I'm moving!

So the more I have followed other people's blogs, the more I realize that I really like Tumblr better than Blogger. It has a lot more format options to customize your posts, so I'm converting. My new blog address is:

http://vmatheny.tumblr.com

Come visit!

Obstacles Welcome

Obstacles Welcome

by Ralph de la Vega

This book tells the story of Ralph de la Vega as a Cuban immigrant. He came into this country when he was 10 years old completely alone. He lived with strangers for 4 years before the rest of his family joined him in the United States. De la Vega went on to get an education and become successful in the AT&T corporation.

I thought this book was awesome. It had some very good, practical success principles to follow that apply in any area of life. One of the principles that stuck with me the most is that of vision. Developing a vision and a plan to achieve it. There was also a lot of good information about leadership and how to inspire the people around you. I liked the book because de la Vega does not just give you some ideas that should work in theory. He tells you these success principles, and then gives you the real-life example of how he implemented it in his career and how it helped him to get to where he is.

I would definitely recommend this book, especially to those looking to move up in the corporate world. As I mentioned already, it gives solid principles to follow that are practical and easily applicable to just about any situation.

For Good

This song is from the Wicked soundtrack, and it just might be one of my favorite songs ever. It reminds me that I have been so blessed to have made a few really close friends that have changed me for good. I didn't have the most friends, but the ones I had were definitely the best. =) Here are the lyrics.

I've heard it said
That people come into our lives
For a reason,
Bringing something we must learn.
And we are lead to those
Who help us most to grow
If we let them,
And we help them in return.

Well, I don't know if I believe that's true,
But I know I'm who I am today
Because I knew you.

Like a comet pulled from orbit
As it passes the sun.
Like a stream that meets a boulder
Halfway through the wood.
Who can say if I've been changed for the better?
Because I knew you, I have been changed for good.

It well may be
That we may never meet again
In this lifetime,
So let me say before we part:
So much of me
Is made of what I learned from you,
You'll be with me
Like a hand print on my heart.
And now whatever way our stories end,
I know you have rewritten mine
By being my friend.

Like a ship blown from it's mooring
By a wind of the sea.
Like a seed dropped by a sky bird
In a distant wood.
Who can say if I've been changed for the better?
But because I knew you,
(Because I knew you)
I have been changed for good.

...

Who can say if I've been changed for the better?
I do believe I have been changed for the better.
And because I knew you...
Because I knew you...
Because I knew you,
I have been changed
For Good.

Memories made and more to come.

A few weeks before our wedding, I had a dream (more like nightmare) that we were driving away from the wedding and I realized that I didn't remember anything that had happened. It was all just a big blank spot. Scariest thing ever when you're stressing about getting all of the decorations right, making sure everyone shows up on time, wondering if the photographer will get the right shots, etc, etc... Well, thankfully, that didn't happen. I remember a lot about that night. And since tonight marks the 2 year anniversary of that memorable night, I thought I was share with all of you what I remember. =)

-My bridesmaids were awesome throughout the whole process. They cut out and put together invitations and programs until they were blue in the face. lol. But I am very thankful b/c I never could've done it alone.

-Micah and half of the groomsmen showed up 45 minutes late for the rehearsal dinner. He's lucky I wasn't a bridezilla or I might've called it all off. lol.

-Gary, at the rehearsal dinner, with his unexpected variation of "Who gives this woman to marry this man?"

-For whatever reason, after we all got back to the house that night, I just had this random breakdown. I don't even remember what triggered it. I was working on the slideshow, trying to get the timing right. But I don't see why that would upset me. Maybe it was just all of the stress and anxiety building up. Whatever the reason, it happened. And the girls basically made me go to bed, and then let me sleep in the next morning as long as I needed to.

-All of the girls were supposed to go together to get our nails done that morning before heading to the church to finish decorating and getting ready. All but 2 backed out on me. And in my emotional state, it was a much bigger deal than it should've been. Micah had to come by and get something from me and when I went out to see him, he just let me cry. (He's good about that.) So Whit and Catey went w/me and we had fun, and I got over it. =)

-We ate McDonald's for lunch. We bout froze our toes off walking in and out in those little flipflop thingys they give you after you get a pedicure. lol

-The florist missed part of our order. The little things that our moms were supposed to carry their flowers in got left out completely. The florist was flipping out more than we were. So Daddy saved the day and told me and Mom, "if you want them, I'll go get them for you. Just tell me where." He was awesome. So he went down the road to another florist and got them. Yay Super Dad. =)

-Lauren and I went to the mall to get all of our rings cleaned around 2 or so. While walking through the food court, we saw those little trampoline things with the harnesses where you jump really really high. I'm pretty sure she kidnapped me and made me do it. lol. It was awesome though. Great for taking my mind off of all the stress. Although it hurts a lot more than you'd think. Those harnesses are NOT comfortable. lol

-My "something old" was my great great (great?) grandmother's 3 strand pearl bracelet. It was perfect. Matched the dress great. It broke. Like, an hour before the wedding. The clasp was loose, and it fell off. Pearls were everywhere. So here we all were, in our dresses, crawling around on the floor gathering up pearls. Of course, Dad (AKA MacGyver) had fishing line in the truck. And Alana had worked in a jewelry store. So they fixed it and saved the day once again.

-Micah took pictures with everyone first before I came down for us to have our "moment." I'm pretty sure I stood up there at the top of the stairs for like, 3 days. At least. It seemed like it at least.

-Joel acting like he forgot the ring when Gary asked for it.

-We wrote our own vows, but didn't memorize them. Probably because I didn't get it all in order and on paper until about 4 that afternoon. 2 hours before the wedding. lol. I had most of it in my head before then. But anyways. I had the paper wrapped around my bouquet during the wedding, and just had it folded up in my hand after I handed my bouquet off. Well...I didn't think through enough to figure out what I was going to do with the paper after we said our vows. I couldn't just hold this piece of paper in my hand while we exchanged rings and stuff. So I just put my arm by my side and dropped it. lol. Gary picked it up later and gave it back to me.

-My cheeks hurt so much from smiling by the end of the reception. I've never hugged so many people in my life. lol

-After the wedding, I could hardly catch my breath. In the video, you can see me just stop and take a huge breath every few minutes.lol.

-So for those of you who weren't there, instead of doing birdseed or flower petals or bubbles like most people do when they're leaving the reception, I wanted to go for a snow kinda theme. What did we come up with, you ask? Not the fake, biodegradable snow that costs an arm and a leg for the amount we were needing. No. We're much more economical than that. We used instant mashed potatoes. And they looked perfect. Looked just like snow. When they're thrown UP into the air. Notice the condition there. They don't look so much like snow when you're being pelted in the face with them. I didn't see anyone in the line b/c I had my head down the entire time. We had potatoes in our hair, our mouths, our ears...everywhere. We were still finding potato flakes days later in our clothes. Somehow. No idea how they got there. When I took my wedding dress off, we gathered a huge pile of it out of the bathroom floor. It was ridiculous. lol

I'm sure I could come up with a lot more memories from that night, but that's what stands out right now. Plus, this post is getting super long. So I'm going to wrap it up for tonight. I've still got some stuff on my mind tho, so I think I'll continue this tomorrow or Thursday. Until then, have a nice night!

Micah's Blog

Apparently I took over the other blog and made it a bit to girly. So Micah ditched me. He said it had become more of my blog instead of our blog, which was ok, but he wanted to have his own. I told him it wasn't my fault that he never posted anything. =)

So I thought I'd share his blog address w/yall so that you could follow him as well as me. =)

http://micahmatheny.blogspot.com