Graduation, Now What?

Graduation

Two weekends ago, I graduated from NAU with my Bachelors Degree in Education. It was a very exciting day--my family all came out for it, for which I am very grateful! The part where the people on stage tell you to turn and look at the people who helped you make it this far and acknowledge them, I looked at Josh and cried. I also cried later when I hugged him--he supported me these past four years and I never would have made it without him. He's amazing.

And What About A Job? 

Everyone keeps asking me if I've gotten a job yet, or where I'm going to be teaching next semester. I'm not exactly a fan of interviews, in fact, I find them quite stressful, although I have been going to a fair share of them. 

I went to a job fair at NAU over a month ago and got three job offers from rural school districts--pretty far places. I've had to turn them down due to the distance unfortunately.

I finally got a job offer at the school I did my service learning at last semester--a really nice charter school I would have LOVED to work at. 

Here's the catch though--when we planned my wedding, I thought I was doing good getting married at the end of July. In CA, schools start towards the middle/end of August to mid September. With this, I would have been set, but apparently, schools start as early as mid/late July out here. I only found this out after we had booked our wedding venue and set up everything.

When I explained this to the school, I also explained that I still believed it could work--I could write lesson plans for a sub, and just have my salary pro-rated. Still, I believe this kind of killed it. 

I keep being told by friends and family to just postpone my honeymoon till December or something. 

This is something I have been waiting my whole life for--my wedding and honeymoon. There are so many reasons why I don't want to do that: 

• It's already paid for and would cost money to postpone.
• Josh already has time off. Employers are more understanding when you're actually getting married and need time off than when you want to take a random vacation and call it a honeymoon. 
• It won't feel like a honeymoon if we don't do it right after the wedding. I'm only doing this once and I want to do it right. 
• It might not happen if we postpone it. It won't feel as special anyway, so why bother? 

I've already accepted that I might be a sub next year, which is fine! I've talked to multiple subs, and they seem to love it: no lesson planning, no grading papers. I'll still be teaching, so that's fine. Also, this would allow me to have the wedding and honeymoon I've always wanted, which is exceedingly important to me. 

So Now What?

I was debating several job ideas during the summer--babysitting, waitressing, and working at a call center. The prospect of people yelling at me is exceedingly daunting though. I signed up for Care.com, which wants you to get a background check and First Aid & CPR certification for a fee, which I don't presently have, so I wasn't getting any jobs on there--only scam offers. 

Then, amazingly, a really great, part time babysitting job kind of fell into my lap, watching the two children of a friend. I get to pick them up from school and do fun stuff with them; it's great! It also allows me to continue to sew and work on my other two business ventures. 

Business Venture #1: Etsy

Not only do I enjoy making costumes, but as you may have seen, this wedding has allowed me many opportunities to DIY: bouquets/corsages/boutonnieres, flower girl basket, ring bearer pillow... probably more things I haven't even thought of yet! I've been told I should sell this stuff on Etsy, so I've started an Etsy selling shop. I know I shouldn't be showing you this, but check out this amazing flower girl basket I made--I could make more of these in other colors and sell them! 

I went to Goodwill the other day and bought eight more eligible baskets for bedazzeling. You can check out my Etsy site here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/PrincessWeddingLove 

Not much there yet, but I plan to add more. 

Business Venture #2: Princessing

I have so many princess dresses anyway, I figured why not start my own princess party business? I've tried to get in on some local princess party businesses, but that hasn't worked out. I finally just figured why not do it on my own? I already have two friends who are interested in princessing with me! Sure, I need to make a few more dresses, buy a few wigs and some face paint, but I've seen several of my friends create businesses like this, so why can't I? 

I just need to get some parties! I have a plan for this: I'll get my friends to go with me to several promotional events dressed up as princesses, and we'll hand out business cards there! (Of course, first I need to get some business cards...) We'll do some free promotional events and spread the word, then hopefully get more business. 

Here's the facebook site: https://www.facebook.com/TinasPrincesses/?notif_t=page_fan&notif_id=1495673471326472 

In any case, we'll see where it all goes. I'm excited for what this summer holds! Josh took me out for a really nice date for my graduation and told me he would support me, whatever I wanted to do, whether that's teach, or just stay home and sew princess dresses. I love him--he's amazing. <3