march 30: what a rainy, cold, and dreary day! jen and i went to the leasing office today to talk about extending our lease for an extra month. it didn't go as well as we would have liked, but what can you do?
work was slow today. phonathon went pretty well. i think the callers are just as exhausted as i am.
becky's been working on creating a new etsy shop and brand for herself as an artist. she's asked me to take some pictures of her things for her etsy page, website, and just to have. here's a little preview of that.
i'll probably finish everything up on friday afternoon, when the lighting's better. i like this little guy though, he's cute!
march 29: went to visit a school and check out the grad program in the morning. i was SO worried that i was going to hate it and be stuck, but i actually really liked it. i got to tour the facility and talk to one of the professor's. she was so nice and encouraging and gave me such great advice just about my career goals in general. i just need to wait a few things out and weigh my options before i make a decision. dun dun dun. more decision making! ah!!!
phonathon was actually pretty good tonight. my callers did really well. sarah ball came to visit and she brought me a cherry coke zero. my fave. :) after phonathon i grabbed some dinner and went to hang out with kerri. i'm going to miss her being around. even though our schedules inhibit us from hanging out a lot, it was nice to know that she was here too.
this is the ACTUAL view from my office sans 50mm lens. haha. it was such a beautiful day today! when it's nice outside i find myself just staring out the window daydreaming. not really good, but i can't help it!
march 28: another start to another week. it was really cold today and snowed in the morning. i will never understand north carolina weather. it's so random.
phonathon tonight was pretty good. we actually made some money which is a slight improvement.
tomorrow morning i'm going to visit a school to look at the graduate program. i've been preparing myself for it and have even typed up a list of questions. i want all of the facts!
march 27: obligatory picture of olive on sunday. i feel like sunday's i always have a picture of olive, so i'm just going to officially make sunday my "picture of olive" day.
drove home from virginia early this morning to go to church, but i've had this awful headache since last night and it resurfaced this morning. so i didn't make it. :( i did meet up with amy for lunch though. i was feeling a little better by then.
had to work phonathon. then hung out with kelly and lauren. and then went over to bruce and becky's.
it was a good sunday, even though my headache has been in and out all day. hopefully it's just the weather and it will be all gone tomorrow.
march 26: i finally decided to go grocery shopping. i had only be putting it off for the past week, but the lack of food and options in my cabinets and refrigerator finally pushed me to the store.
spent the afternoon being uncharacteristically domestic. i baked cupcakes, from scratch, and made fresh salsa. baking was a lot of fun, it was just so stinking time consuming.
went up to virginia for the night to see eliza in her show "noises off" and to visit. i took her some cupcakes too.
march 25: friday friday friday!!!! (i think i do this every friday. sorry i'm so redundant/uncreative, i just really enjoy friday's).
got to leave work early and grab lunch with kelly. i love our lunch dates. i'm going to miss them.
came home and passed out. i didn't go to bed till late the night before because i was finishing watching band of brothers and couldn't bring myself to turn it off.
i woke up from my nap to find that my roommate had picked up a package from the office and it was my new toms! so exciting! i have a serious addiction to them and i need to back off, but i can't help it. i love the shoes and i love the organization. i could be obsessed with other things. at least i'm giving back.
went out for dinner with alyssa to celebrate her birthday and then went over to amy's to watch a movie with her and a bunch of people. it was a good friday.
march 24: last night of phonathon for the week which is always a good thing.
came home and was attempting to take some pictures of my splatter painted porch (long story), but poor olive was so upset that she could see me and not get to me. it was cute and sad at the same time.
this is the stuffed animal i got for olive for in her crate when we travel. i know that she's in a bad mood and has been throwing a fit all day when i find it downstairs in the living room.
march 22: it was such a nice day and the weather was beautiful!
i think that i was trying to take a picture of the view from my desk, but i only had my straight 50 mm lens on and couldn't get up from my desk to move back and take a picture without looking to suspicious. so this is what i have. the building pictured is mcewen hall. it's a girl's residence hall and where i lived my freshmen year of college. i really want to be a student again!
March 21: i know i know. i'm a week behind...again. my apologies. i've been a little bit out of it lately and have been focused on other things, but i've been taking a picture everyday!
monday. the start of another week. nothing too exciting really. just working like usual.
this is what the parking lot looks like when i leave phonathon. completely deserted.
march 20: went to discover bible church to see ben lead worship. it was actually really nice. i liked the pastor a lot and everyone that greeted us were really genuine. i think i'm going to go back again.
after that went for sushi with jen. it was her first sushi experience, so that was fun. did childcare at the journey for adult small groups and had a lot of fun doing that. toddlers are so entertained by the smallest things. i just blew bubbles for about an hour and they had so much fun with it! i wish life was still that simple for me.
after childcare went over to bruce and becky's for dinner and to hang out. phonathon stinks because it makes it difficult for me to see them. i'm glad that i do get to see them at least once a week though.
march 19: saturday!!! woke up early to do some things around the house. kelly came over and then we went shopping with becky at the friendly center. i got some new nail polish from ulta.
after an afternoon with becky i came home and watched some more "band of brothers." it's so good, but i get so caught up in it that i'm nervous and anxious for the characters all of the time! balls and kelly came over for dinner. so we ate and hung out. it was a good night!
march 18: half day at work and beautiful weather!!! i left work at 1 pm and then headed to the farmer's market with balls. got some really cheap produce and great zucchini bread.
after that we went to get our nails done at buff nail bar. we had a living social deal to use, which was an awesome deal. the place was sooo nice and it was so relaxing and much needed. after that stopped at mellow mushroom for dinner. came back home and started watching "band of brothers," but i feel asleep super early and ended up calling it a night.
march 17: st. patrick's day. had phonathon, but it was an awful night. no one was answering the phone so i let the callers go early. kerri and i tried to meet up with some people, we went to liberty first and then to the claddagh, but it just didn't work out.
i was craving ice cream, but by the time i finally headed home i was 10:30, so i settled for a wendy's twisted frosty. it was actually pretty good.
march 16: first day in the office with bill gone. it was so strange. i've seen so many transitions in this office since i've been there that it's a little bit ridiculous.
olive again. this time with her green mouse. i think she lost it at some point because she's crazy.
march 15: night two of phonathon post vacation. sorry it's taken me so long to upload pictures...last week was a little stressful getting back into the swing of things.
another picture of olive which means that my night wasn't too entertaining.
march 14: loooong day at work. blech. it stinks going back after a long nice and relaxing vacation.
phonathon started again too. we'll be at that till mid april. wooo hooo.
broke open the bag of skittles i had bought for the drive to florida. i thought they looked pretty and took a picture. it's a monday night, what do you expect from me?
march 13: took this sunday to sleep in and adjust to not being on vacation, as strange as that may sound. unpacked and did some grocery shopping and just did some chores around the house.
went into church around 5:15 to do childcare while the adult small groups were going on. it was actually pretty fun. it was me and mcgee so it was cool to hang out with her for a little. after that we met up with bruce and becky for subway and hung out at their house for a little.
because i was gone all week i gave olive a new toy, so most of the night we spent playing fetch with her new red ball. haha. she's crazy.
march 12: woke up early this morning for one last walk on the beach/photo shoot. i am so bummed that my vacation is over. florida was wonderful. it was so relaxing and so nice to get away for awhile, but now it's back to work and back to reality.
these next couple of months won't be too bad though. in april i'm going to wilmington for a weekend with catie hammond and in may is a bunch of friend's weddings and a trip to chicago! after that is moving back home, which could be good or bad, and some quality time with my family/family vacation to the beach. i shouldn't complain too much. life is pretty good. and i'm so thankful that i even had a chance to take a vacation!
march 11: last day in florida. :( kelly and i went to get pedicures and then went to the ponce inlet lighthouse. it was an awesome view, but such a trek to get to the top!
went out for dinner and then went to see red riding hood. i still don't know how i feel about the movie. i'm sad that tonight is my last night in florida. i don't want to go back to reality.
march 10: woke up and went to magic kingdom! at first it seemed like it was a bad idea because it was raining pretty badly. kelly and i even sprung $7.50 for a disney pancho, but it ended up being okay. because of the rain we got to power through a lot of the rides and only had to wait about 10-15 minutes. it started to clear up in the afternoon, although it was still a lot colder than i would have liked.
after magic kingdom we stopped at some outlets and i treated myself to a kate spade wristlet! :)
march 9: it was beautiful today! spent the morning sitting and sunning by the pool. then we went to the "deck down under" for lunch with kelly's aunt, uncle, and cousin. it was sooo good. i'm loving how seafood is a staple part of my diet this week.
we came back and relaxed a little then passed out for a nap. didn't wake up till 6 pm. oops. sorry not sorry though, i'm on vacation! we woke up and went to get dinner from the "boondocks." the place was so crowded that we ordered out and took it home. kelly got 1 lb of crab legs and key lime pie. i got bruchetta to share with kelly and then pick 'n peel shrimp and crab bisque. seriously. such wonderful food. i may move here so i can eat seafood all the time!
march 8: disney day one! woke up and headed out by 7:30 to try to avoid traffic on the way to orlando. the drive actually wasn't that bad. one thing i realized though is that florida roads are in just as bad condition as pennsylvania roads. awful.
went to mgm in the morning. i tired to get kelly to go on the rock 'n roller coaster and the tower of terror, but i had to manage them by myself. it was fun though. we even watched the beauty and the beast show.
went to epcot in the afternoon and had dinner in mexico for kelly's birthday. i love epcot. i love all of the different countries and the atmosphere. it's just more laid back and there aren't as many kids and families with strollers. one thing i learned is that if i ever have a family, we will train and practice for disney and we will NOT use a stroller. strollers in busy theme parks are evil.
caught the fireworks from illluminations as we were leaving
march 7: woke up around 8:30 this morning and went for a little walk on the beach. when kelly woke up we got ready to head to the beach, but it was SO cold today. we spent the day lounging inside and reading. i started reading the lost symbol by dan brown. it's pretty good. met up with liz in downtown daytona for dinner and went to bubba gump. it was good to see her and meet her roommate. kelly and i came back to the house and went for a walk on the beach and played with flashlights. kelly made a star!
march 6: i'm adding two pictures today since i failed at taking one for friday.
today finally felt like i was on vacation. we slept in till 11 and then spent the day shopping and exploring daytona since we couldn't come to the beach house until after 4 pm.
kelly's aunt jessica took us out for dinner at this place called jerry's that had the most delicious food ever! i got calamari marinara. it was amazing. then we went grocery shopping, came back and unpacked, and are now about to watch a movie. i can already tell that this week is going to be fabulous.
march 5: go time! spent the day driving to florida with kelly and alyssa. we caravaned with another car of people who were going on a cruise. it actually turned out to be a lot of fun. i was a little worried because i don't like caravaning very much, but it wasn't as bad as i had anticipated it to be.
we finally arrived at kelly's aunt's house in daytona, grabbed some dinner from panera, then came back and crashed. this is quite possibly one of the most comfortable and heavenly beds i have ever slept in.
march 3: last day of phonathon for a week!!! spend the day/night packing and getting ready to leave for florida. olive thought it would be fun to play in my clothes hamper, but then was too stupid to get out. haha.
march 2: wednesday. work. phonathon. went to a new class at the gym in the morning called body combat. it was actually a lot of fun and a great work out. started packing and getting everything ready for vaca in florida!
welp. here's the serious blog post that i keep saying i'm going to write. brace yourselves.
you know how your legs feel like jello after you've been treading water for a really long period of time? when you finally get to solid ground, you're so thankful, but it's also like you have to learn to walk again. your legs give out and can't support you. that's how i feel right now. i've been treading water (just barely) the whole month of february, and now i'm trying to find my footing again.
february came in with a bang. a student at hpu passed away. my car needed $575 in repairs. i didn't get into the graduate program at IU. my cat that i've had since second grade passed away. phonathon started. and my grandmother passed away. february is a short month, so the fact that all of this happened in the span of a short 4 weeks, it can be a little overwhelming, stressful, and quite frankly spirit breaking. what's crazy is that february wasn't difficult for just me, on top of all of my issues, i watched close friends deal with a roller coaster of events and emotions.
let me throw another analogy out there. all of this has felt like i'm being tossed around in the ocean. you know how there can be crazy and out of control waves after a storm? they're really tempting because they're a lot of fun, but if you're tired and lose your footing they kick your butt. they throw you around, keep you under, and barely let you come back up for air before there's another wave that's there to knock you down. february is this wave. it's a big bully and had me pretty close to drowning a few times.
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 says:
For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.
clearly this has been my time to be broken down, my time to weep (literally. i have cried more this month than i have in the past four years of my life), my time to lose, and really kind of my time for war. but what's crazy is that it's fine. i know that God's plan for my life is going to be wonderful beyond my comprehension, even if it doesn't seem like that now. once i get through all of this i will have my time to heal, laugh, dance, love, and have peace.
while all of this was going on a friend told me to listen to the song "give me faith." the first few lines spoke right to my aching heart. "i need you to soften my heart, to break me apart. i need you to open my eyes, to see that you're shaping my life. all i am. i surrender." that's exactly what God is doing right now. he's breaking me apart and forcing me to open my eyes to see that he is taking care of me. that he knows what's best. and that while i may think i know what my future should be and where geographically i should be, he still knows better.
but now february is over. and i'm ready to take on the month of march with a renewed and strengthened heart, and stronger spirit, and an open mind. i'm not tied to anywhere geographically. i'll be done my job may 31. there are a lot of things i could be doing and a lot of directions that my life could go. normally this "unknowing" and unpreparedness makes me nervous, but i have this strange peace about it. i think that i needed to be broken down to the point where i'd actually be willing to go wherever i'm called. i always said that i would go, but now i actually mean it.
so, i'm sopping wet, done treading water, and ready to be hung out to dry. (the inspiration for the title of this blog is thanks to the cold war kids song "hang me up to dry"). as always, i'll leave with some musical inspiration.
march 1: PRAISE GOD IT'S MARCH!!!!! i'm hoping that march will be a better month than february. february has been awful.
again, work kind of stank. whenever i feel stressed, overwhelmed, or out of control of my life i like to do something extreme or random. i would like to get a tattoo or piercing, but my job prevents that, so i died my hair. not even a fun crazy color, but still, it made me feel a little better.
february 28: kind of a bad day at work. had CRAZY weather. i thought i was going to be swept away to oz. was really frustrated with my phonathon callers, which is bad since it's only the second week of calling.
came home and crashed pretty early. olive kept attacking my feet under the blanket.
february 27: sunday. well woke up to a phone call from my mom bearing some bad news (again, i will blog about that later. i have a lot of other things on my mind to write about). went to church and then out to lunch with bruce, becky, & ben. after that headed over to campus for phonathon from 2-5. immediately after phonathon went to the phi mu chapter development meeting to speak with kerri. was starving, so then kerri and i went out for dinner.
i finally got home and was going to relax with milk and a few girl scout cookies. when i turned my back, i guess olive decided she wanted some cookies too.
february 26: spent the night at eliza's, so didn't get home till around 1:30. i ended up passing out until about 4:00, then got ready to go hang out with bruce and becky for the night.
went to dinner at a new thai place. the food was so good, but so spicy! then we went to sally beauty supply, charming charlie, and red mango. i bought some pretty spring/summer inspired nail polish!
then we came back to their house and watched the prince of persia, which to me was like indiana jones meets aladdin. it was pretty good, minus the annoying damsel in distress.
february 25: mini getaway for the weekend. worked a half day because we have phonathon on sunday's and headed up to va to see eliza. we did some retail therapy then explored downtown danville. after that went out and met up with a bunch of her friends for cheese steaks and some drinks. it was a great night.
