Life is grand

So I guess it has been over 4 months since my last recorded life story, thought, etc. But trust me...they were still occurring. In fact, my life has changed dramatically since those days. Back then, I was a lost little girl living in a large city, working for a huge company, and felt so alone along the way. Now...I am still living in a large city, working in even a bigger company (we just got bought out by PepsiCo which is a Fortune 100 company), but i will not say that I am alone. My whole goal on coming here was to make my own life, pave my own road, and meet some new faces that will impact my life greatly. It took about 6 months to begin accomplishing these things but now I am 100% happy with my life, my decisions, and am even more excited to see what life will bring me in the future.

It all began at the beginning of June when I first signed up for personal training at my gym. The training was great because I was able to finally start committing a couple days a week to myself in a healthy manner (not sitting on the couch eating pintfuls of chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream and watching movies every night). Through training, I have been able to finally again see the potential that my body has in the weight room. It wasn't since high school that I had lifted on a regular basis and my trainer thinks that I'm a rockstar because apparently I have great muscle memory. I even boxed a couple of times...punching a bag is absolutely liberating.

A few days later, I signed up for a social club because I was tired of being a loser. Now this isn't any ol' social club...this in particular is exclusively for single people. Not that I was looking for someone to date, I just needed friends and some sort of outlet to get me out of the house. After joining, my life completely changed. It went from couch potato and redbox fanatic to 100% NEVER being at home and experiencing life all around the city. I must also say that these people have some sort of craziness about them that rubbed off on me....I guess we are all single so it must be the joy of freedom that people possess before they become completely lame with a husband and family. Lets just say that it gave me hope to know that I can be older, single, and still have fun in life. In the first couple months, I was stretched to the limit with bars, roadtrips to the beach, boat riding and jetskiing on the lake, rock climbing, happy hours, volleyball, and so much more. I have met some wonderful people that will make a lasting impression on my life. I made some great memories and had a blast, however, I realized that I needed to step back a little because this "wildness" in me scared me a bit. This is about when my new friend moved to town, and it couldn't have been better timing.

So after working with 98% men, another female joined the crew. She is smart, motivating, and intimidating...just the woman corporate America needs. But in that time of my life, I needed her too. She became a GIRL friend, running buddy, and my neighbor (who moved only a block away). We both signed up for the Houston half marathon and full marathon run in January. She keeps me on my toes with my running. I stopped attending events with my social group and started hanging out with my co-workers and with myself more. It felt good to be back on track with my running and being able to get my "me time" again. I still kept in contact with some of my closer friends, but limited my outgoing activity immensely.

Labor day weekend, my family came in town and I was psyched about showing them around. The Astros game was dedicated to my little brother, and my youngest sister marvelled at the Houston zoo. My family camped out at my place and it felt so nice having them in town. Since I moved to Houston, I had only been home a few times. My family time was definitely cut short now that I had my own life without the long summers and sporatic weeks/months off that the college schedule allowed. But...once Monday rolled around, it was back to life and back to reality.

The Houston/Real Life

When planning to move to Houston, everyone in my hometown was astonished. I heard everything...people are rude, too diverse, crime is horrible, the traffic, terrible drivers, the weather, etc. From my experience so far, rude people and nice people are found everywhere; the diversity is fascinating to me; I haven't been personally affected by crime yet even when hanging out in the hood for work; because of odd working hours (6:30-4), i don't experience too much of rush hour traffic; yes...drivers are crazy and the longer you are here, the more you become one; and I'll get back to you about the weather and it's affects on my hair once summer hits. But despite my promise to never move to Houston, I really love it here. There is always something to do. The main problem is finding someone to do it with. I've done the rodeo with my family, Astros game with some college roommates, some restaurant experiences with a friend, and am looking forward to some concerts in the next couple of weeks with my siblings and best friend. Other than that, I work and get to drive all over the city seeing parts of the city I would never otherwise see. My job is a story in its own. I sell Pepsi products which includes Pepsi of course, Mountain Dew, Starbucks Frappucinos, Sobe drinks, Amp energy, Lipton tea, Crush, Muscle Milk, Rockstar (which is our newest partnership), and many many others. What can I say...a pretty badass brand portfolio. My company is great and I really think I made a great decision right out of college. Basically what I do in the meantime as a sales management trainee is run sales routes when the reps are on vacation. So I'm driving around this foreign city navigating mainly with handmade maps (made my men if you can imagine that), getting lost, and dealing with store managers who aren't used to seeing a young lady coming in doing manual labor. It certainly isn't the glamorous job that people sometimes expect right out of college but this is more my style. I like that I don't have to dress professional when going to work. Khakis and an overlarged men-sized Pepsi button-up shirt is fine by me. Yes I must include that I work with a bunch of older married men. Women are definitely a minority in sales. I am known as the Pepsi lady when I'm out in the trade. While dealing with store managers and the interactions of in-store consumers, I get a wide array of reactions. Sometimes I am the only white person around, often the only female around, and men aren't afraid to take notice. One day I got three date offers...one grudgy customer asked for a lunch date to Subway, another for a steak dinner, and a store manager asked for my number and wanted to take me out to dinner..."as friends". I must add that all are above 40 years old. I have plenty more stories of sadness and disappointment that I have seen in people but I will keep those to myself. I am trying to dwell on the happy ones because I have been letting my negativity take place in my life more than I used to. Although their have been some rough spots in the road and it is hard to make friends in the demographics of my workplace, I do have a live here and a sort of family away from home...a Pepsi family. Now my next journey here is to start getting involved in new activities and to making a set of friends here outside of work. I must say that I've been so independent-minded the last few years in thinking that I am fine by myself wherever I go. I was so excited about going off on my own, but I didn't realize how much I would miss living with my best friends and my family. I'm five hours away from the hometown now and my college friends are beginning to spread out. But the important thing is that I do have the memories and a set of loved ones that are irreplaceable. I love you guys and and all of the wonderful experiences you gave me!

Preface

So...I finally made it back to start my blogging streak. I honestly don't even know where to begin. My life journey thus far has taken me several places in life not only physically but also mentally and emotionally. Those people that knew me five years ago don't know me anymore. I look back on my life in the small town of 800 people and I don't even know that person anymore. How can you honestly know who you are when you are constantly being watched, judged, and surrounded by the same people your whole life? I had my titles--cheerleader, basketball pointguard, State Prose champion, student council representative, National Honor Society president, Honor Roll student, girlfriend of the hot jock--and who really gives a shit? I had plans to go away to college, to be successful, and to eventually marry my high school sweetheart but I never had any real ambitions in life. I didn't know what I wanted, who I really was, or anything about the world outside of what was in front of me my first 17 years of my life. I was content but unknowing of the world that surrounded me and all of its possibilities. I had no idea who I was without the person I "loved" by my side for four years. I have now become an independent person full of dreams, ambitions, and am starting to grasp who I am and how I respond in situations. My life is far from planned but I have at least accomplished many things on my own and have aspirations to keep me busy throughout the rest of my life. I feel the need to share my story to help me understand how I came to where I am today and to help me form my next step. Life is made in chapters much like that of a novel and we are the authors of our own lives. I'm no writer but I am a thinker so here goes...Whitney's thoughts in physical form...enjoy!

My Newfound Blog Interest

I never thought that I would be a blogger, but I just had this sudden urge this weekend when I realized that I am not able to share my fascinating life with the people that mean the most to me or people who really care to know.  You are all a phone call away but I can't call you every time I want to tell you something because you would probably eventually stop answering.  Plus...this is an optional way of you seeking out what is going on. I guess I was just spoiled by having such wonderful people around me my whole life to share my stories.  Honestly I don't even care whether this gets read.  It just helps to relieve myself of my inner thoughts and feel like I am sharing my life with someone even if it is just the cyberspace world which I sometimes resent so much.  I've always tried the journaling thing, but typing is way more efficient because my thoughts are all over the place; it reduces the scribble scrabble.  But all in all...I am a thinker who needs to get her thoughts out in writing and to share some experiences that I encounter where I have to just laugh at myself and only wish that someone was able to laugh with me. Whether or not someone else thinks my life is interesting, I do, and I guess that is all that matters. I just hope that others enjoy their life as much if not more as I enjoy mine. If you don't, i'll pray for you to find that satisfaction with yourself and in making the best of the situations that you are in.  However, it's almost 4 a.m. and I have to be up for work in about an hour so I will postpone my first real blog and try to sneak in a little more sleep.  But I shall return!