New car!

This weekend was a very exciting one for us! M and I made the decision to trade in both of our vehicles for a Honda Element. M originally was just going to trade in his truck, but we decided that since most of our vehicle usage was just local commuting, we didn't really want two vehicles that required expensive gas. So, we chose to trade in both vehicles, and instead get the Element and a Vespa. The Element will be our distance vehicle, and will be great for cargo and camping! The Vespa will be our local commuting vehicle. We'll be sharing both of them. Pretty exciting! This is our first big purchase as a married couple. We are moving on up! ;)

After spending all day in the dealership, we really wanted to go spend some time in the new vehicle, so we drove it out to the drive-in to check out the comfort and sound quality. We watched Kung Fu Panda and Iron Man. Both great movies! We watched the movie from the front window this time. Next time, we are bringing blankets, laying down the seats, and opening up the back hatch and watching the movie from the back. I can hardly wait!

We weren't able to sign up for motorcycle classes until July, so we won't be licensed to drive a Vespa until then. In the meantime, I'm mainly driving the Element, and M drives his Gremlin to work for now. We are loving the new vehicle! I can't wait to take it out on the road, and on a camping trip! Stay tuned for another update once we get our Vespa! :)

A fun little time-waster

I found this game on A Southern Grace, and couldn't resist trying it myself!
It is a fun game, but somewhat aggravating because more than half of the pictures I wanted to use wouldn't let me save them! :P


Here's what you do:

1. Go to www.flickr.com.
2. Type your answer to each question in the “search” box.
3. Using only the first page, pick an image.
4. Copy and paste the html into your blog.

Enjoy!

1. What is your first name?
2. What is your favorite food?

3. What high school did you go to?

4. What is your favorite color?

5. Who is your celebrity crush?

6. What is your favorite drink?

7. What is your dream vacation?

8. What is your favorite dessert?

9. What do you want to be when you grow up?

10. What do you love most in life?

11. One word to describe you:
Try it yourself! :)

I'm still around!

Hello! I just wanted to update everyone on my life lately. Sorry I have not been blogging lately. I am just NOT in the mood to food blog, and I definitely haven't had time to read blogs! :( But, life has been great. I am amazed at how busy I have been while Mike is in Hawaii! Thanks to all my friends for keeping me entertained and busy. :) Work has been great. Today was so much fun! Things are really starting to come together. We got our coffee machine installed, our T1 lines hooked up, and I placed the order for all of our computers and office equipment. Within a couple of weeks, I will actually be working...answering phones, paying bills, taking care of orders, all that good stuff. It's been great to be a part of getting it all arranged! My boss took us out to lunch today...our first company lunch. :)

Meanwhile...I have been eating like a fat kid. :P I have taken advantage of eating alone, and I have NOT been eating healthy! Yikes! And swimsuit season is coming HOW soon? Eek! So...I was going to start my diet tomorrow, but then I realized that Chicago is all about eating and drinking...so there's not much point in dieting now! So, after I thoroughly enjoy myself this weekend, I will be back to my healthy-eating self. Especially after Mike comes home all ripped and healthy from exercising and eating fresh fruits in Hawaii! You all have to hold me to it! Luckily, all my new coworkers seem to be into healthy eating as well, so I should be okay. :)

That's all for now...I'll update again after Chicago!!!!

Job Update

As many of you know, I recently got a new job which just started on Monday. Thank you so much to all my friends who have been bombarding me with text messages, chats, and emails - sorry I haven't had an opportunity to get back to you yet! Also, thank you to my former employers who gave me glowing references. I would not be where I am today without you! And, thank you to all of you who prayed for me every day that the perfect job opportunity would come up. Thank you, thank you, thank you! Since I just started my job, I don't want to be on my personal email too much yet, so I figure I'll email EVERYONE at once, so you all know what's going on with me, and that way I won't get totally bombarded with gmail chats and emails while I'm trying to work. :)

For those of you who hadn't heard yet, I accepted a job with a small graphic design company that is just getting started in Cardiff, CA. The office is right on the beach, and is only 10 minutes from my house. Everything about the location is ideal. We have a huge picture window view of the ocean, and there are all sorts of cute little beachy restaurants within walking distance. I only work 5 minutes away from Mike! The company is a branch off of a larger retail display company, and since they are one of our major clients, I spent my first three days of work up in their office in San Dimas to get a feel for how they run their office, and to get some advice on how to run my office. I felt like such a grown up, going on my first business trip! It was a little bit lonely staying in a hotel by myself, but luckily one night I was able to meet my good friends Clara and Rachel for dinner, and they kept me company. The office up there was great. Everyone was SO nice, and so much fun to work with. I wasn't sure what I'd be doing there at first, since I was really just there to observe and get ideas for how I am going to set up our new office down in Cardiff. I was a little bored the first day, but I did get some good info. By Wednesday afternoon, I was having a blast, making friends, and I could not believe how long my "To Do" list had gotten! I couldn't wait to get back home though, see Mike, and start working in my own office.

This morning I started my first day in my office. I LOVED it! I had already met the girl I share an office with, and we get along great. My boss is super cool, very laid back and designerly, and the other designer is young and fun as well. There is another boss that works in the office too, but he is out of town a lot, so usually it will just be the four of us. I love it. Everyone is very fun, and I feel like we all have a lot in common. I get to be involved in all the design conversations, when everyone is brainstorming and talking about creative things. Right now my main tasks are to order computers for everyone, since we are switching the office over to Macs instead of PCs, and also researching software for project management and accounting. I get to set up all the files and organize the way we are going to organize all of our design projects. This is going to be SO cool. I get to set up the entire process for the office. I cannot wait! I finally feel like I'm starting something and have a real role in a company, in the industry that I have been going to school for over the past MANY years. This is the job I have been looking for since I started college. It only took 7 years! I have gained so much experience over the years in my past job, and I feel like I finally earned the job of my dreams.

So, again, thanks to everyone who has been wishing me well. Things are great...I couldn't be happier. I think this is the start of an awesome new career, and great things in my life! :)

Much love to you all!

P.S.
I am going to lay low on my personal email and chats at work for a little while, so for those of you who like to send me massive amounts of forwards (you know who you are!) try to leave me off your list for a couple weeks...but I'll try to keep up with my regular emails as much as possible. Once I get settled in at work, I'll have a little more time to get back on my email and g-chat again. :)

Last job update

I got the job!!!!!!!!!!

Thank God I don't have to stress about it all weekend. Thank you so much for all your thoughts and prayers!!!!!

I start in two weeks, and the pay is just right. I can't wait!!!

Yet another job update

As I said, my interview yesterday went really well. I made sure to send them a thank you note right away, since I was their first interview, and I didn't want them to forget about me!

This morning, I got a phone call asking if I could come back in today to talk more with the other owner. Of course I said yes! I went up there on my lunch break. My second interview went well. He told me all about the company, all about the job, etc. We went over my resume in a bit more detail (more than anyone has ever let me talk about my resume before), and basically went over everything there was to know.

He said that out of everyone they interviewed yesterday, I'm the only one they called back. They are going to do a couple more interviews today, and if no one else really stands out, they will call me back this afternoon. Otherwise, they'll talk this weekend, and will call me on Monday. He's going to call my references right now. :)

Job Update

So...I'm back from my interview!

It went pretty well, I think. It was super casual, so it's always hard to tell, since it's more a personality thing than getting the answers right, ya know?
But, the office and people and the job are EXACTLY what I'm looking for. The entire office has a huge view of the ocean, it's by a whole bunch of little beach cafes, it's 5 minutes from Mike's work, and everyone is in the 30's age range. It sounds SO perfect. They said my resume really stood out because of my art background, and were thrilled to find that I was so smart to be good at math AND art. I was their first interview though, so hopefully they won't forget about me if someone else good comes along.

I'm not going to let myself get all psyched out this time...but please...keep me in your thoughts, prayers, cross your fingers and toes and all that jazz. :)

Thanks! Hopefully I'll have another update next week. :)