Catching up with some updates on life!

Hello friends!

I can't believe that Christmas will be here at the end of the week! So much has happened in the past few months, so here's a little update....


This summer was packed with Alpha Xi Delta-ness, recruitments and Chapter Advisor duties, bridesmaid duties and two amazing weddings, bachlorette parties/wedding showers for the friends who were married, girls weekends with friends, a few memorable family trips, getting settled into my house AND going on a first date with a wonderful guy who I am happy to report has now been my boyfriend for 4 months.


Dustin and I went on our first date on August 4 and our second date on August 9. Because I had a few trips for AXiD in August and Dustin ended up getting really sick at the end of August/begining of September, we did not go on our third date until September 18. We had only texted eachother and talked on the phone a few times in the weeks between the second and third date, but for whatever reason, we clicked on the third date and we both knew we wanted to spend as much time together as we could from that point on.


We both feel very lucky that we ended up together. He tells me I am the prefect person for him and I know he is the perfect person for me. The past few months have been great and I am praying that they will just keep getting better! I feel like I am the luckiest girl in the world!


This fall has been pretty busy too! Dustin and I have spent a great deal of time together on the weekends. He lives and works in a town 45 minutes from where I live and work, and any free time we've had we've tried to spend getting to know one another and each other's family and friends. We've gone to Husker games, the Eric Church concert in Kearney, Arlington and Freemont, Omaha for a Nighthawks game, a few movies and out to dinner a few times. We spent Thanksgiving together too! We are looking forward to spending this Christmas together too!


Things at work are good, still loving my job and the people I work with. Working with the sorority as the Chapter Advisor has been great as well, I am learning a lot and growing, which is good!



I hope you are all well!!


Lots of Love,

3 Ideas for a Fabulous Friday

TGIF, right? Almost all of us LOVE Fridays, but I’ve made a little list of how you can take your Friday to the next level- 3 Ideas for a Fabulous Friday and I plan on doing all 3 today!

1. 5 minutes of Fun! Start the day off right by taking 5 minutes in the morning to just have fun. Sing you heart out in the shower, dance while you dry your hair, sip hot chocolate or coffee while reading the paper, the point is to just take 5 minutes for yourself.

2. Breathe Deep. Take 5 minutes to breathe deep, in through your nose and out through your mouth. In elementary and middle school our school counselor came in once a month to do meditation and relaxation exercises with us, and this was one of the things she had us do. Worked great every time.

3. Invite someone over for a nice dinner and crack open a bottle of your favorite wine. Sip it slowly over while engaging in great conversation. Totally relaxing and totally fun!

Hello!

Hi! After a few months of no blogging, I am happy to be back! My good friend Helen who reads my blog when trying to pass the time, pointed out to me that it had been MO NTHS since my last post! Now with a new laptop where I can see the screen I am happy to report I am back!

I hope all is well in your corner of the world.

Love,

Exciting Changes!

Hello Friends!

It had been awhile! So much has happened in the last few months, it’s hard to believe that my last post was on April 7th! To give you a little update on what I’ve been up to, let me just fill you in on a few of the big things that have happened since my last post…

1. April 19, 2010- Crazy day and a day that ended in a way I never thought it would. Woke up that morning, had a crazy day at work, went to look at a house, really liked the house, made an offer on the house and they accept the offer! Totally unexpected, but the kind of snap decision that was totally worth it! This is Grandma and Grandpa Padilla’s anniversary and she came down that night to look at the house with my parents and me Mom looked at it online and just had a “really good feeling about this one!” and wanted to come down and see it in person, she knew Grandma would want to see it too. They both said it was meant to be and I totally agree!

2. May 9, 2010- I was officially appointed to be the Chapter Advisor for my chapter, the Rho Chapter, of Alpha Xi Delta at the University of Nebraska- Lincoln. My advisor, Becky, has been our advisor for the last 8 years (I think it’s 8…) and she has recently been appointed to serve the National Fraternity as the National Recruitment Director for Alpha Xi Delta. Becky has done an outstanding job as our advisor and we would not be where we are today without her, and I know she will be amaXIng in her new role. She traveled for Alpha Xi Delta as an ELC after she graduated and she is who inspired me to go after the same thing, and I did and it worked out and I am so happy! Becky is very inspiring woman in my life and I am very honored to step into this new role as she steps into hers. I am very much looking forward to being the advisor and I am looking forward to all of the excitement and positive challenges I will face in this role. I am very excited to work with my chapter sisters and learn from them while teaching them.

3. May 27, 2010- Closed on my house. Buying a house is such a process, but I learned a lot. I am very thankful for supportive parents, a great real estate agent and a wonderful loan officer. They took the time to explain everything to me and help me through the process every step of the way.

4. May 31, 2010- Moved into my very first home. Thank God for my amazing Mom, Dad, Grandparents, Brother-Colin, Chase and my friends, Emily and Ben, who all helped with some or all of the following: cleaning, painting, yard work, moving out of and moving into, and unpacking. My Mom, Dad and Grandpa especially have spent almost every weekend at my house since I’ve moved, My Mom has been helping with cleaning, unpacking and organizing and Dad and Grandpa have been getting my yard in shape and teaching my how to use my lawn mower. Thanks to them my house was in great shape and ready to show off during a little house warming party my parents hosted at my new house on Saturday, June 12. It was a fun little party and I am very thankful for those that made the trip to Lincoln or just came over- Aunt Mary & Uncle Doug, Aunt Mary Beth & Jayme, Grandma & Aunti Gram, Grandma & Grandpa, Stef & Chase, Liz & Peter, Emily, Mom, Dad, Colin- THANK YOU for coming & love you!

4. June 7, 2010- The very first day of the summer day camp program that I am in charge of, and the first- first day ever at our branch (we just opened in September 2009) and it was a great day! The number of kids we have enrolled varies from week to week, but we have nearly 130 kids in most of the weeks. I have a pretty strong staff and we LOVE our kids! We are having a blast. I am putting in VERY long days at work, but it is totally worth it when the kids run to me with a big hug and tell me how much they love being in our program- those moments make all the stressful stuff kind of just fade away.

5. June 15, 2010- My 1 year anniversary working full-time in my position. My first job after I graduated was traveling for Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity as an Educational Leadership Consultant, but the position only went from July 2008 to April 2009, and it was an amazing experience that definitely prepared me for the position I am in now, however it was very different from my job as a Program Director. In my first year as a Program Director I have learned so much and I have been given some very amazing opportunities. I was able to be a part of opening a facility and starting our before and after school programs, youth programs and child care programs from the ground up, hiring staff, working with other directors and making changes and improvements as we grow and learn. I am very thankful that I have a job where I can go to my boss and be completely open and honest with him and he offers genuine support and feedback. I am very thankful that I have a job where I can learn from and collaborate with other talented, smart and caring people who are not afraid to share their ideas and allow me to do the same. I am thankful for my “rockstars” who help keep me sane and make my job so much easier because they just “get” me and know how to take initiative and help get things done. But most of all, I am thankful that I have the opportunity to work with, care for and teach children, both hands on and through the programs that we offer. I feel blessed that I can make a difference in their lives and that they are able to make a difference in mine.

Anyway, that’s about it. Sorry for the long absence and I will be checking back more often now that my internet is all hooked up and working in my house and things are settling down at work!

Thanks for stopping by!

Love,

Just a little something I've been thinking about...

Not long ago, I had a long talk with my "big brother." He's not really my older brother, but I call him my "big brother," because he is one of my close guy friends and he's taller than me. Anyway, every few months we have very open and honest long talks, which is why we are so close. The topic of our last long convo was relationships and heartbreak and I thought I'd take a moment to share a little bit of that conversation.

Robert Fulghum once wrote, "Love causes pain. Love cures pain. And love is a pain. Love will fill your heart, break your heart and heal the heart that's broken. And it is true that every love story has an unhappy ending, sooner or later- even if the love lasts a lifetime, somebody dies first, leaving somebody behind with the pain of grief." Almost all of us have endured so sort of heartbreak. And if we haven't yet we will. It's part of the circle of life. But knowing that does not make it any easier.

I personally have had my heartbroken, more than once, and it seems to get harder every time. I believe that is because with every relationship I learn more about who I am and what a good relationship is, and I get closer to what it is I really want. I put myself out there a little more than I did before, and when the new boyfriend turns out to be even better than the ones before, I let myself like him more than I’ve ever liked anyone else. When it doesn’t work out it is heartbreaking.

It is heartbreaking for me because I’ve always been a heart-on-my-sleeve-don’t-be-afraid-to-fall-in-love kind of girl who has always believed in love and when it doesn’t work out it’s hard for me to continue to hold on to that hope. It’s hard to let go of the sadness that comes from letting go of someone you care about. It’s hard not to put up a wall protecting myself from going through the pain again. It’s hard not to wonder how I will really trust someone again after having that trust broken over and over again, because every time I let someone in it’s all in the hope that maybe this time it will be different.

To go back to what Mr. Fulghum said, "every love story has an unhappy ending, sooner or later." The way I look at is, we have two choices:

1. We can break down the walls of fear, let people in, and choose love, knowing that at some point our hearts will break, but also giving ourselves the chance to truly experience life to the fullest by putting ourselves out there, choosing to care about someone else and let them care about us…
OR…

2. We can keep up the walls, “protecting” ourselves from heartbreak, choosing not to let people in, and living a life where we choose not to truly be ourselves and put ourselves out there, all because we are afraid…

So, even though it’s hard, I know that I can’t give up hope and that all I can really do is to live in the moment, all for the possibility of love. Because that pain, that heartbreak, it let’s me know I am alive and I know that someday I’ll be able to say, “it was totally worth it.”

What I Know For Sure...

It's a new year. A new decade. Change is in the air! Happy 2010! I closed 2009 with some great memories, some great times with great friends and so much to be thankful for.

As I look forward to 2010 and the new decade, I'd like to reflect on What I Know For Sure as of 1/27/2010....

1. I have so much to be thankful for- great grandparents, parents, siblings, cousins, aunts and uncles, extended family and friends. Their love, support, guidance and care make me who I am.

2. I love my dog- Miss Chloe Girl! She is the perfect little heater when she snuggles up next to me on a cold night, she is the best little thing to come home to because she is so happy to see me, she gives me kisses when I am sad and does what she can to make me happy.

3. God never promised us that life would be easy, he just promised we would not walk alone. I find strength and comfort knowing I am in his hands and I feel his love.

4. I am so thankful to live in America and I am inspired by our President. I have hope and believe in change for the better.

5. I am not perfect, I have plenty of flaws, but I know who I am, what I need and deserve.

6. "I'd rather stand beside you in a storm than be all safe and warm inside by myself."

7. Sometimes the best way to end a bad day is to just take a bubble bath, drink a glass of wine and watch chickflicks.

8. I get a "warm and happy feeling" when I see the sun out on a freezing cold day, when I find a penny and when I spend a few hours with people I love.

9. Valentine's Day is one of my favorite holidays because red is my favorite color, I love hearts and I like that there is a whole day dedicated to reminding people to take the time to "share the love."

10. I have the best friends in the world and I consider them to be my extended family.

11. Sometimes the best way to celebrate a good day is to come home, rock out and do something fun!

12. I will run a 1/2 Marathon before I turn 30! I have started running and I hope to give it a try this May!

13. 2010 marks the start of great new adventure!

Love,

E