New Job, New Adventure!

I got a new job!
I came out to DC and found a job as a nanny mostly to tie me over until I found something I'd kinda like to do more long-term.
Well - I found something!  I got the call just last week!!
I'll be working with Melwood - a nonprofit organization.  I will be a program specialist, working with adults with disabilities and leading vocational, educational, and recreational classes so that they can learn skill sets that can help them progress in life and help them receive jobs!
I am super excited for this new opportunity to work here and with these individuals!

My job search process:
A couple weeks ago, the family I nannied for had told me that the mom was quitting her job, so they wouldn't be needing me anymore.  So I had to do a bit of searching - mostly soul searching for what I wanted to do in life.
Teaching anatomy sounded neat, so I applied for substitute teaching.  Personal Training would be cool, so I applied to be a PT.  It'd be so rewarding if I could get my foot into a non-profit and start working with that line of work.  These were the jobs I started looking at as I tried to figure out something I would really love to do.
I applied for many many jobs.  During my first week of interviews, I found a job with Melwood - a non-profit - working with adults with disabilities.  THAT sounded AMAZING and I wanted it.
I was offered the job with personal training, and substitute teaching.  All before even my first interview with Melwood for the program specialist position.  I was conflicted.  Personal training would be so cool!  But I still wanted the Melwood job more.  I wasn't even sure if I could get it! 
However, I put my faith and trust in my Heavenly Father and declined the Personal Training job, in order to be able to go for the job at Melwood.  I had my first interview the week after declining PT.  Melwood called me back at the end of that week asking me to come in for a second interview, this time situational (I would be put into the classes in order to lead the class and get to know participants).
I was beyond nervous.  I wanted this job.  SO. FREAKING. BAD.
I don't know if I've ever wanted a job so much!
A couple days later, I received a call with the most wonderful news - I  got the job at Melwood!!!  And I attribute it all to my Heavenly Father.  There's no way I could've done it without Him.  He has prepared me pretty much my whole life for this type of job, having a sister with Down syndrome.  And then He helped me through my interviews!  I feel extremely blessed and grateful!

So here I go!  I'm staying in DC for a while, with a job that I am sure I am going to love so much!

Visiting Family - One of My Greatest Joys

I LOVE MY FAMILY!!!  So stinking much.
Honestly, the one super nice thing about being single is being able to go visit siblings and their families whenever and for cheap (paying for one person is SOOO much easier than paying for multiple) :)

So in December 2018, I was able to visit my brother, Dan, and his family!  That was a blast!  We went to a light parade, went ice skating, played and ate!  I also got to go to a Barre3 class with my sister-in-law.  OH. MY. LANTA.  I was so sore afterwards!!!  Haha but it was a great workout!

Being an aunt is my absolute favorite thing ♥

After visiting them, I was able to visit my sister, Rachel, and her family!  Again, super fun.  We went to Temple Square in SLC to see the Christmas lights and then got some cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory.  We played lots of games.  I babysat.  Truly so fun :)

Isn't my nephew just darling???

I was visiting my sister Mary, while I was visiting home in California before moving across the country to Virginia.  She's just as cute as ever. :)

Mid December, I moved to Virginia.  My house just happens to be 20 minutes away from where my sister, Amelia, and her family lives!  So I get to visit them quite often now!  It is a blast.  I spent Christmas with them.  And since, I just play with them a couple days a week usually!

Loren and his family live in Alabama.  I visited them this past week!  And two days after I left, my nephew decided to come into this world!!!  I will go back to visit them in May :)  We played a lot of Harry Potter, ate lots of good food, and just had a grand time playing together at parks and at home :)

I love this spunky little girl SO MUCH ♥

I LOVE MY SIBLINGS!!!

BYU Football - Why Do I Bother?

I did it - watched a WHOLE football game without falling asleep!  Actually, I watched TWO!
One was a great game. We won!
Second was dumb and reminded me why I hate watching BYU Football.

I'll still watch when my friends or family want to watch a game...buttttt I'm not gonna try and stop myself from falling asleep anymore. haha

Flying - Just Like Having Wings

My parents have awesome friends.
Toni and Terry Poulsen!  They are super friendly and nice!  Terry owns a plane.  And he took my dad and I flying one day!

It was INCREDIBLE!  I've flown in planes before.  But nothing is like flying in a private plane!  So small and you can see everything from windows all around you!

After flying for a little bit, Terry showed me how to turn the plane and go up and down.  Then he let go of his wheel and said, "Alright!  It's all yours!"

WHAT!?  I took the wheel and started flying the plane!  It was SO COOL and so fun!  I had a freaking blast.

Maybe I'll get my piloting license one day. That'd be so cool.

Meal Planning

In September I went to live with my Grandma to help her out.  A big thing that I did to help was cook meals for her.  This gave me the perfect opportunity to learn how to meal plan and do it for a long time!

I really enjoyed learning how to meal plan.  Finding recipes that I'd like to make during the week, shopping each week for the ingredients I needed, and then following through with what I had planned to make!  It took a lot of work.  And not to mention a lot of searching on pinterest for recipes that'd work for my grandma (as she has diabetes).  But it payed off!

My grandma has benefited a lot from actually having healthy meals now.  Her blood sugar isn't all over the place anymore, so that has been a huge blessing!  And she's (slowly, but surely) gaining some meat on those bones of hers! 

When I move, I hope that I will be able to continue to meal plan and make time for cooking.  It's hard when life gets busy and you have things to do, but it is definitely something I want to continue doing!

A Social Media Fast

10 days!  I did it!  Went 10 days without social media!  It was surprisingly really difficult, I didn't realize how much of a habit it was for me to go onto instagram or facebook when I had "nothing to do".  Mostly when I was waiting around for something to cook or while my grandma was watching tv.
I usually don't spend tons of time scrolling through FB or Instagram, but I do use it daily...multiple times a day typically.  FB, I really don't know why I have it.  Instagram - I use it to keep up with my family mostly.  My sister posts instagram stories daily of my niece!  So that was hard missing out on all of that.
Instead of using social media, I turned to doing family history a lot, going on walks, and job searching.  So not using social media made me more productive!  Howevever, I miss being able to see what my sister and niece are up to!  Haha so I think I'll keep it.  But I might try to limit my usage of it still, just to make sure I stay more productive! :)

101 things in 1001 days

I was talking to a friend of mine a couple weeks ago and she mentioned a fun thing that she does that I want to try!  101 things (goals) in 1001 days!  I will write down my list here and I will make posts on when I complete them and cross them off this list!  I've never been a good at accomplishing goals that I have made...so I hope that this will be a good fun way to try doing goals!  And I have almost 3 years to complete it!  So it seems definitely more doable! :)

My 101 in 1001 List

Start date: 10/9/2018

End date: 7/6/2021

Health/Fitness/Beauty
1. Learn how to French braid my own hair
2. Try 101 new recipes (21/101)
3. Be able to do a front plank for 5 1/2 minutes
4. Be able to do 50 consecutive push-ups
5. Make a meal plan each week for a month and follow it (Meal Planning)
6. Don't pick at any acne for at least a month
7. Make ravioli from scratch
8. Visit the dermatologist for that one spot on my arm...
9. Complete the 15 day Fit Body challenge
10. Organize my recipes
11. Learn how to make Macaroons
12. Learn how to make pirogi
13. Learn 3 new hairstyles and become proficient in doing them (0/3)
14. Figure out why I get migraines

Family, Friends, and Relationships
15. Do something special for each immediate family member (0/7)
16. Mail someone a surprise package
17. Complete mission comic book and send as presents to those sisters
18. Mail 10 snail mail letters to friends and family (6/10)
19. Send flowers to my mom "out of the blue"
20. Beat Krista at Racquetball
21. Hike along the Pacific Crest Trail in the Sierra Nevada's with my mom
22. Visit siblings and their families in their cities (5/5) (Visiting Family - One of My Greatest Joys)

Personal
23. Get engaged
24. Get married
25. Make a mission picture book
26. Make my soccer quilt
27. Kiss someone at midnight on New Years Eve
28. Go 10 days from social media (A Social Media Fast)
29. Feed 3 homeless persons (0/3)
30. Save $10 for every item crossed off this list (60/1010)
31. Index 3003 names on Family Search Indexing (165/3003)
32. Do family history - find 100 new names to take to the temple (0/100)
33. Write in my journal at least once a week for a year
34. Get a new job (New Job, New Adventure)
35. Volunteer 3 times in a year in my local community (1/3)
36. Update my 72 hour kit
37. Serve at a soup kitchen on my birthday
38. Buy a stick-shift car
39. Give away 3 copies of the Book of Mormon (you can request a free one for yourself here!) (0/3)
40. Make a blurb-type book from my travels
41. Watch a whole BYU football game without falling asleep (BYU Football - Why do I bother?)
42. Don't say "I don't know" when I have to make a decision for a whole day, 101 days (doesn't have to be consecutive) (0/101)

Learning
43. Memorize 15 scriptures in English (0/15)
44. Memorize 15 scriptures in Russian (0/15)
45. In between General Conferences, re-read and study all talks
46. Master 3 subjects on Kahn Academy (0/3)
47. Master Russian on Duolingo
48. Master French on Duolingo
49. Memorize The Living Christ in English and in Russian
50. Read the Book of Mormon all the way through before 1/1/19
51. Try a new idea of studying scriptures and topics for at least a month
52. Complete my studies of Christ
53. Refresh on my anatomy - memorize it all again
54. Learn a new song on the piano without significant pauses
55. Learn a new song on the ukulele without significant pauses
56. Ask 10 friends their favorite book and read them all (0/10)
57. Read 15 other books (2/15)

Fun Things
58. Go axe throwing
59. Go paint balling
60. Attend my sister's annual Harry Potter Birthday Party
61. Ride a tandem bicycle
62. Answer a telemarketer call in Russian and tell them to never call again.
63. Go sailing
64. Play with a real monkey
65. Go skydiving
66. Go snowshoeing
67. Sing at karaoke night
68. Bathe and/or ride an elephant
69. Ride in a hot air balloon
70. Learn the dance for Thriller
71. Solve a Rubik's cube
72. Go bungee jumping
73. Go to a drive-in movie
74. Learn how to juggle
75. Make something at Color Me Mine (or somewhere similar)
76. Fly in a private airplane (Flying - Just Like Having Wings)
77. Swim with dolphins
78. Build a blanket fort and sleep in it
79. Watch a meteor shower
80. Watch a caterpillar turn into a butterfly
81. Climb a 5.12 grade with minimal rests
82. Throw a pot
83. Relearn how to start a fire without matches
84. Go Scuba Diving
85. Go dog sledding
86. Learn how to break dance

Travel
87. Walk 3003 miles (3 miles/day) (0/3003)
88. Visit my mission
89. Visit 6 temples I haven't been to before (3/6)
90. Travel to a new country
91. Hike Macchu Picchu
92. Go to Hawaii
93. Go on a cruise
94. Go to Harry Potter World
95. Visit 3 National Parks that I've never been to (1/3)
96. See the Northern Lights
97. Travel to a new state
98. Go to Disney World

Other
99. Reserved for 2021

Blog
100. Make a new 101 list when this one is almost done
101. Document all completed items on my blog

Here we go! :)