the need-to-know

Before you get bored reading about me, I want to sincerely thank you for taking the time to visit and browse my blog. My blog is more of a hobby and outlet for me to write, share, inspire, be random, and ramble about all kinds of stupid shit. That being said, thank you for reading my nonsense, and I hope the least I can do for your time is provide a little laughter and a little love.

Side note: Yes, I cuss like a sailor. Yes, I am a classy ass woman. And yes, I can be both at the same time. If cussing offends you, you offend me. Judgment never looked good on anybody.

My name is Courtney Carol Tipton Zeigler. My name is long and complicated because Tipton is my adopted name and Zeigler is my married name, both of which have great value and meaning to me. When I got married, I kept Tipton as part of my middle name, so my name writes Courtney C.T. Zeigler. If my name is too much for you, I get it. It can be a lot for me, too. For the sake of simplicity, I am also referred to as “CC”, “Blue Eyes”, “Court”, “Sis”, “Carol”, “Courtney Carol”, “Tiptonator”, or “Nana”. Whichever name you prefer, it really doesn’t matter to me. Just don’t call me a bitch.

I am originally from Lancaster, Ohio, which is a small country-like town 45 minutes southeast of Columbus lost in the abyss of never ending corn fields and cow pastures. I was raised by the hands of a hardworking father and giving mother, and surrounded by the love of close friends and family. Currently, I live in the French infused, bourbon capital, and horse-crazed city of Louisville, Kentucky. I love this place. I love Louisville. I love Kentucky. I love it so much I put one of those home stickers with the outline of Kentucky on my car. That’s a big deal. I’ve lived in several different places over the course of my lifetime, and I can confidently say I’ve never felt more at home than I do in this charming city. I describe Louisville as the perfect combination of that Midwestern personality and that sweet Southern charm. Being from Ohio and having lived a short time down South, I find Louisville to be a perfect fit.

Part of why I love Louisville so much is my job and the community of friends my husband and I have built here over the past five years. When we first moved to Louisville, I worked as an Academic Counselor for the School of Business at Indiana University Southeast in Southern, Indiana, which I thoroughly enjoyed but couldn’t deal with the downtown traffic and the hour plus drive. But I must say, the people I worked with and the students I advised at IUS are, by far, some of my faves! After almost two years at IUS, I took an Academic Counselor position in the College of Education at the University of Louisville where I advised all the Elementary Education majors. I had previously worked for UofL in a different capacity and I was eager to get back to the Cardinal Community. I’d be lying if I said there weren’t challenges working at UofL, but I’d rather focus on things I learned and the relationships I built. My time as an Academic Counselor at IUS and UofL was an absolute privilege, and I will never take for granted the power of position I had with my students and the influence I had on them when telling them I believed, I supported, and I had faith in their capabilities.

In October of 2017, I took a leap of faith and took a position with a company that couldn’t be more different than higher education. I was done pouring myself into a position that didn’t return the level of happiness and livelihood that I needed, so I made a change and I am so grateful that I did. I now work as a Marketing Strategist at AssuredPartners, which is an insurance brokerage company. Never in a million years did I picture myself working in insurance, but here I am working in insurance and absolutely loving it. I won’t bore you with the details of my position, but I work specifically in employee benefits and essentially “shop” insurance for our large group clients. This role is completely outside my wheel house, but I’m learning so much and am thoroughly enjoying the tasks of my job and the people I get the pleasure of working with each day.

There is much more I could share about me but I won’t bore you to tears. Other than work, it’s good to know the following:

I absolutely adore my extremely intelligent, handsome, and charming husband, Benjamin. He is my best friend and my soulmate. We have been married for almost four years, but in total we’ve been together almost nine years. Time flies when you’re having fun! I’m truly a better person because of him, and I never take for granted the minutes in this lifetime we have together. Oh, and we share the same birthday!

Zeigler- Party of Three

Our family grew by one this year. On Friday, March 15, 2019, we welcomed our beautiful baby boy, Bennett Rowland Zeigler, to this crazy world. I thought I knew love but God showed me a greater kind of love the moment my baby was placed on my chest. I physically felt my heart grow twofold. And then, just when I thought I couldn’t love anymore, I saw the love, pride, and joy in my husband’s eyes as he embraced our baby boy for the first time. Benjamin and Bennett are my world. I might be new to the scene, but being a mom is pretty awesome. Benjamin and Bennett give me purpose, give me love, and give me joy.

We also have two cat children, Sophia and Zoey. I guess that kind of makes us Zeigler party of five… We adopted Sophia from one of my former students at IUS, and we rescued Zoey from an ash pond at Benjamin’s work. Both of them have added tremendous joy to our lives. Haha! Yes, we are crazy cat people.

I earned my Bachelor’s of Arts in Communication with a minor in advertising from the University of Tampa in Florida (Go Spartans!), and then went to the University of South Carolina (Go Gamecocks!) where I earned my M.Ed. in Higher Education and Student Affairs. I love the Ohio State Buckeyes! Although I didn’t go to OSU, being from Ohio allows me to be a die hard fan.

Jesus is my Savior.

I love my family and friends and cherish any opportunity to be surrounded by them.

I am a firm believer in living by some form of philosophy or motto. For me, I live by two guiding principles or philosophies that help keep me on track.

Personal: To be my most holistic self, I must live with integrity, creativity, intellect, vulnerability, confidence, adventure, and a love for all I do. Most importantly, I must live for my Creator; the one that makes all things possible. 

Leadership: I have learned the most about myself through my mistakes, and as a leader I take pride in knowing that I’m not perfect. I am confident and I am courageous, but I am not flawless. I am always learning, developing and thinking. I lead with integrity and truth and devote myself to a job and its entirety. Pride, although in moderation can be important, is a barrier to our successes. Vulnerability is a strength in which I embrace, and I believe that one cannot succeed without the help of another. 

I could write for days about all of the things I wish to accomplish in my lifetime, but I know as a reader you are 1) not that interested, and 2) don’t have the time to read about my lifelong aspirations. Therefore, I will give you the extremely condensed version of what I hope to accomplish in this gift I like to call life.

Professional: This is so fucking tricky and complicated to think about. I go back and forth all the time about what I want to accomplish professionally, and where I see myself in 5-10-15 years. Currently, I work as a Marketing Strategist at AssuredPartners learning and navigating the basics of employee benefits. I’ve been with AP for a year and a half and thoroughly enjoy the work and my team. I intend on pursing opportunities within the company and making a career for myself at AP. However, I also intend on keeping my options open. I never thought I would say this, but I’m truly enjoying the insurance world. I have so much more to learn and experience, so I’m just taking advantage of opportunities to grow, learn, and become more well-rounded in this industry. Outside of my current role… There is always a part of me that wants to fall into my dad’s footsteps and work with him in the franchise world. My dad has worked tirelessly building what is now Lancaster Wings, Inc., and nothing would make me happier than to work beside him and help him take the family business to the next level. Not to mention, my dad could use a fucking break. I also have thoughts about starting my own business, but again that’s complicated so I won’t get into it. Either way, I have passion, I have drive, I have ideas, and I have confidence. I just need to keep my options open, never turn a blind eye to opportunity, and have the courage to grow and takes risks.

Personal: This a rather loaded category. There are a shit ton of things I want to accomplish personally. I don’t have the body of a runner nor do I believe God intended for me to be a runner, but I get the best mental clarity and drive after a good run (slow or fast). I enjoy the challenge of running and I appreciate (and value) the confidence and strength I feel after a good run. I have ran several half marathons and various other road races, and eventually one day I will accomplish a full marathon. Mostly, I just want to walk, jog, and run for as long as God allows me because of every step accomplished is a privilege we take for granted. I want to be healthy, physically fit and active, a good eater and appreciator of food, and always listening to the needs of my body. I want to buy kayaks and explore all the rivers, lakes, oceans, and other random bodies of water. I want to be well-versed, well-read, and well-cultured. I want to travel as much as I physically and financially  can. I want to visit all 50 states in the U.S., I want to go on an Alaskan and Caribbean cruise, and I want to visit London, Paris, Greece, New Zealand, Fiji, Australia, and Spain to name a few. In a perfect world, I would love to go on a Eurotrip and make a special stop in Germany to visit where my ancestors lived. I want to explore parks, stores, restaurants, bars, roads, and all the eclectic places that make for good stories. I want to make money, save money, and share my money. I want to be a rock star mom and role model for my children. I want to be an awesome wife, partner, and friend to my husband. I want to be a good friend. I want to join a non-profit organization that focuses on children, individuals with disabilities, and/or education or just create my own non-profit. This is just the start of my personal “to-do list” for this life.

Parenthood: I just want to be a good mom. I want to a good wife and a good mom, so however “good” manifests itself that’s where I want to be.

Relationships: Always keep building them, maintaining them, and cleaning them out. Build your relationship circle with people that build you up, motivate you, positively challenge you, and never let you feel bad about being yourself. Most importantly, never take your relationships for granted.

Spiritual: This is a constant matter of development. To clear the air, I do not consider myself religious. To me, religiosity isn’t something that aligns with my moral and ethical values. Just because someone is “religious” doesn’t mean they are closer to God. To me, the majority of religious people are furthest from God than the non-believers, but that’s a discussion for another day.

If you continue to read however, you will know that I consider myself a Christian, and someone that is very spiritual. To me, being Christian and being religious are two separate things. I am Jesus-centered and a strong believer in the gospel and grace of the Lord, but my actions do not merit God’s praise. God’s grace is ours no matter what we say, do, think, feel, or know. My life is centered around building my relationship with God and acting on His love; not boastfully but with grace that I am not trying to “win” His love, but that I already have it.

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Although I am not the best, I enjoy writing and crafting. Writing allows me to organize my thoughts, and say things more clearly than I can in person. Crafting allows me to be creative in a world where, sometimes, creativity can be lost in translation.

I like to think I’m a fun person. I’m free-spirited, down to earth, easy going, and love adventure. I have flaws…many of them to be exact. But I am not sorry about my flaws nor ashamed of them. I’m extremely OCD and a neat freak to the point of insanity. I love adventure…..but planned adventure. Spontaneity is not in my chemical makeup. I do not live life by the edge of my seat. I have plans, and plans within those plans, and backup plans in case those plans don’t turn out. That confused me, too! But you get my point!

I love my friends, I love my family, and I love my husband, Benjamin.

I would do anything for the people I love, and yes, that includes risking my life for their life. My heart is bigger than my body, and often leads me to heavy disappointment. But that disappointment has molded me into the person I am today because I have learned from my mistakes and have grown from my heartaches. Happiness is not a goal, but a lifestyle I choose to live. Life is too short to be unhappy. I roll with the punches, intelligently manage my emotions, work through the shit that’s been handed to me, and strive for resiliency.