Heavens. Where do I begin? So much stuff has changed within the past couple months it's been insane. I have absolutely no idea where my life is going and I'm trying my best to get a hold of it. In my attempt to write and your attempt to understand my writing, understand that there's a lot of stuff that I'm trying to remember, so it may be rather scattered. Alright, you've been warned. So let's start...
From sometime in the winter semester I had decided I was going to stay in Rexburg over the break and during the fall to be with my friends and make some money while not missing out on fun things my friends would be doing without me. I had prayed about it a ton and I felt that this decision was really what I was supposed to do and I got really comfortable with the idea of staying. About the middle to end of the summer semester Buckley convinced me and another friend, Ian, to travel to Chattanooga, Tennessee to sell security systems door to door for Pinnacle Security. I was pretty pumped to be heading back to the east coast and get to try something new for a change. Everyone I talked to said it wasn't a good idea and I reassured them that I already knew that, I was just looking for an adventure with some buddies. A couple weeks later we found out we were being transferred to Nashville, then another week or two later found out we were actually going to Greensboro, North Carolina because the company thought we would do better in an area that hasn't really been knocked before. I was super psyched for that one because it meant I would be a three hour drive home, which I could do one or two weekends.
Well, the end of the semester rolled around and we headed to the east. We got to our apartment in North Carolina after a red-eye flight and a long drive through and around the city. After going to church and unpacking a few things I headed over to the boys apartment which was all the way on the other side of the complex. Walking home some nights at one or two in the morning was super creepy (don't tell my mom). Anyways, we relaxed and just hung out for the rest of the day and found out that because we didn't have all of our background checks yet we would have to leave the state of North Carolina to sell. The company decided to head to Charleston, South Carolina for a week and put us up in a hotel. Because it was about a three hour drive, they also decided that we would take Monday off, travel to SC and head to the beach for the day. It ended up taking a bit longer than we expected cause it took FOREVER to leave Greensboro, but we decided to go to the beach anyway, even though it was dark already. It was SO worth it. The water was the perfect temperature and the waves were pretty high. We were also able to get dinner courtesy of Pinnacle which was way nice. What weren't nice were our hotel rooms. My room was just as bad if not worse than the Tally-ho. (If you, reader, don't know about the Tally-ho, please ask me sometime and I'll explain if I have my hand sanitizer readily available.) Anyways, the Inn Town Suites was home to us for the week we were in SC.
Now for the selling... it SUCKED. It was so awful, I can't even adequately describe it and just thinking about it makes my stomach queesy. I found myself looking at other people who obviously have tougher, nastier, more repulsing jobs and sincerely wishing I could be them. Salespeople are the scum of the earth, at least that's the way I felt on every door step, everyday. And Lord have mercy, it was HOT and HUMID like nothing I've ever felt before. I thought I would be able to handle the humidity being from Virginia, but Charleston, where it's further south and so close to the beach, it was hell walking around from noon to nine in the hot sun wearing an oversized polo, shoes and socks, and carrying a sweaty binder. Hell, people. It was hell. If you ever have the slightest of urges to do door to door selling, please talk to me and I will strongly urge you to curse that urge and resist it with every fiber of your being. I would find old ladies who would sit and talk to me just so I wouldn't have to go knock on anyone's door. Now, when we weren't selling and I was just hanging out with the boys, it was tons of fun. After the first week, I had decided that I had had enough and so did the boys.
During the second week, on Tuesday night Buckley, Ian and I had, well, attempted to have a meeting with our manager to talk about quitting. Not even five minutes into the meeting our manager got a phone call from someone saying that his grandmother had died, after which he rushed out of the office and told us he'd have to talk to us later. About an hour later he texted us and we ended up quitting then. It was super easy. I had already talked to my parents and they were planning on leaving in the morning and coming to get us. For the past month, the three of us have been living in my parents house in Charlottesville doing random yard work and babysitting jobs for different people I know. It's been pretty fun and we've been able to have a relaxing month, but now we're all ready to get back into a routine of working and saving money... Which brings me to the next change of events. Like I said earlier, I had decided that I was going to stay in Rexburg for the fall and work. I realized since I've been out here that I do not have the funds to pay for housing and still raise enough money for the winter and summer semesters. It was a hard thing to accept, but I'll be coming back to Virginia for the fall.
You may be asking, "What? Coming back? Aren't you already in Virginia?" Why yes, yes I am. But my precious 4runner, Moby, is sitting at Buckley's house in Bancroft, Idaho and I need to go get it and bring it back here. Not only am I driving back from Idaho, I'm driving TO Idaho. A friend of ours is from Richmond and she bought a car, but is flying back out to school. Her parents have asked us if we would be willing to drive it out for her. We thought about it and decided it might be fun to drive across the country together again, this time without a super packed car. We leave at the end of next week. Once we get to Idaho, I'm just going to hang out with my friends and pack a semester's worth of memories and fun times into a week before my dad flies out to Idaho and helps me drive back to Virginia. It should be a good time. I've come to grips with the fact that Buckley and Ian won't be here with me anymore, even though I will miss them a ton. It's hard going from seeing people almost every single day for the whole year to knowing you won't see them at all for months. And not only will they be gone, but all my friends I grew up with here in Charlottesville are going to be in school so they won't be here with me either. Good thing my family is still around so at least I can hang out with them. Hopefully I'll be able to raise enough money that I can go back to school on time in the winter and not have to make up for any semesters. If not, I guess I'll be in Virginia for much longer than expected and my plans will once again change. I'm trying to roll with the punches at this point and look for things I can learn from my ever changing situation. I'm anxious to see what turns my life's path takes in the future and what I can do about it. Heavens. Where do I begin?
