Set and Settled

Well, I believe we're quite settled in our new place. Most everything is put away, our donations got picked up today so that freed up quite a bit of space, and I think we're both happy and comfortable with our slightly larger apartment. We've been here for almost three weeks, and now that pictures are hung and I spent some serious time organizing the second bedroom, it finally feels like home.
Unfortunately we haven't been able to explore much more of Knoxville. We've been busy traveling to see family and friends for different occasions. The weekends have gone by quickly, but they've been fun! Last weekend while Bryan was with the guys at a bachelor party, I spent time with many Besties in the Columbus area. It was really refreshing to see everyone and catch up on life. It was somewhat bittersweet, though, because I realized that I have to make new friends in my new city. I can't always be traveling six hours just to spend time with friends and go out and have fun. I love all my friend so much! Sometimes it's hard for me to believe that I will find equally good friends down here, or anywhere else for that matter. But, I've been proven wrong because training in Providence gave me awesome friends, so obviously I can make friends anywhere we end up. I just need to stop dragging my feet and whining and go out and meet some people already!
In other news, work is going well. I'm learning more every day and most days just realize how much I don't know about insurance. I also realize how bad I am at being on the phone with customers and how much better the reps are. Thank goodness they are good at their job! It means I can focus on mine and trust that they can handle the phones. I think that I am fitting in well. I feel like it's going to be a fun office, a good mix of work and laughs.
In marriage news, it's good to feel married again. Providence took a long time to recover from, but things are going well now. Bryan has been wonderful in serving me and taking care of housey stuff, but I know he's ready to get a job and get the heck out of our apartment. We trust that the Lord has something planned for him, but Lord, don't you think you could hurry it up a bit? Bryan's quite bored and a job would be just lovely right about now! I have learned that Bryan will never do things quite the way that I would, it doesn't mean he does things wrong or that his actions are not adequate. It's just not the way I would clean, or put things away, or organize my time. But, better than learning that we do things differently, I have learned not to fret and worry about it, but instead to let things happen as they may and let Bryan accomplish things as he wants. It makes everyone so much happier! If you're in any kind of relationship, I'm sure you've heard that you can't change the other person. While I agree that you can't change someone else, I believe that you can adapt to each other and cope with the differences and it will pretty much seem like you changed the other person when really you changed yourself.
That's about all the insight I have for this evening. Pictures of our Knoxville life will be posted soon!!

Apartments

Who knew that finding the right apartment would be so time consuming? In school you pretty much just took whatever place was decently clean and you could actually afford. Now that we're in the real world we have options and different prices and amenities. We spent most of Saturday visiting different places, trying to decide what will work best. It sucks that the nice, affordable places aren't near anything fun. And the places we can afford in fun areas are only slightly better than campus housing. But, as with anything, we just keep looking and hopefully we'll find something worth spending half our income on. I hate the idea of renting, I feel like I'm just throwing money out the window. Of course, we need to save in order to purchase a house but we have to spend most of our money on living in an apartment. Oh the complexities of life.
On a better note, Knoxville is pretty great so far. It's a really beautiful area. Right now it's still wintery, as in the trees haven't bloomed and the grass is not yet green. It's actually pouring down rain outside right now. But this weekend has been beautiful, it got up to 70 on Saturday and it was clear and sunny. We've been finding our way around town, we did some exploring and found a good shopping center with a Target, Best Buy, and tons of other shops and restaurants. We've committed to eating out once a week so that we can try all sorts of eateries. I have my first day of work tomorrow, I'm feeling fine about it. I feel pretty organized and ready to start. The office is probably a ten minute drive from our temp housing so it's not hard to get to. And not it's thunderstorming outside so I'm going to end this blog post and sit by my husband instead. Much love to all and to all a good night!

Home Sweet Move

I'm HOME! And I could not be happier. I didn't realize how much I missed the apartment, our bed, and my Kuerig coffee maker until I got back here. It's so wonderul to be back. Bryan and my family came to get me from the airport last night. Getting those hugs was awesome! I didn't realize how long 7 weeks would be, but it was definitely time for me to come home. I was litterally giggling as we went to bed because our bed is so much more comfortable than the one I was sleeping on in Providence. So yeah, it feels good to be home!
But it won't be home for too much longer. On Tuesday we start our move. We'll be packing up Tuesday and Wednesday and then we're driving down to Knoxville on Friday. I haven't thought too much about the move yet, I've been too excited to come home. But now I know that I have to start thinking about it. I'm really excited to get down there, I think it will be awesome. But now that I'm home, I don't want to leave so soon. I want to hang out here and just enjoy being in the comfort of a place I love. Oh well, the insurance business has called my name and I must continue to work for them.
Overall, trainging was pretty great. Good friends, lots of fun, lots of learning, and seeing a different part of the country were all great. I'm really glad I went. I definitely grew up lot while I was out there. I feel a lot more independent and capable of dealing with whatever comes at me. So I'm pretty sure I can handle Knoxville and whatever craziness comes with it.
I'll enjoy my little apartment for the next few days and I will do my best to get excited when those movers come. So, here we goooo!

T means Test

So today we had our test over Auto Policy, well the first test of two. It went well, we all passed, but I'm not sure exactly how well I did. Hopefully I didn't just shave by or anything. I think that I did okay, though. Bryan would say that I need to be confident and just know that I did well! We did the test first thing this morning, had a few more sessions on how insurance is priced, and then we did the most fun thing we've done so far...PRACTICE NEW POLICY PHONE CALLS! You have no idea how exciting it is to have something that is interactive and not just studying policy or learning computer applications. Our trainers said that we all did well, it wasn't nearly as hard as I thought it was going to be. I really liked feeling that I was accomplishing something and that I am continually learning more and more about what my job is all about. The more I learn about the job and the more I feel that it's a good fit for me and that I'll really enjoy it. Even though we're learning lots it's not that exciting to blog about. Insurance isn't exactly thrilling, but it's better than doing case studies or arguing the finer points of the US Constitution so I like it better than my polisci classes, haha that's a good thing! I don't have to sit and argue about how long "promptly" is, I just have to know that they have to report the claim to us promptly. It's great.
My roommates are still great, Lauren and I are extremely similar. We're starting to talk like each other, which is only slightly annoying. Haha, just kidding. But we have a lot of fun together. Jackie, my literal roommate is great! She's super encouraging and so kind. This weekend we went out and explored Providence, it was so fun! We went out to a local bar on Friday and then for my birthday we went to a Chinese place and to a different bar that had live music and pool. Both nights were really fun, the people in my training class are really great. Getting to know everyone has certainly been interesting, but it's pretty cool that we're all so different but can have so much fun together! I love meeting new people, so this is great. (I know, I am definitely over using the word "great" the next post I'll do my best to vary my adjectives)

Well anyway that's about all I have right now, nothing to exciting but I did have a great birthday. My new friends made sure I wasn't too lonely. I love and miss you all!!

The First Four Days

I'm here in Providence! The job has begun!
I arrived here on Sunday around 1:30 and met my roommate, Lauren. She's great and hilarious. Soon Jackie came and she's really laid back and easy to get along with, too. Jackie and I are sharing the back bedroom, we have two twin beds and an attached bath. Lauren got a room to herself and she also has her own bathroom. The apartment is nice (and expensive! thankfully I don't have to pay for it) and since we don't have to pay for heat we keep it nice and toasty. As with any rental, there are a few little hitches. For instance, we have a very small hot water heater that does not have a thermostat on it. We can get through one hot shower and one lukewarm shower. Then we have to wait about a half hour until the hot water heater fills again. Also, our living room is drafty, but it's not like I haven't lived in cold drafty houses before (remember the Patterson house? BRR!). Lauren, Jackie, and I get along well. We're still getting used to living together and our work schedule, but I think we'll all get along throughout the training. We'll make it through 7 weeks!
Work is going well. We're learning all about auto policy right now. I'm much more knowledgeable than I was just four days ago. If you had a question about what was covered under our Part A liability, I could answer that. Sometimes the classes are repetitive, but for the most part it just helps engrave it in my brain. Our trainers are a good blend of professional, kind, encouraging, and hilarious. We laugh a lot together which I love. There are only three other girls in my training class, Lauren, Amber, and Hannah. (Jackie is in the adjuster class and so we don't' see her during the work day) It's pretty great, having a small class. I really like it. I'm glad that there aren't many of us, I don't feel bad asking a question every step of the way.
We haven't done any exploring around Providence, yet. But I'm hoping that a few people will go out with me on Saturday for my 23rd Birthday. I think I can convince a few people to go out with me. There's a great area called Federal Hill that is supposed to have amazing Italian food, so maybe we'll go there. I'll write an update when we go out and explore!
Anyway, keep praying and thinking about me! I miss everyone, but I"m loving making new friends and learning my job! Woohoo! The Ocean State is Great!

Almost gone

So there are only about 4 days left before I make my move to RI. I was visiting with Abbie last night and we were saying how quickly time passes. After all, weren't we just preparing for a wedding and having bachelorette parties and bridal showers? And now all of a sudden it's time for me to pack up and move out east. I flutter between being extremely excited and very very sad. After all, I'm honored and proud that I got a good job that truly wants me to succeed, but leaving the comfort of Cincinnati will be very difficult. Leaving Bryan has become more real and more unbearable as I've been dwelling on it. I didn't think that it would be this difficult after only being married three months, but I think it will be one of the hardest things I have done thus far. Of course, once I get there I'll be so busy learning the insurance biz I doubt I will have much time for missing anyone. But I know that when it's time for bed and I have to fall asleep all alone, I will really really miss being in my little apartment in Cincinnati. I have to celebrate my 23rd birthday with strangers, which will be fine. I plan on using it as an excuse to make everyone go out and celebrate with me. But it is still sad that I can't be with my husband or my friends on my actual birthday. I think leaving is going to be more emotional than I originally anticipated. I always knew it would be hard to leave Bryan and my family, but I didn't really think about leaving all my friends. The weirdest and hardest thing is that it's not like college when you know everyone will be home for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and probably part of summer break. I really have no idea when I will be back in Cincinnati again, hopefully sooner rather than later. And hopefully we'll move to a cool city where everyone will want to visit. But who knows? I think there are just many more questions than answers at this point in time. Thankfully, the Lord is sustaining me and providing me with peace and calmness while I pack and sort and get everything organized for my move. I hope to make the best of the little time I have left here and see lots of friends and spend time with Bryan and my family.

It's weird thinking about making new friends and sharing my life with people that I don't know at all right now. Thankfully, my training class consists of just three other people and it's all women. I'm really looking forward to making some new friends in my new colleagues and just getting to know different people from around the country. But, being really horrible at correspondence , I'm worried about how my friendships will fair. Hopefully people will be forgiving and realize that I'm awful when it comes to simply calling or writing e-mails. Not having a computer will make it pretty difficult as well. Hopefully I can make some blog updates from the company computers or find a local library. Or maybe we can just save enough money to get a laptop for me. Anyway, I'm rambling now, so I'll end with this: I'm excited for life's next adventure and I cannot wait to start to figure out what it means. And hopefully the excitement of what's coming next will get me through missing Bryan, friends, and family so I can truly enjoy the experience at hand.

Not Guaranteed

The recent loss of my cousin John made me realize that we are not guaranteed anything while living here on Earth. We are not guaranteed an easy life or a long life and we don't know when our time here is up. Sometimes it comes suddenly without warning, sometimes it comes after a long battle with illness, and sometimes it comes at the end of a long full life. There is no way to know what your life situation will be or how you're going to die, but I think that is irrelevant. We have no idea what the future holds or what's going to happen in an hour, but I do know how I can live my life out and that is to be sold out for Christ. I can get all caught up in worrying about the future and how I'm going to deal with tragedies in the coming years, but instead of sitting around worrying, I could simply put my trust in Christ to get me through whatever comes my way and live out my life the way he wants me to. For me, it's easy to worry about the future and basically let it cripple me into sitting on the couch and crying all day long. But, obviously, this is not the life the Lord would have for me. He wants me to trust in him and live out my life to the full. If I am constantly worrying about what might happen and who it might happen to, then I am not fully trusting in the Lord and allowing him to be the Lord of my life. I do my best to trust in the Lord and give my worries and doubts over to him. I think this is the only way to deal with the concerns of this world, no matter what they may be. John's death was sudden and unexpected, and unfair. No child should have to lose their father at age 5 and no wife should have to lose her husband after only ten years. But, unfortunately, we live in a fallen world and many things that should not happen, do happen. The only way to deal with these losses and tragedies is to turn to Christ for comfort and peace. Of course, I am much more removed from the situation than John's wife and kids. If Bryan died today, would I be able to say the same things? Would I be able to turn to Christ? Or would I turn away from him because of anger and distress? I think that I would only turn to Christ because he has been the only constant through out my life and I know the healing power that he holds. It probably would not be easy, though. Who knows how I would react in a tragic situation, but right now I can safely say that I place my trust in the Lord and I believe that he is the only one who can see us through our day to day lives and awful tragedies. I'm sure that people who have been through more than I have would say that it is more easily said than done, but I can only say the way that I deal with situations and I give them to Christ.