Hello, August!!
Welcome to the first monthly update of my life as a 25-year-old. Yes, that still feels strange to say.
My vacation at the beginning of July was fantastic – the lakes in Maine are superb! – but then I had to come back down to Earth.
The last couple weeks have been intensely stressful, to the point where my brain has all but stopped working and my body has decided to make itself ill. I’m talking headaches, exhaustion, stomach aches, loss of appetite (which literally never happens), and especially in the last week, complete lack of sleep.
All this because I formally announced to my family and friends that I’m moving out on my own (with roommates, obv.). Apparently, my body is terrified, meanwhile until this past week my spirit and brain have been all “LET’S DO THIS!! FINALLY!” which is why I’ve been exhausted all the time. The first half of this month I spent every evening and day off going on apartment tours, and it wasn’t until yesterday that I signed my lease. I’ve been an absolute mess for the past week while I waited for my landlord to get around to sending me the lease. It was awful. But at least I have a place to live now!
On top of all of that, I started taking Accutane for my acne issues in June, and that has been a trip in and of itself. The first two weeks, basically all of my skin fell off. It was just as gross as it sounds. Not leprosy bad, but bad. My lips continued to peel for the rest of the first month as well, which made me very self-conscious for possibly the first time, ever. The lip-peeling eventually subsided when I started using vaseline on them at night, and the dry, flaky skin petered out on its own under my use of sunscreen and moisturizers. The Accutane also has all kinds of emotional side-effects, and the first week was just insane. Most of the chaos I’m dealing with right now is stress and fear-induced, but I’m sure the Accutane is magnifying it all to some degree.
With all of that going on, it’s no wonder that I completely failed at Camp NaNoWriMo. You’ve probably already noticed that I didn’t post a single update after my intro post, and that’s because I got sucked into the chaos of apartment hunting.
The next thing I’ll be focusing on is job hunting. Yes, I’ve been searching since July, but the vast majority of positions are open for submission until the beginning of September, which means I won’t hear about interviews until probably mid-September or get anything full time until October. This necessitates a secondary job search, for part-time positions. What are some cool part-time jobs you’ve held? I’ve worked in I.T., bridal retail, the restaurant industry, as a camp counselor, and as a campus police officer. I think working at a bank, a grocery store, or a book store would be interesting, as those are all things I’ve never done. Do you have one industry you like to stick to for part-time work, or you enjoy diversifying your resume? Maybe it’s the writer in me that loves to try different things all the time. It’s hard to write about something you’ve never experienced, right?
It’s been a long two months since I’ve updated you guys on my life. As September approaches, I’m getting really excited for grad school to start. I have two classes this semester: Intro to Magazine Editing, and Copyediting. I can’t wait to get started.
Before I go, let’s check out how I did on my July goals, and what I’m working on this month.
July Goals:
Walk more than 40 miles: I walked 51.57 miles according to my step-tracking app. Woohoo!
Read 10 books: Scourge Carry On River Secrets Forest Born The Diviners Ella Enchanted All Signs Point to Murder The Magnolia Story Georgette Heyer’s Regency World Jane Austen’s England
Yeah… I ended up not reading any of those except for Ella Enchanted. I did read The Little French Bistro (review here) and Someone to Love, however, so it wasn’t all bad. I’ve since started Carry On, but I’m just not feeling it.
Who’s idea was it that NetGalley manuscripts expire? My plan was to read the books the week before they released, but I went to start them and they were gone. 😦 So now I will be borrowing them from my library so I can complete them and submit my reviews so that my NetGalley rating doesn’t go to crap.
Write 6 Reviews: Enna Burning River Secrets M Train Ella Enchanted Scourge All Signs Point to Murder
Write 10,000 words for Camp NaNoWriMo: Nope. Didn’t happen.
August Goals:
Walk over 40 miles: So far so good!
Read 8 Books: River Secrets Someone to Hold Forest Born The Diviners Carry On Fall of a Kingdom A Man Called Ove The Wind-up Bird Chronicle
What I’ve actually read: A lot of romances. River Secrets A Knight to Remember Getting Out of Hand Forest Born Knocking Boots The Princess Saves Herself in This One
Review 7 Books: River Secrets Forest Born Someone to Love Carry On Fall of a Kingdom Getting Rid of Bradley The Wind-up Bird Chronicle
Secure an Apartment: CHECK!!
Secure a Job: Search in progress.
That’s all for this month! Check back next month for another update, and don’t forget to check out the weekly book reviews on Tuesdays, my Friday Files series on Fridays, and my other random Thursday posts.
Until next time,
~Amanda
Comments