Start Fresh 2010 - Step 2 = New Job!

I got the job!!

The school called me Thursday night, after the board meeting, to let me know that I got the job, and that they approved my salary at the top of the range I requested!! They also told me I start Monday! As in two days from today! Talk about scary?!?

I wanted to surprise my mom, so today Justin and I headed to Erie in separate cars, and when she asked why, I very casually stated that I'm not leaving! I thought she was going to pee her pants!!! It was so hard keeping everything from her, and from posting more updates on here between then and now. Once they told me that my name was submitted for approval by the school board (way back before Christmas!), I wasn't allowed to mention it to anyone, and had to sit through the holidays acting like I was still waiting for a call back from my interview. It was nerve-wracking, but so worth the wait!

I know that my previous posts have been not so excitedly written. It took me a long time to decide if this is truly what I want, but as the time got closer, and it became more real, I realized that this is the best thing for me right now. I wanted to start 2010 fresh, and what better way to do it, then with a new job, in a new place? I'm still really scared about a lot of things, but at least I'm on a career path now. No more limbo every 3-6 months when contracts are expiring. No more living with my boyfriend's mom. No more questioning where I'd be in a year. If I want, I could potentially retire from this job when it's time. I can finally start planning my future!

Of course, not all of this is as perfect as I'm making it out to be.

I'll be living with my mom for a few weeks, until I find my own place, and we haven't always had the best experience with that. As long as I'm not there for too long, we should be good, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed on finding a new apartment, and FAST! We've made a lot of progress this year, and I don't want to backtrack our relationship being stuck in a house together for too long!

This is also a huge change for Justin and I. He's going to stay here in Pittsburgh, where he has a steady job, until he can find something in Erie. Since we were introduced at work over two years ago, we've seen each other almost every single day. I think the longest we've spent apart is 5 days. It's going to be hard getting used to not falling asleep next to him, waking up next to him, and basically spending the majority of everyday with him. It's scary to think what this could do to our relationship, but I truly believe that we can make it work. We've talked it through, and agree that as long as we both know this is what we want, and we're both willing to work for it, and we both have faith that we can withstand this little bump in our road, we can get through it. I mean really, with everything else we've gone through together, this should be nothing!

Overall I'm nervous, excited, anxious, pretty much every single feeling a person can muster all at once!

I'll post again after my first day, and let you know how it goes!! 

Start Fresh 2010 - Step 2 = New Blog

This isn't the huge update I mentioned in the previous post, but it's also a pretty big one! (The other will be coming later tonight!!) I've made the move! I'm officially on wordpress, and my own domain, and I'm super pumped about it!  You may need to update your feeds, I'm not sure, so here's the link to update your readers just in case!!

http://www.heysmalls.com/?feed=rss2

I may play around with the layout a little more, but so far I think I'm going to like it here!!

big things coming

i can't post about it just yet, but a HUGE update is on it's way!

Blog Help Needed!

As I stated in my resolution post, I am considering the move to Wordpress, but I have no idea what that entails. After much deliberation, I've come up with an idea, but I have no idea if it's possible, or how to do it!

Background
I started this blog thinking I would be posting about scrapbooking. I quickly realized that I don't scrap enough to make an entire blog about it, and that I actually needed this place as more of a venting ground for the crazy life I lead. I love that this has become somewhere I can open up and talk about things I might not otherwise let out of my head. The one thing that has bothered me about this fact, however, is that I don't think the title of my blog corresponds with the content I publish.

This year I plan to do a lot more on the crafting front. I had a whole category of things I want to learn on that list, and I do plan to follow through on all of it! I don't want to flood my personal thoughts with any of that, but I do want to post it, to share with the other crafty bloggers I follow. I'm thinking about starting a second blog, to post all of that stuff.

The Idea
I want both blogs to be hosted on Wordpress, or have them on separate tabs on wordpress? I don't know enough about WP to know the best way to handle this.

I would like to change the name of my current blog. I assume this is possible, and I'm pretty sure how to do it.
I would like my second blog to keep the name of this blog. Is that possible?

I guess what I'm trying to do is transfer everything from this blog to a WP blog with a different name, and then use this name as a second WP blog.

Can someone please please please tell me if this is possible, and how the heck to even begin this huge transition??

Start Fresh 2010 - Step 1

A half hour from now I will be partaking in Step 1 of my "start fresh in 2010" campaign. Here's a hint:

No, it has nothing to do with Justin, but this is the best photo I have to depict what I'm doing. I'll update this post in a few hours with the change.

Think you have any idea what I'm about to do??

to be continued...

Update...

I cut about 7 inches off! My head feels about 100 lbs lighter, and I think I'll use about a third of the shampoo I usually do. I'm pumped!

Project 365

As part of my 2010 resolutions, I've started my participation in Project 365!  I won't be posting my photos on here everyday, but I'm sure they'll pop up here and there. They can be seen in their entirety on my Flickr page, and spread throughout the Project 365 Flickr Group. I hope this will rejuvenate my passion for photography, and enhance my abilities along the way. I'm sure it will be stressful at times, as I realize at the end of a day that I forgot to shoot something, but I think it will be an exciting ride!

I hope you enjoy following along, and I am open to any and all feedback you might have!!

Here's 1/365, taken on my iPhone.

here's to moving on...and never looking back!

since i'm attempting to start my entire life over tomorrow, i have an extremely large (and probably unrealistic) list of new year's resolutions. i've broken them up into categories to make more sense of it all.

Blogging
post three times a week
comment on something everyday
attend BloggersInSinCity
redesign the site
possibly make the move to wordpress
start a blog series and stick with it
create a lifelist

Day-to-Day Living
get my own place (or one with Justin obvs)
start a hand-written journal
read 50 books in a year
spend more time with girlfriends
take more photographs
stay up later and wake up earlier (i will need more time in my day to do all these other things!)
go greener (starting with canvas grocery bags!)

Get Healthy
work out four times a week
run a 5K in july
cook dinner three nights a week
try one new food weekly (i'm a super picky eater and need to broaden my horizons!)

Get Crafty
create an inspiring workspace
design an inspiration board monthly
learn to knit or crochet (or both)
learn to use the sewing machine i just got for christmas!
put together photo albums
participate in Project 365 (take one picture everyday for a year)
create a recipe box with my mom (cuz i want to remember her handwriting!) 

Sentimental
cry less
laugh more
appreciate the small things
start 2010 fresh. no more looking back!

i would really like to think i could accomplish all of this! i know it's a pretty big list, but after everything i've gone through this year, i just couldn't stop coming up with ways to make the coming year better than this one. so with this i say goodbye to 2009, and welcome to a new year and a new life!

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!

and be careful tonight :)