Tag: #marriage

Updates . . .

Published on by Kat DevineLeave a comment

If I survive this semester – what should be my final semester of college – it will be a small miracle.  I have to wonder if I’m focused on the negatives or if the stress of work and school are overwhelming me, but the bottom line is I am having the absolute worst time focusing – period.

On the upside of things, I have managed to pull ahead in the regular course work and Case Study for my Business Policy class.  I wrote and submitted the case study two months in advance and got a 100 on it, so yay me!  One paper down and three to go.  I have completed all of the research for my Seminar in Business class.  (This class is only worth 2 credit hours and only requires this 1 research paper.) But still it’s a required class to graduate and a paper is still a paper.

I think I have finally managed to understand the Business Simulator (CapSim) for the Business Policy class.  I feel terrible for my team mate because I was so far behind the curve ball of understanding that I think our team is in dead last place.  The good news is that she is fantastically nice and willing to shoulder at least 50% of the work as I am, so I believe we make a good team.  It’s not easy being CEO of your own company and playing in multi-millions, responsible for hundreds of employees’ lives and shareholders profits.  So far my take away is to have a strategy and stick with it.

The advanced research class is the one that is killing me.  70+ pages of content is not easy.  The research is done.  The reference page is complete.  The Abstract and Thesis statements are complete.  It’s the background, problem and supporting material that I am having so much trouble diving into.  And it’s NOT like the subject is all that sexy either; Negotiation Strategy and The Role of Attitude. (Blech!) pfooey!

That leaves the Management of Change class – and this class has the most required regular work plus a term paper.  The good news is, that paper is finished also and uploaded, but this teacher is incredibly  . . . hard to please with papers and tore my first paper to shreds (which in all honesty as I’m used to getting 100’s kind of tore me up).  She called my findings “arbitrary” and I’m like – how ‘arbitrary’ can expounding on a researched subject can it be? Sheesh.  Whatever – I got a B on it. Who cares. LOL . . . When did getting a “B” become failing?

Oh lord, have I become an Asian Tiger Mom to myself?! – Probably. LOL!

Thanks to the water leak at the house and the VERY mild winter and now saturated Spring my Eczema is worse than it has EVER been in my entire life!  Embarrassingly so!  I have these red, inflamed, itchy patches of skin on both legs now and the tops of my hands!  I’ve had to wrangle away a little time to head back into the gym to tan in hopes that the exposure to the UV light will help it again.  The upswing on THAT is that I feel so good after tanning that I have been working out.  The bad news is – it takes precious time away from my shiny new hubby.

Speaking of shiny, new hubby’s – mine isn’t perfect, but he is very sweet and thoughtful.  I can honestly say that no one in my entire life has ever been so keenly aware of  . . . ME!  And isn’t THAT interesting?  Being an inherent people pleaser, I am always acutely aware of others.  I try very hard to head things off at the pass because I’m blessed with being naturally observant, so when someone is actually that way to me, for me – it’s a little . . . disconcerting.

Don’t get me wrong!  I LOVE that there is someone out there that loves me so much that they can discern the subtleties of me; the nuances that comprise my mood, personality and attitude.

It’s really refreshing.  Thus one of many reasons why I love him.

I guess that’s all I’ve got here.  It’s time for another cup of coffee and more work.

Here’s hoping you have a great Friday and a wonderful weekend.  Keep fighting the good fight, be the best YOU, you can be, hug your loved ones and never stop assessing your ‘Lesson’s Learned.’

~ Kat Devine  

Just Ranting and Rolling Along . . .

Published on by Kat DevineLeave a comment

I’m probably going to rant a bit right here, but you all know me well enough by now to know – I love me a good rant!

So the reason I haven’t had a chance to update this blog in over a month is because well the holidays happened (which was totally  . . . weird, but more on that some other time) and then school started back.  No big deal, this is now my fourth semester with a full load, so not only do I know what to expect, but I felt going into this semester (my last by the way) that I had this covered and would be good to go.

Will the depths of my naivety ever cease to surprise me?

Four classes.  Four Senior level classes; two of which are required to graduate and have to be taken concurrently in the LAST semester before graduating.  (WTF?!) Right? Ok, still in and of itself – no big deal, right?

WRONG!

All four of my classes require a lengthy research paper.  Ok, still nothing for me to panic about, but one class in particular flat out said we could NOT use a recycled paper – ok, again no big deal, just have to buckle down and start working, [But FOUR different subject materials, FOUR Thesis Statements, FOUR Bibliographies and FOUR Abstracts; all in APA 6th Edition Format. (WTF?!)]

And as if that weren’t enough work two of the classes also have tons and tons of regular work to be done with deadlines etc . . .  I mean I knew we wouldn’t have much of a life this semester but gosh – really?!   The sad part is that I’m so overwhelmed by the thought of all these papers and the fact that one of them has to be over 70 pages long that I’m having difficulty focusing and diving in.

SIGH.

So to relax these days I’ve been cross – stitching.  I’m so goofy; I love to just sit and breathe and keep my hands busy and my mind still; monotonously stitching.  I guess I’ve grown tired of gaming.

27Jan16 Cross-Stitch

Who am I kidding?! I will never grow tired of gaming. LOL.

I can just only handle so much Hay Day, Candy Crush, Marvel’s Champions, Bubble Witch Saga, Soduku, and Puzzles.  I briefly got back into playing on the Xbox over the holiday’s but I know myself well enough that if I get hooked into a game there I will never get my homework done.  At least with the phone or iPad Mini I can take breaks and not get sucked in.

At least that’s what I’m telling myself.

Only three more months and I’m done with school.  I don’t even want to think about graduate school as yet, but I suppose I should.  At least a little.

Work has been interesting.  I was given the role of ISO internal auditor last week.  I am already the document control for all things ISO, so I guess it makes good sense.  In addition I still have to ensure that all the office IT works, that the website is up and running and that all employee documents are accessible through the employee portal, and take care of all things security related.  It feels good to be busy. LOL.  I love my job!

That’s all I’ve got on this dreary January Thursday.

Well there is this one thing . . . thanks to the beautiful wedding and engagement pictures that Southern Cotton Photography took, we were featured in a local magazine!  How super exciting and weird is THAT?!  Sharon Palmer can seriously rock a camera!

Sneak_Peak_002

 

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Best of luck to those of you literally snowed in up north and out west.

Kat of Team Devine outta here . . .

Pre-Marriage Counseling / Discussion . . .

Published on by Kat DevineLeave a comment

Pre-Marriage Discussion

When we first met our potential officiant I approached the situation very ambivalently.  I am not religious at all.  My fiancée is much more so.  I am spiritual and believe in the presence of a higher being, I choose to call them God, but I do not appreciate organized religion nor the monsters o f judgment, hate and mis-representation that it breeds.  Having said all of that, I was incredibly ambivalent about our wedding officiant.  My only dictate was that the individual performing my wedding ceremony NOT be overly religious sounding.

So when we met an acquaintance of my mother’s for coffee and to see if we would all get along, I was pleasantly surprised by my emotional reaction to him.  He was everything I never realized that I wanted in our wedding officiant.  He was soft spoken; kind eyed and exuded a quiet confidence born from years of prior military service.  He is a good family man and an elder within his church.  He knew immediately that I would not tolerate nor appreciate the hollow recitation of bible scriptures that religious people are oft to quote as a means of trying to elevate themselves above others.

He spoke plainly, intelligently and with just the right amount of religious reverence that my spiritual heart appreciates.  Actions speak louder than words in ANYTHING.  When people act upon their good will and intent, they don’t have to prove anything with words.  The TRUTH will always win out, no matter how hard the lies fight against it. There is real EVIL in this world and it starts with one’s heart, leads to ones intent and manifests itself in ones lies.  Good people know other good people, and our officiant is ‘good people’.

We met this past Saturday evening for a bite of dinner and our first pre-marriage ‘discussion’.  I was a nervous wreck.  My anxiety stemmed from the mindset that because our relationship has been very smooth and easy that some hidden upset would be announced and I would be blindsided.  As it turned out that never happened, thank goodness! We discussed the five love languages and identified what they were for each of us.  (Mine are; physical touch, words of affirmation, acts of service, quality time, and gifts. My fiancée’s are; words of affirmation, physical touch, acts of service, quality time and gifts.)

In addition to identifying and discussing these topics we also went through a brief discussion on likes and dislikes.  The bottom line and I would like to think this is a great thing for us, is that we communicate really well.  This was noted and discussed repeatedly.

I was able to breathe a sigh of relief.

I suspected that we communicated well with each other; I know I did, but I wasn’t always sure that my fiancée did – he tends to be conflict adverse.  Needless to say, when you harbor an environment where both parties feel safe – communication really isn’t THAT difficult.  Even if the topic is something you know the other party might not want to discuss or might not be happy discussing.

So there you have it.  We passed our first pre-marriage counseling/discussion with flying colors.  I am actually looking forward to our next.  Stay tuned.

Now we begin sending the invitations.  Holy cricket bat-man – this is really happening!