post graduation, 3 months later

what i have done since graduating college on april 20:

traveled to oaxaca, mexico for a may term course. fell in love with latin american culture for a 2nd time and officially affirmed my desire to live in latin america for an extended period of time.

moved in to an apt in redlands with 3 friends and became an aunt to a cat.

searched and applied and interviewed for many jobs. i got hired as a hostess at a gourmet burger restaurant called eureka burger, which has fantastic burgers and a large variety of craft beer. became a certified beer server. i have been learning extremely valuable customer service skills which will most definitely help me in any job in the future. they hired me even though i had no restaurant experience, which i am very thankful for.

visited my favorite little cousins and their new puppy. it has been wonderful to be so close to them and see them grow up!

trev came and visited me here in california. we went to the beach, hiked to a waterfall, and sought out cliff jumping up in the san bernardino mtns.

 dyed my hair "egyptian plum."

i lead my first climb. my good friend corey who lives up in big bear and who is a much more experienced climber took me to one of the many spots outside big bear, called legoland, where i led an easy but exhilarating 5.6 climb! here is me at the top of it about to repel down.

 spent some time in the mountains hiking.

spent some time on the coast relaxing.

recently got hired at a starbucks location as a second part time job. now i'm super busy, but after meticulously budgeting my spending for the months of june and july, i know that i need a second job in order to save the amount of money i need to travel.

it has been a pretty good summer overall, and though there's been a lot of ups and downs as I decide what to do with my future, i finally have a plan and i am content with where i am and what i am doing in the next year.

i applied for an assistant position to a professor that takes a group of students to oaxaca for the spring semester, and i worked really hard on the application and really wanted it. unfortunately, i did not get that position like i had hoped. luckily, i had a backup plan. i applied for and got hired as a lift operator at the mammoth area ski resort for this winter season, which i accepted. so i'll be moving to mammoth come december! i'm really excited to live in such a beautiful place and to spend my free time playing in the snow on one of the coolest mountains to ski on.

so, for the next 3 months until i move to mammoth, here's generally what i'll be up to:

working 40 hours or more a week at my two jobs. i'm going to begin training as a server at eureka burger which i'm really excited to do!

i have sundays off which i plan to use to go up into the mountains to climb and hike. i almost have a full set up to go climbing without anyone that has more gear than me.

i'm starting to train for a half marathon in death valley national park on november 23. i'm 12 weeks out and super pumped (so far...)!

saving money to buy winter gear and to save to travel to bolivia next year when i'm done working at mammoth for the season... more on that later!