I'm back...

I had great intentions when this blog was created of updating friends and family,  as well as internet trolls and voyers,  on my travels and adventures.  I successfully blogged for about 3 months of what would become a 3 year chapter in my life. I suppose at about the 3 month mark it stopped being a trip for me and started being my life. I got busy, my social life kicked into full swing, I was working more, traveling more, spending more time drinking wine and having coffee with friends. Blogging just fell by the wayside. You guys missed a lot in my life as I missed much in yours. I forgot to blog about some really important people and places. I did some extensive traveling throughout Europe of course, but more importantly I found out a lot about myself and grew a great deal.

Blogging served a great role for me at the beginning. It kept me from having to tell the same story over and over to different friends and family. I could just direct everyone to my blog for details of my latest adventure. In hindsight, I wish I was able to keep it up. You see, I hate the phone. Making phone calls for me is like taking a trip to the dentist, I just really do not want to. If I can minimize that in my life, I will. And I have (maybe too much). My aversion to phone calls and the fact that I moved myself 5,000 miles away has really estranged me from friends and family back home. Actually, I haven't even had a phone for the last year. Though a bit frustrating at times, it's been very liberating.

So now I'm back in the US. My employment contract ended and I moved home. I have no car, no phone, I'm staying with mom and dad, my life is slowly arriving by mail (18 boxes are en route).  I'm in my hometown where I know very few people (read: I know a lot of people but more in the way that I get their updates on Facebook though I have not had an actual conversation with them in quite some time). I'm just temporarily here though. I'm home for a few months then moving to Japan (don't act so shocked, you knew I was bound to do something crazy). I'm in a transitional phase. 

So that's my life in a nutshell right now. I've decided to blog a little while I have the time. I'm constantly thinking "I should blog that" so now I guess I will.

Serendipities and the Food Service Weight Loss Plan!

Today was full of small serendipities! Some have asked what I mean by "A Series of Small Serendipities" - my blog title. Well, serendipity is the development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way (Thanks Webster's). Serendipities are blessings, God things and divine interventions on my behalf. My life seems to be filled with small serendipities. Big ones come along from time to time, but almost daily there are small chance happenings that work out in my favor. Charmed life? Maybe. Too blessed? Most likely. Sometimes I do think it's too good to be true!

I've heard it said that having a positive attitude breeds positive outcomes.  I don't always have a positive attitude or positive outcomes but, on the whole, I'm pretty optimistic! Today I was feeling particularly cheerful - positive results ensued. Here's what happened to me today: 

I was up early this morning to go to a child abuse prevention training class in preparation for my volunteer work. The walk to the meeting was going to take me about an hour, considering I had never walked it before and had little clue where I was going! So, I was heading out of the guarded staff quarters where I live and had walked about a block when I stopped to let a car pull out of a driveway. The lady in the car rolled down the window and asked if I would like a ride. She was British and looked a little like Christiane Amanpour from CNN. I'm a fairly good judge of character and she seemed really great so I got in the car. Turns out I was right - she was awesome!  She saved me from a  long walk and from getting very lost and potentially being late for my meeting. Turns out she works in the conference center at the Resort (where I think I might like to transfer later). She gave me lots of helpful suggestions about future career moves, at Edelweiss and beyond, as well as some tips on life here and travel. Her name is Sue and she's my new buddy! It was definitely a small serendipity that I ran into her this morning!

So, Sue dropped me off at the hotel. Since I was much earlier than I anticipated I was able to get breakfast - this was great because in my rush to grocery shop yesterday, I didn't buy any breakfast food - oops!  Then I walked over to the base/garrison for my meeting. There were only three of us in the class and the other two guys have been here for more than 2 years. After the class, they showed me around and offered lots of advice. And one of them offered to teach me how to snowboard and to give me a tour of the mountain on skis - score! Serendipitous meeting, I think so!

This afternoon I went in for my first day of work. This is a little less positive but, I'll put a spin on it at the end, don't you worry! Remember, I'm a consummate optimist! Alright, so the first day of work started at 3:30pm with a meeting with the Restaurants manager of the resort. He went over the basic HR stuff - time off, leave, harassment policies, etc - and gave us a tour of the kitchen. Then we went to work and now  I'm in so many kinds of pain I don't know where to start! Want to hear me complain a little? Continue reading otherwise skip this paragraph:
<Rant> Today Ashlinn and I, the two new girls, were scheduled on the dinner shift. 2 people called in sick leaving one person on the floor who wasn't new. Talk about flying by the seat of your pants! Luckily, I worked in a restaurant the summer after my freshman year in college. I really thought this experience would never come in handy (Other than the understanding I gained of how difficult the food service industry can be). Well tonight I felt a little like I knew what I was doing. I already know the lingo and understand the pace and the fact that yelling isn't a bad thing at certain points in the evening. HOWEVER: we were basically doing two people's jobs since half the staff called in sick.  I feel bad for our supervisor and the one guy who wasn't new. I'm sure we really stressed them out - not our fault, we are new but still!  I guess this will make my next shift seem pretty easy! All of this was in addition to the fact that I couldn't sleep last night. The jet lag finally caught up with me - or maybe I'm just getting back on "Kacey Time" (Kacey time is the freak time zone where staying up until 3am every night is normal). So now I have aches in all kinds of new places! It will get better but it's not going to be a fun first few days! Also, I'm suffering a little from walking in the snow! You know how after walking on the sand at the beach for a few days your legs begin to feel a little sore in weird places because you are using different muscle groups. Yeah - the snow is just like that. I need a yoga class stat! </Rant> So what's the upside? Well, I think I did really well! Or maybe the supervisor is just really nice? It went swimmingly for sure. Though I'm a little sore from standing on my feet for 6 hours, I'll get used to it soon and, if I can do well in this position, it will be easier for me to be moved to another position that is more desirable. Also, I'm thinking working on my feet like this will be a good weight loss program! No eating for 6 hours while walking, bending, lifting... it's going to be good!


When leaving work, the one guy who wasn't new who had been working with us, offered to drive us home. His roommate is out of town for the week and let him use his car. Thank goodness for this! Otherwise it would have been a 45 minute walk back to my room at 10:00 pm in 4 degree weather. Again with the serendipity!

To sum it all up: My life is stinkin awesome right now, I'm happy as a lark and am certain that I am in the right place at the right time with the right intentions.

I'm not working on Saturday or Sunday so I'm trying to come up with something to do this weekend. I could continue to get acquainted with Garmisch but I could also go up to Munich or to Salzburg or something... oh the possibilities! I don't want to waste any of my free time! I have a to-do list I need to start hacking away at! Leave some comment love about what you think I should do this weekend!

Bavaria Bound

I'm moving and this time it's going to require more than a Uhaul to get my things and I to our new destination.  I've taken a job through the Department of Defense and will be moving to Garmisch-Partenkirchen Germany for 13 months to work at Edelweiss Lodge and Resort.  Edelweiss is a US government owned and operated R&R facility for active and retired military and their families. It is about an hour South of Munich near the German border with Austria and Switzerland in the Alps. By all accounts, it's beautiful. I'm not sure what I'll be doing just yet, I'll know more when I arrive, but I'm excited for this adventure and for the doors this will hopefully open. 

I will be leaving from Birmingham on December 12th. Before that happens I have a lot of packing to do, some shopping (let's face it, I'm from Alabama - I'm not prepared for "real" winter!), visiting/goodbyes with friends, Thanksgiving, a Birthday, makeshift/early Christmas and who knows what else. I guess I also need to work on acquiring some followers for this little blog!