P.S.

My interview with Sovereign Bank went quite swimmingly and they said they are very interested in continuing the hiring process. Once part-time positions open up in January 2009, they said they would be looking into which branch I'd be working at. Awesome :-)

Also, I leave you all with these:

Happy New Year everyone :-). Or at least New Year's Eve. I enjoy this blogging thing, so I'm sure I'll mention something for New Years :-P

Conclusion of Christmas 2008...

Can I please just say that this was the BEST Christmas I've ever had? Thank you to those who made me feel like the most special girl in the whole wide world, especially Kathy, Bethany(and Dave too :-)), Dave and Mary, and of course Corey.

I cried today, and I've been crying a lot lately. But it's not because I'm sad... It's because I'm probably the happiest I've ever been in my whole life.

It wasn't just about the presents, but mind you oh did I love them. It was the fact that these people, they felt like family. They are family, and I love them dearly, I really do.

Thank you.

I can't wait to show you all the pictures from Christmas after Christmas at Dave's. There was singing and there was dancing, but mostly a lot of dancing haha.

<3

Lots of Good Stuff!

- I have an interview tomorrow with Sovereign at 9am in Nashua! I'm so excited. I went out and bought a cute button down and pencil skirt from the Gap, so I will be both professional and stylish.

- My maternal grandma gave me a call this morning to thank me for the flowers I sent her on Christmas Eve. It was really good to hear from her :-)

...And, drum roll please....


... I got a card from my mother in the mail thanking me for the pictures I sent her and wishing me a Merry Christmas. Weird, huh? I didn't expect anything back. I'm glad I did though.

Corey and I went to Best Buy today, and we both fell in love with printers that were not in stock. And he bought the Big Lebowski; we're watching it tonight.

And now I am on my way to enjoy some ribbies and margaritas with Corey's friends Chris and Lisa and apparently Chris' brother Matt. They came all the way out from California :-)

I need somebody...

...HELP! (The Beatles, guys.)

So how did my night go? I guess it's the perfect opportunity to show off my adorable new haircut courtesy of the fabulous Keri, who I had an awesome night with last night... Love her!

So, Garrette came over to enjoy my famously delicious cookies (this time Oatmeal Chocolate Chip) and brought some wine. A bottle and a half, two margaritas, and Wall-E later:

Garrette burned his hand :-(

Scared of me

We're singing :-)

We are also tired, haha

Awwww we're cute :-)

Hat.

Hats!

H E

L P! (See Beatles cover!)

We definitely enjoyed our music and had a good time.

So uhhh, if you didn't notice. I take a lot of pictures :-P

Christmas 2008

I had an amazingly wonderful Christmas, easily my best ever. I got some great stuff, gave some great stuff and had a great time with family and friends...


Pictures! (click for big)

How can you say no to a face like that?

Corey and I eating Orange Rolls, yum. I'm in my new Christmas PJs and scarf, and Corey is in his new 90s grunge-esque shirt - our Christmas presents to each other.

Cutest picture of Bethany ever :-)

Bethany and I checking out Goosweek

Kathy, Corey's mom, looking quite stylish with her bow.

Corey, Kathy, Bethany, Laura, Dave - the future in-laws :-). We all missed Bethany's fiance Dave, who is in Iraq, and Erika who couldn't make it.

Bethany's going to Disney! So jealous!!

She was a good girl all year :-P

Setting up the appetizers :-)

Us all laughing and giggling... And Wall-E :-)

Sure, the pictures are all out of order, but we all had a great time. I love them all and was glad that I'm lucky enough to have such great people in my life <3

Christmas Eve 2008

Merry Christmas everyone! Hope you and your families are having a wonderful holiday, and hope Santa was extra good to you guys this year :-). I have to say, it's been a wonderful Christmas for me so far... Corey was absolutely amazing to me. He got me a bunch of great stuff, but my absolute favorite was the magazine he made me, Goosweek. It made me laugh so hard, and the last page, the letter to me made me cry, no bawl, with happiness. He said I was his soulmate and made him so happy... I want to show you all! It's amazing, easily the best Christmas gift I have ever received. All the time and effort he put into it, it made me feel so special.

I have pictures of Christmas Eve 2008 (click for big):

Me by Kathy's tree

Corey and I by his mom's tree
My festive purple shoes <3>

Me and my daddy at my Aunt's

Corey and I at my Aunt's

My grandma, me, and my Aunt Nancy :-)

Merry Christmas everyone!

Early Start

I decided to start my 2009 goals early. 30 minutes, 11 seconds, 2.34 miles, 363 calories. First 10 minutes with 5 lbs weights in each hand. After 10 minutes, 10 pushups (girl ones :-P) and 15 crunches.

I'll be sore tomorrow, but I'm motivated to lose that Buddha belly :-P

Finals, Kayla, and Wall-E

Kayla and I had a picnic at work on Saturday where I brought in cookies and her mom made very yummy fudge. 

Isn't she adorable? I love her :-), she's one of my favorites to work with.

I ended up not needing to work on Sunday because it was only going to be a two hour shift, so Corey and I snuggled and I got a Christmas present early. I'm such a child where I love to give and get gifts, and I especially love opening them... He got me:

http://www.amazon.com/Thnik-Way-60303-Interaction-Wall-E/dp/B0019LKR8E

It's so cute and I love it... When you talk to it, he talks back and moves his arms and his eyes light up. Corey bought it a month ago for half the price apparently... I guess I have a pretty popular toy. Wall-E is one of my favorite movies and so it was super sweet he got it for me... I love him so much :-)

We seriously had an amazing night, I really love being with him. It's funny because I had told my dad I was going to be home because we both wanted to take some time apart and finish Christmas presents for each other... I didn't go home once haha. My dad is such a great guy and puts up with me :-P

I actually just got off the phone with him, he was playing the guitar and showing off a new song he learned, The Pixies - Where Is My Mind. Love love love that song. Whenever he plays the guitar, I just fall in love with him a little bit more. He's really good at it, and I'll never forget the time he learned my favorite song for me: Led Zeppelin's Babe I'm Gonna Leave you. I fell in love with him that day, oh so long ago in November 2005 <3

So, two finals down, one more to go. I'm wicked tired and didn't get much sleep because I was stressing as I've never taken a real college exam, but I'm feeling really confident right now. I only have Microeconomics today at 3 and Sociology tomorrow at 11:30. 

I don't have to work till Friday, but I do have to stop by tomorrow and drop off my Secret Santa gift, so I can finish up my Christmas presents. 3 more days! I'm so excited!!

Eeeek!

Three finals today, the first one in 50 minutes... Wish me luck!!

Awwww :-)

(click for big)

Awww! I think we're cute :-)

Me and Kristin at Margarita's, me and Keri (with both our lasers activated :-P). Love these girls!

:-)

Margaritas and their margaritas are amazing. If you know me at all, margaritas and red wine are my weaknesses.

Kristin got me an awesome Christmas present, an FNX shirt, and I'm so excited to give her her present. It's perfect :-)

I had a blast with Kristin and her new awesome boyfriend (so approved), Kerri and her fiance Thol and his sister Tif. I wish Corey could've been there, but soon :-)

<3

Picnic.

I also just wanted to note that Kayla and I plan on having a blast today at work for our 6 and a half hour shift: we're picnicking. And I baked cookies for the occasion. Delicious ooey-gooey cookies.

Hopefully I don't have to deal with Babcock tonight. Ugh, it's one thing to say inappropiate stuff to me, it's another to touch me. I hate being touched. Ick. He rubbed my belly, how WEIRD is that?

5 More Days

So I'm pretty sure that Corey has made me the best Christmas present ever...

...He made me a magazine. And called it Goosweek (he calls me Goober, Goo for short). It's the funniest thing I've ever seen in my life, and I can't wait to have the physical copy of it.

He also learned that he shouldn't tease me mercilessly about Christmas presents, like opening and closing the shipping box and commenting about how nice it is because when he hands the box to me to see how heavy it is, I will peek and I will be excited. I've always have had trouble with surprises, and I love getting presents soooo....

The last two nights of working were very different. Thursday night, I was at work until 10:30, when my usual is 9:30 because people were freaked out by the storm and bought everything in sight. Friday night? I got out at 9:10, because no one was there. Jess and I were singing and dancing and doing crossword puzzles, it was fun.

Because of the snowstorm, my Sociology final got postponed to Tuesday at 11:30. Monday I have 3 finals, one at 8am, 11:30am and my last one at 3pm. I'm nervous, as with all finals, but I'm confident I'll be fine :-).

Tonight, after work, I go out with Keri and Kristin, and I get to meet Kristin's new boyfriend. I'm so excited for her, I'm really glad she found someone she has great chemistry with again. We're all going to this great little karaoke bar in Littleton, and the drinks are cheap, $5.50 for a margarita! I'll be a happy girl tonight :-)

5 days till Christmas! I can't wait!!!

I just used a lot of exclamation points!!!!!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Watch out for me...

I'm quite obviously a gangster :-P

This is what I do instead of studying for Sociology by reading the 3rd driest book out there. The first two? The book my professor wrote, and then in second place The Justice Of Roosting Chickens by Ward Churchill, again for this class.

My final for Sociology is tomorrow! Wish me luck!

:-)!!

So, I just got off the phone with a recruiter from Sovereign Bank, and they said I passed the assessment! They also said that only about a 1/3 pass, so I got the call back. She wants to meet with me in Nashua on Tuesday, I just need to get my schedule and work something out with her...

...Annnnd the position, Customer Service Rep (or teller), starts at $11 an hour! I wouldn't quit my job at Market Basket, but you better believe I'm going to greatly reduce the hours I work there if I were to get this position. I'm looking for limited part-time, which they said wouldn't be an issue, which is 12 hours a week. So, I'm pretty excited about my possible paycheck:

Sovereign (12 hours): $132
Market Basket: (4 hours, Sunday): $44
Market Basket: (4 hours, regular): $33
Total, before taxes: $209

And thats for only 20 hours, which I should be able to handle with school. If not, if I cut it back to 16 with only Sunday hours, well $176 isn't so bad either :-). It's nice to know that if I were to get this job, then I wouldn't have to work so much and still be able to save money. Plus, I'd get to look cute all the time with bank clothes.

I'm excited, here's hoping for the new year I get this job!

Christmas and Family

Every since I was a little girl family has always been important to me. When my parents divorced, I had dreams about them getting back together to have a whole family... It was silly but I always felt in my heart that if I wanted it enough my fragmented family would get along enough to appreciate the love and support they had all around them.

As I got older, my fantasizing about having a family didn't stop. From when I was 13, I would try my hardest to get in contact with my family, all to coldness, awkwardness, or lack of a connection. It didn't help with no matter how hard I tried, it was difficult to create a connection with my father's side of the family. I was very excited when my sister came back into my life, it was good to have family, but after a year, her drama and narcissism was too much too bear...

This has been a tough year for me, I dealt with more death than I have my entire life. My stepgrandfather passed away from Alzheimer's in January. My grandfather passed away in March, and my father and I were there when he died. My boyfriend's grandmother died from complications from Alzheimers in November. My friend's father died of cancer. I have never dealt well with death, and I took all of these really hard. Times like these have always made me more family oriented, and cling to the idea of family more.

Christmas symbolizes a lot to me, especially in the way of family. It's one of the times that make me the happiest, and I was excitedly counting down every day we got closer to the big day. I have been working hard on gifts for weeks, and I put a lot of thought and time into everyone.

This year though, no one seems to appreciate Christmas for what it is: a way to appreciate love and family. Sure, there are religious reasons for Christmas, but to people who don't follow that, it's about who you love. How come I feel like I'm the only person who sees Christmas that way anymore? Everyone is getting angry, frustrated, bitter and all at each other. I get hurt by all the negative emotions, and instead of people being there and supporting each other they yell and scream...

My dad doesn't get Christmas trees anymore. Corey hasn't gotten one, and I'm assuming he's not. I had to buy a little $10 one so I had something. I can't even put lights on it or ornaments. I haven't been able to bring myself to buy another ornament this year.

This is the first Christmas I have lost all my hope and joy for the holiday... This is the first time I'm dreading it. And it kills me. All because all I wanted was a joyful loving Christmas, and I find myself all alone. I even was told I'm looking in the wrong places, and this point, I don't know what to do.

Do I forfeit forever a holiday that means so much to me? It only gets worse each year...

Snow!

There's something about the first real snow that really tells me Christmas is about to come :-)

2009 Goals

Take Better Care of Myself

1. Lose 30 pounds by April. This roughly averages out to 2 lbs a week, which as long as I keep up with my goal, I can do
2. Run a minimum of 3 days a week, at least 30 minutes
3. Break my nervous habit of picking at my hands and feet, I want myself to be sandal ready for summer :-)
4. Keep up with my morning (wash, day mosturizing) and night (wash, night cream and eye cream) beauty regime. As superficial as it is, I'm scared of turning 40 someday and I want to keep my youthful skin youthful for as long as I can
5. Eat out once a week, but if it must be more, order healthy as possible
6. Allow one cheat day a week, which would probably coincide with #5 :-)
7. Continue with therapy

Prepare For The Future

1. Put away at least $10 a week towards my savings account. It may not sound like much, but when you're making $120 a week, well thats plenty :-P
2. Take my poor kitty Spike to the vet and have her get her shots. Oh and find or buy her a new set of nail clippers
3. Clean my degu's cage once a week.
4. Learn to budget and stick to it.
5. Get A's and B's for school.
6. Work harder on obtaining scholarships.
7. Get my license, I'm such a slacker.

Enjoy Life

1. Set up a day of beauty for myself at least once a month, where I give myself a pedicure, manicure and tweeze my brows.
2. Get my hair trimmed every three months.
3. Get closer with my mother's side of the family, attempt to reconnect.
4. Cut back to my gossip blogs to checking once a day, for all of them. I read them too much and they are just mindless smut.

And my other goal? Keep this blog up. Even if no one reads it, it will be good for me to see how I've grown and changed over 2009 as well as to see how I've been holding up on my goals for 2009.

Here's Hoping!

Well color me excited:

Hi  Jen,

 

Thank you for speaking with me for your interest regarding the Teller position in Merrimack Valley. We would like to move you forward in the interview process.

Sovereign is committed to bringing the highest caliber of talent that will satisfy our customers' needs and meet our high standards of Service. We have developed an online interview in partnership with The Gallup Organization to help us identity each individual's potential for success in our organization.

The interview will take approximately 30 minutes, is timed and requires Internet access. Once we have reviewed your experience and qualifications, we will contact you if we would like to move forward with your application.

Attached for your review are the instructions

 

Warmest Regards,

Hopefully I get a call from them telling me they want to hire me, because I'm so tired of working at Market Basket. The girls I work with are nice, but making $8.25 is not exactly my life-in-college ambition.

Does this mean when I get hired I get to buy more clothes? And wear heels again? 

Here's hoping, wish me luck!

The Present She Is No Longer Receiving.

Adorable Coach Madison Op Art Mini Skinny. Retails for $48, snagged it for $36 due to my awesome 25% off coupon (thanks Coach!). Perfect for any girl who likes to go out with friends, can very snugly hold a phone, cash, and ID.

I bought this for her because I know how much she likes to go out, and it's perfect for holding in your hand and dancing. You don't have to worry about where it is, because it's small enough you can carry the entire time and look very stylish doing it. I've been very lucky to be able to have gotten a few Coach items myself that I hold dear and near, and I wanted to get her first Coach item. 

I have always tried to spoil my sister. We've both had tough lives and I am very blessed to be where I am now so I wanted to share my luck. Every holiday, I spend a large percentage (I work at Market Basket, what do you want, haha) of my paycheck to ensure she feels extra special.

Luckily for her, she was able to ensure she gets a free boat to school, a great deal on a car, and isn't required to pay for rent by her dad, and makes way more than me. So imagine my disappointment that she tells me she wasn't getting me anything. Like how she didn't get me anything ever for anything. 

I feel awful that we had fought yet again, but after her very predictable public blog falsely accusing me of abusing her, well, you can just say I'm better off without her... I just might keep the mini skinny for myself :-)

Cute?

I can't walk in heels. Being the svelte, coordinated person I so obviously am, I clomp around hoping my feet are facing the same direction. With these said characteristics, I have no idea why I'm so drawn to desperately wanting the tallest, most impossible to walk in shoes. 

I'm not sure how I feel about these Melani's that I found on the Baker website. On one hand, they are on sale for $29.99 and have a beautiful exposed platform and stacked heel, and they are black, as well as having the Jen proof strap. On the other? Well they are a size too big and they seem to look the $29.99 price tag. 

I have no idea how I feel about them. Do you?

Beauty, Personified.

Oh the Max Studio Calla. One of the most beautiful shoes I've ever seen. If only that pattern was in black, I would frantically be trying to sell my possessions to be able to afford the $150 price tag. Oh, a girl can wish. I can already imagine how I'd wear it, it's great because you can wear it to work because of the rounded toe... It has an ankle strap so when I twist my ankle the shoe will still stay on...

Someday I will be rich and will be able to afford this type of thing, haha.

To Do List

To Do For Week Of 12/13

1. Finish Christmas shopping
2. Buy Christmas stamps
3. Ship back old phone
4. Buy frames
5. Clean degu cage
6. Clean room
7. Run
8. Bathe and groom my kitty
9. Schedule another therapy appointment
10. Wrap presents I do have now

Today was actually a pretty good day overall, rather productive. It's the last week of classes before finals, so I'm super excited... This was a tough semester for me because of personal crap, but everything is fixed now, with the final issue resolved once and for all. Next semester will be grueling because of my schedule, but I gotta do what I gotta do to get the hell out of school. My Spring semester schedule:

Online: College Writing I (my fault, waited too long... Never again.)

Monday:

9:30-10:20 Macroeconomics

10:30-12:20 Life Science I Lab

12:30-1:20 Precalculus

2:30-3:45 Marketing Oppurtunities

Tuesday:

10-11:20 Life Science

1-2:15 Financial Accounting

Wednesday:

9:30-10:20 Macroeconomics

12:30-1:20 Precalculus

2:30-3:45 Marketing Oppurtunities

Thursday:

10-11:20 Life Science

1-2:15 Financial Accounting

Friday:

9:30-10:20 Macroeconomics

12:30-1:20 Precalculus

I won't have much free time at all and that's okay with me. It's worth it to move on with my life, you know?

I'm really excited for Christmas, I put a lot of thought into what I'm getting people and I'm trying to keep my expenses down, luckily I had reserve money saved :-P

Sometimes Friends Are The Best Family

Sometimes the best decisions for yourself hurt the most in the beginning.