"Hello.... How are you... "

Yes Adele's new song is pretty baller.

As many of you might know or might not know,  for awhile I was thinking about leaving DC. I had given up on the nations capital for its expensive, fast moving, and overwhelming atmosphere. I got through the honey moon stage and really convinced myself that Washington, D.C. was too much for Mary G. I started visiting my friends and looking into other places to live.

Until....

I realized the life I made myself here is too great to give up. I would have too many regrets if I moved. As many hours I put in with Clark, I wouldn't want to put those hours in somewhere else. I work with some of the best people. My roommate hasn't missed a single speech competition I have been in. My coworker and partner in crime Megan, includes me in so many of her plans and our trailer jam sessions.  My superintendent challenges me everyday and also gives me fresh vegetables from his garden. I know he thinks I'm crazy but at least he thinks I'm funny. I get to solve problems and make people laugh especially the Clark Civil team I work with. I'm sure they think I'm a clown but I show them work can be fun and productive. I get to play on multiple sports teams where I meet really great people. Johanna Hsu, one of my biggest supporters, is going to NYC with  me this coming up weekend to watch me crawl over the NYC marathon finish line. Through Jo I met Roxy who is a hoot!! I spend only a little time with her on Sunday's but it's one of my favorite hours of the weekend.

Although I am far from my family and my closest friends from college. There is something about the places I go that make me feel so welcome and that I belong.

Sometimes you just focus to much on the bad that you forget about all the great things going for you. Like people that love and care about you. The people like Liz Crowley, who messages me to tell me my future with Clark is beyond bright. Little does she know, she was a great role model for me. Or Kyle who reminds me to step back and realize our jobs our truly amazing. I could never forget my first cube mate Nell, her note sits right over my laptop "stay strong".


I don't know about you guys but I am quite a lucky girl. All these people support me and I can only hope I show enough of my appreciation to them.

Also I am a week away from the NYC marathon. I am going to be honest with y'all and myself. My goal is to finish. Please make fun of my time or remind me how much training I should have done. I am very aware of how I dropped the ball. Once I make it through this Houston will be my redemption, to myself and all the haters.


Cheers to an honest post.
This week thank someone who makes your day just a little brighter.

Anybody with me?
MG

Now watch me whip, now watch me nae nae

 So I'm sure you weren't expecting this song choice but you will see why.

This weekend I went to Boston Massachusetts. There's something about catching  up with friends that that makes you think. First of all I had one of the best weekends I have had in a long time. Even though I lost a jacket and spent most of my time dancing in rain boots, I crushed it.

 Although  I am over a year out of college I still feel like I am very new to the real world. Or "adulting" is what I like to call it. When seeing my fellow classmates I can't help but reminisce about all of our crazy times in college. A part of me really misses those times and how close I used to live to my friends. It was almost heartbreaking to have to say "see you soon" or "until next time".

I think it's hard to be in your twenties. You aren't sure where you are is where you want to be. You want to try something new but not because of a "grass is always greener" mentality. You want to make sure you are giving everything a chance before you make a big decision. The scary part is these decisions have to be made by you, which is a lot of responsibility .

I was recently told by my friend Hannah, one of the best analogies. A city is like a relationship you have to test it out and see if you like it. You have to find out what works best for you. This involves finding out what you like and don't like.

The best part about your twenties is you have options. You don't have anything holding you back from trying something new.

One thing I love to do is dance. I don't have to have drinks , just some sick beats and a decent dance floor. I don't care what people think of my dancing and it makes me feel free. I think there are times in your life when you don't feel "free"and you have to do something to change that. The feeling of freedom and having choices is why we live in 'Merica, am I right?  ;)

If you are unhappy, find your solution to set yourself free.

To happiness and a dance floor.
Anybody with me?

P.s. I have won some dance offs in my time.

Something has changed within me, something is not the same...

I never watched Wicked but this song has been stuck in my head all day. I spent the last month pretty sad,stressed out and a bit overwhelmed. To most people this sounds awful and depressing, and most people are right. I stopped working out and training for that marathon. I came home from work everyday to eat dinner and the go to bed so I would wake up for the next day. Life seemed to be that motion of sleep eat work, and then repeat.

But why?

There are two parts of construction. You can work in the office; estimating, budgeting, and purchasing jobs. You can be in the field; actually watching those jobs be built. All I ever wanted to do was to be on site till I realized I knew nothing about being on a job. The first thing I noticed was earlier hours, second thing: everything is time pressing and can impact the schedule, third thing: you make a lot of mistakes. There are a lot of things about construction I don't know. I couldn't get over the fact I didn't know enough. But instead of having confidence in myself I was losing sleep about all the things I had to learn.

How do you get over the fact that you are going to make mistakes? You have a superintendent tell you that you are going to make them your whole life but you better learn from them. Then you own up to your mistakes and find a way to fix them.

The saying "nobody's perfect" is not just a song by Hannah Montana, but something that I needed to stop being so immature about. When you are given a responsibility like managing different subcontractors you can either take the challenge or run and hide. I think I lost my confidence somewhere due to the fact I was so scared to make a mistake.

Here's a lesson to you recent college grads or just anyone in general. Take every task you are given as a challenge. Own it, ask for help, and know that you will make mistakes. Mistakes will help you learn.

I am back to marathon training and doing more after work then just going to bed. I am learning everyday how to deal with new issues and most importantly I have met another person that has played a key role in helping me grow in my career. Megan and I call him Ter-Bear, but don't tell him that. But most importantly if you don't take away anything else from this post, take away this: Terry Moore is the man. With over 30 years of experience compared to my puny one year, I am reminded everyday, I have a lot to learn and there is nothing wrong with that.

To taking on challenges and making mistakes, because chances are you probably don't know everything.

Anybody with me?

Guess who's back back again......

It has been awhile since I decided to write a blog post. For awhile I felt as if blogging wasn't for me anymore, I lost my followers/supporters, and that what I wrote just wasn't interesting anymore. But most importantly I got caught up in a little thing called work. 

Recently I decided I need to change two things about myself.

 1) When someone asks how I am, or how I have been doing; I need to stop responding with busy. Everyone is busy with themselves, work, family, etc. Busy is such an interesting word, it is almost empowering to feel busy. Busy gives someone a sense of worth or importance. Oh sorry I can't go, I have been so busy. Listen people! Everyone is BUSY. It is almost as boring as telling someone "I'm good". 

2) This brings me to another thing I want to work on: keeping in touch with friends. We rely so much on someone else using their phone to text/email/call/facebook message, that we get so caught up in the moment we lose friends. Recently I sat down and made a list of 8 people I haven't talked to in forever and wrote them cards. It has brought me such joy this week to get a text from them thanking me for the card and reaching out. I still have more cards to send out, but it was nice to know I could make someones day.

Sometimes just hearing something nice from someone will get you out of your rut. I was recently told by one of my very good friends Curtis that this quote reminded him of me "the purest of people do the purest things and in return have the purest of lives".  Then he reminded me that blogging is a part of who I am and I blog to become a better version of myself.

Sometimes you just need someone to kick you in the butt to get yourself back together. 

I recently clocked in my 1 YEAR at Clark Construction, in which I told people I felt like I have been working forever. This is coming from the girl that has a sign on her desk that says "born to party, forced to work". A year in, I still feel like a new hire sometimes at Clark. They pile on the responsibilities and challenge you everyday. Along with a challenging work atmosphere you meet some amazing people. 

So to catch you up with my life.. I am now back to blogging. I am working on catching up with friends. Continuously learning more about construction. Writing my book. Improving myself everyday.

Also while leaving the metro today this one asian tween tried to hold my hand. You haven't missed much world, my life is still awkward.

To stop saying "I have been so busy"

Anybody with me?

Disclaimer: This blog post isn't to scare you!

I am just putting a quick disclaimer on this post, I am not at all in bad spirits or feel depressed in any way.

Recently I read this article on this girl that committed suicide, however her depression was masked by her positive posts on social media. First of all, the article made me shed some tears because everyone's life is worth something special. This article sparked a thought though as well. Social media makes people think that your life is going swell; you have no worries in the world, and you secretly want people to be jealous of your life. It hides all of your bad experiences and paints a pretty picture or adds a filter to a pretty picture.

Well here is the truth. ... To people who think I am living the dream: my life isn't perfect.

There are days when I need to take a break from it all because well I need to. The saddest part about needing a break is that I always feel as if I need to defend myself or come up with some acceptable excuse. Some days I just need to take a deep breath and slow down. As much as my mom is a super hero (she does it all without taking many breaks, except for her power naps), there are times when I need to take a mental break day.

Recently my mind hasn't stopped thinking. Tomorrow marks the year anniversary since I graduated college. Time has flown by! I also have been kicking myself in the ass for not making more of an effort to be home for mother's day. Although time hasn't really been on my side. Two days ago I met up with James (a best friend from college), who made the effort to come down to DC. I vented to him about the different obstacles one has to overcome when you move to an area that you don't know anyone. He also has had the same experience when he moved to NH. James only reassured me with happy thoughts by telling me that I should be proud of myself for taking the big plunge. He also told me that its okay to do things by yourself, and sometimes being alone is just what you need. I like to think that things happen for a reason. I believe James came at the perfect time, to tell me to take time to myself and to just stop thinking.

As much as physical fitness is important, I believe mental fitness is important also. To the new college graduates, especially of Clarkson, my best advice is to take some time to self reflect. Be proud of your huge accomplishment and your journey has just begun. Don't forget to take days for yourself and continue to self reflect either on your happiness, your success or just to clear your mind. Don't hide behind social media; talk to a friend that might be going through the same thing and get some advice. I can promise to lend some advice whenever or wherever is needed. Well I can't help with directions because I am incompetent at that.

Most importantly wish your Mom a Happy Mother's Day, because moms are superheroes. They never stop to take a break.

To happiness and moments of self reflection...

Anybody with me?

Only rainbows after rain ...

Well if spring hasn't hit DC, I don't know what did. I do love the 70 degree weather for April. I can say I am a Facebook fan of that! It has been a while since I wrote my last post. I am trying to update you without seeming like I haven't done much with my life.

I am running the NYC marathon on November 1st, to cross another item off the bucket list. I am in the process of writing a book about my life. It will be funny I promise. The book is coming along but it is very hard to organize my thoughts.

This blog post is being centered on the world comfortable. Which to most people is a positive term, "I am really comfortable in this chair". That was a lame example but you get the point. For me I hate being comfortable, it either means I'm not challenging myself enough or I am losing motivation. Today I went to a meeting and this woman came up to me after and she said "Did you notice that out of the 4 women in this room, I was the only one that spoke; why is that?". I  stepped back and was dumbfounded. She said she heard I was in Toastmasters (an international speaking club) and she asked me to think about it.

She was so right....

Here I am getting to comfortable at work. Estimating, calling subs, running through the routine of the daily life of an office engineer. But why I am capable of so so much more. I couldn't stop thinking about this woman on the way home from work. What are the chances? People do enter your life for a reason, and when they say something to you, take it seriously.

I instantly wanted to be a better employee, open some more doors of opportunity and become a better person. I instantly got mad at myself for not contributing to the meeting, because I knew I had ideas to share or things to say.

Sometimes in life we get too comfortable, and most of our goals are to be comfortable with where we are in life. To me, that is a nightmare. I want to be uncomfortable because it is pushing me out of my comfort zone and teaching me to learn new things.

Lately I have been a huge B. I think it is because I feel to comfortable, and I want a new challenge. But I also have to work on be patient, because sometimes the best opportunities come with time.

Today was not a great day, but it was a great learning opportunity.

So if you are comfortable, try something new.

For now, I'm keeping my head up!

Anybody with me?
MG

Thank you, Thank you!!

I know I don't usually posts 2 blog posts a month but today was a great day. You know there are days in you life where you question what you are doing. Those days where you ask yourself is this really what I want to do, am I happy with what I'm doing?

Today wasn't one of those days. Today solidified that I am in the right field.

First of all after a stressful week at work, today we got to go bowling for a new hire event. Yes I am still considered new until my ClarkNet profile says I have been at Clark for a year. There were many executives at this event, such as the head of HR who still remembers the day that I interviewed and talked about Clarkson. But one of my favorite execs was there, my boss John. I think when some of the other new hires see the way my boss and I interact they are confused. Mainly because John and I bust each other all the time, he can take the jokes and let me tell you he is getting very good at dishing the jokes too. I know I won't probably always work for John, but let me tell you he has made Clark a very enjoyable experience for me so far.

Second of all after this bowling event, I checked my phone. I of course had at least a dozen new emails ( I know, I know, I'm popular). It's mainly because we have bid day tomorrow. One of my subs sent me his proposal telling me that when he gets an email from me it makes him smile. And that I should never hesitate to ask him for help. I read the email about 4 or 5 times. It's the little things, like emails that can really solidify your life choices. Yes, construction is about having a personality. I am glad that even though I am not talking face to face with these subs (which I would prefer, my jokes are better delivered when I am in person), through emails and phone calls I can still be myself.

I'd like to give another shout out to this woman I work with, although a shout out is not nearly enough for all the help she has given me. Christine is not only my bid captain but my team Clark leader. She explains to me the industry, how to write scope sheets, how to excel at my job, and most importantly she has given me confidence to do my job (under a lot of critiques of course!!) The red pen will always, always come out. Later through my blog you will learn more about Christine.

I can't write a Clark blog post without mentioning Jo! When my days get crappy or I need advice Jo is always there to straighten me up. Whether it is to pull my skirt down a little bit to straighten out my outfit, or to tell me to take control of my career because no one will do that for me, or to tell me to set higher in volleyball. Jo has not only helped me through Clark but opened up a door of opportunities for me, especially to make friends. We know how to have some fun together!

This is a Thank you Post!

Thank you everyone who has helped me, I know I ask a lot of questions. I know my voice is really loud (I'd like to say I'm working on it but I have to volumes). Thank you for letting me be myself but also teaching a 22 year old how to become professional.

Thank someone today,

Anybody with me?

"We'll never go out of style, We'll never go out of style"

Well I can't say that 2015 was as great as the start of 2014, I had a couple arguments/encounters with best friends that I haven't fully repaired yet. What I thought was a "more than a friend" situation became a " lets just be friends" situation, adding to the awkward moments of my life.

But I think the most important thing I learned about myself through this last month in a half would be the word "grudges". No matter how bad things get, I don't hold grudges and I am open to forgiveness, no matter how disrespected I was. BUT a key note to realize is I am not fast at bouncing back, I am a thinker. I need to think each situation out and how it effected me so I don't say anything I would later regret, I just need that time to myself.

I don't want to throw friendships away, because as we know this world is to hard to conquer on your own.

Lately talking to one of my best friends that I once deleted from Facebook and his phone number from my cell phone (because that is the 21st Century version of deleting a person from your life). It took me what I believe is 6 months to fully forgive him, but he still reminds me at least once a month how happy he is that we are back to being friends again because "everyone needs a little Canajoharie in their life". I can honestly say I am just as happy as he is that we are friends again, the best-est of friends again. But what he helped me realize is that my friendship means a lot to him and to my other friends. I recently received one of the best Valentine's Day cards from my friend Alex. She recapped a bunch of dumb shit that we do and hoping to continue our list of stories. I also received a Valentine's Day text from Jo reminding me that I am beautiful inside and out. I had a wonderful Valentines dinner and dancing with my friends Menisha and Amanda. As we tore up the town with our Uptown Funk. Menisha reminds me every morning "gotta kiss yourself so pretty".

This is what I mean people, no matter who or what brings you down; you can play a key role in peoples lives.

I mean I offer jokes, awkward stories, and apparently a great friendship. But that is something I am working on everyday, being the best version of myself which correlates with being the best friend I can be. I make mistakes, I can overreact about things, I may take sometime to get over things.

But...

I do not hold grudges, because that's not Mary G.

Anybody with me?

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT-A MUST READ

This is my 50th blog post but whose counting?

I look back at all of my posts and I had some moments of self reflection. I had some moments of  doubt; no wonder why that post only got 30 views it sucked. But also some happy tears and laughs from awesome memories.

At this moment I am realizing what people are actually getting out of this blog, some advice, some encouragement, knowing that its okay to have "funks" and mental breakdowns. Or how about no matter how bad your day is you can always find some good in it. Or the struggles (aka First World Problems) of young professionals. As a 22 year old I haven't witnessed enough to be experienced enough to give the best words of encouragement or advice, but I can offer you a laugh or two.

I realized that I also have mislead you. My blog has always been called "Engineering a New Me", in hopes that I would become who I really wanted to be. I lost along the way the most important piece of information, there is nothing wrong with wanting to be a better person, but there is something wrong with wanting to be a new you. No one should ever feel as if the version of yourself isn't good enough that you need to be a complete new person. And for that I apologize.

Recently I tried a new motto "Put yourself out there" which I feel like is an updated version of YOLO. And by doing that I found myself questioning, "whats wrong with me, what should I change?". But silly Mary, tricks are for kids. You shouldn't have to change yourself for anyone but yourself. But even in that situation you are probably still being your biggest critic. Once you start doubting yourself you are losing your biggest fan.

What I'm trying to say people is use 2015 as the year to believe in you! Do something you never in a million years thought you were capable of doing. It can be anything from running a marathon to finally figuring out to order your favorite drink  correctly at Starbucks.

From here on out, you can be expecting my blog to continue to make you laugh, offer advice, real life stories, add some inspiration to your life. And most importantly hearing things straight up from Mary G. I can only hope  most of you read this as if I was reading it to you in my batman voice. You know the one my mom hates?

Give yourself some credit, the world is already full of critics you don't need another one.

Anybody with Me?