On Quitting My Job

Via

The day after Easter, I woke up in a funk. Actually, it was more than a funk. It was a full-blown panic attack. For whatever reason, I woke up that morning and it felt like someone was screaming at me to look at my current career, and pursue the one I'd been obsessing over on and off for years.

I've always wanted to be a professional writer in some capacity, but as college graduation loomed two years ago, I looked into possibly doing some freelance writing. Really, I was lost and willing to look at any avenue. But I forgot about freelance writing and decided to accept a corporate job with a real estate company.

After four days, I quit that job with its toxic work environment and went back to my old internship. I figured this would last a couple months, through the summer. It lasted 8 months. During that time I decided to look into some freelance work again. Over 8 months, I didn't land a single freelancing gig. So when I got hired at my last job, that all fell by the wayside.

A little over six months into that job, freelance writing started haunting me again. I would go on long morning drives before work, mulling over my future and whether could work in cubicles for the rest of my life. I woke up well before my alarm every day on steamy August mornings to drive and drive and ask myself that if I wasn't happy with my career, what would it take to fix it?

I was at that job for a year when another company approached me about a position at their company. I accepted that position this past winter. And that is where I was when I woke up one morning practically in a frenzy to get out. It was then I decided to really, really look at my life and my options, and figure out what was next.

It wasn't the jobs, necessarily; it was the fact that even though I knew where I wanted to go with my career, I wasn't going there.

I knew it was finally time to act. I got serious about making my life what I wanted it to be. I set goals. I researched. I listened to motivational speeches. And in less than two months of frantic planning and searching, I put in my notice at work.

It's amazing that I spent 8 months looking for freelance jobs with no results, but as soon as I got serious about what I wanted to do, I took action sooner than planned. My original plan was to leave my job in October. But several opportunities came together at once, and I knew it was time to go.

Now it has been one month on my own. It's a struggle, for sure. But it's the right struggle. It's a daily battle of doing enough, marketing enough, planning for the future and cringing at my bank account, but still waking up every single day with optimism and excitement for the day ahead. That never happened at work before. And it really is an amazing feeling.

I think the craziest part is that this doesn't feel crazy. It feels absolutely natural, like of course this was supposed to happen at this time. That isn't always the case. Other jobs or opportunities have felt completely wrong to me, deep down. My gut was right every time. But I'm grateful for all of them, because I learned great tips, hard lessons and basic business skills.

I can't wait to document my successes and failures here, and to answer any of your questions! Anyone else trying to do something similar? What's your dream job?

I'm back...and I launched my dream career!

Well, it has been quite awhile! And a ton of stuff has happened that I can't wait to document. Honestly, I've barely thought about this little blog until tonight, when I realized all of the amazing stuff happening in my life and how I wanted to get it chronicled for later.

Proof I'm still alive:

This will be a quick recap and I'll be back to give more detailed versions of all of this. So, here is what's been going on since I last blogged!

• Had our first bridal shower
• I QUIT MY JOB!
• I launched my freelance/virtual assistant career full-time. So basically, I am now a work from home puppy mom. AKA my dream.
• We got an apartment. Then broke the lease when a house came available. Then that house fell through so we put an offer on another one and we got it!! We will be homeowners in August!
• I launched another book, too!

Then there are all the little things. The wedding invites, picking out furniture for our new place, doing some honeymoon research, and learning a ton about my new(ish) field.

What an amazing summer it has been! So I plan on posting about each and every one of those things because they're all worth it. But I'm buzzing all.the.time because I honestly don't know what to be excited about first. We finally hit the 100-day mark until our wedding, we have a whole house to decorate, and I've got the job (and puppy! and future husband!) of my dreams. So much to be grateful for!

Meet our puppy!

Two weeks ago, we finally got to pick up our little Boxer puppy, Winnie! She is adorable and feisty and ridiculously cuddly, and I adore her.

She is also a ton of work! Tom was out of town last week so it was just me and Winnie. And if I looked away for two seconds, BAM! She's eating a cord or a leaf or a stick. I am constantly shoving my hand in her mouth to pull out various items. At least she's getting used to it?

We are definitely getting used to her. That first week was tough because we knew a puppy would be a lifestyle change, but it almost felt like we'd adopted a toddler. After a couple weeks, though, we are all in a routine. 

Currently she's sleeping with Tom in our bed, spoiled little girl :) Of course we were all "She can't sleep in the bed with us!" and that didn't last too long. She sleeps in her crate at night, but in the morning we let her nap with us. She's little now, but even when she's a 60-pound adult Boxer, I'm sure we will still be letting her up on the bed.

She also loves to wrestle with the cat, sleep in strange positions, do a special yodeling cry when I leave her in her crate and sit on our laps whenever possible.

We love our little Winnie!

Changing my Thoughts: My first few weeks using the Law of Attraction

Happy Monday! We all need a pump-up on a Monday morning, right? Here's one for you:

The past few weeks have been interesting. I woke up the day after Easter, decided there were some areas of my life where I didn't feel happy, and got to working on making changes; some little, some massive.

A couple days later I did some reading/YouTube watching on the Law of Attraction. The idea is that like attracts like. When you are positive and grateful, more good things come your way. If you consistently feel you are a victim, negative things happen (or you are more aware of them.) Whatever frequency you are vibrating at, other things of a similar frequency will find you. And if you put it out there that you have a clear-cut goal and are working toward it every day, things start to happen.

Within a few weeks, my life has started to change:

• I wake up happier and more excited to start the day
• I feel I am working toward my dream life and making it happen, instead of just thinking "It would be nice if..." or "I wish I had..."
• I have far more patience and deal with tough blows easier because suddenly, nothing feels impossible. Nothing is holding me back.
• My anxiety has diminished drastically.
• I can get through tough workouts, long days and crack-of-dawn working sessions much easier.

I can't wait to share what I am setting up over the next couple months, but I am even more excited about my attitude and confidence shift.

Here are some videos I liked if you want to learn more about it yourself!

• How to use the Law of Attraction
• Without a Paddle
• Celebrities on Law of Attraction

And because you won't hear this nearly enough today, "May the Fourth be with you!"

Weekend Things, and 6 months to go!

Happy Monday!

This weekend was lovely. Tom and I celebrated 6 months till our wedding day on Friday night at Olive Garden. And we saw Age of Adaline, which we both really enjoyed! Definitely a feel-good romantic movie, with some made-up science thrown in. It was fun.

I can't believe we have hit the 6-month mark to our wedding. We started out at 25 months! Yikes. And the to-do list just keeps growing.

One thing on that list is to keep growing my hair. It isn't easy; I usually chop my hair up past my shoulders once a year. But my mother is a hair stylist who happens to love long hair, and she wants more hair to work with for our wedding day, so there you have it. No chopping allowed until November.

Saturday night we made this chicken which was delicious. We've been doing lots of cooking to prepare for living on our own, and so far, everything we've made has been a hit!

And then I made these cupcakes again. Almond cherry. They are ADDICTING. I made 24 of them and six people polished off all of them by the next day.

Yesterday Tom and I took a walk in the woods to find some large branches to make an arch for our wedding. We drew plans all over the driveway in chalk, which was fun, but not as fun as hopscotch.

Hooray for warmer weather!

A nesting weekend, and finding the path.

Happy Monday, friends!

This is the first Monday in weeks that I woke up feeling energized and ready to tackle the week. I am slowly working toward a lot of MAJOR goals for myself and I can't wait to see how everything unfolds. After a couple rough weeks, this is refreshing.

I have been wanting to pick up freelance writing side hustles for awhile now to help supplement our wedding/student loan payments, but for the most part, all I was doing was planning. Now I have an actual goal in mind and things are starting to happen!

Speaking of planning...we spent this weekend doing some shopping for our puppy! We're just about set. We picked up some bowls, a collar and leash, a puppy bed and a brush. Only three more weeks!

We also spent this weekend doing a little apartment prep, mostly gathering supplies we will need and checking to see what we have already.

I'm so excited to decorate our new place. I haven't had the chance to do much decorating outside my room, so I have no clue if I'm any good at it. Tom has good taste, so that helps.

Yesterday I made my favorite homemade laundry detergent, this turmeric chai tea (perfect for the rainy day we had), greek pasta salad for lunches this week and these amazing strawberry muffins.

Mmm....definitely having those for breakfast this morning.

TWO exciting announcements!!

So it's been a whole month since I posted here. *Womp* I have been out enjoying the sunny weather, doing some side work and just living life.

(Random blurry Easter brunch photo to prove I am still alive.)

But I have two very exciting announcements to make up for it!

So the first thing...

We are getting a PUPPY!!

In May, we will be puppy parents to this little Boxer girl, and we are SO excited. We have been researching dog breeds and puppy training for about two years now, so we were finally ready to contact breeders. We went back and forth on breeder dogs and shelter dogs, but because she will be our first dog together, we wanted to know the dog's whole history and exact breed.

We thought we would wait much longer to get a dog. At least a year, until after our honeymoon. But because we live at home with Tom's parents (and his friend Jake) there will be lots of people coming and going to help socialize her and let her out when we are at work.

So now we are working on picking up everything she needs, choosing a name, etc. And it is so much fun!

Back to that timing thing...like I said, it's convenient because we live with Tom's parents. But as of the beginning of July, after living in their basement for two years, we will have our own place!

We will be about a minute from Tom's job, so he can let the puppy out at work. They are very dog-friendly apartments, and the lady who showed us around told us the people who live below her have two boxers of their own. 

Anyway, that is my quick update for today. Lots of exciting things! And plenty of lists to be made, errands to run, payments to make, etc. Oh, and then there is that wedding thing we are doing.

Happy Thursday!