Puddle

A relatively uneventful, yet welcomed calm Friday evening led me to bed around 10:30 pm. And typically I have no issues sleeping the night through - but woke up around 2 am from a weird dream and am now wide awake. I come across a good blog idea today actually and decided it is far past due that I post something. Even if no one follows this much anymore - that's fine. I still enjoy putting up my ramblings :)

So first off - HAPPY NEW YEAR! I am now settled into the great state of Texas in my adorable house and feel like I'm doing well with the new job so far. These past couple of weeks with the holidays and all have made me realized how incredibly blessed I am even if I'm still in a transition period in my life.

And now my somewhat meaningful topic I would like to talk about - please enjoy this adorable YouTube video and don't forget to come back after viewing and finish reading :).

Three things that warmed my heart about this:
1 - The little boy not letting the moment by. As in - granted he is just a baby and typically babies aren't stressed out with a job, family and friend drama or worried about money, politics or current world issues, but he still stops, recognizes an opportunity to enjoy one of the small/simple things in life and takes advantage of it.

2 - The dog. Obviously the love, patience and loyalty shown by this animal to this boy is amazing. I mean, who is really taking who for a walk in this situation? That dog is a great babysitter! The animal/human connection and relationship is such a blessing to us all!

3 - Pace in life. So this piggy-backs off of #1, but did you notice how slow and thoughtfully the boy laid down the leash? No doubt about it - he was going to go back and check out that puddle! Lesson there: Whatever pace of life you live - make it a point to stop and thoroughly enjoy whatever you are doing.

So - that's my story for the night and I'm sticking to it!
Good night/ morning y'all!

Britt

Gypsy

This is a picture that my mom sent me of my horse this evening. There are times I really wish he was with me, but when I see him in a big, green pasture like this - how can I take him away from that? He is a happy, old man and he will finish out his days in that pasture. 

I think I miss him for more of a time in my life that he represents. People may not understand this unless they have had a horse as a young child, but he was seriously my best friend. He might have acted like he didn't care about me, or didn't show affection - but he always kept giving that extra effort and put up with me messing/primping him those long nights before shows. My mom would remind me that Chip was a "boy" after all as I spent hours bathing him, banding his mane and clipping him. 

He was a huge responsibility to take care of and challenge to work with and to get those blue ribbons - but I LOVED IT ALL! My perfectionism reared its ugly head early and I credit a lot of my work ethic to my show days. 

But.... that was almost 7 years ago. I enjoy reminiscing, but Chip is enjoying retirement and I have grown up a bit sense then. Maybe not literally, still pretty darn short, but my life has taken me places I could have never dreamed about! 

So to the title of this post, "Gypsy." I'm about to make the move number 15 in the last 6 years for my new job in the Dallas area. Everywhere I've been has been such a great experience and most so much so, I didn't want to leave. Goodbyes do not get easier with practice. But with each new move, I realize I have made great friends and have thoroughly enjoyed my time/life wherever I was. So I'm taking that same attitude as a piece of insurance that everything will work out just fine with this move.

Don't get me wrong - there will be tears when I drive away from Georgia in just over a week. I have been blessed with family and friends in my life (both human and non) that have formed a huge support structure for me. I have learned from them, leaned on them for advice and encouragement and shared several laughs with them along the way. So I'm trying to stay optimistic and embrace this next chapter in my life as I look fondly back in the past to those experiences that have shaped me into who I am today.

March Madness

So I'm watching the Purdue and Kansas game right now and thought the title was appropriate not just because of basketball (believe it or not I haven't really been following college basketball this year) but also because things have just been crazy! Work is super busy with a big dealer training event happening right now on top of what our daily duties are. Then also the joys of growing up continue to add stress in my life.

But please don't get me wrong, life is great! I've been trying to run as much as possible and I've been upping my miles. So far I've gotten up to 7.5 miles! I ran two 5K's with some really good times: 26.16 and 26.35! the second one was WAY hilly, so I'm proud of that time :) But I've been having fun spending the money to get the gear - good shoes, GPS watch and cool clothes :)

Even caught some pool time this weekend and by running outside, I'm enjoying this Georgia sun :) What is annoying about Georgia though is the pine pollen! It is like bright, yellow chalk dust that just covers all the cars, the railings in the stairwells and just everything! I'll wash Tex and the next morning he looks horrible again. Oh the joys of a black truck.

Hmm.... So life lesson to make this post actually somewhat meaningful. For this training event, I've been in charge of all of the logistics for it all and it has been a huge learning experience for sure. These shows/ events take a lot of behind the scenes work to pull them off. Someone jumped in and helped me take out the trash and I was so grateful for his help. I expressed that to him and he said in return, "If you're too big to do the small things, then you're too small to do the big things." I've been rolling with this moto at those moments when someone needs to step in and do the small things and it keeps me rolling through and the show keep going!

Welp - Boilers are up by 6, 36-30 at the half and Hummel is lighting it up - BOILER UP!!!!

Tex

Another picture of my truck! Obsessive? Yes! But I don't care. I love it! I spent a couple of hours yesterday washing it and drying it off and by-golley, I almost needed a step ladder to get the job done. I'll probably need one or get a friend to help at least when I wax it.

So as you can see by the title, I've decided to name him TEX!!!!!! My friends Sarah J and Shiney both suggested it and it only took me just over 1,000 miles of driving to decide that it fit! I hope everyone had a great weekend and wish y'all the best for this coming week! I'm heading down south a few hours for a customer research event that will last the week.

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I Made It

As most would assume, I made it safe and sound this go down to Georgia. My truck ran like a dream and I'm LOVING IT!!!!! Again, I do not recommend crashing your car if you are thinking about buying a new one. Still taking suggestions for names though. I'm still thinking a boy's name and now the options are down to Bruce, Brutus and Baxter. It is just a hard decision to make - I want it to be a tough name, but still unique and classy at the same time.

So far I've been trying to stay out of trouble. There is a pretty good group of younger employees down here so I've been out with some of them already and went to a hockey game with some of the product support people. I also have enjoyed running around my complex and just exploring. I LOVE my apartment. The shopping part of it was frustrating, but it is a gorgous complex and I have lots of space. My furniture looks great in it and I've had fun decorating it. Still need to go curtain shopping, but it definitely feels like home :) I have also made the decision to not get cable or internet in my apartment. You calling me crazy? Maybe I am. Here is my reasoning:
1- Save some money (especially since I'm making truck payments and also higher insurance).
2 - I have a smart phone so I can some basic internet tasks on there and the clubhouse to my complex has free WiFi and I can get into there 24/7 if need be. Also, with the smartphone - I've been listening to a lot of Pandora for background noise.
3 - I have plenty of books and craft materials to keep me busy.
4 - It is just peaceful.
5 - I wanted to make my college roommate, Kathleen Paola, proud of me :)
6 - If I want to watch a game or something, it forces me to be more social

I've definitely hit the ground running with my job. It has been a lot to learn, really fast! I'm so grateful for my previous Deere knowledge and experiences or I would be totally lost. I like the challenge and the fast-pace work style at a factory though or at least that is the way it is down here. The team is super supportive and I can't complain when a morning is spent learning how to drive tractors in order to get them ready for shipping to a show or something. Yes, I'm still learning how to drive lol! The smaller ones are super easy, but as they get bigger, they become a lot more complicated.

Well, that's my update for now - I'll work on some pics and all coming up. I'm checking out a church in the morning so I'm hoping to meet some new friends :)

Oh and since my sister-in-law gave me a shout out the other day - I want to do the same for her. Check out her really cute blog http://theartisticallychallengedcrafter.blogspot.com/.
Have a wonderful Saturday (its pouring here, but at least it isn't snow)!
Britt

Ps - the font I'm going to blog in while I'm down here is "Georgia." Seems appropiate? :)

RIP Gerdy

So in order to tell everyone what happened, I figured I'd post the story up here instead of retelling it over and over again. I would love to put this behind me and focus on the positives that came out of the situation which would be my AMAZING NEW TRUCK!!!!!!

Disclaimer - Miraculously, everyone walked away without a scratch. Tuesday morning, I was about two hours south of Lexington after staying the night in Wilmore, KY with my bro and sister-in-law when the wreck happened. As most of you  know, I was heading down to Augusta, GA for my new job with Deere. 

The actual wreck is pretty much a blur to me because when my car started going out of control, I closed my eyes and was just bracing for some sort of impact. I was traveling about 75 mph on Interstate 75 when I braked to slow down because I was approaching a car in the far left-hand lane. 75 was three lanes where I was at. As best as I can remember, my back end felt like it slipped from underneath me to the right and I tried to swerve back and started over-correcting, which is totally easy to do even if you are a Nascar driver. At that point I starting spinning towards the right. Again, I was in the left-hand lane and crossed two lanes while spinning. There was a thud somewhere in there and I could tell when I hit the ditch and then a second or so later, my car finally came to a stop. 

I opened my eyes and I was facing towards the northwest with the back of my car down in the ditch. I looked across to what I thought was the bottom of a semi but the semi turned out to be the bottom of a 5th-wheel camper. The truck that was pulling it was facing north and the only thing that kept it from flipping is that it was up against a guardrail. In the process of me spinning across traffic, I hit them somehow just back behind their driver side back wheel, which basically jack-knifed them.

The other couple GOT OUT of their truck and were WALKING too. I couldn't believe it! I kept myself calm to the point that the cop couldn't believe that this was my first accident. The best thing that the cop could come up with was that my back left tire blew and that is why it started acting all "squirelly" (that was his word) on me.

So not only did I figure out how to manage all the insurance information and figure out the rental for a few days and just what to do - I had all the moving stuff to deal with as well. Nothing really broke inside my car besides a couple of vases and my house plants were all toppled over. A body shop guy came over to the impound and told me it was pretty much totaled which was reaffirmed by the insurance guy today as I was sitting in the Dodge dealership buying my new TRUCK!!!!!

I wasn't too far away from Lexington, so Ben and Eva came and got me so I could recover a bit and get things ironed out and I was out truck shopping less than 10 hours after I totaled Gerdy. It was a lot to process, but I wanted to get some closure to all this and be done with it.

I have been researching trucks for awhile and was going to buy one in about 6 months when I could save up for a bit longer. This truck had all the features I wanted and the dealership gave me a great deal! I was willing to settle on some of my wants, but I found pretty much what I wanted with the basics being black and lots of chrome! My favorite color really is chrome :) So, I'm going to try this again, and head out down to Augusta in the morning :) Wish me luck!

I also had damage on the back right door by the wheel and a big crack in my back bumper on the left side. The tow-truck guy thought that my back wheels were bent and then also I'm pretty sure my radiator got busted too because I remember a hissing noise when I got out of the seat and there was some steam rolling off of my right front tire when it was being pulled up on the truck.

RIP Gerdy - you've been a great car.

Hello ___________ I'm taking suggestions on a new name for this bad boy!!!!

I've always wanted to take a pic like this :)

Dodge Ram 1500 Big Horn - 5.7L Hemi - Quad Cab

Next Chapter

And I'm off again on yet another adventure! A southern adventure this time though y'all! 

Daddy helped me load the car tonight and tomorrow morning I'll be on my way to Augusta, GA for my next rotation with John Deere working mainly with the 5000 series, but also doing some other projects with the smaller tractors.

So I realize it has been two months since I last posted anything. My bad. Here's a quick recap:

- I left straight from homecoming to Sarasota, Florida for three weeks where I worked a training event and had a BLAST!!!

- Spent two weeks in Mannheim, Germany for a customer fly-in for 6000 series customers. This was obviously a phenomenal experience, especially right before Christmas with all the decorations :)

- My cousin Jonathan married my KC friend Miss Alina. I was so happy for them and the wedding was beautiful in a refurbished barn.

- Did my final report out for my last rotation and it went super awesome - I even juggled as an illustration. I guess I'll do anything for an applause?!?!

- Enjoyed some downtime around the holidays and spending it with the family back in Indiana and had an epic New Years as it served as a Purdue friend reunion in Chicago!!! 

Yep, that's about the just of what's been up with me! Pretty boring actually :P