Many people have probably heard about this inspiring book by Stephen R. Covey. I started reading this book, and I’ll admit it is kind of hard to get into, but I just had to put it down. Why? Because the book says to….

I figured that in order to go into college and become an effective psychologist, I should learn how to mold myself into a better person.

Tip: This book should be absorbed as though you will be teaching it to someone else. (That’s why I’m blogging about it.)

Habit One:

Habit one is where I stopped. In the book, Covey explains the this book is not meant to be read through and then stuck on a shelf. You’re supposed to read each concept, then try to adapt it into your life before moving on to the next one. I use this quote as an example for adaption of the first concept.

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act, but a habit.”  -Aristotle

The first habit revolves around reaction and proactiveness.  Most people don’t realize that we shape our lives with our own reactions to situations.  Some people blame being poor or less fortunate on the way their parents raised them.  Others claim that they are always in a bad mood because they have kids who misbehave or that their relationship with their spouse has gone bad.  These are all things that people hide behind as an excuse to feel bad for themselves.  

So what do you do to change your outcomes and attitude? It’s really simple. You just teach yourself to react in a positive manner.  For example, if you are having a conversation with someone and they disagree with you, don’t get angry, or argue. Be rational and try to see the other person’s point of view.

One other thing that I have found useful, is to start with a clean slate.  Forget if bad things happened to you when you were a kid.  Forget how people think of you. Just start your mind over as if you don’t remember your past.  

I’m already like three weeks in, and positive reacation has become like second nature to me.  Anyways just remain calm in every situation possible. Don’t get angry. Try to do it all cold turkey. You’ll become something better than yourself.

I don’t know how long it will be until I talk about the next habit because I don’t think I’m ready to move on.

Until next time,

Becka 

Last fall I was on the hunt for a college. I wasn’t worried because I knew I’d get accepted. I had my ACT scores in check, my TAKS scores in check, and my grades in check. Not to mention I had already conquered twenty something college credit hours (thirty-five now). I was on the hunt for something new and different, thus Texas A&M Corpus Christi became the perfect option for me. I’ve always wanted to live next to the beach. 

So, I applied and within weeks (about November) I got my acceptance letter! I was so happy, but at the same time I was a little scared. Okay, actually ALOT scared. Six hours away from home and all alone for the first time in my life. Eek! Then, I began considering SFA because that’s closer to home and it’s where I feel safe. Then I talked to one of my best friends, Kimberly Bernal, who was also considering TAMUCC! Turns out, she really wanted to go there too. She’s also been accepted. Going to my dream college started to seem more like reality because I then wouldn’t be alone anymore.

Kimberly and I talked about our options and we decided that we wanted to live on campus, so we applied to be roommates.  We were only expecting dorms, but when we got our housing acceptance form, we got a two bedroom apartment together. Complete with kitchen, private bathroom, and private balcony. Camden Miramar housing is beautiful.

More than a month ago I went to my orientation and registered for classes. I also found out that I was going to take out a loan which was a bummer. Oh well.

My classes were:

Math 1442 (statistics)
Political science 2306 (government II)
Communcation 1315 (speech)
Spanish 1315 (beginners Spanish)

It’s only 14 hours, but I don’t want to be overwhelmed first semester!

Anyways, as far as I know everything is good to go! I’ll be moving into my apartment on August 21st. Then classes start August 25th. Wish me luck!

GO ISLANDERS!

Izzy the Islander!

I haven’t blogged in forever, and there is so much to say that I don’t think I could put it all in words, so I’m not going to. I’m just going to do this:  

Becka Boney & Justin LaValley announced 3 time CX District Champions

Becka Boney & Justin LaValley take 3rd Place in the state. Yes, the state of Texas, the whole state

One Act Play does To See the Stars and advances all the way to Area Competition.

 I also advanced past district in Computer Applications, Editorial Writing, and Feature Writing. At regionals I took 7th place in Computer Apps.   

I also got accepted to Texas A&M University Corpus Christi! I’ll be moving there in a few weeks… I’ll post more pictures of what my apartment will look like in another post.  

Had a blast spending time with my old class mates as San Augustine's prom! Gonna miss ya Em...

We also took a senior trip to Sea World  in San Antonio and we got rained out! We couldn’t even go in the parks We still had fun though!  

Chireno Class of 2010 about to knock down the gate of Sea World =)

Alternate Plans - The girls standing in front of the Alamo!

Becka & Whitney - About to get eaten!

Becka & Justin - One of my besties makin' my bus ride better...

There were other awesome moments too! Take a look at Carrie Underwood in concert!

Carrie Underwood - Performer of the Year standing on the rising moving platforms in 3 inch heels without falling, and she was singing!

 And there was that crazy camping trip with my family!  

Sunset over Oak Grove

Our campsite... With the hoardes of people! I love it!

Me and Karl in the woods! Tee hee.

 Let’s not forget prom!  

  

Then there came the day that we’d all been waiting for… A step into reality…  

I'm awesome!

Graduating Class!

Becka & Justin - Before we walked!

Becka & Whitney - I love you Girlfriend!

Even my best friend from San Augustine...

 Then came the celebrations!  

Karl & Becka - Our much needed trip out of town!

Tim, Whitney, & Becka - At Tim's house!

Becka & Whitney - At Tim's!

Then, the best graduation present ever! A Disney Cruise and eight days at Disney World!  

Our family with Jack Sparrow! Disney Cruise Line Symbol

Cameron and Becka - Deck 4 Water View

Looking into the Water

 

Dale Chihuly Glass Art - Especially made for Disney Cruise Line! My favorite artist!

Formal night on the cruise with Daisy Duck!

Our family and Pinocchio... He was a real boy that day!

Gigantic Rice Crispy Treat!

Me riding Dumbo!

Relaxing on Castaway Cay! Disney's Private Island!

 

The actual Black Pearl from Pirates of the Caribbean... They hauled this clean across the ocean just to film the movie somewhere else.

The Disney Wonder! Isn't it beautiful!

Dessert for me at The Garden Grill! Mmm!

Kimberly and Cameron in front of the Wonder!

Cameron and Me in front of the Wonder

Bow of the Disney Wonder

Clear blue Caribbean waters!

Hope you enjoyed my YEAR IN REVIEW!! 

Until next time…

Becka 

YEAR IN REVIEW

Wow! It’s hard to believe that its already February 15th.  It’s been a looong time since I’ve posted a blog and I just really felt like talking…. SOooo BLah BLAH BLAH….

How’s life?

Hmm… Where do I begin? It’s in the middle of February aka Spring semester rush time.  School is full in swing (minus that one day a week that Chireno desides they don’t wanna go every once in a while and school is called off for “water” problems).  Debate, One Act Play, Extemp, Writing, and various other stuff.  Did I leave out my college classes? A few words of advice: Don’t ever take college Algebra… Okay, maybe it’s  not so bad, but it’s bad for me the easily distracted, out of practice mathmetician I am.  Not to mention Government! Bleh… There is nothing more exciting than 500 pages of how the government formed in America.  It’s not all too bad…

On March 6th, excitingly, I took home my third CX- District Championship.  I’m going to state in the 15th and 16th… Woo Woo! I really wanna do good this year since we haven’t made it past the first year… In the top 64 teams in the state doesn’t sound nearly as good as the top 16 or maybe even better.  I just know that I want it! Bad!

We are performing To See the Stars in One Act this year, and while I don’t have one of the best roles in the play, I kind of like it because it’s completely opposite of what I ususally play. I’ve got a more of a MEOW!! Approach rather than a sweet sensitive approach… I’m really aching to get past district in One Act this year as well.  I’ve cried through critiques the last two years and feel that our group can be strong this year if we all get our ACTS together… get it acts… ROFL…

So, mixed in with all of the above, Karl has made a decision on what to do with his future.  He’s going to the Coast Guard. He went to Albequrque to talk to the recruiter.  He got through all the papers and stuff… Pretty awesome… If all goes well he’ll be leaving in May right before my graduation …  I don’t know how I’ll stay strong all summer, but I can do it.  Just gotta write letters and stuff… I’m still hoping this goes well even though it’ll be hard for both of us because he is the guy I want to spend the rest of my life with and it is nice to know that we both have our futures mapped out. 

On an awesome plus side, we just go finished planning our Disney vacation! I’m so excited… A cruise and then days in the park! Yay!  We sinched up our restaurants! We’ve chosen the park days. Now I’m just hoping that one of my friends can go with me.  Exciting!

Anywho! It’s 12:45 a.m.  I’ll be exhausted come six if I don’t get some sleep.

Good night!

Until next time…
Becka

“It is better to fall short of a high mark than to reach a low one.” – H. C. Payne

1. I will no longer be a person that is lazy even for me.

2.  I will go to church every Sunday possible and pray more. I will take all of my troubles to God.

3. I will no longer take any crap from the people who are trying to run over me because I do not act like a female dog.

4. I will tell you the truth no matter what because that is what I’ve always done.

5. If you do not like me, then get over it.

6. I am going to go to state in debate this year if at all possible

7. I am going to place at district in extemp if at all possible

8. I am going to state in editorial writing if at all possible.

9. I will pour all of my love and affection into those that show love and affection towards me. 

10.  I will get organized and take care of the business that I need to take care of in order to be successful!

“May today mark the beginning of many new joys and accomplishments…and a continuation of all of the good things that you have already achieved.”

-Author Unknown

You know when people say “this is the first day of the rest of your life.”? I’m under the impression that you have. Today was the day that we received that talk from everyone.  I’m also under the impression that this whole “senior year” thing has fully gotten into the bloodstreams of all of my fellow classmates. We aren’t free yet, but the freedom is so close we can smell it. Our hearts are racing with every moment that passes because we all know that there is no prolonging this event.  Just nine short months from now and we’ll be dressing in purple gowns (or whatever school color you may be) and stepping foot on that stage.  The moment will come when our names will be called and our parents will stare in disbelief (not because we’ve done something bad this time!) because we’ve finally accomplished something we’ve been working at for thirteen years of our lives. It’s simply amazing how fast time flies.  No doubt that tears will fall that day, but not bad tears, happy tears. We will all head our separate directions and never see eachother again as a group.

For now, this is just miles away though. I will love, laugh, and enjoy myself while it still lasts. As Mr. King says “Senior year will go by very fast.” I’m going to live it up. We are the top of the line in the school now, and even though after we walk across that stage, we will go back to being small again in this world, at least for now, we are the AWESOME SENIOR CLASS OF 2010!!!

Today was the best last first day ever!! Rock on Seniors…

Whitney proposes at Chili's after State...

Peanut butter sleepy time...

Renassiance Fest

Corey, Me, Freddie, ... Enough said.

Oh mann...

Last weekend I went on vaction.  Yea, I found time out of my busy schedule to take a weekend getaway trip to Corpus Christi.  I’m already in love with the place, and this weekend just fired me up to move down there even more. I’m almost 18 years old and I’m ready to pack up and get my tail down there!!

Anyways, we did lots of fun stuff… Not really anything we couldn’t have done around  here, but it was still great to get down there and just get away for the weekend.  We left at 7 on Friday morning (too early). We were in Houston by ten and were good and lost in Corpus Christi by three that afternoon.  Friday we just drove around Corpus Christi looking for North Padre Island and finding our way around there…. It was a pain in the butt.. But hey we know our way around there.

That’s about all we did except we went to eat a Joe’s Crab Shack…

Though it was an empty vacation, I enjoyed the beach and the ocean air… I love that place…

-Becka

“Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan “press on” has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race”

-Calvin Coolidge quotes American 30th President of the United States, 1872-1933

This seems to be the quote of the summmer.  Persistence. Don’t ever give up!  That’s what I have to keep telling myself anyways.  I got a week of break when school go out, and then I got SLAMMED with constant day to day pace.  This blog and all of my other blogs are lacking in information lately.  Taking college classes is a pain in the butt.  My summer started off with them, and it will end with them.  In Summer I, I took General Anatomy and Physiology and General Psychology.  Now, in Summer II, I am taking General Biology.  I’m kind of liking this biology class because the labs are fun, but I go FOUR days a week. I mean c’mon.. FOUR? On Mondays and Wednesdays the class is only 2 hours long, but on Tuesday and Thursday it goes 2 hours for the lecture and then 3 hours for the lab.  That’s five hours for one class!!!  Shortly after I got out of school for the Summer I also got a job.  I work at Etech Solutions.  I’m a Click To Chat AT&T Wireless Sales Representative.  It’s an easy job, but whew! It gets really old really fast.  I’m not worrying about anyone but me this Summer.

Here is a day what a day in my Summer is like…

I wake up around 7:30-8 o’clock in the morning.  I shower and get ready to leave for class at nine o’clock.  Morgen usually picks me up.  Then, I go to class in Lufkin either from 10 a.m.-11:50 a.m. then from 12:30-3:30 p.m. or just from 10 – 11:50 a.m.  Then, everyday after class I head to Nacogdoches.  Then, I go to work from 4:00-10:oo pm.  When I get off, I study, and then I crash wherever I am.  I know people miss me, but it’s really busy and really hard to keep up with things right now!

So, I’ve just got to press on.  I thank all of the people that help me out and support me.  You know who you are…  I love you guys, but I’m exhausted.  I’m gonna start making people set up an appointment to come see me. LOL!!  Anyways… I’ll be posting… Soon Hopefully…

Until Next Time,
Becka!

I got an email today that was about stress and I just wanted to share it with everyone since I’m on Spring Break!!

A lecturer when explaining stress management to an audience,
Raised a glass of water and asked
‘How heavy is this glass of water?’

Answers called out ranged from 20g to 500g.

The lecturer replied, ‘The absolute weight doesn’t matter.
It depends on how long you try to hold it.

If I hold it for a minute, that’s not a problem.

If I hold it for an hour, I’ll have an ache in my right arm.

If I hold it for a day, you’ll have to call an ambulance.

In each case, it’s the same weight, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes.’

He continued,

‘And that’s the way it is with stress management.

If we carry our burdens all the time, sooner or later,

As the burden becomes increasingly heavy,

We won’t be able to carry on. ‘

‘As with the glass of water,

You have to put it down for a while and rest before holding it again.

When we’re refreshed, we can carry on with the burden.’

‘So, before you return home tonight, put the burden of work down.

Don’t carry it home.

You can pick it up tomorrow.

Whatever burdens you’re carrying now,

Let them down for a moment if you can.’

So, my friend, Put down anything that may be a burden to you right now.

Don’t pick it up again until after you’ve rested a while.

Don’t stress today! Happy St. Patty’s Day!! Don’t forget to wear green or a leprechaun will pinch you!

Yesterday didn’t go as planned. I never got me any crawfish, and it was really really sad cause I really really wanted some.  Oh well. We had burgers and hot dogs and we watched the Blue Collar Comedy Tour on Comedy Central.  It was still a fun day as I wrapped up the night by doing laundry, packing for Austin, and going to bed!

Today, I got woke up at 4 a.m.  (Keep in mind I had to travel to Austin today, but wasn’t going to get up til 7:30 a.m.)  I got a text message from Karl.  He texted to tell me that he was back in the states!  Of course, after that I couldn’t go back to sleep because I was so happy!  So I got up and woke Kimberly up and told her to get a shower so we could get this show on the road this morning.

We were packed and ready to leave the house at 8:45 a.m. and we arrived at the school before 9 a.m.  We were actually on schedule.  We left the school shortly after 9 and arrived in AUSTIN by at least 2 p.m.  We then went to the mall where I got a pedicure and then went to eat at Red Lobster.  Our waiter was a total ditz.  He almost called Justin a girl and never got Kimberly anything she wanted. 

Shortly after arrival... So happy to be at the hotel...

Now, we’re just sitting in the hotel room. We’re all chillin’.  About to head to bed actually.

Good night, everyone
Have a great Monday and a great week!