Hello? Hola? is anyone still out there reading this blog? I know it's been ages but that's what happens when you are busy restructuring your life and taking care of a lot of stuff. So what have I been up to? A lot! but I will try to keep it short and stick to the main points so here goes.......
Relocating:
I did go back to the US and I have to admit that the first few weeks being back were pretty hard for me. I was worried sick of how long it would take me to find a job as I was watching my savings dwindle day by day (living in the US is not cheap when you are jobless), I had to figure out my living situation but that depended on getting a job first, I had to buy a car (nothing fancy but reliable) pretty quick in order to get around and really regretted selling my old car before I left (what was I thinking???) I came back to friends who had moved on and I have to say it's surprising how much things can change in the span of one year, I am talking: marriages, relocations, kids, careers and a whole lot more. In short, it was just an overwhelming time and I am glad it's all in the past but it certainly opened my eyes to a lot of things and major lessons were learned.
Career:
Guess who is back in Corporate America?
As luck would have it, within a month of being back I actually ended up getting a really good job offer with one of the biggest CPA firms in the US. Yes, I know!!!! for those who have been reading my blog you know that I had worked as an Accountant and hated it so how ironic is it that I end up in a CPA firm of all places, right?! I am happy to report that the job I am doing is totally different from the past Accounting jobs I have had and I actually enjoy it. I work in Tax & Compliance, there is so much to learn and as you can see from the picture above, a lot to read as well! sometimes I feel like I am back in school all over again. All in all everything in the career front is good and I am fortunate enough to work under a really good manager so no complaints here.
Personal Changes:
I didn't realize how much weight I had gained until I came back to the US, goodness gracious! the old clothes I had in storage no longer fit and I just felt so out of shape. I started eating healthy and went back to the gym which felt really good especially when the results started showing.
As you can notice from the picture above, I cut my hair so the hair you see in the picture below is no more. Actually that's one of the first things I did when I came back, I just wanted a total change and my hair was the first casualty of these new changes.
Romantic Life:
What can I say? last time I touched on this topic was to announce that I was engaged. Well, what can I say this time...........you know how life is, unexpected things happen and one never knows about tomorrow so I am here to announce that we are..........still together and doing great actually! hahahahaha! Ooh! ye of little faith, how many of you were thinking that I was going to say we broke up? nope! we are still going strong and there is a good surprise coming up so watch this space.
Okay, I think I have covered the major points so let me start wrapping things up and get back to packing. Ooh! I guess I forgot to mention that I have an exciting trip coming up huh? I will give you a clue, it's a Spanish speaking Island in the Caribbean and it's neighboring country is French speaking.
Random Thoughts Of The Day:
You really don't know who your friends are until you go through a rough patch in life.
Selling everything and going off to travel sounds so bold and exciting but let me tell you this, it's overrated!! especially if you plan on coming back to the same country you left. All I can tell you is this, DON'T DO IT! (sell your stuff that is - but of course do travel!) keep your stuff in storage or if you have a generous friend who offers you space in her garage to park your beloved car for a year and space in her spare room to keep your personal items.......take her up on that offer, it will save you so much money in the end. I promise!
It really is expensive starting life from scratch. I practically had nothing when I came back and buying everything from scratch including getting an apartment took a toll on my bank account.
I didn't realize how good my Spanish had become and I am proud to say that I am still keeping it up and improving on it. Thanks to my cable package I do have a couple of Spanish speaking channels and I watch the shows and movies on there which I really enjoy, I chat on Skype frequently with one of my Colombian friends who is pretty good at correcting my grammar and I always end up learning new vocabulary from her, of course my fiancé is also a good source of maintaining the language so that helps a lot.
I still do miss living in a Spanish speaking country and being surrounded by the language. There are a lot of Spanish speakers where I live but unfortunately I have yet to make any Spanish speaking friends. Ooh! well.....
Relocating:
I did go back to the US and I have to admit that the first few weeks being back were pretty hard for me. I was worried sick of how long it would take me to find a job as I was watching my savings dwindle day by day (living in the US is not cheap when you are jobless), I had to figure out my living situation but that depended on getting a job first, I had to buy a car (nothing fancy but reliable) pretty quick in order to get around and really regretted selling my old car before I left (what was I thinking???) I came back to friends who had moved on and I have to say it's surprising how much things can change in the span of one year, I am talking: marriages, relocations, kids, careers and a whole lot more. In short, it was just an overwhelming time and I am glad it's all in the past but it certainly opened my eyes to a lot of things and major lessons were learned.
Career:
Guess who is back in Corporate America?
As luck would have it, within a month of being back I actually ended up getting a really good job offer with one of the biggest CPA firms in the US. Yes, I know!!!! for those who have been reading my blog you know that I had worked as an Accountant and hated it so how ironic is it that I end up in a CPA firm of all places, right?! I am happy to report that the job I am doing is totally different from the past Accounting jobs I have had and I actually enjoy it. I work in Tax & Compliance, there is so much to learn and as you can see from the picture above, a lot to read as well! sometimes I feel like I am back in school all over again. All in all everything in the career front is good and I am fortunate enough to work under a really good manager so no complaints here.
Personal Changes:
I didn't realize how much weight I had gained until I came back to the US, goodness gracious! the old clothes I had in storage no longer fit and I just felt so out of shape. I started eating healthy and went back to the gym which felt really good especially when the results started showing.
As you can notice from the picture above, I cut my hair so the hair you see in the picture below is no more. Actually that's one of the first things I did when I came back, I just wanted a total change and my hair was the first casualty of these new changes.
Romantic Life:
What can I say? last time I touched on this topic was to announce that I was engaged. Well, what can I say this time...........you know how life is, unexpected things happen and one never knows about tomorrow so I am here to announce that we are..........still together and doing great actually! hahahahaha! Ooh! ye of little faith, how many of you were thinking that I was going to say we broke up? nope! we are still going strong and there is a good surprise coming up so watch this space.
Okay, I think I have covered the major points so let me start wrapping things up and get back to packing. Ooh! I guess I forgot to mention that I have an exciting trip coming up huh? I will give you a clue, it's a Spanish speaking Island in the Caribbean and it's neighboring country is French speaking.
Random Thoughts Of The Day:
You really don't know who your friends are until you go through a rough patch in life.
Selling everything and going off to travel sounds so bold and exciting but let me tell you this, it's overrated!! especially if you plan on coming back to the same country you left. All I can tell you is this, DON'T DO IT! (sell your stuff that is - but of course do travel!) keep your stuff in storage or if you have a generous friend who offers you space in her garage to park your beloved car for a year and space in her spare room to keep your personal items.......take her up on that offer, it will save you so much money in the end. I promise!
It really is expensive starting life from scratch. I practically had nothing when I came back and buying everything from scratch including getting an apartment took a toll on my bank account.
I didn't realize how good my Spanish had become and I am proud to say that I am still keeping it up and improving on it. Thanks to my cable package I do have a couple of Spanish speaking channels and I watch the shows and movies on there which I really enjoy, I chat on Skype frequently with one of my Colombian friends who is pretty good at correcting my grammar and I always end up learning new vocabulary from her, of course my fiancé is also a good source of maintaining the language so that helps a lot.
I still do miss living in a Spanish speaking country and being surrounded by the language. There are a lot of Spanish speakers where I live but unfortunately I have yet to make any Spanish speaking friends. Ooh! well.....
