Ah, Insanity.
60 days of hating life to come out on the other side a much more attractive person.
So far, so good. The first couple of days brought about a bit of fatigue but not a lot of soreness.
Oh the sorness hit me yesterday morning. It hurt. A lot.
But today is MUCH better. It also helps that today is my first day off in 9 days. That's right, I worked 9 days in a row straight. It actually wasn't that bad. I didn't get really tired until the last two days and that was only towards the end of my shift.
I really shouldn't complain. I'm the one who decided to start Insanity in the middle of a 9 day stretch, lol.
Life's been so good lately. Work has been great, and busy. I have been keeping busy with friends, work, and my own personal projects. It's SO good to be busy. I collapse into bed each night exhausted, but it's the good kind of exhausted. It's the kind of exhausted you get from having a full and wonderful life.
And today, on my day off, I'm going to drink more coffee, relax and work on a few projects.
lindsayallison
Showing posts with label happy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label happy. Show all posts
Friday, August 12, 2011
Saturday, June 18, 2011
enthusiasm
I still feel so excited about the opportunities that have presented themselves in front of me. Even if nothing comes of this management thing, I still have this very strong feeling that things are about to change for me in a very big way. I think and feel like everything that I now know I want is really going to come together for me.
Things at the store are great. I'm still having a blast working there and I can see that it's going to continue to be so much fun. Some days I wish that things would slow down just a touch, but at the same time I know that this is job security. Although, I kinda wish people would stop telling me that. Questions/comments I'm asked/told EVERY single day:
Are you always this busy?
How have you guys been doing?
How long have you been open?
I'm so glad you're here!
Yeah, it's busy but it's job security!
I bet this is a fun place to work.
Are you hiring?
I hope this brings downtown back.
Do you know what else is opening around here?
And the list goes on. Most of the time I'm happy to answer the question for the 80,000th time but every once in awhile it gets a bit tedious. So let me set the record straight:
"The new Mast General Store in Columbia is fantastic. It IS a fun place to work, and you'd have to ask management about applying. We have been busy since day one and while it has slowed down some, we are still constantly busy. Things are going well, I don't see us leaving in the foreseeable future. Yes, other places are opening up, but I do not have any further details than that."
With that out of the way, I'm still really excited. And because a very good friend gave me some great advice, I have not been detracted from going after what I want. Yay!
lindsayallison
Things at the store are great. I'm still having a blast working there and I can see that it's going to continue to be so much fun. Some days I wish that things would slow down just a touch, but at the same time I know that this is job security. Although, I kinda wish people would stop telling me that. Questions/comments I'm asked/told EVERY single day:
Are you always this busy?
How have you guys been doing?
How long have you been open?
I'm so glad you're here!
Yeah, it's busy but it's job security!
I bet this is a fun place to work.
Are you hiring?
I hope this brings downtown back.
Do you know what else is opening around here?
And the list goes on. Most of the time I'm happy to answer the question for the 80,000th time but every once in awhile it gets a bit tedious. So let me set the record straight:
"The new Mast General Store in Columbia is fantastic. It IS a fun place to work, and you'd have to ask management about applying. We have been busy since day one and while it has slowed down some, we are still constantly busy. Things are going well, I don't see us leaving in the foreseeable future. Yes, other places are opening up, but I do not have any further details than that."
With that out of the way, I'm still really excited. And because a very good friend gave me some great advice, I have not been detracted from going after what I want. Yay!
lindsayallison
Thursday, June 16, 2011
coming together
Have you ever felt like things started coming together all at once?
First, I got this amazing job working at Mast General Store. I have excellent pay, great coworkers, and even better: I get to have FUN at work! The company provided great training for the great products they sell. I have felt so much happier and so less stressed the past couple of months.
So the less stress at work has caused me to have the mental capacity to do some soul searching. I was able to clear my mind of so much negative energy and I was able to come up with a goal for my life.
I started writing again. Still gonna keep the current project under wraps because I don't know where it's gonna lead to. But the writing is really helping to keep me cathartic. I'm loving it.
Then two days ago happened. I had the day off, but apparently one of the managers resigned. Why she did, I don't know. But now I have this huge opportunity right in front of me. I could apply for and possibly get a management position.
This feels so...right for me. I feel like my body is humming so much with excitement and positive energy that I feel like my hands and feet are almost vibrating. It's a good feeling.
I just pray that this all isn't in my head. How could so many good, right-feeling things come together at once if it wasn't meant to be?
lindsayallison
First, I got this amazing job working at Mast General Store. I have excellent pay, great coworkers, and even better: I get to have FUN at work! The company provided great training for the great products they sell. I have felt so much happier and so less stressed the past couple of months.
So the less stress at work has caused me to have the mental capacity to do some soul searching. I was able to clear my mind of so much negative energy and I was able to come up with a goal for my life.
I started writing again. Still gonna keep the current project under wraps because I don't know where it's gonna lead to. But the writing is really helping to keep me cathartic. I'm loving it.
Then two days ago happened. I had the day off, but apparently one of the managers resigned. Why she did, I don't know. But now I have this huge opportunity right in front of me. I could apply for and possibly get a management position.
This feels so...right for me. I feel like my body is humming so much with excitement and positive energy that I feel like my hands and feet are almost vibrating. It's a good feeling.
I just pray that this all isn't in my head. How could so many good, right-feeling things come together at once if it wasn't meant to be?
lindsayallison
Thursday, March 10, 2011
mast general store
I have a new job! I couldn't be happier right now!
I got the call yesterday morning that the job I applied for about a month ago came through and I will be starting on April 1st! I'm going to be an employee of the new Mast General Store that is opening up in downtown Columbia at the end of May. I'm excited because we're being brought in early so that we can help set the store and get it ready for the grand opening. How cool is it to open the doors to a store that you helped to create? I am SO excited!
I went into work yesterday with my letter of resignation. I knew that it would be upsetting to management because my job is not easy to fill. It's not something you can just jump into, you need a good bit of training for it. What happened next I was NOT expecting.
My manager got pretty upset at the news. I tried to tell her that there were options for who could replace me, but all she could say was that she wanted me at the store because I do a good job. I went back to work and a few minutes later she asked me to come back to the office when I had a minute. She asked me if this was just about money, blah blah blah. I didn't really want to get into everything, but what it came down to was she did everything she could to convince me to stay. She offered me more money and wanted to know why I was unhappy.
I told her I'd think about it, but I knew that my mind was already made up. I just couldn't seem to get her to understand that. Today, my district manager came up to me and asked to speak with me in the office. I asked if I was in trouble, even though I knew what this was about. That's when the ass-kissing started. He told me I was never in trouble that I was great and fantastic and blah blah blah.
He made a strong case (well, as strong as he could) for me to stay with Staples. He offered more money and wouldn't stop talking about all this money I would supposedly be getting if I stayed. He kept talking about how great I am and how I'm one of the best experts he has out of 50 some-odd copy and print experts he has. It was all very flattering, and I know why they want me to stay. But my mind was made up. I sat and listened politely while they talked, but I WANT to leave!
I'm so excited about this new store and I couldn't make them understand that. My DM did NOT have a happy look on his face when I declined to stay. He even said "Yeah, it may be fun but it's still work." If I hadn't already had my mind completely made up to leave, that would have done me in. Because my stress levels and my unhappiness is a much bigger factor to my leaving than the money. There isn't enough money they could legitimately offer me to make me stay. I want to be happy.
My only concern is that I flat out refused them and their offers to keep me here. I really hope that they won't be, I won't say nasty because I don't think either of them would outright be nasty, but I will say rude. I'm hoping they won't be rude or angry with me over the next two weeks.
In other news, I got myself back on my budget. I will be honest. I went on a food bender the past two weeks. I will not divulge how much money I have spent on food, but it's been a lot. I hit such a low point and was so stressed out and depressed that I couldn't seem to stop myself from eating. Man, I was hungry all the time! I knew that I shouldn't spend the money, but the justification to do it was stronger than the justification to not do it.
But it is all behind me. I adjusted my budget to compensate for my...er, problem, and I have myself back on track. The cool thing is, I was still able to allow for more gas money AND I am going to be making more money starting April 1!!
Anyways, I think I've got things back on track. At least, I hope so.
lindsayallison
I got the call yesterday morning that the job I applied for about a month ago came through and I will be starting on April 1st! I'm going to be an employee of the new Mast General Store that is opening up in downtown Columbia at the end of May. I'm excited because we're being brought in early so that we can help set the store and get it ready for the grand opening. How cool is it to open the doors to a store that you helped to create? I am SO excited!
I went into work yesterday with my letter of resignation. I knew that it would be upsetting to management because my job is not easy to fill. It's not something you can just jump into, you need a good bit of training for it. What happened next I was NOT expecting.
My manager got pretty upset at the news. I tried to tell her that there were options for who could replace me, but all she could say was that she wanted me at the store because I do a good job. I went back to work and a few minutes later she asked me to come back to the office when I had a minute. She asked me if this was just about money, blah blah blah. I didn't really want to get into everything, but what it came down to was she did everything she could to convince me to stay. She offered me more money and wanted to know why I was unhappy.
I told her I'd think about it, but I knew that my mind was already made up. I just couldn't seem to get her to understand that. Today, my district manager came up to me and asked to speak with me in the office. I asked if I was in trouble, even though I knew what this was about. That's when the ass-kissing started. He told me I was never in trouble that I was great and fantastic and blah blah blah.
He made a strong case (well, as strong as he could) for me to stay with Staples. He offered more money and wouldn't stop talking about all this money I would supposedly be getting if I stayed. He kept talking about how great I am and how I'm one of the best experts he has out of 50 some-odd copy and print experts he has. It was all very flattering, and I know why they want me to stay. But my mind was made up. I sat and listened politely while they talked, but I WANT to leave!
I'm so excited about this new store and I couldn't make them understand that. My DM did NOT have a happy look on his face when I declined to stay. He even said "Yeah, it may be fun but it's still work." If I hadn't already had my mind completely made up to leave, that would have done me in. Because my stress levels and my unhappiness is a much bigger factor to my leaving than the money. There isn't enough money they could legitimately offer me to make me stay. I want to be happy.
My only concern is that I flat out refused them and their offers to keep me here. I really hope that they won't be, I won't say nasty because I don't think either of them would outright be nasty, but I will say rude. I'm hoping they won't be rude or angry with me over the next two weeks.
In other news, I got myself back on my budget. I will be honest. I went on a food bender the past two weeks. I will not divulge how much money I have spent on food, but it's been a lot. I hit such a low point and was so stressed out and depressed that I couldn't seem to stop myself from eating. Man, I was hungry all the time! I knew that I shouldn't spend the money, but the justification to do it was stronger than the justification to not do it.
But it is all behind me. I adjusted my budget to compensate for my...er, problem, and I have myself back on track. The cool thing is, I was still able to allow for more gas money AND I am going to be making more money starting April 1!!
Anyways, I think I've got things back on track. At least, I hope so.
lindsayallison
Monday, February 21, 2011
adventures in hair dye
I don't think it's any secret that I dye my hair. Frequently.
I live by the philosophy that when it comes to hair, just go for it. Don't think about it, just do it. Whatever it is that you want to do to you hair, just do it. It's what I do. I get an idea for a color or a cut and I go with it.
About a year ago I decided to dye my hair black. I love the way my hair looks pretty much any color. The black made my eyes pop because I have such light blue eyes. I love dark brown because it makes me feel closer to my Italian roots. The red I'm currently rocking looks interesting next to the faux tan (also, rocking). But blonde...oh the blonde. It's my natural (I think) color and I find myself going back to it after long bouts of a dark color.
Last fall I decided I wanted to start lightening my hair. Instead of continuing to dye it black, I decided to go with a dark red. I figured red over black would be dark red instead of using blonde and risking it turning out orange. It looked interesting to have dark intense auburn on the top fading into a black.
I attempted a lighter auburn last night. Eh, I'm not dissatisfied. My roots are a little too light for my taste. And it didn't light the ends as much as I had hoped for. But, I no longer have black hair. It's a dark, dark red color now.
It still looks different with the light red fading into such a dark color. I'm attempting to get professional advice on how to go lighter without cutting it all off or turning it any funky colors.
lindsayallison
I live by the philosophy that when it comes to hair, just go for it. Don't think about it, just do it. Whatever it is that you want to do to you hair, just do it. It's what I do. I get an idea for a color or a cut and I go with it.
About a year ago I decided to dye my hair black. I love the way my hair looks pretty much any color. The black made my eyes pop because I have such light blue eyes. I love dark brown because it makes me feel closer to my Italian roots. The red I'm currently rocking looks interesting next to the faux tan (also, rocking). But blonde...oh the blonde. It's my natural (I think) color and I find myself going back to it after long bouts of a dark color.
Last fall I decided I wanted to start lightening my hair. Instead of continuing to dye it black, I decided to go with a dark red. I figured red over black would be dark red instead of using blonde and risking it turning out orange. It looked interesting to have dark intense auburn on the top fading into a black.
I attempted a lighter auburn last night. Eh, I'm not dissatisfied. My roots are a little too light for my taste. And it didn't light the ends as much as I had hoped for. But, I no longer have black hair. It's a dark, dark red color now.
It still looks different with the light red fading into such a dark color. I'm attempting to get professional advice on how to go lighter without cutting it all off or turning it any funky colors.
lindsayallison
Monday, February 7, 2011
letting go
I have found myself more at ease, content, and dare I say it? Happy the past few weeks. I have found that the simple (not easy, but simple) act of letting everything go has helped my stress level immensely. I simply decided to just...not worry anymore.
It sounds ridiculously easy but it's taken me a long time to get to this place. It's definitely one of those "easier said than done" things.
I don't know how to describe what life feels like these days. I am enjoying life for the first time in a long time. I'm trying have a better relationship with my friends and my family, I have new hope for my financial situation, and I'm taking active steps to have a better professional life.
If you have a great deal of stress in your life, all I can tell you is to let it all go. Just don't hold onto it anymore. The only person causing you to keep all of that crap in your life is you.
Learn to accept people and situations for who and what they are. You can't change anyone but yourself. So focus on you, do what makes you happy. Let the stress go. There is no reason to hold onto it.
lindsayallison
It sounds ridiculously easy but it's taken me a long time to get to this place. It's definitely one of those "easier said than done" things.
I don't know how to describe what life feels like these days. I am enjoying life for the first time in a long time. I'm trying have a better relationship with my friends and my family, I have new hope for my financial situation, and I'm taking active steps to have a better professional life.
If you have a great deal of stress in your life, all I can tell you is to let it all go. Just don't hold onto it anymore. The only person causing you to keep all of that crap in your life is you.
Learn to accept people and situations for who and what they are. You can't change anyone but yourself. So focus on you, do what makes you happy. Let the stress go. There is no reason to hold onto it.
lindsayallison
Friday, February 4, 2011
financial freedom
I'm ecstatic to say that I finished reading Dave Ramsey's "Total Money Makeover". It was a fantastic book and I'm really taking the message to heart.
For those of you who know me, I don't handle money very well. Think Becky Bloomwood from "Confessions of a Shopaholic" and that's about how I handle money. I can justify each and every purchase in some way that makes me feel better about spending money I shouldn't.
Ok, so maybe I'm not quite as bad as Becky. I'm fortunate enough to have a good enough head on my shoulders to have NOT gotten any credit cards. Even when the temptation to get one was great. But the problem I have is I like to spend money. I'm good at it. Whether it's my money, someone else's money, or money in my possession that belongs to someone else, I can spend it and I will. Money has always burned a whole in my pocket.
BUT no more! I've decided to take on the "Total Money Makeover" and live like no one else so that later I can live like no one else. If you haven't read this book, you should. Even if you are "good" with money, you should read this book. It will help you build wealth so that you can have financial freedom and security for the rest of your life.
One of my new year's resolutions was to be more financially responsible. I want to pay all of my bills on time so that I don't worry about money the way I used to. Well according to Dave, the first step is to get current on all of my bills.
This is going to be rough because there is one payment I'm two months behind on and another payment I'm one month behind on. But I am determined to be caught up on ALL of my bills by the end of the month. After I get caught up, I can start on Baby Step 1.
Baby Step 1 is to start an emergency fund of $500. (Well, $1,000 if you make more than $20,000 a year - which I don't.) I plan to try to start that a LITTLE bit this month, but I should really have it by the end of March.
After that, you start the Debt Snowball. Since I'm young, I don't have a lot of debt. All of my debt is to family members or in student loans. Today I was figuring out how much I owe and I found that I actually owe about $2,300 LESS than I thought I did in student loans! That really made my day!
What you do is list all debt from smallest to largest. You make minimum payments on all but the smallest debt. You attack that smallest debt with every spare penny you can find until it is completely paid off. Once it's paid off, you use the money you were using for that debt and apply it towards the next one on your list and do the same as you did before. Every spare penny to that debt until it is paid off. Luckily for me, I don't have much so this shouldn't take me too long.
The third step is to complete your emergency fund so that you have enough to cover 3-6 months of expenses should you lose your income. I need to figure out exactly how much that will be, but it should be a few thousand dollars.
The fourth step is to start saving for retirement. You should put 15% into a retirement fund with an interest. I don't know much about investing so I'll have to talk to an expert about how to do that exactly.
The fifth step is saving for college. Whether it's for you or your kids you start putting money towards college educations. I don't have any children and I'm not entirely sure what I want to go to school for or if I want to go at all. Luckily this step is further down the road so I don't need to worry about it just yet.
The sixth step is paying off the mortgage. I don't have one of those yet, but I do want to buy a house. So this step for me will be saving for a down payment on a house. The closer I can get to 100% down the better off I will be.
The seventh and final step is to build weath. Start having fun, investing my money in secure places and start giving it to those less fortunate than me.
I can't wait to get there. I'm so excited about this because I have hope. I'm not too bad off to start with and now I have hope that by the end of 2012 (conservatively) I will be completely debt free and on my way to getting the things I want out of life.
I hope that anyone who reads this will do the same. I haven't won yet, but now I know how to play the game and I WILL win. I will be financially fit and free from debt before I'm 30.
I couldn't be happier!
lindsayallison
PS - ok, maybe I'll be happier when I actually finish, but that's not what's important right now.
For those of you who know me, I don't handle money very well. Think Becky Bloomwood from "Confessions of a Shopaholic" and that's about how I handle money. I can justify each and every purchase in some way that makes me feel better about spending money I shouldn't.
Ok, so maybe I'm not quite as bad as Becky. I'm fortunate enough to have a good enough head on my shoulders to have NOT gotten any credit cards. Even when the temptation to get one was great. But the problem I have is I like to spend money. I'm good at it. Whether it's my money, someone else's money, or money in my possession that belongs to someone else, I can spend it and I will. Money has always burned a whole in my pocket.
BUT no more! I've decided to take on the "Total Money Makeover" and live like no one else so that later I can live like no one else. If you haven't read this book, you should. Even if you are "good" with money, you should read this book. It will help you build wealth so that you can have financial freedom and security for the rest of your life.
One of my new year's resolutions was to be more financially responsible. I want to pay all of my bills on time so that I don't worry about money the way I used to. Well according to Dave, the first step is to get current on all of my bills.
This is going to be rough because there is one payment I'm two months behind on and another payment I'm one month behind on. But I am determined to be caught up on ALL of my bills by the end of the month. After I get caught up, I can start on Baby Step 1.
Baby Step 1 is to start an emergency fund of $500. (Well, $1,000 if you make more than $20,000 a year - which I don't.) I plan to try to start that a LITTLE bit this month, but I should really have it by the end of March.
After that, you start the Debt Snowball. Since I'm young, I don't have a lot of debt. All of my debt is to family members or in student loans. Today I was figuring out how much I owe and I found that I actually owe about $2,300 LESS than I thought I did in student loans! That really made my day!
What you do is list all debt from smallest to largest. You make minimum payments on all but the smallest debt. You attack that smallest debt with every spare penny you can find until it is completely paid off. Once it's paid off, you use the money you were using for that debt and apply it towards the next one on your list and do the same as you did before. Every spare penny to that debt until it is paid off. Luckily for me, I don't have much so this shouldn't take me too long.
The third step is to complete your emergency fund so that you have enough to cover 3-6 months of expenses should you lose your income. I need to figure out exactly how much that will be, but it should be a few thousand dollars.
The fourth step is to start saving for retirement. You should put 15% into a retirement fund with an interest. I don't know much about investing so I'll have to talk to an expert about how to do that exactly.
The fifth step is saving for college. Whether it's for you or your kids you start putting money towards college educations. I don't have any children and I'm not entirely sure what I want to go to school for or if I want to go at all. Luckily this step is further down the road so I don't need to worry about it just yet.
The sixth step is paying off the mortgage. I don't have one of those yet, but I do want to buy a house. So this step for me will be saving for a down payment on a house. The closer I can get to 100% down the better off I will be.
The seventh and final step is to build weath. Start having fun, investing my money in secure places and start giving it to those less fortunate than me.
I can't wait to get there. I'm so excited about this because I have hope. I'm not too bad off to start with and now I have hope that by the end of 2012 (conservatively) I will be completely debt free and on my way to getting the things I want out of life.
I hope that anyone who reads this will do the same. I haven't won yet, but now I know how to play the game and I WILL win. I will be financially fit and free from debt before I'm 30.
I couldn't be happier!
lindsayallison
PS - ok, maybe I'll be happier when I actually finish, but that's not what's important right now.
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