Let me start from the beginning. Let me be completely and openly honest. And let me not leave a thought out.
I haven't lost any weight since June of last year. That was the point when I had to stop losing to fit into a dress for a friend's wedding. I wasn't happy being part of her wedding. I did it for her and she was less than thankful. And, physically, I've been in a frozen state since then... until December. It was in December that I stepped on the scale for the first time in a month or more and realized I'd gained six pounds back. I can't even pinpoint when it happened, but I can certainly identify the habits that enabled it to creep back on.
Rewind to August and I've just returned to work from a memorial service for my Aunt who had just passed away and I receive an e-mail from my boss, whose desk was immediately behind mine, stating that effective immediately, I will be cut back to four days a week. Which, coincidentally, equated to me needing to immediately find a second job in order to keep a roof over my head and keep my bills paid. So, as devastated as I was, I hit the ground running. I started applying at every retailer I could think of -- especially ones open after 6 PM. It wasn't until a friend honestly suggested Victoria's Secret, that I even considered applying there. At this point, I wasn't about to turn anything down. And so I put in an application and, miraculously, they hired me. I won't even get into how self-conscious I was to start working there, and how aware I suddenly became of my body and it's unpleasant shape. At some other point, I'll have to take a moment to tell you more about what it's like to work for a place that prides itself on promoting breathtakingly beautiful, predominantly slender women.
Fast forward to October. The Fest, a musical festival in Gainesville, Florida, occurs every year and every year, my friends come from a couple different parts of the country to experience it with us. And every year, I eat what feels like my weight in unhealthy foods, like burritos and BBQ and drink more than my share of calorie-packed bevvies. I just can't help it. But on the flipside I spend the entire weekend, dancing to indie music, skanking to ska, and moshing to punk, not to mention I pretty much cover the whole downtown Gainesville area by foot the whole weekend. So I like to think it pretty much balances out, right? =P
Now we're in November and Angela and I are planning a Thanksgiving feast at our house on Magnolia. We invited about 30 people and all but 7 showed up. Because of the number, we had all intentions of eating outdoors, but the day of the meal, it rained unexpectedly. Luckily, my parents were able to buy a car canopy, my sister's boyfriend was able to pick it up and, with the help of other friends, set it up in our yard, and afterward all the girls arranged and dried the tables and chairs. Every guest brought a dish, and we all sat around one large table (four rectangle tables put together 2x2) and feasted. It was pretty awesome, but again, I ate too much. I mean, there were two dishes of macaroni and cheese. And I can't say no to macaroni and cheese. Then December happened, and of course, there's food in this month. And, of course, I ate way too much of it. What else is there to do?
Work had become so slow at my office, that money'd been running low and I was not going to be offered a Christmas bonus. In lieu of that bonus, my boss did give us a few extra days off. What ended up happening was I used those extra days and my previously given vacation days to take all the time off between Christmas and New Year's Eve. In the meantime, I started planning to start a business of my own with a friend. When I returned to work Tuesday, the 2nd of January, my boss called me in for a meeting I assumed to be a standard one. What he had to tell me, however, was that effective the following Friday (four days), I would no longer have a job. And again, I hit the ground running. As much as it sucked to lose my job, I knew I didn't have any time to waste.
So I called V.S. and asked for extra hours; immediately they began training me on register and other areas of the store so I could pick up extra shifts. In my last four days at the office, I searched Monster.com for job openings and started putting in applications at local businesses I thought would be hiring. For the most part, I immediately aimed for something comparable to what I'd be doing, but pickings were fairly slim. Then it occurred to me that I should apply to some bank jobs in the area. The hours of operation for banks could potentially enable me to continue working for V.S.
Fast forward to yesterday, exactly 26 days after being informed of my lay-off (and, coincidentally, my 25th birthday), I landed myself a job with SunTrust bank. And could not be happier. It is a part time teller position, but I fell I'll have many opportunities to move up within this company. And am looking forward to getting the ball rolling on a new career in banking.
Meanwhile, I'm also pursuing my career as a photographer. I'm beginning to print and distribute some of my prints to local vendors and I'm still actively pursuing wedding photography options. The first step is to create business cards of a nice quality. Also, I'm pursuing the business plan I have in mind for a friend and I. When it gets off the ground, I'll take the time to further explain it.
And, great personal news, I'm so happy with Jon-Michael. We have never been in such an amazing place. We love each other more and more with each passing day. And we have quickly discovered that making one another happy is what makes us happy -- or should I say, JM has discovered this, as I have known it for awhile. And we've been in such a great place for so many months now, that at some point in this year, we plan to move in together. As much as we've talked about getting married in the past, we've never really made any concrete plans or set any legitimate goals with one another until now. It's looking like an awesome future for the two of us. And I'll be the first, maybe second, to say I think we deserve to finally have this -- we've fought long and hard for it. Now it's time we enjoy our relationship and all the joy it has to offer us.
Now, let's backtrack and I'll explain some more things -- during all this, remember these things: 1. I stopped actively trying to lose weight and I lost my momentum in this endeavor. 2. I my job got cut back to four days a week and I started a second job to supplement. 3. I lost my job and started hunting for a new one. And in 26 days had landed one at a bank. 4. My personal business endeavors are taking off -- with photography and with a software company I'm hoping to ignite with a friend. 5. My relationship with Jon-Michael has reached monumentally awesome levels -- that increase every single day!
Now, with all that in mind, I hope you're proud of what I have accomplished because I've got some fairly bad news. In the midst of all of this... I have gained six pounds.
So here I sit -- ready to start this process over and get back in the right frame of mind. And I will need my friends. And I will do a better job keeping in touch with all of you. And I think it's safe to say, I'm back in the game. Don't give up hope on me, please. I'm still fighting.
I haven't lost any weight since June of last year. That was the point when I had to stop losing to fit into a dress for a friend's wedding. I wasn't happy being part of her wedding. I did it for her and she was less than thankful. And, physically, I've been in a frozen state since then... until December. It was in December that I stepped on the scale for the first time in a month or more and realized I'd gained six pounds back. I can't even pinpoint when it happened, but I can certainly identify the habits that enabled it to creep back on.
Rewind to August and I've just returned to work from a memorial service for my Aunt who had just passed away and I receive an e-mail from my boss, whose desk was immediately behind mine, stating that effective immediately, I will be cut back to four days a week. Which, coincidentally, equated to me needing to immediately find a second job in order to keep a roof over my head and keep my bills paid. So, as devastated as I was, I hit the ground running. I started applying at every retailer I could think of -- especially ones open after 6 PM. It wasn't until a friend honestly suggested Victoria's Secret, that I even considered applying there. At this point, I wasn't about to turn anything down. And so I put in an application and, miraculously, they hired me. I won't even get into how self-conscious I was to start working there, and how aware I suddenly became of my body and it's unpleasant shape. At some other point, I'll have to take a moment to tell you more about what it's like to work for a place that prides itself on promoting breathtakingly beautiful, predominantly slender women.
Fast forward to October. The Fest, a musical festival in Gainesville, Florida, occurs every year and every year, my friends come from a couple different parts of the country to experience it with us. And every year, I eat what feels like my weight in unhealthy foods, like burritos and BBQ and drink more than my share of calorie-packed bevvies. I just can't help it. But on the flipside I spend the entire weekend, dancing to indie music, skanking to ska, and moshing to punk, not to mention I pretty much cover the whole downtown Gainesville area by foot the whole weekend. So I like to think it pretty much balances out, right? =P
Now we're in November and Angela and I are planning a Thanksgiving feast at our house on Magnolia. We invited about 30 people and all but 7 showed up. Because of the number, we had all intentions of eating outdoors, but the day of the meal, it rained unexpectedly. Luckily, my parents were able to buy a car canopy, my sister's boyfriend was able to pick it up and, with the help of other friends, set it up in our yard, and afterward all the girls arranged and dried the tables and chairs. Every guest brought a dish, and we all sat around one large table (four rectangle tables put together 2x2) and feasted. It was pretty awesome, but again, I ate too much. I mean, there were two dishes of macaroni and cheese. And I can't say no to macaroni and cheese. Then December happened, and of course, there's food in this month. And, of course, I ate way too much of it. What else is there to do?
Work had become so slow at my office, that money'd been running low and I was not going to be offered a Christmas bonus. In lieu of that bonus, my boss did give us a few extra days off. What ended up happening was I used those extra days and my previously given vacation days to take all the time off between Christmas and New Year's Eve. In the meantime, I started planning to start a business of my own with a friend. When I returned to work Tuesday, the 2nd of January, my boss called me in for a meeting I assumed to be a standard one. What he had to tell me, however, was that effective the following Friday (four days), I would no longer have a job. And again, I hit the ground running. As much as it sucked to lose my job, I knew I didn't have any time to waste.
So I called V.S. and asked for extra hours; immediately they began training me on register and other areas of the store so I could pick up extra shifts. In my last four days at the office, I searched Monster.com for job openings and started putting in applications at local businesses I thought would be hiring. For the most part, I immediately aimed for something comparable to what I'd be doing, but pickings were fairly slim. Then it occurred to me that I should apply to some bank jobs in the area. The hours of operation for banks could potentially enable me to continue working for V.S.
Fast forward to yesterday, exactly 26 days after being informed of my lay-off (and, coincidentally, my 25th birthday), I landed myself a job with SunTrust bank. And could not be happier. It is a part time teller position, but I fell I'll have many opportunities to move up within this company. And am looking forward to getting the ball rolling on a new career in banking.
Meanwhile, I'm also pursuing my career as a photographer. I'm beginning to print and distribute some of my prints to local vendors and I'm still actively pursuing wedding photography options. The first step is to create business cards of a nice quality. Also, I'm pursuing the business plan I have in mind for a friend and I. When it gets off the ground, I'll take the time to further explain it.
And, great personal news, I'm so happy with Jon-Michael. We have never been in such an amazing place. We love each other more and more with each passing day. And we have quickly discovered that making one another happy is what makes us happy -- or should I say, JM has discovered this, as I have known it for awhile. And we've been in such a great place for so many months now, that at some point in this year, we plan to move in together. As much as we've talked about getting married in the past, we've never really made any concrete plans or set any legitimate goals with one another until now. It's looking like an awesome future for the two of us. And I'll be the first, maybe second, to say I think we deserve to finally have this -- we've fought long and hard for it. Now it's time we enjoy our relationship and all the joy it has to offer us.
Now, let's backtrack and I'll explain some more things -- during all this, remember these things: 1. I stopped actively trying to lose weight and I lost my momentum in this endeavor. 2. I my job got cut back to four days a week and I started a second job to supplement. 3. I lost my job and started hunting for a new one. And in 26 days had landed one at a bank. 4. My personal business endeavors are taking off -- with photography and with a software company I'm hoping to ignite with a friend. 5. My relationship with Jon-Michael has reached monumentally awesome levels -- that increase every single day!
Now, with all that in mind, I hope you're proud of what I have accomplished because I've got some fairly bad news. In the midst of all of this... I have gained six pounds.
So here I sit -- ready to start this process over and get back in the right frame of mind. And I will need my friends. And I will do a better job keeping in touch with all of you. And I think it's safe to say, I'm back in the game. Don't give up hope on me, please. I'm still fighting.
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