All you need is faith, trust, and a little bit of pixie dust

It's funny how things change sometimes. I was getting ready to do a new post and went through some of my old posts and found a draft that I never published entitled, "I HATE Pennsylvania". I opened up and this is what I found:

I hate it here. I try to tell myself I don't but then I realize that I do again.

I'm pretty sure I'm never going to find a job in theatre here and while I actually do like working at Hallmark, it's not exactly what I want to do every day for my career.

I spend every day doing dishes and emptying the litter box and cleaning up after Rosco when he spills his full water dish all over the floor (Approx. 3-5 times a day).

I have no real friends yet, and I know that will take time but I haven't even found a place to really make friends. I joined a book club and it never seems to meet. We are supposed to meet next week but I haven't heard anything more about it. I joined an aerobics class, for the exercise but also to meet people. There are 6 people in class and I'm the only one under 30 with the exception of the teacher.

Now this was written in November 2009. I had forgotten all about it and I'm glad I did, because in the course of the last few months I have grown to kind of like it here. It's not quite home, but getting to feel a bit more like it could be. My book club still doesn't meet, but it did lead me to new friends, which was the whole point really. I have a full time job now, though still at Hallmark, and I enjoy it for the most part and have high hopes that I will get back to theatre and my passion for it.

I still do dishes and clean the litter box every day, but I no longer feel like that is ALL I do. And we got rid of the water bottle that Rosco spills, so that helps!

And the best thing to happen recently- we found a house! We have been living in a smaller town outside of the city and any time we want to do something we have to decide if it is worth the drive into town. Now we will be in the heart of it all! Hopefully this will make us feel a bit more like we are a part of it all. We will still be renting, but that's fine with me- I like it here, but am not committed to buying a home here yet!!

It has 3 bedrooms, a detached garage, all hardwood floors, and a yard!! I have never had a yard before! I am looking forward to planting flowers and herbs and making it our home. The owners want us to treat it as though it is our home and if we want to do any improvements, they will work with us to take it out of our rent. They even told me they would show up with a dump truck full of mulch if I want to re-do all the flower beds and start a garden!! I'm psyched!

Of course, I have never planted anything in my life, so this will be quite an adventure!

The title of this post is a quote from Disney's Peter Pan. I love that show and I have a particular connection with Tinkerbell and this quote just seems to speak to me. All things will work out eventually, sometime you just need that faith and trust, and a little pixie dust!

Adjusting

It's been over a month and I've made it this long! My favorite things about Pennsylvania so far:

1. The scenery- the leaves are changing, the mountains are beautiful, and the sunsets are incredible. And I can dee star here at night!

2. I'm still cooking! I've made my first pork roast, my first swordfish steak, and many of my standards- lasagna, tilapia, mexican pizza. I'm also eating more veggies, which is really good!

3. Hallmark- I actually really like working there, and I had forgotten how good I was at retail. I sometimes think I should have gone into sales with my ability to talk to anyone at any time!

4. The Shopping- Now I know I said it kinda sucked, and it kinda does, but there is one great thing about the shopping here- the stuff that sold out in Memphis is still on the shelves here and SUPER discounted cause it's already cold outside! Example- this dress was originally priced $89 in Memphis and sold out before I could even think about buying it. I get here and it's still on shelves and marked down to $46.75. I wait and last week I bought it for, drum roll please...$26.30! Oh, and I used a coupon so it was only $21.36!! WHAT?!? I know it's too cold to wear right now but the whole reason I wanted it was for my trip to Hawaii in December! PERFECT!

5. Sales Tax- That's right, I like the sales tax. Why? Because there is none on food or clothes!! Every time I buy clothes I feel like I get a deal at the register cause I forget about the lack of tax until I get there! It's great!

So things are looking up. I've met a lot of the theatre department now and the head of their stage management program asked me to come speak to his class so we're working on a time for that. Also, I'm waiting to hear about a time but I did get on email from the music dept telling me I was on the short list for the job there and will be getting an interview with the committee! Yay! Fingers still crossed on that one! And our book club met for the first time, though only 2 of us showed up. I haven't gotten a definite time for the next meeting so we'll see if that pans out or not!