November - Day 7 - SGH

This is a hard post to make without sounding totally self indulgent.....so I am just going to do and hope, Dear Reader, you understand why this is what I am thankful for.

Today, 7 days into the month of Thanksgiving, I am thankful for my small company, Smith and Griffin Home. 

I am thankful for the company because it has given my mother and I tons of time together as we have brainstormed, created, culled, cut, cursed (only me, and not the bad words, ha ha).  Not that we needed a reason together, but this seemed to give us permission to spend the day together 'working', something we never did before.

I have also learned so much from my amazing mom.  I tell her an idea and the next time I see her, said idea has come to product form.  She totally blows me away!  So here is to my mom and Smith and Griffin Home and to the future!

Love and hugs,
Amanda

November - Day 6 - Squad

Dang, I missed a day!  Ok hold up, in my defense I had the idea of this post I just did not put it down in writing and then share it with the world.  Can I still get credit?

Today (or yesterday, but really everyday so....whatever) I am thankful for my squad!  Squad not squid...although that would be an amazing pet.  My squad is a group of ladies that I have met at my gym.  Over the last few years, the squad has changed a bit here and there, but I have had a supportive team around me, giving me motivation and encouragement and that is awesome.

I never have to run alone or workout without a cheerleader.  There is always someone around to support and cheer me on and I hope I do the same for them.  And this squad is ever evolving as life happens and ladies move in and out of my life.  I want to thank you for being a part of my journey and wether you know it or not, you are on my squad!

LOVE YOU ALL!
Amanda

November - Day 5 - Texas

I am thankful for the state of Texas. It is awesome.

Ok, I'm kidding, I am sure Texas is awesome, but what I am thankful for was an amazing trip I got to take this year with my Mom and Aunts to Texas.  We loaded up and over a week drove about 2,000 miles. The purpose of the trip was to visit my Great Uncle Bennie, but in our fashion we made a full road trip out of it.

We laughed, we cried, and we laughed until we cried.  We unloaded about the things in life that weigh us down and the fierce loyalty and support they provide is amazing to see.  These women have molded me into everything I am today.

There is hardly anything in my life that I can not look at and not think, "yeah I get that from (fill in the blank).  My love for animals and nature, Aunt Sheila.  My joy from doing nice things for people and showing compassion, Aunt Debbie. My love of fitness, Aunt Cheryl.  My work ethic and desire to please, My Mom. And on and on I could go.

I feel so incredibly blessed that as I have gotten older these women have transitioned from being my Aunts and have all become my beloved friends.  I do not fear getting older because I have seen these amazing ladies all become more and more amazing as the years go by.  My only wish is to be half of what they are.

So to these ladies, thank you for loving me and thank you for letting me be a part of something so special! Here is too many more years of adventures.

All the love,
Amanda

November - Day 4 - Coaching

Today, I am thankful for the time changing!  Just kidding...although it was nice 'gaining' and hour, I spent that hour looking around the house trying to figure out what time it really was, so...yeah...not going to waste a post on that...

What do you call something that you do not want to call a job, but it is more than a hobby?  That is the quandary I find myself in when I want to talk about Coaching at my gym. I can't call it a job, because that is just to sterile, but it is much more serious than a hobby.  I guess I will go with, passion.  Coaching is a passion for me.

I have always idolized coaches and found them invaluable in my life.  The person who leads you to do something you did not think you could do (hellllloooo back handsprings...in high school....#latebloomer) or encourages you when you think you are about to die....or throw up...normally its just throwing up....although in the moment, death seems like a real possibility.  I always thought those people were awesome.

I had this secret desire to become a Level 1 CrossFit trainer when I first started taking CrossFit classes.  My plan was just to roll up in the gym one day and tell them, "Oh by the way, I'm a Level 1 Trainer, so if you need any help coaching, just let me know".  News of my lay off (see first blog post if you want to be up to speed) made me a bit braver.  I ran into our gym owner one Sunday and told him what I wanted to do, and before I knew it, we had a plan and I starting coaching on an intern basis.  I went to CrossFit Mayhem, met amazing people (Rich Fronning and his team!! and I saw Mat Frazer!! #butwastootimidtosayhi) and got my Level 1. (insert applaud track here).

  I have been coaching ever since and I love it!  I can not think of too many things I would willingly get up at 4 in the morning for, but to be with the awesome people at my gym and to see them do amazing things, it is totally worth it.  When someone hits dubs for the first time, or gets their first pull up, or hits a full depth squat, or whatever it is; those moments are like fuel for me.  I especially love working with people who have not step foot in a gym in years.  I remember the fear of walking into a CrossFit gym the first time, it was terrifying.  I love seeing those people and knowing, they are going to do amazing things if they will just stick it out and keep coming.

So today, and everyday, I am thankful I get to coach at an awesome facility and I get to work with amazing people.  All the love to my C2 Family, thank you for your support!

Make today great,
Amanda

November - Day 3 - SeraPhina

 Day 3, lets see, they say it takes 21 days to form a habit so only 18 more days and this blogging thing will be just a normal part of my routine....haha.

The third thing I am thankful for this year is my puppy, SeraPhina.  Sera just turned the big one on October 30th (her estimated birthday).  I adopted her toward the end of January after looking at the shelters for weeks and weeks, honestly it was a few months.  I had made it part of my weekend routine to hit all the local shelters to look for a new baby to add to our family. Each weekend I would head home heartbroken and my husband begged me to stop going because it was making me so sad.

We had lost our other sweet dog, SidaLeigh, in the Fall and I had grieved her terribly.  She had been my ride or die buddy since I moved out of my parents house and became an adult (or tried to become an adult, still working on that one).  She was the last gift my much beloved Papaw gave me and I was heartbroken when she passed.

I knew I needed just the right dog to add to our mix.  I knew I wanted a female and that she had to get along with our cats. I also knew I wanted a rescue if at all possible.  On a Thursday night, Sera's (then named Susie) picture was posted on the Elmore County Humane Shelter page.  I instantly fell in love.  I made plans to leave work early the next day so I could be first in line to meet her.  As soon as they brought her to me, I knew she was the puppers I had been looking for.  What I did not know was that the docile and quiet baby I held in my arms had been fixed the day before and she was still drugged a little.  Her full personality began to shine in the coming days.  She is a pistol as my Grandma would have said.  She keeps me on my toes, makes me laugh, and demands I stop working and play with her on a regular basis.  She has been the perfect little companion for me this year.

 

Thank you Sera for being my puppers, I love you and all your crazy!

Lots of love,

Amanda 

November - Day 2 - Teaching

It is November the 2nd and I am writing by second blog post this month.  I am slaying this writing thing (insert sarcastic, funny hashtag here).

The second thing I am thankful for this year is my teaching job.  That's correct folks, I am an edumacator.

For years and years I had wanted to teach as an adjunct instructor for a college or university.  I really had no idea how to get started in the field, so I would randomly apply whenever I saw a posting for a position available.

In the Summer of 17,  I got an email requesting a phone interview with one of the schools I had applied for.  Long story short, that Winter, I was offered the position and I started teaching HR classes for a Christian University a couple of weeks before the big layoff.

I am now teaching my 10th, 11th, and 12th class of the year.  I have learned so much and I have seen God move so many times.  Just when I would need a little divine intervention (in the way of money if I am being honest) I would get an extra class or an extra assignment. Things just kept working out time and time again.

It has not been easy adjusting from a 'normal job', and there would be days when I would almost loose it to an anxiety attack worried about how things would work out.  But each time, these verses would come to my brain and I would remember that there was a greater force at work:

26 Look at the birds in the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet                                             your heavenly Father feeds them.  Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?  - Matthew 6: 26-27

So as I sit here on a Friday night, with a pile of papers to read and grade before the end of the day tomorrow. I just have to take a moment to say how very blessed I have been to have this job and have the opportunity to interact with my students.  God is good y'all. 

Love and hugs,

Amanda 

Helllllooooo November 2018 - Change

Hello, how are you, how have you been?

Amanda here.  Long time no blog (chat, post, share, etc).  You know....that little thing called LIFE has had me running crazy.

Now that it is November, I wanted to force myself to slow down and to stop and appreciate all that has been going on in my life.  I have not had the best attitude about gratitude this year (see what I did there, classic writer rhyming), even though I have so much to be thankful for. So, now is the time to slow my roll and be thankful.

So, let's start things off right today by stating the first thing I am thankful for:  I am thankful that I was laid off from my job in February. Why that still makes me cry when I say it (or write about it) I do not know, because I am thankful that it happened.

Heres the backstory:  I worked in HR (yes, Human Resources...yes, I know you are thinking of Toby jokes from the Office right now...yes, they are probably accurate) for years and years.  Almost 15 to be exact.  I landed a job in HR around the age of 18 or 19 and stayed in it.  I wanted to help people.  I felt called to it (that story on another day) and there was a lot I loved about it.

On the other side there was a lot I did not love.  It was hard work for someone like me.  I am a pretty tenderhearted person (I know, big surprise).  I want the best for people.  I want them to do their best. And when that fails, I can take it personally and that can be hard.  I had prayed for years and years that God would put before me another path.  A year before I was laid off, I had made it a goal to resign from my corporate job within twelve months and to pursue something else.  Without the lay off, I would probably never had made that leap.

So, more to come of the next few days about what I have done as a result of being booted out of corporate America, but that is the first thing I am thankful for this November.



Have a blessed day - All the love,
Amanda