Happy New Year!

Hi friends! It's January 1! 1:17 a.m. as I type this, to be exact. I thought starting the year off with a blog post might be a good idea. 

How was everyone's Christmas? Merry and bright and all that? I hope so. Mine was sooo lovely. James Burling came across the pond to spend the holiday with me. We had a most fabulous time exploring the city and spotting all kinds of decorations. 

Grand Central Terminal (aka my happy place) on Christmas Day!

The most elaborate gingerbread creation I have EVER seen. 

Bryant Park. 

Macy's!

Larger than life decorations. :)

Manhattan Bridge in the morning sun. 

A Special Christmas train!

Lower East Side graffiti!

2014 was a difficult year for me--full of transitions; new people, new places, and new directions. But you know what? I'm ready to put 2014 behind me. I don't wanna look back. I want to move forward. I want to imagine better for myself and work towards that. 

I'm starting off on a good foot. For those who don't know, I was offered a year-long temp job that starts this month. I just got confirmation yesterday that all my background stuff came back fine (I wasn't worried. 😊) and now I'm waiting for the last approval. That should happen on Monday and then I'll start work middle of next week. I am SO excited!

As I've said, 2014 was really hard. But it's been a time of learning. I've learned a lot about myself and others. I've learned:

1. It's okay to ask for help.

2. Sometimes, no matter how much you don't want to, you just have to walk away. 

3. You don't have to attend every fight you're invited to. 

4. Forgiveness doesn't free the other person. It frees you. 

God has been so good to me. He's brought me this far, He'll bring me the rest of the way. It's been hard to let go and trust Him, but He hasn't failed me. I know He has my best interest at heart and there's a specific path waiting for me, even if I can't see what it is yet. The journey is bound to be amazing! 

Allons-y!

Three Months!

So, I've been in New York for three months (as of tomorrow).  Three months! The time has simultaneously flown and dragged by. Being here has been different than any other period of my life, for multiple reasons.

1. I'm living in an entirely different part of the country than I've ever lived in.  I grew up in Eastern Tennessee and spent the later part of my childhood in Southern Indiana, before moving to Florida for the blink of an eye, and then moving back to Indiana, to the Northwest corner.  The climate here is different.  The way people talk is different... 

2.  I'm nowhere near any of my family.  I think this is a good thing.  Not that I don't love my family.  I do.  But for the first time, I'm on my own. I'm making decisions for myself and I'm finding out where I stand for myself.  It's a time of self-discovery and a time of learning to depend more on God because the familiar people/things I relied on at home are nowhere around.

3.  I've been job hunting ever since I arrived.  Real talk: Job hunting is exhausting.  It's exhausting to look through tedious job postings.  It's exhausting to keep applying and not hear anything back.  It's exhausting to go to interviews and try and put your best foot forward and it's exhausting to hear back that they're "going in another direction".  I end up feeling like Anne Shirley.  Seriously.

"If I was very beautiful and had nut-brown hair, would you keep me?"

I know the right job is out there. Maybe it's the one I interviewed for onTuesday.  Maybe it's a different one. It's hard to wait, but it seems that's where I'm supposed to be right now. Waiting.

 

Anyway, these are my musings upon three months in the city that never sleeps.  My laptop is dying, so this is going to get wrapped up. :) Take care my friends!

Addendum: I'm using my phone app to wrap this up properly. Three months in the city. I'm still here, and things are different, but I'm okay! God is still good to me. Things could be so much worse. 

♥ Rebekah

Easy Come, Easy Go

Hi friends! I decided to try out the blogger app for my iPhone. We'll see how this works. 

I had a job interview today. Nowhere fancy; it was at Radio Shack. Hashtag a job is a job. But I digress.

Earlier this week, I went to quite a few local businesses inquiring about work, picking up applications, etc. I stopped in at Radio Shack. I asked to speak with the manager and when he came out, I handed him a copy of my resume and references and asked him if they were hiring. He asked me what experience I had and what I was looking for. I told him. He seemed interested in meeting with me. Yay! 

He asked me if I would fill out an application online, take a few tests, and call him on Wednesday. I said I would and left posthaste to head to a wifi spot, so I could tackle the application and tests. 

Wednesday rolled around and I called the number he gave me early in the afternoon. "Oh he's not here yet.  He doesn't come in until 4." Ooookay. I guess I'm calling back. So, when 4 rolled around, I called back and spoke with the manager again. I reminded him of who I was and that we had spoken. He seemed pleased when I told him I had finished the online process and asked if I would come and meet him at 4 on Friday afternoon. Sure!

Now we're at today. Today I got ready and headed down to Radio Shack. I got there twenty minutes early and loitered outside until just before 4.  I confidently walked in and asked for the manager by name. "Oh. He's not here." He isn't? "No.  He went home already." Umm what? Seriously?

Okay. Deep breath. No big deal. Except the manager who was there had no idea who I was and seemed less than thrilled to have me on his hands.

He decided to proceed with the interview   He asked me what I'd been doing since I moved to New York. I told him. I explained my reason for moving and gave him a copy of my resume. 

Then things took a downward turn. He asked me what I had to offer the store. I told him I'm outgoing and friendly, I am a fast learner, good with technology, and dependable. All qualities you would expect to find in someone who works at Radio Shack. He apparently didn't like my answer because he asked me the exact same question again and as I had already answered him, I had nothing new to say. Awk-ward...

Then he asked me what my vision for Radio Shack was. I'm sorry. But it's RADIO SHACK. I wouldn't be CURING LUPUS! No, I didn't have a vision for the company. I don't even remember what I said, only that I stumbled through it. 

Last question: Do you speak any other languages? We're looking for someone who speaks Greek. Strike three. No, I don't speak any other languages. Should I just show myself out, or...?

Honestly, this was the worst interview I've had since I came here. I'm not sure I wanna work for a store where the management aren't good at communicating with each other, or, you know, actually showing up for appointments. 

On the upside, I have an interview in the Financial District on Tuesday afternoon for a better job that would be in my field. It can't be any weirder than the one I had today. 

❤️ Rebekah

Oh Look! A Blog Post!

Hi friends!

I've missed you all! I've missed this outlet, as well.  I don't have wifi at my apartment currently, so... it's much harder for me to blog. I know, I know, I can use the blogger app, but seriously, I've had bigger concerns to deal with, like looking for work.  But... one thing at a time.

So, some of you are probably wondering how I'm liking life in the city. Well, let me just tell you, New York City is AWESOME! I love the city! It fascinates me! There's always something going on and people are EVERYWHERE.  For an extrovert like myself, I feed off of that energy. I could stand in Grand Central for hours, just listening to the white noise of people bustling past.  It comforts my extroverted soul.

But life in the city has taken some time to get used to.  It was weird initially not to have my car here.  I had to completely change my mindset about going out in light of that fact.  If I went grocery shopping, I could only buy what I could carry.  And I better be careful about how far I walked to get the store because I'd have to walk just as far to get home.  And my shoes? My shoes were HORRIBLE! I don't think any of the shoes I brought with me, with the exception of a pair of sneakers, are even wearable here.  I had to buy different shoes that could keep up with all the additional walking I was doing.

Speaking of which... City life = walking!  I live about a mile from the nearest subway station, so there is a lot of walking involved.  It took some time to get used to all the walking, but I think I'm doing okay with it. If my roommate's legs weren't longer than mine I think I could almost keep up with her. Haha! Bonus: I've lost quite a bit of weight. My pants are literally falling off.  I look like a HOODLUM! And yes, there are definitely worse problems!

Life here is definitely an adventure.  I'm learning things about myself that I never knew before and I'm finding out how strong I am.  Life lessons that are invaluable.

When I moved here, I was a mess.  Without going into great detail, I will say that my parents are no longer together and basically every member of my family is in a different place. I always thought that a split must be hard on kids.  Guess what! It's not so easy on adults either.  My family may be splintered. But God has shown me that even though everything else has changed, He has remained the same.  He has been faithful.  He is moving my heart towards healing, a little bit more every day. He has provided just the right people to help me along the way.  I've found a great church here.  Every Sunday is a blessing to me and the people have reached out to me with open arms.  Not exactly what you expect from New Yorkers.  But New Yorkers who have Jesus in their hearts are a different story. I've made friends through my small group and even got my first temp job as a result of a connection I made there. :)


Confession: it was scary moving here.  Just packing up and moving far away from almost everyone I know and everything I was familiar with, but you know what? I'd do it again in a heartbeat.  Somethings are SO difficult. Those are the things that are worth it.  So, while things are still tough for me here right now, I know God has a plan for me. He's brought me this far; He'll bring me the rest of the way.  And if His plan is better than what I have in mind, then it's going to be worth waiting for.

Some days I get weary and that's normal.  In the meantime, I just keep plodding along and reaching for the opportunities that are presented to me.  I've enjoyed meeting people and getting to see things I never thought I would. Even though I'm not working and my life is filled with such uncertainty, I look around me sometimes and think "This is my life? Wow." and it's amazing. :) I'm making some new friends (I'm looking at you JC Cox) and I'm learning to be myself and you know what? I like me.

Some of my favorite things I've done:

Being a spectator at the New York City Marathon - People came from all over the world to be here.

Watching a couple get married in Central Park. :)

Meeting a minion in Times Square with Dawn Vargo!

This bagel... no caption necessary.

Seeing the Friends apartment building!

I'm going to try and be more regular about this blogging thing, but not having wifi makes it difficult, so just bear with me.

If you wanna see more pictures of my New York City adventure, you can follow me on Instagram, here.

♥ Rebekah

The Times, They Are A-Changin'

Some of you are probably thinking "What the heck happened to this blog? I was so excited for all your posts and... nothing."  Yeah, I'm kind of thinking that, too, to be honest.  I had high hopes for this blog, but literally as soon as I started it my life exploded.  I'm still picking up chunks of.. stuff and trying to regroup. I appreciate all the prayers on my family's behalf.  They have been such an encouragement to us.

So, after about six months, have I had some good moments and memories with my grandma? Yes, I have.  Like the time we miscommunicated and ended up with enough chicken to feed a Third World country. Oh, how we laughed about that.  Or the time we went to Burger King together and I made her wear a crown all the way home in the car.  Yes.  Yes, I did.  And she looked fabulous. Or the time, we shared our salvation testimonies with each other in the car.  Such sweet times.  These are all memories that I will cherish and this time has been instrumental for me, in getting to know my grandmother better, as a person, not just as a familial figure in my life.

Have there been some not so good times? Of course.  It's always a transition moving in with someone else and trying to find a rhythm for your daily life and routine.  But I think overall, we did pretty well.  We haven't killed each other at any rate. :)

I'd like to take this time to let everyone know that this chapter in my life appears to be ending.  Yes, you heard me right, I'm moving on.

I have felt for some time that God gave me the OK to move somewhere else.  I had wanted it for so long, you see, and then God gave me a peace and a contentment about staying here, so I let go of that dream.  I figured it wasn't meant to be.  Then, about two years ago, I was looking at jobs online and saw one in a far away city and thought: "That one looks good, but it's too far away." I started to move to the next posting and then I thought: "Wait... why is it too far away? Why couldn't I just move?" and I suddenly felt such a peace about moving.  It was like God spoke to me and said "I just wanted you to see that you can be happy here, first. NOW it's okay for you to move."

So I began praying about where God might have me move and looking at where the best jobs were, etc. But I still had no idea where I would go. About three months after that, I reconnected with a high school friend who lives in New York City who suggested I move there. At first, the thought of it was ludicrous.  "I can't move there.  It's too expensive.  Too far away.  Too ______" fill in the blank.  I kind of laughed it off, but after a few months of considering it, I suddenly thought "Why SHOULDN'T I move there?" Job opportunities galore and all kinds of art and culture and not to mention, lots of people my age, who are in the same stage of life.  Churches and ministries where I could be involved and serve with people like me.  Don't get me wrong.  I love my church and the people there.  They've been such a blessing to me.  But there's a spot in my heart that yearns for the fellowship of single people my age, who are in the same stage of life as I am and that is sadly lacking here.



Side note: I know what you're thinking right now.  You're thinking "oh, she just wants to get married." In part, you're right. Haha  I do want that, but it's really more than that.  I'm such a people person and I enjoy having lots of people around me.  Lots of friends.  I miss working at camp and being at college where I was surrounded by people who were in the same phase of life as I was and who were great encouragements to me.  And lots of fun to be around. If I find a guy and ended up getting married, it's just a bonus.  But that is not the main reason for my move.  Also... gentlemen... the line forms to the right. ;)

So, early 2013 I began praying about moving NYC.  Mulling it over in my mind.  I spoke with a few friends.  Some who had lived in a city before, about how they thought I might do, living in such an atmosphere.  The general consensus was that I would love it.  That I would thrive.  So, I decided I wanted to pursue it, but I wanted to visit first and get a feel for the city.  So, I went and visited and I had a fabulous time! I enjoyed getting to see the touristy things, but I also enjoyed walking around in individual boroughs and really seeing the heart of the city.  It made the biggest city in the country feel almost small.  I knew as soon as I left this was where I wanted to be.

So, I started saving and planning and trying to figure out how this was going to happen. There were times I thought it would never happen.  I wanted to give up because how naïve was I, to think that I could actually do this? I must be insane, right? But now that moment is here and it looks like this is going to happen very soon. I'm looking like mad for a job there.  Even if I don't have one, I'm still going.  I worked at a dry cleaners when I was at Purdue Cal and I worked at McDonald's before that.  I can do that again.  I'm willing to work part time jobs until I find a job that fits me.  But an accounting job or a administrative job is what I'm really hoping to find.

I'm going to take this next section to answer some frequently asked questions, although knowing how things typically work on social media, I expect I'll probably still get asked these, but here goes:

Question 1: How will you afford living there? It's so expensive!
Answer: What people don't realize about living in the city is that while some things are more expensive, other things are very VERY cheap.  Ex. Right now I am paying about $750-800 a month just for my car.  That includes my car payment, car insurance, any maintenance, and any gas costs.  That's a huge chunk of my income. Living in the city, I'll be able to use public transportation and cut that cost by more than 50 percent.  That's going to help me tremendously.

Question 2: Where are you going to live? Isn't rent like a billion dollars?
Answer: Right now, I have a tentative, temporary sublet in a safe neighborhood that has been arranged for me by a friend.  That will give me time to find my bearings until I can figure out where to go from there. Also, rent is pretty expensive.  Not gonna lie. But it's kind of expensive in NW Indiana, too.  I've been looking at places on Zillow to prepare myself for what to expect.  But if I get a decent job, I should be just fine.

Question 3: Isn't that really far away from your family?
Answer: Yes.  It's pretty far.  But I think some distance will be good for me, allowing me be independent for the first time in my life.  I need to stretch my wings and see what I can do (No, I didn't not steal that last bit from Frozen.  That's really how I feel).  I'd also like to point out that flights between New York and Chicago occur on a daily basis.  If I need to get home, I can do so.

Question 4: But... I'm gonna miss you!!
Answer: I'm gonna miss you, too! Seriously.  I have some of the greatest friends ever and the thought of them being so far away saddens me, but... now you'll have a really great excuse to come and visit New York City... ME!

I go between being completely freaked and being completely pumped.  The unknown is always, well... unknown.  That's what makes it slightly terrifying.  But, if I don't ever risk anything then what's the point?

I wanna tell you a story.  About a girl who was scared to death, but went down to North Carolina one summer to work at a camp she'd never been to, with people she'd never met before.  The girl cried most of the way down and was convinced she was going to be horrible at this whole counseling thing and that she wouldn't have any friends and that she was going to be a big failure.  Guess what happened... That was girl was me (if you hadn't figured that bit out) and I loved being there so much that I cried when I had to come home and ended up going back to work there for four more summers. I have friends there who are so dear to me, and I learned immeasurable truths from God's Word that have helped shape my Christian beliefs and have shaped me as a person.

The moral of the story is this: Sometimes, you have to jump anyway.  It might be different.  It might be scary.  It might be so far outside of anything you can imagine or comprehend, but the results/rewards will be so worth it. I wanna look back on my life as an old woman and go "Wow.  I can't believe I did that!" Not "Wow.  I wasted opportunities."

Get ready, New York City... I'm coming!

♥Rebekah

 PS: I need to rename this blog to reflect where I'm going.  Any suggestions?

A Bend in the Road

If you'd asked me ten years ago where I'd be in ten years time, living with my grandmother is not the answer you would have received.  In fact, if you'd asked me a year ago, I would not have thought this is where I'd be.  I guess it just goes to show that we never really know where life is going to take us.  So basically, I'm the new Phoebe Buffay... just without her quirkiness and obvious musical ability ;)

In all seriousness, what does this mean for me? What does it mean for my grandma (Her name is Millie, by the way).  Well, it means we both have a lot of adjusting to do.  In many ways, we are similar.  My brothers say I have her laugh.  I don't know about that... haha! But we come from different eras and have different ideas about things. She's very old fashioned. I'm more old fashioned than a lot of girls my age, but compared to her I'm wildly liberal. Haha! I don't think anyone, aside from my BFF, has ever called me liberal before. But that's neither here nor there.

In an effort to maintain my sanity, I have decided that a blog detailing my adventures/misadventures whilst living with my grandmother might be a good outlet for me.  I've entitled it 'Grannies & Grace' because I think we're both going to need a lot of the latter.  Wish me luck!

♥Rebekah