Guys, it’s almost 2018.
Like, in 18 days, a new year will be upon us.
I keep coming across “On the Day” memories on Facebook and to think of where I was this day last year, yesterday last year, or even the first of this year, so much has happened that I could have never even imagined.
While none of us are ever certain what the future holds, it’s exciting to experience it firsthand as it unfolds right before our very eyes.
Of course, I can’t recall every exact moment as it happened but the big ones, of course I do. Around this time last year I was contemplating and wondering if a change might happen where I would end up back in Michigan. Little did I know at the time, a month later, I would be.
Living and working in Indiana at The Chronicle-Tribune was a great experience. I remember driving there, by myself, two and a half hours to my interview, nervous, not knowing what to expect, but hoping with all my might I would get the job. After all, it had been almost two years since I had graduated from Central Michigan University and at that point, my optimism about me landing a job as a reporter was starting to dwindle.
But, into the office I went and talked with Dave and Tyler, and after a few minutes feeling a sense of ease. I wasn’t as nervous and suddenly thought about all the possibilities there would be for me there if they offered me the job. Of course, like most jobs, they had other candidates vying for the position, too, and so a part of me couldn’t help but wonder, what if that person was more qualified than me?
So I wait for the next few weeks to see if I hear anything than them. I was constantly checking my phone and e-mail, only to see “no new messages.” Finally, it got to the point where I felt confident enough to follow up with them myself and see if the position had been filled.
I was extremely nervous calling and half of me was expecting yet another “Sorry, we ended up going with another candidate” or some variation of that message, only to be pleasantly surprised that I had been offered the job.
I wanted to scream! I was silently jumping up and down on my end of the line, trying to contain my excitement while still remaining composed on the phone.
I thought, could this be real life?
Of course while I was excited I knew I had a big decision to make. Would I accept, or respectfully decline?
I wanted to say yes immediately, but given the job was out of state and that I knew very little, if anything, about Marion, that I would need to do thorough research about where to live, cost of living, etc.
I didn’t ponder this while on the phone but I did let them know I would need a day or two to think before giving them my final answer.
Looking back, I can’t remember now if I actually even waited a full day or two, but I do remember excitedly calling up my all of my family and closest friends that day, gleaming with pure excitement.
Fast forward to my first day, and I was nervous. I was super excited, but I was nervous because it was a new environment for me, both the place of work and the city I was in. I remember being very reserved and quiet around my coworkers, not sure how to break the ice with them and become more than just coworkers, but friends, too, and I spent a good long while simply keeping to myself to make sure I stayed in the good graces of the big bosses and doing as I was told.
Fast forward even more, and soon Amy left go to back to teaching at Indiana Wesleyan University, which meant we had a vacancy for a new reporter. I was nervous who might join us, but later I would find out I had no reason to be nervous.
Andrea ended up joining us and soon her, Navar and I became best buddies, laughing, tweeting, Snapchatting and group texting 24/7. We would even go out to lunch together on a regular basis, too. It was a blast.
But, while as much fun as I was having with them, and enjoyed getting to know the Marion community and local officials, there was something gnawing at me on the inside that told me I wanted to come back to Michigan.
Michigan is my home. It’s where I grew up, what I’ve known my whole life. It’s where my family is at and family is the most important thing to me. And while my job was just as important, I knew I wasn’t completely 100 percent satisfied, even if I kept telling myself I was.
So, flash forward some more to end of December 2016/beginning of January 2017 and I am scheduling am interview at The Argus-Press.
Talk about being nervous. I was even more nervous about this interview because I knew at that point I had to be discreet about it seeing as I was still working for the C-T.
In the end, everything worked out just fine, but the whole experience of ending one job and beginning another brought a mix of emotions.
Ultimately, I would learn, it would be one of the best decisions I made.
In just over one month, on Jan. 16, 2018, will be the one year anniversary of when I began working for The Argus-Press.
Looking back on the year, both professionally and personally, it doesn’t feel as though it’s been a whole year. I think of certain memories and think, no way could that have happened in January, or no way could that have happened in May, etc.
I traveled to Nashville, my youngest nephew turned one, I was able to celebrate holidays (albeit however Hallmark-ish they were, lol) with a special someone, went camping in an actual tent for my first time (LOL), turned 28, gained a new cousin, gained new friends, parted myself from things and people who no longer served my life in a positive way and so much more.
So much has happened, none of which I could have pictured at the end of 2016. So as I sit here and wonder about what will happen in 2018, I won’t be nervous. I will look forward to the new year with excitement.
I don’t know what will happen, nor does any silly Facebook quiz (LOL), but here’s what I hope will happen:
I hope for a new year filled with happiness. Although as I know life goes, I’m sure it will be bound with some tears here and there, but only temporarily.
I hope to open myself up to love again. I can’t tell you how much I love the concept and idea of love and how excited I am, whenever it may be — whether it’s in 2018 or the year after or the year after that—to fall in love.
I hope to fall in love with my job even more than I already have.
I hope to make new friends here, not just work interview sources, but actual people I can call my friends.
I hope to really get to know more about the city here and the surrounding areas so I am apt to stay in town more on weekends I don’t work.
I hope to travel more, which I am already planning to at the end of February to visit my best friend and her boyfriend in their new house they now live in together.
I hope to make new friendships in general, just not here where I’m living.
I hope to be able to better let go of circumstances and people who no longer serve me or put forth the same effort to have me in their life.
Most of all, aside from my own happiness, I hope that my family and friends experience happiness throughout their new year as well. every day, because they deserve it.
Like I said, no one ever really knows what the new year will bring but I have a feeling mine will be just a great, because while I won’t expect it, it’ll be whatever was meant to happen to me… because everything happens for a reason.
So don’t be scared or anxious… Be excited about the future and remember to always cherish past memories because it’s all we have at the end of the day when the day is done and over with. 🙂
So tell me, what do you hope the new year brings you?
Tell me in the comments.
Until next time…
XO,
Anamaria
ThirtySomething Shenanigans 
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