What I've been doing the last 6 years

So, I haven't put a post on here since 2007, which is a very long time.  I decided to read over the three posts from 2007...and they are all about wanting to change myself for the better and getting rid of bad habits like watching too much tv and procrastinating and trying to find some passion in life.

Well...I'm sure it's not too surprising that none of that stuff really happened- haha.  Habits are certainly difficult to break.  I've make some strides in the time since 2007, but nothing that got me where I wanted to be because I didn't and don't know where that is.

So- here's what I've been up to since those 2007 posts:

• I graduated college in 2008, but having no desire to actually become a Landscape Architect once school was over, I didn't apply to any jobs.  I stayed at my apartment that summer with a friend, worked at a movie theater and spent most of my money.  I went to the pool and drank too much mostly, and was very unhappy most of that summer.  I had a vague desire to study ceramics and move to Asheville, NC, even driving up there and looking at an apartment and meeting with an admissions counselor at a community college that had a ceramics program.  I couldn't actually do any of that because I had spent all my money and wasn't eligible for any Stafford loans, as I used them getting my undergraduate degree.

• Then, I moved into my mom's house in Sumter, SC (not the most interesting town for a 23 year old right out of college) and spent my time looking for work and driving 45 minutes to Columbia to visit friends from college whenever I had the opportunity.

• While living at my mother's house, I found a job working a liquor store as a clerk and got bored of that rather quickly.  I decided I needed to make moves, so thought I should move in with my sister in California and gave my notice to liquor store job in November in the hopes of moving out to California after the holidays.  My sister told me that "now wasn't a good time" for me to move because she had just moved in with her boyfriend.  

• Well- I was miserable and lonely living with my mom and her husband and decided if California couldn't happen, then I would make something else happen- I had to as I was depressed and needed change badly.

• I reassessed what I thought I wanted to do with my life and decided on taking up a career in jewelry and metalworking.  I had an interest in jewelry making for years, taken a class in college, and my grandfather had been a silversmith and jeweler.  I really liked the idea of following in his footsteps and attending the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, MA, where he went for his undergrad.

• I got a portfolio of art and landscape design projects from college together, filled out the application for the Post-Bacc Certificate program, and mailed it in!  I received word that I was accepted and was very excited to move to Boston and get some direction back in my life.  I also found another job during this time as a receptionist and then working in the Kmart Garden Center to tide me over until I moved.

• This then brings me to June of 2009- SMFA was having a meet and greet orientation and I decided to fly up and look for an apartment.  My dad lives a couple hours away from Boston in CT, so he drove up to meet me at the orientation and we looked around to find a place for me to live.  I stayed in Boston for a few days at my sister's friend's house and pounded the pavement until I found a place to live for August.  My mom was nice enough to pay the first months rent for me (thanks mom!) and I went back to SC to get ready for the move and continue working.

• This program is $32,000 for the year; I received a $12,000 scholarship- so it was $20,000 tuition plus materials, rent and other living expenses.  I couldn't afford any of that- so I had been applying for various private loans- and getting denied for all of them :(  The economy wasn't doing great at that time (2009- eek) and since it was not a Graduate Degree program, but a Post- Bacc certificate there weren't any loans available besides private ones.

• Even though I wasn't able to obtain any loans, I needed a change very badly and decided to go ahead and move to Boston anyways- by myself with no job and $500 in my pocket.

• My mom drove with me and my car to Boston and brought me to my Dad's house, where I stayed for a week or so and applied for jobs.  Then he and my sister (who was visiting at the time) helped me move into my new apartment in Jamaica Plain with 2 males roommates- Eoghan (pronounced Owen), a very tall 30 year old Irishman, who owned his own house painting company and Brendan, a bar tender- who was never home.  I was 24 at this time and pretty nervous. Brendan moved out not too long after and Scottie moved in, a waiter/bartender who was about my age.

• It was a scary time for me, but I pushed through it, using a temp agency to find work and pay my rent.  I finally landed a open-ended temp position at an insurance company.  I HATED it- it was too quiet and the job was too easy and monotonous.  I kept in contact with another temp agency that called me for a "temp to perm" opportunity as a receptionist at Best Doctors, Inc.  I decided to go for it b/c three months at that insurance company was really getting me down.

• I started the very next day and sent my manager an email saying that I wouldn't be coming back and left a voicemail for the person from the temp agency saying the same.  I know it was rude to do that, but I didn't want to be there anymore and wanted to take any opportunity to get out of that job.  I had been there for 2 months at the point, it was Mid- December 2009, and I had been in Boston for a about 4 months. 

• So, I started at Best Doctors and thought the people were so welcoming and really liked the office culture.  They even invited me to a bar that night to celebrate a coworkers birthday.  I thought it was a great opportunity!  Well- I was only there for a week and half, when I was told that they didn't need my anymore because I didn't speak Spanish.  So, there I was jobless once again.

• I had a trip planned to visit family in Illinois for christmas, so I flew out there and they convinced me to stay and work for them- help out around the house, drive my cousin to school, etc.  I ended up staying in Illinois for over a month, paid my Boston rent from there, and somehow convinced my roommates in Boston to feed my cat while I was gone.  It was not the best situation, but they were willing to pay me and I was already in Illinois...so I stayed.  What a mess, right?  They offered my a job where my cousin works, but I really wanted to return to Boston and continue my life there.

• Luckily, the temp agency called me, apologized for letting me go so suddenly, and asked if I wanted to apply for a position at Best Doctors?  I did, of course and my future manager was nice enough to give me phone interview since I was still in the Western suburbs of greater Chicago.

• I flew back on Jan. 31 (I think) and started work at Best Doctors on Feb. 2, 2010.  I managed to make some really good friends and enjoy my time there.  I tended to work very late, as me and Eoghan were not exactly getting along at this point (he had a bit of a bad temper and I didn't clean enough, among other issues that sometimes happen when you live with people.)

• My friend moved from South Carolina to Boston the Summer of 2010 and that September we moved into an apartment in Somerville, MA (which I still live at today).

• I continued on at Best Doctors, eventually becoming dissatisfied with the work, as it became too easy and monotonous after about 8 months.  But I was offered a new position there in October 2011, supporting a team of six nurses on the Workers comp team.  I was excited and did well in the new position.  It was a new challenge and there was a lot to learn.

• But, as it seems to go- I eventually became bored of the job and wanted to do something else.  I started applying for new jobs in May 2012 and applied for jobs here and there.  I was offered a job interview at EF Tours (a travel company) in Summer 2012, but the pay wasn't great, so I decided to stay put. 

• I still really wanted a change though- I was in a rut again and work was very slow most of time, leaving me only enough work to keep me busy for about half the day.  It was fine, but I was ready for something else.

• So, I kept applying for jobs and at the end of Oct 2012 I had applied for quite a few jobs, including a Field Manager position at Garden Services company.  It would require some driving, which I hate, and I no longer had a car at this point- but I thought it sounded like an interesting opportunity and tied in to my Landscape Architecture degree.

• During this time since I started applying for jobs, sometimes I thought about just quitting Best Doctors, getting waitressing job, or a part time office job because I was so tried of going to the same place all day everyday.  I didn't do it though- my job was pretty easy and I was good at it, I had friends at work (my former manager that hired me is now one of my best friends), I made more than enough money to live (I do live with 4 other roommates so we split everything) and I had a pretty flexible schedule- if I was late, it was ok.  

So- that brings us up to Feb. 2013.  The next blogpost will take us from there to what's going on now.  What's going on now takes me full circle back to when I moved to Boston in 2009.