Goodbye January

The first month of 2020 is officially over & yet again, no blog posts.  That wasn't my intention.  I honestly had intentions of sitting down while still on Christmas break to type of some posts, & then again back on the 20th & cranking some out since I had the day off.  That obviously didn't happen & then before I knew it it was January 31st & I had nothing written or posted.  I *did* however manage to comment on a few posts...  I'd like to be able to promise I'll be around more in February but it's probably best I don't make promises I may not be able to keep.

Anyway, moving on...

When I last posted I was finishing up my last recap of 2019.  I had mentioned that I had had an interview for a marketing position at a real estate company & was waiting to hear back on if I would be getting a round 2 interview or not.  I suppose then that that's a good place to start my January recap:

-I DID get a 2nd round interview.  It was set for Monday January 6th & I did not go.  That's right, I didn't go.  Despite how badly I had wanted a marketing job, & to get out of teaching, I turned the interview down.  When the offer of the 2nd interview was set up, the salary range was also sent out.  To take that job would have meant a 15k-20k pay cut & that is not something that I can financially do at the moment.  Had the interview happened while still on break I probably would have still gone just for the experience.  However, it was the first day back of the 2nd semester & I wasn't about to waste a day off on a job I knew I wouldn't take even if I got it...

-On January 3rd my roommate & I signed the paperwork to terminate our lease early.  Our lease wasn't supposed to end until July 17th of this year.  We both knew however that we weren't going to be renewing when the time came & we both had other plans so we mutually agreed to start the process of getting out of our lease early.  As of today we have exactly one month left in our apartment, although we're both moving out sooner.

-Danny & I finally went to go visit our friends for the first time since we had helped them move back in the middle of December.

-My friend Tay & I had a much needed date & got our nails done.

-Danny & I went to go see Bad Boys For Life, which was really good, & the first movie I had seen in a theater in well over a year.

-Danny & I went on a little mid-week overnight getaway to Georgetown, TX where Danny fell head over heels in love with the town & we agreed that moving  there would be part of our 5 year plan.

-We started packing up stuff at the apartment & bringing it to the new place.  We're actually going to be moving in with his dad for a hot minute so that we can save up some money to buy/build our own place.  Bonus: Nash gets a backyard & a dog friend!

Looking back at January my calendar doesn't really have much on it, & I was only at work 17.5 days, but holy shit January 1st feels like forever ago...

September-December 2019

Happy New Year's Eve everyone!  I know I pretty much dropped off the face of the Earth as far as blogging goes over the last 4-6 months, but I hope that 2019 treated everyone well & that 2020 is even kinder to you.  One of my goals while I'm still on break, is to catch up on bunch of unread blog posts.  I have been following along with some of you on IG though & if there are any of you out there that I'm not following, I'd love to so let me know!

Last Monday I recapped Jan-Apr & yesterday I recapped May-Aug.  That means today I'm wrapping up 2019, which is actually a lot more fitting than I had planned seeing as it is actually the last day of 2019...

Anyway, onward with the reacp!

In September Danny & I went to our first concert together & saw Chris Young (who he is obsessed with.)  We also went on our first mini roadtrip/out of town stay together when we drove up to Fort Worth for my friend Trey's wedding.

For awhile I was also meeting all of the dogs...

Nash being the spoiled only child that he is was not pleased with me about this.

I'm not really sure exactly when it happened, but at one point Danny & I unofficially moved in together.  It was around then that I knew for sure that he was the one because instead of wanting him to go away so I could have all the me time like normal, I wanted him around all the time even if we weren't doing anything.

October brought more adventures such as me turning 31, our first Halloween together, briefly joining a weekly bags (corn hole) tournament at a bar across the street, & getting together with friends.

In November Danny & I went out of town together again.  We went back to Dallas but this time to watch the Vikings play the Cowboys.  It was a nail biter of a game but the Vikings pulled off a win.  We also had our first Friendsgiving!  A couple of days later Nash & I set off on a 5-6 day road trip to Minnesota for actual Thanksgiving.  It was the longest Danny & I had been apart since we met.

Having been fed up with my job since pretty much day 1, I began applying for new jobs some time around October-November.  Finally in December I was given a shot to interview for my first ever non-teaching job.  Luckily the interview took place during dead week right before finals.  Of all of the people that applied I was one of 22 that were selected to send in work samples.  Of those 22 only 8 of us sent in samples & so each of us was given a shot at a first round interview.  While I was fairly certain that I was going to get a second round interview, I went into the holidays unsure.

I had originally planned to drive home for Christmas, as I had done every year since getting Nash, but a little before Thanksgiving between Danny, my parents, & I, we all decided it would be best to fly home.  So I did.  Danny watched Nash & they had the time of their lives.  I got on a plane for only the second time since getting Nash & I spent 5 nights away from him which is the longest I ever spent away from Nashy.

While I was home though I got to catch up with 5 different friends as well as spend time with my family.

And now here we are, December 31st.  The end of a month, year, decade.  Danny & I don't really have any big plans for tonight.  Possibly going out to a bar across the road for supper, possibly just getting food to go, watching Netflix, & finding a ball to watch drop online.  

2020 has some big things in store though & I can't wait to share those things with all of you!

May-August 2019

Last Monday I gave a recap of the first four months in 2019.  I had honestly intended to have this one posted last Thursday, & then the final recap posted Friday, but Christmas happened so here we are finishing up today & tomorrow.

I started May off by getting to watch girls I had coached as freshmen, play in the first round of playoffs for softball as seniors.

My friends Kayla & Sonja also flew down to visit me & we spent the weekend exploring both Dallas & Fort Worth.  We even went to the JFK museum, which despite having lived there for 4 years, I had never been to before.

I got to catch up with a few of my former athletes from my time at LWHS

May also saw what would be my final banquet not only as a coach at RHS, but as a coach in general.

Because I ended May by driving back to Minnesota with a new job offer, that did not include coaching, back down near Houston.

June consisted of a lot of catching up with friends from back home.

As well as a lot of time hanging out at my parents' & impatiently waiting to hear back about paperwork from my new job.

I ultimately had to make a trip down to Texas to resign from my old job & sign a lease on my new apartment despite having an official paperwork date from my new job.  On my drive back to MN I was offered a coaching job, still down by Houston, which I turned down because I a)I was super excited about my new job & b)I wanted a break from coaching so I could do grad school. ... I kick myself multiple times a week about turning that job down.

When July rolled around I suddenly did not want to leave MN & was applying to jobs like a bat out of hell.  I even had a couple of interviews.  None of those jobs worked out which turned out to be a blessing in disguise.  On July 29 I arrived back in Houston, signed my paperwork for my new job on July 30, & then on August 2nd my entire life changed.

On August 2nd, after my first day back at work (where I learned that I would not be teaching 11th grade but instead 9th grade, which was the beginning of the end for me as far as my job is concerned) I met Danny at a party down at the pool.  My roommate's friend was actually interested in him but at the end of the night, trying to be cute, she pushed him into the pool with his phone in his pocket.  Later that night I happened to be outside & saw him, asked him if he had found any rice for his phone, got him rice, we hung out, wound up at Whataburger at like 2 or 3 am, & have pretty much been inseparable since.

January-April 2019

I wrote a whopping 75 posts this year prior to this one.  Over half of them, 44, were written in the first 4 months of the year.  Nothing like starting off strong, slowing down a bit, & then dropping off the face of the Earth.  Only 3 of those 75 were written in September or later...

Nonetheless I'm back to recap my year, which could be a little difficult seeing as how I stopped blogging & didn't really post much on social media in general.  But I'm here to give it a shot in hopes of getting my mojo back to blog a bit more in 2020.

I started off the year with big plans for both this blog & my Beachbody business.  

I even went to one of Beachbody's Super Sundays where I got to workout with other coaches & Shaun T, creator of Insanity & Transform 20.  It was definitely a cool experience & the inspiration for my word of the year.

My word of the year was "transform" and while I don't think I transformed quite in the way I intended when I made that my word, my life has certainly transformed into something I didn't see coming.

Softball season started & took over my life like always & I had a blast every step of the way.  Softball season soon replaced my Beachbody business as trying to teach, coach, & run a successful business became too much.  In February I slowed down on my business & by March I had officially quit.

In March my parents made their annual trip down to Texas to visit Nash & me.  We went to a Civil War museum, the Stockyards, hiking, & obviously to get some crawfish and barbecue!

In April my friend Katherine came to visit with her dog Annie & we went to a Dallas Stars/Minnesota Wild game as well as forced our dogs to do a photo shoot in Bluebonnets.  The photo shoot was definitely an "Instagram vs Reality" moment.

April continued to be a big month for Nash & I.  Nash turned 2, I saw Eric Church by myself, we visited Tomball, & I began applying for new jobs back down in the Houston area.  April is also when my Instagram account that I had grown to around 5400 followers stopped working & I decided to start over with the account I have now.