its official.

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
Department of State
Bureau of Professional and Occupational Affairs
The State Registration Board for Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors and Geologists hereby certifies that
AMANDA DAWN HAVENER
having complied with the licensure laws
of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is authorized to practice as an
ENGINEER IN TRAINING
In Witness Whereof, we have hereunto set our hand and caused the Seal of the Bureau of Professional and Occupational Affairs.

fresh air.

in the bathroom at work there is an air freshener. with a little whooshy noise it sends out a little puff of lavender-ish scented smelly stuff whenever it deems it necessary. i would like to know how it decides: if it is on a timer, or motion sensor, or if it somehow detects the level of stank in the room and freshens it up when it hits a certain level of gross... cuz it goes off pretty much every time i am in the bathroom. a couple times it hit me right when i was standing under it. i shower every day. i think its stank sensor is broken.

we're holding... we're holding...

today, i tried to get to the bottom of the mystery of my missing EIT certificate. I took the examination in April of 2008. i found out that i passed in July. i successfully graduated with an engineering degree in May of 2009. i got a job in September. they told me they needed a copy of my EIT certificate. it was then that i realized that i never got one. so i started asking around, and found out that upon graduation, i had to request that the registrar send a copy of my final transcript directly to the EES people, who would process it and send all my info off to the Board who would then send me my certificate. So i did that. and i waited. and i got nothing. so today, i decided to call the EES people to see if they even ever GOT my transcript to see if i needed to call and harrass Geneva at all.
and i was put on hold.
and after every 5 seconds of horrible hold-music, an overly cheery woman's voice told me
"all of our representatives are currently busy. please stay on the line and your call will be answered by the first available representative."
when a representative finally answered, she told me that they recieved my transcript in October (so Geneva was off the hook) and they sent my stuff to the Board on October 14, who could take up to 90 days to process it. (time's up!) she also told me that according to my file i lived on West Ave in Mars. little did she know that my address had changed oh about FIVE TIMES since then.
so i called the Board to give them my current address. and with a glaring lack of hold-music i was assured that if i continued to hold then "someone WILL be with you shortly." it was true. and it turned out that after the holding and the waiting and the convoluted system it was fairly painless for them to just change my address and assure me that my certificate would be coming to my correct address in the mail.
someone should simplify this system. or make it more user friendly at least.
i'm just saying.

new year.

the beginning of a new year always seemed so fresh to me. like a clean slate where i could make resolutions, and changes, and be a better person overall. like somehow on midnight of Dec 31, all the stress and pain and craziness of the year before just somehow magically disappeared.
it probably helped a lot that for the past four years i got to go back to a brand new semester and really start from scratch again with new classes, a new schedule, and new people to meet and build relationships with.
but this is the first year that isnt really the case for me. this is my first new year in the 'real world' and while this year seems to have carried over more from Dec 31 to Jan 1 and hasn't started quite as fresh as i might have liked, here it is. and it is a clean slate - with tons of adventures just out there waiting to happen.
last year at this time, i was still reeling from having a new home after my parents cross country move, overwhelmed by the thought of being a senior in college, and terrified of having to start searching for a real job.
twelve long months later, here i sit in my own apartment after my own cross country move, a college graduate with my very own job. and along the way, i saw things i never would have imagined i would see, i met people who i would grow to love, i said goodbye to people i have loved for 22 years. i experienced moments that made me laugh so hard i cried, and ones that made me cry so hard the only thing i could do was laugh.
Looking back, i realize that it was God who held my hand every step of the way, guiding my steps and helping me through. He worked everything out - i can take credit for none of the good things that happened to me this year, but i can praise my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for His love for a crazy girl like me.
i can't wait to see what He has in store for me this year.