On July 31, I started my new job! It's my first "real" job (not a student job or a contract position) and I hope I can keep working with this company for a long time to come :D Everyone seems really pleased with my work so far. My goal is to become a group leader a few years down the line - hopefully before I turn 30 - or when the current group leader gets promoted. Fingers crossed!!

I also feel really accomplished in other areas of my life as well! I'm taking an online course (not for credit) about cell biology, and I've actually managed to get half of it done so far.

I have also been volunteering at the local hospital, and I just hit 40 hours of volunteer service. Yay, me. I'm working in the gift shop, and I figure it will be good experience in case I ever end up working retail. My fiance is worried that I won't be able to sustain the energy needed to hold down a full-time job and work a 5-hour volunteer shift on the weekends, but we will see.

Finally, I just donated my 4th unit of blood through the Red Cross today. I'm sure that makes about 10 units of blood donated overall, since I didn't track my donations in college. I'm a bit of a blood-donation fanatic. I think it's a very important thing to do, and I'm really sad that more people don't donate when it's so easy and takes such little time. :<