Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes!!!

Did you get my masterful musical reference that I put in the title? Eh? Anyone?

And are any of you noticing that Kenra has not failed at her goals for vlogging or blogging at least once a week. I know, I can't believe it either. I've even astounded myself a few times by doing two in a week. Breathe, it's okay, it threw me for a loop too. XD

So this week I have some big news to share you. I meant to share it last week, but I didn't like the idea of me just posting something on Facebook and leaving it at that, although that is why Facebook was made...huh...I think I'm blowing this out of proportion. *shrugs* Oh well! Anyways, the big news is (drum roll please)........I GOT A NEW JOB!!!!

After two and a half years working at Wangsgards, I have finally put the apron on the hook and dusted my hands off to look for something new, and I did find something new. I'm now an official customer service representative of Great Western Insurance Company. YAAAY!!!

Even though the last few months at Wangsgards were hard and very trying for me, I will always look back on those years with incredible fondness. A lot of you right now are probably backing up in your chair, thinking, "But Kenra, you hated Wangsgards. You complained about it all the time." It's true, I did complain a lot about retail, but I find that the best stories to tell (at least in my personal experience) were the ones that were bad experiences, which tends to leave a poor impression on my work experience. Sure, there were days that I was thoroughly convinced that I'd throw my uniform on the ground and exclaim, "I quit!" But the next day I'd find myself laughing with my produce team and wondering why I'd ever consider such a thing, I love my job! When it comes to retail, there are times where you love your job, and there are times where you hate your job. For me, what made the job worthwhile were the loyal customers and the loyal coworkers. I worked in the produce department as the assistant manager. For the longest time I was the only girl on the team, and I actually loved it. I felt like I was Wendy with my lost boys (not really), but we had such a great time and there was never any drama, and we made a great team. My team has changed a lot, and right before I left we had only two boys and four girls! Crazy right? I had the best managers, four to be exact in the produce department. Each one of them were amazing amazing people. If I think you'd be entertained by it, I'd include all of the amazing things Will, Seth, Trevor, and Veronica did for me, but I'll just leave it with that I think they are all simply the most best and brilliant people in the whole entire universe and I miss all of them a whole bunches.

And I miss my boys, Cameron, Trevor, Eriq, and my one girl Syrina. They were my produce family. We had such a great time goofing off in the back, making air bands, swords fights, and painting the back room with punk music blasting. We had such a great time and I don't think I've laughed as often as I did when I was with those hooligans.

And I had my other department friends, friends I could escape to when I needed a good conversation. Laura, Melanie and Karla, Kirsten, Paige, Mel, Carole, Doug, Dwayne, Nathan, Larry, Izma, Laura, Dee, Ray, Pam, Iris, Evelyn, Joann, Marie, Ashley, Peri, Adam, Sarah, Bryan, Ryan, Jen, Travis, Mainor, Estella. These guys are a little piece of my Wangsgards family.

So you're probably asking, "Why did you leave?"

And to that I really can only respond with, sometimes the best thing for you isn't necessarily where you feel at home. Sometimes, you need to break free of your comfort zone to find new ground to bury your roots in. It doesn't mean you have to cut ties with the old roots, I have every intention of sticking close to Wangsgards so I can hear all the drama and good news. But I knew that staying there would only stunt my progress in the long run. I felt safe there, but that wasn't what I needed. I needed to find somewhere that I can further my experience, spread my wings a little bit wider and stretch my neck a bit more. I needed to progress, and that is what life is all about, progression.

I have every hope that Great Western Insurance Company will allow me to do those very things. It was scary when I walked into the office and didn't recognize a single face, it was daunting to realize that I couldn't sneak over to tell the bakery ladies how nervous I was, and I suddenly felt stupid for giving up my Wangsgards family for a bunch of strangers that probably wouldn't like me.

How silly I was.

It's been only three days since then, but already I'm beginning to feel my toes settling into the soil. I'm beginning to feel more at ease and I'm realizing just how amazing my new team is. These guys, I'm optimistic that I'll find a small family in them too. I'm optimistic that I can progress here. The information is overwhelming and the work is tedious, but I can feel that I'm going to do great here. Sure, I'll still miss things about Wangsgards, but I didn't leave there to forget about it, I left to take what I learned from there and implement it into my future.

To anyone who has become "comfortable" or "safe" in their setting and looking for progression in your life where there is none, I challenge you to uproot yourself and find a new place to grow, take what you've learned from where you are and take a step forward. Life is set up in stages, how long are you going to stay in Act I? It's definitely a terrifying thing to step out of your comfort zone, but in the end you'll find yourself on top.

Let me know in the comments below if you ever had to go through a big change in your life! Thanks for stopping by!