Congrats, @mjuloya & @laarle! #mikeheartarle (at Saint Denis Catholic Church)
- The commute to work wasn’t bad, but the commute back was.
- I get my own office! I will post pictures after I do a little decorating. It has a brick wall with a built in shelf, a sitting area with 2 lounge chairs, and a skylight window.
- People at work are nice and welcoming. They really emphasize teamwork as part of their organizational culture, which is a refreshing change from an organization with a staff of 2.
- Filling out New Hire paperwork is a pain.
- It will take a while for me to get used to a 9-6 job. An hour lunch is a long time, so I think I will eat for 20-30 minutes and nap (on one of my lounge chairs!) for the rest.
- I think my bedtime will be even more grandma-like now.
Happy Easter! My family and I had a really small get together for lunch and the rest of my evening was spent ironing clothes and planning out my outfit for my big day tomorrow—my first day of work!
March 20-25, I traveled with my mom and sister to visit my aunt in Texas. Here’s a little run down of our jam-packed 5 days, which was essentially a food tour:
- Day 1: Flight to Houston. BBQ Lunch. Drive 4 hours to Dallas. TexMex Dinner at Mia’s in Dallas (Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas were soooo good).
- Day 2: 6th Floor Museum, which is a museum about the life and death of John F. Kennedy. It was a really interesting museum, where we did a self-guided tour. It’s actually located in the building where Lee Harvey Oswald allegedly shot JFK, which lead to his death (they had a big segment on JFK assassination conspiracy theories). Lunch at Ellen’s Southern Kitchen, which was a really trendy-looking restaurant that had a modern take on southern cooking. Sounds like a hit or miss? It was definitely a HIT. Then, we drove 7 hours to New Orleans.
- Day 3: NOLA. Woke up, had brunch at Mother’s Restaurant, a classic New Orleans establishment that has been around since the 1930’s. The Shrimp & Oyster Po’boy was BOMB. As was the gumbo. Walked around the French Quarter, Bourbon Street, visited the St. Louis Cathedral in Jackson Square, and had beignets at Cafe Du Monde. After, we walked around more, shopped, and drank. We wanted to try a non-touristy local seafood place, so I trusted Yelp and we ended up in the hood. Even though we definitely felt out of place, the food was so good & so cheap. Picture Boiling Crab for half the price.
- Day 4: Attempted to go back to Cafe Du Monde but the line was a million miles long :( On the way back to Texas (Houston), we stopped at The Houmas House, which is an old plantation house on the banks of the Mississippi River. We had a our last “Down South” meal, where my sister and I shared a perfectly cooked porkchop that we couldn’t finish (It was the size of an average human head, I swear). The house was owned by the biggest sugar dynasty in the South (Pre-Civil War era) and after doing some googling/research later…found out the owners had the largest amount of slaves in Louisiana prior to the Civil War :( I get that it’s a part of history, but I’m sensitive and that made me upset and it spoiled the beauty of the home. ANYWAY…drove back to Houston and ate at Texas Roadhouse.
- Day 5: Mass in Pearland, Johnson Space Center, and (mediocre) sushi in Kemah by the boardwalk.
- Day 6: One last BBQ meal at Pappa’s BBQ and flew back home.
We clearly ate a lot and I do not want (American) BBQ for a really long time.
Sipping sweet tea at a 1770 plantation in the Deep South, known as “The Sugar Palace” (at Houmas House Plantation and Gardens)
NOLA. Shoutout to the lady that watched us take these and said, “Yeah, B! Get it!” @christinejamo @baddiebey (at Mother’s Restaurant)
Two X’s on the road mark where JFK was shot on November 22, 1963. @christinejamo (at Dealey Plaza)
So…I was offered a full-time job today. Finally! I won’t go into too much details, but I am now a Health Program Associate for a nonprofit public policy organization that focuses on children’s health care access and health information technology. My position is pretty much 50% program administration, 50% public policy, and 100% the type of job I’ve been looking for. Yay!
Things I am planning on doing with my first paycheck:
- Replacing my stolen Macbook Air with a new one (& applying for a Barclay card because I need credit).
- Taking Norman out to a nice dinner at one of those trendy LA restaurants.
- Taking my family out to a nice dinner somewhere.
- Signing up for a gym pass.
- Putting the rest in my savings (need to at least try to be responsible).
Some other things I need/want eventually:
- Start paying off my student loans (thank you, Income-Based Repayment Plan).
- A quality blender so I can make myself smoothies/soups.
- A nice purse.
Thanks for the ongoing love & support, friends & family. The positive words and encouragement meant a lot during my time of job searching. Job searching sucks and it was the biggest blow to my ego, as it tested my patience, self-confidence, and chosen career path. Hard work + prayers, y’all.
I need to be at the airport in about 4 hours, so I should probably take a nap. Toodles!
(Source: icanread)
