To You

One of my favorite pictures :)

Another great photo

Sharon's wedding. She was gorgeous!

Good-byes are always the hardest

On October 1, 2008, began a journey and an adventure I could never forget. 

I had just gotten back from Disney in August and was running low on money, so I took it upon myself to get out there and find myself a job. I applied to one place, and one place only: Smoothie King. There was a Smoothie King back in my hometown and I had applied there several times and never heard anything from them so I took a shot in the dark and applied at the one in Nacogdoches. I knew this meant going back home for the breaks was going to be harder because if I got the job I didn't want to press my luck with asking for a TON of days off because I was still living in the dorms.

Well, lucky for me, the manager at the time Linsey was awesome! She completely understood and on the day of my interview  I was so nervous. I had been in there several times to check on my application, and I had been in there before so I knew she was the manager, but she always told me, "the manager will call you if they want to interview you." And you know what... I got that call. She called me the next day and offered me the job and of course I took it.

I wanted so bad to impress everyone working there I gave 120% every single time I worked. I hardly ever gave up a shift because of school, I took people's shifts and I even overloaded myself with a few doubles because I wanted to prove that  I was worth Linsey hiring me. My day to prove myself came on March 18, 2009. I had been working there for about 5 months and was just trained on the cash register and so Linsey thought it would be best to just leave the store with me there, by myself, working the register... for the first time.

I literally remember that day because I was SLAMMED! I mean, I'm talking like 20 or more people were waiting for their smoothies. Linsey was very crafty at how she managed the store. She had several people, that she knew, come in and see how I was doing. I honestly thought I had lost my job that day. I went back to my dorm after work and literally cried for like an hour because I thought I had done so poorly that my job was on the line.

Linsey called me around 9PM and told me that she was very impressed with my efforts today and that she made the right choice in hiring me and that she trusted in me. Those words ring in my head still to this day. Nearly three years later I am still working at Smoothie King and I love it. Three years later and I still live up to Linsey expectations and anytime I do something I always, always have Linsey in my mind.

In May of 2010, I was promoted to co-manager with Anna. The first couple of months were rather hard because I had never been in any type of authoritative position, so it was hard for me to be bossy. That's what my sister is good at, love her to death, but she got those genes and I was dealt more of the passive type, but I had the guts to be mean whenever I really felt the need to.

Around August of 2010, Anna dropped down to one shift a week and I stepped up and took the full load. Maybe this was better for the store, but only time would tell. It was hard at first, and to be honest it still is. With all the reports and watching labor and trying to make the schedule and everything else that came with it. I still struggle, to this day, but it has all been worth it.

I came up with the SmoothieKing Nacogdoches Facebook page, created the Smoothie King 470 email list, I even brought the retail percentage back up to nearly 20%. I've given my heart and soul into this store and it's going to be so hard to turn my back and walk away.

July 3, 2011, is going to be a day full of tears and fear of the unknown. I interviewed at State Farm and got the job. I start off at part-time and they are working around my schedule while I am still in school and once I graduate in August they want to put me on as a full-time employee. State Farm wants me to start on July 1st, but I told them that out of respect to Smoothie King, and myself, I would need a little extra time to hire and train someone to take my place.

For the past three years I have worked with some and for some amazing people. Matt and Allison are some of the best bosses a person could ever had and I am honored and blessed to have created such a great relationship with them. God has blessed me with great employees and great bosses, that I honestly could not have asked for more.

It is going to be such a shock when I have to wake up and put on dressy clothes and drive past Smoothie King. It's going to be a different pace of life but it is going to be well embraced. It was time for a change and I think this is going to be a great opportunity for me, and for the store. I hope I have trained my employees well and I hope and wish the best for Smoothie King 470.


For three years, I gave it my all, and will continue to give it my all and everything I have left for the next 19-20 days. I cannot say I will not miss it because that would be one of the biggest lies I have ever told to not only myself but to anyone reading this. 


So here are to the stress filled days, days off and the best days of my life. Thank you Smoothie King for creating memories I could never forget.


From the bottom of my heart, I truly thank you for every moment.

Ambitious Drive

Well here I am, again, trying to figure out my future.
I think, for now, this is what I have decided.

I plan to stay in Nacogdoches for at least another year-ish, this way I can get to see what life is like with school and get a feel for real-world situations. I would still coach my little soccer kiddos, hopefully I'd be able to coach at least two different teams. Heck, if I could I would coach five different teams, I just love it that much! After about May or June of 2012, I would move to Houston, or around Houston, and see if I could get some advertising business experience under my belt and then apply for a position at Disney World in Florida.

I've really thought long and hard about wanting to own the Smoothie King here in Nac and I just don't want to do it. I've put my heart and soul into the store and just don't think I'm getting anything out of it. I've put together a binder or everything I've accomplished, signs I've created, any sort of advertising I have done for the store and am going to put together my resume and take my portfolio and my resume and hit the streets.

I love Smoothie King and would love to stay there but I don't think I really want to anymore. My hands are really tied though because I love this store, I love this city, and I have given my heart and soul into this store and I don't want to see this store go to anyone else. But at the same time, I don't feel as appreciated or my work is being overlooked and I'm really only a part-time employee when I can and want to be a full-time employee.

I think that's what gets me so upset about this job. Is that I am ready to be that full-time employee and they still see me as a part-time employee. But then again, I still have summer school in July and will not graduate until August 13th, so maybe part-time is good for right now and then come August I can be full-time and get paid what I should be paid :)

Still sticking to the plan uptop though...

It's always something

"Sexual Desire"

Oooookay so I have to get this off my chest because I think it is absolutely RI.DIC.ULOUS!

Making a Facebook page ... for you PET!
REALLY?!
Cats, dogs, hamsters, fish and monkeys have no reason to have a Facebook page. And the person that creates this page for their pet has got to seriously have some issues and or a LOT of free time on their hands.
And then there are those people who put their pets in relationships with someone else’s pet.
Animals are not people!
This makes me SO Irritated!
What really ticks me off is the fact that Facebook used to be for networking and for college kids. I did not have a Facebook until my freshman year at SFA.
Now anyone or anything, apparently, can gain access to Facebook.
I just think it's stupid to make your pet a Facebook.
They have no way of accessing the Internet or even understanding what is going on.
They sit on the couch all day and lick themselves or chase their tails.
Why waste your time and more importantly the sanity of others!

Okay next rant...

So this lady came into Smoothie King the other day and basically had it out with me. She came in and got an Angel Food and while I was making it started to yell at me. I thought I was doing something wrong, but I knew that wasn't right because I hardly ever mess up a smoothie. So I turned around to acknowledge her and her loud voice and it turns out she was complaining about the music. The song. "Sexual Desire" was playing. Yes, I can understand how that may be a bit inappropriate, but it's a 3 minute song that happened to be on while she was in Smoothie King. She was telling me that because the song had the word "sex" in it I should be ashamed at myself for even listening, let alone thinking about the word in the song.

I politely told the lady that I did not control the music selection and that we had it on an XM station in the back titled "HITLINE". I also tried to explain to this lady that when we are working we don't really listen to the music, it's more of background noise than anything else. I honestly forget there is music sometimes because I am too busy listening to the wonderful humming of the blenders. She then proceeded to ask for the manager. HA! The look on her face once I said that I was the manager was absolutely priceless! But then... the real torture came out.

This crazy lady then proceeds to tell me I need to re-evaluate my morals and the morals of my employees because it is just wrong and immoral for us to be listening to such music. I really wanted to ask her if she had turned on her radio in the last 5 years, but I held my tongue and just let her yell at me...

But seriously, I understand how that song could and might offend some people but with the lyrics that are being written now-days you are lucky to listen to a song without some sort of sexual innuendo. I mean Rihanna is singing about being beaten, Miley Cyrus is singing about being a sex symbol, and you have so many other artists out there bringing sex into the ears of everyone.

Sex sells, I get it, but I do find some songs very offensive and inappropriate, considering 6-7 years ago *NSYNC and Backstreet Boys were popular and all they sang about was love and finding happiness. But the main reason society has sex on the brain and why 12 year-old little girls are having sex is because of the songs they hear.

Rihanna is not the best example or role model for any young girl. I understand where the lady was coming from, but at the same time I don’t write the lyrics to these songs and I am not the one in control of the music selection. Sorry lady. If you want classical music go to a little bistro downtown…

More Miles To Go

Everyone dreams of meeting a famous movie star or singer, but when you are a sports fan all you dream about is one day meeting your favorite athlete. Girls sit and dream that one day they will meet Prince Charming and live happily ever after. 

Okay, some girls dream that. Ever since I was a kid I've always dreamed about meeting a Dallas Cowboys player. They have been my team since I was in the womb and will forever remain my team even beyond the grave.

I have never once missed a Thanksgiving football game, and nor do I plan to. I actually plan on going to one and hopefully soon, well that is if everything works out with the strike and the unions, that is. 

Okay so I'm a Cowboys fan. Deal with it!

Not only am I a fan, I am a secret undercover SUPER FAN!

I know crazy but it's true. And now that my secret is out, it's not a secret anymore.

So there comes a day in a young girls life when she realizes what "fate" is. And that my friends was May 26, 2011. Not only did I meet Mr. Miles Austin the Third, he sat down an had like a 20 minute conversation with me, okay and this other girl Samantha. 

Talk about wildest dreams come true. To heck with meeting someone like John Travolta or Carrie Underwood, to actually be in the presence of a football genius was indescribable.

I mean every sports fan, girl wise, has that fantasy of meeting the best looking football player on the team and what-not. Then they have those silly dreams of that it will work out and they will get married and live happily ever after. Well, I'm not saying that I haven't dreamed about that BUT I won't say I will either.

Anyways, Miles was just ... I mean wow. Not only is he good looking and has a smile that will literally render you speechless but his personality is beyond words. You can tell he has such a great heart by the way he carries himself.

The fact that he dated Kim Kardashian and then broke up with her because she lives a flashy life was just AWESOME! Not for her, but it really shows you that he doesn't want or need to be in the spotlight every moment of his life. He's a classy, down-to-earth kind of guy and those are really hard to come across not only in athletes these days but in men alone.

I cannot even begin to describe what I felt when I met Miles. I mean this was on Thursday and it's now Monday and I will honestly be gushing about this for probably the rest of my life.

I mean, meeting Miles Austin was like a Bieber fan meeting Justin Bieber.

There are no words... 

Told You

I was a fan :)

That's my blog for tonight

It's always something :)

Dreams CAN come true!

"Keep smiling, because life is a beautiful thing and there's so much to smile about."
— Marilyn Monroe

Okay, so it's been a wee bit of time since my last blog but as always a LOT has happened! Let's catch you, and myself up, shall we:

Saturday:
Drove to Dallas and was there for about 5 days. I actually had a lot of fun! I will take a cue from my dear roommate and show you all the fun I had in pictures...

Mom and I had lunch with my dear, dear friend Sarah and her wonderful son Christian!

Wednesday day night we went to Mackinzie's Varsity Cheer thing and she ROCKED!

AND THURSDAY!!! The absolute BEST DAY of my freaking life! Yvette text me and told me about this shingdig going on with TOMS on Thursday night where you buy a pair of TOMS and there will be a local artist there and they will customize a pair of TOMS just for you. So of course I am going to get Dallas Cowboys customized TOMS! I mean, come on now guys! Okay, well here is the kicker... My FAVORITE player, Miles Austin, was going to be there! I mean seriously, I was NOT going to miss this opportunity! I already missed a chance to meet Brett Favre in 2008 and Miles Austin is my second favorite player in the NFL. Nothing was going to stop me, okay there was a short brief time where I thought about going back to Nac early to settle something with someone BUT I thought and thought about it, and talked to my mom and Yvette, and decided that this was a ONCE IN A LIFETIME chance and I was NOT going to pass this up. I mean, seriously, who would even THINK about passing up an opportunity to meet MILES AUSTIN?! I have no idea, obviously I did for a brief moment in time but later realized how incredibly stupid that would be. 

Okay, okay so this even doesn't start until 4PM. Well, I mean being a dedicated fan I got there at around 3:15PM. I met some really cool girls there! Mercedes and Samantha! Samantha was there at about the same time I was and she was really cool. Well, the whole process was you sign in and then the artists go by the list. So a few people were ahead of me but while the artists were doodling the girls and I were counting down the minutes until Miles got there. Well, they gave us like 10 ETA's. At first it was 4PM, then it was 5PM, then it was 7PM and he FINALLY showed up at 7:41PM (I checked my watch that's how I know). 

I mean, I cannot believe I almost missed this opportunity! I saw him come in and I literally forgot how to breathe. I have been a HUGE fan of his ever since I saw his first game in 2009. Not only does he have great eyes and a gorgeous smile, he has the heart and personality to make him one of the greatest football players and men you will ever meet. He is so humble and unbelievably sweet! I wanted to melt, I mean seriously! So here is my reaction as to when I realized that he ACTUALLY made it!  

There are no words for all the feelings and emotions that ran through me. I have long dreamed about meeting Miles and it was absolutely everything I could have ever imagined. He was truly great and I am still in awe over my experience from 24 hours ago. I just literally have no words. I am speechless. Meeting Miles was, as cheesy as it might sound, a dream come true.

It's always something :)

And this time... it's AWESOME!!