Sorry I'm venting for a moment

I hate when the feeling of loneliness creeps back into my life just when I thought I let it go. Sometimes I don't realize it until late at night when I'm lying awake unable o sleep. Other times I notice it throughout the day if I'm at a restaurant and see a lot of couples or if I turn on the TV and their are movies on about love and relationships. The worst part is I can't stop watching, in fact I end up watching more movies about love and happiness because it gives me that reassurance or at least a glimmer of hope that it will happen for me someday. I feel like I'm ready for that stage in life, the honeymoon period where everything is new and we just can't be away from each other too long, and then the phase where we know that we are meant for each other and we're just comfortable, and then the marriage where you are bound forever and get to work as a team through life. It's not easy that I know and some people may ask why I'm wishing my single days away but you have to understand that everyone around me is getting married, my brothers, my former roommates, and just friends in general. Don't get me wrong I'm happy for them and I love weddings but there are times I feel like I'm at the breaking point. I've never had a guy make me feel special, never really been on a date, never been kissed the list goes on I pray to God that he will help me be patient and learn that I can be completely satisfied being single, but it's definitely taking time and days like today I'm ready to just throw up my hands in frustration. But I know God will get me through days like today, and I'm a tough cookie. So to anyone that reads my blog I apologize for venting I just needed to get this off my chest and now I'll go back to being happy :)

Chinese and General Tso Chicken

I didn't grow up eating chinese food and I always used to envy those people I saw having chinese take-out from those awesome boxes with chopsticks. There were chinese restaurants around our town but it just wasn't a food that my parents grew up eating so it was never an option when deciding what to have for dinner each night. We had PF Changs once but my mom wasn't too impressed and I was such a picky eater when I was young that I refused to try anything on the menu besides the great wall of chocolate. Fast forward to high school when the chinese buffet came into my life. I will still pretty safe when it came to eating foods at the buffet (translation: pretty much any food I ate at the buffet could be found at most restaurants and wasn't specific to a chinese buffet). But the idea of Chinese food was suddenly on the radar and we went for the Chinese buffet every now and then. However, when I went to college the idea of Chinese food never entered my mind except for the one time someone asked me to go to Panda Express which had just opened not too far from campus and I said no.

Now let's move on to today well just a few weeks ago. I was at my brother's house looking for leftovers to eat for dinner and he took out the coveted chinese take out box I had always envied. Curious I asked what it was and he said General Tso's chicken, and of course I not knowing anything about chinese food proceeded to say "is that a restaurant?" He laughed and made fun of me a little (he can never pass up an opportunity to tease me) but then told me it was actually a chicken dish you can get at a lot of chinese restaurants. I'm more adventurous when it comes to eating and trying new foods now so I decided to try a piece of General Tso's even though my brother said it was spicy, when I popped that piece of chicken in my mouth it felt like a little piece of heaven. Just the right amount of spicy, a little sweet, and a little sour. There wasn't much left so I didn't really get another piece but my mouth and brain filed General Tso's chicken into an acceptable dish to eat.

Today I had a craving for Chinese for the first time and decided to go order Chinese take out at a restaurant in Hillsborough called China Fuji. I'm glad I knew what I wanted at least for my main dish because the menu was overwhelming, and since I had the choice of a side (egg roll, wonton soup, egg drop soup) I chose Wonton soup hoping it would be another slice of heaven in my mouth. I got home, and opened the paper sack that my food was contained in and was disappointed that I didn't get the Chinese take-out box but quickly put the thought aside and opened up General Tso's chicken and put it in my mouth and it was still as good as I remembered.The wonton soup was not such a hit, I wasn't a fan of the dumplings but I can try egg drop soup next time.

So that's my Chinese food story, I'm quite excited if you can't already tell that I can finally say that I like Chinese and if someone asks me to go out for Chinese I can say yes and really mean it. I'm sure most of you who had Chinese growing up think this really weird but hey it was enough to brighten my otherwise monotonous week.

So I Got Hooded

Well it's been an eventful few weeks. I finished classes, wrote my final papers, annotated my last case studies, dog sat for a friend for a few days, got into a minor car accident, welcomed my family into town oh yeah and I got hooded! I am officially Brittany Anderson, MSW (master of social work for those of you that don't know that acronym stands for).

It's a weird feeling knowing that school will no longer be the focus of my life and that I will be considered a professional from now on rather than a student. I've basically been focused on school since I was 2. I've been preparing for this time in my life, the time when I will begin my first real world job (No I don't consider my fast food jobs real world jobs to be honest) and really start establishing my own life which includes putting the majority of my money into bills rather than going to the movies or doing other fun things (not that I haven't done that in the past but I'm sure you catch my drift).

I haven't found a job but God is faithful and I'm putting all my trust in him because he has never failed me and I know he won't fail me now. But, I'll admit that the anxiety that comes with not knowing what's going to come next and worrying about money is overwhelming and it's satan's way of trying to get me to give into temptation and move back home or work at Wendy's (Wendy's is just not a good environment for me and I see now that I was turning my back on God during those days because I just wanted to fit in with the staff and that's not good for my personal, professional, or spiritual life). So I'm fulfilling my life with things that are pleasing to God including reading, listening to music, and even when I'm applying for jobs I always pray that God will show me if this is a job that I should pursue.

So that's pretty much my life right now. I've spent this week after graduation savoring the moment and let it sink in because it's still hard to believe that I have my masters degree and it deserves to be celebrated because no one ever thought I could make it this far and it's been great to overcome such a huge obstacle and overcome it well (I got high passes in 9 out of 10 of my classes!).

Now here are some pictures from this past weekend for you to enjoy

My brother Tim and I :)

(sorry don't know how to flip the photo)

The original Anderson Clan

Just one of the many pictures with friends.

The friend in this photo is Kim she is from Jamaica and she is amazing.

We survived the summer by talking about the musical RENT

We even went to see RENT on stage in Raleigh.

My brother Josh (he also lives in North Carolina now)

More pictures may be posted at a later date if I decide that I want to share more.

Pomeranian Dogs

Note to self: Don't look at pomeranian dogs on petfinder.com when A. you have no money and B. you live in a house that doesn't allow pets. I will throw a huge party the day that I get a place that allows pets and have the money to pay for pet insurance and all that good stuff. Until then won't you please marvel with me at the awesomeness of the pomeranian