Updates from abstractangel7 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts

  • abstractangel7 12:44 pm on January 4, 2016 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , friendship, life   

    Hi, fellow adventurers! I thought it would be helpful if we began with some introductions (or re-introductions). I just read my posts from 2010- wow, time flies! I found them hilarious. They brought back some great memories.

    For those of you who don’t know me, I am 33 and the mom of two boys, ages 10 and 12. I’m a self-professed travel addict who loves randomness, nature, and tries not to take life too seriously. My day job is as a therapist (LPC, CADC) in a supportive-living facility on the Southside of Chicago.

    This blog inspired me to continue making short-term “bucket lists” of things I wanted to do and accomplish. My list for 2015 included:

    *Buy a car
    *Drive for Uber/Lyft
    *Visit at least 1 foreign country (Two! Spain and Turkey)
    *Take the boys to visit at least 1 new state (12!!)
    *Try LSD (that’s another story, lol)
    *Take a trapeze class
    *Take a swing dancing class (it became my new monthly hobby!)
    *Take the kids on their first horseback ride
    *Bring Jake to visit a dairy and pig farm (it ended up being a pre-factory farm. oops!! lol)
    *Run my first 5k
    *Live with a roommate (previously I’d only lived with my ex-husband and sister)
    *Join the Red Cross Disaster Action Team

    Last year was a mixture of emotions for me. I dated a bit but stayed intentionally single, trying to work on myself as much as possible after a devastating break-up near the end of 2014. I feel like I’ve grown spiritually, gained confidence and clarity in my identity and passions, and am redefining what “adventure” will look like for me in the coming year. (More …)

     

    • Kimberly Hula 2:54 pm on January 4, 2016 Permalink

      So glad to have you on board! Can’t wait to see all that 2016 has in store for us!

    • eatveggiesdrinkwine 1:41 pm on January 10, 2016 Permalink

      Thanks for the reintroduction! I love what you did in 2015 and your plans for this year. ! I re-read my 2010 adventures recently, and it was a great way to reminisce and to get re-inspired.

  • abstractangel7 10:47 pm on August 15, 2010 Permalink | Reply  

    Hello, amazing adventurers! My recent adventure involved taking a month-long TEFL class. (Kim, I believe you know all about that?) It was pretty intense, because I also started a new full-time job at the same time! Yeah, not smart, but here’s what happened- I paid for the TEFL class while on unemployment, thinking I would start a new career field teaching English as a Second Language here in Chicago. I’ve taught ESL as a volunteer for the past year, at a school on my block, and found it to be very rewarding. So I thought, why not get certified and make it a part-time job? I’d LOVE to go overseas and teach it, but since I have young kids, that’s not really an option until they’re grown. There’s lots of social-service organizations in Chicago that help refugees though, and I thought maybe I’d get a job at one of them, helping to settle new immigrants or something. My actual background is in substance-abuse counseling, however, and a job opportunity came along that I couldn’t pass up. It was everything I’d been looking for, so even though I could have stayed on unemployment, I decided to go for it. The TEFL school had warned that their class wasn’t meant for students with other jobs, but it was too late to get a refund and I figured I could handle it.
    Well, this turned out to be an adventure in sleep-deprivation, too! LoL. First, my ex-husband agreed to keep the kids for the month of July, as there was no way I’d be able to do all this and be a mom. I felt really guilty about that, but knew the kids would be happier getting to play at their dad’s house rather than deal with me being so busy. Besides, he didn’t get to see them much and it was definitely an adventure in parenting for him to suddenly have them full-time. Hehe
    My schedule was: Wake up at 4:30am, leave for work at 5, work 5:30-12:30, eat lunch, teach ESL from 2-3:30, class from 4-9:30pm, home by 10, an hour of homework/typing papers or lesson plans, hopefully asleep by midnight. Sometimes I did the homework at work during the day because I was too tired to do it at night. I was so out-of-it during the days, giving myself fake energy with sugar and caffeine.
    Somehow I finished the class, with just 6 hours of practicum teaching time short of receiving my certificate. I’m going to finish it when classes start up again at the school near my apt. in September. I hate to say it, but I wasn’t as dedicated as I would have been, had I not been so tired or busy with working during the mornings.
    It was definitely a great experience though, and I loved making new friends and learning about how to teach English as a second language. I recommend anybody go for it- but be careful/prepared if you already have a full-time job!
    Thanks for reading 🙂

     

    • blueskiesinva 9:30 pm on August 16, 2010 Permalink

      You are AMAZING! So glad that things are a little more “normal” for you now, though!

    • Kapri 5:46 am on May 3, 2011 Permalink

      I thank you hmulby for sharing your wisdom JJWY

  • abstractangel7 12:36 am on May 17, 2010 Permalink | Reply  

    Hi, adventurers! 

    Forgive me, I’m still figuring out how to use WordPress. 

    I’m excited about my newest idea for an adventure, so even though we’re supposed to post AFTER the fact, I’m sharing it first– I’m going to try and go to every Farmer’s Market in the Chicago area next week!  The list of daily markets was featured in the Red Eye recently, and I was trying to figure out which ones would be easiest for me to get to, when I thought….why not try and go to all of them?  Not this week, because it’s very busy for me, but next week I could attempt it.  Seems most of the markets are open from 7am-3pm, and I’d be able to figure out which ones I’m interested in returning to in the future.  I’m kicking off the week by attending the Eco-Fair at Navy Pier next Sunday, so this will be a good theme. (In addition to using whatever I buy for fresh nightly dinners!)

    I still need to come up with an adventure for THIS week.

    Thanks for reading this!   🙂

     

    • abstractangel7 12:54 am on May 17, 2010 Permalink

      EEK!! I just looked again, and most of these markets don’t seem to begin until the 2nd week in June!! I don’t want to just visit a couple, the point was to try and go nuts hitting them all in a week. So I guess this will be delayed until further notice…. thanks for reading anyway 🙂

    • yearof52adventures 7:45 am on May 17, 2010 Permalink

      BUT this will be a GREAT adventure for the coming weeks!
      You are so creative and lovely – I have no doubt you’ll think up something spicy for this coming week 🙂

    • abstractangel7 10:18 am on May 17, 2010 Permalink

      thank you!

  • abstractangel7 12:16 am on May 9, 2010 Permalink | Reply  

    Time to Get Back on the Horse 

    Unfortunately I fell off the adventure wagon a while ago. Probably got sick or busy or something like that. But I’m looking forward to starting again! My upcoming adventures are each longer than a day, but I’m counting them as adventures nonetheless. One is for the whole month of July. I’ll be taking an intensive class, 8hrs/day, to become TEFL-certified. (Kim, this is probably what you have, to have taught English in Japan?) Wish I could travel the world, but since I have young kids I want to see if I can become an ESL teacher here in Chicago. Maybe for refugees? I don’t know, but I’ve gotten kinda burnt out on being a drug counselor. Too much to write here…but it may be time for a change. From volunteering as an ESL teacher I already know that I love it, and want to learn more!
    Another upcoming adventure will be taking my kids to Costa Rica in August. Navigating a foreign country for a week is sure to be full of many adventures, not to mention the ordeal of just getting there in the first place with a couple of shorties with limited attention spans. 😉
    Past adventures (since I just started contributing to the blog) include: Learning how to knit, traveling to San Diego, attending a medieval-themed wedding, learned how to use a sewing machine, Lasik eye surgery, and lesbian speed-dating. I think there were a couple more, but I can’t remember right now. Funny, I lived my life like this before this year, so I’m remembering other “adventures” but they’re not associated with this project.
    This past week I ended up getting a cold, so I had to postpone my adventure: cooking (and eating) cactus! Cacti? Whatever. It’s another thing that isn’t an adventure to a lot of people, since they sell it in the grocery store and SOMEbody must be buying it, but for me it’s something new. My ESL student told me how to cook it and I promised her I’d give it a try. Wish me luck!

    Hope everybody has a wonderful day! Keep up the great work… I like reading the posts. 🙂

     

    • faolan01 10:17 pm on May 11, 2010 Permalink

      working on a TEFL certification? quite an adventure indeed! best of luck with the certification and becoming an ESL teacher. Are you going to write up some of the other adventures you’ve had? I’d especially love to read about the wedding and I’m really curious about the Lasik since I’ve been thinking about it for a couple of years.

    • yearof52adventures 10:05 am on May 12, 2010 Permalink

      So happy to have you back! I want your adventure post REPLETE with pictures from Costa Rica (swoon!).

  • abstractangel7 1:47 pm on May 3, 2010 Permalink | Reply  

    Hi, everybody! 

    Ok, so figuring out how to post on here was an adventure in itself.  Now that I’ve managed to do it, I thought I’d introduce myself.

    My name is Jackie, I’m 28, and I live in Chicago with my two boys (aged 5 and 6).  I’m unemployed, and not ashamed to admit that I love it. I know it won’t last forever, but I’ve gotten to know myself, been able to spend much more time with my kids, and done things I could only dream about having the time to do when I was working. When I AM working my typical title is, “Substance Abuse Counselor”. 

    This challenge to complete 52 adventures really appealed to me because in a sense it was how I tried to live anyway- experience new things/people/places, but not as conciously.  It sounds kinda morbid, but I’ve always felt like death is right around the corner.  It makes me want to live life to the fullest, tell people how I feel about them while I can, go out and do things while I’m blessed enough to be healthy and able.   At first, my adventures-on-purpose didn’t seem exotic enough when I started to check what everybody else was up to.  My first adventure? Learning to knit.  But it’s so individualized, anything can be an adventure to anybody, and there are no limits or rules (other than maybe not to purposely harm anyone). 
    To me it’s an individual journey of growth and self-discovery, shared with others and I want to thank Kim for this great idea. It’s good to meet other like-minded people unafraid of LIVING.  Doing what excites you, what scares you, what reminds you that you’re alive. And what a beautiful thing that is.

    I look forward to reading the posts and sharing my own on here. Have a wonderful day, everybody!

     

    • jeindeer 1:09 pm on May 13, 2010 Permalink

      Welcome on board, Jackie! I think living life to its fullest is a great way to live it 🙂

c
Compose new post
j
Next post/Next comment
k
Previous post/Previous comment
r
Reply
e
Edit
o
Show/Hide comments
t
Go to top
l
Go to login
h
Show/Hide help
shift + esc
Cancel