*****THIS BLOG IS CURRENTLY  UNDER CONSTRUCTION TO BRING YOU BETTER AWESOMENESS THAN BEFORE*****

I hope you all …

I hope you all aren’t reading gymnotechieology anymore and are on bellanottebelle.wordpress.com because they’re selling diet pills. Which I would never do!

Domain

I’m not longer using gymnotechieology.com – it’s time for a new domain name. Until I am finished with my restructuring of the my blog, I’ll just be using bellanottebelle.wordpress.com

Fall 2012

The fall 2012 semester starts on Monday, and it’s been a pain in my butt to get there. For reasons unknown to virtually anyone around here, I almost lost my scholarship for the 2012-2013 year. The plan is to take my position and make it a position for a graduate assistant. Luckily they’re holding off one more year for me. So, that means I need to graduate in May! Which is exciting to finally say I have only 1 year left. To make that happen, I dropped my minor. Which is fine. Really.

Though, with the scholarship, it only covered the tuition, not the upper-divison fees, so for the past couple of days I’ve been mildly panicked (the money is due TOMORROW) to get it. Luckily the people I work for at the school are amazing wonderful people and helped me work it down to only owing a smaller amount, which completely works out.

But, y’all… I’m graduating in May.

Playing Catch Up

Isn’t it amazing how much we rely on technology? You never really realize it until you don’t have it anymore. I know I’ve mentioned my old computer before, and it’s not even really that old. It’s well loved, though. It’s been through 3 years of full time classes, a move to Orlando, a move back from Orlando, and out lasted 2 additional moves.

I’m so happy to be back on-line. While I haven’t been completely offline (thank goodness both of my jobs have internet access & I do have an iPad that works but would be way more helpful if I had a keyboard to go with it) it was nice to see how much I could get done. My room, though not quite finished, has been emptied. We took a whole carload of stuff from clothes to books to the Goodwill. My closet is still pretty full, but it’s nice to have gotten rid of the clutter that filled it up.

While I haven’t gotten to my goal weight, I have lost weight! On top of what I lost in Orlando, I’m down almost 6 more lbs! I’m able to fit in to jeans that were in my donate pile this time last year (that obviously never made it’s way to actually being donated).

I’ve been doing Insanity, but it’s hard. I’m not pushing myself a lot on them and I’ve been slightly slacking. I’ll be redoing month 1 here soon because I don’t feel comfortable moving on to month 2 this unprepared. I’ve been replacing sodas with sparkling water, but have been drinking a lot less soda. Mostly because I’m still working on getting rid of the caffeine headaches.

Tony’s grandmother has been in the hospital. We’re still waiting on test results, but we’re hopeful. So it’s been a little crazy the past while.

There’s also news on the wedding front. It’s a recent development and I’ll be sure to shout from the rooftops when I have a little more information. But, I can confirm it looks like the wedding will be moved to March instead of it being in December. Which I’m totally fine with.

And now to continue to go through e-mails – and virtually everything, to catch up! AH!

 

Also, it seems the internet ate some of my posts… so I’ll repost those. Especially the one about the Foodie Pen Pal!

Whoa…

Oh, hey August. We’re going to completely ignore what my last post said…

 

The bloggers out there who blog daily – they deserve major props for being interesting and keeping me entertained. Obviously I’m not cut out for daily updates, but maybe I can manager a weekly update without boring everyone (specifically myself).

Basically, I almost completely fell off of the internet planet. I’ve only really been able to get on at work. My laptop started to get slower and stopped opening certain programs &  websites and it completely sucked.

SO… I bought a new computer. Apple has this amazing payment plan thing for students & teachers… so I got a Mac. I’ve only had it a few days and haven’t any time to play with it yet, so expect more in the immediate future.

As for my old laptop, I plan on taking it to the Geek Squad and wiping it clean, cleaning the exterior, fixing the key that came off, buying a new battery and using it for my PC software. I figure it will probably run much better once I get everything that’s been on it for 3 years.

I’m so excited about my grand, triumphant return to the internet!

Now to buy a new domain name for this sucker…

 

and to get back to everything that was put on hold by being unable to do online work.

Halfway Through 2012!

Sometimes it takes something out of the ordinary to give you the kick in the pants that you need. I know I talk about Disney a lot, but it is so difficult to explain how that one semester has changed me.

 

Something I’ve never really brought up on the blog is my anxiety. It’s not crippling, it may not even be what you consider severe. But stick me in front of a group of people or have someone yell at me and I would normally clam up. I took an Oral Communications class (a required Gen Ed) which was basically a class on public speaking. The first day I stood up to give my speech and you could hear my index cards flapping behind my back. Being down there and spieling to thousands of guests daily, dealing with unpleasant guest situations, and trying to prove myself (to myself and others) showed me how strong I actually am.

 

I never would have started eating better or exercising if I hadn’t gone down there. I would have never in a million years (!!!) signed up for a half marathon without the help of my friend Eric who participated in the program (yet, we never actually hung out) with me. I mean, heck – I came back 30 lbs lighter!

 

Because I went down there, I took a couple of classes online. I was terrified that I would fail them because they wouldn’t follow a typical classroom setting. I had never felt smarter. I learned the material without help and aced both classes.

 

I used to be this quiet, nervous, wreck of a person who sat in the back of the classroom afraid to answer any questions out loud. Now? Now I have no problem going to a teacher if I’m having an issue with the material or to speak up in class if I know the answer.

 

Even writing it down, it doesn’t explain how much I’ve changed over the past year. And we’re now halfway through the year. So, I’m ending this year with a bang. I’m going to kick the rest of 2012’s butt.

 

This photo was used with permission of Budget Fairy Tale. She’s pretty awesome, go check out her blog! http://www.budgetfairytale.com

 

First stop? Insanity. No… I’m not insane (well, maybe…) but I will be starting the Insanity workout program. It’s in the mail, on its way here. I should be getting it within the next week. I will definitely be chronicling my journey with that on here.

Secondly - Second – I’m redoing this blog. It needs a new name. I mentioned it briefly in a previous post.

Third – On my next payday, I’m signing up for the Disney half marathon in January. Originally I was planning on doing the St. Jude relay, but it sold out on the first day. This will be really fun though. I absolutely enjoyed it this past January. This time, though, I’m going to stick to my training plan. That was one downfall of being in Orlando. I didn’t train at all while I was down there because, in all reality, who’s going to pick running over playing in the parks? My school load will be lightish this semester (I did it that way since the wedding is in December) so I should have zero excuses!

Fourth – I’m officially adding Social Commerce as my minor. Yes, it adds on another semester of school, but it will be worth it. It’s a constantly changing & growing area that’s not going away. Which brings me to point 4.1 – my social media blog. It’s time for it to get a makeover and jumpstart back on track!

Fifth – To continue to push myself out of my comfort zone, I’m considering going to SXSW. The dates have been announced (nothing else) and it falls over spring break! So, I’m going to start saving up for that. And if I can’t make it in 2013? Then I’ll go in 2014!

Lastly – we’re at less than 6 months until the wedding and there’s still SO much to do. Expect to hear a little more about that.

Time for a Change?

I think it might be time for a change. I don’t know that I’m feeling my website URL anymore. My domain registration expires on July 22 and I think I’m going to change it… but I can’t decide to what.

I’m not incredibly creative – I’m more of a list making, excel spreadsheet kind of person. At least I have a month to figure it out before it expires.

I can’t believe June is almost over! Last week I helped run a music camp so I’ve been wiped from that. I think now I may actually be caught up on my sleep. Now to get caught up on my e-mails and such. At least I have the entire weekend off!

How has your June been?

And We Are… Moving On…

Hi everyone!

I know, I know. I fell off the face of the earth, My bad. I’m not even going to bother explaining it all away. Having some new jobs really threw my schedule for a loop, but I’m back now. And I think everything is going well.

My life, all in all, is going well. If you had told me 2 years ago that this is where I was going to be in life, I would have laughed in your face. For the first time in my life I’m able to pay all of my bills and I’m even able to put extra money toward my debt without having to borrow money. I’m not rolling in the dough by any means, but I’m more able to live within my means.

The hotel job is working out beautifully. There are some not so pleasant people I’ve dealt with (none co-workers) but I love it. I am learning to not take things personally. Obviously it’s not my fault if the AC isn’t working well – but I’m learning how to handle the situation when it escalates so I don’t have to call co-workers or managers to figure out what to do. That’s always a plus.

I’m also loving my Social Media job with a local catering company and local event design company. It’s a lot of fun and learning on the job. Nothing is 100% in the world of social media and it’s a lot of trial and error. It’s so much fun learning though! I need to get back on my social media blog, though. It’s on my list of things to do!

Last week I went to Disney World because I had to pick up a shift. I still can’t believe I’m a Cast Member. I know the people I’m around frequently are tired of hearing me talk about it – but it was one of my major life goals and I did it! I got to see my old roomies/newest best friends and it was awesome. I wouldn’t have survived my 4 months in Orlando without them and now I can’t imagine my life without them! They’re great friends. (Okay guys, 1… 2… 3… Awwwwww)

I haven’t been running like I should be… but I’m working on that. Now that I have no big trips planned for anytime soon, I’ll be able to get back in to my regular routine. I still haven’t registered for the Disney Half Marathon for January. I’m still debating it. Of course I definitely want to do it. Just have to work out the logistics

So, yeah. I’m back. I promise not to run away like that again.

Socialpunk: Author Interview

Socialpunk author, Monica Leonelle, was nice enough to do a short interview with me! So I asked around to get some questions to send her. So, without further ado, Monica:

1. What is one book everyone should read?

I really loved the Clockwork Prince from Cassandra Clare. It’s the second in a series, after Clockwork Angel.

2. Writing can be tough, what is your advice to those who have hit a writer’s block?

Writer’s block doesn’t exist! It such a silly concept. If you are having trouble writing you need to just push through it until you start writing again. Writer’s block is really just procrastination. Every time I think I can’t write, I start outlining and then the ideas start flowing again.

3. How do you usually find your ideas?

You can’t find ideas. Ideas come from inspiration. I wouldn’t say any one thing is my inspiration, because that doesn’t create anything new. You create new things by combining inspirations from all sorts of different sources and then adding your own touch or twist. But if you want to be inspired, you should expose yourself to all sorts of media—books, television, movies, radio, art museums, you name it. If you are writing one book you should consume at least ten books, ten movies, ten TV shows, ten songs, etc. to prepare. It doesn’t matter if they are related or not—in fact, the more diverse, the better. And how much fun is it that I just told you to watch TV in order to do work? You’re welcome for that.

4. What do you like to do when  you’re not writing?

I like running or hanging out with my family and friends and my adorable dog.

5. Do you have anything you would like to say to your readers?

Thank you for reading my books!