While I Was Away: My Life

I truly cannot believe that it has been a year since I started my first "grown-up" job.  It was the job and subsequent move that prompted my absence initially.  My apartment has turned out rather well considering I found it and moved in a two-week span.  One of my earliest purchases was additional bookshelves.  They weren't anything fancy and I've already outgrown them.  I've had my eye on several shelving units at Ikea for quite a while now.  It's just a matter of going and buying them.

I've adjusted to life here pretty well.  I've had the opportunity to develop some of my other interests that were put on hold during college.  I took a knitting class at a local yarn shop and finally learned how to knit.  I also took a basic cake decorating class at my local Michael's store.  I love the decorating; unfortunately, I also love the eating part, so this is definitely a hobby that I have to do with purpose! 

Unexpectedly, I've had to opportunity to travel for work and it has been wonderful.  In April, I spent a week in Chicago.  I fell in love with the city!  I've never thought I would like to live in a big city, but I'm pretty sure I could live in Chicago.  I went to the beautiful San Diego in May and took a few days off to visit my friend who works at Disneyland since I was so close to Anaheim.  This was my first trip to California and I intend to go back as soon as possible.  There is so much more to see in San Diego, much less the rest of California!  I also went to Omaha for a few days in June.  I had a delicious steak and walked to Iowa via the Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge.

I got a Kindle for my birthday in March, which was great to have while traveling.  I love my Kindle, but I still love printed books, too.  I've been reading both while on hiatus from the blog.  And that is the extremely abbreviated version of the last year of my life.  The past year has been full of so many firsts, but reading has remained a consistent comfort.