Car Air Fresheners and Mocassins

Those are two things that I like. Things have been really good and pretty bad lately. I'm getting by.

Francesca = Car Owner

Woohoo! Bought my first car today and it's awesome! Did all the DMV business and all that jazz and have been enjoying how awesome it feels to have my own set of wheels. It was raining all day today so I didn't have a chance to take pictures or vacuum out the interior and clean like I want to but oh well. Also didn't have a chance to pop that top down yet but you know I will on the next sunny day, even if it is freezing out! Pictures soon I promise.

Spent the day doing the car stuff and then babysitting all evening. It was really nice to just relax for a good part of the day. On rainy days I'm all about the sweat pants and book and that's what I did for the 2 hours I was babysitting after the kids went to bed. I love babysitting for the family that I do; the kids are great. I fed them fish sticks and broccoli, we watched Mamma Mia, and then they all got ready for bed like little lambs. The baby didn't go right to sleep tonight, but I got him to sleep eventually. Then I chilled out on the couch and read, and was paid to do it, it's awesome.

Anyways, 9 hours of real work tomorrow, so I really need to get some sleep. I'm just so excited these past few days that sleep has been really hard. Hopefully a long, hard day's work of pizza slinging will tire me out so I can go to bed tomorrow night at a more reasonable time.

Also, first long(ish) excursion in my new car on Tuesday when I head up to Roch to go dress shopping (with Tiffany!)...yay! And I'm going to try to sell some clothes that are too big for me to Plato's Closet so I have money to buy a dress...yay :)

Excited!

I'm so excited! Tomorrow I am going to buy my first car! It's going to empty my bank account but this is what I've been working 35 hours a week burnin myself on hot pizza pans for! I will definitly post pictures of my baby soon. I'm just so excited!

Another exciting thing is that I was invited to go to a wedding for a friend of a friend next Friday and I'm excited because I love weddings! They are so beautiful and joyous. I am actually going to be the date of my good friend's fiance's brother. He is in the wedding party as a groomsman and he didn't have a date and my friend, Tiffany, the one I went to see Toby Keith with, asked me if I would go as his date so we can party at the reception :-) No, I really do love weddings though, so I am excited. It does mean that I have to go dress shopping in the next few days because I have nothing to wear to a wedding. However, who doesn't like to go shopping when they've recently lost almost 25 pounds?!

Yay life :)

Desiderata

Maybe you have already heard of this wonderful piece of prose, but if you haven't here it is. Desiderata is Latin for 'desired things' and it is also the title of a prose poem attributed to Max Ehrmann. It is really wonderful so please take the time to read it.

Go placidly amid the noise and the haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible, without surrender,
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even to the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons;
they are vexatious to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain or bitter,
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.
Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs,
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals,
and everywhere life is full of heroism.
Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love,
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment,
it is as perennial as the grass.
Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.
You are a child of the universe
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.
Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be.
And whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life,
keep peace in your soul.
With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.

Mo' Money, Mo' Problems

SO, I think I'm going to buy a car tomorrow...eeek! It's a used car, a '98 Seabring convertible. It's silver, in pretty good condition, got a lot of miles on it though. Anyways, it will legit empty my bank account to buy a car (and I think I'm getting it for about $2800) and I'm like "how am I going to pay for insurance when my bank account = $0?" It will be really nice to have my own car though, especially since I've been working SO much. 3 people quit where I work so my hours got majorly bumped up. This week I worked Mon, Wed, Thurs, Fri, Sat, and tomorrow (Sun) and it comes out to about 39 hours depending on how long I'm there tomorrow. So having my own car will make my life a lot easier as far as work goes. Plus I'll be able to slightly increase the frequency and duration of my trips to Brockport and LeRoy 'cause I won't be using a borrowed car (if I ever get more than a day off- and I only get Tuesdays off cause I have class and have to do my hw before that, but if I ever get a Sat off I'm driving to Brockport after work Friday night and not coming home til I have to go back to work again...lol). Although the cost of gas (and to some degree the amount of miles on the car) are prohibitive :(

Anyways, long run tomorrow and work so I gotta get to bed. Maybe I'll post pictures of the car if I buy it.

PS...I've lost about 24 pounds altogether so far...go me! :) Here's to the next 24!

Thank You Heather

The title is in response to the very sweet and lovely comment that Heather left on my last post. Love you dear!

Ok, so I'm kind of getting into this whole running thing. I ran/walked about 4.5 miles today. I think the actually running was somewhere between 2 and 2.5 miles, so I'm pretty proud of myself. And I have been doing pretty well eating healthy even though I do work at a pizza place and it is very tempting to grab some food while I'm there. Other than that I'm finding it very easy to eat healthy. Speaking of work, my boss just had 2 people quit on her so she is bumping up my hours a bit. I'll be getting about 33 a week and I'm finally getting my own key so I can open and close by myself...exciting.

My accounting class is going pretty well. I still understand everything we are talking about so I feel like that's a good sign.

Not really anything interesting going on, my life is pretty plain right now but I'm doing ok :)

Oh, and I was just reading a post from the other day and I guess I never did update you on how I did on that accounting test but I will now. I got a 100 on it!!! Yay me!

Some Good Stuff

Some good things to keep me motivated:

Got hit on at the bar on Friday. Even had guys buy me drinks! It's a motivation to keep running because I am finally getting pretty!

Also made like $120 babysitting over 2 days which is really nice.

Also my parents saw a cool car that they want me to look into.

Trying to keep looking forward.

All I Can Say is that My Life is Pretty Plain

Can't believe that it's Friday already. It seems like time is going by really fast. Working a lot. Trying to go jogging when I can. That's about it.

How is Tomorrow Monday Already?

I feel like the weekend went by SO fast and I barely did anything! I guess it's because I am so busy now. Who knew that a part time job at a pizza place would take over my life. I worked Wednesday, Thursday and Friday - a total of 27 hours in 3 days. I have to work tomorrow too (Monday). So my "part time" job is pretty darn close to full time (which is 40 hours a week btw). Add in my class on Tuesday nights and I'm a busy girl :-) But the up side is that I should be able to save up some money to buy a car, which will hopefully allow me to move out of my parents house because I will hopefully be able to find a serious job. It is actually easier to save money when I'm not at Brockport and my friends aren't around in Dansville because I go out a lot less and spend less money. So I'm kind of bored, but it's good.

Other than that I am still jogging and trying to eat healthy. It's really hard to go jogging on the days I work open to close (9:30-9:30 and get home at 10) but oh well. I figure making all that pizza burns enough calories on those days. Seriously, my biceps were really sore after work on Friday, I have no idea why. I didn't think anything I was lifting was too heavy, but who knows? I'll have mad guns soon though, haha.

Speaking of Brockport, I talked to a lot of my Brockport besties this weekend and I miss them all so much! Part of me really wished I was there, but it's nice to know I'm missed and remembered and to get lots of nice phone calls on the weekend to get caught up :-) Love you guys!

And speaking of besties, I talked to my Russian bestie Masha today on Skype. I miss her something terrible, but it is always so nice to hear her voice. She is thinking about visiting America next summer which would be awesome. She is also, in cahoots with my Russian mama and Russian boy, trying to get me to visit Russia for New Year's. I want to SO badly. I mean, I really don't have the money for it, but I want to so badly. I miss the city, I miss all my people there, I miss the food. I'm homesick for Russia. Plus, I wouldn't really have to pay for a hotel or food because I've been offered places to stay, so...I can afford it, can't I? It's just like $1000. Just. Lol. We'll see.

"Sweating Like A Pig Actually, and Yourself?"

Props to anyone who knows where that quote is from, first of all. An excellent film.

Some updates I guess. Not too much new is good old Dansville, NY, but a few cool things.

Labor day weekend in the New York State Festival of Balloons and it takes place in Dansville. Tons of hot air balloonists and aficionados travel to this small town to celebrate. This year, the wind was blowing in the right direction during one of the launches and about dinner time Sunday night about 50-60 hot air balloons flew directly over/through my backyard. I've seen balloons from my backyard before but these were so close. It was cool.

Second, I have my second accounting class tonight and I have a test, lame. I'll let you know how it goes. I bought the text book the other day and it was SO expensive. I hate buying books.

Third, just got back from running (explains the blog title). I'm jogging somewhere around 1.5-1.6 miles. It's going ok. My legs are KILLING today. Straight through from the ankle to the ass is pretty sore. But it feels good to do something healthy so I am going to stick with it as best as I can.

Fourth, I had a little interview at a pizza place where I put in an application today...and they gave me a job! It's not my dream job (lol) but it's money coming in and I can't complain about that. The woman who runs it and hired me seems really nice and she gave me about 20 hours over the next 3 days which is good. I'll be making some money and getting out of the house/keeping busy. Yay.

So that's really all that's new I think. Gotta shower, finish hw/study, and get to class :-)

Trace Atkins+Toby Keith= AWESOME

The concert last night was SO much fun, I can't even describe it. Tiffany and I had the best time. We were adorable country girls in our boots and we rocked it. We got there a little early and walked around to talk to people and see everyone playing beer pong and polish horseshoes all over the place. I actually ran into some people from Brockport and from Dansville, so that was cool. It was great to see everyone out in their plaid, and denim, and pick-ups. I loved it.

The concert itself was great. Trace and Toby serenaded us and Tiff and I danced like it was going out of style. My legs were actually sore later. Sometimes I like dancing to country music better than to the pop/rap stuff that gets played at parties and some night clubs. Plus country boys are better dancers I think. There is less hip grabbing/ass grinding and more grab your hand/twirl you around/sing to you. It's great.

It was a great time :-)

Toby Keith

Ok, I feel like I've filled out like 100 job applications in the last week. Someone please call me back and say you'd like me to make pizzas for you or something! I getting to the begging soon...

In better news, I'm working on the whole jogging thing. It's going ok. I live on a BIG hill so that makes it kind of hard but then I also don't feel bad when it gets so steep that I walk instead of jog...lol ;-)

Also, I got my grades in from my summer program so I'm like almost completely officially done with Brockport...just waiting on my beautiful diploma.

Also, I skpyed with my Russian momma for the first time today and it was wonderful! I've skyped with a few of my Russians but I couldn't with Lena because she was on holday but she's finally home and it was so wonderful to hear her voice and talk with her. The only bad part was that it made me really homesick for Russia. I really want to go visit for New Year's but it's so expensive to fly there to only stay a week or so. I'm super torn but I want to SO badly. Maybe if I ever find a job and can start making/saving up some money!

ALSO! I'm going to see TOBY KEITH tomorrow! Please be jealous :-) It was kind of last minute but I'm getting plently excited. My friend Tiffany and I are going and we are going to have such a good time. Pictures later! SO EXCITED :D

First Day of Classes (Again)

So today wasn't the first day of classes at my local community college, but it was the first day that I attended :-) I missed registration, etc. because of Russia craziness, but the professor for the class I wanted to take is REALLY nice. I would say that even if she didn't let me into the class late, she really seems like a nice person. Anyway, the class itself doesn't seem too horrible. It is nice to have an excuse to get out of the house anyway. Now I have to find the giant stinking textbook though...definitely don't miss that about Brockport.

Super tired tonight. Probably because I have tried to get into running. I'm like "hey, everybody does it"...lol. I used to work out almost everyday during the last spring semester when I was at Brockport (good times, right Bry?) but I 100% fell off the bandwagon during all my summer/Russia craziness. But it's been SO gorgeous out here the last few days that I had to think of somethingto do outside...kidding. But anyway, it's sort of nice, in a 'my legs are sore' kind of way. So we'll see how it goes.

First Day of Classes

Yup, today is the first day back to classes at SUNY Brockport. And, no, I will not be attending any of them. It is a little painful to imagine all my friends heading off to get syllabi and see each other around campus...with out me. I miss my glory days already. But maybe it's because we so less often hear about what happens after college. I know I've had many, many friends graduate too, but I don't honestly know what any of them are doing right now. Who went to grad school? What kind of jobs do they have? Where did they move to after Brockport? I would like to know.

Even though I am sad that I am not going back to Brockport this year, I can remember some of the reasons why I decided to graduate early. I miss my friends terribly, and certain aspects of the collegiate lifestyle, but I don't/won't miss: drunk college boys (assholes), early classes, late classes, exams, monster puddles, research papers, dorm rooms...the list goes on. So, the first day of classes is bittersweet.

Forever forward.

In The Middle of the Night...

...I go walking in my sleep. OK, I don't actually sleepwalk, but I am 'searching for something' and it does keep me up at night.

I NEED A JOB!

Also, I know I JUST finished my degree requirements when I got home from Russia, but I am already going back to school. Crazy, right? Unfortunately, no, I am not going back to Brockport. I'm done with the live-on-campus, mess around, make pizzas college life. I need a semi-serious, looks OK on a resume kind of job, possibly part time so that I can take one or two classes and look for a CAREER. Anyone whose ever known me and dealt with one of my panick attacks (Jim, Kerri, Jimmy G...) knows that I am semi-psychotic when it comes to the word career. I have never, I mean NEVER known what I wanted to be "when I grow up". Never when I was a child did I have one of those "I want to be a (fire-figher, doctor, lawyer, etc.)" moments. I purposely picked a vague major with no specific direction. Needless to say I still have no idea what I want to do, where I want to work, what kind of job I want. NO IDEA. It's so frusterating to not know what you want to be, what you are working towards. Where is my dream? My mom said to me the other night "No job is beneath you right now; you don't need to hold out for your dream job" and I was just like "How can I hold out for my dream job when I don't know what it is?"

So, I'm 21 years old, I just finished college, and I'm living at my parent's house, taking classes at the local community college and looking for some sort of gas-money job. Awesome. Glad to see I made some progress here. Kicking myself in the butt for wasting all my time at Brockport.

Where is my motivation?

I seem to be having a very hard time finding the motivation to do the things I need to do now that I am home. Letters to send, calls to make, people to see, things to do. I guess what I need to do is stop moping about Russia. I can't go back anytime soon, I can't see Lena, Sergei, Masha, etc. anytime soon, I can't let being sad about my life in Russia make me mess up my life in the States. In fact, it will be easier to get back to Russia if I get a job and start bringing home some bacon. And if Sergei or Masha or Lena can come to America and visit, I'd really like to have an apartment where they can stay with me (although I'd definitely bring them home to my parents' house because it's awesome). So getting my American life on track will help my Russian life. Maybe that's my motivation right there...

Stateside

I am back in the United States. It feels very surreal to be here, back in my house and everything. It's nice to see my family though. I really missed my little sister especially. I also already have plans to see some of my friends tonight and maybe my brother and some other friends on Friday, so I know that will make me a little less sad about being home. I really miss Russia and my wonderful family and friends there. I'm already trying to figure out how and when I can get back there. I feel like Novgorod really became my home and that I left a part of myself there.

Now that I am back in America I really need to get my life on track. I need to find a job, I need to find an apartment and move out of my parent's house. I need to start my life.

Blog Created...

First post, obvi. Creating a new blog because the old one is all about my trip to Russia, which is, unfortunately, about to come to an end. I started blogging to record my amazing experience in Russia, but I will try not to talk about that too much here :-) I wanted to keep blogging so this blog will follow me on my adventures when I get back to the States.