Thursday, May 29, 2014

Almost June

Hey everybody!

I know I've really only been posting once a week, but I've been super busy these days. My job is going great! I've been preparing for the month of June's goal because June starts on Sunday! I even downloaded plans to help myself get my act together and keep my goals going. That's really all of an update I have.

Be happy!
Mackenzie

Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Full-time Job

Hey everyone!

Sorry I've been lacking on the posts. I just got hired as a teacher's aide for two Kindergarten classes full-time until June 19th. Which is super exciting! I spent the last week preparing for the Relay for Life which happened over the weekend. It was very successful and my team is still in fourth place for fundraising. And I broke my phone for the third time :( But overall, I'm in a comfortable position.

Be happy!
Mackenzie

Monday, May 12, 2014

Red Thumb Reminder

Hey everyone!

Going off of my post from last week about driving safely. In Massachusetts, texting while driving is illegal. I have to admit, I do find myself checking my phone while driving or even talking on the phone while driving. I saw a video a few months ago called Red Thumb Reminder (link below). I am vowing to paint my thumbnails red to remind myself not to text and drive. This will aid in my happiness because I will be driving even safer and I'll make everyone else on the road safer. No text is that important, and you don't want an EMT responding to your text. I suggest you all take the Red Thumb Reminder pledge as well. Make everyone safer and happier.

Red Thumb Reminder

Be safe and happy!
Mackenzie

P.S. I'm also setting up a mobile service that refuses to let my phone receive texts or calls while I'm in the car just as an extra precaution. Pretty cool!

Thursday, May 8, 2014

In Control Crash Prevention

Hey everyone!

Part of being happy is knowing that you're safe and in control. Two weeks ago, I took a course called In Control Crash Prevention. I recommend this course to everyone. You may think you're safely driving but you ma not be right and it doesn't hurt to check. A bonus is most insurance companies will take money off your car insurance, so not only are you safe but you're saving money.

I want to talk a little bit about my time there. It was so much fun. I admit I was very nervous at first but as soon as you get in that car and go you loosen up. There is a class component along with four driving courses. After checking your seating position in the car to make sure it's the safest the first course you practice is panic stopping. You push the gas pedal as hard as you can, the instructor will tell you to coast where your foot hovers over the break, and then a fake break light comes on and you slam on the breaks as hard as you can. Doesn't that sound fun? It was. Then you go through the course a few more times, the goal is not to hit the wall of cones at the end of the course. The next course focuses on swerving. In this course they push you to your limits, so you can feel the car lose control (I promise it's not bad, all you do is hit a cone). You go through the course with seven cones and have to continue to swerve through them. Each time you go through the course you must go faster. It was hard for me to hit the target speed as the speeds got higher because I knew I would "lose control" and hit a cone.( I only hit one this round). After that course, they combine the previous two courses because breaking first before swerving can keep you in control. This was called Emergency Lane Change. You push the gas petal down as hard as you can to get up to highway speeds and coast again. Here is where the tricky part is. When those break lights flash you must slam on your breaks, swerve around the wall of cones, and swerve back into your lane until. You must follow these actions until your breaks have brought you to a complete stop. Then they will tell you to continue on. I had a hard time bringing my car to a complete stop. I would always lighten up on the brake instead of holding down to the floor. Now they don't just throw you into all of these courses, you ride through with an instructor driving first (if you get motion sick sit in the front). The final course you do not get to practice more than once and the instructors don't take you through it first. It's like being on the road for real. It is set up so there is one car in the middle with an instructor and a car on either side of the middle car. The cars on the sides have four student and one instructor in it. The three student passengers are there to provide distractions. The car in the middle has a rope with a cone attached. The cars on the side must accelerate with the cone. This rope and cone signify a "safe" driving distance. This course was designed to show you that what we think is a safe driving distance isn't. The middle car slams on his breaks and the two cars on the side slam on theirs as soon as they see it. This factors in reaction time. Almost every car would have been in a fatal crash had this been real. A safe driving distance is 3 seconds and so the space between you and the person in front of you varies based on your speed, but it's always 3 seconds not car lengths!


This is a picture of my class! I'm on the far left in the front and that's my sister next to me.

The instructors are all so nice and most of them are trained race car drivers. They really take the time to explain each course to you and their expectations. They want everyone to be safe drivers and so they push you to your limits. It may be uncomfortable at first but it's really for your safety and for everyone around you. The instructor will go through each course with you until you've mastered the techniques and live up to their expectations. They teach you so much useful information and they teach you ABS (Anti-lock braking system) is your friend and not to be afraid of it (I know I was). It's beneficial for people who just got their permit or who have been driving for many years. I highly recommend this course because safety ensures happiness, I know I feel safer after taking this class and therefore happier. I want all of my readers to be happy too. There are different types of skid school crash courses, this is one in Massachusetts (link below). If you're interested (and I hope you are) look for the Crash Prevention course in your area.

Be safe and happy!
Mackenzie

In Control Crash Prevention

Monday, May 5, 2014

New beginnings

Hey everyone!

So as I'm finishing up school, I wanted to lay down a few rules for myself. I'm going to start in June again because May is a very busy month. I hope you all remember why I'm doing this. As a reminder it's based off of Gretchen Rubin's book The Happiness Project. I feel there's a lot more I can do with my life to make it happier. I'm already a very happy person but there's always more. I'll keep posting twice a week so I can get into a habit of posting. Until June, I'll post to keep you updated on my life before I start into my year-long happiness project.

Be happy!
Mackenzie

Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Let's Catch Up

Hey all you happy people!

Let's do a little catching up before I make any more commitments. I'll fill you in on mainly happy aspects.

Since September:
I still have my Hedgehog little Miss Sophie
My older sister,Erin, had her son Declan-her second child
I passed my Fall semester.
Christmas happened.
My sister, Erin, got married.
We put my 21 year-old cat to sleep.
I started my Spring semester.
My mom turned 50.
I saw Book of Mormon.
My oldest sister, Tammy, had her son Spencer-her second child.

Those are the main points of the months I was MIA. I'm sure I'll add more as I think of them.

Be happy!
Mackenzie

Tuesday, April 29, 2014

I'm back!

Hey everyone!

I have not been on since September and a lot has happened since then! Now that I'm heading into summer vacation, I plan to start my Happiness Project over. After I stopped writing I stopped following the goals I had planned out here. The goal of this whole project is to make my life better and I am determined to do it this time. So I plan on picking this project back up and making my life happier. More information to come!

Be happy!
Mackenzie