a year from now

Where will I be? What will I be doing? Who will I have met?

 

I have said it before and I will say it again. I believe 2014 is MY year! Even though I am not quite sure what that means, doesn't mean I can't believe it!!

 

 

Here I am...28 and still single. And being single isn't necessarily a bad thing. Whatever money I make is mine, I can do whatever I want to with it, I get plenty of alone time and don't have to watch sports! On the other hand, I get 
lonely and would love to watch sports with someone I care about.

 

So where will I be a year from now; June 10th 2015? Will I still live in Phoenix {yep, I moved across the country - more coming on that later} or will I have found another place to live? Will I still work for my current company or will I have moved on to bigger and better things? Will I have the great group of girlfriends I've always wanted? Will I have met 'the one'? Only time will tell where in life I will be one year from now. Regardless, I am ready for the journey!!

I get to look at this view everyday - the pool! So blessed to call this warm place, where the sun always shines and the pool is always open my home.

 

"Where you are right now is God's place for you. Live and obey and love and believe right there. God, not your marital status, defines your life."
-1 Corinthians 7:17

 

When your mom is right...

Which, granted, there are a LOT of times when your mom is right...at least my mom is!! 

Hello again lovelies!! Grad school and work have sucked up all my time, and then some, leaving nada for blogging. Sad times! However, I am 3 classes and 4 weeks away from being half way done with my master's degree & I love my job, so it's all good :)

About my mom being right though. I was telling her the other day how living paycheck to paycheck is no fun, and that it is always something. I got food poisoning and couldn't work for a day. And everyone knows that at most jobs, if you don't work, you don't get paid. A week later, Izzie appeared to have a UTI (who knew dogs could get those) and she was scheduled for an appointment. The appointment was cancelled because she is her happy, upbeat self and doesn't seem sick. I told my mom, what is next my car?? Be careful what you put into the universe. Those were her exact words. 

Fast forward to 2 days later. I'm on my way to court to observe a criminal proceeding for class. I stop at a stop sign. This lady is making a left turn. She turns, a little too tight. So tight, that SHE HIT MY CAR!!!! She hit me straight on, I tried honking but she didn't hear it, it was too late. The cops were called, my car got towed, and it might not be live to see another day. Luckily neither one of us were hurt, I have symptoms that everyone has that gets into a car accident, sore chest from the seat belt, a pounding headache that has lasted for over 24 hours, and pain in my neck and back. 

:( sad car

This is my first 'real' car accident, my first one was a tiny fender bender. I had no idea they were such a hassle! Phone call after phone call had to be made with no solutions being found.

The moral of the story is that my mom was SO right in this instance, it required a post. Mom, you were right, and I will NEVER put anything out in the universe.ever.again. Unless it is a happy thought off course! Has anything like this ever happened to you?

to every girl

{I found this when deleting things off my facebook. I didn't write this, and I'm not sure who did, but all credit goes to them. Its is beautiful however, and I felt like it needed to be shared}

To every girl that is SCARED to put her heart out there again,

because she has been HURT too many times or so badly.

To every girl that dresses cute,

not skanky.

To every girl who wants to be called beautiful,

not hot.

To every girl that will spend her whole day

looking for the perfect present for you.

To every girl that would die

to have a decent boyfriend.

To every girl who would just once like

to be treated like a princess.

To every girl that cries at night

because of another heartbreak.

To every girl that

just wants to hold hands.

To every girl that

kisses him with meaning.

To every girl who

just wishes he cared more.

To every girl who would just once want a guy to give

their jacket up when they are cold.

To every girl who

just wants HiM to call.

To every girl who lies

awake at night thinking about him.

To every girl that

just wants to cuddle.

To every girl that

just wants to sleep with him without having sex.

To every girl who shows how much

she cares and gets nothing back.

To every girl that thought

maybe this one could be "THE ONE".

To every girl that laughs at stupid stuff

when she actually doesn't think it is funny.

To every girl who is just looking for that one

and only and is having a rough time along the way.

To every girl that doesn't want a guy who

just plays with her emotions but actually caresabout how she feels.

To every girl who wants

words backed up with ACTIONS.

To every girl that fell for all the lies

only to find themselves alone in the end.

To every girl that gave her heart away

to have it shoved back in her face.

To every girl that has faith that 'tomorrow will be a better day.'

And it will be...

I'm posting this because I needed to be reminded. Reminded to keep having faith. My Mr Right is out there, he is probably hopefully DEFINITELY looking for me!

FF - work edition

ITS FRIDAY!!! I'm excited that it's Friday ya'll! I'm so blessed to have found this awesome job but it is challenging to get back into the work mindset after lounging around for 10 weeks. My first week was perfect, everybody is super nice. I'm really excited to be working for this company and I can see myself working here for quite a while, God willing. 

Because this week was an adjustment period and I have seen my photographer sister for about 20 minutes this whole week {tech week at her job..don't ask. She gets to work at maybe 10ish(?) in the am and returns in the other am!} so no 'professional' pics were taking. HOWEVER, seen as how I switched providers and got my very first iPhone on Sunday, pictures were most definitely taken!!

Day 1! Eeek, I was so nervous but I felt really confident in my outfit and that definitely made a big difference!

shirt - Target

skirt - H&M

Day 2:

Dress - Target

Cardigan - Old Nay

Shoes - Cosmpolitan (sold at JCPenney) 

Day 3:

shirt - Joe Fresh (sold in select JCPenney stores)

blazer - hand made

black skinnies - Old Navy

{LOVED this outfit!!}

Day 4:

polka dot sweater - Target

skirt - H&M

shoes - Sole Society

Day 5! First week of training is complete! 

dress - J.Crew

shoes - Payless

I can't believe I've been in training for my new job for a week! This week has honestly flown by!! Once this next week flies by, my MOMMY will be here!!! 

I love having a job where I can wear whatever I wish. Someone once told me to 'Dress for the job you want, not the job you have'. For the past week I have really made sure to dress appropriate, fun but still professional. I will be hard to resist spending my entire paycheck at work, but I shall refrain :)

HAPPY FRIDAY!

first impressions

Today is my first day at work..EEK I'm so excited for this new opportunity and to see where it will take me! Last week all the new people in my 'class' had orientation. This was one of the times where first impressions were everything.

Per company policy, I can't specify where exactly I work but from what I can tell it seems like a great company to work for. Today was orientation for a group of the new employees. I start my actual training on Monday and will be in training for the next 4 weeks.

Off course, said orientation needed a stellar outfit...first impressions are everything! Instead of buying something, I decided to make a dress for the occasion and I'm SO glad I did!

{absolute worst part about making clothes - taking things out!}

{instagram cut my feet off but I was wearing nude pumps}

{ Necklace is from Baublebar }

{ Dress is Newlook Workroom #6070 made with a cotton sateen fabric }

Follow me on Instagram (@sprinklesontoast) to see what I wore to my first day at work!

FF puggle style

I really hope I can share with you guys the video of when I found out what my parents got me for graduation / birthday {can't remember which one}. My mom was lurking in Amsterdam and found me this purse...ITS A PUG PURSE!! The video is hilarious, especially when I realize its a purse!

If you follow me on instagram {@sprinklesontoast} you would have already seen pictures, but for those of you who missed it, here they are again

{the resemblance with the real izzie is uncanny!!}

{izzie is terrified of izzie squared! its rather hilarious}

In all honesty, there is no way I could NOT do a Fashion Friday and not feature this awesome purse! So without further rambling, here are the FF pictures for this week 

PURSE - Amsterdam

cardigan - Gap

white tank - H&M

purple tank - Old Nay

jeans - Rock Star Skinnies from Old Navy

watch - Target

bracelets - TJMaxx, gift from mom

rings - Kay's, Jewel Mint

shoes - Sole Society 

now what?

Applying for jobs stinks! Everyone seems to be looking for a recent college graduate with a plethora of experience. Now I can't pull experience out of thin air, so the jobs in my field seem pretty slim. In my experience, with the job market being the way it currently is, employers can ask for basically anything from a job seeker because there are so many of us out there that are looking for work. It also means that those of us that just graduated and don't have experience are being left behind in the job search.

It has been almost 3 months since I've worked and I'm getting tired of sitting in my room / house applying for job after job and only getting rejection emails sent to me. 

I had a long talk with my sister {lynne @ Holland-Amerika line} and my mom and we all agreed that for the time being, I need a job, any job. I ran out of money rather quickly and that is the main thing I need right now, money. So I decided that right now I should re-direct my focus from finding a career to getting a job that will allow me to have money so I can start saving. This, off course, doesn't mean that I will stop looking for better jobs all together but it will be nice to get out more and make money. I miss getting up and getting ready.

I don't want to live in the town I'm in currently, yet I'm here now so I might as well make the most of it. I applied for a job here in town on a Sunday and got a call by Tuesday to come in for an interview the following Friday. I'm glad to say I accepted the job they offered me on the spot. I will be working at a high end clothing brand as a client specialist. This might not be my dream job, or even a career but for now it will provide me with what I need now, money and insurance. And who knows, perhaps this is a career. My career.

What I also found in my search is that a lot of employers are giving preference to those that have a Master's degree, and they don't seem to really care what field it is in. By having 'just' a Bachelor's degree, I feel as if I might be overlooked for other jobs because I have no higher education. After looking into it, I decided to apply for graduate school.

I didn't think I could get in to any graduate program. I pulled my grades together my senior year of college, and I graduated with a 2.24 GPA, but I didn't think that was high enough to get accepted anywhere. As it turns out, I got accepted at Liberty University! I am taking classes online for a Master's degree in Human Services with a concentration in Criminal Justice. I will be starting classes September 16th {pending student loans} and will be done with my degree in May of 2014!! This also means that by the time people graduate with their Bachelor's in May and they will also be looking at jobs, I will have finished my Master's degree and have an 'up' on them.

I'm so excited for this journey. Even though I am scared to take on student loans, it isn't a terribly large amount and something about this job and going back to school feels right. There is no other way to explain it.

Have any of you had trouble finding a career job after college? Or experience in getting a Master's degree?