CeeDee World

It's been over a month since I've hopped on here. Partly because it's been a quiet season of life and partly because I am trying to sort out the next chapter of life - and that's been filled with confusion, rejection, and frustration. BUT This past weekend took me back to Houston, to celebrate not one, but three friends, weddings! Each friend near and dear to my heart, each from a different and beautiful chapter of life, that I am still privileged to call a friend. First up was Julia, aka Cupcake. We first met at the Houston Museum of Natural Science as Ecoteen volunteers back in high school - I feel like we initially bonded because we both didn't know anyone else in the program so connected because of that. One week, while supporting the Triwizard Tournament, we were the keepers of the golden egg and we were stationed in the gems and minerals hall for an hour and had a chance to become friends. From there the friendship grew. I have so many fun and fond memories of

On my last euro trip to Scotland, we came upon this sign in Edinburgh that said, "Where do we go from here?". At the time, it felt annoyingly poignant. But this question keeps popping up in the last 48 days since I've been back in America.  To be honest, I have been struggling. I feel lost. Like a sail without a mast. Feeling like I have no direction, no belonging, and sometimes like no purpose.  I do not like it.  At all. I was spoiled over the past year. I was challenged daily and pushed outside of my comfort zone in one way or another. I no longer feel challenged and boy is it boring.  I've questioned several times if this is just 'normal' and I no longer know what that looks or feels like. Even before the MBA, I was running at a pace faster than most as we were in a 24/7 manufacturing schedule. Talking to Rebecca a few days ago she also mentioned not being able to 'rest' either.  It feels like what I imagine the come down from a high is. I've b

I skipped the blog last week as there was not much worth reporting, although I did have the chance to watch Moulin Rouge at the Kennedy Center. The building itself is amazing.  This past week, I was sent to Kent, Washington, for a work-together week at Blue's headquarters. The weather there reminded me of the UK, and in many ways, it felt like being in a warm blanket to be back in a jumper daily. While I can't share what I was working on, it was so cool to be around a production floor again and see some really impressive engineering. I was able to meet with several folks and have some really good conversations while I was there too, I even ran into an old York coworker who works at Blue in Denver now - was so nice to catch up! I flew back on the first flight out of Seattle on Friday and when I hit DC, I met up with Jessica! She came to DC for the weekend to go to a Jonas Brothers concert! While we were sitting at dinner, we decided to be a smidge spontaneous and buy cheap ticke

I was packing up and moving across the pond to Cambridge this time last year. This year, I only headed to the East Coast. Tuesday marked the beginning of my internship with Blue Origin. Over the next three and a half months, I have the opportunity to work with the strategy team and learn more about the business side of the aerospace industry. This is totally uncharted territory for me, so I'm a healthy mixture of nervous and excited to see how it all plays out. Everyone I've met so far has been lovely and I look forward to working with them more during the internship! The real highlight of this week came on Friday. I went to see Rebecca and Cody for the weekend in NYC! As I was about to hop on the metro to DCA, I found out my flight was canceled. But thanks to the speedy work of Rebecca, I was able to get on a train an hour later and make my way up the East Coast. Rebecca and Mike were kind enough to pick me up from Penn Station and drop me off in Brooklyn at Cody's.   Satu

They told us that this year would change us... I don't feel changed. Everywhere I look around me though I see change. Friends have married, moved, had children, and started new jobs. Heck, even the Houston Museum of Natural Science looks different. When folks have asked me how it feels to be back I have said it feels like putting on a pair of jeans you haven't worn in a long time. Everything still fits, but it feels a little tight and uncomfortable. So, does that mean that I have changed? I've spent a lot of time during these days at home reflecting on the past year and what it has meant to me. In so many ways, it doesn't feel over. I am convinced I will fly back to the UK sooner than I actually am. 

This week marked my last days in Cambridge, at least for this calendar year. The time has flown!   Monday marked Rebecca’s last day in Cambridge and after a hotpot dinner, a large group gathered at the Prince Regent to bid her adieu. Dom quickly realized that she still had some wine in her locker so we moved the party to the Judge lobby. I found some Cobra beers in Emily’s locker too. We spent an hour or so talking about the past year. Our highs, our lows, and most memorable moments. Rebecca went around and told us all the memories she has of meeting each of us for the first time. Then we played some 20 questions to try to guess what name we had on our sticky note. I was challenged to open a beer with another beer. This engineer struggled a bit with that one…overall this was such a special night. There was just something about reflecting on the year in the building that brought us all together. As Rebecca would say, it’s a core memory. Luckily I will be seeing Rebecca in a few short we