My daily inspirations.

I have 3 inspirations in life, family, music, and my fiancé. My family means everything and is everything to me, my family has helped me through everything from supporting me getting through college to recently being engaged. My family has held my hand through all the hard times, told me I would be okay and of course made me smile and laugh. I don't know where I would be without my mom, dad, grandmother, brother and sister. They all mean the world to me in so many ways. My sister impresses me everyday with doing what she does in her high school band class and her grades, my brother he serves in our Army, definitely something to be proud of. And, I am thankful, more than thankful to have such hardworking parents to make sure we have a roof over our heads and food in our stomachs and a bed to sleep in every night (or in my case I prefer a couch)

Music, no I don't make my own music and I don't major in music. Just listening to music gives me an inspiration to make my life more meaningful and beautiful. Music is life, without music there would be no emotion. I listen to all kinds of music, metal, heavy metal, hard rock, classic rock and symphony orchestra. Weird combination I know but each of these genres paint a mental image, story almost in my head that could give me an idea for anything (now if only it could do that for general education assignments). But anything I do, whether I'm at work or doing homework or even just bored shopping or sitting and thinking I always have music.

My fiancé James, (JJ) definitely inspires me to get through the day on a whole new aspect. When he was 9 years old he got hit by a car. That accident changed his life permanently, I can't imagine someone going through that kind of pain at that young of an age, he was told he wouldn't be able to speak again, or walk again but he proved it all wrong he can speak clearly, he can walk and he is so intelligent, he outsmarts me a lot in life to life discussions and conversations, then when he turned 16 he lost his father, that... that I just cannot imagine losing my father at that age when you need your parents most. He does talk about his father a lot and that is expected. This man has been through so much in his life but what inspires me and makes me love him so much more is that someone who has dealt with so much pain in life can still wake up and smile and laugh and move forward in life, he is definitely my angel and definitely brightens my day :) I look up to him as another role model in my life, another reason to be alive and to enjoy life because if someone can go through that much pain in life and work so hard to get back to normal and work harder to make their life better that means I am just as capable of doing the same, he always encourages me to never give up and to keep my head up and keep working harder everyday.

I don't have a favorite out of these 3, but they all mean the world to me and I would not trade any of them for anything, they all are just my world and make my life worth living for and I am looking forward to what the future has in store and what I can make of it as the future comes my way. :)

My fiancé and I :)
April 2013 

Myself, my mom, my sister, my dad and my brother
Summer 2011

my sister, brother and I :)
Summer 2011 

Life is beautiful

I have learned so much in younger teenage years. I am only 19 years old and I have learned so much about life and the way it works, and I have come up with my own truth that life has no rules and has no bounds and we all learn that life is life. But despite the ups and downs I have been through as well as other people with their experiences, I have learned that life is more than beautiful, it is only as beautiful as we make it. 

My fiance is a perfect example of this of how beautiful we can make life. He has been through a lot of tough times in his life and is only 21 years old, but it is truly inspiring how I talk to him everyday and he's laughing, he's smiling, and he breathes in the same air as everyone else, just as human as everyone else. It's funny how it is the simple things in life that matter, but those simple things add up to the big things. Life is only what we make of it and I think we should always make it great no matter what life throws in our path. If life was meant to be perfect, it would be rather boring. 

I don't know what tragedy is, I don't know what dealing with the worst kinds of pain is but I have experienced my own kind of pain. And, the way I see it is it made me stronger as a person and it has made into a better person today and tomorrow. And what I face today can be solved tomorrow, to me, tomorrow is always another slate, another chance to make it better. Life works itself into mysterious ways too, I never thought that a four wheeler accident I had a few years ago would bring me the man of my dreams but it did and that made my life that much more beautiful, I am a full time college student working every single day to make my life better for not only me but for my fiance too. It is no longer about me anymore in life, it's about him and my family. 

So I know it just seems like I am just rambling on but in all honesty, this is how I view life, every struggle every good time everything that makes us who we are is also what makes our individual lives that much more beautiful :) and that is something to be thankful for every day. 

My busiest two years of high school... 11th and 12th grade.

College has always been a primary goal for me. I have always been told like any other high school student that college is important and it is important to have a post secondary education to get good paying jobs in a career you'll love, based off of vocational interest of course. I didn't realize how important it would be honestly until I reached the 11 grade. My 11th grade year was probably one of my most stressful years of high school, I had always been in accelerated and advanced classes since the 7th grade. Once I reached junior year, it got harder. I was taking two AP (Advanced Placement) courses in History.... my worst hated subject and language and composition, dual credit courses with Gateway Community and Technical College in developmental, general education and Information Technology courses, SkillsUSA, STLP, Freedom Writers, and vocational studies in Graphic Communications and Information Technology. 

Before junior year, I was just exploring the two vocational courses until I could figure out which one I liked best. Then I decided my junior year that I would go to college for both since I loved both so much and they were both and still are good fields to go into. The summer going into my senior year, I got my first job experience in IT when I got hired on to be a student IT Co-op, a summer job but a job. The maintenance crew and the IT teacher hire the co-ops and it was myself and 5 other people... all guys. That whole summer I worked with switches, punch down tools, fixing computers, installing software, fixing computer software problems through the use of the command prompt, installing wall mounted projectors, and running wires... not to mention painting and lifting cinder blocks while getting paid minimum wage, but I loved the job... was very upset when I had to stop for the start of the 2011-2012 academic year... senior year. 

When senior year started, one, I was relieved because it was my last year of high school and my last year of getting up at 6 am 5 days a week, two, it was going to be easy. Since I was a Kentucky Scholars student my 8th grade year I was ahead of a normal high school student by 3 high school credits. The basic curriculum requirements were 4 English credits, 4 Math credits, 3 Science, 3 History, 2 Foreign Language and a year of PE and Health. I had finished everything including 3 high school Spanish classes by junior year... but one English credit. So my schedule for senior year was pretty hectic. I only had one English course... AP Literature and Composition, two graphic arts classes, and 3 IT courses and three days a week I left school early to come to the Urban Center campus in Covington to take dual credit courses at Gateway then come back for my extra-curricluar courses which was STLP and I was elected on the SkillsUSA local council again, this time as the Vice President... yay more responsibility, and Freedom Writers. Which meant more local, district, regional and possible state competitions. the first semester of senior year flew by, when I wasn't at Gateway classes I was at the high school vocational center either working on independent study in web design, or co-oping with the high school technology coordinator taking inventory on computers, installing hardware, or working on a regional showcase project for STLP. So wasn't all too busy the first semester. Outside of school I helped out with fundraisers for SkillsUSA including dressing up as a mattress for a mattress sale at the high school... fun day that was, drinking down a monster energy drink to attend the Homecoming dance, KLTI (Kentucky Leadership Training Institute) for Skills officers in Louisville, Kentucky for 3 days for officer team training, and volunteering Saturday mornings for Toys for Tots and Saturday study sessions for AP English. 

After Christmas break of senior year it got even busier for me, Another dual credit course, preparing for the SkillsUSA regional competition in February 2012, watching my little cousin after school on Mondays, homework, and I also got asked if I wanted a ten week long job as a teaching assistant with the IT instructor on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3:30-5:30 for Tubby's Clubhouse, it was an after school program for middle school students who had good grades and good attendance... my sister was in 6th grade at the time and was chosen for the program and it taught middle school kids to know the inside and out of a computer, take it apart and put it back together and install software on it.. I think the busiest week I had was the week of SkillsUSA regionals... that was a stress and a half but I got through it and Chapman SkillsUSA made it to state. Then college applications came about, I got accepted to Gateway Community and Technical College, Western Kentucky University, and Brescia University. Once everything was done and over with graduation neared and the last month was pretty easy. My last day of school was June 1, 2012 and the seniors had a week off to attend senior day at Kings Island which I attended with my mom, and I went back to the high school to help around the school, got hired on again for a summer co-op job, then finally, June 8, 2012 came. 7:00pm that day I was officially out of high school. 

Despite the busy, stressful two years, I am in college and I am going for the things I loved doing while learning it in high school so it was well worth the hard work :) Here's some pictures of graduation and such. 

working on silk screens in graphic arts 11' 

My father and me at graduation

Lexington Convention Center

My friends and me before graduation commencements

Preparing for the 2012 SkillsUSA state conference 

STLP (Student Technology Leadership Program)

Another program I joined in high school was the Student Technology Leadership Program (STLP). This program and SkillsUSA were probably the two most stressful when we made it to state level competitions in both programs because both competitions were always a few weeks apart in April and May. But I enjoyed participating in the program because it further developed my interest in web development and technology itself. I joined this program around December 2008, middle of my 9th grade year, with a few friends just to see what the program consisted of and if it would be beneficial to getting into college and enhancing my high school career, I made an awesome choice to stay in the program after attending a regional showcase at Northern Kentucky University which was a competitive showcase of projects created by kids in elementary, middle, and high school. I was absolutely amazed by what some of the kids came up with, one even designed a virtual reality project and the kid was in middle school! Then in May 2009 I traveled to the state showcase in Lexington, Kentucky to see what it was like there too, it was an overnight trip, we stayed in the Hilton hotel and it was an awesome experience to say the least. I stayed in the program all through high school.

My 10th grade year ultimately tested me. My friend Christina and I were the only two girls in the STLP program and we had a project of our own to build, our project was to teach the basics of Adobe Dreamweaver CS3... kinda outdated by now. We went and competed in the regional showcase at Northern in November 2009 and was qualified along with the boys' project to advance to the state showcase in Lexington in May 2010. We didn't make it to a national showcase but it was worth a shot.

My 11th grade year is when it got a little stressful. Because I had also joined in SkillsUSA that year. Now it was me, Christina,  and my other two friends Rebecca and Jordan in a group and this project posed a challenge. We were going to show how 3D modeling could help teach a class, we put the presentation together for regional and we passed and advanced on to the state showcase which was exciting but it was also more work. After making it to state for skills as well it put a lot more work on me. I was staying aftrr school as late as 5 or 6 sometimes doing skills and STLP work. We got it togryher though.  Didn't make it to state but definitely caught people's attention.

12th grade unfortunately we didn't make it but it was still fun and we still got to go to Lexington to be apart of it. I know yjis program helped influence me to be where I am today and I'm glad I took advantage of the opportunity :)

Love of a family

I've always had the moral of family comes first. I was raised that way and I still hold on to that value today. But I have also come to grow into family outside of my four walls. I love my mother and father to death, they are my life and my best friends and probably the only two people that will ever semi understand me. But over just the past year I have learned a new meaning to the word family thanks to my fiance. 

When my fiance and I got together, I already loved his mother to death, His mother was always there for me to talk to whenever you were down and she is just a loving person, and it's just a plus that she's hilarious. His step father, I'm still trying to get more social with him but he is always there for my fiance when he needs to be. Their family gets a long so well with my family, and its nice to be able to have both families together and no one hating each other or wanting to go off on each other. 

His family comes from a great, relaxing, hard working, with a touch of country with that. :) Just recently this past weekend I went to his hunting shack just behind my grandparent's house in Williamstown and I adapted so well to his family and talked to them as if I were talking to my own parents and my own family. It's just a plus that my fiancé also loves four wheeling as much as I do. I get quite the rush out of it. There are some that I really don't want to make the friend status with but at the same time if I am going to marry him in the future, family is family.

So, I guess the moral of this writing is it doesn't matter who you are, where you come from, what your values are or perspective on life is.... even narrowed down to your favorite food :D family is family, it does not have to be by blood, by marriage or any of that complicated stuff, family is being surrounded by the people you love. Mine is my family, his family and my friends. And, it is also just a plus that we both get a good laugh from it too :)

July 4, 2013 down in Williamstown four wheeling :) 

Funny faces he makes hahahahahaha 

SkillsUSA

SkillsUSA was a vocational program offered at my high school's vocational center. This is a program composed of students, teachers, and industrial leaders working to ensure America's workforce, sounds narrow and boring right? Well look again, this was one of the best programs I went into in high school.
I started participating in this program when I reached the 11th grade. I was on for the hands on competitions, but I was also elected into the local executive council too, I held the parliamentarian position. We held a variety of fundraisers including a mattress sale to raise money for the program. But also being on the local council you had to practice what was called an Opening and Closing ceremony. Each executive council in the all the vocational schools had to practice it. Which was more less a dedication to the SkillsUSA emblem

The shield represents patriotism, the gear represents the industrial society, the torch represents knowledge, the orbital circles represent technology, and the hands represent the individual. Each person on the council has a part that he or she has to rehearse and perfect. I have held two positions on my local council in high school, parliamentarian my junior year and vice president my senior year. I remember the two parts I had to memorize too. This was what we went by. We especially had to perfect our ceremony at Holmes because not only did we have to compete in leadership competitions for it but also since the regional competition was held at my high school we had to open and close the event. We also had to wear professional attire too. For the females personally we had to wear black dress pants, black dress socks, black dress shoes, white dress shirt, no collar, and no low cut shirts hair well groomed and a red SkillsUSA blazer.

This photo was taken at the 2011 state conference in Louisville, Kentucky at the Galt House Hotel. The ballrooms were always a sea of SkillsUSA blazers. I think my favorite part of the trips to state competitions in Louisville was all the new people you met who are working in the same vocation as you or same interests as yourself and the fun you have with the activities and karaoke was always a must with my friends and I :)
But I didn't always do just leadership activities I also competed hands on in Web Design/Development which is what I am going to school for now, even though I never placed in these competitions the experience to go and compete was good enough for me.

This program set the foundation of what I was going to go to college for. Not to mention it made my vocation have a fun and professional look to it. I am more than happy that I joined this program and I hope soon when I get to a university to further my degrees I can join again and compete on a collegiate level :)