Mo Money, Mo Problems

Many of you have probably heard of the song "Mo Money, Mo Problems" at some point in your life. While I wish I could relate to that song, I'm having the opposite issue. My life is currently translating into NO money, mo problems. Let's just say I am not happy with the HR office at my job at the moment. The way the payroll schedule works is that we get paid on the 15th and 28th of each month. I started on the 18th, so I was all jazzed to get to work yesterday and pick up my check. One problem: there was no check. Wait, what?! I neeeeeeed that money! So, I contacted HR to figure out why they messed up. Originally, I was told that the paychecks are on a two-week lag (i.e., the money I earned from the 18th-28th wouldn't be given to me until the 15th). As angry as that made me, I could accept it because some places do that. Here's what I cannot accept. They were wrong. The two-week lag applies only to hourly employees, I'm salaried. So, basically, they told me they messed up and didn't get my paperwork submitted in time for the November 28th pay period. I just about crapped my pants right there in their office because I specifically turned the forms in right away to avoid something like this. I wanted to scream obscenities but I held back, only because I knew there was nothing they could do. This lack of a paycheck has pretty much killed me because I was banking on that to cover my $750/month rent payment (which is due tomorrow). Well, in looking at my bank account last night, I discovered that I have $851 to my name. Um, okay. That covers rent, but pretty much nothing else. And in case you didn't catch it, I don't get paid for another FIFTEEN days. How on God's green earth do they expect me to live and pay all my bills on $100?!?! Not possible. I don't do it unless I absolutely have to, but I had to ask the parents to help temporarily bail me out of a jam, and they graciously agreed to do as much as they can. Such a hit to the pride. I'm almost 25 years old and I have a freakin' Master's degree, yet somehow I am currently sitting here with $100 to my name and thousands upon thousands of dollars in student loans to pay back. Not ideal. Needless to say, this predicament has forced me to suspend any and all plans that I may have had for the next two weeks. Damn. On the bright side, the check I get on the 15th will be for a whole month and then I'll get paid again two weeks later. But that "bright" side doesn't really help me right now, so I'm very frustrated. Grrrr! If you don't hear from me in the next two weeks, send a search party. I may have died of starvation by then.

Flu.

What's worse than having the flu? Having the flu and not having cable. I was perfectly healthy all day yesterday, but around 11:30 last night, it all started going downhill. And the funny thing is (well, it's not funny, but the timing is), my boss was home sick for part of the day yesterday too. I just got done telling my best friend that I've been really lucky so far this year in terms of staying healthy. And sadly, when I told her that, I even said, "I'm afraid I'm jinxing myself, but..." Guess I was right! :( I feel terrible having to be home from work already since I just started, but as you've all learned, my boss is extremely understanding and was more than willing to let me have the time off to recoup. So far, I haven't moved off my couch except to use the bathroom for flu-relief purposes (I'll spare the dirty details). Lovely day. And this is what I mean about it being torturous not having cable. All I want to do is flip through mindless television shows, but instead I have to constantly be changing out movies or TV on DVD. Normally I wouldn't care, but I just want to lie here and not do anything, and still have something on the TV to distract me from the fact that I feel like I'm dying. That's where my blog comes in, I suppose. If I feel better later, maybe I can back track and talk about my good time at home for Thanksgiving, but for now, I'll just be thankful that I could write this without a vomit interruption.

More Official Every Day

Each day I'm in the office, I end up with one or two more things that make me a little more "official," and I love it! The other day? My own official name tag. Yesterday? My own official business cards. And today? My name has officially been added to MIAD's Career Services website as the new Career Services Coordinator. Perhaps the average person wouldn't find these things to be that exciting, but I tend to appreciate the very small details that remind me that I'm finally in the field I want to be in! I'm still transitioning from the "I feel like a student" mindset to the "Holy crap, I'm a professional" mindset, so each little reminder I get makes it that much easier to remember that my hard work has paid off! :)

On a different note, here are a few things I'm thankful for today:
1) I only work until noon and have off until Monday!
2) The cable company is finallllly coming to get me set up today.
3) I get to go home.
6) I get to see the whole fam VERY soon!
4) I'm celebrating a friend's birthday with some of my ladies tonight!
5) Tomorrow's Thanksgiving!
6) I get to watch football all day tomorrow!
7) This one's completely unrelated, but after talking with HR about benefits yesterday, I found out that I get December 24-January 3 off from work. Everyone here does. So, I essentially get a vacation without having to take a vacation. Happy birthday to me!!!!
8) I'm alive. I think I'll always include this one. :)

Will I Hate My Job?

"Will I hate my job?" Hmmm. Interesting question. I don't know... No fear, folks. This is not ME wondering if I'm going to hate MY job. At this point, I'm so far from hating my job it's not even funny! :) But, this was literally a word-for-word question from a student who came into the office today. She was essentially asking me to guarantee that she won't hate the job she gets after graduation. Let's back up. This girl has almost 2 years of school before she graduates. Two years! And really, how on earth am I supposed to promise her that she will just love her job that doesn't even exist yet?! Okay, I don't mean to sound insensitive. I, of all people, am fully aware of how painful and scary the whole job search process can be. And perhaps because I've recently been through it is the reason I was able to provide a rational voice of reason that helped calm her down rather quickly. I must say, I do give her credit for thinking about the future before it arrives--many students don't have that foresight. However, there's a line between thinking ahead and trying to control the world, and she had definitely crossed that line. The biggest thing I noticed with her throughout the entire conversation was that she was extremely worried about things that either 1) she can't control; or 2) haven't even happened yet. As evidenced by the beginning of this entry, there's a huge part of me that wants to criticize the shit outta her. And now that I'm thinking about it, by criticizing her, in a way, I'm criticizing myself in the process. I swear to God, I am the world's biggest worrier. In fact, I have a running list of quotes that all have something to do with either worry or the desire for control. Kinda makes me wonder why I had such a strong reaction to her approach to the conversation. Maybe because even though I worry A LOT, I've never once went to someone and asked or expected them to guarantee my happiness in any given situation. It'd be nice if that were possible, but let's be real, it ain't happenin'. Fortunately, because I have experience working with students who are fearful of the job market, and because I've also had several people advise me on how to let some of my irrational worries go, I was able to have my first succesful student appointment at the new job today. Wahoo! She left feeling better about her future, but I can guarantee you that I'll see her again, and I can guarantee you that she's not done worrying. But rest assured, I still cannot guarantee her a job that she loves or her infinite happiness. ;)

2 Days Down!

So... I've gotten A LOT of questions about how the first day days of work went, and I've gotta say, so far, it's been grrrrreat! (You know, like Tony the Tiger great!) Take a look at the pictures below to see how I was welcomed. Seriously almost cried. The welcome included the following: a big welcome sign; balloons; a bunch of MIAD gear; candy; and a huge vase full of flowers. Who the heck ever gets a welcome like that?! Up until now, definitely not this girl. Note to self: If I'm ever in the position to hire someone, make them feel THIS welcome. A positive first impression on the first day of work makes a world of difference, trust me! As for the actual work stuff, I suppose that's been good too. ;) The first two days involved a lot of logistical things (i.e., setting up my computer and email, learning the phone system, getting a parking permit, etc.). I also met an insane amount of people. I tend to be terrible with names, but according to my boss, I seem to be doing very well with that. I'll take any opportunity I can to impress people, ha! My second day involved a lot of observation. I sat in on a few appointments, viewed several emails that my boss sent, listened in on some phone calls, and even met some prospective students who are considering transferring to MIAD. My brain sort of feels like mush right now because there is SO much to take in, but I feel oddly calm about it. I like the people I've met, and I feel like I'll pick up on things pretty well. I know that's a big assumption to make since I've only been there two days, but sometimes when you know, you just know! :) Next week is another short week and then I'll be home for Thanksgiving. Can't wait!

View when you walk in my office door.

I'm officially a staff member! And yes, I took a picture of my permit. :)
I know it's a weird picture, but the tiny clothes pins are SO cute!

View when I'm sitting behind my desk!

Mission Complete

I'm not sure if any of you were skeptical about my ability to clean and organize that beast of a bedroom of mine, but I DID IT! And I did it last night like I said I would, believe it or not! If I were you, I would've been skeptical too. It wasn't a fun project by any means, but it needed to be done. Unfortunately, I woke up rather late this morning (go figure, on my first day of work), so I didn't have time to post the pictures of the newly cleaned bedroom before I left the apartment. No fear, though, I've posted them now. Hope you're all as impressed with me as I am! :) And just a quick side note, there will definitely be some additional redecorating happening in the bedroom since it's far too "bla" yet, but for now, this will do the trick!

P.S. As I mentioned, today was my first day of work, but I better hit the hay rather than go on and on about how awesome it was! :) Plus, I was greeted by some pretty sweet stuff in my office this morning, so I'm a TOTAL geek and want to take pictures tomorrow (yes, I'm going to take pictures of my office) before I give the full explanation of how freaking welcomed they made me feel! So for now, this girl's off to bed. But tune in tomorrow evening to hear all about my first two days on the job! :)

Beast of a Bedroom

All right, folks. Please brace yourself for what you're about to see. As many of you probably know, moving into a new place is not the easiest or quickest thing in the world to do. Unfortunately, the unpacking and settling process takes even longer. Well, let me just tell ya, this has been by far the fastest moving, unpacking, and settling process I've EVER encountered, and it ain't been been pretty. And yes, I just said ain't. I hope those of you who know my freakish grammatical tendencies can appreciate this. :) Proof that it happened fast? Last Tuesday, I drove down with my brother to find an apartment. On Saturday, I moved in to an apartment. And now I'm living in the apartment. Yeah. Anyway, while I am anxiously waiting for tomorrow to arrive (the FIRST day of work!), I've decided to try and tackle my beast of a bedroom before I hit the hay. Now, now, I know it sounds--and looks--like an impossible feat, but I think I can do it for a couple of reasons: 1) I am incredibly determined; and 2) I'm wide awake and have a feeling my nerves won't let me sleep for awhile yet. So, take a look at these pictures and judge for yourself. Can I do it? I think so!!

View from my bedroom door.

Walk-in closet (aka: heaven).

View from inside the closet. Yikes.

Thankful

After being inspired by my future sister-in-law's recent blog entry, I've decided to take a few minutes to talk about some GOOD things that I have to be thankful for right now. Because life has given me quite a few tests of strength over the past couple weeks, it would definitely be easy to sit around and complain about everything that's going wrong. However, if I do that, I feel like my mentality will never change. So, here are a few things from today that I will focus on in an attempt to remember all the good things I have in my life! :)

• The shower in my new apartment has great water pressure!
• Today--11/16/10--was 51 degrees and sunny in Milwaukee!
• I have a dishwasher.
• I found a stellar grocery store less than 1 mile from my apt.
• I found said grocery store WITHOUT the help of my Garmin.
• The neighborhood I live in pretty much rocks.
• I start my job in approximately t-minus 36 hours.
• My newest niece or nephew is due in 3 weeks, 5 days! Eek!
• I spent 2 hours on the phone tonight with 2 dear friends.
• I'm alive. Yep, that's a good one. :)

Okay. That's enough for right now. Still a rough day, but this list of things serves as a reminder that I still have a lot to be thankful for, no matter how bad it seems sometimes. And as this list proves, sometimes it's the little things that make life seem so much better.

Ladies First!

For once in a long time, I've decided to write a blog entry that's NOT related to my job search or moving. I've been organzing lots of things lately, including my pictures, so this entry will focus on some good times (and pictures) from the past! Because I usually get together with my ladies over Thanksgiving break, and because I miss these girls dearly, I decided to take a little trip down memory lane tonight. Below I've assembled a collection of pictures from the many times we've gotten together over the past 6 or so years. As you'll quickly notice, the oldest pictures are first. Ahh, good times. Can't wait to see these chicas again in less than two weeks! :)

Never Grow Up

When I first heard the song "Never Grow Up" on Taylor Swift's new CD called Speak Now, I thought of my little nieces. It's a really pretty song that talks about wanting to preserve the innocence associated with being little. Interestingly, as I listened to it a few more times, I started to think of my own life right now, and some lyrics in the song really stuck out to me. She sings, "So here I am in my new apartment, in a big city, they just dropped me off. It's so much colder than I thought it would be, so I tuck myself in and turn my night light on..." If I wanted to put my current thoughts into a song, I probably would've written something almost identical to that! Crazy, I tell ya. Anyway, take a listen. Hope you enjoy it as much as I do! :)

53207.

53207. Yep. That's my new zip code! :) It's offical folks, I am now a Milwaukee resident!!! Pretty much never imagined until recently that this place would ever be "home" to me. But alas, it is, and I'm feeling pretty excited! Unfortunately, I don't have a link to my exact apartment, but if you go back to my apartment hunting blog entry, it's in the same building as the third apartment on my list. For the most part, the concept is the same, but the one I actually chose is on the third floor and the layout is a slightly different. I love, love, LOVED the older apartments on my list, but they didn't make sense for a few reasons. The biggest reason? They were in Shorewood. Awesome village, no street parking. What?! How can you not have street parking?! Even I wouldn't have my own parking spot (unless I paid $75 more per month and was willing to walk a couple blocks to get to it), and for me, that's pretty huge. I definitely plan to have as many visitors as possible, so the thought of having to try to work out those logistical things didn't really sit well with me. Hence, I made the apartment choice I did. Surprisingly, the move went really well. For the first time since I've lived away from home, my whole family was along to help me move. Having mom, dad, AND the bros all here made the unloading process go really fast, and I can't thank them enough for all their help! My brothers headed back home right after putting together a shelf for me, but my parents stayed over night. We did some exploring of the area, and it was a lot of fun! I can't remember the names of most of the places we went, but we did check out the Horny Goat Brewing Company. I enjoyed it. And random, but a guy who brought us some of our drinks was originally from Wausau (he recently moved here), and he has some family in Colby that we know. Um, small world! I'll have to go back there again. He could be my first friend in Milwaukee! :) Anyway, the 'rents took me to get some essentials today (i.e., trash cans, a shower curtain, goodies), and then they headed out of town. So, now here I am, all by my lonesome in my new apartment. Wouldn't be so bad, but the cable company can't come for over a week yet. Ahhh! It's moments like this when I can justify having hundreds of dollars invested in movies and TV on DVD. Right now, it's "How I Met Your Mother" time! Since I still have a lot of settling to do, I haven't gotten too bored yet. I'm sure that will come soon enough considering I don't start work until Thursday, but it will be nice to just relax and familiarize myself with the area. Something tells me the next few entries will include little tidbits about fun discoveries I make, instances of me getting lost, and a few random emotional breakdowns. Stay tuned for all that! :)

Oh, The Irony!

This post should've been done a few weeks ago, but I still feel the need to address it because I thought the timing of the situation was very ironic! As you know if you've kept up with my blog, there was a LONG stretch of time where I was having virtually zero luck with the job search. Fortunately for me, everything worked out and I am now starting my new job in a WEEK from today, ahhh! Well, the same day I accepted the offer for my position at the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design, I received a call from SUNY Adirondack requesting an interview for their Career Planning Specialist position. Okay, people. I applied for that position in July. JULY! And you're contacting me on October 29?! Had they kept the candidates updated, I wouldn't have been so shocked, but I hadn't heard a peep from them since I applied, so I assumed the position was long since filled. For those of you who don't know, SUNY schools are in New York, so yeah, I think it's probably good that I got the MIAD job. I'm freaking out enough about moving 3 and 1/2 hours away. Imagine what I'd be doing if I had to pick up and move across the country! But isn't that ironic? I hadn't heard anything from anyone in forever, and then the day I finally get to accept an offer, I'm presented with another potential job opportunity. Gotta say, it felt pretty good to tell them I was no longer available... Funny how things work out! :)

Trust

"I know God will not give me anything I cannot handle. I just wish that he didn't trust me so much."

Big Day Tomorrow!

Tomorrow's the day I will hopefully be finding my new apartment in Milwaukee! I'm nervous because it's going to be a LONG day, but if all goes according to plan, hopefully I will leave the city with a signed lease and an apartment to my name. If not, I'm kinda screwed because my first day is the 18th and I obviously need to get moved down there before that! I have a good feeling about my odds of finding a place, so hopefully that's a positive sign. The plan is for me and Jacob to head out between 8-8:30 tomorrow morning, probably stop for a bite to eat on the way, and then arrive at my work (ahhh!) at 12:30. My boss is going to drive us around to all the places and show me some other areas of town too. My last apartment viewing isn't until 6:45 tomorrow night. Ick. I told my boss that he certainly doesn't have to stick with us that whole time, but he said he's more than willing. I tell ya, I'm going to get spoiled in this first job because he's SO accommodating! Gotta love it. I can't lie, I'm still freaking out. Once I get moved and start the job, I think I'll calm down a lot. Until then, I'm just going to have my periodic breakdowns and hope for the best. :) Hopefully I'll be able to report some good news about an apartment within the next day or two, so stay tuned!

I.Hate.Apartment.Hunting.

Yep, it's official. Searching for an apartment in a big city that I'm completely unfamiliar with is NOT fun. Holy cow, it's impossible to even know where to begin! I've spent the majority of this week searching online for places that match my criteria for location and affordability. Unfortunately for me, most of the apartments in a good location cost too much and vice versa. I either have to pay a butt load of money or I have to live a fair distance from my work. Thank God my boss is so helpful--here's what he did for me yesterday. He called me, and we both pulled up the same map of Milwaukee. We literally scrolled all over the map and he pointed out areas of town that are really good, pretty decent, and completely off-limits. Just having street names to identify with and knowing some landmarks that signify changes in neighborhoods made searching for apartments WAY easier. I've never really used Craigslist before (perhaps it's my subconscious freaking me out because of that psycho who killed a girl that responded to his post), but let me tell ya, in terms of the apartment search, it was like God's gift to me! I found several apartments through the site, and now I have a solid number of places to view when I go down to Milwaukee on Tuesday. Clink the links below to see a couple of the places I'll be viewing. The first one's my favorite for some reason! Here's hoping I get a good apartment! As nervous as I am, I am also super excited to find a place to live. The rest seems easy after that (although I don't know if my dad would agree, haha)! Just think, in two weeks from today, I will just be getting "home" from my first day of work. Holy crap!!!

• Could this be "the one"?????? :)
• Simple, but seemingly sleek and elegant. Click here.
• 2-bedroom place that's reasonably priced!
• Check out the many website photos on this one!
• Nothing too fancy, but definitely liveable! Click here.

I'm still waiting to hear back from some other places, but at least I have a solid start. Jake is coming down with me, so it'll be nice to have him along (both for company and a second opinion). My boss is going to drive us around town, so that should be interesting! I asked him if it was okay that Jake came along, and he ensured me that it was fine, so my guess is that it'll all go smoothly. I'm just excited now that I have some potential options. Wish me luck!