2009 Flashback

With Hyrum away at a training for 3 weeks, and a renewed energy, my house is finally getting more organized.  [Our things were delivered at the end of October, which left us a few weeks to unpack everything, then a whirlwind trip to Rome, another week to re-settle, and another trip to Spain.... then the lazy holidays set in where we didn't do much work around the house, then I got sick.  So although there are no boxes left -- kind of -- a few rooms still need some love.]  Today I've been tackling all the piles of "stuff" in the office.  After our last move I have a part of me that wants to become a minimalist and get rid of all my stuff.  But Hyrum is too attached, and I'd probably miss it too.  Instead, as I go through papers, notebooks, flyers, pictures, boxes, etc, I've decided if it doesn't have a place to go its getting tossed.  So at least if we have it, it will be organized!

Which brings me to 2009.  I found my old school planner, which contains my entire life from January to August 2009.  (2008 got ripped out.) I couldn't have survived without that day-planner, so its been fun to flip through and reminisce about my first semester back in the real world after my mission.  I'd like to throw it away without losing the memories, since a flip through every 10 years doesn't justify storing it.  So here's what it contains:


-several lists for grocery shopping. I obviously was still enjoying mexican food, since the lists always include lettuce, sour cream, lechera, salsa, and onion
-Homework assignments for my classes.  Somehow that semester I signed up for the "capstone" strategy class for the management program.  We were in teams using software that simulated the car industry.  We had to determine what cars to build, how many factories to have, how much to spend on marketing, etc.  And every day it told us how we were doing in the "market" compared to all the other teams.  My team was a bunch of arrogant dummies, and I was also clueless, but probably more quiet than arrogant.  It did not go well.  At the end of the project our teacher gave us an award: a figurine with a parachute attached, because it told us it'd be better for us to just jump at that point.
-I scribbled down recipes for Picaditas, tinga, and one other mexican dish.  But I can't decipher 50% of what I wrote, so I'm throwing those away, as well.  I'll have to turn to google.
-The results of the MTBI personality test.  I'm INTJ (introvert, intuitive, thinking, judging) which is one of the most unique combinations (2-3% of the population.)  That either makes me special, or weird.  I'm creative, independent, logical, confident, and critical.   I'm also impatient with other people who don't catch on quick enough and don't always take the time to communicate appreciation or encouragement to those around me.  Ha.  The test knows me pretty well!
-Notes on future job/internship opportunities.  (None of which panned out.)
-Another homework assignment for a 20-page paper on doing business in Korea.  Dumb assignment.  First because it was in a team (how to do you write a cohesive paper in a team?  I'll tell you how: everyone writes their stuff, and then I have to rewrite, I mean edit, so it all actually makes sense.)  Second reason it was dumb: I don't care about doing business in Korea.
-volunteering at the MTC
-Apparently I went running, at least a few times.

-The first Saturday after finals finished, I had an appointment at the Plasma donation center.  Why?  I didn't find a job or internship, and was sticking around Provo, and wanted to continue earning money until I found one.  I spent that week applying for jobs on campus-- the scholarship office, housing--and several other internships, most of which were unpaid.
-I got a temporary job as a secretary filling in at a law firm, and earned a few hundred dollars.  It paid rent.
-I started volunteering at a local micro-business non-profit that taught free small business classes in English and Spanish.  While unpaid, it lasted until I graduated and gave me something to talk about in job interviews.
-Had a job by the end of May.  (Fortunately/unfortunately.) I hated it.  I walked around between 9pm and 1 am checking that the doors in on-campus housing were locked.  But I got paid.
-Middle of June I also started working at the MTC.  Two part-time jobs worked out well.  One in the afternoon, and one at night.
-Started dating someone, then ended dating someone.  Not worth it even though I was bored.
-Matt came home from his mission July 29th.  (He made it to my planner!)
-Went to KY for the weekend at the end of August, then school started.

At the end in the blank pages I made several random notes.  GMAT application due date (not sure why.) Goals, including saving $, traveling, practicing Spanish  cooking, teaching, and "health"--whatever that was referring to.    And deep thoughts that were from a seminar I attended: If you weren't so focused on the future, would you live today differently?  Reach your hourly potential--what can you do with all the 'wasted' time?  Plan for tough times.  Life is hard, we don't have to make it harder.

And with that long-winded post, my BYU Academic Planner 2009 is going in the recycling bin!

Biggest lesson learned from the semester:  Stuff works out in the end.  Just probably not as originally planned.

Now on to more organizing.