a.new.direction

Well not really. I just haven’t been posting on here as much as I planned. I’ve gotten back to writing with a pen and paper when it comes to my super private thoughts. Since I’ve last been on here I’ve gotten a new job which has been REALLY interesting, Ive gotten an year older which of course is a blessing, had a fabulous trip to Scottsdale, my niece and nephews have gotten a year older and I’ve had some major ups and downs. But all in all I’m still alive I’m taking steps towards my goals and things are good.

My new job has me dabbling in all sorts of areas of social media so I’m also trying some new stuff out. I have another blog (yes ANOTHER one) which is really laid back and I’ve actually being doing good updating it (it is new though lol) http://creativeseven.wordpress.com I’m also trying out tumblr (christennicole.tumblr.com & creativeseven.tumblr.com) and my MAJOR obsession is twitter (my profile is private on there so either DM me or let me know who you may be so I can save you)

So thats what I’ve been up to. I kinda promise I’ll blog on here more. But you can find me on one of the other places for sure .

I think a memo was sent out at some point this month. Hey if you ever dated Christen give her a call- she won’t mind. If you can’t call- text, email or IM her.

That seems to be the pattern. Maybe I’m too nice and I entertain people far past the allowed limit and so they feel the door is always open to return. I try to be nice (77% of the time) and remain cordial and and so on. But perhaps I have to stop the give everyone a fair shot to explain themselves approach and just say forget it. Perhaps I need to look out for me and then compare the consideration they had towards me to what I return to them. It’s funny I say all that and still really can’t shut folks down.

I went on HELL date with someone a few weeks ago. When I say HELL date I mean HELL date. He’s one of those people that could have been my friend forever but once he decided that he liked me that destroyed the friendship element as well. He embarassed me horribly when we went out being loud and rambunctious and so on and I got so frustrated that if I was fool enough to fight I would have kicked his ass on the spot. So after the date he texts me and says “thanks for putting up with me today” so wait- you KNOW that you are a nut. Even worst. Then like two days later he thinks that everything is AOK and we can go back to normal. Where I am sitting there like I don’t ever want to see this dude again. All that to say I NEEDED to shut him down, tell him how he sucks and hand him the 20 bullets to go with it on why. But I coldn’t. Because I knew it would hurt his feelings. That date solidified why he was single and probably will be a long time unless he meets a woman that really will put him in check. I can’t be it. I don’t wanna be the fixer upper.

Then someone else randomly emailed me out the blue that I dated 8 years ago. Wanting to know if I’d consider dating him again. I’ve changed alot in a year so hell eight years ago- out of the questions. Like I don’t even know you. You saw me on facebook got turned on that I got a few degrees and now we should be together. Come on. I was 19 years old. Aint nothing about me the same except my name.

People always say women don’t let go but I think it goes both ways. Guys grow too realize what they had/let go/why they got let go etc. and think hey let me go back and pick up where I left off. What they fail to realize is my life has continued to go on as well. Stuff I thought I wanted, I don’t, stuff I thought I didn’t need is now essential. I grew and continue to grow.

I do wish I got a warning or something before these memo’s go out. At least I’d be prepared lol

I’ve been horrible in updating this blog. mainly because I have one that is kind of private and for personal development and I’ve been dedicating a lot of time on there to work on me. These next few weeks are HECTIC. I have a bridesmaid fitting, a wedding I’m in, 100 wedding invitations to make, throwing a bridal shower, getitng ready for travel to arizona, and planning a retreat to georgia for a group. As you can see little to no free time. I’ll post a few things periodically. Even if just pictures so that I can keep this thang going. Because I have been horrible posting on the public side (my personal blog is where it’s at lol) but yeah. I’ll do better.

Christen

I’ve really been slacking in updating on here. I’ve just been kind of busy. Trying to figure out life and that’s a rather complex subject to take on. Lots of random occurances have happened in the past few months. Random people from the past trying to enter my life- both succesfully and unsuccesfully, people confessing their love lol, growing pangs, doing freelance stuff in a totally random field from what I do, learning lessons, buying ridiculously expensive shoes on sale and feling great about it lol and the list goes on.

I’m going to try to do better though and update more frequently. There are some things on my mind

I haven’t written in a few days. But work has been WHIPPING my tail the past days. I had a big project to work on and lots of elements were dependent on other people, so needless to say I spent my day off Friday at work. But the bright side is that I have Monday off instead. Today is going to be another lazy Sunday I actually didnt have to sing so I slept in and just had food (avocado smashed up with cayenne, salt and pepper and balsamic vinegar with some toast). Now I’m watching football trying to pry myself off the couch so I can go to the market I saw some really good vegetarian recipes on the kitchn and wanted to pick up some things to try it them out. I’m having a completely lazy day though.  Lazy like sweatpants and a wifebeater and a sloppy ponytail. If I could go to the grocery store like this I would. But you never know who you’ll run into in the store. Anyway I’m being commissioned to cook dinner. So let me start doing that

Have a fabulous Sunday!

I hope everyone entered the New Year fabulously. Whether at home, out with friends, at church, or even sleeping (because hey you woke up this morning so that’s fabulous).

I Started off the year the way I should have been doing before
Having fun
One of my good buddies and I decided we weren’t going to get caught in the trap of going to someone from church’s house last night to sit around and look at the same people we see every week (not that I don’t LOVE them) and ring in the new year
It’s a rare occasion we don’t have to sing and that we didn’t have service and we decided to just have fun.
We went to a party that was just really amazing because it was so socially diverse we met random people that were our friends at the end of the night and we just had fun dancing, laughing and slightly “partaking” lol

I realize I tend to give so much of my self to others that I never find those moments to really enjoy me and do what I do that I love.

I’m also learning that saying no isn’t always a bad thing. The only people I struggle with saying that to are my niece and nephews but they know their boundaries better then most adults I know .

I feel like I asked God to reveal things to me. He may not always show me in the manner I like but he’s showing me. I asked him to teach me how to be a better person in relationships and he put me in one with someone that sucked so I learned what I wanted and didn’t want real quick. I asked him to reveal who should and shouldn’t be in my life and some peoples light has gotten brighter and others dimmed. In just the past weeks I asked God to reveal what should I be doing in life and in a matter of a month I got elected to a board as leader of volunteer recruitment and someone from the inaugural campaign called to see if I wanted to manage a few hundred volunteers inauguration day.

The pieces are slowly starting to come together and I’m excited about that.

Someone told me to write down what I want to do in 09 so that I can make it happen!

I will:

• Be a better person overall
• Have a new job/career that is more fulfilling
• Move
• Take care of me better physically and mentally (stick to working out and vegetarianism)
• Stay on a Budget
• Shop less
• Save More
• Give more (philanthropically and volunteering)
• Be more open to relationships and get over my fear of commitment so that I can be in a serious relationship (wow that was hard to type lol)
• Learn the REAL difference between a need and a want
• Find a plan that works stick with it
• Take a creative class that is not related to music
• Be more organized
• Be more focused
• Continue to reevaluate friendships and determine who really needs to be a part of my life
• Stop being so passive
• Have 45 minutes of complete silence a week
• Go on at least one retreat that will better me as a person

These aren’t really resolutions but things that I can do to make me better. A lot of them can be done in 2009 some are going to take some work. But starting a year is such a great way to sit and reflect on what I could be doing better to make ME better.

I know I’ve been missing. But life has been going on. I’m about to head on a minivacation with family so I’ll probably be back into my updating after I return.

I took this list of questions from a blog I was reading and what you’re supposed to do is pretty simple. First, go to Flickr. Then, go to Big Huge Labs’ mosaic-maker in a second tab in the same window so you can easily switch back & forth. Now you’re going to fill in your answers, then do a photo search in Flickr for each word or phrase. You must then choose one photo from the FIRST PAGE ONLY of your results that most resonates with you and then enter each photo url into the mosaic-maker. Once you finish, hit create and there you have it. (And at any given time, the results can be different based on Flickr photo activity.)

What is your first name? Christen

 What is your favorite food? lobster mac and cheese

 What high school did you go to? Eleanor Roosevelt High School

 What is your favorite color? Purple

 Who is your celebrity crush? Idris Elba

 What is your favorite drink? Chambord and Champagne

 What is your dream vacation? Australia

 What is your favorite dessert? Strawberry Shortcake

 What do you want to do when you grow up? Change Lives

Who/ what do you love most in life? My family

Choose one word that describes you? Complex

Where is your favorite place to be? Ocean

Photo credits
1. DOILY Christening DRESS cards, 2. Lobster Mac ‘n Cheese, 3. Eleanor Roosevelt high school, 4. PURPLE HAZE, 5. idris.elba.10, 6. Chambord and Champagne, 7. ‘So what are you doing this Australia Day ?’, 8. Strawberry shortcake, 9. Imagine… the wall of peace and freedom, 10. My family portrait, 11. Complex Simplicity, 12. Trade Winds – Isla Mujeres, Mexico (Near Cancun)

I don’t really have too much to say. My mind has been allllll over the place since I returned to the US. Between getting acclimated to being at work again, getting back on my schedule, this election (that still has me feeling like I’m dreaming), trying to focus better on my relationship (that I’m kind of in denial about) and life things are kind of hectic.

The weekend was good though. Friday I got a massage and hung out with the guy. Saturday I had a personal day and shopped and got this great Tory Burch bag, had dinner at a mexican spot that I wanted to be good but it was mediocre outside of the sangria. Today was church, then we went to see “Role Model” which was hilarious and had dinner…. pretty normal weekend.

How was yours?

I’m heading to the beautiful place in the picture above

I’ll be gone til November from this blog but I shall be updating on my travel blog

http://www.dallasisd.org/keynote.htm