Saying Goodbye...

It's never easy to say goodbye...but it's something I have been saying a lot lately. Leaving my job after I have been here 6 years, it's a little harder than I thought. These people became family to me. I didn't really know anyone when I moved here from Knoxville. I joke that I have about a dozen mothers here as well as brothers/father figures that look out for me... I know, I'll be back, and we'll keep in touch but I will miss the small things... Like taking those breaks and wandering over to a friend's cubicle to discuss the latest drama in her life or mine for that matter. Saying hello to Miss Tina as I come in and out of the building. Or just sitting at my computer trying to look busy...

I am so very excited about my new job... I cannot wait to get started in this new chapter of my life...But that brings me to another sad point.... I'm afraid with my new job I won't be able to update this site as much as I have in the past. I want to stay in touch with y'all so, if you want to say hey or find out what's up with me and my life (as if it were really that exciting..) feel free to email me... my email address is tngovgirl@hotmail.com

I want to thank each one of you for your love and support, I have enjoyed getting to know you through this blog. I will still be around, just not as much...

I will leave you with this verse that means so much to me...
"let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time, we will reap a harvest if we do not give up" Galatians 6:9

Much love,

Beachgirl

Some Exciting news

So I have been hesistant to share this bit of news with everyone...Mainly b/c it's a very important thing that has come up, I have been talking to my family, best friend Kari and some church folk about it... Most importantly I have been in much prayer about it.. What is it you ask??

An awesome job opportunity... It is the Special Events Director for a large non-profit agency. The job just sort of fell into my lap last Wednesday when I was having lunch with my friend, Angie... She is the executive director of this non-profit and were there to discuss volunteer opportunities for next year, she had asked me to chair an event this year but I had to decline b/c of all my other obligations... The conversation was just rolling along and I began to tell her that I was thinking of changing careers. I wanted to move towards development/fundraising within a healthcare field, non-profit, etc... She kind of looked at me with a funny look on her face, and said she had an opening... I was like hmmmm. As we began to talk more about the position I became more excited, she was totally serious... As we left she asked me to send her my resume when I got back to my office and she would have the HR person call me...I sent her my resume, and the HR person called to set an appointment so we could talk the next day (Thursday).

So, this was really happening....My dream job, being a Special Events Director...I would actually get paid for things I do already, plan parties and events... I had a brief phone interview with the HR person on Thursday, I really liked her, and I think she liked me...

The following day, Friday, I had a formal interview with Angie, she showed me around the office and introduced me to the staff... Then she showed me what would be my office, it's so cute... After I left Angie's office, I had a brief phone interview with her boss... After I hung up with her, Angie called me and asked me how I thought it went, I told her I thought it went fine...Angie informed me that her boss had already emailed her and said she thought I was a perfect fit for the job!! Angie told me that we would start the paper work and I should know something by the following week (this week)......

After a glowing reference from my current boss (she's amazing), I got the offer yesterday and I accepted... I will be the Special Events Director for a major non-profit agency.... I give all thanks to God, I put this in his hands, I did not worry and I prayed that His will would be done.... Praise the Lord!!

So here we are, closing a chapter on my life... I have been with the state for 6 years, I started here just out of college. I grew up here, my co-workers became like family to me. It was a little hard to tell some folks that I was leaving, but they were all so happy for me... and I'm happy for me too...

So there you have it, my big news...a new life born in Christ, a new job, and an amazing new adventure!!!

Totally Random Thoughts

Ok, so I can't put together a coherent post so I just thought I would post some random thoughts...

1. I may be changing careers, but won't know more until tomorrow... (Prayers please, that I am able to accept God's will)..If I change careers I may not have a lot of time for blogging, not like I do now... So I think it will come down to, if you want to keep in touch, you may just have to email me... But I don't know yet, let's just wait and see..

2. I hate it when my best friend is in pain, I just want to take it from her... I have seen her cry more in the past week than I have seen her cry in the almost 10 years we have known each other... It breaks my heart and I just pray things get better for her..

3. Chairborne Stranger, Rolligun and Eunuch are home!! My good friend RG is expected home the first week in September, please keep him and the rest of the guys in your prayers... I ask especially that you continue to pray for the guys that are home... sometimes adjusting back to civilian life can be, well, not the easiest thing in the world...

4. It is overcast and yucky here today, a perfect day for curling up with a good Audrey Hepburn movie while sipping on some hot chocolate..then taking a long cat nap...

5. Why is 40 below in my office??!! I mean it is 90 some odd degrees outside and it's like the frozen tundra in here... I keep a sweater, socks, and a blanket at my desk just so I can make it through the day...it's not right I tell ya! Just not right...

6. I think my mom is great... my sister and I dump a lot of crap on her...I just hope she knows how much we love her and appreciate her...

7. I have lots of furry things on my desk, furry pens, a furry lamp, a pink boa...hey, if I am going to work in the frozen tundra, I am going to surround myself with fun furry things!!


That's about it...things are actually pretty ok with me right now... Thank the good Lord above...

Much love to you all!!

~beachgirl

A little more pudge please...

There was a great story on the Today Show this morning. It was all about how more women are attracted to men with a little more meat on their bones, or what I like to call "a little more pudge".... The story began with a report of the death of the dreaded Metro Sexual... So long Jude Law, and those like you! I for one was never attracted to the metro sexuals.. I simply do not want to date a guy that is prettier than me or uses more hair products than me...

I mean I like a guy that knows "sort of" how to dress, but absolutely hates to shop... Take my friend RG for example, he knows how to dress and knows of important designers (especially Ralph Lauren), but he still makes fashion mistakes... I remember one time when a group of us got together, he wore a pair of carpenter jeans, they were heinous and did NOTHING for him... I told him if he ever had hope for finding a decent girl, he should go home and burn those jeans... I wasn't ugly about it, and I think he appreciated my honesty... I think...

I also like a guy that can take direction... I will use RG as an example again. I was at his place for his birthday last year, for some reason, he wanted to show me his closet... WAIT!! I KNOW, I was thinking the same thing.... was this his attempt to get me into his room and make some sort of grand daytime soap opera move on me??! I'll tell you, at that point, I was really hoping for it, but to no avail, he really just wanted me to see his closet... and NO HE'S NOT GAY!!!

So we are in the closet (Jake, don't even go there!!) and it's immaculate... I mean for heaven's sake he's in the military and everything had it's place...I mean, I wanted to pay him to come organize my closet.... so I was going through his wardrobe, it was pretty good. LOTS of Ralph Lauren..Nice, very nice... My birthday party was the following week, so he pulled out the shirt he thought he would wear, I told him it was nice but I preferred that he wear another one.... and you know what?? He did... He can follow direction... that's a good man.... but he's not a wimp...

There's a fine line between a man that can follow direction (but still be strong) and one that is just a door mat.. The door mat guy is usually the one that only knows how to say "yes dear"... That's NOT the kind of guy I want.....

I like guys like Vince Vaughn, and Will Ferrell. A guy that is cute and FUNNY!! But of course guys like Matthew McConaughey, and Josh Lucas could eat cookies in my bed ANYTIME... HOORAY!! The REAL men are back!! So long you sissy metro sexuals!!!

I for one am putting my faith in God that he will lead me to the man He has in mind for me... and NO, I don't expect God to deliver him to my door (however that would be great!!)... But through good works and activities, I believe I will find him, better yet, he will find me...

Much love y'all!!

~Beachgirl

Welcome Molly Kate!!

With a very thankful heart I am proud to announce that my good friends Jennifer and Eric have been blessed with the birth of their daughter, Molly Kathryn. Molly Kate and mom are doing great. Dad says Molly Kate has a head full of hair and is absolutely beautiful. I have no doubt that she is ...

Molly Kate was born at 12:15 am, August10 weighing 7 lb 9 oz. She is 20 1/4 in long.

I am so thankful to God above for such a wonderful blessing like Molly Kate. This child is going to grow up surrounded by people that love her so much...Especially her parents, they are two of the most wonderful people I have ever encountered...

I can't wait to see this little blessing, to hug and kiss her, and tell her how much her Aunty Beachgirl loves her... I think Aunty Ray-Ray and I are going to have to make a trip out to see her soon!!!

Molly Kate, welcome to the world sweet girl...

Much love....

~Beachgirl

Breakfast at Tiffany's

One of my favorite movies of all time...and as Holly Golightly said "I'm crazy about Tiffany's" for me, that cannot be a more true statement... I Love Tiffany's and everything from Tiffany's... I have actaully been to the Tiffany's on 5th Avenue in New York.. It was a magical experience, my mother bought me my first piece of Tiffany's jewlery while we were there, a pair of silver starfish earrings...Quite appropriate, don't you think?? Kind of goes along with the whole "Beachgirl" theme...

Now Nashville has it's own Tiffany's store in Green Hills Mall.. at first I was really excited to have the store here...They had an invitation only opening last Monday, I assume my invitation was lost in the mail...A woman was interviewed outside the store, apparently she was one of the invited guests (I'm thinking she stole my invitation).. When the reporter asked her why she thought everyone loved Tiffany's as they do, she spewed out this comment in a trashy country accent (I mean we're talking East Tennessee, straight out of the trailer park, white trash accent), "Well I guess everyone just loves that aqua box!!".... Aqua Box??!!! Excuse me?? It is NOT aqua, it is its OWN color, called TIFFANY BLUE (or simply the little blue box with the little white bow)... See that's what you get with new money, no class..... It made me want to vomit, and I hoped no one from the Tiffany's Company was watching for fear they may close the doors of our new Nashville store immediately...

So Kari and I popped into the Tiffany's Saturday. It was very beautiful, there was a guard at the door, it was like a magical moment just walking through the doors... But then the magic died as we tried to dodge the strollers filled with screaming children, and people oohing and ahhing over "that purty ring" and asking how much it was...I wanted to say, honey, if you have to ask, you can't afford it.. I know, I wasn't being very Christian like, and I will pray about it... but come on!!! It's TIFFANY'S!!!

I mean it was beautiful, and I even tried on a couple of bobbles..but it was just different. When I expressed my concern to Kari, she hit the nail on the head... She said it was kind of like the lottery..We did not have one in Tennessee for a number of years, but all of our neighboring states had them... so anytime you would travel to Georgia, Kentucky or Virginia, it would be a big deal to get a lottery ticket.. But when the lottery finally came to Tennessee, it just wasn't as fun...

So now that we have our own Tiffany's, some of the magic is gone..Not all of the magic, but some of it... However,I will NEVER refuse a little blue box, with a little white bow...

Much love y'all!!!

~Beachgirl

Tax Free Weekend

Tennessee is having it's first ever tax free weekend beginning today. This is supposed to help parents get supplies for their kids without having to pay state and local taxes on purchases.
But it's really for all Tennesseans, not just parents and families...

This should be very helpful since Tennessee has one of the highest sales taxes in the nation. The sales tax is 9.25%, that really adds up, especially on big ticket items like computers. We do not have a state income tax here, which would alleviate the high sales tax and would have eliminated the tax on food. The tax is also 9.25% on food items, which really hurts the working poor. But a couple of years ago, there was a "Income tax revolution" when an income tax was proposed in the state legislature. People went nuts!! You would have thought state government was trying to revert from democracy to communism... All of this rhetoric was fueled by two nimrod radio hosts, both of whom spouted horrible personal insults on lawmakers.. In the end, b/c of death threats lawmakers were recieving, and the general lack of courage, lawmakers let the bill die, but raised the sales tax another quarter %. It was some of the darkest times Tennessee has ever faced... I for one will never forget it... I was a lobbyist on the Hill at that time..We had the national guard surrounding the capitol b/c of small riots and ongoing protests. We were encouraged to take our state badges off when we went out for lunch downtown, b/c state workers were being harrassed. We working almost around the clock on the budget, I had to be escorted to my car each night by a TBI agent, not b/c I was like in super duper danger, but it was always dark when we left the capitol, and besides that, I think he had a crush on me.... But if the income tax had passed, there would be no tax on food, and the poorest of the poor would recieve a state income tax break...Instead we now have one of the highest sales taxes in the nation... yeah, it has worked out well...

But I digress... so now we have a tax free weekend..I really feel like I should go out and buy some some stuff. It's not in my budget but hey, there's no taxes... I really feel like I should seize this opprotunity... right?

Hope everyone has a great weekend!! I know I will!!

Much love
~Beachgirl

A little more appropriate

Ok, Not sure if anyone read my site earlier today, but I had posted something that was not very positive. I was griping about something really silly... so I just decided to take it down..it reallyw asn't that important to begin with...so I decided to post something a little more appropriate...

It's a Christian Song that means a great deal to me, especially now as I follow my calling... It's a beautiful song that always puts me at ease... It's by Ginny Owens...

If You Want Me To
The pathway is broken
And the signs are unclear
And I don't know the reason why you brought me here
But just because you love me the way that you doI'm gonna walk through the valley
If you want me to

Cuz I'm not who I was
When I took my first step
And I'm clinging to the promise you're not through with me yet
So if all of these trials bring me closer to you
Then I will go through the fire
If you want me to

It may not be the way I would have chosen
When you lead me through a world that's not my home
But you never said it would be easy
You only said I'll never go alone
So when the whole world turns against me
And I'm all by myself
And I can't hear you answer my cries for help
I'll remember the suffering your love put you through
And I will go through the valley
If you want me to