Drum Roll Please....8 Months Later

Hello all!

So many unexpected things have happened since January that I completely forgot I even had a blog. In fact, I forgot my username...good thing I had tagged my blog in "my favorites."

I've read and talked to many of my friends who graduated with me this past year about the next step in life. Most of us are/were expecting to land the career we wanted in no time at all. I for one thought I'd have a real job by the end of January or at the very least February. It's funny looking back on things. God really does have control of the paths we take and maybe brings things to reality or maybe it's showing us humility and teaching us to be more humble and gracious for things we take for granted. I had a seizure in January and it really set me back. I was really upset, confused, and even tried to blame myself for a few months...since it was probably due to too much stress among other things. Little did I know my parents were blaming themselves also, for what reason I don't know. It was a big scare at first, but now having had plenty of time to look back on it, I know that things do happen for a reason. Maybe God cannot completely change our stars in the sky, but at least he can control the severity of the bad things that happen. Not to go on and on about this, but at least I was at home when it happened...not at school...not driving...etc. The ironic thing in all of this is that I had an interview set up that afternoon. Hours before the interview, a different path was somewhat forced upon me.

I feel like there is more for me to see, more for me to learn, and that I was putting way to much pressure on myself to begin the "next chapter" in life back in January. Time off was not in the plans, but it was definitely much needed. The eagerness to move out of my house back in January may have been due to the independence I grew to love in college. The seizure made me depend on so many people to get me around to places (couldn't drive for 6 months) and help me when it was hard to get used to the medicine...the somewhat big changes....but, now I can drive again and things are more routine.

Having been confined to the house hours on end from the end of January to mid March, I really needed to get out. The new Harris Teeter a few miles down the road across from my church was set to open in early April. I got a job there at the Starbucks. Kinda neat that it is across from my church...don't know how to explain it, but it comforted me to be so close while at work. I'm still at Starbucks, even though I thought may only be there for a few months until I could drive again and start the job hunt...without as much stress.

The girls I work with come from very different backgrounds, each special in their own way. Some have grown up similar to me...similar families...similar backgrounds...and have lived in NC pretty much forever. A couple of other girls I had hardly anything in common, but they have taught me so many things. One of the girls, or women, is 29 and she has 3 kids. She is a single mother and is now a full time employee, but for many months was part time with another job to try to provide for the family. She was in the military for 5 years after she graduated high school, primarly because she could not afford to go to college and if she did go, she wanted to pay for it herself without getting "charity" from anyone else. I asked her if she could be anything, have any job she wanted, what would it be. She said she would like to be a nurse. She enjoyed taking care of her children and wanted to care for others also. I was like "wow." Some people take that question not as seriously and say "movie star" or "country/pop/rock star" or even "retired with as much money as I needed to live an extravagant, gold-ridden life..." you get the point. She and I have been working on possibly getting her enrolled in a community college for some night classes. Her mother lives nearby and has offered to take care of her children. Now that's pretty cool.
Another girl I work with is one year younger than me. She has a daughter that is 2 years old and she's also never been to college and never thought she would ever go. She's married and content with where she is in life and is probably one of the sweetest people I've known. I admire her strong character. Lord knows I would never be able to have a 2 year old this early in my life. I'm still learning to take care of myself.

So...my path is still winding and it is very cool not to have a plan...go with the flow. I watched Disney's Pocahontas (it's nice to go back to the kid classics) and I think we should do as the Indians and the John Smith's did (no, not fight over territory), explore the unexplored and embrass the unexpected.

That is all. I WILL post again soon.