M.I.A.

Move #3, the final voyage

 Well, those last six months went by fast! Life as a recruiter has kept me busy. Attending career fairs and networking sessions have been enough to make me collapse in my bed every night. I'm loving every minute of it!

So, I've been here for a little over six months now, as previously stated. I've moved three times and am currently flying solo. I loved my first apartment - I lived in North Scottsdale and the area was phenomenal. For those of you who don't know where Scottsdale is, it's right outside of Phoenix and is pricey as all can be. Needless to say, I found a new place that was a little bit easier on the wallet. Eventually, I ended up living on the outskirts of Phoenix. I'm closer to work, and in a more manageable apartment. 

Since I've been out here, I think I've had more people visit me than I had in the entire two years I lived in Oregon. I still need to get my Dad to visit, he never did see where I lived before. He has a bit of a flying problem...he's going to have to get over that soon.

The final leg of packing in Oregon
- August 2012 - 

So, six months. In that time I've been to: Texas, Indiana, Virginia, Oregon, and New York. The first four were because of work, and NY was because of the holidays. I ended up heading back to Oregon at the end of August and drove the rest of my stuff down in a rental truck. It was nice having everything again, I'm still lacking in the furniture department. Goal for this year: buy a couch and a dining room table. For two weeks over the holidays I went home to visit my family and friends. It was nice being there and enjoying myself, not worrying about packing, finding a job, or school work. It was a good two weeks, but I was ready to get back to the [relatively] warm weather of Arizona. I say "relatively" because the week after I got back, Arizona went into the 30's for a couple days, freezing everything. Cacti and foliage were dying left and right, and the pipes in peoples houses were bursting. We don't have furnaces out here. We have "heaters." While it was cold for Arizona, it wasn't too terrible for me. After all, I had just left the cold temperatures. I was still semi-used to them.

I crossed another item off of my bucket list since I've been here. I already crossed off my visit to Ted's in Tempe when I was here in June for my interview, but I finally had In-N-Out Burger. I wasn't super impressed. I learned from my brother that I had neglected to have it done "animal style" so I missed out. The second time I went I took his advice and I still wasn't convinced. Another item soon to be crossed off (after my last career fair in April) - owning a dog. I want to rescue one from a shelter, and I think it would be a good start since I'm inexperienced in dog ownership. Very excited.

"Buffalo New York" dollar bill
@ Tortilla Flats

Driving through Arizona is pretty, and I've been several scenic places with friends/family that have visited. Flagstaff, Sedona, Tortilla Flats, and Canyon Lake are all gorgeous places with breathtaking views and picturesque moments. Tortilla Flats was fun, their population is only six people (that's right, I said "six") and their restaurant makes pretty fantastic burgers. It was fun because the place was covered in dollar bills with people's names and the places they were visiting from. My mom and I sat at a table with a dollar bill that read "Buffalo" next to us. We both thought it was funny.

The longer I live out here, the more I love it. Making friends and getting out of the apartment and doing things has been a bit difficult, but I don't give up easily. I have my job in order, now the rest of my life will fall into place. Eventually.

My In-N-Out Burger tray
- the first visit - 

Green Chile Burger @ Tortilla Flats

Canyon Lake

Canyon Lake

Snow in Buffalo

Arizona Diamondbacks
- August 2012 - 

Welcoming Arizona

It's official, I moved to Arizona. I am currently sitting by the pool, using my apartment complex's wireless, and enjoying this warm 86-degree day. It may be pretty lonely out here because it's minimally sprinkling, but I moved from Oregon - you don't scare me water!

A couple weeks ago I had a job interview here, the reason for my short adventure in this fine state. While I was in NYC for another interview, I received the good news...I was hired. In three weeks time, I flew from NYC to Buffalo for a family visit, flew from Buffalo to Portland to pack, and drove from Portland to Phoenix...my final stop. I only had a couple days to pack back in Oregon, because I couldn't get an early enough flight out of Buffalo. So, naturally, I forgot a few essentials (my can opener...wine opener...brain), but I'll manage. I finally have wheels again (woohoo!), and they got me safely from Oregon to Arizona. It was quite an experience.

The first day, we decided our stopping point would be Las Vegas, since it was relatively inexpensive to stay in a hotel there. We drove 16 hours the first day, leaving at 3:30am Saturday morning and arriving in Las Vegas around 6ish. We walked the strip for a bit, since I hadn't ever been there before, and came back and passed out in our hotel room. The bed was comfy! Our 16 hour drive, plus the heat and walking made for instantaneous passing out once my head hit the pillow.

Driving through Oregon

I believe this was still California, but closer to Nevada

The drive was pretty, if you like the desolate desert thing. Heading out of Las Vegas, we got to see Lake Mead and drive over the Hoover Dam. We passed a sign saying "high wind warning" - I've never gripped wheel so tight. You couldn't see much while driving on it, but it was an experience nonetheless. I took a lot of pictures, of nothingness of course; I'm a fan of scenery pictures, I don't enjoy snapping shots of people because I'm not a big fan of being in pictures myself. It was really interesting seeing the scenery change so drastically. I drove the first stretch, which got us all the way to Klamath Falls, OR. The drive was nothing but trees and minimal cars. The copilot took over then and took us through California and into Nevada. We watched our surroundings go from trees to sand and cacti. It was still beautiful.

Lake Mead

Driving over the Hoover Dam - not much to see

Arizona and their awesome cacti

There are only a few things I miss at this point; I miss my friends and I miss having furniture. My apartment consists of an air mattress, my clothes, and an assortment of things I thought were important enough to bring with me. My Keurig was one of them...thank you coffee! I think the maintenance guys think I'm nuts, the one asked me where my stuff was. Still in Oregon...I'll see it all again [hopefully] in the beginning of September. Did I mention hopefully? I promise my blog posts will get more interesting soon, it's difficult to be productive and creative when your time to do so depends on how long your battery lasts on your computer.

Where I am right now...and enjoying it. 

The Grand Canyon State

My favorite cactus

I came back from my short stint in Arizona yesterday. I got there around 9pm on Wednesday night, and as soon as I walked out of the airport, I was hit with a wall of heat. It was 102 degrees, and it felt great! Living in Oregon, you don't get much chance to be that warm...especially since the added humidity usually makes it unbearable. As I shuttled to the car rental place, I realized why the heat felt familiar. When you're sitting around a campfire and it roars up briefly, blasting your face with excessive heat...that's what it was comparable to. It wasn't unbearable, it was just hot. Getting in my little KIA Forte (my mom would be proud, it was red), I headed to the hotel. Even in the dark, I could see cacti everywhere. I definitely wasn't in Oregon anymore!

It was definitely weird seeing Buffalo stuff on the walls

I explored Phoenix and Tempe the next day, taking pictures of cacti for my mom and my Tumblr. I also crossed off eating at Ted's Hot Dogs in Tempe, Arizona from my bucket list. It sounds dorky to anyone who isn't from Buffalo, but Ted's is a staple, serving Sahlen's hot dogs, fountain Loganberry, and amazing milkshakes. The original owner of Ted's opened this location, and it's the only one outside of the Buffalo area. I got the works, and took several pictures. I'm pretty sure the customers thought I was nuts. I drove past an In-N-Out Burger too, but I was too full to stop and get something if I wanted to. I've been told it's one of the best fast food places; I hardly eat fast food, so I think I'll just take everyones word for it. 

My Ted's spread

Tempe is the home of Arizona State University, and it had a college feel to it. Of course, the campus didn't really look like any other university I've been to before. It amazed me that everything outside was relatively clean, and not ruined by the weather. The metro stops were pretty extravagant (obviously I don't get out much), and the roads weren't destroyed by snow plows or excessive amounts of rain.

Another cool looking cactus

I left 90 degree weather yesterday to come back to low 60's in Oregon. Dear Oregon, it's summer...act like it!

Reading and Writing to Stave Off the Boredom

One book has bitten the dust. I finished reading The Help a couple days ago, after only taking two-three days to actually read it. I've always been a fast reader, especially if the book is addicting. When I was younger, I sometimes read the Harry Potter books in one sitting...what does that tell you (we all know how thick those are!)?! But anyway, The Help. I have a thing for reading books before I see the actual movie, and I was determined to do the same for this one. I definitely got absorbed into my reading, getting angry at some of the characters, feeling bad for others...Kathryn Stockett definitely knows how to tug at your heartstrings. At some point I'll get around to watching the movie.

I also started writing again, for the first time in years. My problem with writing is that I can never complete what I start. I have all these ideas, and sometimes I just start writing something else, completely forgetting about the first. I think my creativeness needs to be on medication. I have an entire folder on my external hard drive of stories I started, getting only about 20 pages in before moving on to something else. There's a box in my mother's garage filled with old journals (which is just about the only thing I did end up filling up/completing) and stories; hundreds of pages of looseleaf that never were completed, youthful stories never to see the light of day again. Granted, most of those are pretty terrible, but still unfinished nonetheless. When I get an idea, I just run with it, not really looking toward the end. Disclaimer: this does not occur in the work environment, I always see everything through. It only occurs during my days of pointless writing. Writing with a purpose = achieving the end goal.


It has now been a week since my internet was cancelled. I alternate between heading to school and IKE Box; I hope I've been productive enough. I think the internet is like coffee...addicting. I'm starting to be okay at home without it. You'd think I'd clean or catch up on my chores now that I have more time. Negative. I find myself writing, watching trashy TV shows, and sitting outside staring at the clouds. That last part may be an exaggeration, considering it has been absolutely miserable out for the past month. Today (finally) you can see the bright blue sky. It only made it to the low sixties, though. I miss warmth. Buffalo made it to the upper sixties/low seventies today. Showoffs :-)

Semi-Off the Grid

Studing at IKE Box so long ago
...sipping on a delicious blended dirty chai :-)

Yesterday was my first day without internet since I was in my early teens. I'm not counting going camping and being voluntarily cut off and away from all things technology, including cell phone reception. It was kind of liberating. I started reading again, which I haven't done in over two years; I have a lot of books to catch up on.

More application fun was had today. I ventured to the local coffee shop, IKE Box, and applied until they closed early for a private event. I'm a fan of everything there, with their iced tea with lavender syrup being my favorite. They're a coffee shop with a mission! Their overall "quest" is to help the youth of today be inspired for greatness. Pretty cool overall company/place.

I love that Oregon is so coffee friendly. Lots of places to choose from, hardly any are disappointing.

W(h)ine For Thought

I've juggled a number of ideas the last couple years as to where I ultimately want my career path to head. I started business school wanting to do Marketing Communications, the communications part is essential because I am not numbers oriented in the slightest. About a year and a quarter into the program, I went to a conference in Anaheim, California. When describing myself, I realized it sounded as if I was more geared toward a Human Resource-type function; I signed up for more HR classes the following semester. After taking a general HR course (having already completing a training and development one), I knew I wanted to partake in some form of recruitment strategy. Recruiting, as well as most HR job functions, require a pretty extensive amount of experience. The wine industry, where I ultimately want to find my way into, requires experience as well. I'm not easily discouraged...but I am very frightened. I have a six-figure loan debt hanging over my head, as well as credit cards that are heavily weeping. I've been applying to jobs since December, with absolutely no bites. I'm a very frustrated fisherman. Lame comparison.

I graduated a week ago, and I have stretched my job search to both marketing and HR jobs, since I still have a passion for both. I'm a writer, self proclaimed of course, so marketing has never been out of the picture for me. Once upon a time I wanted to be a journalist or an English teacher, but I was discouraged because of the lack of a future I would have. Those are not my words, and while I disagreed, I still went along with it. I've been writing "stories" since I was old enough to hold a pencil. I remember being yelled at by several teachers because my daily class journals weren't for fictional stories, but for my life here and now. Why would I write about my boring life when a fictional tale was so much more interesting? This is where looking into PR came from. I took a PR and Crisis Communication course while in school, and we had to complete several PR campaigns for "fictional" companies. It was like writing stories all over again, but this time they would be worth it to someone.

So back to wine. I'm from New York (not the "city", but part of the BIG state attached to it), so wine has been present in my life for a while. We have the Finger Lake wine region, and I've visited a couple wineries while on camping trips with my family. The one that steered me into the wine direction was Bully Hill Vineyards in Hammondsport, NY (at the southern tip of Keuka Lake). I was far too young to wine taste with my parents, but I could still have fun on the winery tour we were offered; we had a tour guide that was outrageously spunky. He captured my attention the entire time, all while blinding me with his tie-dye shirt. Taking a tour of the vines outside, I was captivated by the enormity of the acres of land required to make wine. I still have my keychain on my keyring from that day.

My career path in undergrad didn't allow me to follow a wine hospitality path, but it never left my mind. Part of me is still kicking myself in the pants for not getting a part time job in a wine tasting room when I turned 21, but I know my psychology research internship was important at the time; I went on to graduate with a B.S. in psychology a year later. Two years after that, I moved to Oregon for my Masters degree program. Living in the Willamette Valley region, I was thrown into the wine scene again. In my first year of the program, we were tasked with creating a new venture project, and my group decided on a joint tasting room for wineries. One of the gals in my diverse eight-person group grew up on a winery that her parents owned and operated; it allowed me to learn some new wine lingo and processes. I should have taken this as a sign and applied to a winery internship between my first and second year. However, sports media marketing was where I landed.

Now that I'm applying to jobs, I find I don't have the experience they're looking for in the wine industry. Isn't having passion and a basic understanding enough?! However, I do want to ultimately end up in a job where I fit. My last job was great, as far as the people were concerned; I didn't fit into the actual work aspect of it. I want to feel challenged, but not enough to want to rip my hair out. I also want to WANT to go to work every morning. I think everyone's dream job consists of one where getting out of bed in the morning isn't a death march. So if my dream job ends up being in the wine industry, great! If not, then I would have absolutely no complaints. I'm not a picky person, despite this pretty detailed post. :-)

Lets Get This Party Started!

I guess I liked this blog platform enough to start a second blog! For those of you who followed from my Grad School Grumbles blog...all 3 of you...welcome?

Now that I've put those of you reading this to sleep, let me tell you a little bit about myself. I graduated from Willamette University's Atkinson Graduate School of Management with a MBA in Human Resources and Marketing Communications. It was a strenuous two-year program, and apparently it's going to be even more difficult to find a job afterward. Now comes the real test of strength...being able to make it through the application process in one piece. Waking up with a rejection email is definitely not the way to start the day, but it's been happening more often than not. Every time I get one, there are tears. I should stop that soon before I'm nothing but a shriveled prune. Someone has to like me! Someone...eventually...

Until my next rant...