It only took 30 years for me to figure it out!

2013 is almost over and I've realized that I've had a blessed year. I've traveled, spent valuable time with family, partied with friends, loved, cried, pushed myself, added family members, stressed out, moved, started a new job, started a passion project and started blogging. While there is still plenty of time in December to make 2013 even more memorable, here's what I've learned so far:

  

Wine a little! 

Wine a little! 

"They say once we hit forty, women only have four taste buds left: one for vodka, one for wine, one for cheese and one for chocolate."

I think mine kicked in 10 years early because I enjoy about 50% of those items on a weekly basis. 

If she can do , I can do it! 

Be goofy! Be yourself! 

"I've learned that no matter how serious your life requires you to be, everyone needs a friend to act goofy with."

Well I'm that friend! I learned to always take time out to have fun and be myself. While I can be the most serious person you'll ever meet, I can also be the goofiest person in the room. Be goofy and be yourself. It may just be the pick me up you've been waiting on. 

How can you not fall asleep here?

Rest Up!

"Happiness consists in getting enough sleep. Just that, nothing more."

I'm not sure how we can manage to survive without sleep,but we still try. Thankfully my body has unique ways of telling me it's time to check out; like head on keyboard with a side of drool moments at work. Sleep is very important, so take a step back, kick your feet up and rest!! 

Getting our "Gone with the wind" on!

Enjoy the small moments!

"If there is one thing I learned, it's that nobody is here forever. You have to live for the moment, each and every day...the here, the now."

Enjoy the here and now for what it is, here and now. While I listed out my goals for the future, I took a step back this year and enjoyed the little moments. For example, the image is something I've been wanting to do my entire adulthood. Not sure why we never got around to it, but as we passed a photo shop while shopping in Galveston, we finally stopped and did it, making it one of the best moments of 2013.  

Barely made a dent!

Have a carb!

"The only time to eat diet food is while you're waiting for the steak to cool."

Go ahead and eat a carb! You'll feel so much better afterwards! 
  -  A public service announcement from my hips and thighs! 






and the most important of them all.... 

Dream Big!! Dream Big!! Dream Big!!!

Live the life you've imagined! Create a vision, stick to it and you'll see everything fall into place!

Post It Dream House!  Who needs a vision board?

I hope the remainder of your year is amazing and I wish all of you an even more amazing 2014! 

Brandi Jones - Future Fortune 500 CEO!

Don't you love it when you have a horrible day and something totally unexpected changes everything? My unexpected moment came when I heard the following on the six o'clock news: 

GM shakes up auto industry men's club, naming first woman CEO! 

While that may not mean much to a lot of you, that means the WORLD to me. Why? 

I've always been the little girl with big dreams of running a Fortune 500 company by the age of 50. After countless weekends learning the nuts and bolts of business and management with my parents, it wasn't a shock to anyone that I became a challenge driven professional in my adulthood. Some attribute it to genes, but I think it has everything to do with your upbringing and surroundings. So thank you parents, I owe all of my future success to you. Now I just have to figure out how to get there. 

I've heard numerous times that in order for you to achieve your goals, you must find successful individuals and research what paths they took to achieve their dreams. While your path may not be the same, it can't hurt to find out where your starting point should be. So I took their advice and applied my months of unemployment to researching my role models. Such as: 

Carly Fiorina, HP CEO (1999-2005)
Meg Whitman, Current HP CEO
Marissa Mayer, Yahoo
Indra Nooyi, PepsiCo
Ursula Burns, Xerox Corporation
and now...

Maria Barra, General Motors

Maria, 51 years old, is the first female to lead a global automaker. She is ranked #35 on Forbes Most Powerful Women list and has gradually worked her way up the corporate ladder. She has experience in manufacturing, engineering and senior management and has been with GM for 33 years, starting out as intern at the tender age of 18. I don't know about you, but I can't think of a better business role model. 

With only 21 female CEO's in this country, it's about time for some new blood. So get ready - I'll be claiming my seat come 2033. 

Check out the article below: 
http://www.cnbc.com/id/101232970

UGH, WHERE DID MY MONEY GO?

Have you ever thought about how much you're spending while you're unemployed?

It's been six months since my last paycheck and I'm scratching my head, sitting in Indian style, in the middle of my bed wondering, "Where did my money go?" 

I'm pretty sure I know where it all went, but without anything to show for it, I'm a little baffled. Wait, that's a lie. In my college days I discovered this little tactic called, "out of sight, out of mind" in relation to my expenses.

If I have income and hide all of my receipts, then it really doesn't matter how much or what I spend my money on. As long as my account never ventures into the negative side, all is well! 

Although this tactic has been good to me, I promised myself I would use a budget while unemployed. Did that happen? Not so much! 

The first couple months after my last day at work I started to live like a Real Housewife of Houston. I spent money like it was going out of style and categorized it all as investments. For example:  

Pending interview = New outfit + Shoes = Investment into future employment. 
Temporary stay at parents house = Entertaining + drinking = Investment into future sanity. 
Las Vegas = Gambling = Investment into business education, Statistical Economics at its best! 
Reading Entertainment = New Books = Investment into future self, better candidate! 
Dining Out = Investment into networking opportunities and my waistline. 
Traveling = Extra $$ for assigned seating = Investment into my future peace. 
Pedicures/Manicure = Investment into my personal brand. Gotta stand out from the rest. 
and the list continues...sadly. 

Fast forward six months later: I'm still without a paycheck and limited funds to spend on the necessary items. As I look around my room, I'm seriously contemplating what I can sell, because setting up house in another city is a tad bit more expensive than I originally intended. Either way, my advice to other individuals using their nest egg to survive, don't blow it! Save every penny! You'll thank me later! 

Be on the lookout for a "For Sale" post coming soon. ;)

Tis' the Season for Giving! Give back in 2013!

Christmas has always been my favorite holiday! Not for the food, family or religious sentiments, although all of those items are very important, but because this is the only time of the year everyone unites to give! Between gifts, time and money, Christmas reminds me that at least once a year, love is all around!!

Now that I'm an official resident of Victoria, I'm reminded of the person I used to be. Once upon a time, before life got in the way, volunteering was a huge part of my life. It was more important to me to give my time to help others than it was to increase my material wealth. I'm not sure when I lost my way, but somewhere between college and bills, I suppressed a big part of what made me special. After some soul searching, I recently decided that there's no better time to re-evaluate what's important and start over! 

So where do I begin?

There are a ton of organizations I could join and assist, but after being unemployed for a few months I realized that I now have a passion project - helping others find employment. I'm already working online to help others, but it's time to make my virtual assistance a reality. My first project - teaching computer classes to the community. My friends, co-workers and family have always stated that I should take my training lessons on the road, and I am now happy to say that I'm finally taking their advice. It is my goal to not only provide the basics for new and novice users, but hopefully provide training that will allow someone to receive a better job. If so, mission accomplished!! 

This idea is still in the beginning stages, but I hope to make it a reality soon. I've been known to bite off more than I can chew at times, and with the move and new job, I have to remember to pace myself. Either way, this is just the beginning and I can't wait to see what the future holds.

Everyone knows I'm a firm believer in everything happens for a reason, so maybe this new life/adventure is exactly where I need to be. If I have any readers out there, find a way to give back this season! 

Tis' the season for giving! 

When was the last time you fulfilled your social responsibility of "paying it forward?"

Although I can be quite talkative at times about random, unimportant topics, I've recently discovered that I can be a little stingy when it comes to sharing professional advice. I share a ton of stories and articles online, but how many times have I shared my advice in public? Almost never! While I'm trying to fix that now with the new Google+ community "Life of a Texas Job Seeker", a person can still get a little discouraged in the "pay it forward" department with minimal feedback. So you can imagine my excitement when I received the opportunity to help a young college student this week with his career goals. While it felt great to get back on the "pay it forward" wagon, the best moment of the experience was bonding with another person over shared professional aspirations and dreams.  

So I decided to share some more advice! :)

Blurry but confident!

I think we often forget what it felt like to be a recent college graduate!

I remember being overly confident in my abilities the first few months after graduation, only to receive a rude awakening that I was just another applicant with no experience! Although I was lucky to have friends and mentors in place to help me along the way, not everyone has someone in place to show them the way. 

So my "Pay It Forward" advice is to share your knowledge! 

It was brought to my attention this week that college students and recent graduates are pretty much alone in their career search journey. They have the career center at their schools, but even then there's only so much information a college counselor can provide. What they really need and want is advice from professionals about how to achieve their dream jobs. For example, resume reviewing, interviewing tips, how to network, how to negotiate, business acumen, what to wear, what to read and etc. I was extremely lucky to have numerous executives take me under their wings, but why should that flow of information stop with me? 

So let's start sharing what we've learned! The only cost on your end is your time!

I can tell you without a doubt that the advice shared with me over the past few years has meant more to me than the four years I spent in college. So let's start paying it forward and making a difference in the lives of our future business leaders. 

Now what? 29 and Newly Employed!

Yes, I know it's been awhile but I have great news! 

After four months of being unemployed, Citizens Medical Center in Victoria, Texas decided to take a chance on me. Although a new industry, the job is in my background and I'm incredibly thankful for the opportunity. 

How did it happen?

After months of applying for random jobs and interviewing it all came to an end through a network connection. Our family doctor suggested I try the HR department at the neighboring hospital and after an initial meet and greet with the department executive, I was offered a position a week or so later. 

I started last Monday and it has been a wild ride so far. Not only did I underestimate the challenge ahead of me, but I underestimated the amount of physical and mental work involved. However, I've never been the type of girl to shy away from a challenge! I feel like all of my work and experience up to this point has prepared me to kick butt in this role...so I'm ready!!  

Now what? 

I'm not ready to give up on journal writing. This experience has been quite therapeutic and it has been awesome to talk with others about job searching, applying and interviewing. So I will continue to share my daily adventures, get others to share about their job search experiences through my Google+ community, Life of a Texas Job Seekers, and hopefully I'll be able to help someone in the process. Fingers crossed!  

Stay tuned! If nothing else, you'll enjoy reading the complete randomness of my mind. :)