Catching up

First I need to apologize for not writing sooner. I have to tell you though I finally finished one major goal on my long term goals list. I am now a graduate and have my AA. YAY lol.

Now here is something I did while I was working on my goal to finish college:

Morning Goal Blues

I woke up early, gave my dog a hug

I rolled to the right and screamed, there was a bug

Just lying on the pillow I hope it had a nice nap

I threw it in the garbage then adjusted my night cap

I went to a take a shower because now I felt icky

Of course didn’t help when I stepped in something sticky

This cannot be happening I said looking down

Sure enough doggie love pile was splattered on the ground

I went to the bathroom to grab some T.P.

It was all gone, lucky me

Time for a shower, I was washing my hair

When soap got into my eyes, ahhh! This was not fair

I put on my robe and into the kitchen I went

Thinking coffee might help oh and I must pay the rent.

I go to find my checkbook and my pen

When I heard my phone ring again and again.

Now I was in a frantic as I was throwing things all around

Trying to find where my phone was by its ringing sound

When I finally found it under the cushion that I threw

I pressed talk “Hello?” “Hey Kyra, it’s is Drew,

Was wondering if you wanted to go out today

That sounds wonderful I thought then said “O.K.”

I hung up the phone with information got

Wasn’t paying attention when I grabbed the coffee “ouch that is hot”

I screamed as it shattered to the ground

More too clean up, messes were coming in mounds

But first my checkbook last night it was on the table

When I was listening to the self help tap….ahem I mean watching cable

There it was lying down on the floor

It had bite marks from my puppy ding dong, there was the door

I went to the window to see who was there

It was my land lord lady with purple dyed hair

“Hello Mrs. Micheal and how are you today?”

“I am fine, need the rent and I will soon be on my way”

I grabbed my checks with the puppy teeth marks

Looking for a pen while my puppy did bark

Mrs. Miceals left, and I turned around

Looking at all the disasters on the ground

I took a towel and cleaned up the messes

Taking away some of my stresses

Ding dong ding dong went the front door

I was surprised that I fell with a kaboom to the floor

I looked once again to see who was there

It was Drew standing with his friend Claire

I started to mumble inside my mind

I thought this was a date oh well this is fine

I welcome them in they asked “What went kaboom?”

I tell them it was something in the other room

My laundry was still going and I wasn’t prepared

To start this day oh why should I care

I get dressed, grab keys and phone

Told my puppy to be good while he is alone

Off I go to start my life

Praying that it will hold no strife

Even though not much was done

The rest of the day turned out to be fun

In the back of my mind I had much to do

So here is my quick poem just for you

This I must confess

That sometimes life can be a stress

With all our promises and all our goals

We walk around counting Woes

I have this to do and that to have done

I have this to get and that to have run

Work, school, errands, meetings

Hello! Goodbye! Oh Simple quick greetings

In and out of stores

In and out of doors

Clean the house, mow the lawn

Run another errand won’t be long

Run around all through town

Sometimes I feel my world upside down.

May you have a Blessed day

With successful goals in every way.

~Keyria Lockheart~

Phil 4:13 You can do all things through Christ who strengthens you.

Goals: Preparing for school

School can be overwhelming! You have to make sure you have the basic items (pen, paper etc), you have to know your classes and schedule and ......I dont know about you but this all can become overwhelming.

Since school is around the corner I want to talk about the college and possibly highschool. Lets break down the goals.

1) Apply in ADVANCE
Find a few schools that you like. Apply as early as possible. The reason for applying to more than one school is that schools tend to fill up quickly. Sometimes they can not add everyone. So you may not be picked to go to that paticular school. It is always good to have two or more other favorite schools to choose from.

2) While you are waiting to find out which school you are accepted to go to, go get basic nesecarry needs.
What are those? Those are the things we have had since we were kids:
Backpacks, Pens, Pencils, Markers, Color pencils, Paper, Binder, report covers, etc. If you know what area you are going to study then get some items to relate to it. Example: if you are going to study art you may take a drawing class and need professional drawing pencils, or maybe a painting class and need oil paints. However make sure what you are buying is accepted in each of the colleges you applied. For some colleges may want you to use a certain brand

3) Once you figured out what school you are going into you will need to figure out the payment schedule.
Some can pay up front since they have been saving. Others who may not have had a way to save can opt for another option such as finacial aid, student loans, scholarships or grants. I would look into each one the school offers. (Tip: I heard it is really hard to pay back on student loans. I would look for things you dont have to pay back). Also check and see if they have what is called a bog waiver. A bog waiver is a program that will pay for your tuition fee. Sometimes all or most of it. (you may have to pay your health fee yourself). Once you have the payment down it is time to move on to the next step.

4) Sign up for classes.
This is always a challenge in its own for not becoming overwhelmed. The best thing is to get a foot into the door. For each year you attend you will move up on thier priority list and soon you will be one in the first group to sign up for classes. (groups: Usually schools do a lettering system where those in group A have high priority since they have been there, in the lower levels they dont have priority do to lack of academic attendance or they were on probation)

If it is your first time I would not overwhelm yourself with alot of classes. But I would pick out several classes that you may be interested in taking and seeing which ones are available. Try to take some easy classes in with the hards. I would not suggest doing all hard classes for you will be overwhelmed and alot of people drop out because of it. I would suggest maybe a fun PE such as swimming or bowling, and a drama, music, art, or something that interest you class, then a couple of general classes.

Another thing is to see about the teachers. Ask around and see what teachers do a good job teaching on those subjects. Of course you are the final decider on that. I know one teacher I enjoyed a friend of mine didn't. But more than often you will notice the good teachers have alot of people saying great things about them.

Don't get upset if the class you chose is already filled. Try to get on the waitlist and always rememebr you can take it later when you are on higher priority on the schools list.

5) Books.
Oh the joy of books. Some like to buy thier books as quickly as possible, some like new some like old. I am one for the cheaper the better. What I typically do is find my classes out. Go see what books are needed for it by looking in the book store. Sometimes I can find some used books for half price of the original book there. I write down all the books I need (if cheap enough 1-5dollars I will pick up the book...but how likely is that?) then I will check and see what books the students are selling and see if I may find the book I am looking for at a good price, if not I take the list home. I get on the internet and look up the books. Halfprice.com is always being mentioned in my school. Look for the good deals.

Things to note: I write all this down
Same Title
Same Description
Same AUTHOR
Same UPC
Same Edition
Prices so I can compare

I once just wrote down the author and title and came out with a totally different edition and had to return it since it was not the same book for the class.

6) Breathe

Once you have:
* Your school picked
* Payment started (or finished)
* Class schedule
* Your basic needs
* Your books

It should be near time to go to school. This is the breathing stage as I call it. It is where your nerves are a wreck because you are anxious, scared, excited and so forth to go to school. This is when I say breathe. Take the extra little time you have here and do something fun. Some like to get thier hair cut, go buy some new clothes, get their nails done. So relax. Find a book and read it.

7) First day of class!
To be honest I do one step before I go into my first class. I usually either go the day before or I will go an hour before each class and go find my class doors. I like to be prepared as to where I am going into. So usually the day before is best for me. I will go over my schedule and see where each class is. I make a note on my schedule as to where it is so I will remember the first day.

*Take an hour or a day before the first day of class and go over all your rooms to see where they are so you wont be lost the first day.

* Smile (a smile will help you not only calm down, be excited but will help make a friend.) People who see others looking confident will usually smile back at you.

* listen to the instructer!!!

*Make sure to get the SYLABUS: Most important

*Take note to what is due next class (always important and most of you should know this already)

Two things I want to note here. Listening to instructer and sylabus.
Why do I think those are important?

Listening to instructor:
If something seems out of place then more than likely it is. Listen to your feelings if you dont think you should be there then leave. Find another teacher that is teaching the same class and see if you can transfer.

I once walked into a class and listened as the instructer pointed to several students and told them they were going to pass, he then turned and told the rest of the students they were all going to fail.....At the end of his class those he pointed to Aced his class the rest did not. ~Cameron

I went to a class where the instructor made fun of his students. It was the first day and he already was pinpointing out students. He said here is my email but i never check it, here is my phone number but I will never answer it, here is my class schedule but do not disturb me and my office hours are on the back but it better be important for you to go there. Then one student got up to leave, he took the sylabus with him. As the boy was leaving the teacher said "Oh you are leaving? That sylubus will look good pinned up to your failure picture on the wall" I waited until class was over then I went and transfered to the night class. The teacher there was wonderful. ~Judy

NO STUDENT SHOULD PUT UP WITH MOCKING TEACHERS>>>>> Same goes for NO TEACHER SHOULD PUT UP WITH MOCKING STUDENTS. If you see this happening please report it. You can do it anonomously.

The sylabus:
This is important because it tells you what your class is going to be like.

When reading you will see what all you need: if you have the right book, what test sheets, or other items that are needed that you didnt know about before. It also breaks down how many assignments and when they are due. Pay attention to all the rules. (Even though most sylabus are the same, some teachers are different and may throw something different into a sylabus)

I went to school one day and the teachers instruction was: I want you to read the sylabus I have placed in front of you. Make sure that you do as it says...like no cheating, the assignments and so forth. After you are done doing so you may leave. Quite a few students got up and left. As I was reading it I noticed something odd. It said: if you are reading this like you should please take out a sheet of paper and write your name on it. The more I read the sylabus the more I had to do. It was kinda fun and like a treasure hunt to go through the sylabus and see what we were supposed to do. When we finished we turned it in he gave us an A for our very first test in the class!!!! Then we were allowed to go when he stamped a star on the paper we left. It was great. Alot of students were upset they didnt stay and tried to redue it but the teacher said only those that followed the instructions got an A... the rest had to do a differnt test and got points off of it. After that day EVERYONE followed the instructions. ~Kiley

I hope you all are getting prepared or have been. I know for us here classes are right around the corner. Have a wonderful day and I will see you next week!!!

~Hugs Keyria~

I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength. ~Phillipians 4:13

Remember A Time

This morning I would like you to remember a time when you had to overcome stress to achieve a goal this year. How did you do it? How did you feel? What actions did you take? Then I want you to just breathe for a while today. Go back and read the first stress tip up until now.... Use one of the methods mentioned for today. You can just breathe for the rest of the day, go on a mini vaccation, go get a massage, sit under your favorite tree, do a hobby, write and much much more. Pick at least one and just relax today. Keep yourself calm.

~Hugs Keyria~

Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun. Psalms 37:3-6

Poem Time

This I must confess

that sometimes life can be a stress

With all our promises and all our goals

We walk around counting Woes

I have this to do and that to have done

I have this to get and that to have run

Work, school, errands, meetings

Hello! Goodbye! Oh Simple quick greetings

In and out of stores

in and out of doors

Clean the house, mow the lawn

Run another errand wont be long

I forgot this and that

I think I left it under the hat

Run around all through town

Sometimes I feel my world upside down.

To face my goals I must prepare

For stress to leave and me to share

my fustrations, and concerns to a friend

so they can help, they jump right in

Soon my stress seems far away

and goals are completed each new day.

Here I am to tell you

dont be afraid to ask too

With a prayer, meditation talk to a friend

somehow stress starts to end

And a smile appears upon your face

as relaxation is in your body from grace

May you have a Blessed day

With sucessful goals in every way.

Stress Free Method #8 Family and Friends support

Many people dont like the idea of asking for help. They would rather try to finish the goal at hand on thier own. They dont realize that asking for help may be the the solution they needed:

#8 Support from Friends and Family

Invite over your friends or family. Whenever you stress a good stress reliever is having another person being around. It is amazing how we can stress and then a call from a friend or a visit from them can make that stress just vanish. Friends and Family will take our minds off of stress, they have this magical touch to cheer you up. They start it off by making you laugh, they keep you laughing and follow to the end with laughter. They can be the solution to any problem you may have, all you have to do is ask.

“It is hard to be stressed when my friends show up. They make me laugh and release my tension I am having. I will be cleaning house and you all know that cleaning house is not a fun chore. Yet, a friend showed up and we laughed as they helped me clean. We were doing mop shows and singing at the top of our lungs as we danced with the dust pan and broom. We had a blast. It didn’t seem like the mess I had before and the stress was gone. We often kidnap each other and run to the beach alot. This makes it hard for us to be down when we are out in the water having fun.”

Isn't it amazing how a friend knows the right words to say to make you laugh? Or how your family knows the right words that can make you feel comforted and safe? Yet we take asking friends and family for granted. We just assume they can not help when in reality they may be the only solution left. They may be the ones that can cure the stress and finish the goal. We assume the wouldn't want to help with our little problem. Yet if you ask friends and family they always have an open ear to listen and a mouth to give good advice through. They also feel comforted when you share with them. The best of it all is that they are close to you so you don't have to feel judged. They dont look down on you instead they are filled with love for you.

Todays Challenge: So what are you waiting for? Go tell your family, go tell your friends why it is that you are stressing. Brainstorm together and find a way for you to overcome this feeling. Go have a fun filled day with them or even a few minutes. Let everything out and just enjoy the company. If you can treat them out (to the movies, dinner or whereever) maybe they are the ones that need to destress.

Ready for another method? Well than come back tomorrow to get it.

~Hugs Keyria~

And I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty.” ~ 2 Corinthians 6:18~

Stress Free Method #4 changing activities

The first three stress Free methods I gave yesterday, so look at the blog before for those three. Todays strees free method is one I would like everyone to try.

#4 Change of activity

Sometimes we stress because of the action we are doing. We just need to change how we are doing the activity or change the activity all together. Changing the activity can help with your health as well. Imagine if everytime you were to get on a stage to sing a song you would have a panic attack. This caused you to start gasping for air, and then you faint. Each time you get on stage the same out come would happen. So the problem is being up on the stage. So what if you were to change the activity a bit. Maybe change the act a bit. Instead of being on the stage use puppets and be the voice over, or have your focus on something instead of the crowd. Maybe even sit in the audience and then sing when it was your turn. This would shock the audience that you were part of the act. Maybe even try singing offstage... if these dont work maybe singing on a stage is not for you. Maybe try something differnt, like teaching others to sing, singing in a studio, singing for just friends and family or even singing and video taping it and placing it up on the net.

"My friend loves going to the ocean. She finds so much pleasure in it. It calms her nerves and feels her with joy. The best part of it she says is going on a boat to go see the whales. She is up front with the wind in her hair as the boat bounces above the waves. However I am not calm wth the water. I get so nervous when I am on the boat. So nervous that after we get off I am usually sick. My stress level peaks while being out in the ocean. My friend is amazing though. She wants to make me happy so to help me change our activity of going to see whales, we go to the beach and just rest near the shore on the rocks. Then we go to the museums and watch videos on the whales. I know that she would rather be out there on the shore but she knows my nerves wont allow it. So we have redirected our activity to do other activites that are just as fun. We now not only go to the beach but we have time to go do other stuff. The last time we were up near the oceean we watched in 3D a movie about Sea Monsters. It was amazing and we didnt have to have bonoculars to go see them." ~Sean

Adam loved playing sports especially football but his leg had been injured during a game. This caused him not to be able to play the sports he loved. He didn’t like the idea of this so he would try to sneak out and play with friends against the wishes of his parents and doctors. This made his leg even more hurt. Adam couldn’t imagine not being able to play a sport. For treatment on his leg he had to do water therapy. As he was in the pool one day his friends came over and said “This is great!!! “ “What is great?” Asked Adam. “You know what kind of sports we can do in the water?” Adam never thought of switching over to water and he still would be doing water therapy. The rules of games changed to accommodate his leg injury. This was so that no one could swim on top or on accidently hurt his leg. Instead of being on a field playing foot ball they were in the water playing volleyball. Adams leg got better and as it did he was able to do more things. The redirected his games from outside the pool to inside it. He never did sneak out to play with his friend for they were all there in the pool with him.

Todays challenge: What ways can you redirect the activity causing you stress? Or what can you do instead? Make a list then try one of them.

Ready for #5? Come back tomorrow to find out what it is.

~Hugs Keyria~

He who pursues righteousness and love finds life, prosperity and honor.

~Proverbs 21:21 ~

Tommys Story continued again

Tommy had thought of a plan that night.

A few days later he was in his room late at night. He had started to pack some clothes for him and his brother, he grabbed a few necessary items, and some money he had saved from doing odd jobs his parents didn’t know about. (He never did get allowance from his parents). Ok I think I have everything he thought and she shoved it into his backpack. He was all ready that morning to leave the house. He had an extra bag with more items needed and he was glad it was a bit cold outside to give him an excuse for them to have their jackets. He knew it was going to get cold for what he was doing.

“What do you go there?” His dad asked as he was heading out the door. “Oh it is my art project for school I didn’t want it to get smashed inside my school backpack.” “That looks pretty big let me see” Tommy froze right then he heard a honk. “oh there is our ride, I will show you when I get home.” Tommy said running out the door with his little brother. They ran over to the bus which his mother had agreed to let him and his little brother take this morning. They hopped on and sat down. Sharp pain happened again in his chest. He was getting used to how to stop it. He held his breath and waited. Sure enough it ended after a little bit. They hopped off the bus and started on their way to school. Before they got there Tommy told joshy to turn down a road before.

Joshy looked confused but he obeyed. They headed towards the end of the street. They walked for quite some time until they had made their way to the train station. Tommy handed a paper to the person selling tickets. She took it read it then looked at him. “Ok so you two are going to visit your grandma.” She said not really in a question but a statement. “Why can’t parents be more responsible? I know you are old enough but still I can’t imagine having my highschooler going off alone. ” She sighed and told him how much it was. Tommy was holding onto joshy’s hand tightly. He relaxed his grip as soon as she handed him the tickets. His plan was working. A few nights ago when he thought of the plan he worked everything out. One of his ideas was to call in advance the next day to order tickets. He used a pay phone near school to call in to the train station and pretended to be his father.

They sat down and waited for a train. He was grateful joshy was being so quiet and not asking questions. He wondered if joshy knew what was going on. But he didn’t want to ask him right then. Not there at the station where someone could overhear them. The train came and they boarded. A few minutes later they were gone away from the place that he had horrid nightmares from. Away from that awful stressful place.

For Tommy this was the only solution he could think of. To run away from the stress, To run away and save his brother from the pain. Many of us are like this. We cope by pushing it to the back of our heads, pretending there was never any stress or trying to run away. But is that really how we can cope with it?? In reality it comes back to us.

Sadly I would love to say Tommy’s story was a happy ever after but…

A few months had gone by they were living on the streets. Tommy was very protective of his brother and they learned where to avoid walking. Tommy found a few odd jobs but money for food was scarce, and joshy was getting sicker then he had ever seen him get. To top it off his chest pains were more frequent and he was more scared for their lives than ever. He thought this was a stress free plan but it turns out it only added stress. They were in fear of going home so they hid every time they say cops. They were in fear of certain alleys and fear of not finding a spot to sleep at night. He was able to get one blanket into a bag of course it was a light weight throw blanket but it kept joshy warmer at night. What did I get us into? Tommy Thought?

Each person deals with stress differently. Phillip at first pushed it to the back of his mind, but then he faced it head on. Tommy ran away from it. He ran to try and save him and his brother but running away and pushing it to the back of their heads seemed to be backfiring. I wonder if Tommy will find a way out of the situation, away that will cure all this stress. Guess we will just have to wait and see.

~Hugs Keyria~



"I come to You for protection, O Lord, my God. Save me from my persecutors-rescue me!" Psalm 7:1

"The Lord is close to the brokenhearted. He recues those whose spirits are crushed." Psalm 34:18

Phillps story continued

"For sure I will study today." Phillip went to the library to start and see if he could study but his mind kept wondering off. “Phillip right?” asked brown eyed brunette hair girl. He nodded “Hi I am dawn.” She sat down and they talked through his study time. That was all it took. He really liked her and each time he had free time instead of working on his catch-up he would hang out with her.

For the next few weeks thing kept preventing him from getting his school work done, and the teachers kept adding more work. It kept adding up. There was extra football practices, and the start of games, there was outings with the guys, outings with Dawn (his now girlfriend), There was chores around the house and still had to finish unpacking. Plus his old friends kept calling, and people kept visiting to check out the new home. It was like a house warming every day.
Phillip was getting sick a lot and his body was sore. He was getting lack of sleep due to trying to play catch-up at night which caused him to feel fatigued. Yet he kept pushing himself to keep going. On the day of his first test he was not prepared. He had stayed up all night trying to study but his thoughts were on everything other then what they should have been. Needless to say he failed the first of three tests miserably. The first football game he was so tired he lacked the energy he needed and was not helping the team much. “Where is our team member from practice!!!” the coach yelled at him. He could feel the other players upset with him. Some were trying to figure him out. “This is not you. What is going on?” a few of his members asked him. He just shrugged and went home.

When the principle called his parents and him in the office the next day, he knew he was in trouble. The principle asked if there were problems going on and what the school could do to help. Phillip embarrassed just sat in quiet as the principle and his parents continued to talk back in forth. “Look we just want to make sure that he is going to be able to finish this school year. Right now we are afraid he is not going to pass and may be held back a grade.” Phillip perked up “No!” he said loudly. “Maybe we should have him just finish this year at home and if he isn’t doing better keep him in home school until he is.” His mother said to his dad. “Please No, Mom. Come on Dad you know I can do this. No, I want to be here.” “Well then son, we need to see a big change. You need to be able to finish the goals on your list before goofing off. You said you have been feeling stressed lately right?” His dad asked. Phillip nodded. “Well that comes from you. Had you actually studied, and did the work during the times you were supposed to you would not have to feel so overwhelmed.” After phllip begged saying he would not mess up this time and they would see that big change they talked it out and decided he could finish out this year.” You are getting two days suspension to play catch-up on your work, The principle is being ever kind. That means, no hanging out with friends when they call, No television, no nothing but work.” His dad said as they went to the car. “If your grades are still slipping after you are back in school you will be pulled and put into home studies” his mother pitched in. Phillip nodded.

This was going to be a challenge for him.

How do you think he did? How do you think he coped with stress? What do you suppose he could do to change the situation? What would be your first move?

As soon as Phillip got home he took out a piece of paper and started to write all the problems he was having and the stress he had felt from day one and all his goals he needed to do.

Let’s review he thought


Stresses and how I felt

Starting a new school – Stressful. Because you never know how it will be. Good experiences or bad.
Meeting new friends– Stressful at first. I was nervous but luckily this was changed quickly. I think joining the team helped that
Introducing myself- why do all schools have to do this? Why not the other way around. Where they introduce to the new person. Oh well once it was over with I was fine.
Catch-up work- This is the most stressful. There is so much I had to catch-up. Course had I actually worked on it like I was supposed to I would have been done with it. Well now this is one that I still need to do so this can now be placed under my goals list
Time to balance football practices, and games in – I want to play football but How can I do my work and do football at the same time? I feel torn and stressed. Well I need to move this to goals side that way I can figure out how to fix this
Hang time with friends- I like my friends and I don’t want them to think I am ignoring them when they ask to hang out. When can I have time to go hang out with friends that wont interfere with catch-up work.
Time to spend with Dawn- Favorite time. She makes me laugh. I can’t believe she is in my life. I don’t want to lose her or my time with her. Determined is how I feel with her.
Study time- I usually feel bored with this one. I try to push it off. I cant figure out the point of sitting and rereading the chapters to memorize what is going on. This is slightly different then catch-up cause I am more focused one one subject at hand.
Unpacking- tired of being nagged to have everything in its spot when I have other things that I am to worry about. Enough said.
Phone calls from friends and house warming- excited, Tired, unsure. I feel like I have to entertain when others are over. And I want to tell my friends on the phone everything but it is hard to set a time limit to it.
Fatigue- Lack of sleep. I am always trying to get homework done, catch-up work and then on top of it my mind wonders to other things such as football games, hanging with friends and of course Dawn.

Ok so now I have the review of what my stressors are. Phillip thought. But what should I do next?

To find out come back tomorrow :)

~Hugs Keyria~


You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance. (Psalm 32:7-8)