My Pride and Joy

Recently I've started finding & following great bloggers. Almost 95% of the bloggers have beautiful children!! OMG it almost makes me want to have a baby!!! Then I wake up and tell myself, not yet!! LOL

Danielle after a great groom 2009

Well after my deployment in 2008, my mother blessed me with the greatest gift! Her name is Danielle! LOL Yes, she's a dog but I call her my daughter! The philosophy behind Danielle was simple. My mother knew life on this earth wasn't long for her because of cancer so she wanted to give me something that would love me and keep me company when my mother no longer could.

Danielle & Mom

Danielle was born October 3, 2008 to two loving parents; the mother a Shih Tzu and the father's breed is unknown. Danielle was given to me on December 20th, 2008 and I fell in love at first sight!!!

It's like she has a personality of her own! It's weird but I can look into her eyes and get a sense of how she's feeling. I just love her!! She's super smart too! My friends make fun of me because I talk to her like she's a human!

Yesterday I decided it was past due for Danielle to have a bath! In a perfect world, I would wash her once a week but after I was her, let her run around the apartment to dry off, fight her to finish drying her off, force her to let me brush her, I'm worn out!!!  Well last night it occurred to me that I should record her doing one of her tantrums after a bath!!!  Here's to a good laugh!!!

Rewind Button

"That was easy"

Do ya'll remember the Easy Button button by Staples?  Don't you wish it actually worked in real life? I think we have all made mistakes in the past or even currently and we wish there was a Rewind button. It doesn't even have to be a mistake but it's something we could have possibly done differently or better. It sucks how it is so easy to think of the best possible solutions AFTER the fact!

All that being said, we are human so it's OK to make mistakes! I have a horrible habit of beating myself up over decisions I make or have made. I can sit for hours and just think of how I could have done this or that. Why did I think this way and what persuaded me to do that? I remember having a phone interview for an important job I wanted SOOOO BAD and I got stuck on a question that I should have been able to answer with no problem! I knew when I hung up the phone that I had messed up on the opportunity of a lifetime! Ughh coulda , shoulda , woulda !!

Now look at the realistic side of things. We can't change the past, no matter how long we sit and meditate, hoping, and praying. LOL Granted some of the decisions we make are wrong, we learn tremendously from them. I think the biggest thing we can take from our decisions are learning more about ourselves. I remember reading a quote that said something to the effect that you learn who you really are when you are put into controversial situations. It is so true!!!

Learning who we really are is one way of minimizing regret.  When you truly know what you want out of live and how far you are willing to go, to me, a person should be proud of that. Alot of people focus more on the outcome instead of what is actually happening in the present. When you're proud of who you are and what you are doing, no matter the outcome you still have a sense of accomplishment. I guess it's the "Looking at the glass half full" effect.  My grandmother once told me that when you do something put your all into it, do it like you're doing it unto God, and at the end of the day if the outcome isn't what you wanted, you should be proud that you did the best you could!

Tools to learning yourself:

• Journals-I think journals are awesome because it's a window showing how and what was going on in your life at a specific time.
• Friends-Regardless of what some people say, the saying, "Birds of a feather flock together", is somewhat true. I'll say about 95% true! Look at your close friends. Do you approve of the majority of their actions?
• Church- A good church has a way of convicting your heart in such a way that makes you reevaluate yourself. I'm not referring to a pastor who pin points you out and criticizes you! I'm talking about a church that uses the love of God! Love compels people to Christ.
• Self-Assessments- I have been shocked by the results of self-assessments! LOL Self-assessments help you realize the strengths and weaknesses you have and how you can improve or maintain. Click on "Self-Assessments" to take a quick, free assessment.

Keep Pushing

I'm in the process of picking up where I left off, education wise. Every since high school in Mrs. Lamkin class, I have always wanted to be an accountant. I loved the bookkeeping aspect of things and solving money issues. Maybe MONEY was the key word! LOL Anywho, my first semester of college, I declared my major. I wanted to get the ball rolling! I didn't want to take any unnecessary classes like psychology or any other non-business related courses. 

Fast forward five years, I graduated with an Accounting Degree! That was one of the best feelings in the world! I was not the traditional student who wanted to stay in the library studying; studying bored me beyond belief!! I wanted to watch TV or look through Blackplanet.com!! HAHA ya'll remember Blackplanet.com? I am extremely grateful for God putting a smart young lady in my life that kept me on track enough to obtain that degree!

Ready to put what I had learned to use, I immediately started working! Well, scratch that first statement! LOL Tired of school and ready for some real money should go there! I began working and slowly my dreams of getting the requirements for the Certified Public Accountant (CPA) exam pushed further away. I needed 150 credit hours but in order to get those credit hours, I probably should have just stayed in school another semester and completed it in one take! But NOOOOO I was ready to live the life!!!

Six years later, I still have that same goal, to get my CPA!! Time can fly by if we don't grasp it and handle business when we suppose to. A good friend of mine motivated me to not give up on my dreams no matter how old or how many years ago our dreams first manifested. If its something you really want to do, it will stay heavy on your heart until you complete it. I experienced that heavy feeling not only with education but with joining an organization as well.

With some good pushing and constant motivation, I swallowed my shyness (yup, I said it) and did what I needed to do to try and become a member of the organization I longed to be apart of so long! Once I was accepted, I realized that the only person keeping me from doing what I need to do is ME!! SELF!!! 

• Self told me to give it up, that was in the past. 
• Self told me that I wasn't smart enough.
• Self told me that I had nothing to offer.

Now that I have Self in check, I am onward to better things! I'm in the process of getting my masters!! Whoohoo!! I'm so excited about it too! Initially I was against getting my masters because of the cost!! Man, it is not cheap at all!! But I have a slew of friends who have accomplished getting their masters and it's just good encouragement for me to step it up and challenge myself! I feel I'm in great position to take advantage of this opportunity!

I know if I can swallow my fears and face the unknowns, you can too! You just have to get out there and do it. Take the initial step and see how things aren't as hard or complicated as you may have imagined!