No More Free Coffee + Pepperful Panburger Partner

So in the midst of fervently studying for my second Chemistry exam that took place this evening, I get an e-mail from my boss at the coffee catering gig.  I haven’t heard from her for a whole month, since the last e-mailing incident. 

I really should have just kept plugging away at my Chemistry review homework, but I opened the e-mail anyways…

Gah why did I open it??  The last thing I needed today was a passive aggressive note from my former employer.  Yup former.  After I cooled down a bit, I let her know my time there is over.  Aka, no you cannot call me later when you feel like you need me.  I deserve much better than that!  

I’m not gonna lie…I stewed the rest of the afternoon and didn’t finish studying for my test.  It’s rough to be under-appreciated, but that’s life right?   Still, it took some time for me to come to this conclusion.  I don’t even feel bad about being grumpy about it because I think I needed to feel the anger and let it go, instead of shoving it away like I have been.

I was a little productive, however, and cooked up some Pepperful Panburger Helper awesomeness.

I had already planned on whipping something up with my ground turkey I had in the fridge and the bag of peppers in my freezer.

Can you tell the veggies are frozen??

Tip: When you are adding veggies to things such as hamburger helper…or panburger partner (yep, off-brand ftw!), add them towards the end, otherwise they get a bit soggy.  Try the last 5 minutes.

Poor College Student Tip: Adding vegetables to boxed mixes extends the amount of meals you get out of the box.  Seriously.  You know the story of Jesus feeding the five thousand?  That is exactly how I felt today.  I had 6 leftover meals!

PS put the hamburger helper with peppers on a ritz.  So good!!

Then I was off to my Chemistry test, looking awesomely messy of course.  I think I dressed normally for school the first week.  After that, it’s been roll out of bed and go do work! 😉

Check the hair.

Of course when I was looking especially rough today, I saw an old friend.  Because that is just how it works!  She did make me feel a tad better because she is just one of those people who makes you feel special even though you haven’t seen her in a couple of years. 🙂

After dying a little taking the test, it was off to drive the hour back to Omaha and drop off my keys and shirt off at my old job. 

It was a weird experience.  I had worked there for four years.  I kept thinking about all of the things I had done for the company.  All of the early mornings.  All of the crazy weather farmer’s markets.  Sharing my knowledge of social media to help her business grow. 

Aaaaand it felt kind of good to see the office was kind of chaotic and smelled of paint fumes (because of the remodel, but we are leaving that part out).  I was actually glad to be leaving.

I can say that I learned a lot from the experience, such as:

• When you are working for a small company and your boss is the owner, she. is. the boss.  There is no one else to go to for help if something seems unfair.  Be careful.
• I thouroughly enjoyed being a barista.  I loved making people happy with hot coffee and yummy smoothies.
• I am stronger than I thought.  There was a lot of heavy lifting!
• I love helping people.  Just love love love it.
• Sometimes people will hold grudges against you and there’s nothing you can do.
• Turn the frown upside down.  It will be okay!

This experience is going to turn out well, I just know it.  I did what I could to be the best employee possible, and it didn’t work out.  To me, this means that God has something else planned.

I’ve thought about this a lot actually.  How to view life.  There are some Christians who say to just let God handle everything…but what does that mean??  Sitting on the couch “letting God handle things” doesn’t make sense at all.

I think what we should be doing instead is trusting Him and doing the very best we can to succeed.  But also trying our best to listen to his nudges. 

Like when things don’t feel right, maybe they really aren’t.  I tried to quit the catering job a year ago after I hurt my back and felt like I was being mistreated, but for some reason I thought it would be okay to come back on at my manager’s request.  I should have listened to the voice telling me to get out.

To go on another tangent, I think I’m feeling a nudge to move.  Not just out of the Daddio’s house, but to move to the city where I’m attending college.  I think I need to connect with people there more so I don’t feel so lonely all day, and it’s a little challenging to do that when I live too far away to participate in extracuricular activities.

Oh and here’s the paycheck…I’m getting a massage with this money.  I’m not even going to feel bad.  It’s on my goal board for the year…duh.

So…to sum everything up.  It’s gonna be okay.  I learned a lot from this experience.  God’s got my back.

Happy Thursday all!  Can you believe it’s Friday tomorrow??

Deep thoughts…who runs your life?

Do you feel unappreciated?

For more easy boxed meals see:
Jazzed up Hamburger Helper
Rice-A-Roni Three Ways