Change Is A Comin

Okay, I'm all situated. I find that I work better in coffee shops or other locales that offer upright sitting furniture and/or a desk. At home I just don't seem to be productive. Does anyone else have this issue? I just left Paradise Bakery who has failed me now a second time with their supposed wifi ability.  I do so love their fresh salad/soup/sandwich combo options, now if they could just get their internet in order! I had to relocate to the ol' standby Starbucks.  A giant corporate monopoly, and yet, they are consistent and dependable. What can ya do. 

So I've been itching to write and post again, but wasn't quite sure how often you are supposed to blog before people get tired of you.  Once a week? Twice a week? I think once a week is a healthy goal, and then every once in a while if I'm just bursting at the seams there might be a bonus post here and there :)  Today I am supposed to be packing and getting organized since I totally blew it off yesterday at the pool enjoying this amazing weather that AZ seems to be able to offer just about every day :)  Just as soon as I get some stuff done here I'll get back to it.  I think. 

Oh yes, did I mention I'm moving? Let's back up a bit.  Before I moved to AZ, I had kind of put the word out that I was coming back to the US and was looking to live somewhere warm and any known job openings would be most helpful.  I had a few people respond, one of my good friends Katie in particular was the one who got me all set up working with her at a remodeling company.  And so I set out and drove from Michigan to Arizona.  That was a long drive let me tell you. I am so glad I'm part of a generation that flies.  It's so much more affordable to hop a plane than it used to be.  If and when I am ever a parent with a bunch of hooligans running around let me tell you, unless it is 5 hours or less in the car, we will be flying.  I am just not the road trip kind of gal. I just sit there while I'm driving thinking about how I might be getting muscular atrophy and what is happening with my circulation right now? Plus you just want to get to wherever you are going without stopping much, so you eat like crap and stop at fast food all the way. Ugh, its just not a good cycle for me. Oops I detoured off subject. Anyway, Katie was a doll and basically had the job waiting for me when I got here. What a blessing. It really made moving seamless for me.  I stayed with her for a bit in Tempe while I was figuring out where to live.  The job was working out in Peoria (West Valley Phoenix) at the design center.  It was a good hour drive every morning each way to get to work from Tempe, and I made the decision to not commute that every day.  Katie warned me my social life would take a toll if I lived in the west valley, but I stubbornly insisted on it.  She was right. Wow do I drive alot to hang out with friends. (No offense to my current westie friends ;) However, I don't think I would have done it differently though. Being from Michigan, I had never commuted more than 20 minutes to a job, so an hour each way was just out of the question.  I think about things like the statistics and odds of my being in an accident that come with being on the road for more hours out of the day. My snowboard instructor once told me that I think too much. It's probably be true, but it's what I do. 

Anyway, that's all about to change now! I officially gave my two weeks notice to my current job on Friday, and I'll begin a new job in sales in Mesa (East Vally Phoenix) on July 9th.  I'm pretty psyched.  My first job out of college was working as a custom vacation planner, ie sales, while I was living in Costa Rica.  My sales manager during my first review told me that if/when I ever moved on to bigger and better things that I should definitely still work in sales and that it was just my personality. It was a compliment I didn't really know what to do with at the time. I continued on for a couple years down there, but in the end I started to get burnt out. (You must think I'm crazy to have gotten burnt out living in paradise right, lol.  Another blog post for the future).  I felt like I was just repeating myself every day like a broken record. I knew Costa Rica like the back of my hand, and no longer felt challenged.  And that's when I realized, it was time to come back.  When I first moved to CR, people had asked me, well for how long do you plan to be down there? And I didn't really know.  I had just said, for as long as I'm happy and feel challenged/am learning new things.  I think that goes to say for anything really. 

So now I'll be entering the world of sales again.  I like it.  I am a naturally competitive person. I am looking forward to the team environment and positive work culture this new company seems to offer.  We will have different types of clients as well, so it won't be as repetitive, awesome. From what I can tell, my hours will be somewhat flexible as well, and I'll have more freedom again.  Oh glory be :) (In Costa Rica we had the leisure of taking vacation time pretty much whenever we wanted).  (When I moved back to the US it and started to work here, the lack of vacation time was a bit of a shock to my system). My current job does not offer PTO until after a year of employment, and they are set hours of 10-6.  If you love to sleep in, it's perfect, but I like to get alot out of my days and I'd much rather start in the morning.  With this new position my day will start between 5:30am and 7:30am, so I guess I got my wish lol.  Time to start changing that bed time. But I'll be out so much earlier and off to evening volleyball I'll go :) 

I'll be moving to Scottsdale on June 30th with a friend from the volleyball circle, hooray :) I'm such a happy camper right now.  So many fun things to do in that area.  (Scottsdale is where alot of the vball goes down.) For a while I was playing vball 3-4x a wk, but I've recently cut that back in an effort to not drive/spend so much on gas. It won't be an obstacle much longer.  And there's more than vball! I'll be closer to the cactus and chapparal lap pools. I have also been googling adult hip hip dance class, we'll see if I can find something. Hillary if you're reading this, I so miss our dance days. I've also researched those pole dance classes.  (Is it bad to post that online?) I think they look like so much fun haha.  Pure barre is another one I've had my eye on. And then there's yoga too.  Oh so much I want to do!!

My Background

How do you start a blog? I don't really know.  I do know that it seems like a good idea.  So many people I would like to communicate with, and yet as we grow older my friends and family seem to be more and more spread apart. Thank goodness for this thing we call the world wide web.

Today I am going to give you a little background on who I am and where I come from. Originally I'm from Michigan, it's where I grew up and went to school.  Spending four years in Grand Rapids at GVSU served me well. Not so much degree wise, (did I really need to spend so much $$ on a piece of paper?), but more so that school kept me disciplined and out of trouble.  Or at least mostly :) Allowed me to grow up too.  But we'll save that topic for another post. During my time at school, I decided it would be a good idea to study abroad and really tighten up those Spanish skills. I landed on Costa Rica, and wow did I love it there. Spent four months of being completely immersed, living with a family and traveling every weekend. At 21 I was a busy girl, running around with school full time, working full time in a bar, doing those extracurricular which ranged from intramural crew, to dance troupe, and more that I can't really remember, and then of course going out.  Wow did I love going out.  Bars, parties, it's a wonder I made it out alive.  So you can see that I really didn't have alot of time to research in depth all these possible locations.  Costa Rica was in my budget, they had the classes I wanted, had beaches, and I was sold. Ok, bags are packed. When do I leave?

Well, my classes would be at a university called ULACIT.  A school I would later find out actually had a really good reputation, mostly had dental students, but a handful of us international students, and what's that? This school is located in the city two hours away from the nearest beach? And here is where you can see my first surprise, and how I might have looked at a map of the country before heading down there to live for four months.  I still remember my first night there and handling the shower. Many homes down there have a shower that has been nick named the "suicide shower." The reason for this nick name is because it is in fact electric! There is a module connected to the shower head that actually heats up the water before it comes out.  Keeps the bills down not having a water heater I suppose, but seems a bit scary at first. Well I jumped in ready to go, and guess what, that water was cold. I shouldn't say cold cold, but it was not warm. At all.  Yikes. So I finished up and got the heck out of there. Didn't say anything to my family though as I didn't want to seem like a pain. Heck, I just thought they took cold showers and that was the way things were.  I should mention I arrived to CR three days before my program actually started. Fast forward three days later and during our orientation they explain to us that the module on the shower actually has a switch and can be adjusted. ADJUSTED. I had just taken three days worth of cold showers thinking to myself, I don't know if this is going to work out.  This is going to make me awfully grumpy at the start of every day. How did my family not mention this to me? Geez.

Well, after four months in Costa Rica, I pretty much fell in love with it. Did not want to leave. I was bored with the US and what I had been doing back there. Wasn't ready for the real work world yet.  But as much as I tried to graduate down there, I needed one class that was only available back in Michigan.  So back I went for one more semester to get that piece of paper.  During my last few months of school, I still felt the same.  I wanted to be back in Costa Rica. I began researching and reading every night to see if it was even possible. Could I find a job? Was it legal? Could I survive down there? Well, finally one day I made a decision. Yes. And if not... I would just come back. What was the harm? Two weeks later I was on a plane. I still remember my mother's words to me.  "Theresa, I knew that this was going to happen (my moving to another country.  I have always had a curiosity for travel and cultures), but I thought I had more time."

I remember saying goodbye to family & friends, one of my best girlfriends crying, which of course made me cry, and it was hard but exciting at the same time. Alot of people asked me "why?" (regarding my choice to move to Costa Rica). And I remember thinking "why not?" and not really knowing how to answer them.  It was an unrelatable subject for most of my friends at the time. When I came back to visit time and time again, I actually would avoid the subject with alot of people, because when I told them about what I was up to, they didn't know what to say.  Things have changed now.  People get older and more mature.  We're more interested in each others' lives and don't always feel the need to talk about our own.  It's a nice change :)

I was there in Costa Rica this time for 2.5 years. So much to tell. We'll save that topic for another post(s) in the future.  But the thing is, I'm back now.  I came back to the US mid July of 2011.  I spent some time catching up with family and friends in Michigan, and then made my way out to Phoenix in late September.  And here I am now, its been almost year and I can't even believe it. So this blog will basically be an insight for you about what I'm doing, thoughts, things I'd like to share and discuss. Transitioning back to American life.  (Is it weird I'm still transitioning?). I'm not sure I'll ever get the hang of twitter, or smart phones, but I tell you I sure will try :)