It Begins. (again)

Hello and welcome to my blog. I've had about 20 blogs over the years, and I was told once that I should keep them up because it's the best way to get out my thoughts. And, right now, I have a lot of thoughts. 

Oh yeah! Hi! Let me introduce myself. I am Melanie. I'm 31 and I've recently moved my entire life from Indiana to Alabama (for the second time).  

This is Me. 😉

 

I graduated with a double major from Indiana University in 2009 and wanted to go further in my education, but lacked the funding. I've also got an astronomical amount of loan debt. Yes, I'm one of those people. Anyway, at that point I moved in with my now husband, Brad, in his house in Alabama. 

After some time we moved back to Indiana. Both good and bad stuff happened there and now we're back here again. The filler stuff will probably make up some future blog posts. 

I forgot to mention that during my first two years in Alabama we had adopted a little dog named Boomer. He's a Catahoula and has stumpy little legs. But he's mostly bark and no bite. A typical big sweetie. 

Anyway, as you can already tell, I write in a jumbled manner. I write like I am talking to a person, rather than talking to myself. And, I write whatever comes out of my head. I honestly doubt that anyone will ever read this, but that's ok by me! It's more a therapeutic thing than a social thing. 

But first- a little bit more about me (specifically jobs) before I end this introduction and start getting into topic blogs.  (Oh and I sincerely apologize for my comma problems, I just really like commas)! 

I went to college (Indiana Univeristy) and got degrees in both Sociology and Criminal Justice. My main goal (after several swaps in major and career ideas) was to get into law enforcement and persue some sort of entry into a federal department. 

Upon exiting college with my head held high, I tried out for a police job but didn't have the agility for push-ups (even though I had completed the correct amount in the time they wanted..). To make an exceedingly long story short, the police chief of that city was fired the week after I "failed" the test and he somewhat stalked me. It turned me off of police for a while. 

I then spent several months traveling the country looking for work. I arrived in Louisiana where I got a job as a jailer in the Parrish jail. I declined it though, for several reasons, but mainly because the jail housed some death row inmates convicted of rape and murder due to state over-crowding at the prisons. The jail was tiny and you had to walk through areas with 2 foot clearance and all the cells were open barred. They then told me they refused to bargain with hostages. Basically, your life was on the line and they wouldn't fight for you.

Yeah no.

So, I went to Florida and back to Alabama where I found my first job outside of college- McDonalds. 

I am an extremely anxious person. McDonalds was actually a blessing and it helped me get past a bit of that. I met some amazing friends and actually started enjoying life. 

Then, I went and got a job at the county jail in Huntsville, Alabama as a Detention Officer. It was an hour drive, both ways. After being maced and tased and put through physical and mental exams- I started working midnights (7pm-7am). The team I was on pretty much hated me and made me feel useless- but the job wasn't terrible. I always went home with a great story- always. After transferring to day shift, I felt a lot better about the job. I was taken seriously and I was accepted by my fellow teammates.  I'm sure I will talk more on this one day. 

My favorite team! 

 

So skip ahead, we moved back to Indiana. My husband bought my Dad's bread route (delivering bread to stores, filling shelves-etc.). I worked with him for a while. We got married! 

See, wedding.

 

We bought a home. I got a job doing loss prevention with Macy's. 

Macy's stuff

 

My husband hurt his back. I had to quit my job and go into work with him full-time. 

During that time (in more recent years) I started getting into the rockabilly culture, practicing portrait (mainly pin-up), and making pin-up style jewelry. We collect and sell midcentury furniture.  And now, we are back in Alabama- persuing all of the above as careers. More on that later, too. 

Me, taken by me. 

But yeah, that's it for my first post and my brief hello. What I plan for this blog is just to speak on topics that come up in my head. I'm an extremely quizzical person. I think a lot and ask a lot of stupid questions. My husband finds me crazy, but I actually enjoy knowing that I think differently than other people. 

So, check back in- or not. That's okay. As stated before, this is more of a therapy for me than anything else! :) 

New Blog #1- check.