Category Archives: M.Y. Words

The End of a Year

Posted on by
Reply

  TurnerVaca
The End of a Year

You know, each of us have good years and bad years.  I hurt for all the people this year that suffered tremendous loss through death, jobs or others means. For each person that is excited for this year to be over, there’s another person celebrating this year and not wanting it to end.

Although I’ve had my fair share of bad years, this was one of the best years of my life.  In early February I was able to walk away from a job that I didn’t find fulfilling and follow my fitness dreams. It was definitely scary to start something new and unknown but it’s a journey that I knew I needed to take.

In late April, I married a wonderful man.  He left his job in June and moved to Louisville to “bond” with his wife. In July, he left for five months of training.  Right before he left, he was able to visit my new fitness/Zumba studio and each day I was/am excited to help diverse groups of people meet their fitness goals.

Around the same time I started promoting a health and wellness product and met some amazing people in Louisville excited to transform their bodies.  Along comes October and Milton comes in town for a short weekend visit. He says “Let’s try to have a baby!” One week later I’m nauseated and tired.  Then there’s November and Milton is invited to go to Airborne school and conquer his own personal fear of height.

First week of December Milton finally comes home for good to work for two years in Fort Knox. Two weeks later we tell everyone the news of our pregnancy.  Christmas was spent celebrating our blessings and giving all praise to God.

With all of the blessings that we have received it definitely hasn’t all been easy.  Running a business is very difficult and often times stressful.  Being a newlywed away from your spouse can definitely be trying and it can be equally as trying to adjust to each other once reunited.  My shoulders have become stronger while being a tower of strength for those who needed me in time of need.  Doubts have been cast as to what path God really wants me to take. Curiosity and fear now linger and I hope our baby is healthy and that we can be nourishing parents.

But at the same time, my hands have become sore for applauding others in celebratory times.  My eyes have been open to new opportunities and new people.  My household skills have improved as I try to be a good wife.  My creative juices have started flowing and my heart skips a beat when I know I’m making a difference!

Soaring Above New Heights

Posted on by
Reply

 Soaring Above New Heights

Last weekend was a very emotional weekend for me. I traveled to Fort Benning, GA to watch my husband, Milton, graduate from Airborne School.  He’d already finished his JAG training and now needed to successfully complete five jumps to also have the title of Airborne Paratrooper.

The five jumps were supposed to happen Monday-Wednesday.  On Monday they met at 4:30am, each were carefully inspected and then they waited to see if the weather  would cooperate.  They couldn’t eat, sleep, use the bathroom or really even touch any body part.  If they, for example, touched their belt it could come loose and they would no longer be considered fully inspected.  SEVEN hours later, they realized the wind was not going to let up and Monday’s jumps were canceled.

Similar things happened on Tuesday.  So now I’m starting to think it will be another week before my babe is able to finally come home to me. Uggg!  Luckily, they were able to get in four jumps between Wednesday and Thursday and they saved their fifth and final jump for Friday (Graduation Day).  This was exciting because I would get to see Milton jump live!

Friday morning rolls around and there are 400 men/women that will be jumping.  Although Milton doesn’t know when he’ll jump, he asks me to record all of the jumpers.  This seemed like an impossible task but I tried to be a good wife and comply.  I recorded the first three jumps for Milton’s plane and saw the guys as they started running in.  Of course I was looking for a “dark” spot running in.  A couple ran past, one had different posture than Milton, another had a bigger booty and another was too short.  In the distance I saw someone that looked like Milton.  I looked at his helmet number, yelled out his name, and he waved back!  My baby was safe, successful and had accomplished an amazing feat!

I had a surprise for Milton by inviting his dad to attend.  Milton’s face lit up when they caught sight of each other.  It was even more meaningful when they asked for second generation paratroopers to come forward and Milton’s dad was able to pin his wings from back in the day on Milton.

After graduation we quickly left to head back home.  Nine hours later Milton walked around the house reminiscing on all the things in our house he missed.  It was his first time since July 3 that he was was home and not leaving in a couple of days.  He’s already started work at Legal Services in Fort Knox.  And I am overjoyed because my husband gets to be a husband and I get to be his wife. Milton became one of my heros last weekend and I was proud to be Mrs. Turner…. now if I can only get rid of this loud snoring habit he’s seemed to pick up! Lol!

Click the photo below to watch the video of Milton’s jump, landing and graduation!

December 2011

Thanks Giving

Posted on by
Reply

Thanks Giving

It always feels nice to do something for someone else, but it seems to be a special lasting memory when you do it for someone you’ve never met!  I had that experience this past Sunday when ladies from our fitness/Zumba studio went and decorated the outside of someone’s house for Christmas.  The wife and husband had gone on a motorcycle ride right before the 4th of July.  She hated motorcycles but they decided to go on a couples ride with their friends.  On the way back from lunch, their motorcycle was involved in an accident.  He died instantly at the scene, she was thrown 90 feet and it was unknown if she would survive.

After month of hospitalizations and surgeries she was released.  It took many sessions of physical therapy for her to learn how to walk again. One of the most difficult things about the entire incident is that they have two sons (now ages 8 and 10).  The Anderson family’s life has been turned upside – just like that.  This holiday season will not be as joyful as usual.  The family wasn’t sure if they were going to decorate inside the house and knew they weren’t going to decorate the outside (because that’s what dad did and it was too much physically for the mom to do solo).

So, while the family was away, we snuck over to their house and started decorating the outside of the house.  We used some of their decorations, but also added some new items.  It was cold.  It was rainy. It was nasty.  I would have much rather been in bed, HOWEVER, I knew that my little inconvenience was nothing compared to all the struggles they’d been through.  My entire body warmed as I saw the family pull up and the smile on the mother’s face.  After hearing her story and how hard these past five months have been, I knew we helped bring them a little joy this holiday season.

The horrible ironic part of the entire situation is that while I was helping a complete stranger, around the same time, a high school cheerleading friend of mine drove up on the scene over her husband’s overturned car and now her family is struggling as he fights for his life.  Unfortunately for Helen’s situation, the main thing they need now is prayer is hopes that Chris will wake up and be able to celebrate their first Christmas with their four month old son.  So if you’re prayerful, please say a special prayer for the Vaughan family and all those struggling with family loses this year.

December 2011

Tis the Season

Posted on by
Reply

Tis the Season

For some, this has been a great year with a lot of positive life changes and experiences.  For others, it seems to be the extreme opposite.  They’ve experienced personal loss and setbacks and are anxiously awaiting a new year and change.

Regardless of which of these categories you fall in, it’s still a time to give thanks.  The fact that you’re still living and breathing on this earth is reason enough to give praise.  If you’re making plans to eat Thanksgiving dinner with someone/anyone – you are blessed and should be thankful!

Although I love Facebook and keeping updated with my family/friends, there have been a lot of nasty, gross spam images posted on various people’s pages.  Some people feel the need of Facebook is to dog out the people that have dogged them out, but it’s sometimes a little too much.

So, I decided for 90 days to participate in a “90 Days of Thanks” initiative and I hope you’ll join me.  Starting December 1, 2011 and ending February 29, 2012, we are going to spend each day giving thanks for something in our lives.  We often think about the obvious reasons to give thanks (friends, family, job etc..) but when you get past those first 30 days, you really have to think about even the small things around you that you’re thankful for.

Get a piece of paper or a calendar and try to keep track of what you’ve mentioned each day.  If you’re on Facebook, starting on December 1 (Day 1), make sure sometime throughout that day you write “Day 1: I am thankful for ________!”  If you’re a Facebook hater or avoider, this can be a great time for self reflection in a notebook each night before you head to bed.

The more we’re able to appreciate the things/people that surround us, the less we’ll take each other for granted and the more we’ll seek not only to improve our own lives but those lives of the people around us.  The more we spend concentrating on our personal positives instead of being absorbed in everyone else’s business, the more we can realize that until we support others, we’ll never be able to move ahead.

Let’s take 90 days to live life and love life! Make it your gift to yourself this holiday season!
November 2011

Redbox Scare

Posted on by
Reply

 
  MYTHairer
 Redbox Scare

You know some things just seem to keep calling your name?  That’s how I felt recently each time I went to Redbox.  There was this movie on the display that I’d never heard of with black actors on the cover.  After a day of needing to rest my body, I decided to invest my dollar and check it out.  I quickly ran out the door, drove down the street and got the movie. I returned a quick time later.  Since it was just a quick trip, I didn’t set my house alarm.

As I walked into the house and closed the door, I heard something crash upstairs. I didn’t know who/what it was so I became nervous. I stood still for a second to listen for more noises.  Then I called Milton and in a whisper voice told him what happened.  He told me I needed to leave and call 911.  Being the stubborn person I am, I told him I didn’t want it to be a false call, especially since I no longer heard sounds.  But, I was still scared!

So, what did I do?  I set the house alarm and left. I pulled my car out of the driveway and waited. I figured if someone was in the house, as soon as he/she started moving the alarm would go off and my alarm company would notify the authorities.  And I waited.  And waited.  And Milton stayed on the phone, and we waited.  Nothing happened.

I eventually went back into the house and walked around upstairs looking for clues of intruders or fallen objects. Nothing was to be seen.  I set the downstairs motion detector for the rest of the night for added protection.

The worse thing about the entire night was that the movie was simply horrible!!!  I played it all the way through the end although I don’t remember watching most of it.

To make matters worse, the next day at 8:55pm I looked at the clock and realized I hadn’t returned the movie.  The last thing I wanted to do was pay an extra $1.20 to keep the movie an extra day. I rushed out of the house and pushed the pedal to the metal to hopefully get to the Redbox by 9:00pm.  I (tried) to rapidly insert in the disk, but you know it takes a second to process it.  By then all I could do was pray…. and my prayer got answered because by the time I got safely home, I received the glorious inbox stating I was only charged for one day!  Hooray!

November 2011

Don’t Judge

Posted on by
Reply


 
 Don’t Judge

Why are we always so quick to judge someone or a situation?  We love to turn our nose up at something without investing a single lick of time to seeing what it’s all about.

I found this happening to me recently.  I was at an event (I won’t say where) and had a table to promote a product.  When I entered, there was a lady with a similar product at a table across from mine.  As I walked up, she immediately turned her nose up at me.  She then said something under her breath. I didn’t know the lady and I didn’t know anything about her product so I had absolutely nothing against her or what she was promoting.

As the four hour event went on, various people came to my table.  And each time someone did, she would give me this look – especially when they didn’t spend the same amount of time at hers. I just felt she had this attitude toward me and I wasn’t sure why. As the event was winding down, she walked over to my table.

I said a friendly hello and asked if she’d heard about my product.  She had not so I explained what we did.  She told me about her product and although it was in the same field, it was a completely different concept.  I told her it was a good thing both of us had tables at the event because each person has different needs and interests and we were able to reach a diverse group of people.  She thought about what I said, agreed and I saw her arms uncross.

She then asked about the amount of people that came to my table and I told her that I was involved with the community so many of the people stopping by were people I knew and were saying hello.  She now became more relaxed. As our conversation continued, she realized that I wasn’t competition at all and we really had a lot of things in common working toward the same goal. We exchanged business cards and all was well in our worlds.

Think twice before you cast judgement on someone that you’ve never even met.  Instead of listening to others thoughts about someone, take time to get to know them yourself.  We all have our own story and our own talents and there is room for us all to be successful and support each other.  It’s usually when we do work together that we often achieve the most!

 

November 2011