Days 11-14

Attempting to get caught up.

Day 11. The prompt this day was to list your favorites in each of the four categories: TV shows, music, food, and splurges.

Day 12. The prompt for Day 12 was to illustrate a few trends that you gravitate toward. I had a hard time thinking of many, but I love the whole faux woodgrain look, owls and birds, and the HUGE banner trend.

Day 13. This prompt was all about your insecurities. This is one I definitely didn't have trouble filling in, unfortunately. Somewhere on the page, we were supposed to include the word "but," to lead into the next day's prompt, which was...

Day 14. List some of the reasons you are such an amazing person.

I still have quite a few pages to go before I'm caught up, but I'm pretty happy with these. I'm still loving this challenge so much, and I hope that it gets me into the habit of doodling/journaling more often. Most days, I've been somewhat surprised at what comes out, both words-wise and illustration-wise.

Exhaustion

It's so hard to get used to working full time after being unemployed for so long. My last two semesters graduate school, I did an internship at a school and an externship at a hospital. The school internship definitely felt like a full time job, but the hospital placement came at a time when the rehab unit at that particular hospital was pretty slow, so some days I was only there a few hours.

The externship ended at the end of April, then graduation was May 7, and then even though I had a job lined up I had to sit around and wait for my license to come in before I could work. So I spent a lot of time doing nothing very productive. And now I have jumped back into the land of the employed, and it is wearing. me. out.

This is my excuse for having fallen WAY behind on the 30 day journal challenge. And I'm not sure when I will catch back up, but I do intend to finish it. I just don't want to throw something on a piece of paper and not be happy with it because it was done when I should have been in bed.

Meanwhile, here are some things that are making me happy at a time when I'm too tired to be very happy:

1. My new body wash smells like gummy bears. Allegedly, it is Suave Sweet Pea and Violet. But it smells like sugar to me. The other day it reminded me of gummy bears and then tonight it smelled like cotton candy. Yum.

2. I pass by two huge fields of sunflowers every day on my way to work. Last September, a very good friend passed away very unexpectedly. She loved sunflowers. A few weeks after her funeral, I bought myself a sunflower charm to wear on a necklace, and I haven't taken it off since I put it on, the day before what would have been her 27th birthday. Since I was 8 or 9 years old, I've been riding/driving past these particular fields, and I can't remember them ever being filled with sunflowers until this year. It makes me smile.

3. My boyfriend is awesome. He has been so supportive since I started working. He works at night, so I was a little afraid of what it would be like, not being able to see him much. I should be asleep by the time he gets home but I usually can't make that happen; I'm just so excited to see him and talk to him at the end of the day. But I'm afraid the lack of sleep is catching up with me and I won't be able to stay up and wait for him much anymore. Luckily, we still have the weekends.

4. My first paycheck. I get paid for the first time July 10. Because of my start date, this will only be a half paycheck, but because this is my first "grown-up" job (meaning, the first time I'm making more than $8 an hour), it will still be the biggest paycheck I've ever gotten. This is what I went to school for. I mean, not to make money; I went to school to do what I love and to help people. But it's nice to finally see the payoff after a year of "working for free" in my internship and externship.

Finally, here are a few pictures from the weekend beach trip. We had fun, but I was so wishing we could have stayed longer!

Walking on the beach Saturday afternoon.

A view of the pier.

My cutie boyfriend in the ocean.

My view from the sand.

Yep, I could have used another week of that.

Off!

via

My boyfriend is blessedly off this weekend, for once, and he surprised me by asking if I want to go to the beach for a couple of days. His parents are going for a week, but neither of us can get off work for that long, so we're just going this afternoon and coming back Sunday evening.

I'm excited to have a weekend away with him. I knew once I started working I wouldn't see him as much, but I didn't realize how much I was going to miss seeing and talking to him.

P.S. I'm getting behind on the 30 day journal challenge; I'll have to catch up Monday after work.

Finally Friday

This week's Friday Fill-In.

1. On vacation, I like to split my time between relaxing and doing exciting things.
2. I don't mind swimming in the ocean.
3. One of my favorite vacation spots is St. Augustine, Florida.
4. I love sitting outside, staring up at a full moon.
5. Up, up and away go the gas prices.
6. Bananas are not my favorite fruit.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to relaxing after my first half-week of a new job, tomorrow my plans include sleeping in and Sunday, I want to spend time with my boy, since he finally has the weekend off!

Day 10

Day 10. Today's prompt was to illustrate something you collect. This is a terrible drawing. But today was my first day at my new job, and even though it was just a paperwork/orientation day, I'm kind of emotionally drained. Mainly from working myself up into a big ball of anxiety leading up to today. Only to have to work myself back up into a bigger ball of anxiety for Friday, when I will be treating! Patients! On my own!

Who decided I can handle this responsibility? That's what I want to know. Because they have a lot more faith in my than I have in myself, that's for sure.

So, you know, if I don't update anymore after Thursday night, it's because the responsibility proved too much for me to handle and I have probably ended up in the loony bin. Or something.

Anyway! The journal page. I collect poison rings. I do. I did. I haven't bought one in a long time, but someday I will resume my collection. I love them.

Day 9

Day 9. Today's prompt was to choose someone who is significant in your life and then describe them with as many words as you can fit, using different typography for each word. I chose to describe my sister, who is also one of my best friends. She is 7 years younger than me, so we weren't very close growing up; in fact, we didn't really become friends until after I moved out of the house. Now I don't know what I would do without her. She lives an hour and a half away, and she is always busy busy, so I don't get to see her as much as I would like to. Her dream is to move to New York and use her interior design degree. While I of course want to see all of her dreams come true, I can't stand to think about her living so far away!

Day 8

Day 8. The prompt for today was to illustrate an inside joke. This one was hard for me. It took all day to think of an inside joke to illustrate. Then I thought of too many, and started off trying to draw a few different small inside jokes. In the middle of drawing those jokes, I remembered this from high school. The truck is beyond imperfect, but I still absolutely love this page because of the memory.

Today I love...

Yellow

All images found via weheartit, flickr, and Google images

Day 7

Day 7. The prompt for Day 7 was how are you feeling today. I woke up in a terrible mood this morning, for some reason. But when I started working on this page, all I could think about was the gorgeous (although HOT) weather, and all the things that remind me of summer. This isn't my favorite page, but I like the black ink on top of the colored illustrations.

Day 6

Day 6. The prompt for Day 6 was, "It's time..." These are the first things that popped into my head. The ideas about a new start and believing in myself are on my mind since I start working this Wednesday. I'm so nervous, but I'm trying hard to just believe that I can do this. I mean, I went to school for a billion years to learn how to do this, right?

Sunday Inspiration

1. Untitled, 2. Untitled, 3. hello summer :), 4. Untitled, 5. day one hundred sixty five, 6. da mordicchiare, 7. ❤ ( for the not-danbo-lovers ahah), 8. Milky Way over Flock Hill, 9. fun fair (explored)

Just a few of the summery pictures from my flickr faves.

Day 5

Day 5. The prompt for Day 5 was to list some of your favorite blogs. My Google Reader is embarrassingly full. I read way too many blogs. I try to cut down every now and then, but I enjoy just way too many of the blogs I find, and when I get bored, I go hunting for even more! So these are obviously not all of the blogs I read, but it's definitely a sampling.

Day 4

Day 4. The prompt for Day 4 was to illustrate what your heart looks like. My heart is definitely full; so full, I couldn't even include everything. This is just a sampling of what's in my heart these days.

I am loving this journaling class. It's giving me something to think about every day, and I actually like what I'm coming up with. I don't always like my doodles, drawings, and artwork, but here lately I'm happy with it.

Friday Fill-Ins

A little fun for Friday.

1. In 16 minutes it will be 6:58, and I need to get up and work out.

2. Searching for a job is something I no longer feel the need to do, because I finally found one.

4. I have another errand to run, then I can come home and relax.

5. Your future is waiting for you...just go find it

6. What were once vices I'm no longer worried about.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to relaxing at home, tomorrow my plans include hanging out with a friend I haven't seen in a while and Sunday, I want to hang out with my boy, if he doesn't have to work!

Day 3

Day 3. The prompt for Day 3 was to draw a picture of a person you love or admire, and then write a letter to them. I'm horrible at drawing portraits, and I absolutely refuse to draw eyes and mouths, because they always end up looking ridiculous. So I've started drawing faceless people. I like them. Anyway, this is my nephew and niece, who both mean the world to me. J is 3, and E is 7 months (and has even less hair than what I drew, but I couldn't just leave her completely bald).

Day 2

Day 2. The prompt for Day 2 was to write about the best part of your day. I love the nights when my boyfriend gets home from work and is sleepy enough to just lie in bed and talk. I'm going to miss that when I start working next week. He works from 3pm-11pm and gets home around 11:20, so I'll need to be asleep by the time he gets home, and he'll be at work when I get home. We'll pretty much only be seeing each other on the weekends, which will be hard to get used to.

Day 1

Day 1. The prompt for Day 1 was to create a full page design introducing yourself. So here I am.

30 Days Journal Cover

The cover of my journal for the 30 Day Journal Challenge at

Run With Scissors.

The Beginning

I'm starting a new chapter in my life, very soon. As in, next Wednesday. I will finally begin the professional career that I've been working toward for what seems like forever.

When I graduated in 2004 with a B.S. in Psychology, I had absolutely no idea what to do next. I had a pretty good idea of what I wanted to do, but I really had no idea how to get from point A to point B, and I wasn't really the type of person to ask around for advice on how to get to that distant point B.

So I just stayed where I was and found a temporary job, working at a daycare I'd worked at before. After about a year, I found a more permanent job, working as a teller at a small bank. It was a fine job, and I made enough money to move out, into a house with a couple of friends. That living situation didn't quite work out, however, and I moved back home (again) and decided what I really wanted to do was become a speech therapist. Now, how I came to this decision, I still don't know. Which is why I hate when people ask me why I decided to become a speech therapist. I just don't know.

But after another four years of college (2 years for a second B.S. and 2 years for a Master's), I'm here, about to begin my first post-grad job as a speech language pathologist. I'll be working in several nursing homes (the politically correct term these days is actually skilled nursing facility, or SNF), which is not exactly the job of my dreams, but it's a good job and it's what's available at the moment.

I'm pretty nervous. Partly because I always expected to be working with children, so this is a huge change in my expectations, I guess. It's taking a while to get used to the fact that I'll be working with the elderly. Another reason for my extreme nerves is the fact that I don't have a lot of experience doing the type of therapy I'll be doing in SNFs. I feel like I'm going to be thrown into the deep end. I will have a supervisor who will be with me the first week and then afterward will be just a phone call away. Hopefully that will be enough to keep me from completely flipping out.

I'm hoping this blog will be a way for me to vent and write through any frustrations that might come up.