Still here, still happy

Aside from finances, which continue to stress me out beyond belief, life is going SO GREAT lately! I feel like I always slack on my blog when I am happy, so I am trying to be more conscious of that and remember that I don't only have things to say when I'm feeling shitty. Today is a good compromise because while life is going well, I have the worst PMS in the universe, so I am still feeling somewhat shitty, lol.

My lack of funding has put a bit of a damper on my Christmas mood, just because the shopping part has been really tight this year. Don't get me wrong, I don't often go off the deep end with Christmas overspending (minus the year I flew my brother to Dallas and back for an NFL game, of course), but I am not used to it being quite this tight either. I have been waiting for the best deals on what I want to get my short list this year, and I am still happy with what I am finding...I just don't like shopping so last minute! That said, by shopping Blake Friday weekend, I scored HUGE on Daphnie's present - the Stacey fam does a $25ish limit, and I got her $85 gift for $29...and she will love it! I also got great steals for Karen and Laura, and my brother and I are splitting something super for my mama, so we were still able to splurge a bit for her. Fortunately, my dad always likes cookies, so for the price of a bag of chocolate chips I can make him happy (well, I am also getting him a new tape measure 'cause he needs one, but get real, he only wants the treats).

In line with my budget crisis, I am also considering moving.

Which I suppose leads me to my most recent piece of awesome news...I got promoted!!

I am working at a newer, nicer property in a better area of Vancouver, near the mall. It is a property I could definitely feel comfortable living on site at, and the money saved in gas, Oregon tax, and rent - especially if I were to do a larger apartment with Adelle as a roommate - are insane. It would make all the difference. Of course, I do love my bachelorette pad and don't necessarily love the thought of moving to Vancouver, but I am trying to remember that it wasn't Vancouver the city that fucked up my life for 3 years, it was the guy living in it with me. I feel like I have this bad attitude about living up here because it is SO far away and SO isolated and SO lonely...but in reality, its 15 minutes north of where I live now. Its closer to Stacey's house than I live now, its closer to my mom & dad than Beaverton, and I would not be freaking out like this about moving to Beaverton. I need to make my decision with that in mind - this apartment in Vancouver wouldn't be an isolating, lonely, cold hell hole. It would be home. It would be mine. I would still have Juno and it'd still be my place...it'd just be saving me almost $1000 a month. How do you say no to that??

Work is going really well. Its hectic learning a new position in a new property, but I am catching on and learning a lot. I was initially hoping to get a property outside of Vancouver, but what I like about being up here is the support team I have gained in my year at Bridge Creek - there are managers up here that know where I'm at and where I need help and guidance, and I am under the same regional manager, so she knows where I excel and where I need more training. So I moved into this position with more confidence than had I left my safely net completely, and I like that. So things are going well so far. I love having an office, and space of my own and have been reorganizing it to what I like...obsessively organized and labeled...and am just enjoying the new property!

Things are still going really well with Mark, and I am enjoying taking things at a slower pace, getting to know each other, not making insane fast decisions, and I am most especially enjoying how comfortable I am with him and being able to talk to him about anything. We have both come into this new relationship with some pretty serious baggage from exes on both our parts, and minus the physical abuse part we were in pretty similar situations - exes with kids we were very attached to, living together as "families," and struggling to get back to our own person after bad breakups. This baggage has caused some doubts in each other at times and has come with some hesitation from both sides, but it has also come with complete honesty and the ability to communicate with each other when those feelings are coming up. Sometimes it sucks - it sucks hearing someone you are so into say that things are moving way too fast and they're panicking, and it sucks being the one to say to that person that you're freaking out about them meeting someone in your family - but it has only led to better and better things for us so far. I feel completely comfortable in my own skin around him, I don't feel that need to be perfect or be his image of perfection, and I am just damn happy right now. I am listened to, heard, respected, admired, thought of, romanced, appreciated, laughed at, laughed with, held, taken care of, and prioritized. And I won't ever have it any other way...whether it be with Mark or someone else down the road, this is exactly my expectation of how I will be treated.

Probably the most happy, most important, most AMAZING news since I last blogged...Laura doesn't have cancer! Most of you reading this know already the details, but it stands to mention that her bone cancer was the biggest of all misdiagnoses, and I could not be more relieved (as I'm sure we all are) to have gotten that news. Super scary, supper hard, and now super relief for my family.

All in all, life is going so well, and I cannot believe the changes that have happened for me in 2012! I am looking forward to much more positivity and growth in 2013. :)