Dear God,

Please allow my public life to be a stage that aligns with what I confess to you in private. Forgive my shortcomings. Amen

Fee Frustrations

Dear Ken,

So I tried something new: Online Bill Pay. Apparently, I misread (or didn't understand) what Bank of America was requesting of me. Today, I received about 5 checks in the mail - thinking the payments were being sent to the appropriate creditors. I immediately went to the websites of where the checks were intended to be sent and started making payments online. To my surprise, these companies are charging ridiculous convenience fees.

One company wanted $5, another company $3.75, get this - one wanted $13!!! Hell NO!

Needless to say, I am super frustrated right now. Why in the hell am I charged a fee to pay a bill? Forget paying bills online; I'll just resort to the old school method and mail in my payments! These companies are assessing some really absurd and astronomical fees. So much for moving forward...

#UGH

Growing pains

Dear Ken,

My calf muscles are beat!

On the weekends I am able to run longer distances in preparation for the upcoming marathon.  Usually, I do not feel the agonizing pain until a few days later.  What I've noticed is that as I progress in mileage, the worse the pain gets.  A friend, who has been running for years, mentioned that the muscles have to get familiar with the longer distances. As I continue to progress, the pain should become less obvious. Lets hope so because I had to limp around the office today.

So much for growing!

Dear Ken,

These past twenty-four years have been a roller coaster. It seems like each year, my passion and drive for life changes. At one point, I wanted to have a career in journalism and the next year, I fell in love with higher education. Now, there seems to be another desire. So much for having clear direction with Sallie Mae knocking at the front door!! I guess I'll frame the bachelor and master degrees and wait for future career opportunities.

On a side note - as I prepare to head off to church, I am recalling past memories. I wrote an entry to an acquaintance who claimed to be having a difficult time moving past an old friend. In my response, and what continues to resonate with me, I wrote: some memories are worth forgetting. I guess I'll cling to the very words that I shared with him. I'll post more about this later. Church is starting; I need to hop in the shower.

Happy Sunday!

My life is not my own!!

Dear Ken,

Three days into 2011, and I am going back to my first love.  Wow. These three days have been extremely refreshing.  I've longed to be back in this position with God.  This is the most incredible feeling, ever.  I didn't realize how far I had drifted away from Him.  But I'm so glad that He didn't give up on me.  Each day has been a test, but I have made a commitment that this year will be extremely different.  Didn't realize that giving up some friendships would be difficult, but I promise - God is more important to me right now!

My life is not my own. To you I belong. I give myself to you.

 

Little to no time ... 11 targets

Dear Ken,

The past two weeks have been incredibly busy - shopping, entertaining and celebrating the holiday festivities. Most, if not all, of my energy has been exhausted.

I am not too big on making resolutions for the new year; however, this year, I came up with 11 targets that I hope to achieve, in no particular order:

-spend more time with family
-finish writing the book
-exercise/workout consistently
-less drinking
-narrow down educational goals
-progress in my career
-less partying
-strengthen relationship with God
-live without regrets
-open myself up to be loved :-)
-establish solid friendships & surround myself with positive influences and re-evaluate current friendships