I'm a Virginian...officially

So I highly doubt anyone will see this since the couple of people who regularly read the blog last year have given up on me, but big official things have happened this week that should be chronicled.

I dropped all legal ties to other states and became an official Virginian! I have a drivers license, a voter registration card, and pretty Virginia license plates on my car. It makes me sad to give up Tennessee and Colorado, but I think it also makes me an adult. I'm trying to settle into my job and life here in Virginia and making it official was a big step. Only took 8 months! But now I blend in. My generic Camry won't stand out in parking lots and no one will take an extra glance at my ID. Oh well...Here's to the Commonwealth!

Summer?

Wow, I'm still alive and the blog still exists. Things are picking up around here and I have friends! Well, a couple, but my closest ones are leaving Norfolk. Bummer. :( So I'm going to try to make a real effort this summer to be outgoing and meet new people (well, when I'm not in China or South Korea!). We'll see how that goes.

A Holiday in Norfolk

This might be a little overdue...but oh well!

I spent the whole weekend unpacking and organizing. Yes, I've been here over a month now, but the holiday season is coming up and my parents are driving to Norfolk to spend Turkey Day with me. Neither of my sisters were planning on going home, and my dad is retired and bored, so they're hitting the road. There will be no cooking, but there will be eating. I made reservations at the Smithfield Inn. It's old, it's historic, and it's the birthplace of the Smithfield ham. I've been dreaming about the food since I made the reservation a month ago. Their Thanksgiving menu is a beautiful thing.

I don't know what the rest of the weekend will hold, but maybe I'll report back here :P

new home

I made it to Norfolk. It’s been a journey: four days of driving and over 1500 miles. I arrived in town on Monday afternoon after spending Sunday night in Richmond with my cousins I hadn’t seen since my high school graduation in 2002 (at least that’s the last time we remember…). Friday and Saturday nights were spent in Louisville with some Gamecock faithful. I tend to have been a witness to the most devastating away games that USC has played the last few years. We beat the #1 team in the country one week and then I get to witness them lose to Kentucky the next week. Despite these terrible circumstances, I did get to see a few faces of some good people I haven’t seen in awhile.

I also got to spend a few days in the M-town—sleeping late at my parents’ house and seeing old friends. Never enough time to see everyone or eat all the food I miss when I leave home. I did get some BBQ Shop in and managed to make some money by working an event with BRIDGES. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to escape that job! I started out as a photographer and then got pulled in to lead a group of FedEx execs through some challenges downtown. They had to eat peanut butter and banana sandwiches at the Arcade (Elvis’s fav and oldest restaurant in town), put on full fireman suits at the Fire Museum, and sing Blue Suede shoes at the Rock and Soul museum. Bridges always does such creative stuff! Here’s a picture:

So here I am in Norfolk, sitting in a coffee shop by myself on a Saturday night. Not that this isn’t something I would’ve been doing in Denver (well, if I wasn’t working at Target…), but it’s different when it’s your only option. I do live in an awesome neighborhood where I can walk around, grab some food and a cupcake and do some people watching. At least that way I almost feel social, or less like a hermit. :P

I start the job on Monday, so then at least I’ll be around people! In the meantime, I still have a lot of unpacking to do because I keep wanting to spend my days doing other things…like visiting the beach!

saying goodbye to Colorado

Since I accepted a job halfway across the country, I think the mountains have been teasing me with beautiful sunsets and fall colors for two weeks now.

Today, in an effort to say goodbye, I drove up to Estes Park to get some good shots of the aspens in their full glory. Here are some of the results of my day long excursion. Enjoy!

j-o-b

I've officially accepted a position as Study Abroad Advisor at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, VA. Real world, here I come!

Big Days Ahead

I should probably be in bed, but I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be able to sleep anyway. The reason? At 6am I'll be boarding a flight to Virginia (by way of Ohio...)! Off to be wined and dined for a perfect job on the beach. There will definitely be some less fun parts including the multiple interviews and the public presentation, but I really hope its at least enjoyable. And I really really hope they like me!

I get back super late Monday night and then turn around on Thursday and get another flight to Nashville for an interview just north of there in Kentucky! A little less wining and dining on this one, but at least I'll get to see my sister! The job is a little more administrative than I'd like, but who am I to be picky about a full-time job in the field I'm trying to get in to?

So please be thinking some good thoughts for me this week! And I'll be sure to post here (for my two readers) if I hear any news!

An Important Day in Rachel-Land!

Man, I haven't had a day that I could call a great day in a long time, but today pretty much rocked. As of September 1st, I could've been homeless, unemployed, and uninsured. BUT! I'm not!

It was the last day at the "real" job which might have been tragic if I didn't feel like it was a good thing that they forced me to move on/fired me and that Target wouldn't have let me go full-time. Anyway, I found out they do love me and they brought me banana pudding and THAT, my friends, is a true sign of friendship. You can always buy my love with banana pudding!

Also, managed to find a place to live! One of the sublets I looked at last week ended up working out. It's nice, it's week-to-week and perfecto for my situation, especially since I have two friends coming into town this weekend.

Lastly, I got some short-term health insurance. Not super exciting, but at least I don't have to worry about it anymore.

The cherry on top of the great-day-sundae was getting another interview and this one is for a job in Denver! =no relocation needed! Though the beach in Virginia is still tempting too...

And folks, the fall breeze made it an exceptionally perfect day :)

Hope your day was great as well!

interview!

Will be heading all the way to the East Coast for an in-person interview in a couple of weeks. Not costing me a dime, but I wish I could extend it and make it a real trip! If all works out though, I might be moving to the beach and life will be like a vacation! :)

Good and bad news...

What an interesting day...

I kinda sorta got fired and got an email with kinda almost maybe good news about a job.

I had to give my one job an unofficial resignation a week and a half ago because they were planning their annual out-of-town retreat/meeting. Well it's in New Orleans and after a couple of days of playing innocent and putting it off, I finally had to tell the second boss lady that they should not buy me a plane ticket  because I didn't know if I'd still be there at the end of September, and I certainly have no intention of being there for the rest of the year. This was a courtesy. I didn't have to mention anything, but I'm too honest.

That week the head boss lady was out of the office recuperating from a face lift, which is why I had to tell the other lady. I couldn't give her any specifics about anything since I don't have any, but I was very honest and told her I could not keep working 7 days a week without health insurance (mine is up at the end of the month!). So today, the boss lady called me in and in a pretty nice way told me that if I wasn't gonna be around next year, then they should not waste money "training" me and that my last day should be the end of the month. Well, they're not "training" me as it is...I'm scanning and filing right now, for $11 an hour. So that's it. I guess that's me getting "fired" for being nice and telling them I might not be around much longer, even though I haven't given them a two week notice officially.

On a happier note, not 10 minutes before I went into her office, I got an email from a job in Virginia that I had had a phone interview with telling me that they were seriously pursuing my candidacy for the job and would be contacting my references. Well, I know they've already contacted my references because my references told me! I obviously have no idea how many people they're "seriously pursuing" but it still sounds promising. Of course, I believe the next step is an on-campus interview, but I will take it! Especially if they are paying...it'd be like a beach vacation since this job happens to be on the beach! Holla!

So a little good and a little bad...or maybe not so bad? Now I have to figure out what I'm doing once the end of August hits since I lose my house, my insurance and my main job...that's in 14 days!

pleasant days!

So my last official day off was July 10. That's right...a month ago. But this post is not about me complaining again. This post is about how to feel like you have a day off, even when you don't!

On Friday I went up to Boulder with some girls from work to observe an English class and afternoon activity for one of our international groups. This was a group of 15 Japanese girls. Class was cute because it was "American Teen Day" which meant they got to ask some "real" American teens some questions. It was so darn cute when they asked the boys if they had girlfriends or what brands of clothes they like or about their hobbies. After declining an invitation to eat in the cafeteria, we headed down to Pearl Street to find a patio and some cold beverages. What we found was Centro Latin Kitchen and Refreshment Palace. I had some pulled pork tacos with a spicy habanero and jalapeno sauce. Amazing combination of two of my favorite food groups--bbq and Mexican food. It was also beautifully paired with a house Margarita. If anyone has plans to visit me (before I move), then I will take you there! Get excited!

As we were walking back to the car, we noticed a bright pink truck which was converted into a temporary make-up counter where some ladies from Bare Escentuals were giving out free makeovers. Since the next stop in our itinerary was a "Prom" for the Japanese students, we decided that getting our make-up done was absolutely necessary!

Decked out in our fancy make-up and not-quite-as-fancy dresses, we arrived at the gym at CU to find it decorated with streamers, a live band playing, and a dance contest underway! The girls were all dressed up in party dresses that a host mom had collected and altered for them and they were have a great time at their first Prom! Again...so darn cute!

And that was how I spent a whole workday actually having fun and pretending I wasn't at work!

Where in the World??

Denmark, Kentucky, Virginia, Arkansas, Pennsylvania, Colorado, South Dakota, North Carolina, Illinois, Missouri, Massachusetts, Washington, Georgia, Oregon, or Minnesota??

Those are all places where I've applied and haven't been rejected yet...I might be moving somewhere near YOU soon!!

Up this week: Interviews for jobs in Kentucky and Virginia!


View Where in the World is Rachel? in a larger map

update!

You'll notice the job application count on the side has significantly changed in the last couple of weeks. Let me tell you a little story about why.

It all starts with the story of a girl who left a great job, moved away from home and went to grad school and amassed a lot of debt...in the middle of a recession. That master's degree qualifies me for jobs more related to what I want to do and that's great, but I have yet to get hired for one. I've got two jobs, one in retail and one is actually related to my desired field...but it's part-time and hourly with no benefits and I am pretty much over-qualified to do the grunt work I have been doing the last few months. Definitely thankful to not be relying on retail work alone, but it does mean I am working 7 days a week in order to get enough hours to pay the bills...including the student loans.

However, I am convinced this story will end happily ever after because I will make it so! In my "free" time I've been filling out job applications like crazy and pouring my little heart out in cover letter after cover letter (luckily I'm able to pretty much use the same letter for every job with a little tweaking). Last week I had a phone interview for a job in South Dakota and should hear if they want me for an in-person interview in the next couple of days. I've got another phone interview next week for a job in Virginia and I'm feeling good about a couple more applications that I'll hopefully hear about this week ! 

Oh, and have I mentioned that my lease and my health insurance are both up at the end of this month? It's crunch time!

bad

I'm a bad blogger. Or maybe just too busy to blog. My last day off was July 10th. Yep, three weeks ago. I have had some "down" time, but I've been using that for job applications. More on that soon...I hope!

more applications

The job search continues. I'm going to start budgeting and I know it's going to be scary, so I'm putting it off. I know what I'm going to find out is that my two part-time jobs will not pay the bills. And so it goes.

As I already mentioned, I actually had the day off and I've spent it having lunch with some friends, doing laundry, and submitting job applications. If you can count productivity based on number of applications, I've been really productive--I should have 5 completed by later tonight and that's on top of the 4 I did on Wednesday and Thursday. Since I'm applying to very similar positions, I've been able to reuse the cover letter which is usually the most time-consuming part of the process.

So if you're in Montana, Kentucky, Virginia, Arkansas, Pennsylvania, Missouri, Illinois or Tennessee, think some happy thoughts and I might be moving somewhere near you!

surprise!

At the end of yet another very stressful day at work, someone thought to mention that the office will be closed on Monday for the Fourth of July. Since the holiday is technically on Sunday and we are in the height of super-crazy-business, I hadn't even considered this and definitely never thought to ask. I just got a key to the office this week, so I would've shown up on Monday, let myself in, and worked (in peace) for a couple hours while wondering where everyone was...Glad I know better!

So, even  though I'm actually working at the retail job on Saturday and Sunday (yay for holiday pay!!), I actually get to kind of enjoy the Fourth of July holiday with a vacation day!

Hope everyone enjoys the festivities and fireworks!!

I promised...

So all my dedicated followers may notice the official name change of the blog. I'm no longer a "soon-to-be" ex-grad student. I'm an ex-grad student now! And that happened a couple weeks ago which means it's way past time for an update.

Back in March I got called for jury duty, I couldn't get out of it but I got to postpone until school was over. So on the Monday after I graduated I had to head downtown to the County Courthouse to perform my civic duty. I got called into the jury pool for the third case of the day which just happened to be a double homicide. Lucky me. Well, I didn't know exactly how the jury selection process works, but apparently you have to say something to get yourself unselected. Nothing I said raised any red flags that got me kicked off the island.

They told us the trial would probably last all week--and they were right. Three full days of testimony from all kinds of witnesses: officers on duty, sheriffs deputies, police investigators, gang specialists, character witnesses, and eye witnesses. Followed by two days of jury deliberations. It was an intense week. I couldn't eat. I couldn't sleep. There were tears in the jury room from most of us--me included. If you know me, you know that's unusual because I'm not a crier. It doesn't matter how clear the evidence is, it's hard to be responsible for sending a kid away to prison for life.

After the judge read our verdict on Friday afternoon, the whole jury was escorted out of the courtroom by sheriff's deputies. Since I'd taken the light rail downtown, I got a ride all the way home in the back of a gang unit deputy car. Like I said, the whole experience was way too intense for my first week of summer "vacation."

Since then I've been working and working some more. I'll give an update on the job(s) in my next post!

alive

I'm posting this to say that I am alive and I promise to write a real post this week. Now that it's official, it will be done!

stressssss

Well, three weeks completed at the new job and I can't say that I'm particularly enjoying it. Right now it's just stressing me out, which is apparently normal at this time of the year which is the company's busy season. Think tax season for an accountant. I've been working on two projects, neither of which I've been able to finish and now people are asking me...why not? Well, the past two days I've been given another assignment which is a "top priority," so what do I do??

So here's the lowdown on what I've been doing: trying to book 12-passenger vans all over the country. This was supposed to be finished this week, but it hasn't. Oops. It's hard when you have to wait on a phone call back from somebody in Richmond, only to have them tell you that they don't have what you need. So then you move on to plan B or C and plan B requires extra paperwork.

Then there's the travel arrangements. Response from the boss lady: "well that plane ticket's too expensive. Email so-and-so in France and see if they can travel on different dates." Well so-and-so in France takes four days to get back to me. Meanwhile, I have anxious parents and students waiting for a plane ticket. THIS is as cheap as it's gonna be! Please let me book it! So frustrating. I have all the arrangements made, I just have to hit "purchase." And yes, I know it's a $1400 ticket, but that's not my fault and it's just going to keep getting more expensive.

And now there's a new assignment: recruiting host families in Arlington, VA. Why is this my responsibility and why has that been placed on the top of my to-do list, when I know I'm going to get yelled at next week for not having all the vans rented? So, if anyone out there has contacts in Arlington who may want to host a Chinese student for two weeks this summer, let me know because it would really help me out :P

Things I am learning about my job: I'm more of a people person than I thought...especially in work situations. Though this job is in the right field, I want to work more directly with the people and students involved in studying abroad or on exchanges. Also, I need to have periodic successes to stay fulfilled. I want to finish these vans as much as they want me to. I do not want to be a recruiter. And I need to not live so far away from my job that it could take me an hour in traffic to get home from work. I totally dwell on things and do not want to sit and stew about something and get more and more annoyed about it while I'm in the car. This is not a good look for me. I need to be able to leave work at work. I'm upset that I'm stressed about not being at work for almost a week. I hate that. I should be able to enjoy the fact that I have the full Memorial Day weekend off, but I will be dwelling on those things I need to get accomplished on Wednesday. Sad that this job is kinda making me miss Target....

Oh, did I mention that tomorrow is my last day of classes ever??? And that a week from tomorrow, I'll have a Master's degree?? Go me!!

direction

I started this blog in order to track my progress through the job search universe. I didn't expect to find a job (even part-time) so quickly. I expected to write about the many resumes and cover letters sent into the abyss without ever receiving a response. I expected to write about the failed interviews. I expected to keep track of my rejections. Instead, I've found a job in the study abroad field which is where I want to be. I found the posting on the highly-reputable Craigslist, sent them my resume Monday night, got an email Tuesday morning, interviewed Wednesday, got a phone call Thursday afternoon, and started on Monday morning. This all happened so quick I couldn't even write separate blogs about it!

I'm so very thankful for the opportunity to hang out in Colorado some more and get some hands-on experience in the field I want to have a "real" career in. But what am I going to write about now??

I could write about having spent all weekend working at Target and trying to get some overdue class assignments done...about not being able to do my laundry because either my roommate or her boyfriend is always using the washing machine...about how it was finally a beautiful day today but I was inside and couldn't enjoy it...about relying on caffeine this week to keep my sanity...about my class assignment to devise a communication strategy to address the issue of Polish teenage girls sleeping with men in malls who will buy them designer jeans as payment...about a serious invitation I got from a guy at work to go to the Tilted Kilt just to "eat"...about how the lilac is blooming all over Denver and it smells so nice...about rediscovering my love of Subway and the $5 combo...

Anyway, the point is...what direction can this blog go in? I don't know if any of those things are interesting enough to write more than a sentence about. So stay tuned to see if I figure it out!