Update on me

K, I've been a way for a while. Life. So here's quick update on me.

July-moved here

August-tried to get a job, interviewed and made it final 3 for a great job. Did NOT get the job. Took a phlebotomy course (thanks mom) to help me find a good job.

September-finally sucked it up and got a retail job. Some money is better than no money. Found another source of income, totally legal. :D Just email if you want info. Offered to be the Earliteen/Youth Sabbath School teacher at church. Pathfinders got going.

October-Continued working retail but putting in applications for better jobs. Started teaching my Sabbath school class, felt to be at a bit of a loss, low attendance, low participation.

November-continued working retail, gave up applying for jobs. But got an email from phlebotomy school about possible opportunity. I submitted a resume. I was called the next day to interview. Turned out to be an opportunity through a temp agency, but ya know what, the company I'd be working at is an AWESOME company and the likelihood was I'd be hired in the long run. Began the training near Thanksgiving. Suddenly having a full time job was a bit of a shock.

December-Ended up quitting retail job altogether (had been only working one day a week, but even that proved to be too much). Trained at new job until the week of Christmas. Passed practical and both written tests. I began my shift, on graveyards, the week after Christmas.

January-Still working hard. Was told last week that I will be hired in another 2-3 weeks!!!! Can't wait to have the other benefits that employees of the company have. :D Insurance, quarterly bonuses, tuition reimbursment, etc. :D Found a groove in Sabbath school, and my attendance at class is now steadily between 6-9 kids!!!! :D

February-stay tuned!! Now that I am settling into my schedule at work, I should have more time to blog again!

Read more...

Still plugging along

I'm still here!! I've been looking for a job, been on several interviews. I am enjoying the free time, and being with my kidlets. I've been reading a lot too! Hopefully soon I can get back to blogging more.

Read more...

I officially declare:

I HATE MOVING.

We've been here since the 12th. Got into the house on the 20th. And we are STILL moving everything out of storage, and living with boxes all around. BUT... There's only 4 pieces of furniture left in the storage unit!!! And a lot of boxes. :)

I had to leave my job, that I LOVED, to move here. No regrets, I LOVE living here!! But, I have no job yet! I have put out close to 40 applications. Been turned down already for 4 jobs. That's okay. :) I WILL find a job.

I am starting a phlebotomist training course tomorrow night. In 4 weeks I will be able to sit for the national certification test, a necessary step before seeking employment as a phlebotomist. I am hoping to be able to start applying for phlebotomist positions within 6 weeks. :)

And then I am planning to take the CNA course (Certified Nurse's Assistant) and it's cooresponding national certification test as well. Maybe in 6-12 months. I'm not in a huge rush to take it, for me, it's not for employment, but to be able to apply to the RN program.

Speaking of which, I need to go do my car's emissions test this week so I can register it, and also get my driver's license here in Utah. Also on the list is getting my library card. All are steps towards proving my Utah residency. I'm HOPING to be able to get in-state tuition in the spring, but it may have to be summer. Then I can apply to Weber State University and start taking the pre-req's for the RN program. Especially all those pesky Science and Math classes. I have a history of "difficulty" with Anatomy and Physiology. A history of failing it!!! LOL But that was close to ten years ago, so let's hope I have a better shot at it now!

Read more...

I'm BACK!!

I'm pllanning to get back into the swing of things now that we are a LITTLE settled here in our new home. We still have a TON (actually, probably several tons) of our furniture and belongings in storage. But slowly but surely it's coming together. :)

I'm enjoying our new area, and I'm VERY busy job hunting. I put in 17 applications yesterday alone!!! More job hunting on the list for today too!

Let me know if there is something specific you'd like me to blog about!! :) Otherwise, my wild and crazy mind has to come up with it all!

Read more...

we have arrived

So I climbed mountain ranges, crossed the Mississippi river, driven approximately 2,400 miles, but I am HOME in Utah!

Read more...

moving too soon

Quick note to my readers: this is it, most of my life is on that truck or one of the trailers. I doubt I'll be able to blog much about our trip while on the road. Look for an awesome blog in a week or so!! :)

Read more...

Never underestimate

Nothing is impossible, and NEVER, EVER underestimate the power of a few motivated people!!! Because today I watched a 26 foot moving truck go from EMPTY to full in just under 5 hours. And watch a large majority of the contents of my home go out one of four doors to get to that point!

Sadly, we are NOT done. Tomorrow we get the trailer, and we HOPEFULLY finish up this bad boy. If you live in the local area, watch my facebook for curb alerts for the items we are NOT keeping! :)

THANK YOU to my awesome church family for all your help: Pastor Van, Albertine, Abraham, Micheal, Reggie, Josiah, Kim, Andrew, Lonre, and Nelson. Also thank you to Kathy who volunteered to watch the kids for us, we just never got the chance to get there!! :)

Also THANK YOU to my friends who came, or tried to come: Katherine (who was here til LATE last night boxing up with us), Henry, Chrissy (girl, I know ya tried), and Carey (I know you'll help tomorrow!).

And of course, my family: Brian, Dez, L, C, and R, you ALL busted backside today!! And A, B, E, and S, for trying so hard!!! Little boxes have to be carried too, and sometimes YOUR logic is better than mine!!

Read more...

Moving is not for the weak

I should know by now that moving is NOT for the weak. After all, in the last 6 years, I've moved 6 times, and this will be my 7th. Though I've had the luxury of having movers for 2 of those moves and 3 were only local moves. But still, you'd think I'd know better after all of that. Yet here I sit, less than 24 hours from picking up the moving truck, and we are SO not ready. I am starting to get VERY concerned. I know, end of it all, we will have all of our belongings on that truck, in boxes. But still.

Moving is just NOT for the weak. Not the weak of mind. Not for the weak of heart. And CERTAINLY not for the weak of body!

Read more...

The end of the "era"

Well ladies and gentlemen... THAT is all she wrote. I am done with my employment here in Massachusetts! I am also currently unemployed. Hopefully THAT won't last too long!!! :) They have been great for me. And I will really miss them. I thank my friends and co-workers who stopped by during the last hours (and minutes) of my shift to help me end it on a high note!! I wish everyone there the very best.

Look me up on facebook, and for those already on facebook, tell the others to find me. :)

Read more...

Last Day at Work

Tonight is my last night at work. :( I'm sad about leaving. I really like working there. I have worked there longer than anywhere.

I know I am leaving for all the right reasons. It's been a good ride, I have learned SO MUCH while I've been there. It has been a wonderful growing experience for me. I feel that I've become a better employee, more rounded and have so much more experience. They gave me supervisory experience, which I am completely grateful for. That opens a world of possibilities for me as I move forward.

And I have made fabulous friends there. Really, friends I love to invite over for cupcakes, friends who come and fight battles with Spark Plug 6 with me, and friends I am HAPPY to drive to go pick up to get them to work on time. :) I will miss them all, and I hope they have a chance to come visit me in Utah. :) And hopefully a little way down the road I will be able to come visit them again here in Massachusetts. :)

Read more...

It's all filled out and ready to submit!

Okay, so my job application is all filled out and I'm ready to submit. Please send up your prayers that God will open the right doors for me, and provide me with the right job, the right co-workers, and a bright employment future!!! :D

Read more...

almost unemployed!

I am sitting in Starbucks right now waiting. I finished work today. I have ONE shift left tomorrow before I am done here. And then I will enter a short phase of "unemployed". It's a little strange. I certainly wouldn't be unemployed right now for any other reason, but due to the lag time of moving, plus the uncertainty of where exactly we will be living, I put off applying for the new job until now. It's okay though.

I will apply today, and it is still 3 weeks until I can begin working. I will probably go ahead and apply to some other places as well, when we get out there. But I want to give this one application it's best chance.

Read more...

Not so typical Tuesday...

Bullet points of my day:
-wake up, breakfast
-pack boxes
-friend arrives to help
-pack a LOT of boxes
-make some lunch
-pack some more boxes
-take BFF to doctor's appointment
-Swing by tire place to set up appointments for both of our cars to get what they need done.
-go to grocery store to get stuff for dinner for kids
-make dinner for kids (and contemplate packing)
-head out for dinner out with adults I didn't want to say goodbye to
-come home, and remember that really, I need to pack more boxes... but it's late, and I have to have BFF's car at the tire place by 8 am, so NO. LOL

Worst part? There's still a TON of work to be done, loads to be packed. I'm at the "overwhelmed" stage now. I feel like it will never end, even though I know it's not true. :(

Read more...

Night out with friends

Every now and then it is good to just get out with my good friends. Tonight BFF, Kmae, and I went out. We started out at Fugakyu to enjoy some WONDERFUL sushi!! mmmmmmm I ordered the smoked salmon sushi, an avocado roll and an Idaho Roll. Yum.

Then we moved on to Sweets Cupcakes in Worcester. We enjoyed a delicious desert and conversation, followed by ordering some cupcakes to go. :) I will certainly enjoy THAT tomorrow!!! :)

The best part for me is just the talking. I love talking with them. I love getting all caught up on what's going on with Kmae. And tonight she even told me that she's already planning her first trip to visit us when we "don't move" to Utah. LOL (we aren't moving according to Kmae. We are only putting every scrap of our belongings in a truck so we can clean the carpets in the house.)

It hammers it home a little more that we really are going. This wasn't a good-bye dinner, not by any stretch!!! It just makes me realize how much I will miss certain people. I never felt this way leaving California, and while I felt a good tug when I left Tennessee, I was hurting so badly, I NEEDED to get away. But this is SO different. I have some very close friends here.

Thank goodness this is the age we live in at least! I have the internet, facebook, email, and a healthy cell phone plan to keep in touch with. :)

I'll miss my friends here, yet I still look forward to the move, and making new close friends in Utah! :)

Read more...

Moving Adventures: Part 3

Tuesday morning I had to work from 9 until 2. And since by now the trailer was attached to the van, there was NO WAY IN HADES I was driving it to work. I'm 100% capable of driving it, and parking it, and FINALLY of backing it. But man oh man I did NOT wanna deal with it at the work parking lot! LOL So instead I got up extra early and drove BFF's DH to his work in his car (well, he drove but you know what I mean) and then drove to my own work. I got there plenty early enough to go and have a Starbucks breakfast and get my day off to a good start.

Work went pretty well. Nothing too out of the ordinary fortunately. I was at the service desk again. I got through my shift and headed out with a good luck and let us know if you need anything.

I drove to the "new" house where we relaxed briefly and then loaded up the kids in the van and drove to her DH's work with the trailer. Most of MY belongings have been in storage at his work since I arrived up here in March.

He had a nice piece of eye candy there who wanted something to do and was happy to take off his cami shirt and help load my furniture and boxes onto the trailer while I watched. :) And BOY OH BOY did I enjoy watching. (yes, I'm being bad.)

We then drove back to the "new" house, unloaded, and called it a day. LOL Yes, we were lazy bums.

Read more...

Moving Adventures: Part 2

Monday dawned bright and HOT.

BFF and her DH took off with the van for their physical therapy appointments. The plan was he would drop her off early, then go to his, come back for her, and then they'd go get the trailer and be home by 11. PLENTY of time for me to get to work by 4.

Well, things didn't go as planned. They "took the scenic route" from her PT office to the UHaul place (got lost on accident). Then the guy helping them was brand new and didn't know what he was doing and it took twice as long as necessary. So it was around 1 pm when they arrived home.

BFF suggested loading up the mattresses so we could start sleeping at the new house right away, and we got started. Only one minor problem... We still didn't have the keys to the new place!!!

Well, we got the call about getting the keys finally, and we finished loading up the trailer and headed over with my work uniform in tow. By the time we got there, got parked, etc., I needed to be getting ready to LEAVE!! I knew they needed me to help get the Cal-King mattress up the stairs though. BFF's shoulder just isn't healed enough for that. So I told her DH, if you can get to the mattress by the time I'm ready to go, we'll get it up the stairs. Well, I don't know WHAT he did, but he got it there!!!!! And we got it upstairs! And OH MY WORD. I was hurting, he was hurting, I was ready to go to sleep on it but instead rushed out the door to work.

Where I spent almost 3 straight hours doing non stop checking. Seriously, it had to have been one of the BUSIEST days I've seen. WOWSERS. And of course a busy day means cranky people. But all in all, it wasn't a bad shift. One of the other checkers who was supposed to get off at 9 worked until 10 for me so I could leave at 9. I was very grateful!!!

Read more...

Moving adventures: Part 1

Oh me oh my... Moving is an ADVENTURE. Especially with 7 children involved!!! :)

Let's start with the lead up.

We found out about 3 weeks ago that this house had become available and was being offered to us. But as we didn't know at that time where the next 6 months would lead us, this made this a very difficult decision to make. Largely because of the very real possibility that we could be moving again as early as January. But in the end the toilets won out. (at least that was my vote!) 1 toilet for 10 people versus 4 toilets for 10 people, by MY calculations, this presents a MUCH better likelihood that a commode will be available for my use at MY convenience, not at the CHILDREN'S! So we opted to move and notified them we would and would like to take possession on 3 August.

Last week, after the reservations for the trailer have been made, the phone and cable services have been set to be canceled at the "old" house and set up at the "new" house and we are well into packing, we get news that BFF's DH's job here WILL be ending at the end of the year. So from our perspective, we now KNOW we will be moving again in January, maybe February. We discuss and debating changing our mind and staying in the smaller house rather than moving twice. But we all felt we needed more space (and toilets) so we decided to move but basically to not unpack things we felt we could do without for the next 5 months.

Read more...

Boston Day and Dizzy Dizzy

Yesterday, after much debate and weather watching, my sister, BFF, and I headed off toward Boston.

Our first, most necessary stop, was Starbucks in Lexington. My sister made the big mistake of saying something about if I would lose my Starbucks addiction I'd lose more weight. Oh no... those are FIGHTING words. BFF defended me immediately, saying that in all fairness, I typically only order an Iced Tea. I'm not a sugary, chocolate-y drinker in general. Yes, I order my tea with 2 raw sugars, but if they put them in the shaker half that sugar doesn't make it into my cup. Anyway, she backed down.

We got our drinks and headed down the street on foot to the Lexington Battle Green. A small yet historically significant patch of grass. This was the site of the FIRST fight between the American Revolutionaries and the British in the Revolutionary War.

It's really hit me lately that SOMEHOW in Boston, all of Massachusetts really, they got it right. Somehow they KNEW when these major historical events occurred, that they would matter, and SOMEHOW knew to preserve these things. We got into a great discussion about how the sense of community, something most city's are lacking, is part of what led to the preservation.

After walking around there we headed down to Boston. We went to the North End and were surprised by the Feast of St. Joseph. This translates to massive traffic! LOL But we survived and found parking. We wandered around a bit, hit Faneuil Hall. It was originally a speaking house, where numerous famous speeches have occurred. It's mostly shopping there now, and my sister found her Boston magnet there.

We headed next door to Quincy Market, which is mostly food to walk through. We stopped for some Bubble Tea and then headed out to the Crocs store, one of my favorite stores!

At this point we just kind of started walking, we ended up down a pier and sat down for some much needed rest. We decided it was time to head home, and we started walking back toward the car, but we stopped by the Paul Revere House. It was already closed for the night though. :(

Then of course to Mike's Pastry for some Florentine Canoli's! YUM. We walked on over toward Old North Church. It also was closed, but BFF had been wanting to show me the Dog Tag memorial to honor those who have fallen in the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars we are currently fighting. She had found this over a year, just one month after my other best friend Jessica was killed in action in Iraq. It's not like we've avoided going, but we haven't had the chance. Typically the kids are with us and are getting grumpy and what not. We headed over though and she told me, you're not allowed to cry. LOL She knows how easy I cry. Well, I didn't start crying, but it was touching. Especially because when the wind blows the sounds of the thousands of dog tags jingling next to each other is like a reminder that they may not be with us anymore, but we WILL see them again one day!

Anyway, we headed home then and it was a great day! :)

Unfortunately I woke up this morning dizzy as could be. I almost feel like I'd been drinking, but I KNOW I didn't! UGH. I've been up for about an hour and a half now and I STILL feel dizzy. I've eaten, I've taken my medicine, I've had my coffee, I've had water. I'm STILL dizzy. Even just sitting here, I'm dizzy. *sigh*

We have a LOT of packing to do still. We move next week. We actually can start taking over a few things now, they housing people said they'd leave the garage open for us. But the REAL moving starts next week when they take possession of the house. Monday and Tuesday will be light moving, no trailer, Wednesday thru Friday is when we should have the trailer.

So if I disappear more than usual over the next couple weeks don't be too surprised.

Read more...