Jobless January

No job...yet.

What I like about not having a job...

• Sleeping in
  
• Going to the gym as late in the morning as I want
  
• Cleaning the house during the week
• Having lazy Saturday's (because all the cleaning is done)
  
• Getting to go to the library & having time to read
• Meeting so many new people (by trying to get a job & make connections with people)
• Having time to do things like taking the car into the shop & going to the bank.
  

What I don't like about not having a job...

• Getting bored (at night when Brendon studies)
• Receiving no paycheck
• Trying to sell yourself

Judging from the lists, it looks like I'm okay without having a job for awhile. The goods outweigh the bads. I've been very busy this week running around town & am really appreciative & grateful for the many people (who really don't know me very well) who are willing to put in a good word for me. And there is a good handful of people who are willing to do this: the VP of Student & Alumni at Brendon's school, the lady at US Bank who did a wire transfer for me, the new mom I brought dinner to, people from church, the lady who I was referred to by the VP of Student & Alumni, the Director at the School of Health Management who I've only talked with twice...it's really incredible. Hopefully, all these connections will help me (and anyone who will be looking for a job in Kirksville over the next some-odd years) to find a job!

So far, I've been busy. Finding a job is practically a full-time job. But today, I don't have a lot to do. Maybe I'll make some cinnamon rolls...that's time consuming.

Ringing in the New Year

New Year's Eve was probably my favorite day during our 2 week break with family in Utah. Momma Sheryl spent the weekend in Utah and it was really nice to be able to spend time with her.

I love this picture of Momma Sheryl and her cute smile. Brendon definitely got his mom's adorable smile!

After sleeping in until...oh, 10 AM...we got ready for the day and went bowling with Brent, Lori, Will, Jennifer, & Momma Sheryl.

Despite Brendon's mischievous efforts to mess up my game, I won two...TWO games with high scores of 144 (beating Brendon by 2) and 150-something. My night was starting out well!

Next up...a new game called Hand & Foot. Love it! Brent taught us how to play and the cards were dealt. Winner: Stephanie!

Next game (bring it on!): Apples to Apples.
Winner: Steph! I was on a roll.

The week prior to this night, my family (as mentioned in the previous post) had played many games of Spades. I lost every game I played. Dad challenged me to a game of Spades. He didn't want me to bask in all my glory, so he thought he'd teach me a lesson in humility. I accepted the challenge, along with Brendon as my Spades partner. The game was intense....

...meanwhile, the rest of the family was playing Mad Gab & Catch Phrase upstairs.

The Spades game finished at 11:58 PM! Do I even need to say who won???
Team Losers: Dad & Tyler; Team Winners: Brendon & Steph!

We went upstairs to ring in the New Year! With a New Year's Eve like that, 2009 has got to be good!

New Year's Eve was really so much fun! As a game-lover, it was great to play so many games. (Winning the games made it all the better.) But being with both families was the best part!

Thank you for making the trip up to see us, Momma Sheryl!
Thank you Lori & Brent for spending time with us!
Thank you Mom & Dad for such a fun night together with everyone!

Oh, how I love the holidays!!! Family, food, games, movies, no responsibility, playing, friends...I love it all!

Home for the Holidays

We headed out to Utah for this year's Christmas (okay, I guess it was last year). Brendon got two weeks off of school and Overstock gave me two weeks off from work (if they didn't, I was seriously considering quitting, knowing the job wouldn't last much longer). We had a fun time with our family.

After looking over the pictures, I couldn't help but smile and laugh. I learned a valuable life lesson: take more pictures! It helps with my memory recall and we had more fun than what can be included in this post.

Here are the highlights from our trip home for the holidays:

Seeing extended family...
Christmas Eve was spent with the Jardine family. We had a lot of fun catching up with cousins, aunts, uncles, and Grandma. We had our traditional feast and enjoyed our gift exchange and the "mystery ball" game. The ball was wrapped in streamers and filled with gifts (everything from an eraser to $20). Brendon & I scored $25 together!

The day after Christmas we visited part of the Gibson family and enjoyed our catch-up time and games.

Christmas Day...
Christmas morning we woke up and Brendon was the first person downstairs to peek (note to self: post about Brendon's peeking habits). Thank goodness Santa's onto Brendon and had everything wrapped or in a bag.

We finally had Mom's Christmas wish come true which was to be snowed in on Christmas day. Unfortunately, we missed the Woodworths, but we enjoyed our day with the family.


Visiting Friends...
Brendon & I were able to visit a few friends, two of which have had babies since we left (Sevys & Burnetts), we played volleyball with "the boys" (Scotty, Reed, & Steve), and I was able to catch up with Jamie & Melissa.

Nintendo Wii...

Just about the coolest Nintendo console. We filled our Christmas day (and many other days) with Wii Fit (with Brendon beating everyone of Austin's records he had time for) and Mario Olympics.


Spades (& other games)...
Spades is our favorite card game! One that we always play with the family. Unfortunately, not everyone can play at the same time so we also enjoyed Catch Phrase.


Movies...
Another common family outing when we're together. We saw Bedtime Stories and Bad Dog, Marley! Both really good movies. We laughed, we cried (some of us did anyways), and we laughed some more.

Snowboarding...
Brendon wanted to teach Austin how to snowboard so before heading to a resort, we went to the local junior high and snowboarded on mini bunny hills. Austin felt confident after that, so we headed to Sundance.

This was my first time snowboarding in four years and I've only ever snowboarded in powder (not at a resort). For the record, skiis are much easier for getting off of the lift. I heard a lot of, "Are you okay?" everytime I got off the lift. On my last trip, I almost successfully made it without falling at all.

We saw a lot of this...

...and this...

...and a little bit of this:


By lunchtime, Austin had had enough and was going to take a nap in the car. We were going to be a few more hours.

On the first trip down, I had a couple of nasty falls on hard, frozen snow (practically solid ice). Cried. And said I was done. I wanted my bruise on my knee to be oh so bad, to show the pain and that I was not a wimp. Fortunately, the bruise came. And it was big. (No picture, though.)

All in all, Brendon, Austin, & I had a fun time together and all of us want to snowboard again some day.



Creme Soda...
Brendon said to me last night, "I miss reaching for a creme soda whenever I want."

Family...
And last, but certainly not least, family! It never seems like we can get enough time together. This was our last time with everyone together in a loooong time. Brittany (who I failed to get a picture of) is going on a mission and leaves February 2nd. Mindy & Tyler will be moving to Florida this fall. And we are back in Missouri.

We were able to spend time with some of the Pitts and Brendon's mom as well (more to come).

We are so grateful for the time we were able to spend with our family. We had a blast with everyone!

My Dreamy Date

With the school hosting a winter ball, I got asked via email (a reoccurring theme for those of you who know our story) to the dinner/dance. No creative, fun way of asking & answering for the dance, but that's not necessary when you're Brendon. A fun date with him is all this girl needs.

I asked that we would just have dinner & be on our merry way before going to the dance. But alas, I married a dancer. And not just any dancer, but a confident dancer. Here he is gettin' jiggy with it...

Dances are much better when you're married & there aren't any circles for everyone to see how everyone dances (because I, unlike Brendon, am not a confident dancer). It was just me & him on the dance floor as far as I was concerned and I quite enjoy watching Brendon's moves with his cute smile (featured above). I did bust a few moves myself, but I can definitely take a few lessons from the dance master himself.

We enjoyed the night out with our friends...

...and most especially with each other.

Au Revior, Good-bye, Adios

Yesterday marked my official last day of working for Overstock.com. I was so anxious all day, I had butterflies in my stomach. Although this is my third time saying good-bye to my colleges (I'm like the employee that would never leave), yesterday was the third and final good-bye.

Working for Overstock.com was a great experience, full of wonderful people, opportunities, and learning experiences. Brendon & I even had the privilege of working on the same floor together over the summer, which didn't help prepare me for medical school in the least bit, but I cherished every car ride and every lunch break together.

Thank you, Overstock.com for a great first job!

Now, I'm off to search for the next job...YUCK!

(Stay tuned for Christmas & New Year's posts)

First Ice Storm

Our first ice storm came on Thursday. I was studying for my last test before the break when the ice started piling up. My friend Derek and I ended up sleeping on some couches at the school because the roads were too icy to drive home safely. There were a good number of students who stayed on campus or crashed at a nearby friends house that night. After my test the next morning, I came home to my ice-encased car and took on the challenge of de-shelling our little Mercury.

Here's a few close-ups:

The Christmification of Our Home

Christmification (n.): The act of making one's surroundings ready for Christmas; Christmify (v.); Christmificatory* (adj.)
* Brendon's idea

The day after Thanksgiving, Brendon & I took advantage of some time off from school & visited our first Christmas Tree Farm to pick out our nearly perfect Christmas Tree. We (meaning Brendon) sawed it down, dragged it to our car, & paid for the tree (my role). Everyone should make the drive to Kirksville for Christmas Trees...it only costs $21 (for the tree, anyways)!

When we got home, we realized our tree was a little shorter than expected, so we made our nearly perfect tree perfect with help from some old school books. Nobody will ever know once we get some presents wrapped.

We followed last year's tradition with stringing popcorn while watching "The Muppet's Christmas Carol." Last year, we realized the importance of having enough children to help string popcorn. This year, we learned that until we have enough children to help string popcorn, we'll buy smaller trees & make them appear taller with books so we don't have to string so much popcorn.

Brendon & I decided on our honeymoon to collect Christmas ornaments when we travel. Together, we have purchased two ornaments: our Park City honeymoon ornament & our cruise ornament. Even now, it's fun to see those ornaments hanging on our tree. I'm sure in the years to come it will help keep some memories alive.


Thanks to Brendon's mission in the Phillipines, we have a beautiful navity set. This is our first year for this display.

With the help of crafy friends, I did my first decoupage project. We had a lot of fun doing this. The JOY blocks are cuter close up, but the picture didn't work. Unfortunately, I have nowhere to display my craft. Fortunately, I was resourceful...

I just love my grandma's quilt she made for me & Brendon. I'm especially happy about the red & green squares I was sure to display for the holiday season.


Finally, the little decorations around the house. Oh, I just love to Christmify! Wreaths, Christmas plates, & door hangers. I have just enough decorations for our small abode. Good thing it will be awhile till we live in a home: I need some time to build up decorations.