Money Well Earned or Well Spent?

I currently sit in my friends garage, waiting for anyone, anyone to come and buy this CRAP!

We are having a garage sale. All three of us girls rummaged through our teenage rooms and weeded out the stuff that once held importance and now is just...tacky!  My friend's mom's boyfriend also put a TON of stuff in, so here we are with some decent stuff, some not so decent stuff. It's the 2nd day, we each made good money.

As I sit here it made me think about the importance of the stuff I have. At one point this purse was the "it" factor. I could not live without it! Now I'm selling it in a garage sale for .50 cents. Or the phone cases I got at the mall, you know those stands with the India salesman. They charge you 20$ for a case that seems like it's going to make your LIFE! Now here I am, I have four of them, that no longer fit my the phone I have, I'm about 60$ out, and selling them for .25 cents.

What was I thinking!?

My goal is to in a year move out of my parents house.  I want to get a year of college under my belt, figure out if I'm transferring schools, get a job, and make a move!  If I transfer then I could stay in a dorm, if I don't I could get an apartment with some friends. Either way the plan is to be out in a year. Obviously with a new room/house, new stuff comes. Already, even though its a year away, and no set plans are made, I'm excited about decorating and getting a new style.

Looking at the garage it looks like I through up a mess of tacky items, nasty jewelry, unfashionable purses and clothes, and most of all, A WASTE OF MONEY!

In High School I took a Consumers class. It really made me reconsider how I spend my money. It also made me make a plan of how I will spend my money as an adult. Now that I am working & it's my own money, I feel like a cheep-o, but I'm not gonna waste me money on unnecessary things!

This weekend's garage sale was a good lesson on how valuable my things really are, and what was/is necessary. As I slowly creep into adult hood I need to have a constant reminder that my money is not to be spent on worthless items, but rather on items that are needed and worthwhile. Otherwise in five years I will be here again, selling my crap!

living to learn....

The Deal

Hello Bloggers,


Well, tomorrow at 8 a.m. my family & I set out for Pittsburgh, PA. It's no ordinary family vacation - I am trying out for American Idol.


Never in my life would I ever being doing this without some kind of push. And that push would be Ben Sass. Yes, several other close friends and family have encouraged or brought up the suggestion, but in the end Ben is the one who finally pushed me over that last hurtle.


Back to Junior Year....


It was 2nd semester.  I was enjoying choir more then any other year before. We were all buzzing about the upcoming Musical. It had been announced that that this year we were putting on "Beauty & the Beast". It was a huge deal. There were several roles to fill, and only 40 some in the entire High School. Subtract the athletes,  and the kids who never do anything but come to school (if we're lucky), and we were down to like 25- 30 tops.


I had every intention on trying out for the play. Even though it was only Junior Year, I felt as if it was "my year".. {see older kid phobia blog}. I was going for "Mrs. Potts". Naturally I wanted to have a good time and rock the show too. Sooo, I wanted my friends. My friends were athletes. They played basketball non-stop and when they were not on the court, they were ... who knows. But the point was, not one of them were in choir and not one of them had interest in doing so. I had a little bit of a task ahead of me.


I talked a little "magic" and had most of them on board...all but one. Now one would think "eh, whatever, its only one. His lost.." but he was kind of a deal breaker. If he said no then the rest were sure to follow, despite mine and others pleas.


So that's when "the deal" came about... for months Ben had told me he was going to drag me down to the American Idol auditions, like it or not. I always just smiled and laughed it off knowing all too well he would never do so!


To be honest, I don't know who made "the deal" or how it came about, but one day at lunch it was made. If he tried out for "Beauty & the Beast", I did American Idol. Again, to be honest, when "the deal" was struck, in the back of my mind I had every intention of not fulfilling it.  But the news spread like wild fire and there was no turning back.


The summer following was rough one, but here we are. Senior year completed, started college, and here typing this blog- way too late and not at all prepared for the 8 a.m departure tomorrow. BUT, I'm holding up my end of the deal, just like Ben did.


Up until about an hour ago I was not excited. Trying out for American Idol was always just a "Child Dream" -you know how every little girl has a that dream to be a pop star. Well American Idol was my pop star dream. Something I thought I was capable of doing at the age of 10 {next Miley Cyrus or Justin Beiber} but it never happens, cause God has a different will for us all.


Now the bottom line is, who knows how far this journey will take me, who knows if I am really capable of going somewhere with the God given gift. What I do know is that I am about to embark on a new journey tomorrow. My future is up in the air and for once in my anxiety filled life- it's okay! All because of a deal made in a high school cafeteria,  I am about to take my singing to a hole new level.


It may not be easy, it may not be all the time enjoyable, but it will be a new journey, a new story, a new memory, new experience, and new lesson.


Tonight's blog was not about what I've learned, but what I'm going to learn. My future has been planned and planned again, but tomorrow it all ends and starts, all because of my friend.


On that note, I would like to thank all of YOU who have encouraged me and supported me in EVERY aspect of my singing journey. Without those pushes, encouraging notes, and constructive criticism I would not be where I am in my musical journey. And honestly, I probably wouldn't fulfilled "the deal". Everyone of you have played a HUGE role in my confidence in this God given talent and  given me the experience I have had thus far.  I know that every one of you will continue to be apart of this amazing journey.


This next week will be a whirl wind, I'll be sure to keep you all updated-- go add the "Cayla's American Idol Journey Update" on facebook! LOVE YOU ALL


Cayla Learman {future pop-star ;)}

Growing Up

Once again its been awhile since I last blogged. But life is busy, I have a routine and the result of upsetting that routine is not pretty!

Well before I reveal what I have learned in life recently, let me do some set up work.

I have always been a blunt person. It really is just a piece of my personality. Most of the time without even realizing it I tend to just speak what comes to mind, or what comes to every one's mind but they wont say it. A lot of the time it's not to be mean, it just happens (I may have a broken filter in the control center). Then there are times when I fully know what I am about to say, and how I'm going to say it. Those are the biggest up roars.

We all have triggers in life. Triggers within that are only set off by certain things. My 'things' - liars, idiots, laziness, and crap talking. I think to an extent those "things" are triggers for everyone, but for me its my top things. Imagine a caged gorilla being poked then somehow he realizes he can open the cage. its all over for the one poking him. Some lazy, lying, crap talking, idiot starts in with me and then I realize, I can talk back. It's all over.

From there- drama hits the fan and it just a headache.

Now to the lesson...

Recently some girl texted me yelling at me for talking crap and saying  I was lying .. what an idiot. At first I naturally wanted to just let her have it. But then like I was hit across the head  I realized, was it worth it? Was it worth the drama and the headache? No. I knew what I had done, and it wasn't bad. So explaining myself really wasn't worth the time.

A few days ago I reflected on how I had just ended the potential drama. Again like I was hit across the head  I realized what the expression "that is so high school pettiness" means.
(Now I realized I've only been out of high school for a few months, but really I think this college thing is getting to me)

Maybe this is a personal lesson, maybe it's a lesson that all high school graduates will eventually learn, but what I know is that I'm growing up.

The other night my best friends and I sat in one of their new campers. It was like 10 p.m and we (meaning them , I watched) had just finished blowing stuff up and were now just sitting and chatting. I realized how easy it was. There was no drama going on with us or around us. We were just sitting on a nice summer night, happy to be with each other.

Being blunt is something I will always be. Honesty it a piece of me, I can't stomach lieing. And telling people I don't understand if they are being dumb or funny is just how I function. But I think that learning when and how to be blunt is the key to growing up. I'm not naive to the fact that drama is going to hit the fan in all stages of my life, but hopefully I will be able to handle it in a way that sets off the littlest uproar - opposes to the biggest (my normal route).

Lately I have felt as if I am living as an adult. I work so many hours a week, I go to class so many hours a week, and I study so many hours a week. When I'm not doing one of the three I'm sleeping. That leaves little time for my friends, or social life, which goes against everything I have always been. It takes lots of planning and effort to go see a movie with a group of people. But what I have realized is that I'm not living like an adult, I am adult now. I have to find the balance of working and class to seeing the people I love. Even with the constant commitments I am enjoying my summer and the baby steps I am taking into adult life.

is this what adults look like?! :)

living to learn ...