THE WEEKEND!

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend, mine was pretty great. I had a few ok shifts at work including, a crazy 8 am to 9 pm shift on Saturday. I was able to make it out alive though and spent the last two days just relaxing and preparing for another week ahead.

I spent Sunday with my boyfriend Bradley, we did the stereotypical thing, "SHOPPING!" After we got done at the mall we headed over to Tupelo Honey Cafe, a wonderful place in Market Square, of downtown Knoxville. They make everything from scratch and use all free range and antibiotics free meat. A definite must visit if you are ever in downtown Knoxville.

The following morning I got to experience what few seem to these days, the joys of sleeping in! After I got up though I made a healthy lunch, cheated on my snack, and played Gears of War 3 with Brad. I spent most of the rest of the night exercising and playing games. That bring us to today, my first work day of the week, I so far have slept in, plan on doing a work out before and after work and just spent some quality time reflecting on my life.

I plan on updating this Blog more often with some recipes and other reviews, but at least this gets you caught up on my world. Wish me luck tonight!

New hope

Tonight I was given new hope in humanity by the form of two wonderful guests at my table. One was an older woman who worked for the Blount county library system and the other was a retiree from HGTV of 29 years. They showered me with compliments and praise and even told my manager how she was wasting my talents and time.

This selfless act single handedly made my night possibly my week. They implored me to put in applications elsewhere and even told me they would put in recommendations for me. I have waited so long to feel this kind of appreciation, it truly makes me feel great. This is what people need in their lives. People need to feel appreciated in whatever job they do, it's not an easy world to live in and sometimes all you need is a thank you or a hug and it will somehow make everything better.

I would love to hear about your stories regarding selfless acts of kindness or charity. Feel free to leave a comment below!

~Ben

The Holiday Spirit

     The holidays have started and some have even finished, for many of us holidays are a time of new beginnings and for others it's a time of reflection over a year that has come and gone. For whatever reason you celebrate the holidays (or don't) , we can all agree that this special time of year always brings out a different side of people that we don't always see. This can be good, you might get gifts or even just a smile, or it could be bad, and your family could bicker the entire day and end up holding grudges.

     I had a great day filled with love shown not only from my family, but from my friends as well. I also saw some hate from family, but this was overshadowed by good memories. My mother, who is struggling to keep a roof over our heads got together money and framed my diplomas for me and surprised me with them early this morning. This kind of selfless love is what should characterize this season, but often gets lost amongst the selfish consumer whoring that we all are guilty of at one point or another.

     What I am saying is people forget that their actions directly affect others and we should try to work together as the human race, and not just around the holidays. We as people forget this, some of us try to make a world a better place and some just try to mask their inferiorities by breaking down the spirit of others. While others go spend at least one day out of their week at church to be reminded of how to treat others, but those lessons often times get left at the alter (that is a discussion for another day).

     So, what ever you celebrate, I hope you do so; happy, safe, and with people you love.

~Ben

A wonderful addition....

As we continue on...

     After pulling myself up I wasn't content with where I was so I set off to work towards a goal. My end goal is to open a business (preferably a restaurant) and prosper. I do this goal to not only help further myself but also those around me that have helped me during this great journey we call life. I never forget those who help me even if it is just giving me a compliment, because sometimes that's all I need.

    I began my next semester of college and started working more diligently towards opening a bakery with my friends Tiffany and Stephanie, they would prove to be two of my closest friends during college. We worked through the nights and weekends, doing everything from sketching out possible bakery layouts and signage, to building menus, to writing the business plan. We traveled around Oak Ridge, TN (where they live), looking for the perfect place to open up shop. We finally found somewhere that was somewhat affordable, the only downside being it was previously a finance office and didn't have even the slightest inkling of restaurant readiness.

     So we began the build out needed, we were fairly broke during this time and therefore did a majority of the work ourselves with the help of friends and family. This took almost a month to complete but in the end it was worth it. We opened up on April Fools Day of 2012. It was no joke. This would begin a very important chapter in my life and would provide me with more hands on learning than college would ever come close to teaching me.

     to be continued....


If anyone has any comments or wants to share a story of there on, I invite you to do so! I am always on the look for others who wish to share their experiences and lessons.

Thanks,

~Ben