I'm a College Student!!!

   The new Monster's Inc. movie stands as one of my favorite animated movies this year.  Mike, the one eyed monster with high self-esteem, is the character I can most relate to.  It cracks me up that he goes through life not even seeing the obstacles to his dream of being a scare monster; I love Mike's positive motivation.  Nothing will stop him from reaching his goals.  Meanwhile, other monsters are negative and cannot understand Mike's vision of success as theirs are so muddled and lackluster.

     I can relate to this character 100%.  Almost seven months ago I embarked on finally achieving my goal of returning and finishing my college degree.  I am not your average aged college student, so returning to a place of education that houses students roughly the age of my own child made me feel out of sorts to say the least.  The age disparity was the least of my worries.  My stress stemmed from the class subject matters.  I had not been back to school in so many years and was worried about not understanding the modern day concepts taught.   Once the classes started, my stress was unfounded.  My mind casually nestled itself into the subjects easily and absorbed every ounce of knowledge.  It was as if it soaking the knowledge in was quenching my minds long standing thirst.  My surprise was one of happiness and fulfillment.  Returning to college revived me in a way I never thought would happen. 

     Returning to college opened up doors in my mind that had long been secured and left dusty and cobwebbed.  Once these doors were cracked open, floods of creativity poured out of them.  I realized that I had strengths in activities I had always shied away from, like poetry.  Now writing, poetry, photography and other creative processes exude out of my mind.   It was a difficult journey to decide to return to college.  I struggled within myself to find reasons not to return.  At the time I was living through my doubts and negative thinking.  Once I snapped out of the destructive thinking phase, I got back on the track to my goal of gaining my degree.  Returning allowed me to find myself once again and pursue avenues I had not dared to in the past.

     My happiness at returning to college pervades my life daily.  It is not possible for me to contain my pride and happiness since I am finally where I want to be.  My family is proud of my excellent grades and I am proud of myself too.  My gratefulness at being able to attend college is beyond measure and I daily encourage my kids to reach for that goal too.  I think the only thing that my entire family is not thrilled about is that, like Mike the Monster, I am constantly running around yelling “I’m a COLLEGE STUDENT”!!!

 Remember your long forgotten goals?  Pull them out of the dusty cobwebs and start toward them again! Have a positively blessed day everyone!!!

Golden Worries

In the past I have written about my positive hobbies (hobbitives).  They are positive outlets for my creativity and enjoyment.  My creativity is such an awesome gift from my savior as it helps me to express myself in different ways.  My most precious gift from God is my family, which includes of course my four legged babies.  Why am I mentioning my hobbitives?  It so happens that I enjoy writing poetry.  Today I want to combine my enjoyment of poetry and a day with one of my four legged babies.  My golden retriever, Riley, recently took a trip to the veterinarian.  I took this photo as he was waiting nervously for the doctor.  He and this picture inspired me to write this poem.  Riley is a sweet and gentle giant who has some funny ways about him.  Enjoy the poem and have a positively Blessed day!

"Golden Worries"

Tan and golden hues of hair,

sits upon the onyx chair

Restless and worried eyes,

thinks about a slow demise;

of the bright morning sun,

in which one enjoys a nice cool run

Shifting in the leather seat,

the patient starts to feel the heat

He dangles one leg off the chair,

seemingly without a care

The door slowly opens wide,

the doctor casually walks inside;

to the patient he proceeds

to check upon his tender needs

The golden hued patient stares,

to the heavens and says his prayers;

"Oh heavenly father up above,

the one I so truly love

Let my health be good and strong,

so that it may not be so long;

Before I may leave this room,

that has in the past brought me doom"

Now to the doctor he shifts his eyes,

and to his horror he quickly spies;

The shiny needle he holds strong,

The golden wonders what he did wrong

He braces himself against the chair, 

With his long nose up to the air

His crescent eyes shut real tight,

he does not put up a single fight

The doctor pats his golden crown,

and says to him with not a frown

"Now see that was not so bad,

later you will be so glad; 

that you came to see your favorite vet,

to get those ears thoroughly checked!"

Once the doctor says goodbye, 

the golden retriever gives a sigh

Now his mama waves at him to hurry,

as she says to him, "there now golden see, no worries!"

Thankful for the Freedom I Enjoy!

As evening falls, the sounds of rockets and the flash of colored lights fill the darkened skies.  Squeals of children screaming at the spectacular vistas bring smiles to all around.  At times loud "kaboom" sounds startle those caught off guard, though giggles follow the momentary fright.  Looking around, you see families gathered at the end of their driveways looking in every direction of the sky for glimpses of the half a dozen firework displays in the immediate area.  The festivities of the day are culminated by these joyful shows of colorful splatters in the sky.  Earlier in the day families and their friends gather to eat bar-b-cue, swim, play games and enjoy each others company.  The theme of the day shows enjoyment of the fundamental freedoms our forefathers fought for in the Revolutionary War.  Today we reflect on those brave individuals who took, in the past and still take today, a stand for their freedom and for the freedom of future Americans.  As we see the rockets red glare and hear the sounds of bombs bursting in air above our heads,
we should all be remembering all veterans past, present and future who make this a possibility.  I for one remember and pray for our veterans daily and am truly Thankful for the Freedom I Enjoy!!! God Bless America! Happy 4th of July!!  Have a positively Blessed day!!