To a New Year and a New Me...

 So we all know that 2020 has been the year of everybody's hell.  This year however has been a year of change for me and I honestly look forward to seeing what happens next year.  I hope to update the blog a bit more often, hope that I can get back into reading full force and pray that I get to hang out with my friends more.  I don't usually make resolutions but as it is officially New Years Eve I do have some goals I'd like to set for next year and see what happens.

Goals:

1.)  Have $1,000 in savings 

2.)  Pay off as much debt as possible

3.)  Try to read at least 75 books

4.)  Hang out with friends more

5.)  Take more ME time and do more of what I love

6.) Make at least 5 sales a month in my Etsy shop

7.)  Move into a place of my own

Some of these goals are more easily attained than others but I will work towards all of them.  I have realized the last few months (since the beginning of November) that while this has been a decent year for me I don't take enough time to do the things I enjoy.  Now it has been the holiday season and things are slowing down but not as much as they need too.  One of the other managers at my store has been out sick since the Friday before Christmas and work has been a living nightmare.  But I am feeling more prepared to take on the promotion I am working towards and training for.  Yes I started at this job in March, right before everything shut down, and I'm already up for a promotion.

We are supposed to be getting another $600 stimulus check and most of that will go towards savings.  That will almost finish goal 1 and then I will move onto goal 2.  With the raise I hope to be getting soon (with the promotion) this should also be more easily attainable.  I'd like to be in an apartment or house of my own by the end of the year.  I don't mind sharing a living space but it's getting a little old.  I need a space where I can spread out and have room to bring all of my books and craft supplies and well life down here with me.  More space would definitely help with the ME time portion.

The only goals I might struggle with is the 75 books and 5 sales a month.  I have been in a reading slump these last few years and this year instead of 3 - 5 books I was doing, I finally got a little over 50 books read this year.  Did I finish all of them?  No...if I didn't like it I didn't finish it but I still counted most of them as read.  So I feel like 75 books is a pretty attainable goal for this next year.  I also hope to get back into book blogging and reviewing this year too.  

I have a lot of jewelry I've made over the years and more that I'd like to make.  The issue is I need to sell most of what I have in order to make more.  So I'm looking for new ways to sell and lots of great discounts on my Facebook Page.  I need to get better at my social media to promote more sales but with my lack of time or patience for it right now I haven't had time.  I reopened my store in June and only had about 6 sales for the year.  I looked for different ways to sell items on Facebook to no avail but I'm not giving up.  I've got to get rid of some of this jewelry I've made!!!

I look forward to keeping you all updated on how these goals are going.  I hope to keep this blog more up to date than I have in recent years!  I also hope to start using this blog to promote some of the jewelry and other items I create as well.

Year in review...

I'm sure you've all been waiting for an update but a lot has been going on and changing for me so I haven't had a chance to sit and write everything down.  First of all, WHERE ON EARTH IS THE YEAR GOING!!!!???????!!!!!  Second of all, I've been doing a lot of working which hasn't left a lot of time for anything else.

I was working at Madame Tussaud's and J.Crew but things weren't going well with the manager so I found a Full Time Key Holder position at IT'SUGAR and have been there since the week after Easter.  I held onto the J.Crew position for a little while but they basically told me they no longer had hours for me so I quit not long after.

I did go North for Easter weekend and grabbed a few more of my belongings.  I may be headed back up for Labor Day but I am undecided on that matter as of right now.

I am currently taking hospitality classes that will help me visit various attractions with my friends throughout the Nashville area.  I am looking forward to exploring more soon though.  But first I have to get my financial situation back under control before I can do too much spending obviously.


So far the summer has been eventful though.  I spent my birthday hanging out and exploring with friends.  My actual birthday was spent with Staci shopping and then we met up with Randy at Cheesecake Factory (my first time and it was meh at best).  They got the waiters to sing to me and I was so ready to murder them both.  The next day, Staci, MiKayla and I went to a really cool old Soda Shoppe for lunch and then explored the Frisk Art Museum.  The Sunday following my birthday I had the night off and my roommate Erica took me downtown to see the final performance of the CMA Fan Fair weekend.  So I got to hear the tail end of Keith Urban and watch Luke Bryan perform.

I've been to several minor league baseball games to watch the Nashville Sounds.  Staci and I hope to go once a month and so far we're on goal for that.  On the 4th of July I made it home in time to go downtown with Erica for some music, fireworks and food.  I am so glad that my jobs are more flexible than they were last year so I was able to do a bit of CMA Fan Fair and 4th of July this year.  I missed it all last year.

All in all my first year here has been a great success and I look forward to many more years to come.  Today I got to head to The Farmer's Market for lunch and then we walked next door to the Tennessee State Museum to explore a little bit.  I have lots of photos to post eventually but they are on my phone so I have to get them to my computer.  One day lots of photos will hit the blog and Facebook!

New Year, New Journey

As we bring in the new year I didn’t really make resolutions.  However, I do want to push myself to do more.  I was looking back at my Facebook memories for New Years Day and I keep setting goals I will never accomplish.  

This year I just want to be me and live life to its fullest.  I don’t want to let anything stand in my way.  I want to be happy and so far I’m off to a great start.  

I’ve made some really good friends down here and have found myself pulling out of my shell even more.  It’s only been about six months but I couldn’t have chosen a better place to live.  There are still so many fun things to do and see here.

Anyways this year I brought in the New Year by hitting the gym, cleaning, hitting a concert, getting pizza at Boombozz, watching Relatable and then watching the fire works and a Keith Urban Concert.  I enjoyed hanging out with my roommate and look forward to more adventures like it.  I am hoping to get pictures soon of the concerts but can’t post them from my phone but if your on Facebook you’ve seen them lol!

Chaos ensues

So the last few months have been completely insane.  I was working a crap ton of overtime but that’s come to an end.  I have learned the final department at the museum which was crazy.  

I am actually writing this post from the mall as I sit outside work people watching because I don’t want to go home.  That sounds bad I know but there has just been a lot going on both at home and in life.  

So today I had two interviews scheduled for a second job.  One was at a store in the mall called It’s Sugar, if you’ve ever been to Myrtle Beach with me you know I can drop a hundred dollars in that store in minutes.  The interview went well but they are looking to fill a mostly nights and weekends position which is what I currently work so it wouldn’t work out.  The second one was meant to be at Cracker Barrel across the street from the hotel.  Needless to say I got there at about 1:45 for a 2 interview.  The manager was contacted and I stood there until 2:35 waiting for the interview to actually happen.  I finally just left without being interviewed. 

I came back to the mall and turned in the application I had for another store and was told he would be calling people to set up interviews soon.  Then after talking to a coworker who works there I went across the hall to talk to the manager of the restaurant about a host position.  So after going back to the drawing board things are looking up again.

I was essentially hoping to go full time at the wax museum but I can’t wait any longer for them to make decisions on that matter.  I have been driving Uber when I get the chance to fill in the money gaps.  But this last paycheck without full time hours or overtime was an eye opener.  I jumped right into a job hunt.  So here I sit on the bench outside work just watching and looking for job options in the mall before I walk around again getting harassed by kiosk sales people.

Something new...

So after my post the other night about being inspired to get back on the path of following my dreams I decided to start keeping a journal of sorts.  I found this little notebook and have decided that I will carry it around with me.  If something I see, heard, say or do sparks something for a story it will be written down.  

I feel like that is part of my problem.  I get these ideas while I’m standing at work or shopping.  Then by the time I get home they are gone.  Like the other day I had forgotten that the weirdest thing I saw was two big, burly bikers were riding those stupid rideable animals through the mall.  Or what about the older woman who put on one of the tutus we keep in the photo area and then took her pants off for a photo.  Or the older gentleman who did the same thing, but took his shirt off too and put on a jacket.  These are see through bottoms so yes we can see your underwear especially when they are teal!!!  Just saying.

What made these instances pop into my head?  Probably the fact that people are freaking crazy.  Most likely the fact that I have been trying to come up with new story ideas.  Who knows.  I look forward to regaling you with more tales from the fabulous life I lead working in the mall.

Music City Here I Am...

So as you all know Nashville is know as Music City, if you didn't already know that then you do now.  It is a city for those who dream about being heard.  While I didn't move down here for music I do still want to be heard.  What I didn't realize is that there are a lot of publishing companies down here as well.  But I digress.

Tonight, my roommates friend came over and I was invited to join the conversation.  Can I just say that self doubt and depression are one and the same.  When a person is depressed they are down on themselves and feel like they are not good at what they do.  There should have been no self doubt for this guy.  I got to hear several of his songs live and in person in my living room and he was amazing.  I hope that he finds his path again soon because the world should hear him.

However, I can tell you that not everybody out there should be on the stage.  Every Saturday and Sunday the mall I work at has people on stage singing right outside of the wax museum.  Let me tell you, I have had a lot of my favorite songs butchered by people singing on that stage.  My co-workers and I enjoy talking about the people on stage if we're bored.  We tone it down when the teenagers are working though, sometimes. 

Anyways, the point of this post wasn't meant to be about music.  The point of this post was about following your dreams.  November is going to be a crazy month for me, I think.  Not only am I hopefully going to be working two jobs but it is also NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month).  That means I hope to get to writing again and possibly write a complete story, not a short story either.  It will be a lot of work but living in a quieter environment I am hoping to have more time to spend on my writing and crafting.

Not only that but our conversations tonight got me thinking and I need to move past my past.  I need to let go and move on.  I need to let myself make friends.  Who cares if every single one of my friends has walked out of my life in the past, I need to move forward and let myself make new ones.  Friends come and go but loneliness can be forever.  I need to be open to more of the opportunities around me and the people around me.  I feel more confident being out of the toxic environments I was previously in but I am still far from out of the woods. 

I have been sitting here mulling over our conversations for a couple hours now and it bothered me that I hadn't realized how much of life I have been missing out on.  Now that I have written this out it all seems so simple and my mind is a lot less everywhere.  I will keep you all apprised as to how the moving on and letting stuff go is going.  I look forward to finding my path in life and following it all the way to the end.

A new place, a new me...

Back in May I made the move to Nashville and after doing multiple apartment hunts, job hunts and working two jobs for a while I have started exploring the city.  However, I am once again looking for a second job in order to catch up on debt and then pay off debt.  So first a little about what's going on with me.

I am currently living in a house in East Nashville that is literally making me sick.  But on a stroke of luck I have found a new place that is about the same distance away from work.  I will be moving to a healthier environment with only one person instead of four people, this weekend.  This will be an interesting situation for me but a good one all the same.

When I first moved down here I had a full-time position at a high end fashion store inside a major hotel and then I got a part-time position at Madame Tussaud's Wax Attraction inside the mall next door to the hotel.  Due to bad management and lack of respect shown by said management I quit my position at the fashion shop and went strictly to Madame Tussaud's.  Now I am on the hunt for job two again.  I did try and considered Instacart (an app where you shop for people and then deliver their groceries).  I have also signed up for UBER but am iffy about driving people around.  All in all I don't think either of those are for me.  However, today I did a job hunt online and there are several places I have either applied or will apply to tomorrow.  Amazon is having a hiring event tomorrow that I intend to attend and then I will head to the mall and discuss another position with the candy store, It's Sugar, that I also know is hiring a key holder.  Both of these are viable options without getting rid of my job at Madame Tussaud's (as I can get a job anywhere in the world with this position).  

All in all I am really hoping to get a position with Amazon because it pays really well and there will be benefits.  It also isn't in retail or the mall which is a major plus.  However, from what I understand it could take me almost an hour to two hours to make the 10 minute drive to work due to Country Christmas that happens at the hotel I used to work at and the Amazon location I would work at is also 10 minutes from both the mall and my new place.  So everything is a 10 minute drive lol.  The candy store is in the mall so it would be a quick walk from one store to the other.  It doesn't pay nearly as much and it is IN THE MALL.  That's a lot of people and a lot of mall time for the holiday season.

As you can see I have a lot to think about and I have to figure out the best thing for me.  I have been struggling to find time to read and craft at all.  I do however, look forward to re-opening my Etsy store (once I move).  I plan to continue Instacart when I have time and possibly charging scooters every night (it's something new I found and need to do more research).

Even with all that on my mind things are going really well.  I have not been dealing with my allergy struggles here like I was there.  I may be strapped for cash and hate my kitchen but in a few weeks I will be eating healthier and trying to do some meal prepping (when possible).  I have plans to color my hair brown with teal/aqua highlights as soon as the cash flow is there.  I am still dealing with the stress of life but it isn't as prominent and tough to handle here as it was in Pennsylvania.  My depression is gone.  I have enjoyed exploring the city I now call home.  Do I miss people back home?  Absolutely and I look forward to seeing them soon.

I will be going home at the end of the month for a day (Friday - Sunday but Friday and Sunday are drive days) in order to pick up some of my things from storage.  So now that you are up to date on what is going on in my life right now I am going to let you go.  But keep your eyes open for new posts about the things I've been doing around town lately and how life is going.