The Katie Series: Thoughts on the Next Steps of My "Career."

I put "career" in quotes because I would have never and still have a hard time believing that I am a "career woman." But yesterday was my three anniversary with good ol' JPMorgan so I guess it's official. I have a career. No quotes.

Back in May I applied for a promotion - to become a manager. My current position is kind of like an assistant manager so that is the natural career path. They were expanding the management team by about 4 or 5 people to make smaller teams and develop our people more, so I thought, "Well hey, this is my chance." I interviewed and didn't hear anything. In June they met with me and said, "Hey, we told everyone else in your position no, but we'd like you to know you're still in the running. We just aren't ready to make any decisions yet." In July, my current manager went on military leave so I took over the manager role for a team of 25 people. He came back last week so I'm back to my old job. And they still haven't hired anyone for the additional manager position or followed up with me since June. (It doesn't help that they started an unofficial "hiring freeze" a month or two ago. Bad timing.) It's been 5 months, y'all. That's a long time.

So, my "thoughts" on the next steps of my career are mixed right now. There are two options for me at this point.

1. Stick it out. Pay my dues. And wait patiently. Our generation has a tendency to believe we should have everything now. We don't believe in paying our dues. We easily forget that my dad had to work the third shift at Hallmark at the beginning of his career until her gradually moved up to being a well-paid manager. All we remember is that my dad made a lot of money as a manager and so I should, too. I've been working for 3 years. I have little to no experience. I may need to just pay my dues and wait. A promotion will come soon enough. (Here is a really good article about this idea that my brother Joel sent me one time.)

2. Look for something else. This is the scary option for me because I don't really know what I want to do with my life so I don't even know where to start looking. I know I like: people, creativity, baking, crafts, business, writing... but I don't really know what that means for me. It's probably time that I freshen up the old resume and start looking. It doesn't hurt to look, right?

I think the solution is a "both and." (I always think it's funny when people say "both and". I'm not even sure it applies in this situation but I'm going to keep my fingers crossed that it does.) I'm going to stick it out. Pay my dues. Wait patiently. And in the meantime, I'm going to start looking for something else just to see what is out there. And you never know, maybe the reason why things aren't working out at JPMorgan right now are because there is something better in store for me somewhere else. Who knows... But prayers and words of wisdom are appreciated.

(This was a long one. Sorry...)

The Katie Series: Thoughts On My Favorite Bible Verse(s).

My favorite Bible verse since high school has always been Jeremiah 29:11.

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plan to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

God knows the plan and it's a good one. People probably hear me say this a lot... but the truth is, God's plan is always better than mine, and this verse is a good reminder of that.

Lately I've been praying over another verse a lot. My friend and I are reading the book Beautiful Battlefields by Bo Stern and it's all about how God is growing you during the hard times. It encouraged us to memorize Genesis 50:20.

You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.

One thing that sets Christianity apart is that it doesn't promise a perfect life. You will never hear "come to Jesus and all of your problems will be fixed." (And if you do, run the other direction, that's not the real gospel.) We live in a fallen world and life is for sure going to be hard. Satan's going to try to use that hard stuff to hurt us, but God can and will do good things through it. That's why I like this verse. Our hard times can really bring us down, but God intends it for good, so more people can learn about Him.

That's good stuff.

The Katie Series: Thoughts On How To Get Over A Break Up.

(Cheesy applicable photo.)

And The Katie Series continues... Katie threw this out as a blog topic and I thought, "Yikes, I don't want to touch that." I broke up with a guy I was dating back in February and if we're being honest, I'm still struggling to be completely over things. So what I've decided to do is make a list of all of the things that I'm doing and tell you to do the opposite. Kidding, kidding... But the truth is, I haven't arrived, I'm a work in progress, and I struggle daily. Here are just a few things that I have learned:

The Katie Series: Thoughts On How To Get Over A Break Up

1. Cut ties - if possible. You think you can be friends with the person... but you can't. It's too hard. And it probably isn't healthy, at least for now.

2. Control your thought life. That sounds a little more scandalous than I mean (but it's good to control your thought life if it's scandalous, too.) Don't let your brain go down paths you don't need to be going down. "Remember that one time he said that sweet thing..." "Remember our first kiss..." "Remember when we laughed til we cried about..." It's not healthy. The hard part is that no one knows your thoughts except for you and God, so you don't have any accountability. So you need to pray for self-control and stop when you find yourself failing.

3. Give yourself some grace. You may be discouraged because it's taking you longer than you think it should to get over things. Give yourself some grace - it's going to take some time, and that's ok.

4. Don't trash talk your ex during the process. It may seem like it makes things easier, but you're just avoiding the root issue. The truth is - there are a lot of good things about your ex, that's what drew you to them in the first place. Don't put them down, especially not to others, just so you can cope.

5. Don't rush into another relationship. It won't be good for you and it for sure won't be good for the next person you date if you rush into things before you're ready for a new relationship. Give it time. Be cool with yourself before you put that junk on someone else.

6. Give it to God. Sometimes the last thing you want to hear is "God has a plan for you." But it's actually the the truth. Remember that and give it all to Him.

That's all I've got for now. Like I said.. I'm totally and completely a work in progress on this stuff. But if I can practice what I preach, I think that things will get easier every day.

The Katie Series: Thoughts on Social Media.

My friend Katie is probably my most devout blog follower. It's probably because things at her job are a bit slow and she doesn't have anything else better to do to fill her work day (ha, right, Katie?) But we'll say that maybe, just maybe, it's because she likes what I have to say and how I say it. She told me I needed to blog more and I told her that I needed some ideas to blog about... So she gave me a few... And I've decided to write about them. We are calling it... The Katie Series. (Really original name, I know. It was my idea... not hers.) So it begins...

The Katie Series: My Thoughts on Social Media.

1. Facebook: I joined it the summer before my freshman year of college. That was a pretty normal time to join back then. I don't do much on it these days. But I suppose it's a good place to announce that you are engaged or pregnant or what not so you can get a lot of likes. In my case, I'm neither engaged... nor pregnant. So things on Facebook are pretty quiet these days.

2. Twitter: I like Twitter. It's my social media outlet of choice. I like that it's quick. Most of the time it's funny. I like that people post pictures on there. I just like it. It's simple. And again, I was relatively early getting on board, so my hipster-self is ok with it.

3. Vine: Nope. Not doing it. 9 out of 10 videos are people trying to be funny that are not. I'm too cool for Vine.

4. Xanga: Flashback to 2003! Yep. I had a Xanga page. Did you?

5. Pinterest. Ok, you know I love Pinterest.

6. Foursquare. Never got into it. Wasn't really sure what the point of it was. "Heeeeyyy, I'm here. I'm now the mayor of McDonald's. Take that, suckas!" ... ?

7. Google+: I think I created a Google+ account a few years ago... still not really sure what that means though. Google, you have done a lot of things right... I'm just not sure Google+ was one of them. But who am I to say...

8. LinkedIn: Whoever you are that keeps on inviting me to join... it's not going to happen. It's not a good idea to mix social media and the business world. It's just not.

9. Instagram: I love me some Instagram. Artsy pictures? Yes please.

10. Snapchat: Sending pictures to people so they can see them for a few seconds and then they "disappear." This is creepy and strange. No thank you.

This is just a short list of social media (check out this long list on Wikipedia. Holy. cow.) My thoughts: pick a few that you like (for me: Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and maybe an occasional Facebook stalking session) and leave the rest be. Don't overwhelm yourself trying to keep up on all of that. It's not worth it. And don't trick yourself into believing that social media can replace real community with people. It's ok to tide you over until your next hang out... but face to face interaction takes the cake every time.

Try-It Tuesday: Peanut Butter Bars.

I tried a new recipe tonight. Chicken Pot Pie with Cornbread Crust. Gotta be honest... it was just ok. I'm confident that there have got to be better Chicken Pot Pie recipes out there. So I will continue looking...

In the meantime, I want to tell you about these Peanut Butter Bars I made the other day. My boss has been on military leave for the last three months and he came back yesterday. I asked his wife what his favorite treat was so that I could do what I know how to do best... bake for him. He requested these Peanut Butter Bars. I love clear direction. This recipe is easy... with no oven required. (So I suppose I didn't technically bake for him...) But for sure a winner of a recipe! I don't have the original source so I've typed out the recipe for you. If you are a fan of peanut butter and chocolate... then this is the recipe for you.

Peanut Butter Bars

Ingredients
1 cup salted butter (melted)
2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 cup peanut butter
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 (11 oz.) bag milk chocolate chips

Instructions
Combine all ingredients, except chocolate chips, in a medium sized bowl. Stir until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Pour peanut butter mixture into a 9x13 pan. Melt chocolate chips. (The recipe says to microwave them at 50% power for 1-2 minutes but I am pretty stinking convinced that any time I microwave chocolate chips I burn them. This time proved my theory be true.) I'd recommend using a double boiler or a pot of bowling water with a heat-proof bowl on top and melting the chocolate chips that way to avoid them from burning. Spread chocolate with a spatula over peanut butter mixture. Refrigerate bars for one hour. Cut while bars are still cool. Enjoy!

I made Pumpkin Roll Bars that were a hit with the co-workers as well. I didn't actually have any of these (trying to watch the sweets so I only allowed myself to partake in one and chose the peanut butter and chocolate over the pumpkin.) These bars are all the deliciousness of a pumpkin roll without the hassle of rolling it. Now that's a good idea...

P.S. The pumpkin cupcakes that I blogged about yesterday... I tried one tonight... they were amazing.

Another post about baking...

(Full of fall spices: cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves...)

I had a rough day today. It's a work thing. I'm weary and am ready for a change and things aren't moving forward... they are moving backward. At least today they were. I signed, and vented, and walked (that's what I do to clear my head at work), and vented some more. (None of which are good ways to deal with frustration.) I went to dinner with my aunts. I sang my heart out on the drive home. Nothing really did it. I was grumpy.

Then I baked. And I don't know what it is about baking... It works. every. time. It combines the things I love... structure, creativity, food, people... and it takes me out of my self-centered, worldy self and back closer to the woman God wants me to be. Tonight I made Gimme Some Oven's Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting. I didn't actually try a cupcake because they are for tomorrow night, but I tried the batter and the frosting and I think they have the potential to be some of the best pumpkin cupcakes I've made. These pumpkin cupcakes saved my day...

Well, ultimately, Jesus saved my day. He has wired me to get peace from little things like baking. And I'm thankful. Thankful that that's what it takes to bring me back to Him after a day full of sighing, venting, and walking.

(This makes me happy... Oven lights are the best thing.)

(You know what else is great? Taking perfectly peaked cupcakes out of the oven.)

(Tada! Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting.)

Happy October!

It's October. I love October! If someone were to ask me, "What's your favorite month?" I would answer October without hesitation. (But let's be real, who asks funny questions like that except for me.)

My new place was lacking in the "fall" department so on Sunday when it dawned on me that fall was approaching, I thought it was time that I do something about that. So I bought some pumpkins, made a wreath, partook in some tallish snacks (candy corn and peanuts and pumpkin spice puppy chow - not as great as it sounds, unfortunately...) Then today I saw my first changing tree of the season... It's really beginning to feel like fall!

Happy October!