I somehow survived finals week and managed to get everything in more or less on time. There was a night spent in the hospital (apparently my galbladder decided it's too good for me) that threw off a lot of the work, but I managed to get everything done. Now Daniel's here visiting for the whole week while I anxiously await graduation. Almost there!

         In other news, I have no idea what's going to happen after this next week. I mean, I know I'm going home, and I'll be working for family and friends most likely, but other than that... I know Daniel and I need to find housing for next year, since the people who we were going to live with are suddenly moving to Belgium in October (and yes, it is as random as it sounds). I'm also still looking for a job, which isn't going nearly as quickly or as smoothly as I was hoping. I'm sure things will somehow work out in the end.

                                                  Dragon Believer
 

Trying to keep up with everything while still leaving some time to breathe has been a real trick lately. I have 75 pages worth of papers left to write in less than a month. o_o (See my other blog: http://dragonbeliever.blogspot.com for a complete break down of the work load.)

But, there have been some things to brighten up the otherwise overwhelmingly dreary life I have at the moment. My mom just came up to visit me this past weekend. I turned 22 last Wednesday (and was bombarded by birthday wishes from my WDC friends! You guys rock!), so now I'm feeling kinda old. This coming Wednesday, Daniel will be coming up to visit me, which is awesome! And after he leaves, it'll only be about three weeks before I get to see him again. Much better than two months or whatever ridiculous amount of time it was this last time.

The job search seems to have stagnated, but I'm remaining hopeful. When things quiet down paper-wise I'll be pushing forward even more. Also, although our housing situation for next year is still a go, it is a different house with a different couple of friends. These two are married and offered us a rent of significantly less than the other, so we couldn't turn it down. So yay on that front!

Otherwise, I'm just hanging in and trying not to panic. I feel bad neglecting WDC as I have been lately, and I miss reviewing, but I know I have to moderate the amount of time I spend here so I can make sure I graduate. I'll be around a lot more this summer I think, and I'm definitely looking forward to being done with paper-writing. My own writing's been taking a backseat lately, but I'm hoping to start sending some of my work out for publication sometime this year.

Anyway, that's all for now. Just remember, I may be ghosting about the site for a month or so, but I'm still here. ^_^

                                                  Dragon Believer
 

Right, I'm terrible and keeping up with journals and the like. I'm trying to be better. Really, I am. But... yeah, it's hard sometimes. Anyway, so here I am.

For anyone who's been interested in my Teach for America venture, I didn't get an interview for the job. I was incredibly disappointed, especially after working so hard on my essay and letter. I had told myself not to get my hopes up, but of course I did, as I always do.

But, that was a while ago, and now I'm moving on. Away from failure and on to (possible) success! I sent in my resumé last week for five different jobs (including a staffing agency), and I've already heard back from one of them. I just sent in an application and had to do some online tests for it today, so I'm hopeful.

Regardless of what happens with this, I will be moving down to Atlanta with Daniel after the summer. The house is a go, despite the fact that our friends broke up, but the one who owns the house still wants roommates, so that's a plus at least. Alright, I'm done rambling for now. And I'll do my best to keep up with this a little more.

                                                 Dragon Believer
 

         This past week (February 15th - 21st) was spent in Atlanta, where I was visiting my fiancé. He is attending the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory, and I hadn't seen him in about a month. We've been doing this long distance thing, from Upstate New York to Georgia, since August and we're always talking about how great it will be when I move down there after graduation. Yet as much as we discuss it, moving in together always felt like something on the distant horizon that didn't merit much concern just yet.

         But while I was visiting him, the topic of housing came up again, though this time in a much more concrete sense. A friend of ours from college and her girlfriend are thinking about taking a couple of extra people to share a house that one of them is currently renting. Not only would this allow us to live with friends in a city that neither of us is terribly familiar with, but splitting the rent four ways makes a hard deal to refuse, especially for a house in the suburbs of Atlanta.

         We stopped by the house the other day and talked things over with the two of them. The one who currently lives in the house has lived alone for a long time and she's not sure she'll be able to handle her girlfriend moving in, let alone another couple. But Dan's lease is up in May, so she promised to think it through and get back to us in a week or two. If she says no, then Dan and I are right where we started, which is fine. If she agrees, then we've secured a place to live while Dan finishes his master's degree, maybe a little longer, and things are progressing much faster than I ever anticipated.

         Top all that off with the fact that I just turned in my Teach for America application and will be receiving word on my interview status in less than a week, I'll turn twenty-two in a month and a half, I'll graduate college in two and a half months, and I found three grey hairs yesterday morning... I'm feeling old, overwhelmed, and terrified. o_o

                                                  Dragon Believer
 

In less than a week I will be making my way from the extremely chilly north to the nice and toasty-warm south to visit my fiancé. It's been about a month since I've seen him, and while I know that is not too long in the grand scheme of things, it's long enough for me. Especially when we saw each other everyday while he was still at school here.

In addition, I'll be getting to see some of my friends who also live down south, so that's definitely an added bonus! I have lots of work that needs to be done before I head down there, but as long as I get off my lazy behind and actually do some of it, I'll be fine.

I'll be away from WDC while I'm there, since my attention will be focused like a frickin' laser on Daniel. ^_^ I can't wait.

That's all for now.

                                                  Dragon Believer
 

         My homework is staring at me angrily because I've been neglecting it. WDC reels me in. Trapped.

         I think I prefer it this way, though. But I will only be able to ignore the growing, growling pile of work for so long. But until then...!

         I was actually quite proud of myself yesterday. I didn't have any classes, which is usually a recipe for me lounging in my room all day and not getting anything done. But yesterday I somehow managed to get all of the important things I had to do done! Without any reminders from anyone else. I handed in my independent study application, I got in touch with my boss for my new job, and I remembered that I had an informational dinner for Teach for America at night. You don't understand; I have a notoriously bad memory. Write it down? Yeah, I do. It doesn't help because then I forget to look at the bloody paper! So yesterday was quite a personal acomplishment for me.

         And as a result, I am now extremely excited about the Teach for America program. I'm hoping to be placed in Atlanta, so I can be with my fiancé. If anyone is wondering what this is about, you can look at www.teachforamerica.org.

         Now, if I can only get off my butt and finish the application...

                                                  Dragon Believer

 

         In January of 2003, on the first day of the spring semester of my first year at college, I met a guy in one of my classes. He was wearing a Hawaiian-style shirt (this is January in upstate New York, by the way), and had spikey brown hair. There was no one else in the class yet, and me being the lonely freshman that I was, I sat near him. We made small talk until the class filled up, and that was the end of that.

         Until a professor in one of my other classes said I should join the martial art that she was teaching. I had done martial arts previously, and me being the lonely and bored freshman that I was, I decided to join. And who should be in the club, but the Hawaiian-shirt-wearing guy from my class. We made more small talk, he made a couple jokes, and that was the end of that.

         Until we all went out for pizza after training. The professor who ran things was being nice and talking to me, since I didn't know anyone else, and asking me what I liked to do. I mentioned that I was a huge geek and enjoyed role playing games (video and tabletop) and that I had recently picked up Magic the Gathering (another geeky past time for those out of the geek-loop). She rolled her eyes in an amused fashion and pointed to the guys I had been training with, including the boy in the Hawaiian shirt, whose name I had learned was Daniel.


         The group of us became very close and hung out all the time. By September of '03, Dan and I were dating, and by late March of '04 we were engaged (I'll have to tell that story in another post). It is now January '06. Dan graduated last May and moved down to Georgia for graduate school (a long way away from upstate New York). I'll graduate this coming May, and move down after him. That's about as far into the future as my plans extend right now. Now you know how I got to where I am right now, and why I'm always asking, "What happens next?"

                                                  Dragon Believer