VISTA

It's been forever since I've posted and so much has changed, so I'm not entirely sure I can make a solid post out of what's bound to be a smorgasbord of information, but for the sake of pointless blogging I will make a valiant effort. I'm going to make this like one of those novels that tells you how the book ends in the very first chapter so the rest of the book is you hopelessly trying to decipher how in the hell the author gets back to the..end. Or beginning. Whatever.

I'm currently working as a Resource Development Coordinator at the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Virginia Peninsula. I'm doing this as an Americorps VISTA (Volunteers In Service to America) - it's basically the Peace Corps for people who love America a little bit too much and think it's a smart decision to work for less than minimum wage doing a job that surely entitles you to better income.

How did I get here? Good question.

I submitted an application to Americorps VISTA programs back in September/October, the only real reason being I had no idea what I was going to do in a year (and I knew I didn't want to go back to school), and my application was already 75% completed from when I was graduating from UW. A couple of quick edits and I was done in a half hour. The way the VISTA application process works is kind of confusing, but you basically fill out one giant "master" application and then choose up to 10 sites that you want to send the master application to. Being that I [think] I want to end up in DC, I applied for every and any site in Virginia.

Fast forward a few weeks and I meet my now boyfriend at a wedding in October. Now boyfriend happens to be from Norfolk, Virginia.

Fast forward another few months (Feburary, for those who like a timeline) and I get a call from the Boys & Girls Club of the Virginia Peninsula, asking me to interview for a Resource Development Coordinator position at the Newport News office. I've always liked the idea of working in the non-profit world, and since this is my "self exploration" (AKA figure out what the heck I want to do with my life) period , I figure I'll interview anyways. I have zero experience in resource development, so it's a long shot, but what the heck.

Fast forward two weeks (March). Job offer, with 24-hours to accept or decline. Frantic calls to now boyfriend convincing him I'm not crazy while telling him I might accept a job that puts me within 30 minutes driving distance of him. We've now known each other four months ("I promise I'm not crazy. PLEASE tell your mother I'm not crazy. Do you think I'm crazy?!"). I accept the position.

I now have less than two months to find housing in Virginia, finish my job in Chicago, pack up my life, and move across the country. I managed to do all of those things fairly easily, minus the incessant panic-stricken Google searches and calls to now boyfriend.

And now I'm here. I've been here a little over three weeks already and it's gone fairly smoothly. The move went better than expected, and I got a great deal on a summer sublease for an apartment. I'm still trying to figure out the whole budgeting portion of it (living on very meager money is tough!) and that's sure to still be an adventure for the next year. I've also had to get used to what are normally August temperatures in Wisconsin pretty quickly - today it's upper 90s with what's bound to be at least 60% humidity. I'm not complaining - I love summer - but it does have a bit of an impact on my running game. I've decided to declare myself insane and register for another half marathon in October. I'm also planning on doing a 10K in September that will give me a little snippit on how the half will go. This gives me a few weeks until I officially start training, so I can better accumulate myself to running in humidity, get myself in running shape (AKA beef up the lack of nutritious food I've been eating lately), and make myself stick to an early-morning running schedule.

So, basically, life is great. My job is going really well and I enjoy the work I'm doing. I'm going to the Tim McGraw concert in Virginia Beach this weekend. Janae's wedding is next weekend (holy shit - really?), so I get to go back to Wisconsin and perform my Maid of Honor duties I've been waiting more than a year for. It's bound to be an awesome time, and I'm particularly looking forward to having now boyfriend around a large chunk of my good friends and family, since that doesn't get to happen too often. Then there's the Fourth of July, a weekend trip to West Virginia, a weekend on the beach in North Carolina, and then some time with the family here in August.

I've rambled enough, just figured someone out there might want an update. I'm going to actually try to blog more, especially about my VISTA experience, so keep in touch!