Working girl

I know many people have been wanting to know about my new job and how it's going. Well... it's awesome!

The company I work for is called the House of Antique Hardware. They are an online store that sells, well, antique hardware. You can find their website here. I think my official title is Bookkeeper, but I work in the Accounts Receivable side of Accounting, which basically means that I get to take people's money. :)

I start my day with a sales audit report, which means I get to reconcile all the payments from each payment method (Visa/MC/Discover/Amazon/PayPal) for the previous day and make sure that what our payment processor said we made matches up with what our database says we made. After everything matches up, I make the deposits for each payment method into the proper account.

Then I work on billing... charging payments for each order that is ready to leave the warehouse for delivery to the customer. And billing takes up most of my day. Once billing is done, I work on doing refunds and other various things as needed. I'm still being trained on the other various things as I get faster at doing the billing portion :)

Something that is really nice about working with this company is that very rarely do we have a payment not go through. That was something that was so frustrating at StoresOnline--we had some really crappy customers! But at the House of Antique Hardware, our customers are contractors or designers, people with clients and business, and their payments actually go through. It makes my job SOOO much easier.

The people that I work with are very nice. My boss even bought me a little gift for my birthday- a mug and two boxes of hot chocolate with a little happy birthday balloon and card. She must have picked up on the fact that I don't drink coffee, which is a dominant smell in the office. Hahaha. It's definitely different working in a company where I am the only LDS person.

I got my first paycheck last Friday and even though it was only for a partial week (from the week I started), it was so awesome to know we're going to be getting money on a regular basis! That was the first real paycheck we've had in 4 months! Also, I love that Oregon pays SO much better than Utah. Seriously awesome.

I do miss the little daily things I was able to do when I was home all day, like reading my scriptures and keeping the house clean. Of course those are still things I need to do, but it's been a lot harder to keep up on everything because I am always so TIRED when I get home. I'm so glad I have a husband that is so good at picking up my slack around the home, even if he's been at class all day.

I am so grateful that I have a job with this growing company and it will be great working there!

Timing is Everything

Remember how just a few months ago I just didn't want to work? You can read that blog post here. I would look for jobs or even go to an interview and I just really really really felt like I shouldn't get a job. So I didn't. We booked our 3 week trip home to Utah and I figured I would just start looking again when we got back from our trip.

We were originally planning a trip home to Utah in March during Dustin's 2 week break because Dallin was going to be home from his mission then.... so we felt bad that we wouldn't be home for Dallin, but just felt like it was the right time to go home. Well, the week before we left for Utah in December, I got a call from Robert Half Accounting saying that there was as full time permanent billing clerk position that they thought I would be a good match for. I agreed and they set up a phone interview.

I interviewed the week before we left and thought it went okay, but really wasn't sure because I couldn't tell their reactions to my answers over the phone. They asked what my schedule was like the following week because they would be setting up in person interviews for those they liked from the phone interview. I told them I would actually be out of town for a few weeks and they said that was fine, they were willing to wait for the right candidate.

That week we also got a call from my dad saying that Dallin was coming home from his mission on the 21st due to some health issues they wanted taken care of in the USA. He wasn't given a "medical" release, he was given a full time, honorable release from his mission and we were all excited that he would be home for Christmas and able to start getting better. This completely solved our worries about not being there in March to see him when he got home.

During our Christmas break, I felt ready to go back to work. We could always use the money as living off of student loans is not completely ideal, but I finally just felt ready for work and wanted to find a job. The job I interviewed for on the phone sounded like a good position for me, similar to what I was doing at StoresOnline, so I was hopeful that they would really wait for me to come back and interview again. I knew that if they liked the candidates they interviewed while I was away, they would most likely pick one because there's no sense in waiting for someone if you already like who you have and they are right there ready to work.

Well, I got a call after Christmas asking if i could come in the following week to interview, to which I had to explain that I wouldn't be back until the 6th, which they were fine with. The first week of January I got a call asking if I could come in ON the 6th, to which I had to explain that my flight wouldn't get in until 8 PM. They were also fine with this and we set up an interview for Monday the 9th.

I went to my interview with fingers crossed (and lots of praying), and I thought it went well. The company seems like a really good company to work for with lots of potential to earn bonuses. That night I got an email saying that I needed to fill out their application (cuz all this job finding and interviewing was set up through Robert Half Accounting) and a form for a background check. I figured this could only be a good sign... and it was!

I got the call Tuesday morning that they wanted to offer me the job and that I would start possibly Friday! Well, today is Friday and no, I am not blogging while at work, the manager is out of the office until Tuesday so I start Tuesday the 17th. The company I will be working for as a billing clerk is called The House of Antique Hardware, a company that sells hardware online. So before, I worked for a company that sold online stores to people, now I actually work for an online store! The location is NOT downtown Portland, which I am super happy about, but it's close to it, pretty close to the Lloyd Center, and literally 1 minute away from Voodoo Doughnuts.

I can't believe how perfectly the timing worked out for everything. Back in October, I had no idea why I just completely felt like I shouldn't get a job. The spirit was helping me on my path to find a job that I will like, at the same time getting us home for Christmas to spend time with our families and to be with Dallin at his return from his mission. I am so grateful for the blessings of the spirit and how our loving Heavenly Father sends us inspiration to guide us down the path that is best for us.

Timing really is everything! I got the job, now we just need to get the baby! Next step for us? Hopefully. :)

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

Because we left for Utah on December 17th, we celebrated Christmas at our home on December 16th, just like the Dunphy family from Modern Family. Only we didn't have an express Christmas, we had a normal one :) Santa Claus came to town and we were able to open presents and stockings and enjoy the day together. We packed up that day in preparation for our flight on Saturday.
My family picked us up at the airport in SLC, then we went to the Grand America to check out the giant gingerbread candy house. We were going to check out the lights at temple square, but no one really felt like it, so we skipped out and went to dinner at Zupas in Draper instead.
It was fun to have almost everyone together including....
Elder Dallin Jack!! He returned from his mission in Tokyo Japan on December 21st, just in time for Christmas celebrations!
I always thought it was so wonderful to have our families so close together cuz that meant we could spend the holidays with both families, but this trip I felt the stress of trying to get equal amounts of time in with both families. We spent Christmas eve with the Creer clan in a big family party complete with Christmas ham, white elephant gifts, and hot chocolate chugging. Dustin's grandparents brought HUGE white elephant gifts and Dustin and I agreed that we would be the ones to end up with them, just cuz we were the only ones who wouldn't be able to bring them home on a plane. And guess what.... we were right! Check out my sweet new fireplace cover.... that is currently residing at my parent's house.Dustin's gift he ended up with is a Nutcracker set for the 12 days of Christmas. It was actually pretty cute, but is also hanging out with Cowboy Santa and his posse of snowmen.
Christmas day we spent with the Jack fam complete with stockings from Santa, Christmas sugar plum ring, opening lots of presents, Christmas sacrament meeting with the home ward, and a Roast Beast dinner.
The day after Christmas, Dustin and I headed up to East Canyon with the Creers for a couple days. Now our normal December trip to East Canyon is filled with lots of hot cocoa, sledding, and building snow igloo slides. This year there was NO snow, so we spent the vacation playing a lot of Just Dance 3 and Michael Jackson dancing on the Wii, watching movies, and shooting guns. I shot a gun for the first time in my life! At first we thought I was slightly retarded, but then realized I'm really just left eye dominant and needed to shoot left handed. And then I was a bull-eye every time. Okay, not every time, but I think I'm a pretty decent shot for a beginner!
After East Canyon we spent some more time with the Jacks, celebrating my Momma's birthday, introducing them to Just Dance 3, and lots of Carcassonne.
New Years Eve was spent playing, that's right, Just Dance 3! with the Creers. We saw The Muppets with the Creer clan, which was cute, but not as AMAZING as I was hoping. Then we had a dance off, Ticket to Ride Germany, Uno, and a countdown with bubbly to 2012.
New Years day brought a missionary homecoming talk by recently returned Elder Dallin Jack at an early 9 AM. He gave a great talk and it was fun to have family over for the afternoon. We love our Jack family and we don't always get to see them!
The rest of our time in Utah was trying to spend as much time as we could with family and friends. Of course I had to visit Roberts Crafts with it's store closing 75% off sales and was super excited to get 21 items for $21 including tax! We flew back to Portland on January 6th and were happy to see our apartment and car untouched while we were gone for 3 weeks. The day after we got back, we were sure to stop by Target to pick up our own copy of Just Dance 3 on the wii. It was so great to be with family and back in Utah for so long because we probably won't get to spend that much time with them for a while, if ever!
The holidays were very happy and the Christmas was very merry! As busy as December always is, it really is the most wonderful time of the year when you get to spend it with family!

Happy Birthday!

Dustin's birthday happened to fall on his study day, like it typically does for his college life. His big birthday present was the trip to the BYU football game down in Corvalis in October, but I wanted him to have a couple extra things to open on his actual birthday. Safeway had a deal going on when Pirates 4 came out where you could buy the movie (dvd/bluray/digitalcopy)for $25 (normal price, right?)and then get all this stuff for free! So I got that and then wrapped all the freebies individually with it too. Not super exciting, but hey, at least he got to open up SOMETHING.
Dustin went to Anatomy Lab open hours to start out his birthday and study for his final (which, by the way, he totally got 100% on his anatomy lab and anatomy written finals!!!) After some studying, we went to lunch at Carl's Jr. and to Fred Meyers to pick up some birthday presents with his birthday money. The new Kirby Wii game was on sale so we picked that up, and Amazon had the Lord of the Rings trilogy on Blu-Ray/DVD extended versions for $50, which he has been wanting for a while, so he was stoked to order that as well.
We went to dinner at Olive Garden for his birthday dinner (we had a gift card and a coupon, MAN, we're exciting), and then had some eggnog cupcakes at home. Then it was back to studying!!!
The day after his birthday (Sunday), we went up to Art and Sheri's house for a way more exciting birthday dinner, Dustin's favorite---steak! It was very yummy and we shared our eggnog cupcakes, watched The Santa Clause, and the finale of the Amazing Race! Then back home for an early night in bed for early morning finals on Monday.

I decorated the family room with little birthday banners and such for Dustin's birthday and wrapped a Happy Birthday Banner around the Christmas tree. We left it up for a couple days, just for fun. Well, the missionaries came over to practice teaching a lesson to us and they saw the happy birthday banner on the tree. Their response? "Oh, was it someone's birthday, or is it just like, Happy Birthday Jesus?!" We thought it was super funny and kept saying it all Christmas break.

When I get sad...

Well folks, it's been a while since I've been on the blogging wagon. 3 weeks of vacation will do that to a blog. I wanted to blog before we left for vacation, but then the week we left, I was feeling depressed knowing that it was my due date from my miscarriage back in May. And it sucked. I miss my baby. I wish they could be here with me now. But they are not, so I move on with my head up and ready for everything else, come what may and love it. I mean, let's face it, sometimes life sucks. But it's not just MY life that has some suck in it, everyone's does. I'm not the first nor the last person to deal with infertility and miscarriage. But I don't want to wallow in self pity, which is why the blogging did not happen- so I wouldn't have to suffer through writing out a post and you wouldn't have to suffer reading through it. I know it's okay to write about crappy stuff, but I just didn't feel like it. When I get sad, I stop being sad and be awesome instead. True Story. (We have been watching a lot of How I Met Your Mother and I'm a huge fan of the show)

Now it's a new year and a fresh start and even favor odds to evens, 2012 will be a great year. Cuz I want it to be.

So look forward to some catch up posts in the next few days about Dustin's birthday, Christmas break, and the new year!