A Very Lucky Girl

I have completed an entire week of full-time work at Heritage College and I can honestly say that I love it. The week was not without a few bumps and bruises, but ultimately I am excited about the career I am beginning!  The things I have learned in the past 7 days include: I was incredibly excited to wake up on Monday morning and get ready for work! Tuesday was a far less perky story. Which leads me to... Coffee. Coffee is cool. Commuting is not cool in the least. Although said coffee makes the commute slightly cooler. I am still learning at what time I need to leave the house in order to get to work on time. I either cut it really close or got there 30 minutes early, there was no in-between.  I need to keep plastic forks in my desk because there is no guarantee that there will be any in the break room. I ate my lunch with an ice cream scoop twice.  I have SO much support! Thankful for sweet friends and encouraging calls and texts as I transition to this new time...

To be frank, this is weird. I haven't taken this long of a hiatus from A Very Lucky Girl since..well, ever. And I don't really remember how to write like A Very Lucky Girl. I turned in my final paper to dropbox less than an hour ago and here I am, still with phrases of Paradise Lost  swirling in my head. The last time I wrote here it was almost three or four full months ago. A lot can change in three months. They've been good changes and hard changes and just plain changes. Where do I start? How do I begin? Well, there's this boy...whom I love and adore and admire with all of my being. I did not plan for this and Tanner's presence was most unexpected, but strangely welcome. I smile to think of how far we have come in only three months and what a precious blessing he is in my life. It all started with our two friends, Megan and Marshall. I know I've mentioned Megan plenty of times in A Very Lucky Girl, but Marshall is her boyfriend, who also happens to be o...

I have mixed feelings about my visit to the endocrinologist on Tuesday afternoon. It was a concoction of good news and meh news. I learned I have lost weight, which I attribute to the fact that I physically cannot eat Pringles without Nat, although the mile walk to and from campus every morning may have something to do with it as well. According to the bloodwork, my thyroid levels are still doing well and though hypothyroidism or hyperthyroidism could arise at any time, now is not that time and I am thankful. I confessed some not-so-wise health decisions I made in Europe, earning a glare and a "we learned our lesson speech" from my doctor (who I LOVE by the way-she is the most thorough lady on the planet).  I have been really forgetful about taking my 2.5 mg hydrocortisone at night, pretty much since January, but I haven't been feeling any unfortunate effects from it. However, it does leave me with only 17.5 mg of hydrocortisone in my system daily, which is rather on t...

Have you ever had a day where your entire life just made sense and you knew you were right where you were supposed to be? That was Tuesday for me. I thought I would take the time to share a bit about my terribly thrilling 8 AM class every morning this summer. Thankfully, it's a short class and the final exam is on July 3rd, just in time for me to celebrate my freedom with the rest of America on July 4th. But until then I'm stuck in Dale Hall Room 107 every weekday from 8-10:10 AM. Those last ten minutes are especially excruciating. The class is overwhelmingly male, most likely due to the subject matter: The Ancient Art of War. Our textbook is actually called "With Arrow, Sword, and Spear." Riveting, right? The majority of the points are received for attendance and group participation and I find myself asking the other 4 members of the my group (again, all male) to explain the battles over and over to me. I'm hoping they continue to find it endearing/not ann...

It's been a busy few weeks. America is far more stressful than Scotland. Most likely because I didn't have classes that counted or a job in Dundee (I actually still haven't found a job so totally willing to wash someone's cat or something). Moving to Norman has dominated most of my time. I gathered my life from what seemed like all corners of the United States, from OKC to Houston, and I still have belongings coming from Louisiana in July. I'm in love with our little grey cottage situated on Brooks Street, only a mile from campus and a mile from Campus Corner bars. Could the location BE anymore perfect?!  I couldn't wait to move to Norman, but now that I'm permanently here, it is filled with memories from the last two years of my life. Places that once made me smile make me cringe as I drive past. There are certain CDs I don't listen to anymore. There were so many plans that are no longer going to come to fruition.  I fully trust that this change...

The countdown to Scotland is dangerously, single-digitly, low. This adventure comes with stacks of paperwork. I've waded through credit agreement forms, applications, and student visa visitor documents. Questions about race, education, and money continually swim in my head, but the hardest question I've answered on those forms is: where is your permanent residence? From a young age my address was ingrained into my brain, part of the trifecta of particulars every elementary school-aged child memorizes. full name: Taylor Olivia Arceneaux phone number: 790-4006 address: 1251 Buckingham Circle, Franklin, TN, 37064 Of course, I would never give this information to a stranger offering candy, but I had it ready in my arsenal if a responsible adult ever needed to know. But now I am the responsible adult and I haven't known the answer to the third question for a long time. Is it where I'm living currently? If so, that's on the road. I leave Baton Rouge, my relativel...

I saw a pin on Pinterest about a year or so ago about a woman who saved five dollar bills in a jar for a year. Every single fiver she received in change or whatever, she saved. Never spent. She ended up with enough money to take a luxurious vacation, just from the fives she saved instead of spending. I decided to take a cue from her in November. I started saving every five from my Fuzzy's tip money, every five I was given in change from a cashier. I've saved at least six hundred dollars this way. Sometimes I get frustrated when I pay with a twenty dollar bill and receive multiple fives in change. But then...that money is still going to be doing something good for me. Just not immediately. The principle of delayed gratification is important to me.  Every five that has touched my hands in the past 8-9 months has gone straight to savings.  A Very Lucky Girl is a saving addict and proud of this self-instilled habit. 

I've spent some wonderful days as the girlfriend of the greatest guy I've ever met in my life. I wouldn't take back a single second of my time with Tyler Aaron McKee. Whether he knows it or not he teaches me what selfless love looks like. And I recognize that I lack it. I don't have the same desire to care for people more than myself that he embodies everyday, but I'm trying to cultivate it.  He is a thousand wonderful things, but I greatly appreciate his thoughtfulness, his honesty, and his selflessness. He isn't so great at the Gladiator playstation move game, but he will dominate in frisbee golf if you dare to challenge him. He has an uncanny sales talent, with both mobile phones and plasma screens. Go visit him at Best Buy! He will unabashedly skip you in Phase 10, but I think I am on a winning streak. If you were unaware, we broke up for 2.5 seconds (okay, 3 incredibly long days) in the middle of April. They were some of the most miserable days of my ...

It's so weird to me that these girls are college graduates and are going to start real adult life this summer. Savannah was my RA during my first year at OU. But, that was just the surface relationship. In reality, we were (are? she rarely returns my texts...) friends. I remember when I first realized we would get along. She friend-requested her residents on Facebook a few weeks before the semester started. I was laying on the floor watching The Bachelorette when I got the notification. I sat straight up and had a minor panic attack and inner battle of "should I accept it? Yes/no?" I decided to go for it, since I could always delete her if she turned out to be supes strange (she is supes strange, but we remain FB friends). I creepily scrolled down her profile page (this was before timelines!) and came across a recent status: "Just sitting here making name tags for resident doors and watching Ashley Hebert on the Bachelorette." Instant soul connection, even if s...

"... she rejoiced as only mothers can in the good fortunes of their children ." -Louisa May Alcott I should probably begin this tribute to these certain 21 influential people in my life with a post dedicated to the woman who experienced labor in order for the world to experience me. If you're about those Thank-You notes I can provide an address for her upon request. Shari Nelson Arceneaux and I have a running joke about what a "good mother" would do (which is typically the opposite of what actually happens). It came from a novel that we both read that I can't remember the name of now. But my good mother instilled a love of reading in me from a very young age. I can remember being put to bed with visions of Laura Ingalls Wilder and Anne of Green Gables swirling through my imagination. She taught me how to make the essentials in the kitchen: spaghetti, spicy pretzels, and ultimate chocolate chip cookies.  She's one of my biggest cheerleaders and the b...

Don't even ask me about Townsend's book. Please. I've been trekking around Texas this week and it has been WONDERFUL. But it also means that I haven't had (or made) the time to read his words.  But I'm still working through the words of Jesus and this week focuses on "Love does not dishonor others." I actually got out my handy dandy dictionary app to see what the complete definition of "dishonor" is because when I think dishonor, all I can think is:  The definition in my head had more to do with "do not insult" others, which is partially true. But it means even more than that. I can dishonor somebody by having a poor reputation. If I have a poor reputation, then the people that associate themselves with me are disgraced. It was enlightening to learn that love is more than being kind and not hurting others. Love is about recognizing that my decisions have an impact on my immediate world. Love is a lifestyle.  A Very Lucky Girl des...

By my expert calculations, my twenty-first birthday is a mere 45 days away. It seems like it's taken a lifetime to get here. Weird how that works, right? I didn't make it to 21 all by my lonesome though. There are at LEAST 21 people (or pairs/groups of people) that have contributed positively to the person that I am/will be during my 21st year of life. So I plan to highlight them in the next 45 days by posting about a singular person approximately every other day. People you can expect to read about in the next few weeks (in no particular order) include: Nathan H Sharbear Paul Mimi (and Grandpa Butch) Mimi and Didi Aunt Blanche Katherine and Caroline Emily B Megan H and Hannah W Moriah C Tyler M Carra L/Grace J/Sam W/Stasia M Marianne W Beignet Robin C/Jeanett N/Marilyn H/Edna E (and other magnificent teachers) Justin/Sarah B Conner G my ADPi sisters Natasha A the brave parents that let me spend time with their kids (several babysitting endeavors) Savanna...

Confession: Sometimes I feel truly blessed to have Addison's Disease. For one, it's fairly manageable, and for two (the best reason), I have met some amazing people through this connection! I use "met" loosely because I have yet to physically meet any of these women, but they all sound so wonderful on social media! And I hope one day I can hug each one and compare drug prescriptions and medical alert jewelry while swapping ER stories. Alycia: I found Alycia on Instagram when I scrolled through the hashtag #addisonsdisease last year. After wading through endless pictures of dogs (fun fact: dogs get Addison's Disease and I swear the world knows more about the canine disorder than the human one. Nope, not bitter), I stumbled upon a picture of a race to raise awareness for Addison's Disease. Being a runner, I was instantly intrigued and decided to creepily comment and ask Alycia about it. She informed me that it was in Australia, where she lives, so that was a ...

I still haven't progressed beyond page 26 in Dr. Townsend's book, but now the entire summer stretches before me so I hope to make some headway in the next few weeks.  To be honest, I've been dreading week five of my love project. I hate this mandate. Let me rephrase, I hate hate hate double hate LOATHE ENTIRELY this requirement.  Love is not Proud. If you know me at all, I really do tend to give off an "I'm the $#!t" attitude. I know I'm really not. I'm probably, like, third on the totem pole of hot $#!t. Like there's Beyonce, then Cady Groves, and then me and Taylor Swift are tied.  Don't misunderstand, I'm insecure in a lot of ways. I think most everyone is. But I hate hate hate double hate LOATHE ENTIRELY being wrong. Cannot stand it. But the worst part of being wrong is when everyone knows I'm wrong. Because then my pride is injured.  You know what would solve this issue? If I didn't have a pride problem. It's okay...

meggy credz I spent my Saturday morning running in the happiest 5k on the planet. And I don't mean that oxymoronicly. I ran in the Tulsa Color Run last year in June and nothing could stop me from this repeat event, not even a late night work shift and a mere hour of sleep. More on that later. Last summer Megan and I traversed the short miles between OKC and Tulsa to partake in this glorious event. The heat was intense and the colors melted together to produce a nice muddy tinge, but we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. However, the extreme heat and my lack of hydration resulted in a slight hiccup on our way out of Tulsa. Dizzy and nauseous, I commanded Megan to stop at a street corner, vaulted out of her Jeep, and promptly puked in a car lot. Wary of last year's disaster, I prepped with sips on sips of water on Friday evening. I worked at Fuzzy's from 5 until about 3 AM and then instantly left for Tulsa with Tyler. I volunteered to drive since I was all amped up from de...

Late Saturday night or early Sunday morning, depending on your individual bed time, I came home to an envelope on my desk. Sharbear had sent me a letter. I opened it to find an adorable card that I really couldn't see very well through my tears, but that I later verified the cuteness factor of.  I'm still not sure if the water in my eyes should have been blamed on a few cocktails or the fact that I'm a big baby. Life is hard sometimes-- crazy, mixed-up, messed up. And there you are, in the middle of it all, just doing your thing... being strong and brave and beautiful like it's no big deal. But let me tell you, girl, it is. Not everyone can do what you can do. Not everyone can handle things the way you can. While you wonder sometimes if you're doing ok... the rest of us are just watching in wonder. Welp, the mystery of cocktail or baby has been solved. Due to the current blurryness of my vision, I am a giant infa...

I mentioned before that I deep-cleaned and organized my room over Christmas break. Whilst going through my bookshelf I discovered a composition book that I wrote in for Mrs. Purvis' 5th grade Language Arts class at St. Timothy's-Hale school (prior to it's St.David's name change) in Raleigh, North Carolina. August 21, 2002  So far it has been okay but I don't understand math much and I'm really upset about it. Everything else has gone okay though. This year I want to make all As and understand math really well and I don't want to be late for a class and I want to remember bring my homework home, do it, and then bring it back to school the next day.  5th grade was considered middle school at St. Timothy's Hale so I was extra nervous for my first year on the big campus. I still don't understand math but I have learned when run-on sentences are appropriate. The answer is rarely.  September 9, 2002 This is what I have to be thankful for: candy...

On the last Sunday of 2012, Life Church recruited a guest speaker to come and speak to our heathen souls about leadership. Whaaaaaa? Right? Leadership isn't exactly a cookie cutter, Sunday School, bible-beating topic. But excellent leadership is scarce, so it actually makes perfect sense to instill leadership wisdom into Christians. Because, NEWSFLASH, believing in Jesus doesn't automatically make you someone worth following (even on Twitter). You need common, worldly sense, coupled with spiritual maturity, to effectively influence people.  The guest speaker also refreshed my memory on the ACTS acronym (a useful guideline when you are lost about how to pray). But during said speaker's heartfelt advice about prayer, my mind started to wander. The ACTS acronym is honestly great for any tricky conversation. A is for Adoration. Suck up. "You've been looking so great recently! Have you been working out? I love that color on you!" C is for confession. Humbl...

Lies. It's all lies. Don't get me wrong, it's fantastic to have goals. But it's far better to make them attainable. If there's one thing I took away from my Gateway class during my Freshman year at OU it's the SMART acronym for goal-setting. S pecific, M easurable, A chievable, R ealistic, T imely New Year's Resolutions are not renowned for their longevity. January 1st finds people casually tossing around statements like "Yeah, I quit drinking. Yeah, I'm gonna lose weight. Yeah, I'm gonna read the Bible in a year." But January 15th rolls around and that one shot with your friends on Friday night was too tempting, Krispy Kreme had a buy a dozen get a dozen deal, and Numbers is not a riveting book of the Bible. Human nature is to collapse in despair after a failure and give up on your 2013 transformation.  Not to sound too Nike-esque...JUST DO IT. I'm not overly fond of New Year's Resolutions, the main reason being that I t...

This song, "If I Die Young" by The Band Perry, has taken on whole new meaning following the events that took place in Newtown, Connecticut last Friday. A touching song, I disagree with the line that declares "I've had just enough time." Charlotte Beacon will never have her double digits 10th birthday party Daniel Barden will never try out for the high school football team Olivia Engel will never be a teenager Josephine Gay will never get her driver's license Ana M. Marquez-Greene will never go on her first date Dylan Hockley will never be voted Most Likely to Succeed in the yearbook Madeleine F. Hsu will never have kids of her own Catherine V. Hubbard will never walk down the aisle to get married Chase Kowalski will never take a girl out on a date Jesse Lewis will never mow the lawn James Mattioli will never be a dad Grace McDonnell will never be Homecoming Queen Emilie Parker will never have that first babysitting j...