Kickin it Old School...

OH MY GOSH! Get the girls together....it's time to play
Dream Phone--Guess who likes you in this talking telephone game! ("Hi, I know who it is!")
The Babysitters Club Mystery Game
Let's Go Shopping-Race Through The Mall In Search for the PERFECT Outfit
Mall Madness-Talking Shopping Spree...yes please!
Precious Places....only the best doll house around!

Old School Lite Brite.....

Did I mention Mother cleaned out the attic before I came home? Oh the piles of "treasures"!!!

*no company has asked me to post my Old School entertainment. In fact, this is a post for Antique Roadshow, not companies-that-probably-no-longer-exist endorsements! Ahh, childhood! :)

I'm back!

Hello no longer devote readers of "...grace like rain..."! :)

It's been a long time...almost 2 months since we last exchanged stories regarding this thing called life. My Mom must be really bored because she keeps mentioning that I haven't updated the old blog...or if I tell her a story about something I did/something that happened she tends to say it would make a great post. So, where have I been you may or may not ask?! Grab a sweet tea and get comfy because it's quite the story!

My last post was April 17, 2011. You can find it here if you haven't already read it Sunday Snapshot

April 17 was an intense day. I went to church that morning to help with an Orientation event, went to work as I was scheduled, had a little break in between and was headed back to church to greet for the evening service. As I was headed to church, I received an e-mail that I no longer had a job. Yep, via e-mail. It was rather devastating and out of the blue and the first thing I did (as I was walking up the sidewalk to the church doors) was start to sob silently. I was so hurt and blindsided. So, you can only imagine how powerful that Sunday sermon was for me. But if your entire world is going to turn upside down, the best place to be is in church, right?!

However, I woke up Monday morning with a sense of freedom and new life! I knew it was going to be an adjustment but I knew that God had a much better plan and that everything would be ok. Though unemployment is never fun, I got to really focus on areas of my life that I neglected because I worked anywhere from 45-75 hours a week and only had 1 day off a week, that day being Sunday. I used Monday as a day to not wake up to an alarm, a bajillion emails/texts/phone calls or run around for others like a chicken with my head cut off. Though I still woke up at 6:00am, it was nice to lay in bed for 5 minutes, eat breakfast and get back in bed just because for the first time ever, I could. While Monday was the first day that I really had nothing to do, it was the start of something great. It was the first day of the rest of my life!

Rather than put you to sleep with all of the details, from April 17-May 17 I did the following:
interview with an awesome company
pray
clean and organize my apartment
pray
be a part of a words will not do it justice 3D Easter Experience @ Elevation (my favorite being the 6:00 Sunday service, but the entire day/weekend was just amazing!)
pray
go out with friends!-this includes lunch, dinner, nightlife, movies...everything I hadn't done!
pray
spend 5 full days with my Mom
pray
volunteer at the church office
pray
listen to podcasts from Pastors Steven Furtick & Andy Stanley
pray
get my life in order
pray
really get to know those in my eGroup and benefit from what a family an eGroup really is
participate in the Race for the Cure again
just enjoy life

It was a long month but it was a great break. I've started a job that I love and I know it's only going to get better! I am blessed to have a fantastic church family, Godly friends and overall blessed to have a supportive family. I concentrated on new and existing relationships with friends and really got to know people because I had the time and my mind wasn't in 1,000 different directions. It was so great to form this friendships and bonds that I know I'll have for quite some time. Most of all, I know how blessed I am to have only been unemployed for an entire month and to have started a new career journey with promise and opportunity!

I thank you for reading this far! Now that I've got somewhat of a hang of things at my new job, I strive to blog more! I did post all of the Sunday Snapshots that I missed during my random blogging hiatus, so be sure to read those!

Happy Monday!

Thanks for reading!

Dreams can come true...

If you're a fan of my blog, you've probably heard (read) me mention how much I LOVE Dancing with the Stars and how I want to be a contestant. I've always said that I'm not a professional dancer and I'm not a star so it's not going to happen.

WELL...

Dove has teamed with Dancing with the Stars and offered a contest where you had to submit a video that was under 60 seconds mentioning Dove Visible Care Body Wash and DWTS. The winner receives a trip to CA to train and perform in a commercial that will air during the Season Finale of this season of Dancing with the Stars, which I wasn't too excited about the cast selection this time around but gosh darn it, after Monday night I am PUMPED!!!

So..........I submitted a video clip. CRAZY, right?!?!?!

I know. It's kind of out of my "quiet" element. I've never entered a national contest let alone submit a video for anything! I was fully clothed and made it look like I was only wearing a fun towel and basically just mentioned why I should be chosen. I probably won't be picked because they probably received a bunch of video clips but I didn't want to have regrets and I really want to be on DWTS! AND, I use Dove soaps and body wash anyway so I'm feeling good. I'll keep everyone posted if I hear anything!

NO REGRETS!

*This post is not endorsed by Dove and/or Dancing With The Stars. I am not being compensated. I was not asked to mention them in this post. I'm just a girl with a dream to be on DWTS!

Epic Fail

Let me just start by saying it's only Wednesday and I'm ready for this week to be over!
Monday I spent 3 hours waiting in line at the DMV only to FINALLY reach the counter and discover that my car title wasn't signed so I needed to obtain the signature and come back. Well, since my mother lives in DE and I'm in NC, that's not so easy. Not to mention the fact that my current car registration expires March 15. Yikes! I called mom and we decided that I should have a friend sign it or forge it but since I had to work at 2:00 I didn't have time to have someone else sign it. So, I did what any desperate 3 hours wasted standing in line (which is a post for another day!) person would do and I left the parking lot, went to grab a snack, forged my mother's name with her permission and went back 45 minutes later. However, I wasn't able to skip to the front of the line and judging by the length of the line, I didn't have 3 more hours so I left. Now, I get to go back this coming Monday. UGH!
***
Tuesday I don't even remember! I know it was just yesterday but I was out and about attending different meetings so I know I spent a lot of time in my car...OH and I got VERY lost and had to call the place for directions since my GPS is no longer working. Chester, my GPS literally just decided to stop navigating my ways. I don't know what his problem is but he best snap out of it! :) It's tragic.
***
Today. Oh today. Today is such a sad day. I had to make a delivery to an awesome company and since it's located next to one of our corporate partners, I decided to pop in and drop off a sweet treat. Well, I left the first place and headed to the next parking lot and as I was driving it started to rain. The parking lots are HUGE and all of the close spots were taken so I wasn't able to park that close to the door. It is now POURING so in heels and carrying a box of sweet treats, I decided to RUN to the office door. As I'm running, carrying a box and dodging the colossal rain drops...my heel gets STUCK in the split of the sidewalk. STUCK. As in WEDGED in between the concrete blocks. It is raining so hard that a puddle is forming in my shoe. Mind you, at this point I am close enough to the front door that the security guard is watching this all play out. I go back for my shoe, carry it to the main entrance, dump the water out, put it on, get buzzed in and basically shake off like a wet dog. Mr. Security Guard makes a not funny to me joke about not having a towel and I tell him who I need to see and I wait for that person. Well, person comes down the stairs and just starts laughing. We decided that it was a good thing that we've dealt with one another for over a year and they know that I am usually put together and not sopping wet with soaking wet hair matted to my face/head and a sloshing shoe. I digress....

I go back to work and start to get stuff done and finally, at 7:45, pack up to leave. I come home (it's still raining), park my car, grab my phone, keys and a NICE bottle of wine that a customer gave me and open the back door to grab my purse and work bag and turn around and it happens. The wine bottle is slipping. The wine bottle is gone. It's pouring. The road smells like GOOD RED WINE. My pants smell like red wine. My shoes smell like red wine. It was tragic. I don't think I'll recover for awhile.

And now I'm not off to go pour myself a glass of wine. Instead I'll be licking it off the pavement or wringing it out of my pants and shoes. Not cool, Megan. Not cool.

Snow Day Fun!

Almost two week ago we had a nice little snow fall! The store was closed so I worked from home but decided it would be best to clean off my car as the day progressed. I'm really glad I did because Tuesday was nothing but ice and well, that's no fun to remove from your car!

I owned an ice scraper that also had a brush on it but for the life of me, I have no idea where it is. So, I used a squeegee to remove the snow from my windshield! Whatever works, right?!

Adrienne and her husband live within walking distance from my apartment so A came over for the afternoon so we could go exploring. We found this snowman by the apartment mailboxes! How cute!
We walked to $tarbucks.

And Target.

Poor A couldn't decide which SUMMER cover up to purchase. I think all the snow was getting to her!

Of course I found this. That "As Seen on TV" section is just too funny.

I mean with "Dramatic Results in Just 2 Minutes A Day" it has to be good, right? ha ha

We left Target.

And walked back to Harris Teeter.

And walked back to my apartment only to discover how deep the snow really was.
After our adventure, we decided it was time to "Wine Down" with some cocktails and that it would be best to have a slumber party. I mean after all, the news kept mentioning "power outages" and well, apartments just don't have fireplaces so I spent the night at A&J's house.

***I am SO thankful for such great friends that live so close!!! I really have no idea what I would do without this amazing couple. When I need help putting together a lamp (don't ask) or setting up a DVD player or anything like that, A just sends J over and wa la. We've dubbed him "man hands" since he's so handy.***

Anyway....

A makes the best guac I've had outside of a Mexican restaurant! I mean we had a method to the madness of walking to HT and Target...we needed snowed in supplies!

Tuesday it was really icy and gross but we headed Uptown after lunch and it was so foggy. It was crazy!

We went back to HT to find no bread....

No milk....

But we had a great snow day! Poor J thought we were nuts walking all over the place and documenting our trip but boys just don't understand! We think that's why he hid upstairs watching the Oregon v Auburn game. Or maybe because we were just too excited to read gossip magazines, watch The Proposal and watch reruns of HIMYM, Greys and Modern Family!

Kids these days

Let me preface this with the fact that I am not the smartest person in the world, nor am I close.

However, when I was in high school and seeking after school/weekend employment, I certainly did not commit the following crimes:

*walk in wearing jeans that are tattered and torn
*have crazy hair
*wear flip flops
*chew gum
*say "umm"
*look at the floor while speaking
*come in on the phone, ask for an application while I put the phone down, accept the application, pick the phone back up and continue talking while walking out of the establishment

When I turned in an application and resume:

*I used spellcheck
*I read over the documents to make sure everything was spelled correctly
*I did not cross out words using a pen and turn it in with the crossed out words
*I did not submit a resume on paper that had a "page 1 of 1" or url at the bottom of the page

If I was seeking a donation from a business for a club that I was a member of:
*I handed the manager a letter from the sponsoring teacher that had a current date on it
*I explained what the club would be using the donation for
*I did not just waltz into the establishment and say "could you give us money for xyz"

Perhaps I'm old fashioned and conservative but the future of America scares me.

I happen to work in an industry in which high school students ranging in ages 15-18 and college students ranging in ages 18-22 hope to seek employment. However, I have a hard time taking someone seriously when they submit resumes with multiple spelling errors, are unable to formulate a correct sentence, submit resumes and applications that look like they've been chewed by the dog and/or are not "properly" dressed. Hoodies and frayed jeans, baseball hats, tshirts and flip flops are just not proper "job seeking" items of clothing.

In high school I remember my Honors English teacher freshman year explaining to the class the proper way to make a first impression because after all, you only have one chance to make a first impression. I remember being instructed and guided through the resume building process freshman year so that I could update my resume throughout high school. It was a tremendous help once college application/scholarship season came around to have that continually updated piece of paper. Kids these days text too much and speak in what I like to call "160 character limit" and frankly, that's not going to cut it in the workplace. At least I hope it won't. But I really hope parents and teachers alike start to teach students how to apply for jobs, how to compose their resume and how to conduct themselves when they are seeking employment. Learning those skills young will certainly help them throughout high school, college and beyond...or at least I think so!

And completely not related to my kids these days rant but still humorous and worth sharing.....
I had a female customer tell me at the register that I was a very nice young lady and she liked the way I dress so I would make a great match for her son. REALLY?! Yea, definitely turned 1000 shades of red. Can we say AWKWARD! :)

Waxhaw

A few weeks ago, Adrienne and I decided to visit Historic Waxhaw for the afternoon.

It was a rather amusing trip to say the least and we saw the longest train ever!

It was a bit chilly so we went to the Dairy Barn for some Hot Chocolate. It was kind of like Cracker Barrel on the inside...they even had a cd player on the floor that filled the place with the sounds of crickets.

Sadly, we didn't ride Quick Silver ha ha

We found the coolest bookstore!!!!

And the man working told us everything we needed to know about books and Waxhaw. I think he may be the mayor...and if he's not, he should be! He even offered to take some pictures. I think our visit was the highlight of his day!

We walked across this bridge and as we walked you could her the birds chirping/tweeting.

They must live under the bridge.

The moon!

Thought this was cool

Yea, all the black specks by the water tower are the birds that live under the bridge...

And the massive train...

Overall it was a fun, random, trip!

I think everyone should visit "historic" places every now and then.

Christmas Cheer is Here!

Yesterday I was in quite the holiday funk, but today....I snapped out of it!

We all know that God works in mysterious ways and when I came home from work yesterday, I went to check my mail and I got my first Christmas card of the year! It made me happy!

Now I just need to find somewhere to display Christmas cards!

Anyway, here's what I've done so far to get ready for Christmas.

It's kind of random, but for now, it'll work!

As soon as you walk in the front door, this is what you'll see.

I just love this mat! I found it in Hobby Lobby for 50% off and it reminded me of home.

I really liked the wording of this sign. So I hung it on the coat closet door.

It's the first thing you see when the front door opens.

I had this sign on the closet door until I found the one above. I thought this one was funny, and it was also another Hob Lob 50% off find! I just need to find somewhere to hang it.

The side table contains the ornaments that didn't make it on the tree and some snowmen that I didn't have anywhere else to put!

Here's an aerial view of the ornament tub/snowman. Please disregard all of the bags around the table...I sort of drop everything by the door when I get home!

My tree! Lit and decorated! I found an "M" made out of jingle bells to act as the Star/Angel topper. And yes, to the right of my tree is a bookcase which is really a picture case since it doesn't have any books on it and to the left of the tree is the boardum....it's a bulletin board that contains index cards with funny moments/sayings. It's kind of like a happy board of memories.

Just a close up of the ornaments I found...

Since I haven't bought/wrapped any presents, I decided to put some Carolina under my tree! I've collected a fair amount of sports related ornaments over the years and generally have a sports tree. However, this year I forgot to bring all of my Christmas ornaments from home to NC, so I had to buy new ornaments. Instead of mixing the basketballs with the green/pink/blue balls, I just kept them in the box and put them under the tree. I also don't have a tree skirt so I took some fabric that I've had for awhile and just bunched it under the tree. I was going to make a memory board but never did. Oh well!

This is the tiny tree I bought last Christmas and I added some glitter ornaments to it this year and put it on the counter. I also found a nativity scene in walmart that I really like.

Last year, Stephanie made everyone stockings and we hung them in the apartment. Well, this year I decided to tape mine to the counter.

I found this plate in Marshall's for $2.00 and just knew it would be cute for the kitchen! It's also a great reminder for when I start to bake Christmas Cookies! :)

I found these angels in Hobby Lobby (for 50% off) and thought they were cute. They are currently next to my tv stand.

And the random gifts I've acquired.

So that's that! Nothing too exciting but still some holiday cheer!

Bring on the snow!