MORE

it finally happened! I'm back in the working class again! it took a very long time. a LOT longer than I ever imagined. but, my new job was definitely worth the wait. I am the new Development Coordinator at The MORE Project. !!! (do those explanation marks give you an idea of how excited I am??)

it is perfect for me! I am a total bleeding heart and have always wanted to work for a nonprofit. from the moment I stumbled upon the website and throughout my series of interviews, I knew I wanted this job more than anything. and I have loved EVERY second since I was offered the position. it has given me more than I ever dreamed it could.

not only do I absolutely love what my work does for the poverty-stricken children and families in Brazil, but I love the every day things I do at the office. I also love everyone that I get to work with every day. I really don't think I could have found a better fit for me! so, here's to me FINALLY finding what I was meant to find.

and here's a shameless plug to end with - check out The MORE Project's website! there is so much you can do no matter how much you can give. I am amazed at the amount of support we get every day despite the horrible recession we are all dealing with. even if you can only give $5 a month, or $35 a month to sponsor one of the children in our program, it goes a LONG way and it is appreciated more than any of us can truly understand. so... yeah. I love my job!

looking up - Jan 2010 playlist

January was a great month. I got to spend new year's with Stacy, Wayne, Nynaeve, Trajan and Steve. We watched Beauty and the Beast and played Candy Land and Scrabble all night. It was perfect.

Then I got to fully cater a wedding in Provo, thanks to Riehl Events. It was my first big success as Crave Catering.

A week later I went to Hanksville with Steve to visit with family and see the sights. Pictures from that are in my last post.

I spent the next weekend in Wendover with Amber, Gregg and Brad. We got a sweet hotel room, ate some amazing buffets, listened to some live music, and gambled our pocket change away.

I watched all the seasons of Friday Night Lights. I'm obsessed! What an amazing show! I have fallen in love with Taylor Kirtsch and finally understand football.

A few days later I got a call from The MORE Project and was offered a position I had been dying to get! I couldn't be happier with it. It's an amazing organization and I work with great people. It is definitely worth the wait and all the hard work of these past several months.

While all of this was going down, I was listening to this playlist. It's perfect for everything this month meant to me.

looking up
1. july flame. laura veirs
2. walk over me. dirty blonde
3. i run to you. lady antebellum
4. devil town. bright eyes
5. begin again. colbie caillat
6. cigarrettes and rain. chris o'brien
7. don't you evah. spoon
8. fireflies. ron hope
9. i'm the only one. melissa etheridge
10. need you now. lady antebellum
11. i'm yours. ron pope
12. off i go. greg laswell
13. i want you back. colbie caillat
14. back to her. five way friday
15. chasing cars. natasha bedingfield
16. all we'd ever need. lady antebellum
17. hard times. dirty blonde
18. fearless. colbie caillat
19. sesame street. joshua radin

enjoy!

new beginnings

you know when something catastrophic happens to you, something unexpected that you were unprepared to deal with, and you feel destroyed and irreparable? and everyone around you tries to comfort you by telling you that things will work out, a new door is opening and you just have to have faith. and, at the time, it's really annoying and not comforting at all? yeah, that was my life two months ago. I was defeated. I felt no hope. the life I loved and planned on having forever had been stolen right out from under me. I was devastated. there really wasn't anything anyone could say or do to comfort me and I was sure that feeling would never go away.

well, turns out they were right all along! somehow, over time, the haze that clouded my mood and my thinking has disappeared and all I see now are possibilities. it's true, being laid off really was a blessing in disguise. for years I have talked about owning my own business and doing what I love on my own terms every day, but I never really thought I would be able to do it. well, IT'S HAPPENING! soon I will actually own my own business... ok, so it isn't completely finalized yet, but it is so close to actually happening that I can taste it. thanks to all of the support from my friends and family, and particularly my sister, brother-in-law, and uncle, this is going to happen!

I think this calls for a serious celebration. who's in?

free time!

it's been kind of nice having so much free time! I'm not to the point yet where I am ok with the fact that I was laid off, but I can appreciate the opportunities I have because of it. the timing was perfect for Amber, I had about two weeks to devote all of my time to her and her wedding. (don't worry, there will be a big post about this very soon).

I was also able to go to Hanksville in the middle of the week for a funeral. Pam was my BFF growing up. all through elementary, middle, and high school. I loved her to death, and I loved her mom even more than I'm sure any of them knew. Denise owned the grocery store and managed the Sinclair and Piccadilly Pizza. she was my mom's first friend when she moved there newly married, pregnant with me, very young, shy and clueless. she gave her a job at the grocery store, and later at the Sinclair. She gave me a job at the Piccadilly when I was in high school, and gave me a big advances on my pay check for things like cheerleading uniforms, camp, and our senior trip to California. she made SO many things possible for me and my family, and she did it all without recognition and very quietly. I loved her and I'm really grateful I got to attend her funeral.

I've also had time to reorganize my house and deep clean it! I love that feeling. in fact, I'm going to do more cleaning today.

I have been spending a ton less money! no more eating out every day for lunch, no more driving all over the valley every day, and no more seeing friends every day to make plans with. it's kind of sad, but it's good for my finances!

I've been able to go to the dentist as soon as he can get me in every time. yes, I've had a lot more dentist nightmares. over the past 2 months I've had two root canals and 11 fillings. next week I have to go in for another root canal! all the pain in my mouth has kept me from eating my worries away though, and I've lost 6 pounds! I've also had a lot more time to go to the gym, which has helped that along too.

so, even though the job seach is discouraging and days can be long and lonely, I'm trying to look on the bright side. I'm sure the right thing will come along eventually, but until then I'm trying to enjoy all this free time.

i loved my job

one of the many things i loved about working at Stampin' Up! was birthdays. look how cute they made my desk on my birthday:

some of the many other reasons I loved working there was the awesome people I got to talk to and laugh with every day, the fact that I got to do what I LOVE every day and get paid for it, the employee store and discounts, the beautiful building we worked in, the amazing demonstrators, and SO much more.

we had been forewarned about a month before the day of infamy arrived. but, no matter how much time we were given, nothing could have prepared us for the heartache and emotions we felt that day and every day since then. it's been tough. I loved my job!!! I wasn't planning on ever leaving. I wanted to retire from there. I loved it so much that I can't seem to find the motivation to look for a new job.

I'm taking it one step at a time. some days are long and lonely, but other days are full of fun stuff I never found the time for before. but, the best days are the ones where I get to see all my fellow laid-offers. we went to lunch the very next day after our unemployment meeting. aren't we all so cute?! a bunch of us went to lunch again today. it was great! nothing else has proven to cheer me up more than being with all my SU! peeps.

the day before the layoffs happened I took pictures of my latest projects. these items are being shown on stage at the Australia/New Zealand Convention this week.






so, with any luck, I will be able to find a new great job. I better kick it into high gear! or maybe I will just hang out and live on severance for a while. :)

project round-up

I haven't posted much of anything lately, and to be honest it has mostly been because of laziness. :) so, here is my first attempt at catching up. here are some of the projects I have made the past few months (the ones I can share anyway).




I made these pages for training videos at work. the top one (with the beautiful pics of the crawford family) was for a stencil video, and the next one (with the adorable picture of my niece Nynaeve) was for a bow-tying video.






These are all samples I made for our Leadership conference back in January. those were challenging stamp sets.


This is a gift basket I made for a friend who had been really sick for a while. It's filled with all of his favorite things. yeah, it was pretty sweet of me if I do say so myself.
and this is the card I made last night for my awesome sister, Amber. today is her 26th birthday! she liked it, I think.

so, yes, I LOVE my job! let's all pray for me. come on! I know you want to. for those of you that don't know, my company is going through major lay-offs over the next couple weeks. there is a pretty high chance that I could lose my job. this has caused more stress in my life than I think I've ever felt. I have been getting headaches and really tight and sore muscles in my neck and back. I have been clenching my jaw so hard at night that it has caused pain up my jaw and into my ear. my dentist gave me a night guard to wear, so hopefully that will help. but, seriously - your prayers are needed too. my plan has been to retire from this company, so losing it already would be awful!
Thanks y'all!

Leadership

because of my new position at work, I was able to attend our annual Leadership conference in Orlando. it was so weird being there in my new position, but definitely great. I got to produce some of our classes for some of our best presenters and demonstrators, put up samples and displays, and work at check-in. we had time to go out every night and it was tons of fun. we took a lot of silly pictures, went to City Walk and played around at Margarittaville, visited the upside-down building (I can't remember what that was...), ate cheese fries at Johnny Rocket's, and spent too much money. I love my new co-workers! you should all be jealous of me.


the best part was that we went to DisneyWorld!! I had never been there or DisneyLand, and we had half a free day on Saturday. we hopped in a cab (which turned out to be a death cab!) and headed to the happiest place on earth. it was SO much fun! we didn't have to wait longer than 10 minutes for any of the rides either. best. time. ever. I could barely wait 6 days to be in DisneyLand!! that's right - both parks in one week!

thankful thursday

it's Thanksgiving! I'm down in southern Utah with the fam, and couldn't be happier about it. I can't help but think about all the blessings I have in my life. who doesn't do that on Thanksgiving? so, here are some of the things on my list:

* my family. I don't know what I would do without them. we are closer than most families, and I don't say that lightly. have you ever watched Brothers & Sisters? we are close like that, but the flip side is that we have that much drama in our lives too. maybe more. it's all good though. we get through it all together and there's no better way to deal with it.

* my job. I couldn't be more grateful for a job than I am right now. I know several people that have been unemployed far too long and still don't have any leads. and not only am I simply employed, but it's by one of the best companies ever to work for. work is fun, and everyone in the office is too.

* my faith. the good part about losing your faith is finding it again. for those of you that have experienced it, I'm sure you know exactly what I am talking about. it's indescribable.

* my friends. no matter how old I get I will always need good friends. and I have some amazing ones. I don't make new friends easily, and that makes me even more grateful for the ones that have stuck around over the years. I couldn't have asked for better friends.

what more could anyone ask for?

the things I love about Australia

I had a fabulous time in Australia. it was even better than last year! I love it there and would have no problem becoming an Aussie myself one day. here are some of the things I love down under:

* Koalas! look how adorable they are! they are so cuddly and sweet. I couldn't stop oohing and aweing at them. if I were rich, I would have paid to hold one. it's my goal for next year. :)



* lawn bowls. ever heard of it? you have to roll an oblong ball across the turf and try to hit the white ball on the other end. I have to admit, I got pretty good at it. the ball curves when you roll it, so there is some skill involved. there's gotta be somewhere in the states to play. it's tons of fun.
* the Daintree Rainforest. It's amazing. I love trees, and I have never seen any like these. I don't think I saw any that were similar. tons of different kinds, tons of different heights, and barely any space between them. you can't even see the sky. I love it there.



* the people. to be honest, I don't think I've ever met nicer folks! they are all incredibly cheerful and welcoming. it seems they are all more real and down to Earth than we are here in the states. I want to start an Aussie-style American organization and teach everyone their manners and way of life. if we took our time like they did, we'd all have less headaches, heart attacks and ulcers. most of us would have better relationships too!



* Aussie slang. here are some of my favorites:
swimmies, or swimming costume - swimming suit
good on ya - good for you, or nice job
thongs - flip flops. we had some fun confusion over this one. :)
jumper - jacket
sunnies - sunglasses
rubbish - garbage, trash
bite your bum - be quiet
bush - middle of nowhere, desert
bushie - someone who lives in the bush
cheesed off - annoyed
chemist - pharmacy
boot - trunk of a car
cobber - a male friend
bloke - derogatory name for a male
brekky - breakfast
canopies - appetizers
in a tic - in a second
lollies - candy
mum - mom
no drama, no worries
petrol - gasoline
pressie - present or gift
rice bubbles - rice krispies
torch - flashlight

see?! when people talk like that, how can you not love them?

* meat pies. SO yummy!! and sausage rolls too! this place in Kuranda had the best meat pies ever made. flaky thick crust and tasty fillings. some of them had mashed potatoes on the top!



* driving on the wrong side of the car AND the road. it was hard to get used to, actually it was really scary at first. but, then it was fun. I got the hang of it, and it started to get exciting. I just had to keep my mind on it or off I would go in the wrong direction, or my windshield wipers would be moving instead of my blinkers going on.

* the fun animals and wildlife reserves. check out these wallabees. alligators, lions and tigers! and I saw so much more!







* the accents. I probably shouldn't say this until I have been to more countries, but the Aussie accent has to be my favorite. SO CUTE!

I can't wait to go back. and if you ever get a chance, you have to go. Australia is amazing!

Par-Tay in Kanab!!

on July 2, 2008, I celebrated my one year anniversary with my amazing job. 10 days later I got to prove everything I have learned and how much I have grown by traveling to Kanab and running their company summer party all by myself. I feel so grown up! ;) it's very rare that any of us go to an event and run it completely alone, so I felt privileged. this party has been my baby for about 6 months. I planned every detail. I will admit I was nervous, but as soon as things were supposed to start coming together, and all of my vendors were supposed to arrive... they did! and they got all set up and ready to go 30 minutes early! everything ran just as perfectly as planned, and those that showed, had a great time. the main attraction was the mechanical bull! and the guy running it actually convinced me to get on. yes, I rode the mechanical bull, and had a great time. you know that saying, "you can take the girl out of the country, but you can't take the country out of the girl"? well, it's true, I admit it. deep down, I will always be a country girl. I think that is why I love the Kanab employees so much. I get along with them really well and jump at every opportunity to head down there and spend some time with them.

anyway, it was an amazingly successful event, the storm harrowing above us didn't even dare to put a damper on our day. the weather was cool and breezy, but there was no rain on our parade. it was a great day, and I have pictures to prove it.