Post-Interview... Post :)

So! The interview went well, I think. There were two people interviewing me, and I felt like interviewer B would hire me, but interviewer A (the one asking most of the questions) was a little harder to read. I think I gave intelligent, pertinent answers to their questions, and after I asked my questions, interviewer A said "Good questions!" So I think that's a good sign, too. Also, I found out this afternoon that apparently I have a second/follow-up interview probably Monday. I think that's a really good sign!! So just keep praying, and I should know more within the next couple of weeks.

Well, I'll leave it there for now. Maybe more later.

The Pros/Cons of Groupon

So I love Groupons. I don't buy as many as I want to, but I went through a spurt where I bought a lot. Trouble is, they are in Madison, which is about 35ish minutes away from where I live, and closer to 45ish minutes from where I work. So even though they are good deals, I have to factor in the drive time and scheduling problems. I had one Groupon I had to use by the end of the month, so a little while ago I called to make an appointment (for a mani-pedi, yay!) and they only had ONE appointment that fit my schedule. Really? Come on. So I took it, even though it was a Tuesday night appointment. At least the salon was really nice, and I love my manicure and pedicure! The color I got on my toes is probably my new favorite -
it's called "Wocka Wocka" by OPI (the new Muppets Collection!) :-) Those aren't my fingers (or toes!! haha) in the picture, I found it online, but the bottle picture does NOT do this amazing color justice! Anyway, I love it. And I got a gray for my manicure. I've been wanting a gray polish, and I even had a dream where I had gray polish on my nails, so I figure now my dream has come true :) I like it ok, I'm not sure if I would do it again. I mean, I like it, but maybe it's just because it takes some getting used to. Considering the fact that I always have hot pink or bright red on my nails (or nothing at all), this is quite a transition for me!

I'm getting a little nervous about my interview. I got my resume printed last night so I can take a couple of copies with me. Remember to pray! I actually had an epiphany-type moment last night about the job - I was letting one friend know I could babysit for her, and another family from church wanted to know if I could babysit for them, and I let them know I could, and it made me feel so happy that I could help and be useful, and that I can am (for lack of a better word) "needed." I don't know if I can really explain it, but I just felt full and I realized that it doesn't matter what I do for my job, because I have friends (friends! Out here in Wisconsin! Who knew!) that I can help, friends in my life. I'm not sure if I'm really communicating it well, but it was a great feeling.

All right. That's enough for now. And look at that - my first picture! Even though it's not me (or my husband, or my dog, etc), it's still a picture! Can you believe it? :-o I told you they'd arrive eventually!!

Interview

So I have an interview! I was searching internal job postings, and I saw a position that I think I would really enjoy. I applied, and although I have similar experience, it is in an area that I have not really worked in before, so I wasn't really thinking anything would come of it. But I got an email last Friday saying they wanted to schedule an interview! So this Friday I have an interview in the morning for this new position! It encompasses a lot of aspects I already like about my current job, without other certain things I would rather not do anyway. And it'd be at a branch closer to home, cutting my commute time nearly in half! (from twenty minutes currently to more like twelve minutes, haha). Anyway, I'd appreciate prayers regarding this: that I'd be confident during my interview, not too nervous beforehand, and that I'll get the job unless God has something better planned for me! Thanks in advance, and I'll definitely keep you posted.

What's missing?

Pictures! Of course! I need to get some pictures up here. It will help illustrate the story of my everyday life.

oh, you wanted some right now? Yeah.. um I don't think I'm prepared for that at this moment.

But stay tuned! I will hopefully be jazzing up my future posts with some pictures :)

Not so great

Last night, I started to get a headache. At first, it was just annoying, but not that bad. Then, it got progressively worse, and I also started to feel nauseous if I stood up. So I made a fire in the wood stove (which Adam was very, very proud of - odd, because I thought I had done it all wrong) and made Adam snuggle with me while I had a hot compress on my head. When I got up this morning, the nausea was gone, but the headache remained. I don't know what's wrong with me, but I'm going to try to leave work a little early to get some rest.

Also, here's another difference between WI and Southern CA - when it rains in WI, people can still drive. When it rains in Southern CA, everything slows down by at least 15 MPH and it's like we're on severe weather alert... for rain! Come on, Californians, I know it doesn't rain very often, but that doesn't mean you have to ride the brakes to work!

All that to say - it's raining here. Which isn't good. Well, I mean, it's good because it means it's not snowing. However, it's not a good thing because it means snow is on the way :-( I could handle the cold much better if we didn't also have to deal with snow. C'est la vie!

Good news!

First good news - my brother and sister-in-law, who are expecting, found out the gender of their baby - it's a boy! (I decided not to use "it's a boy" as the post title for fear some people would misinterpret it... no baby news for me and Adam yet!!) I thought it was going to be a boy - and I already made them a boy blanket, so it works out nicely! Whenever Adam and I do have kids, I would like our first baby to be a boy, because I like the idea of our kids having a big brother. Of course, I would be totally happy if our first baby was a girl, too! As far as that goes, I would like to have at least one of each gender - beyond that I'll be happy with whatever the Lord decides to give us! Again - no personal news on that front yet - but yay for my on-the-way nephew!!

Speaking of babies, Friday night, my church offered free babysitting (for an optional donation) for the evening for anyone (people who attend our church) who wanted to have an evening free. Adam and I went to help, and one mom and dad brought their three kids, who are about 6, 4, and maybe 4 months! So, since it was three high school boys, Adam, and myself who were there to watch the kids, I was the default "baby" watcher. And let me saw, that little boy was a great baby! He didn't fuss or cry, he was just hanging out, taking in the world, and dozing occasionally. I felt bad that he didn't really sleep, but I certainly didn't mind baby time! He was a real sweetie.

Second good news - we caught the mouse!! I checked this morning and saw that one mouse was caught near the fridge (so I'm figuring it's the culprit who startled me the other night). Of course it grosses me out too much to touch it, so I texted Adam to see if he'd get rid of it when he gets home. He's the best husband ever (and I told him so)!

My mom is coming out to visit this weekend. I'll try to update again before she gets out. She is going to (try to!!) teach me how to quilt! So wish me God-luck!

Late night and a quirk

So last night, Adam and I fell asleep on the LoveSac. I woke up a couple of hours later and got up to brush my teeth, etc. When I came out in the kitchen, I thought I saw something, but it was dark and I had taken my contacts out, so I convinced myself it was nothing. Then, I really did see something - a dark blur dashed out from under our toaster oven, ran down the cupboards, and went under the fridge, fast as a flash! I gasped loudly, and Jasp came in from the living room to see if he could help! Well, he came in to check on me, at least! Meanwhile, Adam was still passed out on the LoveSac. I can only assume it was a mouse! Yuck! Now we have another mouse to catch :-( Oh man that really freaked me out, though. I was glad Jasper wanted to protect me, though :-) He's the best dog ever!

Also, I have this windshield wiper quirk. Whenever it's raining/snowing, I never want my wipers to be going faster than other people's. I'm actually a lot better than I used to be - I used to always check other cars to see how fast their wipers were going, and slow mine down if I was going too fast. I don't know why it bothers me - I guess I don't like the idea of someone driving past me and thinking "what's with the fast wipers?" Even though I know it doesn't matter at all. I mean, if I want to have my wipers on all the way, I can do whatever I want! And like I said, I'm better now - I only occasionally peek to see the wiper status quo, and even when I do, I usually just keep it at whatever speed I have it on. Weird, I know!

More life

So not only did I have to get the heater core in my car replaced, they also had to replace the dash, because it was falling apart when they were taking it out to repair said heater core. That was not a fun trip to the dealership. But at least my heat works now! I can hopefully survive another Wisconsin winter.

In addition to that, we have to replace our roof. It definitely needs to be replaced, but we were hoping to be able to put it off a little longer. At least now it will be done and our house will look even nicer than it does now! I finally decided (with Adam's agreement) to go with brown for the roof instead of dark green. I figure that way, when we eventually redo the siding, we have more options open for colors than light green or white (the only two I would have liked with a dark green roof). And we still have to get tickets for Christmas. So much for trying to save money after vacation!

Christmas play rehearsals are going well. Much better than I was expecting. We've got some good kids at our church, and a lot of willing adults who volunteer. I love our church.

I still enjoy writing, even when I don't have a whole lot to say. I hope you don't mind my "nothing" posts. I did feel like I had something substantial to say this time, but now I can't remember what it was. Oh well. Stay tuned, maybe I will think of it later.

Welcome Home - now take your car to the shop

Yes, my car is in the shop. Right before we drove down to Missouri (or it may have been as we were driving down to Missouri) my heater broke... again. Not only is this the third or fourth heater issue this year, I literally just took my car in to get the heater fixed at the dealership last month!! So, thankfully since they didn't really fix it a month ago, they are going to take off what I already paid toward actually fixing it this time, but it's still going to be about $700! Yikes :-( Not fun. But what can I do, winter in Wisconsin, a heater is definitely not optional!

So besides coming home after 2 weeks of spending money on vacation and having to spend more money on my car, vacation itself was fun! We stayed in/near Branson at two different places. The first place was amazing! It was set on 800 acres and certain buildings had been there since the '20s. It got a little chilly, but the weather was nice overall, and the first two days we just stayed at the resort exploring, swimming, and playing miniature golf on a nearly-impossible course. It was all way too slanted!! But we loved it. We also played in the arcade a bit. Both places we stayed had pool tables, and by Thursday I was actually getting pretty good! On Wednesday, I hit in FIVE IN A ROW! But Thursday I was just doing better overall. We played mini golf again Thursday at the new place, which was like a typical motel. We also saw two shows while in Branson - the New Shanghai Circus, which is Chinese acrobats that do incredible things! I just wanted to applaud the whole time. The next night we saw a magic show, Kirby Vanburch. It was also amazing, and at the end of the show, he came out and said there's no such thing as real magic, or being psychic, and did a little illusion and said that if you give your life to Jesus, he'll make you whole. We LOVED Kirby! Also, I helped him with one trick, where I picked a card, and they flew up in the air and he speared it with a sword! And I got to keep the card! :) I also took Adam to Krispy Kreme for the first time, and he really really liked it. It was a long drive, and a long trip, but we really had a great time. Oh also, we decided to stop at Shoney's on the way back, because it's one of Adam's favorite breakfast places. So we picked one randomly and when we got there, we realized that we stopped at that exact Shoney's when we were moving me out to Wisconsin! What are the odds, with all the Shoney's in Missouri, that we happened to pick the same one! Too funny.

So yes, we had a great vacation, but I'm glad to be back. I missed the Jasp a lot. And I'm tired! All that relaxing really takes its toll on you! :-) Hopefully my posting will resume my kind of normal schedule. We'll just have to wait and see!

Vacation

So much to say! Week one of our vacation was awesome, except that I was sick the entire time (sinus infection-type thing, not like nausea, thank goodness). We went to Universal's Islands of Adventure, with Hogsmeade and Hogwarts, which was amazing! We also went to Walt Disney's Magic Kingdom and to Epcot. Epcot is my favorite, and it was Adam's favorite, too. There's just so much to see and experience, and even though there aren't very many rides, the ones they have are pretty neat. We brought our lunches every day to help save money, and I had this brilliant idea on the plane down there - Adam and I both drink a lot of water and we're kind of water snobs. We each have our own version, but basically it boils down to us not drinking tap water. So I thought to myself that we should get those little water bottles that have the filter built in and filter the water as you drink it. It turned out to be a pretty great thing to have, and I was very proud of myself for thinking of it :)

Jasper missed us a lot! When we came home, he was so skinny! I think he couldn't eat very much because he missed me. And yesterday after I picked him up, he just wanted to be close to me - he snuggled on my lap all day, and we let him sleep with us, and he was RIGHT next to me all night. Usually he ends up at the foot of the bed because he gets too hot (I think), but last night he was up against me the entire night up until I got out of bed at 8! So sweet :) That's going to be the only bad thing about going on vacation Week Two - missing the Jasp!

Well, more may come. That's all for now though. Don't expect anything until probably next weekend-ish.