As of the last time I blogged, I wasn't sure about a lot of things. For starters, E got the job at Starbucks and will be starting Dec 15th! He also got a call back from the Washington State Patrol telling him that he passed phase one of testing and they scheduled phase two, which is an oral board, for Dec 4th. Wish him luck! Once he passes this it's just the polygraph and background check standing in his way.
E also got a call last week about doing a ride along. He went on one already, and as I type now he is on another one. He came back at about 3am from the last one, more sure than ever that he would love to be a trooper. He was very excited to be going again tonight.
I continue my search for a job to replace my nanny job. I'm not even sure what it is I even want to do anymore. Really all I want to do is craft...
For Thanksgiving we stayed home. We made a turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, and stuffing. It was nice. Before we got our cooking on we thought we would try to find one of the dog parks that people say were close. We picked the closest one that google came up with which happened to be about five miles away..but SO worth the little drive there. It actually lead us to a part of a huge golf course and to the sound. We walked along the beach with the dog. At the end there was an off leash portion. Harper was too scared of the water to want to play anyway. We ended up playing fetch for the first time with her outside. Never has she shown so much interest and stayed focused on one game for so long. It was fun to play with her like that. We both had images of the cool tricks we will be able to teacher...as soon as we can master come, stay, and no of course.
After that we just relaxed for the rest of the day and watched netflix late into the night. On my birthday we had plans to go to the beach and see the open ocean. We wanted to build a fire and roast hot dogs...but as we were researching good beaches, it started to rain. After looking at the forecast we realized it was supposed to rain all day. So we had to plan something else....ah, but I was getting ahead of myself. I opened my gift from E right away. He was so excited about this, because I had no idea what it was. Some of you may know this, but surprises are not always E's strong suit. So this just made this gift even more exciting. I told E all I wanted for my birthday was a homemade meal. He got me a beautiful cast iron tea pot with cast iron tea cups. I've wanted one of these for a long time. He even picked out my favorite color. I can tell he put so much thought into this gift, making it extra special.
Anyway, we decided to go see Catching Fire instead. We had to go to an evening showing since the early showings were sold out. So we went on over to buy our tickets and then we had about five hours to kill. Across the street we went to barnes and noble where we sat and sipped for a while, E had coffee, I had peppermint hot cocoa. We browsed and picked out one book each, feeling pleased to take advantage of the black Friday bargains, of course. Then I remembered the Christmas CD I was dying to get E. It is the Pentatonix CD. I saw them perform on TV, heard they had a Christmas album, knew E loved it and really wanted to get it for him. So I kept it a secret until we found it in the store. Sometimes I think that it is just as much fun to give a good gift, if not more fun, than to receive one. The feeling of anticipation, just knowing how happy it will make someone else.
After shopping we still had time to kill. E took me out for late lunch/early dinner. We even got a free ice cream cake because it was my birthday! After this, with more time to kill we drove over to the movie theater, pulled out our books, and read in the car with the sound of the rain plinking on the roof.
We enjoyed the movie. I think I enjoy movies in movie theaters now more in general just because of the reclining seats. The normal/old seats always made my back ache. I really like these new seats.
When we came home, the party was far from over. We turned on the new Christmas CD, played some UNO, which E creamed me at every time, and then watched movies all night long.
Today was a day filled with Thanksgiving leftovers, a haircut, and more netflix. E has been plugging away at paperwork that needs to be filled out for his background check. They sure want to know EVERYTHING. Now I just sit here eating cookies from the giant batch of frozen cookie dough balls I made when E was at drill while E is out cruising the streets of Tacoma soaking in everything he can about being a state trooper.
I almost forgot. We bought a small folding table. It's amazing how much more at home I feel here having a place to eat meals...other than the coffee table. I think our next goal is to buy a lamp or too. Our living room feels like a dungeon.
Until next time!
Saturday, November 29, 2014
Wednesday, November 19, 2014
Settlling
Settling. That's a good word for where we are at. I am on my second week nannying. E looked for jobs, took his test for the Washington State Patrol last Saturday. He thinks it went well, and things are looking very hopeful in that way. It sounds as though they are hiring a lot of people right now, so E has a very good chance. Not to mention the friends we met at church that offered to be E's "inside man" and answer questions and offered to help him prepare for the oral boards. How nice is that?!
As it turns out, yesterday E also had an interview at Starbucks. It's not really what he wants to do, but it would be nice to have something while we wait to hear back from the WSP. He got a call back later yesterday afternoon asking him to go to the store where they want to have him working and do an "interview" to see if it is a good fit. We are assuming it's a go for that job. So starting next week, E will have a job too!
E has drill this weekend, so I will be all alone. That's okay. I have Harper and Katniss to keep me company.
We have been feeling unmotivated to decorate or continue to unpack the last few boxes. So we have a couple of boxes in a few corners. Taking up space where there should be furniture.
We were invited to have Thanksgiving at the company commander's house...I have mixed feelings about this. This will be my first Thanksgiving apart from my family. Thanksgiving has ALWAYS been my favorite holiday, and has always been connected/associated with my birthday. So many feels. It's always been a relaxing holiday. No expectations, no pressure, no plans. Just show up, eat, nap, watch movies. I know it might be good to go to the company commander's house, but I want to just make a turkey, potatoes, stuffing, and just watch netflix all day. Is that wrong? Hmm. E said we can do whatever I want. We will see.
We are still in a wait and see period, but things finally feel like they are coming together. For this we are oh so thankful.
As it turns out, yesterday E also had an interview at Starbucks. It's not really what he wants to do, but it would be nice to have something while we wait to hear back from the WSP. He got a call back later yesterday afternoon asking him to go to the store where they want to have him working and do an "interview" to see if it is a good fit. We are assuming it's a go for that job. So starting next week, E will have a job too!
E has drill this weekend, so I will be all alone. That's okay. I have Harper and Katniss to keep me company.
We have been feeling unmotivated to decorate or continue to unpack the last few boxes. So we have a couple of boxes in a few corners. Taking up space where there should be furniture.
We were invited to have Thanksgiving at the company commander's house...I have mixed feelings about this. This will be my first Thanksgiving apart from my family. Thanksgiving has ALWAYS been my favorite holiday, and has always been connected/associated with my birthday. So many feels. It's always been a relaxing holiday. No expectations, no pressure, no plans. Just show up, eat, nap, watch movies. I know it might be good to go to the company commander's house, but I want to just make a turkey, potatoes, stuffing, and just watch netflix all day. Is that wrong? Hmm. E said we can do whatever I want. We will see.
We are still in a wait and see period, but things finally feel like they are coming together. For this we are oh so thankful.
Monday, November 10, 2014
Looking up!
Well, I write to you all with good news! I landed a short term nanny job for a precious little 7 month old baby girl. I will be here until the end of December we are guessing. The family is undergoing some changes and the mother is looking to find a job where she can be home more. This works out for me because it's a good chunk of time for me to be looking for jobs!
E is still waiting to hear back from any of the jobs he's been applying to. Yesterday at church we were informed that E could possibly get a job as a dispatcher for the state troopers. This would be like an internship, we were told. It would be a good foot in the door and good connections to hopefully get a job as a trooper sooner! All he has to do is send a quick e-mail to follow up on that lead. That would be nice.
We are almost done unpacking things in our apartment. We are still missing a lot of furniture, like a dresser, a dinning room table, shelves, a couch...These things will have to wait for a while.
This weekend we went on an adventure to Point Defiance Park. It's about 5 miles from us and it's awesome! It's right where the Tacoma Zoo and Aquarium are! There are hiking paths everywhere and it just runs along a peninsula on the Puget Sound. Oh, and did I mention the spectacular view of Mt. Rainier from our apartment?? That is also way cool.
While we did exploring this weekend we began to realize that we picked a place that seemed to be near everything. We had no idea how close we were to so many things when we picked this apartment. We are near several grocery stores, and 5 miles away from a Target, Walmart, Hobby lobby...and several other small stores, and then only a little bit further to the Tacoma mall! (Where they have Krispy Kreme!!)
Of course, it is also important to note that we are close to a Cabelas AND a Bass Pro...Ethan loves that.
My nanny job is in Gig Harbor. My drive takes me across the Tacoma Narrows Bridge. I say, if you can afford to live in Gig Harbor, do. It's so nice out here with all of the lush green everywhere. It's also only 11 miles away from where I live now! How convenient! (aside from the hefty toll I'll have to pay when I leave every day...)
Thank you everyone for your prayers and support. Things are finally beginning to settle into place. We can relax a little bit.
Oh! I forgot to tell you about our neighbor! The first night as we were unpacking we got a knock on the door. I opened it to find this nice looking middle aged man with a bag of popcorn and some napkins in his hands. Before I could say anything he said "Hi, I'm your neighbor, eat!" and he shoved the popcorn into my hands and dashed back into his apartment without another word! He seemed very nice, even if he came and went so quickly. Then just yesterday E was taking Harper out to the bathroom and he must have been coming home from work. I didn't see this exchange, I could only hear it. He started going crazy about Harper. "Puppy! You're a nice puppy" and on and on. E found out his name, I forgot what it was, and he mentioned that he was a mailman! A mailman who likes dogs, a lot. And Harper seemed to like him too.
Anywho, I just figured I'd give you all the exciting update on our lives. Hopefully there will be more good news in the future!
E is still waiting to hear back from any of the jobs he's been applying to. Yesterday at church we were informed that E could possibly get a job as a dispatcher for the state troopers. This would be like an internship, we were told. It would be a good foot in the door and good connections to hopefully get a job as a trooper sooner! All he has to do is send a quick e-mail to follow up on that lead. That would be nice.
We are almost done unpacking things in our apartment. We are still missing a lot of furniture, like a dresser, a dinning room table, shelves, a couch...These things will have to wait for a while.
This weekend we went on an adventure to Point Defiance Park. It's about 5 miles from us and it's awesome! It's right where the Tacoma Zoo and Aquarium are! There are hiking paths everywhere and it just runs along a peninsula on the Puget Sound. Oh, and did I mention the spectacular view of Mt. Rainier from our apartment?? That is also way cool.
While we did exploring this weekend we began to realize that we picked a place that seemed to be near everything. We had no idea how close we were to so many things when we picked this apartment. We are near several grocery stores, and 5 miles away from a Target, Walmart, Hobby lobby...and several other small stores, and then only a little bit further to the Tacoma mall! (Where they have Krispy Kreme!!)
Of course, it is also important to note that we are close to a Cabelas AND a Bass Pro...Ethan loves that.
My nanny job is in Gig Harbor. My drive takes me across the Tacoma Narrows Bridge. I say, if you can afford to live in Gig Harbor, do. It's so nice out here with all of the lush green everywhere. It's also only 11 miles away from where I live now! How convenient! (aside from the hefty toll I'll have to pay when I leave every day...)
Thank you everyone for your prayers and support. Things are finally beginning to settle into place. We can relax a little bit.
Oh! I forgot to tell you about our neighbor! The first night as we were unpacking we got a knock on the door. I opened it to find this nice looking middle aged man with a bag of popcorn and some napkins in his hands. Before I could say anything he said "Hi, I'm your neighbor, eat!" and he shoved the popcorn into my hands and dashed back into his apartment without another word! He seemed very nice, even if he came and went so quickly. Then just yesterday E was taking Harper out to the bathroom and he must have been coming home from work. I didn't see this exchange, I could only hear it. He started going crazy about Harper. "Puppy! You're a nice puppy" and on and on. E found out his name, I forgot what it was, and he mentioned that he was a mailman! A mailman who likes dogs, a lot. And Harper seemed to like him too.
Anywho, I just figured I'd give you all the exciting update on our lives. Hopefully there will be more good news in the future!
Friday, November 7, 2014
Home
Ahhhhhhh. Finally we are home.
It took us quite a while, and through quite a range of emotions, but we are finally home. We were originally told that we would be able to move in on 11-7, that's today. Then we were told 11-6 which made us excited. THEN we were told we could possibly move in on 11-5. E told me not to get my hopes up, but of course that's exactly what I did. Then we found out they had to clean the carpets. I misunderstood E the first time he told me and I thought he said they were cleaning them 11-4, but they were really going to clean them 11-5. So all day 11-4 I thought, maybe we can just sleep on the kitchen floor while the carpets dry? Then at the end of the day I was informed about the actual date. No worries, I thought we will just wait until 11-5 and sleep on the kitchen floor then....When E called to confirm he was told that the carpet guys came too late in the afternoon to start...so they weren't even going to start cleaning them until the 6th! OH NO!! I was so ready to move in that this news really did make me cry. So we spent one more night at the company commander's house.
Bright and early yesterday morning we went and got the truck. We estimated that it would take us about three hours to move everything into the moving truck since we were doing it all by ourselves. Our first hiccup happened when we realized we accidentally rented a truck from a different facility than the one we have our storage unit...bummer, but no biggie. It was only a couple of miles away. Then we proceeded to load the truck in almost exactly one hour...so we had a lot of time to kill. We finished at 1100 and couldn't get our keys until 1500. So we finished paperwork early and got a few groceries while we waited.
Let me say, unpacking the truck was much harder. No carts and a flight of stairs...I tried not to think about it too much. We did it! And we returned the truck that night and proceeded to open boxes. It sort of felt like Christmas opening our boxes because we hadn't seen most of our stuff in 6 months! Katniss was so excited to finally have space to roam, and of course Harper loved exploring.
Our place feels enormous. It's over double the size of our old apartment in Moorhead. We just keep commenting on how awesome it is to have space. I don't have pictures to share just yet.
Now we just need to find jobs. E has taken his test for law enforcement/public safety and is just waiting now to hear back from the department of fish and wildlife or a police department. He will take the test for the state troopers on the 15th. Prayers for that one. This is the job he seems the most excited about. Among waiting on these jobs he's also been applying left and right for just about ANYTHING.
I have been applying to at least one job a day. Today I have an interview at a mental health facility. Prayers are appreciated. It's only 5 miles away from our apartment!
I guess that's all I've got for now! We still don't have internet, so it might be a while before I get to post again.
It took us quite a while, and through quite a range of emotions, but we are finally home. We were originally told that we would be able to move in on 11-7, that's today. Then we were told 11-6 which made us excited. THEN we were told we could possibly move in on 11-5. E told me not to get my hopes up, but of course that's exactly what I did. Then we found out they had to clean the carpets. I misunderstood E the first time he told me and I thought he said they were cleaning them 11-4, but they were really going to clean them 11-5. So all day 11-4 I thought, maybe we can just sleep on the kitchen floor while the carpets dry? Then at the end of the day I was informed about the actual date. No worries, I thought we will just wait until 11-5 and sleep on the kitchen floor then....When E called to confirm he was told that the carpet guys came too late in the afternoon to start...so they weren't even going to start cleaning them until the 6th! OH NO!! I was so ready to move in that this news really did make me cry. So we spent one more night at the company commander's house.
Bright and early yesterday morning we went and got the truck. We estimated that it would take us about three hours to move everything into the moving truck since we were doing it all by ourselves. Our first hiccup happened when we realized we accidentally rented a truck from a different facility than the one we have our storage unit...bummer, but no biggie. It was only a couple of miles away. Then we proceeded to load the truck in almost exactly one hour...so we had a lot of time to kill. We finished at 1100 and couldn't get our keys until 1500. So we finished paperwork early and got a few groceries while we waited.
Let me say, unpacking the truck was much harder. No carts and a flight of stairs...I tried not to think about it too much. We did it! And we returned the truck that night and proceeded to open boxes. It sort of felt like Christmas opening our boxes because we hadn't seen most of our stuff in 6 months! Katniss was so excited to finally have space to roam, and of course Harper loved exploring.
Our place feels enormous. It's over double the size of our old apartment in Moorhead. We just keep commenting on how awesome it is to have space. I don't have pictures to share just yet.
Now we just need to find jobs. E has taken his test for law enforcement/public safety and is just waiting now to hear back from the department of fish and wildlife or a police department. He will take the test for the state troopers on the 15th. Prayers for that one. This is the job he seems the most excited about. Among waiting on these jobs he's also been applying left and right for just about ANYTHING.
I have been applying to at least one job a day. Today I have an interview at a mental health facility. Prayers are appreciated. It's only 5 miles away from our apartment!
I guess that's all I've got for now! We still don't have internet, so it might be a while before I get to post again.
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