Freewrite: March 28, 2011

Spring break is over... ugh. I can't wait until school is over for good. This little tease called "spring break" was nothing. It just made me want summer break that much more. I worked at SportClips (a lot), so I made money, but it's not like I had that money to spend right after I earned it. Shopping could have made my break better! I just felt like I was super busy the whole time and never actually got a "break." SportClips is getting better... I feel like I'm learning a lot of stuff I didn't know when I started a few weeks ago. Last night we had a meeting (that lasted way too long, but that's another story) and we talked a lot about consistency and making sure that we keep giving customers what they come to us for (a championship haircut experience for men and boys in an exciting sports environment :P ) and not just getting bored and tired of it and not giving the same treatment to all of these customers especially if they have never been to a SportClips before. We also talked about branding and what we could do to make SportClips stand out and what stylists could do to make themselves stand out as the stylist someone will want to come back to. I think that kind of works in life, too- we brand ourselves so that we stand out and people will want to be friends with us (or not- if thats what you want). Whether it's with clothing, personality, actions, or anything else, we all brand ourselves to be different. No one wants to be branded the same. WORD COUNT: 277

Freewrite: March 16, 2011

Silence... can be deafening. It can feel different in different situations. The silence between a mother and her teenage daughter after they fight- you can feel the anger in the air. The silence when a father is looking at his newborn baby boy and imagining all the things they will do together as he gets older- the silence is love. The silence of an old man sitting teary-eyed under a bridge after losing everything he had- it makes you think and wonder how he got there. The silence of a little boy staring up at an adult- the silence is discovery. Silence can feel so many different ways. It's crazy. I guess a lot of things can be felt in silence- such as anger, love, wonder, discovery, etc. I've never thought of it that way before. I hate silence. It makes me think too much about whatever is currently happening in my life- and it's usually not the good parts I'm thinking about. Silence doesn't have to mean perfectly quiet either. When I'm at work at SportClips, eventually the sounds of the games on the TVs fade to the background, and it becomes "silent." The TVs just become a natural part of the room- something I barely hear anymore. I'm sure in other places that it feels like that, too- silence that isn't perfectly quiet, but is still silence- sort of, anyways.

WORD COUNT: 232

Freewrite: March 9, 2011

I'm not sure what to write about. I guess I will write about how we only have 2 months left of school. Holy cow. It didn't hit me until yesterday when we were talking about our papers and everything else we have to do and someone said, "We have 8 weeks!". Yeah. That was scary. I didn't think it would be that big of a deal or that it would be frightening when I got closer to graduating. I was thinking it would be super exciting and liberating and... yeah, no. It doesn't feel like that. I am really starting to realize how close we are to the end of our 13 year journey and how much my life will change after high school. I'm still going to live at home, but I will be going to school somewhere completely new and different (MSU- yay!). I can't wait to be in college, but at the same time, I'm afraid I will be completely overwhelmed with everything. I'm starting a new job soon and I volunteered to help out with Lifehouse Crisis Maternity Home's first annual gala and I volunteer at BBBS each Wednesday and I'm going to school- AHHHH. Stress. I know that once I'm in college I will be able to choose the hours of my classes and such, but I'm afraid that I won't have time for anything (like volunteering and spending time with friends & family) besides work and school... Hopefully it isn't like that :)

WORD COUNT: 249

Freewrite: March 7, 2011

So, yesterday I went to lunch. Not just a regular lunch- but a planned one. I don't have planned/scheduled lunches very often. This lunch was to meet with the planning committee for the first annual gala for Lifehouse Crisis Maternity Home. Lifehouse is a place that I found through dosomething.org and I eventually got in contact with the founder through facebook. Sharon, the founder, had an abortion when she was 19- something she deeply regrets. She now has 4 wonderful kids and has discovered what God meant for her to do. She started Lifehouse more than a year ago- and an actual house is now in the works so that she can provide 20 women a place to stay throughout their pregnancy if they are going through a crisis (abuse, homelessness, teenage pregnancy, etc.). Anyways, when I found Lifehouse on facebook, I was so excited. It is exactly what I want to do later in life. I want to help take care of those women and their unborn children because I feel like that is where I will be able to impact and help save the babies that I love so dearly. Sharon told me that she will mentor me- something I am very grateful for. Not only does she have experience in the field I am going into, but she has social workers, counselors, and many other people I can talk to to get more information about my future job and what it may entail. The gala is on June 17, and it is going to be held at The Veridian in downtown Springfield. It is a gorgeous place and I cannot wait to help plan this event that will help so many women in our area!! She has so much faith in me and what I can bring to this group- I hope I don't disappoint her! :)

WORD COUNT: 310

Freewrite: March 04, 2011

I got a job yesterday! I'm so excited! I'm going to be an employee of SportClips. My title will be "coordinator/receptionist," but I'll do a lot more than that. I will check people in for their haircuts, check them out, dust shelves, stock shelves, sweep, vaccuum, do laundry, clean the equipment, and much more I'm sure! Bri was the one who told me I should apply because she already works there and I'm so glad I did. Instead of only working 10 hours at the most each week, I'm going to work 20 to 25 hours! The constant flow of money will be really nice considering I'm making hardly anything right now. The owner seems very sweet and caring and I'm glad for that. One thing she told me really stuck out. She said, "You will take something away from this job. In my 40 years in the workforce, I can honestly say I have learned something from every job I've had, and you will be able to say that, too. You will be able to use things you've learned here and apply it to college and just to life in general." I hadn't really thought about jobs like that before- and by that I mean the fact that they can teach you a lot more than you realize you are learning. From the pool, I learned how to be an employee. It was my first job, and hopefully I'll still work there this summer. I learned how to take charge and do things before I was asked. I learned that there are many, many personalities that you have to learn to deal with and sometimes that frustrates me. The Rec Center has taught me how to deal with people and make sure the customer is happy. Bass Pro didn't teach me a lot, but they did teach me what a good company is like.

WORD COUNT: 315

Freewrite: March 02, 2011

Today... is Wednesday. Normally I would be going to BBBS today, but our basketball game against Branson is tonight, so i'm going to miss a week. I wish the game was tomorrow, but I really want to support our team, so I'm going to go watch them up at SBU tonight! I'm excited. Normally, as Cameron likes to point out, I don't really enjoy basketball, but I do enjoy having school spirit and how intense the game becomes when you are sitting in the student section at WHS. Our school is awesome like that- supporting our sports programs a ton. We have the best student section around! I don't know how many people signed up to ride the spirit bus today, but I'm guessing a bunch. I really hope we win tonight! It would be super exciting to be able to make it to state like we did in 2007. The next game is on Saturday- the day that percussion is going to MMPAT in Lebanon. The MMPAT thing should be fun, but I wish there was a way for us to go to the game (if we make it). I really don't know what to write today... I finished my scholarships for MSU last night at 11:35 PM- the deadline was 11:59 PM:) Hopefully I get some scholarships so that I can take all the credit hours I need without having to pay for them or take a loan out for them! I only have to fill out my local scholarship apps and then I will be done :)

WORD COUNT: 260

Freewrite: January 31, 2011

Today is Monday. Ugh. Mondays are my least favorite. I get to spend the weekend sleeping in late, but then I have to get up early to come to school. Gross. This weekend, however, was a lot of fun. On Friday night, I stayed home and did nothing. It was wonderful. Even though I could have gone out and done something, I really felt like just sitting at home with my family. My Saturday was kind of busy. In the morning, I went for a run and did my chores so that I could go into town with Lindsey for a few hours! We went to Anna Sophia's (really odd store) and then we went downtown and walked around. We are going prom dress shopping this weekend, so we decided that we would go to Gracie's Bridal and a few other places to look at dresses and get an idea of what we wanted. I found one that I absolutely fell in love with and she found one that she loved as well. Hers was a navy mermaid style dress that fit her perfectly. Mine was a white dress with a huge blue floral print across it. IT WAS GORGEOUS. The dress was a size 18, though, so I didn't get a true idea of exactly how poofy it would be, but it is the dress that I want to buy. However, at almost $350, it won't be coming home with me even though I want it to. I have to find a less expensive one. Oh well- shopping on Saturday got me and Lindsey really excited for this Saturday! On Saturday night, I babysat two boys. They live in a golf community, so the houses were fantastic. The boys were rowdy, but a lot of fun. I'm hoping to babysit them again sometime soon. On Sunday, my whole family came over for my Aunt's birthday. Cameron came over, too, and it was just a wonderful day :)

WORD COUNT: 328