Leaving on a jet plane...

To all my faithful stalkers, I mean followers... :) I apologize for the lack of posts. I personally think it's better to have time between posts, that way there's more for me to blog about.

Here's the latest of what's going on.

I am leaving for Virginia tomorrow morning and will be there until January. It's gonna be a long trip but I'm definitely looking forward to it! I was originally going for Christmas break to help watch my nephews while they were out of school. I got worried because I would have been gone for about 3 weeks, and that's a lot of work to miss. Missed work equals to less money, which then translates to unpaid bills. I told my sister that I wasn't sure if I could come out because of this. She then told me that I could work w/ her while I was out there. Then she said I could go out earlier and work more, and get caught up on my bills. I was worried to be gone for so long but I feel like this is a great opportunity for me. I have great jobs here and I love them both, it's just that the recession makes life difficult. Hours were cut earlier this year at the Distribution Center and that effected me a lot. Recently, hours were cut at California Pizza Kitchen, and now I'm in a pretty deep hole. Sometimes I am able to get more shifts, but not enough. Now that I'm leaving to work w/ my sister, I'm hoping things will get better! I should be able to get caught up and hopefully even be able to save some money too!

Last night I got a phone call from the University of Phoenix. I entered my information on one of their sites, to get more info about nursing school. They called to follow up on that. In all honesty, I just wanted to get some emails about it to see if I'd even be interested. Instead, someone called and then transfered me to a counselor to map out furthering my education w/ them. It was interesting because after I was transfered, the counselor asked, "What can I help you w/?" I laughed a little and said, "I'm not sure, she called ME." Well, we worked it out and started to talk about school. I expressed an interest in becoming a nurse, but as I talked to Jared, the counselor, he helped me realize that I'm not very passionate about becoming a nurse. He asked why I was considering nursing and I told him it was because when I was little my papa (grandpa) was really sick and I tried to help him get better. He later passed away of colon cancer, but at the age of 4 yrs. old, I didn't understand that he wasn't coming back. I would tell my mom and gammy (grandma) that I was "going to dig up papa and clean him up and make him better again." I continued to say, throughout my childhood, that I would become a nurse. I have also been told that I'd be a great nurse because I'm "so caring and compassionate and work well w/ people." well, Jared understood this all, and then asked me if it's what I wanted. He said that lots of people w/ those same attributes make great teachers, as well. He said that many people go to school for things that "make sense" but later realize it's not what they want to do. I then said, "well there's no sense in forcing a square into a circle." Why force it?

We talked about it a little more and he then asked another question, "which are you more passionate about? Nursing or teaching?" Right then and there I realized that nursing wasn't my passion! I don't really have a "passion" per se, but I would much rather be a teacher than a nurse. I can only handle so much when it comes to human anatomy, but I love kids! I would have so much fun teaching in an elementary!

Well, to make a longer story short, I decided that I would look into elementary education a little more. I've been planning on culinary arts, but I think I'll go down the education route and then maybe later, culinary arts. It was really cool because Jared wasn't pressuring me at all. You know how, sometimes, people who are endorsing things often seem to pressure you into using their products? Jared wasn't like that at all. If he did, he would've convinced me to take up nursing. As of right now, I have an appointment to talk to him next Monday, over the phone, since I'm leaving and all. We are going to set me up to start taking classes online in February. I'm really excited! He asked if I wanted to get things set now or if I wanted to think about it, and I told him that "if I think about it too much, it's not gonna happen." I felt so motivated and excited!

A cool thing too, was that his family is from Big Island! When I heard his name I was like, "I know Loo's from Big Island" and that was before he told me. He grew up here so I don't know him but I'm sure I know some of his family. I thought we were related somehow, but I asked my dad and he said that it's more of a "calabash" relation and through marriage from the Bertlemanns. We had fun talking about Hawaii and the "ono kine grindz." We shared info on places here that have the "good stuff" and I'm excited to go there when I get back!

And so my dear followers, I bid thee farewell for a few more days until I can get settled and have time to blog again. I promise that I will have good things to share, next time! And I will do my best to have pictures too! Have a wonderful week and keep smiling! Be strong, be happy, and find the joy in your life!