I'm not settling... Am I?!

Our world is filled with encouragement, whether it comes in the form of corporate logos, inspiring stories or just plain pats-on-the-back from your friends and family.

Nike tells us to "Just Do It," the Army tells us we can "Be all [we] can be," school teachers tell us to go to college because that's how we're going to be successful. Encouragement is all around us, telling us to strive to be better than we were yesterday, last week, five years ago.

What happens when you are trying to better yourself and you find yourself stuck in the mud? You're trying to "just do it" but there's a roadblock. You're trapped.

Man, am I in this spot right now or what?

As I have made it pretty darn clear, you all have probably figured out that I'm pretty stuck when it comes to my current employment. I literally just spent 15 minutes playing with the Rubik's cube on today's Google homepage (which was stupid by the way because I have no idea how to figure out a Rubik's cube). I would consider that situation stuck and I'm not even talking about the puzzle.

My current job has made me reevaluate my strengths. It has made me question my abilities. It has put me in waist-deep mud with a little pink Baskin & Robbins sample spoon to dig myself out.

I have applied for a countless number of jobs in the last two months. FINALLY, I got a call back and an interview scheduled for a job that was kind of a fall back option, not because it's a lame job, but because it does not require much education and is in a field that I never considered as a career path. Retail. I don't want to go into too much detail since it isn't for-sure yet, but here's my dilemma. The job is salaried, with WAY more benefits than I currently have and (most likely) has a higher pay grade. The company gives back to the community and supports programs that I participated in as a kid. The company has many locations and what I would assume to be a pretty large opportunity for growth.

You're all like, where's the dilemma?! This is where I have reached a conundrum (LOVE that word). I don't know what I want to do with my life. There... I said it. I'm totally lost. I don't know what I want to do with my life. This position that I will be interviewing for is in a direction that I never really anticipated and people that mean a lot to me have sort of snubbed their noses at it. Not intentionally, but it has happened. That doesn't mean the job is bad, or good, but it makes me think about how I will get to where I want to go in my career. I have narrowed it down to a general field of what I want to do (community relations with an organization or corporation/business), but I don't know how to get there.

Well, actually I do. I have to start from the bottom, right? With all of the encouraging words surrounding us in marketing and in our personal lives, I feel that there is a negative stigma with starting at the bottom. People assume you're settling for something because it's easy and convenient. Now here's the difference between settling and starting: Settling is a verb, it's getting complacent, it's lacking the motivation to grow and become a better employee/person; Starting is a noun, it's the point at which you begin your growth, where you learn the basics in order to grow them. If you really think about it, how are we supposed to instantly beat out the people who have worked the lower ranks and climbed up the ladder? It's not fair to them and it's not fair to us.

Like I've said in prior blogs, we are NOT a generation of entitlement, therefore we cannot expect to be entitled. 

I'm not going to lie, I can see myself kicking butt at this job. I thrive on customer interaction and I know it would be a good fit for me, but can I get passed the negative stigma in starting lower on the totem pole? Can I see myself in a total career change? I guess we'll find out after the interview. Maybe they'll sell me like crazy? Maybe it will be a fantastic fit?

My advice to friends and e-friends is that it's never a bad idea to start at the bottom as long as you're not settling for something less than you deserve.

Don't get used to the bottom. 
Push for the top. 
Stay motivated and don't let yourself get stuck, because getting stuck sucks.

What do you think? Do you agree? Or do you think you should hold out for something better? I'd love to know!!!

Until next time. Sending good vibes to you and yours!

It's hard to be positive with an empty Bank Account.

Right?!

It's so easy to think everything is fine and dandy when your wallet has a good chunk of change tucked neatly in it's pockets. The saying that "money can't buy happiness" is totally true and I agree with it completely, but a little teensy weensy bit of cash can definitely ease stress.

I am no stranger to an empty wallet.

When the recession hit in 2007ish, my family was completely affected. My dad lost his job and it all seemed to get harder and harder. My senior year of high school, I began working at Dutch Bros to try and take some of the weight off of my parents shoulders. It was hard, working 35 hrs a week plus finishing up my senior year and trying to add all of my social activities in there too. It was the beginning of my long stretch working like a crazy person.

Since the family was in a financial rut, I (thankfully) qualified for more financial aid and began my studies at Oregon State University (GO BEAVS!). While going to school, I worked one or two jobs, participated in lots of social activities, kept an internship and somehow maintained decent grades. By doing this I wanted to A) pay the bills so my parents didn't have to sheepishly tell me they couldn't really help me -Side note... I know my parents wanted to help me and they really struggled with the fact that they couldn't at the time; I don't want my nonchalance to make it seem like they didn't care! - , and B) Make connections so that I would have a better network post-graduation.

Well, through the sleepless nights and hard work, my networking paid off and I was able to snag a job, or two ... or three. I was working up to 70 hrs a week of minimum wage and barely cruising by. There were multiple times that I would just eat a piece of toast with cream cheese because I couldn't afford to go grocery shopping. With how damn hard I worked, it wasn't getting any easier. But let me tell you, I learned how to stretch a dollar.

But apparently I didn't learn it super well, because now that I have a consistent (and slightly greater) income, I'm still forcing myself to stretch those dollars.

So here's my plan!
This blog is going to be a little bit different. I'm going to challenge myself and I want to challenge you too! I'm going to set us up with three money spending rules for the next month and then to infinity and beyond! If you want in on the challenge, comment in the comment section below. You can still remain anonymous if you'd like, just write something like "I'm in!"

Here are the rules:

1a) Make a budget.
You might think a budget is dumb or annoying, but having a general idea where your money is going every week/month/year is a good eye opener for some people. For example, I did not realize how much money I used to spend on Coffee. Redunkulous. I have a budget that I've already made, but now here's the catch.
1b) STICK TO YOUR BUDGET.
'Nuff Said.

2) Save 15% of your check on every pay period.
For me this will be the hardest challenge but also something that is completely necessary. I had a panic moment today realizing that I'll be moving in a few short months and I have not saved enough for a deposit. EEK! This is probably going to mean that I can't do as many fun activities that I have planned for the next month, but it's something that desperately needs to happen.

3) Track your spending.
I, Sarah, solemnly swear that I am up to no good... I mean... I solemnly swear that I will track my receipts/spending. I've gotten frustrated with this task in the past because it clogs up my wallet with receipts, but you know what?! It's worth it. It requires accountability for my spending which is what I feel I need. Check the receipts with your bank's online banking and enter it into your budget every night so that you know what you're actually spending vs what your projected budget guesses.

That should be easy, right?!

I work my tail off to make sure that I can pay my bills. So far, I haven't resorted to opening up a credit card, getting into any debt (other than those damn student loans), or anything else too dramatic, like selling a kidney or prostituting my bod. This is a personal challenge of becoming more financially positive.  It's hard. This challenge will test my self control, but it's what need to happen.

Let's do this together. Are you in or are you out?

How can I take "ME TIME" without being Lazy?!

I think I love being lazy. Yet I totally hate being lazy. It's a very complicated relationship.

One part of me screams, "Netflix, gurrrllll. Get under that comforter and watch 'House' ALL DAY LONG!"

The other side of me says, "Um, have you looked at the time yet?! You've been sitting here for two hours. Do you know how clean your house could be in two hours?! Do you know how many calories you could have burned??!!"

Yesterday, I was totally taken over by the lazy bug. Mason was visiting and after two days of constantly going from one place to the next and staying up late, we ended up vegging out all day long. The sun was finally coming out and a few hours by the pool were just what we needed, followed up by watching a movie and making a batch of homemade lime-aid. So after dropping Mason back at the station - following a day of extreme laziness- what did I do?

I watched four hours of television.

Seems like a great idea right?! Well, I have this disease that I like to call lazy-guilt. I have been conditioned to think that I need to be busy. It's an epidemic that our generation has created and I have fallen victim. I have the delusional idea that I need to constantly be doing something productive.

But the thing that I need to remember is that it's okay to rest. It's okay to take a break. It's okay to binge watch the last month's worth of episodes of "Once Upon a Time," as long as you don't make it a regular habit. Our bodies, and brains, physically need some time to catch up with the busy lives we lead, and sometimes a day of relaxation is what it takes. HOWEVER, you cannot get addicted to the nothingness that is so relaxing. How can you find a balance between re-setting and laziness? 

1) Set yourself a limit. By setting a limit -whether it's time, number of episodes, etc- you will have a tangible boundary to maintain.
2) Find little tasks to do in the middle of relaxing. Fold Laundry, pick up your room while your laptop is buffering. Do 20 jumping jacks on each commercial break. Whatever you do, set yourself up for some little victories!
3) Use relaxation as a reward! Knock those chores out of the park before you curl up into your cocoon of down-comforter goodness. If you do this, you won't spend your time stressing over what all you SHOULD be doing while you're catching up on old One Tree Hill episodes that you've already seen five times.


It's a constant battle of wanting to take care of myself, but still fulfilling the tasks that need to be done and I can do both as long as there's a balance. Take care of YOU so that your stuff can get done eventually.



Don't forget to follow "No End In Sight"!

DO YOU HAVE ANY TOPICS THAT NEED A POSITIVE BOOST?! Shoot me a message and we can add some positivity to your daily life too!!!

Distance Sucks. But it's worth it.

Warning: I'm going to gush about feelings in this post. Insensitive people, beware.

Today is a pretty great day, you know why? Because it was supposed to rain all day and now it's going to be sunny and 68 degrees. Also, it's Mason and my 6 month anniversary. Go ahead, you can judge me for being excited about that (Mason still gives me a hard time that I get excited over those things), but I'm genuinely pretty stoked. I could spend this blog post telling the world how great he is and how I'm a better person with him, blah blah blah, but I'm not going to bore you all with the mushy stuff. Instead I want to talk about how we make this thing work with 80 miles in between us.

Awww how cute are we?!

So, you're probably like, PSH 80 miles?! No problem. That's only an hour and a half drive! You can't even call it a long-distance relationship because it's not a long distance! That's not even hard at all. If that's the case, I guess you can stop reading here because for us, it has not been easy.

In the grand scheme of things, yes, it is easy when you compare it to relationships that span across the country or military couples who rarely get to SPEAK to their significant others, let alone see them. I know that in the big-picture world, we do have it easy but it started off pretty difficult for us. 

When Mason and I started dating, I was oftentimes working seven days, pushing 70 hours each week. Getting to see each other every weekend just was NOT possible, but it was okay because we were newly into the relationship and it was still in the "No, I miss YOU more" stage. (Just kidding we were never that bad... I hope.) Every moment we got to spend together was short but cherished. I'd get into Corvallis at 7pm and leave at 9am the next day. It was exhausting, but like I said, worth it.

One thing that we had a difficult time with in that stage was our lack of everyday activities together. We didn't get a chance to binge-watch Netflix, or go grocery shopping, or hang out on the couch and just talk. Sure, we Skyped frequently, and texted/talked on the phone, but we could not wait to finally get the chance to "do life" together. 

Thankfully, that stage in our relationship was able to come to a conclusion when I took my new job. I was finally able to work a normal human schedule of 40 hours/5 days a week. This meant we were going to experience something new..... WEEKENDS! The chance to actually spend more than 15 hours together was such an incredibly amazing thought and we have been lucky enough to utilize those weekends in the last three months. We get Friday night, all the way through Sunday night, and sometimes even Monday morning.

So I've had friends ask me, "How do you keep things going so well when you only get to see each other every other weekend?" Usually my response is fairly unexciting, but here is my guide to surviving an "any distance" relationship. 

1) Find a time during the week to Skype. Seriously, this saves us because there's only so much that you can say over the phone or through a text. It also helps because if you're anything like me, you think your partner is pretty cute so seeing his/her face instantly makes you smile. (Insert corny eye roll here.)

2) Tell your partner when you miss him/her. This is something I fully believe in, but you have to mean it. But Sarah, of course I miss my partner.. we're in a relationship and I don't get to see him/her! I know this one seems obvious, but hearing it is one of the most comforting things.

3) Tell each other when you're grumpy. I'm always the one who does this because I know I get snappy or maybe sometimes I just want time without my phone. If you give your partner a heads up, he or she is less likely to take things personally if you accidentally snap at them. But don't snap at them. That's dangerous.

4) Understand that your partner has a life without you. And be okay with that. Distance relationships are not for the insecure. Obviously, you are not able to do everything together (but seriously, you don't want to do everything together even when you're dating in the same town!), so know that the one you love is going to have adventures without you. Sometimes this one is really hard for me. I see Mason doing the fun things that accompany living in a college town, and I get jealous. Not because he's doing things with other people, but because other people get to do things with him. That is one of those times where I have to step back and be glad though that he is out there making great college memories. I'm happy he's having fun.

5) Talk WITH each other, not AT each other. Being in a healthy relationship, whether you live 2,000 miles away or in the same house, requires the ability to communicate. The only way that a healthy relationship will work is if you're able to tell your partner what you want, what you don't want, what you like, what you don't like, etc.  If you and your significant other can be good listeners and good talkers, you'll avoid a lot of relational issues.

THIS IS MY FAVORITE TIP

6) You can still date even if you're long distance!!! HUH? Yes, you read that correctly. Mason and I still "date". We Skype while making dinner. We watch the same movie at the same time on Netflix (which takes some patience to match up what parts you're at at the same time). It's fun and it feels like we're doing things at the same time, in the same place. However, WARNING: Watching movies together on Netflix kinda makes you want to cuddle but that's the only downside.

It's not easy to be in a relationship of any kind and Lord knows that we've already been through a lot. But if it's right, then it's worth it and you'll find a way to make it work. 

Do any of you have any good relationship tips? My friend Craig and his partner Tayler, with a distance of MUCH greater than 80 miles, just recently blogged about their distance experience. They conquer the issues of asking for attention, being patient, and communication differences between personality types! They totally inspired this blog so THANKS CRAIG AND TAYLER! Check out their blog HERE.

Thanks for sticking with me, positive peeps. May your day be blessed!

Transforming Boredom

I don't know about you but I loathe boredom.

I was brought up in a family of three kids, but with our activity level, we could have made up for six. Each one of us was extremely involved with sports, school, 4-H (for you city folk, 4-H is a *mostly* agricultural youth organization and we showed livestock), and countless sleepovers. I legitimately don't know how we were able to do so much and have any hours left for sleeping.

Long story short, I LOVED IT.

Not only was I kept out of trouble (for the most part ;) ), but I was also introduced to so many growing life experiences. If you're a parent right now, please sign your kid up for t-ball, or ballet, or skateboarding. Whatever it is... SIGN THEM UP! It doesn't matter if he or she can't run in a straight line, or catch a ball. ALL that matters is that you're teaching these kids the values of team building, of persistence, of failure... which are HUGELY important lessons for kids to learn gracefully.

Okay. Rant over.

ANYWAY-

Growing up in such a busy atmosphere was wonderful. It made us appreciate down time, along with the busyness  too. When I got to college I realized I had SO much free time. But inversely, instead of appreciating the down time, I became lost because I didn't know how to fill such a vast schedule. The beginning of college was pretty difficult because like I said, I HATE being bored. Before I knew it, I was finding hints of depression popping up in my everyday life.

Fast forward four more years. I had the EXACT same thing happen at the end of college. I went from a super busy and exciting life of school work, two jobs, an internship, incredible friend groups and LOTS of country western dancing - yep, that's a thing - to a job that gave me anxiety attacks and absolutely no time for social interactions.

HOLD UP! This is supposed to be a positivity blog!!! (Hang with me, it's coming...)

Then, in a twist of events, I switched jobs out of the blue in an attempt to get back to the obnoxiously bubbly person that I am. However, I work at a job that plops me in front of a computer and all I do is scan Pinterest for eight hours. I witness grown adults acting like middle school girls. I watched the Olympics from my desk for two weeks straight. Sounds wonderful, right? WRONG. You are so SO WRONG. The boredom level is exponential.

Here's where we're going to turn these things to find the positive.

I've learned that I am a structure junkie! I love having a schedule (that can be bent, but at least it's there!). I also have learned that it's up to me to fill my time outside of work. I've started consistently going to the gym, and despite being tired after my hour long commute everyday, I make sure that I get at least one friend date in every week. These things are little changes, but it makes a big difference. When it comes to weekends, the grown-up in me knows I should clean the house/do the laundry. The long-distance girlfriend in me wants to go visit my man. The friend in me wants to hang out with EVERYONE. I've learned that my boredom throughout the week is practically GONE on the weekends so it comes down to balancing. Clean the kitchen on a weeknight, hang out with the boyfriend on the weekend, and later in the week you can incorporate a Kate Hudson movie in there somewhere with your girls. Get it on the schedule. You'll have something to look forward to!


I am also learning a LOT about the executive work force and I have learned tons about what I DON'T want in a career. (I can see the wheels turning and you're thinking, wait... that's still a negative. WRONG AGAIN!)

Learning what you do not want in a given situation is just as much, if not more important than learning what you absolutely do want. I have found myself to be in a position that a majority of my generation finds themselves. We finish college, try out our career and realize, that's not actually what we wanted.... SO NOW WHAT?

By learning what I don't want (a career in logistical transportation, large amounts of down-time, a sitting desk job, an office without people my own age), I am able to narrow down the things that make me passionate. I'm learning about the people I want to surround myself with and what kind of atmospheres I work best in. I am positively looking at this situation and realizing that I can do a lot more to make this a growing experience. I desire fast-paced excitement, face-to-face customer interaction, movement, relatable coworkers, a community atmosphere. I do not plan on staying at this job forever. But I WILL learn a great deal from the time that I do devote to this company. I know that I'll continue to learn so that I'm prepared for my next big change.

Who knows, maybe this blogging thing will work out ;)

Also, if you made it this far, you deserve a gold star! That was a long one!

Blogging is hard.

Goodness me.

Here I am thinking that starting up a blog will be super easy... I'll find a cool background, think of some witty blog titles, and BAM! - it's gorgeous.

Well newsflash, that's not how it happens.

I've tried my hand at blogging for work related purposes, but the company had already created the format, the fonts, the graphics and all the pretty stuff, so I just had to look around Pinterest and think of something clever.

But after a whole day of dinking around and probably downloading 5 bajillion viruses labeled "cute free blog templates," I've arrived here with a cookie-cutter layout courtesy of Blogger and a new found appreciation for the super creative computer whiz-kids.

So why start this blog, you ask? Two Reasons.

THE FIRST REASON: Become a more positive person

I've developed a mantra that is annoying the crud out of everyone around me but I don't care because it's really starting to change the way I think about situations. And I'm going to share it with you.

2014 is the year of positive thoughts.

Say it over again and let it sink in.

I've always been a "glass half full" girl so when I found myself newly out of college, in a job I hate and a schedule that doesn't allow much social time, I realized I was becoming a Debbie Downer. I've never been an unhappy person and I was falling down that spiral. I knew I had to make a change and so my mantra came to me in early 2014.

It sounds silly but I keep saying this to myself as a constant reminder of my half-full philosophy and I have found that I am looking more at the positive and less at the negative.

THE SECOND REASON: Changing the way I view the future

I keep thinking about how people talk about situations- Good or Bad. Even when you try and make good out of the bad, there's still a bit of a Debbie-Downer vibe to the comments. As a communications major, I love looking at how people interact. When talking about a situation people tend to say, "I'm closing that chapter of my life and looking forward to the next one." We've been taught to see this as a good end coming of a bad experience, but how can we cut out the bad and just appreciate the good?

Which brings me to my favorite woe-is-me comment... "There's no End in sight!" 

Since 2014 is the year of positive thoughts, I am bound and determined to change the way I look at that common phrase. Instead of seeing it as I'm-buried-alive-and-it's-never-going-to-end, I'm going to look at it as the-good-days-will-keep-on-rolling.

So here's the plan...

I want this blog to be about positive changes. How can I make all aspects of my life better? WHOA, that got ambitious real quick! But seriously, I'm going to focus on physical health, mental health, relational health, and maybe even some fun projects here and there!

Now that you're all as jazzed as I am, let's get this adventure rolling....