Happier than Expected

I've been home for a little over a month. And I am loving it. I have been more social than I had been during the last year living in Oshkosh. It amazes me how much my friends have grown, matured, got their shit together and yet, they are the same immature, loud, inappropriate, idiots I loved in high school. I am feeling more grounded and more myself.

I have been working for the Boys and Girls Club for the last month. I've been in the 3rd grade classroom, working as a base room leader and now I'm starting to teach Social Skills, which I wasn't supposed to begin until the summer (long story... people had to leave the program). I'm excited to get the kids interested in learning about social skills and make it fun. The previous leader liked using books to read and the kids are getting bored... so I'm excited to make it fun! Play games! Learn while they don't know they're learning!

I've also been talking to guys on on-line dating apps. Just talking. Remembering what its like to be myself while talking to other people, introducing myself. Remembering who I am. It's been tricky. Being with the ex was easy. We knew each other, didn't have to talk about ourself, just were. And that was one of our problems. We stopped talking about our thoughts, our dreams, were we saw ourselves. I am SO not ready for another relationship. I am not ready to jump into something. But I am ready to meet people and have fun again.

I had been second guessing moving home until I actually did it. My ego got in the way. "I have 2 degrees." "I should be able to take care of myself." blah. blah. blah. But now that I'm here, it was just what I needed. A reset button. Cheap (free) housing. Help with Polly. Help with groceries. Reconnecting with friends and family. The perfect place for me to be before finding my next adventure in the world. <3 p="">
As some of my friends told me before I made the move, going home is just what you need to find yourself. I am so thankful to have a place to come home to. :)

Confirmation

This weekend has been a confirmation in my decision to move home for now. I had so much fun hanging out with so many friends and getting filled up with the love and support that I have needed.

Something that I have realized this weekend... I have almost NO physical contact with anyone in Oshkosh. I need that. I love the fact that I can hug my friends, touch them on the arm without it being strange. I feel comfortable with these people and I need help to re-discover myself. I am excited... but also a little nervous. I don't want to get stuck in the monotony of small town life. I want to find exciting things to do. I want to create a routine without getting bogged.

It will be a work of balance, like life.

On another note! I have an interview for the PeaceCorps in the morning! The position would begin in January and I would be living in Thailand for 27 months! Aaah! Exciting and terrifying... wish me luck :)

Moving Back After A Long While Away.

So... let's try this again. haha...

It's been almost 6 years since my last post. A lot has happened. I've been in a 5 year relationship, finished my Master's degree in Professional Counseling, moved to the other side of the state, broken up from my relationship, traveled to 2 different countries (including India, Aruba, and the Bahamas), worked with children, AODA clients, inmates, and families. And now I'm moving back home.

Long story.

Glen and I met through a friend and hit it off. We got pretty serious really quickly and 6 months after we started dating, we moved in with each other. I had gotten into grad school in Oshkosh and Glen wasn't doing anything but working so he came along. I loved my program. It helped me grow in more ways than I thought were possible. I learned so much about myself and how I interact with the world. I have so much more to learn, I still struggle with being selfish, short with people, and not being able to communicate my feelings sometimes. But ya know, its a process.

Anyway, Glen and I. We are opposites. I'm outgoing. Loud. Passionate. Extroverted. Energetic. Wanting to do new things. Travel. Eat fabulous food. Glen is quiet. Introverted. A gamer. Fairly boring. Comes up with reasons to not do things. Struggles to try new things.He is a very nice, great guy but we are opposites. I thank him for helping me get through grad school, it would have been much harder without him. But we have grown apart. We started talking less and less and then we just became roommates. And thus is life.

Which all leads me to moving back home! As of right now, I am working on getting my licensure hours for my LPC (Licensed Professional Counselor) license. Which sucks... so I'm working 2 jobs and volunteering to get my license and COMPLETELY worn out and not making enough money to afford an apartment in the Fox Valley (because I have a dog, Polly. OH! We also got a dog... that I get to keep). So I'm moving home with Polly to live with my dad. I am so thankful that I have somewhere I can go and live for free while I figure out my life but MAN ALIVE is my ego struggling with having to move home, again, when I have my Masters and "should" be able to take care of myself and make it. I'm 28 freaking years old. I have 2 degrees. And I need my parent's support still... UGH.

Not to say there aren't things I'm excited about. I am so excited to be closer to my friends and family. I have missed seeing my godsons (that's right, there are 2 now! Aiden and Declan) grow up. Hanging out with friends on a regular basis so it isn't an ordeal. Actually hanging out with my brothers, since I guess they are pretty neat people. Hanging out with my mom. Getting to know my dad better. Getting back to my farm girl roots, down and dirty, hard work and sweat, getting back into nature and seeing stars on a regular basis.

And that brings me back to starting my blog again. I'm moving home and hopefully you will hold me accountable. I don't want to waste my time at home. I want to experience new things and I want to share it. I'm not positive as to the exact purpose of writing... I'll come up with goals and whatnot in my next post.

Ta!

~*taylorjordis

(Almost) Quarter Life Crisis and Birthday

So Tuesday I flipped. I had a break down. I'm bored at my job and I don't think I can last a year.  I thought about quitting for the afternoon and tried looking for another job for a bit but then I realized that I can't quit... there is too much that I would be giving up and I committed a year.  So I've decided to use the time that I have sitting at my desk for productive things.  I've decided to apply for a Peace Corps program called Master's International- going to grad school for one year and then 2 years of service for the internship.  I started studying for my GRE (which I take in November), filling out applications and will be taking inline classes to finish up the pre-reqs I need (a couple psych classes).  I will also be taking the Master Gardener's training and french through WITC.  I'm going to be productive with my boredom. :)

My 23rd birthday was last Wednesday.  Wanna know what I did? NOTHING! haha. I went shopping with my mom a bit then I watched Veronica Mars on Netflix... super exciting right? not really... I need more friends. hm. But I am currently in La Crosse to celebrate.  I came down yesterday for my friend Steve's going away party, that was fun! I hung out with a bunch of his friends that I don't really know that well.  Then today I was supposed to drive to Madison for Urban Horticulture Day for work, but my car started flashing warning lights like it did when my transmission went out last year so I stopped.  My engine was smoking, which is just because fluid was leaking I guess.  The mechanic I brought it to said it was okay to drive so I came back to La Crosse. Right before the exit, the light started flashing again so now I'm chilling in Starbucks... I hate Starbucks. I don't really know why.  It just rubs me the wrong way I guess... anyway.  Tonight is my party and I can't wait! I'll keep you posted on the details about the event :)

Roller Coaster of a Weekend

So let's see... this weekend had some highs- ARI! and some lows- having someone flake, again... Why don't I start with Thursday.

As I said in my last post, I went to Ari Herstand's last show in Minneapolis before he moves to LA.  It was EPIC!!  My older brother, Adam, and my best friend, Katie, joined me for the show.  Neither of them had ever heard of Ari but now both like them and Katie loves him.  Everything about the show was great.  The venue, the Varsity, was friggin' awesome!  Super chill, slightly gothic vibe, super sweet.  The other bands that we caught were great too! I have found another great band to listen to from MSP, ReadyGoes.  I've heard of them before, as their bass slept on my couch last fall, but seeing them live was awesome!  Then Ari came on.  He is... beautiful. haha. He is such a great guy! His show was amazing, as always.  I have pics and video that I need to get online.  After the show, I found Alex, lead singer for Roster McCabe, and DJ, guitar player, and chatted with both of them.  They both invited us to hang out for a bit for the after show.  So we sat, drank a little, ate pizza and chatted with a bunch of people.  It was amazing.  Such a great night!

The next day, I hung out at Katie's and played with Aiden, my godson.  It was great just hanging out doing nothing with someone else. Plus Aiden is so cute and sweet.  He is now 13 months old.  He says Mama, Dada and ball. lol. He loves bubbles and playing fetch with Ash, Austin's dog.

Friday night was fun. I went to a drive in with my friend Clayton, yes just a friend, we are each other's outlet for fun these days. He's a farmer and doesn't really get off of the farm unless I make him. lol.  We went to go see Ramona and Beezes, I'd already seen it but  I love it. It is super cute and hilarious!

On Saturday, I was super excited about going to the grand opening of my friend's bar, Renegade's.  It's been open for awhile but this was the big day! Music, fireworks, a bouncy house! Just greatness all day!  I was supposed to go with my friend Nat but she ended up bailing on me because her ex-bf said that they were waiting for her to go tubing (their relationship is a looooooooong story...) so that left me not wanting to go by myself.  I sat in my house all day instead of hanging out listening to music. I was also flaked on (for the second time) by this guy that I was kinda seeing (not anymore).  So by the time that Nat got home from tubing and was ready to go to the bar, I didn't want to see her or her friggin' ex, so I went out with some other friends that called me randomly.  That was interesting... I met some new people, got kissed by an old friend that was trashed and I don't think he remembers and had to chill at Perkin's until almost 4am because some dumb-asses wanted to get into a fight in the parking lot over one of their great grandmas... (don't ask becasue I have no clue...)

SO that was my weekend. It was fun and dumb all at the same time... haha.

I'll let you know how my birthday goes ;)

My Goals

So my birthday is coming up. The big 23 is next Wednesday... I will only be 22 for 7 more days. Craziness.  I still feel like I should be a freshman at La Crosse... hm.  What are my plans for the celebration you may ask? I have none for the day of... haha.  BUT I am going to go the the Twin Cities this Thursday.  One of my FAVORITE musicians, Ari Herstand, is playing his last show in Minneapolis before he moves to L.A.  Which I know everyone who is reading this probably knows who he is, but just in case... here's a link to one of his songs: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixAyPA_D6yM

He is amazing and I'm gonna miss seeing him in La Crosse every couple months.

As for my goal of finding new things in  or around Barron County, I'm kinda failing so far... but I did get a 3 month pass at the Community Center so I can work out :)  I went swimming today, swam some laps. It was fun and really relaxing.  I'm going to try to work out 3 or 4 times a week. One of my new goals.  I suppose I could tell you about those!

My Goals (Aug 2010):

1: Actually follow the Weight Watchers Program (Oh yeah, I'm in WW)

2: Work out 4 times a week.

3: Meet more people my age

     * by taking classes at WITC

     * by talking to more random people and looking past people's "hickness"

     * by trying new things

4: Stop drinking too much (I don't drink often anymore, but I drink too much when I do)

5: Figure what I'm doing with the next 3 years of my life. (Grad school, teaching english abroad, AmeriCorps again? IDK...)

6: Save more money. (about $300- $325 a check)

So yeah... those are my personal goals for my year of VISTA service so far... more may be added :)

This may be interesting...

So, I've never blogged. Tried to write in a diary when I was younger, that lasted for about a month before  I got bored or decided that I didn't have anything interesting to say... so this may be interesting (or I suppose not interesting). 

So a little about my title first, I suppose.  I am from a small town in Northern WI, Barron to be exact.  Don't feel bad if you've never heard of it.  Most people haven't. When I would meet people at college, UW-La Crosse, we would exchange the "So where are you from?'s" right away and I would tell them.  Most had no clue where Barron was so I would say, "Middle of Nowhere, Northern WI" and it would usually be a sufficient answer.

Now why a blog? Why now?  I recently graduated, from UWL as I stated earlier, and moved home... in with my parents. yeah, exactly.  I am currently an AmeriCorps VISTA volunteer in my home town working though the UW Extension office.  I was offered another position in Milwaukee, but turned it down (and now I can't decide if it was the right choice).  The position is only a year... until June 20th, 2011, I am stuck here...  So my goal for this blog is to force myself to find fun things to do to talk about.  To find adventure in one of the most boring towns on the planet.  To explore the small town I grew up in and was so excited to leave 5 years ago.


The world is round and the place which may seem like the end may also be the beginning.

- Ivy Baker Priest