It’s been almost a year since my last post, and when I think back on all that has happened this year, it’s no wonder I haven’t posted in that long. It’s been super busy! Soon after my last post, I moved to North Little Rock, Arkansas with a couple of friends for about a month. I looked for a job there, but an opportunity arose back home in Birmingham. So I came home and went in for the final interview, and it turns out that I didn’t even get the job. So, in September, I moved to the other side of the city to live with my Grandmother, who was aging and needing help around her house. I’m glad for that opportunity, because it allowed me to become closer to her and get to know her in my adult years, rather than when I knew her as a child. She got very sick a couple of times when I lived there between September and February, and I had to get her to the hospital. She now is doing wonderfully and is active and involved in her new resident home, where she has frequent visitors from our large family. We are all happy to know that she is receiving immediate care if she should happen to need it.
During that time, my uncle got me a job working 12 hour night shifts at a printing press 7 days a week. I knew going into it that it was going to be quite the adjustment. For four months, I slept during the day and worked all through the night, with only a 30 minute lunch break. I thought I would be miserable, but I can proudly say that it was one of the most enjoyable times in my life. Even as I think back on it, I truly miss those days, trying as they were. I worked closely with my Uncle Dan, and my cousin, Robert, and eventually my other cousin, Adam while I was there. These are family members of mine that I never really got to know until this year. I love them dearly. I also worked with a vast majority of Latin American/Hispanic people that also became very dear to my heart. I learned SO much about their culture while I was there. For instance, at lunchtime, everyone shared what they had. Every day was like a pot-luck. There was no “bring your own lunch” with them. It was something I had not been exposed to before. Even though there was a large language barrier between me and many of my new friends, we joked and cut up and just became really good friends. Motivation to learn the language and engage with the Latin culture grew within me. With their help, I learned a lot about the language during those long nights. I can fully see myself working closely with Latin American people someday in the future. I know for a fact that if God had not led me to this path, I would have no such desire. I had no understanding of Latin American culture, and was raised in a part of the country that is heavily prejudiced against Hispanic people. I thank God almost daily for leading through that wonderful, hard, exhausting time in my life. It was only by His strength that I was able to withstand such long working hours, with no breaks during the weekends for almost 2 months; yet come out on the other side and say whole-heartedly that it was the best time in my life. There is a quote from C.S. Lewis that I think sums up that time period perfectly: “Experience; that most brutal of teachers. But you learn. My God, do you learn.”
In December, I began dating my friend Todd exclusively. We had gone on a few dates throughout the year, and even though I wasn’t ready to commit until that time, he stuck around, waiting patiently. It wasn’t until I saw him graduate with a college degree in his hand that I found him unbearable. Ha! We have now been together almost seven months, and I have to say, he is absolutely wonderful. I am very happy to be with him; he is so understanding, and we have not been upset with one another for more than two minutes. He tries hard to respect my feelings, and I do the same for him. He is very honorable; he is a good man.
In January, when the big project ended at the printing factory, and work slowed, I started working as a waitress/hostess at a local pizzeria. Waitressing was something that I had not done before. It was definitely different; fast paced, pressure, and you always have to smile. I won’t say I hated it, but it was just my temporary job until I found the one that I really wanted. In the beginning of February, I found the job that I had been searching almost a year for at a privately owned Allstate Insurance Company. I was in my element; I filed papers, made copies, answered the phones, worked on the computer, and learned my way around their unique insurance program. I was told that I was doing a wonderful job, far exceeding expectations of when I was hired on. So I started looking at apartments in the city and was ready to settle down in my new job. But after two months, the private owner of the company came to me and told me that they needed to cut me. I was in complete shock, and still am not sure of the reasons to why this was my fate. However, I am now enrolled in the University of Alabama at Birmingham and am to start as a transfer student in the Fall. I have decided that my major will be International Studies, and I will be focusing on the Spanish language, as I want to someday work within the Hispanic culture. I will also be considering a minor in something within the Communications department, maybe social media, as it has been something I have been interested in since I was about 12 years old.
That pretty much catches us up, for now. I’m sure I’ll post again, soon. 
