Welcome to Planning Things Out

If there's one thing about myself that I know for certain, it's that I always need a plan.Without one, I admit that I am a little prone to panicking. That's not to say that I can't be spontaneous and suddenly change my plans or decide that I don't feel up to what I was originally planning to do. I am able to do stuff like that.

It's just that I like to have a plan.

 A plan gives me goals. If I do this, then I know that will happen. It's a simple statement. Shame that the world isn't as simple. A more accurate statement would be: if I do this, then that is most likely what will happen next. Unfortunately I can't control the future, but I can attempt to minimize changes to my plans.

Plans and goals change. Just because I want something right this second, doesn't mean that I'm going to want it tomorrow. This can cause my plans to change. I don't like changing my plans too often, especially if they involve other people and responsibilities. It's not very considerate for one thing. For another, I personally don't like the erratic nature of deviating from my plans.

It's one thing if I change my own plans. It's another when things beyond my control change my plans for me. The weather is one of those factors that no one can control. If I plan on going to the beach next weekend and it thunderstorms, I guess I have to chance my plans because going to the beach in a thunderstorm does not sound like a fun activity. The exception to that might be if I were an extreme surfer and even that's questionable.

The weather, illness, the washing machine exploding are all things that I can't always plan for. The weather person is sometimes way off. Illness can strike at anytime. I don't think anyone actually believes their washing machine will explode until it actually does. I can do things to minimize the risk of these things happening (check the weather reports for the week, wash my hands, pay attention to that odd clanking sound during the gentle cycle), but I can't predict everything.

I like having a plan. It gives me some sense of security and a purpose. It allows me to reach my goals in various steps. I might not be able to see the future, but you can bet I'll have three or four plans ready for whatever comes next. Unless that future is a hostile dolphine take over. I don't have a plan for that one yet.

Until next week...

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off), please like, share, and/or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope you guys like hearing from me.

Welcome to Risk Taking

Life is full of uncertainty. The unknown is scary. Not having a clear idea of what the future can be really stressful. That doesn't mean I won't try something really crazy and take a few risks.

When I think of the word risk, three things come to mind. The first is the game Risk, which is a much better alternative to Monopoly to kill time and you're more likely to keep your friendships. The second thing I think of is the econmic term "risk" which heavily focuses on making money in the stock market. The saying "greater the risk, the greater the return" is often thrown around, but there is also a higher chance of failure.

The third and final thing I think of are the risks we experience in life. Yes, this definition is very similar to the economic term. The difference is, I either don't always notice the everyday risks or the risk is me leaving what I consider my secure enviornment. I also feel it's very important to take these risks.

Sure these types of risks always have that chance of blowing up in my face (I try to learn from those mistakes), but I like to think the benefits of stepping out of the familiar is far more important than not doing it. These types of risks could be going to a resaurant or bar by myself, moving across country, or even getting into a side car of a motorcycle. All of these things can end in some kind of failure (lets not get into the last one). And that's fine. It's okay to fail every once and a while.

I like taking risks that are within reason (otherwise I wouldn't have moved to New Jersey from Maryland). Sometimes, though, I need someone to give me a bigger push to try new things. I don't think I would have ever ridden in the side car of a motorcycle without my cousin telling me it would be a blast. I probably wouldn't have stayed up until 4am partying without a little encoragment from a friend. I might never have brought tickets to Iceland if another one of my friends hadn't had a great solo trip of her own and told me it would be a great adventure.

Sure not all of my risks have turned out well. Some of them have amazing stories about why I should not have done this action or why another action will not be done again. These stories will not be repeated here.

I want to experience as much as I can from this life. I can't be afraid to try something new. Because then I might live at all.

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off), please like, share, and/or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope you guys like hearing from me. Until next week!

Welcome to another new home

I moved into my new apartment roughly two weeks ago. Though there's still a lot of things out of place, I have managed to unpack most of my boxes. I've also been making a list of things I still need to get (like a kitchen table).

My new apartment is on the second floor of a very old house. My landlady lives on the first floor of the house with her three dogs. I have a living room, bedroom, kitchen, and a bathroom. I also have some attic space for storage. It's not huge, but it feels big.

According to my landlady' son, the house is one of the original to the town I moved to. At one time the first floor of the house was a bakery and the second floor was where the family lived. It was once a part of the downtown area. Now the main road seems to over the train tracks and the house is in more of a residential area. It's still pretty busy though because of the train station across the street.

The apartment has a lot of character.

The town I've moved to was established in 1919. It's not really that old when you think about it. It wasn't even around when my grandfather's house was built (which was anywhere from the late 1880s to the early 1900s). Many of the houses on my street are two family homes or look like they were originally shops. The roads are narrow and a few are one way only. It is also quieter than my last town.

I don't know what the future holds in store for me, but I am content with my choices in the present. I can't wait to get everything set up and organized (like the spice rack). I also want to learn more about the house and town I'm living in. The town is no here near as large as the last place I live, nor is it as spread out as the town I lived in in Maryland. There is a main street with a few stores and restaurants. There are plenty of places to walk to.

Who knows what kinds of adventures I'll have here.

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off), please like, share, and/or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope you guys like hearing from me. Until next week.

Welcome To Boxes Everywhere

Happy Mother's Day everyone. Did you hug your mom or mother figure today? If you aren't nearby did you remember to call? I got to spend a few days with my mom and sister this year, which was nice.

Originally they were coming to help me unpack and organize a bit. Instead we watched moves and went to Sleepy Hollow. It was nice to relax and enjoy each other's company.

I did feel a little bad though that my new place was very messy with boxes and bags everywhere. I honestly didn't know where half of my things were and it's very frustrating. I've been trying to go through at least one box a day.

Going through at least one box a day is a little more manageable than staring at the very large stack of boxes. Sure I have no idea where anything is, so it's always a mystery when I pull the tape off of the box. It's almost like opening Christmas presents.

Getting rid of the boxes is equally difficult, if only because you have to take them to a separate location because the garbage men won't take them. It adds a slightly higher level of frustration. I can't wait to have a nice clean apartment completely box free.

If I were to add any other advice while unpacking it would be to take breaks every now and again. Moving takes a lot of energy and taking a minute to sit down and relax helps balance out the strain of looking for that one item that you need right this instant.

Until next week...

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you) please like, share, and/or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope you guys like hearing from me. Now where did I put my scissors?

Welcome to moving...again.

Yes, I change the place where I crash every night, again. This is my fourth move in roughly five years. I do think this move went a lot better than the last one. Then again I only moved ten minutes from my last apartment, instead of two states over.

Moving takes a lot out of a person. Even more so when you're doing it on all by yourself. Thankfully my last roommate is understanding and is letting me take my time getting everything out and my new landlady is really nice.

The thing about moving is you never know how much stuff you have until you have to pack it all up. The. You have to find it all again while your unpacking. Some items might not survive a move. My DVD player seems to not want to turn on anymore. This is unfortunant because I didn't realize that I had left a DVD in it.

When it comes to furniture, you might have to get creative. The first couple of places I looked at, I had to say no to right away because my stuff wouldn't have fit. Hiring movers is a good idea if you have the money and don't have a friend who moves big items for a living.

If you are interested, you can read about my first adventures in moving Here and Here. Now that I've moved again to my own place here are a few tips:

1) Hire movers only if you have to - moving is expensive. If you don't have to hire someone to help you, the better. However if you do have to hire movers...

2) Get recommendations for Movers - there are a lot of Internet horror stories out there. I find that the most reliable way to get good movers (or at least people who won't scan you) is to ask people who they have used and liked. I found out about these movers from a coworker.

3) Start packing as soon as possible - the first time it took forever to get all my stuff into boxes. This time I started packing about two weeks in advance and half of my stuff was already packed up in storage.

4) Be flexible - things will go wrong, something unexpected will happen. The best thing to do is to factor it in early and roll with he punches.

5) Take sometime to relax - moving is stressful and no matter how much I wish everything was already unpacked in its rightful place, it's not. I don't want to get burnt out and won't want to either. Taking sometime to sit down and take a break lets me regroup and think about my next step.

After a long weekend of moving, I'm super tired and now need to be bright eyed and bushy tailed for work tomorrow. I'm going to curl up on my couch and sleep for a nice long 8 hours. That's right! I've got my couch back! How I missed my baby! Until next week.

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off) please like, share, and/or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope you guys like hearing from me. Now I'm going to sleep...zzzzz.