2013 Will Be My Year

Hello blog-land!

So many things have happened in the past couple months that I don't even know where to catch up. So, the basics:

• I recently (as in, December?) took on a bigger responsibility in Vegan Iron Chef, which is awesome and teaching me A LOT.
• I turned 30. I had a table full of free drinks and I went to bed before the party ended. 
• I graduated college! I have an English degree now and feel SO DARN SMART. 

and finally, the very best update:

• I got a new job! At an airline! 

 I love where I work now. I really do. It can be crazy, but being around animals every day has been SO good to my soul. On a whim, I applied for a ground service job at an airline where one of my closest friends works and managed to snag the job! I had to suffer through a full day interviewing process/intense federal background check which led to 2011 W-2 gathering mania. I was sweating bullets, but every single job I've had, I've gotten because of who I know and this one was no different. I officially start July 8th!

So, what does that mean? It means I will be out on the tarmac, marshaling planes in and pushing them back out and sorting luggage and avoiding lavatory duty. It means Jeff and I can travel for free (on standby) wherever this airline flies (internationally to Canada and Mexico). We are also able to take advantage of airline agreements with like 90 other airlines. I will be able to travel so much more, which has been a high priority for me for awhile. The hours will be nuts (low seniority = weekends, holidays and either super early or super late shifts) but honestly, it'll be worth it. Also, I haven't been able to work full time with my school schedule, so I will also be able to save even more for travelling!

Obviously, this doesn't use my degree one bit, but then again, neither does my current job! I've taken some time to polish some editorial and writing examples and am planning on joining the Copyeditor Freelance Association in the next couple weeks. Editing is something I've been trained to do in my spare time with the last couple of quarters and now, instead of paying ridiculous tuition to do it, I hope to actually make some money off of it!

So, stick with me friends. Add me to your new feed conglomerates (RIP Google Reader!) and keep an eye on this guy. We've got some travellin' to do.

In which I briefly depart from travel writing.

My future is a little uncertain right now.

For the past couple of years, I have planned on continuing on to M.A. in Publishing program at PSU after graduating. But after finishing up this school year, I'm not so sure I want to do that. There are two reasons.

First, the school. While I've had a couple of really great profs at PSU, the remaining have not been so outstanding. In fact, I've had better instruction at community colleges. I'm having a really hard time with the knowledge that I'm paying for a lot more but getting a lot less. And it's not like PSU is a bad school! According to this info sheet, the school is acclaimed for being one of the best when it comes to transfer students, service to the community and green practices. But the English department seems to be somewhat ordinary, at times mediocre, which breaks my heart. I want to learn. I want to be challenged to think outside of my comfort zone, something that has only happened once or twice last year. I don't know, maybe this next year will be better. I have a very challenging fall quarter coming up and fully plan on diving in with all that I have.

Second, Portland. My beautiful city. My gorgeous, temperate, friendly, walkable, green city. I don't want to leave. I've lived in this area all of my life. My family is here. My friends are here. Fantastic food and beer and snacks and food carts are here. Unfortunately, the jobs are not here. The creative types flock to Portland in search of fantastic jobs, jobs the city doesn't have, and they're stuck pulling espresso shots and dishing out drinks from behind the bar. And I'm afraid. I'm afraid that when I graduate, I'll have just as hard of a time landing a job as I am now (because I'm trying. Really, I'm trying). I'm afraid that my sweet husband will be stuck working in a place he hates just so he can have the health insurance he needs to take care of a damn expensive disease he can't get rid of. I'm afraid I'll be stuck delivering papers for who knows how long when all I really want to do is edit them.

I know I've mentioned before that I have big dreams of moving to Scotland (or to Europe in general) but I have to be somewhat realistic about it. That won't happen anytime soon, no matter how hard I hope and wish and pray (in my own special way).

I still want to edit like nobody's business, but I don't know if I can stay where I am to accomplish that. I suppose time will tell. I do know that I have been mopey, unresponsive and insecure about what exactly it is I want to do and where exactly I want to do it.