Wow, Thanks Michael, I enjoined reading that.
I am glad you see us in this positive way, this site is intended to bring all together from coast to coast and I am glad you see it the same way.
I also want to thank you again for inviting all these wonderful members when you joined almost a year ago..
Thank so much.
Monti

Well hello there, stranger. How are you? What have you been up to? I miss talkin' to you. You've been so helpful in giving me advice and motivation, and I just wanted to give thanks to you for that. Thank you very much, and hopefully I'll talk to you again soon. Bye for now, Nikki.

Hello, Michael...

I'm not being negative at all. I just asked if Jessica had any advice for me that she would like to share, and she did. No matter what is going on in my life, I surround myself with positive people, activities, etc. to get me through each and every day. I know that positive thinking and visualization will get me everywhere and everything that I want out of life. Thanks to you and others, I've been able to make some changes in the way that I study and write steno so that I can keep moving forward. I've listened and applied all of the wonderful advice that I've gotten. As a matter of fact, without this forum and others like it, I wouldn't have gotten as much advice and knowledge that I have so far, because in school, it's just so competitive. Trust me, Michael, I'm keeping my eyes on the prize. I do have a newborn baby due on February 26th, and of course all of my other children are looking at mommy for all kinds of support, so I have to stay strong. I do not have any other options right now. My husband is now in Afghanistan working, but he'll be here for the delivery. He has a year contract and will come home every four months. So you see, I have to be stronger than ever now. Your prayers will be greatly appreciated. I am moving along in my speed and gaining more and more confidence. I'm at 160 Q&A and Lit., and I'm at 180 J.C. I'm over the hump and staying on target. Now I need to just finish. Whew! Please keep in touch with me. My 21 month old (terrible two) just got home, so I've gotta run. Talk to you soon, Nikki

Michael,
thank you for the letter and the kind words. I'm honored to be an example to your mentees, but I don't know exactly what that entails. All of my success is entitled to Kislingbury, my Mom, and my instructors at Cypress.
In regards to me being mentioned in your comment to Stephanie, I always try my best, but I never go into a testing situation with the expectation of getting 100%. You might see that as a weakness, but part of trying my best involves no extra burdens. I'm sure Olympians wish to win the race or maybe break a personal record, but I'm sure they don't go in hoping to shatter world records. Such thoughts, I think, are deviations from doing one's best. My best on the CSR was five errors, but I didn't go in hoping for any specific number under 50. That's what I told you when I met you briefly at CCRA, I wish to pass. I surpassed my expectations, and my score reflects my best ability, but it's a reflection after the fact, never an expectation.

Hi, Michael, hope you're having a good day! Stay up.

Jessica

Good morning, Michael. I've got some things on my desk to finish up on this morning, so I'll get back to you later on today! : )

Oh, and I got your e-mail to my scopebydc@aol address, so I'll be replying from that address. : )

Hi Michael,
Can you send me your e-mail address and I'll attach the rates to a message. I will check out professionalscopists.com in the meantime.
Thanks,
Jessie

Testing...testing....is this thing on??? I hope my e-mails have been getting through, Michael. I'll keep tryin'.
:~ Denise ~:

Merry Christmas.

Hi, Michael. Thank you for your comment on my page. My turnaround time is 5-6 business days. If you'll contact me privately at scopist@gmail.com, we can discuss further the possibility of working together. Hope you had a great Christmas.

Sheena

Good morning, Michael.
I'm sending you a private e-mail to your other address. : )

:~ Denise ~:

Hi Michael,
Thanks very much for writing to me, I really appreciate it. Love your page!
Bebe (MCR)

Thank you for joining the parenting group.

Oh, my! What an awesome page! And you are EVERYWHERE on this board! Thanks for the poem - I'm printing it out to put in front of me - the last quarter was so unbelievably challenging for me!

So, what's the "DR" thing? Do you have a Ph.D., too?! Because I'll bet you do - you are really motivated!

Well, aren't you clever with that nickname! That's great! I was in the courtroom at the time I made that comment and didn't put 2+2 together! I like it.

Actually, I saw you on Angela's board, Marla's board, and then some of your posts to blogs/articles, AND you are on the leaderboard next to me -- so I went to your page. Glad I did, because it's inspirational for us struggling students. Frustration really sets in when you are at a plateau or you are angry with yourself because you aren't getting it.

Where are you in California? I used to live in Orange (many moons ago); I'm a native (Inglewood) and spent my elementary years in Garden Grove. Don't miss living there daily, though. But it's an exciting place!

Oh, well, if I had bothered to actually be more observant, it does say San Jacinto! Lovely place!

Just dropping you a note to say, Hello. I hope all is well.

Thank you for sharing that lovely poem. This one's a keeper. With your permission, I would like to share this with my family and fellow students.

The poem I read was from your CSR Nation page that begins, "When things go wrong, as they sometimes will..."

Just taking a much needed break from practicing, and I thought I'd say hello. I wanted to ask you who your son's girlfriend is. I probably don't know her, but in case I see her around, I wanted to introduce myself.
Anyway, I hope you're doing well.

Hi, Michael.
I just wanted to touch base w/ you. E-mail me when you get a sec, please. I hope everything's okay w/ you and yours..... ??

this was very inspirational to me. I'm doing well in school, but the rest of my life needs either a one huge blessing or a view little ones.

Thank you for your kind words. Stephanie is a remarkable young lady and truly deserves to be where she is right now -- through her hard work and with a helping Hand. God bless you, too.

Hi there! How have you been? I have been very, very busy. My mom called a few months ago and wanted me to come and live with them in Hesperia, so I had to put in for a transfer, get the money to come on down, and am now here. I now work at the Lowes in Rancho Cucamonga, and am fighting to get enough hours to be able to pay my bills. I reenrolled at Tri Community, but have not yet had time to get there. But probably next week. I have been helping my parents with a lot of things that needed to be done here, mom and dad have to come first, especially for now. But don't fear, I will be back at it soon, and working really hard on it! thank you so much for being such a good friend and caring so much. I appreciate it a LOT!

Michael, that is beautiful. I would like to share this message a friend from church sent me. This helped me through the recent CSR. Enjoy and God bless:

One day a young lady was driving along with her father . They came upon a storm. The young lady asked her father what should she do. He said "keep driving.”
Cars began to pull over to the side. The storm was getting worse. “What should I do?” the young lady asked. "Keep driving," her father replied. On up a few feet, she noticed eighteen wheelers were pulling over also. She told her dad, “I must pull over. I can barely see ahead. It is terrible out here. Everyone is pulling over. Her father told her not to give up. Just keep driving. Now the storm was terrible, but she never stopped driving, and soon she could see a little clearer.
After a couple of miles, she was on dry land, and the sun was out. Her father said, “Now pull over and get out.” She said, "But why now?" He said, "Get out. Look back at all the people that gave up and is still in the storm.” You never gave up and now your storm is over.

I heard this in church and wanted to share this with you. I thought this was a testimony for anyone of you that is going through something. Just because everyone else, even the ones that appear to be the largest and strongest gives up, you don't have to because, if you keep going on up ahead, your storm will soon be over, and the sun will shine upon your face again.

Hi Michael, Stephanie and Carla are two buddies of mine. We're classmates. Stephanie and I took the June 26 CSR together. I have seen your name on several sites. Also I'm nosey. I like checking out other sites. lol I also love it when I discover another believer. I, too, like to encourage people, so I felt compelled to put in my two cents. I love the court reporting profession. I have been trying to obtain this dream for a very, very long time.

Hi Michael, hope you're doing well. When you have a chance, please read my blog re: interrupting the proceedings. I would very much appreciate your experiences. I'm trying to build my confidence in this area. I'm sure others would appreciate this as well.

Hi there!!! Finally had time to get on this and send some messages....thanks for looking out for me!! In this very short time of knowing you, you are great!!! Again, thanks...and Happy Monday:)!

Hi Michael,

Glad to hear she has a mentor. She clearly needs to boost her confidence. It's just a shame she got such a horrible job first one out of the chute. I thought maybe I'd better back off on her for now, but if she posts again, I'll keep an eye out for her and try to encourage her.

Good luck keeping her motivated and moving forward!

No problem. When I read that she wanted to go back to school because her first day was so bad, I just had to write! I'm glad to hear she has an official mentor. Seems like she's just lacking confidence, and that will come in time.

What!? I thought I was the only one! I do know of another CSR in Hemet, but she works in court, not depos.

I actually had a depo in Hemet a couple weeks ago...that was a first! The noticing attorney was from Pasadena, so I was hoping opposing counsel would be local and maybe I could pick up a new client, but no such luck. They were only in Hemet because the deponent lives in Hemet (sigh).

Do you freelance, have your own clients, or what?

I've got two depos in Orange County tomorrow, but breakfast or lunch with you and Stephanie sounds good; we'll just have to pick a different day.

And if Stephanie's not feeling up to it by October 1st, just let me know. I can probably handle the drive allll the way across town :)

After I did the story I was worried I yapp too much. I'm glad you enjoyed it.

Yep, that's my mom! I was going to ask you if there was a connection there because I remember her giving me a name and number right after I passed the CSR exam and I was pretty sure it was somebody local named Michael. How weird is that? I don't remember how it was that she had your name and number. What's the story?

Go Stephanie!!! I'm so happy that she didn't give up! Tell her I'm proud of her in case I don't find my way back to her posting.

Ventura County, just north of Thousand Oaks/Westlake. I lived in LA until December. The kids, 6 and 8, needed more space. Or maybe it was me -- two kids, husband, dog, two cats, lizard, and bird -- yeah, I needed more space! They are both in school now; so no more excuses.

Thanks,
Tami

No, didn't freak me out. I've had people stop me in the mall and say, "Are you Betty's daughter?" Now that freaks me out because I don't think there's very much resemblance!

For the record, Betty is my mom, I am actually rather short, and currently my hair color is brown :)

My second depo cancelled today, but the first one went all right. It was a video doctor depo and pretty dense, but at least the bully attorney I was expecting to show up as opposing counsel didn't come; it was a much nicer gentleman from his office. That alone made my day!

Hey there - I take it you've been busy...I haven't heard from you in a couple of weeks -- actually, when I was busy. I'm not now. Been kind of slow, but I am so sure things will change -- again. Well, you have a great rest of the weekend. Just wanted to stop by and leave u a little something-something!

Hi there. I was just checking in to see how things are since the last few weeks ago that we talked. I am still pressing, just need a little extra push. Have a great Labor Day weekend

Hello, Michael... How's everything? I miss talking to you. Holla back whenever you get the chance. LOL.

Hey, Michael... It has been a while since the last time we've spoken, huh? Yes, I've had another baby. He's seven months now. So much is happening with me right now, that I'm just trying to keep my head above water. I'm still working on 160 Q&A and Lit. and 180 J.C. I am so close, and I know my problem right now is nervousness, concentration, and not enough practice time. I'm trying to learn how to purposfully put myself in "the zone." I'm going to be attending my first seminar, which is this weekend. It's the GSRA seminar. I'm soooooo excited to have some grown-up time ALL weekend to gain knowledge from all of the Georgia reporters and business owners. How has everything been with you?

Thanks for welcoming me on the site. I went to Sage College and I am super excited about passing my CSR and starting to get out into the working world. Sharla and I went to the same school and she's been super helpful with myriads of questions I've been asking...lol.

Hi Michael...It's me again...lol. YOu are correct, I have hit a plateau and I am running out of financial aid eligibility because I have been in the same SH level for a while. And like I say I need a push. And I really cannot afford to just give up...actually I am driven to get finished to so that I can start working in this field I am so anxious...but I need help.

You're welcome! Have a blessed day and a beautiful year!

HAVE A BLESSED B-DAY, MICHAEL!!!

Hey, I just noticed today's your birthday! I almost didn't log in at all today, and then I would've missed it. Happy Birthday!

Happy B-Day!!!