April 12, 2015
I really should write things down...
Goodness, if it wasn't for bad memory I would have none at all! I just realized that my last post was in September..and the one before that was from a year prior! Geez Louise, I'm such a slacker! :) That's the life of a busy, working mom I suppose. Once again, to those new followers, I apologize to those who read my blog posts and can't keep up since I'm ADD...they are all over the place. And I like using these things .... hehe. So, I will just try to do a quick update and then *hopefully* can get back to updating this regularly. Fingers crossed. I will start with Emma, then work, then my personal stuff :)
Emma-- She is still in 1st grade in Callahan and is doing great!! She loves it! She has an amazing teacher who pushes her to do her best and I love that about her. Emma is currently reading at a 4.3 reading level so I'm definitely a proud mommy. She gets her love of reading from me for sure! She got her report card a couple of weeks ago and made A's with one B. Her weakest subject is Handwriting. She can write complete sentences and spell perfectly but she just doesn't take enough time to make sure the letters touch the lines exactly how they should. I don't stay on her too much about it though because next year they use regular wide ruled paper so I'm not giving it too much thought. I tell her to try her best and if that is a B then that's ok with me. She is also playing coach pitch baseball this year and loving it. She played machine pitch last year so this year is a little different but she is doing well. She is on a co-ed team still so it's fun to watch. Cheerleading starts soon so that's also been quite the talk around here. Emma is still doing pageants too. She had the Miss Nassau County pageant in Callahan yesterday and won Little Miss Nassau County and Best Casual Wear. :) She makes me so proud! As far as medically, she is doing better so far. She still has her bouts with allergies and asthma but not nearly as scary or as often so I'm very thankful for that!! She also goes to her dad's house every other weekend now and she loves spending time with them and her little brother, Jaxson. I'm glad that he is back in Georgia and she gets to spend more time with him and his family that lives there.
Me-- So, where do I even start?! Hehe. I am still working at the poker room doing massage on call. I love it..still. June will be 5 years that I've been there! I am also now working at a chiropractor's office in Callahan part time and it is nice. It's a whole different world from the poker room and I'm enjoying the challenge it brings with it. I'm actually registered to start back school in August now for nursing to become an RN. I love being a massage therapist but I feel (and my hands agree) that it is time for a change in careers. I know it's going to be difficult going to school, working, and being a mom but I know that I can do it if I put my mind to it. I feel like I've overcome so many obstacles this far in life that this will just be one other part of it. Health stuff (the boring stuff)-- I was in a car accident in October of 2014 and was in the hospital for a week. They ended up putting in a LOOP recorder (heart recorder) but after issues with the placement they had to take it out after a couple of months. They were thinking that my heart may have been stopping briefly or having arrythmia's but that recorder was inconclusive. So, back to square one. As far as the breast issues go, I went in December for Mammogram, had to have ultrasound, then MRI and now I have another appointment with Dr. Samiian (the breast surgeon) on June 9th. She called and told me that she reviewed all of my results and for me to completely cut out all caffeine until my appointment with her. I will have new tests done and if they still look the same then she is going to highly recommend I have a double mastectomy (she mentioned it last year but I said no) to reduce the risks of me getting cancer and with the issues I have. It will be a big decision to make but I'm praying that I don't have to make it and the lumps are gone or at least have shrank. I'm on day 5 of no caffeine and it's not as bad as I thought it would be. Wish me luck! Relationship (the good stuff)-- I finally am dating someone!!! I know! I about fell out too. Haha. After YEARS of not dating, it finally happened. Yay! He is such a nice guy...I feel so blessed that I got him. I actually met him at work (I always said I would NEVER date a poker player) on his first day in Jacksonville. He's a Yankee...moved here from PA. I first met him on Feb. 9th (I believe) and we started "officially" dating April 5th. Emma thinks he is awesome too so that is a HUGE bonus!! I'm not rushing things but I definitely have a good feeling about this. He even went to church with me :) That's another new thing...Emma and I have been going to church for about a month or so. We found one in Hilliard that we like and we have been going on Wednesday nights mainly and some Sundays. It's definitely a work in progress to get back in church but I'm getting there.
I guess this is pretty much everything that has happened lately. I will definitely update this more frequently now, especially since I wrote down the login information. :) Hope everyone had a great Easter and enjoyed their weekend. Until next time...
Emma-- She is still in 1st grade in Callahan and is doing great!! She loves it! She has an amazing teacher who pushes her to do her best and I love that about her. Emma is currently reading at a 4.3 reading level so I'm definitely a proud mommy. She gets her love of reading from me for sure! She got her report card a couple of weeks ago and made A's with one B. Her weakest subject is Handwriting. She can write complete sentences and spell perfectly but she just doesn't take enough time to make sure the letters touch the lines exactly how they should. I don't stay on her too much about it though because next year they use regular wide ruled paper so I'm not giving it too much thought. I tell her to try her best and if that is a B then that's ok with me. She is also playing coach pitch baseball this year and loving it. She played machine pitch last year so this year is a little different but she is doing well. She is on a co-ed team still so it's fun to watch. Cheerleading starts soon so that's also been quite the talk around here. Emma is still doing pageants too. She had the Miss Nassau County pageant in Callahan yesterday and won Little Miss Nassau County and Best Casual Wear. :) She makes me so proud! As far as medically, she is doing better so far. She still has her bouts with allergies and asthma but not nearly as scary or as often so I'm very thankful for that!! She also goes to her dad's house every other weekend now and she loves spending time with them and her little brother, Jaxson. I'm glad that he is back in Georgia and she gets to spend more time with him and his family that lives there.
Me-- So, where do I even start?! Hehe. I am still working at the poker room doing massage on call. I love it..still. June will be 5 years that I've been there! I am also now working at a chiropractor's office in Callahan part time and it is nice. It's a whole different world from the poker room and I'm enjoying the challenge it brings with it. I'm actually registered to start back school in August now for nursing to become an RN. I love being a massage therapist but I feel (and my hands agree) that it is time for a change in careers. I know it's going to be difficult going to school, working, and being a mom but I know that I can do it if I put my mind to it. I feel like I've overcome so many obstacles this far in life that this will just be one other part of it. Health stuff (the boring stuff)-- I was in a car accident in October of 2014 and was in the hospital for a week. They ended up putting in a LOOP recorder (heart recorder) but after issues with the placement they had to take it out after a couple of months. They were thinking that my heart may have been stopping briefly or having arrythmia's but that recorder was inconclusive. So, back to square one. As far as the breast issues go, I went in December for Mammogram, had to have ultrasound, then MRI and now I have another appointment with Dr. Samiian (the breast surgeon) on June 9th. She called and told me that she reviewed all of my results and for me to completely cut out all caffeine until my appointment with her. I will have new tests done and if they still look the same then she is going to highly recommend I have a double mastectomy (she mentioned it last year but I said no) to reduce the risks of me getting cancer and with the issues I have. It will be a big decision to make but I'm praying that I don't have to make it and the lumps are gone or at least have shrank. I'm on day 5 of no caffeine and it's not as bad as I thought it would be. Wish me luck! Relationship (the good stuff)-- I finally am dating someone!!! I know! I about fell out too. Haha. After YEARS of not dating, it finally happened. Yay! He is such a nice guy...I feel so blessed that I got him. I actually met him at work (I always said I would NEVER date a poker player) on his first day in Jacksonville. He's a Yankee...moved here from PA. I first met him on Feb. 9th (I believe) and we started "officially" dating April 5th. Emma thinks he is awesome too so that is a HUGE bonus!! I'm not rushing things but I definitely have a good feeling about this. He even went to church with me :) That's another new thing...Emma and I have been going to church for about a month or so. We found one in Hilliard that we like and we have been going on Wednesday nights mainly and some Sundays. It's definitely a work in progress to get back in church but I'm getting there.
I guess this is pretty much everything that has happened lately. I will definitely update this more frequently now, especially since I wrote down the login information. :) Hope everyone had a great Easter and enjoyed their weekend. Until next time...
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