Last Chance!

Count down: eleven hours and 56 minutes left to comment on my PIF post for your chance to win! Come on Dad! I want to see your name in there! Right now it is between Mom, Lou, Nik, Lisa, and Heather. English family, tell Jeanne and Charlie, I want as many people here as I can get! Flurer Family, tell the girls, I am sure they would like a chance to win. As it stands, I am still at a loss as to what to send, so it will be a suprise for everyone! Oh, and I found out I am one of the lucky three from my Cousin Heather's PIF and will be receiving lovely foaming anti bacterial soap from Bath and Body Works. I can hardly wait!

I am having a Halloween party at my house tonight so I will have one of my guests pick out the lucky winners!

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It has been a while since I have posted anything worth while here, so I hope you all forgive me. My new job has turned my world upside down. I am constantly behind on laundry and dishes. I have only cooked dinner once in the two and a half weeks I have been employed. My house is a mess and I am having people over tonight. I desperatly hope I can get it cleaned before people start coming. I only have about an hour...maybe less.

Last night we went to a Halloween party at Al and Jeanne's. It was quite a shindig. Nik and I were late since he doesnt get home from work till after 6, and I had had a bad day at work, so I work, so it took a little time to be ready to go. I had a lot of fun. I heard some fun stories from Al, and everyone (well, almost everyone...Kersten) was dressed up. Em was Jack Sparrow, and it was a stricking likeness. I think she should consider a career change ;) I forgo'd my Harley Quinn costume, even though I am way excited to have it, I just didn't want to mess with the face makeup. Instead I was a Punk Rock Angel. I thought it was pretty cool. That is what I am today at work too. Minus the wings. Nik was a Young Hue Heffner. I was impressed how many people got that right off the bat. I wanted to be a Bunny, but it was a family party.

Well, I guess that is all for now. I have a little more time today at work, so maybe I will post again.

Happy Halloween!

Two minutes in Heaven is better than one minute in Heaven

One, Two, Three, TAG!

I've been tagged (and I have nothing better to do)!

A. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning.
B. Each player lists 6 facts/habits about themselves.
C. At the end of the post, the player then tags 6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.


1. I love singing along with the radio and CD's, but I cannot sing. Just ask the lady that sits next to me in Ward Choir. And don't ask why I am in Ward Choir.

2. I have a horrible memory, except when it comes to stupid stuff. Then I remember it all.

3. I moved 14 times before I was 8.

4. I would love to have laser eye surgery, but when I think about the precedure, I gives me the willies.

5. I am envious of my Cousin Lisa's life. I know it is hard, but she gets to be a stay at home mom, and take lots of pictures all day long. I feel like I have no free time anymore. Stupid job. I know she will say its not all it looks like, but still.

6. I am excited to have an apartment I can decorate. And by decorate, I mean rearrange furniture and hang pictures. I love finding art and nick-nacks to put around, and plants, and furniture. I can't wait to have a house so I can go all out.

There. I was tagged first by Lou and then by Lisa, and I am pretty sure that everyone is all tagged out, so this will be the end. If someone was missed and feels strongly about posting a tell-all about themselves, don't wait for someone to tag you. Be a trail blazer!

My Husband Controls the Radio

Saturday night Nik and I were running errands and in the midst of it all we stopped to get dinner at Take Five Drive-in. It's pretty good, for future referrence. While we were waiting for our food Nik was listening to the faint music playing in the dining area and by the time we got back out to the car he had a song stuck in his head. That song was "Welcome the Black Parade" by My Chemical Romance. I really like this song too, but I only have it on my iPod, so his pleas to listen to it were falling on deaf ears. We tried to find it on the radio but no such luck. I tired of the radio soon and put my CD back on. After stopping at Albertson's Nik confessed that he still had the song stuck in his head so he used his Force powers and we turned the radio back on and low and behold, it was playing on X96! Not 20 seconds in! It was quite amazing. Neither of us had high hopes cause we haddn't heard that song for some time. Needless to say we crancked up the volume and sang our hearts out. We have been meaning to tell everyone this since it happened and could never remember. I hope everyone enjoyed Nik's control over the radio. Please check out the title link to YouTube to check out this great song. I know, the video is a little weird, but please listen to the whole song, it is reminicent of Queen, so that makes it really good!

Also, I have heard that the instructions to my Pay it Forward blog are not exactly clear. Yes, you must comment to win. You do not have to have a blog, so tell all your friends!

Also, also, my mom is going in for surgery this morning, so please remember her in your prayers!

Considering a career change

"I wish I were a glow worm, a glow worms never glum, cause how can you be grumpy when sun shines out your bum."

Pay it Forward

I am taking this great idea from my cousin Lisa who recently did it on her blog. My mom won from Lisa (so you know it works!), and even though I didn't, I am going to Pay it Forward anyway! I am not sure yet what the prizes will be, but I promise it will be good! Here are the rules (I stole them from Lisa's, who stole them from her friends blog...thats like paying it backwards...or something):

1. I promise to send 3 lucky comment makers a gift as soon as I get around to it (with in a three week time period of the end of the contest). It will not be a leg lamp.



2. I will choose 3 winners randomly out of... a hat or something... based on a one entry per person rule.



3. Comment winners must be willing to "Pay It Forward" by offering a similar contest to others, somewhere, somehow (I know not all of ya' have blogs - c'mon, jump on the bandwagon, people!) *YOU DO NOT HAVE TO BE A BLOGGER TO JOIN! ANYONE CAN COMMENT- BLOGGERS, SPACERS, EMAILERS, FAMILY MEMBERS, FRIENDS, HUSBANDS, KIDS, DOGS, GECKOS, ETC.*



4. Comments must be a little interesting to read....I'm not gonna count a "count me in" comment. Give me something funny, something new I may not know about you...I'm talking quality information here. Maybe why you would like to PIF...or how you feel about the challenge altogether. Or just something entirely preposterous. You know utter nonsense always makes me happy. :0) If you have been lurking around my blog not commenting, now would be a good time to make yourself known.



5. I know some of you are related to me but that doesn't mean you shouldn't enter. I think you will still like what I am giving away, and the drawing will be completely random so your chances are no better or worse.



6. Now for the time line. Given that it is about half way through October, I am going to cut this one short! You now have until 11:59 on Wednesday the 31st to post your comments. Thats Halloween people, so don't slack off! I will announce the winnners Thrusday November 1st here on my blog. Good Luck!

*Remember! If you win you promise to Pay it Forward in some way!

First Day of the Rest of My Life

I am, as we speak, nearing the end of my first day at my new job. I am happy to be employed and I like the environment, but I have been very bored today. I know, it takes a while to get in the flow of things and I have done a few orders by myself, but I spent most of the day on the internet. Oh, and my PC has Vista on it, so it is taking some getting used to. Its not as bad as I have heard though.

It looks like my job will be to help answer phones and input orders from clients who are ordering from our catalouge. There are a few things I have to remember and I am glad I am not afraid to call the client for more information if needed. I am really looking forward to getting in the thick of it all and knowing all the ins and outs of the company. Everyone has been really nice and willing to help me. Especially this guy josh, he is like my sensei. "Take the cricket from my hand..."

Welcome Back!

I have received a few comments regarding my lack of blogs since I have been back. I would like to explain that I am holding off on the trip stories till I have all the pictures from the trip. I can tell a few stories, but I think that most people will have heard them by now, but I will high light for those I don't talk to on a regular basis. Forgive me if this is a little random, I can never remember what order everything happened in.

First of all, this trip was my first time on a plane. Ok, for my moms sake, that is not true. I guess I was on one when I was really little, but I don't remember it, so it doesn't count. Regretably, the first experience was not the best one. The plane was dizzying small, and it was night out, so I couldn't see anything. I made it through alive, though only just. We had a layover in San Fran for two and an half hours. We were prepared and found our gate early and took a nap. A about nine, plane leaves at nine thrity, I decide to double check some things about our seats and find out that we are at the wrong terminal and need to be across the whole airport in less than half an hour. Needless to say, we almost didn't make it. Stupid sescurity. Anyway, they were paging our names and everything. It was a really close call. And we didn't even get to sit next to each other.

Once on the plane we were relaxed till we realized we did not rememer the name or address of the resort we were staying at. After making through customs we asked a nice taxi service to help us. It if were not for this man, we would never have figured it out. He even let us use his cell phone. Even in the taxi on the way there I was still a little skeptical, but we met a great couple from Seattle who had internet on their Blackberry and he was able to check my blog and the link I posted to find out that not only were we going to the right place, but that ther were staying there as well! Turns out they had the room next to ours. We became pretty good friends with these guys and they even bought me an amazing terracotta painted frog to put in our nursery (when the time comes).

We made it safe to the resort and met our friends at the pool. Everything was great until we pulled out my lap top to download the camera so we could take more pictures. The computer couldn't find the hard drive...again. The last time my lappy was out it was for this same problem less than a month ago. Bummer. This new perdicament led us to persuading the front desk people to let us down load the camera to their lobby computers and then putting them on to Spencers iPod cause Nik's is formatted to a Mac. The only time we have regretted anything about a Mac. Well it worked, but those are the pictures I still need to get before I post any. Jess got some of the best ones.

The rest of the trip was awesome! No one got sick, and we all got along great! I will tell my picture related stories when I have them.

On the way home we had a stop in LA and got to eat at this great restaraunt in the airport called L.A. Roadhouse. It was amazing! Best BBQ Pork sandwitch I have ever had! We had a couple hours there too, but we didn't know that when we got off the plane from Mexico, so we had to book it across another airport (seriously, the WHOLE airport) just incase I was wrong about the layover. The flight in to SLC was smooth, but the plane wasn't much bigger than the first one, so I was still a little anxious, but I did get to sleep a little, which is good.

Ok, those are the stories I don't have pictures for, so as soon as I get those pics I will tell you all about the trip its self!

Don't Worry!

Ok, I know this is going to look weird, but we just got to the resort and it is awesome! I already have so many tales to tell! I just wanted to let my mom know that I made it ok and that I am going to have fun! Thanks for talking me through it!

oh, and all the web sites here are in spanish!

Begin Countdown!

Well, it is now hours before our much antici..p...p..(say it! say it!)...pated trip to Mexico. We have arranged the lovely and talented jeanne to take us to the airport at 4:00 in the morning. It was absolutely great of her to offer to take us. She is even tending Cute Ally before comming to our house to sleep for a few hours in hopes of saving her some time in the morning. I am very greatful. I am starting to get nervous now. I was doing fine all day, and it wasn't even a very hectic day. But now that it is down to where I need to get a couple hours sleep before getting up way too early tomorrow morning, it is all becoming more real. We are packing our carry on and dividing up the money. I have a bunch of stuff I will have to throw in a bag in the morning after I use it, but that is normal for me when I travel. All this does not seem to phase Nik. He just threw a bunch of clothes in the suitcase and asked me what I was already packing so he didn't have to worry about it. I hope he has everything he needs! This is the first time I have not packed for him.

We will take lots of pictures and I hope to be able to email some of them while we are gone, but if not, I will post the good ones when we get back! Nik and I will both have our phones (off) in case of emergency, and will be checking our messages at least once a day. Please call if anything important happens, we would like to be kept informed. For my mom: I will call you when we get to San Diego (if its not too early) to let you know everything is fine. Oh, and I forgot to tell you to water the small plant in the frogs cage at least once while we are gone. Thanks!

Thanks again to every one who helped us prepare and who listened to our worries and overthinking-ness. It was all appreciated. Pray for us while we are gone, and don't forget us!

Light at the End of the Tunnel

Ok, I will cut to the chase. I have a job. I received the call this morning from the company I had that great interview with, with an offer to start the monday we get back from our trip. He offered me more than I was asking with a possibility of a dollar and hour raise in January. Which will be here sooner than I think. I was more than happy to accept his offer. It is such a relief to know I have a job to come back too. After everything that has happened in the last few days, this is a sign to me that it is ok to go to Mexico. That and seeing where we are staying! Back to business. I have been so stressed about what we were going to do if I did not get a job soon. Nik had some savings but not enough to support us for very long. I am very excited to be able to finally help support my family. Nik has been under such pressure to get maximum hours at work and I know it is taking a toll on him. It might even be one reason he ended up with strep. I really hope that this is a great job and that I can stay there for a long long time. I do not want another Alpine experience. I aired all my concerns at the interview and he seemed pretty sure that he could meet all my expectations. So we will see. The atmosohere was really great and he seems like he will be a great boss. I hope I get along with the other employees quick so I can have some friends at work! The only thing I don't really know is what the dress code is like. If I remember right Dave (previously referred to as "he") was wearing jeans and a plaid shirt, but I could be wrong. Overall: I am really excited and I think I can enjoy the vacation more fully not worring about our financial future. Thanks for all the prayers and support from everyone. Now, pray for Jason!

Sick Day

For all those I have not told already, Nik has Strep Throat. Great huh? I don't want to sound like I am blaming Nik's sickness for all this, but I am set back a whole day with my preparations for Mexico. I had so much to do yesterday and I didn't get any of it done! Anyway, Nik woke up yesterday with what he described as a bruise in his throat and some pretty bad back pain. But he went to work any way. The little trooper. It was only about an hour and a half later that I got a call from him asking me to come get him. 20 minutes later when I got to work he was laying on the couch in the back room. He felt a little warm, but he was saying he was cold. We started home and at just the right time Nik requested i call some people to give him a blessing. The only person I thought would be available was Kersten. Bless his invalidness. We headed right over there and got a great blessing Ten and a great lortab as well. Nik was in severe pain by now and was just laying on the couch.
It was hard to watch him knowing I couldn't do anything to make it better.

When it seemed like the meds were taking too long to kick in I started rubbing his legs and he was able to fall asleep for a little while. Ten kept me entertained while he slept and I made a couple Dr. appointments. When the first time rolled around 2:45 Nik was in the height of the Lortab and so we opted to give it some more time and waited for the 4:00. He was back in emense pain by this time and it seemed to take longer than normal waiting for the doctor. When we finally got in we were pleasently surprised that even though he wasn't Dr. Henry, he was a doctor that knew Nik from a check up/physical he had when he was in scouts. His name is Bruce Callister. He was great! He asked Nik about his symptoms and took his temperature and before he even had tests done, he was writing prescriptions for antibiotics. "Well, it looks like you have strep. You have a fever of 104 and your throat looks terrible." He even gave me a prescription in case I get symptoms as well. With my luck I will be getting what Nik had on sunday when we are getting on the plane saturday morning. I have started taking the meds just in case. I will NOT be sick in Mexico! The Doc also gave Nik a small script for Lortab so his back pain would go away long enough to sleep. Its probably the only reason he has slept at all in the last 24 hours. He spent most of yesterday evening asleep and was really only awake long enough to eat half a bowl of soup and take a hot bath. He is in the process of a lortab induced sleep now.

Unfortunately, being the hypo I am, I had a hard time sleeping as well. Every time Nik rolled over I would wake up worried he was going to be sick or that he needed my help with something. We both woke up around 5:00 and were in and out of sleep tll about 7:00 when Nik got in the tub again. So now I am up. I have so much more to do today, plus I am meeting a friend for lunch. I am glad we got Nik's meds yesterday, I would not be able to leave him alone with out them.

Thank you again to Lou and Ten who let us stay at their house way longer than we intended to, and helped me out a lot with Nik and let him take over their couch for several hours.

Quik brag!

Hey all, I just got a link to the place we are staying in Cabo. Feel free to check it out and drool!

http://trendwest.com/resorts/cb/

Job Offer(?) and Burnt Dinner

So I gave up on dinner tonight. I had planned to make a mock sweet and sour chicken with these frozen popcorn chicken pieces we got from Costco and a sauce packet from the grocery store. I was going to make rice and stir fry some veggies to go with it. I had to stop at the store for some milk and as I was checking out (self check out) my milk spilled! Stupid supposedly sealed milk. When I got home I had to start the dishes to get a frying pan clean. I had Nik help me with the rest while I started the chicken cooking. When it is in the oven I start looking for the rice cooker and then the rice. I found the cooker just fine, but could not locate the rice. I looked for 10 minutes with no luck. I even called my mom to see if she found it while she was cleaning my kitchen last week. Nothing. About the time I get off the phone with Mom I see that it is time to turn the chicken. Guess what. Burned. Yep, our stupid over heating oven burned the chicken in almost half the required cooking time. At this point I was done. Nik is eating CocoaNilla Rice Krispies right now. I know that I could have found something else to make for dinner. Rice a Roni per haps. Nope. Not tonight. The fates were conspiring to have me not cook. Maybe I will manage one home cooked meal before we go to Mexico. Maybe.

But before all this happened (way before) I had a job interview. I got the call on Friday in the AM. I was barely awake when I wrote down the day and time. It was Dave from Zeit Company. Ziet Company manufactures awards. You know, those cool plexy glass engraved numbers that say stuff like "Employee of the Month", "First Place Company Golf Tournament", and "Don't Worry, It's Just a Rash." Well, I would help make those! Well, kind of. I am actually not sure which position I was interviewing for because they had two open and they were both ones I would have put an application for. I guess he knew, cause he was asking a lot of questions. Dave said that I would start in customer service (receptionist) helping out with the stock awards, but that when I have a good feel for what the company does and how it runs, I will have the opertunity to move into the custom department. That means graphic design. I won't go into the details, but he was very nice and gave me some great professional compliments. It was nice to hear from an employer that I was a marketable resource. By the end he all but handed me the job. He said that he would like to offer me the job and that he would be calling me by friday. Sweet huh! I had Nik give me a blessing this morning and eveything just felt so good through out the whole interview. I hope I am not just over excited about a good day. I want to be at a company that I can stay with for a while. I am going to be praying hard in the next few days.

Oh, and I would have posted the link to the company's website, but it is boring and not really worth your time.