My Story...

In Oklahoma we would attend Life Church (not nearly enough) and Matt and I loved how relateble the messages were. This church is pretty amazing and we miss it.... Luckily for us you can watch all the messages online and yesterday a friend of mine earged me to start the current series "My Story".

My Story

Craig Groeschel

One day we're all going to tell a story about our lives. The decisions we make today will determine the story we'll tell tomorrow. In the series, My Story, we're going to learn to live a story worth telling.

You can check Life church out by clicking HERE and watch a message that is pertinent to your life. This message got me thinking of what do I want? What should the chapters in my story be? And last night in bed I was thinking about what I want to be and this question is little "off base" but the message above got me thinking. What do I want to be? Who do I want to be? So, I thought I would share a list with you.....some of these things I might already be, some I will strive to be and others are full of hope........

I want to be someone who looks at both sides of the story.
I want to be someone who can forgive and let things go.
I want to be someone that friends and family can lean on.
I want to be someone who thinks before she speaks.
I want to be someone who is a glass half full person.
I want to be someone who has patience.
I want to be someone who lets resentments go.
I want to be someone whose past is the past.
I want to be someone who has hope for her future.
I want to be someone with a marriage full of trust, hope, passion and forgiveness.
I want to be someone who follows thru.

I honestly could go on and on and in fact the message in the first My Story was to not pick more than 1. Pick 1 thing that you think God wants you to be, nurture it and have discipline with it. And the thought is if you succeed with that "story/attribute/goal" tent you will be happy, proud and those feelings would snowball over to the next thing on your life. A question I have been asking myself lately when facing something "challenging" is...."How will this affect the big picture?" Or in this case how will this affect my story? I think we would all like to look back in years and see the point where out story got better.
So friends........ I would love it if you would leave me a comment and tell me What do you want to be? Who do you want to be?

Changes a coming......

You know how in Twilight Breaking Dawn Bella wants to tell Charlie she is a vampire but she just can't tell him everything? So she tells him that they will have to be on a need to know basis and he will have to trust her. Well, let's apply that thought to this post........we all know I am definitely a TMI person (too much information) but sometimes you just can't divulge all the nitty gritty especially on a personal blog.
Matt has been with Farmers Insurance for 10 years, he was an agent before becoming a Reserve District Manager which lead to him taking the leap to become a District Manager. That was the sole reason we moved. We didn't pick a state and then get a job in Ohio, Matt was offered the job as a District Manager in Columbus, Ohio so we packed up and arrived! Matt has built his office from the ground up, finding the space, hiring a contractor, buying stuff to fill an entire office, hiring staff and building relationships with the agents in his District. A lot of time, blood, sweat and tears went into this past year.
Fast Forward to about 6 weeks ago when Farmers announced they are restructuring and Ohio was going to be the first state to roll out the new plan.  Here is how that effects us........They are going to combine all current districts into super districts meaning reducing districts by less than half. And that also means that less than half of the current District Managers would continue on with the new plan. Matt believes in Farmers and we both realize that at times companies have to change to continue to grow. And right about now is when I will skip forward to our current news and you will have to trust that everything that happened in between that is a need to know. That will stay between Matt, myself and our family.
This weekend we spent...I say "we" because I did help but Matt did the brunt of it all....we moved out of Matt's district office. We sold as much of the office as could, moved the rest to our garage and our trying to organize everything the best that we can. We have known about this for a few weeks and we had faith in this move, faith that this was just a little detour on the plan God has laid out for us.
NOW.....what next?
Well, I am very happy to say that Matt has been offered and accepted a new Position with Farmers as an Agency Business Consultant Specialist. His territory will be Michigan, Indiana, Virginia, Tennessee and Alabama. This position is going to be a great fit for Matt, he is smart, put together and will be a representative for this company. Here is the very very brief "Cliffs Note" version of his new position. Matt will be working with all the District Managers in those states as well as the business consultants they hire to grow their agencies. Matt will make sure the consultants and DM's meet their goals, build their businesses and he will be their consultant/liaison with Farmers Corporate. He will office out of our home so he spent most of yesterday putting together a functional office here at home in our empty bedroom upstairs! This also means he will be traveling 10+ days a month, which will take some getting use to for us both. Also he leaves this Sunday for LA where he will be training for 2 weeks, then he will have field training for another 5 days give or take. Matt will be missing my Brothers wedding but his career at this point has to come first and we will both miss out on spending time together this Holiday season! Luckily my parents didn't like the idea of me being alone so the week after I get back from Oklahoma for my Brothers wedding my Mom will be coming to stay a week with me!

I hope this all made sense to everyone. Yes, this is bittersweet.....and Yes, change is hard wether it is negative or positive. We have been thru so much these past few years and living in limbo again the past few months has been hard. Matt and I are both excited to have a new plan laid out before us and I know we both look forward to building our life together and focusing on the future.

Erin Condren Love....

Around the "blog-a-sphere" Erin Condred is highly loved and I have coveted one of her custom planners for a long time. Since moving, joining JL, planning trips home and starting our new life I decided I deserved one! haha! They aren't super cheap but they sure are fun.............

Oh ya, I got the multi-color pen pack to match my planner........it was like back to school supply day for grown ups when this package came in the mail Saturday!

Here she is!! You can choose between 10-12 different designs and then custom colors for each design. You can even have your cover be all pictures but I liked this fun chocolate design with touches of color! And yes, it does say 2012-2012 and that is 100% my fault, in what must have been a brain freeze I wrote that in the form. Oh well.

I had them put a picture on the back cover and adding a picture is like $5........

I was also excited about my 2 custom notepads! They stick to the back cover of the planner. 

Yup,  I didn't even know that it came with fun matching labels. Also in a separate envelope I got a bonus gift of more labels that said "Just something special from Nicole Savage" that I can use on gifts or baked goods!!

This picture shows my ruler that will save my week and the cute folder in the planner to hold whatever I need it to.

And behold.......custom stickers!!! Oh ya, those are actual stickers with my pictures on them! So fun huh? I feel like such a kid.....like I can't wait to write with my color pens and then decorate with stickers

Whenever you order that is the month your planner will start so mine is Sept-Sept..........

Throughout the planner there are wonderful inspirational quotes and each month has a different color scheme which is nice!

And this is what the weeks look like, it is divided into morning, day, night and at the sides of the pages there is a place to write "To-Dos and Goals"!

Erin Condren also does Holiday cards and a lot of other fun stuff too....you gotta check out her site. Click HERE to visit it!

New Day Please....

Do you have days where it feels like the weight of the world is on your shoulders? Where not one thing goes right but things unravel right before your eyes? Do you ever have days where you want to just disappear? I doubt it is only me but in this Facebook crazed (me too) world everyone always presents such a picture perfect front and no one ever lets on that things are less than perfect. I am reading a book about a girl who is occasionally put into cryostasis and when woken she is the un-aged but any amount of time has passed........and yes, I am weird but I am wishing I had a cryo tube right about now.
I have a tendency to get dark and think.....why me? why is everything so hard? when will everything fall into place? And on and on and on...........

I have a prayer that I cut out of a Oprah magazine awhile back and I recite it over and over and pray that it will give me comfort. I want to share it with you.......

May today there be peace within.

May you trust God that you are exactly where you are meant to be.

May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith.

May you use those gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you.

May you be content knowing you are a child of God.

Let this presence settle into your bones and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love.

It is there for each and everyone of us. 

Big Change.....

Ok guys I have some news some things in my life that are changing......I wasn't going to say anything yet but I don't want you all to think I have abandoned you.
So, I turned in my 2 weeks notice at my current J-O-B yesterday! I know, big shock to everyone even my family. Why? A few reasons but mostly because I got a better offer and that is I all I need to say in this post. But today when I came to work I was told today would be my last day, not to finish out my 2 weeks! So I am cleaning up my desk and getting things in order.
When do I start my new job? December 13
What is it? Well, a good friend of mine Natalie (you can see her HERE) suggested I apply at her new company and in 1 weeks time my resume was handed in, I interviewed and I was offered the job. No need to draw out the jest.... I will be working in Land Title. And you know what? After 6 weeks of training with the company I will then be working from HOME! Yes, you heard me....and Yes, the pay is more than I make now.
NO! This is not a gimmick the company has been around for 30 years.
What does that mean for my blog? Well, my laptop is on the fritz so until next Monday when I can get that taken in my posts may slow down for a bit. And they may also slow down when I am training but it wont be long before it will look like nothing has changed.
Change is hard even if it is good (I always tell people that) and I am excited to see what this will bring for me! While I am off of work I am going to get ALL my Christmas shopping done before I start the new JOB!
Well guys looks like I am off to clean out my desk................wish me luck!

Gather round, it is story time...

SO I don't think I have shared this story with you all before, and I am not sure what made me think of it today....but I did. So for our wedding reception I made a "video montage" to play on repeat at our reception, and it was fun because we "previewed" it our rehearsal dinner. (Side note, I have since made 3 more for others if you need one made) anyways, our photographer Sara was capturing some pictures of everyone dancing and when we saw what she had captured everyone was amazed. The montage is made where each picture is only on screen for 6-10seconds each and the chances of her capturing us at this exact moment are fate. The picture above is us and on the screen is a picture of Matt's mother who passed away while he was young!! I mean if this is not God telling us that her spirit was with us on this night then I don't what! Sara, our photographer knew none of this, so no she was not "waiting" to get this shot...but every time I talk about this I realize all over again how special this was. I mean it literally looks like Sandra is looking down on us, what a special picture that we will always treasure.

If you feel like wasting some time you can watch our "Wedding Video Montage" here.....and yes, it is long!!

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Thanks for listening!

Weekend Wrap up- Updated!

Hi guys! I wrote this post this morning and ust uploaded Saturday's pictures......... so
Matt freezing and mad I am making him pose for a picture!!
Me, excited dinner was yummy but ready to go home to pass out in a food coma!

Is anyone else sad today?? Sad that the Holidays are over! Sad that my next day off is Memorial Day! Sad that I had to take all my Christmas stuff down and sad that Matt is officially not working in my building anymore! I always get a little bummed this time of year Jan-April! Ha, that is a long time!!
Did you all have a nice Holiday weekend? We did...we did alot of cleaning around the house but we were also able to squeeze in time on the couch which made for a relaxing weekend!! We saw two movies one bad ...one great! On NYE we went with our good friends Jenn & Chris to see Sherlock Holmes and both Matt and I thought it was super boring, no joke. I did not think it was funny or clever and at times I could not even understand what Sherlock was saying with this mumbling he did! So for me this is a mega renter!!!!!
We tried to redeem ourselves on Saturday and boy did we ever.....It's Complicated is soo funny! This movie was clever, cute and funny! Merly Streep and Alec Baldwin make the perfect couple and it is so nice to see a Romantic comedy with a couple older than 25!!

So Saturday I surprised Matt with a nice dinner out, we went to Red Prime Steakhouse downtown and it was an overall nice experience. I heard good reviews and bad reviews about this place but ultimately I wanted something we have not had before so we took a chance! The food was great they had a modern twist on steakhouse classics but it was the service that almost ruined this. If we were not having so much fun together we would of been pissed. I worked 4 years in a fine dining steakhouse and this girl was AWFUL, don't even get me started! I still gave her well over %20 tip but I included a little note about her poor service on the credit card slip so her manager would see. DO I do that often? YES! I always write good or bad comments on the CC slip but ALWAYS tip %20 or more! But tipping is another post all together!

Happy new year friends! And BOO to this Monday back to work!

Once in a blue moon...

Well it seems that this year that age old saying will come true....tomorrow night is a rare blue moon and it should look like the picture above. I have been thinking alot about that saying "Once in a blue moon" and decided to think about 2010 and resolutions....I have never done resolutions in the past and I still don't call what I have done anything more than things I want to accomplish or do differently in 2010! I also read somewhere that you will have a greater chance at success and following thru if you put our goals "Out There". So here goes nothing.............

Nicole's Once in a blue moon things I don't call a resolution list!!!!
(Brace yourself this will be long)

1. Be positive!! My husband is such a "glass half fuller" and since I met him I have been better but I really want to try to be more positive!!
2. Focus on the good things I bring to our marriage....and then do more of those!
3. Focus on Scentsy and all the potential it has in my life!
4. Devote more time to Junior Hospitality Club as well as getting in more community service hours!
5. Focus on the positive friendships I have in my life and then build upon those!
6. Save, Save, Save.....think; do I really need to buy more STUFF?? I mean I do not know your financial situation and you do not know mine but I would love to stop being stressed about what is or isn't in our bank account!
7. Focus on our home.....fix our fence, start on the upstairs bath and slowly work on bedrooms!
8. Work on letting go of those silly petty fights you have in a marriage, talking it out then moving on!
9. Realizing our home is small but effective and host more friends and family!
10. I will be turning 29 in a few months so I would like to work on a 30 before 30 list!! Fun, small things I would like to do before I turn 30!
11. Be healthy! I have fallen off the "I do not eat fast food" wagon...I need to jump back on!
12. AND go figure.........Exercise!! The #1 resolution around but but here are my reasons....
- My neurologist has told me to and how it may help my migraines! I mean how lazy am I that I know something may help but I can not drag myself off the couch?
- In the past couple of months I have gained 10pounds, after my brother pointed them out..I need to loose em!
- Cellulite is slowly but surely taking over my thighs (there is no help for my butt, it is a lost cause) so I need to put a stop to this!
- I am so out of shape it is pathetic!
SO please hold me accountable, this one will be soo hard for me!!! HELP!
Lastly, I want the Serenity Prayer to be my "Mantra"....

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I can not change

courage to change the things I can and wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time, enjoying one moment at a time

Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace!

Do you have resolutions? If so, what are they? Are any of yours the same as mine?

BIG News

ok......NO I am NOT pregnant!! But I got a good chuckle for a couple of hours while some of you thought I was! This news is right up there though........there are a handful of HUGE events in life such as getting married, having a baby and then choosing your career or landing your dream job. Well please bear with me as I try to properly explain this and while I try to express excitement all while writing a blog post...........

So this has been a hard secret to keep as Matt and I have known about this since October but the T's are crossed and the I's are dotted so I am allowed to tell you...........................

Matt got a HUGE promotion!!!!!!!!!!!
Ok, so for the last 6 years my husband Matt has owned his own Farmers Agency alot of hard work and dedication has been put into this, I mean this is his child. Matt also was just getting into a good position where things were sailing along .....when WHAM!! He gets a call from his District manager asking him if he would be interested in becoming a District Manager! This is not something you decide over night this is a HUGE decision we discussed at length and this oppurtunity has many pros and some cons! Then Matt had to take tests, write essays, gather transcripts and get approved thru by the state all the way to the national office! This entire 3 month process that was full of stress came to an end last Tuesday!!He passed with flying colors might I add!!! SO what does this mean.............

-Farmers will essentially be "buying" Matt's agency from us and that sum will be very helpful to put away for when Matt starts his own District office as well as wiping out all our debt!

-Matt will for the next 12-18months become a Reserve District Manager which means he will be hands on in recruiting new agents, learning how to run his own district and training new agents!! This means he will be working LONG LONG hours and that will be adjustment but he will also be moving over to salary for this time instead of commission only and that was a pro on the decision checklist!

- So when his 12-18months is over Matt will be awarded his own Farmers District where he will be in charge/over all the agents in this area. Another good point on the checklist is the pay raise will jump again but the semi-bad is that we may be asked to relocate! And we will not know until this is all over. But whatever happens this is Matt's career and he is soo excited about this and I am here to support him!

This is pretty BIG news and this will be a change so 1 week from today Matt will start off in a new direction! And for all of you who have policies with Matt the way that will work is you will receive a letter in the mail mid-January explaining this and introducing you to your new agent. BUT, don't fret Matt will be over which ever agent you will be turned to and he will still be here to help!!

So yay for Matt and his hard work, dedication and charm!!! XOXOX