Almost. But it was still pretty terrifying. It was around six thirty at night, and I was walking toward my work building in Downtown, when some guy in an olive green t-shirt and matching flannel pajama pants got up and asked me if I had any change.
I responded, "No, I don't have cash. Sorry."
He looked me up and down and said, "Really? Are you serious?" As he was saying that, he continued to follow me and look me over as I was walking away so I put my hand up and told him that no, I didn't have money, and he needed to get out of my face.
I thought I had shaken him off, because he was no longer walking next to me and talking into my face. When I looked into the reflection of one of the buildings, however, I saw that he was right behind me following me with his eyes on my wallet in my hand.
So I turned around and stormed at him yelling, "GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME!!"
Like the true mad woman that I really am. The guy seemed pretty startled and took a couple steps back. That was when I heard a man's voice in the distance yelling, "Ey! What's going on over there??" I think that, combined with my bat shit crazy confrontation, compelled the guy to take off running.
I continued to walk off. I couldn't be phased by a mere mugger. I had a party to get to. Plus, I didn't think I was ever going to see him again.
He looked at me and replied, "No thank you, I'm actually waiting for someone who would be a little bit more knowledgeable. I have a lot of questions, and I would like to get the right information."
Then, as if to ease the load of rudeness he just threw at me, he added, "But you're very beautiful though, so that makes it ok."
Makes WHAT ok???
I just looked at him with this expression and thought running through my mind:
When he asked me if I minded, I responded curtly, "Nope, it's fine. You can wait as long as you want for someone who is more knowledgeable than I am."
He responded, "Thank you; love your hair by the way."
You see, because I'm a woman, I shouldn't care about being well-informed in my area of work. No. Instead, my primary concern should be about how my hair looks to people I could not care less about. I should tell my boss to give me a raise for the aesthetic quality of my hair.
In all honesty, I have questioned the purpose of this blog in the past few weeks. I've been living in Hawai'i for over a year now, and I have become pretty acclimated to my new lifestyle. I've often wondered, since I'm not moving to Portland, is there anything to even talk about anymore?
Turns out, yes. There is.
I woke up at around four or five this morning. I don't know what time it was, all I know was that it was dark, windy, and humid. The palm trees outside my apartment were making an absurd amount of noise as the leaves slapped against my window. I woke up drenched in my own sweat and tears. My thoughts lately have been geared toward the peace and quite of my parents' suburban home in Orange County, California. It's weird calling it that, "my parents' home", because it really isn't my place anymore. My expensive apartment in the heart of this noisy tropical city is my humble abode now. It has been my home for this entire year. Wow. Weird.
Anyway, I don't know how long I stayed up crying, but I went back to sleep when the trucks came down my street to repave the roads. It was the sound of clashing metal and churning cement that was able to lull me to sleep.
This was not the first time I woke up in a nearly depressed state of homesickness. My dilemma is the fact that I won't even be able to take time off to go home for Christmas due to my company's holiday blackout policy. By the time employees are able to request time off again, Spring semester will be in full swing.
I don't know if I can go another year without seeing my family and friends.
I helped a customer the other day whom I will refer to as Mario* to protect his privacy.
Mario recently lost his wife to a horrible accident in December six days before Christmas. He has been coming in since mid February trying to set his account straight by removing his wife's name as the account holder and replacing it with his. During this process, I learned that the Mario and his late wife have a son and a daughter who are both still in high school. My company has some red tape that the man needs to cross in order to change a name on an account and to cancel a phone number without a penalty fee. I understand the need for stipulations, but it has been a long and harrowing process that any other person would have thrown their hands up in defeat and lost their temper. This man, however, encouraged me the entire time of how great of a job I was doing. Every time I saw him, he expressed his deepest gratitude. I couldn't understand how he could be so positive and kind in light of what he and his family was going through, when here I am struggling to hold back my tears as I handled his case in the back room because I did not want to make him uncomfortable by seeing how distraught I got.
Then I had another customer. A woman this time. We will call her Medusa* to protect her privacy.
She stormed into the store and demanded that I help her. The exchange went as follows:
Me: Good morning, how can I help you? Woman: (throws bill me) I want my credit back. Me: Sure thing.
I proceeded to ask for her ID and accessed her account. I then called in to the Help Desk to issue her credit to her.
Help Desk: Hi, how can I help you? Me: I would like to process a corporate refund check to give this woman her fifteen-dollar credit. Medusa: That is NOT what I asked you to do! I said I want you to give me my money back! If you can't give it to me in cash, give it to me on this! (throws credit card at me) Help Desk: Oh...you got one of those huh? I'm sorry Sweetie. Me: (I handed her credit card back to her) It's alright, I work in Downtown; I'm used to it. Help Desk: Yeah, well I went ahead and sent the request, she should be receiving her check in the mail in about six to eight weeks. Me: Thank you so much.
I hung up the phone.
Me: Ok, so we don't give cash credits. Your check is coming in the mail. You will be receiving it in the mail in about six to eight weeks. Medusa: I don't understand why you had to make it so difficult. Me: Oh, it wasn't difficult at all; it was actually very easy. Which is why you will be receiving your check in the mail in about six to eight weeks. (I smiled at her.) Medusa: You know, you have a very bad attitude. Me: Oh, I'm sorry ma'am; I hope you have a better day. (Continued to smile) Medusa: (Stomps her foot.) I am having a great day! You're the one who's just standing there, smiling at me like that. Me: (really struggling not to burst out laughing) That's so wonderful! I am so happy you're having a great day, I hope it gets even better! Medusa: (Turns to my coworker) Do they always talk to customer's like that? Coworker: She's actually being extremely polite ma'am. Medusa: You call that polite? She's standing there looking like that with her smile, telling me to have a good day. I just wanted my money back that you guys robbed from me. This is why you're such a horrible company! I'm going to make sure you all go down.
Is my smile really that bad?
I mean...
Oh. I see what she means.
Why was I able to smile the entire time I was being yelled at and having things thrown at me? Why was I able to burst out laughing as soon as the woman left? It was thanks to Mario. His case reminded me that life needs to be looked at as a bigger picture. The man lost his wife during the holiday season. Instead of getting ready for a family dinner during the holidays, he was left with having to plan his wife's funeral. Instead of celebrating Christmas with their mother, his kids had to bury their mother. Yet he still managed to get up everyday, go to work, and take care of business with a wonderful attitude.
Then we have Medusa, who throws a fit over fifteen dollars. Well really, she threw a fit over nothing because she is getting her fifteen dollars back. It made me think, if this woman falls apart over fifteen dollars, or some young girl who smiles at her, how does she handle emotionally catastrophic events like Mario's? I'm so lucky that I was able to witness the two personalities. People go through horrible things all the time, and if they don't act horribly in light of those situations, there is no reason to throw a fit over a petty one.
So, let us all bow our heads and take moment of silence for everyone around the world who is suffering from emotional hardship not unlike Mario.
Let us also take a moment of silence for people like Medusa who have lost their dignity in times of extreme pettiness.
"Details in the Fabric" by Jason Mraz (This one is for Mario)
"I feel like, you're an island of reality in an ocean of diarrhea."
Medusa, may you find a blessing like Mario soon. Very, very soon.
Since I've moved here, I feel like my top three priorities have become: school, work, and blogging. I think I'm OK with that. Before the move, I was highly involved in my college and community. That, along with school and three jobs was definitely overwhelming to say the least. I am glad for a much slower pace of living out here, where I can do what I want without any worry about a social timeline or other people.
Anyway, this is just a quick update to say thank you to everyone who participated in the 11:11 Tagging Party. I had a lot of fun reading all of your answers, and I see that I still have a couple more to read up on, and I'm pretty stoked to get to them! This week's update will be a brief one followed with pictures of last night's adventure. It was midterm week, and today was my last test, and my first day off from work all week. So, you could imagine the amount of crazy that my life has been for the past couple of days. Well, not necessarily my life, but more like my mind.
Which has always been rather crazy regardless.
Not sure if this validates my craziness, but I would like to introduce you to my new friend, Mr. Birdie. He comes and sun tans in front of my work every day, and the birds over here are so carefree, that they don't fly away when you approach them. Snow White better watch out before I swoop in and steal all her friends.
Moving on, after work last night, I went out to dinner with some friends. My friend's uncle owns the Kobe Steakhouse down in Waikiki, so we decided to treat ourselves to a delicious, discounted dinner. For those of you who haven't eaten at Kobe Japanese Steakhouse, I suggest you go. It's a lot like Benihana's, only the atmosphere is more private. At the Honolulu location, there are several sections of the restaurant that are spread out on different floors. This was not my first time going there to eat, and it definitely won't be my last. It went as follows:
I believe the hunger got to our heads, as we were not sure what to do with our chopsticks in the absence of food. Please note the tiny paper hats.
The onion volcano is always my favorite part of the chef show.
I don't normally eat red meat, as it does some pretty funky stuff to my stomach, but I wasn't about to turn down quality steak...at a steakhouse for crying out loud. That's like going to the gym, and not wanting to work out. It's like, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING THEN?? GET OUTTA HERE!!"
I had a mojito (on the eve of my midterm, I know), and some dessert wine to go with my ice cream. It was all very delicious.
Apparently, some of us couldn't control our drinks, as it turns out we got so drunk we ended up with each other's faces. I know, I get wild sometimes.
So there you have it, a recap of my week so far. Now it's time for me to get reading with those bloggie boos of yours. I hope you all have a great weekend, and for those of you who just finished midterms as well, party safe!
I woke up at six this morning to attend a conference call as a guest speaker for a training session that is held for the Pacific Northwest market of the company I work for. (If you haven't already figured out who I work for by reading my previous posts, kindly take your palm and apply it to your face.) I don't know how I managed to do that considering how I'm feeling so far under the weather, I might as well be buried by it. Anyway, I got through that without sounding like too much of a douchette (my ego was inflating to a threatening degree with all the compliments and recognition they were dishing at me overseas), and now I have to muster up the strength to crank out a seven to ten page paper that is due tomorrow. I have loaded up on tortilla soup and hot tea with honey. Let's do this.
Major papers are not meant to be haphazardly organized and written the night before they are due.
There is little hope for a decent grade at this point.
Work was absolute chaos yesterday. I worked form open until close, plus three extra hours after closing. I've come to believe that the word "free" is a phenomenon that turns civilized human beings into raging animals. Hence, Black Friday.
I arrive at work early only to find a line of customers already lined up around the corner, waiting to pounce on the free phones. Turns out, our system crashed nationwide due to the extreme influx of people wanting to upgrade or activate. It's ok, because we had a backup system.
Which also crashed. But that's ok, because we had a back-up back-up system.
Which was backed up (har har). In short, we had to go 1940's on everyone and run every transaction manually. With the failed system and the customers yelling and blaming us sales reps for the complications, there were several of us who were near breaking down in the back. I'm usually a very patient person, but unfortunately this was all that went on in my head yesterday:
Customers of Retail,
You need to understand that sales reps are always trying to do whatever they can to assist you. If you insist on being rude and irrational, you are only delaying the process of us getting you what youwant or need. Yelling doesn't help, calling us idiots doesn't help, and CONSTANTLY CRITIQUING THE SYSTEM DOES NOT HELP! I'll tell you what, the next time you think you can do a better job than the person who is trying to help you,WHY DON'T YOU PICK UP AN APPLICATION AND APPLY FOR A POSITION??? So, unless you're ready to put on your formal black slacks and dress shoes just so you can RUN around everywhere to get the customers what they want in the time they want it, you need to keep your negativity at home, and your rude thoughts to yourself. If you can't do that, then you should just stick to online shopping.
Reluctantly Yours, An Exasperated Sales Rep
PS, If you want the most expensive smart phone that a wireless company offers, you need to fork up the money to buy it, and yes, it does come with a pricier phone bill that you do have to pay. This isn't Burger King; you can't always have it your way, and you can't just pick and choose what you want to pay for.
I clearly need to meditate more. Aside from the amount of crazy customers that I have to deal with, I still love my job. I'm super grateful to have been able to land this job, and I love the fact that I actually get to use my brain at work. Back home in Orange County, I held three mindless jobs as a receptionist at a hair salon and a tanning spa, and an event planner for high school formal dances. The first two were the worst. I did horribly at them because I struggled to be fake toward the Ruthless Housewives of Orange County. The last one was horrible, because my boss liked to throw computer monitors at me.
Are there any bad moments at your job? If so, how do you handle it?
I was feeling rather defeated today. There just seems to be so much that I have to do between now and the end of this week. I'm hoping that by writing out a list of everything that is stressing me out, I will be able to tackle it better one by one instead of having it be this giant mountain of impossibility in my brain.
1.) Two major papers due this next week along with a personal statement for a college I'm trying to get in to that offers a much better creative writing program than UH does.
2.) Three different novels need to be completed within this time frame.
3.) This all wouldn't be so overwhelming if it weren't crucial to my career.
4.) There is a gigantic sale at work tomorrow for Valentine's Day. I am terrified of the hoards of customers that I will have to deal with because of THIS:
That's it. That's not so bad. I will get through this week no matter what, but it's up to me to decide if I want it to be a successful one or not. I should probably go for a run to take my mind off of this mess. Or I could just curl up with some pasta and watch Grey's Anatomy on Netflix all night.
I'm sorry I haven't been updating lately. I could blame it on the stress and the hectic nature of the new semester, but I've decided to leave all excuses aside and simply face the facts.
I suck at blogging.
In the time since my last post, I have lost three followers. THREE!
Issue my thanks for those of you who are still sticking around. I am grateful for all of you.
Speaking of gratitude, it's been a while since I've posted about things that I am grateful for, and one of the key essentials to living a happy life is to constantly count your blessings.
So here we are, ten things that I am especially grateful for:
My job. I love everything about it.
My awesome boyfriend. I seriously lucked out with this guy.
My supportive parents. I love them to pieces.
My good health. We are such fragile beings, and we really are so fortunate to be alive.
My apartment. It may be expensive, but it's home.
My education. It may be expensive, but it gets me to where I need to be.
My friends, both back home, and here. I would be so awkward without them.
Technology. Most days.
LITERATURE. Where would we be without it???
My dog back home. I miss him so much, but he makes my parents really happy.
This is Mika. He's a boy, and I'm pretty sure he's gay too. The love of my life is a gay mutt. Deal with it.
So there you have it, the ten things I woke up feeling grateful for this morning. Remember,
.
I hope you all have a wonderful, fun, SAFE, and exciting Superbowl Sunday.
I'm not going to tell you who I'm rooting for but...
Only, much less dignified. After I let it all out, I seemed to uncover my senses, and was able to give myself the slap in the face (figuratively of course) that I so needed.
Dear Tina,
The next time you decide to whine about all of your hard-earned money going to nothing but tuition, rent, bills, and groceries, think about those who wish they could get the education you're getting, and those who don't even have food to eat or a roof over their head. You wanted a grown-up life, and you got exactly what you asked for. This is what depending on yourself is like, and this is what you moved out here to do. So, either suck it up or move back home to Mommy and Daddy.
Sincerely,
Reality
PS: Welcome to college, the most memorable and financially draining years of your life. It sucks, and you're going to love every minute of it.
I've been off the radar for too long. This usually amounts to a long post of catching up, but I'm far too stressed out to lay out all the details of my holidays suffice it to say that although I miss my home, family, friends, and dog, I am very grateful that my boyfriend has been here with me to ease the homesickness. If you're still strung up on holiday cheer, I suggest you hop right past this blog and read something more suitable to your mood; my post will be filled with nothing but daunting thoughts and most likely cynicism. So here goes...
I am SO broke.
I make more money now than I ever have in my life, but I am more broke now than I've ever been in my life. WHERE DOES IT ALL GO??? Everyone was right; living in Hawai'i is horribly expensive. My monthly expenses are as follows:
Let's just say that, if I'm lucky, I make juuust enough to cover most of that.
How the HECK am I going to pay for school???
I only took six credits last semester, which meant my tuition was completely covered by the measly loan I was awarded for the year. However, I will be taking nine credits this next semester. So, although most of it will be covered by the loan, I will still have to pay off the remaining balance every month.
I only have ONE more week of break?!?!?!??
Are you kidding me? Break just started, and I am still recovering from the wrath of finals! That's Hawai'i for you though, they don't really have a winter over here, so it seems as though they decided a sufficient winter break would be foolish. At least the semester ends at the beginning of May...yay for yearlong summers!
No no, nonono NO! I don't want to go back to school, I don't want to pay for my expensive tuition. I just, don't WANT to! I feel a temper tantrum coming on in 5, 4, 3, 2...
That's enough. I'm done. I got all my crying and whining out of my system, and I'm ready to be an adult again. Honestly, it's not luck that feeds me and pays my rent every month, it's purely the hard work I put into making sure my commission check is as high as it can be. It all feels futile at times when I have to clear out my savings account to cover rent or bills, knowing that I have to start all over again with saving up to achieve my lifelong dream of volunteering abroad. It will happen though. I'm still young, and regardless, this will all be worth it in the end.
...Right?
I'm not just slaving away for a decorated piece of paper that will only serve as a framed piece of my soul right? Please tell me that this is all worth it, please. And if you know it's not, please just lie to me. I'm starting to lose sight of the whole purpose of forking over thousands of dollars for my education.
Acquired ability to say "no" to ourselves and our lower inclinations.
Habit of waiting for rewards, and earning them.
Enjoying pleasures and goods in moderation: food, drink, entertainment, even work itself.
Lifelong habit of saying (and meaning): please, thank you, I'm sorry, and I give my word....
Habit of living courtesy and good manners toward everyone, without exception, and doing this even in the face of rudeness or provocation.
In a word, ``class'': self-restraint, etiquette, healthy self-respect, active concern for the dignity and needs of all around us, an active spirit of service.
---
As the final installment of The Virtue Vows, I closed out this project by differentiating when and when not to be a smartass. My job is known for stellar customer service, and sometimes I feel like the customers I deal with like to take advantage of our renowned service. My job has taught me that regardless of whether or not someone is justified in their rude tactics, it never helps to provoke them with an icy attitude. I know I've said this before, but I really am grateful for my job, because in no other situation would you catch this girl biting her tongue in the midst of a rude exchange. This job has really taught me a lot about self-restraint, and that it really isn't necessary to tell someone off for being rude to you, especially if it could cost you your job. Temperance, especially for me, is not a virtue that can be mastered over night or even in a week. I'm not saying that I'm the world's most graceful woman, but I can attest to the fact that grace is a gradual attribute that can only be acquired through years of patience and good nature. I think that I've grown a lot from that wild adolescent who used welcome any kind of cat fight if given the opportunity. For some, this may seem as a shocker, but for others Tina getting into a cat fight is old news.
I don't think I'll ever lose my hint of sass, and among my friends I'm sure I will always be known as the sarcastic smartass. However, I would like to think that over the years I have developed a sense of class to accompany the sass. No longer do I feel the need to prove anything to anybody; I think that goes with trying to become a graceful woman who is confident enough in her own ways to turn the other cheek when provoked. There have been many opportunities in the past year when I was harassed (via facebook, twitter, prank calls, and text messages) that I could have responded with my usual sharp tongue, but for some reason I held it. In the end I realized that once the annoyance subsided, I was able to see clearly each time who the bigger person really was. I'm glad I never stooped to the lowly level of reciprocating in the rude things that certain people have said to me (or about me).
Here are some tactics that I have developed over the years of being around crazy people:
If someone wants to be rude to your face, let them. If others see this, it's even better. It does not make you look like a loser if you respond with indifference or kindness, but rather, you end up inadvertently showcasing said person's true colors for the world to see while simultaneously displaying your grace and temperance.
The same goes for when people decide to bash you all over their facebook page or twitter feed. What better opportunity for the other person to look like an idiot than on a public network? If anyone knows who the person is talking about, they are most likely going to look you up and check for your response; don't supply the opportunity for petty entertainment. Just let the rant go on as a one-sided bitch fest on the other person's end...trust me, the amount of pathetic that these people end up coming off as is hilarious.
Should you ever be privately harassed via prank calls or rude text messages...well, first of all I hope none of you ever make the same mistake I made in befriending people with the maturity of a pre-teen, but if this does ever happen to you, I suggest getting some sort of Psycho Person Block app. I have one for my BlackBerry, and it has worked wonders.
There are a lot of apps like this that are generally free, but for the sake of my sanity, this was the best $2.99 I've ever spent. :)
I am lucky enough to have four days off from work to study, and it has been the perfect time to sit back and take a breather from all the downtown madness that I deal with on a daily basis. I have my finals tomorrow, then it's back to work on Wednesday for the rest of the week. Every day is a test on our virtues, and I'm truly glad that I did this project. To be able to focus and refine each of these virtues has been a great challenge, and I encourage all who have been reading to give it a try. Happy holidays everyone!
So far, I'm doing really well in school and at work. My grades are above where I want them to be to maintain a 4.0, so it's a matter of continuing these good study habits that seem to be working really well. After a month of working at this new job, I came out at the end of the month doing better than I had anticipated, so I'm happy with that outcome.
I seem to be doing great in all aspects of my life except for one.
I've recently decided to become more involved on my campus. I've always been extremely involved at my old college, and the idea of being just a student here at UH makes me cringe. I gave the student newspaper a try, and since then it's been a whirlwind of emails, meetings, phone calls, and dreadful deadlines. I've volunteered to take on a rather challenging story that I thought I would have no problem writing about considering how it's on a subject matter which I am passionate about. So far, this has proven to be a very difficult feat.
Right now, I'm sitting at my desk trying to overcome the hurdle of merely brainstorming and outlining the story, and I can't even wrap my head around that. Often times, I find that brainstorming is the most difficult part to writing. I'm trying to ignore the faint feeling of being a failure, but every minute that passes by without a newfound sense of direction for my story, I start to fail at not feeling like a failure.
Double fail.
I am writing a story on the salaries of the five highest paid employees at UH in conjunction to the proposal of a 40% increase in tuition. This shouldn't be difficult for me. This is something I've always cared about no matter where I lived or where I went to school. I should be really good at this. I mean, I did almost four years of student advocacy, so this shouldn't be difficult...right?
I mean, how did I go from this:
To a blubbering mess all alone in my apartment in Hawaii?
Thank goodness my boyfriend is here. Without my writing and my boyfriend, I probably would have imploded with the overwhelming onslaught of neurotic thoughts I've been having lately.
I guess being on the other side of the information has made me realize the challenge that journalists face in trying to spark a sense of interest and activism in the readers. I thought I was some sort of Wonder Woman back home to be able to lead all those protests in response to the information I received, but I never stopped to consider the amount of work and dedication it took for journalists to plant that seed of knowledge into my head, which in turn compelled me to become a student activist.
This is definitely a very humbling experience for me. Sitting here, on a Saturday night, working on a deadline to get a quality story in to my editor is really making me feel a new sense of respect for journalists around the world. Still, I don't think this is the right thing for me to be involved in for the duration I am at UH. With what I want to do, I need to do more community service, or get more involved with the administration on my campus. For now though, I will take my journalism as far as I can, and hope that maybe I can inspire a new generation of activism through my writing just like I was inspired four years ago at the age of eighteen to make a difference in my own community.
Since my last post I went through a stage of prolonged self pity. Aside from my bouts of homesickness that left me crying in the middle of the night for my parents and my dog, my body has undergone some uncomfortable irritations that I am still dealing with right now. The main irritation has been the bug bites that seem to be magically appearing every morning on different parts of my body. Neither my boyfriend nor his brother have been getting bit as much as I have, and I was told it was because I "smell and taste sweet".
.....
I will stink myself to the core if that means I won't have to deal with this wretched mysterious night bugs anymore. Anyway, another irritation has been this stupid thing on my eye that I have to take antibiotics for.
Due to the humidity, I developed a sty that formed from a sweat gland being swollen on my left eyelid. Aside from looking and feeling hideous, I've been taking these giant horse pills that are supposed to fight it. I get this every summer, but this time in Hawaii, the humidity seems to be making it worse. It's not horribly uncomfortable so much as it is disgustingly hideous; the main discomfort comes from the antibiotics which have been causing me a lot of chest pain and nausea. I have four more days of having to take these, so hopefully by then I'll be feeling a little bit back to normal.
I do apologize for my lack of posting. I have had a pretty exhausting schedule that required me to rush around starting from 5am in the morning to get ready for school then rush to work and work until closing. Work has been pretty demanding, but I am happy to have this weekend and Monday off from work. I was starting to have dreams about work, and it has become rather unacceptable. For a while there I was worried about being behind in school because I had to miss a full week for work training, but after a lot of reading and writing, I think I am finally caught up...just in time to study for my midterm on Monday (already???) and my French exam on Friday.
Although this post has been a rather whiny one (but hopefully not as whiny as the last), I assure you that I do still feel very blessed to be able to have the opportunity to live here. It really is a beautiful place to live. I would like to share the beauty that I am basked in every day with this picture of a typical beautiful sunset on the beach.
Captured on our walk around Waikiki. :)
I've decided from here on out that I will no longer be a whiny little baby in my posts. I went on an awesome tour last week and put together a cute little dresser with my boyfriend that I will be updating about later. Stay tuned for that. For now, I am going to head to the mall, find a nice hair stylist for both the boyfriend and myself (we need to be pampered badly), then study for my midterm. I hope you all have been having a wonderful time where ever you are. :)
EDIT (9:24 p.m.)
As a motivation to keep me in the groove of working out, I have decided to join in with a couple lovely ladies on the Christmas Dress Challenge started by Sarah. Her blog is so motivational, and I really admire someone with her strength an willpower. I found her through Mila at Free Bird Train --- another lovely blog about the simple joys of life (and she cooks!).
Anyway, here are the rules of the challenge:
Buy or find a picture of a dress in a smaller size (the size you're aiming to reach by the end of the challenge) The idea is to buy the dress to use as motivation, but it's not required.
On or before Sunday, Sept. 18th, make your first post with a picture of your dress, your starting size & weight and your goal size & weight. (I will link my post to yours, so let me know once you make your first post)
Aim for a healthy caloric intake each day
Exercise a minimum 3x a week
Drink water (not soda, not diet soda, not energy drinks...etc...)
Twice a month I will post an update on how I'm doing on this challenge. If you have decided to do the challenge with me, feel free to add your update in the comments.
And here is the dress that I will be buying from Nordstrom:
I'm so excited to start this challenge, and I can't wait to wear this dress! I'm trying to make it into a size 2. Let the challenge begin! :D
I started training for my job this past Monday, and it has been a pretty brutal week (to say the very least).
Before I moved here, I have been working for this company for about three months, but it was a different branch. So, unfortunately, I had to miss an entire week of school to go to this mandatory training that started at 7:30 in the morning, and went until 3:30 in the afternoon. Every. Day. This means I have been waking up at 5am every day to get ready and catch the bus at around 6:20 that would take me on my hour-long commute to the training location in Waimalu. That was where I spent every day of this past week learning the very same lessons I was taught three months ago when I was first hired into this company. The only difference is that I now work for the corporate side, and that includes killer benefits (Paid Time Off, Medical care, and 401K anyone?).
Anyway, the training wasn't a horrible waste of time; it definitely got me back in gear seeing as I've been out of the loop for about three weeks. I'm always down for a good review; it only makes me better. Plus, I made bank in only one week. So, I definitely can't complain there. :)
I'm a little worried about school now because I have both an exam for one class and a quiz for another on my very first day back at school which is Wednesday. I have a lot of reading and studying to do this weekend, but I start work on Monday, and I'm stressing out because I don't think I'm going to have enough time to study as much as I would like to. At least there's an opportunity for extra credit in my Hawaiian Literature class.
Tomorrow is my mom's birthday, and in honor of her I'm going to go to the celebration of the Queen's birthday. I personally believe that this celebration is really meant for my mommy, because Queen Liliuokalani (I know, I had a hard time trying to figure that one out as well) was born on the second of September, and if they really were celebrating her, they could've had a giant Luau for her last night. I mean, it was a Friday after all... All the more proof that this festival is really meant for my mother dearest. :)
Speaking of my mom, I'm starting to miss my parents, and my dog. The sad thing about my job is that I won't be able to go home for Christmas. I've been feeling a little sad lately thinking about how I really don't know when I would be able to see my family next. I guess a picture of them would have to do for now.
Here is my dad trying to show off the award I got for being an excellent female leader/student or whatever at my graduation last year. I am making sure my mom isn't blinking. Note: the video camera. They're too cute.
He's my favorite yoga partner.
I miss my parents; I miss my dog, and I mis my parents' house. I miss doing Yoga every Saturday morning in the sun room, and having my dog come in and show me how the Downward Dog position is really done.
Have any of you ever felt homesick? What are some remedies to homesickness?
It's been over a week since I went to my interview for that job I applied for. Since then, I've been on pins and needles about whether or not I would get even get this job because it seemed as though my background check was taking far longer than usual to go through. Before you go around assuming that I am a drug-dealing criminal, it's best to know that the problems were documentation based as far as providing W-2's and/or pay stubs as proof of employment at my many previous jobs.
That and I don't even do drugs.
Or drink for that matter.
Anyway...
It was a little frustrating to try and explain to the background checking agency that there was no way I was able to scan any documentation and fax it to them considering how the paperwork is in California, and I am three thousand miles across the Pacific Ocean. However, yesterday, after a long week of phone tag between the agency, my previous jobs, and my parents, I was finally able to provide them with everything they needed. Today, I got a phone call with an offer for a second interview that I completed about an hour ago on the phone. It was a little difficult to prove myself over the phone, because I personally find myself to be much cuter and more convincing in person. In any case, it turns out I did a decent job with that interview without the assistance of my obvious physical beauty and charm.
Oh you laugh? I'm insulted.
Anyway...
Shortly after the phone interview, the manager called me and I got the job. :D
The pay is great, and the benefits are amazing. I'm extremely excited to have landed this job, but of course there was a bit of a snag. Right after I hung up with my manager, the corporate recruiter called me and informed me that I needed to provide either my birth certificate, passport, or social security card within the next three to four days for full verification. I didn't pack any of that stuff. I asked the recruiter if there was any way I could just use my driver's license, but in my mind I was thinking,
"GRRRAKJHSDFJnkjsdfakjf;;JDSHF What else do you have up your sleeve???? I just want to be employed already!!!!"
Thank goodness for my amazing parents. As soon as I sent the electronic signature to accept the employment offer, I called my parents and they told me that they will ship me my social security card over night, and I should have it by Monday.
I love them.
So, yay for being employed again! I'm extremely excited to start working again. As far as school goes, I absolutely love my classes, and my campus is absolutely beautiful. I'm so ready to get that 4.0; you have no idea. I'm even excited to read these 170 pages over the weekend. I mean, who wouldn't be excited about all that reading if they get to do it all while tanning at the beach? No one. That's who.
For those of you who have also started school, I hope you all had a wonderful first week back, and I hope to hear all about that soon. I see some of you are looking at some pretty stressful loads this semester, and I wish you nothing but the best of luck. For you lucky ducks who don't start school until the end of September or are done with school indefinitely, I hope you are continuing to have an epic summer. :)
Today is the calm before the storm of the semester, and I might not have time to blog as much as I would like to. Since it's Sunday and I feel like giving my little legs a break from walking, I've decided to wrap up my summary of the last couple days since I've moved here, and update on that desk I mentioned in the previous post. So, here goes my second post in one day (and hopefully not my last post for a long time).
In the midst of all the hustle and bustle and fun in the sun, it was almost easy to forget that we actually moved here to go to school. Thank goodness my boyfriend and I actually have our first class together. French 101 at 7:30 starting tomorrow morning.
Oh mon dieu.
I feel pretty confident that we have everything we need though. We haven't been running around in the city these past couple of days for nothing. After we came back from the beach, we had a little snack then went right into tackling the construction of our desk. Now, I grew up in a do-it-yourself family. When he wasn't cutting people up and operating on them, my dad spent his time building our sun room and creating our landscape. My mom liked to help him out, but she also did many things on her own such as sewing and cooking. So, thanks to my wonderful parents, using tools, designing my own clothes, and cooking are not foreign concepts to me. I must say, I thoroughly enjoyed helping my boyfriend put together our work station.
These slabs of wood were soon to be our wonderful work station.
It was pretty easy, for the most part, and we got to the finishing touches in under an hour.
After an hour of hard work, here is our finished product.
And this is what our work station looks like all set up in its rightful place by the window.
There are still many things that we need to add to our room. As you can see, we only have the memory foam mattress to sleep on right now, and soon we will get an actual bed to put it in. We also need a good office chair for our work station, and I might look for that on Craigslist along with our dresser and mirror stand. I'm thinking I might get us a coat hanger too; except I would like to use it for drying off our bathing suits instead of coats (for obvious reasons).
So, after our hour of roughing it with the desk, we scrounged up some leftover ingredients from when our roommate (his brother) made us enchiladas the night before and decided to reward ourselves with a taco night. If you haven't noticed from our previous post, we like to reward ourselves often after a long period of hard work. Personally, I don't see anything wrong with that; if anything, that just makes us work even harder and our rewards that much more enjoyable.
He cooked the meat and tortillas while I chopped the veggies and washed the dishes.
I would say we make quite a good team. :)
Yes, it definitely tasted as amazing as it looked.
So there you go, the days since I've moved here as best as I can remember it. I'm hoping that once I get back in gear with school my mind will be more focused, and I would be able to write better posts. Also, I am looking into getting a camera soon (and possibly a waterproof camera for my inevitable underwater adventures!). I have been taking my pictures with my BlackBerry, and I know they haven't been that great. I won't be able to afford a camera any time soon; so, for the meantime, I hope you can all bear with my poor-quality camera phone photos.
Anybody starting school tomorrow?
Are you ready for it?
I'm so excited for school to start. This past year I didn't really get to go to school, and instead I had to work three jobs to support myself after my car accident, and also to save up to go to whichever university I was determined to get into. Speaking of jobs, I still haven't heard back from them yet. There was a bit of a complication with the background check because the company was unable to contact one of my previous employers. Now I'm worried I might not get the job because of that. I'll update more on that later, but I really really hope I get this job.
Alright, I think I'm going to order some pizza for myself and the boys tonight. I think we're all too lazy on this glorious Sunday to cook. The next time I'm on here, I may or may not be a complete stress ball due to school or work...or both. For now, I am just going to relax and enjoy my beautiful new life. :)
My last day of work was last Friday. Upon picking up my last paycheck on Monday, a thought ran through my mind that maybe I should have stayed and worked through this week. After all, I don't leave until next Tuesday, and I could really use the money. So far, I barely have enough saved up for the next two month's worth of rent, utilities, and bills, and I just dropped $98.51 on my ridiculous phone bill. There goes another hundred dollars that could have helped me out with the move.
Oh crap.
I forgot to budget for food.
So much for living in paradise.
Hopefully, the job that I applied for in Hawaii works out. I have been keeping in contact with the manger via phone calls and emails. He seems very nice and helpful, and he also seems eager to have me on board seeing as I already have a lot of experience in sales. He gave me a call the other day though, telling me that he had to fill the position that I applied for which was 20-29 hours a week, but he opened up another requisition for me that is 0-19 hours a week. At this rate (granted I even get the job), I would probably have to look into getting a second job. With everything I have to pay for including the fact that I have to save up for full-time tuition next semester, I would have to work at least 30 hours a week.
Here's a Breakdown of the Doom & Gloom:
Minimum Wage in Hawaii: $7.25/hour (before taxes) Annual Student Loan: $7,500 Full-Time Tuition & Fees: $12,600 Average Cost of Milk/Gallon: $8.00 Rent, Utilities, Bills: $500
I can't afford being a full-time student this semester, and I doubt I would be able to afford it next semester either. However, I do plan to save up to be enrolled in at least 9 credits instead of what I'm doing this semester, which is the half-time equivalent of 6 credits. Two hours of work will buy me one gallon of milk. How sad. At least my rent is cheap. I guess I would have to put having a social life on hold for now.
I thought I had shaken him off, because he was no longer walking next to me and talking into my face. When I looked into the reflection of one of the buildings, however, I saw that he was right behind me following me with his eyes on my wallet in my hand.
