You are great!

"God doesn't give you the people you want. Instead, he gives you the people you need. To teach you, to hurt you, to love you and to make you exactly the way you're meant to be." – Unknown

I posted this quote as my Facebook status over the weekend and it got a lot of attention. It seems as if the holidays have brought out a lot of different emotions in my friends and myself. Whether it’s friends treating us poorly, boys making us feel bad about ourselves, or any other situation, we have to remember that we are the most important people in our own lives. I have learned the hard way during my 26 years that each of our experiences shapes who we are. While in these situations, I never thought I would get through them. But each time I came out a stronger person with a better idea of who I am. Every person we meet teaches us something about ourselves. It is very important to remember! One of the things I have learned in the past year is to only keep those people around who make you feel good about yourself and are important to you. So as you go home for the holidays and celebrate with friends and family, don’t forget that you are the most important person in your life and all of your experiences make you great!

RIP Mr. Chicken

One of my favorite things in Midland is the random "highlights" that stand out. For the last year, the best has been the chicken statue that resides at the park on Wadley across from Midland College. I have to look at it and comment every time we drive by, and as you can tell, I have even stopped to take a picture. Yesterday while giving the new staff a tour of the city I talked up said chicken only to be completely disappointed when it was GONE! And in its place . . . a paper airplane made of metal. Really? Not that the chicken was anything special, but a paper airplane sucks. And don't they realize we are in a recession? Where did they get the money for a new statue? I mean I realize people are drilling again, but the chicken was classic!

I really miss Mr. Chicken :( Can't they just tell me where he is so I can visit him?

Once we were back at the office, I had to make sure my friends the Pioneer Baboons where still in place. I wouldn't be able to stay out here if they were both missing. Good thing they are safe and sound.

Happy Trails . . .

The time has come. Tomorrow I head out West to Midland, TX for my semi-relocation. Now when I tell people how long I will be gone, I usually get the response "That is terrible. I don't know how you do it." My response is "I don't know how I will do it either." Their attitude typically changes when they realize I get to fly home on the weekends. Now although this might not sound too terrible, it is. Consider the following:

1) All of the fun weekday social activities you get to participate in over the next 16 weeks, I will miss.
2) I must pack and un-pack 16 times. That is a lot of pre-planning of outfits.
3) I will eat 3 meals out a day with the same group of 5-8 people. Now don't get me wrong, I like most of these people, but that is a lot of time together. (Not to mention eating out is not so great for the waistline).
4) Miss Rhea will not get to see her Momma very often.
5) Although the TSA agents at Midland/Odessa International Airport know me, I will still get patted down most Fridays because I will have a flow shirt on. It gets real old.

Despite all of these downfalls of traveling, I like my client, I love oil & gas and I put up with my job. I will do my best not to complain to all of you over the next 4 months, but this is my apology in advance. I got myself into this mess when I demanded to work in oil & gas. So peace out for now, and hopefully I will see you when I weekend in Dallas. In the meantime, I will work on finding my rich oil man that can give me PTO for Life! (Hey, a girl can dream, can’t she?)

Push a different button

Well busy season is upon me which has prevented me from posting on here as much as I would like. But I decided I must update before I go to bed tonight. I have been keeping up with More Language of Letting Go by Melody Beattie which is a daily meditation book about letting go of control over your life. It’s great! (Thanks Em for the recommendation!) The meditation for January 10th is titled “Push a different button” and my mind keeps taking me back to it. The one sentence that really stands out to me is . . .

“If you don’t like the same results, maybe you could try pushing a different button.”

This sounds so simple, but how many times do we apply this to our life. Over the years I have done the same thing many times, expecting different results. The ones that come to mind first are diets and relationships.

I have tried different diets whether it be Weight Watchers, working out more, eliminating carbs, but as soon as it gets too hard or I have reached a plateau, I go back to eating what I want (which usually includes a lot of Tex-Mex). I tend to put myself in the same situations time and time again with both my relationships with friends and boys. Every time the relationships come to an end and I look back on what happened, I always see the same pattern. I sometimes forget there is a natural progression to a relationship; instead I try to go from point A to Z instead of stopping along the way. As I have gotten older (and I like to think more mature), I have realized this. I have also realized that not everyone can be your best friend. A person has acquaintances, friends, and best friends, and your relationship with each group is different. Now boys, I haven’t figured out yet other than I pick wrong, expect too little, and usually am the one hurt in the end. Thankfully, one of my oldest and best friends reminds me that Mr. Right is out there. She always tells me, “Michelle, I am not worried about you. You are too great of a catch! The right person is out there and you will find them.” (Thanks Mrs. Taylor Arrington. That is just one of the many reasons I love you so much!)

So here is my challenge to all of my (4) blog readers . . . If you don’t like the results you are getting, try pushing a different button! Hopefully now you will get a different and more favorable result.

Runner's High

I recently joined a running group to help me achieve my New Year’s Resolution of running a half marathon. I was kind of nervous at first as I used to always dread the running portion of my tennis workouts growing up. A little push from my friend Leslie encouraged me to join to Couch to 10 Mile program through the Dallas Running Club. It has been one of the best things I have done for myself in a long time, possibly ever. I have started to fall in love with running. My coachs challenged us the other day to ask ourselves why we run. It has taken me about a week, but here are my reasons:

http://www.dallasrunningclub.com/
1) It helps me clear my head. I forget about the stress of work, relationships that didn’t work out, and anything else bothering me.
2) The endorphins really do make me happy.
3) I feel so much healthier. (The Celis/Slutz wedding this year is also motivating)
4) I have met some great people who continue to inspire me every week.
I am sure I could think of a lot more reasons, but these are the ones that push me to put the workouts in when my body says “Do we have to?” My 2010 is already so much better!
Oh and I want to make sure I thank all my running partners who keep me moving . . . Bari, Meredith, Randy, and Stephen. And of course my coaches . . . Amanda, LK, and David.

He's out there somewhere

A common topic of discussion with friends recently seems to be how their love life is not where they would like for it to be. Well I am right there with them. But I am learning there is nothing like a little heartbreak to make you re-examine yourself and the things that are important to you. The other important thing is to remember that when it is right and it is meant to be, it will happen. Every time I hear Michael Bublé’s “Haven’t Met You Yet” I am reminded that Mr. Right is out there; I just haven’t met him yet.

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I Might Have To Wait

I'll Never Give Up

I Guess It's Half Timing

And The Other Half's Luck

Wherever You Are

Whenever It's Right

You Come Out Of Nowhere And Into My Life

FIESTA!

This week started off with a little trip to Phoenix, Arizona to watch my TCU Horned Frogs play Boise (it’s not really a state) State in the Fiesta Bowl. My Frogs have had a very exciting season this year culminating with our first EVER BCS Bowl. Although I was supposed to start busy season on Monday, I knew I could not pass up an opportunity to watch the Frogs in a BCS game. Who knows when we would be in a BCS game again?

Dad and I left Dallas before 7am on Monday morning. One would think I would be used to early morning flights, but that one was brutal! I was exhausted. After checking into our hotel, eating lunch and exploring the Miller Lite Tailgate, we headed to Tostitos College Football’s Biggest Party Tailgate. It wasn’t the most exciting event, but I did get to see Bergwood and Hot Bobby from the Allstate commercial and Super Frog. Both team’s cheerleaders, dance team, and band came through the tailgate. Seeing them back to back confirmed what we already knew . . . TEXAS GIRLS ARE SO MUCH PRETTIER. The Boise Girls just could not compare. I also found it entertaining that Miss. Idaho was the drum major, and you should have seen the dress she wore.

Well to the real reason I went to PHX . . . the game. If you read any kind of sports media, you would know that the game was not all that exciting, and my beloved Frogs did not come away with the W. The team came out a little nervous and just never got to the same level they played most of the year. I must give the Boise team some credit; their defense played an amazing game and their punk fake on 3rd & 9 set them up for the W. Despite the loss, I still love my Frogs and can’t wait to see how the seniors do in the NFL Draft and the rest of the team does next year!

The flight home was kind of exciting too! Saw my neighbor in the dorm from my freshman year who I hadn’t talked to in a long time in the airport. We got to catch up. The Boise team was at the gate next to us which did not make me happy, but I resisted walking over and taking their knees out. Then our flight from PHX to OKC was oversold so they were asking people to get off the flight. As an avid traveler, I was annoyed that we were running late because of this. But you will never guess who the last person to get on our plane was . . . BARRY SWITZER! Not that I am a huge fan or anything, but I got to see a celebrity. My trip was complete!

GO FROGS! DON’T BACK DOWN! NATIONAL CHAMPS 2011?

Banishing Bitter Betty

While working on my 2010 New Year’s Resolutions, I re-read my 2009 Resolutions to take stock of what I had accomplished. Although I did not complete all of these Resolutions, I was feeling pretty good about what I had accomplished. One of my Resolutions was “Learn to be happy by myself. Don’t be the ‘Bitter Party of 1’ anymore”. Well I thought I had done a pretty good job of this, until someone brought to my attention my bitter attitude towards them. Now, I do believe that I have some right to be upset as I opened myself up to them and was let down; however, I am completely mortified that this has now translated in to obvious bitterness.

Merriam-Webster says bitterness is “expressive of severe pain, grief, or regret”. It has been said that bitterness is neither consistent nor rational and that a bitter person is their own worst enemy. All of this explains the emotions I have been going through as well as my behavior towards this person. How did I let them affect me this much? The answer . . . I have trust issues with males because of a situation in my past and he was the first I let in to my life and started to truly care about since it happened 4.5 years ago. Well this explains why I have had such a hard time with this break up as well as my bitterness, but how do I get rid of these bitter feelings so that (1) I wont make myself look any worse than I already do, (2) I will be fun to be around again, and (3) I can be a better Christian? Sadly, it took a 16 word note and him de-friending me on Facebook to force me to realize that my behavior had digressed to the point that this person no longer wanted anything at all to do with me. Although it is for the best at the current time, it really hit me and forced me to examine the situation.

After spending much of last night and today thinking about all of this, I began to search for scripture to comfort me. I found this . . .

“In your anger do not sin. Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry . . . Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” Ephesians 4:26, 31-32

I will try to focus on this scripture for the next week to help me change my bitter feelings. They are inappropriate and have caused me to be embarrassed. I hope that one day this person and I will be able to move past the events that have transpired and at least be social acquaintances. Until then, I will just have to forgive him for hurting my feelings and work on my positive outlook on life.

My next post should be less emotional and more exciting as I head to Phoenix, AZ tomorrow to watch my TCU Horned Frogs take on Boise State in the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl. Go Frogs!

Happy New Year!!! I must say my first day of 2010 has been fabulous. Started the year with some good friends at a little warehouse party and spent most of the day watching college football with friends I hadn’t seen in a while. One of my big resolutions for this New Year is to have a brighter outlook on life and be more positive. So far, so good! A friend of mine mentioned a book on her blog (petemas.blogspot.com) called Language of Letting Go by Melody Beattie. After reading the excerpt, I knew it was a book I needed to read. The book is actually a collection of daily meditations. Hopefully I will be able to keep up with it daily and it will provide topics for reflection on future blog posts.

So many of you who know me, know how much I was dreading New Years Eve. It is the most hyped up night of the year and usually ends up not being as much fun as expected. Recently I haven’t felt like doing much of anything and since I haven’t been drinking very much, parties with a cover charge just seemed silly. Luckily some friends came up with an alternative . . . low key, BYOB, warehouse party. It was brilliant! I had a fabulous time and can’t believe I ever wanted to stay home. The company was great, the food delicious, and the location perfect. It was the perfect start to my 2010.

Well as it is January 1st (and basically the activity for today’s devotional), I guess I should make my 2010 Resolutions.
1) Take the “glass is half full” approach to life and be more positive
2) Finish my running class and finally run that half marathon I have been talking about for a few years
3) Be a good friend to those who are important to me
4) Stop trying to control every aspect of my life. The Big Man upstairs has a plan for me. I need to put the control in his hands.
5) Give back to my community by getting involved with a charity
6) Make sure to make time for myself every week

This year is going to be great. Who knows, maybe I will even find my Prince.