An addiction

I've been holding off on writing this post for a while, because I wanted to give time for things to settle down a bit before an "official" annoucement was made. I have the bad habit of "announcing" something and then it doesn't happen. Then I feel stupid. But not this time, friends! :D

After coming to terms with the reality of our financial situation....as well as a few other matters....Chris and I have decided to post-pone the wedding. Several things surfaced while we were looking at buying a house and making wedding plans, and it made us realize that we are not quite ready to make that commitment. We've got a lot of things to work through and get in order before we attempt to combine our two separate lives into one. So no wedding in May. No buying a house. No more wedding plans for now. Just continuing to date and get to know each other better while we work out some bumps in the road. I just wish we had made this decision before I had my wedding dress hanging in my room. :/

So what are my plans for 2009? Well I'm glad you asked!! If you know me well at all, you know that I not only adjust to change well...but crave change. Not just a change of wardrobe or a change in attending early vs. late Sunday morning service. A change that requires me to be in a setting I've never been in before. One that makes me uncomfortable and pushes me outside my everyday boundaries. As I write this, I'm looking around at my office DYING to rearrange all the furniture. And I think I've convinced Chris to stop by later today and help me do it. :) But I try to make change a part of my life. Let's look at the past 7 years, shall we?

2001 - moved from North Carolina to Oklahoma to attend college
2002 - worked 3 jobs - Resident Assistant, Taco Bell, and Front Desk attendant in dorm
2003 - got engaged for the first time/broke off engagement/joined LA Weight Loss and lost 40lbs
2004 - took my first trip overseas for 6 weeks/hired as a Freshman Resident Hall Director and Counselor
2005 - returned to Europe initially for 8 weeks....but canceled return trip ticket and stayed an extra month alone
2006 - accepted an invitation to move and work in the Netherlands for a year by myself/sold or threw away everything I owned
2007 - instead of returning to Oklahoma with all my friends, moved to new city in NC with my parents
2008 - got engaged 2nd time/moved in and out of my parents' house 3 times... :D

So what's in store for 2009? Well I don't have a visa to return to Europe for more than 3 month's time....I COULD move to Missouri if I wanted, but probably won't....and unless Chris reproposes this year, I don't plan on being engaged to a third individual. :) So that leaves me with a job change. Much more feasible than the first three, dontcha think? :D And again...most of you that know me know that I've spent my whole life wanting to be a teacher. Some of you may or may not have questioned why 5 years of college has resulted in a secretarial position at a University. And that's a whole other blog in and of itself. However...I think 2009 is the year to go for it! I called the county school system and asked them to walk me through the requirements of becoming a certified teacher in NC. As it turns out, I meet almost all of the qualifications for getting an alternative licensure. I have just come up 3 points shy on the State Education Test. So I have registered to retake it on January 10th....and as soon as I boost my score up 3 points...I'm in! I'll get my results in February, and from there, I look for a job! My hope/goal is to find a 1st, 2nd, or 3rd grade teaching position for the 2009-2010 school year.

*happy sigh* Feels good to know that I will be doing something out of my comfort zone this year. And if Jenny Craig was less expensive, I'd look into losing a sizeable amount of weight again. But there's always 2010.... :D