Old Soul, Young Heart

For awhile I've been thinking about getting a second job. We're trying to save more money for a down payment while also paying off credit card bills and anything extra will be helpful. A couple of weeks ago I phone interviewed for a merchandiser position with American Greetings and then I had an in-person "interview," which was essentially her saying, "Welcome to the team," which was exactly what I wanted her to say, because--honestly--I want my second job to be as easy as possible. This little job means that I'm going into stores that carry the cards, straightening them, and putting out and ordering products. I've done a lot of training online, but this past Wednesday and today were my first days actually working in a store. I must say that I am not a huge fan. I have a few problems with the American Greetings company right off the cuff: Their cards are super expensive. I personally send a lot of cards (probably more than most people) and I h...

This past weekend was just lovely. Philip came over after he got off of work on Saturday. He came up the stairs with flowers in his hands, for no reason other than he is a very sweet fiance! I was putting the flowers in a vase in the kitchen while Philip was looking at my wall calendar. I came over to look with him and he pointed to Sunday, May 13 and said, "I'm gonna come over and stay on this day because I start work here on that Monday. Is that okay?" I said, "Of course that's okay," while not quite understanding why he would come over on a Sunday if he had to work in Peoria on Monday. Not a very long visit! And then he goes, "You didn't hear me. Because I start work here on that Monday." It didn't take long for it to register that he meant HERE, as in Bloomington. I was so excited! I hugged and squeezed him and just couldn't believe it, because it feels like we've been battling the distance FOREVER. Well, we have, really! A...

Opening a conversation on the telephone by saying, "Hello, my name is... and I have a Bachelor's degree and a Master's degree," does not make me more susceptible to putting you into a class that you do not have the prerequisites for. Nor does saying that you've taken "some of the hardest classes on the planet." Do all colleges/universities get students telling them these types of things? I doubt it. For some reason people seem to think that community colleges have no standards or something.

So, yes... I have a jerb. And Philip has a jerb. And we can move on with our lives. I can't reiterate enough how happy, excited, and relieved we both are. I just  knew we'd get jobs this week! On Friday our plan is to drive around Morton and see what types of apartments are there. We probably won't move until the beginning of October, but it'll be fun to look. I hope we're able to find something that's nice and new-ish and not too expensive. The tricky thing will be finding somewhere that allows cats. Now that it's actually going to happen, it's weird to think about packing up all of my stuff and moving, really for the first time ever. I wonder how much stuff I actually have. It doesn't seem like much (mostly clothes, really), but I'm sure it's more than I think. It'll be interesting to put all of our stuff together and it be our stuff. It's fun. And cute. There will be a lot of logistical things like furniture to figure out....

PHILIP GOT A JOB!!!!! We are so happy and excited! So much weight lifted off our shoulders!!!!!

I GOT A JOB!!!!! Cecilia offered me the position today! I am so happy, excited, relieved, and lucky!

Welp, the suspense is over. I know what the topics of my presentation and idea pitch will be for the interview at Heartland. My "short" presentation (10-15 minutes) will be on my academic advising philosophy. She included a lot of good prompting questions with things to consider when talking about it, so I think it'll be fairly easy. Well, not easy . I think it'll be easy to come up with ideas about things to say, since it's about myself. Putting it all into a cohesive presentation will be challenging and the actual delivery will, of course, be nerve racking. The idea pitch portion is about the Heartland GPS program that's starting up. I basically have to come up with ideas about the program and talk about how I would make it successful. Again, she gave lots of good background information on what they want the program to achieve, so I think it'll be okay coming up with the ideas for it. This part, though, is supposed to commence for 40 minutes, so I...

Today's List (Day 8): In My Bag Planner, coin purse, pill case (Tylenol, Pepto), Clinique compact, hand sanitizer, tampon, key to Turner's house (I'm housesitting starting Friday), Hobo International wallet, cell phone, mints, wipes for my glasses... all in a Hobo International purse that I love ! -------------------- I'm one step closer to having all of my dreams come true. It sounds so silly to say that, but I almost really do feel that way. I had my phone interview this morning for the advisor positions here at Heartland. I was sooooo nervous, but it went well, I think. Padriac, the Dean of Enrollment Services, told me afterwards that I did good, so that's a good sign. Candace Brownlee, the Director of Student Recruitment, came in and gave me a hug and said that she's excited for me. Candace and Amy have both said that I'm more well-suited and qualified to stay here in Advising anyhow. (Remember that I wasn't offered the position in Recrui...

Today's List (Day 7): Blog Goals Hmm... I'm not sure if I have any blog goals. I sometimes say that I'm going to write in it more or make it more interesting (part of the reason I'm doing this list thing), but really I blog just because it's fun for me and I know there are a few people who like to read up on what I'm doing. Other than that, I just do whatever. -------------------- Today is my golden birthday. The day started off as it should, with a thunderstorm at midnight. Philip and I sat on the porch and watched it roll in! I had lots of nice "happy birthday"s at work and the student workers made me cute little Disney-inspired and crayon-colored birthday signs for my office. Philip and I went to dinner at Fiesta and then just hung out at home. It was nice. I can't believe that I'm 27. I never thought that I would get old, but it's happening... slowly, it's happening. I had a hard time when I turned 25, but I was tol...

I've decided to do something sorta fun for the next 30 days in my blog. Though I don't know how often anyone reads this thing (if anyone even does at all!), I thought it would be more interesting to have something besides my complaining to look at. I'm going to try to make it visually appealing, but we'll see how lazy I become as time progresses. Ha! So... I'm copying my friend Ashleigh's blog idea from back in April. She started the 30 Days of Lists  Challenge and I thought it looked fun. Here goes! Today's List (Day 1):   A Few Things About Me I'm a cat lover, and really just an animal lover, and really just anything-that-is-cute-and/or-small lover. It makes me so happy. I'm seriously addicted to chocolate... like, for real. If I don't have some every day, it takes a lot for me to not think about it and I'll go to great lengths to get some. It's a problem at times. I'm a bit of a perfectionist, though I'...

I'll be really happy when the whole interview process is over for the advisor jobs at Heartland, whatever the result may be (me with or without a permanent, full-time position there). I feel like I am walking on pins and needles in terms of asking questions and/or messing up. I have a few really good days and then something happens where I feel totally stupid. I'm in this weird spot where I've been there for a while, but I feel 100% like I'm in a new job. It's so strange and I can't wait for it to be over, no matter the outcome. In other news, I've fallen in love with the website  Pinterest . I'm pretty sure I had this idea months ago (though I'm sure it's also been in existence for months). I wanted to have some sort of mechanism where I could keep track of all the cool things I came across (honestly, wedding-related things), so that I wouldn't forget the ideas I had. Enter this website. It's incredible and I just love it!

I decided a few days ago that I'm going to make a scrapbook with all of the pictures and stuff that I collected when I was in Cambridge. I found a great website,  Scrap Your Trip , that basically has everything you could ever want and I've been having fun deciding what papers to order. I thought I would stop by the only scrapbooking store left in town, Scrapbook Friend'z, to see what they have before getting everything from the website. I was so sad to see when I rolled up that they're closed! It must have been really recent because I saw people in there moving things around and cleaning. I was pretty sad. :( I was over by Schnuck's, though, and decided to run in and see if they have the ice cream that I've been wanting and looking for all week, Blue Bunny's Red Velvet Cake ice cream. They didn't have it at the ghetto Kroger and it cost me $6 at Schnuck's, but oh--was it worth it! Advisor job at Heartland is posted! I'm so excited and nerv...

I have a full-time temporary job! I will be an Academic Advisor II at Heartland Community College June-September. My first full day is June 6. I'm really excited about it and I'm so lucky that it worked out this way. I'm hoping for a posting for a full-time permanent advising position in the near future, but we shall see. And even if there's a posting, it's not for sure that I'd get it. Cecilia sounded optimistic, but who knows? Ahh! I'm so excited! Oh... I think I forgot to mention in a previous post that I didn't get offered the job at Lake Land. She called me last week and was super sweet about it--saying she wished they had two positions, if another opens they'll call me, that she wouldn't have changed anything about me or my interviews, etc.... but that they chose someone else. Hahaha. I got off the phone feeling good about it and I don't regret applying and going down there twice for interviews. It wasn't meant to be that I move t...

Good things are a'brewin'. Yesterday was my last day at Heartland for practicum. Inbetween drop-ins with students, Cecilia, the Director of Advising, came in and asked me what I was doing this summer. Before I even began at Heartland, Cecilia had mentioned that there would be 30 hours available over the summer, but we hadn't talked about it in so long that I just figured a practicum student would be filling those hours. Cecilia essentially told me that I can stay through the summer and that there is a possibility that I could go full-time temporary, which would mean a one-year contract (with or without benefits; I'm not clear on this part). There is also the possibility of one or more advisor positions (possibly even 3-4) opening up within the next year, in which case I could apply and interview for the job I would be already doing. It's super confusing, but Cecilia will hopefully find out all of these things next week sometime. I got really excited about...

It's so weird to think that this time last year I was preparing for my last week as the secretary for Mission & Spiritual Care at Advocate BroMenn. It seems like a million years ago, honestly. So much has happened since then. And now, as I prepare for my last week of grad school, I hope I can say the same when I'm looking back on this time next year! I am surprisingly calm about all that I have left to do and about the fact that I haven't found a job yet. I think once I don't have anything to do and I still haven't found a job, that I might begin freaking out a bit. I mean, I'm always going to do my best and try my hardest, which is all I can really do. The rest is out of my hands, so why worry about it, ya know? I am fortunately in a good spot to be able to not worry. This is not to say that I'd be super excited and happy to have a job sooner rather than later!!!

I am so relieved that Tuesday and Wednesday are over! I was dreading both days--but mostly Wednesday. So Tuesday I had the interview at Bradley. I would love to work there. The building where my office would be is beautiful and brand new; it just opened last year. The people seem great... really down to earth and just generally nice. The actual job, however, I'm not sure about. It is exactly what I did at Advocate BroMenn and I'm afraid that it wouldn't be much of a challenge and/or all that related to what I just spent two years getting a master's degree in. I think I would enjoy it, but I'd be afraid that once I want to move on that I won't have any real professional student affairs work and that I'd be pigeon-holing myself into administrative work. The interview itself went pretty well, I think. They seemed impressed by me, but it's always hard to tell. I think she said that I should hear on Friday (tomorrow!) what their decision is. I would definit...

I got the official "no" from Heartland. I'm not surprised and I feel as though I prepared myself for it. Candace left a really sweet message for me as she was breaking my heart (haha)--she said that they discussed me at length and that I did a great job and have a lot to offer. She said that I should "hang in there" because in the future there will be other jobs at Heartland and in Recruitment and that she would love for me to be in the pool of applicants for those positions. I don't really know what that means, but I don't feel terrible about not getting this job, even though I really, really wanted it. I know something will work out. I got another call for an interview today. This one is at Bradley; it's an administrative assistant position for the women's basketball program. I'm overqualified for it and the job responsibilities sound exactly like what I did at Advocate BroMenn. I wonder if it wouldn't be much of a challenge for me a...

Still no news from Heartland. I'm really hoping that I hear soon. Like really soon. I have an interview at Lake Land College in Mattoon next Wednesday! This is good news, especially if the job at Heartland doesn't work out! The job there is basically ideal. It's an Academic Counselor/Coordinator of Student Accommodations position--all of my experience wrapped up into one. I am qualified for the job, but I definitely feel as though they would choose someone else over me. I have to give a short presentation in addition to the actual interview, so that's even more nerve-racking. I might fall in love with the town and the college and the position, though, so it'll be worth it. I'm already in love with the position, so that's a start! And if not, it will be good interview and presentation experience. I have a lot of studying and preparation to do before next Wednesday, that's for sure.

Brady talked me into applying for the job at Lake Land College in Mattoon. It's an academic counselor/coordinator of student accommodations job. Basically it's a perfect fit for the experience that I have. I originally was thinking that I wasn't fully qualified for it, but again, it doesn't hurt to apply. The worst they can say is no. And they probably will! Ha! Why can't that sort of job be here? I mean, Mattoon isn't that far away (two hours), but I don't know. We shall see!

If I didn't learn anything else at Heartland tonight, I learned that I am one of over 150 applicants for the Program Assistant job. I have a .666% chance of getting that job. Those odds are practically laughable. No--they are laughable. I'm still curiously optimistic about it, though.