Well, clearly I fail at keeping up with my blog. I renamed it and gave it a new background since I have also modified the theme of my present life. Good bye "Sailors, Coffee, and Life" and my old cafe' background.

I had a hard time deciding on a new theme for my blog. I don't have anything that really defines me.

My last layout was coffee themed to match my job as a barista at Gloria Jeans. I loved that job so very much. I most of all loved the people I worked with. However, I just couldn't keep working nights and weekends. It was taking me away from the time I have to spend with Rutsty, who is the whole reason I am here in the first place. I quit when we got back from our honeymoon. It was really hard. I was only there a short time in the grand scheme of things, but it hurt to leave. I miss it, but I am happy with the decision made and if I could do it again, the thing I would have changed is doing it sooner.

I am very happy at Edible Arrangements. The pay is good, I work with some great ladies, and I love the hours. I thought about changing my blog layout to match this job, however I just feel like a fruit theme layout is a bit much. ;-)

I don't want to go super navy pride, because honestly I am enjoying living a life where it is easy to forget we are a part of the navy. Yeah my husband works 14+ hour days in a uniform, but he comes home every night to me. It is getting harder to forget though. Last week we had to turn in our Navy "dream sheet" which really they may not even look at when deciding where we are sent next. It was still a nice thump in the head bringing me back to the reality, that in less than 6 months I may be moving from my wonderful home in South Carolina. There is still a chance we will be stationed here for another two years, but we can't count on it. We don't have plans for kids in the next few years so we are taking this opportunity to try to live on the west coast for a change. Our first choice is Hawaii, holidays will be tough, but that is the experience of a lifetime. Our second choice was San Diego. Third was Washington state. Fourth choice was any pacific port, I think this could mean Japan. Our final choice is Kings Bay, because if we don't get anywhere cool I might as well be able to finish my degree through VSU and be close to family. To be honest, I am just terrified of moving. I have about 5 more months to get over that I guess.

I will do my best to blog more, but I have said that about once a month or the past three months.

Life has been such a blur the past few weeks. I have no clue where the month of April went! Oh and before I forget...

Now that we got that out of the way... yeah holy shit it is already May! That means I have been living in SC for almost half of a year. I have been working at Gloria Jeans for three months. Rusty graduates power school next month. Just so much has happened and is about to happen. 

Wanna know what I have been up to? Wanna know what I am currently up to? 

No?

Okay you can stop reading right here. 

Currently, I am just enjoying sitting down. Both of my feet are propped up on the sofa and I am just loving having some quiet time. Rusty is studying. Jasper is chewing... on my fucking sock. Ugh. I give him so many toys, chew sticks, and he decides he will chew on my sock. Yeah, I just noticed that as I was writing. Too bad this isn't a video blog, yall would have had some legit entertainment! Oh well, I need to buy new socks anyways... 

I am mentally and physically preparing myself for another holiday at Edible Arrangements! This time I am an actual employee. A few weeks back (around the time I stopped blogging for a bit) I started looking for a second job. By chance, this was also the time that Edible Arrangements was hiring! Talk about good timing. I started looking for a job, because I only work about three days a week at Gloria Jeans and that leaves me with a lot of bored downtime while Rusty isn't home. When I could get extra hours at GJ it was when Rusty was at home. Now, I have two jobs and a lot less time just sitting around on my couch. :-) I am much happier this way.

I am really liking working at Edible Arrangements so far. I found another job with great supervisors and coworkers. The work is fun and the time passes by quickly. I just wish there was music. I am actually NOT working at the same location that I worked at on Valentines Day. So, I really and truly am the new kid. I hate being new, but since I worked as a temp before I don't feel QUITE as awkward. :-/ I am EXTREMELY thankful I got this job. It keeps me moving, it is unique, it has GREAT hours, it pays really well, and I work with great people. 

Gloria Jeans is going well. I really do consider my coworkers some of my best friends here. I wish we could hang out together outside of the coffee shop, but there is always someone working. :-( My only complaint is one I have had all along, I don't have weekends unless I ask for them. I hate not having my time off coordinating with Rusty's. I moved here (SC) to be with my husband and allow us to get our lives started together, side by side, before he deploys. I just hate that our schedules don't sync up. I know my boss does try though. Next week my schedule is only one closing shift and I have Sunday off. It is a lot better than some weekends. I think eventually I will need a set schedule. I may be trained to close, and I actually wouldn't mind closing two times a week as my only shifts there. Honestly, I just want to stay there, because I love the job so much. I would miss it every day if I were to leave. Every day some one at EA has asked me why I am still working there, I have a true love for Gloria Jeans and the people that work there. We will see how it all plays out. I just know it would break my heart to leave my family at Gloria Jeans. 

On a different note... my car is finally fixed 2 months later! I have a working headlight, a hood that opens, and an oil change. :-) I am glad that I have one less thing off my mind. 

Jasper is doing well. I wish I could get him in to intermediate training classes, but I am going to have to wait until my life settles down a little bit first. I am always so tired, learning how to do a new job is EXHAUSTING! Meanwhile I feel bad that I haven't gotten to take Jasper to daycare or to the park in two weeks. :-(

Well, that is basically my life right now. Work, work, wanting to spend more time with Rusty, and Jasper. I really feel like I have lost most of my navy wife friends. :-( It sucks, but since I have two jobs I don't have time to just hang out at someone's house during the day, go over to watch TV at night, exc. It just hasn't worked out well for me. I miss having social time, I hope once I am finished training at EA and maybe get more of a set schedule at GJ my life should be balanced and I can start all over again and try to make friends with the navy wives. :-( I didn't even get to say goodbye to my friend Katy before she left for New York. I am really upset about that. :-(

Every time I get a chance to sit down and catch my breath, I feel like it is time to work again. Despite 15 hour work days and my crazy schedule, I am really happy with where I am in my life. :-)

Now I am going to go back to being lazy and relaxing before I begin 5 days of Mother's Day insanity at Edible Arrangements!

I feel guilty for not blogging since I finished the 31 day challenge. This past week has FLOWN by. I seriously am clueless as to how it went by so quickly. Hmm... I worked a good bit. Spent some quality time with my man. (I had a free Saturday for the first time in almost two months!) Cleaned the house some, my mom is coming this weekend and I am so excited!

Life has been going pretty well. :-)

My biggest complaint is not being able to see Rusty nearly as much as I would like. Most of it is because of my job has me working mostly nights and weekends. I love that I can pretty much count on having Friday off to go out with Rusty and his friends at the end of the week, but I would really like to have more time to relax with him on the weekends. I still love my job though. Being a Barista is so much fun! It is even better, because I work with some pretty awesome people. I look forward to going in to work, because I always know I will be working with someone great. After being a part of the Georgia Hall staff last year, having great co-workers is ESSENTIAL to any job I have in the future. While I hate the hours, I still enjoy my job because of the great people I work with every day.

I almost went back to school for a pharm tech certification degree thing. It is a 6month program that a lot of my friends are doing, best part is it would be 100% free. However, after exploring the program a little more, I decided it truly wasn't for me. I think the man embellished how nice the job market is. Plus, medical isn't something I want to do forever (or even more than like 2 years lol). I just feel like it will be a waste of time. I am just going to wait until we are at our next duty station and finish school then. :-) I know it will make me happier in the long run.

Jasper is doing fantastic! He is such a sweet little dog. He had his third day :-) We were even able to take him to the dog park last weekend and I wasn't humiliated. :-P I really am so much happier with him in my life. Every day he does something to make me laugh.

Today I went to a couponing class and HOLY CRAP! That stuff gets confusing. I am going to try to up my game a bit. I don't know how extreme I can get with it, but I think I know a little more to get me going. :-)


I am bored with blogging for the evening since Rusty just got home. :-) Sorry there are no pictures!

Day 26 - A picture of your day

Today was actually pretty crappy. I spent another Saturday at Gloria Jeans. Don't get me wrong, I still love my job and the people I work with. However today, I was just not feelin the love. I just wanted to be with my husband on his day off. I knew working weekends were a part of the position when I was hired, I guess I just didn't really know it would be EVERY weekend. It is really hard for Rusty and I since the weekends are all he has. 

Again though, I love my job. I love making expresso drinks and chillers. I love meeting new people, even if our interaction is brief. I really am happy as a barista. It is just hitting me how close we may be getting to deployments and I feel like I am hardly seeing him as it is. We talked about me getting another job, but honestly that wouldn't even be worth it. In a few months he will be finished with power school and in prototype he won't have a set M-F schedule. Then I may RATHER work weekends. Today I was just really down about the whole thing though. :-( 

Since I was so down and mentally preoccupied I also didn't enjoy my job like usual. I didn't feel connected to my coworkers, kinda like the new kid again.... pushed out of the loop. I felt like they would intentionally wait to say things until I was not around. Just little things like that. It was probably just the mood I was in though. 

Sigh.... another wasted Saturday at Gloria Jeans...

I thought that slogan was kinda ironic. lol

Day 15: A picture of something you want to do before you die.

I have a pretty extensive bucket list, but I have never actually taken the time to write it all down. Most of the things I want to do are actually things I want to learn. However, I'll go ahead and post a goal that I intend to accomplish fairly soon. 

I am taking this semester off, but not by choice. When I moved to SC my financial aid got messed up. I plan to go back to school and finish my undergraduate degree when Rusty and I move to our next station. SO that brings me to my first thing I want to do before I die. Complete my undergraduate degree and continue on and complete a masters or higher. I would love to get a doctorate one day, but I am not sure if that will happen.

Moving on to more of the things I want to learn about before I die. I want to know about coffee, tea, wine, and beer. I don't just want to know names of popular kinds. I want to know some of the trivia. I want to know what makes the drink good or not. I want to learn about the process in which the drinks are made. 

I am currently working on the coffee knowledge by working at Gloria Jean's. I am not really studying it, but I definitely know more now than I did a month and a half ago. 

I would love to work at a Teavana to learn about tea, the same way I am learning about coffee at Gloria Jeans. When I say I want to know about tea I don't mean southern sweet tea. I am talking about white tea, green tea, oolong tea, black tea, herbal tea, rooibos tea, and mate. 

The last two are the booze lol. First I need to acquire a better taste for these beverages before I embark on a knowledge quest! :-)

There are more things I want to do before I die, but honestly I am typing this at 7am so I really don't have much motivation to keep going. I'm tired. I want to sleep in some more and then have a relaxing day at Isle of Palms.

Day 12 - A picture of something you love

Initially my first response to this is my husband Rusty and my dog Jasper. I feel like I keep using them to fill these categories and my blog in general. Time to look a little harder....

I love serving others. In high school I did this as a server and as a Christian doing missions work. At VSU I did this by being an RA and serving my residents. Now I am doing this as a Barista serving coffee to our guests. While some serving is "more important" than others, my life is much more satisfying when I have a serving aspect. 

I love making others smile. I am not the funniest person around, but I'd like to think I have some good moments. This also goes along with making people happy by serving. I like to be the person who goes above and beyond to make someone smile. I love being there for people in their best and worst days. 

It was raining this morning, that gave me a nasty little headache and a bad hairday! It started pouring rain right when I had to get Jasper to pee before going to work. That was not a pleasant experience. 

Well, little did I know in SC we need to prepare for rains like Noah did. Thankfully if you head to Northwoods mall you don't have to build your arc... you can just buy one... in the middle of the mall....

Yeah... This was right outside of Gloria Jean's in the mall. 

It entertained me watching the GJ customers (and employees!) climb on the boats. I have a feeling this will make tomorrow especially busy for a Saturday.

GJ is going better, I am doing a lot better with the drinks and I feel more confident. I am no longer in training after my manager realized I have been working for nearly a month. :-) Tomorrow is my first day off training. I think.... I hope... I am ready. Bring on those chillers!! :-) My coworkers are still really great. My boss is unlike any I have ever had before and I am overall really happy with my job! 

Please wish me luck tomorrow!! Busy busy Saturday!! 9 hours... Oh and to my visiting friends... I get to share the tips now... cough cough... ;-)

I now leave you with a fantastic navy themed video! 

WARNING! POST IS A LITTLE GRAHIC...BLOOD!

Today was a pretty good day at work, except I kept hurting myself. I guess I was extra clumsy today! 

First when I was sealing a lit I cut my finger a little bit.  It was during a rush so I used a sticker to cover it up. My coworker got a good laugh out of that one. We were out of bandaids and we were too busy for me to go to the shop next door. 

Then later this happened.... Sorry it is a little bloody/graphic. 

I took a picture, because it KEPT bleeding! And I have NO idea how I did it or when I did it! Thankfully the lady gave me TWO bandaids when I went for the first cut.

Fixed that one right up! Tomorrow I am going to go get some extra bandaids before work. Who knows what I am capable of... 

It is super weird going from a desk job to a job with no desk... or even chair. Moving all the time. If I am standing still at Gloria Jeans.. I shouldn't be lol. I miss my desk, but I am having a great time.

Server v. Barista- I like it better than serving, because you don't deal with the douchebags for longer than about 5min. When you are serving they can be there for hours at a time. It is also nice getting paid hourly instead of hoping your tables will give you a good tip.

I really miss my coworkers from VSU. Like, they are the biggest thing I miss about VSU. However, I am so thankful that I like the coworkers at Gloria Jeans. I think I have finally met all of them and they are all wonderful. I am not sure if they care for me though. I don't think they *dislike* me, but I am not sure if they like me either. I think there have been a few moments where they were talking about me (and/or laughing at me) when I came over... :-/ I do have confidence that they cannot be as bitchy as some of these freakin navy wives. I hope they like me, but I know I have a "different" personality sometimes. I was invited to go bowling with some of them tonight, but I think it was a halfhearted invite. It's whatever. As long as I continue to enjoy the actual job, I should be fine.

There are several moments where I just feel in the way. It really sucks. I am trying my hardest to catch on quickly so I can actually feel like I am helping out. I hate asking questions every two minutes, but I hate messing up more. Being the new guy sucksss.

I really enjoy the actual job. It is pretty fun and I LOVE working again. That unemployed, non-student thing was not working for me. It is really fun when it gets busy. Until, I mess up. :-/ Then it throws me off. Today was stressful, it was my first Saturday. There were so many moments where I just felt in the way. I am not sure if I was ready to handle a Saturday. I still feel like I don't know enough. Last night was kinda stressful too, I helped close and I didn't have a clue what I was doing. I was shoved in the back to do the dishes. At least back there I was out of the way of those who did. :-/

Overall it is hard, but fun. I am still trying to figure out if I fit in with the coworkers. Thankfully though I get to go home at the end of the night and leave all of my work in the mall. (Something that I could NOT do as an RA). I am so very thankful that I was given this opportunity. I will meet some interesting people, get out of the house, make a little money, and learn some new things.

--

OH! One super exciting thing about my job is one of my closest friends up here got hired! Morgan, the one I worked with at Edible Arrangements. I am like crazy excited about that. Apparently it may cause a problem with another Morgan, but idk her very well. I am just happy that I was able to help out and get Morgan a job and on top of that a job with ME! I doubt we will work together very much at first since we are both the new kids. Fun will be had when we DO work together though!

I have kinda wanted to get into blogging for awhile. I was going to start when I moved to SC, but the past month has been pretty depressing. I figured I didn't need a written account about how much Netflix I watched and how many hours I spent sitting around on the sofa. Finally I have a job, which gets me off the couch and gives me something worth writing about.

After 25 sent applications and resumes I finally have a job. It is actually one I am pretty exciting about. I am in training to become a Barista at Gloria Jean's. It is a little coffee shop in the mall. Never heard of it? Well, neither had I until I moved here. Apparently it is a pretty huge chain, just not in the US. My boss says in Australia it is like Starbucks. Who knew?

Today was only my first day in training. I have a long way to go. I learned all about coffee, tea, the company, how to clean expresso machines, and stuff like that. Some of it was really interesting. I have tried to get in to learning about wine for some time now, I guess coffee will be my new thing. I read two pages about the proper way to drink coffee and evaluate it for it's taste, aroma, n such. It is apparently called "cupping." I'm no expert, but it would be pretty stinkin cool if I was. 

I am really excited about my new job, because it will get me out of the house and give me a life again. I have never just sat around in my life. I always have a jam packed schedule. This past month and a half started to drive me crazy. I applied at 25 different places, desperate for a job. I ended up getting the job I felt like I was least likely to get. I really wanted the position at the animal shelter, but I guess in the end I will be happier coming home smelling like coffee instead of like dog.