How is my life in Vermont going? Wow, how kind of you to ask. You really want to know? Alright.
Vermont is many things, the least of which disinteresting. Rather, I am constantly intrigued by the people, sights, stories, and adventures to be had. Let’s play a little word game here. I’ll give myself 43 seconds to type the words that come to mind when I think about my life and Vermont. Why 43? Why not 43? That’s the question you should really be asking yourself.
Ready? Go.
Cold. Exciting. Busy. Not busy. Gorgeous. Cold. Fun. Downtown. Work. Driving. Social. Happy. Cold. Beautiful. Lake. Mountains. Family.
Well that was fun, though I did go over by .4 seconds. I just had to finish “family.” I didn’t want to upset my readers by typing only “fami,” as that could mean a number of things. Within a matter of moments, the thoughts would begin racing through their minds. “Did she mean familiarity? That doesn’t make sense! Famine? Is she starving to death?! I need to send her money for food (as an aside, always appreciated). Familisaurus? Is that even a real dinosaur, and if it is, are there dinosaurs in Vermont? Jana’s in danger!!!” Obviously, the results would be unnerving, so please forgive me for the .4 seconds I took over my self-allotted time. I was merely looking out for my viewers, attempting to spare them mental anguish.
I can hit each one really quickly, just to explain my thoughts on the issues.
Cold. I realize I wrote this three times, but I promise that the sheer amount of times I am found shivering allows me to be a bit ruthless with the word. Every morning, I wake up under my six (not a typo) blankets and have to will myself out of bed. So far, I haven’t figured out what exactly it is that motivates me. I love my job a lot, but I am hard-pressed to find a good reason to climb out of a perfectly warm cocoon of heat and amazingness and step into a cold marble shower with a very lightly pressured stream of warm water. I’ve attempted to devise a way in my head to keep my feet warm constantly, but I don’t think wearing socks in the shower would solve anything. Supposedly, this weekend is supposed to be a warm one, but I am skeptical.
Exciting. My life is exciting, what can I say? There’s so much up in the air in regards to what I could possibly be doing today, tomorrow, next week. As of yet, there’s been a lot of spontaneity, and I love it. I anticipate more fun times in the coming future, especially with a few awesome girls I work with (future blog, for sure). I think that even when I’m not doing anything, no plans, the idea that I can do whatever I want is exciting enough. It’s definitely the life.
Busy. Work has been crazy this week. I go in at 9am and work until we decide that the rest can be left for the next day. Usually, it’s around 5, but last night we stayed until about 8. K bought us dinner from an amazing restaurant called Tiny Thai, though, so it wasn’t bad. My cousin took me there a few weeks ago, and I loved her Pad Thai that she ordered, so that’s what I got this time. Jess would be so proud. All day, though, I am jumping from one project to the next, running errands (usually taking files downtown to a design firm), and yet still having a blast. Once I get home, I’m usually beat…but it’s very worth it.
Not Busy. When you take into account work, yes, I’m busy. My social life is the least busy I’ve ever had, though I think I just lied to you right there. Have you ever realized that what you’re saying isn’t true as you’re saying it? That just happened. No, during school this semester, I led a fairly boring life-not much social interaction at times. It’s Friday and I went out 3 or 4 times this week, and I’m going out tonight with girls from the office. So yeah, I lied. But the few nights spent at home chilling make me want to run to the nearest convenience store and chat up the cashier in exchange for good conversation. Pathetic? Exactly.
Gorgeous. I have never been to such a breathtaking place. My drive to work alone involves rolling hills, pastures, and red barns everywhere. Only a few feet from the house I’m staying in is a beautiful lake, bordered on one side by a highway and trees on the other. Burlington itself is incredible. On one end of the downtown area, there’s Lake Champlain. Across the lake, the Adirondack mountains form an amazing skyline. There are also mountains surrounding Burlington, almost in a U-shape, with both tips hitting the lake. It’s enough to take my breath away just driving to my cousin’s or downtown. I truly enjoy every view, every minute in this area. In the interest of time, I’m including beautiful, lake, and mountains in this category.
Cold. See above.
Fun. I’m having so much fun. Work alone is fun, especially because of the people I work with. One girl, S (yes, we’re continuing the initials game), invited me out with her last night after work. I met her at her amazing downtown apartment, and we drove over to a house where a bunch of people were getting together. Call it a party if you wish, but know that I was responsible. It was great to meet so many new and interesting people, though once it got full in the basement ( yes, a basement…they really don’t have those in the south) I ended up just hanging out and talking with the guy who was kind of like a DJ there. We had fun, and have plans to get some lunch sometime this weekend before he moves back to New Jersey. I’m looking forward to it, for sure. I’ve decided that the best way to see Vermont, to begin to feel like a local, is to take people up when they ask you to go to lunch or dinner, and ask them to take you to their favorite place. This way, I’m able to see a range of places and hang out with new people that I may have never considered otherwise. I did the same with a girl at my office the other day, Ky, and that was fun too.
The people around here are much different than those I’ve interacted with my whole life. For instance, the gorgeous girls who dress up and go out at night are the same ones who can kick any man’s tail in snowboarding. Unreal, right? It was a fun night last night, and I’d love to go out again. I think I must have met about 20 people, and all were cool, interesting, and very unique (at least in my opinion). In the interest of time, I am going to categorize the word social with this one.
Downtown. Burlington is an amazing city. It’s small enough that you get a feel for where you’re going fairly quickly, but large enough that you could spend every day down there and never get bored. I’m really loving it. Downtown is where it’s at, really. If I do move back here, I will be very tempted to move near Church Street, though the rent is ginormous. There’s so much to do and see, though, I feel like it’d be worth it. I went to a great lounge-type place the other day called The Green Room. It was very chill, very beautiful, and very expensive…but it was definitely my kind of place. I also have been to a few other places down there in recent days. I love the live music and the friendliness of everyone. It’s truly an incredible place to go.
Work. My job is amazing. For the first few days, I was working on the website, which is an incredibly tedious job that seemingly has no end. After a while, though, K started sending me articles to write, people to contact about quotes and the like, and other fun magazine-related things. It’s definitely a lot to do, especially with deadlines, but this is what I love. I am enjoying giving the magazine some of my own writing, and I’m excited to see it in print. I’m not sure when the first issue comes out, but some of you will see it as soon as it does! I’m really loving everything I do, and I could easily see this in store for me in the not-too-distant future.
Driving. This one’s quick. Everything is about 20-30 minutes away, so I’m driving a lot. Thank God for my dad allowing me to use his GPS, thank the devil for the gas prices. Seriously…only satan could wish that upon us.
Happy. I am so happy right now, really. I’m loving my life. I really appreciate every new thing that comes my way while I’m here in Vermont, and it’d be a difficult task to find me without a smile on my face. I’m doing what I want to do, for the first time ever. It’s amazing, really.
Family. I’m close to C and CH, which is awesome. I actually went over to their house Tuesday and watched American Idol with them. C is really amazing, I feel like she could seriously become one of my closest friends. CH is cool too, with his dry sense of humor that always leaves C and I laughing really hard. I really love both of them a lot, and I’m so lucky to be in such a close proximity to them! This weekend they’ll be out of town, but I hope to hang out with them very soon. Also, the rest of my extended family are all within a short drive. I’ve never experienced living so close to family…it makes me smile.
Oh, and in case you thought I hadn’t devised an (actually truthful) plot to make my readers all roll their eyes and shake their heads, think again.
MM and I were at the mall at the same time randomly the other day(I’m telling you, small town), so we grabbed coffee together, hung out a bit. Then lunch the next day as I left my ID in his car. There’s a good chance that could be our last time hanging out, for a number of reasons.
Other than that craziness, I’m pretty much man-free. Parents, breathe easy.
Thanks for reading. I’ll write more later.
Photo: Slightly altered (saturation-wise) bridge on my way to work. Click for full size…it’s worth it.
