Caution: Adulting Ahead

I recently become a certified Construction Risk Insurance Specialist (CRIS).  A few weeks later I received a promotion!  My duties have been slowly changing over the past couple months. I'm training our new Contracts/Risk Specialist on negotiating terms and conditions for our purchase orders and subcontracts. I've been getting more involved in owner and other special agreements. I've also been handling more claims (workers compensation, auto, builder's risk, general liability, as well as bond claims). It's exciting and I'm learning a lot!  

The people I work with are great! The department I am in operates as a strong team without any drama. We have a department meeting next month to discuss the succession plan for when our director retires. I'm confident our culture will remain the same throughout the forthcoming changes. 

So, what's next?  I'm going to keep working hard. In the next month or two, I'm going to start the process of getting approved for a mortgage so that I can weigh my options of renting vs. buying. *gasp* This level of adulting is a bit daunting. I'm working on paying off my medical debt, increasing my savings, and improving my credit score to be strong enough to withstand a few dings when I apply without bringing it below excellent. 

Truth Bomb

I saw this quote on Facebook: "You're Always One Decision Away from a Totally Different Life." How is that for a truth bomb? We all could make a decision or multiple decisions that would change our lives respectfully!  Whoa!!! 

In 2017, I want to dream bigger! I need to sit down and ponder what I want out of life when I'm not just surviving, and then I need to (*gasp*) plan how I will achieve these so called bigger goals! A lot of people around me are changing their lives by going to school, moving, having babies, or getting married. Whereas I was thinking along the lines of flossing and eating healthier on a regular basis. Although I'm not currently ready for a drastically different life, I want to plan so that one day I will be. One day, my teeth, gums, and waist line will thank me. 

Dear 2015

Dear 2015,

I am not the least bit sad to see you go. You were a lot like a fly-over state. You offered some cool views, but really it was mostly boring while waiting for you to pass by. Perhaps it's because I was too busy adult-ing.  The highlights you left me are as follows:

1. I mustered up the guts to quit working for my dad to sell cars. When I look back at selling cars, I think that it's proof that I really can do anything I set my mind to. It was a great experience. I just disliked the hours and the way they worked me to the bone. All the while I was still going to school.
2.  I graduated Summa Cum Laude from UCF with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration as a finance major!!! It's still hard for me to believe that I did it! This accomplishment is HUGE in my book of life. It may sound dumb, but there are days when I miss going to school.
3. I had the courage to quit selling cars without any job prospects. Thankfully, my dad's company was busy enough to hire me until I found my current job as Payroll Assistant. I consider this job my first "real" job out of college. I'm learning so much. I'm blessed to work for such an amazing company with a super awesome workforce.
4. I took myself off of my parents' health insurance plan and got my own insurance through work. This was and still is a big deal to me because health insurance is my lifeline.
5. I started a 401K through work. I won't bore you with the details. I'll just say this excites me because I think it really is a step in the right direction to prepare for my future. 
6. I had my first MRI and it sucked, but it didn't suck as bad as a colonoscopy would have. I heard those words I hate hearing from my doctor: Crohn's is active. In response, I started doing Cimzia injections every three weeks instead of every four weeks to help determine if it's still working. I know what I think.
7. I started going to counseling for the first time in my life. I didn't realize the layers of mental complexity Crohn's is affecting/creating. My feelings are valid. Even though I could be saving the money I'm spending on counseling, I think investing in my mental state is a wise decision.
8. [Edit: I added this one because it somehow slipped my mind yesterday. I financed my dream car and I'm still in love. The Mustang totally exceeded my expectations!]

I spent most of 2015 working and reaching goals I set for myself many years ago. I have come a long way, but I still have a long way to go. It feels like I'm sleep walking though life at the moment though.

I Am Blessed!

When I decided last year to take only one class in the Spring so that I would have time to practice interview skills, sharpen my resume, and job hunt, I never dreamed I would have a new job in January. I honestly anticipated still job hunting well after graduation.  I didn't land just any job, I landed a job that has everything I wanted in my first "real world" job after college. I wanted a company that would be willing to invest in me. They're investing their time and resources to train me in their industry and it's fantastic! I wanted a company that I would have potential to be promoted within to grow with the company and they certainly seem to have that potential. I wanted a company that offered great benefits and after 90 days, I will have access to their great benefits. I wanted to work somewhere I could make a difference and help people and I will have the opportunity to do just that. Dare I say that I've never been this excited about anything before. I am blessed

Now, looking back at how all of the pieces fell perfectly together, it seems crazy. I am beyond excited to see what this year has in store for me. If only I could look through binoculars into the future to see what my future holds...

UCF Graduation Planning

At the beginning of the week, I filed my ITG (intent to graduate) for the Spring of 2015!  I will be graduating from The University of Central Florida with my B.S.B.A. (Bachelor's of Science in Business Administration) in Finance. I'm not sure of the exact date and time yet, but I do know the College of Business commencement will be held sometime May 7th, 2015 to May 9th, 2015. Registration opens for my last class in the Spring Monday, November 24th.  I'm sure after I register for that final class it will sink in that I'm actually going to do this.  

I’ll get five graduation tickets for family and friends to attend my graduation ceremony, and I also plan on entering the lottery to get more tickets for my other fans. Taylor plans to come up from South Florida to attend, which I’m already excited for. Veronica is willing to fly from Austin, TX just to see and celebrate my graduation, and that means the world to me! My mom, dad and Kim get the dibs on the other three guaranteed tickets. I wish I had another guaranteed ticket for Brittany. Nonetheless, I’m going to enter the lottery to win graduation tickets for Brittany, Leigha, Kelly and my Uncle Len. It sucks because I’m not guaranteed those tickets. If Veronica can’t get off work to attend, I’m going to give her graduation ticket to Brittany.

I have huge tentative plans for celebrating this amazing achievement with anyone that wants to celebrate it with me. As soon as Sak Comedy releases its schedule for May 2015 I'm going to purchase a Slice of Life during their Duel of Fools Improv show Friday night on May 8^th, 2015. Once I get the Slice of Life reserved, I'll send out invites to all my family and friends to come enjoy the show to celebrate with me.  For the Slice of Life, I’ll have my family and friends fill out a questionnaire with gathered stories and information about me, and then the improvisers will make me the star of the show by reading what my family and friends wrote before they improvise a musical about my life.  

The fun doesn’t stop there. The next activities on my agenda are more difficult to plan because I won’t know which day my graduation will actually fall on until January. I’m going to invite my sisters and Brittany, Taylor and Veronica to celebrate with me at Magic Kingdom. I want to celebrate at the Magic Kingdom by making reservations at Cinderella’s Royal Table inside the castle for lunch and making reservations at the Be Our Guest Restaurant for dinner. The ideal day to celebrate at Magic Kingdom would be Saturday, May 9^th because Taylor and possibly Veronica will still be in town. However, my graduation ceremony might be that Saturday. In which case, we won’t be going to Magic Kingdom. The safest day to plan Magic Kingdom would be Sunday, May 10^th, but by that time Taylor and Veronica will be heading home later in the day on Sunday, so it wouldn’t be worth it for them. My tentative plan is to get a head count of who would be interested in going each day, and then I’ll make reservations when they become available the beginning of November for Saturday, May 9^th, and I’ll get one of my sisters to make reservations for Sunday, May 10^th. That way when I find out in January which day my graduation is going to be on, we can cancel one of the reservations since we’ll still have another reservation active.  I know it’s expensive, but with advance planning I can get discounted Disney tickets at UCF. Even so, I’ll understand if it’s too expensive for everyone to join. I’m hoping with advance notice it will allow adequate time for those that want to join to save up for it.

My Last Week of Summer Break

It's crazy to think that today is possibly the last day of summer break I'll ever have. Unless my future employer invests in me to get a master's degree, this is it. By the time next summer gets here, I'll be an alumni from the University of Central Florida. Just thinking about it makes me cry. My goal is to have a job lined up by the time I graduate in May 2015, but I could very well still be job/career hunting next summer.

I took the first couple of days on my last week of break to recover from my trip. Yes, I need recovery time for these sorts of things. I rested and started reading another book. I felt great and had nothing to do. Heck, I even binge watched the Netflix series 'Orange is the New Black.' Hilarious show! Tampon sandwich coming right up!  Sometimes I forget to take time like this for myself when I feel good. I gave myself injections on Wednesday. This was one of the times I felt like a professional needle pillow. I'm pretty good at injecting myself despite occasionally having scary thoughts like what if the needle breaks off inside of me? It's crazy how focused I can get to block out thoughts, doubts and hesitation in order to do what has to be done. I went to see the comedian Pablo Francisco on Thursday because I won tickets. I went with my friend Gabriel and it was nice to catch up on all of our summer adventures.  Among other things, I learned how a dyslexic person flips the bird. The show was a hoot! Friday, I spent the night at my parents' and started making room to move back there in October. Saturday, I went to my friend Brittany's daughter's bday party and afterwards I picked up my cousins, Beth and Megan for a sleepover at my place. Today, I helped them create a three year plan, which included things like graduating high school, getting a driving permit, getting a job, and going to college. I think they will look back on today and say that it was a turning point for the rest of their lives... At least, I hope it will be. They have so much potential and they are just starting to realize it.  I challenged them like I wish someone would have challenged me. I somehow feel responsible for their future like if I stand by and do nothing to inspire them, I'll regret it because no one else will be their inspiration. We even started a writing club where we plan to share a prompt once a month and share what we wrote based on it.

I should have known something was brewing on the horizon because I felt extremely well this week. My bowels are the best it's been in weeks! My poop has been beautiful!!! Well, good days don't just happen without hiccups lingering in the near future. I woke up this morning with a horrible head cold. It was inevitable really... My sister that's my roommate decided to come back to our place of residence after spending three weeks with my parents.  That's fine, but it's annoying because she came back infecting our place with a bad cold, which I now have. School starts tomorrow and I feel like shit. Damn people and their germs... now I'm the germy person being damned.

Dreams, Goals and Plans

A big struggle of mine has been planning and setting goals to reach my dreams. Heck, I tussle with dreaming in general. I'm more of a visionary today than I was five years ago, but I'd still like to improve my ability to think and plan for the future with imagination and wisdom. A wish of mine is that more people in my life would challenge me to challenge myself and encourage me to strive to dream, set goals, and plan to reach those dreams. I'm addicted to routine as much as anybody else, yet somehow my fear of failure has been replaced with a fear of settling where I'm at. I've not yet reached my potential.  I used to think dreaming was scary because the future used to scare me. However, now I'm more afraid that my present will be my future and I want to dream big enough to make sure I'm not in the same place in five years. So, my three year dream is as follows:

2015:  Graduate from U.C.F.

2016: Work at a corporation with a career ladder to climb; where I can be constantly learning and growing my experience in the industry. If I ever become a stale employee, I will look for other opportunities to further my career. Experience is my top priority.

2017:  Be ultimately independent and move out of state for the ultimate adventure of my life.

The only dream I have a concrete plan for is to graduate in 2015. The other two need blue prints. At least I know what I'm working towards. My 2017 dream has gotten some criticism, but I have faith I will figure it out in time with the help of my bowels. Details aren't really my forte, so I have to work especially hard to work them out.