Welcome To Family On The Go

Guess what everyone! I've hit my two year anniversary since starting this blog. What does that have to do with this post and why was it that I didn't update last week? Well, it has to do with all the changes I've recently been going through.

Between the end of March and the beginning of May, every single person in my immediate family moved. I'm not kidding. We all went from being in one central geographic location, to stretched all along the north east. I was the last to officially move (see any blog post in March, April or May to hear my whining thoughts on that). It's been tough being far away from my original support system and its even harder trying to build a new one.

With my current job, I have a grand total of 15 personal days (not including sick leave). This is a luxgery for someone's first job right out of college (personally I thank the fact that I work for a French company for this much time). However, I was used to the college schedule of having a month off between first and second semester and then three months off in the summer for vacation. It's true that I used a lot of that "free time" to work jobs and internships, but I was always able to travel if I wanted to. Now I have to squish all of that time into 15 days.

It makes you look at your priorities a little more closely.

Do I take that adventure in Hawaii or visit my mom in Michigan? Should I go visit my cousins in North Carolina or my family in California? When was the last time I saw my family in Arizona? Should I really take that long weekend in October or save up for the holidays?

For my summer vacation time this year, I decided to visit one of my favorite childhood places with my mom's family. This required a two hour plane ride and then a nine hour car ride. It was worth it. Though it was strange to have TV for the first time, we still didn't have Internet.

It was calm and it was relaxing, but because I spent so much time in Northern Michigan, I wasn't able to see all of the people I wanted to in the Detroit area. I also felt a bit rushed at times to get everything done.

Today I'm heading out to visit my family in Pennsylvania. I'm a lot closer (geographically) to them now, so it's not as big of a trip. I'm excited to catch up in person as Facebook only tells you so much.

It seems like I'm doing a lot more traveling since moving to New Jersey and all of it to see family. This isn't a bad thing. I love visiting my family. I have their backs (even when I don't agree with them) and hopefully most of them have mine (when we're not driving each other crazy).

It's a tough balance and I'm still not sure how to do it aall. It requires a hard look at what you value doing, who you value seeing, timing and how much everything will cost (hey I'm still just starting out and have to budget everything).

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. If ever you guys have questions or have a topic you'd like me to write about, let me know.

Welcome To The Gym

Yeah, I joined a gym. It's to help counteract all of the bagels and muffins I've been eating since moving to New Jersey. Not really, but it helps with that too.

I joined a gym to stay healthy and help keep myself strong enough to get out of a fight if I need to. Also to someday try out for American Ninja warrior. That show is awesome (the Japanese version even more so). My roommate talked me into joining the same gym that they go to. It doesn't have a pool, but there's an ocean about an hour away from here. I think I'll manage.

What did I do before I joined a gym? I worked out at home. It was convenient, didn't cost anything (except maybe a few bucks for DVDs), and I had my own space to do my work out.

So, why did I decide to join a gym even though I had a good thing going for me working out at home. Well, back in Maryland I had a ground floor apartment. It didn't matter how much noise I made or how often I banged on the floor. Now I live on the third floor with all wooden flooring, plus a baby lives down stairs. It wouldn't be polite to my neighbors (or roommate) for me to work out at home. I also thought it would be a great place to meet new people and learn some new workouts. So far, I've only accomplished learning the new workouts. Making friends is hard (if you don't believe me there's a blog post linked at the bottom for you to review).

Finding a gym wasn't the hardest decision for me. I went to a few different gyms, tried out there equipment, looked at there prices and made my decision (no, actually I did all my research online and ended up taking a great deal after checking the place out). I liked this gym because it wasn't expensive, I could walk to it, and my roommate belongs so I don't feel completely alone.

So far, I've been happy with the decision. I take two yoga classes and a spinning class every week. I also try to go one extra day to do weights. It can be a little difficult because my shoulder and hip still give me problems (old rugby injuries), but hopefully after a few months they won't be that much of a problem any more.

Now, would I recommend joining a gym after just starting out. Eh, it depends. If you have a very strict budget, my answer would be no. It's not something that is necessary. However, if you are in a new area and it wouldn't be easy to workout at home, I say go for it. You never know who you might meet at the gym.


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

Oh, right, here's that blog where I mention how hard it is to make friends after college. Enjoy...
http://startingoutinwonderland.blogspot.com/2014/03/welcome-to-learning-curve.html

Welcome to the 100th Post

I almost didn't realize it was my 100th post until I went to check on which titles I had already used. It doesn't seem like it has been long enough for 100, but I guess it has. This week was a fairly average week. Nothing super exciting happened. I can sometimes be hard to find something new to write about.

After our big party last weekend, my roommate had a fairly calm weekend (or at least I did). Yesterday was a shopping day for me. I discovered that the Bed Bath and Beyond near me is huge and has almost all of the products one could find at Target except for cloths, produce and a frozen section. Today I went to the farmers market and then my roommate and I cleaned for the rest of the day. I feel somewhat accomplished (though I never did get around to writing anything for my web-comic or novel).

Here's to hoping next week is just as smooth.

I think I mentioned in an earlier post that I started a web-comic. No I'm not going to link it to this blog just yet. I'm still trying to find my voice and get a better feel for my style. I will say that it is a mixture of humor and mystery (mostly humor). I've started watching Twin Peaks, which is definitely helping with the ideas. It's the strangest mystery show I've ever watched.

 The web-comic is just as much an experiment as my blog post started out as. Yet here I am at blog post number 100, still occasionally struggling to figure out what the heck to write about. I don't think I've explored all of my wonderland just yet. Oh, no, then I wouldn't freak out every time something new happens to me. But maybe I've started to get used to all the changes.

I don't know, at least I know how to fix a running toilet. UPS and I still have our issues, so not everything is peachy.

Let me know if you guys ever want me to write about a topic. I'm sure I'll have one for next week.

See y'all then.

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off), please like, share or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope y'all like hearing from me. I'm going back to watching Twin Peaks. Maybe I'll one day live in a town like that (the almighty only knows).

Welcome To Party Time

Summer is in full swing and what's the best way to celebrate than with a party. Yesterday my roommate and I threw a party to celebrate all things summer. It was my first major party that I was hosting (or at least helping with the hosting) since college. It was a lot of fun and I look forward to next one.

Throwing parties now is very similar to parties I threw in College. Major differences include more food, better drinks and the number of people to help clean up (there were seven people in a house on campus as oppose to an apartment with just me and my roommate).

For anyone wanting to throw a party and need a little advice, below are some pieces I picked up from my roommate and lodgemates.

1) Pick a simple theme and is seasonally appropriate (also that isn't offensive to another culture). This is helpful because decorations will likely be easy to find and might be on sale. If you decide to not have a theme that's okay too.

2) Make your apartment / house look clean. I don't mean do a full scrub down before the party, just a quick rub down so that people aren't questioning the green stuff growing in your sink (just kidding). Parties tend to be messy and you have to clean up after them anyway. Why put in all of the effort to make you apartment spotless before hand only to have to clean up all over again the next day?

3) Recruit people to help out with set up and clean up. You will need the help. I don't know how many times I've woken up after a party, looked around and wished I wasn't the one who needed to clean up. It's a little less daunting with a few extra hands.

4) The type of food to have. This is tricky because I feel it depends on the type of part. If you are throwing a dinner party or back yard BBQ it's kind of a given that there will be a lot of food and enough to cover at least one meal. If it's neither of those than I would suggest some finger foods. Things that are easy to put together and clean up after. Chips and dip are good bases for these parties, but not usually enough. Small sandwiches, meats and cheeses with crackers, and plenty of desserts keep people filled up.

5) Have people bring something (drinks are the best recommendation). When I was in college, my lodgemates and I threw a party within the first few days of moving in. We had a supply of drinks and some chips when we started the party. The next morning we didn't have any more chips, but about three times as many drinks as we had started with. Yesterday we asked everyone to ether bring a drink or a snack. We currently have a cooler full of drinks and no more tuna sliders.

Of course these are suggestions. All parties are different. Heck there have been many parties where it's just a group of friends who order pizza. Clean up, though, still sucks.

Until next week.

If you enjoyed this post or it really pissed you off, please like, share or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope you guys like hearing from me. Now I just need to be ready for work tomorrow. Joys.

Welcome To America's Birthday

Happy Forth of July everyone! Or at least the day after the forth of July. And what better way to end the holiday weekend celebrating everything 'Merica than by watching the USA in the Women's World Cup. It is a glorious game.

The forth of July was a little different this year. It was the first year that my dad, sibling and I didn't set off our own sparklers (the legal stuff of course). Instead we watched what we could from my dad's balcony and the PBS special. To be honest, I thought watching the DC fireworks show on TV was a lot more fun  than actually going to DC. At least we can hear the music and fireworks when watching it on TV. It was also really cloudy yesterday and made it hard to see anything.

All other forth of July traditions were celebrated.

Our first mission of the morning was going out and buying a Blueray copy of 1776. If you've never seen the movie, it's worth it. Mr. Feeny (William Daniels) is in it and it totally explains why the high school in Boy Meets World was John Adams High.

My sibling and I then fought over control of the TV as both the England v. Germany game was on and Independence Day (another must in my family). Sibling won, and I followed the game online (today's game was way more important anyway).

We finished off the day by watching Jurassic Park (the original of course). I really wanted to see it again after seeing the new one and we all wanted to laugh at the original line Jess Goldblum says in both Jurassic Park and Independence Day ("Must go faster! Go! Go! Go! Go! Go!")

In some ways the forth of July reminds me what American's fought for (and are still fighting for), the right to be independent and create there own destinies. No one tells the United States what to do (well they try, but we tend to ignore them). It also reminds me of how our nation has changed since we signed a piece of paper telling the world that we didn't belong to anyone.

Since 1776, we no longer have to have property to vote, we can be of any race or nationality as long as we are a citizen of the US, we don't have to be a man, we have 17 more amendments than we started with, and we are continuing to grow. Sure we don't agree on anything (internationally and internally), but we're learning and evolving. Hopefully for the better.

If I had one wish for the United State's Birthday, it's that we keep growing and evolving. We're probably going to make some more mistakes (it's not like we haven't before), but we have to continue creating our own destiny.

Here's to another year and not f!%*&$g it up too much.

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

Welcome To The Weekend Getaway

This weekend I went up to Connecticut to visit one of my cousins. We had a lot of fun and my cousin showed me around his home town of New Heaven. It was a lot of fun and Connecticut pizza is amazing.

Visiting my cousin was my first big trip in the area and it was worth it. I was nervous about driving in a completely new area, but thankfully my roommate lent me her GPS. It worked great on the way to my cousin's house, but on the way back today I kept loosing the satellite signal. I just kept praying that I'd eventually find my way home.

Part of the fun of weekend getaways is exploring new places. Being new to the area allows for a chance to meet as many new people as possible and go to tons of new places. I still haven't seen a lot of New York City and Sleepy Hollow is about a 15 minute drive.

Weekend getaways can be planned out way in advanced or decided on in half a second. There's a guy who lives in my building who takes his motorcycle, picks a direction and just goes. I wish I could do stuff like that, but I'm a planner.

Some tips for a weekend getaway (for those who are on there own or with a friend).

1) Check for toll roads - if you don't have an EZ Pass or cash on hand things can get tricky. Also tolls in general just start to add up. It's almost 30 dollars to go from Baltimore Maryland to Ridgewood New Jersey. That's more than a tank of gas.

2) Where to sleep - this is more important if you are doing a spontaneous getaway. For the out door adventurer,  it might be a good idea to have a tent and spare air mattress in left in the car. Hopefully a camp ground can be found. Otherwise, hope a decent hotel has a vacancy. These are the days I'm so glad we have Yelp.

3) Avoid getting lost - at least avoid getting lost for too long. Investing in a good smart phone or GPS (for those of us who are technologically challenged) is extremely helpful. Sometimes you can even program them to avoid tolls and major highways.

4) Take chances - if there are a lot of cars in the restaurant parking lot, or a line around the corner. It might be worth it to stop in and try the food. It could be a tourist trap or it could be a great life time experience. Either way, there will be a story out of it.

5) Forget about work on Monday (or which ever day you have to go back to work) - yeah it'll still be there when you wake up bright and early Monday morning, but just for that moment pretend you don't have to worry about anything. Let yourself be in the moment and enjoy it.

I'd like to thank my cousin and his wife for having me this weekend. Until next week.

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

Welcome To Points of View

Happy Father's Day! It's the day  role to celebrate the dad in your life. It doesn't matter if they are biologically related to you or were just a great role model in your life, they are someone you call dad. I love and appreciate my dad (even when he's driving me crazy). If I were able to visit him today, I'd give him a big hug.

My parents taught me a lot of things. One of those was that you might not agree with everyone you meet. In these cases its good to listen to the other person's ideas and what they think and then tell them your point of view. Well, that's the ideal world any way.

Hearing other people's points of view, especially if they are very different from yours, can be very challenging. Often to avoid a fight, the person least likely to start a fight will just nod their head and hope that the subject changes soon. Other times an argument is inevitable. Those are the worst.

It's also hard to put yourself in someone else shoes. Until something is perceived it is hard to be aware of or understand it. It can be hard to relate to someone who has a very different way of viewing the world. It's best to be as respectful as possible.


Of course, sometimes no one in the party agrees to listen. Or they've both listened so much, but can't get their point of view across. This is typically when I have to walk away.

The only way to proceed is with an open mind and the ability to listen. Hopefully the both parties will be able to learn from each other.

Until next week.

If you enjoyed this post, or if really pissed you off, please like, share, or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and hopefully you guys like hearing from me. Being a grown up and acting like one is really hard.