Jenn Stinnett

First off, I’m sorry that this is going to be a text-heavy post. Actually, I went to an animal shelter in Chicago for a project for one of my classes. I’ll put in some cute photos of puppies and kittens to give you something to look at.

Remember when you were a kid, and you had a field trip to look forward to, or something to do, but it was happening in a week. And remember how a week felt like FOREVER? And in high school when you’re a senior and you’re going to graduate in three months, and it just seems like it can’t get there fast enough?

Well I seem to be having the opposite problem these days.

I know there’s that saying, “when you get older, time flies.” (Note: Is this actually a saying? Or did I just make that up?) But it’s really, really true.

I’ve been in Chicago now for, exactly, 10 weeks. Whoa. This blog is even more on-the-nose….I’ll tell you why in a second.

OK, so I’ve been in Chi now for 10 weeks. And I’ll tell you, I can’t believe that it’s really been 10 weeks because it feels like I just got here a while ago. On the other hand, I feel very settled and like I’ve been here years. Do you ever get that feeling? Like you just got somewhere you’ve been for a long time? Indescribable, really.

So what’s interesting about this is that my internship with the State Department in D.C. was EXACTLY 10 weeks long. And as much fun as I had in D.C., I was VERY homesick the entire time I was there. I couldn’t wait to see my mommy and I couldn’t wait to get out of that city. Of course, the second I left I was like, “D.C. is so great!,” but whatever.

Ten weeks is also the longest I have ever been away from my mom. Is that a long time or a little time? Think about it for a minute. What is the longest time you’ve ever been away from your mother?

CUTE PUPPY ALERT!!

A puppy munches on some newspaper at the Anti-Cruelty animal shelter (but she has real food, too, of course!).

Anyway–back to the story. OK, so I’ve been here 10 weeks now, and while literally exactly a year ago (whoa, these parallels are crazy…I didn’t realize it was really a year ago almost to the day) I was dying to get home and had been counting the days I was away, right now I’m really feeling good about everything. I miss my family and friends, of course, but I’m also OK with the possibility of it being even longer before I see them.

I’ve been trying to think of why it’s so different this time and I have a few theories:

1. I have stuff. Superficial, part of one. This time, I have my own space (even if it does resemble a shoe box) and I have a television, a kitchen, a bathroom and a reliable Internet connection–none of which I had in D.C. If my apartment here is a shoebox, my room in D.C. was a shoe. (Did that make sense?)
2. I’m not missing out on anything. I was in D.C. during the time that would have been my last semester in college. Most of my friends were still in undergrad, and I think there was a sense that I should have been there, or that I was missing out on some big thing. It was also really strange to come back from D.C. and feeling like I’d been away for years, and have my friends still in school when that felt so long ago.
3. Tennessee isn’t my home anymore. First off, my mom is going to call me tomorrow and be like, “I read your blog…have I ruined your life by moving?” No, mom. There’s no need to call. As you might have seen on Facebook/Twitter, my mom has moved to Denver, Colorado and my home is gone (well technically it’s still on the market–but it’s empty). When I was in D.C. most of the people I knew were either in Knoxville, in the South, etc. I think I had this longing to be “home.” Well, Tennessee isn’t my home anymore. My friends aren’t there (or the ones that are won’t be for long) and I literally don’t have a house there. My permanent address is, begrudgingly, my shoebox.
4. I’m maturing? Is it possible I’m just growing up and don’t have to rely on others as much? Probably not.

CUTE KITTY ALERT!!

Pretty kitty at the Anti-Cruelty shelter.

So this is a pretty self-indulgent blog post, but I was just thinking about time, and my tentative plan for the coming year. (Keep my job I’m about to start, and take two classes per quarter until I finish grad school, then move, possibly out West.) My plan is for a year and a half from now, and for some reason that doesn’t seem daunting. I am OK with that amount of time, and I feel comfortable being here alone for that long (although I am still trying to convince my friend Nancy to move here–let’s see if she reads this and finds her name!).

CUTE DOG ALERT!!

This is Remy, I think he was happy to see me.

I should have a more photo-centric blog coming soon, with photos of my newly cleaned and decorated shoebox.

Also, I start my new job at Groupon on Monday! Very excited to see what it’s all about.

As always thanks for reading!