Category Archives: Uncategorized

Kindred Spirit

I was at the second job tonight, and it was sloow. I mean, reeeally slow.
So I got to chat with my coworker, who already seemed cool.
And then she asked me if I was in college, and I said no, and she said that she wasn’t either.
Wait, what?
Nope.
Same graduating year, and she’s not in college for very similar reasons as me (cough, cough, money and decision).

So I just found another way that I am being immensely blessed in my waiting time. God’s so good to me.

Garlic, Cocoa, and Pizza.

Characters:

Joy, my (youngest) sister.
Yours truly. (Photo credit to Joy)
And the last, but certainly not least, character in this little episode: my dad’s faithful blue Camry. Notice the battery charger giving moral support to Dad’s faithful blue Camry.
Once upon a time, Joy and I planned to visit my brother Zed, his wife K, and their son Little G. We were to meet up with them and my youngest brother AJ at their home way up North. 
Alas.
We dashed inside our own home to let the dog out, and for ten shining minutes, the blue Camry gave light to all those within five feet of the old vehicle. Upon our swift return, the battery was found dead. We called Dad, got the charger hooked up, no problem.
Then we proceeded to have our own little party while waiting on the blue Camry. 
Therefore, photos of awesomeness ensued. 
Living at home and using my dad’s wonderful, blue, older-than-me car has quite a lot of advantages.

The In Between

I’ve done a bad job.

I’ve kind of made this blog about “being okay” with not going to college right now. But I’m already okay with that! I’ve gotten past that point personally, and I’m more than willing to write about that, hear your thoughts, and give you encouragement on that.

But this blog isn’t just about being okay without college right now.

This blog is about what you’re doing in the in between time…what I’m doing.

I’m taking photos, and I’m getting pretty excited about my limited skills gettin’ better!

I took this when I first started using my brother’s fanceh shmanceh camera, of my best friend.
Get out and just try something new. You could end up loving it, as cliche as that sounds, it’s absolutely true. 

Another Autumn Note

This is the tree that marks the change from summer to fall for me. The seasons change and I see it as I’m running out the door to go elsewhere. I think back on all the years we’ve lived here, what my dreams aspired to as I saw that tree growing up, and how much faster life has come than I thought.

And how much lovelier each year has been from the one before.

Though this tree popping into color doesn’t signify that I’m returning to school nor heading to college, it reminds me that I have grown. It reminds me that the days are beautiful.
Is there something that often causes you to wax nostalgic and contented?

Lists.

I need…

-to stop making it sound like I’ve got buckets of time.
-a car.
-to wait.
I want…
-a car.
-an answer.
I have…
-…more time than you.
-a license
-a yearning
I am…
-waiting
-asking
-working (for a car)
I need to stop being so vague.
I want to write well.
I have amazing opportunities.
I am blessed.

Got time? Take a Hike.

This conundrum was on my mind recently, actually.

My family has taken many a lovely, leafy hike, often in the midst of the beautiful fall colors. Now that I have my own driver’s license and of course, some extra time to pursue such adventures, I realized I might be mistakenly taken for an out of town “leaf peeper”. This thought had never before occurred to me, but apparently I want people to know that this is “my” state.

Though I’m not one of those who profess to have been here for generations, I have grown up here.
I get to complain about the sticky summers, I get to shovel the mountains of snow, and I get to enjoy these leaves. I guess I feel that that gives me some sort of ownership over the changing trees?

Then again, I’m a sucker for meeting people from far-off lands (such as any state that is not mine), and I certainly get that chance when I go hiking with the leaf peepers.

Maybe they’re not so bad after all.

A Five Minute Hand Cramp Times Two

Just cold, grey expectancy.

After Christmas, so no colors and songs to brighten the cold. After New Year’s, so no promises brashly made to color the future with hope when everything else seems so grey.
But we had “Little G”. He’s truly a “bundle of joy”.

The above is a snippet of a writing exercise I did. I began writing about my nephew’s birth as part of a list of things I would’ve missed had I been at college or elsewhere.

I got a little stuck on the nephew part. He’s my favorite!

Have a Cuppa, But Not at Dunkin's.

I’ve been spoiled and I don’t think I can ever go back.
One of the ways I occupy my quarter-life time is to work. I’ve been at a locally-owned gourmet coffee shop for two years now.
It’s delicious. All of it! Working at a coffee shop gives me time to think about all this coffee bean business, though. Does America “run on Dunkin’s” because the coffee is GOOD, or because it’s CONVENIENT? I mean, really. It’s not that good. 

Leaving on a Jet Plane!

“Adventure is out there!” -Ellie from Pixar’s Up!
Doesn’t it seem that everyone’s leaving? They’re all off to find the adventure that is “out there”. Except you, of course!
Your father’s on a business trip to wonderful and well-missed Arizona, and you must stay home.
Your younger friend is finally getting out and going to college, and you are home.
Your older friends are going back for their junior year, and you are home.
Your friends that are actually the same age are heading back for more independence, more classes, and more adventure, and you are home.
It’s easy to think that you’re stuck. It’s easy to think that everyone else must be on their way, off to find adventure, and you are sitting alone, waiting for adventure to find you. You aren’t studying for high school finals or college testing. You’ve got a part-time job and you’re helping out at home, or just hanging around. Don’t you feel lazy? Don’t you feel like a loser? What are you DOING? People will ask me, “So, aren’t you in college, or….?” The unasked question can unintentionally leave you feeling as if you’re in the slow-lane, or even in the wrong.
My best friend isn’t in college and she isn’t in high school. We were the best pair, the two “old twenty-somethings” who were waiting, finding new things to do in the in-between. 
And now she is leaving, too. 
Granted, she’s not going to college, but she’s off to a new life and a new adventure with her family, and here I am, still waiting. Am I just being aimless and stupid?
Absolutely not.
I’ll go more into my reasons later, but I am justified to remain here, no matter how frustrated or guilty I may feel for it sometimes. I’m where I need to be. College is not a must-have, and if I am going to go to college, I’d rather not be up to my ears in debt and constantly switching my major. But what am I here to tell you? That I’m not in college and I don’t care? Nothing you haven’t heard before, I’m sure.
But no, I’m here to tell you that this in-between time that you feel stuck in?
It can be AWESOME.
You can work two jobs if you want, you can visit with friends more than anyone, you can take free classes simply to try your hand at something new, you can house-sit when no one else is available, you can save your money for what you really want to do, and all-in-all you can have a pretty fantastically jam-packed schedule even when you aren’t in school. 
Sometimes I think I have less time than my college friends, but I’m enjoying everything that I’m doing.
So go on, go out! You might not be showing that dejection on the outside, but let it go inside, too. Just keep an eager and curious spirit. Go and find good things to fill your time, because this place is wonderful.
This place is full of adventure. Go and discover it, where you are right now.