playing catch up

Since my unintended blog break,

Not much has changed in my life.

Still, I thought I would write an update post.

My big news is that

I finally found a job!
Hallelujah!
{insert a choir of angels here}

Source: gocomics.com via liz on Pinterest

I am still underemployed;

but I am super thankful!
I know a lot of people are hurting in the job department right now.

It is my first "grown up" job.

I have benefits, a retirement plan, paid sick/vacation days,

and all that good stuff.


Oh, and I have my very own office!!
Please ignore the mess in these pictures.
I did not feel like putting everything in place
just for these quickly taken pics.

I am waiting on the maintenance people to come
and hang all of my frames on my office walls
{that is what is in those boxes}
and then I will have to post pics
of my completely decorated office!


My roommates and I took a trip to
Universal Studios & Islands of Adventure.

 

The highlight of the trip was
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter!
It was just AMAZING!

 

If you are planning on going,
the early admission is totally worth the price.
We got into WWOHP an hour before the park opened.
My roommates and I actually rode one of the rides by ourselves.
I mean we were seriously the only 3 people on the ride!
How cool is that?!
To put that in perspective,
we went back at the end of the day,
because one of my friends wanted to go through
Hogwarts Castle again.
It was wall-to-wall people.
And the lines for all of the rides
were 3+ hours long.
Yeah, we did not go through the castle again.

I also
loved, loved, loved
Seusslanding!
If you have read my blog for any length of time
you know I am slightly obsessed with Dr. Seuss.
So, I naturally loved Seusslanding.

This part of the park is obviously geared more for children,
but I loved the architecture & decor.
They even had shrubbery shaped into various Seuss characters.
Just awesomesauce!
 

The roommates and I had a caricature drawn of the 3 of us.
The guy who drew it was super nice & funny!
I joked that he was going to make me look
like a chipmunk & of course, he did.
But it was a fun souvenir to have from the trip.
It now hangs in a place of honor in our living room!

I received a sewing machine for Christmas
and have been {slowly} teaching myself to sew. 
I have completed lots of throw pillows.
I have the sewing square things down pat!

I am also working on my very 1st quilt. 
It is a queen-size quilt.
Now that I am getting into it
I realize that starting out with a queen size
might have been a bad idea.
But "go big or go home" right?!
It took my roommates & I 5 hours to lay out the pattern.
They have threatened me with
bodily harm if I do not finish this quilt.

Whew!
This post was longer than I thought it would be.
If you made it all the way through
You Are a Trooper!
So, that's is what has been happening in my life lately.

Anything new & exciting happening in your life?

opportunity

He who refuses to embrace

a unique opportunity

loses the prize

as surely as if he had failed.

~William James

Have you ever gotten a great opportunity

but passed it up

because you were sure

someone more qualified would

snatch it up?

I found myself thinking that way

a few weeks ago.

I have started the dreaded job search.

And I came across a dream position for me.

It was in the area I want to focus on,

had excellent pay & benefits,

and best of all it guaranteed that I would

work abroad for at least 3 years!

The only problem is that they are wanting

to fill the position immediately

and I do not graduate until May.

I found myself thinking that there was

absolutely no way I could get that job

even if they were willing to wait until May.

It was too good to be true.

There had to be somebody more qualified

with acutal experience that would

grab this opportunity.

When I finally realized what I was doing,

I could not believe it.

I have always been the type to believe

that I can do anything as long as I work

hard and persevere.

Yes, there is most likely someone

more qualified,

with more experience

but that is going to be the case with any position.

This hypothetical more qualified person

probably has a family & commitments

and would not be willing to

relocate oversees for 3 years.

He might not be stepping up

so why not step in?

It just amazes me sometimes

how I can defeat myself

with my thought process

before I ever begin.

I take comfort in the fact that

the right opportunity is out there for me.

I may not know exactly

what it looks like

or how it will present itself.
But I have faith that all of my prayers
will not go unanswered.

This whole job search thing
is scary and it will not be easy.
I am a planner by nature.
And it kills me not knowing what next year
or even 6 months from now will look like.
But I am working on trusting God
and following His plan.
Which is definitely a struggle.

I know I will most likely
not get my dream job right out of the gate.
But I am willing to work my way up to that dream job.
And if I do get the opportunity of a lifetime
and actually get a chance at my dream job
I am going to go for it at full force.
I just need the opportunity!

Small opportunities are often
the beginning of great enterprises.
- Demosthenes