Wake Up Call

Monday night, I went and saw my boyfriend, because he just got back from vacation. For the past 6 months, I have avoided all scales, believing that knowing my weight would just stress me out and cause me to gain more weight. Well, I got on the scale, and it was a shock to me. I now weigh 20 lbs more than when I graduated high school and I'm 2, almost 3 sizes above my "goal size" if you will. So I have decided that I'm going to lose this weight and I'm going to do it right. No crash dieting or harsh workouts that I'm not going to stick to. I'm going to start eating right and get myself in the habit of eating right, THEN I'm going to start working out without paying 40 bucks a month for a gym membership. And instead of weighing myself every week, I'm going to take pictures of myself every few weeks. To keep myself motivated, I'm going to write about what I ate, what I've done all week, and, most importantly, how I'm feeling about myself. 

Any support my friends can give me and comments will be very helpful! Now, because it usually takes longer to lose weight, when you're not crash dieting, I have given myself a goal date of my 23rd birthday. So I have a little over 10 months to get into the best shape of my life. Here's to good health and good food!

My Life: The Best Friend

I've had several best friends since I was a kid and they changed every couple of years. I've had friends that would change their mind every semester about whether or not they wanted to be associated with me. Freshman year in high school, I was in colorguard and winterguard and really into it. Our Winterguard team took a trip to California for a competition, where we went to Six Flags afterwards. I got assigned to a room with the lieutenant, Sarah, and this girl I barely knew, named Hillary. It was her first semester in guard and she had both knee and back problems, so she was on crutches most of the trip. While we were at Six Flags, every one ran off on their own, and I spent my day with Hillary (who, I must mention is a Slore or I wouldn't be doing this memory justice). 

Since then, we have always stuck by each other, through good times and bad. She was there for all of my break-ups, for my mono and pneumonia, for my crazy move to BFE, and the insanity that ensued once I started college. She has been the one who helped me feel the most sane when I was having doubts about who I was and who I want to be. Hillary has seen me grow and change into who I am today, and I have her. 

I must say I was rather scared when I was the Maid of Honor at her wedding. I was afraid that our friendship would change and she would move forward through life without me (I being the ultimate single gal......as I am currently in my longest relationship EVER at almost 9 months). I have come to realize though, that although we don't see each other too often because of our crazy schedule, she is my true best friend, after countless years of drama and boys and trouble. So their will be lots of visits and traveling to really cold cities when she moves next year to (hopefully) Rochester, MN with her hubby while he attends one of the best medical schools in the country. I can only boast that because Mayo Clinic their saved my grandfather from cancer 6 years ago. :) 

Good Evening!

Today is July 19th and the reality has really set in. I graduated college 2 months ago and still don't have a job applying the skills I spent four years learning. All of the analysts say it is a very tough market for new graduates with many experienced employees being laid off and looking for new work. How do you explain to a prospective employer that, although you have only just graduated, you have almost 6 years working in a professional environment and dealing with some of the toughest and most critical customers out there? As I have applied to job after job and sent out email after email and attended mixer after mixer, I am beginning to realize that it is very difficult to get a company to take the risk of giving you your first professional job. 

Since I got my first job, I have historically had an overfilled and overflowing proverbial plate of things to do. At 16, I was taking several honors classes in high school, working as an intern for a bank, had an officer position with the Horizon Pride Regiment's colorguard, and lived about thirty minutes away from it all. After graduating high school, I worked full-time while attending college and become involved in dance classes, marketing competitions, honor societies, and finally Omega Phi Alpha Phi Chapter. After being so busy and so planned for so many years, the free time I have gained from graduating has been almost a shock to my system. 

Many times, I have caught myself daydreaming about doing things that I normally wouldn't do, like constructing cake sculptures (i.e. Ace of Cakes), or making shoes (P.S. I Love You), or even opening my own lounge that served just desserts and drinks. All of which are expensive to do, or very time consuming and artistically involved. Because I have neither the money to open my own shop nor the artistic ability to sculpt cakes and shoes, I have decided to start writing about my life after college.