Here we go, 2014!

WELCOME TO THE YEAR TWO-THOUSAND-FOURTEEN, BLOGGERS!

I realize it's already February, and I haven't posted anything in quite some time, but HERE WE ARE!  How does the time pass so very quickly? OH THAT'S RIGHT, I'm constantly busy.  That goes for my boyfriend Vincent, and his sister Taryn (our other roommate in this lovely Phoenix household), too.  This semester is my second at Arizona State University, and Vincent's first! Taryn is currently working on the second semester of her Master's degree at George Washington University online.  Phoenix is better than ever this year! Well, minus the shitty Sprint coverage around home.

School is keeping me busier than every this year, and I'm kind of alright with it.  I'm finally working on Kinesiology classes for my upper division classes, and I'm extremely interested in learning more and more.  My anatomy class that I took in North Carolina didn't transfer over to ASU, therefore, I'm taking it ALL OVER AGAIN. But it's kind of exciting...Arizona teaches things differently, and I'm enjoying anatomy more than ever.

As for work, I'm a cocktail in the bar now! I started around 5 months ago, I'd say, and I'm working on getting into bartending. That's where the money's at! Thankfully one of our newest managers, Debbie, loves me and she's pretty amazing.  She might be the best manager we've ever had in my time at Red Robin. Well, Dawn was amazing too, but I wasn't serving then, so I'm not completely sure of that.  I'm still training people to serve pretty often.  I go back and forth about training...it's fun, but also a pain in the ass at times.  My biggest "beef," you could say, is the fact that as CLC's, we don't get paid very much more for training others.  And it's supposed to be an honor to train, right? For the meantime, I'm fine.  There's tons of other things to worry about.  The past month or two I've been serving on the floor a hell of a lot, and haven't had much time in the bar to practice drinks and get more experience.  Hopefully that will change soon. I love being in the bar...it's a completely different atmosphere, and I thrive in it.  Overall, I think I'm becoming a rockstar at work...not to toot my own horn or anything, but I'm pretty badass.  Vincent will say every now and then that I don't really WORK at my job, but he's never worked in the serving industry like this.  Pizza places are completely different than a restaurant, and I truly love my job.  I love the people I work with, mostly.  It's going to make it pretty difficult to move on one day into a "big girl job" that's associated with my major.

This past December I got to go back to NC to visit my family and a few close friends.  I left Arizona on the 27th, and returned on January 2nd.  In the time I spent in NC, I really got to reconnect with my older brother, and spent plenty of time with my mom, grandma, and two nieces.  My brother's separated from his wife for right now.  They've been having some personal issues, and I'm pretty sure they're going to get divorced down the road.  My brother moved into my mom's old house, with his daughters living with him most of the week.  My mom moved in with my grandma down the street.  It was really delightful to have my family all in one place, for once.  I also got to visit my uncle in Durham.  Along with my mom and grandma, we took a day trip up to visit him, and it was the first time any of us had seen him since shortly before I moved to Arizona two and a half years ago.  Honestly, the best part of my trip aside from seeing my family, was seeing my best friend Kelly, and her six month old baby boy, Jackson.  He's my little sweetheart, and I've never loved a baby boy like I love him. He's absolutely adorable.  I'm not sure I've ever told you all about Kelly.  We went to high school together for a year or two, then she decided to go back to homeschooling.  I flew out to NC in September of 2012 to be a bridesmaid in her wedding, then flew back to Arizona two days later.  You see, Kelly and I don't get to talk very often. We're both extremely busy, as she's trying to finish up her bachelor's degree, take care of her son and husband, and who knows what else!  However, things are different between Kelly and I than they were between Amara and I.  Kelly and I don't seem to see anything as a lack of time together...we always pick up right where we left off, and don't feel out-of-the-loop.  With Amara, I felt like things were awkward and missing...I wish they weren't, but they were.  I love her to pieces, honestly I do, but it's just different nowadays.

Well, that's all I've got for now, bloggers. I'll work on keeping up with you more often.
HAPPY FEBRUARY, 2014!

Remembering

You always said you'd show me everything...what it was like here. You'd show me the way. Take me out. Show me off. Give me everything I could ever dream of. Hike and bike and show me unbelievable things. It was to be a new life, a new experience, a new journey. But together. Most days I feel far apart. We're good, but not great. There's so much out there, and I dream of seeing it with you. I dream those dreams you told me once before. I dream those dreams everyday. I hope to come home to flowers. I hope to have the door opened for me. I hope to be held when I just need to cry. Maybe I've just got too much hope. Maybe I've put too much hope in you. Maybe I've seen too many movies. Maybe those things don't happen anymore. Maybe they shouldn't happen. Maybe I'm just all alone in this world. BUT NO! These things do happen! Love and romance is real. People do care for one another and want to share the world together. It does happen. It should happen. Everyone deserves it. So why not me? I do. And I want it. And I shouldn't settle for less. I want it all, and I can have it. I should have it. I want to be loved like I love. I need to be loved like I love. My love is strong and endless. And yours should be too. It was once before. It couldn't have all been a lie. I used to feel so much more love. Now where has it gone?

Summertime, here I come!

Yep! It's that fantastic time again! Spring semester over, summer class starting soon, and the only place I want to be is by the water and in the sun!

I got all A's again this semester, which keeps up my 4.0 gpa from South Mountain CC. I was really worried about it because I was struggling with chemistry towards the end of the semester, but somehow I pulled through! I've got my cultural online class starting soon...I'm not actually sure when..I need to stop being lazy and look it up haha.

As for work, I've been closing a lot lately, which I really love! However, I'm in the red on our scorecards, which could be really bad...if I can't get my numbers up, then my closing shifts could be taken away, which would also result in less money. No bueno! So I've been getting tips from other servers on how to improve. Guess we'll have to wait and see how it goes! I'm confident I can get back in the yellow, and soon in the green after!

The first couple days I was out of school and didn't have to work were pretty weird. I've always got something to do, so not having anything important to do threw me off. You know when you're so busy that you have no time for anything, you could think of a million things you'd rather be doing? Well none of those things were interesting those first few days. But I'm enjoying the time off now, for sure! It's great to catch up on reading, or shows I've been wanting to watch, or really just laying around enjoying myself! Summertime fun :)

Well I'm off to get some food in my belly, and spend the day with Vincent :) Bloggers, have a lovely day!

Post-training!

Yesterday I had my CLC, or Certified Learning Coach, training in Happy Valley with two of my team members, Danielle and Lena. There was only a total of 6 Red Robiners, as I would call it, in our session, which was much better than the 18 that were in the first session! We had more time to discuss each step more in depth, and also get a better understanding of what was changing, as well as what was expected of us. My experience was phenomenal. Our "teacher" was a regional manager in California, but Arizona was his home starting point. It was interesting to get an inside view of what goes on in the company, and knowing we were going to be a part of such a big change and transition that it's making in upcoming months, and years.

I'm really excited to get to work tonight and talk to my managers about my experience. It is going to be amazing to begin working on having more patience, and preparing myself for my future. My career goal is to be a physical therapist, which requires a lot of instruction, patience, commitment, and honesty. All of which I'll be practicing as a CLC.

It is extremely exciting to feel so needed within the company you work for, so I am beyond thrilled I made it through all of these initial tests, and have received my certification! Things can only get better from here! :)

New Beginnings!

It's been almost a year since I've made a post, wow! So much has happened. I was training for expo around this time last year, and now I've become a server! I'm currently training to become an expo trainer. I'm still loving my job, and probably even more than ever. I've just recently started closing the floor as a server, and I couldn't be more excited, thrilled, and proud of myself.

As for school, I'm progressing more and more! Today I took a placement test in order to get out of taking a critical reading course, and getting one more step closer to graduating. After I finish this spring semester in May, I've got to take a cultural credit class this summer, and then I'll have my associates in science, as well as arts! What could be better than one degree? That's right! TWO! :) In the fall I'll be at ASU, and I've never been more excited for school!

My main goal for this week, and for my future, is to become more independent. I've kind of slacked off some, and yes, people do need people, but it's something I feel will help me out for my future. Vince and I have been going through a lot of changes lately, and in order to do my part to make sure we continue moving forward with our relationship, I'm making some decisions for myself, which will hopefully help us both in the end. I've always said I'd be his cheerleader when I moved out here, help him continue forward with his own goals, and be by his side when he needs me to be. Well I've begun to see I haven't been the very best cheerleader that I could be, so that's something I'm truly going to work on.

Life throws a lot at you sometimes, and I'm trying to take it day by day, and step by step from now on. Here's to improvement overall! :) Have a fantastic day, bloggers!

Moving forward!

A lot has been happening lately in my life...progression, that is.

Vince recently got promoted into a full-time position at Coke as a merchandiser.  He's going to be doing the same things he always has, but he'll be getting his own route, already received his pay raise, and soon will get benefits, too!  This is extremely exciting because we can finally start looking for our own place!  We couldn't afford it before, but with his raise and guarantee for 40 hours a week will allow us to have the funds for it.

On top of that, I'm moving forward at Red Robin, too!  For the past 6 months I've been in a hospitality (host) position, with the hope of becoming a server, and eventually cocktail/bartender.  With summer coming quickly in Arizona, we're in need for another expo on the schedule.  I've always been interested in this position seeing as it helps you learn more about the restaurant food and process; seeking knowledge and actually getting feedback is splendid to me, since the previous restaurant I worked at didn't show much interest in employees cross-training as often.  During slow times I would ask which dressings/sauces go with this entree', or that one. Slowly I have learned the basics on the final food preparation before guests receive their lunches and dinners.  Two weeks ago I expressed my desire to move forward into the expo world, although I did not want to fully leave the hospo stand, I wanted to seek more knowledge elsewhere.  Finally, I was told a few days ago I was on the expo training schedule for this week!  I was ecstatic at the news!  More opportunities to gain a greater understanding of the restaurant I've grown to love? FANTASTIC!

Shortly after a manager informed me of this news, my coworkers, managers, and I had a pre-shift pow-wow in order to have a great shift.  During this time we usually congratulate any new trainees, accomplishments, and achievements.  At this particular pre-shift, I was informed I was Employee of the Month, and got a $50 American Express gift card!!  How awesome is that?!  It was amazing to finally be recognized for all my hard work.

Since these new changes have occurred, I've been on cloud 9.  Life is great! So is Arizona! I feel like moving here was an amazing opportunity for me, and I've loved every second of it. :)

Just another Sunday?

Easter. When I was a child I remember waking up supremely excited to search for my basket of eggs the Easter bunny left me.  I can remember one time when I searched all over the house, and even outside, to only find out it was right behind my bedroom door.  I don't remember much about Jesus on Easter...yes, when I was younger my mother used to take me to church, but really, I was too little to understand...and we didn't continue going...something changed in my mom's eyes maybe?  Times are rough, no matter what.  Maybe she prayed and prayed, only to find nothing in our sad, poor life changed.  Or maybe that's just my opinion.  I believe in a greater God, but I don't practice my faith like most other Christians.  I woke up thinking this is just another Sunday of 2012.  Nothing special really.

I also woke up to a text message from my best friend...saying she'd gotten in a horrible car accident the night before, and although she was safe and sound, her car was totaled.  You always know it's bad if the car is totaled.  I was freaked out...glad she was safe...but worried about what she might have gone through.  Later on I found out her car had flipped a few times...how scary must that have been?!  If I were still living there, I'm sure she would have called me right away, to come to her rescue!  What else are best friends for?  I love her with all of my might.  Long distance relationships are hard to handle, whether it be with a lover, best friend, family member, or anyone else.  It's been tough for us so far...our schedules conflict, there's a stupid time difference, and we're both busy, young adults.  But I'm trying to improve on my end...she is too, but I've had more issues with it than she has...so I'm improving as best I can.  Whether that means calling her on the way home from work, texting whenever possible, or simply letting her know when I'm thinking of her, or something we used to do.  I truly love her, and owe her a lot.  She's been there for me more times than I can count.  Truly my best friend in the world.

I miss my family today.  On other days too; but as I see my boyfriend's family gathering together today to visit and eat dinner together, I think of all the other Easters I used to do the same with my mother, grandmother, brother, sister-in-law, nieces, and neighbors.  I miss that a lot sometimes.

To everyone else, I wish you a lovely Easter, and a fantastic day with the ones you love! :)