Almost there!

We're almost there! I know you're all excited because then I can start blogging about COOL stuff instead of just about moving. 3 days. That's all the time left. Then cool stuff begins... like job hunting.

That's right, for the first time in over 3 years now, I am officially unemployed. My last day at StoresOnline was a good one and I will miss the people I worked with and became good friends with, but I am kinda happy that it's done.

This week I also applied for what I think would be a fantastic job--- it's a data entry position in Boring, OR. I seriously think it would be one of the coolest things ever to say I worked in a town called Boring. Doing data entry. But the position sounded like something I would actually really enjoy and the salary is right, benefits are right, and schedule is right, so *fingers crossed* that they contact me for an interview soon! Costco application is in too, and WinCo already rejected me for the cashier/checker position. Probably cuz I said I wouldn't work on Sundays. But I didn't really want that job anyway. Oh well.

Most everyone we talk to asks if we're all packed up. Well, we're getting there.... I swear it's a process that never really ends. Except that it has to end on Wednesday cuz ready or not, we're driving that Penske away. Our house has turned into a disaster zone as we've been trying to find an appropriate box for all of our crap...er...stuff. But tomorrow will be dedicated to getting everything fixed so Tuesday we can run errands, Wednesday I can card club and clean, and then move!!

So much left to do, so little time!

August

Half-way through August at that. Man, how time flies. 6 weeks til we move? 20 something working days left at StoresOnline? Not that I'm counting down.

The last week in July we got to spend some fun and relaxing time with the Creer family at East Canyon. It's a semi-annually family reunion type deal where all Dustin's family goes up to East Canyon to play together. His Grandma and Grandpa Creer also usually come up and his Aunt and Uncle Teri and Neil family come up too. This year Andy and Amy and kids got to come up for a day and we all had a great time together! It's so nice cuz you can just do whatever... or do nothing at all. There's a lake that the family went jet-skiing on a day before we could come up, they have 4 wheeling trails, basketball, tennis, shuffleboard, mini golf, and a fun pool and hot tub! We always like to play lots of games and last year Ticket To Ride Europe became a big hit. Nertz is also a Creer family favorite and we all just play and have so much fun together!!

East Canyon was the last of our vacations for the year. And possibly ever. Or at least for the next couple years. Now we're packing up and securing housing, which is starting to be a little frustrating. The perfect apartment we wanted won't be open because the tenants extended for a couple more months. lame. And now they don't have any other top floor openings. They have one bottom floor opening, but the bottom floor is $50 more a month!!! Do you know what $50 does to a monthly budget grad school style? I'm sure we can still afford it (we'll have like $300 a month doing plasma... and that's without me getting a real job! Yippee!), but there are a lot of other things we'd rather do with $50 a month (like go on a date?!?!) if we could live on the top floor (which we would prefer anyway). So... blarg. We'll see. We're still going to fill out the application cuz we still really want to live there, even if it will cost a little more money.

On a side note, did I mention yet that I am now on Pinterest? I don't remember if I did or not, but I am, so you should follow me. So I can pin more cool stuff. And find more cool recipes. So that I may someday be a world famous baker. Or something.

PS. Melanie won SYTYCD! YAY!! She was my favorite. Completely amazing and graceful and just the best. :)

The End.

Keeps getting crazier

Things at work have gotten even crazier since Tuesday! On Wednesday we found out that our group was not staying all together as we thought. Two of my girls are moving over to link building and one is staying with me to finish up all the preview paperwork... all the reg cards, scanning, prepping, and reports! We have a lot to do in the next 3 months that I will be there so I am feeling QUITE overwhelmed, but I have a job! And it will definitely keep me busy! Now I just need to add a lot of tv shows to my instant queue on Netflix to keep me entertained :)

Resume writing is coming along quite well and I only have a few finishing touches before it's ready to send off to perspective employers! I still don't know how to write a cover letter though... and what's up with the "objective" section of a resume?! I feel like that's new in the past 3 years. Good thing I have an amazing husband who learned all this stuff in school recently and has been helping me!

July continues to be a crazy busy month with Portland next week, 24th/Fiesta Days festivities, and finishing off at East Canyon with the Creers! I feel like time keeps flying by and we are trying to enjoy the rest of our Utah summer as much as possible!

Last week we spent in St. George enjoying the Jack family with hiking, games, and of course, lots of food. It's nice to have our family all together at this time because soon we will be far away and too poor to be able to visit! For now we're soaking it all up! It's been a party having Nathan, Adrienne, and baby Elliott at the Jack home this summer! We love hanging out with them and will miss them when they head off to Chicago.

To finish off my random post of crazy things, I just finished watching the So You Think You Can Dance results show for the week and I am crazy happy that Ashley is going home (she hasn't been my fav for a long time), but I am a little sad that Chris is going home this week because I thought his solos were always the best. I guess he really wouldn't have won anyway, and his choreographed pieces weren't the greatest, but I liked him.

Anyway, that's all for tonight!

Still employed

I work at a company called StoresOnline. Sometimes I hate my job. Sometimes I love my job. Right now, I am just very happy to still have a job! Press release came out today. You can check it out here. Essentially 30% of the employees were laid off today. Crexendo (StoresOnline) has decided to restructure it's current sales strategy. Which means no more seminars. Which means the marketing, booking, call center, and all seminar sales teams are no longer needed. Guess what. I process all the sales seminars orders in Accounting. So is my job needed? Not really. But I thankfully still have a job. They have work for us to do as they restructure everything, and we still need to finish all our reports and have scanning in documents from LAST year still to do (we're a little behind). So we'll be kept busy for a little while and start cross training in other areas, maybe build a website, learn to link build, etc.

I was really really concerned for my job when the information was released today. I haven't kept it a secret that I'm moving in just a few months. They know I'm outta here come the fall. So i was worried they would just give me the boot now. Our corporate controller talked to me today as I was voicing some of my concerns and he told me that they took into consideration that I was moving and wanted to keep me. I have a great attitude and am a pretty freaking amazing worker and they want me to stay. It was SO reassuring to hear that!

We have a trip out to Portland next week (holy cow, is this move really happening? Is it really getting close to game time?!) and that means I need to get my resume ready and start applying for jobs! Maybe even score some interviews while we're there next week....I completely love working in accounting and working in an office jobs. Sometimes it's crappy work, but there are definite perks that you don't get in other jobs.... Monday-Friday 8-5 schedule, paid holidays, paid vacation days, health insurance, matching 401k... It's fantastic. I'd really like to find a similar type of job (something in Accounting) when we move, but the market looks a little hard. Most jobs are temp for short term projects and occasionally temp to hire, which I'm fine with, but concerned that it will stay temp FOREVER and the full time perks won't be included.

Another job that I'm kinda excited to apply for is Costco. Call me crazy, but every single person I've talked to about working at Costco LOVES working there. Apparently they have AMAZING benefits. You do have to work on Sunday, but they pay time and a half on Sundays so people are sometimes willing to take your shift for the extra money. So in addition to my accounting jobs I'll be applying for, Costco is up there on the list.

Wish me luck in finding the perfect job. I need at least $10 an hour for us to survive out there, but that's for another post. :)

My life is good. I'm still employed. And I thank my lucky stars for that!

Relax

Dustin and I spent this last weekend just RELAXING and it was SO GREAT!!!

Friday night we hung out with Tyler and Sara and went to Los Hermanos, then watched the movie 21 at our home. It was great to be able to go out and chill with friends!

Saturday morning I started teaching my Springville ACMA classes again for the semester and the classes went really well! Those kids and parents are just awesome! Then Saturday afternoon Dustin and I just RELAXED at home. I made some carmel zucchini bars, did lots of dishes, cleaned and organized a little, did some laundry, worked on some scan prep... okay, maybe this doesn't sound very relaxing, but it really was! Just to be home with Dustin and veg in front of the tv while doing some work was so wonderful! We also got to see part of the infomercial about the new Magic Bullet Express, 8 minute family meal maker! It was incredible! ha ha ha. Dustin felt a little sick at night so we stayed home and watched the Wizards of Waverly Place Disney Channel orinigal movie and had a good laugh. We ran to the grocery store quickly to get some stuff for dinners this week (so i'll actually cook and can't say that we have nothing to make!) and then just went to bed.

Sunday we went to church and I got to go to Sunday School and most of Relief Society because the sharing time was combined for senior and junior Primaries so I only needed to be there at the beginning and then the last half hour or so. I made crepe batter for some lunch but it needed to refrigerate for an hour so we decided to take a nap... and woke up 3 hours later, just in time to get ready to leave for my grandparent's house for a family dinner! Ha! oops! We didn't even think we were that tired.... I guess we were! We had a great time talking with my family and my Uncle and Aunt and their boys that came down from Washington. Also my cousin Amber and her fiance Joe! It was nice.

So yeah, just a chill weekend after a busy week of StoresOnline work and starting up the new semester of Art City Music Academy classes! Dustin started his classes at UVU and he's taking 17 credits, plus another 5 of Portugese that he will just test out of at the end of the semester! He has a way busy class schedule and will only be working like 12 hours, but I'll be busy working too! So we really just hope we'll have some time to see each other! And remember to RELAX! :)

It's been a long time coming...

It's been a while since I've written and there is a lot to update on!
A couple weeks ago I was told to make a list of everything I did at work... I was a little nervous, but my boss said not to be worried. The next week an email from our controller went out saying that they had the Preview Express Accounts Receivable Manager position available as Kareena, the previous manager, was recruited to work with another StoresOnline, Imergent company.
Have you ever had those realizations hit you in the face that you were meant to do something? I had that feeling with the Santa Barbara job and I had that feeling with this one as well. I knew they had intended for me to take it, hence the listing what I currently did so they could dish it out to everyone else in my little group. Well, after some coaxing from a few select individuals, I applied for the position, knowing that I would most likely get it. You see, I started in the Preview Express department, I know what I'm doing, and I'm a born leader. Those all equal Manager. I talked with Yvonne, my boss at Art City Music Academy and let her know what this might mean... not as flexible of a schedule for teaching.
The interview was the next day. And within a half hour of my interview, I was told that I got the position... which meant a salary raise, deduction of health benefit costs, and a new job. I was really excited, a little nervous, but it felt good!
The next week I started training and then this week I am been in command. It's been a crazy busy week, but time goes by fast when you're busy! We've had some previews up in Canada which has created a little mess in our end with making sure everything is right as we process the orders. Oh what an adventure! But I have a feeling I will survive!
As far as piano teaching goes, StoresOnline can be somewhat flexible with my schedule for now, but this might be my last semester teaching if we can find a teacher to take my place.
Life is moving onward and upward and continues to be super busy for me and Dustin. We've now been married for 5 months and yes, we're still working on Thank You cards... so don't feel bad if you haven't gotten one yet!
Dustin has completed a great summer semester at UVU and fall classes will start next Wednesday. He will have an over-full schedule and he's looking forward to being on the racquetball team! We're so excited for our cruise in less than two months! Life for the Creers is going well. :)

You're never fully dressed without a SMILE

At StoresOnline we have a new dress code that is going to start being enforced in the next couple of weeks... Mon-Thurs is business casual dress and Fridays are casual, but no shorts or flip flops. I have one pair of dress pants and a bunch of skirts, but seeing as how I keep getting fatter ever since I got married, I don't know if they fit so well.... Which means really I should go shopping! I wish it was like "What Not to Wear" though and they gave us money to go buy a new wardrobe. I mean, I don't need $5,000 like what they give out on that show, but a couple hundred would be nice. The cause for this change in standards is that our company is growing and we have people coming in to look at our business and whatever, but we need to look professional. I'm okay with business casual, I really think it's super cute, but this whole company image transformation also means that we can't decorate outside of our cubicles.... no holiday decorations, no cute name signs, nothing, which is pretty much a bummer. We have lots of fun decorating for the holidays but we can't go all out anymore. And my cubicle is very open to the public eye so I don't think I can be too crazy in here either, ha ha ha.
So where can I get some cute, not very expensive, business casual clothes, especially pants?