A Moment in Time

There is a moment - an indescribable moment to say the least - that almost every person will encounter at least once in their lifetime. Some people will confront this moment only once or twice, others will encounter it more times than they can count on all of their indigenous phalanges - I am becoming one of those people, slowly but surely.

This moment I speak of is the point in time when an individual realizes that they have "feelings for" and/or a small "crush" on someone. I don't mean to mislead, usually signs occur which people can read within themselves that tell them that they may or may not be secretly dreaming of more than a friendship from a certain someone, but the moment that I am referring to is that of self-realization and acceptance. Someone might spend a good portion of their time with a person, think about them more often than usual, maybe even casually "check them out" when they know the other party isn't watching.

Nevertheless, every person going through these stages will eventually hit a fork in the road, the time to make a decision of progressing with the feelings they've been keeping to themselves OR to give up and move on. Depending on the person, the subject can side with one or two of the following three categories: What their Heart Says, What their Brain Says, and What Other People Say.

What the Heart Says:
Almost indefinitely, people who are more emotionally-driven will side with what their Heart tells them to do. This is not a bad thing, per say, but will often lead to the most "heart break" since the heart is the most involved. But heart break is somewhat of a relative term. It matters entirely on the person and how much leeway they allow their heart to have. Some people are so emotionally-driven that a broken heart will lead to weeks or months of depression and varied amounts of Haagen-Dazs Dark Chocolate or White Chocolate Raspberry Truffle Ice Creams. It really sucks if they're lactose-intolerant.

What the Brain Says:
People who a problem solvers, analytic, and possibly take special interest in math will often side with their Brains. Which is a very smart way to look at it (excuse the pun). I myself admire people who will do what seems reasonable, but I can't help but think of the longing and sense of loss that comes from not following their emotional center, i.e. their Heart.

What Other People Say:
I do not have much to say on the matter, other than advice for people who only do things because of what others say. Find some freedom to make your own choices. Other people may be able to sway your decisions, but they are not the ones who will have to deal with the consequences.

Although you could listen to any of these sources, there is still no guarantee that one way is correct and that a certain way will be any less painful or give better results.
So when you come to the moment that you finally accept the fact that you have feelings for someone, make your choice and then be happy with it. You cannot change the past, but the choices you make now will affect the future.

Adventures in the Realm of Baking

So it's my father's birthday today! My mother made a risky choice by asking me to make his cake for him, and I honestly feel that she must be absolutely desperate if she needed me to make it in her place. My last cake experience was not a pleasant one, I tried to frost a pre-made cake that my friend brought to school for another friend's birthday. I am terrrrrrible when it comes to cake decorating. Exhibit A:

Sad face because of the ugliness:

It's pretty bad, isn't it? Might just be the ugliest and saddest-looking cake ever. Nevertheless, I am determined to redeem myself. So far all of the ingredients are in the mixer. Nothing has caught on fire quite yet.

Into the pan, yes, I did make sure to grease it.

Out of the oven, a little bit burnt...

And now all I have left is to frost the dang thing! Which is always the worst part... Ooh, a couple of clumps of crumbs and frosting on the edge there.

But Dad will love it anyways. He's a guy, he don't care what it looks like!

Okay, so it's not the prettiest cake ever... But it's ten times better than my last cake! Improvement Achieved. Happy Birthday Pops!

Pros and Cons

So I'm conflicted at the moment, and would like to take this opportunity to formally address pros and cons that placate my current occupation statuses.

I just barely begun working at a place named Response Marketing. Yes, as the name so vaguely puts it, I work in a call center as a telemarketer. Glamorous, isn't it? I've only been working there for two days, and I am already past the point of misery. Alas, the point of misery is not a point of no return (please excuse the Phantom of the Opera reference).

As I was driving home from work today, my second painful day of what seemed to be many more painful days to come, I receive a voicemail from David's Bridal offering me an interview for a Sales Consultant position. For those who do not know, this is pretty much my dream job. I've always wanted to work in the Bridal Industry and wanted to help women find their inner beauty through an outward ramification of their potential found in layers of white chiffon or satin.

My Dilemma: The interview for the dream job at David's Bridal is at the same time my shift starts on Friday.

So I told David's Bridal that I would be at the interview.
Here are the pros and cons, and my innermost thoughts regarding the situation:

Pros:
-I could get the job of my dreams
-I could make more money than I do at Response Marketing
-I could escape the jaws of Hell, i.e. telemarketing, and not be screamed at by angry old ladies everyday.

Cons:
-I would have to quit the current job as a telemarketer, and if I did not get the job at David's, be out of work and practically penniless.
-The main reason I got a job was to be able to start saving funds for a mission, and if I end up jobless, I may have to put off a mission.

Is my current happiness going to in fact affect happiness further down the road? Should I give up something "good" for the chance of receiving something much better? Nevertheless, I already agreed to the interview on Friday, and unless I can convince my current boss to give me that time off, I sacrifice the telemarketing job just to be considered at David's Bridal. I hope all works out well.

Blessings

It's been a long and hard summer for my family and I. Yet the Lord seems to rain little pieces of magic into every day of my life that makes me grateful for the hard times, and hopeful for the good times to come.

This past weekend I had my Aunts come up from Texas (well, my mom's aunts rather). These lovely ladies are sisters to my Grandmother, who was a great friend and grandparent to me when I was young. Each minute I got to see and spend time with my aunts (and my aunt Elise's husband, Cecil) I was reminded of how great my grandmother was and how I long to be like her and to be able to see her again. I don't remember her well since it's been more than eight years since her passing, but I still remember her loving eyes, her warm voice, and the great influence she was to my mother and family.

I don't get to see my family very much, and it meant a lot to me that my Aunts could come and see us to remind me of their love for me. I'll never forget how excited each of them were to see me and the faith and love that radiated from their voices as they sang to us.  
It meant so much to my family to have y'all here, but I wanted to thank you because of the impact it had on me. Love you :)