Confliction

Wow - two posts in one week. I am on a roll!

I feel as though I am at a crossroads. I have this great job at The University of Tennessee. I enjoy what I do, working with the students and helping out where I can. I love education so much, it is such a joy to be in an institution of learning.

We found out in March that Boss-man had taken another position at a different university. I am very happy for him and feel that it is a great move for him! He is taking his girlfriend/fiance with him - who also happens to work in our office. So, there is two gone.
Fashonista, who works at the front desk is leaving us to go to Law school in Washington, DC (yaaaaaaaaaaaay!). So, there is three gone.

NOW - and nothing is ever definite - one of our other employees who shall remain nicknameless may be leaving their post here at UGP for another job. That would be four. That is pretty much 1/3 of our office all gone in a 3 month span.

While I am SOSOSO happy for all of them and for moving up in the world towards their dream jobs, it really stinks. I am going to be purely selfish and whiny for a moment and say:

What the hell am I going to do?!?! I know, I know... what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, but I honestly think that this might kill me. I am in no way qualified to take over either position OR train someone new in those positions. Ugh... I am very nervous. It is making my stomach churn. Which is not good... I have enough stomach churning issues going on as it is.

Is this the perfect time for me to cut my losses and leave? I have only been here a little over a year. As I was walking Sophie this morning, I couldn't help but think - wow! You have been in this apartment for a YEAR! That is the longest I have lived in any place for at least... *counting on fingers*... 6 years? I lived in an apt. in Houston, TX for 2 years. That is my record. Before that... my parent's house when I was in High School. Oy.
Am I that unsettled? Can't stay in any place too long? Maybe it was the inconsistencies of my last career - on the road 50/52 weeks of the year. Always in a new place. Living out of my car and in hotels.

I have options of places to go. I have friends all over the country. Yet, i can't decide. I would like to go back to school - in fact I just bought 2 huge and expensive books on the GRE and plan to take it in the fall. Working here at UT gives me the option of FREE tuition! I get 9 credit hours a semester of tuition coverage. That's 3 classes!

Am I being overdramatic? Probably.
Should I wait it out to see what happens? Probably.
Should I start applying for new jobs? Probably.

Well, hello there stranger...

I have spent my morning procrastinating my work (shhhh...) and stumbled across a co-workers blog. Besides being the most upbeat/positive person I have met in a long time, I have thoroughly enjoyed reading her musings regarding life, love, pets and makeup. :)

It has given me a serious case of blog-envy and I have decided to give myself a dose of blog fiber to get things moving again. :) I used to write all the time on LiveJournal (you remember that, right?) and lo-and-behold - my journal was still there! I checked today and very much enjoyed reading about life according to my 23 year old self! Hilarious. I had a serious potty mouth! (Some things never change...)

I will not promise that I will write each week. I *will* promise that I will write as often as the mood strikes me. I am not even sure who still follows my babbling as it has been such a long time between posts, but I assure you. I am alive and well in TN!

Summer is coming.
Air is warming.
Flowers are blooming.
Pollen is falling.
I am sneezing.

This weather is delicious. There are certain times of the year where I love living in the South. Fall - right around mid-late October when the leaves change and that hint of crispness hits the air.
Spring - April-ish when the cold starts to leave and you can go out in the morning sans jacket. The sandals come out the air smells of fresh earth and flowers.
This feeling of love stops when the temperature hits 90 degrees. Usually around 1 week after the Spring feeling hits. :) Then I wish for Colorado.

The grass is always greener...

Anywho - leave me a comment, send me some love. Let me know you are still around!

--smile!

Biggest. Loser no more.

Well, some sad news - Halfway through the UT Biggest Loser competition, I suffered an injury. I strained the muscles in my lower back last week. After spending last weekend and most of this week hunched into a ball while laying on a heating pad... I have started to walk upright like a human again! I went to the Dr. yesterday to find out if I had really hurt myself. For those of you who know me personally - last November, I had 2 bulging discs in my lower back (L4 & L5 for those who know spines!) and was off my feet for almost 2 months. From that, I am now extremely hyper-aware (redundant??) of my back.
I was SO nervous I had done it again. BUT - Doc told me that I had strained it and will be good as new with 2 - 3 weeks of light activity, no heavy lifting and plenty of heat, ice and advil.
Due to this, I have had to withdraw from the program. I will get to keep my leftover training sessions with my personal trainer for when I am healthy. I will keep up with my eating like a champ.
I just won't get awesome undisclosed prizes... but I can deal with that. :)

I have a new goal... I will be spending a glorious 9 days in Wisconsin in July/August and since that in the of their heat wave, I *will* be dressed comfortably in sundresses and the fun corduroy skirts that I have not fit into since 2004.
Bring it on, size 10.

Bring.
It.
On.


(Now I want to watch Bring It On... oh Eliza... you complete me.)

The Perfect Cheer... er... Song

Today is Valentine's Day. A corporate sponsored hallmark holiday complete with overpriced candy, meal specials and adorable little valentine cards that take me back to my childhood.
As a kid, you had a whole afternoon devoted to running around the classroom shoving your cards into decorated shoeboxes taped to the back of your seat. Eating pink and red cupcakes and OD'ing on sugar candy hearts. I remember how embarrassed I would get because my mom made me make a valentine for each member of my class - INCLUDING the boys. Eeeewwwwww, yuck!

As an adult, it has become a holiday signified by how much you feel your relationship is worth. Candy and flowers? A nice romantic meal? Jewelry?
This has become a holiday geared towards couples when it should be focused on love. Any type of love.
This year, I have sent cute cards out to my parents and my closest friends - just to let them know that I was thinking about them. Love is a 24/7/365 kinda thing. Don't wait until ONE day a year to tell the people who are important to you, that you love them. Don't make it all about that one day.

Anywho - as I am single on V-day for the first time in almost a decade - I have decided to make this a day of excitement for the love that I have and the love that will come my way.

Michael Buble has expressed my sentiments exactly in this song. So, it is on repeat. :)




Enjoy.

And tell someone how much they mean to you.

Ouch.

I. Am. Sore.

that's all you get for now... more later! About to go into a scholarship meeting and deal with lots of money... yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!

Exciting news!

Well, an update on what's been going on with me.

1. As I say everytime, I plan on posting more. I need some serious blog-fiber to get things moving. Maybe this exciting new thing will be just the ticket.

2. The Biggest Loser.

As you know, I work at the University of Tennessee. I am at a desk job for the first time in my life. It has it's Pros.... nights and weekends, whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?! and it's Cons... sitting at a desk for 9 hours a day - no movement at all!

Well, I coerced a co-worker to go to the UT's VOLfit challenge kickoff. UT, Knoxville is competing again all of the other UT campuses to see who can become the healthiest campus in Tennessee. We weighed in and sat through some fun talks. While I was at the event, I picked up a random flier announcing the "UT Biggest Loser" competition. There were 10 slots that you had to "audition" for. It is a 6 week challenge. You meet with your trainer 2x/week and there is a big final weigh in. The winner is based upon most body fat % lost. As the winner, you will receive 6 free personal training sessions and other prizes to be announced later.

Well, I auditioned and GOT IN! Wahoo!
I had my assessment and the gist of it is that I am overweight and out of shape. Believe me. This was as much of a shock to me as it is to you. :0)

The poopy part of this equation is that the competition began on January 31. It is now February 09 and I am TEN DAYS BEHIND!! Yipes!
I made the mistake of being honest on my questionnaire that I had a serious back injury last year. I have gone back and forth with my old Dr.sand my trainer here and FINALLY they have agreed to let me train. Yaaaaaay! So, today at 1:00pm is my first session. I am a little nervous that he is going to kick my ass.
I am also VERY excited! I know that I am 10 days behind everyone else, but I also know that I haev been eating well, I take 2 dance classes a week and walk Sophie 3-4x/day. I am just going to kick it up a notch!

Everyone at work, including my boss, is very supportive! They've got my back.

Please send me some good workout music! I have a feeling I will be spending a lot of time in the gym in the coming months.

Well... considering I *am* at work and will be leaving in the middle of the day to train... I should get back to it.

:)

Baaaaaaaaaaaaack. For reals this time!

I will be the first to admit that I am a lame blogger. I have all of these great blogging pipe dreams, but never follow through. I don’t even know who reads this, but it is nice to know that there is someone, anyone out there who reads my words. ☺

An update of my life – I am still working at the College of Business at the University of Tennessee. I love my job – even though I am just an assistant, I feel as though I am connected to so many of the students.

I am still wanting to go back to school. I am aiming for my masters in Library Sciences – I would love to get involved with promoting literacy in children. That is my main goal. Though, my first step – I would love to focus in records and archiving. Then – get a job with a large theatre (Hellooooooo Met!) and work in their archival department. I could totally see myself wading through ancient photographs and creating digital libraries!

Other than that – not much is going on. Adjusting to single life again, finding myself and realizing what an awesome person I am. ;) There is definitely something to be said for being on one’s own after a long relationship. You don’t realize what you sacrifice of yourself when you are in the moment. Though, totally worth it. ☺ Just because a relationship doesn’t work out in the end, there are 6 whole years of good memories that I will never discard.

Knoxville has been interesting these last few months. I live in an adorable apartment. I just need to finish unpacking it. (yes, I have lived here since June – what’s it to you?!) I have a new comforter, new curtains, new desk (actually… my grandfathers from the 50s, new to me!) and new friends!

I have become really active in my church (http://knoxvilleascension.org) and met a lot of really great people. I am involved in the LAMBS ministry which is all about pets. For St. Frances day, we had a blessing of the animals. It was great! I love being active in a community like this! Church life was something I never expected for my life – I was originally just becoming a member so that my fiancée and I could get married in the church - but it was a pleasant surprise when it turned into more. I still hold on to my previous beliefs, but there is nothing wrong about adding on. I would consider myself Episcopagan. ☺ As a man once said… “can’t we all just get along?!”

I will sign off for now – but let me post some blog ideas here. I will create them AND post them! Now that I am posting them here… it is a promise that they will come up. If they do not come up in the next month, I give you full permission to come to TN and force me to type. ☺

(in no particular order)
1. Introduction of my furry family.
2. My new apartment.
3. Race for the cure.
4. Knoxville.
5. Funny memories from my childhood (WITH pictures)
6. High School memories (with pictures… sorry guys!)
7. College – GC&SU – the early years!
8. College – NCSA
9. Sewing and Cake Decorating Classes
10. Books I am currently infatuated with.



That’s 10 in 30 days… I think it is totally doable. Look… giving myself goals. So grown up. ☺

A picture to tide you over.... Maggie being helpful. (Please excuse the mess... it was a rough time. :) )