I am home now from my little road trip. I left after work to head off to my hotel. Getting there was the fun.

Wall to wall sunshine all the way there. Where were my sunglasses 🕶 for this trip? Just kidding. It’s what we’ve been missing out on all year and need more of. Less than a month now until Spring. #INeedMoreSunshine. You needed your sunglasses these last few days.

I had dinner at Marzoni’s (a burger and fries with a Leinenkugels Summer Shandy in a Pilsner glass). I spent the evening sitting in the lobby watching Gilmore Girls and then doing my unconditional love blog. That’s my Friday night in a nutshell.

The contest didn’t start until 1:30 this afternoon so I had some time to kill this morning. I worked on today’s model speech. I headed off to State College around 11 and ate lunch at Chick Fil A.

I found out last minute that the Area 22 contest was going to be held at a different location. Our Area Director couldn’t get the key for the Patton Building so we had to move to Schlow Library 📚 in downtown State College.

Quarters were crammed a bit but we managed to get everyone in. Area Director Letitia Maines and Division Director Brett Aristegui pulled some strings and got everything taken care of. We had our judges and other volunteers.

Our International Speakers were first up. Michael Stewart and Wade Maines both gave contest worthy speeches. For the sake of time, I was up next giving my model speech. I gave the Three Lessons speech that I had for my club contest. Steve Sokolowski and Wade gave feedback for my speech. All three contestants are moving onto the Division C contest on March 28 at UPJ. Here are pictures of the winners.

The weekend is just half over and we had some great contests. Area 14 held their contest at the Butler YMCA downtown where Earlybirds holds their meetings. Carol Hamilton and Walter J Smith participated in both International Speech and Evaluation contests. Carol finished first and Walter J second in both. I wasn’t able to attend but here are pictures from that contest.

Time to close off with my advice to you. Live your best life. Be your best you. ROCK out because you are worth it. Put a nice outfit together and rock it even when no one’s paying attention . Always bring your beautiful smile to anything you are a part of.

It’s a new week. Make it lovely.

Bye everyone. ❤️ you 😘 🤗.

Rejection is a part of life. It’s a process that will hurt emotionally at the beginning but can be beneficial in the long run. Something better may be waiting for you.

Why didn’t I learn that about 15 years ago?

Tonight I’ll go back to a time when I dealt with rejection. Unfortunately there were a few times I let it break me instead of letting it help me grow.

Twenty years ago, during my senior year of high school, I was in the process of applying to colleges. I had a few in mind. One was Robert Morris. It had what I wanted in terms of a major and was close to home. But when we looked through the booklet and checked out the price, we balked at how expensive it was going to be. This really wasn’t rejection from the university itself but I was rejecting myself from attending here.

While it would have been feasible to stay home for two years attending WCCC, I attended school at Hiram G. Andrews Center (with plans to move on to the local community college). That was the plan and in the long run, it’s been one of the best decisions I made. It helped me to become independent and I had many life experiences during the first leg of my college run. One being that I learned to drive while at HGAC. I would then attend Slippery Rock after I completed my courses at the Community College. Things will work out the way they’re supported to.

I wish I learned that when it came to relationships.

While at Slippery Rock, I met a girl in my Campus Crusade chapter whom I took a liking to. We hooked up a few times during the Fall of 2003. We met at one of the mixers that CRU put together. She gave me a ride back to my dorm because it was on her way. Upon dropping me off, I knew our paths would cross again. Surely they did.

We saw a good bit of each other that fall. I learned that she was a senior education major getting ready to student teach on the spring. While preparing for her Praxis, I passed around a card for everyone in CRU to sign. While a kind gesture, it was obvious that I wanted something in return. I wanted a relationship with her. I was talked out of asking her out because it wasn’t the right time.

I attended her graduation in the Spring of 2004 with some of my friends. I gave her a gift while we were in the Student Union following commencement. A few weeks later I put my feelings for her in a letter. I waited the entire summer to hear back. When I got her return letter a week before, it wasn’t good. She turned me down. I should have seen it coming but at the time I was 22 and trapped in my own selfishness. She had her own plans after graduation and didn’t want to lead me on. I was hurt 😞 but should have thought about her own feelings. The last we saw of each other was in December of 2004 at a wedding in Butler for two of our CRU friends.

The same can be said looking for a job.

After college, I was putting applications in and applying for work in my field. I didn’t hear from many of those companies, plus I was also turned down due to lack of work experience. Even those companies that I interviewed at didn’t work out. Things just weren’t looking good for me early on in my job search. Plus it didn’t help that I was holding out for the perfect job.

I settled for menial work. It was a stepping stone but it was where I needed to start. Of course I’ve been at the same job now for 11 years and after so long, I’ve built a little work family where I am.

Lesson learned: Rejection is a part of life. Just learn to deal with it and keep moving.

Time to close off the blog with a Slippery Rock shoutout. The Robert M. Smith Student Center has been around since 2012 and is a beautiful building. I’ve been in there a few times as I’ve gone up for homecoming in the Fall. The waterfall is really nice to look at.

Remember to live your best life and be your best you. ROCK out because you are worth it. LOVE yourself every day and wow everyone with your SMILE. The weekend is almost here and contest season is underway in District 13. I’ll be in State College this Saturday for Area 22’s contest and will be the model speaker.

Happy almost Friday. Bye everyone. ❤️ you. 😘

Good evening. Stylish DTM here with another motivational blog. This is a subject that I know too much about and that is discouragement. Vanessa, thank you once again for speaking on this topic and others to help us feel encouraged.

Discouragement is a part of a life. A season in our lives that is almost like a rebuilding of sorts. It’s a blip on the radar of our life that can either help us grow or bring us down. How we handle that discouragement will shape our attitude towards things.

One of the most discouraging seasons of my life came following my graduation from Slippery Rock University beginning in 2006. That season lasted for quite a while.

I had my degrees from SRU and Community College. I thought I had it all together. But I learned the hard way that’s not how it works. I came out of college with my lone work experience being in Food Service working at Park Diner and part time at one of the dining halls on campus. I had no real job leads upon graduation. I was going into the real world with no clue what I was going to do with my life, and I was scared.

Job interviews with financial planners and life insurance companies went nowhere. I took civil service tests and once I held out for a state job, turning down part time work at UPS. That turned into an epic meltdown. Eventually I settled for a menial job at Kings Restaurant (after I turned down other menial work). I had to start somewhere but still that feeling of despair festered within me.

I felt like a failure and let those feelings of negativity take over me. Losing three loving family members, thinking of those I graduated with working in their field, and feeling ashamed of myself took its toll on me.

I had a brief reprieve the next year but by 2008, those feelings of discouragement returned. I couldn’t take working at Kings and didn’t care what it would take to get out of there. I actually gave thought to applying at California University of Pennsylvania to study something completely different. I almost forgot one of my biggest achievements, and that’s the fact that I graduated.

I am not a failure.

To fight discouragement, remember to celebrate yourself. Give yourself a pat on the back anytime you celebrate even the smallest achievements.

Take Patrick Star, for example. Spongebob tried to get him to handle even the simplest of tasks. You remember the episode. After so many tries he gets the jar open. The point is, cherish even the little victories.

Speak life and truth over your discouragement. You are not a failure. You may have messed up but you can’t let those mistakes define you.

Example I have here was that I did horrible on a test in one of my major courses at Slippery Rock. Everyone’s grades were bad and I let my bad grade consume me. Even my good friend was getting frustrated trying to calm me down.

Another time was when I thought I was going to fail one of my classes and not graduate. I let the thought of failing that class wreck my Friday night. I had a test that Monday and thought for sure that I was screwed. I got an A on that test when I got it back the next Friday.

For the longest time I was discouraged and didn’t want to accept my past for what it was. It took me several years after I graduated to realize that I was meant to be at Slippery Rock. I remember the day when it all came back to me. It was my friend’s memorial service. We attended the same church when I was a student at the Rock. After we were done and said our goodbyes, I took the time to walk around the campus and remember all the buildings where I had classes. I felt a weight being lifted off of me. It was a major turning point in my life.

I am not a failure.

Perhaps you’ve seen my mirror selfies that I posted on Facebook and in the blog. Limited resources. I do want to find someone who will snap my picture and do a legit photo shoot. I’m thinking Twin Lakes, Kennywood, Ligonier at the Diamond, or even Slippery Rock University. While most people liked my photos, I let a few who didn’t get to me. They gave me some choice words about what I was doing. They made me feel discouraged and embarrassed. I looked past those people and continued to do it regardless of those negative opinions.

Time to close off the blog by encouraging you to live your best life. Be your best you. ROCK out because you are worth it. When you’re feeling discouraged, don’t forget to laugh because laughter is the best medicine.

Don’t miss my blog on rejection tomorrow. I’ll go back in time for this one. Back to my Slippery Rock days.

Bye everyone. ❤️ you. 😘

Yesterday at the place where we have our Achievers meeting, the church held a soup 🍜 and chili 🌶 cook off. I arrived around 1, paid for my ticket, and treated myself to some great chili and soup made by the local Boy Scouts chapter. Some of my fellow Toastmasters joined in as well.

I treated myself to some wedding soup and taco soup as well as some Ramen. I tried some of the best chili recipes as well. The hot south of the border chili was the best. Very spicy but good. There was dessert to be had as well. Overall the Boy Scouts raised a lot of money and dished out a lot of chili. Reverend Tim, the minister of the church, and his wife ate a good bit too. I am grateful that he has provided his place of worship for us to use for our Achievers meetings once a month. We gave the church a donation for use of the building.

As for the meeting, we had three great speakers lined up. I served as Toastmaster. I rocked a nice outfit (black pants, black blazer and teal top with whiskey boots 👢).

Jim Teague spoke on some of the great concerts he attended (KISS, the Police, and Queen (with Adam Lambert)). I was quite impressed when he enjoyed Stewart Copeland over Sting when he and Michelle saw the Police in concert. I also learned that Adam Lambert did a great job performing on tour with Queen.

Charlie Wilson gave a speech he was preparing for the Area Contest in District 38. In it he referenced American Gothic. Charlie has excellent storytelling skills and he will be taking part in the Humorous and International Speech competitions in that District’s contests.

Fred Vornbrock taught us how to access the Achievers website in his Better Speaker Series presentation. It was very detailed and I learned a lot. I addressed the evaluator issue in McKeesport at their meeting. I ran it by him prior to Achievers on Sunday. He is giving a future presentation on how to give Effective Evaluations.

Our chapter will have some clout with four Greensburg members a part of Achievers. They’ll have some district clout as well with the incoming District Director being part of the club, as well as other incoming District Leaders. Patti will do a great job, I just know it. She’s building a great team and her and I really want to see the District grow. It can definitely happen.

I’m heading to Altoona Friday night and Patti and I know they are worthy of having multiple chapters. I will be in touch with Reverend Tim about holding a Speechcraft. He wants to see another club in the Blairsville area, one that is open to everyone.

Time to close off the blog with a shoutout to my favorite green and white school. This building has bred a lot of fine educators over the years. Slippery Rock has had the distinction of being an excellent teacher’s college. McKay, this blog and shoutout is for you. Credit goes to the person who snapped this picture.

Remember to live your best life. Be your best you. ROCK out because you are worth it. After my great run last fall, the future is looking as bright as the sun. Remember to show gratitude today and every day. Enjoy your Monday night and have a great Tuesday.

Bye everyone. ❤️ you 😘.