THE NEW YEAR!!! And the past four months.

This isn't any pictures, just musings. I had been thinking about 2011 since my birthday. I turned 30, and the new year was in a couple months, I had no job, no girlfriend, and 2011 would really feel like a new decade. I was more trying to be self-reflectively proactive and future-planning, instead of depressed or despondent. So looking forward to 2011, I vowed that it would be something of significance, and that I would make it such, one way or the other. And I had 2.5 months to plan for it before it came, after my birthday :)

I decided 2011 would be the year of "someday". Time to start getting things off the to-do list, things that I'm waiting for a reason or motivation to do, but may never get- for example some website ideas I had. Its already too late to make my first million by age 30, but I can at least get started. Of course you need money to make money, so that's a challenge, but I decided I would start actualizing my theoretical ideas and trying to do something about things.

I also just today decided I'd like to go skydiving this summer, and a month or two decided that next Winter (cause it was too late by the time I decided) that I would go downhill skiing- because I've NEVER BEEN. So its time to just up and do it.

Of course I also wanted to find those two things that were on a to-do list all by themselves- job and girlfriend. Well I'd already been trying "the online thing" for like 7 months with very limited success aside from making a couple friends and meeting one girl who seemed out of this world and wanted to see me again and then couldn't seem to find the time to save her life. The new year I had decided would be decision time for me to move back to South Bend. I wanted to stick with my mentoring student through the end of the semester (a high school student through Josh's work, who maybe wants to be an architect). I talked to my dad and he had employment for me for at least a handful of weeks that could turn into a temporary full-time position, working on stuff I had already been helping with from Chicago.

So I was set to move back to South Bend after New Years. But the past 9 months, every time I threatened to move home and was close to it, something came up- an interview, a temporary job opportunity, something. So I thought I'd help fate out and throw my resume out there again the week before I was moving home. And sure enough, unbelievably, two days before I was packing all my belongings up, I got an email from my first internship three years ago, saying it was quite lucky to get my resume again because they just had an uptick in work and would need my help. Important to note is the fact that my old boss didn't say he was interviewing people. He said they'd need ME. Wow. I really appreciated that.

So he had a meeting the following week (after I had gone home with a couple bags and started working for my dad) and then he let me know that yes, the project was green lighted, it was happening, they needed me. Incredible. So I worked for three weeks, helping my dad with anything and everything (which he appreciated and was started to get spoiled on having a pseudo-personal-assistant).

And then I went back to Chicago, feeling quite victorious, even though it was only three months work for the moment (with possible extensions). Soon enough they told me it'd be more like four months (and recently they told me it'd be through August, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed). They brought me on mostly for one project, a large health care facility, to work on the construction documents for it- the largest portion of work for any architecture project.

Before I knew it, I had another email in response to that same sent-out resume, asking if I was interested in some part-time work- I said well, if I can work nights and weekends then sure- cause I have a job- and they said yes! So I started working for a two-person firm (two women, really nice, do mostly residential projects) and that was just about 10 hours a week on my laptop at home when I could find the time- which mostly ended up being Sundays.

In addition, I started doing some other architecture volunteering through the Chicago Architecture Foundation, helping teach weekend workshops once a month to high school students on various aspects of architecture- model building, drafting/drawing, and this coming weekend (spoken in present-tense life in May 2011) is a workshop on architectural photography.

I also started going to lectures and other after-work architecture events around the city, trying to get involved, trying to meet more people in the community, make connections, maybe come across someone who could give me a job if I still needed one. So I was getting REALLY busy all the sudden. Like grad-school busy.

And THEN Josh decided he wanted to do this thing called Insanity Workout. 45 minutes a day of kicking your own ass, 6 days a week. I agreed. No better time than the present, and I needed to get in shape for the summer, and Josh is moving out come August, so might as well giddyup. So that took the remaining any free time I've had in the past few months. Its been crazy. Especially those workshops and other things take up a whole Saturday every weekend, and then I work all Sunday, and then its the weekday again. So I'm looking forward to a time when maybe I only have ONE job, mentoring is over for awhile, and other volunteering has be cut back for awhile. Never thought I'd say I needed to volunteer LESS.

Because of all those things, my website idea(s) and some other stuff have been put on hold for the time being. But I'm still doing what I can to be productive in life besides just working. And looking forward to the summer also, even though its RIDICULOUS busy with weddings, wedding receptions, and family holidays. Which is fine, and very fun, but just crazy.

And with that, my blog is hereby declared up to date. I hope to continue contributing to it though...thanks for reading. If you actually do.