One Year Anniversary

Hope everyone’s had a great weekend and enjoying those final hours before another week.

Things are good here. Hurricane Irene got downgraded to a tropical storm and NYC did not experience the destruction everyone was afraid of.

So, as planned, I am heading to the Hamptons with the family I nanny for tomorrow, and I will be back sometime Friday. We’ll see what it looks like out there after Irene…I did ask though, and I will have WiFi, so I will be blogging from there.

Anyway, our weekend was nice. It was very relaxing and cozy in our little cave. Jamie and I, unsurprisingly, didn’t even hear the storm during the night and early morning.

Today marks the one year anniversary of me moving to NYC. It’s hard to believe it’s already been a year since I moved out here.

When I flew out here a year ago, I left for the airport so early that I forgot my phone. I of course realized when we were almost to the airport (almost 2 hours from my house), so of course we couldn’t turn around. You see, I always sleep with my phone by my bed, and I always leave it on. But, for some reason, the night before moving to NYC, I had left it charging downstairs on the kitchen counter. When I realized, I started screaming: “I am NOT moving to NYC without a phone! How am I going to get a cab? I don’t know anything about the city or my apartment! I can’t go now!!!” I had no idea how I was supposed to get my pre-arranged cab without my phone, how I was going to contact Justine to let me in, etc. I was already nervous moving to NYC (I hadn’t been to the city since I was little), and Jamie was coming a few days later, so I had visions of me getting lost and never finding or getting into my apartment. Plus, I had two enormous bags since I was moving all my stuff.

However, it ended up working out just fine. Doesn’t it always? It was funny because my parents convinced Maria to give me her phone and I would ship it back once Jamie moved out and brought my phone. But when I turned it on in Chicago it literally died right away. Hahah. So, I still had no phone AND I had to spend money to send it back.

Despite the rocky start, though, the year has been mostly good. Yes, I have made a lot of changes in my life, had a lot of uncertainty, and felt lost at times, but in some ways I feel like the first year after college is kind of like that.

Looking back, I am proud of myself for starting to make changes for myself, and in doing so am starting to care less what others think, less about what I think is expected of me. I have been in some bad situations, or situations that didn’t feel right about in my heart, and I changed them, even when it was difficult doing so.

Here are some things I am proud of this last year (in no particular order) :

I survived my first NYC winter.

I enrolled in the year-long professional holistic health counselor program at Institute for Integrative Nutrition, which is something I had been wanting to do for almost two years before finally doing it.

I made the tough, but, smart (not to toot my own horn or anything ) decision to leave Rutgers. Yes, it still makes me sad, and yes, I loved what I was learning there, but if I had stayed, I would have literally run out of money by March. I am not sure what I would have done since the time it took me to commute to campus made getting a part time job either here or in Newark almost impossible. Rutgers literally had no funding for me. In addition, seeing how long it is going to take me to pay off a single semester of loans (making my measly minimum monthly payments), I am really glad I made the decision to leave since I was so uncertain if the program was for me. I cannot imagine paying off 10-14 semesters. Especially if I continued feeling like I might want to switch direction, even after finishing my degree.

I started this blog and opened up about deeply personal struggles.

I have managed to live in this absurdly expensive city on my own. This point was brought to my attention Friday night when I met some girls on our rooftop and we were talking about the significant adjustment it takes to move and live in this city. One of them pointed out to me what a huge accomplishment it is to live here as a young, single person, because so many young people move out here to chase a dream and are forced to move back because they cannot make ends meet. Well, I have managed to make ends meet, and that is something I am proud of.

For the first time in months, maybe even years, I know I am moving forward. I am moving forward with my health. I am moving forward by learning to go after what I want in life. I am moving forward by gaining confidence in myself and my abilities each and every day. I am moving forward by becoming comfortable with where I am. Comfortable with the fact that maybe I don’t know what I want to do with my life (okay, I have no idea what I want to do with my life), but that that is OKAY. But by being comfortable with not having a life plan (if such a thing even exists), I am taking a huge leap forward.

I recently read a (weight loss) success story where the woman mentioned to her personal trainer that she wanted to get her body back. Her trainer said something to the effect of: “Why would you ever want to go backward? Go forward! Be the best that you can be today! It may be better than ever before!” I thought this was awesome. That is so true. I cannot even count the times I have said to Jamie, or anyone that will listen, “I want my body back! Wah!” But in reality, I don’t want to move backward in any way, shape, or form. I want to move forward.

Serendipity!

This past year has really been a year of adjustment and of self-discovery. I am really excited for my second year in NYC because now I am used to living here, used to not being a college student, used to being financially dependent (well, mostly used to it ), and feel like I have a MUCH better idea of what I want and do not want out of life.

Now that I know what to expect living here, here are some goals I have for my second year in NYC:

1. Take time to appreciate the opportunity to live here. Not only am I blessed to have the opportunity to live here, but I am making it happen. Yes, it’s been challenging, but I am doing it on my own, and that is gratifying.

2. Keep doing things for me: running, gym, blogging, IIN courses. Even if I am able to switch jobs, it still might be a while before I have a job that I truly feel passionate and excited about, but as long as I keep doing things for me, I will feel fulfilled. I need to keep this in mind.

3. Explore more of the city.

4. If I get in a situation where I am making more money than just enough to get by, SAVE MONEY. Who knows what I may want to do in the future (more school, open up a health counseling practice…?), and it would be awesome if I had an income where I could save even a little bit money.

5. Keep exploring life!

Keep moving forward

Questions of the Day:

I know it’s not the New Year, but for any of you who are in school and getting ready to start a new school year, or maybe just got married, or moved, do you have any goals for your “new” year? Or even if everything is the same, anything you want to work toward as we transition to Fall?

What are you proud of as you reflect on your past year?

Enjoy your Sunday evening. I’ll see you from the Hamptons!

Cheers,

L

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