Get Right to the Heart of Matters

(So this post was delayed because my computer died and then I forgot for a few days that this even happened. Oops.)

I'm baaaack....

That was supposed to be in scary movie voice, in case you couldn't tell by the overuse of the letter "a." I figured since I decided to do this blog in the first place in order to keep myself sane through grad school, I should probably post some kind of wrap-up. So the most important piece of information... 

I GRADUATED!

Fucking yay!

Seriously doubted the possibility of that more than 100 times throughout the course of the program, and sometimes I still can't believe it's actually happened after all this time, but...I finished my creative component, passed my capstone, got 500 client hours, and got my Master's degree! And now I am NEVER going back to school again.

NEVER.

People keep asking if I want a PhD. No. N.O. Not at all. I was burned out of school before college. Then I kept at it for 6.5 years. I am so done. I don't need to be a Dr. I literally have never had a desire. Plus, with the amount of student loan debt I've managed to build over that time, I'll be paying for the education I did get for probably the rest of my life, so let's not add any more to that.

So, now here I am. It's mid-march, I just turned 25 and I'm struggling to find a job. Hoping to find something soon, but I've only really been looking and applying for about a month, so I'm trying not to panic. Probably going to do something part time until I can find something I really want....I am just beginning to feel a little useless. I've never had problems finding jobs (usually I have 2-3 at one time), so being unemployed just feels really icky to me. 

Regardless, I took a month off to go back home, rest, spend time with family and friends, and help my mom do a bunch of stuff around the house....painted my room from my teenage blue to a more neutral, "grown up" tan. Lame. Growing up is overrated...I liked the blue ;); we put together a new desk and went through a bunch of old boxes and found some hilarious childhood memories (e.g. when I was in Kindergarten they asked what my favorite snack was...in true fat kid fashion, I answered "all of them." I also answered that my favorite hobby was sleeping. Clearly, not much has changed). It was so nice to just be home and take some time to myself to just enjoy being, without bills or stress or adulthood. For some reason, that all goes away when you're at home. Also, mom and I painted and drank wine...it was incredibly fun and I hope to do it again!! (We're so talented)

So...after graduation and being home, Derek and I got our first place together in Edmond, OK. Moving was quite an experience...pretty sure I simultaneously laughed and cried at least twice. But we had awesome help from Derek's sister and her boyfriend, and we really could not have done it without them. It's so nice to have family that is close on both sides! Subsequently found out I had accumulated so much shit over the past 2.5 years and crammed it into that hellhole of an apartment...so we're in the process now of refinishing some furniture and getting ready to donate a ton of stuff, and soon our apartment will be complete! Gave up on cleaning the old place and just left it...and they gave me the entire deposit back. There are literally 4 inch holes burned into the kitchen floor....but they said there was no damage (wtf? Apparently they chose not to open the door. I'll take it.)

Oh, another momentous occasion I can't believe I haven't mentioned yet....Thor has moved on....to a new owner. I got a new car! 

Look at that hood...and the peeling paint that looks like Tiger claw marks.

Oh, Thor.

So now I have a Toyota Corolla, and a car payment. Welcome again to adulthood. It's pretty cool, though, going from a car with 170,000 miles to a car with 8. Literally, just 8. And it works. And the windows roll themselves up and down! It's the little things ;) I still don't believe it's real, but I'm finally getting better at parking. Had to get an OK license and OK plates...so that was weird. But other than that, my car is great!

Still unnamed. Probably suffering an identity crisis.

Anyway, back to life now. Since moving, I've thoroughly enjoyed having stores to go to. I've literally gone to Bed, Bath, and Beyond just to walk around. It's shameful. And restaurants. There are choices here. It's pretty nice. We don't go out much, since Derek doesn't get home until late on weeknights and also, I'm unemployed, but we've tried to go to new places and had some really good experiences (Go to Whiskey Cake. Never have I made so many inappropriate noises eating a chicken sandwich.) Plus, I get to be a part of Nerd Night, which may be the highlight of my life (clearly, unemployment is making me delusional). But really, I get to hang out with a bunch of boys and play video games or do other nerdy things once a week. It's the best....takes me back to Friday nights in Stillwater during the early parts of my program playing World of Darkness with my fellow nerds. Being a grown-up can actually be awesome...

Well, it's almost four in the morning on a Thursday, my new upstairs neighbors are currently slamming shit and yelling, and I'm having a hard time getting in a real person schedule. So...not much has changed in the past few years. Also, if I see another Mary Fallin commercial on Hulu I'm gonna punch something...it's been every commercial break for the last two hours, which is not helping my disdain for this state. 

I don't have any songs to post because now that my car gets radio stations, I've just been listening to a lot of that instead of finding new things for my playlists...hopefully I'll get back to that.

This may be my last post, or it may not. I may get a wild hair in a year or so and add an update to my life...it's been an interesting path for this blog...as I got further into my program and more comfortable with my life in Stillwater, I posted less and less? Either way, I'm still stuck somewhere in middle America...at least for now :)