Time to catch up some more...

Today, we'll be discussing my RELATIONSHIP drama that has occured over the past months...

In December of 2005, fate worked in mysterious ways and allowed me to become re-connected with an acquaintence that I had met randomly at UIUC. I did not remember him well, but he remembered me well enough to look me up and message me. Strange as that may seem, we started talking on a regular basis and really hit it off. Our first date was about as perfect as first dates get, and we never looked back...at least not for awhile.

You know how it feels when you first meet someone, and you just...GET each other? For instance, you have a similar set of interests, a similar outlook on life, and a similar vision of how the world should operate. Well, if you've ever been fortunate enough to meet someone and have this experience, you're one of the very lucky indeed. So many people go through life just going through the motions, and I find this very unfortunate. Everyone deserves to meet at least one person in their lives that just invigorates them, fills them up, and makes them feel alive like they've never felt before. This person just happened to do this for me. 3 hour conversations passed by in what seemed like seconds, and even though we talked and talked for what seemed like forever, we always kept coming back for more. And it was even better in the somewhat rare instances we got to see each other in person. We were only an hour apart, but an hour can seem like forever when one of the people in the relationship has a highly demanding and stressful job.

It was a wonderful experience...but this kind of perfect harmony cannot last forever. Or maybe it can...it just didn't in this instance. His job got stressful, things got tense, and it definitely caused some problems between us, I won't lie. However, it was around this time that he decided to start exploring the option of going to grad scool. By the end of the school year, he had been accepted by several different places and decided to go with UIS, thanks to their offer to him of a graduate assitantship.

The summer wasn't much fun, I'll be 100% honest. I was completely overwhelmed with working two jobs, in addition to hunting for a REAL job, which was hell on earth. I thank God every day (at least, almost every day) for the opportunity I have been blessed with at the present time. He was 1) stressed out with his job, and 2) nervous about becoming a full-time student again. Understandable causes of stress, most definitely. Somehow, both of us made it through the summer (still speaking, thankfully) and in Springfield in the fall.

After a month and a half of back-and-forth, trying to establish what we were to one another, we decided to give the relationship another shot, and for quite awhile, it was going extremely well. However, around January, things got, shall we say, a little too honest and the result wasn't pleasant, at least not on my end. Somehow, we managed to figure things out, but as soon as everything seemed "normal" again, I got a great opportunity with my job-the chance to move back to Southern Illinois until Election day and be in charge of field operations for some of the counties in SO-IL. It made me feel absolutely great that he was so, so, supportive of my career and this move, and vowed that he didn't want to lose me (despite the distance), but nonetheless, our relationship barely lasted two weeks before the distance got too tough for him. And everything else, I guess.

Sigh. And here I am today.

Things I have learned from this relationship:

1) Long-distance relationships only work if BOTH people are committed to making them work. Clearly, in this relationship, we only had 50% participation.
2) It is very, very difficult to remain friends with an ex, even if you parted under circumstances that are beyond your control, and sometimes, especially then, because you have to face the fact that you really would be great together, it's just timing or circumstances or one person's outlook on things that just SUCK and that's why it won't work. At least not now.
3) Some differences are difficult to overcome.
4) Never make someone your priority if you are merely their option.

Breaking up is hard to do. I'm currently in a serious relationship with...no suprise here, my job.

It's been a very long time since I've posted (7 months!). I'm going to try to do this on a regular basis like I used to, so allow me to catch things up...

JOB

First and foremost, my job hunt ended at the end of September when I was offered not one, but two jobs in the course of 72 hours. It seemed like a dream come true-after all, I'd been hunting since January, and I graduated in May, so it was about time. The first job was with the Illinois Department of Transportation. It would have been a fine opportunity, other than the fact I would have to live in mortal fear that they would A) realize I was a Republican, and B) fire me. Luckily, 48 hours after I was offered the position with IDOT, I received a call from the Illinois Republican Party, and they offered me a full-time position. Needless to say, I was thrilled. Everyone knows I've been interested in pursuing a career in campaign politics, and this was the perfect position to jump start my career.

I started the job on October 3rd. I'm very lucky that I immediately hit it off with my co-worker, Jayme. Before long, we had 2 interns join our office staff, and to sum it all up (after several months on the job), it's just been a wonderful experience. The entire staff is wonderful to work with and I can honestly say that I truly enjoy going to work every day, even now, after several months have passed.

Next on the agenda...RELATIONSHIP...but that will have to wait till tomorrow. My job is keeping me very, very busy nowadays!

Well, well-my loyal readers probably feel like I've forgotten them. Alas, I'm here. :o) I don't have internet in my apartment at the moment, which accounts for the reason I haven't been online or blogging lately, so I'll provide a hasty update.

1) The new apartment is fabulous-I really like living alone, for many reasons.

2) Springfield is a lot more fun now than it has been all summer-I have several friends from Chambana living here now, which is nice because I've been missing my friends who graduated and left town like whoa. It's like we're all a great big family again.......yaaaaaaaayyyy dirty politicos....lol just kidding folks. ;o) It's just that there are very few people who can A) understand my love and addiction to politics and then B) proceed to discuss it for hours over bottles upon bottles of Coors Light.

3) I have my master's degree, the job hunting continues. I had an interview for my dream job (I'm being totally serious) with the Illinois Republican Party on Thursday, so I'm crossing my fingers and praying that everything goes well. They'll be contacting me a week from tomorrow if I get a second interview, and they are looking for the new person to start by the beginning of October. Please keep your fingers crossed for me, folks. This would be an amazing opportunity.

4) Certain things (or should I say people?) are still as confusing as ever. Insert enormous sigh here. I really don't know what else to say in regards to this subject.

That's about it, guys-I don't have time to go into details, but for all 3 of you who actually read this, I hope I'll be talking to you very soon. I apologize to all of my friends for being horrible at keeping in touch as of late-I have been ridiculously busy, whether it be with working or job hunting. Sigh. I miss being a student. Anyhoo, I'll try to update soon, and go into more details then.

Since I can't have a real one, this little guy will have to do...

posted by Amy Lynnette at 8/03/2005 08:27:00 PM | 0 comments

Who knew hell could be so fun? Read on...

Intolerant people, General asshats, U of I's Preacher Dan or his Modern-Day equivalent
Circle I Limbo

Britney Spears, Pamela Anderson, and other famously stupid bimbos, John Kerry, Greens, Harry Reid
Circle II Whirling in a Dark & Stormy Wind

Chicago Suburbanites walking around in their North Face and Popped Collars
Circle III Mud, Rain, Cold, Hail & Snow

The Boston Red Sox, Militant Vegans, The Chicago Cubs, The entire UNC basketball team
Circle IV Rolling Weights

Women who can actually eat and remain under a Size 8 , PETA Members, Parents who bring squalling brats to R-rated movies
Circle V Stuck in Mud, Mangled

River Styx

Democrats who work for the Blagojevich administration, The entire College Democrat organization at UIUC
Circle VI Buried for Eternity

River Phlegyas

People who bring squalling brats out, PERIOD, War Protesters who wear smelly K-Mart clothing, Boys who lie
Circle VII Burning Sands

Saddam Hussein, Sean May, Democrats who work for the Blagojevich administration and actually like their job/boss, Boys who are hopelessly hung up on ex-girlfriends and refuse to shut up about them
Circle IIX Immersed in Excrement

Osama bin Laden, Ted Kennedy, Rod Blagojevich
Circle IX Frozen in Ice

Design your own hell

Update, update, update...

First and foremost, I have my NEW apartment. I signed the lease tonight, and I am SO EXCITED. My new apartment is fabulous, and the best part is...IT'S ALL MINE! (And, even though I don't have a washer/dryer INSIDE my apartment, I have the next best thing...it is RIGHT across the hall-and I'm on the first floor!) I am so excited of the prospect of living by myself for the first time since senior year. And senior year, I was living in B-E and working for housing, so it wasn't exactly like I was living ALONE alone. Now, I have an entire apartment to decorate exactly as I wish, and if I want to sit in my boyshorts and strappy tank tops and watch TV while doing crunches or leg lifts I don't have to feel weird about doing so! :D A party is definitely in the works, hopefully sometime around Halloween, but I'll DEFINITELY be having one after New Year's, in continuing the tradition of Amy Lynnette's Post New-Year's soiree. This year, it will be 3 years running! Although I must say, it will be difficult to top last year's festivities. :D If you were there you definitely know what I mean.

Next, my job at the Lincoln Museum is going quite well, for the most part. I'm still looking forward to finding something permanent, but until that time it's a nice place to work.

And....EXCITING NEWS! I have achieved the impossible-I have scored an interview with a state agency-the Illinois Department of Transportation, to be specific. I don't fancy the idea of working for the state for the rest of my life, but it would be a GREAT fresh-out-of-college job, and would certainly pay quite well. So PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE pray for me, EVERYONE!!!

In other news, I got a request via email to apply for a job with the American Dream Coalition, just another lovely interest group in our country. (527 for those of you who are politically savvy) The position is named Grassroots Coordinator, which basically means I would be traveling a great deal on behalf of the coalition in order to set up small local groups around the country in order to gather support and establish the coalition as a national political player. It sincerely sounds like a fabulous opportunity, as well as a lot of fun, and I look forward to finding out more information.

In other news, I'm going to CMS tomorrow (on my day off-never a day of rest ;o) ) in order to test for MORE state jobs that have been posted, in case the opportunities mentioned above don't pan out. Sigh. Again, keep your FINGERS CROSSED!!!

In more entertaining news, I actually went out (SHOCK!) on a Saturday night this past weekend, which is quite remarkable in that I have become a hermit lately, thanks to my lack of "real" job and abundance of part-time work and other less-than-entertaining things. I sincerely hope that my social life will revive itself this fall when many of my friends will return to school and the bliss of college life (ah, I miss it already).

Well, that's all that's happening at the moment. More details as they come!

It's official...I have an apartment for the next year. After touring several less-than-desirable places, I have decided to stay in the same apartment complex I'm currently living in. I'm moving to a one bedroom model. The following are things I need to do before I move:

-Find a piece of artwork for my wall (I'm thinking a copy of Van Gogh's Vase Avec Marguerites et Coquelicots-for all you non-French speakers, Vase with Poppies and Daisies). It has a bunch of really beautiful red colors in the painting, which will go quite well with my decor.

-Buy a lamp for my living room.

-Buy a vacuum cleaner

-Paint my dresser and replace the pulls (I have picked some out at Lowe's).

-Re-upholster my parents' old couch (They got all new furniture for the living room), which is coming with me to Springfield.

After I do these things I will have the perfect Springfield apartment...