2007

I can't believe it's over.

It's been the strangest year yet. When it began, I was freshly graduated and moved back to Tulsa against all better judgment, where I had no idea what I would do or how I would make friends.

In 2007, I...

• started the year off in a hotel room with some of my friends who had taken it upon themselves to take a VACATION to Tulsa of all places. I'd just spent 6 hours in the Portland airport coming home from my roommate's wedding.
  
• fell in love.
  
• got engaged to the love of my life!!
  
• lost 30 lbs and changed my lifestyle significantly. Still losing!
  
• went from barely being able to run a mile to running 9 miles in the Tulsa Run!
• started my first real big girl job.
• started my second real big girl job.
• changed career paths 3 times and tried to go back to school when I was still burnt out. Bad idea!
• visited oregon and south padre island.
• was introduced to The Ragamuffin Gospel.
  

So, let's recap.

In 2007, God was wonderful:

In a single year, my career aspirations went from making bank with a job that I hate, to starting at scratch schooling for physical therapy, to romanticizing a technical writing position that was basically a glorified data entry job, to where I am now in a job I have grown to love. Jobless to job I love because JT had a friend who had a friend.

In a single year, I picked up The Ragamuffin Gospel because it was recommended by an anointed artist, the late Rich Mullins. Instead of being guilty about my shortcomings and trying to make up for them with selfish motives, the author Brennan Manning showed me how God gives us permission to be free from sin and embrace it, not as imperfection but as a picture of grace and redemption. Because I picked up one CD that told me to read a book, I see God's love in an entirely different light, and what the book says about the Bible is right: true love and relationship free from rules and guilt has transforming powers!

In a single year, my steel determination to focus on a career and stay AWAY from men was forgotten for a man who is so good to me, makes me laugh everyday, and inspires me to grow individually. My fiance's example has gently challenged me to improve my habits, my attitude, and my appreciation for life not because he demands it from me, but because he inspires me and has finally led me to believe that I am worth being the best I can be. Because some friends randomly moved to Tulsa, I went from not knowing how I was going to meet someone to a woman months away from her wedding day.

As I look at where I am now compared to where I was on 01.01.07, I choose to recognize God's hand and His power to change a life and set of circumstances in a minute.

The Switch

Beginning of the week news:

1) I quit my job at The Tank.
2) I accepted the job with Key.
3) JT blew out his ankle in his soccer game and I almost broke.
4) It has been wonderful getting to take care of him. Don't get me wrong, it's hard to see him hurting, but I very much appreciate that he lets me take care of him.

I'm at work for Day One of my two-week notice. It's not hostile. I just stay plugged into my headphones and no one really pays me any mind. Things have been busy, busy, busy. I realized, last Friday when I quit, that this job makes me brain-dead. The switch was for the best.

Working Girl

The first day of work went well. I am learning their database and system right now. It's quite intricate. I have a cute little cubicle (well, a cubicle that could potentially become cute) and work with two girls that aren't much older than I am and a bunch of cute old Engineer-types.

The atmosphere is very relaxed there. People laugh. Imagine that! One girl was wearing khaki capris and the other was wearing a spring skirt. Two people were listening to their iPods as they worked. Once I get in the swing of things, I could do that! There were so many times I wished I could do that at my last desk job!

I can definitely see where JT is coming from: after work, all I wanted to do was stretch or go running or something. Sitting down can be quite taxing, but I got to do a little walking and spent part of my break in the sunshine. There's an entire hour of lunch break. I am thinking about just taking thirty and leaving thirty minutes early instead. Or coming thirty minutes late. I'll definitely have to get used to waking up at 6:36!

Well, I should probably get ready for my second day at the Tank. So far, two thumbs up!

I am blessed

jefrysoccer
Originally uploaded by LaurieatSNU.

Here's my handsome, handsome man at his soccer game! He plays at SoccerCity, and I actually took this picture through the NHL-style glass they have. YEAH! It's a lot nicer than any indoor place I've ever seen!

Another blessing: I start my job tomorrow. It hasn't sunk it yet. I think I am bracing myself for another failure. Like tomorrow I'll arrive at 8:00 and they'll tell me to go home. It was all a miscommunication. They don't want me. I'm also worried that a better job will open up tomorrow, and I won't be around to find out about it! Or I'll feel too guilty to quit this one for better work and pay.

But just like having a college degree isn't some magic passageway to adulthood, neither is having a job. All of my problems aren't solved just because of this. I need to continue to grow in every aspect of my life and make sure that I am not just living from clock-in to clock-out to clock-in again. That was a real problem with my last full-time, big girl job last summer.

Goal 1: Find freelance editing and writing work for extra money.
Goal 2: Start running regularly in the evenings.

So now, that journey begins!