Good Tuesday afternoon. Stylish DTM here with some ways you can motivate yourself. Thank you Vanessa for your Motivational Monday video which is motivation for the blog I’m putting together.

There are many ways to create motivation. But first let me credit Sir Isaac Newton and his law of inertia which states (in my words): If you’ve been at rest, you will stay at rest.

The first method of creating motivation is to take action. You can take any kind of action even if it’s the worst method.

Yesterday I talked about starting something you’ve put off for a long time. If the action doesn’t work then take another until you find what works best for you. For example, take action by starting that book you’ve been wanting to read. Read a chapter or two a day until you’re finished or the subject matter gets to be too much.

The second method of creating motivation is to have a morning routine. Create a to do list for the day. Read something inspirational. I have plenty of great inspirational Christian books at my disposal that I read every day. Take 15-30 minutes a day to read that chapter or at least part of it and apply what you’ve learned to your everyday life.

When you take time at the beginning of the day to read something inspirational; study your morning devotional; or meditate on a passage of scripture, et cetera, you win the morning.

When you win the morning, the rest of your day will go smooth.

The third method of creating motivation is something all of us should take up, and that is exercise. Even if it’s a 15 minute morning fitness routine, it’ll help you feel complete. You’ll feel accomplished with more motivation for the rest of your day. Ride that exercise bike when you wake up. Do some strength training or yoga 🧘‍♀️ 🧘‍♂️. Hit 🥊 that punching bag for a few minutes every night. These are all just a few great examples.

The fourth method of creating motivation is to show gratitude. Give thanks to God. Make a list of what and whom you are thankful for. Have some positive affirmations ready for the day and go over them in your mind. Don’t think too much because that leads to stagnation and overthinking. It won’t seem as effective when you’re offering gratitude to whomever is deserving of it.

The last method of creating motivation is to serve others. That is the ultimate action we can take in order to feel motivated.

Sign up for that Habitat for Humanity project; show up at the job ready to work (don’t roll your eyes because your superiors will see that you really don’t want to be there); play chess ♟ in the park with that elderly person and have a nice conversation with them; while in line at Starbucks, pay for that person’s Frappuccino (they might just pay it forward and you may have just started something).

You will feel elevated, motivated and uplifted because you made that person’s day. You may even change their life for the better by performing that one good deed.

Before I close off the blog I want to share my three things that I am grateful for.

Number one is that I was given the opportunity yesterday to post a picture on my blog. It was two wonderful Toastmaster friends of mine showing off their red Kate Spade bags. Kate minds do think alike. I’m also grateful that the Cranberry High Noon chapter makes me feel welcome when I visit.

Number two is that my style has been an inspiration to one of my good friends. Sarah saw me rocking my leather jacket so much. Therefore she bought one herself.

Number three is that I had the opportunity to work with my favorite people today (my squad). Even though we didn’t talk much we still had a great day. I stuck around at the end because I enjoy their company.

I told them all Love You as I left because it makes me feel complete to say that.

Live your best life. Be your best you. ROCK out because you are worth it. Let your smile be infectious. Someone who’s having a bad day might just see their day turned around. Don’t forget to laugh because laughter is the best medicine.

We’re almost to Wednesday. Weekend’s almost here. Have a great evening and find ways to create motivation.

Bye everyone. ❤️ you.

Stylish Traveling DTM here with you on a Monday and I’m here to tell you something.

I’m here today to tell you to get off your rear end and START something. START that project you’ve been putting off for over a year. START that book you’ve wanted to read but weren’t sure you were ready. START that 31 day study in Proverbs you’ve been itching to do but were too busy to begin. START training for that marathon you’ve been planning to win but weren’t confident you could run it.

For me, I finally started my blog after so much time had passed. I had done them before but I gave up after a while because I felt I didn’t have anything interesting to say.

I blogged a little bit early last year but quickly lost interest. I brought that same blog back in November, started a new one in January (even though I will never give up my love for Slippery Rock), and have been honing my craft ever since. Doing this has helped me in more ways than one.

One of the things that has been a part of my blog (other than Slippery Rock and Toastmasters) has been Style. I’ve taken the liberty of starting to post pictures of my new clothes on Facebook. I’ve gotten a lot of rave reviews because I’m always rocking my leather jackets in my pictures. I have plans to do a photo shoot sometime in the Spring. Having it done at the Diamond in Ligonier, Twin Lakes, or even at Slippery Rock University would be perfect.

About a decade ago, I almost started the process of going back to school for a another degree. I felt like I was getting nowhere in my life and wanted to try again because it seemed like my time at Slippery Rock was a failure. Funny how my thinking changed over the last few years. Eventually that fell through and I got another job (the same one I’ve had for over a decade now). I didn’t give up that dream because it really seemed more like a way out than a solution.

About a year later I started posting weather updates on Facebook. I really enjoyed doing it but couldn’t do it all the time because of work. During the great Snowmageddon of 2010, I had a meltdown on Facebook. I still posted the updates and warnings but I felt back for flipping out. It was just the cabin fever getting to me. I had some anger pent up as well from the past that I held in for a long time. I continued doing the weather updates sporadically but since then I have given it up to focus more on this blog.

The late great Jim Valvano has some words of wisdom if life ever gets you down. This can make the difference between your dream living or dying. “Don’t Give Up. Don’t Ever Give Up.” Too many times I’ve given up because I listened to the opinions of others who felt they had my best interests in mind but really didn’t. Because of my loyalty to those people, I gave up what could have been a new thing. Don’t give up and don’t live your life through what others want for you. It may not be the best thing.

I’m going to close off the blog with couple of shoutouts. First one is to my home club away from home. My good Toastmaster friends Denise Etter and Sarah Souri at today’s Cranberry High Noon meeting showed off their Kate Spade bags. They were color coordinated as well. I’m happy to post this to my blog because I love this club and members like they’re my own family. It makes me feel good to be an inspiration as well. I talk about my leather jackets so much on Facebook that I talked Sarah into buying one.

From black and red to green and white. This is a beautiful picture of a nice sunset over Vincent Science Hall. I always enjoy walking through the quad when I come up for homecoming. Pair that view with some springtime warmth and you have a beautiful sight. Credit given to the person who snapped this great shot.

Live your best life. Be your best you. ROCK out because you are worth it. Don’t forget to laugh because laughter is the best medicine. Make every day lovely 😊 and I’ll be back with more great content tomorrow. Bye everyone. ❤️ you.

It was a great week celebrating someone other than New England hoisting the Lombardi trophy. Now it’s time to preview what’s coming to the Stylish Traveling DTM for the coming week ahead.

I’m planning to do a church tour starting in April. I’ll visit two different churches a month in addition to attending Cornerstone. Some churches I have in mind are Allegheny Center Alliance Church on the North Side and Community Alliance Church in Butler. I’ll be visiting Greensburg Alliance as well (my home church for eight years).

I’ll be posting a lot of motivational blogs this week. One will be about starting something and not giving up (inspired by Faerie Grace). I also want to do one about encouragement and why it’s important to smile. With Valentine’s Day this Friday, let’s talk about love.

Contest season will be starting up soon so there’s that to look forward to. I’ll be busy with Toastmaster events in the near future including the conference. It looks like I’m going to have a big role coming up. I’ll talk more about that this week as I hear more from my co-chairs.

Have a great Monday. ❤️ you.

Today started off with breakfast at Cornerstone. I was just amazed by the fellowship I saw as I was eating my croissant 🥐 and drinking my cappuccino. Then I went upstairs for church and was amazed by the worship team as well as Pastor Donn’s sermon on being encouraging. The song at the end was uplifting. I think I just got some good blog material for this coming week.

With all that aside, it’s now time for my Week in Review #4.

Last Sunday, I got to enjoy the taco 🌮 bar that my mom put together before we watched the Super Bowl. The game itself didn’t get interesting until the final quarter. It’s typical KC throughout the playoffs. Down 24 to Houston, down 11 to Tennessee, and then down 11 to San Francisco. It looked over after that Super Bowl but Kyle Shanahan abandoned the running game that had been so successful and threw the ball instead. Patrick Mahomes then worked his magic and led the Chiefs to their first Super Bowl win in 50 years.

I spent a good amount of time this week on blogs related to the Kansas City Chiefs. But I also did some motivational blogs as well. I talked about perfection and why nothing will ever be without flaws. I also talked about insecurity and why that has always been a running problem for me over the years.

On Wednesday it was back to Toastmasters after three weeks away (seemed more like three months) but it was a great time regardless. Four guests showed up, so Mike, our Toastmaster for the evening, educated them on what the meeting entailed.

We had three amazing speakers (Diane, Ina, and Michelle). Diane gave her ice breaker and talked about why it’s important to check yourself for breast cancer. Ina talked about rhubarb. Michelle gave the first leg of her high performance leadership speech with the upcoming Spring Conference in sight this April. She’ll do part two following the event.

My table topics session centered around Valentine’s Day and I almost got full participation. Our evaluators did a bang up job. Jim and I hatched out some issues after the meeting and I gave some words of encouragement to our guests. I’m confident that all four will join the club very soon. I’ll be doing a blog on encouragement this week as well as why it’s important to smile all the time.

I blogged about 2019 yet again and why the last part of the year was so good. I learned to believe in myself in addition to starting the blog, getting my DTM, and bonding with my work family (and the squad). The last week of September turned out to be a game changer for me. When I hit the top of the hill in early November already slowing down it was either give it all you got or give up. I gave it all I got and won out the rest of the way. I overcame the loneliness that hit me in late October as well as breaking the chains that held me captive.

Friday we saw our first significant snowfall of the year. It hampered my commute into work but overall the day did not turn out so bad. I chilled with my family and celebrated my sister’s 30th birthday Friday night. We had donuts from Dunkin’ and later we watched Toy Story 4 on Disney+.

Saturday I treated my sister and Annabelle to breakfast at Sun Dawg. We all had pancakes. When I got home I tried on my new clothes that came so quick the week before. I got good reviews on some of my outfits. The white jeans and blazer were nice but my red leather jacket got the most attention. In fact, all my talk about them inspired my Toastmasters friend Sarah to buy one. I was happy my sense of style inspired her to get a leather jacket, just as my coworker inspired me to dress better. The best picture of the bunch is my profile picture.

We had Katie’s birthday dinner at Texas Roadhouse. Despite the long wait, we had a nice dining experience. Afterwards we had cake and ice cream. Annabelle spent the night with us and had a great time as always. I spent the night reading.

Time to close off the week in review and build you up as we start a new workweek. Live your best life. Be your best you. ROCK out because you are worth it. Don’t forget to laugh because laughter is the best medicine. Make this week lovely and I’ll have more content coming up on the Stylish Traveling DTM. ❤️ you.

Another month, another blog where I’m showing off my clothes. But this should be the last of the new stuff (eh, probably not). I love updating, or expanding, my wardrobe.

I ordered some more colored V-neck tops from JCPENNEY along with some jeans (black and white). If anybody can make this look seem stylish, it’s me. I also got a red leather jacket and black blazer from Amazon. I think I’m springing for a red one next month.

So what does one do with all these clothes, they try them on and take selfies. Squad goals: Style like me. Here’s my stash from today.

Lots of color there and the filtering (yes I do filter) makes my clothes stand out. That boysenberry V-neck looks very hot pink. The cadmium green looks teal. It can confuse those who are colorblind though.

First set of outfits I put together were my black jeans with a couple of the new V-necks and my black leather jacket. I tried my new black jeans Wednesday night with my boysenberry V-neck and leather jacket and it looked very nice. I think I’ll pair the black v-neck with khakis and canvas shoes in the future.

Next up I tried on the black blazer I bought from Amazon. I used my other v-neck shirts as I was putting away clothes.

Next I paired my white jeans (I won’t wear them regularly until after the first of April) with my colored v-necks. I think they look good with or without the jacket. Some of you may disagree that white is not my color but I think it’ll look better in the summer.

I took these pictures fairly quickly. I didn’t take my time like last month. I’ll admit this wasn’t as big as January’s was but I felt like I needed a good style blog. Overall, I’m happy with how these pictures turned out. Maybe I’ll find a new profile picture out of this bunch.

A couple of shoutouts before I end the blog. One goes to my sister Katie who just turned 30 years old yesterday. We celebrated last night with a dozen donuts from Dunkin’. This morning I treated her to breakfast at Sun Dawg. We all had pancakes 🥞. Tonight we’re having dinner at Texas Road House.

The other shoutout, of course, goes to my favorite green and white school. Of course it snowed yesterday, and that added some beauty to the campus. I remember the days of going from building to building in weather like this. This view from Bailey Library is one of the best. I used to look out these windows myself when I was studying or working on papers.

The other is from my 2020 Slippery Rock University calendar but it almost could have been taken yesterday.

I’ll be starting Gilmore Girls Season 3 Monday night. I’m looking forward to what this season has to offer. Rory’s Chilton graduation, plus we see Lorelai as a teenager before Rory came around. This season will be just as good I hope.

On this day, live your best life, be your best you, ROCK out because you are worth it. Don’t forget to laugh, because laughter is the best medicine. The weekend’s here so enjoy it and enjoy the snow. Spring will be here in six weeks or soon if you believe Punxsutawney Phil.

Have a great Saturday. ❤️ you.

It was the first real Toastmasters meeting of the new year for GREENSBURG since last meeting was the club contest.

Overall it was a great night. We had four guests show up and all gave an introduction of themselves and what they hoped to accomplish.

Mike Dalton served as Toastmaster and did a great job introducing our three speakers. Diane Svec spoke on how important it is to check yourself. Ina Bazley talked about rhubarb. Michelle Teague did a high performance leadership speech concerning the upcoming Spring conference.

Afterwards, yours truly served as your table topic master. With Valentine’s Day approaching, I felt it was an appropriate theme. I had a lot of participation from the members. Everyone liked the questions I had.

Denise Pullen served as General Evaluator and our Evaluators did an excellent job. Victoria Baur, for her first time evaluating, did great and she had a pretty important speech to cover. Sam Wieder stepped up to the plate and evaluated Ina’s speech. Faerie Grace gave her feedback on Dianes’s speech. Everyone gave their best suggestions and offered room for improvement.

We got word that we were praised for having all seven of our officers trained at December’s TLI. I also talked to Jim Teague about his upcoming Area contest on February 29 at Pitt-Johnstown; as well as the Division Contest March 28 being held at the same venue. He’s looking for help at both events.

Jim approached our guests and piqued their interest in joining the Greensburg Club. We believe it’s going to happen. One of the guests was a colleague of Jim’s who now works at Pitt-Greensburg. I love our club and its members and our guests who know they’re going to get a great experience.

We finished the meeting right on the dot at 8pm, after doing club business and planning the next couple of meetings. I stayed until just after 8:30.

I want to give a shoutout to my wonderful Toastmaster friend Sarah Souri, whose daughter just got accepted into the Doctor of Occupational Therapy program at Slippery Rock. Her son in law is in the Doctor of Physical Therapy program at SRU. They picked a great school to attend.

Live your best life. Be your best you. ROCK out because you are worth it. Don’t forget to laugh because laughter is the best medicine. Friday’s coming and so is the weekend.

Have a great night. ❤️ you.

It may sound like I’m being redundant in the blogs but, still, read them anyways.

2019 had its good, bad, and ugly moments (coming back to WIS, getting more involved in Toastmasters, Grandma’s cancer diagnosis, and the loss of a good colleague). But aside from all that, the year had its great moments. We just had to wait until the end of summer for them.

My happy ending to 2019 began at the end of August when I saw a familiar face at the Greensburg Rite Aid. It made my day to see Chase come back even if it was only temporary (at the time). I had Maura to thank for that because she called him to come.

The month of September turned out well. We had our family picnic in the middle of the month at Laurel Hill. I made plans to move back home soon after. Originally we were going to have a full house and have everyone living under one roof. A few weeks later we changed our plans and I was going to switch with Katie and Annabelle. I attended a Toastmasters event in Baltimore and made some new friends in District 18. Just before that was a work trip to Ashtabula where I got a new perspective on things, particularly my attire. We had a casual, laid back night out and Emily, one of our coworkers, looked like a million dollars. Wearing my gym shorts and T-shirt, I felt the need to dress better after that night.

October started great and then I slumped at the end. I got my Distinguished Toastmaster during our open house at the beginning of the month. A week later was our Fall Symposium (which replaced homecoming at Slippery Rock; I’ll be at HoCo this year). Towards the latter part of the month, the loneliness really began to sink in. I actually talked it out with Maura at her Dollar General. She was a good listener and I thanked her and Ashley for being there for me that day. I got sick at the end of the month and was ready to move.

I moved back home in November but my slump continued. The low point of the year was the disastrous Mayfield Heights trip and the next day everyone was just burned out. It’s over, it’s over I thought. You’d have to be an idiot to think this year would end well after that week. But I wasn’t going to be outdone. I quietly got on the winning track after that week.

I got to work a lot with my favorite people that second week of November. After I thought I made a stuck up comment; and, felt I owed my friends an apology, Chase assured me it was cool and that he and Emily enjoyed my friendship. She and I complimented each other’s leather jackets and upon leaving the DG in Scottsdale, I told them “Bye, Love You” and was on my way.

While on another overnight in Erie, I started launching my blog. Those first few posts were about me looking for my significant other. I’d been struggling with loneliness since my grandma passed away and I’d been trying to break chains in my life that have been holding me back. I also posted something confidential that I shared with a few people when I went out to dinner before Thanksgiving.

I wouldn’t be working with my favorite people as much over the next few weeks, but I did well for myself. I was winning because I started to believe in myself more. I dodged a bullet too because everyone got a bug and I didn’t. TLI and the Christmas parties were approaching and I was doing pretty good for myself.

Just when things looked bad in November, I found myself on a roll heading into December. We had one of our well attended TLI’s in recent memory with 143 officers there for training. Greensburg had all seven officers trained. On my day off Monday, I attended the Cranberry High Noon club meeting and got a very nice reception. They were loving my blog and calling me by the name of it. I stuck around after the meeting and had a nice conversation with Sarah, one of the members. She’s also one of my good friends and biggest supporters of my blog.

The Greensburg Toastmasters Christmas Party was well put together. Jim and Michelle ordered pizza, Faerie put together a great Table Topics session, Chuck played some Trans-Siberian Orchestra on his guitar. He had some trouble getting the lyrics down, but we helped him out. We had some ugly Christmas sweaters in the room. Our husband and wife team rocked them well. Denise had a game ready for us to play that everyone had fun trying out.

My work Christmas party occurred just before that. We almost didn’t have it due to the snow squalls but eventually the weather broke and everyone showed up. There was good food, music, and great conversation. The attire was great too. There were ugly Christmas sweaters, festive Christmas sweaters, and stylish outfits being voted on. Overall it was a great party that our boss was very proud of planning.

It was a nice Christmas for me. I got some great gifts, including my TV. I gave gifts to my squad a few days later at work. Everyone loved the gifts I gave the (they all got the same thing).

Overall a happy ending to 2019. DTM, Blog, and my squad. Weekend’s almost here. Bye everyone. ❤️ you.

2019 saw another successful season for Andy Reid and the Kansas City Chiefs. Their seventh consecutive winning season and fifth straight in the playoffs.

On the field it was a great season for Patrick Mahomes despite missing two games to injury. His group of receivers (Travis Kelce, Tyreek Hill, and Sammy Watkins) put up big numbers. On the defensive side of the ball, Tyrann Mathieu, Frank Clark and Chris Jones made big plays. Longtime defensive end Terrell Suggs starred on the team as well.

The Chiefs won the division handily over the Broncos, Raiders, and Chargers. They completed a season sweep of the AFC West.

September started off with four straight wins to start the season, including one of the only wins over a Ravens team that went 14-2 in the regular season.

October was a little hairy with two back to back home losses against Indianapolis and Houston. On a short week in Denver, the Chiefs blew out the Broncos and continued their dominance against them. With Patrick Mahomes out, the Packers were victorious on Sunday night against the Chiefs. Three straight home losses in October.

November saw the Chiefs get off the home losing streak and beat Minnesota while losing a tough one to Tennessee (they’d meet again). Kansas City went into the BYE with a win against the struggling San Diego Chargers (sorry can’t bring myself to call them LA).

December came and KC rolled through their final five games. No win was more impressive than that of the Patriots, in Gillette Stadium no doubt. Changing of the guard possibly? The Chiefs avenged their AFC Championship game loss and put the Patriots on notice that they were coming. In Week 17 against the Chargers, the Chiefs did some scoreboard watching. A win by Kansas City and a loss by New England would give the Chiefs a first round bye.

As the game was going on, the score of the Miami-New England game was shown. The Dolphins had won so all the Chiefs needed to do was win. Kevin Harlan and Rich Gannon called the game and announced part of the Patriots contest. KC pulled off the win and was getting the bye. What a happy ending so far but the road to Miami would have to go through Lamar Jackson and the Ravens.

There was no crazier postseason than this one. Especially when it came to the Chiefs. In every game including the Super Bowl, they were down by a pretty good margin. None more noticeable than the division game against Houston. Down 24-0 after one quarter it was easy to write off Kansas City. But you play 60 minutes of football. They scored 28 unanswered points to lead at halftime and then they made it a blowout. What was a blowout ended a blowout (for Houston).

The same thing next week with Tennessee but not as wide a margin. It looked like Derrick Henry and the Titans were going to punch their ticket to Super Bowl LIV. But you can’t keep Patrick Mahomes down too long. 29 unanswered points put the game out of reach. A late touchdown by the Titans meant nothing as the Chiefs would clinch their first Super Bowl berth in 50 years. Their next opponent: San Francisco.

This Super Bowl was one of the best in a while. I wonder why. That’s right. No New England. It looked like for three quarters, it was going the 49ers way. They built a 20-10 lead and kept Patrick Mahomes in check. Just like with Houston and Tennessee though, you can only keep #15 down so long. Three touchdowns late gave Kansas City the go ahead lead and their first Super Bowl win in 50 years. Patrick Mahomes was named MVP.

Overall a great season for the Hunt family, Andy Reid, and the Chiefs. This was indeed, KC’s happy ending.

Yesterday, I talked about the perfection trap and how nothing we ever had is perfect. There are going to be flaws no matter what.

Today I’m going to talk about why it’s bad to feel insecure 😟. This is has always been an issue for me. I will elaborate with a few examples.

In high school we always got our report cards handed to us every nine weeks. Teachers would mark our behavior as either a one (superior), two (satisfactory), or three (unsatisfactory). The last one I never got because I was always a good student.

I always questioned why one of my teachers always gave me a two because I felt like I was one of his best students. He answered my question by telling me he always gives a two. Some people are just the way they are, so I respect that.

I got a bad grade on an exam at Slippery Rock one time and I was just beside myself for days. It was a bad bad score. It was on Valentine’s Day. I wasn’t loving 🥰 💔 myself on this day. My friend had a hard time trying to convince me that I was not stupid. It was a really bad day.

For a long time I always felt like I wasn’t good enough. I worked a menial job despite having a college degree. I learned to accept it later in life. But I fell into the perfection trap and the comparison trap for a long time. It was a hole that was very difficult to get out of.

Recently, one of my coworkers complimented me on my winter coat 🧥. I thanked her and then I told her I had a leather jacket like hers but didn’t wear it to work. Right there I felt like I made a stuck up comment and felt insecure. I spent a lot of lot of time overthinking what I said.

The next day I felt like I owed an apology and compliment to my coworkers. While on a smoke break, I apologized to Chase for what I said yesterday and he told me not to worry about it. He and Emily enjoyed my friendship no matter what. Then at the end of the day, before I went home I told Emily I liked her jacket too. I told them “Bye, Love you” like Maura says to me and they returned the favor.

We may feel insecure because we don’t measure up to the standards of the world. Or if our significant other looks at another person then we may feel like we’re not good enough. They make us feel that way and they blame us for it.

Time to close off the blog with my advice to you. Live your best life. Be your best you. ROCK out because you are worth it. Don’t forget to laugh because laughter is the best medicine.

Have a great night. Tomorrow will be one day closer to the weekend. Bye everyone. ❤️ you.

This is a shoutout to a longtime coach who has waited for his first Super Bowl victory. We’ve known the feeling in Pittsburgh with Coach Cowher who waited 14 years for his first victory.

Andy Reid’s NFL coaching career began in Green Bay under Mike Holmgren in 1992. Reid moved his way up to assistant head coach in 1997. He took the head coaching job with the Philadelphia Eagles in 1999 after former coach Ray Rhodes was fired. (Ironically Rhodes went to Green Bay in 1999; he was fired after one season). Reid led the Eagles to immediate success with the team clinching a playoff spot in 2000 and winning the first of four straight division titles in 2001. For all the regular season success his teams had in the early part of the 2000’s (my college years) they couldn’t win a Super Bowl.

Three straight losses in the NFC Championship game put the heat on Reid. The fourth time was the charm as the Eagles topped the Falcons en route to Super Bowl XXXIX.

Following that Super Bowl, the success began to wane. There were a few playoff seasons and the 2008 NFC championship game against Arizona (another loss in the Reid regime that left him 1-4 in conference title games). The Eagles made the playoffs in 2009 and 2010 but were one and done both seasons. Two non playoff seasons followed and then it was time for a change following the 2012 season.

Reid landed in Kansas City in 2013 and led the Chiefs to a 9-0 start. Eventually the team finished 11-5 and clinched a playoff spot. This was the year they blew the four touchdown lead against the Colts in the playoffs and lost in a shootout. The 2014 team has been Reid’s worst so far, going 9-7 with no postseason play. The 2015 season ranks as one of my favorites as the team comes back from 1-5 to clinch the playoffs. That was the year Marcus Peters ran back an interception 90 yards in a win over the Ravens. Kevin Harlan’s call on that play is amazing. The Chiefs won their first playoff game since 1993 shutting out the Texans but they came up short against who else but New England.

Reid has had his share of playoff frustration in KC as well. Losses to Pittsburgh in 2016 and Tennessee in 2017 questioned Andy Reid’s ability to coach in the playoffs. What have you done for me lately?

The Chiefs reached the AFC championship game in 2018 but lost in overtime to Tom Brady and the Patriots. But this next year would be different and I’ll talk about 2019 tomorrow.

Andy Reid took over as KC’s coach in 2013. Around that time I experienced my own personal turnaround. While at a memorial service in Slippery Rock for a friend who died of cancer, I was able to take in some memories.

Following lunch, I drove out to the university and was finally able to accept my time there after so many years of wondering why I went there when nothing came out of it. I remembered the buildings where I had classes, walked past the ARC and the old University Union (by now the new Robert M. Smith Student Center had been up a little less than a year). I knew I was meant to be there and the good times came right back to me. One being the dinners I had with some girls I knew from North Hall (Weisenfluh Wednesday’s and Wrap Thursday’s).

Homecoming at Slippery Rock has long been a tradition I’ve kept. After enjoying the first few years it got stale for a bit. However I made a big comeback in 2016 and look forward to continuing the tradition this fall as the blog has taken off big time. While I enjoyed last year’s Fall Symposium, it made me appreciate my Slippery Rock experience even more. October 10 you know what I’ll be doing.

Enjoy your Tuesday everyone. I’ll be back later today with blog #2. Another motivational message. Bye everyone. ❤️ you.