K... A... T...

London... and...

2009-03-30T15:02:00.002+01:00

This past Saturday Matt and I went to London. I had my interview with the A&F people for the MIT position so we decided to make a day out of it. We left Southampton at 8:30 in the morning and by 11:30 we were in London. My interview wasn't till 2 so we decided to go to a part of the city that was close to where my interview was going to be and wonder for a bit. We didn't want to do the typical touristy things so we figured we'd just have a wonder and see what we ran into. We went to Notting Hill first and wondered down Portabello Street and viewed all the little market stalls they had open. There were tons of stalls and there was everything you could think of. Lots of vintage stuff and antiques but more modern items as well. From there we had lunch and ventured to find the A&F Offices where my interview was. Now my directions and reading skills can be a little lax sometimes. I read one thing but see another in it's place so sometimes it leads to problems! I had printed out a map from Picadilly Circus to A&F... but read it and told Matt we needed to be at Paddington. We got on the tube at Notting Hill and I realized I had mixed them up so we got off and spent the next 15 minutes running through the tube stations to get on the right tube and to the right station. We made it to Picadilly for 1:52pm and ran down Regent Street and down the others till we got the the A&F offices. I had just enough time to put on my flip flops and get up the stairs before it hit 2:00pm! PHEW! The interview went well. It was an odd group of people and out of 8 people who were in my interview only 1 was actually from the UK. Everyone else was born somewhere else in Europe (along with me from the US) and had immigrated to the UK. We all answered the questions and then got our photos taken so they could "remember out faces" and I was on my way out when I recognized one of the other Recruiting Managers. Turns out he's from California and worked at one of the stores near me. He must have covered for one of my managers at one point or another and that's why I recognized him! What a small freakin world!! After my interview Matt greeted me with a Diet Coke (cause he's the best boyfriend ever!) and we headed off to see more of the city. We wondered around the rest of Regent and Oxford Street (the 5th Ave. of London) then headed to find a pub cause Matt wanted to watch the England game. We found one as we wondered through Chinatown and had a few drinks while watching the game. By the time that was over it was time to catch the bus and head back home! I really liked wondering around London and just seeing random sights. I've been many a time before and done the whole touristy thing so it's good to do something different.

In other news... I had my interview for the University job last Friday. It went really well and I got called back for an informal chat today. Basically... I got the Job and I accepted her offer! SO I HAVE A JOB!!! I would have liked to see if I could have pursued the A&F position further but I won't find out for a week or so and then I still would have to go through two other interviews to even get the job. And I have a feeling all the training has to be done in the London store and I can't do that if I live in Southampton. So playing it safe I took the job at the University. I'll be Assisting the Annual Giving Department in their fundraising and alumni projects and working with a team of individuals who seem really like good people to work with! I can always go back and apply for the MIT position again once the store in SH has started to establish itself and they start training people in the store. But for now the Uni job will do!

Now Matt and I can start saving and find our own place!!! FINALLY!!!!!!

The Interviews

2009-03-25T09:21:00.003Z

As predicted I now have three interviews this week, the first of which I already had on Monday. The other two are on Friday and Saturday. My interview on Monday was pretty much a let down! It was for a company called Parker Worldwide, never heard of them but their job post looked pretty promising and I got a call last week for an interview. I got an email with all the details and went to find a website but only found one that was under construction, but they're a new company so I let it go. The job had explained them as a new marketing company that was looking to expand and train people, so I thought Great! just what I want! NOPE! When I arrived for my interview at 2:30 pm I came to find an office space that was totally empty with the exception of a desk for the girl who was shuffling papers and listening to Kings of Leon at an ample volume. There were 7 other interviewees waiting before me so I sat and waited for my turn all the while thinking the situation was really odd. I waited an HOUR AND TEN MINUTES for my interview! When I got in there I introduced myself and made small talk as you do and then the guy who was interviewing me went into the job prospects. Basically it boiled down that they were a direct marketing company that started in the States and is now moving into the UK, with something like 1000 offices in the US and 20 in the UK. When it boiled down to it they were interviewing for sales managers. You got trained and then put in charge of a team of people and then moved on to manage a sales office... Not really what I was looking for. And the kicker was this as said by my interviewer: "We thrive in a recession. People are more watchful of their money so they think about what they are buying more making indirect marketing less affective. But we use direct marketing to get our consumers interest, leading them to buy our product before they realize they have buyers remorse!" Right there I was out! How dishonest! In a recession your company should be helping your consumers to feel secure in their investments, not making them to feel that your taking their money and laughing all the way to the bank! So needless today I told them I wasn't the right person for what they were looking for and with surprise on their face they thanked me for being honest and I went on my way. And now I feel more and more that they whole thing was a scam. If a company has over 1000 offices in the states and more in the UK I would expect they would have some sort of website! But nothing... very odd.

So the two interviews I have at the end of the week are for the University on Friday and for the new Hollister on Saturday. I've been waiting for both of these since mid-February so it's good their finally here. For the Hollister interview I have to travel up to Londontown, so we're gonna make a day of if and see some sights before my interview.

I feel confident about both of them so we'll just have to go and see! I'll keep it updated!

Waiting...

2009-03-02T16:44:00.004Z

So here it is the 2nd day of March and I'm still waiting. A few weeks back I had a meeting with the Head of Development for Southampton University. I had applied for a job but was unsuccessful and he wanted to talk to me about another opportunity they had come available. The position was still with the Development and Alumni Department but a more entry level position and one that was really more suitable for me. He told me that although I didn't get the other job they were still "very impressed" with my attitude and they wanted to keep in contact in case such an opportunity arose. Finally a positive! After hearing nothing and hearing "thanks but no" it was a little bit of a relief to know that someone saw that I was valuable... even if it meant I had to apply all over again and wait. The closing date for applications is the 5th of March so I should hear something within two weeks of then. As well as applying for that job I took on the task of applying for yet another job with an Ad firm, this time an entry level job that over 100 other applicants applied for as well. Yikes! I always follow up when I apply for a job and when I applied for this one I emailed and called my recruiter to make sure she got my app. Two week and nothing... so I wrote her another email, this time with a little more of a "return my email and do you job" kind of attitude. And wouldn't you know, I got a response! She HADN'T received my application in the first place! I wanted to reach through my mac book and slap her. I resent it and now more waiting. Nothing is off the table now (well with the exception of working for McDonald's). Full time jobs, Temp office jobs and retail, I've applied for them all! I've signed up to volunteer at the local hospital as well, but more waiting is to be has with that as well.

Since I have so much time to sit and think during the day I think of ways that I would rather be spending my time if I had the means. I'm really thinking about getting my Masters. The University of Southampton is a really good school and they have an Advertising Design course that looks really good. I just need to find out more and get my facts in order before I commit to anything. I think having my Masters would help me get a job in the ad world and having a degree that's from the UK would make me more desirable.

Still living with housemates for the time being. Until I have a job, Matt and I can't move into our own place. Living here is fine and all but one of the other girls and I just don't get along. Apparently I'm not nice! Ha, maybe if she actually took the time to get to know me instead of judging she would find out I'm actually a very nice person. After trying to resolve the issue once and no positive results, I've gone to ignoring her now. I can't physically be nice to someone time after time when all they want to see is that I'm the bad guy. It gets to me, I get mad, I raise my voice and get upset, and no one wants that :)

So waiting is about all I'm doing at the moment

Update

2009-02-04T10:51:00.003Z

Job Seeking:

Still at the seeking stage unfortunately. I had an interview mid January for a position at the university but I'm still waiting to hear back on that one. Something about one of the decision makers having to go to the states for an emergency so the decision was on hold. I've applied for 10 jobs in the past 3 weeks each with a different cover letter and CV. So I've gotten really good at writing those. Of those 10 job applications I have heard back on 3. The first was a thanks but no thanks, which is fine. I'd rather know I'm not being considered for a job than left wondering what's going on. But this seems to be the philosophy in the UK, and this is not just me saying that American's are better than the UK, I've had people over here confirm the fact that customer service skills in the UK are pretty much crap. In the US if you send in an application for a job (and for an actual job opening, not just a random shot in the dark) someone WILL get back to you, and in a reasonable amount of time, whether or not you've been successful with your application. Over here your left to assume that your application is unsuccessful if it's been 2 weeks and you've heard nothing, even though you sent a follow up email. It's just so inconsiderate and rude! And it's even worse if you've interviewed and gotten the "We'll call you", and in a sincere way, never to here anything after. SO RUDE!

The other two job applications that I've heard back on were from another local ad agency letting me know they "definitely" got my CV and will be sending out emails for interviews on Friday. The other is for the new Hollister store opening in our mall. Those of you who know me, know that I worked at Abercrombie & Fitch for a number of years and really like the store and the company. I worked there so long that I knew how the store ran inside and out and was only not able to be a manager because you need a degree to be one. So now I have my degree and have an interview on Saturday. As Emily said "They better hire you, your from Cali - Fucking- fornia" so here's hoping.

Driving Lessons:

I've had two lessons with Matt and so far so good. Driving a manual car (with no power steering) is like learning to drive all over again for me. According to Matt I have really good clutch control. I'm still really tentative and think about what I'm doing far too much, but I'm getting there. I need to work on pulling away, I don't stall I just need to give it more gas to make it smoother, but that's only when I'm going straight on. If I'm pulling away and turning a corner at the same time I'm really smooth. Why I have no idea! And my shift changes are fine. I just have to do it little by little and I'll get there. And Matt's a good teacher :)

Living in the UK:

I think I've adjusted really well to be honest. Not too concerned about the weather, yeah it's cold but I put on a jacket and I'm fine. And Southampton is quite sunny compared to other places in the country so it makes it seem not so bad. I think if it were grey and crapy all the time I'd feel different. Still miss all my friends back home but I've become good friends with Matt's two cousins and their other halves. One lives in the city with us and the other lives not too far so we go up and visit them quite often. The people that Matt and I live with are nice and one of them has turned out to be a really good guy, but the others are acquaintances and I don't really see me becoming friends with them and we're just here till we can get our own place. I long for the day when I will walk into my own kitchen in the morning and it's clean and there's no fighting for space at dinner time! I'm just done living with other people, and the inconsiderateness and pettiness that comes with it.

On a better and more positive note, IT SNOWED yesterday and Monday! And like heavy snow at some points. It's melted now but it was awesome when it was goin on.

SEE!

Matt leaving for work in the snow!

Inauguration in the UK

2009-01-21T11:52:00.005Z

3 HOURS EARLY! After giving his speech at the Lincoln Memorial, Denzel Washington arrived at the Capitol Building THREE HOURS EARLY to watch Obama be sworn in as 44th President. That's dedication and makes me love him that little bit more!

For most of yesterday I waited and watched the BBC news coverage of the Inauguration, it was even on when I went to the gym. And it's amazing the amount of pride people felt about the new President, even more so because everyone around me is British! But it made me feel good to be an American living abroad and to finally have a leader that was accepted by pretty much the majority of people. With Bush as President everyone was always asking why we voted him into office (we'll not me personally I voted for Gore) and why he was so... well, useless. But with Obama people now tell me how much of a leader he seems to be and there's something about him that makes them feel apart of everything and makes them feel good that because America's now getting it's act together that other nations will soon follow and benefit from Obama being in the White House.

YEAH!!

Weekend of Walking

2009-01-18T21:48:00.003Z

This weekend Matt & I walked... a lot

On Saturday we traveled to Lyndhurst to visit the New Forest (www.thenewforest.co.uk). It's a HUGE forest just outside of Southampton where you can do a variety of outdoor activities. This being our first time in the forest, we opted for a walk. We bought a map of the forest, found a walking trail near by and set off. The night before I was reading up on the forest and was really excited to see the wild ponies they have in the forest. Since they're wild it's hard to say where they might be so when we went on Saturday I hoped we might stumble upon some, and WE DID! We saw 6 of the New Forest Ponies just wondering around, eating as they pleased. We walked and wondered and eventually found our way back to the car park.

New Forest Pony!

Today (Sunday) we walked around the Southampton Common, fed the ducks and envied all the people with dogs. So naturally I want a dog now. After that we really didn't want to stay cooped up in the house so we went to a place called Calshot. It's right on the coast just south of Southampton. We walked along the coast taking artsy pictures and enjoying the ocean.

Calshot

I don't think i've walked so much in one weekend and in three different places, but it was fun!

Christmas makes me sleepy!

2008-12-27T15:24:00.005Z

I am sooooo sleepy! And after not getting to bed till after 1am on both christmas day and boxing day (bank holiday on the day after xmas in the UK) one can see why I'm so tired! Christmas Day was lots of fun, we did the present exchange and had a christmas lunch, then later had a group of Matt's relatives come over. We ate some more and played party games till about midnight, one of which contained a cereal box, scissors and each person to be as flexible as they could be. The object of the game was to pick up the box from the floor with just your mouth, and you could not touch the floor with your hands or knees. So as the box got shorter and shorter people began to drop out, until it was matt's 54 year old aunt, his brother and myself. Matt's aunt lasted until the box was 2 inches in height and brad and I lasted with the last inch where he was unable to get to the box and I was. And just to make my victory even better, I had them cut off the last half an inch and proceeded to pick up what remained of the box. Needless to say we were all soar the next day! Boxing day was spent watching the local rugby team lose and visiting Matt's Dad side of the family. Matt's Dad is one of 6 and each brother has their own family with multiple children, so get-to-gethers are always a fun party (same goes for matt's mom's side, she's one of 7). So more food and games were had and the clock read 1:43 am when we got to bed!

I just want to sleep or rest and watch a movie for the rest of the day! I think a showing of the Dark Knight is in my immediate future!

City girl on a farm... e-i-e-i-o

2008-12-23T20:33:00.004Z

Today at 5:00 A.M. Matt and I were up and getting ready to meet his dad at work. The reason we had to get up SO early is because his dad works on a Dairy Farm! He was already there when we arrived and had been so for a good hour. I've never been on a Dairy Farm before and at the moment this farm has about 200 cows only used for milking and 45 calves, two of which had been born just the night before! When we arrived Matt's Dad was mixing the milk for the calves to drink and about 6 cats came out looking for whatever was spilt on the floor. We spent 2 hours with his dad "feeding up" the calves with their milk, water and feed cake which looked like Oat Bran with rasins. The older ones drink their milk out of the bucket and they all Moo like crazy until they are fed, after which they go really quiet and it's time for a nap. The younger ones who have just been born have to drink their milk from a bucket which has a single udder on it to act like a mommy cow. Some of them don't really get what's going on and you have to stick your hand around their mouth and then guide them to it and show them what to do. So you end up with a really sloppy, drooly hand. And if you leave your hand in there they'll just continue sucking cause they thing your a mommy. It's one of the weirdest sensations I've ever come across. You're generally told NOT to stick your hands in animals mouths but since cows only have bottom teeth and cover the bottom ones with their tongues (which are like cat's tongues but more rough and hella long!) it obviously won't hurt, especially since they are only sucking on it, but I don't thing I ever would put my hand in the mouth of a grown cow, which are massive when you are standing right next to one.

Here are a couple of pictures from my morning at the farm.

Favorite calve #1

Favorite calve #1 and #2

Me in my farm regalia!

Here we come a caroling..

2008-12-18T11:51:00.002Z

I've spent Christmas over here many a time before but really didn't notice the differences in celebration between the us and the the UK until now. Everyone celebrates the day of Christmas differently so I'm not really talking about that, I'm talking about the way society celebrates the season.

Holiday Movies: Right about now in the US I would be on Christmas movie overload. I'm sure that on TBS "A Christmas Story" is playing everyday and on Christmas day, the traditional 24 hour marathon of the same movie will be playing over and over. Christmas movies start the day after Thanksgiving in the states and don't stop till Christmas day. I love it! I love Christmas movies!! But in the UK the only christmas movie I've seen on tv so far is "Elf" and that was last Sunday. So far this holiday season "Elf" is the only Christmas film I've watched, and that's only cause I bought it 2 weeks ago. Apparently the movies I love so much will be on tv starting this weekend, cause all the kiddies get out of school for the holiday break on Friday. I feel gypped! Christmas makes me feel like a big kid and I want to sit around in my pj's and watch christmas films through out all of December! AND they don't even have "A Christmas Story" for sale in any of the shops and no one over here has EVER heard of it! Shameful!

Carolers: Twice this week there has been a knock at our door and upon opening the door we've had children singing Christmas Carols! They usually get into the first verse of whatever song they are singing and stop and then we are expected to give them change, which we do. Nothing really significant but if they go around to a good number of houses on multiple nights they'll be making some serious cash for a 10 year old. Usually in the states you might get carolers roaming around the streets but it's in a group and usually for some charitable cause like change for kids or canned goods for the homeless, not for personal gain. It is a bit weird.

Of job seeking and other stories

2008-12-16T12:06:00.003Z

So I've been avoiding writing in my blog for well over a month. Why?? you ask... Well I would have hoped by now that I would have found a spot for myself in the job market! But no, this lovely recession is making it very hard for someone in the marketing/advertising sector to find a job. And all those economists who harp on businesses and tell them to cut their marketing budgets as a means to "cut costs" are really beginning to get on my last nerve! YOUR PUTTING ME OUT OF A JOB, and regardless any sound business person will tell you that cutting your marketing budget at a time like this is the last thing you should do! Sorry, rant over! Back to my update.

Since I last updated I've been doing my best to find a job and went on an interview with a recruiter about a month ago. She's been of little help and I think I've heard from her twice since then. I also had a meeting with an advertising firm a month ago and three weeks ago I had a 2nd interview... and have been waiting and waiting to hear back ever since. When I left the interview, i felt really good about it and was pleased with what I had accomplished. I had to literally claw my way into that company even for them to take a look at my portfolio, which they were impressed with, and I thought that SOMETHING would happen after that 2nd interview. But nothing. I sent an email last week and made a phone call yesterday to see what the status was, no answer. At this point it's really annoying. I got a degree in advertising because it was what I wanted to do and because it was something I was good at, even without my classes to make me enjoy it that little bit more. And now I'm left wondering if any of that will be put to use. Now I'm sure your wondering why I don't go to another firm, and the answer is, all the other Ad firms are in London and with a 4,000 pound train ticket (for the year) and 3.5 hours on a train commuting everyday, it just isn't an option. So I've been considering the option of working in the communications or fundraising sector of the local University or Hospital. Youth organizations don't exist in Southampton.

I just want to work! I've worked since I was 14 and since the age of 18 i worked 2 jobs and wend to school full time. It's in my nature to be busy and be a productive individual! And then there's the financial side of it. Ah money! something everyone is having an issue with at this time. I'm ok for the moment but that's now, not two months from now. And I don't want to claim off the government cause I just think it's the easy way out and the lazy way for people who don't want to work at all.

I do have to say that I am very lucky however to have Matt. He has been unbelievably supportive. I can't imagine being without someone like him at a time like this!

Life is good other than that! I'm really liking Southampton. Matt and I have taken day trips on the weekends to other cities, usually shopping in the high street (like an outdoor mall) and taking in any local sights we might find. I've also had the chance to meet a good majority of Matt's family. His cousin James and his Fiance Rachel, live 45 minutes away from us so we've gone to visit them a few times as well. In fact, last weekend we went to visit them and went to London on the train for the Frost Fair and another fair in Hyde Park. We had crapes and walked along the Themes River enjoying all the little booths. We then wondered around the SOHO district of London and I decided that even though I have been to London 3 or 4 times that I need to venture into more of the non touresty parts of London. AND we went to IKEA!! Those who know me know I love Ikea so when we went last Friday I was so excited. They were open till midnight and even better, Matt had never been, and he liked what he saw. So we're going to plan on moving into our own place when the one in Southampton opens this spring, silly but efficient!

I've finished all of my Christmas shopping and can't wait to spend the holidays in Devon with Matt and his family! We'll be there this Sunday through the 5th of Jan!

Hope everyone has a great holiday!!

Obama for the Win!

2008-11-05T10:21:00.002Z

At 2:30 this morning I was awake and couldn't sleep! I needed to know what was going on at home. I turned on my computer and found that CNN had the electoral votes at 175 for Obama and 68 for McCain and Obama winning the popular vote, but with 270 electoral votes needed I wasn't about to stay up and nervously watch the numbers come in.

At 4:30 this morning I woke up again, sure that some preliminary results would be up. I waited for my computer to find a wireless signal so I could search the internet and hopefully see the result I has been waiting for. I was a little scared that McCain would be the winner and in the process of 2 hours he would have taken over in a come back... But he didn't! The results were 338 OBAMA and 160 for McCain. OBAMA WON?!?!?!?! I saw what was in front of me but needed more confirmation. Aim, Facebook, anything to get me a connection to anyone I knew in the states. Thankfully there were tons of people online, watching the history that was happening around us. With confirmation that Obama was indeed the President Elect, I felt so excited and SO glad that I voted before I left for the UK. To miss being a part of something so huge would have been shameful. Imagine telling my children or grandchildren that I didn't vote in the biggest election in US history! Yikes!

At 5:00 this morning I watched President Elect Barack Obama deliver his speech to the US and it was chilling. He just has a way about him that makes you want to stand up and do something, believe that there is good out there and that the president of the United States CAN be a good, stable and SMART person. He's so aware of what's going on, so real about the situation and not afraid to tell you exactly what's going on. That's why I voted for him and that's why he'll be good for our country. Change is GOOD you just have to embrace it!

"This is our time, to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth, that, out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope. And where we are met with cynicism and doubts and those who tell us that we can't, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes, we can."

- Barack Obama, 44th President of the United States of America

In the Trees!

2008-10-26T17:44:00.003Z

This past weekend was really fun! Matt and I went to Farnahm to spend the weekend with his cousin James, his girlfriend Rachel as well as his cousin Chris, his girlfriend Jo and a couple of James's friends. The reason for the trip up to Farnham was for James's birthday and to celebrate we went to one of the local outdoor activity centers and did this (http://www.goape.co.uk/). They have them all over the country and each one is different. So we spent the majority of the morning climbing through trees on high ropes courses and zip lines that were pretty high up. It was a lot of fun and I'd like to go to the one near Southampton in the New Forest. Saturday night was out for James's Birthday Dinner at a really nice and pretty authentic Italian restaurant. I've found that the Italian restaurants are very different than the American ones and what I'm used to. The sauces are sweeter, the meets are different and the fillings that go with the pastas are all very (what i would guess) authentic Italian. They even have Penne Arrabiata which I always thought was something Eddie Izzard made up for his Darth Vader joke, but it does actually exist haha!

Today we all slept in which was really nice and after getting over my little bit of a headache (too much wine me thinks!) we headed back to Southampton where Matt and I went to the Home Goods store that we have right next to our house to buy yet more stuff for our room. When my shoes arrived on Thursday they sat in their box because I had no where to put them, tragic! So today we bought a shelf unit to put all of my shoes and Matt's shoes on along with some other bits that we needed. Still can't wait to get our own place and fill the kitchen with everything we need!!

Random: I'm listening to BBC1 Radio and Kings of Leo's "Sex on Fire" is playing and I really enjoy the song :)

Update on my boxes! 2 have arrived and 2 should be on their way tomorrow. I didn't have to end up paying for anything because I filled out the forms and they realized that everything I was shipping was personal belongings. The other two boxes which i filled out the customs forms for on Wednesday were still floating around the airport on Friday. So I called and informed them of the problem and they said the other 2 boxes should be here tomorrow and I shouldn't have problems with paying or anything cause they have been cleared through customs.

Other than that things are good. I'll start looking for jobs this week and applying for them as well. Starting work over here is going to be really interesting.

:)

I stole this from Jackie!! Katology

2008-10-24T13:21:00.000+01:00

*FOODOLOGY*

What is your salad dressing of choice?
Italian or Caesar from Panera!

What is your favorite sit-down restaurant?
Bella Itallia in Southampton City Center (Have yet to find another fave)

What food could you eat every day for two weeks and not get sick of?
Pasta!!

What are your pizza toppings of choice?
Pepperoni and Italian Sausage

What do you like to put on your toast?
Strawberry jam

*TECHNOLOGY*

What is your wallpaper on your computer?
A picture of Greyback (one of the cats emi and I had in Cali)

How many televisions are in your house?
No idea... there are 6 bedrooms but not everyone has a TV in their room.

What color cell phone do you have?
Black... and it slides. I love it!

*BIOLOGY*

Are you right-handed or left-handed?
Right.

Have you ever had anything removed from your body?
Teeth

What is the last heavy item you lifted?
Boxes of my stuff that arrived yesterday

Have you ever been knocked unconscious?
Yep. Jumped when coming down a set of stairs at my Mom's old house and hit my head on the landing of the stairs... knocked me out for a minute or so and hurt really bad!!

*BULLCRAPOLOGY*

If it were possible, would you want to know the day you were going to die?
No I'm good on not knowing

If you could change your name, what would you change it to?
Something a little less common

Would you drink an entire bottle of hot sauce for $1,000?
Blah.. no thanks

*DUMBOLOGY*

How many pairs of flip flops do you own?
2, one black and one brown

Last time you had a run-in with the cops?
ummmmm. NEVER!

What do you want to be when you grow up?
Awesome! and an Account Executive for a major Advertising Firm

Last person you talked to?
The lady at the Post Office

Last person you hugged?
Matt, before he left for work this morning

FAVORITOLOGY*

Season?
Autumn

Holiday?
Christmas & New Years

Day of the week?
Saturday

Month?
September & December

*CURRENTOLOGY*

Missing someone?
All my friends from back home!!

Mood?
content

Listening to?
the TV

Watching?
"Should I Worry About..." hosted by Richard Hammond from Top Gear

Worrying about?
When my other boxes will arrive

*RANDOMOLOGY*

First place you went this morning?
Shirley High Street to go to the bank

What can you not wait to do?
The "Going Ape" high ropes and zip line Tomorrow with Matt's cousins!

What's the last movie you saw?
"Burn After Reading" an hour and a half of my life I won't get back!

Do you smile often?
yeah most of the time

2008-10-22T16:05:00.000+01:00

I've been sitting at home today waiting for my boxes from the US to come via UPS. Around noon Matt calls me and says that the UPS office had contacted him asking that I fill out customs forms for my shipment. They email me the forms and I send them back. At this point I check the shipment of my boxes to see where they are. Two are at the Airport and 2 are in Southampton on route to being delivered... odd. At 3:00 the UPS man arrives with 2 of my boxes YEAH!!! Or so I thought! He tells me that he needs 125 pound (or $350) right then and there in order for him to physically give me my boxes. Having only a small amount of cash and no check on me he gives me the invoices and I call the office to sort it all out. He leaves with my boxes and says that he will be back tomorrow with my boxes after I sort everything else out with the UPS customs office.

The charges are for IMPORT TAX and DUTIES to be paid!!! ON MY OWN PERSONAL BELONGINGS!!!!! Something I shouldn't be paying for because non of what I sent is for resale. So now I'm wanting to know a)why I'm being charged and b) why two of my boxes were cleared without charges and why 2 were sent to my house with charges. I make the call and after speaking to about 5 different people who were Irish, English, and Italian I got someone who knew what to do. I explained to him that everything shipped were personal items and each box should have been treated the same and if someone would have told me I needed to fill out the form before I shipped them I would have.I understand paying for imports on items you wish to sell but shouldn't be charged for shipping photo albums and shoes which I'm keeping. So long story short I filled out all the forms for all of my boxes and they should come back tomorrow (hopefully).

I'm Here

2008-10-21T18:13:00.000+01:00

Well, I'm here and so far so good!

I got in Friday afternoon about 12:30 and was greeted by Matt at the airport. From there we headed home where I unpacked ALL of my stuff in an hour and a half!! Thankfully Matt is awesome and cleared out some of his drawers and closet space for me :). Once unpacked we headed out to the City Center for dinner at an Italian restaurant which was good but not as good as the one that we went to before that was just on the other side of the city.

Saturday was spent grocery shopping and shopping for house stuff, how adult of us! Grocery shopping was interesting. Everyone must have been there and not only was it full of people shopping, it was also full of the store clerks restocking the shelves. So everyone is going every-which-way and there's me in the middle not knowing where anything is and what I'm exactly looking for... fun times! "House stuff" shopping was more fun. We just bought random things we needed but it was fun to look at everything else that we might by when we get out own place! Really excited for that. I always enjoy picking out furniture and things to decorate a room with, but now I have someone else to do that with which makes it even better.

Sunday, Matt and I went to one of the local pubs for drinks with Matt's cousin Abby and her boyfriend and some of their friends. It was Quiz Night, meaning that we all pay a pound and get to participate in a quiz with other teams at the pub. I've heard of them but never done one, so it was fun to actually participate in something that is very unique to English Culture.

Monday and today I've been finding my way around town since Matt is back to work. Yesterday I ventured on foot to the local High Street (shops and what not) where I set up my bank account and had a general look around. Then today I took the bus to the City Center (where we went for dinner the first night), went to the mall, people watched, bought a scarf thing... and then came home. Oh, also went to the job center and got some info about getting a job!

So things are going well and Matt and I are cooking dinner, well Matt is. I was helping but felt in the way and annoyed buy the lack of cooking supplies!! I miss my kitchen back home!! Between Emily, Jackie and I we had everything you could need to make anything you wanted. It will make getting all that stuff for our own place that much better!

4 days till take off!

2008-10-12T08:58:00.000+01:00

With four days to go I've been saying my goodbyes to everyone and finishing up a what is left to do. I had my last day at work on friday and it was pretty much a regular work day, but when I left at the end of the day I made my rounds, said goodbye and turned in my keys. My bosses took me out for lunch and drinks (drinks after work!) which was pretty much a really good way to wrap things up with them. Both of them are two of the best bosses that you could ask for and I really enjoyed working with them and everyone else. Leaving work was bitter sweet and I think everything is going to be that way. It is sad that I'm leaving a place and people who I have grown to love but I don' really feel like I'm saying goodbye to everyone FOREVER... just until I come to visit again! And I'm so excited and happy for the new path I'm taking in life and to share it with everyone.

After leaving work on Friday I headed out for my "Going Away Party" with people from work and friends. Even though it was a party for saying goodbye to people I had such a great time! Everyone was chatting to one another and I made my rounds getting the chance to talk to everyone and say my goodbyes. We started at Heroes in Fullerton (the place where I met Matt and my favorite place for a casual night out) followed by Durty Nelly's (Irish Pub in Costa Mesa with Karaoke). It was an awesome night out and a really good way for me to see everyone as a group before I set off on Thursday.

Speaking of, I've started packing and think I have all my stuff packed. NOT looking forward to shipping all that stuff but it has to be done. The suitcases shouldn't be too much of a hassle (hopefully).

Well 4 more days to go!

a quick one

2008-10-01T05:19:00.001+01:00

BIG SIGH!!!!!

I haven't updated in a while cause things have been major busy!! Work is busy because we have a big event on Saturday and Life is busy because.... well I'm moving 5,000 miles. My passport still isn't here so now I have a back up plan and have applied for a UK work visa just in case.

This is a really short update cause i've just been doing busy STUFF.

2 and a half weeks to go!

Long days that move quickly

2008-09-24T02:50:00.000+01:00

This week marks 3 and a half weeks till I'll be on my way to the UK and it also begins the big final push at work for the big event we have in a week and half. So I'm at work more than normal this week and the days are long but I'm doing 5 things at once and following up on 8 different tasks so it makes the day go fast. They had 2nd interviews today for whoever is going to replace me. I wasn't part of round 2 but I was part of the first round of interviews and all the candidates were good, just some better than obviously. Whoever it is, I just hope they're trainable.

In more exciting news: I GET TO KEEP MY MACBOOK PRO! I have to pay my work for it but it's better than having to buy a new one and i like this one, even though it was my "work" computer I used it for everything.

My suitcases came today but I wasn't home so I'll hopefully get them tomorrow.

Other than that just feeling really tired from the long work days!!!

3 more weeks!!!!!

My Birthday and the Cops

2008-09-19T17:32:00.000+01:00

So the 17th was my 25th Birthday and it was a pretty good one. I had to work but, eh, you can't win 'em all. While I was at work I got FLOWERS... more flowers. One from my work and one from Matt. Nothing brings more attention to someone than flowers and a big pink balloon. After work I headed out to BJ's with friends to celebrate. It was so much fun and I had a really great time with all of them. Emily even made me a banner! All in all it was a good birthday :)

Last night I went out on a ride along with our local PD. My sister is an LAPD cop and I've always wanted to do one just so you can understand a bit better the job that they do. And I got to do exactly that. With every stop we made from 6pm till 2am the officer I was with did his best to explain to me why they stopped someone, what the situation was, and what the next step would be. Here are some of the highlights:

Drunk Hobo:

Our first call is to a liquor store were we have a report of a homeless man drunk in public. Only wearing his 76ers basketball shorts and a wooden cross around his neck, the officers ask the man questions and we take him to the station because he has a warrant out for unpaid tickets. So the officer puts the drunk man in our car and we head back to the station. Along the way the man repeatedly tells the officer "I hate cops" and tells me "Your pretty" only to change his opinion 5 seconds later and tell me that I wasn't pretty at all. Nice guy!

The Man Who Whore Women's Panties:

We stop a man on a bike who said he was on his way home, or rather that's where he said he was going. He spoke very little english and the officers spoke very little spanish. So the officer pats him down and finds that the man had the top button of his pants undone and he's WEARING WOMEN'S UNDERWEAR!!!! We try and get his name and the reason as to why he's wearing women's panties but he doesn't understand. We log him in the system and the area in which he was in case he might be a "peeper" and it's good to have those people on file.

Meth Van

The next call later that night was for back up that one of the other officers had called us for. None of the cops have partners in the shift I was on, so they call another officer for backup once they feel it's needed. We pull up and the other officer already had two men in the back seat, they're gang members. Gang tattoos, shaved head and wearing gang attire (and in the dust on the window of their ghetto van was their gang letters... Classy). Every time we go to a call the officer told me I could come and stand next to them and listen to what was going on, unless he didn't feel it was safe, then I would stay next to the car and observe until he called me over. So on this one since the guys were already cuffed and in the car it was ok for me to come and look with them as they searched the van. The officer tells me to hold out my hand and he places what looks like a Chinese popper in my hand... But it's METH and he tells me "Just hang onto that for a sec". So now I'm holding METH in my hand and really trying not to drop it. They search the rest of the van (which was a wreck!) and find the meth pipe they had been smoking the drugs with and now we have our evidence. I give the officer back the meth and he takes them into be booked.

Pretty interesting night. The officers were really nice and the officer that I rode around with all night was really awesome. Just an average guy, who could be your worst enemy or the nicest guy depending on the call and the people who where involved. I didn't think they would let me be so involved with the calls, but obviously they were and I never thought that the night would have me holding meth in my hand for 20 minutes. I'm tired now but it was totally worth it.

One month and counting

2008-09-17T05:24:00.000+01:00

Today is September 16th, a month from today I will be on a plain bound for London. And weirdly enough one day from tomorrow, September 17th (MY BIRTHDAY), I'll be in Southampton starting a new life that I am so excited for! But with all this excitement comes stress and I haven't been doing anything about it! Bad I know!!!! So after having a headache (ok maybe a small migraine) for the past two days and no relief from any medication; I went home from work early, had a really good chat with Matt and tried to relax for the rest of the evening. While doing so I read up on how to deal with some of my stress (yeah for the internet). I took a nice long shower (baths aren't my thing), had some fruit, watched one of my favorite shows with Emily, and wrote out what i needed to do for work and for moving to get it out of my brain and onto paper where I can see it. If i write it down, see that it's something that needs to get done I'll worry about it less and do it sooner, instead of thinking about it and letting those thoughts keeping me up at night. I also need to remember as each day that goes by I can only do so much and to take everything and everyday one at a time.

Speaking of, time for some sleep!!

(TOMORROW IS MY BIRTHDAY!!!!)

Sorted...

2008-09-14T08:49:00.000+01:00

My stuff that is. In my room sits 3 different piles of "stuff". Clothes to be donated to the Salvation Army, random stuff that I no longer want that is to be donated to the Salvation Army and lastly the 3 (soon to be 4, and one of which is shoes haha) boxes that will ship my personal belongings to the UK in the upcoming weeks. I'm trying not to make them so heavy and I think the 4th box will help with that. My room looks very empty but it feels really good to get that ALL sorted out. Only thing left to sort out is where to store my 3 boxes of stuff that I want to keep but don't want to take with me. Shipping is expensive and I'd like to avoid shipping unwanted boxes for the time being.

Glad to get that out of the way!

Time for sleep!

Running out of Time!!! My Schedule for the Next 5 Weeks!

2008-09-13T08:12:00.000+01:00

Spent tonight out with some friends from school and realized I'm really running out if time to see people before I leave, and as far as tonight goes, I may not see some of those people before I leave because of how busy I will be and I may not get the opportunity. So I thought that I would post my schedule for all to see so that if you are free and I am free and we can get together just hit me up and we can get lunch, dinner, drinks, coffee, whatever!!! And there are lots of people to say goodbye to so hopefully I can make time for everyone :)

Weekdays: All pretty much the same, I work 9 till 6 and get an hour for lunch and then I'm free after work most nights. Osnly weekdays at the moment that are off the table at the 18th and 19th of Sept.

Wednesdays is girls night at the house and we watch Bones & Project Runway and have a little wine as well, so if that sounds good to you than you can come on over (girls only obviously lol)

This weekend I'm pretty open, I do have more sorting out of my "stuff" to do but no big plans.

Sept 19th & 20th I will be going up to the Camarillo area to say my goodbyes to the people up there. I'm leaving noonish on Saturday and coming home Sunday evening

Sept 26th-28th Spending the weekend with TERRI in Fullerton. We will probably be taking a trip to DTF Friday or Saturday night with the roomies so if you want to come along let me know :)

Oct 3rd & 4th: This is the day before and the day of our big event at work that I'm in charge of.... so needless to say no fun for me those days :(

OCTOBER 10TH!!!!! This is a FRIDAY NIGHT and I will be having my "Going Away" party that night. Don't know what all the plans are but it will involve a awesome night of karaoke at Dirty Nellies in Costa Mesa around 9:30 pm. We'll be reserving a group of tables so their will be room for lots of people. The place is really awesome even if you don't like karaoke. It's an Irish pub and it will be a fun night I PROMISE you that!! If you can make it let me know.

Oct 11th & 12th. Pretty open and my last "free" weekend.

After that I'll be free to hang out until the 14th. I'll need all day on the 15th to pack and get organizes cause I will be leaving the next day!

So there you have it, my busy and ever growing schedule. If you want to get together before I leave let me know. If I don't call you to hang out PLEASE don't be offended there are just lots of people to see and it's best if you tell me when you are free and we can get together :) Email me if you do: carter.kat@gmail.com

my little silver car!

2008-09-09T01:25:00.000+01:00

Just posted my car for sale on craigslist (search 2004 scion and you should find it). I'm so sad to have to sell my car. I know it's for something better, but I love my car! It was my first, and only, car. It took me to the beach on hot summer days when I still lived in Camarillo and it took me off to College (and back) 3 TIMES, each time with more and more stuff in it. It even left me with a nice little scar on the top of my head from the first time I moved into the dorms at CSUF. Talk about an excellent way to make a first impression!

Anyways, It's a good little car and I will miss it!

I've already had someone call me and I'm sure I'll get more calls in the upcoming days once I put the "For Sale" signs in the windows of the car. The person who called first was really weird though... don't want some weird/strange person to have my car... We'll see what happens!

runnin around

2008-09-08T05:52:00.000+01:00

So this weekends been errand running and clearing out stuff in my room. I got my international driving license, which wasn't as hard to get as I thought. Just filling out paper work and taking a photo, and then it was done and I already have it, no waiting for it in the mail... unlike other documents I need. LIKE MY PASSPORT! Never go to CVS to get your passport photos done. They don't know what the requirements are and just take pictures without anything that tells them what they should look like to be accepted by the passport office. On Saturday my paper work got sent back to me and now I have to send it again. I have 5 and a half weeks left and it takes 4 weeks to get my passport... that makes me worry just a bit. Time is on my side though, hopefully it will all be okay!!!

In the clearing out department of my journey, I've taken lots of old clothes out of my drawers and closet tonight. Anything that i haven't worn in the past 6 months, and clothes that aren't "seasonal" got tossed in the donations bag, same went for shoes... that made me a little sad. But now that I feel like I have no clothes I really have to resist the urge to buy more clothes (or shoes), and If I do they HAVE to be; proper shoes for everyday wearing and walking (that means no Vans or Chucks), warm clothes cause it will be coming up on winter when I arrive in the UK, and a suit for interviews.

I apologize to matt now for the amount of clothes and shoes that will be coming with me BUT it could have been much worse!

I'm realizing that I have little to no time now and things have to get done NOW. No more time to put things off or "wait till later" just looking at a calendar make me SO nervous! I think I'll post my car for sale tomorrow.

Up, Up and Away!

2008-09-05T22:15:00.001+01:00

Well soon anyways!!! I bought my plane ticket today, and now I can check that off of my "to-do" list! I'll be taking a non-stop flight from LAX at 6 pm on the 16th of October and arriving at LHR (London Heathrow) at 12:25 pm the next day. So that put an exciting start to my day... but so did these!

Today is Matt and mine's 1st anniversary! I got these while I was at work today and it put a very big smile on my face!! I can't believe it's been a year! Who would have thought, a year ago today, I would be buying a plane ticket and getting ready to make the move to the UK?? Life's very unpredictable sometimes, but when it works in your favor there's nothing wrong with that!

Listing the room for rent

2008-09-04T05:49:00.000+01:00

Just listed the room for rent on Craigslist. If you or anyone you know might be interested than let me know :)

Here is the link!!!

http://orangecounty.craigslist.org/roo/826389748.html

Ta!

Impatient!

2008-09-04T02:44:00.000+01:00

UGH! I just want it to be Friday so I can buy stuff that I need!!! I'm a really impulsive person so when i think of something that needs to be done or want to do, I usually want to do it right then and there... but all the things I want or need to do cost money, which i won't have till Friday. There are other things that I could do like cleaning out my closet, getting rid of "stuff" and cleaning out my room... But none of that is fun so I'll put that off till later HAHA, like this weekend.

And all of my things on my "to-do" list are keeping up at night so it will be beneficial to my sleep pattern to get some of it done!

The word is pretty much out now and more and more people are hearing my news and giving me lots of support.

So far so GOOD!

Time is already flying!

2008-09-02T06:48:00.000+01:00

With a month and 16 days to go I'm realizing even more just how much stuff I have to do!! But... having the personality that I do a "To-Do" list is now firmly posted on my wall. It's pretty long at the moment and I'm sure I'll add more too it as I get more and more ready to leave but it will feel VERY good to cross things off as they get done! Hopefully next weekend I can get started on some of those things...

One month and 16 days to go...

Kat

So here we go...

2008-08-29T05:31:00.000+01:00

About a year ago I wrote about a boy that I had met... and a year later I'm still writing about him! A year has gone by and we've managed to keep our (amazing) relationship going. A little background for those of you who may be scratching your head at the moment...

We met... While he was backpacking in the US and had been backpacking around other places in the world for the past 9 or so months. He went on a rafting trip down the Grand Canyon with my roommates friends and when he was done there, came to stay in the OC with the friends he had met on the river. We all went out one night and he seemed like just another guy, but he looked at me, smiled and we began to talk. Looks can be deceiving, he wasn't another Southern Cali surfer, he was English! Instantly we had a connection and we talked most of that night. We had the obligatory "we should swap information" conversation, but didn't and the night ended. He was from England, how could that work?? But it did. The following weekend he got my number, invited me to a friends BBQ and we talked even more, that time I made sure to give him my information. This all happened around September 1, 2007 and he didn't leave the OC till the end of that month. I know I sound like a Nicholas Sparks book but it was amazing how we clicked. We went to the movies, dinner, celebrated my birthday and became more than just a "fling". It worked, we liked it and we wanted to keep it that way, so we did.

Since then... we've been doing the long distance relationship thing, but it just works and yes it's been hard at times but... it just works! We communicate and understand each other so well it's odd but SO good! He makes me a better person and I think it's safe to say I do the same. We match, simple as that.

Now this whole time hasn't been spent apart, when he left the OC at the end of September of 2007 we kept in contact through phone and email ALL THE TIME. We talked on the phone and emailed about everything and anything, asking each other the typical "get to know you" questions and more serious questions like "where do you see yourself in 5 years?". My gmail is ful of our email conversations! When Christmas and New Years rolled around we took a trip to New York and this was the true test. Would it be the same? And as we had thought, NOTHING in our relationship changed! And that was a good thing! We were still ourselves around each other and nothing was awkward, it felt the way it should when you want to be with someone, no matter what obstacles stand in your way. From there we never left one place with out a plan for the future. In April of 2008 he came back to Southern Cali for two weeks which included a trip to Hawaii for a friend's wedding, in June I went to England and spent 10 days where i was introduced to his family, who I grew to love very quickly, and earlier this month he was here for 10 days were we went to another wedding, Disneyland, and rafting on the Kern River.

So who's going where next?? I'm going back to England... But it will be different this time, I won't be returning to Southern California, I'm moving there!!! Big step? Yes. Am I sure? Yes. But when you know what you need to do, you know and both my head and my heart tell me that THAT'S the right decision for us. We're both excited as the other and even more so now as everyone knows, and if they don't than they will soon. I had decided not to tell work till TODAY, so things were a bit on the low key side but now they know and we can be as excited as we want to be. I won't be leaving till the 16th of October because of obligations i have with work and my two wonderful roomies! I've had an overwhelming amount of support for my decision and I'm very thankful for that, and know that when it comes time to leave it will be sad, but I'm doing what's right for me and for Matt :)

So that's my news. I'm going to keep writing in here so that if you read this and we are friends or family you'll have an update on what I'm doing and you can leave me a comment or a note if you feel the need to! Please do, just cause I'm moving doesn't mean things end, they just begin somewhere new.

Kat

Me and Matt at Disneyland in August of 2008

Denzel Washington

2007-11-09T00:26:00.000Z

I love this man. Not only is he the national spokes person for the orginization that i work for, he makes kick ass movies and last week he randomly visited the BACM Hospital in Texas (for injured soldiers) and wrote a check on the spot for the full amout of what it would cost to build an additional facility to house the families of the soldiers. How awesome is that! This man't heart is huge and I can not explain how much respect I have for him. If you have not see American Gangster, GO SEE IT! It will be worth the ten bucks and two and a half hours I promise!

WHO'S GOING TO SEE DANE COOK!?!?!

2007-10-15T22:12:00.000+01:00

I AM!!!! AND I'M SO FRICKEN EXCITED!!!!!

A while back my roomie went to go see Mr. Cook for some HBO special and the network treated his fans like absolute crud. I wasn't able to go with her but she went and said it was a dissapointment but Dane promised to make it up to them. The man kept his promise! And that is why we LOVE him! So on December 9th 2007 my roomie and I will be at the Honda Center with $100 Premium Tickets to see Dane Cook!! The last time I saw him it was fricken awesome and I can't wait to see his new show!!

I'm so excited I can't contain myself!!!

Winter... or what seems to be winter

2007-10-15T17:32:00.000+01:00

California has a very odd weather system. We get about 7 months of summer, 2 monts of fall, 1 month of winter and 2 months of spring. But I think that Winter may have hit SoCal a little early this year. I'M FREEZING and it's misty and rainy outside! Don't get me wrong, I love the rain and the cold weather but not when it's also freezing in my office!! So after work I will be going to see what I can do about getting some warmer clothes for work. I've had my job since February but it was already starting to warm up then so I didn't really have any warm work clothes. And I'll need warm clothes for the trip to NYC so it's a much needed expense.

Right, time for work, After a little coffee I might perk up!

2007-10-11T19:20:00.000+01:00

It's a fun Thursday morning. I've been up since 6:15 (actually hopped right out of bed) and headed off to Rotary like I do every Thursday. Today I was the "guest speaker" and I had 12 minutes to talk about myself and the things I've done in my life to introduce myself to the Club. I said I had 12 minutes... I too 20. Oops. I wasn't timing myself and I don't like to talk about myself but I guess I just got going and without anyone to tell me my time was up I ran my mouth till I was done. I felt really bad and the guy who was suppose to go after me has to go another time. Ah well.

Then this morning I get a call about a class that I need credit for to graduate only to find out that I have to go down to the school on my lunch break because THEY LOST THE PAPER WORK! Nice going CSUF. Good thing I keep all my ank transactions and emails cause I would be totally screwed if I hadn't. Such trouble for 3 stupid units.

At the moment I'm sitting at work... making flyers and wishing for my MacBook Pro to arrive... Any day now! Can't wait till we get everything in and the kids can start doing some great stuff with the equipment.

SOOOOOOOOOOOOO EXCITED!!

2007-10-07T20:26:00.000+01:00

Who bought her plane ticket to NYC?!?!?!?!? I DID!! And I'm really really excited!!!

I've wanted to go to NYC since well... FOREVER so this is really big for me. And even better I'll be going during Christmas and New Years AND with Matt and his brother as well. It's going to be so much fun I can't wait. I've been working on a to-do list over the past couple of years so it will be nice to check some of those items off once we arrive. Today makes 76 days till the trip and hopefully the time will fly by!! After I leave NYC I will also be going to visit Mel in DC. I've been needing to go visit her for a while and this seems like the best time to do so. NYC and DC!! I think I'll be having one hell of a holiday this year!

2007-10-05T00:29:00.000+01:00

http://health.msn.com/centers/depression/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100170285&gt1=10504

I think this explains my optimistic attitude to the T! And it was pretty interesting. Enjoy!

Speak a little slower please

2007-10-02T21:37:00.000+01:00

It really annoys me when people leave messages for me at work and they say their phone number really fast or mumble. I really don't enjoy listening to a message 7 times just to get 7 numbers from someone!!! So speak slower!

The past 4 weeks

2007-09-25T17:49:00.000+01:00

Alright, so I haven't really written in a while... sue me. I've had bigger monsters on my plate the last few weeks so I've been a little pre-occupied. Here's a recap.

A Boy:

So I've met a boy... an English Boy at that. He's great, he just lives in England and is over in the states as part of his 11 months of traveling to different places around the world. We've pretty much been hanging out for the last three weeks and it's been pretty awesome. We get along soooo well it's uncanny and we can do the simplest things and be perfectly fine with what we are doing. It's hard to find people who you can just be with and not feel the pressure to be someone else or it be awkward around because you don't know each other. So, so far so good. I've got a couple more days before he continues on his travels, and then I'll be seeing him again in NYC!! I've wanted to go to NYC since i was 12. I don't know why but there's just something about the city that pulls me in. I've already booked a place to stay and it's going to be during Christmas and new years so that will be even better!

I'm 24 now:

I had a birthday on Sept 17th, so that would make me 21 + 3 (or 24 for those of you with math issues). I had a fantastic birthday. With all the work crap going on I decided to celebrate a little early since my birthday was on a Monday and no one wants to go out on a Monday! So Friday it was and we wall went out and had the best time. I've now decided that places with live bands that play anything you can think of are the best places to go. On my actual birthday, Matt (boy above) took me out to dinner and a few drinks and we found this really cool jazz place which we both really enjoyed. I'm not use to being spoiled on my birthday (or any other time for that matter) so it was nice to be treated like that (when I eventually stopped being stubborn and let him).

Work:

Work has been crazy. Our annual Auction was on Friday night and it was my first big event and by big I mean B-I-G! This thing had me consumed for about 2 months and the last week I had a couple long days! Friday by itself was a 17 hour day and I better get some vacation time out of that one. It was an overall success and I still like my job even though there were times I totally understood why the guy before me left when he did. I just gotta remember that the auction is just one part of my job and there are lots of other things that I enjoy and look forward to through out the year.

Life in general:

It's pretty good, No real complaints. Just kind of letting things happen and it seems to be working for me at the moment!\

Ok I think I should get back to work... can't get paid to be on the Internet all day... just part of it.

feeling better

2007-08-31T05:38:00.000+01:00

Not being able to breath is a big problem... so i stayed home from work today so that i could actually rest and get better. Going to work while i was sick wasn't doing me any good and i actually listened to my body for once and stayed in bed (and on the couch) all day. The result... I feel much better!

Side note: I live a couple of miles from Disneyland and at 9:2o every night we can hear and sometimes see the fireworks. For a good 25 minutes it sounds like we're under attack and it's pretty funny. If someone were to move here from out of town or state i could see how they might think "What the hell is going on!"

So other than that I feel much better and hope to stay that way!

cold cold go away

2007-08-30T07:28:00.001+01:00

So my cold is somewhat better. I was sent home yesterday at 3 by my boss and today I left at 3 again on my own accord cause i was burning up and the fact that it was 95 degrees outside didn't help much. I will be glad when the cold weather comes and our short but much needed winter arrives.

I took the kittens to the vet today. Neville needed his 2nd deworming shot and i took Greyback to visit the vet and the other people who work there since that is where we got him from. They were very excited to see him and greeted me with "We have another kitten if you want to look at it!" and though it was very cute i told them that two cats is just enough for Emily and I and our small apartment.

Work is going well... I count down the days till the 21st of sept everyday... and hope I don't freak out when it gets closer to the date. I bought personalized m&m's for the auction as table favors and was really excited cause it was the first time i had an idea and the board members didn't say "well what about this thing we've done for the past 5 years". Old people... god love them but they need to step outside of their comfort zone.

I'm determined to get rid of this cold by Friday for many reasons. I have a day off of work because the floors are getting waxed and we can't be there, my mom and Phillip (mom's fiance) are coming down to see my sister, Nicole and the baby and i want to not get him sick, and lastly it is Matt's (my best friend) first football game of the season and I want to have a good yelling voice for it.... i like to be loud at the games what can I say lol.

And i think that's if for now... gotta get up early for rotary. Whoever thought 7:15 was a good time to meet in the morning should have their head examined... ah well. gnight!

Sick...

2007-08-28T21:08:00.000+01:00

After a year and a half of having nothing less than a sniffle... I've developed a full on cold! I went home early from work to try and get rid of it yesterday but despite my best efforts this cold is here to stay. But a guess one cold every year and a half isn't bad and it could be worse.

So lots of meds and vitiman C later I'm back at work and trying to see what i need to do for our auction that is less than a month away... eek! It will start to stress me out once we're a week or so away. Right in time for my birthday! Fantastic... well i'm only turning 24 so no big deal.

I spent Saturday with my sister and nicole and the new baby who is soooo big and cute and hopefully I will get to visit them more often now that they have the baby... even more a reason for my cold to go away.

Last night (even though I was sick) I got to hang out with Mel (BF from high school who lives in DC). She is visiting her family here in Cali and went to Disneyland for the day with her fiance and little sister. I don't get to see her that often so even though I should have been at home I went out and had dinner with the three of them.

Anything else???... nope.

Taking a break

2007-08-22T20:10:00.000+01:00

I'm taking a break to eat lunch and thought I would write a bit... we'll see what comes of this...

So last night was eventful! Two of my fellow RA's from the dorms will be leaving us at the end of the next two weeks. One to Boston on a baseball scholarship and one to Korea on an exchange program for the Fall semester. 15 out of the 24 of us got together at Friday for dinner and drinks (for those of us who are 21+) and it was pretty fun. Definitely odd to not be living in the dorms anymore and just walk on over to someones place where everyone is hanging out for the night. But i live a block away so it's not too bad. After dinner I went to visit some of my residents from last year. The boys of 301... They were pretty good residents and were your typical freshmen residents, getting into trouble for being loud.. as well as other things that I won't mention... but they were just plain goofy and made my year being an RA worth all the trouble. So i guess I'll make sure I keep in touch with them.

My roommate and I have two kittens. Both are boys and they are named Neville and Greyback (if you read the Harry Potter books you'll get it and if not... then shame on you). Yesterday they went to have their manhood revoked and Neville had to have a hernia surgery as well. I picked them up and the vet had lined their carrier with newspaper... the calender section of the paper from the Los Angeles Times with the review for the 7th Potter book... HOW FUNNY IS THAT! I died laughing. So far the kittens seem to be doing well. Emily had to fashion a collar for Neville so that he wouldn't lick his tummy and he looks funny and sad at the same time... poor kid.

Lets see.... Work is good... Busy. We have less than an month till our auction and I have many things to do and many board members to please. This morning I found out my volunteer for decorations had to bail on me, but for good reasons, so that kind of put me in a bind. But after explaining to my boss that I've been known to be pretty creative and I could do the decorations myself with some help from the staff he decided I could do the decorations. These people really need to stop thinking I'm incompetent. I'm smart and resourceful... i really am. I know I'm 23, I know I just graduated, I know this is my first time doing this job... but I wouldn't have applied for the job it I didn't think I could do it. I understand their concern... but they need to just let me do my job.

Ok the little light on my phone is blinking which means I have a message needing answered... back to work!... yeah...

oh and here's a pic of me and my roomie with the cats!

This is it

2007-08-20T23:14:00.000+01:00

So today was like any normal monday morning. I got up, got ready and left for work... and on time I might add (i run late most days)... until I got out of the apartment compex to see a mass of cars outside the CSUF campus... Ah the first day of the Fall semester... and I don't have class!!! This made me very happy and I realized that this is it. No more class because I have to go and finish my degree... I have my degree and if I go back to school it will be just extra classes to expand upon what I already have. HOORAY!

I'm 7 months into my job and about to be put to the test in a month when it's time for our auction. I've leared a lot all ready, mainly what not to do... but a lot of what to do and I have lots of new ideas for my job that I just need to figure out.

But this is is... the real working world.... I see now why people have hobbies... I need to get some of those...

To start things off

2007-08-20T23:09:00.000+01:00

So I decided that I would create a blog since pretty much everyone I know has a blog and I read them pretty frequently... I should give others something to read when they are bored at work too!

I just graduated from CSUF with a degree in Communications (advertising) and I'm putting it to use working for a local non-profit doing the events, PR and whatever else I can think of.

Should be pretty funny/ interesting/ odd... we'll see