Desert Song

Well, I am sitting in Arizona, writing my first blog as an official Maggie's Place employee. Wow. That's all I have to say about that. I just finished my second full day of boot camp, and let me tell you, it's intense. First of all, I am still on Ohio time, which is 3 hours ahead of AZ time. So, as I am writing this it is only 4:41pm in Arizona, but it is 7:41 in Ohio, which means I am pretty tired and am ready to curl up for the night and start thinking about heading to bed in a couple of hours...but that isn't the case, as we still have to make dinner, and then we are having staff game/activity night, which who knows how long that is going to last.
I am slightly bummed that I can't watch the Browns-Eagles games right now. I know it's only pre-season, but being the die hard fan that I am, I really love watching the games, even if they don't count for anything. Okay, but enough about that. I know you all want to know what I have been up to the past week. Well, here goes!
So, I have been in Arizona since Wednesday evening. I spent the first night at one of the houses in Tempe. I was so exhausted, I ended up passing out around 9pm their time, which was about midnight Ohio time. Unfortunately, I also woke up at 4:45am, Arizona time, which is about 7:45am Ohio time, so I was right on schedule for my wake up time, but it made for a really long day in the long run.
Thursday was spent learning policies and procedures, listening to people talk, having some discussion, and we went to daily mass. The best part of the day was going over to one of the other houses, getting to cook dinner, and then having someone come over and sing and play worship songs for us. Worship is one of my absolute favorite ways to pray and meditate and spend time with the Lord, so it was so relaxing to be able to do that last night.
I also spent time last night with one of the other Corps members that is going to be serving in AZ. She had never experienced  Pinterest, so we spent like an hour on there, showing her all the funny things I had pinned or other funny things that other people had pinned.
 Friday is so far just as long of a day. I woke up around 5:30am AZ time, and I couldn't go back to sleep. But I did have a good time chatting with the other girls early in the morning while we ate breakfast. Then we went to the Fiat house and had more meetings and filled out insurance crap and all the fun junk that no one ever wants to do. Lunch was with the Fiat staff, which was really nice because we got to talk to them and get to know them.
After lunch we had some more lessons, and got our email set up. We  prayed Divine Mercy Chaplet with the staff and then had some ice cream. Now we are on free time, getting ready to start making dinner.
 Basically nothing to exciting has happened yet here. I am really missing home though. I am really missing BG and am really wishing I was back there. Especially last night, since it was the first CRU of the year, and I love going to that. It's going to be hard this year, knowing that there are tons of things that I would have been at if I was in BG, but instead I just have to try to embrace the experience and the life I am in now.
I made the decision this week that I am done with my mom. And I know that I have said this before, but I really mean it. She has been incredibly abusive to me over the years, and I cannot honestly think of anything positive that has come out of us having any kind of relationship, especially since it has never been a healthy one. I am really trying to keep true to this, because I know that I am better off without her in my life.
I also go to reconnect with some great people from my past. Denise was a RH police officer that was a mentor to me while I was in high school and I got to reconnect with her this past week, which was amazing! She really helped me a lot with my mom growing up, and always made me believe that I was cared about and did her best to protect me from the craziness that was Virtue. I also got to reconnect with my friend Todd. It was great to get to talk to him and have dinner because we had lost touch for awhile, but have started reconnecting and talking and it's been great. I love that we are building this new relationship, and I can't wait to see where it goes!
Well, that is the past week of my life in a nutshell. Thanks for reading, and I will try to post again next week, probably after Bootcamp is over and you guys can have all the fun details!

Much love!

New Journeys and Old Memories

So, I officially moved back to Cleveland on Monday. I have so many mixed feelings about this. I miss Bowling Green so much. I have enjoyed spending time with my family, and I am looking forward to hanging out with my cousin and siblings this weekend, but it's still not the same as BG.

So, for those of you who don't know what is going on, let me catch you up really quick. In June I lost my job at the hospital. I was devastated. I loved my job. I began frantically searching for new work that could keep me in BG. But, I found nothing. I began expanding my search to areas around BG, and still couldn't find anything. It became clear that I wasn't going to find anything that was going to pay me what I needed to make and that was going to give me insurance. So, I made the hard decision to move back to Cleveland and to move in with my dad and step-mom, Gina.

I continued looking for a job even after I had made the decision, just in the event that something popped up last minute. I also heard of a job in Cleveland doing ministry work (which is exactly what I have wanted to do for the last four years). I went on a 5 day interview at Maggie's Place, which is a home for pregnant, unwed mothers. I was completely overwhelmed during the interview. It was 5 days of being watched, judged, and critiqued.

I returned back to BG and anxiously awaited a decision from Maggie's Place to tell me whether I got the job or not. I got a call a week later offering me a position in either Arizona or Cleveland. I was overwhelmed. I ultimately decided to stay in Cleveland, because that's where my family is, and given that I will only be making $350 per month, it didn't seem feasible to come back and visit home if I was all the way in AZ.

So, with a heavy heart, I said good-bye to the friends, family, and community that I have made in Bowling Green. I literally cried every single day before I moved back. I kept telling myself something would come up and I would be able to stay in BG, but that didn't happen. With that said, Monday afternoon I packed up my rental truck, said my final good byes and made the 2.5 hour trip from BG to Cleveland.

This is where my journey starts! Can't wait to share the next chapter of my life with you all!