Fall Update: A much needed break

Have you ever specifically put aside time to do absolutely nothing? No? That's probably because you've never had to.

I think it's very easy to get caught up in your every day life. . .before you know it days, weeks, months, and years have past and you look back with no idea how it all happened so fast. This weekend in particular I decided that I was going to  make myself so busy with doing nothing just to get caught up. Instead of going out or traveling to visit people I spent most of my time indoors with J. . .

Aside from a quick brunch bite outside, we stayed in and that was exactly what I needed. It's cuffing season, after all.

PS - For a picture-by-picture view of what goes on in my life, follow me on Instagram (Carrymel). It's like my 3rd social media love. Pinterest is obviously my first.

Proud Lady-Child

I came across an article in the bible that pretty much hit the nail on the head for me. It talks about exactly how I've been feeling over the past few months...or basically since I turned 18. Let's just call it what it is: the past 5 years.

Since going through two moves, getting a full-time job, taking on my very own bills yet still relying on older, "wiser", and more experienced folks for some financial assistance I have come to terms with exactly where I am in life. I understand that I am not a girl, not a teen, definitely a 20-something female, but am I a woman? I feel like something should have happened to trigger my grown-ass woman realization. Maybe it will happen when I get married? Maybe when I have my first child? Right now though...not quite there yet.

You might have Lady-Child Syndrome if...

- As much as you might think you know what you're planning on doing with your career, you still have no idea. You have a degree, you have a job...yet you haven't completely ruled out being an astronaut or professional food taster.

- Traveling, of any kind, is an adventure to you. In fact, anything super-stable that may prevent you from doing that is seen as "holding you back". Can I live?

- Continuing your education is a way of prolonging being a student. Just admit it.

- Everyone around you is either getting married or having children. Everydamnbody. Even the ones who you just knew would never find love.

- The idea of having children or getting married is just about as scary as the thought of being kicked off your family's cell phone plan. So in a nutshell, there go your priorities.

- You'd prefer to be referred to as "an emerging adult" or a "woman-in-training".

This would explain why I love the hell out of shows like Girls, 2 Broke Girls, and New Girl...also, the fact that all three of those shows have "girl" in the titles is just a weird coincidence that I just now noticed while typing this.

I'm not complaining though. I'm still a very responsible young adult who is enjoying her youth but thinking about the future. I am in absolutely no rush for full-on adult problems. Am I using this "lady-child" syndrome as a crutch? Perhaps. But some of the things I've listed above don't apply to me as much as they used to and I'm starting to move past them. One bad-decision-turned-moral-lesson at a time.

Talking about my Generation

Two weeks ago my boyfriend graduated college and I couldn't be happier for him. Partially because it was high time he graduated that mofo, but mostly because he was ready to take that next step and it's an exciting time. I can admit that this time last year I was slightly envious of him. Yes, I was done with school but I wasn't going on to "bigger and better things". Not immediately, anyway. He still had his college security blanket, his close friends living a few feet away from him, and I was mentally preparing myself to go back to La Madre.

In fact, my bf wasn't the only person I was close to who was staying in school. I felt like everyone had an extra semester or year tucked away somewhere, and I couldn't wrap my head around it. But then something  happened. The summer ended, I found a way to move out on my own, got a job within my field and I never looked back. It doesn't happen all the time, but it does happen, folks.

Now that some of my closer friends have graduated (at last) I'm extremely proud of them, not only because of what they've accomplished but because their attitude after graduating is way more optimistic than mine was. I'm generally a happy-go-lucky kind of person, but even I can admit that post-grad life scared me. The 20-something's I've talked to about their recent graduations don't all have jobs lined up but they're prepared to work and market themselves. I think in a lot of ways this generation of young adults is thought to be self-concerned (true), self-centered (true), self-entitled (very true), but we can also be self-sufficient. There's no shame in going back home if you're working hard to get out, and if you're temporarily unemployed just remember that it's only temporary.

My best advice to grads who have failed to realize the above is this: stop looking for a hand out. No one owes you a damn thing. You've made it this far, so keep the momentum going.