so many things to say, so many typos...

i've been blogging for only a few months now... it's now become one of my favorite things to do. not to mention i have become addicted to my google reader, lol.

but i've neglected any sort of introduction... i think in part because i didn't know what this was going to become. and in part because i didn't think that anyone else would read it.

it all started because i needed some sort of release. some way to get all of those thoughts and feeling out of my overactive mind. i've never really been good at expressing myself, and i'm certainly not good at opening up to people, so this seemed like a perfect solution.

due to the situation i have managed to get myself into currently... moving across the country from the good ol' midwest to the entirely different country of southern california completely alone... i find myself a twenty-something career-oriented midwesterner completely out of place.

so that brought me here.

let me explain...

i grew up in a very small town in the northern midwest. i went to college, had one of the most amazing experiences of my life,i was focused on education and taking advantage of every opportunity afforded to me, and then i graduated.

has that ever happened to any of you? lol.

no, seriously. i thought my life was all planned out. i couldn't find a job in my field but that didn't phase me because i was patiently waiting for "The One" to graduate so we could move wherever he started law school. i found a retail job, was promoted to supervisor, and started living my life in waiting.

he had different plans.

so alas, i found myself young, single, and working retail. exactly. (did i just reference that part of my life so nonchalantly? wow. impressive.) so i made new friends, drank too much (oh but when is too much, too much, really?), had too much fun. it was great. but then i realized i need to do something with my life.

#1 i couldn't see spending my life counting down the days by which drink special is going on that night (don't get me wrong, this girls loves to drink, i just don't want that to be my priority, i'd like to think i have a more ambitious purpose than that)
#2 i could NOT work retail for the rest of my life... if i wanted to have a "rest of my life". customers make me want to hurt myself. lol.
#3 i made the realization that not being over-programmed like i was in undergrad left me with far too much time to get myself into trouble... not too mention i was making very poor choices about the fellas that i would get involved with. what can i say? has anyone seen the movie down with love? haha! i guess it was easier for me to choose the ones that i knew would hurt me... at least then i didn't have to get my hopes up (but that is a story for anther day...)

that found me in grad school.

grad school was perfect for me. seriously. i loved it. it had everything that i wanted. i was able to go to class (yes, i like to learn, i am a learner), over-program myself with my amazing practicums and assistantships, and work in an environment with an absolutely amazing supervisor and even better students and utilize my empathy talents all day everyday. and i do mean all day (GA's are basically free labor... comparing what i got paid for my 20 hours a week (but really more like 45 - who am i kidding) is insane) but i LOVED it. i wanted to be there. i wanted to work that hard. i wanted to learn that much.

then i graduated.

damn i hate when that happens. lol.

that found me looking for a job. i job-searched all over the country (well, minus NJ. sorry folks, but i lived there while i interned at Rutgers and it did not suit me at all... i don't mind visiting, i just didn't want to live there). and on paper, the job i decided on was perfect. i stress the "on paper" statement.

i ended up in sunny socal all by my lonesome... just me and my cat buddy. the trip across the country with him was epic. we had a blast. (sidenote: i've since adopted another member of the family, willie. he's adorable, too! i'd be lost without them!) i started my new job and realized that it was definitely not what it was "written" up to be. i've struggled to find my niche here, make new friends, relate to anything socal, try not to hate it here, and find my way around... did i mention that i hate to drive?

since then i have found an inner resolve to make the best of things, have the best experience i can, and put everything into this job that i didn't know i was getting in to. which is strange for this typically pessimistic, overly-sensitive person to attempt. but i'm trying...

and all along the road there are the millions of random things that happen, the random people that i meet, and the all the randomness that is me...

wow. was that me in a cliffnote???