Back Again

 I initially planned on prefacing this post with my usual apology for disappearing and an explanation of my disappearance, but I have decided to bypass that. During my absence, I came to the realization that I was the only one who looked at me some type of way when I slacked on writing or posting, and that it is 100% ok for me to take a break whenever I want or need to. Granted this break was unintentional, it was a break nonetheless and it felt good.

I'm back now, though. I've had so much going on this past month that I was dying to talk about, so here I am. This is really just going to be a long spew of life updates because I didn't come up with a plan for this post before I started typing.

 

For starters, I would just like to say that I am beyond grateful to be done with school for the summer. Online school for three semesters straight was really starting to push me to the edge, and I'm just happy it's over. I'm not taking any summer classes this summer, making it the first free-ish summer I've had since starting college. Despite how agonizingly mundane my "do the same thing every day" homeschool routine was, I managed to finish the semester with all A's- another college first for me. Now I just have one semester left until that sweet sweet degree is in my hands and I can kiss undergrad goodbye. I'm beyond excited for that. Granted I won't be done with school just yet because for whatever reason I've opted to put myself through at least two more years of academia with grad school, at least I'll be done with the first part. I'm still not set on where I'll be going for grad school, but I have my sights set on UNC Charlotte at for the top of my list. I am taking that whole process kind of slow because I know I have time and I don't want to stress myself out too much. 

Speaking of grad school, I have been pushing myself to do things that will make me look good on paper. I realized that I may need more than just my grades and few jokes during the admissions interview to get me in, so I have been getting involved in things a little bit more.

 There is a plus side, though- these are things I actually enjoy. For starters, I became the Marketing Manager for the LGBTQ+ group on campus. Marketing Manager is really just a fancy way of saying I do the social media stuff, but it's been great so far. In the same light, I also recently got hired as the Social Media Coordinator for UNCG's school of Health and Human Sciences, which I am extremely excited about. I know that I mentioned in I'm Scared to Get Paid to Do What I Love that doing social media stuff as a job was something I didn't feel ready for or comfortable with, but I'm ready now. I think it will be a great experience, especially since my major (Human Development and Family Studies) is housed under HHS. I start in a few weeks actually, so I've been getting pretty pumped. Lastly, I secured a paid summer internship. Through the SECU Fellows Internship Program, I landed an internship with YWCA Greensboro and it has been such an amazing experience so far. For the fellows program, we are required to reflect on our experience at the end of the summer, so I think I want to save the deets until then. To keep it short and sweet for now, I am taking full advantage of this opportunity to do some groundwork in the fight towards eradicating homelessness in Greensboro/Guilford County and I am learning so much along the way. I started at the beginning of May and I'll be here until the end of July, so I'll have plenty to share by the end of this experience. The thing about this summer internship though is that it was completely optional, which means I still have my required program internship to complete next semester. For that internship, I will actually be working on a research study. It's kind of funny because when I was taking a research psychology course last fall, I swore up and down that I would never work on research. Yet, here I am. When I made the decision to join the study, I made it from the perspective that working on the study would give me a well-rounded experience when I lay both internships out on paper. I'm actually really excited for it.

Now on to some less school or work-related things

I finally got my license and started driving. That's right, I got my license and started driving... I'll hold for applause. 

Seriously though, I got my license in February and just let it sit in my wallet until this month when I had to start driving myself to and from my internship. I'm still not the biggest fan of driving, but I'm starting to warm up to it. I have to drive to my internship 5 days a week, so I'm kind of forced to get comfortable behind the wheel as I go. It's not as bad as I thought it would be, and for that I am very grateful. It took a lot for me to finally get over my anxieties surrounding driving. I don't really know if "get over" is the right phrase though because it still freaks me out a little, but it freaks me out a lot less than it did when I was clearly being avoidant of it. 

Since we are on the subject of firsts, I signed a lease for my first place by myself this past weekend. Am I excited? Absolutely. Am I a little stressed because I am not made of money? You bet. While living on my own is going to open up a whole new can of expenses, I feel like I made the right move. My college roommate experiences have been three years of "please get me the hell out of here," so I felt like it was time to have my own space. My current roommate experience is really what pushed me to fly solo because I haven't had a day of peace and quiet since July, and it's driving me a little nuts for sure. I move into my new place in about a month, so I have time to get my ducks in a row as far as necessities go. It's a really nice apartment and I'm excited to finally be able to call somewhere my own. If I disappear for another 5 months, it's because I'm working 3 jobs to be able to pay rent- so wish me luck, y'all. 

This isn't really a first, but it's a first in a long time so I'll fill y'all in. At the end of April, I got to go home to Tennessee for a week to see my grandparents for the first time since July 2019. They both got the COVID vaccine and I finally felt like it was safe to go visit them. It was kind of a last minute trip because I found out that I landed my internship and knew I wouldn't have time to go see them this summer. I'm glad I went when I did because I was right- I don't have time to do anything this summer. It was a good trip, as it always is. I just like to go to get away and to sit on the couch and watch the news with my grandpa. That's pretty much what I did the whole week, on top of also doing my dreaded school work. I'm not sure when I'll have the opportunity to go back to visit them now that I've fully embraced being an adult with a daunting schedule, but I hope I won't have to wait a year and a half again.

I doubt anyone is here for plant updates, but I'm going to give them anyway.

My plant collection is a little bigger than it was when I published my collective plant post. However, I do not know how many I currently have because I haven't counted in a while. There have been some comings and goings, some more spider mite infestations (disgusting, I know), and a lot of growth. Both of my monstera deliciosas are getting HUGE. They're putting out leaves the size of my head now. and they're finally putting out leaves with fenestrations too. Those are the ones I am most proud of because they're my favorite of course. My variegated rubber tree that was literally only two leaves is now up to seven leaves, and it is gorgeous. It's actually starting to look like a little tree now. My fiddle leaf fig is dead, and I honestly couldn't care less. That thing was so ungrateful, so I'm not shedding any tears over it. I've kind of paused on getting any more new plants because I don't have the time to really learn how to care for and best support any new ones right now. At least the ones I currently have are used to my sporadic care schedule and they are well adjusted. I have becomes a lazy plant mom by force, and that's ok. I may get a new one or two after I move depending on how my current group holds up while adjusting to the new space.

I guess that's really all I have as far as updates go. I'm not going to promise that I'll write again soon because who knows? I am glad that I took the time to sit down and write today, though.