Moving On.

Hey blogland-




As I sit here, I am surrounded by the remains of my Connecticut life. After three days, three LONG days, we finally have everything sorted. I'm waiting for the moving company to get here so we can start hauling this crap outta here!!!


Just wanted to stop in a say that I won't be posting for a  few days. Today we move everything out, tomorrow I clean the apartment then tomorrow evening we drop our car into storage and hitch a ride to LaGuardia where we will leave America behind for a year and become ex-patriots! That sounds so fancy!!


I'm excited for what is to come and not looking forward to saying good bye to another chapter of my life. Man these chapters are sure flying by!!!


See you in a few days with some pictures of the wreckage, the move and our transition into CANADA!!!!

30 Days: Day Twenty.

DAY TWENTY: HOW IMPORTANT TO I THINK EDUCATION IS?

My college mentor and I on graduation day!

I remember growing up and everyone saying that college is the best four years of your life. Well sh!t, I never thought they'd all be right!

I think education is probably one of the most important things out there. I know where are ways to get around without it and get a good job, but that's now why I think education is important. Education has a way of opening up not only your mind, but your feelings, your experiences, the way to accept things, people and ideas. It changed the girl I was into the woman I am now. I learned so much from my time in college. I met so many people that changed me, attended so many classes that changed me and studied subjects that in high school, I would never of had interest in!

But college isn't the only education that's important. I believe high school and middle school are very valuable years. The only sad part is is kids in high school and middle school don't even realize it yet!! I taught some 7th graders in a low income school district how to have healthy relationships, right? My heart ached every single day because I wanted my kids to realize how important these few years are. All I can hope is that some make it out of there with bigger minds, bigger hearts and an idea of how important their lives are.

All in all, education isn't only good for a job (mostly because I'm 2 years out of college and I still don't know what I want to be....) But it's important to your character. 

30 Days: Day Nineteen.

DAY NINETEEN: WHAT ARE 5 WAYS TO WIN MY HEART?

     I think know winning my heart is easy. Honestly, I'm such an easy person to get along with, it's almost unheard of. There are just 5 things you have to be into to make me love you. (And this goes from friends as well! It's all the same criteria, that's how important they are to me! ;) )

Not related to this post at all, but I felt there were too many words :)

1. You must like ice cream. Just kidding. To win me over you have to be a foodie. I come from a very awesome background. My parents and my grandmother were always pushing my sister and I with food. Always eating something weird one night then something totally different the next. I need my "someone" or "friend" to like exploring the food world. If you just like cheeseburgers and french fries, you'll need to try again later. 

2. You must have some part of your family that you love. I wanted to say that you must have a great family that you love and are supportive of you etc. But I don't know what qualifies in your eyes as a family. Your parents could be divorced or deceased or just not around. Whatever you count as your family, they need to have a good relationship with them. Family is too important to me to accept nothing less. At least you need to be able to understand why my family is important to me and respect that.

3. You need to love adventures. I swear I have ADD or ADHD when it comes to life and I get bored real quick. I love going out and doing things just as much as I love watching 6 movies in one day. I want someone who loves biking and hiking and swimming and exploring and trying new stuff. Life is too short to be otherwise!

4. You must, and I stress MUST, love animals. I honestly think there isn't an ugly animal on this planet, which of course is an exaggeration. My love for animals can be summed with this paraphrased coversation Jake and I had one day when the hurricane was coming:

     "Say you arrived at a shelter after a natural disaster and no dogs were allowed. You had Chasey (my pup) with you. Would you save yourself and let Chasey go, or would you move on."

     "Is that even a QUESTION?!?!" Meaning, I would rather suffer more and be with my dog then leave her in the street. And I feel that way with any animal. Lets just say, pets is something Jacob and I are still working on.

5. You have to be funny. I love laughing and if you can't make me laugh, hit the road. I hate carrying the conversation and I HATE people with no sense of humor. If your life is too serious to laugh about then you need to do some sorting, bro.

Lunch With Alice.

     Lunch with Alice has stemmed from Dinner with Alice which I tried to turn into a blog segment that just didn't get off the ground. I met Alice a few months back in the dark and dungy bar next to my house. We had been sent there by a mutual friend to meet up because we are both West Coast babies and obvio would connect right away. And I personally think we did!

     While we weren't the friends that spent every weekend together and know each other deep dark secrets, I always feel so comfortable with dear Alice. A conversation with Alice is always leaves me inspired, smiling and excited about anything that's coming up in my life. 

     We went to this little place down the street from my apartment called Sababa. It opened a few months ago and is a falafel place. Long story short, it was delicious, great price and just felt really fresh. 

      We sat in the courtyard in my apartment building. It's actually a really pretty place. It's above the street so you don't hear the pollution from the street while basking in this little haven. It's cooler today with more cloudy and breezes then I've seen all week. It was nice to sit in the shade and actually be cool. We sat and just shared. 

     [As I sit here writing this out, my dress is still warm from the sun. It's giving me that I-may-need-a-nap-in-the-afternoon kind of feeling. With all these warm thoughts, it may be easier to obtain!]

     It's so nice to find someone you can just be totally open with. I know I talk a lot, sometimes about relevant things and other times about things that probably do not matter, but she always just listens. I think it's so rare that you find someone so far from home that makes you feel so at home at the same time.

     Alice, if you're reading this I just want to say thank you for being my West away from home. You will truly be missed. Dinner with Alice will still be a fixture in my life, as I search for a new person to become my Alice in Toronto. I hope everything works out for you with your job and I hope you find that motivation, inspiration, light that you are searching for.

30 Days: Day Eighteen.

DAY EIGHTEEN: WHAT ARE SOME PLANS/DREAMS/GOALS THAT I HAVE?

     You're asking the girl who loves lists and calenders if she has any plans?! Oh course I do! But they're mostly just dreams they will happen soon!!

     As you may know, in 6 DAYS I'm moving to Toronto. This is a great opportunity for me to focus on my ::career:: or developing one. See, I have this problem...I have a hard time believing in myself. I'm terrified of failure and every more terrified of trying. But I'm working on becoming the kind of woman I've always seen myself becoming in my head. I want to be confident, powerful (not as in dominating other people but as in I think I can do anything), I want to be self assured and, above all else, happy. And I will do just about anything right now to get there.

     I've developed a short list of the things, goals, I want to work on for this coming year. 2013 is going to be my year, I can already feel it!

1. Spend more time focusing on my writing: whether that be creative or not. I have this internship set up for Toronto where I'll be writing articles for them and I think that'll help get me back in the swing of things.

2. Start developing an Esty store: I am a creative being (thanks, mom & dad). I craft and make and create and imagine all the time. I've been thinking more seriously over the past year of doing something with it. And I've already put some plans in motion!

3. Conquer my fitness! This is pretty self explanatory. My problem is that I love to cook...and bake and eat and try and indulge. I want to find some equal ground where all those parts of me can hang out without one part getting more upset then the others. This'll be a hard one!

4. Make new friends...ones that stick: I crave friendship. Like...badly. I feel closer to some bloggers that I read who don't know me then the people I see everyday. I mean...Connecticut isn't really my cup of anything so I'm kind of ready to GTFO (Get the f%#* out). I have a goal of making 2 friends in my first month! Lets see if I can do it :)

     Thats all I think I have right now...Friday is full of possibilities and the weekend to come will be nice and relaxing! 

Does anyone have any tips for me on achieving these goals? Have you ever been in a similar situation???

Stretch.

Source.

     Do you ever have those days where you just can't seem to stretch enough? Every time I move in my chair I end up stretching. I feel like there's all this built up energy in my muscles that can't seem to find it's way out. 
    But then...I can't seem to get out of this damn chair. Maybe it's not my muscles that need to stretch. Maybe it's my mind that needs to stretch out. I sit here watching the world around me from my desk and wonder, how will I get myself out of this chair? 
     I've been feeling, lately, like I'm in this remarkable place. I finally have this opportunity to make my moves into a career field that I want. The moment, the time you dream about, plan out, it's coming up. In one week. It's time to become this adult. I get to literally pick what I want to do next...as long as I apply myself and am confident (which is always a problem for me...) and I, ya know, GET the job I apply for...I can't help but think...am I ready? Can I do this?


     Anyone have any tips for this Nervous Nelly?
     

Celebrate!

Alright, ya'll! Lets have a great July 4th! I'm glad t still be in the country for this! Man, wouldn't it be weird to be in Canada for July 4th?!

     

     After I post this, I'm jumping in the shower and heading to a beach BBQ bash in a neighboring town with some of Jacob's work pals. I have yet to have a beach day here on the east coast so I'm excited! Should be fun! While the weather calls for thunderstorms, it's already 81 degrees and humid. Lets hope no drops come down!


     I thought it may be appropriate to maybe name some things I'm thankful for on this Independence Day! 


1. Family: Of course! I love my family and I am thankful that I have such a great one, no matter how small! But it sure is growing! To the Carpenter's back west, miss you guys!


2. Friends: No matter how far away you all are, I still love you and miss you! Be safe today!!


3. Jacob: Babe, you're awesome. I'm so grateful to have a guy like you!


4. My education: I'm thankful to have my education because it could be a lot worse in other parts of the world, am I right?!


5. The Change: I'm thankful that things are changing, not just in our country, but in the world. We've been having these internal battles for power and control but I think we've forgotten what being a free nation is all about!! We should be thankful that we're not like some other parts of the world and work together to change the things we don't like. It's our country, is it not?!


Happy 4th, you guys! Be safe, be thankful and be mindful of your actions!