just 3 (good) things ... about mondays

so one of the funniest movies ever for those of us who work in an office is the movie "office space".  and one of the best quotes from the movie is "somebody has a case of the mondays"

i've blogged about how when you work 7 days a week, monday is just another day and it's not a big deal. that being said, there is "something" about mondays that i do dread.  having to wake up early, knowing that everything will be nuts as soon as i walk into the door at my office, just having to get back into a routine, it's not always a fun thing to look forward to

but when you only have 7 mondays left to work at your current office, your perspective changes a bit

now that i have only 6 mondays left, here are my 3 (good) things about my mondays

1) the new iPhone software that i just recently upgraded to has one of many very cool features. the alarm clock now plays a song from your music on your phone.  therefore, waking up to a song off the new matchbox twenty album as opposed to the obnoxious old phone ringing sound is actually not a bad thing.  it certainly makes a difference on a monday

2) going to church on sunday, where i experience powerful worship and hear a message that convicts me or encourages me, i often find myself recharged, refreshed and encouraged that i'm not the only one out there facing the battles i face.  so why do i just as often lose that charge in less than 24 hours?  if my perspective is focused on the right thing, then i do find myself excited to face the week.

3) for the next 7 weeks, each monday that passes brings me one week closer to seeing my nieces ALL the time.  how can anything else compare with that??

so for me, i promise right here and now, that for the next 6 weeks, i, rachael, will NOT have a case of the mondays :)

can you say the same thing???

my epic news

i've always liked the analogy of the passage of life as a book.

i'm thrilled to announce today that i'm on the cusp of a new chapter; but my news might actually warrant more than a chapter; perhaps it might be the beginning of a whole new section of the book

2 years ago i took a long hard look at might life, to evaluate where i had been and more importantly where i was headed.  i was about 1/2 way through paying off my credit cards and starting to wonder what would come next.  once i wasn't obligated to work at a job that paid me a decent amount of money, most of which went to paying bills

and i decided that if debt didn't have me chained down anymore, then why would i want to live 1000 miles away from my (at the time) 3 nieces?

so over the past 2 years, i have been working 2-3 jobs, giving every bit of excess money i could to my credit cards and as some of you may know, as of august 24th, all of those bills are completely paid off.

now, i am free to begin the next chapter / section / phase of my life

i'm ecstatic to tell you that today i gave 2 months notice to my bosses at my job and let them know that my last day of work would be november 8th.

my plan is to move to bowling green, KY the week of Thanksgiving.

!!!!!!!!

i will be moving into the basement of my brother & sister-in-law's house and will become their part-time (or maybe full-time) live-in "nanny" of sorts to their 4 very precious girls

i will definitely miss all of my friends and family here in NY - over the past 6 weeks i have been even more blessed by all of your love & care for me during some pretty dark days

my dad was pretty excited at this prospect for me so i know he would be thrilled to know it is coming to fruition

more blog posts to follow as plans firm up and other decisions are made but here is what i know as of today

pretty epic news right?????

PS- i've been waiting MONTHS to write this blog!!!!

just 3 things ... about my 3 day weekend in NYC

had a very swell adventure in NYC with some very good friends. i have been compiling a NYC bucket list of sorts ... and i gave said list to my friends N&M who live in Manhattan and in 3 days time we managed to check all but one thing off my list.  and we still had time for lots and lots of conversation mingled in with plenty of eating & drinking

so here are my 3 things from my trip

1) the 9/11 memorial at the world trade center is simply stunning.  none of the pictures i took managed to do the memorial pools the least bit of justice.  they sit in the footprint of the 2 towers and the water flows down a 30 foot drop ... it's peaceful and quiet at the top, where all the names are inscribed, but then it's loud and almost intense as it flows down the drop to the bottom where it becomes peaceful again.  the way that whole area is designed is for one of respect and memorial.  it's something to behold.  and it was touching to see people there crying and hugging and still remembering those events now almost 11 years ago

2) walking the Brooklyn Bridge is an entirely different experience than the movie Kate & Leopold would lead you to believe.  or even the stupid geico gecko dude.  however, the views of manhattan, brooklyn, the statue of liberty, all the other bridges and the hudson river were worth the trek up to the bridge and then across it.  it was pretty spectacular when you see the inscription that it was built in 1875 and it is still standing and functional to this day

3) can anything honestly replace good conversation with great friends?? i mean, we laughed and made fun of each other, we talked seriously about politics, religion, the church, our beliefs, we discussed our love for harry potter, the hunger games and even twilight ... (maybe not ALL of us joined in on that discussion), they asked me about my dad and we had so many conversations about our families. as great as all the site seeing was, and as much as i love the adventures that NYC brings, i will even more  treasure and remember fondly the time i got to spend with my friends.  so thank you N & M for your wonderful hospitality and thank you B for making the trek in for NJ to hang with me for 1/2 a day.  i love you all so much!!!

i posted some pics of FB so check them out if you'd like

-R