The difference a year makes...

February 11th, 2012. This is an anniversary of sorts for me and my family. This is the day that one year ago, I was given my life back. This is the day that gave me the chance to finally realize that I have a dream of becoming an educator. This is the day that I became me again. For you all to understand how much this dream means to me and my happiness, I wanted to tell you how I got to this point...

I graduated from North Carolina State University in 2004 at 22 years old and ready to conquer the world! I "knew" to be successful in life I would have to find a high-power corporate job and work my way to the top!

So I got my first job at a home medical company working in their corporate office. It was an OK job and I met some very good friends, Jamie & Na'im. I'm so thankful that years later, after all 3 of us have left that job, we have remained great friends! A year and a half later, I got a huge step up job working for our County Manager and Board of Commissioners. This job should have been the end of my story. I worked under the Clerk to the Board, Cheryl, and she was the best boss and became as close to me as family! After working there for 2 years, I got offered a position with the State working at the Courthouse in a new program that was being implemented. It was a lot more money and since I was getting married and buying a house, I felt this was the right move to make. Boy, was I WRONG!!!

So I said a tearful goodbye to Cheryl and went to work at the courthouse. It wasn't so bad at first. I worked with 2 other women--one of which was my relative. Over time, these 2 women became very close friends--which ended up not boding too well for me. For the next two years, I dealt with hostility, harrassment, sabotage and one of the worst work environments I could have possibly imagined. It got so bad that now I no longer consider my own relative a family member--and neither do my husband or parents. I ended up having constant chest pains that felt like a heart attack, high blood pressure (155/110) & horrible anxiety, among other health problems.

The one good thing about going to the courthouse was that is where God led me to Thirty-One!! My friend Sarah brought a catalog filled with beautiful treasures and asked me if I wanted to take a look at it. I'm a purse/tote/organizing bags fanatic so of course I wanted to check it out. At the time, hubby and I were working very hard to get out of debt (still are!) and so I knew I wouldn't be able to get everything I wanted in the catalog--which was EVERYTHING!! I flipped to the back of the catalog and my life was changed. I saw the beautiful items worth over $300 but I would get it for only $99!! I figured what could it hurt. I knew I could do the 2 or 3 parties it would take to earn my money back and then I would be done. I had tried a different direct sales business in the past and was just not good at it at all--and that's putting it nicely. John likes to say that I couldn't sell honey to a bee! He's so sweet!! But I talked to him about it and even though we were both skeptical that I would make anything out of it, he agreed it was worth a shot. Like he said, even if I just made $50 a month, that would be enough to pay a bill or two!

So I contacted a consultant that was featured in that season's catalog that lived near me--about 45 minutes away. Little did I know this woman, Jen, is a powerhouse in the company--achieving the highest title of Senior Executive Director in just a little over 2 years! I knew I was in good hands. So on May 1, 2010, I signed up under Jen and got 2 parties booked. Well, just wanting to make enough to pay my kit price back happened in my first party! Those 2 parties multiplied and I started having friends and random people wanting to sign up to do what I was doing--Partying for a Living!! I promoted to Senior Consultant the same month I signed up, then to Director in September, 2010 & then to Senior Director in April, 2011. I had finally found my happy job. It wasn't the typical 8-5, M-F, get up go to the office kind of job. It wasn't the corporate powerhouse I thought I was SUPPOSED to have. It was better!!

However, the courthouse job just kept getting worse and worse. I cried every morning having to get ready and drive to work and then cried every night knowing that I had to go back to the courthouse the next day. Saturdays became my only good day of the week. Sunday around 4-6 p.m. I would think about having to go to work the next day and face "them" and the tears would just start flowing. I was absolutely miserable.

The last straw was when I finally had to go to see my doctor because my heart was beating through my chest and my chest pains were so severe that I couldn't take a deep breath. Dr. Scott's nurse opened up a new box of tissues for me at that appointment and by the end of it, I had cried through the ENTIRE BOX of tissues. He told me right then and there that if something didn't change, I was going to end up very sick, or worse, dead. That truly scared me. He said he wanted to take me out on medical leave, but I was so afraid of the retribution if I had gone out on medical leave that I begged him not to. Dr. Scott told me that he would give me a few weeks to "figure something out" but if it didn't get better, he wouldn't give me the option of going on medical leave. He said that as my physician and knowing that my health was being affected, he would HAVE to step in. This was January 31, 2011.

On February 2, 2011, I got information from a friend of mine at the courthouse that the State was offering a severance package to those that would volunteer to leave. It was called a Voluntary Reduction in Force and it was only being offered to the Judicial Branch. That included me!! I sent in my application to see what I would be offered. John and I agreed that if we could at least get 2 months pay out of the deal, we could make it work. And me being happy and healthy again would be so worth it. I got my estimate back 2 days later and I saw my sign--I got 2 months pay EXACTLY...just what we said we needed. As an added bonus, I found out that I would get my health insurance paid for a full year. I was so excited and overcome with God's grace. I knew this was my sign to finally GET OUT! A week later, February 11, 2011, I was able to pack up and walk out with my head held high. Even through one last sabotage from "them"--I just didn't care! I was going to be out of there and I was so happy!!

So now, a year later, I am happier and healthier than I have been in 3 years. My blood pressure is totally back to normal, chest pains are a thing of the past, and my anxiety is nothing more than just a distant memory. It wouldn't have been possible without God bringing Thirty-One in my life. I know that. I trust that. I believe that. I couldn't understand for a long time why God was making me stay in this awful job at the courthouse when I was so miserable. But I can now see the amazing plan He had by bringing Thirty-One into my life and blessing this business so that when the opportunity came, I would be able to leave and John and I would still be able to provide for ourselves.

And now He has led me to this new and wonderful journey that I am so excited to embark on. I am so happy that I can now look over this last year and see so many wonderful changes and great advancements I have taken in my personal and professional life! I hope to be able to use this experience to help the students that I teach understand that there is always a light at the end of whatever tunnel you are going through and someday you WILL be able to look back and see how much stronger you are for making it through!