26 and the Race is On

I’m sorry it’s been such a terribly long time since my last blog.  My 26^th year has started out even busier than my 25^th was.  If it keeps up like this, I’ll have to learn how to fly by 30. 

On my 26^th birthday, which fell on a Friday, my oldest friend, Tiffany, threw me a party.  It also coincided with our monthly First Friday Dinner, so we combined them.  Around 15 people came and Tiffany made a cake and Mitch (her fiancé) made great burgers.  At the end of the night, we had a bonfire in the backyard and roasted marshmallows.  I had a fantastic time and the evening made me feel a lot better about turning 26.  It really struck me how very blessed I am – I not only have an amazing family, but amazing friends.  People underestimate the value of true friends. For me, they are family.  Tiffany, Lieselotte and several of the girls in my life group will always be like sisters to me.

At my 26th B-day party.

Toward the end of the month, I took a few days off and hitched a ride to Jacksonville with my roommates.  It was so fantastic to see Kelly, Bob, Sydney and Camryn again. Sydney has grown several inches taller, impossibly, and Camryn is still as cute as a button. They are both such loves and hugs from them make all your cares disappear. 

The day we arrived, I was super tired because Kherri and Craig had insisted we leave a 7 a.m. and I hadn’t gotten to bed until 1 a.m.  So, after picking up Sydney from the bus stop, I took a nap.  I was awoken at 4:40 by Kelly jumping on me and telling me she got off early to see me. She came and snuggled with me and we talked for a while.  Sometimes I forget how much I miss my girl cousin time. Kelly reminds me so much of my mom when I was a little girl.  There’s such a strong family resemblance too – it makes me very proud to say I’m a Carraway woman (figuratively speaking). 

While there I also got to watch Camryn’s Easter parade at school, visit the Ponte Vedra beach with Bob and the girls, and take a lovely bike ride with the whole family.  Their neighborhood in Ponte Vedra is beautiful and I loved seeing all the gigantic mansions with the Spanish moss-covered trees in the yard. 

On Friday I rented a car (and got it really cheaply thanks to Kelly’s ACOSTA discount).  They gave me an Infinity, which I’d never heard of until everyone kept saying “whoa, you got an Infinity? That’s a nice car.”  It was pretty cool.  Key-less ignition, lots of cool gadgets that I wasn’t sure how to work, a large sunroof and incredible pickup made driving fun.  I left their house around noon and drove down to St. Augustine. 

I spent about 2 hours walking through the oldest city in America and found a great Spanish bakery that sold real empanadas.  I ate my lunch by the harbor and enjoyed listening to the seagulls.  I also bought some sunglasses, as mine had broken the day before.

From there, I took the coastal road for a long time before cutting across toward Orlando.  On my drive, I stopped at a nice beach where I spent a little time enjoying the beautiful day.  Unfortunately, all these detours caused me to hit terrible rush hour traffic outside Orlando.  I finally arrived at our hotel about 6:30 p.m. and I was supposed to meet Justin and Kayla and their friend, Taylor, at this fun park at 7.  Unfortunately, it started raining, so we couldn’t meet there anymore. We decided to meet at the mall instead. 

Out at Olive Garden for my 26th with Gma and Gpa.

It was so nice to see them again – it’s been years! – and we walked around the mall and caught up until Michael was close.  (He’d hit bad traffic from Tampa to Orlando).  We decided to meet him at a Greek restaurant called Opa! At 8:30.  I really liked the restaurant.  It had dancing on tables and throwing of napkins and overall merriment.  Plus, the homemade hummus and pita was enough to sell me on the food!  Michael got octopus (not even fried) and we all tried a bite.  I feel much braver since the last time I was in Spain (with all the crazy food I tried there).  I got a gyro (my favorite Greek dish). 

Afterward, we went back to Michael’s and my hotel room (which was a suite with a living room), put on music, and danced and hung out for a couple hours.  Justin and Kayla, who are both very athletic, showed us how they can do the Dirty Dancing lift, which inspired Taylor and I to try it out.  Since there were two beds on each side of us, we felt safe trying the lift because if I fell, I’d land on a bed one way or another.  And while there were plenty of falls, we did it!  I was very excited and want to try it again with someone else who looks like they’re strong enough to hold me up. Of course, trying it out in water may be a better idea.

Given that we didn’t get to bed until 1 a.m. or so, I decided we weren’t going to get up until 9 a.m. the next day.  After a leisurely breakfast, Michael and I headed to Islands of Adventure.  We made a beeline for the Harry Potter world and immediately got in line for the famous HP immersion ride.  I think the line may have taken about 40 minutes, but the time flew because there were so many cool things to look at in the castle (which was unbelievably life-like) and because Michael and I had so much to catch up on.  When we got to the part where I was about to get on the ride, Michael waited where I would get off because he thinks it would make him feel sick.  I took motion-sickness medication beforehand because I REALLY wanted to go on this ride! 

It was very cool, to say the least.  Just wish it had lasted longer!  You really do feel like you are flying.  When I got done, we walked around Hogsmeade, checked out the wand shop, the sweets shop, bought some Butter Beer and pumpkin juice and tried to soak up the atmosphere of being at Hogwarts.  I think it would’ve been cooler in winter though (not that Orlando gets much of one).  It’s hard to believe the snow on the roofs when it’s 85 degrees out. Lol  

In Harry Potter world at Universal.

From there we went on a couple other rides inside IOA, then headed over to Universal.  We did many of the rides at Universal, my favorite being the Spider Man ride.  It was awesome – and similar, in a way, to the Harry Potter ride. 

Half-way through the day, I happened to look down at the map and actually read something on it.  In honor of Mardi Gras, Universal was having several big-name singers coming each Saturday to perform on their stage.  Realizing that it was Saturday, I checked to see who would be there.  Lo and behold it was Phillip Phillips!  (A recent American Idol winner who I really liked).  I was so ecstatic. 

Per his usual self, Michael followed me around (literally, for I walked far too fast to keep pace with him), and rode the rides I wanted to ride, and stopped upon occasion for a beer or snack.  He was happy I was excited about Phillip Phillips, and dutifully stood there among a bajillion people that night to watch the concert.  All I have to say is, I have the best cousins in the world.  :)

By the time the concert was over, we were totally pooped.  We went to the Universal CityWalk and got a quick dinner at a Panini place.  By the time we got back to the hotel it was nearly midnight and I was so exhausted I could barely see straight.  But it was a great day, and I couldn’t have asked for better company.

The next morning I left at 8 a.m. to drive back to Ponte Vedra.  Kelly and Erin (from San Fran who was in town visiting) came to get me from the rental car place. Then Kelly drove us down the main strip in Ponte Vedra that has all the multi-million dollar mansions on it.  Wow.  Beautiful.

About an hour late, my roommates, Kherri and Craig, picked me up on their way back from Coco Beach and we drove back to Charlotte. 

Overall, it was a whirlwind of a trip, but a lot of fun and so good to see so many cousins in 5 short days!

April has been one social event after another, combined with long hours at work for me.  I am the favorite of the three recruiters at my work, and all the developers (the ones who book the blood drives) request me to recruit at their drives.  This means that I am out of the office a LOT of the time.  Which is generally fine with me because when I am there, it usually means I have to make phone calls for upcoming blood drives, and I really don’t like doing that.

Michael, Me, Taylor, Justin, Kayla at Opa!

Just recently, one of my co-workers put in her notice and five minutes later, my bosses called me into an office and offered me the position.  It is half marketing and half tele-recruiting.  I thanked them for thinking of me, but declined.  I hate the phone calls I have to make now, but making hundreds per week would be unbearable.  Twenty minutes later, they called me back into the office.  They said, “What if we take away all the phone calls (from your job now and the new one), give those to someone else, and have you just do a couple days of drive recruiting per week and marketing/social media the rest of the time?”  I said, of course, “YES!” lol 

Long story short, I got this new position because the marketing woman at work really wanted me to work with her, and the phone call aspect of the job went to another one of our recruiters.  So now, between the two of us, we make up 1 full-time recruiter, and the position of the girl who is leaving.  Another employee changed her position from a developer to another full-time recruiter still ensuring that we have the equivalent of 3 full-time recruiters.   Now, they’ll just have to replace that developer and we’ll be back to normal.  Haha.  Lots of changes and confusion. 

At Coyote Joes country bar with my gal pals.

I asked for a raise, and they are “considering it” but if they won’t do that, they said they may be able to get me an iPhone which would be quite essential to the social media aspect of the new job I’d be doing.  I’ll be managing our Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Linked-In accounts, as well as updating our blog, working on our newsletter, going to certain drives to photograph people giving blood, meeting with other social media personalities in the community, so on and so forth.  An iPhone would really help with all these things.  So, I guess we’ll see what happens. I’ll be in training Monday and Tuesday, then Molly (the one who is leaving) will be gone after that, so that’s when I’m “official.”

My beautiful city.

On the social side of things, I’ve been meeting a lot of new people at church and having a good time going to dinner parties and other events.  A couple weekends ago I went to Coyote Joe’s (a country western club) and line danced the night away.  It was a blast.  Last night I went to Alive After Five – an event that happens Thursdays after work in Uptown Charlotte where live music is played and people gather to talk, listen, dance and hang out.  From there, I went to dinner with about 15 people for a friend’s Birthday, then on to Cosmos (a Latin club) where we salsa danced until after midnight.  (I was able to go into work late today because I’d worked so many hours already this week). 

Tomorrow I’m going to Steeplechase – a horse race that happens just south of Charlotte every year in Mineral Springs. I’ve never been to a horse race, but after seeing Pretty Woman, I’ve always wanted to go.  :)

I’m sure there is more to tell, but this is already long enough and I’m exhausted.  One thing is for sure – I never have a problem sleeping anymore.