Thursday Three Archives - Page 8 of 12

Thursday Three

July 31, 2014August 1, 2014Samantha Gratton

Do you ever have one of those weeks where you go from feeling like, “Hey, I’ve got this. Life, I think it’s going pretty well. I’m doing what I’m supposed to and that’s awesome.” But then an hour later someone says something or you get an email and suddenly it feels like your world has shifted enough that you no longer know who you are or what to think? This week was a little like that for me.

1. The interview process is such a strange system. In a matter of a few hours you are supposed to assess a company and they assess you on being a match. Can you imagine if people dated for the same length of time before marrying someone? But it is the system we have, so I try to do my best. I had the privilege of being a finalist for two different positions at two incredibly different organizations the past few weeks. In both cases, I went through several rounds of interviews and felt they went quite well. The rejection letters I received a few days later seemed to say otherwise. So, back to the drawing board and trying not to feel defeated but to instead focus on what it really is that I am capable of and should be doing in this season of life. I can’t say that’s an easy matter to sort through, but it’s where I’m at right now. I still have joy and faith, which is even more than I could hope for.

Here’s me feeling excited, exhausted and relieved after several hours of interviewing.

2. Exercise is good, but exercising outside with friends is better. I try to stay active when I can, not only to stay fit looking, but I think it can really make a great impact on your mood (and of course your health, looks aside). The hubby and I have been biking a bit more lately and there’s a group of friends from the neighborhood regularly suggesting group rides. This last week has been so much cooler than the rest of the summer, so we’ve gotten to bike, go disc golfing and I’ve had some good long walks with a friend.

3. There are some really cool things happening in the world. Today I had the pleasure of joining a few other women in the area to talk about God and church and faith. None of us had met before, but we were brought together by IF which is a nonprofit founded by Jennie Allen to “gather, equip and unleash the next generation of women to live out their purpose.” To be honest, we just talked. We didn’t solve world problems, we didn’t even solve our own problems. But we got together to share life and support each other. It was a small thing with just a few women, but it’s happening all over the world, which sorta makes it a big thing.

Thursday Three

July 18, 2014December 9, 2014Samantha Gratton

How is it already the end of the day? How, how!? Well, hopefully you all had a lovely day. I certainly did. It was full of friends—in person and from afar.

1. Last week was long and hard. Yet at the same time, it seemed to fly by (which certainly contributed to the lack of blogging these last two weeks). I did travel back to the Midwest for my grandpa’s funeral and saw tons of family (and when I say tons of family, I mean dozens of family members…not a baker’s dozen of people…DOZENS of family members) When the funeral director addressed a packed room and asked that the friends pay their respects first, I think he was surprised when no one moved as we were all family. It was good to be there, but overwhelming at times.

My grandma, my mom and all her siblings. Spouses and children not included.

2. This summer has not gone like I planned. Nor has it gone like my back-up plan or my secondary back-up plan. Oh, normal people don’t have that many plans? This is just how I function. But despite it all, I could not have planned my summer of unemployment at a better time even if I tried. I’ve been able to be at those family things. I’ve read so many books, hosted more out-of-town guests and enjoyed my friendships. Without this added time, I don’t know what I would have done. So, I’m hopeful for what’s next but really trying to take full advantage of the time I have.

3. You need to do this. Let me be direct in saying this, your creativity is important. It’s needed, and we want more of it. Sometimes I can get caught up in the “maybe 12 people read this” or “I’ll never be famous” but that’s not what it’s about. Creativity spurs other creativity. Lately, I’ve been playing a bit more music. Is it my main thing? No. Will I ever have a hit single? Nope. But having a creative outlet, a hobby for lack of a better word, matters. We were meant to make things. So do it. Write the first chapter, paint that dream, put together the band, make up a new recipe, rearrange your furniture—whatever! Take this as your sign or statement of encouragement to be creative. We need it and you need it.

Thursday Three

July 4, 2014December 9, 2014Samantha Gratton

This week has felt like the longest shortest week I can imagine. It’s as if time took its own course this week. I kept looking to my calendar thinking it had to be Thursday. It just had to be. For the working world, it was a short week so we can celebrate the nation tomorrow with barbeques, fireworks and red, white and blue summer bliss. For me, time just seemed to go on and on as if I was holding my breath while walking for miles.

1. Birthdays do not have to be a one day event. Over time I’ve found I’m much more of a one-on-one person or a small group person. Big parties aren’t my scene on a regular basis. So, instead of a big party, I had several get-togethers with people throughout the past few days. Nothing major or overdone, but some good people and time well spent. My birthday itself was a rather long day. All of my planned activities happened on other days so I found myself alone for the majority of the day and decided I wouldn’t allow myself to run any errands or search for any jobs. I did do a little cleaning, but I was glad to do it. I got a treat and headed to the art museum. I tried to reflect on everything I thought or felt, but you can only do that for so long. Furthermore, I had a hard time figuring out what it was I actually wanted, be it for lunch or in the next month.

(This painting has mesmerized me the last few times I’ve visited the museum. Is she tired? Upset? Sleeping? Praying? Checking her phone?)

2. When there is an interview, everything else is put on hold. I had a few interviews these last two weeks, nothing worth getting into just yet but it’s been good to have. It’s boosted my confidence a bit. But let me tell you, if there’s an interview scheduled for 4:00 PM in the afternoon, there’s a chance I will cancel coffee at 10:00 AM for fear it might run late. Sounds ridiculous, but I think this might have also caused some serious slow-ness to my last week. I get so focused in and try to learn everything and say answer all of the questions well that I end up spending hours at home researching before I realize how stir crazy I am about to get. It’s been overwhelming at times, but good.

3. Timing does not always go as planned. There’s something about the weather that I love. We cannot control it, try as we might. There’s no penciling in a hurricane or counting on clear skies and sunshine. Loss is another thing you can’t always plan for or fit in with your schedule. Somewhat unexpectedly, my grandpa passed away this morning. This, all while my grandma, who he married 56 years ago and should be celebrating an anniversary with tomorrow, is in the hospital awaiting a possible surgery. This, all while my cousin, his granddaughter, prepares to get married this weekend 900 miles away. The timing is tragic. Having another grandparent pass away this summer seems too soon.

There’s so much more I feel I could or should say, but nothing else seems fitting at the moment.

Thursday Three

June 26, 2014December 9, 2014Samantha Gratton

Today has been a good day, which makes me want to proclaim that I love Thursdays. You have to agree, they tend to be a better day in the week, statistically speaking. Here are three things that have been happening this week!

1. GOOOOOOOOOOOOAL! I have recently joined the World Cup bandwagon. I’ve always been an Olympics enthusiast (to put it lightly) but hardly even knew when the World Cup occurred. For some reason this year I decided it was time to learn all about it. I spent much of my Monday researching all of the ins and outs of it, so by the time today’s game came around I was pumped. Go USA! Although they did not in fact win, they are advancing to the next round. Crazy, right?

2. We love where we live. I think I’ve mentioned this a time or two before but it seems like I fall in love with it over and over. We love our cute little yellow house that holds parties and people. We love our neighborhood and getting together with all of the great people in it. We love this city that has quickly become our home (and will soon be home to two new awesome people that are friends of ours!) and that we get to walk around downtown on a random night and pop inside the latest new restaurant a day before it opens. We love putting our roots here. Literally. I know our little garden doesn’t look like much but it’s grown a lot here and so have we.

3. The job search is still on. This week has been better though. A bit more hope and a little more general okay-ness about the situation for the time being. I’m also reading 48 Days to Work You Love and am enjoying some of its inspiration and information. I’d encourage anyone else questioning their job situation to pick it up at the library as there’s some good info. Or buy your own copy so you can highlight the heck out of it instead of taking a bunch of iphone pictures to remember it by.

Thursday Three

June 20, 2014July 22, 2014Samantha Gratton

Hey there, Thursday! That day of the week that compels me to write at least three things is here. And just as a side note, you are more than welcome to share your three things, too. I started doing it because Friday Fives sounded like way too much work (what with it being two whole extra things), but it’s been a really great way for me to recap my week with the Thursday Three. Try it, you might like it. How’s that for a ringing endorsement?

1. There’s one big thing on my mind, all the time. It’s that job search. There’s lots of things that get wrapped up in all that this summer has been, and it has been hard as I’ve mentioned before. So let me just say now that I’m sorry if it sounds like old news to you. There’s not much of an update other than the fact that I am still looking every single day. It’s a big part of my life right now, but I’m hopeful.

2. Friends are vital. At church we’re doing a series on friendship and for one of the illustrations the pastor had us all write down five friends. To be incredibly honest, I think half the audience stopped listening to the rest of the illustration because they got so caught up in who they wrote down. I’ve heard a few people talk about what they wrote and what they gathered from it. It was a good moment to reflect on friendships. Who are those five people in your life? Are they good friends? What kind of influence do they have on your life? Do they know that they are super important to you? Do you feel like you need more friends to get to that five? What kind of friend are you?

3. Our society has a strange connection with media and technology. Sometimes it’s good to just be. In my downtime I can’t help but notice how much I try to fill it with social media, Netflix, movies, phone calls, internet searches and just time looking at a screen because I don’t know what else to do. I fear for the outcome of that dependency in our culture. We lose out on so many life happenings because of our dedication to these mere devices. I’m not about to say it can all be given up, but I want to remind myself that these are just tools and should be treated as such.

Thursday Three

June 13, 2014July 22, 2014Samantha Gratton

As much as I have been a bit lost in the days lately, there’s something grounding about Thursdays. Every week I have that little reminder and extra nudge to write. So much so that it seems like I write on Thursdays more than any other day. Putting the Thursday Three on my list of things I have to do (but also want to do) seems to make it happen more often than not, and I love it. Let’s talk about the week, shall we?

1. Music will always be a complicated love of mine. I struggled for a while to even form that sentence. What is music to me? There’s something about it that can open up emotions and thoughts you didn’t even realize you had. Listening to it, playing it, writing…it can have you pouring out your heart or just be something in the background. The hubby is an amazing musician, which was part of my first attraction to him, but music has always clearly been a bigger part of his life than mine. People often assume that I must be equally involved in music and when they find out I am not, sometimes assume I’m not musical at all or even interested in it. Neither assumption is easy to defend. Music has a piece of me that I can’t explain. I was in choir all through school and being a part of the music culture has always been important to me. I go through times where it’s top of mind and I can’t wait to come home to play around with it. Then, I can go months at a time without the slightest inclination to pick up an instrument. Right now, I’m in a season of playing music. A few nights a week, the hubby has been teaching me a few things on the bass and then we get to jam together. What I love even more is writing music with him. He writes all of the music while I come up with some lyrics, both of us pulling out thoughts and emotions that we don’t know how to articulate otherwise.

2. When you have the time, embrace it. I haven’t loved everything about the current jobless situation. But when it’s National Donut Day on the hubby’s day off, why not join in? So, I told him we were “going on an adventure” which basically meant I tricked him into going on a walk making him guess what said adventure entailed. It didn’t take long before he smelled the Krispy Kreme.

3. Every American should visit D.C. at some point in their lives. My mom always said that, but I can’t say I disagree. It makes the history and the politics feel a little more real and relevant. You can’t help but feel a little patriotic, plus it’s just a neat place to see. My dad and sister were there for vacation so I took the opportunity to visit them and see some more of the sites.

My sister drew this while we waited at the restaurant and I thought it was pretty awesome, considering my stick figure was far from impressive.

Thursday Three

May 29, 2014July 22, 2014Samantha Gratton

That’s right. Two blogs in one day, but hey, I’ve got to make up for some lost time. After my earlier update regarding where things were at, I feel it’s high time for some photos of all of the awesome things that have happened in the last few weeks!

1. Took a trip to my homeland. Got to see some lovely people, catch up with family, rummage through old photos and congratulate my sister on her high school graduation.

2. Beach trips are always welcome. The day after returning from the Midwest, I packed up our bags and we headed to the coast for the annual family beach trip with the hubby’s sister and her family. It was warm and sunny, perfect for swimming in the ocean. We ate donuts, shared stories and visited our favorite seaside thrift shop.

3. Holiday weekends are awesome regardless of your job status. Because everyone else was celebrating the time off, we returned to Raleigh to spend time with friends from Charlotte, host a couple from Wilmington and enjoy a barbecue in the neighborhood.

Thursday Three

May 9, 2014July 22, 2014Samantha Gratton

Let’s just cut to the chase.

1. Sometimes it’s nice to go off the grid. Did we do that while camping? Not really, thanks to some helicopter drills at all hours of the night, but we had a good time pitching a tent near the bay anyway. Down by the bay…

2. Being disconnected isn’t all bad. I finally broke down and agreed to upgrade to the new IOS (I know, way behind), and it resulted in a phone stuck in recovery mode for the better part of 24 hours. But life went on and I enjoyed not being slave to a phone all day long.

3. Catching up with old friends can be either really awesome or really hard. It likely depends what you feel is going on and what you share. The last two weeks I’ve been sending long personal emails to people I haven’t seen in years and really enjoyed hearing from them in return. Not only that, but I got to better understand and articulate my own story. I got to share all of the things that have happened in the past five years, and it seems like a lot of transition when it’s all written out. To be honest, there are a few things that have been going on in the last month that I haven’t known how to share, things that aren’t all easy to explain. I’ve been isolating myself a bit as I’ve tried to grasp everything all at once. I promise to fill you in later, but in the meantime, please forgive me if I seem withdrawn. I’m just sorting through things but fully intend to soak up some of the sunny goodness of the summer and enjoy the people around me.

May Day!

May 2, 2014July 22, 2014Samantha Gratton

Thursday Three is cancelled today in honor of May Day. Maybe I’ll come back and report on the week, maybe I won’t. Instead, tonight I made a few of these little “baskets” for the neighbors.

After ringing doorbells, running away and then later explaining the concept of May Day to these Southern folk who’d never heard such a thing, I received this in return 20 minutes later:

May Day likely has many origins and stories, but I just know it as the day you throw together a basket (or more commonly a cup) full of popcorn, candies and flowers. Drop it on the doorstop and ring the bell before you run away. Legend goes…if they catch you, they kiss you.

Happy May Day, y’all.

Thursday Three

April 25, 2014July 22, 2014Samantha Gratton

The weather this week has been so incredibly awesome. We have less pollen flying around and the sun won’t quit shining. I love it.

1. A day is a day, full of goodness and imperfections, trials and triumphs. I’ve been thinking lately about days. Sure, sometimes we have really great days, and sometimes we have really rough days. But then there’s a ton of days that could really go either way. We have moments throughout the day that swing back and forth between good and bad. For the most part, each day is going to get a little mix of both. Instead of labeling it one way or the other though, I’ve decided to take it all in…but ultimately let the good win.

2. I wonder how many friendships are formed at Redbox. We had a weekend full of good food and movie marathons. We saw several great movies (About Time, Gravity and In A World…) and ended up waiting for a Redbox movie twice, both times forming fast friendships with someone else in line, joking about movies and relating on some level. We’ve all got something in common—we’re all just people trying to figure out this life. It’s fun to intersect with someone along the way and share one of life’s sweet moments.

3. You never know what people pick up on. We hosted another couch surfer last night, and she told us all about her upcoming trip across the country. Hearing about someone’s adventure makes me want to grab a camera and join them, but it was also interesting to hear what made her decide to stay with us. Her reasons were completely different from the last person who stayed with us, but it made me think a little about what we represent to people.