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.

the wall.

i've hit it. blogging-wise anyway. i have a lot of cool things that i could blog about, and every now and then i'll write an entire post in my head, but when it comes to actually sitting down and putting it out there - i don't. maybe it is because working all day every day really takes it out of me (i'm just not used to it yet) , maybe its because my computer is uber slow, maybe it is because my camera battery barely lasts long enough to take a days worth of pictures AND load them onto my compy before it dies, maybe it is because to be on my computer i have to sit in my drafty unfurnished second bedroom on the floor behind the door (my butt falls asleep every time), or maybe its a little bit of all of these things all at the same time, in varying distributions depending on the day.

i want to blog about:
-the weekend my roommates came to visit.
-the weekend my sister with the babies came to visit.
-the shoe house.
-being employee of the month.
-my christmas tree and lights and ornaments.
-my strawberries.
-the new additions to my little fam, Sophie and Gordon (my new car and the GPS).
-meeting up with old and new friends in Baltimore.
-being at the Ravens game last Sunday.
-family parties.
-christmas cookies.
-buying stamps from a post office ATM.
-the crazy tall, impossibly skinny lady i saw while buying stamps from said post office ATM. (imagine that Natasha from Rocky and Bullwinkle was a real person)
-the cute shirt i got for the office christmas party tomorrow.
-the crazy dream i had last night.
-waking up an hour after my alarm went off and still making it to work on time.
-how excited i am to be spending this weekend at Julies.
-how VERY excited i am that i will see my parents in less than a week!

some of these things are just so far past, i'm afraid that if i started trying to catch up, it would be the middle of the summer when i finally got around to telling you my charming story about how today i am dressed more like a high schooler working at a drug store than a successful college grad working at an engineering firm.

help me! i'm in a funk and i cant get out!

after all.

one day this summer, i called my mom in Wyoming for help finding the saran wrap aisle in the Ebensburg Walmart.

on Saturday morning, i called my sister in Slovakia to get the address of my Aunt in California.

...its a small, small, world...

you know its bad when...

you lose to the Browns.
I mean come on.
Seriously?

(sigh)

Lets Go Pens!

miscommunication.

Mark came to visit me last night, so i made him come with me to pick up my christmas tree. this is part of the conversation that was had in the car on the way there:

A: I love you.
M: (in response to the radio) What?!?
A: (not realizing he was talking to the radio) I said I love you.
M: (pause) whatever.

christmas shopping triumph.

I FOUND IT!!!

(cue epic triumphant music)

*fist pump**happy dance**victory lap*

*acknowledge applause*

*go back to work*