Movin' on Up

Just wanted to take a moment and publicly announce that I am SO proud of my husband.

A little more than a week ago, on Valentine's Day, in fact - Cliff was given an opportunity to step up into a leadership role at Lampo - one that was created both out of a need for a specific type of leader AND out of Cliff's exhibited strengths in his time as an ELP Advisor.

I know most people know he works there, but I think most people are clueless as to what he does - or did - and now what he's going to be doing.

So, I'll break it down for you.

1. There's Dave Ramsey. Yes, the nationally-syndicated talk-radio, best-selling author, and speaker who has made it his works' mission to free people from their bondage to debt and help them live lives in control of their money, and not vice versa. He teaches basic, common-sense, biblical principles that most people just don't learn in our culture. I don't care what your opinion is of him, the man is making a difference.

2. There's Dave Ramsey's ELP (Endorsed Local Provider) Program. A system by which a Dave fan, listern, book reader, you-name-it, can go online to that website above, indicate what area of service they are in pursuit of (be it investing, real estate, insurance, health insurance, or tax services), fill in their information and be contacted immediately by a person who has been extensively interviewed and then brought on as the endorsed person for that area (usually by zipcode). Their endorsement by Dave is such that each ELP has a working knowledge of the principles Dave teaches and can help that client manager their finances in that particular way. And too, endorsed for their commitment to customer service.

3. There are ELP Advisors, like Cliff was. A handful of great folks who work with those individuals above who provide the services. That means, these advisors spend countless hours on the phone every week talking with tax accountants, financial advisors, and the like looking for the right people to fill the need for great service in certain "territories" (zip code areas). They interview, hire, coach, manage, and if they have to, fire ELPs all in the name of providing the best for Dave's listeners. There were weeks Cliff's hours on the phone totaled 15-20 hours for the week and he alone worked with around 340 of those ELPs across the nation.

4. There's the new ELP Sales Leader; that's Cliff. Now, over time, Cliff will be working less with his current ELPs as they are shifted to other team members and will be taking on the responsibility of working closely with the current and future ELP Advisors to increase their sales. In some ways, Cliff was already doing this, and I'm tickled pink to seem him getting both the recognition and opportunity to do this more officially. As much as he has been successful at his job, his success has come largely in developing a system that works and that he's committed to - having the autonomy to really develop his own ways of managing his set of ELPs. The fact that he'll now get to do that, training new ELP Advisors and finding ways to help the current advisors set and achieve new sales goals, is just a great transition for him into a familiar and yet entirely new experience.

Get it now?

It's hard to believe April will be four years that Cliff has been at Lampo. I have loved watching him grow and excel in his role there, and am grateful for that company in a way that few spouses get to be. He serves under and with such incredible people who are each working, in their own way, to make a difference in the lives of people - specifically in their personal finances.

I'm excited to see what this next chapter has in store - but in the meantime, can't think of a better way to celebrate than we are tonight, with dinner at the Melting Pot!

Moving Along

Life seems to be careening ahead at a rapid pace. It's as though my mind can't wrap itself around the days that are slipping by. Days filled with so much that they're hard to hold onto. There's a lot of newness and oldness combined that it's hard to remember what we haven't chronicled here. And as much it's been hard to put down, I want to chronicle it because it's one of the only places that, apart from my Moleskin, holds pieces of this crazy, wonderful, swiftly moving life we live.

So this post is more for me than you. But for anyone who's been wondering how we are - how we really are - these days... here you go.

Home
Yes, all of the work was done on our home just in time for the flooding I alluded to in the last update. The damage that has been done in communities around here is unfathomable, but it's real - and we feel incredibly fortunate to have walked out of all of this with only six inches of water in the crawlspace and some leaking in the roof (in a room that it hardly matters it happened there). The damage would have been far worse had we not had all of those drainage and remediation projects going on in March and April, and it's just another example, we believe, of God's perfect timing.

Speaking of timing... though it doesn't quite count as home, I don't want to give "Car" its own category... I got in an accident with the new car two months to the date of the deer incident and we finally got the car in the shop on Monday (just shy of a month since the accident). I was cut off in traffic in Cool Springs (errrrr) and hit in the same exact spot as the deer. So that was fun (not so much, at the time), but just proof that life happens and you can't live your life bracing for it - you just have to be prepared to move on afterwards.


Work
Things are great on both sides of our working coins. Cliff amazes me everyday with his ability to do his job with such excellence, such patience, and such determination to not must make money but help his ELPs. This determination has carried us through my first couple of months of full-time self-employment which never, unfortunately, goes entirely to plan. But because of that, it's right where it needs to be. Growing not because I can necessarily make it do so like some magic trick, but because I have the conviction of trusting the Lord with the direction and the opportunities and acting when those are revealed. The last couple of weeks have been a lesson in asking - truly asking - and gratefully receiving.

And though this doesn't exactly count as work, Cliff's been doing something pretty cool with himself these last few weeks being a part of the Franklin Citizen's Fire Academy. With his interest in joining the Williamson County Volunteer Rescue Squad, the CFA is giving him a lot of first-hand, hand's-on experience with fire and rescue work done by Franklin Firefighters. Once a week he spends a couple of hours in lectures and live demonstrations of all sorts of things, and just this week he's starting his ride-alongs with our friend Jamie who is a firefighter with Franklin.

Church
I realize it's been months since we've started our time at Fellowship Bible Church and not once have I shared this part of our journey. After being at The People's Church for five years and experiencing a lot of personal change, as well as change in the church and our communities there, we started to feel a tug in a different direction. Not knowing exactly what direction, late last summer we began visiting just a few churches in the area. After several months of visiting different places, it became really clear that our hearts felt most at peace and excited and encouraged and everything they should feel when God is prompting you to do something... when we were at Fellowship.

And so with the beginning of this new year, we went through their Discovery Class series to learn more about the church and its mission and became members in mid-February. We have so enjoyed our time there already, from services on Sunday (or Saturday!), to looking for new places to serve, to playing soccer on Mondays, and now to...


Germany
Yep, that's right. Wir fahren nach Deutschland! With a team of fifteen other folks from Fellowship - including one of our Community Pastors, our Children's Minister, and other leaders, we'll be heading out to Potsdam, Germany the day after our third anniversary this summer. We'll be the first mission team to visit with one of our church's strategic partners, working specifically with the church in their children's outreach and church planting efforts. You can read more specifically about the partnership here, as we get many questions like "So, uh... why Germany?"

We're looking forward to going on our first mission trip abroad together - a unique way to celebrate our anniversary, I think - and immersing ourselves in the German culture for about two weeks. I've been itching to get over there for upwards of twelve years now since I first started studying the language and the opportunity to do so now while being with Cliff, being a part of important work, and spending time with children is just about as exciting as it can get. Stay tuned as we get closer to that trip to hear more!

Travel
Here lately we've traveled a bit to visit with family, which was nothing short of wonderful. There's nothing like a good roadtrip and long days spent just hanging out with your family when you're used to those quick visits weekends and working afford you. That's just one beautiful part of my now flexible schedule and Lampo's generous time-off offerings. Later this month, we'll be heading out to Colorado (my first time setting foot outside of the airport) for Memorial Day weekend to enjoy a three day weekend in the cool mountains, blooming alpine flowers, and more.

This trip had the makings of our spontaneous trip out to Wyoming in '08 when we were just weeks away from a holiday weekend with little idea of what to do. So, Cliff says "What about Colorado?" and I say "Let's see." And as fate would have it, fares (yeah, no driving this time) were low, as are camping fees and having an ELP-friend to stay with in Denver for one night. And so we're going to CO, with likely a stop at the Coors brewery, and the most of the rest of our time playing in Rocky Mountain National Park (you didn't think we'd go somewhere like Colorado and NOT visit a NP did you?!)

Speaking of National Parks... we've just gotten word that we've been approved for a permit to hike the Grand Canyon on Labor Day Weekend this year. Incredible. We've been hoping to do this for years and finally got the gumption to, along with seven friends, apply for a permit for a four day hike in and out of the Canyon. So with the trip to Germany and now our Memorial Day and Labor Day plans, this summer is turning out to be... busy, travel-wise. Whew. But we're not complaining!

Welcome Week

It's a fine, fine tradition. Towering Traditions Welcome Week, that is.

Which, as you know, is what I've spent the last little while preparing for and now, this past week overseeing. Just under 1000 Freshman, just over 300 Transfers, 1500 or so family members, 400 Opening Day volunteers, 120 upperclassmen student leaders (OC, Section Leaders, and Tower Team Leaders), and eight 15+ hour days straight of training/programming later, I am spent. And technically Welcome Week isn't even over yet - just my particular programs.

High energy. High effort. High attendance. High stress. All the sorts of things this season is about. And now classes have started and the students I've spent almost a year preparing for are here and sitting in classes all over campus (and taking up more parking spaces than one could think possible).

I took yesterday off and hibernated. It wasn't quite the refueling one needs after the journey I've been on over the last couple of months, but it'll do - I mean - at least until the weekend. And gosh, I must be crazy, but as worn out from it all as I am I miss it and I miss my student leaders.

I thought it might be fun, for anyone who's interested, to take a pictorial look at the last couple of days. Our University photographer didn't make it out to all of our events, but there's quite a few included!

First there was Opening Day.

Then there was the President & Trustee's Welcome Dinner.

A little while later there was Playfair.

And then SERVE.

Then fun times at Fresh Fest.

And the ever-wonderful Towering Tradition.

Well, Let's See Here

What's new in the life of the Neeleys, you ask?

Well, nothing and everything.

We're just plain busy. Busier, possibly, than we ever have been. Okay, there's no possibly about it. We are busier than ever before. The two of us are working, a lot. And for me, it's my busiest "season" of the year that feels like it's nowhere near completion, though it's relatively around the corner. In a little more than 36 hours we'll begin moving in the largest Freshman class in Belmont's history, and I'm just ready for them to be here. And then it's a week of all-day, everyday festivities that are sure to wear me out.

I laugh now at how much a tease our time off in July was, because it seems like it was eons ago and the fumes I was riding on from that time are entirely gone. We've kept up, however, the habit of paying attention to life - to our relationships - with the Lord, with each other, and with our friends (things I felt I could hardly give anything towards in June but somehow regained in July). Just being present, even when you've got nothing to offer, can make all the difference.

'Til next time...

Take for instance this past weekend - our first full weekend home together since early June. We went to the Farmer's Market, cleaned and reorganized the apartment, hung out with friends, went to church, and after a brief pause of work for me on Sunday, we ate a great home cooked dinner of fried green tomatoes and mac & cheese, and watched Hot Shots Part Deux. It was so ridiculously normal and satisfying in a way I find difficult to explain. I only know that I am thankful for it.

It's stuff like that that I appreciate so much about having Cliff to come home to, to share my days with - even the ones littered with everything in life that can drain a person. And so even now, as I hear his keys making their way into our front lock, I'm going to bid adieu. We're off to escape the madness for just a little bit with a trip to the library and Pancho's for our pre-weekend weekend (since I won't have one at all).

In Other News

• Cliff went on a trip with the guys this past weekend to Mammoth Cave National Park, whilst I lounged at the pool with the ladies; he said he'll write a post on it sometime.
• The pool is like a mini-vacation for me every time, and I'm thankful for my SPF70+.
• I'm reading lots and lots. Nothing mind-blowing, just plain ol' good literature.
• Orientation is over, (most) of my student staff is gone for the rest of the summer, I have a new supervisor, and I've had a feeling of bittersweetness wash over me every morning I have driven to work since Monday.
• Thankfully my students survived, in the last couple of days of orientation, a broken jaw, stitches, a mild concussion, a sprained neck, and a flood; they're calling themselves cursed Summer Staff. I call them amazing.
  
• Cliff graduated from his Dale Carnegie Course last night and I'm so proud; it's true there's something they drink in the proverbial waters of that class every week but it makes a big impact.
• We watched "Marley and Me" tonight and I'm still crying. And the credits started rolling more than an hour ago? It's kind of ridiculous how much I love animals. And kids. And families. And love. Oh, and rustic farmhouses in Pennsylvania.
• Meine Mutter, Schwester, und Bruder are traveling in tomorrow morning from the 757 to meet up with us (and the rest of Cliff's family) at the lake for the weekend. I am STOKED. Cee and Markie are returning for each of their second visits to the lake and mom's first. It'll be a full but wonderful weekend, I'm sure!
• I did a three-hour Newborn Session today with a co-worker's 13 day-old baby boy today and I'm in love. Wyatt James... sigh. Can't wait to finish up proofing and editing the shots to upload!
  

Sentimental

I can't believe we're almost done.

It's far, far too bittersweet.

Not Really Sure

What's going on. Or when it started. Or who it involves. Or why it's happening.

But I'm in a funk.

I'm tired. My back and stomach are killing me. I feel disconnected from the whole wide world. I'm jealous of a lot of things, not the least of which is the sort of people who can just up and go hang out with The Pioneer Woman at The Lodge. It's like I ordered, unknowingly, a tall bitter glass of frustration with a slice of discouragement. Out of nowhere.

I am what is often called a malcontent.

Or just a woman with very little perspective and far too many grievances for someone as blessed and as loved as she is. But I just don't feel it. I'm in a perpetual state of being that is really sort of like that movie Groundhog Day. You know... the one where the weather guy wakes up to the same day everyday. At first it's sort of great because you feel like you have the upper hand and what goes wrong on any given day is cause for improvement on the next.

But then, somewhere it goes awry. Not because anything is wrong but because it's just not right. I feel stuck. And though I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, it still feels pretty far away and sort of like it might take some time to recover.

Today I have wished for moments where the floor might just open up beneath me and I'd drop into some sort of glorious abyss where my normal life once existed. Where every morning started with breakfast with my best friend at our tiny two-person table in our tiny one bedroom apartment. Where I packed lunches and planned meals and cooked. Where the workday didn't live on in my dreams and be cause for such exhaustion. Where I took pictures that were great of people who were fantastic. Where I read books during my lunch break and felt connected to my friends - to women I really care about.

Pooey, I say.

Thank God things like this don't last long. I mean, as much as I think I want to feel this way, I really don't and I know I don't really have a right to. There are many things bigger, more important, and far more significant than these.

Thank goodness He still cares anyways.

...thanks for listening.

I Am Sustaining

Wow, what a week!

104 Transfer Students, 96 Transfer Parents, 318 Freshman Students, and 482 Freshman Parents later (that's exactly 1,000 people, in case you were counting) the first week of Summer Orientation 2009 is officially done.

I have been so incredibly amazed at how well this week has gone. My colleagues, my student staff, and all of the new Belmont community members have blown me away with their energy, their excitement, and their desire to really make this orientation great.

I've learned a lot, even in just the last week, about how all of this is really supposed to work. Who supports me, what sustains me, and how I rather enjoy the execution much, much more than the planning.

I am whole, a week later, thanks to many things including the Lord, my wonderful husband, family, friends, co-workers, and students.

Also thanks to these incredibly material but amazing things:

The Keen Whisper. These things, after a short run with a different pair of new sandals and eight blisters to show for them (which will go unnamed), have been like heaven for my feet.

"Manners" by Passion Pit. It's the only sure-fire 5:30AM drive-to-work and 10:30PM drive-home pick-me-up. It's an amazing album.




Royal Robbins Discovery Skort. I've got no shame in bringing back the skort, especially when I'm running around for nearly sixteen hours in a day.

And no thanks to coffee, which I gave up for the week and did fairly well without (despite getting very little sleep and running on fumes by the end of some days). It's never smelled so good in my life, however, considering most of my students have been running around in the mornings with a cup of it permanently attached to their hands.




We are taking the weekend off at the lake, and I couldn't be more excited about the prospect of sunshine, the water, the great weather, the warmth, a stack of good books, the food, and the time away.

Hope y'all have a great weekend!

I Am Thankful For

• a full day of doing work that matters
• students who care about each other and about their school
• that school which is mine as well, both as an alum and as an administrator
• a bouquet of flowers from the ladies in my women's group that are days old and still beautiful
• post-it notes and my husband's love for their utility
• beautiful weather at the park with wonderful people
• life stories and paper plates and markers
• a husband who takes down my stored stuffed animals and piles them on the bed when he's away
• every breath
• peace and quiet
• God's goodness
• today

Don't Worry

We're alive.

June 1 was a big day around here.

Not only did I celebrate 6 official months on the job, but my job kicked into full gear. I thought last week was full gear, but I was wrong. Evidently.

We had a great quick visit to my dad's over the weekend, which was sort of my last hurrah before the craziness of June. Monday marked one week until our first Orientation session at Belmont, so this week my students and I are pounding away at all of the final planning details.

It's kind of like that one time Cliff and I worked with the students on the Habitat project and had to go back over all of the nailing on the floor trusses to make sure they were level with the boards - and not popping up and out all over the place. I feel like that's what a lot of this week has been.

My friends and family have been really supportive, and I can't thank them enough for that.

I'm not really sure how much you know about Orientation, but on any given day my life will be overfull. Starting tomorrow I'll be working anywhere from 12-16 hours a day at full-speed. For three weeks straight. With some down weekends, praise the Lord.

Our biggest class of Freshman yet (over 1000!) is coming to Belmont and my students and I have the task of making sure they leave campus, after their second day here, feeling ready for the fall semester. And by ready, I mean - informed and registered, excited about their time here, hopeful for new possibilities, and open to new relationships.

It's a big task and it's felt pretty remote, that is until my student staff started getting back and the "I'm so excited to be a Bruin! Can't wait to meet you next week!" replies starting coming back from all of the expert mass e-mailing to new students that I've been doing this past week.

So I'm excited, anxious, ready, you name it. I'm just so ready for them to get here.

Guys.

No really, guys.
I'm kind of freaking out here.

I've been waiting for this moment for... months?
Or something like that. At least, it feels like it.

Some of you know have known for some time now. You others, I've been dying to tell you. Evidenced by the fact that this entry and many since have been laced with the the sort of "more on this later" that has driven both me, and many of you, crazy.

And even though it's been legit for some time now, there was just this one last final step that needed to happen for me to feel like it was finally time to share.

And now it's here, and I don't even know how to tell you.

Except to say, I am officially an Associate Photographer for Gray Photography.

If you have a chance, follow the link to their main page and click on Associates and let me know what you think. I'm honored to be working with and for two our very best friends doing something I could have only ever dreamed of doing. Two incredible people who captured our most beautiful and wonderful memories from our big day, and are now allowing me to do the same for others.

One of the other wonderful parts about this opportunity is that because my wedding work will be exclusively with Gray Photography, I am still able to pursue and develop all of the other facets of photography that I love and have been developing over time as Kristine Neeley Photography. This has been quite the journey so far and it's only just begun.

And the very best part? I've got my very best friend along for the ride. Cliff has been in-training for the last couple of months to be my assistant, lugging around my gear, helping me set up shots, and holding my beloved reflector. I couldn't do this without him.




Oh, and did I mention I've got my first solo wedding as an Associate in exactly ten days?

On my 25th birthday.

And that's pretty exciting.
The understatement of the quarter-century I've been alive (almost).

In The Paper

They told me to "smile with my eyes" - unfortunately I missed the memo that everyone else was actually smiling. None the less, it's kind of fun to be in the paper.


The scoop on our California trip will be in the next post... promise.

Scratch That

I was wrong.

It's nine states in two weeks.

I kind of forgot that in order to get from Knoxville to Cincinnati, there's a little Kentucky involved. Oh, and that Indiana and Illinois are sandwiched in between Ohio and Missouri and are must-drive-throughs for the route from Cincy to St. Louis. Duh, Kristine.

St. Louis is where I'm sitting now, waiting for our departure to Fleming's and trying to calculate the number of hours I've spent in the car in the last week since we left. Add on tomorrow's drive back to Nashville and our trip to Cleveland this past weekend and I'm close to 35 or so. Yeesh.

And tomorrow night, Cliff and I leave for California.

I can't really keep track, and as much as a I love travelling I'm on overload. I think staying in one state for four days is going to be a welcome change, especially when it's in sunny Southern California and your with best friends, seeing cool things, and eating great food.

I've seen a lot of people, a lot of land, and a lot of life in the last week. Hard to believe we're done after tonight's event. Pluses: seemingly satisfied new Belmont students and parents (=a job well done). Minuses: no more free Maggiano's, Flemings, Calhoun's, or Montgomery Inn for me.

p.s. I would have given anything to have a camera phone this week.

Just Sayin'

I'm a little tired today and I'm working from home this morning after getting in late from Birmingham last night. Great couple of days on the road meeting new and prospective Belmont students and parents, though!

Today is full of some pretty exciting things, namely:

• Dunkin' Donuts coffee with breakfast
  
• A great workout
• Finding out that my number one for the new boss was selected and accepted... I'm doing backflips over the exciting and long-awaited news (!!!!)
  
• A meeting with a STELLAR graphic designer (pray for me!)
• Lunch @Jackson's with Sarah who's in for the weekend from Waco (wahoo!)
  
• PFAA meeting with some of my favorite faculty
• 2.5 Hours in the car with my bestie and gut-bombs for dinner on the way to Cleveland

Hope y'all are doing well!

I Just Die...

when I watch this.



Pun intended. Thanks to Z&J for cluing us in.

Nothing like a good laugh, a tummy full of deliciousness from Maggiano's, memories of a good night with soon-to-be new students and their parents, and knowing I've got the last two chapters of "New Moon" to read until I fall asleep... to end my day in Atlanta.

I sure do miss my hubby, though.

On the Road

Years ago, I dreamed of being a road manager for a band. I mean, I'd have the degree, a love of music, a desire to meet/organize/herd people, and the ability to travel. What could be so awful about that? At the time, I couldn't see that there'd be very much I wouldn't like. Now, there are many more factors to consider.

I mean, not much has changed save my unwillingness to live on a tour bus or actually work in the music industry (no offense, because really, I still have the degree). And I think those two things are pretty central to the role.

My love of travel has never gone away. Mix it with my work, and I'm practically in heaven. Well, except if it's all the time and takes me away from Cliff. Know what I mean?

The next two weeks are going to be a whirlwind of activity for me both professionally and personally speaking. Tomorrow I hop in a car with a handful of co-workers from across the university caravaning for Atlanta overnight and then Birmingham. This weekend Cliff and I are headed for Cleveland. Next Monday, I hop in a car again with those same colleagues on a four day tour of Knoxville, then Cincinnati, and finally St. Louis before driving back home, repacking my life, and hopping on a plane bound for California with my best travelling buddy for a couple of days.

So, yeah. In case you're counting, that's six states in just about two weeks.

I'm really excited about these work trips because we're basically taking our enrollment services and orientation show on the road, hosting dinner parties for admitted students - both those who've decided to come and those who are still on the fence. We get to visit with them and their parents for a couple of hours, answering questions and giving them an idea of what they'll be in for as we head into the summer orientation season and on into the fall semester. That connection point is such a huge part of why I love what I do at the university, so a little face-time will be rewarding, I think.

Oh, but how much there is to do when the longest length of time I'll spend at home in the next two weeks is 8 hours and that'll pretty much be spent sleeping! I'm practically a chicken with it's head cut off!

Not My Typical Sunday Morning

I am writing from home. Window open, birds chirping, countless pages up on my screen about orientation theme development. Not your typical Sunday morning, as of late, but it's beautiful and I am thankful for Cliff's encouragement of me protecting this time.

I am getting ready to leave here in a little bit to spend most of the rest of the day digging deep into a lot of the things we have really been able to get to in orientation planning. There's just something about the annual planning retreat, and unfortunately because of the nature of both the students' and my transition this past fall, we're just now getting around to it this weekend.

So we had dinner last night and walked through group dynamics / processes at Andrew's house for a couple of hours afterwards. Today we'll talk about theme and then plow through Summer Orientation and Welcome Week planning / scheduling / etc. Thank goodness we'll be in the Treehouse (that's what our conference room upstairs in the Beaman is called, because of it's loftiness and proximity to the tree outside the windows lining the room), because it's a beautiful day. I might even get us outside for some of today's work.

I could stand for the weather to stay like this. It's funny thinking about the climate of this past week. Tuesday night we went to our first Preds game of the season (courtesy of one of the Beaman GAs) and it was lightly snowing. Bitter, bitter cold, wind whipping every exposed portion of our bodies... just awful. Thursday night, we were fortunate enough to get two of the Lampo tickets and went back. This time, the weather was just on the cusp of the beautiful day we had Friday and was therefore much milder, far less cold, and just wonderful. It's incredible what can happen in a mere 48 hours in Middle Tennessee, you know?

Anyways, I hope those of you who are local enjoy this beautiful Sunday!

Two Feet in the Water

This photography thing I've been doing is officially crossing over the fence it's been straddling for the last couple of months. One foot in the boat, one foot in the water. Otherwise known as deciding whether I really had the gumption, the trust, and the belief that a hobby and a passion can truly be a business. Now it's two feet in the water. And you get to be here for the start of this journey (and have been for awhile now).

It's a tricky thing to think about, especially in the midst of my role and responsibilities at Belmont. But the more I've thought about it, the more I can't help but see how the Lord has been and will continue to be equipping me through a kind of two-fold approach to pursuing what I love. Relationships, organization, administration, and planning. Relationships, art, beauty, and lasting moments. Really laying down on the pedals of a photography business will not, in any way, hinder my current work and that's the most exciting thing about it.

So anyways, there's a lot to think and to pray and to dream about, hence the kind of loftiness of my thoughts these days. There's some things in the works and while those plans are laid, I need to beef up what I want my photography business to be about. Cliff and I have been dusting off the marketing files in our brains, trying to remember all the great lessons we learned while we were in college. One of the biggest things we've been throwing around is whether to keep the current name I've been imprinting on my work or to dream up something different. I've done research on both sides of the equation and am just... not sure.

I've posted a poll up on my photog blog and was wondering if you might humor me and mosey on over there and give your input. I've got a ton of ideas but I keep coming back to my own name and I don't know if that's a blessing or a curse. The thing is, too, that I'll need to work on building a website this year and securing a domain name is kind of up there on the list, and a name is kind of important for that. So, help? Please?

BAM

Just when I'm getting a hold on things...

I go and get sick.

I managed to make it through a meeting with one of our Vice President's this morning, but was smart enough to cancel all my other meetings for the day. I can hardly stand it. I'm more frustrated about the repeating nature of my stress-induced throat issues than I am about actually being sick. What is it with me getting a sore throat, having sinus pressure overload, and losing my voice every time the stress level gets anywhere close to higher than normal?

In the last couple of years, I can remember this same thing happening at the following times:

• when I was preparing my Senior Writing Portfolio before graduating from high school
• graduating from high school (and going on vacation, bummer)
• right before my interview for an assistantship at Vandy
• when I graduated from Belmont
• the week before our wedding
• when I was getting ready to graduate from Vandy
• right after I finished the interview process for my job
• during Spring Orientation (which, mind you, was only two and a half weeks ago)
• and now, just after I finish the first stage of my budget proposal process

What's the deal?

Zero-Based Budgeting, Work-Style

I have taken for granted how long Cliff and I have been on a system of zero-based budgeting for our monthly income and expenses. Having dreamed and planned for a few months before we actually got married, we've been doing it this way since the day we said "I do." Sure, we've had a few bumps along the road but it's never really that difficult for us to get to zero. Some expenses have been fixed for so long and we've had the freedom to increased certain areas that the bottom line is never hard to find.

As for work, it's a totally different story. It's zero-based budgeting but for an entire year. And not only that, but I can only guess and estimate (or simply, guesstimate) so much about what will be done in the next fiscal year (which starts in my biggest expense month... June) based on what's been done in this current year. Not to mention, the paper trail has been sometimes really difficult to follow.

But I've been plugging and chugging and dreaming and envisioning and cutting and padding and researching and crying and pulling my hair and drinking too much coffee and spending more time on Excel than I thought was humanly possible and I've finally done it. I've gotten down to zero while staying flat and making the huge chunk of money I get to work with next year... well... making it work for me and for the students and for the betterment of the institution.

And goodness knows how glad I am that in the world of personal finance, what Cliff and I choose to do with our money affects just the two of us and not nearly fourteen-hundred incoming students, as well as their parents, plus a little more than a hundred student leaders. (And here is where I pause for just a moment and freak-out at the gravity of what I've gotten myself into...) And that we get to reconstruct every month if we'd like to... and not once a year.

Oh, and did I happen to mention that this is just the first round of tweaking in the budget preparation process that happens as we get closer to June 1? Here we go!