Bah Humbug.

I always get just a tad depressed the first few days after Christmas as it sinks in that the holiday season is officially over. Secret Santa's have made themselves known, Christmas cookies have made their way to my thighs, and the Christmas tree ornaments go back into a box. And the hustle and bustle of work begins again.

So to cheer myself up, I start to look forward to the plans I have for the new year. Goals to reach, places to go, etc. It didn't even occur to me how crazy of a month January is going to be:

• December 31st (okay, it's not January but whatever!) - New Years Eve! Right now the plan is to go to a nice dinner with Ryan and some of our friends, followed by either World of Beer or a small shindig at his place. As long as I get to dress up in something sparkly, I don't care where we go!
• January 1st - OFF WORK! Woooohoo! Really pumped to have a day to myself to just lounge about and perfect my New years Resolutions.
• January 4th - Debbi & Mike's wedding! Debbi was one of my first roommates in college, and she's now the first of my friends in college to get married! Ryan and I got a hotel for the night so that'll be a fun little weekend getaway.
• January 9th - January 12th - I'M CHICAGO BOUND! I'm so so so so excited to be going to Chicago to visit one of my best friends, Annalise, in one of my favorite cities. I'm gonna freeze my ass off, but it'll be worth it. I can't wait for the shenanigans that will ensue.
• January 18th - Progressive company party with Ryan in Ybor! Apparently they have great food and drinks and a ton of prizes and raffles so it should be a great time. Super pumped to meet all of his coworkers and his lunch posse :)
• January 20th - Off work again for Martin Luther King Day! Pretty sweet.
• January 25th - Gasparilla! I'm normally not too excited about this pirate-themed parade, but I'm finally over 21 (as I have been for a hot minute now) so I don't have to worry about pregaming in the wee hours of the morning. AND now that I have a big-girl job, I'll have the day off. Excited!

So even though Christmas is dunzo, I have so much to look forward to in the coming year...and this is just for January! Happy New Year everyone :)

XOXO, Samantha

Tomorrow's Christmas! It's Practically Here!

What a crazy month December has been. It feels like yesterday that my best friend/coworker Stephanie and I were at Target, hunting down Christmas decorations and getting so excited for the holiday season. It throws me for a loop that we did that almost a month ago! With year end at work, it was hard to really focus on anything else during the middle weeks of December, but I've finally gotten back in the holiday spirit over the last few days. To me, Christmas isn't a religious thing. I just genuinely enjoy all the traditions that come along with it - it's easily my favorite time of year!

Christmas time (and New Years, of course) is when I really start to think about the past year: where I started, what I've done, and where I've ended up. This time last year, I never would have guessed that everything would be so, so different this year...but I guess that's the unpredictability of life! I firmly believe that everything happens for a reason, so we'll see what 2014's Christmas brings.

But to focus on the present, I'm really excited because Ryan and I are traveling down to his parents' place in Cape Coral for a couple of days to celebrate Christmas the, erm, "Norwegian" way?! I'll have to see what all that craziness is about :)

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to the few who are reading this now!

XOXO, Samantha

Pre-Turkey Chit Chat.

I cannot believe tomorrow is Thanksgiving (and the beginning of Hanukkah, not that we really celebrate much anymore). But seriously. Where has the time gone?! I feel like ever since I got my "big girl job" aka a Monday-through-Friday-off-on-the-weekends job, time just flies. I hate that phrase because it's so generic, but I can't think of a better way to put it!

It should come as no surprise that with Thanksgiving comes a blog post about what I'm thankful for. So here goes:

1. First and foremost, I'm thankful that my entire family is still alive and kickin'. Sometimes I find myself comparing my family to my friends' families, especially around the holidays. But they're different and they're mine and I love them all to pieces.
2. I'm thankful that I was able to travel around Europe for three weeks pretty much completely paid for. Some people never get to leave the country and I got to explore three new countries in such a short amount of time. It was such an incredible experience and I can't wait to go back!
3. I'm thankful to have landed an internship with the Tampa Bay Business Journal back in January, because I was able to get a full-time position with them this past October. I know countless people who graduated with me that have the hardest time finding a job. I may tell you differently on a Monday morning, but I'm so happy to be starting my career. 
4. I'm thankful that I was able to move back home, rent free, to save money until I get on my two feet. I'm also thankful that I had scholarships/my parents to help me through school so I wouldn't have a bazillion dollars worth of loans to pay off straight out of college.
5. I'm thankful for my group of best friends. I'm so lucky that I don't just have a couple true friends…I have almost ten! Whether I needed a drink or ten, a shoulder to cry on or a backup singer to jam with in the car, I have never felt alone. Ever. Not once. That's an incredible feeling.

I realize the majority of these were pretty generic, but hey, I'm thankful for the small things, too. Like the extra kick the basil from my new basil plant gave my pizza the other day. Or when the barista at Starbucks forgets to charge me for soy milk AND an extra shot of espresso. I'm a sucker for the little things in life.

Now. BRING AWWWWWNNNN THE TURKEY!!!!

Coping.

So I'm finally starting to get adjusted to the many changes that have been thrown my way in the past few weeks. I'm not necessarily thrilled about all of them, but I'm managing a lot better than I thought I would.

I've found extreme comfort in my friends. No surprises there, of course. I've always been really good at surrounding myself with the right people. The kind of people that make me laugh, the kind of people I can really share my feelings and thoughts with, the kind of people that inspire me in more ways than one. Whether it's watching stupid movies or baking something delicious, blowing money at the mall or getting sunburnt at the beach, I really haven't had a lot of time to be sad. I'm sure that'll all catch up with me eventually, but it's okay for now.

I finally started at my new Carrabbas and it's not as awful as I imagined it would be. Anyone who has ever worked in a restaurant knows that being the new girl (or guy) is never fun, even if you're a transfer. You have to prove to everyone that you know what you're doing; a lot of people will hardly even acknowledge your existence until then. Thankfully, I haven't had much of that. Even when I do, I just roll with the punches. The restaurant business is never personal.

The days pass by a lot faster now that I'm out of school and not working every single day of my life (yet). I have all the time in the world to go to the gym, go to the beach, get together with friends, paint my nails...silly, frivolous things that I hardly had time to do before and now I get to do them every day.

I'm just in the process of becoming a better version of myself, I think. I'm growing up. I'm putting time into things that matter and not giving a second thought to things that don't. I'm being a twenty-something, and I like it.

XOXO, Samantha.

Out of the Dark!

I've been completely MIA lately to readers that I probably haven't even accumulated yet. I have lots of good reasons though.

1. I was in Europe for three weeks in July and didn't bring my laptop for obvious reasons. I mean, I was in Europe, hellloooo. I went to Bulgaria, Italy and England and did tremendous amounts of exploring. I was able to see things I had only read about in books or seen in movies, up close and personal. I got to go inside the Pantheon and the Colosseum and the Winchester Cathedral and see Durdle Door and just see so much history...it was an incredible experience. Don't get me wrong, I do love America; it's where I come from, it's what I'm used to and where I'm comfortable. But America doesn't even have 300 years of history...Rome is literally ancient. I visited a church that was built in the 600s in England. It was just all quite surreal to me. And I got to spend three weeks with my sister whom I miss so much already. 
2. I moved out of my apartment in Tampa and back to my parents house. I have really mixed feelings about this. For one, I've lived on my own for four years now, so to come back to living with mom and dad is just weird. However, my parents are amazing so it hasn't been all bad. I've finally got my closet organized and we've just been putting together all my new furniture. It's finally starting to look like a bedroom! I plan on being here for less than a year though. I just want to save money while looking for big-girl jobs. 
3. I helped move Frank into his new apartment in Tennessee. I had a great six days up there with him, putting together his new room and exploring Knoxville while he prepared for law school. It was really hard to say goodbye, especially since our situation is a little different now. We decided not to do long distance for the first semester and/or year of law school. We had a lot of reasons, but we mostly just didn't want to end up resenting each other if he didn't have time to talk/I couldn't come up to visit/etc. Like I said, lots of reasons. But I'm not letting it get me down.

So life has been kind of weird lately. Different, spontaneous, overall strange. But I'm coping! And while I may be bummed sometimes, I'm finding my way. Finding happiness.