Update on Master's

Hey Guys!

I just wanted to share a little update on how it is going with my Master's. For those of you, who are new here I have been working on getting my Master's since March of 2020! I started right before Covid happened and honestly in the beginning I struggled a little bit because I, along with everyone else wasn't really sure what was going on in the world or what our future was going to look like. Zach and I were also in a long distance relationship and we had no idea when we'd be able to see each other again. So I basically freaked out a little bit and I took the first semester very slow. I completed the 3 classes that were assigned to me and then I took a month long break before starting my next term. In my next term I took things even slower. I only completed 2 of the classes and then ended up taking another break. By the time I complete my Master's it will have been almost 3 years even though it should have only taken me a year. I didn't really plan for it to take me this long but then again the world didn't plan for Covid and a global shutdown. 

Working on my Master's

Hey Guys!

I just wanted to discuss getting my Master's with you all a little bit. Currently I am enrolled at Western Governor's University or WGU. It is a fully online program and they offer Bachelor's Degrees as well as Master's degrees. I currently have two Bachelor's Degrees; one in Business Management and the other one in Marketing. To be honest, I never really pursued a career in either of those fields. I didn't work at all when I was high school or college and I definitely think it set me back a lot. I really struggled with finding a job once I graduated and the best I could find was working part time retail for a couple of years after graduating to gain at least some working experience. Even though I had the education, I didn't have the experience and I have learned that employers care way more about experience than they do education. 

June 2022 Life Update

My dog Dooney and Me in the snow in North Dakota

Hey Guys!

Long time no talk! But no, seriously, it has been a while and I have really missed blogging! I want to start off by apologizing and even though I know that I really only had like maybe 5-10 people reading my blog posts and most of those were my family and friends, I want to say I'm sorry for taking such a long hiatus and for just randomly not posting anymore. Honestly, life got a little crazy! I mean, I think a lot of peoples lives got crazy once Covid became a thing. I really don't have any other excuse besides Covid and probably some mental health issues just like a lot of people kind of dealt with during Covid. We all had to stop seeing our friends and family and we all became shut-ins for a little bit. 

Anyways, I wanted to give you guys a little life update on where I have been since my last post in February of 2020! When I posted last, I had just started going to school for my Master's and Covid was just kind of in the beginning stages of being spread around the world...yay so fun! I was still working for the County at the time (remember? The job I constantly complained about) and my boyfriend had recently been stationed in Grand Forks, North Dakota and only had been living there since October of 2019. Wow that sounds so crazy to say! Time really does fly by! In the time since then, I was promoted at work to a job that I had really wanted for about a year or more, I am still currently working on my Master's, my sister went back to school for her Master's and moved to Orlando. We still have the house that we shared together and are in the process of turning it into an Airbnb/long term fully furnished rental property. My dog was also diagnosed with Cancer and we almost lost him. After 4 years my boyfriend and I got engaged, and I recently quit that job I was promoted to and moved to Grand Forks to be with my fiancé. I think that pretty much sums it up but if I miss anything I will probably blog about it later. 

I really want to get back to blogging, not necessarily full time seeing as how I am a full time student, searching for a new, hopefully fully remote job, and planning a wedding all while living 2,000 miles away from family and friends! I already have a few posts in mind that I plan on writing today, which is a Sunday and then finishing some of them up throughout the rest of the week. I will explain my current situation in a little more detail in one of the posts and as well as some of the other items I mentioned above. As for now, I hope you guys have a fantastic week and if there is anything specific you would like me to blog about please leave me a comment below! 

Thanks for stopping by!

XO, Steph

February 2020 Life Update

Hey guys,

So I know it's been like a really long time since I've posted and I am so sorry about that. I have been dealing with a lot of different things and to be honest, for the longest time I was going to give up blogging. Let's face it, no one really reads my blog other than a few people close to my heart and so basically I failed at blogging. However, I have always said on here that I mostly blog for myself and no one else and that I don't really care if anyone reads it. I do have to admit that I have always thought it would be amazing if this thing would take off and become my full time job but I feel like the Internet is just so overwhelmed with blogs that it's really hard to start a new one and actually get a following. So I don't really know what I plan to do with my blog. I think I might just write a blog post whenever I feel like writing one and just keep it at that. This thing is pretty much my own personal journal and who knows, maybe I'll get to show my kids someday and they can see pictures and read all about the amazing trips I've gone on and see how mom used to dress "back in the day."

With all of that being said, here's my current life and what it looks like. To be honest, not much has changed since I last did one of these. I am still at the same job and kind of looking for something new but scared to leave a secure job that I like. My only problem is that I am very bored with my job. I swear I have the attention span of a two year old. I haven't even been at my job for 2 years and it is seriously so mundane that I am able to get pretty much everything done that I need to get done and plan vacations on my phone at the same time. Or talk to my sister and plan our dinner. Or text with my whole family about how bored I am at work.

There are only two big changes in my life that have happened since the last time we talked and honestly, I don't really think they're that big. I got a new car and I started my masters program. We'll start with the car first. I got a 2020 Acura RDX, which is pretty much my dream car. It is this gorgeous blue color with red and black leather interior. It has basically every feature I need and I couldn't be happier with it. I haven't turned in my lease yet (my Infiniti QX30) but I am about to do that in less than a week. That car treated me very well but it was time to get something new. I wanted to be able to have an SUV and why not get the car I've been wanting for the longest time.

Next up is me starting my MBA! Yay! But no seriously, so far I honestly can't believe I am back in school. I always pretty much hated school because I hate writing papers and I hate taking exams. I also hate listening to lectures and having to engage with classmates but thankfully my school doesn't really require the last two. I am completely online and attending school at Western Governors University. So far it's going pretty well. I started on February 1st and I am about to finish my first class. I should hopefully be done with it before the end of the week. So far my goal is to finish by January of 2021 and graduate with an MBA in Information Technology Management.

WGU happens to be the same school that my mom went to for her masters. This is the main reason I went there. I figured she could help me along the way if I got stuck with something. Even though she went for a masters in healthcare. So far she says things haven't really changed that much. I am glad to be back in school but I can't wait to be done already.

As far as everything else goes, I am still a Disney passholder and going with my family as much as possible with my new school schedule. So far we've only gone once this year but we currently have 2 more trips planned that are coming up. I am also trying to plan other trips to new locations and places I've been before. So far I have a trip planned to visit my boyfriend in April and then a girls trip with my mom and sister to NYC in May.

Since I haven't really decided what I'm going to do about the whole blog thing, I think as of right now I'm probably not going to include too many pictures or any in my posts. I'm going old school and making it how blogs used to be. I hope you guys enjoyed this post and keep an eye for some more. Maybe. We'll see.

XO, Steph

College Graduation: 1 Year Later

Hey guys,

So it's been exactly one year since I graduated college and I honestly can't believe how quickly time has flown by. Honestly I still feel like I'm in college and sometimes I get anxiety thinking about the paper that I have to turn in or the exam I need to be studying for.

I loved college even though I didn't do the normal college thing where I lived in a dorm my freshman year, joined a sorority or some type of club where I made a bunch of friends, or went to parties. But I've never really been that type of person anyways so I am totally happy with the college experience that I had. I met a few cool people in my classes that I will probably never speak to again but that's okay. I was still able to work with them, experience different viewpoints, and learn a few things from each of them. I pretty much only made one real friend in college and I think that we will always be friends. He's older than me and so I always like to turn to him when I need advice about something or if I just need to talk to someone.

I chose not to have the stereo typical college experience because it was never something that I was interested in. All I wanted to do was go to school to learn and graduate either early or with two degrees. I ended up doing the latter and I don't regret a single thing. I love being able to tell people that I'm only 23 and I have two Bachelor's! People are always super impressed!

Currently, I am enjoying not being in school but at the same time, I miss it a lot. I wish I could go back and still be able to say that I was in college. However, I do plan on going back before I'm 30. I have always had this goal of getting my doctorate before I turn 30. Unfortunately, I don't think that will be happening since I've already taken a whole year off and haven't even started studying for the GMAT or the GRE. I honestly can't decide what I want to go to school for so that's my biggest issue. I have always wanted to be lawyer so I thought about maybe going to back school for business law but unfortunately there are no schools nearby that offer a business law program. I would have to move somewhere new and I just don't know if I want to do that. 

I have also thought about getting my masters in something fashion related since I absolutely love fashion but the main reason I didn't go to fashion school from the beginning was because I didn't want to be restricted with a fashion degree 20 years down the road when I decide that I want a career change and no longer want to work in the fashion industry. I have also thought about going back to school and dual degreeing again and getting a masters in Business Management and another one in Marketing. However, that would be extremely expensive and it would take up a lot of time.

My last degree option that I have thought about is hospitality. Ever since taking a hospitality management class, I fell in love with the idea of working in that industry. One job that I have always wanted to do was be a flight attendant and most recently I have thought about working in a hotel. I live so close to Disney and it would be amazing to work in one of their hotels!

Where I was then:
I was 22, getting ready to walk across a stage to receive my degree's (which didn't actually show up for like another month), jobless and not sure where life (God) was going to take me. I was scared and confused but at the same time I wasn't too worried. I spend a lot of time worrying about things but I've also spent my entire life being told not to worry about things, so it was hard for me because I just had to keep telling myself that everything was going to work out and that I was going to be fine. I finally had to grow up and be an adult (which I still don't really like haha but who does?!). When I graduated I hadn't even started looking for a job because I knew that I had a trip to Europe coming up soon and I really didn't think that anyone would hire me if I told them that I needed two weeks off so I could go on vacation. Also since I had two degrees and zero experience no one wanted to hire me.

Where I am now:
Currently, I am a retail sales associate at DSW (Designer Shoe Warehouse). Honestly, I had THE hardest time finding a job after I graduated but I didn't expect it to be easy. I purposely chose not to work in college because I kind of wanted to start from the bottom and work my way up. I was also receiving the GI Bill and didn't really need the money so my logic was to let someone else who might actually need the money have whatever job I could get. I grew up in a semi-wealthy and supportive family and I knew that no matter what they would be there by my side to pick me up if I ever fell (and by that I mean fail. They would never let me because homeless).

What I've Learned so Far:
I've learned that having two degrees doesn't really help you all that much if you don't have any experience. I have learned that a lot of employers don't really even care if you have a degree (and this doesn't include careers where you absolutely need some kind of training such as doctor, nurse, lawyer, etc.). All they seem to care about is the experience that you have. So in my opinion, don't go down the same road that I went down. Get a job after your freshman year is over because then at least you can add experience and degrees to your resume. Now with that being said, I don't regret what I did. I wanted to work hard and start from nothing. I wanted to build my resume and have to fight for what I wanted. I've always been that way and I'll probably always be that way. I come from a family that has always worked extremely hard to get to where they want to be in life and so I don't mind starting out as a sales associate at the age of 23 (technically I was still 22 when I started but I'm 23 now when I'm writing this!) after graduating college.

I've also learned that life is too short to worry about certain things. You need to live your life the way that you want to. Spend time with loved ones, go on adventures, meet new people, and do the things you've always said you wanted to do. Don't wait for the right time or anything else because you could end up missing out on whatever it was that you wanted to do. I've also learned to never be lazy and by that I don't mean no more sitting down on the couch watching your favorite TV show. I mean if you want to do something do it with your whole heart, don't be that person at work that everyone can't stand because they know that if they ask you to do something you won't do it.

Also, there is no right or wrong way to do college. Learning is such an amazing opportunity that you just need to do it anyway that you possibly can. It doesn't matter what school you're at, learning is still learning no matter where you are. So if you didn't get into your dream school, that's okay. I promise that life will still go on and honestly, if you didn't get in the first time then just keep applying. Chances are you will get in eventually or maybe you will realize that it was never your dream school from the beginning.

Food for thought: You are exactly where you need to be.

Sorry for the super long post! I hope you enjoyed it and I hope it helped some people who might be getting ready to graduate soon. Good luck and congratulations to those who have recently graduated or will be graduating soon!

XO, Steph

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Finals

Hey guys,

So I know it has been a while since I have posted and I am sorry about that. I am currently studying for final exams. I am taking six classes and this is the first semester that every single class has a had a final exam. So far I only have two left and my last one is probably my biggest and hardest of them all and thankfully I have about 3 full days of studying before I have to take it. My last day of the semester will be April 29th and I am not planning on taking summer classes. I plan on taking the summer off and possibly/hopefully getting a job somewhere.

I also plan on focusing a lot more on this blog and making it the best blog it can be because even though this was a class assignment blogging is something I have wanted to do for a while now and I have learned that I really enjoy writing each post. I plan posting every single weekday and possibly on the weekends as well. It all just depends on how much free time I have after getting a job. You guys can look forward to posts about beauty, fashion, travel, product reviews and many other topics. I am open to suggestions as well. I am currently working on trying to make the blog look better and I am also working on adding an About page, a Contact page, and a couple other pages as well. I currently have my Travel page set up which has the links to all of my posts about trips I have taken which so far is only my Spring Break 2015 trip to NYC and Washington D.C. I am also still working on finishing my posts for my spring break trip and I will hopefully be done with that during the first week of May!

Okay well I have to get back to studying now!

Thanks for stopping by! Check back soon for new posts!