I'M STILL HERE!

Hello, Friends! I'm still here! On Planet Earth, that is. :) I know, I know, I haven't updated in forever. Sorry about that! :P I've been super busy getting ready for THE NEW YEAR!!! Don't you just love that it'll be 2010 so very soon??? I even have a countdown on my laptop! :) So in just 15 more days, we get to say bye bye to 2009 -- with all the good, the bad, the memories -- and say hello to 2010 -- with all the new the good, the bad, the memories! Hehehe. Seriously, though, New Year is probably my most anticipated holiday of the year because that's when we get to start new! That's when we get to make new goals and see how we can reach them! That's when we get a fresh, blank slate! It's exciting to see what 2010 will turn out like! I've already done a bit of a rough draft of my goals for 2010, headed by each month and the following categories:

1. Work
2. School
3. Money
4. Fitness

Those are four categories that I'll be drastically changing in 2010... and I'll share them with you soon enough! (I didn't add Spiritual, Family, Friends, etc. in there, but you're more than welcome to... and I encourage that you do actually! It's just that right now, I know for me those categories won't change much in 2010, but the above four definitely will.) For now, I just wanted to say...

THINKING OF YOU & MISSING YOU!!! I'll be back with more updates, I promise!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Celebrating the best GIFT of all -- JESUS!

HAPPY 2010!!! May it be an even better year than the last because we are all striving to become better in every area of our lives!

WARRANTIES ARE WONDERFUL

Warranties are just wonderful and oh-so-useful! Any chance you get to buy warranty, I say get it! Usually we'll really need to use that warranty down the road... and you'd rather be WITH it than WITHOUT it then, for sure! Just yesterday I went into Macy's to exchange my luggage roller (read about why I purchased a regular luggage roller rather than a "specialized" steno machine roller by clicking here) with a brand new one! My beautiful blue Ricardo luggage roller handle broke off completely after only 3 short months of use. I guess I was putting way too much stuff in it? (I'm sure I was because the roller would bend toward the floor! Oops!) Well, lesson learned. I won't overstuff my roller anymore, and I'm so glad that this luggage roller came with 6 months of warranty! WHEW! Also, just yesterday, my Dell laptop came back from the "laptop doctor" (my technical term for saying that it came back from the manufacturer after a little bit of fixing! :P). The caps key was coming loose and messing up not only that one very important key, but other keys around it! It was very annoying, especially since to even get onto my laptop, I need to key in my password, which is case sensitive... of course. On top of the caps lock problem, the fan in my laptop was sounding so loud. By the time it was sounding like a helicopter (ok, maybe not quite, but, really, loud enough!), my boyfriend sent in the pink Dell laptop he had bought for me back to the manufacturer to get it fixed. He bought 3 years' worth of warranty for my laptop. I DEFINITELY RECOMMEND getting warranties for laptops because these on-the-go computers have a much shorter lifespan than a desktop computer. Plus we're always banging our laptops around, carrying it from here to there. They go through a lot of beating! So the warranty you buy for your laptop is well worth the money! TRUST ME! Better to be safe than sorry!

RENT THIS AMAZON VIDEO TODAY!

HERE'S AN AWESOME TIP YOU CAN'T AFFORD TO MISS! ONLY $1.99!

Hi, Everyone!

LONG TIME NO SEE! :) Sorry I haven't been updating as frequently as before. Got a little busy there. :( But I finally found a spare moment to say HELLO! And to let you know that I'VE MISSED YOU! :) Thanks, by the way, for voting on Steno Nerd's sidebar area about court reporting school. It's interesting to know that most students have gone to only one court reporting school as opposed to two, three, or even four. If you haven't voted yet, please do so. 20 more days to go! It'll be great to see the final verdict. I've been busy mostly doing transcription jobs on the side... because I gotta save up as much as I can for my transfer to Downey's Court Reporting Program in January 2010. So that's been keeping me extremely busy. I'm grateful to have the work! But it's draining since now I have to add this onto my already full plate of full-time school and part-time work, Monday-Saturday. No pain, no gain, right?! Besides being busy, let me share with you an amazing Amazon video about court reporting tips for us students. Well, first let me credit the source of how I came about this super helpful video. I got it through Downy Adult School (DAS) Court Reporting Director Cindy Grafton's mass email she sent last week. Yup, I'm not in their program officially yet, but I asked to be signed onto the mass email! And Cindy GRACIOUSLY agreed to include me. YAY! :) Every email message Cindy sends keeps you up to date with the happenings of DAS and includes an encouraging story and/or motivational quote for us court reporting students. The one she sent last week had the link to this video, which is Court Reporting Instructor Mary Gallagher speaking to the students at last year's DRA (Deposition Reporters Association of California) Conference. She talked about her ""secret techniques used by the most successful court reporting students."

THE FOLLOWING AMAZON VIDEO WAS

AND HERE'S THAT LINK: AMAZON VIDEO LINK

The video is 45 minutes long, and you have the option to buy it outright or rent it for a few days for $1.99. I decided to rent the video and watched it on my laptop right then and there. I WAS SO GLAD I DID SO! This video has a wealth of good tips for us! Dr. Gallagher includes her "10 Silly Things Students Do To Mess Up Their Speed" and "10 Super Things Students Do To Improve Their Speed." The video is well worth the $1.99, I assure you! :) Also, check out Humphrey's newsletter here. Page 7 has Dr. Gallagher's Top 10 lists of both "Silly Things" and "Super Things" all spelled out for you. Browse around this newsletter as well. Lots of great info for us court reporting students here! :) P.S. If this was helpful to you, please spread the word about Steno Nerd! We court reporting students need all the motivation and "insider" tips we can get! ;)

17 SUCCESS PRINCIPLES

17 SUCCESS PRINCIPLES By: John Maxwell 1) A positive mental attitude (PMA) 2) Definiteness of purpose 3) Going the extra mile 4) Accurate thinking 5) Self-discipline 6) The master mind 7) Applied faith 8) A pleasing personality 9) Personal initiative 10) Enthusiasm 11) Controlled attention 12) Teamwork13) Learning from defeat 14) Creative vision 15) Budgeting time and money 16) Maintaining sound physical and mental health 17) Using cosmic habit force (universal law)

45 LIFE LESSONS AND 5 TO GROW ON

~~~ REGINA BRETT'S 45 LIFE LESSONS AND 5 TO GROW ON~~~

1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good. 2. When in doubt, just take the next small step. 3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. 4. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does. 5. Pay off your credit cards every month. 6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree. 7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone. 8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it. 9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck. 10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile. 11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present. 12. It's OK to let your children see you cry. 13. Don't compare your life to others'. You have no idea what their journey is all about. 14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it. 15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks. 16. Life is too short for long pity parties. Get busy living, or get busy dying. 17. You can get through anything if you stay put in today. 18. A writer writes. If you want to be a writer, write. 19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else. 20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer. 21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special. 22. Over-prepare, then go with the flow. 23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple. 24. The most important sex organ is the brain. 25. No one is in charge of your happiness except you. 26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words: "In five years, will this matter?" 27. Always choose life. 28. Forgive everyone everything. 29. What other people think of you is none of your business. 30. Time heals almost everything. Give time time. 31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change. 32. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your family and friends will. Stay in touch. 33. Believe in miracles. 34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do. 35. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger. 36. Growing old beats the alternative - dying young. 37. Your children get only one childhood. Make it memorable. 38. Read the Psalms. They cover every human emotion. 39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere. 40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back. 41. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now. 42. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful. 43. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved. 44. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need. 45. The best is yet to come. 46. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up. 47. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind. 48. If you don't ask, you don't get. 49. Yield. 50. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift.