Pictures from the move...

Oregon Trail

                                                                                    

More to follow later...

Portland

              Wow! I am so far behind on updating my blog. This summer has been really hard. I lost my job over some BS. Which was a huge blow. But I managed through it and made some hard decisions. I fought to clear my name which took ALL summer but I finally won. I moved in with my Mimi to save money while I got on unemployment and food stamps. Then Collin got a huge break, he won his workers comp. case and got a huge check. So we made plans for me to FINALLY make the move to Portland, OR!!
                I packed everything up in my apartment and moved it to the garage. I had several garage sales to make some money and down size. Then i waited another month and a half while I lived at Mimi's. We had a blast. We played many games of scrabble. I even won a few.
                 Then everyone started arriving for Mimi's big 75th birthday bash. Dad was first. He got there a whole week and a half before. I started saying my goodbyes to everyone in New York which wasn't easy. On August 9th, we spent all day getting the truck and the car dolly and then attempting to pack the truck. Rain delayed us a day but we managed to get all but one piece on the truck.
Mimi's birthday bash was Sunday and it was nice to have family all in one spot to say goodbye. It wasn't easy and tears were shed. Monday we left around noon and began the 4 day trip across the country.
              I  CAN'T BELIEVE I JUST MOVED FROM ONE COAST TO THE OTHER!! A huge shout out to my dad for being able to help me drive. I wouldn't have been able to do it without your help and support. I drove the big truck with the car behind me! I also drove down a 6% decline once in Oregon. CRAZY!!
               Once in Portland, Dad had 4 days before he flew home. So we relaxed a little. I spent 6 hours cleaning the bachelor pad (Collin and I are sharing an apartment with a friend of his, who is also from New York {been best friends since childhood}...) and then unpacked the car. Saturday we unpacked the truck. We have soo much stuff. I am still working on unpacking things and making boxes disappear. But I made huge progress over the last few days.
             So there you have it... I move from Kingston, NY to Portland, OR. I am so excited to be living on the west coast. To be closer to family. To be living in a  city. To have new opportunities and make a name for myself here, to have a wonderful place to have a family.

2013

Well this year has been kinda crazy... About a month ago, Collin moved all the way to Portland, OR. His friend had moved there a few months prior and had gotten settled. He told collin to come on out, that there were lots of jobs, since nothing is happening here in NY. After pounding the pavement for 4 weeks, he has finally got a job !!! 9 months of unemployment and a move across the country... I am so happy and proud of him! It hasn't been easy. This year was tough. And it's even tougher to stand by and route someone on despite all the pressure mounting on you with bills and what have you. Not to mention the constant nag of people asking when he was gonna get a job as though he wasn't trying. You live in shit whole kingston, NY and try to find a job. And yeah maybe there was a job at mcdonalds but where is that going to get us?

Anyways, I'm excited about the aspect of moving to Portland, OR. It sounds like the perfect place for us. Collin seems to be settling ok. And I feel like it is the place for me. But not yet. We still have a ways to go before the official move happens. Collin needs to get truly established and make a place for himself. And we have to get on our feet financially (when is that going to happen? I feel like i've been trying to do this since I graduated... 4 years ago) and save money for the move... It's not cheap moving across the country.

In the meantime, I went ahead and got a second job. Macy's said I was overqualified. Which at the time, did not feel like a compliment. I mean who cares in today's economy if i've overqualified, if i'm going to be a hard worker and have all the qualities and more than your looking for... geez.. But there is a different department within my agency called Community Hab. They do basically respite work. Some are straight respite, some have goals and are called comm hab. I work 15-20 hrs extra a week with 4 different cases. I make up my own schedule. The best part is I get to work with kids. I love it! This is my calling.  They all are on the spectrum.And the kids, they all take to me. I get paid great pay cause it's all overtime and it goes on one paycheck. I've also been picking up extra hours at my reg work but that might not be happening much anymore because of budget cuts they are trying to cut back on overtime... We shall see.

I have a wedding planner and we have a venue booked with an official date! SAVE THE DATES will be ordered and mailed out soon. Thank god! I'm so glad and can't wait. Things are finally falling into place.

So that's my life right now.

Dresser

So I wanted to try my hand in something new this year. I also wanted to get something unique for collin this year. What's better than a piece of furniture that he really needed? So i spent over 6 months looking for the perfect dresser to repaint. And my semi-hardwork paid off. I found 2 dressers for under $100 (for both). Not bad. I researched on pintrest on the best way to paint furniture and what i would need. I enlisted a friend with a suv to get the dressers and some help from my brother Ross.

I only painted one dresser so far and finished it just in time for christmas. I spent countless nights after working extra hours at work and with a cold none the less, sanding down and repainting the dresser. I forgot to take real before pictures but it was painted all white with this tacky white paint.

Then i noticed that the back of the dresser needed to be replaced.. This is where ross comes in.

And then i painted the outside and inside of the dresser and drawers...

I did all this while in the basement of the garage where there is no heat... it was very cold. But it was so worth it...

                                                        The end result!

He was so excited to finally have his own dresser and of course the color scheme is amazing!!

The pictures do not do justice to the finished product but I'm very happy with it!

PEO Sisterhood

If it weren't for P.E.O., I wouldn't have made it this year. Not without my sanity that is, anyways. I am so thankful for my sisters. And honestly my chapter is amazing at making you feel at home. There are times when it's time for a meeting, and you are so worn out you can't even think about leaving the house, not even for a gathering of sisters. (I don't have biological sisters, so for me to have these sisters is a god send.) But If you make yourself go, you'll find that it's just what you needed to recharge your batteries. To vent about life and to get a renewed feeling of "everything's going to be ok" and "you are a strong woman, you can handle this; you can do this!". It's just truly amazing.

You might be saying to yourself, What is P.E.O.? Well, P.E.O. is a philanthropic organization where women celebrate the advancement of women; educate women through scholarships, grants, awards, loans, and stewardship of Cottey College; and motivate women to achieve their highest aspirations.

P.E.O. (Philanthropic Educational Organization), one of the pioneer societies for women, was founded on January 21, 1869, by seven students at Iowa Wesleyan College in Mount Pleasant, Iowa. Originally a small campus friendship society, P.E.O. soon blossomed to include women off campus.

      Today, P.E.O. has grown from that tiny membership of seven to almost a quarter of a million members in chapters in the United States and Canada. The P.E.O. Sisterhood is passionate about its mission: promoting educational opportunities for women. Our sisterhood proudly makes a difference in women's lives with six philanthropies that include ownership of a two-year women's college (which now has various 4 year programs), Cottey College, and five programs that provide higher educational assistance

 P.E.O. STAR Scholarship

P.E.O. Educational Loan Fund

P.E.O. International Peace Scholarship Fund

P.E.O. Program for Continuing Education

P.E.O. Scholar Awards

 P.E.O. is a sisterhood. We have chapters all over each state of the US and parts of Canada. We are a group of all women who support and celebrate women in their every day lives. We raise money to put into our projects, aka scholarships, loan funds, and our very own College. We also have a few other funds to help out women in need. For someone who never had sisters growing up, this group is a great opportunity to have. To be able to lean on a sister. To have so many sisters, all over the country. To know you will always have someone to go to about anything going on in your life. I just feel the need to tell everyone about this group that means so much to me. 

I am proud to say I am part of a women's group. I am proud to say that I am a third generation P.E.O. My mom and my mimi are all P.E.O.'s, along with some extended family as well. Once you are a sister of P.E.O., you are always a sister. Whether you are an active member or not. 

P.E.O. was founded on January 21, 1869, by seven students at Iowa Wesleyan College in Mount Pleasant, Iowa. This circle of kindred spirits – bonded by their enthusiasm for women's opportunities – eventually expanded to include women off campus, as well. Today, P.E.O. has grown from that tiny membership of seven to almost a quarter of a million members in chapters throughout the U.S. and Canada, with headquarters in Des Moines, Iowa.

Friendship is the cornerstone of P.E.O. – it is the legacy left by our Founders and it thrives in our unique Sisterhood. P.E.O. exists to be a source of encouragement and support for women to realize their potential in whatever worthwhile endeavor they choose.

True to the mission of promoting educational opportunities for women, education continues to be the primary philanthropy of the P.E.O. Sisterhood. In fact, the P.E.O. Sisterhood proudly sponsors no less than six international philanthropies, or projects, designed to assist women with their educational goals.

As a result, P.E.O. is clearly making a difference in the lives of women all over the world. Nearly 88,000 women have benefited from our organization's educational grants, loans, awards, special projects and stewardship of Cottey College. To date, P.E.O. has awarded Educational Loan Fund dollars totaling almost $136 million, International Peace Scholarships are more than $28 million, Program for Continuing Education grants are almost $40.5 million, Scholar Awards are nearly $15 million and P.E.O. STAR Scholarships are more than $1.9 million. In addition, 8,500 women have graduated from Cottey College.

Grant, loan, and award recipients – as well as Cottey College students – need not be members of P.E.O. With the exception of international students who receive International Peace Scholarships, each recipient is sponsored by a P.E.O. chapter. This allows the chapter members to be a meaningful part of "their" student's life.

This is only a small amount of information of this amazing group. I only hope you decide to ask me about more information or look it up for yourself. Ask me if you are interested in finding a local chapter! I'd love to share this great group with the wonderful women of my life! 

http://www.peointernational.org/about-peo

Wedding Stuff

This wedding stuff is no joke. I've been sitting here for the last probably 3 hours or so just ORGANIZING the wedding list. That's it. The list was already made, 3 times, with addresses. Now I'm putting everything on the computer in a very organized manor. And it's exhausting.  I don't even want to think about what comes after this. Ugh.

And I didn't get half the things I wanted done this evening... Like update shutterfly and create new projects, Finish the Laundry, and like 5 million other things that are on my to do list.. Guess it's a good thing I not only have plenty of time, which feels like it's running out (despite the fact that certain people feel it's way to early to even be discussing these things). But that I am planning on taking a week off from work just to get things done. At least I got the house clean today. Since I've been working crazy hours and then I was super sick, it's been awhile since that really happened.

Hello Everyone

So many thoughts in my head, I have no idea where to start. These last few months have been nothing but boring, and stressful. So many life decisions hang in the wind right now. When is Collin gonna find a job? Where are we going to live? Are we moving out of state? Where are going to have our wedding? How are going to be able to afford our wedding? How am I going to pay the heating bill this month? Are my parents going to ever .... ??

   It's exhausting being the only one working. The whole point of moving back to this house which is in the process of being bought, was to save money. Collin then lost his job and none of that happened. We have been here longer than we anticipated.

   It's infuriating to me that while the people closest to me think they've been in my shoes and offer some advice, they really haven't got a clue. It's infuriating to me that I'm the oldest of my siblings and so far I have nothing to show for it. I seem to be the only one truly struggling. I AM ONE OF THOSE POOR PEOPLE.

Ok maybe I'm not completely poor. And I really do realize that I have a lot going for me and I could be way worse off. And for the most part I realize that I'm in the boat I'm in because of the choices I made, whether that be a month ago or 2 years ago. The only thing I can do, is realize my mistakes and learn from them. Keep moving forward.

   It truly is exhausting and hard work. To constantly be the bread winner, and then say on pay day (which is only biweekly which really sucks and makes it near impossible to budget, not that i know how to budget very well but i hope to change that this year!) "Ok, we are broke because every last penny is going to bills." In the last 3 years I have only worked around 5 pay periods at my base hours. Which means, for the majority of the last three years, i have worked some amount of extra hours, usually overtime, on every pay check. And I have nothing to show for it. I have no money in my savings account. Everything goes toward bills. Collin and I don't have a life. I have no friends. The friends I have are mainly work friends. No one has time to hang out. I don't have time to get together. I am always working to try and make some extra cash so that I can pay the bills.

A lot of it has to do with living in NY. I just can't do it anymore. I don't want to live here anymore. This place will eat you alive and leave you with nothing. Which is why we have been trying to leave this place for 2 1/2 years. The last 6 months have been filled with several attempts of Collin looking for work outside of NY and hopes of moving far away from this horrible place. I am praying that this time it will stick.

 So what is in store for Collin and I in 2013? My goal for the both of us is number 1, be happy. This includes, moving out of New York State and Collin getting a job.

And while I know moving out of state is a huge necessity to being happy and moving on with our lives. It scares the hell out of me. I have never really moved. Yes my parents and I have moved from house to house within the hudson valley here in NY. and Yes I moved to school and moved in and out of apartments there. But nothing like this. Collin and I together, on our own, moving across the country.

I pray that this is the answer to our prayers. And I am very positive that it just may be.

So I am sorry if this is way more information than any of the three people who read this was bargaining for. I am sorry if you think that I have it better than most and am just some girl who doesn't know how good she has it and shouldn't be complaining. But this is my blog. By space to sit and write about my life and how i see it. To look back at what i write and say "Hey, I really have come a long way." And maybe one of you can learn something from me, or has a kind word of encouragement to get me through these hard times.

Because my life isn't what I imagined it being, especially at this point. I'll be 27 this year. I've graduated not only high school but college. I have a stable job and man in my life. But I'm not married and I don't have any kids yet. And I'm no where close to being financially on my feet. In high school, everyone, myself included, joked about how at our 10 year reunion I'd be married with 10 kids. Guess the jokes on me, cause by the time we go to our reunion I'll be lucky if I'm married and I won't even be pregnant. Lol. Not that I don't want any of those things. They just aren't happening as fast I had hoped. Life is funny that way, I suppose.

So here's to 2013, Let it be the best year in a long long time. I am sure gonna try my hardest to make it be!