3200+ Miles Later...

I'm here I'm here! Well, actually, I've been here (Arizona) for 3 weeks now. It's crazy to think that a month ago I was getting ready to leave for this amazing new adventure.

Work started 2 weeks ago and so far I've been in orientation and training. I won't be learning about my actual role until the end of September, until then I will be earning my Series 7 and 63 Licenses. So basically, I will be studying and panicking for the next month. But once I get through the exams I will start learning how to do my job!

But really, what everyone is curious about (or what I want to talk about ;) ) is how moving across country went. It's long, I just really liked my trip.

Just a short negative update, moving companies are awful and mine is a bit of a headache. They picked my stuff up 2 days late and I still haven't received on this end (that would be 30 days later). But the last day of pick-up dramatics my friend Amanda (the goddess that she is) waited 8 hours at my old apartment for them to arrive. Thanks to her amazing sacrifice Dad and I were able to start our drive one day late instead of 2! I'm so lucky in my friends, and Amanda is one amazing chica.

Amanda the lifesaver

The road trip was amazing. My dad flew into Boston to drive across country with me and it was one of the best trips I've ever taken. I'm so lucky Dad was willing to drive with me. Originally our trip was supposed to start with a drive to the Canada side of Niagara Falls, due to an unforeseen delay by the moving company we started out a day later than we planned, so we had to take Canada off of our trip list. The first day Dad and I drove from Boston to Buffalo to Chicago to Peru, Illinois where we stopped for the night. It was a long day driving about 17 hours but we drove through MA, NY, PA, OH, IN and IL what a start!

On our second day our goal was to get to Rapid City, South Dakota and we did it! It was a beautiful drive, and in SD we actually got to drive on an interstate with a speed limit of 80! I didn't even know those existed! We also got to drive through IL, IA, NE (because we took a detour to do so), and SD. Side note, as I'm sure most of you know I'm very focused on how many states I have been to, before this road trip I had 8 states I needed to visit, on this day I saw 3 of them (IA, NE, and SD).. When we started driving into Rapid City Dad and I realized something else, we were driving into the Monday of Sturgis Bike Week. It was insane! I've never seen so many Harleys in my life.

NE, we were supposed to be able to see the Mississippi River

 but the trees had grown too much

Speed limit sign in SD, because I wanted photographic evidence

On our third day Dad and I started out by going to Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse both beautiful sights in a beautiful place. Then we took back roads from Crazy Horse to Cheyenne, it was crazy we barely saw anyone and it was just plains as far as you could see, as we got closer to Cheyenne we started to see the Rocky Mountains in the distance, which of course was gorgeous. We drove through Denver and made it to a small town in the Rockies for the night, it was called Dillon. So all in all we drove through a little of SD, WY, and CO and I am officially down to 4 states I need to visit!!! ID, MT, ND, and HI, I think making it a goal to see all of them by the time I'm 30 is completely doable!

Mount Rushmore!

I think this is where a selfie stick comes in handy?

Crazy Horse memorial

Reservoir in Dillon, CO

One more picture of the Rockies!

The night of day 3 Dad and I realized a miscalculation. It was Tuesday and we had until Friday to get to Phoenix...and somehow we were both thinking that we would do the rest of the drive in a day and a half and that would mean Friday. And knowing how hot it was going to be we weren't in a hurry to make that last 2 hours of the drive to get into the Valley, so we didn't want to come early...all of which meant we puttered around in Colorado on the 4th day and spent the night in Durango after driving back roads and visiting Vail for a short stroll.

Vail at the foot of one of the runs

 On day 4 we drove down to Flagstaff and went to Mission Impossible nothing extremely exciting but it was a fun day. And finally on day 5 we got up and headed into the Valley. And we land ourselves here, 3 weeks later training and residing in the Valley of the Sun. I'm living with friends from college and taking my time finding an apartment. I'm hoping to either be in Tempe or near work in Scottsdale, I guess we will see what I find. All I know for sure is that this is a grand adventure and I'm so glad I'm back West!

Laters with love,

Chloe

Here, There, and Everywhere

Hey all!

Soooo, remember that funny joke I told? You might remember...it was over a year ago (bashful look to the side) when I said I was excited to settle down in Boston and I would post more blog entries.

HA!

But in all reality I didn't mean it as a joke. As it turns out blogging just got lost in the jumble that has been the last year of my life. I started working at State Street, learned a lot about the financial services industry and even more about myself. Learned what it means to literally have no plans for an entire weekend and also learned that making friends after college is hard but we can all do it!

I wrote this blog entry for a reason, I sense a trend, I have some news! I will be moving away from Boston at the end of July! Just one week away! I know, I can hardly believe it. But I have accepted a job offer to work at Vanguard, another financial services company, in Scottsdale, AZ. WAIT. I know some of you are looking at that confused, could it be real? That's right my wonderful friends and family, I am moving BACK to a place I have lived before. I KNOW! I must be crazy. I'm really thankful for all the things I have learned while working at State Street and I'm excited to bring that knowledge to this great new opportunity. I figured since I haven't posted in so long I'd give you some highlights of the last year.

Well, it must be mentioned, it is what spurred me to look for work in other places, Snow. Such a small word, and I really thought I knew what it meant, I flaunt that mountain girl title like I was born to it. But I forgot two important words that go before it here in Boston, NEW ENGLAND snow. Completely different animal. It doesn't snow at night or in the morning and then the sun melts it off the roads, no, it falls, and falls, and falls. And then once it has fallen, it falls some more and then if you're lucky it will stop. But then the worst part happens. It doesn't melt, at all. How can that be? It makes no sense? But it is fact, You can go a week maybe even two with no snow, but does that actually matter? Not really, because you car is still buried under 5 feet of snow (and no I'm not using hyperbole).

That would be my car...under all that snow

First day, of first storm, pretty calm...until we hit 2 feet.

In all reality, I have been informed that winters are not all buried in snow and limiting of your ability to walk to work. But Boston managed to have one of the worst, if not the worst, winters on record. And I just picked the perfect time to live here. Surviving this winter and the snow getting dumped on us on a weekly basis may be the biggest adventure I have had in living on my own. But I did survive, with better snow skills (and bigger blankets) than I thought I would obtain.

I have also managed to at least stop and wander around in every New England state. That was one of my main goals in moving here, seeing a part of the country I haven't really seen before. Vermont and Maine are my favorites, they are so beautiful and relaxing, a wonderful getaway from the city. I went to a Darius Rucker concert in New Hampshire, explored a little of Newport and Providence, Rhode Island, and drove through Connecticut. And between these little adventures I explored a little of Boston, I was able to learn more about the city and show what I knew to a few friends and family that were able to come visit me!

Alaina and I went to Portland, ME! (May 2015)

VT snowmobiling (Februart 2015)

Mom and Dad came to visit before Christmas (December 2015)

VT February 2015 

VT Camp July 2015

New Years Eve in Boston!

Water Fires Providence, RI

I was also able to make some great trips around the country including everywhere from Seattle to New Orleans to Atlanta and Asheville (I have to see the nephew!) and a few places in-between. Not a lot has changed, I'm still wandering around trying to find my place and I'm still utterly hilarious (at least to me :D) but I did learn some interesting things.

I had to show at least one, the nephew and I at Thanksgiving!

1. Change, no matter how big or how small, is something you have to embrace or it can crush you.

2. It doesn't matter if you understand why you are learning something, learn it, and along the way it will start to make some sense.

3. Family, no matter how far away they are, will always be there for you.

4. It's not the money you make, or the things you have, it's how you use what you DO have that matters, make decisions based on yourself and not those around you.

5. No matter how desperate you feel or how scared you are, if you force a smile it will at some point become genuine.

6. Laugh at yourself and laugh alone.

On that note, have a happy day! And don't forget to laugh!

Love ya!
Chlo