this and that

I have been struggling at blog posting. i think of things i want to write and begin one sentence and decide to forgo the effort. i don't want that to be the standard for 2013, so i'm taking baby steps and just documenting recent activities...hopefully this will be good motivation.

so, december & early january recap

kelsey came home from europe the second weekend of december - perfect way to continue the christmas festivities :) the fam was together for christmas (yay!) 

and kels romanced us with her one direction songs on the guitar. 

and her room was messy again. i like it that way.

 i got to meet my precious cousin zachary alan at christmas. he was such a joy to be around and let all of us cousins/aunts/great-grandparents/uncles/grandparents take turns holding him throughout the day. 

We also went to the Rose Parade and had a picnic in the park afterwards.

 

and i've made it to three months at my job! i know three months is pretty minimal, but it's a small milestone that i'm excited about. 

three things i've learned from three months in a full-time job:

1) learning looks different when you're working than when you're in school. the learning is different, and can at times feel a little more boring than sociology/political science/spanish syllabi...but this learning is good and valuable. 

2) working with good people is a HUGE blessing. i have so many stories that demonstrate how blessed i am!!

3) in college, i sometimes craved the consistency/stability of an office job where you could close the books at 5 and leave work in the office on a friday afternoon. and now that i'm working, i sometimes wish for the flexibility of college life, with "work" being reading and having a varied schedule with tuesday afternoon off for coffee dates and long afternoon runs. i said goodbye to three-week to three month extended breaks and hello to something called "vacation time". 

i'm really thankful for where i'm at now, but i'm learning that there are pro's and con's with work and school and different routines and schedules. it is a process :)

and, to finish, these are pics from the AM commute to work and from my office. are pretty incredible. i am blessed.