Southern Belle in Training

Fashion, Travel & Lifestyle Blog || Est. 2012 || Virginia Beach, VA

August 10, 2017

Southern Belle in Vermont: 4 Months Post-Move Update.

    It's already that time again!! In some ways, it seems like just yesterday that I wrote my two-months post-move update (which you can read here). Work has kept me very busy this summer so it's gone by faster than I anticipated!! At first when thinking about this post, I thought I wouldn't have very much at all to share or update y'all on, but the more I thought about it the more I realized I did have some updates indeed. I am glad that I decided to do these post-move updates on the blog since coming to Vermont... sometimes it really is good to write more personal blog posts, and I know that someday I'll enjoy reading these and remembering my first job and the time that I lived in Vermont!







June - August 2017: Months 2-4 in Burlington, VT


     SUMMARY: My summer can pretty much be summed up into two themes: work and having company! June's theme more specifically was having company, and July/August's theme more specifically has been work. I'll dive more into both of those things further on in the post. Overall, it has been a harder summer than I anticipated. In some ways, I was happy after the rushed period of having a lot of company visit ended, so I could get back to just focusing on work, and also having some downtime. to myself. But in other ways, it also bummed me out a bit. I am an extrovert, so I loved having friends around a lot again while I did have company up. Having them all leave kind of reminded me how different my social situation has been since moving up here, and made me really miss all of my friends in Charlotte. I think my main goal for months 4-6 in Vermont is to do better about making more friends up here, and planning more social activities in my calendar! A work/personal life balance is so important, and I'm definitely lacking in the personal life department right now.



     HOME: This summer I have gotten a lot more used to living alone, and really fallen in love with it! I am already excited for my future apartments to come. It's crazy to me that some young 20 somethings around my age (even a lot of my own friends) are becoming home-owners... I don't see that in my life for a long time, but am loving solo apartment life! I have recently started the process of reorganizing my kitchen cabinets, which has been taking longer than I expected, but I'm trying to work on one cabinet at a time, and to really get them organized and cleaned to a system that I like, so it's okay that it's been a longer process. This probably makes me sound so lame, but I am so excited for Fall TV shows to come back in September!! I literally can't wait to be cuddled by my TV in my favorite fuzzy bathrobe and with fuzzy blankets, watching new episodes of all of my favorite shows. Soon I really need to write out a Fall TV schedule so I can remember which of my shows are on which nights! Gosh I realize how lame I sound writing this.... haha! Vermont really is making me a little homebody. One thing that I really have missed this summer season is having a pool. My old apartment in Charlotte had two pools and a hot tub, and I was out there almost every evening of last summer. It's rare to find apartments in Vermont that have pools, and my current apartment complex doesn't have one. Wherever I move next- whether Vermont or out-of-state, I'm really hoping it's an apartment complex with a pool again!
      As I mentioned in the first paragraph of the post, I had a lot of company earlier this summer! In June and then into July, my dad visited, followed by my friend Hannah and then my friend Ciera! All visits were almost back-to-back, and all stayed in my apartment. I absolutely love hosting company, however it can get stressful doing that so often with working weekends like I do. I actually had two friends from Maine who wanted to come up this month, but I finally had to say no due to my own sanity and my work schedule over the next few weeks, and it felt like such a huge relief after I said that! I know there will be more opportunities for company later in the fall when work hopefully isn't as crazy.



     WORK: Has been CRAZY BUSY! But very good. Some changes are happening soon which I look forward to sharing with y'all as soon as I can! 😉
     Summer is prime event season for my company's radio stations. So is the case for radio stations everywhere really, but especially so in the North, due to rough winters and limited event scheduling happening then. I had one week in July where my station had an event almost every night that week! Many coworkers have also been taking their summer vacations, so I've been doing more weekday fill-in shifts on Star 92.9, the station that I work for on Saturdays. One thing that I've been having fun with this summer is trying to post more on and grow my station's Instagram account- follow along at @planet967!
   


      FAITH: So excited to share that I have found a church home in Vermont! I think I found my church right around the time I posted my first post-move update. During my first two months here, I did some church hopping, and didn't find a new church home. Overall I really missed my old church in Charlotte. (I even wrote a separate blog post about church hunting here!) But I decided to keep trying churches, and I finally found one. It is very small, so it has been adjustment for me to go from attending a Charlotte mega church to a tiny, growing church in Vermont. But the people at my church are so kind and Christlike, and from the first Sunday that I attended, many were so welcoming to me! I truly felt Christ's love flowing within the church, and I knew it was a good place. I brought my dad with me to a service when he visited in June, and he also loved it, which meant a lot to me. It just goes to show that sometimes it really does take time to find a good church!
      Wonderfully, my new church also has a young professionals bible study group for other post grads! The bible study itself is on summer break right now, but should resume soon. Unfortunately with my crazy summer work schedule, I've had to miss most of the group's summer social events for the last month. I'm hoping to be able to attend the regular bible study meetings and their social events this fall again! If work does calm down or become more regular at some point, I would love to become more involved in the church, either with my bible study group, or as a volunteer with a ministry. But for now- I'm just happy to have a great church to go to on Sundays, and to be making new church friends!



      SOCIAL: This is the area of my life that I am going to work the hardest to improve this fall. I have started making new friends, like those that I've met through my bible study group at church. But with my summer work schedule (and also having company visit earlier in the summer), it's been harder for me to make plans with new Vermont friends. Everyone that I have met up here works more traditional weekday 9-5 type schedules, while I work 6 days a week including Saturdays and Sundays.
      Back in Charlotte, I had such diverse friend groups by the end of my time living there. I had college friends, broadcasting school friends, bible study friends, and of course blogging friends! I loved having all of my different friend networks, as there were different social activities that I did with my different friend groups. I have started to make church friends here, I've found who I think is the one other fashion blogger in Vermont in my new blogging friend Nicholle 😊, and now I just need to try and branch out and make some other friend groups as well. I am considering looking into joining the Junior League here in Vermont- the local chapter is having a recruitment Open House later this month which I might attend. (My only hesitation in looking into joining is that if I did end up not staying in Vermont after my job contract is up in the spring, I might be moving before the new member period is complete for the Junior League. But I suppose it's too early to worry about that, and I might very well stay in Vermont another year or two!) Vermont is such a small area and kind of a hard place to make friends when you're new, but I'm going to keep trying.
      On a different social note- I'm headed home to Maine for three days this weekend, and looking forward to catching up with a couple high school friends while I'm home!



      DATING: Yep- no update here from last month. Still at a place where I would like to be dating in Vermont, but find myself wondering on a daily basis that if I'm already having trouble making friends here... how the heck am I supposed to find guys that I could date? This area of Vermont has a lot of college guys since Burlington has three colleges, but a lot of people move away after graduation since jobs are hard to come by here (making it ironic that I moved here for work!). Since I'm not really looking to date a 20 year old who parties at a frat house every weekend... it makes dating options even more limited. I recently re-downloaded a dating app to my phone after a couple months off from that, so who knows, maybe I'll be swiping right on my Vermont Prince Charming? (In all honesty hopes aren't up though...I keep feeling like I'll meet someone when I move to wherever my next home is.)



     ACTIVITIES: I've never been much of a fall person, but I'm already starting to look forward to spending a fall season in New England- my first in many years! As for summer, I did have a chance to do some fun and memorable things. My overnight trip to Montreal when my friend Ciera came to visit was definitely a highlight (check out my Montreal Travel Guide here)! Another huge highlight of my summer was getting to go back and visit the bed and breakfast in the northeastern part of Vermont that I grew up vacationing with my parents at when I was little. As soon as I accepted my job in Vermont many months ago, this became the number one thing on my bucket list!! My dad and I did this when he came up for Father's Day, and I still need to write a full blog post about that day trip.



     5 NEW VERMONT THINGS I DID:

  • Made my first day trip to the Adirondacks in New York (to visit my blogging friend Katie and her family at their lake house).
  • Had my first taste of Burlington nightlife when my friend Ciera visited!
  • Stepped out of my comfort zone and went to the Burlington Rising Tide Society's Tuesdays Together July Meet-up, and met some wonderful Vermont photographers and other creatives! 
  • Worked and hosted my first solo radio event! (More of a work-first, but still a notable first!)
  • Ordered a Vermont craft beer for the first time at a restaurant.... and realized I am still more of a Bud Light kinda gal. #noshame 



     Since I'm headed home to Maine for a long weekend, I have decided to take a little blogging break for the next few days!! I've been going full speed ahead at both jobs- my day job and the blog, pretty much since moving, and I'm ready to enjoy my short little summer vacation weekend. I'll still be posting on Instagram and Twitter though- so keep up with me there! I'm @miss_alk on both. 😊



     Have a great weekend, and talk to y'all here on Tuesday!



     God Bless,



     xoxo Annaliese (or Charlotte XO on the radio!)  
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14 comments

  1. I'm glad you're enjoying your time in Vermont and making friends! I'm living in Western Massachusetts right now, only about 30 mins from the Vermont border! I've only drove through it before to get to Canada but I'd love to explore, it looks beautiful.

    Lauren // http://laurensjourney.com

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  2. So fun to read an update on your move! :)

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  3. Living alone is the best!!! I really think everyone should do it at some point in their life

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  4. I live 45 minutes from the Adirondacks in NY! How fun having another blogger so close. Burlington is a beautiful city, I'm so glad you're enjoying the move.

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  5. These are always so fun to read! Yay for expanding your horizons :)

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  6. I can't wait for fall TV shows either! And having your own place is great isn't it?! I was so happy when I got my first place with no roomies!

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  7. omg congrats on your solo radio event! sounds daunting but I'm sure you did well with flying colors and amazing fashion! moving to a new place is hard, but it totally seems like you're adjusting well! and new england fall is the absolute best place to be that time of year <3

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  8. You're brave to live by yourself. I've always had roommates and have never lived alone. Firstly it's crazy expensive in San Diego to live alone and I would be to scared (I'm a big chicken). So good for you for going out on your own and starting a new adventure. :)

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  9. i can't wait for fall tv either!! Happy you're stepping out of your comfort zone and enjoy the RTS in your area! I went to one meet up here but it was abit of a drive so i never went back

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  10. I don't know how people are buying homes either, haha. That's just too big of a commitment for me right now but I get that everyone's situation is different and for others it just makes more sense. I'm looking forward to your next update and hearing how your socializing is going!

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  11. Transitioning can be hard! But its good to hear that you found the church for you in vermont! Friends should come pretty easily with that, especially with a bible study!

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  12. I'm so glad you are having such a wonderful time! Thanks for sharing your journey!!

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  13. So glad to hear everything is going better! I'm still kind of struggling with friends and we've lived here for over a year. Part of it is my unwillininess to get out there!
    Also can't wait for Fall TV either!

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  14. Thanks for sharing this amazing travel guide with us i glad to read your article everyword. great post keep sharing you can also visit Agra Taj mahal in budget book now. same day agra tour packages

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