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Friday, 06 November 2009

  • Life

    Steve had a hard time getting up this morning, so I got up with him, which left me with some extra time before work to kill. So here I am, blogging on my birthday, after how long of not writing on here?

    Anyway, life is still good. God is good to us, and he has kept us well since the last time I wrote. Steve is doing well in school as far as I know. Every now and then he will tell me about a good grade he got, and so far it sounds like he's getting all As and Bs (more As than Bs). The best part is that he's doing REALLY well in math, which is the course that I think scared him the most going into it since he hadn't done too well with it in the past. I'm extremely proud of him for sticking with it. He tells me that if he comes to the end of his Arabic class with an A, he won't have to take the final. That's exciting. The only bummer about this semester is that, back in January, I asked for Dec. 14 and 15 off for our anniversary (which is the 15th), and now I find out that the 15th is the middle day of finals! Go figure. Now, WHY did I choose that date for my wedding? Oh, well. Hopefully it won't always fall during finals. It's not horrid either because we looked at Steve's finals schedule, and it's looking like we'll have Monday evening and Tuesday morning off together, so we're planning to celebrate and sort of "get away". I'm really looking forward to it.

    Steve just got all his classes for next semester scheduled yesterday. He'll be taking 16 credits, including a personal fitness class that he's pretty excited about because he knows he needs motivation to be active (don't we all?). The personal fitness class is a half-semester class during the first half of the semester, so he plans to continue the routine of working out in the same time slot once the class is over. He also mentioned that, counting next semester, he figures he'll be done in 5 semesters. That means, next spring, he gets to declare a major and get an official advisor in his degree. It seems that he's still pretty excited about being in school, and since he doesn't have classes on Friday this spring, he's really excited about the Spring schedule he's got.

    In my world I'm still working at the credit union and still enjoying it. My cash drawer was off by a significant amount a couple of times in the last few months, and I subsequently ended up on a 60 day probation (I can't be off by a lot again or else I'm in BIG trouble and I'm not eligible for raises or promotions during that time). I also went through a bit of an identity crisis and briefly considered looking for another job thinking that I shouldn't be working with money anymore. I had a nice cry-fest and talked to several people about it, and I ended up being reminded that God has placed me where I'm at and he really is using me even though it sometimes feels like he's not. My mom reminded me of the two big things about my job that really keep me excited about it: (1) my interaction with my co-workers and members is a witness to Him, even though I'm not officially in "ministry", and (2) my members especially count on me to be there every day and be a face that they recognize and can trust with their money. My boss also made it clear that she was not about to let me go anywhere and that my members did need me to stick around since there is so much turn-over on teller lines in general. My boss has also shown a lot of confidence in me as she has asked me to cover for her as much as possible with opening new accounts and simple things that I have learned on the account representative side of the job since she is swamped with year-end tasks to complete as a manager. That has been exciting since opening new accounts gives me long stretches of time to just get to know the new member and build a relationship with them.

    Even though it's only the beginning of November, I am also thinking about Christmas already. I'm really excited about being able to decorate my home for the holiday, and I'm also plotting out some fun Christmas presents. The best part is that I utilized a special "holiday" account at work which allowed me to save through the year for Christmas, so now I have a little extra money to spend on things like that without worrying about still having to pay bills. I have, however, decided to up the amount going into that account each paycheck for next year because I forgot about the fact that I also have my anniversary to think about at the same time. I love giving presents, and I'm truly looking forward to Christmas this year.

    Well, I guess that's about it. Better get a move on to work.

Saturday, 19 September 2009

  • School and things

    I see it's been over a month since the last time I wrote anything in here.  Guess it's time to play catch-up.  Sometimes it's hard to remember that I have people out there checking this site.  Haha.

    Anyway, there's been a couple big things that have happened since I last wrote.  First, Steve started school September 9th.  He's still working full time, so it's been quite a big transition for him the past couple weeks.  Study time is not so much a concern as sleep time is because he gets several hours of down time at work each week when he can study.  He has changed his work schedule slightly so that he works two 8-hr shifts and two 12-hr shifts each week.  By doing so, we're hoping that he can get enough sleep on Wednesday and Thursday evenings to get through each day.  Sundays will be spent catching up on sleep.  So far he seems to be doing ok, although allergies have made breathing a chore and added to all the craziness as well.  Pray for a solid routine to be found and plenty of sleep.  Thanks.

    I got to spend most of three days at the beginning of this past week with my parents.  Since, as I just said, Steve is working and doing school full time, he didn't have a lot of time to hang out with us, but he did eat dinner with us and was actually able to join us for breakfast on my parents' last day here, which was unexpected.  I think all parties involved really enjoyed my parents' visit.  On Saturday night we were able to join with Steve's parents, my parents, and Steve's Aunt Carol and Uncle John for dinner.  It was great to have several parts of the family-created-by-marriage join together and just have a fun time.  The only one missing was Steve's brother, Joel, who was on a training weekend with the Reserves.  

    On Sunday night Steve and I hosted my parents and several friends for dinner.  Steve's brother, Joel, was actually able to come as well, since he had just returned to Billings from his training.  It was really great to see all these people we love together, and to get to watch my parents know a little bit more of my friends and family here in Billings.  We had pea soup (which barely stretched among 9 people!), and the guys tried out some exotic-flavored mustards left over from our visit to the fair earlier this summer.  Joel, of course, led the challenge to try all the hottest mustards stacked between a whole slew of crackers.  He was definitely sweating a little by the end.  We also go to play a very enjoyable game called "Outrage" which involves stealing the crown jewels from the Tower of London (curtesy of Jaclyn).  No one really won the game because we put a time limit on it since it took forever to play the game in the past, and many of us had jobs to get to the next day (and school).

    Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, I had off to spend with my parents, and I finally got to see the "touristy" things of Billings: the Pictograph caves, Pompey's Pillar, and the Moss Mansion.  All of those places were really interesting, although I discovered that I am thoroughly spoiled by working in a bank with A/C because the heat on the day that we were outside really drained me.  The Moss Mansion, although not infused with A/C (I don't think), was a considerably cooler visit, and probably my favorite part of the three days.  I asked Steve to take me back on one of the days I've taken off for our anniversary, since by then the house will be filled with Christmas trees and decorations.  Describing the three visits in full would be lengthy, so if you want to know more about each location, Google it 

    My parents and I wandered a little of downtown on one of the days, and I finally got a chance to go to the Global Village store, where, whouldn't you know, I found my wrap-around-skirt!!  I currently have a skirt that I just adore from Guatemala.  I purchased it my first time there back in college, and it is probably one of my most favorite pieces of my wardrobe.  I love the fact that I will proabably always fit into it since it's wrap-around.  It's also long and flow-y, so it makes for a great in-between-weather item.  It's really great too for church in the summer since it's hot outside and usually FREEZING in the church.  I had been craving at least one more skirt like it for months, and hoped to find one at the fair this summer since there are some Latino vendors there, but none of them had what I was looking for.  The only catch is that Global Village is a fair trade store, so the price is high in comparison to what I got my current skirt for since they intend to make money that they can pass on to the people in Guatemala.  This is a great cause, so of course I can justify spending that kind of money, just not right now.  It will probably end up being a birthday or Christmas present to myself or something like that.  At least it's nice to know they carry them!  My other option was ambushing Jaclyn for a day and having her help me my make my own copy of my current skirt from one large piece of fabric.  That is still an option, but buying it at Global Village would be a lot less work.

    I had also told my mother the sad tale of the fact that there are no ethnic foods sellers here in town (that I know of), and she was a dear and brought me some tahini sauce from Billings (second main ingredient in hummus).  We finally made up the hummus on Wednesday, and it's a little dry, but Steve likes it so far, which is a good sign.  He doesn't like the store-bought stuff, and I have a fairly large jar of tahini sauce left still.  I think I just need to add some more oil and lemon juice to the recipe.  Also, next time I make it, I'll buy a food processor and include some of the "water" from the canned chickpeas.  The blender was a sad affair at making the paste.

    I ended up with TONS of leftovers of various other goodies from the week with my parents, so it's nice to not have to cook for a few days.  I did discover, however, that I am out of zucchini, and am currently in the process of finding someone to go to the farmer's market for me to buy more.  Sadly, I work the exact hours that the farmer's market runs, so I can't do the shopping myself.  I'm determined to get tons more zucchini before it disappears for the season.  I also need to experiment with other quick-bread (as my mother calls them) recipes--maybe applesauce or pumpkin bread.  Quick-breads seem to be a very easy, somewhat cheap dessert and appetizer for company, as well as a good gift (I think I'll be doing breads for work gifts this year).

    I'm back at work for a few weeks of a "normal" schedule for me, which includes Tuesdays off and work on Saturday.  I'm really looking forward to it since the house needs a major cleaning.  

    My attempt at selling books on Amazon has officially dropped off, so I'm thinking I don't have the stamina for it.  I'll see what I can do to sell the books I have and then give up for the time being.  Maybe next summer I'll try selling Corelle-ware and/or Tupperware from garage sales on Amazon.  Being that those items get discontinued, and then people need certain items to complete a collection or replace a broken item, it may be a little more lucrative than books, which tend to be in abundance year-round if you look in the right places.  I still can't figure out how anyone can make money by selling a book for a penny on Amazon.  Oh well.

Wednesday, 12 August 2009

  • Crazy Days of Summer

    That's our decorating theme this month, but I thought it was appropriate for this entry 'cause it seems pretty crazy that I'm blogging twice in one week!

    Lately I've had a couple projects I've been trying to get into.  I was given some zucchini that I need to bake into breads, or at the very least shred and freeze.  I've been putting off the baking part because of the extreme heat we've been having, coupled with the lack of a functioning A/C unit in our apartment.  I hear the weekend should be cooler, so I may try to bake then.  But I've also heard that one can pick up zucchini for major cheap at the Farmer's Market.  So, since Steve loves zucchini bread so much, and I like it too, I'm thinking I will be stocking up on cheap zucchini soon and shredding it and freezing it for the winter when it won't be so much of a pain to do baking.  Heck, it might even help keep our heating bills low.

    My other project is Amazon.com.  I have decided that it's not really that hard to sell books online, so I'm going to try it and see if I can be a contributor to Steve's education by bringing in a little extra side money.  I plan to frequent garage sales while they're still going this summer, as well as attending the library's semi-annual book sale (huge event here in Billings), and keeping an eye out for the Borders mark-down in January that I saw happen while I was working there (late January they mark down certain items to as low as $1 a piece--and these are brand new items that can easily be resold for $10+).  I've already had two books sell that I didn't mind getting rid of, and I picked up a couple from the library today to list.  I'm hoping I can keep my starting costs under $100, and so far it's looking good.  I already had several components of the packing necessities, so I splurged on a scale so I can print my own shipping labels.  I also got "free" business cards that I just had to pay the shipping for.  I figure too, since it's getting close to school, maybe I can help some of my friends sell text books that the school wouldn't take back.

    That being said....if you live close to me, and have any random books lying around the house that you've been meaning to do something with, let me sell them for you!  I would totally love to do the leg-work and of course I'd split the earnings with you.  So just leave me a note on Facebook or give me a call!  Thanks.

Monday, 10 August 2009

  • Relaxing

    So this past weekend was pretty much amazing.  Steve took Friday and Saturday night off, and it was wonderful to have a few days where we could relax and hang out with people.  Friday night as the Gaither Vocal Band concert.  Mark Lowry was in his ever-side-splitting prime, and the music was great too.  It's wild to think this group has been beloved by so many for almost 40 years, and yet it's also sad to realize that it will probably all end when Gaither leaves this earth.  At least I got to see them.  The concert also put a desire in me to find a record player at a garage sale and then get my mom to bring the few records I own out to me--one of them being a kids record of Gaither music.  The concert tickets got us admission to the fair, so we checked it out that night, but there weren't many displays up yet, so it was kind of boring.

    Saturday we slept in together and then went out to Joliet to visit Aunt Carol and Uncle John.  They grilled for us and Steve's parents and then we just relaxed.  I even fell asleep on the couch.  In the afternoon we went geocaching (my first time), but we couldn't find any of them.  We think two of them were underwater because the rivers/creeks were really high from all the rain.  At the one place Uncle John found an apple tree, so we picked some apples and Aunt Carol baked them into a pie when we got back to the house.  Steve and I left for home before it was done.

    Sunday, Steve and I actually got to go to church together!  It was great.  Then we came home and I hosted Sunday dinner for my in-laws and Aunt Carol--roats beef dinner.  They all said it was great, which was cool.  Aunt Carol brought the leftover pie for dessert.   We played Scrabble and Janet creamed us all--she got a 50 point word!

    Sunday afternoon we went to the fair again, which I was excited about 'cause I wanted to see the displays.  They were great.  I also found out that I could probably get away with entering some of my Yellowstone pictures in the fair!  I think I might do that next year.  I'm excited.

Monday, 04 May 2009

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eleno5485

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    • Name: eleno5485
    • Country: United States
    • State: Montana
    • Metro: Billings
    • Birthday: 11/6/1981
    • Gender: Female
    • Member Since: 7/21/2004

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