Hey everybody. Sorry I haven’t been posting many blogs lately. I finished college and have been on a major job search. I will be back, but in the meantime, please check out some T-shirts I am selling and share with your friends.
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As always, I love my followers and thank you for all your support!
It’s been a while since I’ve written something but quite a bit has happened. I finally graduated college; at a much older age than I thought I would when I was back in High School. I did meet my goals of graduating Summa Cum Laude and even won another award for a high GPA in one of my majors. I felt like this would be an amazing addition to my resume, but I’ve been a stay at home mom for about 11 years now. I have worked part time here and there to help make ends meet at times, but as far as full time work outside the home, I haven’t done it for 11 years.
My resume is simple. I worked at a single job for 8 1/2 years before staying home with my kids, so that looks pretty decent. I got some help making my resume sound better than; I did a lot of stuff and got paid for it. Apparently we have use key words and phrases in resumes now. I have applied for so many jobs my head is spinning. There is a possibility I have actually applied to the same position at the same company more than once.
Well, after so many rejections and feeling defeated, but then getting an email from one of my professors telling me I set the bar in the class for an individual project and to remember my school when I make my millions, I feel a bit better about myself. So now I am trying to decide whether or not to change up my resume to get myself more interviews and chances to get hired. I need your help. These are going to be my new additions to skills and experience that I feel any employer would hire me immediately without even having to do any assessments or interviews; and would offer me a starting salary that would pay for my students loans as well as my five sons’ college years. Here goes….
So, those are just a few extra skills I am thinking about adding to my resume. I think it should help tremendously. So, did I miss anything? What else should I add, or perhaps this gives you ideas on what to add to your resume!?
(For my regular readers, this is a communications assignment for a college class, so thank you for checking it out anyway!)
I am going to write about how to cook meat such as pork chops and chicken breasts. It seems like an easy task to cook meat, but if anybody could mess up cooking, it was me. I used to be so afraid to under-cook meat that it would be so dry and over cooked that nobody could enjoy it; even my husband who is willing to eat anything!
So let’s get started.
First of all, you take your meat out around half an hour to an hour before you cook it if it is pork chops. Pork chops tend to curl up (I like the thin ones.) if they are too cold when you place them in the pan. You do not need to do this with chicken breasts.
I like to season my meat on the platter/plate before I place it in the pan.
Next you heat your pan between a medium and medium high heat. After it warms up, you pour some oil of your choice into the pan. I mostly cook with extra virgin olive oil, but sometimes I do use coconut oil. After this, you place your meat seasoned side down into the pan. This way you can now season the side of the meat that was previously laying face down and you won’t have to worry about forgetting to season the other side of your meat after you turn it.
This next step is so important. You should not have to keep lifting the meat to see if it is cooked enough before you flip it. I was once told that you can smell when the meat is done on one side. Pay attention to the smell as you cook your meat. You begin to smell the seasoning and browning of the meat once it is cooked on one side.
The final thing you do is flip your meat once your nose has told you the meat is ready to be flipped. (Don’t worry, this smell thing took me a few tries!)
Once the second side is fully cooked, you place meat on your tray and serve it with whatever you choose to.
Congratulations! You have just achieved something it took me several years to understand.
Truthfully, I am feeling a little bit overwhelmed this semester in college. Okay, really overwhelmed! I really like things to be clear; black and white. I don’t like grey areas. I don’t like confusion. I want the professors to tell me what to do and less difficult ways for me to figure out how to do it than what they are. I feel like some of those professors are sitting at home twirling their mustaches (or hair for the ladies) and maniacally laughing at me. I have been doing group assignments and I don’t know that we are helping each other much at all. We have one teacher that is completely unavailable and we don’t even know if she knows what is going on. Nobody has even heard from her more than three weeks into the class! This final semester is our test. Have we learned enough and can we use our knowledge to step into the business world?
My answer right now is, “What have I learned?” Are these teachers tricking me? Is this all a conspiracy? We all feel lost in my group assignments. We all feel frustrated and we all feel like the professors are working more against us than for us.
I am so thankful that God isn’t that way. He doesn’t try to trick us and He has clear guidelines for us to find our way. If that isn’t quite enough for that moment, He is always available for a chat. God is always speaking to us.
“God does not ignore us or try to give us the silent treatment. God is a good, caring, and loving God.”
He is a jealous God. This means that He wants our attention all the time. He wants our focus to be on Him. He wants to remind us in so many different ways of His love for us. He wants to bless us.
Spend time with God. When you spend time with somebody, you begin to recognize their voice more and more each time you talk with them. It’s the same way with God. The more time we spend with Him, the more we recognize His voice. He loves us and He loves us to talk with Him. We don’t need to be constantly making demands on Him. His word [Bible] tells us that He will take care of us. He wants us to get to know Him and converse with Him. He wants to hear us worship Him and tell Him how much we love Him. He is worthy of this.
Get to know Him. Thank Him for all He has blessed you with. Even when we feel like we are struggling through some difficult times, He is still worthy to be praised. Always be thankful. No matter what you may be going through, Jesus gave it all for us on that cross. Thank Him!
I found out today that I am one year from graduating with a double major. I was pretty excited considering I feel like I have been on this path for so long now. I am graduating sooner than I previously thought and with another major since I have been taking some serious course loads. I am so excited and I feel a renewed sense of strength now that I see an end in sight. I can see the end of one thing and a whole new world of opportunities opening up.
As I pondered this throughout the day, I realized that my spiritual walk can be like this at times. It can feel like this long walk that at some point, will have its rewards, but I must just suffer through it. How sad is that!? I should feel this renewed strength on my daily walk as I delve into the scriptures and pray and worship my King. I should never feel like I am trudging along this bleak path. I felt a little convicted as I thought this through.
Yes, we go through valleys and difficult times, but our life should show His fruits. We should be filled with His love and joy and peace. We should be running this race and not dragging our feet and stumbling every step. God is with us all the way. He said He will never leave us or forsake us. What a promise that is!
I started another semester of my attempt at a college degree and I am taking a rather large workload. This works against my personality in so many ways. You see, I am a bit of a perfectionist. Getting a 100% at the end of the semester is the ultimate reward. I actually get disappointed if I get below an A on an assignment. Now, I don’t have a perfect 4.0 GPA, but it is still pretty high up there. I only say these things because I am trying to show a major flaw in myself….perfectionism.
Did you know perfectionism is most definitely NOT a good thing?! I have had to work on this in myself for probably the last couple of decades since I was even a child. I realize much of my perfectionism comes from trying to please a parent who quite possibly, I will never please, but it is still wrong. How many times have I redone something that my husband or my sons have done because it isn’t the way I would do it; which of course is the perfect way? I stress over coursework because I am afraid I will do bad and people may think I am imperfect. Well, there is another problem with perfectionism. It allows fear to have a foothold in your life. I have become afraid of being imperfect.
This is an ongoing process for me. I have to sit back and realize that I only need to do my best with school. I have a fantastic GPA and I feel like I am learning quite a bit; which is kind of the point! When I redo something that my sons have done, I am telling them that what they did isn’t good enough. I know at times kids don’t do their best, but often enough my boys work hard to clean something and I have to praise them for what they did and thank them. I don’t want them to give up because they think they will never measure up. When I redo something my husband has worked hard on, I am telling him the same thing…what he does just isn’t good enough; YOU aren’t good enough; YOU aren’t as perfect as I am. Sounds a little like pride too doesn’t it?
This is a reminder to myself just as much as it is to possibly help something out there. I can’t get stressed over one question wrong on a test. I don’t need to check and recheck household chores because I saw a speck of lint on my floor. Well, I may recheck my boys’ bathroom because, let’s get real, boys can be a little nasty!
Any comments to add to this? How do you find yourself buckling under the pressure of perfectionism??
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