Long over-due post and saying goodbye to 2010

Wow, it has been a while since I wrote anything and many things have happened. I am officially all moved to Charleston (yay!) and have begun my job. I'm excited to be close to my friends and John, but it was a little sad to leave my parents. With this move I no longer live with them, and any time I go back it will be to visit and not to stay. It seems very fitting that this change happened at the end of the year because it is a literal turning of a page. December 2010 could be the best month from 2010. I graduated college, moved to Charleston, got a job and could not be happier about it all!

This new year will bring so many new chapters beginning with tonight. This will be the first New Years that I do not see my parents and ring in the new year with them. Lame I know but at the same time I am so close to my parents that I never really minded. Tomorrow I will not go to my grandparents and have a traditional New Years Day meal of collards (for money), black eyed peas (for good luck) and fat back (can never remember what it represents). But I get to start making my own traditions. Like taking down the Christmas tree before Epiphany and spending New Years Day doing nothing. I am excited to see what 2011 brings and hope that it will be better than 2010.

Busy week

This past week has been super busy! I graduated from the University of South Carolina (the REAL USC) on Monday, which would have made this a good week. But then Wednesday I signed all papers with the girl who will be sub-leasing my apartment, which would have made it a better week. But signing the papers happened after I have surgery to remove a ping-pong sized lump from my right breast and my recovery time has been like 2 hours after I got home that day. So that has made this a great week. But then Thursday my mom and I packed up my apartment so that Friday we could go shopping, both good things. And then today I got all moved out of my apartment so that the new girl can move in, a wonderful thing. But to top it all off I heard from Talbots in Mt Pleasant today and I now have a job!!! And to celebrate it all my parents, an aunt, uncle and cousin and myself went out to dinner. So this week has gone from good, to great, to wonderful, to just flat out one hell of a week.

I can't believe that this time a week ago I was in my apartment and now all my stuff is in storage waiting to be moved to Mt Pleasant. I can't wait to be down there, by all my friends. It seems that this week everything has just fallen into place and God has really done his thing. It has taken a LOT of faith to believe that everything would work out, and now that it has I wonder why I doubted. The other great thing that happened is that my mom got a job as well. She has been looking since August and finally got hired to mentor student athletes at USC. It is not her "dream job" but it is something and she is looking forward to it. So there you go. That has been my week. And now the next two weeks are going to be crazy! I go back to the doctor on Thursday to get my stitches out, Friday is Christmas Eve, Saturday is Christmas, I find out Monday when I start my job, and by next Monday I should be down in Mt Pleasant!

It seems hard to believe that all of that happened in less than seven days. This week has felt very long and yet it has flown by.

This time of year always makes me think of those who not as fortunate as I am, or my family. My parents have a house, that lacks some insulation but is warm none the less. We all have cars that work and get us where we need to go, and as of today we all have jobs. We have clothes that keep us warm, and we have many options as to what we want to wear. We can buy each other gifts for Christmas, travel to see family, and eat bountiful meals. We have so much to be thankful for that it seems pointless to complain about what we do not have. I wish that everyone would stop and take a moment to be thankful for what they have, instead of complaining about what they do not have. In this midst of all this wonderful stuff that has been going on for me and my family, I pray that others will receive good news and have a reason to celebrate.

Graduation

So I graduated today. Finally finished my undergrad degree, even though it seemed like it would never happen at times. My parents weren't sure at times either, but I couldn't blame them for that. Today was a good day, a day to be thankful and to celebrate. It definitely was time in my life that I had to have faith in order to get through. After transferring schools and failing far too many classes I should receive my diploma in the mail by March. And yet my father always has a way to bring it down.

He can forget so much, like what to get my mom for Christmas or how I did on a paper but he can hear somethings once and remember it forever. I made a comment about where John could stay over a month ago and he has clung to that like crazy. And yet just yesterday he was telling me that I make good decisions and that he knows I make good decisions. But that is not enough for him I guess and it sucks. He can't trust me about this. It sucks, but there is very little I can do about it. I'm thinking about writing him a letter or something because I can't just tell him all of this. So we will see. Maybe one day my dad will get off my back about somethings and learn that I can live my life and not completely screw it up. 

the end of school, at least for now

By tonight I should be done with three of my four classes. All I will have left to do is take my one exam next Thursday and then I will be done with my undergraduate degree! It feels weird to be almost done with something that has taken four and a half years. It also means that I'm one step closer to moving to the Charleston and being closer to John. The other weird thing is not having a job yet. I always thought that when I graduated college I would have a job all lined up, ready for me to start as soon as I got my diploma. Or at least I would be getting married and that would be my focus. But neither of those are happening and I'm good with not getting married right now, I would like to know that I can work and support myself before I get married. But not having a job lined up is stressing me out. I know that there are many other college graduates going through the same thing and it sucks. My mom doesn't have a job right now, but it's not for a lack of trying on her part. She applies to jobs that she is qualified for but nothing is happening for her and it sucks to watch her go through that.

But here I am writing this post and not getting ready to go and finish a class (I hate astronomy). In a strange way I want to put it off for a bit longer, have homework that I need to do by Monday or something like that. Because when I finish my unit tests for astronomy and take my online exam all I will have left of my college career is one exam, and that is scary. For the first time I will not have to go back to class after Christmas, or get a week off in the spring. I will be in the "real" world and I am looking forward to it, but it can be scary. To have to pay your own bills with the help of parents, and to no longer live with them. For the first time my permanent address will not be the same as my parents. Ok I need to stop thinking about this, enjoy the freedom that I have this next week, cheer on my Gamecocks in the SEC championship game and finish my college career.