July 25, 2012

Settling In

Well I am now in my third week at the new job.  It's been going okay so far.  I definitely have had to get used to getting up and going to work every day again.  Like everything in life things aren't always what they appear with the new job but I'm still going to try and make the best of it and learn as much as possible.  Which brings us to a good quote- "If you want to be happy, be" Leo Tolstoy.  I am going to try and use this as a new motto (for lack of a better word). 

I think, as much as I've been trying to like it here, I've been comparing everything to Madison.  Sadly, I don't think we'll ever find another place as great in so many ways as Madison was and I just need to start recognizing that.  I do still think my goal will be to move back to Madison at some point (I really don't think there is a better place to raise a family) but for now I just need to be happy with where we are at.  I'm really hoping that since I have a job now Matt and I can start to explore more of what the Detroit area has to offer.  I'm thinking I'll like it here more and feel more at home once I know more about the city and it's cultural offerings.

We're kind of doing that this Friday.  Although we have already gotten a membership to the zoo and visited a couple of times, we will be going to our first zoo fundraiser this Friday.  It's called "Wild Beasts, Wild Wine"  It pretty much sounds like a wine tasting at the zoo-which sounds pretty fantastic to me!  After this weekend we have a few busy weekends ahead of us.  Matt has a bachelor party, we have a house-warming party in a different state, and we're planning a trip back to Madison all in August!  Then we have weddings for two fantastic couples to go to in September and October.  It's really crazy how time flies!  So, even though everything isn't living up to expectations or hopes, I'm still going to work hard on finding good things to focus on.

July 11, 2012

Catch Up!

Hello!  I hope everyone had a lovely 4th of July!  I know I enjoyed mine!  I was lucky enough to be able to travel back to my hometown and spend some much needed time with family and friends.  My sister and I (plus or spouses) were even able to pull off a surprise birthday party for my mom.  It all turned out really well.  As an added bonus-we had wonderful weather.  I was even able to rid myself of some of my extreme pasty white skin :)  It was so great to spend time with my family and just hang out.  I'm already looking forward to the next trip home.  All in all a nice little vacation before I started my new job.

I started my new position as a Development Specialist with a local hospital foundation on Monday.  Monday was mostly spent at the hospital doing orientation.  I finally got to the foundation offices around 2.  Overall not a bad first day.  I would have loved nothing more than to have come straight home and gone to bed (I'm not used to that long of a day anymore!) but while we were in Wisconsin our house lost power for over a day so we had no edible food left in our fridge.  So we got to go buy all new food Monday night...yay (yes that is sarcasm).  Monday was an even longer day than it normally would have been because I had to take Matt to get a rental car at 6:45 am because we got into a minor accident on Monday before we left for Wisconsin (we really had an eventful week!).  No one was hurt but Matt's car was only drive-able enough to get it to the repair shop.  We're hoping to have that back by Friday this week.

I'm getting back in the work mindset.  There are a few perks to this job so far.  First-I don't have to be there until 8:30.  Love this!  It's perfect, Matt only has to get up a couple minutes earlier so I don't mess with his morning routine, I don't have to rush around like crazy in the morning to be on time, and I avoid what little traffic there is going my direction.  The only downfall I've discovered so far....my office is FREEZING (although I do get my own office so I can't complain too much)!  When I got there this morning it was 66 degrees.  I am not a person who thrives in cold.  My space heater will definitely be making the journey to work with me tomorrow!

Overall I'm pretty excited to be back at work and doing something productive.  Well I may not be doing all that much productive at the moment but I'll get there eventually!  This is really the perfect job for me at the moment.  I'm already using databases that I need to learn better and I'm in the field I really wanted to be-nonprofit development.  I think this quote is fitting for my experiences over the past 3 months: "When nothing is sure everything is possible"-Margaret Drabble.  I had no idea what would happen when we decided to move here.  I definitely had my doubts and was starting to really think I made a mistake moving here.  Then I saw this job posting...and wouldn't you know it a month later I have almost the exact same job I was in the running for in Madison.  There were innumerable possibilities here and I like to think I did as best I could to open as many doors to possibilities as I could find.  I had so many people offer fantastic advice and support over the ast few months.  Thank you to everyone who's helped and supported me these past three months.  I wouldn't have made it through this with a shred of sanity without you :)