October 2014
As
mentioned before: my Aunt Amy and I had been talking back and forth about plans
post-ranch, and she suggested (especially since her boss had offered the job)
that I could apply to work at her office. My life motto at the time was 'well,
why not?' (one good thing about the summer is that it seemed to make me a
little more daring), so I sent in the application, had an interview over the
phone, and was looking for a place to live. Amy or I would find a place online,
and she would go check it out for me. By the time I was ready to leave the
ranch on October 5th, we still hadn't found a place. So I decided to
drive to her place, stay for 2-3 days, finish up the application process, and
try to find a place to live. That didn't give us much time, but it was at least
something.
Wonder
of wonders: the day after I drove there we found a little quadplex about 5
minutes from the office (I finally got pictures of it around Christmas).
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| Looking in the front door... |
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| Kitchen area! |
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| Living room.... |
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| There's a fireplace too! |
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| Upstairs... |
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| There are windows to open so that all the warm air will heat up the upstairs |
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| Mine bed |
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| The "craft room" (currently it's littered with fabric and the makings of a quilt) |
The
next two weeks were very fast paced: I drove home on the 9th, spent
the next week and a half packing, and my parents helped me move on the 20th.
(Happy birthday to me…) Mom and Dad stayed for the remainder of that week
helping me move in and such, and on the 27th I started working for
State Farm.
The
learning curve for State Farm has been a fairly sharp one. The first week was
completely overwhelming, of course, but as of December 17th I was officially licensed in Property and Casualty and am becoming more confident in
what I can do at the office.
I
will say that initially, when my aunt mentioned possibly working for State
Farm, my reaction was 'ugh'. The idea of sitting for 8-9 hours a day staring at
a computer screen didn't sound like my idea of fun, especially after spending
most of my working life in moderately to extremely active jobs. So I thought
that I would give it a year, and if I didn't like it at the end of the year
then I could do something else.
But
now I'm not so sure that I could uproot myself so quickly after doing so once.
And the job is a lot more interesting than I initially gave it credit. There's
a lot to know, and a lot to do, and each day brings something different to the
table. I'm discovering that I really like the area—it reminds me a bit of home,
though for some reason the first question I get when people learn that I've
just moved is 'have you adjusted to the culture shock yet?' (If 'culture shock'
is measured in 'lack of good dentistry', then no, I haven't quite gotten over
that yet.)
The
job is sedentary, yes, but I've been making up for that in walking 4-5 times a
week. Usually I can get in at least two miles over my lunch break, and if the
sun is still up at 5 I can go to a little state park nearby to squeeze in
another mile or two. I've found a place to ride horses, and the owners are incredibly nice and welcoming people--basically they say 'come over and ride whenever you want whatever you want!' and it's great. There is also a
little mare on one of my walking routes, and I would desperately like to find
the owner (partially to see if they would mind my playing with her, and
partially to find out why she still has one foot shod while the rest are
barefoot. Anyway.).
It's
a little strange living alone, to be sure, though after the initial shock of
quietness it's really not too bad. It's nice to be able to come home, cook a
little dinner, work on some projects, and shut everything down by 9 PM. The
only issue is the possibility of turning into a hermit…but I'm so peopled-out by
the end of the day that it's nice to not have to interact with anyone (unless I go ride) On Thursdays I've been invited to attend a women's
Bible study, and most weekends I spend cleaning the house or cooking for the
rest of the week (I try to cook ahead so I don't have to worry about lunch
prep) or going for a hike or plugging away at whatever project I happen to be
working on.
Speaking
of projects, I've begun what I'm informally referring to as 'the year-long
project': a quilt that is completely hand-pieced. It's in a hummingbird
pattern, and based off of an antique quilt top that my mom is currently
finishing. I didn't have the actual pattern, so I drew one looking at pictures
and working off of the measurements Mom gave me. All the fabrics are somewhat
old-fashioned: small floral prints, larger floral prints, polka dots, muted
solids, etc. I've mostly been cutting out the pieces for now…but it's going to
be something of an undertaking. The biggest thing to remember is to not get in
a hurry, and to realize that it's probably going to take the better part of the
year just to piece it. I've thought about making it queen-size…or maybe just a
lap throw to start. We'll see. XD
And
that just about brings us up to date…I'll try to blog when I think of it. I
haven't been taking any pictures lately…to be honest, when it's just me and I
don't have a subject (usually it was the dog, or a horse, or people at the
ranch) every picture I take seems kind of dull. It doesn't help that 90% of the
time for the past month it's been gloomy, rainy, cloudy, and cold out. I'm not
complaining, mind—but just letting y'all know why there are no pictures.
With
that said, keep a weather eye out, and I'll try to come back before another 8
months lapse again!
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