Everything Goes According to Plan…

When I returned from Europe in September, the goal was to spend a few months enjoying the extra time I would be able to spend with friends and family before settling into a new job.

In September and October I focused on my new relationship and on re-exploring my city, including attending Cincinnati's Oktoberfest.  I also hunted down a couple more of the infamous piggy statues spread throughout my city.  They're not SuperLambBananas, but they're still pretty cool.

November and December are my busiest months for volunteering at Crossroads, my non-churchy church.  It's the most exciting time of the year!  First there's boxes to pass out for our Thanksgiving Food Drive.  Then there's boxes to fill! Boxes to return! Christmas trees to put together! Angel tree angels to assign!  Angel tree gifts to buy! Angel tree gifts to deliver! Hot chocolate to pass out at Awaited!  And as if I wasn't obsessed enough, I added joining the N2CR team which basically means I stand near the doors and am super super excited if you come ask me a question about my second home.  I also wear a cool shirt that makes me look like I actually belong and am not just a psycho…or maybe it makes me look like I belong to a cult.  (Fine, we’re a cult. But we’re rubber and you’re glue.)      

December also brought my younger sister graduating from college and spending the last few days of the most outrageous year of my life in Tennessee with my boyfriend's family.  Everything was going pretty much how I had planned.  I expected January to bring a new job as a nurse in San Francisco or Charlotte, or at the very least somewhere in Cincinnati.  But of course life only goes according to plan until it doesn't.