50-day Fat Loss Challenge

What a great way to start a blog, huh? Well, I've taken the plunge and I'm jumping in with both feet. My friend Becki from back home sent me an invite yesterday on facebook to join her in a 50-day fat loss challenge. Do you believe that God drops exactly what you need in your lap when you need it the most? That's how I feel about this opportunity. I have been wanting to do something like this for a while and had no idea how to get started and how to stay motivated. That's where Becki comes in. I mean, she's a personal trainer and knows how to get healthy and stay that way. So, if she tells me to do it, I'm gonna do it!

The Challenge is for 50 days, so it does take me through the holidays and through my trip home. I'm just going to have to be careful and make sure not to go to overboard. She did give us off Thanksgiving and Christmas as free days, so that will help some.

Anyway, if any of you would like to join me in this little venture, please visit the blog at www.50dayfatlosschallenge.blogspot.com. There are some really great tips on there and who knows, maybe we'll all loose a little weight!

Take care!

update... only about 6 months later...

Ok, so obviously I need to be better at all this blog stuff! lol!!

Things with me are good! I'm living in Atlanta, TX and working for Wells Fargo Bank in Texarkana, TX. I LOVE my job and the people I work with! They are great! I work with several Christian women who do a great job of encouraging me and lifting up my spirits. When I started at Wells Fargo, I started out as a regular teller and was here about 3 months when I received a promotion to a Lead Teller. I felt very fortunate to get the promotion and I truly believe Wells Fargo is a company that believes in promoting from within. I would love to be a Service Manager (the manager that oversees the tellers) some day and I know WF rewards those who work hard for them!

I also have a great little house in Atlanta that I love. My land lord is great! In fact, he stopped by on Sunday to get the rent check and told me he was knocking $100 off my rent for December because it was Christmas time. Who does that?? I also have 2 dogs that I love. One is Chloe and I got her in June. She is a cross between a pug and an Australian terrier. She's very sweet. I also have a puppy named Chance. We found him and 2 other puppies abandoned at our church. The first week went by and there were 3 and then the next week there were just 2 and the last week, all we could find was Chance. He was really sick and very small. I took him home and thanks to a lady in my church, nursed him back to health. Now 3 months later he's bigger than Chloe! I'm still not 100% sure what kind of dog he is, but I just know he's cute!! If I can, I'll try and post some pics of them both.

Not much else is going on. Church is going well. We are slowly growing our numbers. The youth group has had it's ups and downs with different school activities and things, but I think we are on our way up! We are looking forward to changing a lot of things in youth after the first of the year. New youth name, repainting of our youth room, new order of service, etc. I'm excited for the changes that are coming!

Well, that's about all that's currently going on in my life right now! So, see, you didn't really miss much over the last 6 months! Lol! But I do promise to be back sooner this time.

So it's official!!

I start at Century Bank (soon to be Wells Fargo Bank) on Monday at 8:30 in the morning.  I'm excited to get going!  The next step will be a place of my own.  I'm hoping to be in something by May 1st.  That would be my goal.  We'll start praying that happens.  Anyway, just wanted to give a quick update!  Love to all!!

Job Update

YEAH!!!  I'm so excited right now!  I just had a great conversation with the lady from Century Bank!  They are going to start me higher than normal for a teller, because of my experience.  It's a total blessing from God!  The job is also full time, so I will have benefits and vacation time.  Right now I'll be a floater until they find out which branch needs me the most, then I'll be housed there.  Who knows what might happen after I've been there a little bit due to the fact that the bank is going through a bank conversion.  There may be other opportunities that come up sooner than normal because of that. So, I'm just really excited because I feel like the right people know my name in the company and the right things are happening.  The next step is a criminal background check, which should only take 3-5 days so the latest I would start would be April 13th.  I'm hoping it comes back in 3 days and I can start Wed or Thurs next week.  That would be great!  Once all this is confirmed and such, I'll be on the offical hunt for a house.  Already several people at church have talked to me about places that are open.  Everyone here is so supportive and so excited for me.  I just love them!

Speaking of things going on here, God is doing great things!  Last night in youth I got to teach the Bible study and we started practicing the drama we are doing Easter Sun morning.  It's a simple drama, but I think they really like it.  They did awesome, and I'm really proud of them!  I had to do some recruiting because we dont have many guys that come, so my main guy is 21, but that's ok.  We've been trying to get him to start coming on Wed nights too, so maybe this will be a way for him to get in the habit of doing that.  Also, starting this Sunday I'm going to start teaching the youth Sunday school.  I'm so excited about that!  I just love these kids, and I think this will be one more way I can make a connection with them.  So please be in prayer about that.  I just want to make sure I'm connecting with them on a spiritual level as well as a friendship level.  God's doing awesome things!

Anyway, that's the latest update.  I'll let y'all know when I know about my first day of work!  Praise God!   Love to all!!

A job! And so many other blessings...

I got a job today!! YEAH!!!!  I'm going to be working at Century Bank in Texarkana.  It will be a full time teller position for now, with awesome opportunity for advancement.  In fact, the HR person told me today that if she had a supervisor position open, she would have offered it to me.  We have a bank conversion happening in a couple weeks, so after all that settles, who knows what might be available.  It's a great opportunity, and I'm super excited.  

God has also been moving in our youth group.  We had 5 in youth on Wed night and we are going to start our drama team this Wed.  We are doing a simple drama for Easter Sunday morning.  This Wed night I'll also be sharing in youth.  Tommy and I are going to be switching on an off every week, so I'm excited about that.  I may start teaching the youth Sunday school as well.  It's a great church and the people are so amazing.  The immediate connection I've had with all of them has been unbelievable.  It's totally a God thing. 

Speaking of that, I just want to say, that this whole process has been hard, but at the same time the most amazing experience of my life.  I've learned so much about the blessings of God, that I can't even tell you.  P Tommy preached a sermon on Sunday about taking risks and when you take a risk, it gives God the biggest chance to bless you.  So, if you are thinking about taking a risk because you feel the Lord is prompting you to do something, do it!  If you know it's God's will, take that step... or in some cases a leap of faith.  It will totally be worth it!  I miss you all at home and love you a lot, but I'm excited about what God is doing here in Queen City TX!!

It's been 11 days...

Well, it's officially been 11 days since I became a resident of Queen City, TX... And I love it!  It was an emotional couple of weeks before I made the move, but I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that it's where I'm supposed to be.  The first Sunday I was here, I walked into church and everyone was excited to me and I was SO excited to see everyone again.  Even though it had only been a few weeks since I'd seen them, it was still great to see everyone.  That first Monday I was here, I had a "group" interview with Century Bank.  It was very strange -- it was 2 people from Century Bank and 5 of us.  We had to go around the table and stand up and talk about ourselves and why we wanted to work for Century, along with a couple of other questions they asked us. Today I had a 3rd interview with them, a much more traditional style interview and it went great!!  The interview was actually for a teller position, but by the end of the conversation they were talking to me about possibly doing a personal banker position.  So, that was exciting!!  

Right now I'm staying with Tommy and Heather at their house.  All my stuff is in a 10x10 storage unit... which is slightly depressing! Lol!  But once I get a job secured (which I hope to hear back by the end of the week) I'll start the apartment hunt.  More and more things are starting to become available now too.  So, I'm excited about that too!  Things are definitely starting to move forward.  I'm just so glad to be here.  No place has ever felt like home, except Des Moines, and I get that "home" feeling being here.  It's awesome. 

Anyway, not much else to report.  Sorry I've not done better keeping up.  I'm not very good at these kinds of things!  But when I think about it and get a chance, I'll update again.  Talk to y'all (lol!) later!!

One month later...

Ok, so first of all, I need to apologize for it being over a month since I've updated this thing. I forgot my password to sign it and it was a big mess trying to get it reset. Note to self: write these things down!! Anyway, so I have a lot to put on here!!

Moving date is still set for March 13th... 13 days from today!! Holy cow! I'm still not sure what I think about all that. I'm super excited to go, but still scared at the same time. But I know God is in control!!

I was in Texas just last week for about 9 days. I left on Valentines Day (since I had no other plans...) and drove straight through. I spent the week looking for jobs and a place to live. Job wise, a lot of places wanted me to apply online, including a bank called Woodforest National Bank. It's located in our Walmart in Altanta (the town right next to Queen City). I had an interview with them last Saturday and it went really well. So, now I'm just waiting to hear back from them. I'm hoping to hear something by Monday. The housing was a little more difficult. Everything is either low income and a bit scary, or brand new 3 bedroom, 2 bath for $700-750 a month, which I suppose is a great price, but still way more than what I need. So, as of right now I'm still on the hunt. I have a place I need to call back. There is a lady in town that has rental properties and she has a great little 2 bed, 1 bath available. But she was leery of renting it to someone who wasn't moved down there yet. So, I'm going to call back to her closer to the 13th and see if it's still available. In the mean time, if I dont find anything, looks like Tommy and Heather will have a roommate for a little bit. But thats ok.

Also, I wanted to let everyone who reads this and is in the DSM area, that next Saturday March 7th from 1-4pm, I'm having a Going Away Party at Berean Assembly of God. It's a come and go as you please type of thing, but I would love to see as many people as I can before I go. So please come if you can. Berean is located on E University across from White Water. When you come, just go to the back parking lot and come in the south doors. It will be just to your left when you get in the door. Anyway, I hope you can all come!

Well, there's not much more to report. I'll keep everyone posted on any new updates, now that I can post things on here again!! Love to you all!