Why You're Not Married and Don't Give a S#@!

Borrowed from BlogHer..6 Reasons Why You're Not Married

I love this SOOOOOOOOOOO much! Finally, some one who makes me feel like I am doing the right thing.
Because there's NOTHING wrong with waiting on the right guy - (even if you have been with him for 7 years). It's worth taking your time. :)

Thursday Things to Love

• Black Nail Polish! Every year I paint my nails black in honor of Halloween. I know this is weird, but I like it! It's my own little tradition. I occasionally rock black nails at other times during the year, but mainly I keep it strictly for All Hallows Eve.

• Halloween Weekend also equals the TENNESSEE VS. SOUTH CAROLINA FOOTBALL GAME! Two years ago, during the dreaded Lane Kiffin era, TN surprised everyone in attendance on the SC game with the Black Jerseys. It was such a good hype tool. Well, that was 2 years ago....this year we are in a horrid rebuilding phase. Not sure if the black jerseys will make their appearance this year, but I liked them when they did!

• Margarita Night Tomorrow!! I am meeting up with my dear friend Lauren tomorrow night for some good old fashioned girl time. I HEART margaritas!

 
• HEDGEHOGS! Yes, Like Sonic, but no it's not blue. My friend at work got a hedgehog for a pet and she brought it in last week for us to play with! I can't stop looking at the lil' cutie's picture. She was awesome!

Me and Amelia the hedgehog

Leadership

I would not necessarily call myself a "leader"; however I have been honored over the past year to be part of the 2011 Class of Leadership Oak Ridge. This is an annual program of about 25-30 people chosen from companies all across the town I work in. You must be nominated to enter the class and you must be an emerging leader in the community. I was nominated by my boss last year, and here I am about to graduate the class on November 1st. I have a wonderful group of people in my class, and it has been a blessing getting to know them. It's almost sad to say goodbye to these folks because we have spent so much time together over the past year. It has been so much fun! I wasn't quite sure what to expect at first. How do you hone your leadership skills? How do you get together with a large group to develop yourself further? Am I going to look like a fool being in a class with CEOs and VPs? I am a measly little Business Development and Marketing person at a local public utility company. I believe that I was able to bring an interesting angle to the class, and I rarely felt out of place (even though several of the people in my class have 3-4 degrees to brag about). They often tell us that we have the ability to make a change in Oak Ridge, in Tennessee, in the US, maybe even the world. They encourage us to think outside the box and stand up for what you believe - even if you have opposers. There will always be people on the opposite side of the fence from you in life. BE THE CHANGE IN THE WORLD.

We met two full days a month, every month since January. As well as, two overnight trips - one to Nashville and one to Gatlinburg. We've mingled with Governor Haslam, toured a top notch national lab (ORNL) and saw the world's largest super computer, toured a national security facility (Y-12) where they house weapons of mass destruction, learned about Oak Ridge's super secret role in WWII, as well as the current economic situation that our community faces. I even have the manager of the Dept. of Energy's Operations Complex in my class! I was very in awe of him at first, but turns out he's a pretty normal down-to-earth guy. Although I am not an Oak Ridge resident, I grew up in Clinton which is literally 10 minutes north of Oak Ridge. I have always been familiar with Oak Ridge's past, and most of the people I knew growing up had parents working at the plants out here. I find all the mystery surrounding the past of this city very intriguing! I love a good history mystery!

Anyway, I just wanted to share my little accomplishment. I'm not kidding when I say that I feel very honored to have been chosen as part of this year's class. Everyone who is anyone is this town is a LOR alumni. Groups like these are where you can make lifelong connections. It feels good to be surrounded by fellow fun working professionals - some of whom are able to mentor me.
Here are some pictures of our class sessions over the year -

PS - check out how chubby I was in some of the pics! In some of our earlier sessions I was rocking the red hair too!

Some of the class on the front steps of the Capitol Building in Nashville - learning about how our state government affects local economy

Class at the Bijou Theatre in downtown Knoxville

Class at Smokies Park in Gatlinburg - windy day! haha

Class in Nashville at the Capitol Building with TN Gov. Bill Haslam and State Senator Randy McNally

Class on our first day together in front of the OR Chamber of Commerce

Don't Sweat the Small Stuff

I am moody pa-tootie this week - UGH! I'm feeling much better today vs. Monday & Tuesday, but I still feel a little kick in my 'tude this morning. With that being said, I was enlightened this morning but an article that I found in a mommy blog that I read frequently. Notes From a Dragon Mom is the article - take a read and let it get your mind churning too!

This article represents how we should all strive to be. Yes, Life is hard. Life gets ugly and sticky. Parenting is hard (I'm guessing since I'm not an actual parent yet, unless you count my dogs - which I do!). Jobs suck sometimes. Problems arise. LIFE GOES ON. I try to be thankful for what I have on a daily basis. However, this usually ends up being a weekly or less basis. We are all blessed. I've had my fair share of problems, you've had your fair share of problems. But we are still kickin' and moving on to the next day to face a whole new set of problems, arent' we?

On a kind of related note -I've realized that I'm a frequent reader of several bloggers who are moms, and often write about their kids. I think this is because I find their daily chatter about their lives fascinating and funny. Most of the blogs I follow are women who seems like awesome moms, who have had struggles, who work and still get it together at the end of the day. I'm sure there are days when they pick the little things in their lives to death. We all have those days, weeks, years. But I am inspired by strong women, hopefully like myself, who can do it ALL.

So lessons from today: DON'T SWEAT THE SMALL STUFF & GIRLS ROCK! Easy as that!