Checking In

Just thought I would check in real quick like. I am sitting in the exhibit hall here at the conference at the Surrendering the Secret booth. Breakout sessions are currently going on, so it is pretty quiet right now. A lot of the other exhibitors are wandering around currently. I might do that here in a second too. Between the jazz music being piped in and the constant hum of the escalator (our booth is at the bottom of the down escalator), I am ready to stretch my legs.

I don't really have anything incredibly exciting to share. I hear it is only 70 something degrees outside and will drop into the 40s tonight, but I wouldn't really know since I haven't been outside since Tuesday evening!

If I come up with anything exciting, I will get back on and blog about it. Until next time...

Road Trip

On Tuesday morning I am headed out on a road trip. Atlanta, here I come! I am going to a conference and will return on Sunday afternoon. (I actually am flying back, but the drive up counts, right?)

Tomorrow is a golf tournament that benefits the ministry where I work. Our entire staff will be spread out over the golf course doing various...well, we'll do whatever we are asked.

Needless to say, my blogging may be sporadic over this next week, but I will try to check in a couple of time. Honestly it all depends on the Internet access at the hotel where I am staying.

So, until I can pick up my next WiFi signal, have a great one!!!

Change of Plans

"I'm leaving on a jet plane..."

I was originally scheduled to leave for Texas on Wednesday for a couple of days to spend with family and celebrate some special family events.

However, Fay has changed my plans. Tropical storms/depression/hurricanes are very unpredictable and because I cannot change when Jacob's birthday is and when my grandparents 65th anniversary is I am just leaving early before any drama has the opportunity to occur.

I managed to change my ticket from Wednesday to Monday, and I was only charged $2.50!!! It also gives me an extra day and a half with my family which will be nice. That is 2 whole days without an agenda or an appointment or a party or anything planned...at least that is what I am hoping!

So, the next time you hear from me I will be in Texas enjoying some family time, celebrating some special occasions, and loving on my niece and nephew.

By the way, this is my 200th post!!!

Lessons I Learned Today

Today has been one of those days and I actually began a post earlier...but after a couple of hours I have more perspective. Here is what I have learned.

1. There are no "do over" days in life. At least I can apologize tomorrow.
2. Never blog when you are mad, frustrated, or upset. I have a feeling it could have come back to "haunt" me.
3. Never make important decisions when you are tired. Always wait until you are rested...especially those life impacting decisions.
4. When you get to the point you are ready to cry, hit something, or throw something, take a deep breathe and try to find a more constructive way to deal with your emotions. Well, crying would have been okay if I had not been trying to drive. In the past I would have curled up and become one with the couch and a plate of chocolate chip cookies. Today I debated whether to take a jog or get a pedicure. Neither were laced with unwanted calories. I decided to get a pedicure. A jog would have been more economical, but at least my feet are pretty.
5. It's time to pack away the jeans when you can just pull them off.
6. Going shopping is more fun when you buy everything smaller than you have been and when you hit a incredible sale buying two items that total $12.56!
7. Don't ever buy veggie sausage and think you are going to like it on your first try. I have now tried two different brands and I think I am just going to stick with turkey sausage. There are some things that veggies should not be turned into and trust me that sausage is one of them. (If you are a personal fan of veggie sausage, I apologize, but this Texas girl just can't do it!)
8. Tomorrow is a new day.

Speaking of tomorrow, I am headed to Dallas for a conference. I was actually in Orlando last week at a conference. I've only had about 2 days between the two and they have been jammed packed. Yesterday I ran errands for over 8 hours and today I worked for over 8 hours. I still have one load of laundry to to do and several more things to iron, but I should finish in the next several hours. I apologize for the sporadic posting, but I hope to get back to "normal" next week when I get home from Dallas.

Back in Florida

Just wanted to drop a quick post to say that I am back in Florida. I had an uneventful trip yesterday afternoon. I have some final pictures to post, but I don't have time. I am hosting my Sunday School's New Year's Eve party. People will start arriving in less than an hour. I have spent the day unpacking, cleaning, doing laundry, and making preparations to host a party. I'm not sure what I was thinking when I agreed to this, but it is too late now. I don't have any idea who is even coming. It could be just a couple of us. I have several things that I can throw in the oven, but I am going to wait until people actually start to arrive before doing so.

Happy New Year!

You've Got To Be Kidding!

My bags are just about packed, which I consider a great accomplishment. (Yes, I made sure my socks made it in!) My flight doesn't leave until tomorrow night, but I am working the majority of the day so I need to be ready when I leave for work. I mailed my Christmas presents about 2 weeks ago, so they are there and ready for me tie all my bows. (I didn't want them to get crushed during shipping.)

I have even checked in for my flight. I think online check-in is one of the greatest inventions. I have a Southwest flight and with their new boarding system, it is important to check in as early as possible so you can get a good seat. Well, this is important if you are picky about where you sit, which I am to a degree. I prefer to sit in the exit row because of the extra leg room. My flight is tomorrow at 6:40 so tonight at 6:40 I logged in to check-in. By the time I got all my information in the computer and hit enter it was 6:41. My boarding pass has A 46 on it. That means that I am in the first group which is good. However in that one minute 45 people managed to check-in before me. I couldn't believe it!

I also think I have started to come down with a cold...at least I am hoping that is all it is. Last night I realized I had a sore throat and it has continued throughout the day. Today at lunch I went and stocked up on medicine. One of the things I picked up was Zicam. I have never used it, but I know people who are believers in it. I'll let y'all know what I think. I think I am going to call it a night since I just took some medicine that "may cause drowsiness" which means I will be out in about 30 minutes!

Back in Town

I made it back yesterday from Virginia Beach. I literally hit the ground running so that I could make it to the Christmas presentation at church last night. The rest of the conference/training went really well. I performed my first three sonograms on Saturday afternoon. I only have 67 more supervised scans before I am considered fully trained.

I would love to write some more tonight, but I really must wrap my Christmas presents so that I can get the box in the mail this week. It's hard to believe that I will be headed to Texas for Christmas in only 11 days! That means I better get the box in the mail soon. Besides Mary Poppins is on TV and that seems like good gift wrapping entertainment.

Conference Update

Besides the fact that it is cold, I haven't set this much or for this long in quite some time. Other than that, it is going very well. A lot of the things that we have discussed I already knew regarding ultrasound. However, there were some new things or things that have changed recently. I even made myself sit down last night and review everything that I had learned that day. I will probably do the same tonight because at some point I have to take a test. Then on Saturday I will get up and get to actually practice everything that I have learned in these two days. I am just praying for the poor lady that I will perform my very first sonogram on.

Brrrrr....

I knew it would be cold in Virginia Beach. I have packed some pretty warm clothes, but I had to reevaluate everything a few minutes ago when I received a text message from my friend who lives there declaring, "Weather report calls for snow flurries!" I appreciate this warning, but I must confess I checked the Weather Channel and sure enough it does.

Just east of Norfolk is where Virginia Beach is located. It's hard to tell on the map, but it should be the light green or a mixture of snow and rain. Fun times ahead!

Back in Nashville

Well, I am back in Nashville at a conference for work. I am having a blast. I have run into a seminary professor, friends, from college, friends from seminary, friends that I served with on the mission field, and a couple of friend's mothers. I also got to meet several of the LifeWay author's. (I am at a LifeWay Conference). I have some really good photos to share, but they are not on my camera. I will get them posted as soon as possible.

Reporting from LandLife

I know that I said I would blog from Nashville, but that has proven to be more difficult than I thought. My lack of blogging has not been due to the fact that I am not having a great time. We are having a blast, but this has been different than any other time that Abbey and I have hung. That could be because we always have a baby in tow. Let me give you a brief synopsis of the trip thus far:

Still no luck on figuring out how to rotate pictures. I promise they look right everywhere else.

Thursday- Flew to Nashville, went shopping, dinner with Jeff, Abbey, Reed, and their friends the Spicklers

Friday- Reed got a haircut, lunch out, Reed's first modeling photo shoot (he will be on the cover of one of LifeWay's magazines this summer), attended my first stamping party

Reed was way more interested in the dinosaur than the haircut

Saturday- I made breakfast, trip to Wal-Mart to buy baby food and materials to make our costumes for a party, assembled costumes, made monster toes for party, attended said party

Look at my two teeth!

We went to the party as salt and pepper

WOW!!! That makes me tired just typing all that out. Now, Abbey is preparing to teach Sunday School. I guess I am not being very much help since I am sitting on the couch. I guess I will go help now.

Check

Camera- check
Extra batteries- check
Camera cord- check
Cell Phone- charging
iPod and charger- check, check
Suitcase- not quite finished packing this
Boarding pass- check

Well, it is definitely coming, but I am not quite packed. That's right, I am heading out once again. This time I am going on vacation. Nashville, here I come! I am going to visit my college friends, Jeff and Abbey and their newest family addition, Reed. I meet Jeff and Abbey when they were freshmen at Mississippi College. Jeff and I graduated together and then repeated that process from Southwestern. I was also in their wedding. We have lots of great memories and stories. I am looking forward to adding some new ones.

I am taking my laptop so I will be trying to blog from there. It sounds like we are going to have quite the adventure!

I'm Back

In case you were worried, I am back. I arrived safely yesterday morning, but have been extremely busy ever since. I crashed yesterday once I got home. Finally, pulled my weary bones from the couch after a 3 hour nap. A quick shower and I was off to LifeWay. Then back home and back to bed. Today was work.

However, it was a great trip. The white water rafting was fun and I enjoyed getting to know some of the college students. I also managed to get a little sun. The trip was relatively uneventful if you don't take into account the 911 call and following search and rescue that the volunteer Polk County fire department had to perform. There were 171 people on this trip and on Saturday afternoon about a 100 of them hiked the mountain behind the camp were we stayed. A 700 pound boulder fell on a girls foot and caused several lacerations and compound fracture to her ankle. She had surgery and was discharged less than 24 hours later. She even made the trip back with us.

Benton, TN is a beautiful area and so was Camp Agape.

I am sorry I didn't get any more pictures. I figured it wasn't the brightest idea to take my camera on the river. I will share the fact that I did manage to stay in the raft the whole time. Many people got thrown our during the trip, but not our raft. The six of us managed to hang on.

On the Road Again

Tomorrow I am hitting the road...again! It is something that I should go ahead and get use to since I will be gone the next four weekends. I am beginning to think I should host a game on my blog called "Where in the World is Jane Masters?"

1. According to MapQuest, my destination is 9 hours and 6 minutes from here.
2. There is only one state between my destination and here.
3. I have never lived in this state, but have visited several times. Actually was there less than one year ago.
   
4. I have very good friends who live in this state, but I won't get to see them on this trip
5. The state's slogan is "the stage is set for you"...at least that is what I think it is
6. The town that I am going to is the home of the Ocoee River and the Cherokee National Forest.
   

Any guesses? If you said Tennessee then you are right, if you guessed Benton, TN you are the winner!

I am going white water rafting with a group from church. I am excited to get away and have a little fun. I am not sure about the bus ride there, but I have my new iPod charged and loaded with lots of music. I even bought a nifty wall charger to make sure I can get back without the battery dying.

I hope everyone else has a great Labor Day weekend. I will give you all an update with pictures next week!

Mountains, Here I Come!

Tomorrow I will head to North Carolina. I will be there until Thursday, so there probably won't be any blogging going on over the next several days. Technically, this is a "business trip", but I am planning on having a lot of fun too! I am very excited about getting to do a little hiking while I am there. I have done a little hiking in the last four years, but not near the amount that I did while in China.

This was on a hike headed into Burma. We didn't make it because we had a run in with the Chinese authorities...ah, those were the days!

Some people take pictures with one foot in one state and the other foot in another state. In this picture I have one foot in China and the other foot in Burma.

Please pray for me and the 12 other women who will be working on a project with LifeWay. Pray that I have covered all the logistics and everyone actually makes it there safely. I know I will let out a big sigh when we all make arrive. Also pray for the women who will be sharing their testimonies.

I can't wait to share all my adventures when I get back, and don't worry, I have packed my camera!