Life Lesson: When Its Time to Change Its Time to Rearrange

WOW!  What a difference a couple weeks can make.  Let me give you a little recap of what has happened since my last post.  Ready, set go.

1. My parent's sold my childhood home in Ohio and will be moving to South Carolina in 3 weeks.
2. I signed a lease on a new apartment and will be moving in 2 days
3. I am leaving my job at the Center tomorrow
4. I am starting a new job on Monday

Apparently when I change things up, I really change things up.  I all of these things are amazing and good and exciting but cause a lot of stress and crazy times. I am looking forward to two weeks from now when I am settled into my new apartment and job.  While the timing is insane, everything is changing for the better.  I love my new place, I am excited about my new job and my parents deserve this move. 

After I survive the next few weeks I will check back in.  Until then, wish me luck!

Life Lesson: An Office is Not Good on Beautiful Days

I miss being able to beg a professor to have class outside on a gorgeous day.  Better yet, I miss being able to skip a class and lay out on a green lawn.  Being confined to a cubical is not all that fun on an amazingly warm and sunny day.  I am taking my lunch outside and soaking in as much sunshine as I can in about a half hour.  I guess it will have to do me if I want to have money to live, which I do. I am just having a little pity party for myself as I stare out the window across the hall and see the sun. The end.

Life Lesson: From Hater to Celebrator

I have never really like Valentines Day, well except for that one year when my parents got me a purple sparkly purse that I loved to death until it broke a week later.  Beyond that, VD has never gotten much love from me.  Until this year..........

I realize that being farther away from the people I am used to seeing on a regular basis has made me a bit more sappy.  Some might even say a lot more sappy.  But in any case, I have come to appreciate more the ability to tell the people I care about how much I care about them face-to-face.  I also appreciate the ability to have a day when I can go over the top (beyond my normal self) to tell the people I am far away from how I feel. 

I am a firm believer in the idea that when you care about someone you tell them often, but how great is it that there is a special day when you can go above and beyond and show them just how much they mean to you.  Even if it is just teasing your friend Abby about buying her flowers and having them delivered to her office just to show how much her friendship means to you. Valentines Day is the day that makes that joke acceptable and extra funny. 

And for those folks out there who aren't all into telling the people you care about just how much you care and on a regular basis, Valentines Day is a great day for them to go with the flow and let it all out.  All in all, I have gone from being a Valentine's Day hater to celebrator and all it took was a move to Louisville, Kentucky. Who'da thunk?

Life Lesson: The Non-Negotiables

I used to think people needed to fulfill a long list of requirements to be a part of my life. This has changed.  My standards have not lowered, but I have narrowed it down to what I feel is truly important.  Ready for this? You have to be a good person and be passionate about something.  That's it, folks. 

Seems broad, huh?  Well it is, but people are too complex to be shoved into a smaller box.  There are too many amazing people in this world who may not match up to all the criteria of a longer list.  I believe everyone in your life has something to teach you and something to share with you.  If you only allow people who fit into your perfect mold into your life then you are actually the one missing out.  You are missing out on incredible people and incredible experinces.

I am still very careful with who I let into my confidence and allow to see the real me, but at the core you have to be a good person and be passionate about something to be considered to get to that level.

Life Lesson: Sleeping with Wet Hair = No Bueno

Basically, I slept with wet hair and my ceiling fan on and woke up with a running nose and scratchy throat. Cool.

Life Lesson: Sometimes You Just Need to Sit Down

My MO is go, go go. This is the way it has always been.  I was that girl in college who would take too many classes, get too little sleep, be in too many organizations and then still sign up for more.  This part of me made the move to Louisville, too.  I took on the motto of never saying no. If someone asked me to do something I did it.  I saw it as a way to try new things and make new friends.  Now, here I am 7 months later having tried a lot and with a lot of friends and I really just need to sit down for a hot sec. 

In the past month I have literally had one evening at home where I sat and did nothing.  I by no means want to be a couch potato, but I have grown to understand the importance of taking time to breathe and just be.  The simple pleasure of sitting in cozy clothes and watching a movie is one not to be taken for granted. 

I don't make new years resolutions because I think you should do something when you want to do it, not just because it is a new year, but to each his own.  In any case, I am deciding now, and coincidentally it is the beginning of the year, that I will take more time to just be. To sit still, sit back and look at the life that I am leading. 

Life Lesson: The Friend Date

I am not 100% sure if I came up with the concept of "the friend date" or if my ever witty friend Brittney, but nonetheless, it is a one of the best things EVER.  So basically here is how it works: you meet a new person, you get their number and then you meet for drinks and/or dinner depending on comfort level at first meeting.  This could be a man, woman or whatever.  Just someone new you are interested in getting to know.


When you move to a new town and do not know anyone it is like you have to go on a first date with everyone you meet.  You have to decide if your interests are similar enough, if you can get along with each other, etc. before you decide if you can be friends or not.  You worry about your hair, your clothes, do you have something in your teeth, do you like the same music.  All the things that come along with a regular date and maybe even more important.  Because lets face it, you are not just choosing someone to smooch on, you are choosing the people you will tell about the person you smooched on.  Bros before hoes, chicks before...well you know. Important stuff here, guys. I would say I have gone on about 25 friend dates in the almost seven months I have been in the Ville.  Some good, some bad and some ugly.  Believe you me, there are so really good stories that come out of friend dates just like romantic dates.


I have made several great friends through the friend dating process and no longer have to go on "friend dates" with them.  There are some folks though that require multiple friend dates.  I really need to come up with a cut off point.  How many friend dates are enough to determine if you can be friends?  Where is the line drawn between those you have good enough dates to be really good friends or just acquaintances?  My answer to these questions: 5 1/2 and sushi. 


I have been on about 6 friend dates with a person I met at a social function.  This young woman is very nice and we had a lot in common.  We decided to meet for a lunch friend date.  This turned into 2 lunches and so on.  I could never quite make the jump though to considering this person my friend. Something always just seemed to not fit quite right.  And then one fateful Thursday I discovered what it was...sushi.  I do not care for sushi.  The dater was aware of this, but told me we would go someplace where there was something else to eat besides sushi.  We get there and there isn't.  I am stuck then in a tiny restaurant with not time to go anywhere else and starving and having to chow down on some sushi.  It. was. awful.


Now, I understand that I should be open to new foods and I try to be, but it is the principle of the matter.  A dinner friend date? Sure, lets grab some sushi and I will give it a go.  A lunch friend date? No, I don't have time to not enjoy my lunch when I have to be back at work.


This is just one of the many friend date experiences I have had and because of all the other great experiences I have had, I am a big supporter of a friend date.  Just word to the wise, when a friend on a date says they do not care for something....listen. The end.