Changes in latitude, changes in attitude.

Lots is happening!

-My last day of work at The Primrose School (aka the most uninspiring, exhausting work environment I've ever been a part of) is on FRIDAY!!!!

-I've had lots of fun traveling around Colorado on weekends. Music festival, camping, sleeping under the stars, long hikes, fly fishing, good company. It's been great. I love Colorado.

-I'm preparing for a month in Costa Rica. Calling families, researching backpacks, browsing REI's website, communicating about last minute details with my fellow leaders.

-The WORLD CUP! I'm trying to soak up as much soccer as I can, but it's tough working full time. Luckily, I can watch in the evenings. I miss soccer.

-Continued communication with my new school, Denver Language School. I'll be visiting a day of camp next week and meet my teacher, Eva. School starts August 12th!

-Signed up for and have started training for the Twin Cities Marathon. yikes. This is a fantastic challenge but also inherently stressful. Plus, heading to Costa Rica for 4 weeks doesn't help the consistent training schedule.

-Planning on moving in with Kate, a friend from Primrose, September 1st. Most likely in the Highlands. So excited!!! Also need to buy a car and a bed.

Whew, that's a lot. A big change from the past 6 months. I'm ready.

i got a job!

After six months of searching, interviewing, sending out resumes and tweaking cover letters, I have a job for next year! A job I WANT! I couldn't be happier about it :)

For the 2010-11 school year I will be working as a Teacher's Assistant at the Denver Language School. Our 1st grade classroom will be exclusively Spanish-speaking (95%) and I will work under a native Spanish speaker. The school is a brand new charter school and a lot of energy and passion are fueling it's August 2010 start date. All of these things are a perfect match for me and I can't wait to meet the teachers and students.

As an aside, I'm going to add a bit about the hiring process. I sent my resume, cover letter, transcript, etc. about 2 months ago and hadn't heard anything. I figured it was like most jobs I applied for: dead end. I realize I don't have my teaching license so my hopes for many of these positions were not particularly high. Anyway, I received an email on Wednesday evening requesting an interview time slot on either Thursday or Friday. I had to work both days so I emailed Janine (my new boss and principal of DLS) telling her I'd have to work out a different time. She writes back with a new time and attached a list of qualifications, the majority of which I don't possess. I was a bit intimidated by this and exhaustion from the week set in- I didn't feel like getting in the car to interview at 4:30 on a Friday. So I cancelled. Then, at 10:15pm on Thursday night, I get another email from Janine encouraging me to apply. She highlighted my experiences and mentioned my position at Primrose as similar to the job description. I was blown away by her personal investment so late on a Thursday and decided to go for it. All I needed was a little nudge.

The interview lasted and hour and a half. We chatted about the school, my qualifications, Minnesota (she's from Iowa and went to school at Mankato State). Then her language started to shift. She started to say things like, "This is what you will be doing." "Will you comfortable speaking in Spanish all day?" I became more enthusiastic about the position with each question. It just felt right.

A few minutes later, Janine went to chat with the Executive Director, Brian, as he was leaving for the weekend. Her voice lowered to a whisper and I could tell they were chatting about me. Brian then came over to the conference room and shook my hand saying, "Now remember, we're very selective." Hmm... I thought, my twinge of excitement growing. Next thing I know, Janine is explaining how she's never done this but she just felt it was right. She offered me the job on the spot, no questions asked. On the spot! I was blown away.

I told her I'd think it over knowing full well that I'd accept. I accepted yesterday and am so excited about it! It should be a fun ride- en español!

One more thing: Janine said two things in particular stood out to her.

1) My extensive experiences in Chile and Costa Rica.

2) The fact I went to St. Olaf. ("I know it's a great school so you must be really smart!") Thanks Olaf!

More to come on my adventures of moving out, buying a car and starting a new life in Denver to come!

Wintry Spring

I woke up one May morning to yet another dusting of snow. I set out for a 5-mile run and kept thinking about what a great morning it would be to take a few pictures. So, as an exercise in my newfound spontaneity, I decided to run upstairs and grab my camera. Here's how they turned out.

(all the flowers are in my yard)

I'm happy to report that summer has officially begun. No more snow! Pictures of calm warm nights to come...

On Memorial Day, I ran my first Bolder Boulder. It was everything I expected it to be: crowded, entertaining, full of crazy costumes and fun-loving families. I originally signed up by myself with hopes of meeting up with people once it finished. But thanks to Global Works and the many new friends I met at training, I was invited to stay with Jackie and her friends from college. They are a couple years older than I am and run the Bolder Boulder as a tradition. We ate a yummy pasta dinner, made silly "BLT and bread and cheese" t-shirts and had a couple beers. I really enjoyed meeting her friends and just hanging out in Boulder. We got up around 6:30, pounded water and I ate a very ripe banana and a couple granola bars.

There were thousands of people wandering and running around Boulder. From the moment we left the apartment, we saw people of all ages and sizes in running shoes ready to take on the 6.2 mile course. Our wave left around 8:30 and almost immediately we all split up. I ran a little faster than the others (about a 9:15 mile) and enjoyed the course by myself. I loved it! People were playing music, handing out bacon, launching marshmallows, spraying water and passing out beer and doritos. The time flew by. I passed a lot of people and ended up finishing in 57:26. It is a pretty good time considering the hoards of people I weaved through. Next year, I will join a timed heat so as to truly race the course.

The stadium slowly filled up with tired runners and families. We ate all of our free goodies and people-watched in the gorgeous weather.
Two new buddies and fellow Global Works employes, Jackie and Erin.

A great way to spend Memorial Day and a tradition I hope to continue!

...6 months later

I'm back! After close to six months of living at home, I'm breaking back into the blogger world in an attempt to type out some of my crazy brain synapses firing as of late.

It seems both pointless and potentially mind-numbing to recap what I have been up to lately. Always the list maker, I thought I'd map out the past six months with "clear and concise is nice" bullet points.

Late December:

• Christmas Eve! I arrived back home, waving my Chilean flag! Felt SO GOOD to be home.
• Spent the holidays relaxing, enjoying big pots of coffee, working out and not getting stared at, cooking, baking and hanging out with family.

January:

• The job search began. I have learned a lot about job searching, Denver, networking and education programs.
• Applied for and landed two jobs. SpanishEasyandFun: teaching private Spanish lessons and Global Works: co-leading a student, service learning trip to Costa Rica.
• I quickly became stir crazy and came across a craigslist posting at The Primrose School as a "floater."

February:

• Started at Primrose. The job is convenient, consistently 40 hours and I work with kids. Yet I also end up in the kitchen quite a bit...not my idea of working at a school. Little do I know of what lies ahead.
• Ski a few times with Liz, Becca and my family. LOVE Colorado!

March:

• Chugging along at Primrose. Realize that working with all females is far too dramatic. Work is draining, I go through the motions and people like me. Voted Employee of the Month.
• More ski weekends. Still LOVE Colorado!
• Lots of running and working out. Keeps me sane.
• Lindsey and Katie visited!!!!!!!!!!! I love my friends.

April:

• "Everybody's working for the weekend." Never identified with these lyrics as much as I do now.
• Long weekend to Minnesota. Many, many emotions mix and make me feel, well, more confused. Again, I love my friends. They feel me up...my cup runneth over.

May:

• Job searching like crazy. Every night after work I sit on my computer, writing cover letters, adjusting my resume, making contacts etc. I feel crazy. Not sure what the point is at times...
• Crazy funky spring weather. Rain, snow, heat all in 48 hours.
• Fun weekends up in Boulder/Denver. Rock climbing, grilling, beers.
• Global Works training weekend: inspiring, stimulating and information-packed weekend. I really like the company and plan on/hope to work for them for a long time. Similar interests make all the difference.
• Ran Bolder Boulder with new friends Jackie and Erin, fellow GW staffers. Very fun! Lots of distractions and crazy costumes. Another good tradition I want to continue.
• Oh, and I signed up for the Twin Cities Marathon in October. yikes.

June:

• Volunteering at Palisade Music Festival with Liz, Jon and Lowell. camping, bluegrass and sun.
• Quit Primrose. hallelujah!
• Prepare for 30 days of insane responsibility in Costa Rica- 17 high schoolers!

What I learned the past six months:

Patience takes on many forms. In Chile, patience meant something completely different to me. It meant waiting for everything, slowing down and being at peace with "accomplishing" less each day and being patient with my students.

Here in Colorado, it means being patient with the job hunt process. Knowing that "all it takes is one," and that it will all work out. Being at peace with where I am despite certain aspects of life I want to change soon (i.e. living sola, car, etc).

Despite what I tend to think, no one has it all together. We all struggle to obtain some idea of what we believe to be the "right thing." We unconsciously (or consciously) check off boxes to compare and make sense of our situation compared to the next person:

• living independently
• salaried job (or at least decent $)
• car
• boyfriend/girlfriend

For me, I have struggled to be 23 and ok with not having any of these. At times, its maddening. I want so badly to be out on my own and don't understand why I can't just figure it out.

I also realize that all of this self-centered thinking can be poisonous. It not only makes me ridiculously self-involved but it brings me down. I am not used to being a negative person. Yet when I combine my job, living situation and lack of independent transport, I have found myself

being more of a Debbie Downer than ever.

Maybe that is why I reopened my blog today. I want to stop this poisonous negative talk. It is not me. I'm in a phase, putting in my time and working hard to move out on my own. I have high expectations of myself and though some of them have to be put on hold for now, I can still live true to my values of kindness, constantly seeking new knowledge and balancing my life. These are things a new job, car and apartment can't provide.

Chin up.