Life Update (Summer 2017-Spring 2020)

Yes, you saw that right. It has been about 3 years since I have posted an update. I had to step away for a multitude of reasons and had a lot of healing in order to be where I am today. Life has been such a roller coaster and I was on a downslope for a really long time. Now I am at the point of an uphill, despite it being quarantine.

Home
The last time I updated you all. I didn't actually have an actual home yet, which was tough and I almost went back home in Scranton, PA. Thankfully, I preserved and really have made a life here in the Pacific Northwest. I lived in Federal Way, WA, for a year and a half where I dealt with a lot of hardship with an abusive narcissistic boyfriend. I managed to get out of that situation a little over a year ago and have been on the road to healing a few months before that.
Now I live close to the water in Tacoma with my two cats that have completely opposite personalities. My tortoiseshell tabby, Calypso, is more like a dog and responds when called. Arlo, my long-haired cat, is very much like a cat in that he is completely antisocial with pretty much everyone. He just started being friendly with me, but I only think that's because I am the one feeding him. I should also be getting a gecko very soon, too, so I am really excited to add to my little family of animals.

Work
My last update told you that I was working as a travel bank teller/member service member but that ended up not panning out. That's okay though because I got a job as a technical writer/instructional designer which is so much fun. I am always learning so many new things by working with all kinds of companies. I still work for the same company and I work from home so it's nice to be able to travel to visit family and other places.

Traveling
Unfortunately, the last two years have not had a ton of traveling but I did do a small trip to Portland, OR, soon after moving to the  Pacific Northwest and a couple trips last summer (2019). The church I have been attending since moving here had a mission trip to Liberia, which I joined. That was such an experience and I am glad that I went on it. I've always wanted to do a mission trip and felt like this was an excellent first mission trip. I also got to take my brother and sister on a trip to the beach when I went to visit my family. That was a really fun trip that felt rejuvenating.
Fortunately this year despite the Coronavirus, I have a few trips planned. In August, I am heading to Hawaii for a week, which has been on the top of my list of places to visit. That would mark state #26 out of 50!
I am currently planning a trip to France just to dip my toes to see what it may be like if I end up doing a Europe tour later on.

Reading and Writing

I haven't been reading and writing as I wanted to over the past 3 years since I have been doing so much, but I have done some of both. I have been staying very up-to-date on my favorite authors and have been reading all of their newest books. I have even gotten to meet Veronica Roth who wrote the Divergent series, which I partially wrote about in my senior thesis. I thought that was pretty cool that I was able to meet her. I almost got to see Veronica Roth again in April and was hoping to see Suzanne Collins near the around same time, too, but Coronavirus changed that. I am also looking forward to more authors to come visit the Seattle-Tacoma area in the future.

Other Fun Stuff
Even though I lacked traveling in the last year, I marked something off my bucket list, which is scuba diving. That was such an experience and I am so excited that I live in an area where I can do that. Because of Coronavirus, not many people are out and about diving so I haven't been doing it as often as I like.

I also got another tattoo to add to my tattoo collection in memory of a close childhood friend who I lost a little over 2 years ago.
During the quarantine on nice days, you'll find me hammocking at the park with a book and a
blanket enjoying the sun!

Finally, I really did some book housekeeping activities, which include painting my bookshelf to match, stamping my books with a personalized stamper, adding plastic protective covers on my beloved hardcovers, and creating a personal library so that I can help friends find recommendations.

Review Wednesday: Cinderella's Shoes by Shonna Slayton

*DO NOT READ THIS REVIEW UNTIL YOU HAVE READ CINDERELLA'S DRESS. THERE MAY BE SOME SPOILER. If you want to read this series, read my review about Cinderella's Dress by clicking on the link: Review: Cinderella's Dress by Shonna Slayton

Title: Cinderella's Shoes (Cinderella's Dress #2)

Author: Shonna Slayton

1st Date of Publication: October 6, 2015

ISBN: 9781633751231

# of Pages: 400

Genre: Historical Fiction

Age Rating: 13+

Buy on Amazon

Book Description: 
The war may be over, but Kate Allen’s life is still in upheaval. Not only has she discovered that Cinderella was real, but now she's been made Keeper of the Wardrobe, her sole responsibility to protect Cinderella’s magical dresses from the greed of the evil stepsisters’ modern descendants.

But Cinderella’s dresses are just the beginning. It turns out that the priceless glass slippers might actually exist, too, and they could hold the power to reunite lost loved ones like her father—missing in action since World War II ended. As Kate and her boyfriend, Johnny, embark on an adventure from New York to Italy and Poland in search of the mysterious slippers, they will be tested in ways they never imagined.

Because when you harness Cinderella's magic, danger and evil are sure to follow...

Setting: 1942 (Post-WWII), New York, Italy, and Poland

Point of View:  3rd Person- Kate Allen

Goodreads Rating: 4.05

My Rating: 4.25

Part of the Book that Caught My Attention: Both

View on the Cover: The shoe is beautiful. Although shouldn't it be blue or clear like in the story.
View on Title: Cinderella's shoes are the main reason for the original plot so I wonder if there's something really special about them like the dress did in the first novel.

Pros:

• This novel seemed to have a little more mystery about it. In the first book, it was clear that the dress has magical powers, but in the second book, it wasn't clear whether Cinderella's shoes had special powers. There was also the mystery of whether Kate's father was really dead or not.
• This novel takes you further than just New York as Kate travels with the Princess and her granddaughter, Nessa, to Italy and eventually Poland.
• There is a lot more characterization in this novel.
• Johnny is pretty awesome as he seems to be extremely supportive of Kate and letting her do what she thinks is best. 
• The Princess's granddaughter, Nessa, is a girl who wants to understand her role and be more of an active part in Cinderella's dresses as she learns more about her role.
• When I was reading the first novel, I was wondering why the Cinderella's dress was handed to her aunt rather than her grandmother like what was supposed to happen. There is a reason for it.

Cons:

• The only issue had was that there wasn't really enough action in it. There could have been a little more action than there was in the book.

Shonna Slayton's Website:

http://shonnaslayton.com/

Other Recommendations:

The Accidental Empress by Allison Pataki
Between the Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys
Children of Willesden Lane by Mona Golabek

Life Update from the Past Year (Summer 2016-Summer 2017)

I am really sorry my blog posts have been really sporadic and sparse. I have had a lot of life changes happen and I am finally getting back on my feet. My life is an adventure all the time and sometimes it is very difficult to figure out when is the best time to write. Writing is an art and it doesn't come easily sometimes.

School
A lot has changed when it comes to school. Since I have given my last update, I finished my senior thesis (which I have posted on here already) and I got an A on it, which is a blessing. Because that semester was really brutal from working overtime and a heavy school load, my GPA suffered a little bit. I still managed a 3.0 but I knew I had to do a little extra work to figure out how to make the overall GPA stay at a 3.5

Unfortunately, my plan to finish school in 2.5 years was foiled since a class got scheduled to the semester after I planned to finish. I was at a dilemma since I only had 4 classes to finish my English Literature major and Writing minor. It was going to cost me more money to finish so I added a Business minor because you can never go wrong with the pursuing anything in business. I graduated with my degree on May 20, 2017 with a 3.5 overall GPA. In my last year, I decided to take it easier on myself because the semester of my senior thesis has really run me down and I'm still trying to get back the energy I once had.

Home
I have been living on my own for over a year now. I moved out of my parents house a few days after my 21st birthday and started living with my boyfriend since it became harder to share a room with a 9-year old sister while working early in the morning. It was also nice to have him move closer so it didn't feel like we had to really make the relationship work long distance with busy schedules. It's a fairly good fit. I live in the stone ages according to some people since I have no cable or internet. That's one of the reasons why my writing has suffered. I have an easier time writing in my own home rather than public places.

A few months after I graduated, my boyfriend and I moved cross country from Scranton, Pennsylvania to Seattle, Washington because he was stationed there in the military and loved it and I always wanted to travel to the west. I have only been here for about 3 weeks and I am enjoying myself. It's just really hard starting from nothing again. The move has been hard for me because I have never been so far away from my family but I am trying to take it one step at a time.

Work
I did finally get my manager shirt in October 2016 through a lot of extra hard work that I shouldn't have had to do compared to the other managers. I didn't stay much longer after that because I was treated poorly even though I really put myself out there and didn't give any issues.

I wanted to work in a more sophisticated job setting where I can wear my own nice clothes and not wear uniforms that eventually smell like fries. Before Christmas, I put in my 2 weeks without a promise of a job (something that is extremely ballsy of me) and I put in applications. Thankfully, I found a job through Penn East Federal Credit Union as a part-time teller.

I really liked working there and I felt like an asset rather than an annoyance or useless. I proved myself capable and worth changing to full-time. Unfortunately, that wasn't possible since there wasn't any full-time positions available. That was until I put in my 2 weeks since I was moving out of the state.

That brings me to today. Since I live near Seattle, Washington, I have been hunting for a job for almost 3 weeks. After a frustrating time of job searching, I finally have a job at Columbia Bank as a traveling teller/member service worker. I am in the process of paperwork and waiting for my credentials to be approved. My training starts in mid-October. I'm looking forward to be working and I hate not being as productive as I usually have been in the past.

Traveling
I have done more traveling this past year than I have my entire life. Since my boyfriend loves to travel, it has really been effortless to see the United States. I have traveled as far down as Virginia and Maryland and all the way north to Maine. I have been to every single state in the northeastern part of the United States now. Since I have traveled cross country by driving our cars, I have stopped at all the states that are in the northern part as I got closer to Washington. I have been to half of the United States while my boyfriend only has 5 left.

Writing
My writing has suffered a little bit with the lack of internet at home since I have been living on my own and that I can't really afford the internet yet. I plan to get internet in the near future.

I also plan to write my own book because my job doesn't entail writing so I plan to write more and make it more in my new routine once I start a routine. I am going to be studying many books that involve writing in one way or another. I want to write my own book, but I don't know what that'll be like or entail. I want to come into writing my first book with a clean slate. My first book I read for it was On Writing: A Memoir of Craft by Stephen King, which was such an excellent read. I've learned so much about what writing entails and that I'm not alone as a struggling writer.

Thank you for reading this post. My life is so crazy and I'm just hoping for some normalcy in the near future. Since I only have to worry about working like an adult (Hallelujah!), it should be very soon.