Hopeful

I meant to post this earlier, but time has a habit of escaping me these days.  2009 was an utter whirlwind, to say the least.  As good as it was, though, I'm definitely hopeful for a better 2010.

In January, I started my student teaching in a Kindergarten classroom in Auburn.  The kids were wonderful, but the teacher was a nightmare, and for the next four months, I was in internship hell.  No one heard more about it than my sorority little sister/roommate... bless her heart.  I couldn't have made it without her.  Countless days I came back frustrated out of my mind or on the verge of tears because I couldn't fathom how someone who is supposed to be helping me and being a mentor to me could be so deceitful and hurtful.  I learned a lot from her, but it was a lot of things not to do.  Thank God I was working at a gym... I took out a lot of frustration on those machines, ha.

In February, I was in my second wedding and watched one of my best friends marry a fabulous guy in Huntsville.

After the wedding, while sitting on the couch, bored out of our noodle one night, the roomie and I saw a commercial for eHarmony and decided that we were both going to sign up to see what happened.  At first, I wasn't going to pay for it (expensive!), but then I decided I was going to pay for one month and take it seriously.  At the end of that month, I realized I had forgotten to cancel my subscription and was signed up for another month.  I made sure to cancel it before March was over.

At the beginning of March, I was matched with a guy in Birmingham and started talking to him at the end of the month.  Nine months later, we are still talking and I'm planning on going to see him while I'm in Alabama this coming March for a wedding.

Also in March, I spent my entire Spring Break at Curves working while everyone else went to the beach.  It was the most fabulous week ever because 1.) a lot of members were parents of kids in the school system and they went on vacation, so it was quiet at the gym, 2.) I got to catch up on internship stuff, 3.) I got to read several books because I wanted to read them, and 4.) my paycheck was fabulous!

April was pretty quiet... I spent the month applying for countless jobs throughout Alabama and Georgia and was preparing for the end of my internship and graduation from Auburn, all while trying to pick up some extra hours at Curves.  I also found out that one of my really good friends in the sorority got married and was expecting a baby!  I was BEYOND thrilled to hear this news!!

May was big!  I finally finished my nightmare known as internship.  I took my list of things not to do in a classroom and walked across that big stage to receive a handshake from Bo Jackson and my diploma.  Tyler graduated the same day with his Master's degree, and luckily, was in the same ceremony as me.  It was the first time both parts of the family had been together since I don't know when.  The only people missing were Kimmy, who was going to her Senior Prom, and Michael, who was in California doing his Marine training.  He had to start a new class the week of graduation and they wouldn't let him take a day or two to fly over and watch me graduate.  I slept in for about a week after graduation.  I spent the summer working at Curves, applying to jobs, and spending time in Auburn with friends.  I knew I wasn't going to be offered a job in Auburn or Opelika, so I started preparing myself early for the day when I had to drive out of town, not knowing when I was going to be back.

June was really quiet.  Applying for jobs, getting no responses, spending my time at the gym working... Blah, blah, blah.

July was bit more eventful than June.  I turned 23 and spent my birthday in Tennessee with a friend from my high school in Alaska.  Two days later, on the 8th (07/08/09), I was the maid of honor in her wedding.  I loved hanging out with her and her now-husband, her mom, and his family.  Her mom has not changed at all.  I started to really look at jobs in that area, but, as we know, nothing panned out.  Later in the month,  my parents surprised me with the best birthday present ever!  They sent me a box in the mail with strict instructions not to open it until they were both on the phone with me.  I opened the box and opened things in the order they told me to.  First up was a Yup'ik sewing kit that my mom had made for me, and inside was an iPod touch.  I had been wanting one for SO long because I needed something to listen to in the car on my long trips.  Flipping through 200+ CDs while going 80 mph on the interstate does not equal a good idea.  The best part of the box... A room for me and friend at the WindCreek Hotel & Casino in Atmore, AL along with room service for dinner and breakfast, $200 to spend in the casino and tickets to see REBA!  The only words that were able to form in my brain and come out of my mouth were "Wow!" and "Whoa!"  After having a housekeeping issue with the first room we were put in, we were put in another room that was even better.  The view was fabulous.  We went to the casino and had NO idea what we were doing.  After losing $60, I quit and decided to save the rest of the money.  The concert was AMAZING.  We were fairly close to her and she was just... amazing.  She's beautiful.

After getting back to Auburn, I got a phone call from a principal in Mississippi about an emergency hire special ed position.  I thought my luck with all this job applying nonsense had turned around (ironic because this particular position was one that I never applied for -- I had just randomly called the school asking if they had any openings).  I packed up my apartment and loaded stuff into my storage unit, a friend's garage, and my car and headed to MS to meet with the principal and assistant principal.  Once I got there, I found out they couldn't give me the job because someone with special ed certification had just shown up the day before and because he was certified, and I'm not, they were required to give him the job.  I was so angry at that guy the whole drive back, and for the majority of the 6 hours, I was in tears.

I got back to Auburn and had nowhere to live because my apartment lease had expired that day.  It was not the kind of start to August as I had been banking on.  Graciously, one of my sorority sisters let me and Harley stay with her.  But we only stayed one night because she wasn't allowed to have animals, and seeing as how Harley likes to sit in the window and the landlord was walking around the premises due to it being the transition season, I was not about to risk getting her in trouble.  So, I went and stayed with my cousin's at-the-time ex-girlfriend, now current girlfriend (I'm a much bigger fan of the current situation than I was of the August situation).  Her brother wasn't back in Auburn yet, so she put me up in his room, and our cats formed a feline BFF relationship.

Mid-August, I started to prepare for my move back home.  I had no job and nowhere to live permanently, and had no choice but to go home.  On a Tuesday, a few days before I was supposed to leave, I got a phone call from my mom up here in Alaska about a long-term sub job for a K-3 classroom that the superintendent was prepared to give me.  Just like that.  I had about 30 seconds to make a decision whether I wanted it or not.  I said yes and then she told me that school started the following Tuesday.  I had about 9 hours to load up everything for a cross-country drive, plan my route, and make hotel reservations for hotels along the way.  The next day, I had to take Harley to the vet to get his health certificate and sedatives and then we hit the road.  We drove from Alabama, across the US, through Canada, and into Alaska in six days.  I tried to take as many pictures as I could, but when you have six days to drive 4,500 miles, that doesn't really allow time for sight-seeing.  I got home on a Monday evening and started work as a K-3 sub that very next day.  When Friday evening rolled around, my head hit the pillow and I was out.

I continued driving the 58 miles each way everyday through September and October.  At the end of October, I was told that there would be a possibility that it could be offered to me as a full-time position if I was interested.  Of course I was interested... I had applied to over 300 jobs in the South and got no response, and then drove like a bat out of hell to get there in time for the first day of school.  That possibility turned into a reality and at the end of first quarter, I signed my contract for the rest of the school year.

At the beginning of November, I moved into the teacher housing in the village at the school.  It started off quite nicely... I spent a lot of money in Fairbanks buying stuff for the house, most of which I already have but had left in my storage unit in Alabama, and I spent most of my evenings after school decorating and setting up.  And by "decorating," I mean I hung three things up on the wall and put curtains on the windows.  I didn't want to buy too much wall stuff, because I have a bunch in my storage unit.  In Alabama.  In the two and a half-ish months that I've been living out here, I can't tell you how many times our water has frozen.  Or how many times our sewer tank has overflowed.  Or how many other issues we've had with this place.  And the water is smelly and rusty.  It took me forever and a half to get phone and internet and I'm still without TV.  While I am grateful beyond words for this house and this job and all of the opportunities I've experienced here that I can't in Alabama, frozen smelly, rusty water is not my cup of tea.  I'm more surprised when the water IS flowing than I am when I find out it's not working.

December went by really fast... probably because there were only three weeks of school followed by two weeks of break.  A very much welcomed and needed break.

And that, my friends, brings us to 2010.  A year that has a lot of possibilities, a lot of things to learn, and things that I couldn't be more hopeful for, without getting my hopes up.  I'm in two weddings, and am spending a week in Alabama, and could not be more thrilled about that Spring Break week.  I don't know what's happening after May, but if I have any choice in the matter, I'll be going back to Alabama.