still alive and kickin

well i am still alive and kickin, although i deserted this blog for a week. i spent all week at Jonathan Creek camp with our youth group, so as you can imagine there wasn't much free time to blog. 

well actually, i made time to blog, but that was for our new youth blog (which you can check out here if you want). i tried to share with our church what we were experiencing everyday, and it turned out to be a pretty cool communication thing. 

anyhow, my poison ivy is gone! yay!! all the drugs did wonders (i was taking three different meds as well as the shot this time). i will be back to posting tomorrow... see ya!

poison ivy- why do you love me so?

yep, thats right, i have poison ivy AGAIN! 

for those of you who dont know, i am extremely allergic (read:sensitive) to poison ivy. during spring break 2008 while on a mission trip in Arlington, TX , i got a little poison ivy... no thats an understatement. i was attacked by poison ivy. i had it all over my face, legs and stomach. and i had to drive us back 10 hours with it. 

dont worry, the story gets worse.

i went to the doctor and got pills and cremes. it didnt go away. i got a shot and more creme. it didnt go away. i got another shot. it did not go away! i got super strength steroids, a super dose shot and super dose creme. it went away. 

it took an entire month of my life last year. literally! 

so on monday (memorial day) i started itching. i assumed it was a bug bite, i mean i was outside all night with some fabulous company. 

no such luck! on tuesday morning i realized it was a patch of something... something that looked familiar... something i had seen before... "ahhh man is it really poison ivy?"!!! yep. i somehow got a case of poison ivy on my stomach, in my belly button (yes IN), on my side and on my back- only in the curve of my spine (how the heck do you get it there?). 

so right now i am putting the cremes on it (since i happen to have an abundance on hand) and trying my absolute hardest to not scratch. and so far no spreading... if it doesnt spread then i am not going to get the shot... but if it does i am just going to ask for the super stuff from the beginning. 

it is miserable to think about and desire to do something all day long but not be able to do it... and i know that is a great segue into comparing this to our spiritual lives but it is one in the morning and i cant sleep because i am itching so bad, so no spiritual application for me right now. 

oh- and we leave for youth camp on monday! ha great great timing i have. as usual... and where the heck did i get this stuff anyways?? geez! 

thoughts on getting a job #3

i am enjoying sharing things i am learning about the process of getting a job with you (whoever you are) so i am going to share more, regardless of if you are actually finding it helpful or fun... hehe

so thought #3 is about... cover letters. 

i feel like they are the new resume. i mean i spent literally a few months getting my resume ready before i started looking for jobs, and then to my amazement i have to work just as hard at doing cover letters for every job i apply for. now i know what you are thinking, why dont you just do one and be done with it? well here are my five tips when it comes to cover letters (which i picked up by scouring the web on the subject- of course!):

1. Dont underestimate the importance of the cover letter! Most employers read these alone and then pick the resumes they will look into solely off of this.

2. Dont just copy a template offline and change the names etc! I will totally admit this is what I did with the first few. Then i found an article online which pointed out that everyone is doing this... meaning companies are seeing the same cover letters over and over again! Which leads us to number three...

3. Put some of yourself in the cover letter. I kept seeing this tip on websites and it totally makes sense, because you want them to begin reading something they havent seen all day. So think of something personal that connects you to the position.

4. Connect your strengths and experiences to the position responsibilities as much as you can. You want to be specific and straightforward, showing them that you will be great at this job. Dont write a bunch of vague and generic sentences about work in general, they want to know how you will be at their open position, so tell them.  (This one i experience first hand with council applications... when people wrote generic sunday school answers i skipped right over their answers bc i found it to be fake and pointless...)

5. Be honest. Dont try to convince them you will be a good worker if you wont. Just tell them who you are, what kind of experience you have, why you like the position and then let God do the rest! 

now i realize i am an unemployed girl who really knows nothing about any of this... but i just want to share easy to understand info along the way for anyone who is in the same boat i am. i hope it saves you lots of time googling the million upon millions of websites dedicated to this! 

do any of you have any other great tips?

job and health updates...

so just a quick update about a few things in my life.

1. Job: still unemployed (it has only been a week), though i have felt just as busy as when i had a full time job! but somethings are happening. 

i had an interview with Community Action last week and got a call for a second interview today. So this thursday i will interview with them for a second time. i thought the last interview went well, and i felt more confident than i thought i would. i usually lose the ability to think of words when i am put on the spot, but i was able to take my time and think thru good answers. anyhow, we will see how that all goes.

i have applied for a million jobs at wku, well to be more specific ten jobs (yes ten). the first several had been posted forever, so i am fairly certain those positions are either filled or frozen for now. but lately they have been adding more positions!! i get so excited everytime i check the website and there is a new opportunity to look at! i have applied for several jobs i am no where near qualified for, but i feel writing the cover letters and doing the application process is good training. 

i did get an email from the hr department at WKU this week informing me that my materials (resume etc) was being forwarded on to the office hiring that position. so thats good, it means i made it past the "there is no way this person is working for wku" round. (i have heard nothing on the other positions...) and there is a new position open that i am really excited to apply for, ill talk more about it later. (a friend told me it wouldnt be wise to give specifics on the blog until i get a job)

as tommy johnson says, "looking for and getting a job is a full time job"... i am working at it sir! 

2. health: remember all those health posts about thyroid junk and how i was feeling? (you can find them under the "health stuff" category) well i thought it would be a good idea to let you know i am feeling so much better! leaps and bounds better! yay! i have no idea if it is the new thyroid medicine, or if it is the insulin resistant medicine, but i have energy and feel much more like myself these days! Praise the Lord! 

what is funny about that is that i almost forgot to tell anyone i was feeling better. it is so much easier to complain than to give good reports isnt it? i find it annoying! 

3. **bonus update**: when i first started this blog last summer, i was doing a bible study with some friends... well we never finished it so this summer we are trying it again. the bible study is: "no other gods" by kelly minter. isnt it crazy how something you already did can challenge you so much? it goes to show i did not learn these biblical lesson the first go round i guess. so i am sure you will get to here all about lessons from that study in the next few months. 

and coming soon to pate life: a memorial day update and a stab at being crafty... stay tuned! 

 

a new 'blog-world' find... well two actually

thanks to a few of my friends blogs, i have found two new blogs that are super fun and i thought i would share.

1. this young house: this is a young married couple's home improvement blog. they have all kinds of cool "how to" tips and before and after pictures of home redos. if you are the type who loves a night watching hgtv then this blog is for you!

2. Passionate Homemaking: this is a blog about living frugally and generously for the Lord. she has some great cooking and recipe advice, some cool frugal tips, and alot of spiritual encouragement. check out her book list, it has some great recommendations. 

Enjoy my friends!