My Post-Grad Life

When I moved back to FL after graduating, it took a little time to “get my feet on the ground.”  To be honest, I am still far from being settled here.  I know that it will take time to establish a sense of community here, but I am patient and trying to stay positive. 

When I first arrived in FL, it was operation “clean and organize room.”  You might be thinking, “how long can that take?!”  Well, I’ll tell you- it certainly wasn’t an afternoon affair! This was not a standard room cleaning, it was a complete “gut job.”  I took everything out of drawers and the closet and essentially started from scratch.  With all the moving my parents have done in the past 3 years combined with constant travel to and from school, I really had no idea what was in my room and where things were being stored.  I ended up making a huge “give away” pile and bought some containers to stack in my closet.  I worked about 2 hours a day on this project, and about 3 weeks after arriving in FL it was complete!  FINANLLY! Flashback to moving to FL-at least my room didn't look this bad:

When I first arrived in January I also had an interview with a tutoring company in the nearby equestrian community.  Many high schoolers who participate in the horse show competitions stay in FL during the winter months, so there is a need for tutors.  I got the job and tutor Spanish a few days a week (for 5-10 hours depending on the day).  I have specific students that I see for a few hours each week, and I am responsible for keeping them up to date with their Spanish classes back at their schools up north.  This means I have to have constant communication with their teachers-making sure I have their assignments and proctor the necessary tests.  Honestly, I am so glad I found this job.  It is flexible and I essentially get to choose my hours.  The office is really nice, and the students are awesome! The pay is also amazing-which is a bonus!  Hopefully this teaching experience will get me even one step closer to a full time teaching job-which I hope to pursue later this year! Here is a picture of the  company website and the rooms we tutor in (it's not me in the photo-I just found it on the company's social media).

Toward the end of January, I emailed my tri coach and told her that I was ready to train again for this year’s season.  We met and talked about my ideas and goals, and I have officially started training.  I am finishing up PT for my shin-and HOLY COW my BUTT KIIIILLLLSSS! I have come out of PT bruised (from soft tissue massage) and unable to sit down (from the abundance of pistol squats).  My running at this point has been short and slow, but my biking and swimming this first week shows that it appears I am starting off strong.  I’m not  too excited-Obviously I have tons of training ahead of me…including a day of training that will consist of a 1 hour swim, 5 hour bike, and 2 hour run (I can’t wait….thanks coach for the warning!).  BUT, it is still comforting to know that I’m not this terribly out of shape chick.  It normally takes me a month or 2 to feel like a true triathlete, so any confidence boost helps! I’m planning on joining the masters swim team of Jupiter in March-the team I trained with the past few summers. (Post PT bruise and first rehab run below:)

As far as church goes, I’ve been attending GIBC in Jupiter with my parents.  They have a college/career group from 9-10:30 and then the service from 10:45-12:15.  I haven’t really been going to the group though-it is a nice group, but by the time 12:15 rolls around I am just tired.  There is only so long you can sit and listen to sermons-even if they are good sermons! I’m kind of unsure at this point if I see myself really connecting at the church.  I was really attracted to the community I saw in the church-it is obvious that people are connected with one another.  But there is a difference between seeing community and being a part of the community.  It just feels hard to “break in”-but I also think that is just part of the atmosphere in this area.  At this point I’m a little hesitate to try and get too settled in the area-especially if I end up getting a permanent job farther away.  It’s been a weird time-trying to settle, yet trying not to get too settled in case I have to uproot soon. The church from the outside (it's pretty big):

Well, that’s pretty much about it right now!  Not terribly exciting, but that’s fine by me!