DayDreaming Diva

I just finished my first week as a first grade teacher.... First day of first grade! I still feel like I'm "playing" teacher and it doesn't help that one of my kiddos asked me on Friday if I was a real teacher...umm?? YES! I NEVER, I mean NEVER imagined myself being a teacher. Of course I always played teacher when I was little but I never really saw myself pursuing a career in education. My mom is a teacher, an amazing teacher, and I have seen every negative as well as every positive thing that comes with being a teacher. I always thought, " You know, I could do that, I love working with children but I don't want to do it." So, I took another route, earning a degree in Psychology. During the end of my college career I started to realize that maybe I did want to work in the school system, it just felt right to be in a school. I had thought about working in the hospital setting and it may be something I explore later but it just never felt rig...

  This summer has flown by... I feel like I have not stopped since May 16. Between multiple beach trips, Camp Caswell, babysitting, and getting things ready for the fall, my life has been a whirlwind. I want to document and keep track of everything but I just don't have time to stop and do it. So, this post is an effort to record the events of this crazy summer! My summer started off with a bang...I tagged along with the family that I nanny for on a trip to the beach. I have been so fortunate to nanny for a family who I love so very much for the last 3 summers. They are always so gracious to take me along with them when they go to the beach in the summer. I go to help out with the kids and just be an extra hand. It is always such a fun trip to go on and doesn't feel like work at all lol! They treat me as one of their own and I'm so thankful for them and everything they have done for me over the years. The next week I took off with my church's youth group to Camp...

I just have to get this out of my head... I just heard the news of the Charleston shooting. I'm deeply saddened by this... the fact that someone would walk into a place of worship and feel the need to take the lives of the people there. What that young man did was horrifying and I could never begin to imagine the pain and suffering those people are going through. Not only should we be praying for those who have lost loved ones or were injured... We also need to pray for the shooter for he fell victim to Satan himself just like many of us do every day. While his sin was more permanent and more devastating, that does not mean that he can't find repentance and mercy in The Lord. I know it is very hard to pray for and love someone who has caused so much pain but as Christians it is our duty. I am so glad that people are willing to offer up prayer in support of those suffering. However, while those people are offering prayer and support for the victims, they are tearing down ...

What do you do to celebrate college graduation? Well, if you're anything like me you're broke so your options are pretty limited... Thankfully I have a pretty awesome roommate who's dad has a camper at Holden beach which he so graciously let us crash for a few days!  It was so nice to get away for a few days and relax, soak up the sun, and catch up with my BFF.  Since I've been living at home and she has been student teaching I haven't seen Leah since my birthday in February!! I've missed her so, so much. We didn't have a whole lot of time but we did as much as we could while we were there! We laid on the beach during the day on Wednesday for lunch we ate way too much food at Provisions at Holden beach! That night we drive to Southport and ate some more food at Yacht Basin Eatery. It was cloudy and had been raining but we ended up having a beautiful evening walking around and exploring the town.  thankful for timers on camera ph...

Today I graduate from college. Wow... This is completely unreal to me.  I am so overwhelmed with emotions today. I am extremely proud of myself, I am excited, sad, nervous, hopeful, and very, very happy! I just cannot believe this day is here. I am sad about saying goodbye to friends and professors while at the same time excited to say hello to new experiences! It seems like these four years have flown by and took forever all at the same time. This has truly been the best experience of my life. I have had the privilege to learn and grow academically as well as personally. I do not know for sure what is coming next for me but whatever it is I know it will be hard to measure up to my four years at Wingate University.  I just want to freeze time and make this day last forever. 

This week is my last week of classes as an undergraduate student....wow. I want to take a few moments to reflect and document some of my thoughts during this last week.  I am having conflicting emotions over this fact. On one hand I am SO over school and am SO ready to be done and move on to the next chapter of my life. But on the other hand I am not ready to be done and go out into the real "real world". My college experience has been absolutely amazing. I have been blessed with getting to know and become roommates and best friends with three wonderful girls. I have learned so much about myself, I have grown in my faith and gained a deeper understanding and love for God. I have gained a greater appreciation for family and understand how important support from family means to a individual. I have been fortunate (yes, you read that correctly) to study, read, and write many papers that have expanded my knowledge. Despite my frequent complaints, I have been truly blessed wit...

This is one of the easiest, healthiest, and most delicious ways to prepare breakfast!   I love to eat a good breakfast, it is the most important meal of the day, but sometimes I just do not feel like preparing it. So, I'll grab a bowl of cereal. Not the worst option but also not the best and my stomach is usually growling by the time I get to school... Making these breakfast muffins helps me get protein and veggies in the morning and I'll usually eat some fruit with it... Perfect breakfast! I used half an onion about 2 cups(ish) of chopped broccoli and about a cup and a half of spinach and 8 eggs. I didn't use exact measurements so I'm totally guessing. I warmed the veggies up in a pan (just enough to make sure they were cooked thoroughly before putting them in the oven), whisked the eggs, then poured the mixture into a muffin tin.  And...... Viola!!

School is stressful, relationships are stressful, work is stressful...life is stressful. I have typically not been very good at coping with stress. When I get stressed, I tend to push my feelings and emotions aside in order to get things accomplished. This causes my emotions to build up inside until they explode at very inconvenient times. In a way this can be a good thing, the fact that I am able to avoid thinking about certain things and avoid reacting  emotionally as some people would. However, like I said, I tend to push the emotions away and then deal with them at inappropriate times or take them out on people that are not deserving. Typically when I am overwhelmed I will eat. I don’t know why but when something is bothering me I feel like I have to have food in my mouth. I also have a tendency to go shopping and spend money on things I don’t necessarily need. I used to do this all of the time. If I had a stressful day at work I would swing by Target and just go crazy. T...

I am so impressed/happy/proud/ excited about my herbs!! This is the growth after just one week! It has rained almost everyday or every night since I planted them so they have gotten PLENTY of water. I'm getting tired of the rain but it is nice to not have to worry about my herbs getting enough water... it's also nice that the rain is washing all of that nasty pollen away :) Basil- impressive! Dill-WOW more basil....not so impressive Cilantro and Parsley...you guys need to get it together It hasn't been too difficult on me since it has been raining so much. I am so excited about them so I don't think it would be a burden to take care of them anyway. Hopefully the sun will come out soon then my herbs will really be poppin'. I can't wait to see next week's progress :)

"Sometimes He calms the storm...other times He calms the child..." When I was young girl I used to be terrified of storms. I was afraid that my family and I would be hurt and that my house and all of my sentimental belongings would be destroyed. What really frightened me was the unpredictability of the storm. I like to be in control, I like to know what's going on and what is going to happen in the future. You can imagine what being in the middle of an unpredictable storm was like for me...not good. ...And this is why I was so terrified I remember my mother always telling me and sometimes singing to me the lyrics of a popular christian song, "Sometimes He calms the storm...other times He calms the child..." When she first said this to me I didn't find much comfort in it... I thought "Mama..really?? That is not very helpful..You must not know how scary this is for me?" I would pray that God would stop the storms because I was so afraid of ...

I love getting fresh fruits and vegetables in the summer time and I really want to have a "real" garden so I thought I would test out my green thumb with something small... so my daddy and I planted an herb garden Monday evening. I have been wanting to do this for a while but I had absolutely no idea where to start. I loooove cooking with fresh herbs but they can get kind of pricey and I never use all that I buy before they go bad. I thought this would be a good way to have fresh ingredients on hand and try out a new hobby. I told my daddy about it and naturally, he got all of the stuff for me ( I have him wrapped around my finger haha). He got everything I needed and it wasn't nearly as hard as I thought, probably because daddy had everything ready for me! All we had to do was put the soil in the planters and dump the seeds in!  Italian leaf Parsley and Slow Bolt Cilantro Garden Sage Basil and Dill.. the dill seeds smelled so good! I hope tha...

My life has been turned upside down for the past week and a half. Seriously I have been like a whirlwind running from place to place, never stopping or slowing down. I have been exhausted and have been feeling so off balance in every aspect. Between trying to get school work done, Lyceum requirements, work, housework, and visiting loved ones I have been a running around like a chicken with my head chopped off. Saturday, I took some time to reclaim order in my life. I worked out for the first time in over a week. Whoowee... that was rough! I really did not want to. But I talked myself into it. I feel soooo much better about myself and I had a ton more energy, now if I only I could remember this feeling when I wake up at 5:00am to exercise!! I also cleaned out my car (which was a MESS!), cleaned my room, the bathroom, did some laundry, made plans for the week, and organized some of my crazy mess. Man, I feel so much better now! I like order and I like for things to be in there...

"But those who hope in The Lord will renew their strength, they will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." - Isaiah 40:31 (NIV) This is my absolute favorite verse ever... I love every single word of this verse and the message it offers. It has gotten me through difficult times at school, many long runs, and times in life when I feel as if I may break in two. Even when it is difficult, I put my hope and trust in The Lord, knowing that He will take care of me. I am so glad that I have my savior and friend to look after me and take care of me. He knows the way and I do not, He puts me on the right path, He guides my steps and I am so glad He does not leave it up to me to make decisions. When times are difficult and the path is rough, I find my strength in Him. Put your hope in Jesus Christ, let Him build give you strength and give you wings like eagles. 

I remember being a young girl sitting at my great aunt's funeral thinking "Why did she die? I prayed for her, I asked God to heal her and make her well." I was so confused and didn't fully understand what was going on anyway. I really just could not wrap my brain around the fact that I asked God to make her better but instead she died. Now I understand how much pain she was in and that He did make her better, He healed all of her pain and gave her an eternal life with Him that is far better than anything she could have been given on this earth. Ultimately this was the best answer to my prayers. It is so hard losing people who are so important to us. It is hard to watch them suffer and it is extremely difficult to watch them suffer and wonder why God isn't answering our prayers. We pray and beg God for healing, peace, and comfort, yet sometimes it feels like He doesn't answer our prayers but He does. He will ALWAYS listen and respond...it just may not be the ...

In our bathrooms on campus there are sticky notes posted on the mirrors, walls, and doors telling whoever is reading how beautiful they are, to love the person they are, and to smile and be encouraged.  I love seeing these. They give me so much encouragement. Whether I have struggled that morning about how I look, am overwhelmed because of responsibilities, or struggling with schoolwork, these messages give me encouragement and remind me to love who I am and enjoy the life that I have been so graciously given. This morning I was in a very bad mood and I have been so overwhelmed with everything going on in my life. I read these notes and they reminded me to smile, not give up and that everything will be okay.  I don't know who is responsible for these notes but I love that people are taking the time to encourage one another. I believe that it is very important to give encouragement, support, and love to one another.  Today I'm challenging myself and to anyone that may...

I love people and I love human interactions. One of my favorite things to do is people watch. No, I'm not a creep...I promise. I love watching people interact with one another, I love watching people tell stories and listen to stories, I love watching someones eyes light up when they see someone they know, I love watching a mother comforting her child when they are hurting. I love how everyone is different, we all don't like the same things. Each one of us has our unique sense of style. We all don't watch the same TV shows or read the same books. We have different tastes for food. We all choose different careers or paths in life to go down. This is one reason why I chose Psychology as my major...because I truly love human interactions and I love figuring out what makes each individual "tick". I love seeing how our individuality's help us interact with one another and work together for the common good. Granted some interactions are more difficult and pain...

Today is my last day being on Spring Break so... my mama, maw maw, and I had a "Diva Day" together! This morning, my mama and I went to get our nails done... she got a deluxe pedicure (talk about a diva!) and I got a manicure! Two of a kind The Diva herself! Mama and I were killing time waiting on my Maw Maw so we went to McAllister's for lunch. I  ALWAYS drink water especially when we eat out but when we walked in McAllister's we could smell the fresh tea brewing and I could not resist it!  mmm mmm good! Turkey melt and veggie spud Yummy!!! We don't have a McAllister's at home. The one we ate at is the closest one and it's 45 minutes away from home, so this was treat for us!  After lunch we met up with Maw Maw and shopped around some... actually we shopped a whole bunch. Shopping is our very favorite- and expensive- hobby! Then, we made a trip to Sweet Frog's... our favorite sweet treat!! my sweet Ma...

Sometimes I feel like all I do is write papers. Being a psychology major requires me to do a TON of research and paper writing. I hate writing papers but I love writing blog posts! I sit around all day and think of things to write about. I sit down at my computer and just start writing and before I know it I've got a whole book written. I wish I could do this for my papers at school. Sometimes it takes me days to write a 5 page paper.  One of my goals/hopes in having this blog is that it will boost my creativity. I used to be SO creative when I was little but the older I got the less time I had to color, paint, and dance around in my room. I know that I have creativity in there somewhere I just can't seem to find it when I need it. I'm hoping to use this space as an outlet to free some space in my mind and encourage creativity then maybe writing research papers can become a little easier for me ;) <a href="http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/13808...