i have been avoiding this blog like the plague.
mainly, because i know i have slacked.
it makes me sad because i enjoy looking back on my blog. its like a scrapbook. only more like a journal.
a personal journal that you read.
i can sum the last couple months of life up in two words: organized chaos.
oh boy. oh boy.
this is going to be a long post, so feel free to come back next week when i am back in my groove.
i moved to washington d.c. after graduation and did an internship with a start-up non-profit. it didn't involved too much of my time, so i gave tours of the city.
lots of tours.
oh it was a love hate relationship. i loved the people and the $$$, but i hated the heat. and customer service gets old too.
i was hopeful of finding a full time job in washington d.c. -- i had two interviews -- one with NASA and one with the United Nations.
neither worked out.
(insert freak out on life moment here)
i literally had mornings when i would wake up sick to my stomach, call my family crying and pray for the Lord's guidance in this uncertain step of life.
i have some pretty incredible friends in dc. actually incredible doesn't do justice. they are angels.
they took me in. literally. i lived with my dear friends catharine and kyle for a month.
i hated where i was living in bethesda. ohh i hate to type the name of that city...it makes me cringe. so one night at dinner they decided to pack up all my stuff and move me to their apartment(s) in crystal city. (jordan craig played a big role in this by the way)
I JUST LOVE CATHARINE AND KYLE! (yes, i used all caps) -- they are the couple on the right.
they are adorable. funny. sweet. kind. cute. smart. caring. the list goes on and on.
they let me live in their apartments and bum off them for a month. they took care of me and introduced me to their circle of friends.
i will never. ever. be able to repay them for what they did for me.
thank you, kyle & catharine.
thank you to my dear friend jordan too. he knows me so well and knew i was unhappy. he tried everything in his power to change that.
thank you jordan for being a best friend. you daaaa best.
transition: this photo was taken on my last night in dc.
yes, you read that right. my last night. i am no longer in dc. i haven't been for about a month now. my dear friends took me out for dinner in old town alexandria followed by karaoke/dancing/beers. (yes, beers. i drink beer now! i know, right?)
jordan also bought me red velvet cupcakes that night. oh that boy knows me too well.
after a fun night out and an illegal taxi ride home, i found myself in tears telling these wonderful folks good-bye.
(and in tears (laughing so hard you cry tears) because jordan and matt put a hole in the wall. haha.)
goodness gracious, i was being ripped away from these wonderful people who i had become very comfortable with. life was kinda sorta starting to make sense right when i was leaving.
but i was headed home. actually, i was headed to Ithaca, New York with jordan and katie. (more to come)
but i was headed home to iowa.
an hour after i walked in my door at home, i received a call from TOMS offering me a full-time job in california.
i had been interviewing with them for a couple weeks and had a gut feeling i would be offered the job as i had interned with them last summer.
after a lot of pondering and many many prayers, i officially accepted the job on July 27th, 2012.
this meant no more dc.
i am moving to california and joining my TOMS family as a full-time employee. my first day of work is august 21st, 2012.
i am excited. anxious. nervous. beyond grateful. and ready for the next chapter of life.
some days i am so sad that my dream of living and working in washington dc after graduation didn't go exactly as planned.
i get sad thinking about the friends that i will be living 3,000 miles away from.
there is something about that city that i just love.
i think the main reason i love that city is because of the people.
the friends that surrounded me in that city are one-of-a-kind. they are the kind of people changing the world for the better.
lesson: regardless of where i go, i will find people who share the same interests and values as me.
...
life is so uncomfortable right now.
it is so challenging.
i am moving my life across the country (again).
i am going to be on a tight budget, but i will be working for a cause that i believe in.
i don't have an apartment yet, (see a pattern here?) but i will be living with another former TOMS intern. she and i have been apartment hunting daily, but trying to find an apartment in LA is about as easy as finding a needle in a haystack. we have a few leads on a couple apartments opening up within the next couple weeks. prayers please.
i will have to learn how to drive in twelve lanes of traffic, but i can do it.
life will be hard. it will be another transition. there will be tears. there will be moments of joy and moments of confusion.
life will be uncomfortable for awhile. but that's okay.
i know that God has a plan for me. a plan bigger and better than what i planned. i get so excited thinking about what He has in store for me. it must be something really neat.
i hope one day i can look back on this period of life and realize how truly blessed i am.
i want to live my life in a way that honors the Lord.
when God gives you a blessing, you are to bless others.
and that is what i am just about to do.
california, here. i. come.
12 points for you if you read all of this and it made sense...!
like i said, it is kind of like my journal.
