Little Update

I haven't checked in with personal life stuff in awhile and I thought it was time to post a short update.

We'll start with a career change.... 

Today marks the end of my 3rd week at my brand new job, in an industry I never saw myself in... and let me tell you, I love it.

After nearly 15 years in customer service focused jobs, whether that be retail, managing the gym from hell, or car rental, I found myself exhausted and looking for a change.  A friend of mine mentioned a job opening at the company she works for and less than a week later I had a job offer.... one with higher pay, better benefits, a more relaxed atmosphere, and almost zero customer interaction.  Needless to say I jumped at the opportunity, and it might be the best job decision I've ever made.

Moving on to a location change....

In July the BF and I moved from our house in town... to a tiny little map dot about 12 miles east.  It's been a surprisingly easy adjustment... except for all the dirt, seriously, I've never swept so much in my entire life and I still can't keep up with it.  Our dog, however, loves the increase in dirt to play in and stinky things for him to roll in.  We're considering finding a friend for him so that he's not lonely while we're at work all day, but we haven't decided what we want yet... we prefer a small-medium adult shelter dog... but that tends to limit our options to yappy chihuahuas, which neither of us are fans of.

The house has required some work, but it's starting to feel like home, the only thing I really miss is the proximity of grocery stores and regular internet access... I  went from living less than a mile away from a store to living 12+ miles away, and while it's not an impossible journey it makes you think about how much you really want something... and makes you plan to pick up things before you go home at the end of the day.


Those are the biggest recent adventures, and I'll try to do better at writing more as I get opportunities, it's just hard without having internet access at home anymore.

Look Ma! No Hands!

It has been awhile since I posted something more than an album review, dream journal, or something light on content but big on giggles.  Let me catch you up.

Shortly after Christmas my awesome-amazing boyfriend asked to officially move in with him.  I think I've put longer thought into picking out what color nail polish I want to buy, I immediately said yes (it was the easiest decision I've ever had to make and every day I'm so thankful for this life I'm living), gave my landlord 30 days notice, and started moving things to his house, I mean our house (it took awhile for me to get the hang of saying it).  I was all in within 2 weekends (it was too hard to try to move during the week).

Let me tell you.... living in sin is the best thing ever.  For me there didn't really even seem to be any growing pains, it just feels like home. He does most of the cooking, I do most of the laundry, and we share the other cleaning chores, they get done as they need to.  Everything seems to be falling in place.  I never thought living with someone else would be so easy, I don't know what I thought it would be like, this is the first time I've ever lived with a boyfriend, and I'm glad he's the one I'm experiencing all this new stuff with.  My family loves him (which is a great feeling). We have a cute little dog named Bugsy, we spoil him rotten...he's like having a 3rd person in the house half the time.

So that's the big life update. I don't think I've ever been this happy and relaxed in a relationship.  I'm not constantly waiting for the other shoe to drop or for some dramatic disaster to happen.  It just feels good to have a true partner, not just someone who is there for the moment.  For the first time in my life I feel like a real adult, not a kid in a grown up body. It's not nearly as scary as I thought it would be.

Another update is that today I decided to become a Partner in Hope.  I signed up to give a monthly donation to St. Jude's Children's hospital. I've had a nagging feeling for a long time that I need to become involved in something that is bigger than me and my personal world, but I didn't know where to start.  This morning on the drive to work one of the local radio stations was hosting a radiothon to raise money for the hospital and I was moved to donate.  I can't afford to give a lot, but I can afford to give what I used to spend on a monthly sample subscription.  If you want to become a Partner in Hope you can follow the link and help battle childhood cancer. If you can't afford to donate money, maybe you can find a cause that speaks to you and you can donate your time, and if you don't have time or money (hey we've all been there, no judgment) you can share links on how to help your cause of choice, maybe you'll inspire one of your friends to help out in any way they can.

January: First Month of the New Year

The month of January seems like a weird time warp for me. Parts of it seem like it happened so long ago that it's hard to believe that it's all been in one month, and part of it seems like it went by really fast. While I'm looking forward to whatever the future may bring, I'm a little sad to see another month go. I know January isn't technically over, but I think this one is ready a couple days early.

• Life of Pi: This was the first movie of the New Year for me, and let me tell you, it did not disappoint. I won't spoil the movie for you, but I was blown away by how beautiful the cinematography was, and how touching the story could be. I haven't read the book so I wasn't sure what it would be about, but I'm so glad that I went to the 3D flick. I'm usually dubious of 3D features, but they seem to be getting better with time. The glasses don't hurt my eyes as much and the motion sickness is basically non existent. So yay! Go see Life of Pi.
• The Best Girlfriends EVER: So the break up wasn't as terrible as it could have been. It was bad, don't get me wrong, but my girlfriends were super heroes getting me through it. They made sure that for the first week back in the realm of the single life that I wasn't alone and that I always had a shoulder to cry on. They let me know how much they loved me and that things would get better. And it worked. I still have moments where I'm sad and cry, but I know my girls are there to cheer me up. They listen when I'm being crazy and illogical, the offer advice when they think I can handle it, and they are quiet when they know I'm not ready to hear certain things. They are loyal to #TeamLauren, all while never really saying anything negative about him. They remind me that while it's okay to hurt and be upset, that things will get better, and this was just a quick stop on the big journey. It was real and important, and that it is okay to grieve over what was lost.
• Blu Ray + New TV: I finally joined the 21st century with the help of my parents and Christmas elves. I am now the proud owner of a 32" flat screen TV and a blu ray player to make my home movie experiences that more enjoyable. Next step is trying to figure out how to afford Internet at home so that I can stream movies and click on all those bonus features.



at the Cal Poly
Performing Arts Center

• Live theater: Hair. It was interesting to say the least. It contained nudity, orgies, bad drug trips and draft dodging all set to a psychedelic rock soundtrack. The music was fantastic, I was entertained, awestruck, and horrified all at the same time. So good work. I can't say that i would be excited to see that particular play again, but i am glad that i went. It was a one night only show at the Cal Poly Performing Arts Center. I can't believe I went to school there for 3 years and it was my first time inside the building. Was a great venue and I can't wait to go back in a couple of months to see Broadway's Beauty and the Beast. 

• Moving Crew: No faithful readers, I didn't move this month, but one of my really close friends did. She got this adorable upstairs studio that has a view of the pool. One full moving truck and 3+ sweaty hours later we got all her stuff in her place... the couch only got mildly stuck in the stairs, but yelling "PIVOT!!" like Ross from FRIENDS seemed to help lighten the mood, and bring the neighbors running to help these damsels in distress. Best way to relax post move? Chinese food and a long nap.
• The Great Flood of 2013: Okay... so I didn't technically need to build an ark or anything remotely close, but I did have a small moat around my house and spilling into my pantry one Friday night this month. One of the waterlines to my house burst and created havoc. Luckily Jack's Plumbing came to the rescue and stopped the gurgling stream that was coming from my house. Nothing was ruined, except for a bunch of junk mail I've been meaning to destroy, and a few spiders probably got flushed away.
• Zombie Fun: While the Walking Dead is on it's winter hiatus, Girls' Night has kept with the undead tradition and have taken to watching horror/comedy flicks in it's absence. Shawn of the Dead made an appearance in the DVD player, it wasn't really what I was expecting (had no clue it was British) but it was funny in that dry way that the Brits are known for. Does I Am Legend count as a zombie movie? They weren't really undead, just scary cancer survivors, but they looked like zombies...anyway it made the cut this month too. I was less than impressed {beware spoilers ahead} the dog died AND Will Smith died? WTF man? Not cool man, not cool.
• Dream Journal: Finally after years of having really weird dreams and never writing them down I decided to start logging what goes on in my head after I fall asleep. I'm publishing them here in the bloggy blog as a series "Dream State Escalate" I don't plan on sharing them with the social networks, but they are available for your viewing pleasure. I tend to write them as I'm waking up in the morning, so please understand that they are raw and not especially well written. I just want to get the words out before pieces of them start to slip away.





Pismo Beach Pier
 

• Taking Time For Me: For anyone who has seen my calendars (yes plural) you know I jam pack my days. This month I've taken time off from that. I don't need to fill every waking second of my day, and I think it's helping my health a bit. There for awhile I felt like I was constantly on the verge of being sick and I was having a really hard time sleeping. Last week and this week for the most part my evenings have been pretty quiet after work, and I go to bed when I feel like it, not when it is "bedtime" sometimes that means 8pm, sometimes it's more like 11 or later. I don't feel the need to escape my house every night and I'm enjoying curling up with a good book again. A couple weeks ago I drove up to the beach by myself and took a ton of pictures of the ocean and finally started to feel like me again. I'm teaching myself how to use Photoshop and am learning how to make the landscape photos I enjoy so much even better. For the most part the post-break up anxiety is gone and I'm comfortable in my own skin. This doesn't mean I don't still have moments where I'm fighting back tears at my desk or wanting to throw things across my bedroom, but it does mean that I can control the impulses, and that they are happening less frequently.
• Speaking of The Break Up: I've noticed this strange trend... and I don't like it, guys who I thought were my friends (and some were Internet only friends at that) suddenly seem to think that because I'm not seeing anyone, that I'm suddenly available and wanting to date/hook up/be more than friends with them... and they've been pretty vocal about it. Like they're entitled to a piece of me, a piece that has never been offered to them before I've had a boyfriend, and certainly not days after. I actually had to tell someone "dude, just because I'm single doesn't mean I'm ready to date or up for grabs" and then he had the nerve to be upset because I "took it the wrong way" and that "we've been friends for such a long time, it's a shame to throw a friendship like ours away" um I'm not the one who was posting inappropriate things on his facebook. I'm not the one who was flirting in a way that made anyone feel physically violated just by reading it. So he crossed my boundaries, and by me calling him out on it, I destroyed our friendship. Cool bro, guess we weren't friends anyway. Guess what... I miss you about as much as I miss having athlete's foot.  As for my real guy friends... you're amazing. Seriously, for you to be there for me while I cry about other guys, for you to make me laugh when I feel like playing in traffic, and for you to calm me down when I can't sleep, I can never thank you enough or fully explain how much you mean to me. Thank you for being a real friend... not just some guy waiting to pounce because I'm vulnerable. You're different than my best girlies in that you can offer some insight into the male mind and help me understand whats going on outside of me, and even though I don't always like to hear it, I do appreciate it. I'm a lucky girl, because I really do have the best friends in the world.