Pregnancy Productivity

This week I finished painting the nursery :) I LOVE how it turned out

We went with a tan base on all four walls and then charcoal gray stripes on the accent wall that will be behind the crib :)

And then we'll have red accents throughout the room :)

After I finished painting I moved all the baby stuff back into the nursery where it belongs. We now have baby clothes hanging in the closet, and the changing table set up and organized with diapers, diaper cream, baby lotion and soap, as well as health stuff like our thermometer, nail clips, all that jazz. I've got his toys in his toy box, and we got his carseat and stroller set up. The carseat even has toys dangling and a little carseat cover on it already. I was on a roll; I wanted to get everything that we had set up right away! 

I also finished filling out my FMLA paperwork. After going back and forth about whether or not we could afford day care (even at my center) we've decided that we will be better off paying the ungodly daycare cost than having me stay at home or even getting a part time job. It was a tough decision, and one that caused a few disagreements, but we've decided that baby will in fact come to work with me and my amazing husband will pick up a second job to help afford the cost. I really hate that he has to work two jobs just so we can afford day care, but we would lose more with me quitting my job. I think it's horrible how expensive day care costs are. I've always heard how expensive it was, but I never knew how expensive until we started looking into it. And the worst part is there's no help in paying the cost (if you have a full time job). Ridiculous.  So anyway, I'll be going back to work 6 weeks after baby boy is born. Soon? Yes, extremely, but me not working is going to be tough on us financially and since he's coming to work with me I get to be with him all day whether I'm working or not, so I might as well help bring in some money (especially since the holidays will be right around the corner!). 

So that's my pregnancy productivity this week. I'm hoping I can talk John into setting up the crib this weekend so I can add that to the list. I love seeing the nursery come together. It's starting to look just like I pictured! :)

Figuring Out Maternity Leave

My friend Alicia hit the nail on the head when she talked about how great October due dates are. John and I have been talking about how long I'm going to take for maternity leave, and my bosses have been asking me about it as well because they need to find a substitute teacher for my classroom, and I think October is the perfect time to take off the rest of the year.

I'm due sometime in October so I would naturally take at least 6 weeks which would put me into November, and in November we have Thanksgiving and then a month later we have Christmas and New Years Eve. Instead of worrying about getting time off for family to be here or whatever will be happening, we've decided that I will be home with the baby, get a routine going, and I won't go back to work until the beginning of the New Year. And then the amazing part happens (the amazing, yet expensive part)....baby gets to come to work with me and be in my classroom :) :)

It's going to take a lot of sacrifices to make it work financially, but one of the bonuses of my job is that my children can attend our center. Our center is a private child development center for the university professors and students, but because I work there, my baby can also come. I've already talked to my bosses and there is no conflict of interest if my baby is in my classroom. I can't think of a more perfect situation. I will get to be with my baby ALL day and still bring in a paycheck. I am so thankful that I don't have to quit my job or sacrifice time with my baby. We simply couldn't afford for me not to work, and the thought of leaving my baby with someone else after a few weeks is depressing. Even though we will be paying for baby to be at the center 5 days a week, because John has Fridays off I think baby will stay home on Fridays and get some one on one daddy time.

I know I was baby hungry a while ago, but seriously, the timing is too perfect now. I've said it before and I'll say it again, God's timing is always better than our own. Had I gotten pregnant a year ago when I wanted to, we would be struggling financially and I don't know what I would have done about work or childcare. And what better month to give birth than October because October gets the holiday roll started and I am lucky enough to get to spend all of them at home with my little family :)

Now all I have to do is figure out how maternity leave works and the whole FMLA thing works. I don't know how getting paid while on maternity leave works, but at least I have a few more months to figure it out :)

All In Due Time

I love my new job. I get to play with babies all day long! Sure there's some diaper changing, bottle feeding, and throw up cleaning mixed in there, but the majority of the time is spent cuddling and playing with babies and I love it. I'm still trying to find where I fit in with the people I work with, but isn't that how it always is though? That's why I hate starting new jobs. I hate being the new girl. I hate not knowing everything. I like having my routines and having friends in the workplace. I'm not quite there yet, but it'll come I'm sure.

On another note, John and I have decided not to go the military route. I'm very happy with this decision, and he is too. Kudos to everybody who lives that life, but it's not for us.

Also, super exciting news....John and I have started trying for a baby! Words can't even express how ecstatic this makes me. I'm questioning myself about announcing this to my blog (I haven't even announced it to family and have only told a couple really close friends) in case we can't get pregnant or in case it takes years. That's a major scare for me, and it happens to people! I'm doing all the right things, but that doesn't necessarily mean anything so we'll see how all this works out. Though I gotta say, I know I've been baby hungry for a very long time now, but I'll admit  the timing now seems pretty great....much greater than even 6 months ago. This new job has really opened up doors that weren't there before. I can now have dual coverage for myself as far as medical insurance goes, our income is better, and to put the cherry on the sundae- when I have a baby, my baby can come to work with me and be in our center. It's perfect. I told John a year ago that whenever the time for a baby came I wanted a job that provided a day care so I could bring our baby with me to work- I can check in on breaks and my lunch, we don't have to worry about finding a babysitter....and I didn't even know this was an option when I applied for this job. This is just more reassurance that God's timing is always better than our own!

Head Scratch

Today was a day for the books.

I went into work, happy go lucky, ready to start my work week, when as soon as I get there I'm told that there's a lice outbreak.

A WHAT?!

GROSS!!

So me and Courtney (a friend I work with) got the pleasure of doing lice checks on all the kids. We checked I think around 10 kids....only a couple of them weren't infested.

YUCK!!

The moms had to be checked, go figure, they were all infested too.

DOUBLE YUCK!!

Have you ever had to do multiple lice checks? I've seen so many lice (louse?) today I'm set for life. They're nasty, and they scurry throughout your hair....I fell like I'm gonna gag just thinking about it. 

I know that this comes with the job. I work in a very gross house, with some pretty questionable women who honestly astound me sometimes with their awful hygiene...but I don't do lice!

I've gotten sick so many times from this place, my immune system should be epic right now, but guys, lice? Really?

All of the staff were checked for lice. I don't have it! (Thank God!) But everyone was required to do a lice treatment just in case. So after work I went over to Courtney's house. I did her hair and she did mine....we felt like monkeys when we were sitting searching each other's hair. Can I reiterate THANK GOD I DON"T HAVE LICE!

Some people say "Oh it's just lice"...they're basically saying, "Oh it's just a parasite that's sucking your blood and lays 5 eggs in your hair every day". Yeah, it's "just" lice....

The thing that's so frustrating about this whole ordeal, is that the client that brought the lice into the house brought it in over a month and a half ago! She was embarrassed so she didn't tell anyone, and didn't treat herself, so it's invested the entire house.

Like I said, I guess it comes with the territory because of the type of people I work with in the environment I work in, but come on that shit's nasty.

Mental Capacity

The past two days I've felt like I'm seconds away from a mental breaking point. I don't think I've ever been so stressed out in my life. And I don't really know how I let myself get so overwhelmed.

Working my job is very stressful (not that all jobs aren't, and not saying mine's worse than yours), and it's a type of stressful that I can't really explain. Working with addicts day in and day out, and working with troubled children day in and day out starts to take a toll on you. And I would be okay if I were just dealing with work...but working that job and having so much school work is mentally exhausting. I think I found myself crying out of pure exhaustion and stress at least 3 times yesterday. It doesn't really help that the housework suffers while I'm so preoccupied with other things. I feel like the house is a mess (athough it's been much worse in the past), but I'm not keeping up with everything like I should be- though believe me, it's not for lack of trying.

That's also contributed to my sense of being overwhelmed. My never ending list of things to do. I feel like I never get a break. I get up and go to work, work all day, come home only to find myself needing to make dinner, clean the house, do the laundry, play with Duke or take him on a walk, and then around 11 I'll finally get to start on my homework; I'll work on that until 3 or 4 in the morning only to wake up and do it all over again. And my weekends that I have "off" are consumed with even more studying, errand running, and deep cleaning that I can't find the time to do thoroughly throughout the week.

This week (especially today and yesterday) I hit my mental wall. You know when you're working out and your mind keeps telling you "stop you can't take anymore"? My mind was screaming at me "STOP! YOU CAN"T TAKE ANYMORE!". I think most of it comes back to this nutrition class, as stupid as that may sound. I don't think I've ever studied so hard for a class and not seen adequate results. I've been nose deep in my nutrition book for 11 hours in a 24 hour time period and I don't feel confident in anything that I've submitted. Talk about a blow to your self confidence...

Though there is a light at the end of the tunnel. I just submitted my 4th nutrition exam and regardless of whether I pass or fail I only have two more exams and both are open book/open note. I see that as a possible chance to raise my grade. I think I see a glimmer of white.We leave for vacation (a much, much needed vacation) a week from tomorrow. Hey, I think the light is getting brighter. And even if I fail this nutrition class, I've already signed up for it again with, according to ratemyprofessor.com, a 5 star teacher who requires zero tests and only a couple quizzes. God, is that you?

Total Recall

I feel like I should update you on what's been going on during my blog absence.

I picked up more hours at work (which I feel like I've already told you) so I've been really busy trying to juggle work, school, being wife, and a new homeowner. Wednesday night was the first night I had slept for more than 4 hours in almost 2 weeks.

Ridiculous, right?

Basically I've been waking up around 8 to get to work, work till 5 and come home to cook dinner/clean the house, then I would try to cram some homework in there (I had finals in one of my classes last week...talk about stressful!), and then John and I would be up until like 4 in the morning sometimes trying to get the house together for our housewarming party that was on Wednesday.

Our projects to get the house in the condition we wanted it for our party were:
Paint the master bedroom
paint the master bathroom
paint the guest bathroom
paint the living room
get the office set up
get the guest bedroom set up
clean out the garage
clean up the backyard
clean up the front yard
plant some kind of garden (flowers, herb, or vegetable)

Well we didn't get our bathroom painted, the office really set up (although it's clean), and we didn't plant any type of garden....but the rest of it looks pretty darn good.

Our housewarming party was great....aside from the fact that none of our friends showed up, just family....but other than that it was great. We had amazing food. John and I were up all night getting stuff finished and food made. We had Carolina pulled pork, melon salad, pasta salad, coleslaw, salmon dip, chocolate covered strawberries, strawberry pie, sour cream cookies, cupcakes, and orange julius to drink. Everything was homemade (except for the cupcakes....a friend from work made those for me). By the end of the night I'm pretty sure I ate my weight in calories. It was a little disheartening that none of our friends showed up though. It was tough on both of us because we both knew that if we would have had a party back home, the house would have been jam packed with friends. But it's so hard to gain those types of friendships in a new place.

As far as school goes I'm still trying to figure out how to balance my studies and work. I've had to take two days off so far just to get homework and exams done because I really have no time to do it all. I've worked while going to school before, but never this much with so many responsibilities at home too. I have a lot of respect for single parents that do this with a kid. I'd be a lot more stressed out if I had to do that.

In other news, John's birthday is on Monday. I'm really excited to surprise him with his present. He's been wanting a recliner soooo badly, and he works so hard that he deserves one. But I couldn't really afford one all on my own so my grandma pitched in and helped and John's brothers are going to put some money towards it too. I'm so excited to see his face when he opens it! We'll also be going down to the coast and spending the day there. I'm excited :o)

On top of that, my sister Bailey is coming out to stay with us for a few days on Thursday. Super excited to see her! Not sure what we're all going to do yet, but I see another trip to the coast in our near future.

OH! and how could I forget! John and I have a beautiful baby niece! Did I tell you that already? Her name is Kennedy and she is beautiful. She was born last month, which is why I thought maybe I had mentioned it, but  forgot I hadn't been on here in almost a month so I probably didn't. She's precious. I love being an aunt to that beautiful baby girl. 

Lizzie and I also decided to get best friend tattoos when she comes out at the beginning of next year. We're going to get small script on our sides- one will say "Tis the privilege of friendship to talk nonsense..." and the other will say "...and to have her nonsense respected." We can't decide who will have which phrase because we both love them both equally haha, but I'm really excited. This will be my first tattoo so I'm nervous, but it couldn't be more perfect for the two of us.

I Need A Break

I've been down in the dumps lately. Here's what's been going on....

My brother moved today. I'm very sad about this. He and I have always been really close and although sometimes Portland seemed like forever away, it was still comforting to know that if I needed him he was only an hour drive north. Now he's moving clear down to San Diego and I'm already feeling lonely. When John and I decided to move to Oregon I had a really hard time dealing with the fact that I wouldn't be near any of my family, but I had accepted it and was learning to live with my decision to move away from them. Then my brother moved out here to Oregon and even though I missed other family members, it was so comforting to know that he was out here with me. I had planned on my new life here in Oregon to be without family, but then I got the awesome surprise of my brother's sudden move out here and I was ecstatic...now I have to get back to accepting the fact that I'm pretty much alone out here. I know that sounds harsh because I have my awesome/wonderful husband and his loving family, but it's just not the same as having my blood out here....ya know?

On top of my own personal issues in that area, work has been terrible. My hours have been yo-yoing for a while now. At first my hours were cut, then I was given hours, now my hours are cut again, but then they're talking about giving shifts back...it's so unprofessional it's ridiculous. Not only am I having issues with the company itself right now, I don't know how much longer I can stay there because of the high emotions that come with the job. I feel like every child I get attached to gets taken away and thrown back into foster care. I had two in one day on Tuesday taken and thrown back into the foster care system, and they just so happened to be my two favorite kids in the program. It's one thing to see a child and mother leave because the mom graduates and is thriving...it's completely different when the mother doesn't want her kids and gives them away. I don't understand it, and I don't know how much longer I can take the heartbreak that comes with it. Tuesday I literally packed this sweet little 18 month old toddler's belongings into a foster moms car, and handed him over to her after the mom was arrested in our facility. It was terrible and I was a massive wreck. I can't do that again. People tell me not to get attached, but how do you not get attached to these sweet, innocent kids who are put in these situations not because of any wrongdoing on their part but because of their parent's train-wrecked lives? It's not possible. You get attached. You want to take them home. You want to give them a better life and show them that they're loved. And then, after dealing with all of the emotional turmoil that comes from the kids, you have the women to put up with and let me tell you, they're attitudes stink up to high heaven. I've been yelled at, cursed at, threatened....I usually have patience to put up with it, but lately with everything else going on I don't.

And, my slumber party stuff that I was talking about before? It's bombing. It hasn't even taken off yet and I feel like it's already been a mistake. I've had to reschedule my first party twice now and no one has bought anything from my website.

I'm so frustrated with everything right now. Can I have a break from life for a minute?

The More I Do, The More I Want To Do

I've been feeling really productive lately.

My hours at work have increased (thank God) and so I'm working mostly 8-5, with some other shifts worked in there as well, and interestingly enough, the more I work at work the more productive I feel when I get home....most of the time. Some of you may be laughing at me because 8-5 are normal hours, but going from not many hours to a lot of hours, especially in a drug rehab, is pretty challenging. Sometimes I'm just incredibly drained, like Thursday when I worked 8-7, that was a long day so I came home and crashed, but lately I've been getting a lot done around the house even after my long days at work. I like that feeling. I feel like I deserve my sleep when I finally lie in bed at night.

Today is my day off and I told myself yesterday that I wasn't going to let myself sleep in too much because I want my body to get used to getting up early for work and I don't want to ruin that on the weekends, so I got up at 9:00 today. This is so not like me. I'd normally be wanting to sleep until 11 or sometimes even later. But I got up, had a healthy meal, went to the eye doctor, ran errands and then came home and went on a run. After my run I went out back and played with Duke, and now I'm resting because I'm hot and tired, but the moral of the story is that the more I do, the more I want to do.

My resolution for this year was to be more productive, and I think I'm becoming very productive with my days. I love this feeling!

Slumber Parties

It is officially up people!

Slumber Parties by Piper Merrigan

Check out our products, order some fun stuff, have a good time! If I know you personally, go ahead and call or message me if you'd like to order your products over the phone.

Remember, everything is *completely* confidential, and if you order on my website, I don't see what you order.

Have fun!

The Only Constant In Life...

Why is it that when you plan on changing one thing, everything else changes with it? I don't do well with big changes all at once but I feel like my life is going to be changing a lot very soon.

Where do I start? I started slumber parties. I'll be getting my kit on Monday and I'll have my first party next Friday. I'm soooo not ready for that yet!! It's kinda freakin' me out. What if no one shows up? What if no one buys anything? What if I fall flat on my ass with this thing and just blew all this money on some things I'll never use? Once my domain name is approved (www.slumberpartiesbypipermerrigan.com) I'll hopefully start getting some sales there, but in order to make money off of this I have to find consistent buyers ya know? How do I even start that? Fingers crossed that I'll actually be successful!

Next, I'm starting school again. FINALLY! I had a conference call with my professors and director of the BIS program today...it was fantastic! I'm pumped to start school and actually feel like I'm challenging my brain again. I never thought I'd miss school so much until I couldn't be in it for over a year. If all goes well I'll graduate next fall! I'm not quite sure how I'm gonna pay for it yet...probably school loans which sucks because I really didn't want to have to do that, but it looks like that's our only option right now.

And on top of all that, my brother told me tonight that he's moving to San Diego....in less than a month! I knew he was moving to San Diego, I just didn't know when. I didn't expect it to be so fast. He has been trying to find a job down there and today he got offered a position. I'm really excited for him because I think he'll really thrive down there and I think he'll be so much happier in the sunshine state rather than the state that hardly sees the sun, but I wish he was staying. It's going to be pretty hard for me to see him go. My only relative out here will be gone....I can already feel myself starting to get lonely.

On another note, John and I almost have our bedroom completely painted. We need to do one more coat on our accent wall tomorrow and then we're finished. It's taken a lot longer than we thought. We started Monday and we'll finally get to sleep in our room again on Friday. But I think the color looks great, I love it! Here's a picture of our work in progress.

House, Slumber Parties, and Weight Watchers

I really don't desert my blog for weeks at a time intentionally, it just seems to happen that way.

We're finally completely moved in, and by that I mean we've cleared out the other house, not that everything is put away because that would be way too easy. We still have boxes upon boxes, and garbage bags full of things (we ran out of boxes) that still need to find a space in our new place. But we're getting there, slowly.

I've been trying to find a second job for a while now, and every time I think I have one in the bag my pride gets a reality check. So in order to make some extra cash on the side, and because I think it'll be fun, I've decided to become a Slumber Party consultant. I'm pretty excited about it...for the most part. I'm a little scared, cuz of the whole failing miserably thing, but I'm hoping I'll be able to make a bit of money from it. I'm buying my kit tomorrow and will start training soon. Once everything is in motion and I get my website up and running I'll let you guys know my domain name so you can feel free to order stuff if you wish. No worries, if you decide to buy something a little risque, I don't get to see what you buy online ;) but seriously, if you're interested in buying something don't be afraid to hit me up and let me know. There's no room for bashfulness here.

Along with this decision though has come some..umm....unsatisfied feelings from my in-laws. They're very conservative and I understand, but I personally don't feel like I'm doing anything wrong by selling these products. Not everything is completely sexual, in fact I have some really yummy smelling lotions, oils and perfumes from their line (and we just started a men's line)...but I think John's family doesn't fully understand what I'm selling and more importantly what I'm not selling ie: myself or porn. I think this will be one of those things that we just try to ignore around his family. And I'm fine with that as long as they don't judge me for what I'm doing.

Also, John and I have decided to do the Weight Watchers program.I could afford to lose a couple pounds and John is really unhappy with his body right now, so starting Tuesday (John wanted one more day to splurge) we will be counting points and hopefully shedding the pounds (with regular exercise of course).


Well folks that's about all I've got for now. I'll keep you updated on my slumber party stuff and let you know when I get everything up an running. Cuz I mean really, everybody needs to keep things fun and fresh, and what girl has enough lotions?

Hello? Are You Still There?

I am terrible with this thing lately aren't I?

Let's update you shall we?

We got the keys to our new house today! Woo hoo! So it's officially official, we're home owners (or if you're talking to John, home loaners haha). It's so exciting! Scary though too. There's so much that comes with owning a home and so much you can lose if things go terribly wrong. But I think we'll be okay. We took a few boxes over there today and I'll take more tomorrow so we can get in there and get out of here as soon as possible. I think we're going to get a U-Haul on Thursday to move the furniture so Thursday  night will be our first night in our new home. But today when we went over there we took Duke so he could check out his new backyard, oh man guys, he was stoked. He sprinted the entire thing over and over, he wanted to roll all over the grass, he was loving it! He also has two new neighbor dog friends, hopefully they continue to be friends. 

Aside from reaching definite adult status by gaining a mortgage, John and I have been going to a Maximizing Marriage class at church and it's been super fantastic! I think marriage seminars, classes, etc. are a great idea for any married couple. All of my professors back at Weber in my Child and Family Studies classes suggested going to at least 1 every year to keep your marriage on the right track and just have fun with other couples. I didn't think John would go for it, but he did and it's been really good.

We're also finally getting used to John's new work schedule. I don't like my routines being interrupted and changed to such extremes but we're finally getting the hang of this new one. My hours are being cut at work which is no good, but hopefully it's very temporary and we'll get new clients in soon. Because my hours aren't the greatest right now I've been applying for second part time jobs; I have an interview at a preschool on Sunday. I really hope I get it- A: it would help with money, B: I would get more experience with normal kids (cuz let's face it, the kids I work with are not your average kid) and C: it'll look great on a resume. 

Oh, and I almost forgot. Have you guys heard of the Dirty Dash? If not, youtube it right now. Come July 21st I, along with my friend Des and possibly a couple other girls, will be in Eugene getting completely dirty, trudging through the mud and loving every second of it! 

Apologies For My Absence

Whoa guys, I'm incredibly sorry for my absence. You see, I've been pretty busy lately with the flood, and health issues, and dog training, and that whole job promotion thing I was going for. Let's recap shall we?

First of all, as you've probably already guessed, I didn't get washed away from the flood. But it got close! Corvallis (where I work and where John parents/grandparents live) got completely flooded . Look at this

those used to be roads

yeah that really happened

it was madness. They're still recovering, but luckily the rains have stopped. The river behind our house never came up on land, surprisingly, because it got way too close for my liking.

Then I got really sick. Not to get into all the gory details but I was having some, erm, women issues, and it was making me really sick. I went into urgent care and they did a bunch of tests, one of those tests was a blood test and they said my liver enzymes were high and my white blood cell count was low; they wanted me to go to my doctor a couple weeks later for a check up. I went for my check up and they're still worried about my liver because it shouldn't be as out of whack as it is, they're having me come back in a couple weeks to get more blood drawn and if it's still high then I'll be sent to a specialist. The weird thing is, that isn't even why I went to the doctor in the first place. They just happened to find this in the midst of everything else. The reason I was having problems initially is because the doctors think (but can't be sure) that I had an early miscarriage. I'm not sure how accurate that is, I mean...the doctors aren't even sure how accurate that is because they simply can't tell. So I'm not really sure how to feel about it.

Well the day I went in for my check up I got sick again. But with something totally different from any of the things above. I felt like I was getting the flu- my body ached, my throat was sore, I just felt crappy. By the end of the day I had a fever, my throat was so sore my ears were hurting, my body hurt.....that's lasted for about 5 days and now here I am. Most of it's gone, my throat still hurts a little, but that's about it. I should be back to work tomorrow.

Speaking of work. I was going for a promotion (I'm sure I told you about it); it was a full time, lead day care position at work. Our last lady quit unexpectedly and the position opened up. I was working my butt off for it too, but in the end I didn't get it. My boss decided to hire outside and they found someone "more qualified". I'd be lying if I said I was fine with their decision. I hate that excuse about not having enough experience. I may not have manager or supervisor experience, but if companies only  hire people who've held those positions how are we expected to gain that experience? Oh well. Such is life.

But on the bright side, we started Duke's obedience training. In 5 weeks he'll be one obedient pup...hopefully. All I really want out of it is to be able to walk him down the street without it feeling like he's going to pull my arm out of the socket. That'd be grand.

Until next time guys.

High Apple Pie in the Sky Hopes

Well, I don't think we're going to get the house. We put an offer down, they counter offered, but they're being really stubborn. The sellers aren't even trying to meet us halfway. I'm not sure if they are trying to hold out because they have a lot of money in it, or if they think it's worth more than it is because of sentimental value. But tonight we put in our final offer, I'm not confident about it at all. I don't think we'll get it. I'm already looking for other homes, and although I'm a little disappointed, I'll get over it. Such is life.

Work wasn't that great tonight. I hate when the cops have to get involved. It's really stressful because having the cops come is such a wildcard. I never know if they're going to try to take one of the girls and that always freaks me out. Just mentioning the cops makes the house stressful. Tonight a client filed a police report on another client. The cops were supposed to be there either tonight or tomorrow morning, they didn't come tonight but that doesn't mean the drama was delayed. It's exhausting. But on the bright side, I'm going for another position at work, a promotion if you will... and if I get it I'll be full time, Monday- Friday 9-5. I won't have to work late anymore; I won't have to deal with the drama that comes from the night shift, I'll have weekends off (which I do anyway, but it would be guaranteed), and it would be such a great opportunity. I'm a little nervous. I really want the position, but it's always nerve racking when you're going against other co-workers.

So, the house didn't work in our favor, but maybe this promotion will?

Ya gotta keep your head up and keep hopin' for something good, right? Right.

I talk to my boss tomorrow about the job. Wish me luck!

Interview Take II

I had my interview today. I think it went pretty well. I know I'm onto the next phase of the hiring process which means that I need to take a test that the company created for their future hires. I haven't even told you guys what the job is huh? Well, it's a customer service position at State Farm. If I get the job I'll be the first person that the customers see when they walk in the office.

It's a good opportunity- they'll pay for my certification & classes, it's better pay and much better hours (I'll actually get to see John during the day! We're doing on day two of not seeing each other thanks to our lovely work schedules [boo sucky schedules!]). So let's pray I pass this test and can head on to interview number zwei.

This job would mean so much for us. More time together, more money which would help a lot right now, and more money would mean that we would be able to get into a higher bracket while looking for a house and, well you know there's that other thing ;)

Speaking of. I contacted all three heads of each department for my degree, all 3 of them are on board. YES! I just need to fax in a contract and have them all sign it. I'm excited to be getting back into school so I can finish my degree.

Oh life, you are so weird sometimes. One minute I'm down, the next I'm up...I like the up part much better.

Interview

Remember my To Do List?

Well, I have a job interview tomorrow....it's a really good job opportunity and I'm really hoping and praying that I'll land it. With my hours at work being cut, and basically, me just being mentally exhausted from the client that I've been having such a hard time with, I'm looking forward to this interview and the possibility of a new job adventure.

I know the guy personally that I'm hoping to work for, him and his family are really close to John and his family, not that that will get me the job, but I'm hoping it'll count for something. Fingers and toes crossed that I get this full time job, and that John and I can start, well, you know ;)

To Do List:

According to John I need to do two things in order for this baby makin' to start.

1: start school again. I don't have to be finished, I don't have to be a year in, I just have to get back into it. 

2: get a full time job. A job that pays more and has more hours so we can support said baby.

So what did I do today? Looked for full time positions, applied to one, and created a list of others to apply to throughout the week. Also, I contacted the 3 chairs of each department for my emphasis in order to get their approval and acceptance into the program. Now I'm not-so patiently waiting to hear back so I can start school again.


I would like to point out that I haven't been pushing to start this baby process right away. Sure I want this, and I've certainly been thinking it and talking about it to friends...but this recent baby talk has been all John, which makes me very happy. I love how in sync we are when it comes to things like this. It's like he reads my mind (...or my blog, but I doubt that's the case).


And so it begins!

Which Emotion Will Take Over Next

Basically, I feel like an emotional roller coaster right now.

I went from being super happy today, to being incredibly pissed off...and I mean like, blood boiling pissed off, then after the anger wore off I got sad, and now I have a little hope which makes me happy.

Here's how my day went.


John and I spent the day together and I was totally feeling the Christmas spirit. We went shopping and bought some Christmas stuff, and we decided that tomorrow we're getting our Christmas tree and decorating it. Then we went to the store and got pumpkin pie and eggnog (which we were going to save until tomorrow when we decorate the tree/house but we just couldn't wait so we dug in), and I was having a holly, jolly ole' time.

Then I went to work. And that's when it all went downhill. Literally less that one minute after walking in the door I went from :D to >:O. Why the sourpuss face you ask? Two of our kids got taken away from their mother tonight and put into foster care. I have no sympathy for her, I would have taken them away too. But I feel heartbroken over those kids. I've never been so angry at a client before but I was irate when I heard why the kids got taken away. Mad because she fooled everyone so well; mad because she chose a guy over her kids; mad over her selfishness; mad over her irresponsible and dangerous decisions; mad that those two beautiful babies will now be torn apart; mad because she had chances to change; mad because she's giving up, and mad because I kept thinking of how I would do anything to have a child while there are people out there who don't value their children enough and then situations like these happen.

I was mad for my entire shift. Then I got in my car to head home and I started thinking more of the kids and focusing less on my anger towards the mom. I feel heartbroken that they will be taken away from their mom because they adore her. I feel bad that they will be torn apart. And I'm sad that I won't get to see their cheery little faces anymore.

And here's where the hope comes in.

I'm thankful that they will be taken out of a dangerous/unstable situation and placed with foster parents who care and love them. I know the foster system is screwed up, but one of them has already been taken once and has a foster mom who really does love this child and takes care of them. Maybe that's this will be their saving grace. Then when I got home I started telling John about my awful night and he talked me through my emotions and even though I was doubting my ability to work in a career like this permanently, he encouraged me and listed reasons of why I can do this job. That obviously led to a discussion about our careers and our future, and in this topic of our future, John mentioned babies. I didn't say anything, though I wanted to, but he said that we need to get on top of making our lives better "so we can start having babies". Yes. Those words came out of his mouth. That led to us talking about our careers, him applying to police jobs this weekend, and me finishing my degree. So, then I hopped online and started looking at some more information about my degree and then I started looking up police positions that are open. There are two police departments that are hiring in our dream spot...the coast. This makes me super excited. As soon as I told John he got really excited too. He's applying first thing tomorrow. So please, please, please, say a prayer that John will get one of these positions! I cannot accurately describe how happy the thought of living on the Oregon coast makes me.


 So there's the inside scoop on my highly emotional day.

Gotta love it.