Small Victories

Sometimes it's the little things that we accomplish that mean the most.

A's parents came down two weekends ago and we had a very nice lunch at our new place. I made tacos for the four of us and my parents stopped by after for dessert. After a touch of awkwardness (I mean, it was only their second time meeting after all) it was just so nice to have our families together in our new home. My parents only stayed for a little while and as they were leaving my mom made a comment to A's mom that she was excited the two of them were going to be able to plan a wedding soon and did she want to come dress shopping with us. It was such a little comment (followed by the remark that weddings take at least two years to plan from A's mom... baby steps) but for the rest of the time that we spent with his parents that day, his mom kept bringing up the subject. In the nearly four years that I have known this woman I can literally count the number of chatty conversations we've had together on one hand. I don't know if it was my mom's comment, or if she's finally starting to accept that they are stuck with me, or what, but she was actually being chatty and talking to me and I was overjoyed. I never wanted to get married before A but I always imagined that if I did that I would be super close to my in-laws and especially my Mother in Law. I reconciled that dream years ago but I keep trying anyways and I love that we are finally breaking some barriers down. We have lots of time to become a family.

Last weekend our friends from college came down to break in our new pad with a party. It was so great to see them and have them celebrate with us.

Also last weekend I decided that I was going to run  10 miles before Thanksgiving. I know that doesn't sounds like a lot to anyone but me but with my knee situation that has kind of been a miracle. Today I was able to run 1.25 miles straight and I had the hugest silliest grin on my face. My knees hurt now but I was able to do it. I have 7.75 more miles to go and I'm really excited. I've also been working on the weights and sometimes I think I can see results. My mom and I have committed to going to the gym together after work MWF so that has been really fun and motivating. My eating habits are getting better but living in two places at once is hard. Often I fall asleep at the apartment before I can make my lunch for the next day and then have to wake up and rush home so I can actually go to sleep. Sometimes I manage to make lunch or snacks at the apartment and forget to bring them home in my half asleep rush to get back. I don't have enough time in the morning to make anything for lunch. I barely manage making breakfast. So eating habits are next on my list to change.

A and I officially joined our bank accounts so we are excited about that. One step closer!!!

We have started talking about a venue and a date but nothing is decided yet. We have tentatively picked October 2014 but depending on our venue that could easily change due to availability etc.

I am no longer being babysat at work and am getting to know my coworkers. Tomorrow a bunch of us are going out to lunch together and then after work I am getting a pedicure with one of them. It's fun to have some new friends.

We officially moved Beckham into the apartment. He had a few days of adjustment but it's getting better. We  Anthony built him a "tree", or whatever these things are called:

Anyways, he loves it.

But that's all for now folks!!

If this were a movie

Today marked the end of my second week at my new job. That's right! Two and a half weeks ago I said goodbye to my amazing coworkers and STOPPED COMMUTING!!

Excuse the horrendous picture and my apparent lack of eyebrows

 It's been a little rough. Between new information overload, adjusting to a much harder work schedule, and completely rearranging my sleeping schedule I have been struggling just a little. I have reverted into a full blown Starbucks addict (although today I have made the decision to quit... Except for when my boss so generously buys it for the office because come on... I'm only human) and it's become completely outrageous. The past two weeks have also been completely unhealthy... Stress and not sleeping and eating to keep me awake etc etc.
On top of this we are currently moving into our new apartment.

By "our" new apartment what I really mean is our new apartment that only A is living in currently. I spend all of my time there but since we are not married yet I am not sleeping there. It's been really fun to move in but the day after we got the keys A got shipped off an hour away to stay in a hotel for job training so I was by myself for the week.It has been fun moving everything in though. I will post pictures as soon as we are officially done for the time being. The in-laws are coming down on Sunday to see it so it will have to be done by then. 

On top of all of this we have been super happy. Almost too happy. Everything that we have been talking about for the last couple years has been coming true. About a month ago I started to worry. It seems so silly to see it in writing but it's true. Things were going too well, at least in my mind and I was actually afraid to be too happy. It was like I was afraid to have such a big high because I was worried about the huge low I was sure that was going to follow. I didn't say anything to A because I didn't want  him to worry too. But then, a couple weeks after I started feeling this way A and I were driving and all of the sudden he turned to me and said, "Do you get the feeling that everything has been going too well lately?" I was amazed and so relieved that we were on the same path. "If this were a movie something tragic would happen right about now." I hadn't quite thought about it in those specific terms but he was right, that was the exact line of thought that I had been on. But in the end, that's a terrible way to live. You can't just live life expecting the worst. God has been teaching me to trust Him lately so that is what I am going to do. We are super happy and just trying to live and love and enjoy this precious life. What will come will come and we will take it when it does. As long as we do it together we will be perfectly fine.

One Step Closer

This past weekend A and I did some serious apartment hunting. We finally decided which one we wanted to apply for and spent Sunday and Monday gathering the various documentation from our new jobs etc that we needed for the application (it's seriously hard core). So this morning I took everything and went down to the complex to turn in our paperwork and officially apply for the apartment.
I got there and they won't accept checks or cash, so I had to go down to my bank to get a money order for the application fee and then go and drop it off.
I then drove home and as I was pulling up to my house (having decided that it definitely wasn't worth it today to drive to work) I got the call that we were accepted so long as our criminal check cleared (which it will.. duh)!!!
So I went back to the bank to get ANOTHER money order for the holding fee, went back to the complex to drop it off and came home again.
Basically I feel like I drove around my town about 6 times today.

BUT WE GOT AN APARTMENT!!! Yay! I'm so excited to be able to see it and move in. It's kind of hard to believe that this is all happening and the amounts of blessings that are pouring in are almost overwhelming. But we are so thankful that this is all working out for us right now so we'll take it as it comes :]

Times They Are a Changin

This past month may have been the best month of my life so far. At the very least it's been a whirlwind; a blur of happiness, hope, and plans.
September started out with an engagement. Mine, in fact.
Yes, ladies and gents, I am marrying this hunk:

On September 7th, 2013 after church and a lovely dinner with my parents, we stole away to the beach  for a nighttime stroll in the sand. Eventually we sat down with our feet just avoiding the water and he launched into this story about a tv show we both enjoy and how the series finale (which I haven't seen) involved the two main characters being able to spend two lifetimes together. In response I casually told him that I would spend two lifetimes with him (because, come on, how obvious is that?! :P ) so he pulled out this baby 

How beautiful right?! He picked it out all by himself (**swoon**)

and said "Want to start tonight?"

We got celebratory coffee at Mickey Dee's and then headed home where my father snapped this suuuuper attractive picture of us. It was ridiculously hot that day and humid and awful and not at all a good representation of Southern California coastal weather. So this is what we looked like at the end of the day...

My parents have been very excited and supportive about this. Yes, he asked my dad's permission to ask me. Yes, that's required in my family. Yes, he was super scared to ask (my dad, not me... Obviously I was going to say yes. In fact, my exact words were "Well duh!"). 

So there you have it... I am the Future "Mrs. A". Yes, his first AND last name starts with "A" :] We are so excited to start our lives together... But that comes later in the post so stay tuned.

September continued with a birthday, also mine. September 15th was my 22nd birthday. I got to celebrate it with my friends in the house that I used to live in while I was in school. 

It was hipster themed as per my former roommates' instructions and we all had a great time getting to catch up and see one another again.

September ended with A and myself interviewing for respective jobs. It was a lot of fun because A had to be down here for all of his interviews since the job he applied for is in my hometown. The job I was interviewing for is not in my hometown but in a bordering town so I would only be commuting 25 miles a day instead of 140. That's just fine with me!!!

October so far has been incredibly good to us. 

A got his job in my hometown so he is officially moving down here in two weeks.

I got my job so I am officially going to stop commuting in two weeks.

God has just been so incredibly good to us and I don't think I have ever prayed more in my life. I am so thankful that words fail me on how to convey how I truly feel.

A came down again this weekend and on Saturday we did some serious apartment hunting. We have found the apartment that we want to live in. We are just waiting on official letters of hire from our new jobs to come through to us before we apply for it this week. I am praying that the apartments don't get snagged up by other people before I can get there!

Sometimes it is hard for us to believe that this is all actually happening. That we are finally grown-ups and have big-girl and big-boy jobs and that we are applying for our first apartment together. I'm so excited to have our little family together all in one place (you, me, and the kitty). I am also completely stoked that I don't have to move to LA and I can stay here in my amazing hometown. I am even more stoked that this means I can continue attending my church that I absolutely love. God is so good! 

I had literally given up on my job. I thought that I hadn't gotten it. I made up my mind that the next day I was going to start applying again. I wasn't even upset about it, because I became acutely aware of how much God has taken care of me these past couple of months. For a while I was so upset that all of the plans I was making were falling through and that nothing was working out for me. But honestly where would we be if all of them had "worked out"? God has a plan and that was clearly not in His plan. In a way I feel like He was trying to teach me how to trust Him and as soon as I latched onto the concept and gave everything over to Him I was rewarded with seeing what He truly had in store for me and for us. I feel truly lucky to be embarking on this journey with my best friend and the most incredible guy I have ever known. And I feel so lucky that I have a God that is taking care of us and who has a plan for us. 

Woes of a Commuter

I never expected to be in love with commuting. I never expected to wake up every morning and be excited to have to drive 140 miles that day. I didn't have any preconceived notions that commuting was going to fabulous and easy... I expected it to be my reality for a while and since it was never going to be permanent it was going to be fine...

Commuting has taken over my life.

Don't get me wrong. I am so incredibly thankful for my two jobs. As someone who is currently in the market for a new job, I understand perfectly just how hard it is to find a job. A good job is even harder. I have two great jobs. Even though sometimes I don't appreciate them, they are fantastic. But my main job was a school job and I'm no longer in school. It's time for a new one.

In the meantime I am commuting.

By all standards I am a lucky commuter. I am typically going against traffic (for which I am eternally grateful, I would not have moved home if I had to commute with traffic. For those of you that do, I salute you) so even though I am driving for an hour (1h15m-ish) I am actually driving and not just sitting in traffic. Again, "typically". The problem with how long the drive is, is how much can go wrong between my house and work.

- Immigration checkpoint could be on - Overturned car - Car accident - Fire on/beside the freeway - Construction

So on any given day when I leave my house I have no idea how long it will actually take me to get to work. Almost every time I have promised my boss that I would come in early for work I have, in fact, been late because something has happened on the road outside of my control.

Another problem is that at 10pm the freeways get shut down where there is construction. There are currently 4 points of construction between my Point A and B so when I have rehearsals at night or want to go out to dinner with my friends I don't end up getting home until around midnight sometimes because of closures and traffic.

And because I am now driving so much I have had problems such as this:

I was incredibly lucky that this happened at work and not somewhere within my commute. But I am seriously putting wear and tear on my tires enough that this one literally just pulled apart. Luckily a friend came to my rescue and put on the spare so that I could drive an hour and a half on the freeway back home.

Last Monday I was driving to work and feeling incredibly down and sorry for myself with everything going on right now and as I changed freeways I looked to my right and saw three pristine perfect white doves flying together on the side of the freeway. It was as if God was smacking me in the face for being so ungrateful and untrusting. Literally the first thought that popped in my head was "Touché". So I am trying not to worry about it anymore. A door will open. Everything will be fine. 

On the Wednesday after ^ I received an email from a company about 13 miles from my house (that I had not applied to) asking to set up a phone interview because they liked my resumé. On Thursday morning I had my interview and the woman told me that she was recommending me to the owner of the company to get in touch with me and schedule an in-house interview. I'm really excited and I really hope that I get it because it seems like a great job. Fingers crossed and lots of prayers.

Hopefully I won't be commuting for much longer!!