A Year in Review

Time seems to fly by so quickly. It feels like just yesterday when I was loading all my belongings into my little Hyundai Elantra and making the trek from Rexburg, ID to La Grande, OR. I left Rexburg a year ago to do an internship for Lanny and Ava Hildebrandt as a tax intern.

I arrived home for Christmas exhausted. I was unofficially diagnosed with Adrenal Fatigue, so when I got home, I began to follow a fairly strict lifestyle change as described from a book called, "Adrenal Fatigue: The 21st Century Stress Syndrome." The book was written by James L. Wilson, ND, DC, PhD. I don't want this to sound like a late night ad on crap TV, but it really worked! After a month I began to feel like I had more energy. It was the first time in a year that I actually felt healthy.

As mentioned above, I worked as a tax intern for Hildebrandt & Company, PC. I enjoyed the break from taking a full load of classes and learned quite a bit while I was working. One thing I learned for sure was I didn't want to be a tax accountant. I enjoyed the consistency and routine, but it lacked human interaction. Even though I can be shy, I like to work with others.

Right before I was supposed to go back to Rexburg, I got this crazy idea from one of my friends to apply to the University of Utah. Never in my life have I made a decision on a whim. I usually over-analyze my decisions over a long period of time until I am sure what I should do. But this time I just followed my heart instead of my head and decided if I was accepted to the University of Utah, I would go.

Shortly after I applied I found out I was accepted, so I made the necessary preparations for the change. I visited the school and declared my major as Consumer and Community Studies, with an emphasis in Financial Planning.

I continued to work that summer in La Grande for the Union County Vector Control and the Peppermint job. Working in the peppermint fields gave me a lot of time to reflect on my life and the direction I wanted to go. I knew I wasn't completely satisfied or happy, so I thought a lot about what I could do to find that happiness. I realized the move to Salt Lake City would help me find that change I needed.

In August I loaded up my little Hyundai Elantra with all my belongings again and moved into a ghetto house a couple blocks from the university. I didn't actually take a tour of the home before I moved Salt Lake, since I was several hours away in Oregon. I just found it on Craigslist and saw that it was close to campus and cheap. When I walked in the place, I saw the grime on a kitchen counters and the mold on the bathroom ceiling. My room wasn't too bad. That night I discovered this place had no A/C. Some nights I would have the fan directly on me going full blast and still wouldn't be able to fall asleep until 3:30 AM because of the heat. Luckily it was only miserable for a month then the temperatures cooled down. Now it is cold because our landlord has locked the thermostat to 56 degrees. The only other things I have to deal with here is my landlord's father, who is here at random times during the day and night. He usually harasses us, but I am learning to have a back bone and dish it right back. I think he was a little surprise when I told him to shut up and get out. Since then he hasn't harassed me. And lastly, one of my roommates who spent more time in jail than in our house, was evicted. On his way out he threw rotting fruit into our bathroom window. Luckily, I will be moving out in a few months.

The first month I was in Salt Lake City, I didn't know very many people and had a lot of time to myself. But I decided to volunteer with various political organizations and made some friends. Now I feel I have a great group of friends. I feel blessed because these are the first friends I feel completely comfortable around. They like me for me, and not for who I pretended to be for years. My friends make me smile randomly during the day when I think about them. They are a riot!

School started in September. I honestly loved all my classes and did well in them. I had online and night classes and worked during the day at the library. In October I got an internship at the Personal Money Management Center at the University of Utah. I will explain more about the internship in a later blog.

October was a fun month. In the beginning of the month I took a trip to Moab, UT with some friends. There was a parade and festival there to celebrate diversity and human rights. It was fun to take part in that event and feel the energy there. A couple weeks later, Audra and I ran in the South Jordan Half Marathon. Both of us placed in our divisions, so we get to go back next October for free. At the end of October a group of friends went to see the Rocky Horror Picture Show at a theatre off 9th & 9th. It was an interactive show, so we participated in the story by dancing, singing, throwing rice, toast, cards, and getting soaking wet.

By the end of the semester, I was working 35 hours a week at the library and for my internship. I was finishing up my classes and continued to volunteer for a couple political organizations. I was exhausted and ready for the break to visit family and friends. I attended and even hosted some small parties to celebrate with friends during the holidays.

2010 was a difficult year for me, which prompted a lot of soul searching in 2011. I have made so many changes for the better and found a sense of peace I hadn't felt in previous years. I am grateful for life's experiences---good and bad---which have shaped my character and taught me much about myself and my relationships with others. 2011 was such a great year and I can only imagine 2012 will be even greater :)