Saying Goodbye to 2009

Well, I wish I could say this has been a long year, but I would be lying. This year FLEW my in my opinion. It seems like I was just ringing in the new year, and now I'm saying goodbye to it.

That's okay, though. I am honestly ready for this year to be over with. This year was filled with ups and downs. I got rid of a person who was making me extremely sad, then I moved to a totally new state. There were a lot of emotional roller coasters this year, and even though it wasn't all sad I can honestly say this was NOT one of my best years.

I now face the new year with a renewed optimism. It's normal to feel that way whenever any new year approaches, but for some reason this time it feels different. I feel as if I'm coming into a really great place in my life, and if I stay motivated enough to do all of the things I want to do, I think it will be one of my best years ever.

It occurred to me that I don't really plan a lot of things out. I have lots of good ideas, and pretty much keep everything in my mind. However, when it comes down to actually have a plan, I fall short. So, I have decided that I am going to start making lists of things. This means lists of EVERYTHING. Things I need to do, my goals, things I want to do, etc. Even though I have a Blackberry, there are many times where I still need to just use pen and paper. It's as if somehow seeing these things in black and white make a difference.

I think my renewed optimism along with proper planning (lists) will be my key to success.

Off to Office Max to find a planner !

Happy New Year!

Cost of living is SUPER cheap here

I'm still at home with my mom for the Thanksgiving holiday, but I was surfing online and comparing the cost of living with my old location here in Virginia Beach and the cost of living where I'm at now. This was all based off of my current salary.

I knew the cost of living was cheaper in this area of Georgia than Virginia Beach, but I was PLEASANTLY surprised to learn that the housing prices in Virginia Beach are93% HIGHER than where I'm living now. That was really wonderful to hear, especially considering the fact that I decided to actually buy a house in the city where I'm living now. I was on the fence about it because mostly everyone lives in other parts of Metro Atlanta (Smyrna, Decatur, Buckhead, etc). However, I decided that this is best for me right now. I'm about 25 min away from the actual city of Atlanta, but housing prices are DIRT CHEAP. I need to take advantage of that. There are tons of houses in this city that I know won't be bought by the time I'm ready to buy next year. I can get a lot of house for a decent price, so this is the best thing for me right now. If I decide to buy another house down the road (which I'm sure I will), then so be it. I don't need to buy my final house now.

I'm so excited as I look forward to exploring more about this area of Metro Atlanta.

Leaving the ATL (temporarily)

I am going out of town for a few weeks. I am going back home to spend Thanksgiving with my mom. I was supposed to be back home on November 30th. BUT, I was told a few weeks ago that I need to go back to the corporate office (which I just transferred from) for a seminar. So, instead of driving back to GA on November 30th, I will be driving up to DC until December 4th.
This means that I won't be back home until sometime on Dec 6th.

Honestly, I'm a little sad that I'm going to be away from my new place for so long. In the past month that I've been here, I've really grown to love this place. I haven't even gotten a chance to drive around yet and really research the area. I would like to say that I'll do that when I get back, but I'm only here for about two weeks after I return. Then I'm driving BACK home to celebrate Christmas and New Years. I will shoot for the beginning of the year to start researching the area.

It will be weird to go back to the DC area since I just left it. In a sense, I sometimes still feel like I'm going to be returning there, but I'm glad I'm not. I don't think I ever want to leave this place.

There is hope

This morning I went to the supermarket to pick up a few things. While I was on the check out line, there was a young brother who was packing groceries. He was picking on his manager who had walked by. We all had a laugh while I was leaving the store. He offered to take my groceries out to the car for me. I politely refused, but he said it was ok.

As we were walking to my car, I mentioned how nice everyone has been down in this area and that I had just moved down here. He asked where I moved from and I told him. Then he mentioned that he was getting ready to get off from work and go back to Alabama. I asked if he lived there. He said that he attends college there, and that it's about a two hour drive.

This young man goes to school 2 hours away, comes up some weekends to work at this supermarket and then goes back down to school. He said that his manager (the woman he was joking around with) told his mother that she would make sure to tell his mom when he came to Georgia (for work). Essentially, his manager was making sure to "keep tabs" on him (along with his mom) to (essentially) keep him out of trouble.

This made me feel really good. He looked as if he could be my little brother (even though he was WAY taller than I am). He (appeared) to be doing the right thing and had black women standing behind him making sure he went down the right path. I just felt so happy for this young man. I really like his personality. I think I also liked him a lot because (in talking) we found out we're both originally from the Bronx (small world).

I'm sending a prayer his way that he stays on the right track. There is hope for our young, black men out there. Hopefully these kind of young, black men will become the majority instead of the minority.

What I think might be my new addiction

I decided that I wanted to kick up my look a little bit, by making sure my hands look good at all times. I used to get acrylic nails faithfully every two weeks, but after a while that starts to add up. In addition, I have to take time out of my schedule to actually go and get them done. Since I just got here, I don't know of a place right off the bat that does good nails. It's sort of a crap shoot until you find a place you really like.

Since I want to save money and don't really want to go through the hassle of trying to find a new nail shop, I decided to try something different. I decided to get some of those glue on nails that you get from the drug store or beauty supply store.

I purchased these.


They're called Natural Deceptions, and they are in the style of a regular French manicure. I purchase some of these (not the same type) about a week and a half ago. I never got around to putting them on, though. I'm not sure why. For some reason there was something about them that I was not so crazy about. I can't really put my finger on it. They were still in the style of a French manicure, but they had pink nail beds.

These nails just have the plain white tip. They cost about $5.99 (I think) at my local beauty supply store. They went on fairly quickly. You just put the glue on your nail (which has a pink tint) and then put the nails on. This style is in short, and even though they are pretty short, I needed to make them a little shorter. After I glued them on I filed them down some. I painted a frosted nail polish on top, put a top coat on and voila! Instant nails.

I am (obviously) using them to type with now, and they are very light. They are extremely easy to type with and I don't have to spend a lot of time (or money) going to get my nails done at the shop. These are only supposed to be worn for about 7 days. I have a feeling they may last a few more days past that, but we'll see.

I am so happy because this means that my nails will NEVER look bad. Plus, with me being a little lazy at times, I don't have to really do my own nails. Lazy, I know, but apparently I'm not by myself. I happened to see tons of videos on nails just like these. It never occurred to me that women were taking the easy way out by having their nails done like this, but apparently so.

I'm glad I found them. I'll let you know later if I change from this particular style.

Wishing for more friends

I've never been a person to have a lot of friends. It just never worked out that way. I really would like to find a best friend. The last time I had a best friend was about 11 years ago, and I messed that up so badly I still feel bad. It wasn't intentional, but I was going through a really horrible time in my life, and I couldn't be there for anyone else. I didn't know how to tell my best friend at the time (I was young). She even asked me to be her child's Godmother.

I told her years later about how bad I felt and how I was so depressed during that time. I remember when it was time for her baby shower and I was so depressed that I couldn't even get out of the bed. The ironic thing is, she lives down here now, but I have yet to see her. I haven't really told her that I moved yet. She knew I was moving, but I haven't sent her anything saying that I'm here.

In any case, that friendship is over, but I would really like a close friendship. I want a girlfriend that I can go out with, see movies and go shopping with. The typical girlfriend stuff.
I'm trying to stay active by going out to these meetups. Ok, I've only been to one (and have another one tomorrow), but I'm at least trying.

I called one of the girls I met last week at the meetup. I left a message, but she never called me back. I wasn't upset about it, because I just met her, but it just made me wonder. I'll see her tomorrow and will see what happens.

I would also like a small group of female friends with no drama that I can hang out with as well. I would have liked for us to get together on a Friday night and go out, or maybe have a Girls night at one of our houses.

I'm going to keep praying on it.

Church

I was going to go to church today, but I decided against it at the last minute (I know. I know).
I did, however, watch the service (for the church that I wanted to attend) online. In looking at the video, I started to get a little intimidated. When I first looked at this church (on TV), the congregation looked medium sized. When they panned the entire audience today, that church was HUGE. I'm not really sure how I feel about this.

I'm on the fence about the size because I don't really want to belong to a "mega" church. I am not a big fan of mega churches at all. In a lot of those churches, it seems like everyone is more concerned with putting on a show as opposed to actually hearing and spreading the word. It's all about out dressing the next person, coming in and bragging and talking about the fellow congregation members.

Don't get me wrong. This church was not as huge as The Potter's House, but it was a pretty large group of folks. I'm thinking about whether or not I'm going to try and attend next week. It's weird because, I'm only going to be here for the next 2 weekends. Then, I'm out of town for the next 2 weekends after that due to the Thanksgiving holiday and work. I'm not sure if I really want to get started at a new church for only two weeks only to be gone. Then, I'll only be here for another 2 weekends after I return, and then I'm out of town for the Christmas holiday. It's kind of hard to get into a pattern when you're not going to be here. There's a good chance that I might just start attending after the first of the year.

I know most people might read this and say it doesn't make a difference. You should attend church at any time. Those people would probably be right. However, I can only live for me. I have to do what's best for me. I don't really want to start church and then have to stop. We shall see, though.

Meeting new people in the Atlanta area

Last night, I went out into the city. I belong to a social networking group, and this was the first time I've gone out with this particular group and the first time I've gone out into the city since I've moved here.

I went to a Mexican restaurant in the city called No Mas, and it was pretty good. They give out these super sized pitchers of Margaritas. I do not like tequila, but I don't know what they put in theirs. The margaritas were so good. I had the passion fruit one (I think), and it was really really good. I couldn't even taste the tequila. I made sure to have only one because I was driving.

It was nice getting out and meeting people. I don't think I met one person, though, who actually lives in Atlanta. Everyone lived in the surrounding Metro area (like me). I figured that would be the case anyway, so I wasn't really surprised.

It was very nice meeting nice, black women. For some reason, I didn't get a chance to meet that many in the DC area. It's not that they weren't there, but I guess because we're in the south the ladies here are a lot nicer. They were much more receptive to me from the beginning as opposed to when I was in DC and it took a while for them to warm up. I even exchanged numbers with another lady. We really hit it off from the beginning. We ended up sitting next to each other at the dinner table, and it turns out we're both the same sign. I told her I would call her soon, and I'm going to stick to that promise.

I also met a nice girl at my job, and she was telling me about the group that she belongs to. She doesn't belong to a social networking group. She just has a group of friends that she goes out with. She said once a month, one of them host an event at their house. Everyone has to bring a food dish and also a gift for the hostess, but the gift cannot exceed $10. I thought that was really great. I wish I could join her group, but 1) I just met her and 2) that group is so far. I work about 45 minutes away from home, so I would have to travel all the way out there on the weekends to hang out. I might hang out with her occasionally too. She's a really nice woman as well. She also told me to call her, and I will try to do that as well.

Things have been going pretty okay. Tomorrow, I'm actually going to go to church. I haven't been to church in almost a year now. I said I wanted to start going again, but I can't lie. I feel a little uncomfortable. I'm not sure why. I think it's because I'm not sure if I want to make the commitment to attend one church. I know that's bad. I think it's just me not being used to something new. Additionally, I think I'm scared of committing, but that's what church is all about. I just hope I don't run into those overly religious people. Those people act like they're a part of a cult, and I hate it. I can't deal with that. This is a non-denominational church, and I'm interested in seeing how this will turn out. Everyone down here goes to church, though. At the dinner table last night the conversation turned to churches - who goes where...what the pastor is like...etc. I hope to meet some nice, down to earth people at church as well.

We shall see.

Starting to workout (again)

I decided with this new move that I wanted to try and become a "new" me. Some people may say that when you're an adult you don't really change, but I beg to differ. I think in some instances you can become a new person, at least that's what I want to believe. So, I decided that I'm going to try and become more of the woman that I want to be. I want to have meaningful friendships, be more sociable and be in shape. So, I decided to start working out today.

I have so many workout tapes it's unbelievable. Well, maybe not that many, but I have a lot. For this "new" me, I decided to start off with the "30 Day Shred" by Jillian Michaels. I just finished the first workout and I must say I am IN PAIN. I've done it (rather started it) before, but I was a few less pounds. let's just say I could feel the extra weight.

I'm going to try and stick with it, though. Hopefully by documenting the workouts it will help me to stay dedicated. I never weigh myself because I try not to get caught up in how much I "should" weigh. According to the doctors I should be around the 135 range. I know I'm WAY over that, but I really don't look good at that weight. When I was around that weight a few years ago, people kept asking me if I was sick. After that, I decided that's NOT a good look. LMAO!

I figure since we've gained an hour that I can wake up about 30 minutes before my normal time and get a work out in. I'm still gaining at least a half an hour of sleep, so this should be good. I want to be totally committed to this, and I'm going to try my best to do so.

Real Housewives of Atlanta.

Ugh! Am I the only person on the face of the earth that could give a crap about this show? I don't get what the hype is about. Everybody I know thinks it's the greatest thing ever. The only parts I've ever seen are a bunch of women screaming and yelling at each other. If it's not that, it's someone throwing a party or them talking about one another behind each other's backs.

WTF, man? This is straight garbage. People talk about this show so much that I haven't even watched a full episode and I pretty much know what's going on with the show.

To add insult to injury, I was out today doing some shopping when a few teenagers (at least they looked that age) were trying to solicit people for something regarding the show. They asked if I watched the show, and I said no. They seemed to be genuinely shocked. Sorry. All of us don't find ghetto ass behavior appealing. Not only that, all of them aren't housewives, so how does that work?

This is why I barely turn on my TV sometimes.

Are these people alive?

Last night was my first night sleeping in my new place. Wait, I take that back. The night before that was my first night, but I slept on the floor because my air mattress had a huge hole in it. Needless to say, I was to uncomfortable to take in my surroundings.

In any case, last night was the first night I was able to actually pay attention to the sounds around me. Or should I say lack of sounds. This place is quiet...REALLY QUIET. The neighborhood I moved from in Northern Virginia was quiet, and the place before that in Virginia Beach was quiet. But this place is almost like a graveyard (not that I hang out in graveyards at night).

I live in an apartment complex. Naturally I figured there would be some noise like the other complexes I've lived in before. Not so much with this place. I barely hear cars passing by. It was actually a little TOO quiet. A few times I got up in the middle of the night to peep through the blinds. I don't know why. If I couldn't hear anything I don't know why I thought I would see anything.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not complaining because this is great, but I don't even hear crickets.

Weird.

First post

Sigh. I don't know how many of these blogs I'm going to start. I think I must have started about 10 of them by now, but who's counting?

Anyway, I've recently moved to the Atlanta area, and I'm considering this move a new start for me. With that comes me doing (and sticking to) things that I've never done before. One of those things is starting a blog that I actually post to on a consistent basis. I figured I might as well start a new blog.

To make it easy, I'm not going to focus on one particular thing. I'm going to talk about anything and everything on this blog (which is something I never did in the past). '

So, get ready to share in my exciting new life with me.....

....or get prepared to be incredibly bored.