Reflecting and thinking lately...

I've been thinking lately.
A lot.

I've been reflecting on my life thus far, the events that have taken place, the events that will eventually be taking place, reevaluating certain situations. I'm going to be 23 Monday, July 2nd. I'm not really sure when that happened. Time has been flying by me so quickly.

I've been reading this book lately: Quarterlife Crisis.

It's great. I'm only on page 30 something and I love it. I've been marking pages up and bookmarking things I like and enjoy. It's basically about how twentysomething year olds feel pressure of needing to know what they're going to do in life; pressure of needing to have everything figured and planned out. When in reality, none of us have that. Yea, everyone knows about the midlife crisis. But what about the quarterlife crisis? We're all going through it in some way or another. My sister Emilie actually bought this book for herself and then figured I'd like it. Man, was she right. I couldn't have started reading this at a better time! Seriously, everyone my age should read this. It will make you feel a lot better about feeling lost and confused about your life. Well, it made me feel better at least. :)

We all just need to remember that it's OKAY to not have your life completely planned and figured out! It's okay to be confused and lost once in a while. Nothing is set in stone besides the fact we will all eventually die. Other than that, nothing is certain. So take some risks and leaps. Explore your likes and dislikes. Leave your comfort zone. Try new things. Meet new people. Stay true to yourself and make sure you're happy. (Obviously these things are a lot easier said than done, but hey- it's a good inspiration to at least remember and think about these things!) 

Anyway... Yea. I'm trying to figure out who I am, who I want to be, who belongs in my life, who shouldn't, etc. It's quite the clusterf*ck of thoughts and wonders. I had my orientation for Pizza Luce the other day: I am SO excited to start working there!!! Seriously. Pumped. Ecstatic. I already feel so at home and comfortable with it. It's chill, welcoming, fun, and I'm sure the people I'll be working with are gonna be just as awesome. They're gluten free, vegan friendly. Oh, and we're going to be in the 4th of July parade in Richfield (which is where our location will be opening). Guess what we're throwing out in it? GARLIC. Yep. Garlic and artichokes are our signature items of the restaurant, so it's a fun way for us to get our names out and be different! I'm so excited.

I'll also be a PCA and a nanny for my two little cousins starting in fall, so I got to hang out with them and my aunt today to kinda get to know the ropes of the house and such. That'll be great. Until then, I'm working at the concessions stands in the SSP pools. It sucks, but it's money.

And I just... Yea. Keep thinking. Pondering. A lot. It's been a very contemplative time in my heart and my mind lately. I apologize for my lack of posts. 

Stay tuned for a guest post from my fantastically talented cousin soon! :)

xoxo

"The smart thing is to prepare for the unexpected." - Fortune cookie truth

Graduated-ish/ Lately

Well, that's done and over now. That is, my undergraduate career. Okay technically I'm not quite done? I have an internship/ volunteering thing for 120 hours of experience this summer, THEN I will be done and graduated. But I've moved back home now, and I have no more classes. It's kinda...weird. I'm still adjusting. My parents are trying to sell their house, so moving all my stuff (that I have accumulated over the past two years) and attempting to store it in places that won't be seen during showings of the house- yea it's been hell. I am super OCD about where all my things are. And right now, everything's in random boxes spread throughout the shed, garage, attic, my room, my sisters' rooms, closets, and the laundry room. So that's driving me CRAZY. Ack, I hate not knowing exactly where everything is...especially when it's something I need right that moment. I'll get over it. Or hopefully we can just sell the house; that'd make things SO much easier!!! So please everyone keep your fingers crossed for that!

Other than that, I'm just trying to find a dang job. Ugh. I have only been unemployed while I was in Spain, and that's it- since I was 16 years old. So being unemployed right now is killing me. I feel so... worthless, I guess would be the word. I know I'm not, but I mean, it just sucks. I'm living with my parents with no job, no car, and $70,000 of debt. Gee, so proud. I graduated college, and that's a huge accomplishment. But to me it just doesn't feel good enough, at least not yet. Once I actually get income and can start throwing money at my loans I'll feel a lot better.

Also, now that I re-read that last paragraph I realize I sound really negative. :P That's another thing I'm working on! Haha. Working on being happy with myself and who I am. I can make sure EVERYone else is happy, and fix everyone else's problems; but when it comes to mine, nope. But Lexi's my personal trainer now so I will get healthier physically, and hopefully psychologically along with it. I think that once I get a job, have income, and can get my life on track I'll be a lot better off and will be a lot happier with myself. So that's a work in progress.

Lastly, I love my sisters. I love being home with them now. Whenever Emilie and I are home usually we're jam packed nights and weekends with family and such, so it's hard for just us three to bond. But when we're home, we bond. And laugh- A LOT. Actually that's basically all we do together. Ha, it's amazing. I honestly don't know how I could survive without them! We are all so completely different people, yet we end up connecting perfectly and getting along so well. Of course we have random times where we just scream at each other from different levels of the house, or freak out because our shoes were stolen by a sister, but really- no one's perfect, right? ;) We usually just end up laughing about how crazy we seemed later on. It's great. Lex and Emilie are my life. I'm excited for all the wild, random memories and laughing fits we're all going to have together in the next few months.

So that's where I'm at thus far. Truckin' along, trying to find a job, etc. Now that I'm back in the cities though I'd love to catch up with old friends and new friends. There are so many people though, so I'm just kinda waiting to see who all messages or contacts me first. :P

PS-- The dentist called today to schedule an appointment, and the earliest date available is July 2nd. Which is my birthday. Ha! But I love the dentist. My dental hygienist is AMAZINGGGGG. I refuse refuse to have anyone else besides her. She knows all my sensitive teeth, and my life story! Haha! So yea...happy birthday to me? :/

Little bit of life lately!

Hi there beautiful people :)

I apologize for lack of activity over here on my blogster world... Life has been quite a joy ride lately!

Let me start off by saying how absolutely perfect my New Year's weekend/ Christmas with Dad's side of the fam was... IT WAS AMAZING. Basically had grand ol' bonding time with my freaking awesome cousins (most of them...some couldn't make it) and I got the best gift from my grandparents: a gift card to the Co-op! I literally cried I was so happy about it. How perfect can that be? I love the co-op, and I wouldn't have had any food upon my return to Winona without it! Ha! So that was great... Then New Year's Eve (that Saturday...) my sisters and cousins drove me to a town in Iowa to meet half way with Andrew. Then him and I drove on down to KC for the weekend.

We basically drank wine, ate food, shopped (way way more than both of us usually do, so we were pooped!), and spent some quality time together... I can't remember the exact schedule we had, but all I know is I enjoyed every moment of it. I got to see my cousin and her new hubby, and my best friend too- so that was awesome. It was just so nice to be there with Andrew. Our alone time was my favorite part because the past few times we've seen each other it's been hectic and busy as all hell with family events, etc. So that was nice to not worry about that. And yes, we totally spent New Year's Eve in PJ's, drinking wine, eating pizza, and watching Big Bang Theory. We felt so old... But I wouldn't have had it any other way! Ooo and we have BOMB DIGGITY Indian cuisine for lunch Sunday... Holy yummy. It made me miss all my Nepali/ Sri Lankan friends though!

After the perfect weekend, I had to take the Greyhound back to the Cities.... HA. That was... Yea. I will never do that again. Andrew, I love you. But I will not go through that again. :P The bus was hot... Then a rando guy ended up sleeping on me/ cuddling with my shoulder for the last ~4+ hours of the trip... It was about a 10 hour trip. And the drive from the cities to KC is only 7 hours. So that sucked. Lol. I mean yes, the weekend was completely worth it. But boy was I glad to be off that bus that evening! I got a good "welcome back" night with my parents and sister by going out for tacos at a restaurant called Rusty Taco. [If you're in the St. Paul/ Mpls. area, definitely go check it out! Rusty Taco site] We had read great reviews on it in the local paper; they have gluten free tacos (as they're all in corn shells) and two vegetarian options. The owner was an awesome, fun, energetic guy... You could tell how passionate about his restaurant he was! So that was fun.

Fast forward a bit... to Thursday the 5th. I took the GRE that day. Ha. What a joke. It was terrible. I feel like I guessed on every thing. Emilie had helped me study basic math skills the night before... But of course there was a ton of algebra and geometry, and vocabulary that I'm pretty sure no one actually uses... So yea. But it's done now. And the one school that requires the GRE that I applied to won't know the minimum score requirements until March 1st, so I won't know if/ when I need to retake it until then. So that sucks. But oh well... I wouldn't be able to afford it soon anyway! ;)

Aaaand that same night I returned to Winona. Man oh man, I am NOT ready for this new semester. With my new minor I added (Child Advocacy Studies), I'm going to have a hard adjustment to having so many classes when I'm used to working constantly, not go to class and study constantly. So that will be interesting.

Also, this whole month of January will be absolute hell- not only because of the new semester. But because I am one of the technical directors for the Frozen River Film Festival here! It's an awesome thing that's put on every year; it's a great community event. But it's a ton of work... I mean, obviously it's worth all the effort we put into it. It's just very time consuming. Here's the link so you can go check it out! And if you're in Winona during the festival- you must go! It's great! :) FRFF Also, if you're in Winona and feel like being generous, we need more volunteers to help out! ;) Andrew is a total technology guru, and he used to work at it. But now that he's not here anymore, my technical partner Sam and I have to take over! Woooo!

Anyhow, so that's my life lately. I apologize in advance if you don't get updates from me throughout this month... Or if I only put lil' blurbs out. That's why. Because it's going to be a crazy, hectic, busy month... But it will be fine. And I will survive. Oh and I have to finish applying for grad schools... Heh. Yay?

I got this. Ain't no thang, right?

I hope you all are doing well, having a good start to your year, and enjoying life. Andrew and I are pretty much counting down the months til my spring break (when I get to visit for a whole week!) and July when I go move down there... 6 months. *sigh* seems like so far away. I'm sure time will fly though...

Take care and much love!

Cheers!

Pretty Winona :)

Mmhm... One of my favorite quotes lately.

Something I tend to forget to do ;)