February Life 2017

Personal Life// January was a weird month because there were clearly two different outcomes. Now that I know the outcome February is going to be a weird month because there's going to be a lot of new-ness. I like routine but between training and moving and the learning curve I realize that won't happen instantly. I'm going to do my best not to let myself get stressed and anxious but it's probably going to be easier said than done. I know that the first two weeks (and really the whole month) is going to be the hardest so if I can get through that things will start going smoother. 

Hobbies// I completed my 2016 Project Life album and have made a start on 2017. I'm still going the monthly route which is a choice I'm happy with. I'm anticipating getting 'behind' this month but I'm not worried. I am a big fan of using my Happy Planner so even if I get behind on Project Life I know that I still have that creative outlet. Bonus being that keeping up with planning will be helpful when I do get to catch up with Project Life. I don't have a great internet connection so I'm anticipating getting through a book or two. 

Career// I have one of those now! Officially! It's going to take anywhere from 4-6 weeks to transition between myself and the person leaving. They are leaving the position but not the organization so there's sort of a big domino effect happening. It's not what I had in mind but it does come with stability and isn't on the other side of the country. So I'm going to focus on the good parts and get through the rest. 

Spirituality// I'm still following through with my bedtime routine consisting of three thankful thoughts, question a day journal, Savor devotional and journalling. It sounds like a lot but most nights it doesn't take me any longer than 20 minutes. The past two weeks or so Savor has been disappointing. I'm not a mother or a wife and a lot of the blurbs have been related to those topics. And the past few days have involved the term 'hustle', which I despise. So I've skimmed over them but haven't really taken anything away from the readings. I'm contributing a lot of my journalling success to the fact I didn't make any rules for myself. Some days I write three sentences and some days I write three pages.

Health// For the first three weeks of the month I didn't drink any pop, only water. And then birthday week happened. And I sort of fell off the rails and returned to having pop a few times a week. I'm not being too hard on myself though because I still drank lots of water, I only drink one cup of coffee a day and I do think treats are ok in moderation. My attempt at doing a yoga challenge lasted three days before I got bored. 

Goals// I accomplished 2/3 of my January Goals. I ended up reading two books and I watched one documentary. I didn't try any new recipes or restaurants though. I had lunch out for my birthday but it was at a restaurant I'd be to before and the other three times I ate out this month were at Subway and A&W where I had my standard order.  As far as February goes I'm a little hesitant to start placing demands on myself. Surviving February is really my own priority. 

Linking up with Gretch & Kristen!

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Onwards & Upwards

If you've been reading here for any length of time you'll know that since finishing university almost five years ago (holy cow, I feel old!) I've only ever worked contract jobs. My summers were always spent at camp where I worked as the assistant director. My winters were most often spent working a super boring, well paying office job. And my springs and falls were a mix of the two depending on that years budget for both organizations. Towards the end of this summer I knew something needed to change. I was exhausted from bouncing between jobs and totally switching gears every 4-6 months and I needed something more consistent. So I started looking.

More than anything I wanted to stay in camping. I had a degree in camping. My entire existence revolved around camp. As much as I hated the thought of relocating far from family and friends it was a sacrifice I was willing to make. I applied to and interviewed for jobs in almost every province, plus a couple of states. And none of the worked out.

Sometimes I made it to second round interviews, sometimes I sent off an application and never heard a word. To say I was disheartened and discouraged would be a massive understatement. One thing that I kept coming up against again and again was candidates who had prior experience with the organization. So when I saw a posting in early November with a non-profit that I have been interested in for years and that is known for hiring from with in I didn't bother applying. And then I got turned down for a position that I thought I had a really good chance at. And by got turned down I mean that I had an interview that lasted an hour and a half, they seemed really pleased with my answers, discussed setting up a second interview and potential start date. And I never heard from them again. 

Reluctantly I quickly changed a few words on my cover letter and resume to make them less campy and sent off my application to the previously mentioned non-profit. Weeks went by and I didn't hear anything. I assumed that they had an extensive pool of internal candidates and/or they couldn't see how my camp experience would translate to the position they were trying to fill. 

I reached out to camp and said that I was essentially done with the job search, I would most likely be returning to my role as AD in the spring (or sooner depending on the budget). After much discussion the decision seemed obvious. All of the no's were clearly an indication that I was supposed to spend another summer at camp. The day I was planning to publish a post announcing my decision I got an e-mail from the non-profit offering me an interview. 

I accepted and felt confident that I did a good job, but knew that most (or all) of the other interviewees were internal, I wasn't expecting anything to come of it other than give me something to do on a Thursday morning. 

I was pleasantly surprised when I was invited for a second interview. This one was entirely scenario based. Again, I was confident in my responses but knew that I probably could have done better with more direct experience within the organization. 

And then last week I got a job offer. If you had of told me at the beginning of all this the end result would be a position with an international non-profit for disabilities as human resource coordinator I never would have believed you. I also wouldn't have believed you if you told me that instead of trekking across the country or continent I'd be relocating two hours from home. 

My first day is Thursday and I'm still not entirely sure what I'm getting myself into, but I'm trusting that this is the way. The next few weeks will be full of change and transition and general chaos so stay tuned for many tales of adventure. 

Weekly Favourites

{one}

I mentioned in my What's Up Wednesday post that I had finally given the avocado for breakfast trend a try. I wouldn't consider it a life changing experience but I have been enjoying this newly discovered breakfast. It consists of an everything bagel, bacon, cheddar cheese and avocado. Breakfast is my least favourite meal of the day but I attempt to eat it because apparently it's important. I probably have a success rate of two or three times a week. Maybe someday I'll be a breakfast enthusiast. 

{two}

I feel a little obligated to include an update on the job front, especially since it's positive. I've been interviewing for a position all month (not even exaggerating). Earlier this week they officially offered me the position. I'm meeting with them on Monday to discuss details. Hopefully everything will come together and I will finally be done with job search stress. (And can move on to moving & starting a new job stress!) 

{three}

It has been extra dreary outside this week. The weather has shifted between snow, rain & freezing rain with lots of high wind. Coffee has become a top of my favourites list this week. When I first got the Keurig I was much more adventurous with my coffee choices. Now I usually stick to McDonald's brand with the occasional Starbucks or VanHoutte thrown in depending what's on sale. What are your favourite coffee pods? I think choosing McDonald's Coffee over Tim Horton's coffee might make me a bad Canadian but I think I make up for it with my love of Ketchup Chips. 

{four}

I spent an entire afternoon this week sorting through my stash of scrapbook paper. I got rid of anything that was too tiny to ever be useful. Since I've converted to Project Life my 12x12 papers were essentially useless, so I cut a bunch down to 4x6 which will make it much easier to incorporate them into my PL albums. I need to come up with some creative ways to use PL cards because I have way too many. I'm thinking I will use some as Valentine's Day cards and search Pinterest for more information.

{five}

I may not be interested in the antics of The Bachelor but ask me about almost any TLC show and I will happily have an in depth discussion. Whether it's the latest news from the Brown family or the adorableness of the Busby's, the fascinating psychology behind My 600 lb Life I can carry on a conversation. I have abandoned the Duggar's, but only sort of. I don't watch the show but I read up on their happenings from time to time. I like to think I'm not alone in my love of TLC, but I'm also pretty certain most folks choose to ignore the world of TLC. 

Monday's Matter #3

As always let's start with some of my recent favourite reads. Renee from Mulling Over My Morning Coffee wrote this short devotional about how things don't always go according to our plan. Elissa wrote about her choice to take a nap. And Callie shared her thoughts about old school blogging. 

I'm on my third Word of the Week and I love switching it up every week. My original plan was to wait until I had made it through at least four words but I'm only starting the third week and I'm already itching to share. So far I've used Abide & Flow and this week I'm working on Spark. 

Even though this is the first Valentine's Day in two years that I've been single I am the most excited about celebrating. Mostly because I get to celebrate with twenty 5-8 year olds! I found the cutest fun patches online and ordered one for each of them (and the other leaders). My plan is to make little tags to serve as Valentines and they will be adorable. Plus, mailing Valentine's Day cards because that's a fun thing to do too. Maybe it's a consumer holiday but for someone who's love language (aside from chips & dip) involves words of affirmation Valentine's is my jam. 

For as long as I can remember I've been labeled as 'shy'. And it's only in the last few years that I've kind of embraced that label. BBC published this article about Celebrating Shyness  and it completely resonated with me. I think it's worth a read regardless of whether you consider yourself shy or not. I think it's hard for people who aren't shy to understand shy doesn't mean rude or standoffish. And I also think it's important to designate the difference between being shy and having seriously severe social anxiety. 

It also seems fitting to share my favourite Obama article, Obama After Dark. I happened to read this article while I was at camp and I related to so much of it, especially the no good decisions part. There are days when selling plain white t-shirts in size medium on a beach in Hawaii sounds like a viable career choice. 

I'm still in the waiting phase of things unfolding with the job search. And realistically it will probably be the end of January before I have a solid plan, but at least the end is (hopefully) in sight. With that in mind my quote of the week is from the amazing Julia Child. I assume she was talking about food, but I think the sentiment is transferable, especially after last week's Patience Make Pancakes revelation. 

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Friday Things on Friday

This week started off in one direction and then sort of veered off course, which worked out fine because my Word of the Week was flow. More coming on that process soon, I'm planning on making a post about how that's going once I'm a full month into the system.

{one}
Puzzle = Complete!

It was a bit of a close call, I had everything put together and then realized I was missing two pieces. Thankfully one of the cats had just knocked them off the table and on to the floor so I found them pretty quickly. Usually I don't re-do puzzles, but I really liked this one and it was a gift so I will hang on to it and complete it again some time. I took a sharpie and wrote 'January 2017' on the inside of the box so I can remember when it was last completed.

{two}

A hilarious antidote from yesterday's interview. I asked a question related to the typical structure of a work day and was met with a very enthusiastic response about that being a great question and they totally over looked that information because everyone else on the interview list has previous experience with the organization and is familiar with the daily structure. Awesome. I'm pretty sure that's code for, you're totally qualified for this job based on your resume but we're only interviewing you for optics. This job is going to an internal candidate.

{three}

In case anyone asks the way to my heart is plain, rippled chips and Philadelphia brand onion dip. We happened to have both of these things in the house this week and that makes my heart (and stomach) happy.

{four}

Via E-Patches & Pinterest

I'm searching Pinterest for cute Valentine's ideas for my Sparks/Brownies. Since my cute Christmas craft plans went awry I sent them each home with a Kinder Surprise so I'd like to reclaim some of my craftiness for Valentine's Day. Even though I'm also considering just ordering cute 'Valentine's Day' or 'Girls Rock' crests online, attaching a little tag and calling it a day. Parents of littles, what are your thoughts? Cute Pinterest inspired Valentines or more practical crests? (I think I might already know the answer to this.)

{five}
This song has been on repeat this week. It's so catchy and not about getting drunk making poor life choices, which seems to be the theme of most catchy songs these days.

This weekend my plans include reading my second (!!) book of the year, continuing to listen to Run Devil Run on repeat and finding a new show to watch on Netflix now that I've made my way through all of Lock Up. 

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Patience Makes Pancakes

Last week a friend sent me this story:

I have no idea where it came from but I'm a big fan. And I've been mulling it over in my head since she first shared it with me. I've never been good at the whole 'wait and see' thing. I want to know what happens next so I can make plans accordingly. But for the last however many months life has been one huge 'wait and see' moment. And I am not a fan. The process of filling out applications, sending resumes & cover letters here, there and everywhere. Making it to secondary rounds, being offered interviews and then hitting a dead end feels like mixing together all the ingredients, discovering you're short a tablespoon of lard and tossing the whole thing in the trash. 

Last night I was making pancakes for supper because I forgot to take anything else out of the freezer. And as I stood over the stove waiting to see the batter bubble so I could flip it to the other side I was reminded of the biscuit story. Even if you have all the right ingredients the oven still needs to be set at the right temperature. And you need to keep things cooking until it's finished, nobody wants a pancake that isn't cooked the whole way through. 

Coincidently, yesterday I was also offered an interview for my 'pancake job', the job I applied for because I had most of the ingredients even if it wasn't my favourite food. The deadline for applications was three weeks ago and I assumed that since I hadn't heard anything it meant that I wouldn't be, which I wasn't surprised about. Again, most of the ingredients but not all and it was a very quick "search & replace" job for a few words on my cover letter. 

This most recent development also coincides with my decision to re-consider leaving my current camp. Less than a week ago I sent an e-mail to the organization explaining that my job search hadn't gone well and I may still be interested in my usual seasonal contract unless something changed. I was making peace with the idea that my work at that particular camp yet wasn't done yet and the universe was making sure I was put back there. I still had/have a lot of reservations though and wasn't entirely confident I was making the right choice. 

Now I find myself staring at two completed recipes and only enough room in the oven to bake one of them. And I'm waiting to see what the universe wants me to make. If I get a job offer from this interview then I will happily enjoy biscuits after being given a lot of plain flour over the last few months. There are a lot of benefits to it, the biggest ones being it wouldn't involve moving to the city and it's full time, year round and permanent. And if I don't get the job offer then that will be the confirmation that I need to go back to camp. 

So stay tuned because either way there is a glimmer of light (and a plate of snacks) at the end of this tunnel. 

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What's Up Wednesday - December

 

What I'm Eating This Week: English Muffins, Tacos, Grilled Cheese, Pad Thai and my beloved "Best Sandwich Ever" which involves chicken breast with cajun season, chipotle mayo, red onion and avocado. 

What I'm Reminiscing About: This time last year when I felt a lot more confident in life. I've gone from employed and in a relationship to unemployed and very single. The relationship status part doesn't bother me, that was a positive change. The employment part though, not so much. 

What I'm Loving: I am loving that this year is almost over. And grilled cheese.  

What I've Been Up To: Still on the job hunt...

What I've Been Dreading: It's hard to properly articulate exactly what I'm dreading. In some ways I'm dreading the constant reminders that when people inquire about what I'm up to these days I have nothing of substance to offer them. 

What I'm Working On: Finishing up Project Life album for the year, figuring out how I'm going to use my Happy Planner, trying to finish my 52x52 list for 2017 and a fun (and hopefully profitable) camp related project. And you know, the never ending job hunt. 

What I'm Excited About: As long as the weather cooperates I'm planning on celebrating the new year with H. & R., so I'm cautiously excited about celebrating bestie Christmas and starting the new year with them!

What I'm Watching/Reading: I've been watching Grey's Anatomy on Netflix along with a documentary called The Drop Box which I highly recommend (and is on Netflix). Right now I'm reading A Year of Living Prayerfully by Jared Brock, which is pretty great so far. 

What I'm Listening To: I usually have Grey's Anatomy or Friends on in the background. 

What I'm Wearing: Lots of comfy clothes, leggings, hoodies and warm socks. 

What I'm Doing This Weekend: Christmas things! 

What I'm Looking Forward to Next Moth: Maybe 2017 won't be as terrible as 2016. 

What Else Is New: Refer to the 'what I'm dreading' question above. But I will share that I've applied for my first totally unrelated to camp job, but is still working with people who have disabilities and is much closer to home than the camps I've been applying to. It's still pretty competitive and I'm sure they will have loads of internal applicants (which have become my arch nemesis) but it's worth a shot. 

What's Your Favourite Memory from 2016? 

There wasn't any one standout moment this year. The first thing that came to mind was a quick visit to camp back in the fall with H., R. & M. there were so many leaves that it just felt quintessentially fall. I also had a lot of fun visiting H. in Toronto back in May. And meeting Meeko at Disney World also deserves a shout out because even if the trip was sort of a do over it did make me fall in love with the place. 

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Friday Facts of Life

{one}

It's no secret that 2016 was not a good year for reading for me. I set out to read 52 books this year and  just finished my 8th. I'm attributing part of this to the fact that last December I got a new phone and never got around to downloading the OverDrive app, which is what I had been using to access ebooks from my library. Earlier this week I re-downloaded the app and I've already finished one book with a dozen waiting in my queue. Here's to many more hours spent reading actual literature and not browsing Reddit.

{two}

Via MAMBI

Me & My Big Ideas released a whole bunch of new sticker books for the Happy Planner this week and I'm itching to get my hands on at least two of them. I already have two and I am kind of in love with them. They are the perfect blend of practical and cute, I'm eagerly awaiting the week of December 26 when I can start using my 2017 planner. I am having some regrets about my choice of Happy Planner, I'm thinking I should have held out and went with the coil bound Erin Condren knockoffs by Recollections? (I love the look of the ECs but in order to get one from there to here I'd need to spend about $100 and there's no way I'm spending that kind of money on a stack of paper.) But what's done is done and I'm sure I can work with what I've got for the year.

{three}

I didn't hear anything this week about making it through to the second round of interviews...so I'm not really sure how to interpret that one. It seems strange that I wouldn't get an e-mail indicating it was a no thanks...but they also indicated they were planning on doing second round interviews on Friday (today)...so I'm really shrugging my shoulders on that one. There is another posting for a job that isn't camp related, but is much more closer to home and sort of in line with my skills. And maybe that will be the ticket? Ugh.

{four}

I've been debating about choosing One Little Word for 2017. I know I won't be officially signing up for Ali Edward's class this year, I don't need to spend $40 to chose a word. I wasn't overly interested in the community and I would be fine with using the same monthly prompts from this year. The words that have been rolling around in my head are 'Still', 'Calm', 'Whole' and 'Spark'. I'm not feeling particularly passionate about any of them though. In years past I've chosen Love,  Brave & Rise. Do you choose a word for the year? If so what do you do with it?

{five}

It started snowing on Sunday and hasn't stopped all week. It's -20 out with the wind and it's not even winter yet. This is not a Friday favourite, but it does seem to be a fact of life.

{six}

In the spirit of 'out with the old, in with the new' I've been cleaning up my blog routine. I've gone through and deleted a bunch of draft posts because let's be real I was never going to finish that 'Friday Five' from 2013. I've also been cleaning up my Blog Feed, unfollowing some folks who I never read anymore or who haven't blogged in more than a year. Which, side note, am I the only one who feels sad and immense curiosity when bloggers who I followed for years stop blogging? There are about half a dozen that I just can't bare to 'unfollow' because I still have hope they'll reappear one day and I don't want to miss that. It also means I've made room for some new bloggers. So who are you following that I need to check out? I would love to find some single, late twenty somethings like myself but I'm as long as every post it's trying to sell me something or tell me how to build my blog followers I'm open to any suggestions.

Linking up here and here. 

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Hymn #674

Last week when I had my interview they told me I would hear from them early in the week about the second round of interviews. Monday and Tuesday have gone by and I haven't heard a word good or bad, so I'm not really sure where that leaves me. I do know that I've had "In The Bulb There Is A Flower" stuck in my head since Monday evening when it started snowing. All day yesterday and so far today the familiar lyrics have been on repeat:

In the bulb there is a flower,

In the seed, an apple tree,

In cocoons a hidden promise:

Butterflies will soon be free!

In the cold and snow of winter,

There's a spring that waits to be,

Unrevealed until it's season,

Something God alone can see. 

Maybe it's because it's a catchy song. Maybe it's because the song is a lullaby of sorts, I don't remember ever learning it but it was a staple of camp Christian Education time and vespers services. The lyrics were written in magic marker on chart paper above the piano in our main building complete with little doodles of tulips and apple trees. Whatever the reason it's a comforting song to be playing on repeat when I'm in the middle of season with more questions than answers. Just wandering around the proverbial forest setting off down different paths only to discover they're all dead ends. 

And as much as I appreciate a good adventure and generally enjoy the scenic route I'm kind of over it. I don't want to "savour my season" or "embrace the unknown" or "enjoy the journey" because those things are all fine for a while but regardless of how much fun you're having on vacation you always want to get back to your own bed eventually. 

While everyone is busy admiring the twinkle lights, eagerly awaiting watching their littles opening presents on Christmas morning and starting to set goals for 2017 I'm refreshing my e-mail every hour (that may sound a lot but it's an improvement over every 15 minutes) and wondering if somewhere along the line I took the wrong exit and am doomed to wander around the wrong forest forever. 

My goal, wish, objective, intent...purpose in life is to have a permanent, full time camp job. Anything past that is a bonus. 

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Friday Coffee Chat

My Friday Five is a little heavier this week, I thought about not posting but in the spirit of keeping things real and genuine around here I'm going to go ahead a post. So let's pretend we're doing this over coffee. I'll have my usual with cream & sugar, or just sugar if there's no cream. 

{one}

Yesterday I had an my interview for the full time camp job that I really want, I'll find out next week if I make it through to the second round of interviews. I think it went okay, but the only thing I know for sure is I am exhausted. I've spent the past nine months in this never ending cycle of searching, researching, writing, editing, e-mailing, interviewing and not being good enough. People have made full fledged human beings in the amount of time I've spent dedicated to securing a camp career. 

Also in the past nine months my three closest friends have secured jobs that they love, in the field they want to be in. Which means they don't/can't relate. And that's exhausting, because I don't want to be the Negative Nellie of the group or the underachiever so I keep repeating my standby mantra that everything happens for a reason and things will work out. 

{two}

I have been on a serious Facebook break this week because there's a lot of provincial politics happening and I happen to fall on the unpopular opinion side of things. Nobody seems to be thinking with a clear head though and scrolling through people's Facebook rants and opinions was making me crazy. The upside of that is I've levelled up a whole bunch on Sky Burger. Still haven't picked up a book yet though, maybe that's a task for next week.

{three}

It might sound cold hearted, but earlier this week I celebrated not celebrating a two year dating anniversary. A big catalyst for ending the relationship was more freedom to look for camp jobs and being six months on the other side of that and still not having anything to show is hard. The good news is there were lots of other reasons why the relationship needed to end and I haven't regretted my decision for a second. It would just be nice if I had something to show for this year. Instead I'm entering into the season of family gatherings single and unemployed. It's zeros all across the board and for a Type A like me that's a hard pill to swallow.

{four}

I started watching Grey's Anatomy on Netflix this week.  

Even though the whole 'Pick me, choose me, love me' quote is meant to be about choosing between romantic interests that's essentially how I feel about the hiring process. I don't doubt my ability to do any of the jobs I've applied for, the problem is there are dozens of other people who have the same ability. I've never been someone bursting with self confidence, but I've always been confident about what I'm passionate about. Continuously being told that I'm not good enough for the thing I love most is the absolute worst. 

{five}

I'm not the least bit excited about Christmas. I'm 90% finished all of my shopping and wrapping and I'm just ready to get it over with. I don't want to listen to any Christmas music or partake in any decorating. I want to watch Elf once because I think it's a great movie and that's kind of the extent of my Christmas Cheer. 

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Mondays Matter #1

I'm going to let you in on a secret...I kind of love Mondays. I like beginnings and possibility and I'm never more organized or prepared for the week ahead than I am on Monday. When I was in university a friend and I had a tradition where we emailed each other every Monday. It came about as camp for that summer was wrapping up and we started to talk about how to make the camp magic all year. We would write a little update post to each other and mention a few things we were nervous or worried about for the upcoming week and I always looked forward to having that e-mail to read when I finished class on Monday. In Blogland Mondays are for weekend recaps with lots of photos and tales of adventure...except that my weekends aren't always full of exciting experiences. 

So I'm going to try something a little different and bring back Mondays Matter for those weeks when my weekends aren't particularly noteworthy and I still want to blog. A little bit of reflection on Monday morning to start the week off on the right foot. 

1. Maybe it's just me but it feels like blogging has turned a corner and lately there have been some pretty awesome posts that are focused on real life and not shilling products. These three in particular have still given me food for thought almost two weeks later:  While You're Waiting by Alyssa, Be Thankful For Your Choices by M. and What's Changed by Erin.

2. Earlier this week I was sorting through some things and trying to be a more organized human and while I was trying to jam multiple 12x12 scrapbook albums on a shelf that I assume measures 11.99x11.99 I did some quick math in my head and realized that camp has been part of my life for 19 years. I spent 10 years as a camper, followed by 4 years as a counsellor and summer director and just finished my fifth year in an assistant director position. Those 19 years span five different camps and at least six different job titles and have given me endless tales of (mis)adventure. And even if this most recent job opportunity doesn't pan out I still am forever grateful that I have a passion and know what it is without a doubt.

3. I re-watched the final season of How I Met Your Mother this weekend for the first time since it aired and I'm still undecided about how I feel about the ending. I am decided that I'm not much of a Lily fan and that I would marry Ted Mosby in a heartbeat. 

4. I'm trying not to get myself all out of sorts for my interview on Thursday but I'm not having a lot of success. I recognize that it's not the be all and end all, but I'm also just so ready to move on and be done with the uncertainty. 

5. I have studied every news article, watched every YouTube video, viewed every photo and read every tweet produced by/about the organization I want to work with, I hope it pays off but there's really no guarantee. If nothing else I can tell you that I'm confident these are my people based on the appearance of a creepy sun logo peeking through on one of their buildings, a hilarious kijiji ad offering to trade excess furniture for program supplies and a shed repurposed for program space.  

6. I need to start work on 2017's 52x52 list, I've completed slightly less than half of 2016's list, hopefully there's time to squeeze in a few more but I'm not overly hung up on it. It was my first attempt at such a project and I was kind of making up the rules as I went along. Next year I will do a much better job at keeping track of things and making the list a little more balanced.

7. Last year I only mailed a few Christmas cards but this year I'm going to up my game. I'm not going totally overboard but I let myself buy a new package of cards as long as I promised myself to mail all 16 cards so that's a thing that needs to happen this week. 

8. Mondays Matter emails always ended with a quote for the week, so I'm going to keep with that sentiment and end with this one I came across last week:

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Always Forward

I am happy to report that November was a much better month than the disaster that was October. I participated in NaNoWriMo, but I didn't finish because I didn't want to. I realized that the fun factor had worn off so I let it go. I then spent the time I was spending writing catching up with Project Life and re-kindling my interest in art journalling. I'm finally considering myself caught up with Project Life. October is complete up until Thanksgiving and the first half of November is 'roughed in'. I'm still debating/leaning towards documenting weekly in 2017. 

As for my goal of being a lady with a plan again after Plans A - Z were total fails from August - October I have made a lot of progress but nothing is for certain yet. I have an interview for a full time, year round, permanent position at a camp next week. I'm hopeful, but if I've learned anything over the past few months it's that competition is fierce and possibly out of control...like requesting audition videos out of control. I want a job, not a spot on The Amazing Race (although, if this doesn't work out maybe reality TV is an avenue I should explore). 

My goals for December are a little dependant on how the interview goes, if all goes well then I'm going to spend some time figuring out the logistics of moving across the country. And if it doesn't go well then I will be in pursuit of a Plan B...and maybe also C-Z,  but we'll focus on Plan A for now. 

All of the things I've ordered online have arrived at the house this week, except for Old Navy so I officially have 90% of my Christmas shopping done and in my possession. I need to get a few little things to go along with my mom's and figure out exactly what to get my father, who is near impossible to shop for. I also need to send out Christmas cards, but it's only the start of December so there's plenty of time to make that happen. 

I do want to keep journalling because I fully recognize that when I spend 15-20 minutes before bed doodling and writing not only do I sleep better but I feel a little less overwhelmed. I've been doing a devotional using the YouVersion Bible app which is also helpful. 

Last month if I had to choose one symbol to represent life it would have been a big bold question mark. The end of November feels more like an ellipses, there's no definitive answer or solution but there is a lot of potential and possibility. I'd be lying if I said I'd love an exclamation point or some other definitive answer but I'd also be lying if I said I didn't feel okay with where I am now. 

What's New With You this month? Share your life's happening and linkup with Gretch Runs and See You In A Porridge!

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Bloom Where You're Planted {Thankful Thoughts}

For as long as I knew it was a possibility having a full time, year round job working at camp was my career goal. When I first set off to university with that goal in mind I had visions of returning to the camp I grew up at making some changes and helping it grow to it's full potential. Things changed pretty quickly, as they often do when church politics and wills get involved, and so I found myself transplanted to a place I'd never planned on planting myself. 

There were times (many times) that I didn't want to be planted there. I wanted someone to come along and pick me up and plant me somewhere else. Ideally a nice vase with fresh water where the soil wasn't so rocky. As fate would have it though that's not how things turned out.

Last spring the first opportunity to move on popped up just as I was preparing for my fifth summer, something I never thought I'd see. Parts of me were giddy with thoughts of pretty new vases but the idea of being uprooted still felt hard. I would miss certain nuances, the gophers, the sheds, eating ice cream with a fork because all the spoons had disappeared (again). As it turned out though I wasn't what they were looking for, instead of the pretty vase I was shoved back into the rocky soil on the side of a cliff (at least that's what it felt like).

Towards the end of the summer the second opportunity to move on appeared on the horizon. This time it involved a full on gold vase encrusted with diamonds. After a particularly stormy summer, in the rocky soil, on the edge of a cliff I was ready to make home in the fanciest vase that would hold me. Except I wasn't what they were looking for either, although I was closer this time. 

Fast forward a few weeks and I've found another option. Except this one doesn't feel like a vase, more like a nice terracotta pot you put on your front porch. It's sturdier than the cliff but still exposed to the elements and maybe a little rough around the edges. I have an interview the second week in December and hopefully there will be a nice terracotta pot with a red bow and my name on it under the tree. Even though I never planned on planting myself there it might just turn out okay. 

I'm thankful for the places I've been forced to grow and for the ability to look around and think that even if the view isn't perfect there's still reason to bloom. 

Stuff & Things

Blogging, Crafting & Adulting

Anyone else feel like they blinked and all of a sudden it was Friday?! Tuesday evening we had an 85th birthday party for my great-aunt, Wednesday I helped with set up for an event at church this weekend, yesterday I spent the day making cards for the craft table at said church event and today I need to finish those up and bake some cookies for the bake table. 

The Back to Blogging Challenge wrapped up this week and Alyssa compiled a list of some of her favourite responses. I was pretty excited that one of mine made the list and I loved getting to read some of her other favourites that I had missed over the course of the challenge. 

And in other blog related news I hit 100 followers on Bloglovin'!

I totally recognize that 100 is peanuts compared to a lot of bloggers but 100 was the number I wanted to reach this year based on my 52 in 52 list. So it's a milestone worth celebrating.

I had grand plans to take lots of cool photos of the Super Moon but it was so foggy that that my ambition was short lived. This week it's really started to feel like fall, it's been rainy and foggy and when it's not actively rainy it still feels damp. I've gotten to wear my rain boots on a daily basis though so I'm okay with the weather. 

Last night I made a quick trip to Michaels and determined that the only thing better than a good browsing session at Michaels is when the weather outside dictates you get to stroll the aisles in your rain boots. I was on a specific mission since the Project Life albums were on sale for buy one, get one free. I scooped up two of those to use for 2017, in 2016 I ended up using one album to document life monthly and then another that I did session by session during the summer. I (probably) won't do it exactly the same in 2017 but I think I am a two albums per year documenter which was a happy surprise. 

Another happy surprise is a follow up to something I mentioned on Monday regarding a job application I was working on this past weekend. I got everything finished and sent off and yesterday got a reply along with some potential interview dates. I'm still a little  a lot overwhelmed and panicked about the thoughts of moving across the country but it's not worth getting myself worked up over until it's an actual possibility. Keep the prayers & good vibes coming through because it is an awesome position and I'm uncharacteristically optimistic about the whole thing.  

I was supposed to be at a Guiding event all day Saturday followed by a lot of Guiding on Sunday but the event on Saturday was cancelled due to poor enrolment I might brave the mall and finish off my Christmas shopping. I ordered a few things online so I'm keeping my fingers crossed they get here on time but figuring that I should be safe since I ordered from within Canada and there's still over a month to go before things need to be under the tree. This is the first time I've done any sort of 'bulk' online shopping and it kind of makes me feel like I've unlocked another level of adulting! 

Linking up here & here. 

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