Reflecting on 2014, Welcoming 2015!

As I reflect on 2014, I've found that it has been my year of BECOMING. It was a year of singular focus on graduate school and my near-future career plans. I began grad school at NJCU in September 2013 and through the grace of God, I am 90% done already with an expected graduation of May 2015 (just 5 months from now)!!! Deciding to go to grad school came once I hit a wall professionally. My vision for myself was greater than the tools I had in my arsenal. I wanted MORE for myself and my pumpkin. But the school I selected was almost 2 hrs away from the house I owned in South Jersey. This required some serious decision-making and rocket fuel! My house had passively been on the market for like 3 years. I had to be certain that it would be sold and I would have a new, safe, pleasant environment in North Jersey near campus that would be conducive to my attending school full-time and a place for my child to grow and thrive in elementary school. None of it was laid out for me...I had no family or friends we could stay with until I found a new place. I had to sell the house, pack up the entire home alone, find a new place, a p/t nanny and get us both in school in a matter of 3 months.

And believe me, some real live craziness occurred during this journey. For instance, my Volvo, which showed no signs of disrepair, engine died on me during one of my treks from South to North Jersey to handle the business of the move. Then, on the day of the move, my movers DID NOT SHOW UP and I had to hire a new moving company the day of, knowing I start classes on campus the very next day!
Annnnddd, the job I had for 2 years as a visual merchandiser, which depended on my having a car to get to all of the locations under my care, was now in jeopardy. My solution? Lease a livery car and run a limo service to cover my need for a new job and transportation to current one...killing 2 birds with one stone. Until I realized the car was a lemon and the owner of the livery car service was corrupt! Oh, and during all of that, there were "racial issues" with owner of the condo I was now renting and I had to find a NEW place within a 4 block radius of my child's new school so we could stay in the same school district we had JUST moved to. I was only a few weeks into my graduate studies, busy working and promoting a new biz venture and now this? Luckily, I found the townhouse I'm in now just one block away and a bumpy 2013 ended smoothly. We've been happy here for the 14 months we've lived here and 2014 has been rather mellow. My daughter is consistently on Honor Roll/Student-of-the-Month, has a TON of wonderful friends and I am kicking butt in grad school as a full-time student without a "job" at all. Life as a f/t student has been rather smooth since all of the initial drama ceased. There have been too many successes and blessings to count actually! God is GREAT. One of my favorite highlights of 2014 was getting a partial scholarship to go to Peters Valley School of Craft to spend a week learning furniture design.

Which leads me to my point: Life happens when we leave our comfort zone (for me it was a little house in the suburbs) to put it all the line and pursue our dreams. And just know that the devil will test your strength and resolve with a vengeance.  Big changes are not usually easy. There needs to be resistance, tests and challenges to force you to man up, stay prayed up and beef up your strategy.

This wasn't the first major change in my life, of course. I am divorced after all, but that's a post for another time. LOL

Being "jobless" (which I say with a smirk because I freelance now, which means that I have clients these days instead of a job) has freed up my time to earn a 4.0 GPA, be a very active mommy, take on fulfilling projects, and have a beautiful relationship with the amazing man in my life. I have peace and the mental space to pull off my biggest, wildest aspirations. So for 2015 there are no resolutions, just steady sharpening of my tools.

I wish you peace and abundance in 2015. See you at the top!