I feel like life the last ~2 weeks have been so busy that I am constantly playing a game of catch-up. The brief timeline is I graduated, I moved out of one apartment and back home for a few days, moved two states over from Missouri to northern Indiana and started my new job two days after I moved. It’s been a huge amount of change in a not-so-huge amount of time, but I have been loving every minute of it.
That’s not to say, of course, that it has all been easy. In fact, saying goodbye to a few of my closets friends and moving away to an unfamiliar town/state and leaving my family has been one of the absolute hardest things I have experienced, but I’ve been given a tremendous amount of support and kindness along the way and I truly feel very fortunate for everything I am getting to experience. Following the trend of the last few posts, this probably will be less about vegan cooking and food and more about my experiences with graduation and moving thus far.
Graduation. I soaked up every minute of my last week of undergrad that I possibly could: I stayed out too late, had lunch with a lot of friends, fell in love with my school again and tried not to get too sad that the sketchy apartment and school that had been mine for a few years were about to be a thing in my past. College is a funny thing — you don’t really appreciate the time you have when you’re there but, in my case, you get homesick for it when it is about to be taken away from you…or you from it, rather. With each day, my apartment looked less and less like my own and more and more like a storage unit with carefully packed boxes invading every bit of closet space. I think I had gotten all of my goodbyes and tears out of my system before the Saturday of commencement, because I made it through the whole of the day (until I was alone with my family and doing some moving out) without crying or getting overly emotional.
I survived.
Apart from being in mild discomfort from the world’s worst allergies I have ever had and apart from it being extremely toasty outside (Mid-May in Missouri in the heat of the afternoon, on an Astrotruf field in direct sun, wearing a black polyester gown…not a winning combination), graduation was everything I could have wanted. I was sitting by some of my closest friends and even though I was sad to leave a school that, albeit quirky, I had grown to really love, I felt ready. I had done everything I had set out to do and knew exactly where I was going afterwards. I really can’t complain.
GRADUATED.
Leaving my apartment and Kirksville for the last time, however, was tough — especially not knowing the next time I’d be back. I had handed over my keys and watched out of the back of the car as my college town got smaller and smaller in the distance. Truman: thanks for being home for four years, teaching me, giving me a place to grow and introducing me to some of the most amazing people I have ever met. Miss the place already…stay beautiful.
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Rather than marathon driving at some ungodly hour in the middle of the night to get to Indiana, my Mom and I drove up to my new city the day before move in and stayed in a hotel. We caravaned up here, but the drive was still wonderful and it finally felt real — my new job and my new apartment were FINALLY becoming a reality.
Made a pit stop in Terre Haute, right after crossing into the state.
The next morning, it rained and was cold and I was still feeling pretty ill, but with the help of my Mom and Dad, had moved into my new digs with ease. Obviously I am still getting used to where things are, but it’s already starting to feel like home. My Mom even helped me plant some herbs and vegetables — so I am looking forward to wreaking some havoc in the kitchen once they have a bit more time.
Herbs on my deck…and isn’t it cute?!
AND to top it all off, Mishawaka — a neighboring town — has a Whole Foods Market that I have already stopped at and can see myself frequenting whenever I am in the Mishawaka/South Bend area….
Happiest place on the planet.
At my paper, I am a page designer and content editor, so I spend a lot of time reading stories and then placing them on the pages for print — both of which are things I immensely enjoy. Today was my third day and I have learned so much already from the really kind and extremely talented team we have over at the paper — even spent some time editing a page for today’s paper and writing a small story for the web. I have a lot to learn still, but I am already feeling right at home in the newsroom. In fact, two coworkers took me out for dinner + drinks at a local craft brewery — Iechyd Da — and a few others from the newsroom joined. It was a fantastic ending to a really good day and I am constantly overwhelmed by the kindness of everyone I work with. How did I get so lucky?
IN Love.
That’s quite enough for tonight, I think. My brain is still adjusting to the Eastern Time Zone and my eyes are ready to not be staring at a screen, so I’ll end on this positive note.
Now that I’m finally settled, I *hopefully* will get back to writing on a semi-regular (okay, okay…regular) basis and can try my hand at some new things in some awesome new cookware I was gifted. Good times all around.
Sending all of my positive vibes out to all of you — cheers!
Thirty Days of Vegan 