update

so it's been a while since a real "update".

i have decided NOT to move to portland, oregon at the current time. this is very disappointing. i think i would love living there. from what i've seen of it lately, it reminds me a lot of australia. i like the hippie-ish attitude that the city presents. i like that it is close to both the mountains and the ocean. i like that it seems to have many opportunities to challenge myself in outdoor pursuits. i even have a few friends there, or within a few hours' drive. BUT, it's not for me, not now. maybe in 6 months or so.

i did FINALLY hear back from intrepid, the company i want to be a tour guide with overseas. they liked my application and want to interview me, but they do group interviews, so it may take up to 6 months for that to get set up. also, i'm only qualified to lead tours in countries i've been to, which means either turkey or morocco. they only hire aussies to lead in australia, fluent spanish speakers for latin america, and EU passport holders for europe, which means i can't work any of those places. bummer. oh, and they aren't hiring for turkey or morocco right now. so maybe in a year or so.

since that hasn't worked out (yet?), my next favorite idea is to work for STA travel. i sent my cover letter and resume in november, which went unanswered, so i re-did my cover letter and sent it again 3 weeks ago. still no response. they currently have openings in norman, oklahoma (where i went to college), seattle, LA, and madison, wisconsin. i said i'd go anywhere... madison would be a stretch, i'm not sure i could deal with that much winter that well. so if that opportunity comes up, i'm gone.

i also applied and interviewed for a job at the virginia aquarium that i was not selected for. my parents both think i'm overqualified, i disagree. i technically have no customer service experience, and for a private organization that only survives on pleasing the public to make money, i can totally understand why they'd want to hire someone who has had some official experience with references to back them up.

basically, my decision to not move to oregon was based on my current finances. i pretty much hate money. which means i need to earn more of it. that considered, i accepted my 2nd job of the year to sub at FC yesterday. it went fairly well... i wasn't too bored, actually had to work for my money in my first 2 blocks, had lunch (and got to gossip with my favorite teachers), study block, read a while, and went home to nap before 1830. not too shabby. and considering how well i'm paid, as much as i hate to admit it, i may bite the bullet and do more subbing. it really was God's grace that i got a job at FC (my fave school)... my phone was ringing with calls from sub-finder all night, but i couldn't get to it until about the 5th call, which was a job at FC. i don't know for sure where the other jobs were for, but considering there are 12 high schools in VB, they were probably elsewhere, and i could have had a much harder, boring day.

on another job-related note, i am thinking i may try to apply at a local starbucks. sounds like a decent job that will keep me occupied (read: not insanely bored), has benefits, and i could transfer out west later, if i so chose. the problem: i'm a scaredy-cat! i hate rejection, and even tho i wasn't even sure if i wanted the aquarium job, it still hurts that i didn't get it. i don't like filling out applications... my job history is, well, lacking. it's also difficult to describe. how do you write about less than 6 weeks at a crazy law firm answering phones? the office manager hates everyone, there is no way she would give me a good recommendation.

but God has blessed me with unexpected income this week: my dad finally got around to paying me for part of my work on the website for his company, i ran an errand for the above law firm, and at FC, i ran into the mother of a former tutee of mine who again needed help with her calculus homework. so i spent 2 hrs today at the library remembering limits and getting paid for it. not too shabby. i did miss going to see "catch and release" with some of the 1830 kids, which could have been fun, but the price movies are these days, i'm kind of glad i had a real reason to not spend more money.

i'm still sick of living at home. i do get along pretty amazingly well with my parents, i just want to be done with this phase of my life. i want to be on my own, making it on my own, proving to myself that i can do it, living my own life. i want to live with friends that i care about, not parents in their 60's who will always see me as their little girl.

so a recap:
i plan to live in VB for at least the next 6 months, hopefully working my tail off to be in a better place financially. unless intrepid or STA call and want to send me off elsewhere, in which case i'll depart immediately. hopefully by july i can move to portland, if nothing else has come up in the meantime.

for more than 3 months, i kept saying, "i'm hoping to not live here within 6 weeks." but here i am. living here. argh. big sigh.