Catch Ya On The Flip Side

It's been a while since I have informed you all of my adventure... The past two weeks have been quite a whirl-wind.
Today was not so fantastic. This morning my phone rang around 7 am and I picked it up knowing who it would be and what she would say. It was my mom telling my that my amazingly strong Aunt Donna had peacefully slipped away into Jesus' arms early this morning. I knew it was coming... I had even said my goodbye to her before I left to come to Kansas... but how do you say goodbye to someone who is still living? How do you go away from your family knowing that one of the members will never be there when you return? Knowing that they won't be there for Thanksgiving or Christmas or the random trip to Nanny's. Knowing she won't get to see her daughter walk down the aisle, or her grandson go to 6th grade as she once said she wanted to see. Knowing that her youngest daughter thought of her as a mother, a co-worker and a best friend all wrapped into one. I am going to be completely honest and tell you that this SUCKS! I know that Aunt Donna isn't suffering anymore and is having a birthday party with Jesus right now but my heart feels so heavy for the closest people in her life. This day has me really thinking about relationships and how each of my family members had a different one with my Aunt. I think about my grandparents, about how they are saying goodbye to their first born child... a second child lost. I think of the my dad who said goodbye to his big sister, I can't even think about losing one of my brothers. I think of my cousins, Andrea and Alexis who are saying goodbye to their mom... I just can't even imagine what that is like... it makes me sick imagining it. Tonight I was listening to the radio and Shania Twain's song "Forever and Always" came on and I just started to cry. First I started to think about how much I miss my boyfriend, Chris. I then started thinking about my Uncle Matt, wondering how my aunt and uncle met. Knowing that they probably never thought that they would say goodbye to each other at such an early age. Knowing that as young adults they probably imagined growing old together. I cried the entire way home listening to the words of this song and putting myself in this situation. "Cause I'm keeping you forever and for always, we will be together all of our days, when I wake up in the morning to your sweet face... always" I am grieving so much more for my family members than I am myself. Don't get me wrong, I loved my aunt so much, but I think about the people that were with her and lived with her for years and I just cry. I pray that the Boyle and Massimini families hold tight to each other in this tough time.

 Aunt Donna, I miss you so much and I am so happy that you are no longer suffering. You would make it a clean 55 years of life right on the dot! I think it is really neat that you entered this world 55 years ago today, and entered Heaven today. It is a double birthday for sure. I love you and will never forget you or time we have spent together.

A good friend at work told me that she never says goodbye, she always says, "See ya on the flipside"... See ya on the flipside Aunt Donna, I love you!

Goodbye Mama... Hello On My Own

So it looks like it is that time again... on my own again. It's funny... I seem to go through little spurts of independence. First Eastern, then back at home, then Africa, then back at home... now Wichita.

Nicole and I said our goodbyes on Thursday and drove our mamas back to Kansas City... 8 hours in the car later, we found ourselves on our own in the middle of the country. Yesterday marked our first full day alone in Kansas. We had a pretty productive day, applying for jobs all over Wichita. Our last stop at Bella Luna Cafe was the charm. We sat down at the bar and filled out applications and waited for the manager to come over and meet us. She asked us a few questions like, "have you ever waited tables before?" which I quickly answered, "No I have not, but I am very willing to learn and I am GREAT with people!". I think I may have caught her off guard because I was so blunt. After a few more questions, she told us to be there at 5:30 on Monday! I was like, "wait, both of us?!" and she said yes! So we have 4 training nights and a test and we will have the job if we pass! I am so confident about it though! I feel like I was made to be able to wait tables. I mean I make friends in the line at the grocery store, I think I can handle at least the social part of waiting tables! Now I just have to continue to study the menu and think of awesome questions to ask! I really want to be the best brand new waitress they have ever had! The best part is that our tip out for the bar and bus boys is only 1.5% compared to Nicole's 10% at her last job. :) I am hoping to make major tips!! So come visit me at Bella Luna on Rock Road! (you too Marylanders!) www.bellalunacafe.com check it out!

Nicole and I made our first dinner last night and it was bangin'! All kinds of roasted and sauteed veggies and I made a steak that was out of this world good! Then we decided to melt our Hershey Kisses that my mom gave us for Valentine's Day and made chocolate covered strawberries. This then turned into a chocolate facial including uni-brows and mustaches. Nicole was rolling on the floor laughing! It was hilarious. We then ended the night with Ugly Betty! :) It was great!

Sand-Like Snow

So the last few days have been a whirlwind! I am finally in Wichita and all settled into my new apartment. My room looks great, thanks to my mom who has a knack for decorating on a budget! I am all set up with my blow up bed and side table and my little desk that I bought at Wal*mart! Our living room has our little tv and a card table disguised as a high end cafe table with two chairs that we purchased for $4.99 a piece thanks to Mr. Brian, Chris' dad who gave me $40 with two strings attached. Number one being that I must spend it in a thrift, consignment, or yard sale and number two, that I must call and tell him all about my purchases. Of course I went straight to Goodwill and found many treasures instantly! His strings have been obeyed quickly, as I have only been here for two days and have already spent the money!
       It has been snowing all day and it is the weirdest snow! It is almost as if it is dry and just blowing around. It isn't sticking together, it's just strange. Almost as if it is too cold for it to stick together, like dry sand blowing in the ocean breeze. I mean it was 2* here at one point today.
      I was able to move my meeting at Eric Fisher Academy over to today instead of tomorrow, which is great because they might be closed tomorrow because of the snow. I got to talk to Julie, the admissions leader and she is just the sweetest thing ever. I met her 5 months ago when I came to visit the first time and we just had a blast reconnecting! I really can't express how excited I am to get started at EFA. I feel so blessed to be able to go to this school. I am a little concerned with all of the finances, but I know that God has a plan and it will all work out! I am here for a purpose and I can't wait to learn!

I feel as if the last few years of my life have been like the snow here in Wichita. I have been going where the wind takes me. From high school to Eastern University to HCC to Jordan Thomas to Africa and finally to Wichita. I have found the love of my life in this whirlwind and he makes me so happy! He makes me think about things a little more deeply that I am used to and I love him for that. We have been through a lot over this whirlwind and have stayed strong through out. Unlike the sand-like snow, I am warm enough to stick to the people in my life, but cold enough to not let them hold me back from what I am supposed to do. The coolest thing is, is that God knows where each little snowflake is going to end up, even where they will blow next. He knows where I am going to end up to, Jeremiah 29:11 says, "For I know the plans I have for you", declares the Lord," plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future". I hold fast to that, knowing that God has a plan for my life. I ran into my middle school youth paster the other day outside of Barnes and Noble. He asked me if I was done traveling the world for a while and I told him that I was leaving for Kansas for cosmetology school. He asked me if I would be interested in the West Virginia trip that the church takes every summer, when I am finished hair school. I knew where he was going with this right away. He said that when the church does the Vacation Bible School for the kids of the area, that all the mom's come out to chat and watch. This would be an awesome opportunity to share God's love by making these women feel beautiful, if only for a day, or week or for however long they hold onto the haircut or nail polish that we service them with. I thought it was such a great idea for my mom and I to do together! I told him that I was for sure interested and that I had been looking for the mission in the materialism of what the beauty industry can sometimes be. I can't wait to see where God takes me tomorrow, let alone when my schooling is finished. I just know he has something great up His big God-sized sleeve.

I hope you all have a great night! It is time for this girl to hit the hay as they say in western movies... :P

GOODNIGHT WORLD... well at least the part that is in my hemisphere anyway

1 Coffee...5 States...12 Hours

We began our journey across the United States today. I woke up to my mom saying, "Torie, we have to go!" I always have a plan when it comes to waking up to go somewhere. I always set my alarm and know how long it will take me to get ready. In this case, I had already had a shower right before bed so all that was necessary was a good brushing of the teeth and hair, a swipe of deodorant and a little mascara. But of course, as usual, my mother didn't know my plan and woke me up before my alarm went off. At this point I had already tossed and turned through out the night because of my nasty cold and the fact that I was so excited that I woke up instantly. We met up with Nicole, my roommate and her mom Marianne, my co-worker at the 7 Eleven and our journey began. Nothing too eventful happened until we stopped for lunch at Quizno's. Attached to the Quizno's was what I call a mix of a WaWa and an antique shop... strange combo, I know! As we passed through Columbus, Ohio, I had made a list of cool things to see while passing through. The biggest basket in the world was too far out of the way, so we settled on the FART Sculpture. Yes, I said it. The fart sculpture is actually just a sculpture that says ART but if you stand in a certain spot, two light poles align and make an "F" that fits perfectly with the ART. It was so funny and we took a lot of pictures that I will eventually post but am not able to with the spotty hotel wireless. Sorry! Later, we stopped at another gas station to use the bathroom and the entire parking lot was filled with ice, snow and slush. While inside, we were all talking and over the loud speaker we all hear, "customer number 234, your shower is now ready." I looked over to an employee with a bewildered face and said, "YOU HAVE SHOWERS HERE!?" and he told me yes, that truckers had to stop somewhere. Haha Then he was like, "you looked at me like I was crazy" so I told him that it was my first time in Indiana and that I had never heard of that before. We finally arrived to Plainfield, Indiana around 6:30. After we checked into the hotel, we went over to this little restaurant across the street called The Black Swan Brewpub. I had Sweet Potato Gnocci with  Braised Duck and Shitoki Mushrooms, it was delicious! The chef brought all of the food to us himself and we were so impressed. We all enjoyed our meals and then asked him about his desserts. After he explained, I asked him if he had previously been in a boy band because his name was Nick Carter :) (sorry I am product of the 90's I know my boy bands) He laughed and told us about getting a call in college from a giddy freshman girl thinking it was the real famous Nick Carter from the Backstreet Boys. We ordered desert and I got the cookie and milk. I am telling you that it was the absolute best cookie that I have ever had in my whole life! I can't get over how good that cookie was! Over all we had a great trip here! We are expecting snow in the morning here in Plainfield so we are going to try to get out of here early around 6. Pray that we arrive in Wichita safely! I am going to try to hold out and watch SNL but we shall see how long this lasts! I can't wait to get to Kansas! Goodnight for now!

Beginning the Journey

Today marks my last day in Maryland before I head out to Kansas to begin my journey as a cosmetology student.

         A year and a half ago I made one of the hardest decisions of my life. It was the end of the summer of 2009 and I was having an identity crisis. For my entire life I thought that I was destined to be a teacher. As a child I played school to the max... I am talking about class rosters, fake students, typing up dittos on my computer and grading papers. I was not your average school player. I knew that I loved children but the problem was that I DID NOT love school. So while on a trip to Alexandria, Virginia, visiting my boyfriend Chris' sister, I had my identity crisis. We were walking in and out of the cute little shops in town and looking at all of the beautiful hand made handicrafts as Deb from Napoleon Dynamite would say. I knew that I needed something a little more creative and a little less binding as becoming a teacher. On our shopping trip we came to a little grove of trees by the water and sat down on a big rock and just had an open discussion on how I probably was not cut out to be a teacher. We went through the many possibilities of what my "calling" was. We talked about art school, becoming an art teacher, and finally started talking about hair school. My mom was a hair stylist and she always cut my hair in her bathroom and when I was really little, she would take me into the salon that she worked in. I had always been interested in the beauty industry, but could never figure out how to do both teaching and hair. My mom reminded me of this as we sat in Alexandria. This was all about two weeks before I was due back at Eastern University. As those two weeks came to an end, I had my dad withdraw me from EU and I cried and cried grieving the loss of who I thought I would become for so many years. After everyone else went back to school, I was calling Harford Community College, trying to squeeze myself into a full class load. Back in high school, I accidentally signed up for a scholarship to HCC and received a $2,500 scholarship to a school I was not going to. We decided to save it and it worked out for the best. Meanwhile, my mom encouraged me to try to find a shampoo girl job at Jordan Thomas Salon and Spa, where she got her hair done. She told me that the girl that did her hair was the manager and maybe she could give me a job. I met Nikki that fateful day and I got the job after applying and talking to the owner, Terry. Terry thought that I would be a good fit up at the front desk and Nikki wanted me on her shampoo team... fortunately for me, they hired and trained me for both positions. :)
         I knew by that time that I was definitely interested in going to cosmetology school, so my mom and I went and looked at Pulse Beauty Academy in Downingtown, PA, my parents home town. I was sold from the minute I stepped in the door. Little did I know that I would end up somewhere a thousand miles away.
I had a very hard time with the fact that I was going to HCC for the year, knowing that I really wanted to be in hair school. But I know that the Associates degree is good to have if I ever have another identity crisis and want to go back to school. Spring came and I was so excited about the beauty industry! Terry, my boss, thought it would be good to go see another cosmetology school and I was interested in Graham Webb in Washington D.C. So we packed up the car and drove down for the morning and saw the school. On our way home we were all talking and Terry looked at me and said, "Don't laugh, but there is another school that I would love for you to look at." I waited and thought, "California, New York, Chicago... BIG CITY" she then reminded my mom and I not to laugh again and said, "Kansas"... My mom and I looked at each other and said, "WHAT! Kansas? Hair school in Kansas?" We all laughed and she began to tell us about Eric Fisher and his Academy. I went home and googled it and the website was just beautiful. I told my mom that I was really interested and she was like, "What? You want to go there? Now I will really know that you are maturing if you will sacrifice your summer with Chris for hair school!" After working hard, we planned our trip out to Wichita, Kansas to see Eric Fisher Academy. Needless to say, I LOVED IT!
Two days after my trip to KS, I flew to Africa. I knew that I wanted to go back to Children of Zion Village in Namibia. I knew that this was my chance to spend 3 months with the orphans that I fell in love with 3 years ago. This was my chance to do it before cosmetology school and before what I call "real life" sets in. My trip was amazing and I would do it again in a heart beat. I miss my kids so much and have no doubt that I will be back someday to visit.
         So like I said... Today marks my last day in Maryland before I head out to Kansas to begin my journey as a cosmetology student. I don't have Ruby slippers and I actually have never seen The Wizard of OZ before but I am confident that with the help of God, I will be successful in this season of life. I am beyond excited to start my journey and blessed to have a roommate from Maryland! Nicole and I went to high school together and I work at Jordan Thomas with her mom and she decided after getting her degree in Art and Photography, that she too wanted to start a journey of her own on the Yellow Brick Road. :) Wish me blessings!

BON VOYAGE MARYLAND! GET READY KANSAS... YOU HAVE TWO CRAZY GIRLS ON THEIR WAY!