Lend a helping hand...

So this past week has been an absolute nightmare. Exam week at FIDM is always difficult, but I managed to run into every roadblock known to mankind. Luckily I finished finally, and now am sitting at LAX waiting to fly home to Vermont. As I was walking to my gate pondering how I could better manage my stress levels and have more trust that God had a reason for making my journey a little bumpy, I was approached by a lady holding out her boarding pass. She didn’t speak very good English, but as she kept pointing back and forth between her ticket and the Continental sign I realized she couldn’t find her flight. The poor woman was frantic, and no one was there to help her. I was able to figure out she had missed her flight, then flag down someone to actually assist her. She looked at me with such gratitude and appreciation when she thanked me; I was truly touched I could help someone just by doing something as simple as taking a few minutes to help her find an attendant. If everyone could do something this small, just take a few minutes to help someone else in need, wouldn’t we all be less stressed on a daily basis? What we are all guilty of is forgetting to appreciate the simple things we are blessed with in life. Whether it be waking up next to someone special, a smile from a stranger, a sunny day, or just a simple hello... We forget how meaningful these simple pleasures are until we lose them. So take a second out of your hectic lives to just slow down for a minute and appreciate what you’ve been given. I’m pretty sure it would be a much more pleasant existence if we all could do this☺

Patterns, Prayers and Tests

(My w-i-p on the big screen...yea I'm a little tired lol)

So this weekend and the next few days to come have been insanely hectic. Since my last post, I no longer work at La Femme as prom season has ended. It is the last 3 days of Finals at FIDM and still to come is an AMT presentation this evening, an exam and 2 computer marker projects due tomorrow, and Wednesday is do or die! I have a presentation at 8:30 in Costing and Control, A Sourcing and Inventory Management project at 6 pm, and the greatest trial of all is my contemporary women's line of 12 pieces in what will end up being about 100 pages of designs, cost sheets, demographic and company info and color and fabric stories due at 3 pm. I've been working non-stop and although normally I would be frantic and pulling my hair out there has been one thing keeping me sane...

Rachel Ramon introduced me to this book "The Purpose Driven Life" by Rick Warren. It is about the 40 day path to learning our purpose here during this life. I am only on Chapter 6 now, but this morning's was about trust and tests. I realized that all these obstacles I've faced since moving to LA, and the many years before that were really just part of the small picture. Having money, then losing everything was a test of my strength and responsibility. Love and relationships lost were testing my faith and ability to forgive and keep true to myself.

I guess the point I'm really making to anyone who reads this is when the going gets tough try and remember that this too shall pass (as my wise and wonderful mother always says) and that how we choose to handle these hurdles is what really matters. As a dear friend of mine, Colbie Weaver, always says, when life gives you lemons make lemonade!

Back to work...wish me luck!

Following the Path to Success

(A computer flat sketch assignment for Contemporary Clubwear)

What does the daily life of a FIDM student consist of? Work, stress, work, stress and more work! Today was a usual crazy Wednesday... began with my Costing class at 8:30 am. We gave an oral presentation on budgeting...man do I love group projects! One of my group members tried to say having a positive balance on an Income Statement was a bad thing. I really am convinced they'll let anyone in this school! I was so glad one of my classmates was actually paying attention to point out his error so I didn't have to! We got our exams back...and I got another 100:) It's good to know some of my hard work pays off! Then it was the usual quick lunch before jumping into Illustrator for my Computer Flat Sketch class, and my 6 designs for my Sourcing and Inventory Management class. Unfortunately I lost my flash drive with ALL my work on it so I had to start over...again. I swear I'd lose my head if it weren't attached! After just barely wrapping up my assignments in time, despite having to stand outside FIDM main campus for a fire that apparently never existed, I sat through my last two classes. What was I thinking when I signed up for classes for 12 straight hours? Hahaha. Anyway the day ended on a great note...got an A+ on my Sourcing assignment and midterm!