Sorry it’s been so long since I’ve posted anything, blogosphere! Do not fret, however—I have indeed been thinking about you and have missed you greatly. 
Where have I been? Well I’m glad I asked myself that question (since no one else has). 
I’ve recently settled in to the, for lack of a better metaphor, chapter of my life. 22 days ago I was offered a social media position at a wonderful, all-natural skincare company called Aidance Skincare. 21 days ago I completed my last college assignment and officially earned those last credits finalizing the completion of my bachelor’s degree from the Rochester Institute of Technology. Four days ago I packed up belongings and moved into a house in Providence, Rhode Island with two really great people—a New Hampshire native, Craig, and a German girl going for her master’s from Johnson and Wales, Franzi. And yesterday was my first day of work at Aidance. 
It’s weird how we grow up. I know it may sound cliche, but I really think it is. It’s been so long since we were clueless of any sense of time other than bedtime to signal the days and our birthdays to mark the years, we just view time as this thing always passing rather than arriving. I remember this day in the photo, climbing into boxes as if it were this magical place that seemed filled with limitless possibilities of fantabulous(< I did not know that was an accepted word) wonders. I remember getting a kitten I named Tigger when I was just two years old, sitting in the backseat of my dad’s care as we got a box with the cutest little orange kitten you’ve ever seen(fo’ reals). We all have our childhood memories and things that remind us of them—and we have to remember not to forget about them. These were the times where everything was an adventure and the simplest things dazzled our minds. But grownups tend not to think that way; at least most of them, any-who. In these recent, very quickly passing weeks, the idea of being a “grownup” continued to run through my head as I discussed health insurance, taxes, and even shopping for my first real mattress away from home(I’ve been sleeping on an air mattress for the last couple years, my back was killing me! I think that’s a primary reason I wanted to graduate college a bit earlier than expected)—an adult is what I’ll be for the rest of my life. How am I going to handle being old?!
But even though I may have to grow up and worry about all those things that life forces you to worry about these days, I can always be young at heart. Even just my couple days at work for Aidance Skincare has reassured me that you can continue to have fun and enjoy life and those around you while still being a great success and doing some pretty cool things. I am truly excited for the work I am doing and I literally cannot wait to do it again tomorrow, and I don’t see that changing anytime soon.
If we allow life’s little quarrels and stresses to get to us too much, we will allow them to run our lives and keep us trapped in that dull, soulless cardboard box that a lot of old people are in. But if we focus on the good, doing good for others and, as Darien Lake Resort would put it, “remember it’s fun”, we’ll be able to open up that world of imagination, creativity and innovation that the cardboard box revealed to us as children. Don’t let, whatever it is, get you down. I want to see you smiling and looking up at the world. Show us all what you’re made of. I’m ready for it all. I’m ready to take on the “real world”. I’m ready to do great things. 
Let’s do this.

Sorry it’s been so long since I’ve posted anything, blogosphere! Do not fret, however—I have indeed been thinking about you and have missed you greatly. 

Where have I been? Well I’m glad I asked myself that question (since no one else has). 

I’ve recently settled in to the, for lack of a better metaphor, chapter of my life. 22 days ago I was offered a social media position at a wonderful, all-natural skincare company called Aidance Skincare. 21 days ago I completed my last college assignment and officially earned those last credits finalizing the completion of my bachelor’s degree from the Rochester Institute of Technology. Four days ago I packed up belongings and moved into a house in Providence, Rhode Island with two really great people—a New Hampshire native, Craig, and a German girl going for her master’s from Johnson and Wales, Franzi. And yesterday was my first day of work at Aidance. 

It’s weird how we grow up. I know it may sound cliche, but I really think it is. It’s been so long since we were clueless of any sense of time other than bedtime to signal the days and our birthdays to mark the years, we just view time as this thing always passing rather than arriving. I remember this day in the photo, climbing into boxes as if it were this magical place that seemed filled with limitless possibilities of fantabulous(< I did not know that was an accepted word) wonders. I remember getting a kitten I named Tigger when I was just two years old, sitting in the backseat of my dad’s care as we got a box with the cutest little orange kitten you’ve ever seen(fo’ reals). We all have our childhood memories and things that remind us of them—and we have to remember not to forget about them. These were the times where everything was an adventure and the simplest things dazzled our minds. But grownups tend not to think that way; at least most of them, any-who. In these recent, very quickly passing weeks, the idea of being a “grownup” continued to run through my head as I discussed health insurance, taxes, and even shopping for my first real mattress away from home(I’ve been sleeping on an air mattress for the last couple years, my back was killing me! I think that’s a primary reason I wanted to graduate college a bit earlier than expected)—an adult is what I’ll be for the rest of my life. How am I going to handle being old?!

But even though I may have to grow up and worry about all those things that life forces you to worry about these days, I can always be young at heart. Even just my couple days at work for Aidance Skincare has reassured me that you can continue to have fun and enjoy life and those around you while still being a great success and doing some pretty cool things. I am truly excited for the work I am doing and I literally cannot wait to do it again tomorrow, and I don’t see that changing anytime soon.

If we allow life’s little quarrels and stresses to get to us too much, we will allow them to run our lives and keep us trapped in that dull, soulless cardboard box that a lot of old people are in. But if we focus on the good, doing good for others and, as Darien Lake Resort would put it, “remember it’s fun”, we’ll be able to open up that world of imagination, creativity and innovation that the cardboard box revealed to us as children. Don’t let, whatever it is, get you down. I want to see you smiling and looking up at the world. Show us all what you’re made of. I’m ready for it all. I’m ready to take on the “real world”. I’m ready to do great things. 

Let’s do this.

Close that book! Facebook that is—Three weeks without the most popular social network

Three weeks ago I made the decision to deactivate my facebook, the fact alone that this is an event worth mentioning in my life is sad enough but it’s the world we live in now, and after the 7-step process to finally be done with it, my new life began.

The three years I spent on facebook seem to be a major part of my life, with college starting and coming to an end, meeting new people and showcasing everything on my mind… but did facebook actually start controlling me? I realized one day that I was never really off facebook—just away from my computer for a period of time. I would get excited when I had friend requests and I would get frustrated when notification weren’t relevant to me specifically. I was always mindlessly scrolling through my news feed and friends’ profiles waiting for something of interest to pop up, rarely ever being truly interested in the content but more-or-less simply having a need to know that I wasn’t missing anything. I attempted to use it simply as a networking tool to get my name further out into the blogosphere, but the endless ramblings and drunken snapshots of my peers grew to be too great—I could not handle the actual uselessness that facebook had become to my life yet still always be use it. For these and other reasons, it was April 14, 11:59 p.m. EST that I deactivated (notice I did not delete it—because you can’t, they pretty much know everyone will come back eventually…scary) my facebook.

It was honestly weird the first couple days. I found myself just sitting around during the time I was normally browsing facebook. I even had a friend ask if I was mad at her because she couldn’t find me on facebook. My habits started changing as the days went on and I began to fill that time with a social life and school work. I was more productive in school, went out more with friends and actually felt less stress without the constant drama that comes with facebook (you all know you see those things you never wanted to see about certain people, but you seek them out anyway). I felt liberated from the death grip that this site had on me and 400 million other people in the world. I didn’t worry about what anyone might see on my page, what anyone would write on my page or any of that stuff that even if you don’t think you think about you actually do and it actually takes up valuable parts of your mind and life that could be spent elsewhere. 

I met new people and they couldn’t find me on facebook so it drove them to actually have to have a vested interest in getting to know me, which meant I wasn’t just another friend on the wall but an actual person they wanted to get to know.

I did reactivate my facebook, mainly out of curiosity. I want to see if I go back to my old ways or if contact with people is regained simply because now I have a facebook again when a cell phone is just an arm’s reach away. Who knows what will come of facebook in the future… soon it may take over the world and control every mind logged on to it.

Do you have the courage to leave facebook? Give it a try. You may find yourself never going back. I know I’m already considering it again.