Here Goes Nothing...

Today's the big day! Okay, not really although it is quite important. Today I am officially launching my home career!

Since my job ended on February 9th, I have really thought about what I want in life. I mean, I know what I want in life, but how early should I start really going for it, you know? Well, I made the decision to start really going after it today! I'll be in working Monday through Friday on several different things. I'm going to work on getting myself on a schedule as well. This is the schedule I'm going to attempt to follow everyday:

7:00AM - Alarm goes off
7:30AM - Morning workout
9:00AM - Get in the studio for some work on my art
11:00AM - Plan out social media posts for the day
1:00PM - Work on Finding The Boy Within
3:00PM - Write a submission piece for one different Cricket Media publication each day
5:00PM - Work day is over

So essentially I'm trying to make sure I do a little bit of everything each day in order to maximize both my time and my income. The more art I make, the higher chance there is of it selling. If I write one submission piece for Cricket Media's magazines each day, there will be a better chance of them being accepted and me getting paid. If I set aside a certain amount of time each day to focus on regularly updating my social media sites, there's a better chance of my followers increasing.  If I set aside time each day to work on my book, it will actually get finished. I am really hoping this works out because it could really be the start of something really good for me!

Right now I'm working on figuring out some problems surrounding why I keep losing weight to the point where I might need to see a nutritionist. There are some other things going on as well that may require me to see another specialist. Basically one of the reasons I would love for working from home to take off is because I would have the flexibility to keep up with all of my appointments. I spend more time as a non-critically ill patient at DHMC than anyone else I know, so it would be nice to be able to have that flexibility.

My dreams are taking over my brain, and I can't sit around and wonder "what if" anymore. I'm taking the reigns, starting at 7:30AM, and I'm starting my life. If shit hits the fan, I will suffer through being employed by someone (my wife thinks she may be able to get me a summer job if need be.) Maybe I'm crazy. Scratch that, I know I'm crazy, but anyone who starts a business has to be at least a little crazy, right? I mean, my Etsy shop could expand offline in the form of having a booth at the local Farmer's Market and even some other town Farmer's Markets. I'm hoping to have my book finished by June so I can bring some copies down to the Philadelphia Trans Health Conference for exposure. I have such an amazing feeling about this, so I need all the support I can get so that my dreams can really start coming true!

My Life Is A Hot Mess, But It's Okay. Here's Why...

It's been a while since I've updated here. Unfortunately (or fortunately?) I haven't had the time or energy to get on here. My life is hectic right now! Between the constant struggle to build my personal brand, volunteering for the local Bernie Sanders campaign office, doing the photographer thing, and finding ways to make money in between all that and trying to find a steady job, there is a lot going on! The good news is, I haven't been as optimistic about my future like I am now in quite some time.

It's been three long months since I became unemployed. I've learned a lot in the time, not only about how to survive with no money, but also a lot about myself. Although I am actively looking for a full-time job, (or even part-time at this point,) I'm not someone who should be tied down. Ever.

Within the last three months, I've really reflected on my life and have come to the conclusion that I cannot stand working for people...no matter how much I've loved the majority of my past managers/supervisors. It's not them at all but the notion of not having control of the way I make a living, if that makes sense. Yes, I need a job to survive, (and to be able to get gifts for everyone for Christmas,) but what if I really don't? What if the system is just there to drag me deeper in to a hole I'll never be able to escape from? Being tied down in the past has hindered ever single one of my dreams. Why should I go back to that life just for money?

I've been heavily praised by 98% of my past supervisors/managers. I'm a damn good worker, and that's not cockiness; that's what they've all told me. Because of the consistent praise, I have honestly never been worried about losing my previous jobs. That has created a sense of stability that I've never had the balls to escape from. Steady income means the bills are getting paid, and the bills getting paid means happiness...right? Well, not exactly.

You see, what this stability created was a sense of longing and the mindset that I was doing the same thing day in and day out (probably because I was, let's be honest.) Sure, the bills were getting paid on time or even early, but I was miserable. I was prescribed antidepressants in April after my mental health had been declining over the course of prior months. I hated my job, but the day I was prescribed anti-depressants was the same day I started at The Common Man. Funny how life works out, right? I was terrified of starting a new job having had the temperament I did, and the same day, I was prescribed the miracle drug that would end my anger fueled rampages. Well, let's just say life's not that simple.

Having been on the medication for a while and being away from the toxic work environment that was Dunkin Donuts, I was really starting to see a difference in my mentality. I was happy again, however, that lasted all of two seconds as I gradually started hating my new job, (if I'm really telling you the truth.) I'm terrible with face-to-face engagement, so my failure as a server was my own damn fault for accepting that position anyway even though I applied to be a host. Anyway, my depression came back, and it came back harder than it should have for being drugged up. So, I went back to my doctor, and she increased my dosage by 100mg per day. Same thing happened on the new dosage, too; happy for a while, then downward spiral.

There's a reason I'm rehashing all this, I promise. Basically, I've been taking 300mg of bupropion (generic Wellbutrin) for over three months now (I think...?) As you all know, because I stated it at the beginning of this post, I became unemployed three months ago. Had I not been on that higher dosage at the time of my departure from The Common Man, I would have lost my shit. Again, there's a reason behind all of this. We're getting there, we are getting there...

I'm someone who believes that (almost) everything happens for a reason, not in a spiritual way, but just sort of in an optimistic kind of way. My depression got worse again, I was put on a higher dosage of antidepressants, I became unemployed, but I didn't lose my shit because I had the higher dosage. When my manger and I had collectively agreed that having me do more training would be a waste of time, I told her how maybe leaving would be the best decision I could ever make for myself. Three months later, an increase in depression and sleepless nights, plenty of financial difficulties, and an ever plentiful nagging from everyone in my life, I still wholeheartedly believe it was the best decision. My friends left, my manager left, and the place is going to hell. I would still be there, even more miserable than I was before, had we not collectively cut the cord in July. Everything happens for a reason, and that's not even the best thing to come from my departure.

As I mentioned above, I have learned a great deal about myself in the last three months. I am absolutely LOVING what I am doing right now between being an active social media manager (in terms of building my personal brand,) being a proud business owner (my freelance photography career is picking up some,) and working on my dream of writing and publishing a book. In the last three months, I have had three works published online, two of which were for FTM Magazine. One of my dreams has been to make it in to FTM Magazine one day, and that may be close to happening, as long as I can produce some great content, (or make a name for myself; whichever comes first.) I am so happy that I can't stand it, yet my mental health is still quite low. How can this be? Let's go back to that money thing for a minute...

My wife is bringing home 95% of the bacon right now. My income is coming from working online and my photography. I actually feel guilty for following my dreams because it's having a negative effect on my wife. We're both stressed about bills and how to come up with the money to pay them, but I know deep down she loves how passionate I am about my dreams. She's told me before that one of the reasons she fell in love with me was because of the amount of passion I put in to the things I love. As much as I'm self-destructive on a regular basis over the stress I'm causing, I will not let myself give up.

Ready for full honesty time? No? Too bad. Here it is: I never want to have to answer to anyone else ever again. I don't want to be on the same monotonous schedule everyday. I don't want to deal with coworkers who are assholes or idiots...or company higher-ups for that matter. I don't want to deal with the pain and agony that comes with working for someone else, making THEM money at the expense of my mental health. I JUST want to make money. HUGE difference. I can honestly say that I believe I CAN make money writing a book, speaking, being a photographer, and living my full dream of being a transgender activist. As much as I need money, I also need to be happy. I can't tell you the last time I was truly happy...I mean truly at least 98% of the time happy. It was probably before puberty. The saddest people smile the biggest, right? I was complimented on my smile constantly before true depression set in when I got to college even though I've been miserable for the majority of my life since the age of 11. It's time to get my life of a positive track!

November is NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month for those who aren't up to date on acronyms. Although I am not writing a novel, rather an autobiographical memoir (confusing, I know,) I'll be using the month and the site for two main reasons: a) I need money, and selling nonfiction works. If I can get a book written by December 1, (that sells well,) I might never have to work again, if all goes better than expected. b) The site can help me track my progress which is a great motivator. The goal of NaNoWriMo is to write a 50,000 word novel in a month. For me, since I'm not qualified to submit for the prize, I'm not focused on the word count but rather the time frame. The sooner the better as I really don't want to go back to working for someone else. As the guy in the Geico commercial says, "I'm a loner, and a loner's gotta be alone." I'm an independent worker, and I've gotta spread my wings and fly! Alright, all corniness aside, this makes sense, right?

Aside from that, I'm hoping to continue doing the photography thing. I'm hoping to get some speaking engagements, possibly in putting on a political rally or even planning or participating in a TDOR (Transgender Day of Remembrance) event. I'll continue working on my personal brand online. I'm going to keep volunteering for the Bernie Sanders campaign. I feel REALLY good about where my life is headed. I really do. I think I've even figured out what I want to go to graduate school for, (Political Science.)

Sometimes I catch myself thinking completely about something I love with no thoughts of our financial woes. Those moments are magical, and I just want every minute of every day to feel like that. I know I can make that happen...

Somehow I Became An Author

Life at the moment is a huge struggle. My wife and I are quite literally out of money to pay the bills. We have well over $1,000 worth of bills coming up in the next two-three weeks and about $100 to our name. Awesome, right? The worst part is, I'm still striking out when it comes to finding a job. So, I'm trying something a little different.

If you've been reading my posts from the beginning, you know that one of the reasons I started this blog was to work on my writing skills in preparation of writing my book. Initially, I wasn't expecting that to become a reality any time soon, but within the the last week or so, I've put together a basis for an entire marketing strategy to sell this book that doesn't even exist yet. I'm at a point where this is what I want to do...full-time. Of we all know the probably is, this isn't going to help us pay the bills in the least. So right now I'm feeling really anxious and nervous about what the next two-plus weeks hold. 

To try and gain some more income (outside of Rev.com and TextBroker,) I've signed up for Fiverr and figured out how to reinstate my AdSense account on YouTube, but again, it's not much. However, with Fiverr, I sold an article to a website called Meaws.com, and it was published today. The good news is, if it does well (in terms of shares, likes, etc.) they might take me on as a regular paid contributor! So I'm really holding out for that because anything that has to do with writing is exactly what I want to do.

The one other thing I'm doing is working on a Kindle book (which I may also have printed.) It's not as personal or "exciting" as the big book I'm working on, but my hope is that it sells enough where I have a steady stream of passive income coming in. All I've been doing lately is writing, which has actually hurt my YouTube career (which I need to get back to ASAP!) But, writing has been really good for me. 

As stressed out as I am about the money, and believe me it's a really bad amount of stress, nothing makes me happier than spending my days writing and marketing myself online. I've created a new author-focused website and Tumblr profile, I've update my Facebook page, Twitter profile, and YouTube channel, and basically I've been coming up with ways to get people excited about this book so it will sell better when it comes out...and it's been really fun!

So to say the least, this is a make or break time for me and my wife. I either bring in enough money to help get these bills paid doing what I'm doing now, or I don't and things start going downhill real fast. The third option is getting a job (which I am trying to find) and settle, which will yet again put my dreams on hold. The first option is the only one that will make me happy, but something tells me it's just not going to work out, and I really don't know what to do...

World Suicide Prevention Day: We Need To Talk!

Today is World Suicide Prevention Day.

Every September since 2012, I have marked National Suicide Prevention Month in some way. A lot of this stemmed from doing multiple presentations the year prior regarding suicide and bullying. One date that is forever lodged in my brain is September 18, 2011; the day 14 year old Jamey Rodemeyer took his own life due to constant bullying at school. Whether or not I was sheltered to the teen suicide epidemic prior to this one teen's death or his death sparked the national outrage is still unknown to me. What I do know is that suicide prevention is VERY important to me and Jamey's death really pushed me over the edge in trying to combat it.

During the second half of my sophomore year of college (a handful of months after Jamey's death,) I started the campaign, End Hate: Educate! to help raise awareness of the issues of bullying and how all too often it leads to suicide. Since then, I can't tell you how many heartbreaking stories I've heard on the news, the most recent being of transgender teens Leelah Alcorn, Sam Taub, and Blake Brockington, Brockington of whom just a year prior to his death was crowned prom king, the first transgender prom king in North Carolina. 

These stories are painful and they need to stop. I created End Hate to help save children and teens, but just a few months later, something happened that made me realize that it's not just about children and teens; adults commit suicide too but it's not covered in the news nearly as often. By covering the suicides of children and teens, the media is sending a message that it's not tragic when an adult takes their own life. 

If you're an adult reading this post and you've ever considered suicide, 

I want you to know that you matter too! 

You are loved and you are important! 

Please, never give up on your life. 

It's the only one you get!

If the following statistics don't break your heart, there's something wrong...

Suicide in the United States

• Each year, 34,598 people die by suicide, an average of 94 completed suicides every day.
• More people die by suicide (34,598) than by homicide (18,361) in the United States.

Suicide Attempt and Ideation in the United States

• Every year, 864,950 people attempt suicide, which means 1 person attempts suicide every 38 seconds.
• More than 395,000 people are treated in emergency rooms every year for self-inflicted injuries.
• It is estimated that 3.7% of the U.S. population (8.3 million people) had thoughts of suicide in the past year, with 1.0% of the population (2.3 million people) developing a suicide plan and 0.5% (1 million people) attempting suicide.

Depression and Suicide

• Depression is a common mental health disorder, with the 18.8 million Americans suffering from depression every year. In addition to being common, depression is a risk factor for suicide.
• Two-thirds of people that die by suicide are depressed at the time of their death.
• Among those that have major depression, the risk of death by suicide is 20 times greater than those that are not depressed.
• Treatment for depression is very effective; however, less than 25 percent of people with depression receive adequate care.
• Unwillingness to seek help is another risk factor for suicide.

Source: Copied from Emory University

Every year nearly 900,000 attempt suicide. NINE HUNDRED THOUSAND PEOPLE! Just let that sink in for a minute. That's over 200,000 more people than the population of Boston, MA. That is utterly heartbreaking. The worst part is, this can be prevented!

The number one cause of suicide is untreated depression.

As someone who has suffered from depression for years, I know what it's like to feel absolutely worthless. Now, luckily for me, (although it's a win/lose kind of deal,) I've had a lifelong fear of death which has prevented having any suicidal thoughts. The reason I'm telling you this is because it's important to note that not everyone suffering from depression is suicidal, and vice versa. Only 2/3 of people who commit suicide are depressed at the time of their death. 

It's important to break down these statistics and start having discussions on mental health because only then can the issue of suicide be stopped. As stated above, less than 25% of people with depression receive adequate care. We NEED an overhaul of our mental health practices in this country as well as implement easier access to those in need. With the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, there are NO reasons why seeking help from a mental health professional shouldn't be considered preventative and covered fully under all insurance plans. If pap smears, prostate exams, and breast cancers screenings are preventative in the sense that they check for cancers, going to therapy should be preventive on the basis that it can prevent suicide. 

Aside from not being able to access care, there's strong stigma attached to mental health which is why so many people never seek treatment. So now the question is:    

How can we challenge stigma?

• learn and share the facts about mental health and illness
• get to know people with personal experiences of mental illness
• speak up in protest when friends, family, colleagues or the media display false beliefs and negative stereotypes
• offer the same support to people when they are physically or mentally unwell
• don't label or judge people with a mental illness, treat them with respect and dignity as you would anyone else
• don’t discriminate when it comes to participation, housing and employment
• talk openly of your own experience of mental illness. The more hidden mental illness remains, the more people continue to believe that it is shameful and needs to be concealed.

 Source: Copied from Western Australia Mental Health Commission

I am not ashamed of my depression. I am not ashamed to say that I've been in therapy. I'm not ashamed to say that I'm taking antidepressants. 

The more people that come out and talk about what dealing with a mental illness is really like, the more understanding there will be in the world. The more understanding, the less stigma, a shrinking in the number of suicides. Yes, I suffer from depression. No, that doesn't mean I can't smile, laugh, and have fun. It simply just makes it harder. For those who know me, you might think there's no way I can be depressed because of what you see online. There's a reason I tend to only post positive life statuses online. I don't want that negativity around forever. I did that enough four years ago when I first started dealing with depression, and I see it every time I look at Timehop. But what goes on behind the scenes of what is seen is really hard to deal with. I get sad for no reason, I get angry and frustrated for no reason, I lack emotion to the point where my wife is trying to be cute and cuddly, and all I'm thinking is, "not now..." I love her so much and it kills me that there are times like this that I have no control over. But I'm not just some sad sack. Depression kills because of stigma. 

Suicide prevention is so important to me. I almost lost the love of my life three years ago. She wasn't lying in her wedding vows when she said I saved her life once. It was the scariest day of my life, and it haunts me to this day. We both suffer from PTSD because of it, and it's so hard to talk about which is why I never go in to details. But just because someone isn't suicidal themselves, doesn't mean they haven't been impacted by the weight of suicide through someone else's suffering. 

I will never be able to forget that day. It was the worst day of my life and every time I write something about it, I just freeze up and have to take short breaks before I can finish writing. Prior to that day, I believe during our sophomore year of college, I gave her a National Suicide Prevention Lifeline card that she keeps in her wallet to this day. Anyone can make that one simple but lifesaving move to save someone who is suicidal. Share posts online highlighting the number. Make sure to remind those suffering with mental illness that they're not alone. Reach out and talk to anyone who needs it. 

Being transgender and having joined several online communities, people post all the time about wanting to end their lives, but we band together and make sure there is always someone available to help those guys. Transgender individuals have the highest rate of suicide out of any other group in the world at 41%. It's not because us being trans is a mental illness, but rather because of the lack of acceptance and again that same stigma that getting help makes you weak or unworthy. 

At the end of the month I will be participating in the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention's Out of the Darkness Walk to raise money for research, education, and prevention initiatives to help shrink the heartbreaking number of people who believe there is nothing here for them. If you have the means, please consider donating to our team by clicking here. All donations are tax deductible and will really help in aiding these prevention programs.

If you or someone you love is suffering from suicidal thoughts, consider printing out the wallet card by clicking this link. It saved my wife's life and it can save many more. 

Cards can also be ordered for FREE here.

For immediate help (US,) please call 

1 (800) 273-8255

The line is open 24/7 and is available in English and Spanish

Positive Life Changes

Today is September 6th. It has been 40 days since I've worked for someone else. These past 5+ weeks have been quite the adventure, to say the least. I spent the first week on my honeymoon and then the next couple weeks filling out job applications. Soon after that, something happened. Something inside of me just said to calm down and take at look at the opportunity within the madness. So, I did.

For the past two weeks, I have been working part time online as an independent contractor for Rev captioning videos as well as taking on some freelance writing jobs through the site Text Broker. Due to working at home, I was able to take some time to really focus on gathering information for my book as well as concentrating on expanding my photography business. I also recently hit my one year on testosterone which meant working on my documentary as well which I have released on my YouTube channel (yes, that was a shameless plug, but check it out!) These things are what I really enjoy doing, and through doing them, not only have I felt more in control of my life, but my depression has become less crippling which has been so great.

Aside from taking control of certain aspects of my life such as these, I have also made some improvements or have taken steps to improve my overall health. I won't go into any specifics, but so far everything is going well. Just an example of one thing I'm doing is going to physical therapy regularly to hopefully end my neck and back issues that I've had for years. Working from home gives me the flexibility I need to make appointments and get stuff done.

The one downside to all of this is the pay, BUT the good news is my wife started her new job two weeks ago and her pay is more than we could have imagined. We're not sure how, but we're not complaining! Now, I do hate relying on her to pay the bills, but that is a part of marriage, and it's not like I'm making nothing. I am making something. It's just mentally and emotionally messing me up a bit, but eventually I'll be making more and we'll be back to sharing everything 50/50.

There are some drawbacks to the current situation, but overall I am 10x times happier than I was working for someone else. I set my own schedule, I have time to do the things I love, I see my wife everyday for more than five minutes at a time. and I have time to watch my favorite shows, read my favorite books, and really just relax. I think becoming unexpectedly unemployed has really become something really positive which is something I was hoping for with all of this.

There Are Actually Some Legitimate Ways to Make Money Online

If you have been keeping up with my posts, you've read about how I've always wanted to work from home. I'm socially awkward which makes it very anxiety provoking to deal with people (usually customers rather than co-workers just for clarification.) Because of this, and my love of working on the computer, I have been heavily seeking out legitimate ways to make money from home, online. So far I have come up with three main sites that I plan on making an income off of.

The first site is TextBroker. TextBroker is a straight up freelance writing site where you take on as much or as little work as you would like. Clients post their needs on the site with a specific definition of what needs to be written, the preferred length in number of words, and any key words that must be used in the article. So far, just to try it out, I've completed three assignments. I have earned $8.41 for a little less than an hours worth of work (which equates higher than the national and NH's minimum wage of $7.25/hr!) One of the three assignments was just coming up with a slogan for a website. It took me all of 15 minutes to check out the website and come up with something, and it was accepted. That one only garnered me about $0.20, but the pay rate is set at a certain price per word (usually a few cents.)

The second site is Amazon's Mechanical Turk. This site offers HITs (human intelligence tasks) which can be anything from surveys to being a secret telephone shopper. The pay isn't great, but I've made $11.96 so far and still have one pending HIT that needs to be approved or rejected. The clients for the HITS approve or reject your hit, but the approval rate is pretty high. I have had 1 out of 16 HITs rejected, and it was because I took their survey "too fast." The money can be withdrawn to PayPal 10 days after completing your first HIT. This site is better as something to do to pass time rather than a full time job, but you can make some money none the less. The trick for me has been to ignore anything under $0.50 as it will most likely be a waste of time (like some pay $0.01. I'm not wasting my time for a penny.) When I was really bored, and there were no HITs $0.50 or higher that I qualified for, I took on a $0.40 and a $0.33. It's really all up to you.

The third site, and the one that is so far the most fun, is Rev. For Rev you can apply to be a translator, transcriptionist, or a video captioner. I signed up to do video captioning as it seemed like a really fun task. I have completed my base application, which includes a test video that's under 2 minutes long you have to caption. Since I "passed" my first caption test, I now have two more videos to caption before I can start getting paid. There has been a bit of a setback today though. I went on to complete my second test video, and Quill, the sight Rev directs and uses for their caption software, had no record of my account. I was confused but decided to try and create an account with all the same credentials. Some text popped up saying that there was already an active account with that username. So I emailed them and am waiting for a response. I need to have the videos completed by midnight tomorrow, so I am a bit worried at the moment. This job would be a lot of fun though, has steady pay (every Monday right to PayPal,) and does provide the opportunity to grow a little bit and become a grader. There have been very mixed reviews for the site, but I figure there's nothing to lose trying.

There are also a few other sites I've tried out. ProductReportCard is a survey site where you can make $8.25 just for signing up and completing your profile. The only problem is there has only been one survey available so far. It was worth $2.50 though so I'm up to $10.75. You can cash out right to PayPal when you hit $25.

MintVine is another survey site. I'm still not 100% sure how it works, but you get points for your surveys that can then be turned in for rewards. Be careful though as some of the points from Points Place will not post to the account (I've been shorted 140.) You're better off taking the regular surveys. 

With all these options, I should be able to make a pretty decent income from home, one that should actually be able to help pay the bills! With Rev alone you can make anywhere from $250/month to well over $1,500/month which equates to roughly $8.30/hr working 40 hours a week. My goal is to be able to spend more time with my wife, start really working on my book, and just be less stressed. My prospects are good. Now I just wait to see if everything pulls through.

Our Last Shred Of Fun For A While: Our Honeymoon

Last week my wife and I finally went on our much anticipated honeymoon. With the job loss, it was a little more stressful than I wanted it to be, but we had fun. The hardest part was feeling guilty sharing what we went out and did the whole time because of the job loss. All the "maybe you shouldn't be going out all the time if you don't have any money" business got real old. What everyone doesn't understand is that last week was paid for and was possible because of wedding gifts. It was 100% paid for before I lost my job. We didn't use anything from our bank accounts. It was all gifts! Are we not allowed to have fun? I just wish people would stop judging others when they don't know the whole story...

Anyway, our trip started late on Sunday (August 2) after my softball game. Our first leg of the trip was in Connecticut. We stayed with my wife's grandfather (because despite what everyone believes, we are money conscious...) On Monday we went to New York City which was a surreal experience for me! It was my first time, and I enjoyed it a lot. I never thought I would ever make it to NYC with my anxiety. As a photographer though it was overwhelming. I felt as though I was missing a lot of photo opportunities. The best part was Madame Tussauds! We took a train from CT right into Grand Central Station (which was surreal in itself since it's in like every movie.) I remembered to get a real NY bagel too (which definitely lived up to the hype!) 

After our time in CT we headed to Hampton Beach which is where I proposed two years ago. It's one of our favorite spots, but after the past few days I think we both agree that it's a place that is better with more people. It was also too cold to actually go swimming in the ocean which made that leg of the trip a bit of a bummer (but what are you gonna do?) We went and sat on the beach twice and took a few strolls down at the water. We ate a lot of good food and discovered a lot of new places that we didn't know about the last time we were there which was cool. And of course we spent a lot of time at Coffee Cann which has the best coffee ever! It's Green Mountain Coffee but it's the only place we've ever seen Brownie Toffee Crunch! 

To round out our honeymoon we went to see Andy Grammer and American Authors at the Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom (the tickets of which I got for my birthday, and actually ended up being the entire reason we spent part of our honeymoon in Hampton.) It was an awesome concert! We got pictures with Andy's guitarist and bassist and also with Zac (lead singer) and Dave (bassist) of American Authors which was super cool! We just missed Andy after the concert though. My wife also found one of the guitar picks that American Authors threw at the end of the concert on the floor after the majority of the people cleared out, so that was our souvenir. 

So overall it was a fun week, but now we're home and I am in full "job search" mode which is really getting me down. The bills aren't going to be able to be paid with just my wife's income which is why I set up a GoFundMe page. I also have my unemployment orientation coming up. I haven't heard yet whether or not I qualify for unemployment benefits, but I really hope I do! I don't monetarily qualify for anything close to what I was making before, but it will definitely help! So if I'm not around the Blogger world for a while it's because I'm hardcore job searching and working on ways to make money.