Diving into the "Real World"

It hasn't hit me yet that school is over. A week into my job, and it feels like a summer job that will soon end and I will be packing up and heading back to school. Case in point, 4th of July Sunday, I planned when I would leave to head back to school that evening only to realize I wasn't heading back to school but starting my job. I suppose when everyone heads back for recruitment and class I might realize undergrad is over, but I think the worst is going to be watching my beloved Bulldawgs play their first home game in TV and think hey I should be there watching them tee it up between the hedges NOT in front of a TV. :) But we will see!

I took my last final on the first and took my amazing advisor to a farewell lunch. She was such a great person and really helped me out in so many ways! She is a wonderful person and I will miss her so much.

Once I got home and was finally unpacked (who knew I had so much stuff!!!), all four of us headed to the Atlanta airport to pick up the cousins! I love when Ryan and John come to visit, but was sad that Celia and Scott could not make it. The weekend was amazing! We ate at yummy restaurants, went downtown to check out the Peachtree Expo, Ry and dad played golf, ran the Peachtree and saw fireworks. The Peachtree was good. I had a bad start so ended a LOT slower then I wanted...and hour and ten minutes. Ry and Amanda kicked my butt! Ry was an hour 3 and Amanda was a little over 57 min. JEALOUS!!! Hopefully I can kick butt next year! I have decided to stay motivated I will run a race a month. A 5k, 10k, or half marathon. Yes, a half marathon!!! Amanda has talked me into running the Thanksgiving Day half! I have been trying to lose these last 15 pounds and keep them off, and I think it is good to have new goals. So I am doing it! :)

Monday the 5th I started work. I was only there for about 4 hours because it was just orientation and watching the videos about safety and rules and such. I made it home just in time to take the boys to the airport. Then I had off Tuesday.

Wednesday-Saturday I worked 7:30-4. Not bad except I had to drive out to Canton for training. So I had to leave the house a little after 6:30 and had to get up at 5. Let me tell you, it SUCKS to get up at 5. I am a kind of person that needs 8 hours of sleep, but who goes to bed at 9?? So the 6.5 I was running on had me exhausted by Saturday. But other then no sleep, I have been loving my job. I will be a GSTL (Guest Service Team Leader) and will be in charge of the front of the store. So, cashiers, guest service, photo lab, cart attendants, cash office, and food avenue are all under me. I am a pro at the cash registers now and pretty good at guest services. I pretty much make sure that lines are not to long and help any guests that I can. So far it has been great and I have learned a lot. I can't wait to get to my store and start building a relationship with my team! Target has a wonderful culture! Everyone has great attitudes and is willing to pitch it. Just looking at people you can not tell by attire or name tags who is management and who isn't. I love that! I truly believe that all team members need to be able to help each other out and no one is too good to hop on a register and help out so guests can leave satisfied. Yes, I have drunk the koolaid! ;) But I am so happy, so I will just keep drinking. I finish my second week of training at the Roswell store this week and start at my store Sunday.

Finally got to see my boy last night. We have not had time to ourselves in almost 3 weeks!!! So it was wonderful to grab dinner and watch TV and relax together! Hopefully we can start seeing each other more and can get our own place in a few months. Gotta work out a budget and save a little bit first.

Today I have slept and run errands. I also started my half training....a 35 min run. Not bad at all! This week is looking pretty good on that front: Mon-35min, Tues-rest, Wed-40min, Thurs-Cross train Fri-45min, Sat-rest. Easy week, but looking ahead, its gonna suck so I will enjoy it while I can!

Thanks for reading and enjoy some pictures:

Amanda on Marta on our way to fireworks...Ry had been in this pic, but I can't find an uncropped version right now:


John and I on the Marta train:


Cousins at Bucca carb loading before the race. We had to take a pic with this sign cause it had "That's What She Said" written all over it. If you know us, you know this is a commonly heard phrase! ;):


Ry, Amanda, and I before the race. We ran and Mom, Dad, and John walked.: