When things start going right...

By nature the three of us ladies who write into this blog (Alyssa, I'm still including you in this even though your entries are slackin!) are positive people. We've undergone an incredible amount of change in the last year with what I can only describe as grace. As Mer and I embarked on adventures in young adulthood in the Florida area, and she later moved back home - Alyssa has been planning her wedding to the love of her life back home in Indiana. A wedding I can't wait to attend next weekend, by the way! With the exception of a few bad days here and there we've kept upbeat go-get-em attitudes in this crazy post-grad year.

That being said, what happens when it things start going right? Not that anything in my life in Florida has been particularly bad or overly difficult but right now things are really falling into place. I spent a few months in limbo after finding out my current job may or may not have funding as of Oct 1st of this year I had put out some applications and put plans on hold.

I then went through a whirl-wind adventure of jumping through hoops to get a position with Child Protection Services. After completing months of lie detectors, interviews, and physicals I was offered a position! The hard part was, by then I knew it just wasn't the right opportunity for me. I knew the job and the benefits were incredible and there was no lack of feeling honored on my part to be given such an opportunity. It was the right job, it just wasn't my right job.

Back to limbo I went - playing the waiting game as I stayed in contact with a Director from a company I'd been dying to work for. We started chatting and they were entering a time in which they were going to be doing some hiring and she was interested in me for the position of her assistant. Honestly, I couldn't think of a more perfect opportunity for me. A company I love and a director I adore. I had that at my current job and so as I thought about moving on, my desire was to still to feel that way. I got both of those and the added security of knowing my job would be here to stay.

Throughout those months of limbo I struggled with feeling like my whole life was hanging in the balance. Not just this work decision and where I would be come Oct. 1st but also with housing. I want to buy my first home. I may have blogged about this in the past, I can't quite remember. But until I settled on a job, there was no way I could comfortably pull the trigger on buying a condo. So again, more limbo.

As I thought forward to the fall and holidays, how could I plan the rest of my year with the biggest contributing factor (my job) still undetermined. Do you see where I'm headed with this? My life was on hold. This is a frustrating feeling I'm sure many of you can related too!

Flash forward to present and I'm finishing up my last 2 weeks at my current job and preparing to transition to my new position in events with a non-profit organization that will put be planning, traveling, and helping execute events with professional sporting teams. Right up my alley. My own father being a professional football coach, I feel like these are my people! I will be promoting Dad's taking active roles in their kids lives. I've been blessed to have a Dad who went above and beyond to do this for me and my sisters. We have always been a priority.

So now, what happens when things start going right? That's the title of this entry and that's what I'm exploring now. My job fell into place and with it has come other progress. I've found THE condo and am waiting on Daddy dearest approval to place at offer. This weekend I went through my closet and analyzed my work wardrobe to see what I will need for my new position. I asked for a Kindle for my upcoming birthday, as I think I will love having it for my travels. I also bought myself a new camera to document as I see new cities!

Holiday plans are still in the works as I'm trying to best coordinate with my sisters who both live in different states from each other and yours truly. After months of being on pause my life feels as though it's in fast-forward. It's been less than a week since the ball began rolling so I supposed the answer is that I don't know yet what happens when things are going right but I'm enjoying the ride.

I wish the same for each of you. That after the hard times come some gut-retchingly exciting moments in fast forward. It is a good place to be in. A welcomed change from a long limbo in my own life.

Love,

B

The Art of Eating In.

Alright lovelies, I've taken on a new task. I'm committing to start eating in. Gasp, I know. As a 20-something with a career and a whole list of other weekly activities eating in has gone by the wayside. It is time to get back in the groove. In part, for my waistline. Eating out is not the new black when it comes to flattery! Also, it's time to cut back on wasted money spent stuffing my face and focus on furthering my financial savvy.

Kicking it in to gear last week, I committed to eat lunch at work. If you're like me, you see lunch time as your chance to escape. Whatever drama or lack-there-of your work day may be bringing about, you get to leave for one glorious hour. On bad days this is the perfect chance to eat your feelings, Mean Girls style. Well no more. Not for this girl. Time to crack down and eat in - even at work! Even on crappy days.

I'm hoping this will give me the chance to expand my mind by freeing up some of my lunch break daily to read, read, read! Thankfully, since I'm such a social butterfly that I hate spending meals alone, one of my coworkers and good friends is doing this with me. So we're lunching together - chatting & reading in intervals. What a help she has been.

Also, I'm trying not to dine on the go. I find that not only do I eat crap for food when I eat on the go but I eat too much of it. This tends to be my error around dinner time as I think of cooking and then having to clean up after myself. Usually I have to be somewhere again by 7, so why not eat in the car and save myself some trouble? This is murder on my wallet, and my health too I'm sure.

This includes morning Starbucks or McDonald's coffee runs. Sad. Oh, and Panera run ins for bagel. My wallet will thank me for cutting these overpriced morning treats out of my day-to-day and eating a healthy breakfast at home. Want to do the same and have it suck less? Tivo great shows and eat your breakfast in front of the tube. I'm finding that still feels like a treat!

As for dinners...a great way to talk yourself into eating dinner at home is to find a friend who will alternate with you. You feed them once a week, let them feed you once a week. It's really not any more expensive to cook for 2 than one. It's more fun, AND you get one night a week where not only does someone cook for you but you don't have to do the dishes. Score! I love the social aspect of having a dinner buddy too.

Parting advice for those of you looking to cut back your dine-n-dash money (and calories) is to buy stuff you will actually make and eat. It never fails that when I go to the grocery I tell myself that I should get all super healthy raw food and that if that's all that's in my house I'll eat it. Wrong. I will let it rot while eating anywhere but home...avoiding my fridge like the plague. This neither helps my budget nor my health. Time to be real...

Buy food you'll eat. Get meals that you won't have to slave over so that cooking isn't a horrendous chore. Make eating in fun, whatever that looks like in your own life. Better yet, cook enough to last more than one meal. When you live life on the go (like I), it's nice to have something waiting for you. This week for example I have something in the evening Weds, Thurs, and Friday evenings. So, if there's food all divided out for me at home, I can eat it before I have to rush back out to face the next task. And grab a different tuberware on my way out to work the following morning.

That my friends, is the beginning of my journey to master the art of eating in.

Love,
B