life doesn't get much better.

just enough internets today to find out where the lint trap is on my dryer so i am no longer afraid of setting the apartment on fire by doing laundry. wish i had enough internets to watch mondays episode of greek.
also, there is a pipe in my utility room that is glowing orange. (instead of being worried, i took a picture of it) its not hot, so i figure there must be aliens living inside. and, i got my appointment with comcast moved up to next tuesday so i wont have to wait til the fifteenth for better internets. AND i turned in my first timesheet today :) and i only have to dress up one more day this week before wear-jeans-and-go-out-to-lunch friday :)
pierogies and strawberries for dinner. a good day.

itty bitty internets

i called comcast today to set up my internet and cable. after quite the runaround, i still do not have my own setup. i have discovered however, that there are a few connections in my area that are not security enabled, which means that i can pick up on their itty bitty bit of internets and let you all know that i am still here, still doing well, and i got a mattress today to go on my bed! i do not want to risk my precarious connection by trying to post pictures, but just know that i have them, and as soon as comcast gets their act together, they will be here for your enjoyment!

work and lunch.

i decided to eat lunch today at my desk, just because some people do that and i figure i should try it out to see if i liked it.
i didnt.

my first job.

This is me on my first day of my first job. I got up early in the morning, made myself beautiful and professional, put on my best smile, and steeled myself for a bumpy ride. I got in the car, and 45 minutes, a couple angry drivers, and only one wrong turn later, i made it to the office.

I have my own desk. and a phone with my own personal extension, and a key card to get into the building and a new email address. and this is the best part: i have two monitors.

its SO cool they work separately and together at the same time i can move my mouse from one to the other and drag stuff across the screens. i am so easily amused :) other than that theres not a whole lot of flair in my cubicle just yet. I have a Steelers mousepad from a boy who loves me, and a little desktop organizer that Rose the secretary found for me.
it sits by my phone and looks very officey. Overall, i have a very nice space at my new job. i even get my own name plate and my name is spelled right. these cubicle nametags come in handy when i forget peoples names which happens fairly often. it is only my second day after all.


i think i'll go back tomorrow.

here we go.

this is gonna be just real quick cuz im supposed to be getting ready to go to my first day of work. this is big. and exciting. and terrifying. i mean really, what if i dont live up to these guys' expectations? what if im a huge letdown? after all, theyve never even seen me before. but just in case, im saving my pink shirts and cute shoes until im a little more established. i dont wanna be seen as the Elle Woods of the office. but i would settle for being the gorgeous new smart-as-heck girl. hope they dont mind my new title :)

my new place.

want to hear a story about how good my God is at working stuff out? good cuz ive got one.
so on monday i went and looked at three different apartment complexes. there was one that i was leaning towards from the beginning, but i figured i should give them all a fair chance. I liked all three of them pretty well, and thought it would be pretty difficult to decide between them all. three pro/con lists later, i decided on the one that was the best deal overall, which was incidentally the one i liked the best from the beginning.
on tuesday i got a call, saying that the unit that i had been looking at in the complex that was my favorite had been taken the day before. that was the bad news. the good news was that there was still another unit available, and a new special from the leasing manager which was $100 less a month than the previous special. i filled out my application immediately.
this morning i got up early and was the first person at the leasing office. i turned in my application, got approved, and got to look at my new place: a 2 bedroom, 1.5 bath upstairs apartment on the end of the row. it has all new carpet and paint, a cute little balcony area, and a nice old man downstairs. i am SO EXCITED!!!
all i need now is all my designer buddies to sweep in, design my space, buy all my furniture, and have it all perfect and ready for me to move into next weekend :)

back in good ole PA.

I MADE IT! Gretchen and myself rolled into e-town around six thirty last night. I got settled into the basement, went on a walk with Aunt, Uncle, Peanut, and Millie, and mentally prepared myself for today before crashing gratefully into bed.
Today i get to go apartment hunting :) this is exciting and terrifying all at the same time. i am really excited because my boy is driving up so i dont have to go it alone, and excited about maybe finding a place that i can call my own for a year or so, excited to FINALLY have a chance to really unpack my car, excited to get to use the GPS, and terrified of it all going horribly wrong. so i guess i am way more excited than terrified, which is a good thing - nay, a GREAT thing :)
GOD IS GOOD

for my devoted fans.

i am in Chicago. well technically, i am in a suburb of chicago, but its close enough for me. traveling has been going rather uneventfully - i have been trying to take pictures of the Welcome signs at each new state i get to, but Iowa messed me up. i'm still not sure where South Dakota ended and Iowa started. way to not have a sign. dont worry, i have wyoming, south dakota, and illinois. tomorrow i plan on getting indiana, ohio, and pennsylvania.

last night i watched 3/4 of the steelers game, and was informed this morning that they indeed won, just like i knew they would :)

and in case you were wondering: putting pineapple, strawberries, blueberries, walnuts, and feta cheese on a salad with chicken and a poppyseed dressing is in fact a GREAT idea. mmmm so good....

and YesMan is a good movie. in my opinion at least.

traveling is great fun when you have friends along the way to visit with :)

overwhelming.

it has been two weeks. Mark has come to Wyoming, seen the sights, and made it safely back to the East Coast. we accomplished almost everything on his list of things to do while on his great Wyoming adventure, and even added a few things to the list just to cross them off :) i have an overwhelming amount of pictures, and i dont even know that any of them do any justice to the amazingness of our time out west. as one of my favorite dinosaurs once said, "it's been a memorable two weeks indeed!"

now that Mark is gone i have to start thinking about some really important things: like how i am going to move BACK across the country, if i am really taking ALL of my stuff with me, where i will live when i get there, how to open a new bank account, when i will be able to afford my kayak, and where will i fly fish out east? if i let my brain get the best of me, i feel like curling up in a ball and having myself a good cry.

the encouraging thing is to know that no matter how overwhelmed i might feel, my God is always at least one step ahead of me, preparing the way and making sure that my head always stays above the water. i thought that i would never get a job: i had three companies call me within an hour. i thought that it would be impossible to decide between WY and PA: WY didnt have a position for me. now, i have a job doing exactly what i want to do, close to family and friends. if God can work all that out, why would i not trust Him completely with the details of this move?

the truly overwhelming thing in my life is the amount of love all around me, coming at me from all angles. I am loved by my God, my parents and family, Mark, my friends, and my church family. always and forever, they stand by me, pray for me, and just love me regardless of the circumstances and it blows me away. being overwhelmed never felt so great :)