Saturday, December 26, 2009

Final Moments of 2009

Here we are again, at the end of another year. Typically that means holiday cheer and parties. For Walter and I, for the past 3 years, it means moving. Hopefully we will be out of this cycle and onto the next best thing. Here are some highlights and lows of the year. I will list the blessings and curses (which are learning opportunities for us) of the past year.

Highlights/Blessings
1. The move to Austin- A great change of pace.
2. Blessed to find jobs at the right time- right before we went through all our savings, we found jobs. I had a temp job full of opportunities and then got my job at Whole Foods. Walter got a job at Party City, followed by one at Puma then his current one with West Elm (the one he wanted from the moment he heard it was going to open at the beginning of the year).
3. New and rekindled friendships. Walter reconnected with friend from high school, me with a friend from Salt Lake City I had not seen in 11 years, and new friends we were blessed to meet.
4. Medical attention- I found out about a program through one of the big health care providers here in Texas and was able to get the attention I needed while I was without insurance.
5. Found a fabulous new place to move to!
6. The group of Walter's high school friend get together at the ranch in Wimberly. It was fun to be away from everything and get to know everyone and their significant others better and bond with everyone. I hope for another one or more this coming year.
7. Learning humility and patience. It was a long year with that lesson! LOL
8. Healthy living started here! Thanks to Carly and desire!

Lows/Curses
1. Change- Change in location. Change in income. Change in living space. Change in pet. It was rough and different, but we learned a lot and survived.
2. Missing family. But it makes me more appreciative.
3. Can't really think of anything else. Guess that makes it awesome!

Not the best recap, but just things off the top of my head. I welcome 2010! May it have more highs than lows just like this year!

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

I Live in a Crooked House

No joke. I really do. You can sit a bottle on the floor in the kitchen and without a push it will roll across the house to the bathroom. It is kind of funny, until you start to realise that it is giving you a contant uneasiness in your living space.

It is almost a year that we have been here. Almost a full year of living slanted. Tomorrow is that day that all changes. We get the keys to our new place. One not so slanted. One that is cleaned and ready to move into. One that has amenities including a daily trash valet so we don't have to take out our own garbage if we don't want to.

Needless to say I am excited. I am excited for the extra space, new location, storage, pool for the summer time, and last but certainly not least, I am excited to be level again. I think this house we are in now defines our year. It is a very nice place and grateful to have it, but it just was a little off. It was not quite what we expected or wanted, but it sure worked out for our needs. As the year passed, needs changed and so has our circumstances. Everything improved culminating up to our new place. I am excited for the new space and the new year coming. I have a grand feeling that it is going to be a great one!

Saturday, December 19, 2009

My Thoughts...A Year Ago and Today. A Year of Learning and Reflection



So 51 weeks ago, I wrote this:

My Life in a Box

It seemed like we got rid of so much, but when it came time to pack the 12 foot by 8 foot by 9 foot space on the back of the moving truck we realized how much we really still had. Our whole lives were in boxes, packed into another box. One cannot say how it really feels to see all your worldly belongings in one small space. You realize how insignificant it all really is. It is not like I have never moved before, but this time is different. The last few times we had time to go back to the house and pick up stuff we left, and slowly move over all the remnants. This time however, literally everything we own was in this space. If the trailer is stolen, broken into, burned, everything we have acquired over these years would be gone! Really makes you think about it.

But, the truck is packed. Cars will be packed today. House will be cleaned today and we will be completely out at least until the carpet cleaners come Monday. This move is really happening and I am so excited for it.

And that brings us to now...almost a year later. Again, my life is in boxes. Not fully boxed like last year, but still enough to realize you need something and find that you have already packed it away. This move is sort of back to our standard. We get our keys on Wednesday and will pick them up with some kitchen items in tow. The succeeding days will follow with multiple trips back and forth bringing over thing we do not want to pack well so the movers can take them. I am sure Christmas day will contain more moving as well as the weekend of which I have one day off. Monday the movers will arrive somewhere between 8 and 10 a.m. They will take all the big stuff. The stuff we don't want to carry or get a truck to do. Thank goodness the new apartment complex is paying for the first 2 hours of this. That should cut our moving costs out a lot or completely if it works out well. The rest of the day will bring moving all the final things over to the new house and, if I am lucky, cleaning of the old one (if not, then Tuesday will be for cleaning). By this time the house will mostly be set up and ready to go and the stress over.

I look over the past year and I have learned a lot of things. Some things I was reminded of, others I learned to appreciate more. This move to Austin was very rewarding all around. We make a lot less money now, but are living life a lot better; physically, mentally, and healthily. I don't see the $$ as a trade off because we knew what we were getting into. We knew getting settled the first year would be difficult and life would not be the same as it has been in the past, but ultimately it would be better. I know we have succeeded in that.

Here is a quick list of things that I have personally learned/remembered this last year:

1. Be humble. Give up your pride. Take advantage of those things that you thought you were too good for. Programs are there for a reason. Some people abuse them, but without some of them, I would not have survived as well as I have this year.

2. Be happy for what you have, not miserable for what you cannot get. My life could be a lot worse. The fact that I cannot just run out and get a new Blue Ray player if I want one or a new laptop is really not that big of a deal. There are those who can't even afford a $30 DVD player and some don't even have a TV.

3. Friends, real ones, love you for who you are, not what you can provide. A real friend is not offended if you decline a dinner invitation because you simply have no cash. A real friend changes plans to accommodate, offers to pay if they have the means, or understands and is not offended. What goes around comes around (as I have learned this year). If the generosity of others if offered to you, just remember, you have probably been generous to others, so let it be offered to you and be gracious.

4. It does not matter what you do, but how you do it. I am most grateful for the fact I have a job, especially in these hard times. It may not be a great fit for my talents, but it pays the bills and gets me by. I could just stand by complaining about it all day, but I choose to find better ways to be efficient at it, perform to my best. It is my high standards I am out to satisfy, not the companies because my standards of my work are set much higher than any company can set.

5. Karma is a bitch, but it is a confidant as well. All the good things you do come back to you too, not just the bad and I feel I must have been really good to have been as blessed as I have been this past year. Good friends, old and new. A good job (I could work in a place where people are assholes but cannot quit, but I work with a bunch of wonderful and multi-faceted people fro all walks of life and multiple talents and abilities). Walter. We have our bumps, but they are just speed bumps, never anything that cannot be overcome. Supportive family. They might not be thrilled I moved so far away, and they might remind me of that often, but I feel they appreciate me more now.

6. Healthy eating is the key. You can exercise all you want, and it might make you fit, but what you put into your body is what makes you healthy. I can feel it. I can feel it when I make bad choices. A good balance of exercise and good eating is my major goal next year. I have a good start on the eating part, now to integrate the working out part. 2010 will see me looking fabulous!

7. People are individuals and wonderful. If you judge a book by its cover, you are missing out on some good reading. I wish more people would realize that. Fat, thin, pierced, tattooed, old, young, gay, straight, poor, well-to-do, angry, happy; everyone has a story and you don't have to like it, but just like an unfamiliar thing on a menu, you will never know unless you try. Try first then decide you do or don't like it.

8. Patience. I still don't have it, but I am getting better with it. I have learned a lot about patience. Let me put a number on it. 500+ hours job hunting. 180 resumes sent. 4 interviews. 2 jobs not received. 1 job (that I had help getting) acquired. 1 interview still coming, results TBD. I am still smiling and happy. I guess I have learned some patience after all.

9. Charity. Kind of goes along with #1 and #3, but still worth a mention. Charity comes in all forms, whether it be a shoulder to cry on, a free meal, help with medical, etc. We give and we receive. Thank goodness for it! Pass it on. You never know when you will need it.

I am sure I have learned a lot more things, but those are the ones that come first to my mind. My life is again in boxes. It is again in disarray. But the destination, just like last year, is worth it and life will be clear again.

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Another Holiday in Disarray! But it's O.K.

It seems like just last year (since it was just last year) that my house was in disarray; full of boxes, packing materials, and organized plans and timelines. Well, here I am again doing the same thing. I have things to do and lists of things to check off. Making plans for movers, planning budgets, and calls to make. Gotta change addresses, forward mail, and plan what to hand carry. Oh, on top of this there is the holidays: the work schedules, the shopping, the parties, the get togethers. Seem a little overwhelming. Fortunately I have had to deal with this for the past 3 years. It is nothing new. Something that we are breaking the pattern of (we signed a 15 month lease).

I look forward to 2010. Things seem to go better in even years. The things I am looking forward to are:

-Finding a better paying job. While highly grateful for the job I have and enjoy it most of the time, it is just not a fit for my talents, and I hope to find something that will be.
-Another wonderful year with Walter. We have had some amazing times over the past 9 years. Year ten should bring a whole lot more.
-Travel. I hope to take a vacation this year, as well as visit my mom in Utah, friends in Cali and Las Vegas as well as some local Texas friends.
-Friends. Associating with the great friends I have now and meeting new ones!
-A Wedding. Yes that is right, my sister-in-law is getting married! Excited for that. Trip to Florida is on the horizon for summer!
-Health. With the move, I will now have access to gym equipment. Back to eating better (not that I am doing that bad now) but add exercise into the mix, I will be unstoppable.

Out of the chaos and into 2010 will be exciting! I cannot wait!

Friday, December 4, 2009

I Heart Christmas...but why I am feeling like I am so different?

Christmas is my favorite holiday of all time. I love to decorate, buy presents, listen to the carols and songs, host and attend parties, bake, cook, drink egg nog. This year however I feel different. While all those thing I love to do hold true, I feel crazy because I feel perfectly content not receiving a thing for the holiday. Give me a call and a chat. Give me a card. Give me a piece of yourself because that is what really lasts with me. Give me a memory. Give me a hug. Give me your time. I guess that does sound contradictory to what I just said about being content not getting anything, but I guess I meant that I did not need a "typical gift".

Our spending budgets are set to coincide with moving budgets and all. I ask Walter what he is wanting for Christmas with no answer. He asks me what I want, and honestly I want a new iMac, 50" LCD HDTV, Blue Ray Player and some of my favorite movies on Blue Ray, and a plane ticket home to go see my family sometime in January of February....but since those happen to be way out of our budget until I find a better paying job, I don't really want anything.

Am I that different? I don't think I am the "I want it all or nothing" type of person. Just the things I really want I don't really need...I just want. Do I have something that works instead of those things that I want? Hell yes! I have a nice 51" projection HDTV, a 400 disc DVD player, a desktop AND a laptop computer, and hundreds (might be closer to a thousand) movies to watch and enjoy. So why be put into debt trying to attain things that I just want and don't really need? Well, I think that is why Walter and I set X-mas spending budgets each year. But even on the small budget set, there is still nothing that I really want. Kind of crazy isn't it.

I have to say I am grateful for all that I do have. I have a great life! I have a man who loves me, a nice place to lay my tired head at night. I have a job with a great company. I have loving friends and family. I have enough to pay my bills each month and enjoy other things as well. I have a nice car. I have my health, and health care. I have nothing for want. Tis the season to give and be grateful for what I do have, which I am.

Do my views make me different? I really feel they do. I feel that so many people are focused on what they want for Christmas, focused on the "stresses" of the holiday, that they forget to enjoy the season. It is a season of giving. A season, for those who are religious, to remember the birth of Jesus Christ. A season to remember old friends, welcome new one, and appreciate them. A season to love your family, even though you know they are heavily flawed and sometimes don't love you back. It is a reminder of how loving and giving we should be year round, not just during the season. It is a season of appreciation.

I heart Christmas and all it entails! I hope this year we all remember what the season really is about, not matter what it means to you.