The title of this post is a shout out to the five people who are (I think) my top commenters for 2016. As I mentioned Monday, I got a little mixed up because I didn’t receive my usual annual report of site stats, but I did a little digging and I’m fairly sure these names are correct.
So thank you to these wonderful women for being an integral part of the Smithellaneous community. Your contributions and comments went a long way toward making this blog such a special corner of the Internet.
Number 1: We are preparing ourselves for a winter storm. Some places within an hour or two of us could get up to a foot of snow and we are expecting 2-4 inches here in Manteo. Big stuff for us sun-blessed southerners.
Number 2: Due to the pending storm, Sarah is heading back to college today instead of Sunday so that she can be safely in place when the storm hits. (Virginia Beach is supposed to get much worse weather than we are.)
It has been wonderful to have her home for almost a month. We spent part of that time traveling and then she was able to get in some hours at her old Food Lion job, which was an enormous help to her meager collegiate finances. Today she is making some soup for us all before she leaves, a favorite recipe she got from a roommate.
Speaking of heading back to school, we have had quite a few school conversations while she has been home which in the end resulted in her decision to change majors–she is switching from Cinema/TV to Communications.
She still loves the editing and post-production part of cinema and TV, but she found out during those first months of school that she was not nearly as passionate about the actual filming and production part of the process, which was the reason for the change.
Here is a brief synopsis from Regent of their Communications degree:
As a field of study, communications is applied to journalism, business, public relations, marketing, news broadcasting, intercultural communications, education, public administration—and beyond Through this program, you’ll be prepared to serve responsibly and capably in professional careers in teaching, business, law, media, and other related fields.
As you can imagine, it has been stressful for her to contemplate changing course midway through the year, having to start the semester with new classes, new professors, and new classmates. Steve and I have tried to help put things in perspective for her: he told her that he changed majors three times in college and I told her that it’s really kind of crazy that young adults are expected to know exactly what they want to do for the rest of their lives. The bottom line is that she is by no means the first university student to make academic adjustments along the way.
Here is a picture of Sarah and Steve on speaker phone with the academic counselor; they spent over an hour getting Sarah’s new course of study set up.
As excited as we are for her as she takes this new turn in the road, today my bowl of Sarah’s delicious soup may be diluted with a few tears as I prepare myself once again for her leaving.
We are so proud of our girl and this wonderful journey she is on.
Some of you may remember Cody and his story from this post which had to do with a hat signed by Jeff Gordon, an official race jacket, a NASCAR stuffed bear and used lugs nuts that had actually been on Jeff Gordon’s car! But it mainly had to do with an 11-year old boy believing in miracles for his drug addicted parents.
Courtney Hurd is the woman behind the generosity described in that post. She is Director of Development with Our Towns Habitat for Humanity. (Her husband, Caleb, is a member of the crew team with Joe Gibbs Racing)
Before this current position, Courtney was director of the Hendrick Marrow Program of Be The Match Foundation. That is where our paths crossed several years ago–in the cancer/bone marrow transplant world.
Courtney and I have something important in common; we have both stood beside the hospital beds of daughters who were very ill. Courtney and Caleb’s daughter, Kate, was born premature with major heart issues that required surgery. 
Thankfully, Kate continues to gain weight well and is doing much better, although she will still have to spend several more weeks at “Hospital Hilton.”
I was thankful I had a few minutes to visit the family when we were in Charlotte over Chrismtas. (It was especially meaningful because they were at Presbyterian Hospital, the same hospital where Nathan was born.)
As mentioned above, Courtney is a generous, thoughtful person and true to her nature, she has stayed busy reaching out to the other families in the neonatal intensive care unit. Before Christmas, she set up a page on Amazon for people to donate items to the families on the floor with Kate. Here is just a portion of the items that came in.
Courtney and Caleb: the Smithellaneous family joins you in praying for you and your sweet Baby Kate, that all the remaining medical issues will be resolved and she will be able to come home with you soon. I was so honored to get to meet her in person–the cutest pink tortilla I have ever seen.
Now we’re going to hunker down and prepare for whatever wild winter weather is coming our way. I realize it’s pretty pitiful when southerners consider 2-4 inches of snow to be wild winter weather, but hey, when you don’t see much snow, even the smallest collection of flakes is worthy of excitement. To all of my readers in snowy climes, please keep your smirks to yourself. (smile)
What about you?
When you started college, did you know exactly what you wanted to do?
Did you change majors? If so, what did you start in and what did you end up in?
Do you use your college education now, or did you go in another direction?
I got through the first part of this POST but need to come back when I can focus better! Severe insomnia is kicking my butt! In roughly 2 weeks I’ve only had 14 hours of sleep (total) w/ no more than ONE HOUR @ a time! I’m losing what’s left of my mind!
In the meantime, can you share Sarah’s soup recipe?
Take care & if you see Mr. Sandman can you remind him of my address, PLEASE?
Jodi,
Here’s the recipe; it can also be made vegetarian and it is not strictly necessary to get tri-color rotini.
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/232067/quick-fix-tortellini-soup/
So very sorry about the insomnia; that is a miserable, miserable thing to have to deal with. And an hour at a time? I can’t even imagine. Sending sleep-filled hugs your way.
I knew going into college that I wanted to be an accountant and never changed my mind. I am still an accountant and love every minute of it. Best of luck to Sarah in her new direction and it is always easiest to change your path early. If you love what you do then your job will never feel like work. 🙂
I fell out of the top ten commenters this year. 🙁 I looked in late Dec. and saw that I was 11 and your sister Deb had the 10th spot.
Being in Southern Ontario I had to laugh at your comment about the snow. My husband got a new snowthrower (they don’t call them snowblowers anymore) for Christmas and as we were under severe snowsquall warnings all day, he was hoping to be able to use it but it still sits in the garage right now, shiny and new although tonight Mr. Weatherman is calling for 4 – 6 inches of snow for us so maybe tomorrow for him.
Mel,
You are blessed to have always known what you wanted to do; that’s quite a gift!
Being the 11th commenter is still quite the accomplishment when you consider the number of comments left by the top 10. Thank you for taking the time to add your voice; I am always happy to see your name pop up.
Here’s hoping your husband will get to use his new snow thrower soon. (And I’m still a decader or two behind and thought they were snow blowers. Thanks for getting me up to speed.) 🙂
Thank you for your sweet comments about our family. It was exciting to finally meet you!
As for college majors, I believe it is most important that you have the college degree and less important what the major is. Of course that isn’t true for all professions but for a lot of the world it is. I hired an indivial to help us with fundraising and building communities at Habitat and her major was Religion and German. Especially on nonprofits you run into folks with all different degrees that end up coming together for a cause.
Speaking of non-profit work, these arengreat places for “jack-of-all-trade” type folks. Since they are usually small
operations each employee wears many hats. The communications person may write press releases, handle marketing strategy and oversee editing of a PSA.
Hugs to all of the Smith girls!
Courtney,
Thanks for your encouragement about Sarah’s choice of majors. I think it will be a good option for her.
I think it’s cool how a non-profit can utilize the gifts and education of such a wide variety of people–even someone with a degree in Religion and German. It must be so rewarding to bring all those diverse talents together and create such good in the world.
Hugs to you and your family today.
God bless you and your baby, Courtney!
Steve-amen to that!
Saw the news tonight and couldn’t believe all the snow forecasted for the southern areas! We have been having very cold temps – teens and single digits in Michigan, but we can still see the grass through the light covering of snow. Southern areas aren’t really prepared for it because it doesn’t occur as much. Hopefully it will melt quickly for you!
College, I went for Computer Programming since it was the upcoming technology. I don’t work now, but the knowledge still enables me to set up our computers, cell phones, etc. Communications does sound like a better choice than filming – more choices of where to work.
P.s. Be sure to take photos of that snow!
Kari,
Right now it’s looking like we’re only going to get sleet, ice, and wintry mix but very little accumulation. Very sad about that!
Sarah is going to get slammed with up to a foot. That will be the most snow she has ever seen!
A computer programming degree would definitely be a great choice; can’t go wrong there!
Hope you all enjoy the snow. I’ll send you all you want from snowy Northern NY. I hope the new course of study suits Sarah better. It’s tough to know exactly what you want to do.. My youngest daughter just graduated with a degree in biology but she wasn’t sure in what direction she wanted to go. She thought about being a drug rep, doing research, and working somehow with the elderly. but she recently decided on becoming a Physician’s assisitant and is applying to grad schools now. My oldest daughter started out in business manangement but switched to education and is now a special ed teacher. My middle daughter kept her same major and now manages grants for a non-profit. I guess they all find their way eventually. Good luck to Sarah
Michele,
It sounds like your daughters are smart girls with medicine, business, teaching, and grant-managing! I know you are proud of them.
And you’re right–our kids do find their way eventually. It’s not always just a straight path, though.
I decided my senior year of high school that I wanted to major in Accounting after taking a bookkeeping class. I was always good at math but didn’t want to teach so thought accountants needed to be good at math. I never changed my major; however, I did switch schools after one year. I started at MU in Columbia and after one year transferred to what is now called Missouri State University in Springfield – both in Missouri. Coming from a graduating class of 90, MU was just too big – the college had more students than my town had citizens. I went on to get an MBA in Finance about 11 years later. So I’ve always been in the Accounting/Finance field – since 1977 so nearly 40 years now! While I didn’t change majors, the curriculum at MU was different than at MSU. Freshmen couldn’t take accounting courses at MU so I was at a slight disadvantage when I transferred to MSU where most sophomores already had 6 hours of accounting under their belts. Since those 6 hours were prereqs for most upper level courses, I really had to cram accounting classes in my junior and senior years. One semester I think I had three accounting classes. Good luck to Sarah in her new major!
Good luck on your winter weather also. Here in Kansas, we got 2-3 inches overnight Wednesday into Thursday. We’ve had bitter cold along with it, -3 when I woke up this morning. It was up to +1 when I got to work with a windchill of -11. Days like this I’m thankful that I have a gas fireplace – something I didn’t have the need for in Tampa!
Phyllis,
I can’t quite imagine having THREE accounting classes in one semester. I can imagine when that semester was over, you breathed the hugest sigh of relief and then took a long nap! 🙂
Be safe during this winter storm. Here in Iowa it’s been below zero all week. With no wind today feels like a heat wave at -9. At this rate I won’t thaw out until July. When I visited college spring of ’79 audited the Library Science classes and that’s what I wanted to major in. When I got to school that fall they had dropped the major and I changed to Office Management. I worked in offices for 26 years. Got tired of the office politics and now work from home as a merchandiser. I don’t miss the stress.
Karen,
A heat wave at minus 9? Oh my. I guess I won’t complain about temps in the high 20’s this weekend. 🙂
It must have been so disappointing to have your school drop the major you were intersted in. It sounds like you adjusted well and made a good career.
Working from home would be lovely–so nice that works out for you to do.
So excited about the snow. We are forecast for 6-9 + inches. Glad Sarah is leaving while driving is safe. As I high school senior I wanted to be a secretary and was for 2 hours a day for our principal. At Christmas I decided to go to college and be a business teacher. I did that–had to transfer after my freshman year because the college decided not to have my desired major as promised. I taught for 14 years but after going to Guam to teach staying only 3 months instead of two years I could not find a full-time teaching job. God opened the door to a position at Social Services as a secretary. I was able to do that for 14 months and then became a social worker. I retired after 25 years and was Supervisor of Child Care when I retired. God often leads in directions we have never thought about. Praying for Sarah as she makes changes. Enjoy your snow!!! Oh, I feel that if you take the time to write at least I can reply. That lets you know we have read it and been encouraged.
Ann,
I saw your pictures on FB and thought of how happy you must be with all that snow falling. 🙂
You have had quite the career path over the years and it sounds like you have enjoyed it. Social Services is not an easy job but I can see you being very effective there. I know you impacted a lot of lives.
Enjoy all of your white stuff while we look out the window at freezing rain!
So glad to see I made the top 5! Ha! Yours is the only blog I follow that I ever comment on, there’s just something about the Smiths that I find irresistible 🙂
I did not change my major in college but my son did. He started out with the Biomedical Engineering major but during his sophomore year switched to Biology. The engineering degree was just too intensive and rigorous for him, also he had other things he wanted to do at college besides study all the time ;). It was a bit of an upheaval switching things around to be sure he had the right courses in place in order to graduate with the new degree. But so worth it. He was much happier.
Figuring out what makes you tick is a process. Flexibility is key so that you can bend with life rather than stay so fixed that you snap in the wind.
And prayers out to that little beauty of a baby and her family. She’s lovely.
Lesley,
I am so honored that out of all the bazillion blogs out there, you comment on MINE! Your comments are always well thought out and insightful–thank you for being a vital voice here.
Imagine your son wanting to do something at college other than just studying all the time! 🙂 He made a good decision in changing because college IS about more than just studying.
And I love what you said about flexibility. So very, very true in every chapter of life.
Becky, first of all stay safe during the storm, we are up here in Wake Forest and the stores were crazy yesterday, the cashier and I in Target were laughing because we are from Michigan and New Jersey, respectively, and couldn’t believe the mad rush on supplies…….secondly, I did the EXACT thing that Sarah did, timing wise and everything, I had always wanted to be a teacher so that is where I was headed in college for 2-1/2 years, but teaching jobs were so scarce in the 70’s so midway through my junior year I switched to communications and actually transferred to another college since my college did not offer it as a major, yes, I had to scurry a bit and took 18 credits for all three semesters, plus a summer class, but I am so glad I did it. My specialty was journalism, during my last semester I did an internship at the American Cancer Society writing press releases and feature stories and doing photography, this led to a job as their Public Education/Public Information Director, I also was offered a job on a newspaper and CBS news and I wrote the employee newsletter for a big company….I eventually ended up in advertising which led to product development which led to a position in outside sales!!! It is a great degree and she will love it…..good luck!!!
Dale,
Wow–you have had quite the career! And it’s encouraging to me as a mom to know that all the things you accomplished stemmed out of your Communications degree. I could see Sarah doing many of the things you mentioned.
Thanks for sharing your experience; it’s good to know that degree is so useful.
I’ve thought about Cody many times, but don’t remember if you ever posted if his dad made it…
praying for sweet Kate.
always knew i wanted to be a teacher.
2 inches of snow does me in now…ugh!
Mrs. Pam,
Yes, Cody’s dad did come to Dare Challenge; in fact, he hosted him at our home during one of our Thanksgiving meals!
Teaching is a gift to us all–thank you!
Y’all are giving Sarah great advice and encouragement – college is a time to explore and discover!
Angela,
Thanks for the encouragement about the advice we have given. This chapter of life is a lot to navigate–for parents and for offspring! 🙂