Big Decisions

I'm at that point in life where I have to start making those big decisions about my future and I'm not taking them lightly. Its scary to realize that the choices I make today, tomorrow or next week are going to be affecting my future in such a major way. I've been doing a lot of thinking about myself, my thoughts, feeling and beliefs lately to figure out where they would fit best and I think I've figured it out I just hope I'm right, otherwise I'll be wasting a lot of time. I'm not going to talk about what exactly those decisions are until everything is officially decided but I've been thinking a lot about what the right path is for me and I think I've figured it out.

I've been working my tail off lately to try to get all of this last-minute work done for the end of the semester, and its killing me. I have lost the majority of my motivation and thinking of spending three weeks back home is not sounding like the most fun. I love being home, don't get me wrong, but I LOVE to learn and as much as I'm looking forward to break I'll miss good ole Grand View. A break from homework though is sounding really enticing.

I wish there was a lot more known about next semester's schedule right now, like who our Logos prof. is or who my sociology prof. is going to be just because I like to know those things, and the two Logos classes show different books on the bookstore website...it's a dilemma.

Philosophical Thoughts

The other day I heard someone bring about that "If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?" idea and it got me thinking. The dictionary defines sound as, "Vibrations that travel through the air or another medium and can be heard when they reach a person's or animal's ear." and when you think about it, if there is no person or animal around (which is probably impossible, but in these instances we will assume that there is no person or animal around) there is no sound. Its the fact that there is no one around to hear it because so the vibrations go nowhere. Crazy, right? I started thinking more about ideas like this and came up with a similar idea: if you're in a completely pitch black room (can't see your hand in front of your face) and there's furniture or something in it (you can't see it) is it there? I could argue no, due to the fact that for you to truly know that something is there (without walking around) is to see it (which according to Descartes, is debatable). If you can't see it, then who is to say you aren't imagining it. The senses deceive according to Descartes and on that notion you will never know if that tree in the forest made the noise or if there is anything in that dark room. These are my deep philosophical thoughts right now. Any comments?

Thankful

Well, look at that. I forgot to do the last eight days. Man, I'm great at this, aren't I? Just kidding! I guess I have eight things to be thankful for now!

12: I'm thankful for my car, without it I wouldn't be going home tomorrow to celebrate Thanksgiving with my family and I wouldn't be able to drive around town to go to stores or out to have any fun.

13. I'm thankful for having too many points left on my meal plan. Its quite the hassle to try to use them all up in these last few weeks of the semester, but its kind of fun to buy all kinds of ridiculous things from Stacks.

14. I'm thankful for my FCCLA family. I love that I can talk to those guys about anything and everything. I keep up with my FCCLA friends from high school more than the actual people I graduated and that means a lot to me.

15. I'm thankful for Des Moines. As a city its fantastic. I've learned a lot about the differences between people in small towns and people from the city in the last few months with regard to how they treat you. Here people don't make as much eye contact and at first it was really awkward, but I'm coming to get used to it. Its a city of SO much promise and I'm thankful for that promise. As the city continues to grow, it will provide numerous jobs for so many people who need them.

16. I'm thankful for Pandora, because without it I would not get my daily music fix. I swear, every day I'm on Pandora listening to music. I'm in LOVE with Michael Buble's music, Frank Sinatra helps me study, and sometimes I'll turn on my Today's Hits radio just to pump me up.

17. I'm thankful for Saturdays to relax. Last Saturday I took the day and enjoyed my relaxation and did absolutely nothing, I barely left my room. It was glorious. I watched the entire second season of The Big Bang Theory. I'm obsessed now. Saturdays are just great days, because I love sleeping in and they're great to write papers that are due on Monday. ;)

18. I'm thankful for opportunities I have with the President of my University. A select group of us get to spend time with him and discuss various topics, and last night's topic was Vocation. It could not have come at a much better time. It was really interesting to learn about finding vocation in our lives and figuring out what exactly we were meant to do with our lives. It was really interesting.

19. Today I'm thankful for my Logos class. Its one of my favorite classes in an I love to hate it type of way. It has made me think about so many different abstract topics that I never would have thought of otherwise and I love those challenging thoughts. I also love that tonight we went and saw the movie Lincoln as a class and I have a new favorite movie. Abraham Lincoln is now one of my favorite presidents. (I seem to be asked quite frequently whom my favorite president was and now I have a solid response) regardless of party affiliation. It was so interesting to see how the political ideology of the time was so different when compared with ours. I'm thankful for that chance to see a movie I probably wouldn't have otherwise.

Veterans Day

Day 11: I am thankful that I get to live in the greatest country on this planet. I'm so thankful for all of the veterans that put themselves in harm's way to defend my freedom. Thank you to all of the veterans that have served, those who are continuing to serve and those who will serve in the future. I'm thankful for each and every one of you.

Day 2

Yesterday I started my November days of thanks and today I move on to number 10.

10. I'm thankful for my roommate. This week I've been incredibly sick to the point that I missed the majority of my classes for the first half of the week and didn't get to enjoy my family day weekend last week, but my roommate was a doll and took great care of me. She made me soup, got a wash cloth for my face and went with me to pick up my medication. I greatly appreciated it. :)

Hayley

Give Thanks

I can't believe its already November. I was flipping through my trusty agenda today in one of my classes and realized that we only have 5 weeks left of the semester, with one being Thanksgiving break. Can you say shocker? I still feel like I just got here and it blows my mind to think that in just about a month I'll be going home for Christmas break for nearly a month and won't be near any of my friends from GVU...I don't know if I like this idea...but I must say I'm really excited for Thanksgiving and Christmas! Thanksgiving break can't come soon enough, but Christmas break can slow down a bit...make sense?

Well, since its November and I spent the first half of it sick I haven't gotten around to posting a facebook status a day or a tweet a day about what I'm thankful for so I figured, what better place to go than my cute little blog? We're nine days in so I guess I'll come up with the nine things I'm thankful for...here goes nothing!

1. I'm thankful for the incredible experiences I've had in my life. From all of those FCCLA conferences to the new experiences I've had in college, without them I wouldn't be the person I am today. 

2. I'm thankful for my family. I may get mad at them at times or disagree with their actions and decisions, but they are my rock. I don't know where I would be without such a supportive family.

3. I'm thankful for the opportunity to attend such a fantastic College and to have the great professors that I do. I can't even begin to imagine what my college experience would be like without such great faculty at GV.

4. I'm thankful for all of the friends I've made at school and for having such awesome floor-mates to hang out with during my free time.

5. I'm thankful for my health. As ironic as it may seem since I've been sick lately, I'm truly thankful for the fact that I was able to rebound and get back on the horse. 

6. I'm thankful for homework. No, you didn't read that wrong. If I didn't have homework, it would mean I wasn't going to school and to think of my life without the stresses of homework (which, yes at times is ridiculously irritating and I could easily wish for it all to go away most of the time) would mean I wasn't achieving my goals and dreams and that is what I'm thankful for next...

7. I'm thankful for my dreams. One of my favorite "mantras" is Wish it. Dream it. Do it. If I didn't have such big dreams I wouldn't have gotten to the point where I am today in my life. I feel like every person is able to achieve their dreams if they set their mind to it, and I'm thankful for how big my dreams are and how hard I'm going to have to work to achieve them. 

8. I'm thankful for all of my role models. I look up to many people, many of whom are ordinary, normal people who live normal lives. Barack Obama is a pretty big role model right now, but so is J.K. Rowling, FCCLA leaders I've met, congressmen I've had the opportunity to meet with, professors, and friends. I'm thankful that there are so many great role models out there for me to look up to and whether they know it or not (obviously, the President doesn't know that he is one of Hayley Ellis from Iowa's role models) I'm incredibly thankful for them for guiding me along the path I am meant to follow.

9. Finally. Today I am thankful for the grass. I was walking back from class yesterday and they were mowing the grass and man it smelled great. We haven't had the opportunity to smell freshly cut grass very often this year due to the drought but it really was fantastic. I started thinking of the beauty of nature and how no matter where you are in the world, nature connects us all which is an idea of the poet Walt Whitman in Song of Myself (which I so did not read on my own, it was for a class). The leaves of grass connect us all, the living and the dead, the rich and the poor so therefore I am thankful for it.

What are you thankful for?

Hayley

Congratulations Mr. President

Well, in case you haven't noticed, (perhaps you live in a hole in the ground or in a tree or under a rock, I don't judge) the election is now over. Thank goodness. As much as I love our political system, I was ready for it to be over. No more ads. No more emails. No more annoying phone calls. It's done and man am I elated from the results. Quite a few people were skeptical about the President going into the election, and I'll admit, so was I but as soon as he won Pennsylvania, I knew it was over.

I believe that everyone should have the chance to experience what I experienced last night when the race was beginning to be called for Obama, and I can't even begin to describe what I experienced. I'll give a quick run-down of my night to try to explain.

Election coverage on NBC began at 6:00 (central time) so I set my laptop up with my TV because I didn't want to watch the local news channels, I was more focused on the Presidential race versus the congressional races. Around 7:00 we decided to grab dinner, and around 8:00 I took a shower. I've been incredibly sick the last few days so it was a big deal to be able to get up and moving yesterday! Then around 8:30 I zoned in to the election full force for the next hour and a half. Just after 10:00 I started falling asleep so I turned the TV and computer off and tried to sleep. I couldn't. I gave up and saw that my phone had ten texts about the election. I read the first one and was confused. I couldn't figure out how in a matter of 10 minutes the race could change so drastically. As soon as I read those I was awake. I started texting and posting on social media and watching the news.

As all of this is unfolding as the news of President Obama's reelection is spreading, I hear cheers across campus and in my hall of "OBAMA!!" and in that moment I began laughing hysterically (to the point my roommate was giving me some weird looks) and I was so incredibly proud of the work that our young people have done and the amazing job that the Obama campaign did. My first election. My first vote. All for someone I truly believe will move our country forward. It might sound cheesy, but that's the way the cookie crumbles.

Right now, I should be writing a paper, I should be doing my math journal, I should be doing something productive, but I'm not and I have no desire to do so. Its been awhile since I blogged, so therefore I have deemed this to be of much more importance than doing anything mildly productive.

I've been having a dilemma. I'm at this point in my life where I don't know what I don't want to do with my life with absolute confidence, the only thing that I know for sure at this point in time is that I want to be a teacher, and a high school teacher at that. But what else? That's my dilemma. The last four or five years all I've wanted to be was a Family Consumer Sciences teacher, but now that I'm really doing it all, I've realized that as much as I absolutely FCS, the only reason I want to be an FCS teacher is because I know and love so many FCS teachers across the state and I want to be an FCCLA adviser and at this point in time, those reasons don't seem good enough. I'm just honestly so incredibly confused right now its not cool.

So I'm at a point where I'm trying to decide whether I want to teach history or math or if I should get both endorsements which will equal an ungodly amount of work. I always scored incredibly well on tests in English or Science, but for some reason I have no desire to teach them. I just don't know. I had a meeting today to try to get an idea of where I need to be for the next three and a half years and its crazy. You think you have so much time to choose what you want to do or what your major should be, but really there isn't that much time. The Social Studies teaching endorsement is 55 credit hours alone. That is the equivalent of taking over three semesters of strictly content area related classes and nothing else. If I wanted to go along with math, its 32 credit hours, and combined math and social studies equal 87 credits. Woah. That's OVER 5 semesters. Taking 17 credits a semester. And I'm a class behind in Math. Oh goodness. If anything has ever seemed daunting to me this is it. This. Is. Crazy.

I guess I have a couple more months to figure out what I really truly want to do and I'm sure it'll take all of those few months to figure it out. In the meantime I guess I'll just go out and enjoy the college experience. :)

I was on Pinterest today and saw these quotes that kind of explain how I'm feeling right now. 

Week 3ish

I've been at GV for nearly a month now and its crazy how much everything has changed and I'm loving all of it. At first I was so incredibly nervous and scared and sad but now I'm feeling so comfortable here and the city of Des Moines is absolutely fantastic...why didn't I move here sooner?! College is challenging me in ways I never imagined. Challenging me to think about the meaning of my life and what my purpose is. Its making me think about whether I believe in universal truths or how relationships occur and how they shape people into who they become. I'm reading Walt Whitman, Renae Descartes and Martin Buber and thinking about what they say about the world. I never believed I would be going through so much deep thought so soon. I expected to have to think about these things but I didn't plan on delving right into it. I'm also exploring the stores I like to shop at or the music I like to listen to. These didn't really change much, but as I explore I learn more and more that I do and don't like. For example, McDonalds used to be my absolute favorite place to eat (in Shenandoah, there weren't many options) but now that I'm here in DSM and I have thousands of options to choose from I ate there the other day and frankly I felt incredibly sick after eating there. Its crazy how your tastes change as you go through life. I find myself listening to more and more Michael Buble and Frank Sinatra as I do my homework and study and its kind of out of place here with all of the rap I'm surrounded by.

Des Moines is a crazy town to me. There are times where I feel at home but there are times I feel completely out of place. There are sirens all the time which is new to me, because back home sirens were a pretty rare thing and to hear them so often is weird. Its also really loud. I blame that on the fact that I live in a College Dormitory but still, its something I'm getting adjusted to. I love the city though and all of the opportunities it affords me. Des Moines is so full of promise and potential. There are help wanted signs up in most places I've visited, and its just incredible how much opportunity is here. It really is a fantastic, growing city and I love being around so much opportunity.

Election 2012 (Politics)

This Presidential election between President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney has been all I seem to talk about with people lately, and I find it to be one of the most important elections in recent history (not just because I didn't follow politics until recently!).

The American People are split, on one hand we have a President who has promised the world and hasn't been able to deliver on a few of those promises (which, by the way I don't find to be his fault) but has visibly tried his best. Its seriously a tough job, think about it. You're accountable to billions of people, how would you like everyone blaming you for their problems? I don't think it would be that enjoyable.

On the other hand we have Mr. Romney who only wants to cater to the wealthy. Well, Mr. Romney I don't think that's going to work out. The population of our GREAT country  is vastly middle class and if you want to take away programs like food stamps and agencies such as the Department of Education, you are going to be taking away the future of our country (not literally obviously, but taking away opportunities for our young people like me). Without the Department of Education there's less accountability with our schools, not that I think we need a ton of federal intervention, but I do believe that there needs to be someone guaranteeing that ALL students get a quality education no matter where they live. A student in Iowa should have just as good of an education as a student from Florida. Its that simple. And without the Department of Education at the federal level there is no way to guarantee that these students all receive the education that they deserve. The states won't hold themselves accountable without this being federally mandated. It just won't happen. Another problem with Mr. Romney is that he wants to get rid of programs like Obamacare and food stamps which is all fine and dandy IF he can create ENOUGH jobs that EVERY American citizen can afford to buy their food and health insurance. Seriously. Times are tough. You aren't going to be able to grow our country if we don't have a solid middle class. Like I said earlier, the majority of the population of our country is considered in the Middle Class and taking away these programs isn't going to help at all. Sure it'll cut down of the deficit but that's it. Sure the deficit is a big deal and we need to cut spending but we don't need to do it all at once. Yes our govt. is big, but cutting it down to be minuscule isn't the way to move our country into the 21st century. Sorry Mr. Romney.

President Obama has done a fantastic job in my books. Yeah, I give him the benefit of the doubt because he truly inherited a messed up situation. He's been working to bring our troops home. Its not something that can happen in a day like so many people think. We can't just leave those countries that we're in and be done. We have to SLOWLY withdraw. Just think about it. If we pull out of the Middle East completely we are opening ourselves up for disaster. As soon as we leave some of those countries, they'll be engulfed in chaos and will be open for those terrorists (who, by the way, don't like us!) to take over and gain power. So many people think it would be just so easy to pull our armed forces out of those countries and they obviously haven't thought about the logistics of it all. Who was able to capture Bin Laden? President Obama. Way to go! Looking back on this presidency I think that was definitely one of the biggest accomplishments. I really don't think that the American people realize all that President Obama has been able to get done regardless of what he said he would get done.

Congress during these last 4 years has been impossible. All we heard on the news was about gridlock in congress. They can't agree on this, or they can't agree on that. Its sickening. We elected (well, not me since I wasn't old enough) but the American people elected those congressmen to get stuff done. Not to sit there and argue like children. Yes there has to be compromise. That's what the job of being in congress is about. How long did it take to extend the current rate on student loans because of Republicans wanting to double the rate? Too long. (I don't remember how long but I was freaking out for quite awhile) Like I said earlier, YOUTH are the future of our nation, and raising the interest rate on student loans is not helping our young people in any way, shape or form.

I was watching President Obama speak in Council Bluffs today on television since I wasn't able to get to Council Bluffs to get a ticket on Saturday (talk about MAJOR disappointment!) and I realized that he has worked his tail off to make our country great and for that I strongly commend him. We as a people need to pull together and figure out how WE want our country to be run. For Mitt Romney (and many Americans) to come in and say that Obamacare is so terrible is crazy. Did anyone happen to watch the opening ceremony of the Olympics where Great Britain CELEBRATED the fact that they have Universal Healthcare? Hello there America. This sounds like a good idea to me.

Finally what is the problem with gay marriage? This totally blows me away. Our country was founded on the ideas of freedom and individuality (or so I thought) and religious freedom. To say that we shouldn't allow gay marriage just because it is't "traditional" according to the bible is in my belief unconstitutional. We shouldn't be telling people that they can't get married. Think about it. What if someone told you that you couldn't get married to the person you love. That's what outlawing gay marriage is doing. In ancient times, homosexual relationships were actually celebrated so why do we have to make a big deal of them now. Although I am not a huge proponent of marriage whether homosexual or heterosexual (human and dog, cat and fish whatever relationship you please) I don't see why the government should be able to decide whether or not someone can marry someone. It just blows my mind. Marriage isn't about what type of relationship you are in, its about the love you feel for each other. It all comes down to treating every American citizen equally and making sure that everyone has the same opportunities as others. The government doesn't need to make these decisions, although they do. Why don't we just make marriage universal. You can marry whatever or whoever you want. Say I find my stuffed purple dinosaur to be rather attractive (we've been together for about 17 years now) so I want to marry him. What difference does it make to the government? Yeah it'd be a bit weird for me to marry a stuffed animal but why the heck not. I just don't see why we find the need to make this such a big debate. I don't think it is any of our business who someone decides to marry so why do we get involved? I definitely support the President when it comes to his views on gay marriage. I know some fantastic gay people and they should be able to be as free to do whatever they please just as I am.

If you've made it to the bottom of this post I commend you...great job. I hope I didn't irritate, anger or bore you too badly!

On a final note I would like to announce my candidacy for the first democratic campaign I am able to run for. (I need to do some more research on this topic) Maybe I'll run for mayor. Who knows....

Hayley

A few short weeks...

In just a few short weeks life as I know it will be changing completely. In just 31 days I'll be moving to Des Moines. I can't believe how fast this summer has really flown! Its completely ridiculous. Realizing how soon college is coming is both incredibly exciting and yet super nerve wracking. I love buying things for my dorm and I love the excitement that is the change coming, yet I'm really not sure about leaving the comforts of home for the unknown. All I ever talk about is how excited I am for college yet deep down I'm also afraid. I'm afraid my roommate won't like me, I'm scared about moving to such a big town (compared to my hometown) and I'm nervous about my classes. I've taken college classes before, but none have challenged me in any way, shape or form whatsoever. I really want good grades and in high school I didn't have to try really at all except on the occasional paper which I usually made up as I went. It always seems like kids in college know how everything works and are always confident and such, but I have no idea how anything works at this moment in time. I may sound really apprehensive but overall I'm really excited. I can't wait to meet my roommate, explore Des Moines and take challenging classes for once in my life. I'm just not so thrilled with leaving home and going 3 hours away.

NLC #realitycheck

I had such an incredible time this last week getting a #realitycheck at the 2012 FCCLA NLC! I had so much fun touring Orlando, meeting new people and seeing old friends. I had a fantastic time at Sea World for the first time! I never had a desire to go, but it was SO much fun! I was also able to go to Disney's Magic Kingdom and Epcot! Two of my favorite Disney parks! I rode the Space Mountain ride at Magic Kingdom for the first time. Oh. My. Goodness. It was the ride of a lifetime! So much fun! At Epcot I love the countries! I love hearing different accents :P such as English or Italian! I loved that there was a family from the UK in the UK part of Epcot! It was interesting to listen to them! The conference part of the trip was quite the success! The theme #realitycheck is probably one of my favorite themes FCCLA has ever had! It was so much fun to see some of my friends up on stage as part of the NEC (National Executive Council)! One of my favorite parts of the week though was seeing a few of my best friends make the 2012-2013 National Executive Council! I'm so proud of all of them and have confidence that they will be incredible national officers! My workshop 'The Power of Positivity' was a success, and I had a great time getting to know members that attended! All three workshops combined, I saw around 300 members which was great! Finally, the highlight of my trip was the FCCLA block party at Universal Studios! I got to go to Harry Potter World. It was the highlight of my trip, but of my life. I was able to live through a part of my childhood again! Drinking butterbeer at the Three Broom Sticks, buying a Wand from Olivanders and getting candy from Honeydukes, was so crazy! It was just incredible! My goodness was it great!

National Leadership Conference

This week I will be attending the 2012 National FCCLA National Leadership Conference: #realitycheck. My flight landed yesterday in beautiful Orlando, Florida! After a crazy ride to the hotel at 1 am I finally got to my room around 2am! How crazy? I ended up waiting for one of this year's Iowa State Officers to find her way to the correct hotel until about 2:30am! After approx. 2 hours of sleep, I was up and ready for the day! It was a fantastic day at Sea World! I am so excited to be going to Disney's Magic Kingdom tomorrow! Although today has had its ups and downs, I'm so glad that I am here experiencing this #realitycheck. I'll be honest, I didn't know how I would feel, knowing I would be rooming with the very girls who took over for me as a state officer in March. Would I be jealous, would I judge them, would I come off as mean? I was too nervous for something that I really had no reason to be nervous for. I have loved getting to know this team of leaders even just today. As bittersweet as this is, I have loved getting to know them more than I ever imagined. They're such a strong group, and for that I commend them. Its a tough job being a state officer and so far what I've seen as a team has been exemplary. I don't think we could have had a better team to replace mine. I was a bit nervous at first, leaving the organization that I am incredibly passionate about into the hands of kids I didn't know...but those feelings have changed substantially. Its kind of fun being a has been with all of that experience under my belt! I've helped them overcome some nerves about state meetings and the conference, and its so incredible to see their confidence shine through! Like I said, this is incredibly bittersweet but its a really cool experience. I miss my team dearly and I really wish they were all here to experience The Ultimate Leadership Experience with me here in Orlando, but I'm excited to see the couple that did make it down! Although I miss my team, I am looking forward to what this week will have in store!

Hospitals

You know, its been awhile since I've been to the doctor. To be honest, I hate going to the doctor. Any doctor really: eye doctor, orthodontist, dentist, family doctor, etc...they all just terrify me. What if they tell me I'm going to die. What if they think I'm crazy. What if...that's the question that runs through my head. I have problems explaining my symptoms and everything, and I can't stand it. Its totally embarrassing 98% of the time too. Even if I just go in for a routine check up, I get super nervous, my blood pressure rises, and I freak out. I don't know what it is about doctors that make you feel so insecure? Its even more embarrassing when you live in a small town and the doctor could potentially know you, the nurse could be a friend's mom or you could run into them wherever you go. Its just a weird deal.
Today, I tried to call my doctor to get in for an appt. this week, preferably today or tomorrow. I didn't even care if I saw my specific doctor, I knew I needed to get in. The lady that answered the phone at the clinic was grouchy, and flat out said I can't get in until late next week. Isn't the point of a doctor's office to be able to get in when you need them? I needed them today. Not next week. That's just plain ridiculous. My specific doctor wouldn't even be able to get me in for OVER A MONTH. I found this totally unacceptable. I mean really. I'm not going to gross you out with the details of why I needed a doctor, but I'm pretty sure I waited long enough, and I wasn't waiting another week or even a month. I wanted in today. So guess who got to spend the afternoon in the wonderful Emergency Room since nobody else could see them! Me. Woohoo. It always seems like I go to the ER whenever I don't think its worth it. I always think you need a stick sticking out of your eyeball or a broken limb to go in, but apparently I never go in for any weird reason. I go because I feel like crap and no other doctor can fit me in. I once went because I was sickly and gross. They told me I was crazy and to just go home. No tests at all. Just "you're fine, go home." Thanks crazy doctor with two different colored glasses. I really appreciate it. Especially since I had to sit there for three hours that time.
What is it with ERs taking SO long? I don't know many people who get in and out in an acceptable amount of time. My mom was in for 5 hours BEFORE they even saw her. Its crazy.
I was actually surprised by my experience today though. I was in and out in about an hour and a half, and it went pretty smoothly, although I didn't learn anything as to what's wrong with me. I'm supposed to get in to see a doctor that I TRIED TO GET IN TO SEE, this week according to the ER. Umm...HELLO?! I told you I tried to get in and I can't get in until next week.
I just don't understand hospitals. Its like they TRY to mess you up. After so long I'm just sick of what's making me sick and all I want are answers. I don't want a "there are about 30 different things that could be wrong with you and we don't have time to go through all of them" I want a definitive "you are lactose intolerant" type of thing. Not just an "avoid dairy at all costs and see if you feel better." like I got today.

Yumm!

So, its been awhile since I've posted...sorry about that! Everything has just been too crazy! I just wanted to stop by to tell about a recipe I stumbled across today. The recipe is for a Chipotle Ranch Dipping Sauce. Doesn't that sound delicious? I know. Its super simple, and the recipe I found was just enough to make for the recipe it went along with, but I would make a ton of this stuff and bottle it or something. Seriously, who came up with this?
So the recipe goes like this:
1 Tablespoon Ranch Dressing
3 Tablespoons Sour Cream
1/4 Teaspoon Chili Powder
1/8 Teaspoon Cayenne Powder (I probably did just over an 8th of a tsp.)
1/8 Teaspoon Salt (I probably had just under a tsp here.)
1/8 Teaspoon Garlic Powder ( I know! I didn't expect garlic powder either!)

You just mix it all together and enjoy! I would probably add more Chili Powder personally and more Cayenne just to give it more of a kick. I didn't expect the ranch flavor to be so prominent with more sour cream than ranch, but its definitely the star here!

I think this would be delicious on a burger or chicken strips! This would actually be a really good part of a chicken strip breading. I usually add a bit of ranch to the breading anyway so this would just kick it up a notch!

I hope you enjoy this!

Hayley

VBS

This week I am looking forward to a fun-filled week! Today marked the first day of bible school where the theme is no matter what trust god called Sky VBS. It was a great day and also reassured me that I could not be an Elementary teacher! Just a few hours with those kids and I was wiped out! They're so energetic an wild! Coming back as a group leader reminded me of when I was a kid going to bible school. I used to look forward to it each year and in the ( I can't believe it's been so long!) 7ish years since i've been a student at bible schools lot had changed! I remember going and having an elaborately decorated classroom with a teacher and ten or so other kids. We made our rotations to crafts, singing and snacks but had our lesson put on by our teacher who did everything with us. Now there is no 'home' classroom, groups are of 4-6 and rotations include movie, wild blue bible lessons, science experiments and snack (which is the only thing that stayed the same with a trusty peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a various snack of the day) we have bottled water versus juice though. I think the new format is neat but I also think the old way was too. My group of kids are rather shy, but started to warm up to me by the end of the day! The songs are catchy and I've had them stuck in my head all evening! I just wonder what the program will entail on Thursday as we used to have music class and each grade had different songs they sang and then there were songs that everybody sang. I just don't know what the program will include now, as we sang 2 songs today but neither were practiced like they used to be for a program. Hmm... I wonder... I also signed up to give blood at a blood drive on Thursday! I never though I would actually look up blood drives to attend but I love that feeling after giving blood where you realize that you saved a life! :) I'm looking forward to everything this week is going to entail!

Hayley

Favorite Things

Today I wanted to post about some of my favorite things! I like to look through other blogs to see other people's favorite products, organizations and just overall things to maybe find something new of my own so I decided that it was time to add my two cents. I think I will categorize these things and just make a list so its easy for you to check it out!

Favorite Websites:

Facebook- Well duh. I spend so much time on here. In fact, I have it open in another tab as we speak!
Twitter- I love twitter. Follow me @shenhayley! I love how you feel like you get to know celebrities and other people. I love the parody accounts I follow and always have new stupid jokes and sayings coming from twitter!
Mint.com- I am loving mint.com. You can add your bank account info. and it can show you where you spend most of your money. It is incredibly helpful and I recommend any other incoming college students to try it out!
PrintWhatYouLike.com- I love this so much! Have you ever wanted to print an article off of a website but didn't want all of the advertisements and "gunk?" Well, PrintWhatYouLike lets you remove all of that so you don't waste paper! Its a genius idea! I used this the other day to print a coloring page (Yeah, I'm 18 and coloring pages are still fun!) and I removed all of the ads. It was fantastic!
TeuxDeux- This simple little website is basically one big to-do list. I love it because I am constantly making to-do lists, and now I have a website to help me categorize it by day. I'm new to the website, but I am enjoying how simple it is to stay organized!

Favorite Organizations

FCCLA- Of course! FCCLA (Family, Career and Community Leaders of America) was my favorite part of high school! Check out fcclainc.org and iafccla.org for more info! Truly a fantastic organization!
American Red Cross- I love the feeling after you give blood (not the ugh I feel so crappy and exhausted feeling) but the "Wow! I just saved a life!" feeling. They do SO much good and for that they are a favorite.
Whitney Elementary-Okay, I don't know if you can consider an Elementary School an organization, but for the sake of this post it is. I saw this story on Ellen about the school and I was blown away. The majority of the students (like over 90%) are homeless and their principal works hard to make sure they always have clothing and food. I was inspired by the story! (Check out Ellen's Youtube Channel for video!)

Favorite Brands

Coach- When it comes to handbags nobody does better! They also have super cute shoes and other accessories!
Silver- Silver Jeans are literally the most comfortable jeans I have ever worn!
Toms- As a (somewhat) new owner of a pair of Toms they make the list! They go with almost any outfit, and when you buy a pair, they donate a pair to a child that doesn't have any shoes! PLUS they are incredibly comfortable! What a score?! A great pair of shoes AND you help kids! Wow. Pretty great!

Favorite Items
(This is a misc. category)

Apple iPod-As I've mentioned before I love my iPod. I use it all the time. Its so great. I love looking through my calendar to see what I have planned, I love checking my email facebook and twitter when I'm out and about and I love taking pictures with it! The weather app is great and sometimes I check stocks just because there's an app for that! (ha!)
Roku- I just bought this item like two weeks ago and I'm in love. My bedroom isn't connected to our Satellite so I can't watch TV down there. This nifty little box allows me to watch Netflix, stream Pandora and even check the news! I am a fan!

Favorite Books

Harry Potter- I don't think I can say enough about how I LOVE Harry Potter! I've always been a fan, but I have a friend who inspired me to get back into the series and oh how I forgot how fantastic it is! I am loving the new website Pottermore that lets you delve deeper into the stories than you ever got to go before! Bravo!
Ana's Story by Jenna Bush- I read this book last year and it was inspiring. Just check it out. You'll be glad you did.
The Hunger Games- Again, just check it out if you haven't already. I hadn't even heard of the books until the movie came out. I haven't seen the movie because I was spending all of that time reading the books trying to catch up on what everyone was talking about!
Jane Eyre- A classic. Such a fun, interesting piece of literature. Its a must read!

Favorite Shows

NCIS- Oh man. I could go on and on about this show! I love it. That beast Mark Harmon plus Michael Weatherly and Cote De Pablo and Sean Murray is such a great combo! Throw in David McCallum and Pauley Perrette and Brian Dietzen and you have one hit!
Arrested Development-Why did this show ever end? I haven't made it to the end of the series yet, but what I've seen so far is so ridiculous that its a favorite!
How I Met your Mother- I wonder...who is the mother? I used to hate the show, but recently its made its way to the top of the list!

I hope this wasn't too long of a list! I'm sure you will be seeing more and more information about favorite things in the coming days and weeks! :)

Hayley

Crafty

Well...two posts in one day...man I must be enjoying this blog thing!

I wanted to post about one of my plans for this blog. I've been spending a lot of time on Pinterest lately, and as such I have become incredibly "crafty." So I plan to share my successes and failures with things I have pinned. Lets hope there are lots of successes compared to fails.

One thing I pinned were some ribbon "topiary" type things that I created and used at my graduation party. They were a hit! I loved them and the colors I found of ribbon were perfectly matched to the colors of my party! They were great! I hope you have the time to look through my Pinterest board and make some! They truly are fantastic!

Another thing I created was a recipe for homemade laundry soap. My clothes smell ah-mazing! I also recommend doing this! It was incredibly simple, I'll post the steps:
     First, take a bar of Fels-Naptha and shred it...yes shred it like you would cheddar cheese.
     Then, add it to a container, I used like a cereal container I bought at Wal-Mart.
     Add Arm and Hammer washing stuff and Borax. (I am loving all of the uses for borax!)
     Finally add some Purex smelly crystal things (I am in love with these! Seriously, try them!)
     Now shake it all up! It only takes about one or two tablespoons of the soap to make your clothes smell incredible! I can't stress enough how great this is! I add extra Purex crystal things (I use the blue ones) because they just smell incredible!

I'm sure I will be sharing more things I find on Pinterest in the coming days...weeks...and months. I hope you enjoy!

Hayley

Getting Back Into the Workout

As I mentioned in previous posts, my leg seriously hurt, so I've been away from the workout for a few days, but it was Memorial Day weekend, so I gave myself the weekend off. Now its time to get back into the swing of things. I don't think I could workout without the help of my Apple iPod. Like seriously, music is the best way to workout. Other than running, I take a day off in between and just do simple little things to burn a few calories. My favorite thing is to play Just Dance on the Wii. Its my favorite game, and I can usually feel sore later that night! I know this isn't the absolute best workout plan in the world, but I think starting slowly is the way to go. I found an app for my iPod that I started to use, but it might be a bit too intense for me. So I did some looking on pinterest and found a new workout plan I'm going to start! Its a lot less work up front just to get you into it, so I'm looking forward to starting it this week! I'll keep you updated on how it works!

Hayley

Positivity

This summer I'm presenting a workshop on the power of positive thinking at the 2012 FCCLA National Leadership Conference. I've been thinking a lot about this topic for well over a year now, and I'm finally going to share what I've found with others. I'm so incredibly excited, nervous, scared, thrilled. Too many emotions. I'm excited to share my workshop this summer, where I will talk about what I've just written, how to stay positive during a stressful situation and have some fun.

I believe that although at the time, you may not be in a positive frame of mind, when you look back on the situation you are able to see all of the good that came out of it. I'll be honest, I'm not the most positive person in the world, but I keep it on my mind quite often. I believe that positivity and negativity are frames of mind that you teach yourself to fall into that can affect your daily life, happiness and well-being. Studies have shown that people who tackle fatal illnesses with a positive fighting spirit rather than a negative attitude live longer and conquer the illnesses more often and I sincerely believe that if you are able to find the positives in a situation, even if it isn't immediately you will come out successful. Positivity is a frame of mind where you accept the world as it is. You aren't focusing on what you could change, but rather the good going on at the present moment. I don't believe that you have to be positive all the time to live a happy, fulfilling life but I do believe that you should try to stay positive.

One thing I will be talking about in my workshop is finding way to deal with stress positively. So many people give up on finding positive ways to deal with the stresses in their lives and result in negative things that hurt the positive frame of mind such as drugs and alcohol. Although this really isn't a major part of my workshop, I think it is important that people find ways to deal with their daily stresses in ways that will help their future. I find things like meditation or listening to music, going for a run, leaving the situation for a short period of time or finding something you are passionate about to channel your negative energy into can be great ways to deal with stress.

Overall, I believe that staying positive or negative is your choice that can affect the rest of your life just as much as the choice to do drugs. I hope this post gets you thinking positive. :)

Hayley

Roadblock

Well, I've tackled this "get healthy" thing head on, and have hit a minor roadblock. I started running, and have gotten shin splints. Great. Now I have to take it easy for a few days, meaning it'll be waaaayyyy harder for me to get the motivation to get right back into it. I really hope that this heals fast! I want to get back to running asap so I don't lose what I've already done.

Healthy

My last post mentioned my summer goal to get healthy. I've decided that the first step toward achieving that goal is to get moving. So I've decided that I'm going to start walking/ running every day, and I'll increase my goal distance each day! It is just small goals for now, but I plan to be running longer distances by the end of the summer! My first distance goal was to reach a utility work sign up the hill from my house! A small goal, but an attainable one!

Summer

I have big plans for this summer. I'm looking forward to one of the best summers of my life (so far!). My first and probably most important goal is to get healthy before college. I plan to go for a run/jog/walk every day or every other day...I haven't figured it all the way out yet. I'll also start eating healthier as long as I keep the motivation. I really hope I do...my next and biggest excitement of the summer is to attend the 2012 FCCLA National Leadership Conference in Orlando! I can already smell the Florida air! I'm looking forward to a week full of friends, Sea World, Disney World and Universal Studios! I am so incredibly excited! This will be the first solo(ish) trip of my life and I'm stoked. I'm going to feel so "important" as I get on that plane alone! It'll be a long, boring flight but it'll be totally worth it! I'm just so excited! I also get to room with one of my best friends so I'm so excited for our week of shenanigans! :) I also plan to go through and "summer clean" my room and dump all kinds of stuff that won't be relevant in the future. I plan to be buying stuff for college this summer, and bought a ton of my favorite tissues (lame...I know) today on sale so I should be stocked up! Haha! I guess I'll end this post with my summer "bucket list" for which I'm considering buying a bucket and clothespins as I saw on pinterest so I can watch my "bucket list" diminish over the course of the next few months!
So here's that bucketlist!

1. Get healthy
2. Florida
3. Spontaneous Road Trip
4. One last college visit before I move in!
5. Re-read all of the Harry Potter Books
6. Harry Potter Movie Marathon
7. NCIS marathon all the way through
8. Host a Bonfire
9. See my SEC again
10. ZOO date with my #FCCLAbuddies
11. Meet my college room-mate
12. Take a zillion random pictures
13. Get ready for college...the best time of my life!
14. Go shopping with friends
15. First trip to a casino (outside of Iowa of course)!
16. Weekend with family away somewhere
17. Make many of the projects I've "pinned" on Pinterest
18. Continue this blog
19. Present the BEST workshop FCCLA has ever seen at NLC!
20. Have the time of my life.


Hayley

Beauty

Have you ever taken the time to just take in everything around you and realize how truly beautiful life is? I had this revelation while driving with my mom to town this afternoon. As we drove down the gravel road which I have grown to love I realized how truly beautiful the soybeans were, the dust of the gravel is and how gorgeous the grain bins are in the sunlight. It looked like a scene from a movie or a scene from a beautiful picture. It was a moment where I really realized how great god is and how beautiful life really is. We may have those hard times, but in the end life really is beautiful if you take a moment to sit down and look at the beauty in everything. One of my favorite things to do is look out my window into the horizon, and see the beans and corn growing, the trees, the grass and the clouds. I love walking around the house outside and looking at the fields around me. Its amazing how one seed can grow into something so good for us like corn. I encourage you to take a look at your life and see the beauty in everything you do.

Hayley

I couldn't have said it better...

I was reading the blog of a friend a bit ago about how she was done with high school.  I don't know if anyone could have ever summed up all of those emotions and feelings as you walk out of your high school for the last time. I didn't have the chance to have that bittersweet moment where I seriously thought about everything around me as I walked out the door because I was in a hurry, but her blog addressed my emotions perfectly as I look back. I got teary eyed reading her blog, and it really made me think about the finality of graduation. There is no going back now. I have to turn my NHS stole in, pick up a portfolio and I will never walk the halls of SHS again after that. Its a terrifying concept, entering the unknown that is the future. I'm absolutely "freaked out" about the whole college, independence thing. Its just not something I look forward to.

If you're interested in checking out Sirena's blog here's the link:
http://serene-is-seventeen.blogspot.com/2012/05/so-im-done-with-high-school.html

Hayley

Rant

I always thought that growing up would be so incredibly exciting, well so far its been pretty low-key. I mean seriously, everyone is so excited to "grow up" and graduate, turn eighteen and move out. Think about it, when you're in high school, you have got it made. You don't have any worries. You go out into the "real world" and there are bills to pay, places to go, things to do. I didn't even get a job until April of my senior year! I don't see why people get so excited to go out into the "real world." It doesn't sound like much fun to me!

I have been looking through my Facebook page lately and I really get so mad at people. How hard can it be to use proper grammar? How hard is it to spell a word out? Really, its not a text message. There are no limits to the number of characters you can use, so please just write things out. Another complaint (I'm just feeling like going on a rant today) I have about Facebook is that people post WAY too much personal stuff that frankly I don't want to hear. For example yesterday, I read a post which was about the 1 year anniversary of a girl losing her virginity. Seriously? Why? I don't care about your sex life, please keep it off of Facebook as I don't think the rest of the world needed to know that either. One more thing I have a problem with Facebook is when people ONLY post song lyrics as a status. Sure, I post quotes and such but they aren't half of a song like some people post. A sentence would be preferable. 

Sorry about this random rant. I just started typing and its what the result came to be. I am excited for the season finale of my absolute favorite show NCIS tonight on CBS and to attend my cousin's senior awards ceremony tonight! Lets hope tomorrow's post is a bit happier?

Hayley

The Next Journey

Today marks my first day as a "real" adult. Yesterday, I graduated from high school, and man have those 12 years of school flown by. I still can't believe how fast my life has gone to this point. I sincerely enjoyed my high school years, and it is unfathomable to me that they're over. I wanted to start this blog to chronicle my life following high school and reflect back on my life to this point. I've been doing a lot (when I say a lot, I mean A LOT) of reflecting on my life lately and its purpose and the direction I want to take with the rest of my life and I've decided that as I go through my thoughts I will write them down so that I can look back on what I wanted to do some day when I'm older. 


To this point in my life I have done quite a bit. When I was in kindergarten through first grade, I was my town's "Little Miss Shenandoah." Then, when I was in middle school I got involved in this weird organization called FCCLA, which has affected the rest of my life and I think will continue to affect my life as long as I live. I attended a National Leadership Conference in Orlando, FL the summer of my eighth grade year before high school, and I fell in love with the organization. As a freshmen, I attended the same conference in Nashville, TN. Again as a sophomore I attended the NLC in Chicago, but I had ran for a district office earlier in the year, and had been elected as Vice President. My junior year I ran for an Iowa State Office and was elected to the 2011-2012 SEC as First Vice President, the exact office I had wanted! I attended the NLC that year in Anaheim, California! What a fantastic experience! I gave up that office at the 2012 State Leadership Conference last March, I don't know if I've ever been as depressed. Now, I will be attending the 2012 NLC as a workshop presenter! I'm so blessed to have found my niche with this organization! 


My life plans to this point are a tad outrageous I'm sure. I will be attending Grand View University this fall (Go Vikings!) to major in Secondary Education to be a Family and Consumer Science teacher. I'm also contemplating getting a couple of other education endorsements to teach other classes such as math and social sciences. Right now, I'm considering that math one the most. I then plan to teach for a few years, get my masters degree, and possibly my doctorate in educational leadership, become a school principal and one day work at the Department of Education! I also plan to travel the world and own a monkey. I want to have a summer internship with Southwest Airlines, work as a congressional page and become a politician (probably not a realistic goal). I want to do, see, experience and taste everything I possibly can while I am able to. 


I hope this first post was half-way interesting!


Hayley