I'm now in my second week of working at ASU in the MBA Admissions office and so far it is going really well. Last week was kind of overwhelming as I met everyone I would be working with and then all the other people associated with the MBA programs. I met with each of the Admissions team members to get to know them better and so they could get to know me, too. By Thursday I was starting to feel more comfortable and settled, almost like I belong here. This week has also been good - I've started working on some projects and I realizing just how fun its going to be to work with all these people. So this change that I was so nervous about has turned out to be a good one as far as I can tell.
Last Friday John and I flew out to Salt Lake City to attend a couple of weddings. John's younger brother was married to Jessica in the Temple on Saturday. We were able to go to the wedding and then we stood out in the cold for a while before taking pictures. Then that afternoon we went to another friend's wedding - Joseph Golden - at the same Temple. I'm so glad we were able to go to both and celebrate with our friends and family. It was a good day, but very long and very cold. We thought we would have some time to visit with the family on Sunday but our flight left at 3 so we didn't get as much time as we would have liked. Brandon and Andrea had us over for dinner that night, which I was grateful for, and then we went to bed early after a long and busy weekend. I've been struggling just a little the last couple of days because I don't really feel like I got much of a weekend. Thank goodness there is a three day weekend in just a few days!
Meanwhile, John doesn't go back to school until next Tuesday so he's been vegging at home. He is recovering from a cold, so its probably good that he's resting up and getting plenty of sleep. I'm just jealous... He had a quick one day trip to California last week to meet the people in the office where he will be doing his internship. He was a little nervous but it turned out just fine and he's looking forward to spending a few months in California this summer. I, on the other hand, will be here in Arizona missing him terribly. But we'll deal with that when the time comes.
With all our traveling and vacations over for the holiday season we're finally settling back down into the regular rhythm of life. Routine is nice after so much craziness, but it was fun, too! So back to business for everyone!
1.13.2009
1.01.2009
Happy 2009!
(The pictures I've promised of our holiday parties and visiting with family.)
Surprisingly I've been ready for 2009 since the end of September - I caught myself writing 09 instead of 08 several times in the last few months. And now it's here! Happy New Year!
John and I are still in Utah enjoying the snow on the ground as long as it's not in the road. It has been pretty chilly and I'm about ready to get back to Arizona and warmer weather. Christmas at the Zincke's was so fun. We had a late start but that was okay because then the Christmas morning magic lasted even longer. Our activities in the last couple of weeks have included lots of Frasier, lots of food, and lots of shopping mixed in with a few movies and meals out. We have a couple more days here in Utah before we drive back down to work and school.
We spent last weekend in Colorado with my family, which was wonderful. Paul (my younger brother) gave a lovely farewell talk in church and we had a great time playing games and visiting with the Woodbury's. It was short, but it was fun and I'm so glad we got to be with the family for a couple of days before Paul leaves on January 7 to go into the MTC. It will be about 3 years before we can all be together again as a family because of my brother's missions.
Our holidays were happy and we're looking forward to a new year of more friends and family.
12.16.2008
Almost Christmas
I can't believe its already Christmastime - especially considering the weather around here is nothing like winter. It is cold today but nothing like what I have been used to in December. And I can't complain.
John is working hard on studying for mid-terms this week and his last day of school before the break is this Thursday. He is really excited to have some time off and see his family for the holidays. His other big news is that he was offered an internship position at Johnson & Johnson in Irvine, CA. It is a 10-12 week internship during the summer and he's just glad that he's got an offer from a really good company.
I got the word that I got the job at ASU! I'll be starting in the MBA Admissions office on January 5th. I'm excited and nervous. I'm really sad to leave Scottsdale Culinary because I've made such good friends here, but I need a permanent and secure job. Change is good, I guess, and I hope this is one for the better. Its always a little scary to start something new.
So this means that I will get 2 weeks off for vacation and we'll get to spend more time with family for the holidays - YAY! And it also means that I will probably be staying here in AZ this summer while John goes to CA for his internship... sad. Fortunately, its close enough that we'll still be able to see each other on the weekends. But, as John reminds me, I need to stop thinking about that and just focus on the nearer future.
Merry Christmas! We've had a couple of parties with friends and I got some awesome pics that I'll post soon.
John is working hard on studying for mid-terms this week and his last day of school before the break is this Thursday. He is really excited to have some time off and see his family for the holidays. His other big news is that he was offered an internship position at Johnson & Johnson in Irvine, CA. It is a 10-12 week internship during the summer and he's just glad that he's got an offer from a really good company.
I got the word that I got the job at ASU! I'll be starting in the MBA Admissions office on January 5th. I'm excited and nervous. I'm really sad to leave Scottsdale Culinary because I've made such good friends here, but I need a permanent and secure job. Change is good, I guess, and I hope this is one for the better. Its always a little scary to start something new.
So this means that I will get 2 weeks off for vacation and we'll get to spend more time with family for the holidays - YAY! And it also means that I will probably be staying here in AZ this summer while John goes to CA for his internship... sad. Fortunately, its close enough that we'll still be able to see each other on the weekends. But, as John reminds me, I need to stop thinking about that and just focus on the nearer future.
Merry Christmas! We've had a couple of parties with friends and I got some awesome pics that I'll post soon.
12.02.2008
Welcome to December
We had both chicken and turkey for Thanksgiving this year. Dave and Charity came up from Tucson and we had turkey/chicken dinner at our apartment. It was a fun day and dinner came out great, mostly. I was a little disappointed in my rolls and the stuffing wasn't fantastic, but we had fun and all got plenty to eat.
I was really excited about finally using my stemware - I love those glasses. It was a lot of hard work all day in the kitchen but it was worth it in the end. And now I can say I did Thanksgiving dinner, even though we didn't do a full turkey. We'll tackle that another year.I am sad to report that I only made it to 22,031 words on my NaNoWriMo novel before November 30th. I procrastinated too long and didn't dedicate enough time to spend on writing enough during the month. I didn't think it would be a big deal, but on Sunday night when I had officially given up I was feeling rather disappointed in myself. But I did write quite a bit and now I know that it makes a difference to me if I finish or not, so next year I'll plan better.
John flew to Atlanta a couple weeks ago for second round interviews with Johnson & Johnson. He hasn't heard back from them a yes or a no yet so we're crossing our fingers. Meanwhile, he's got two more interviews on campus this week and getting really tired of it all. But I have full confidence in him and I'm not worried - I know he'll get a good internship.
Work is going well for me - I'm still at Scottsdale Culinary Institute and having a great time. They really like me there, too, so I'm hoping that they'll hire me on permanently. I do have an interview at ASU on Wednesday, though, just to keep my options open. I do like it here at the Culinary school so I hope things will work out.
So now we get to look forward to Christmas and the holiday break. And I am really looking forward to more time off - it's hard to come back to life after vacation. I've got the week of Christmas off of work so we'll get to be in Utah with John's family for more than a couple of days. I'm also looking forward to some snow - haven't seen much of that down here in AZ.
So welcome to December!!
11.13.2008
NanoWrimo Update
It's the 13th and I'm supposed to be at 21,671 words by the end of today. I'm at 6771 words at this moment... stress much?! But I'm not too worried - I had a little bit of a late start because my husband had a week off from school and was a huge distraction, but now he's back in the grind I can get down to business. I've been doing about 1,000 words a day every day this week, so it could be worse.
My story so far has taken some wild twists and turns. Not so much strange as far as the story goes, just not what I had in mind at all. I'm going with the flow right now but I am continually surprised by new characters that pop up and entirely new plot lines. I find myself thinking about my characters and what they'll do next while I'm getting ready in the morning, while I'm driving, and during lunch. I guess that's a good sign that my mind is working on it so hopefully something great will come of all the hard work. Hopefully 50,000 words worth of greatness.
Whatever happens, I am so glad to be writing again. I gives me something to work at, something that uses my brain and imagination, and it will hopefully be an awesome accomplishment, too.
My story so far has taken some wild twists and turns. Not so much strange as far as the story goes, just not what I had in mind at all. I'm going with the flow right now but I am continually surprised by new characters that pop up and entirely new plot lines. I find myself thinking about my characters and what they'll do next while I'm getting ready in the morning, while I'm driving, and during lunch. I guess that's a good sign that my mind is working on it so hopefully something great will come of all the hard work. Hopefully 50,000 words worth of greatness.
Whatever happens, I am so glad to be writing again. I gives me something to work at, something that uses my brain and imagination, and it will hopefully be an awesome accomplishment, too.
11.10.2008
John's Week Off & Other News
John had last week off from school because it was the end of his first tri-mester. He did a lot of lazy and some sleeping on the side... It made it hard for me to go to work, but he came up to have lunch with me a couple of times so that was better. Now he's back to school and the grind and not looking forward to it.
We went down to Gilbert yesterday to go to the baby blessings for Olivia and Kylie Thompson (my cousin Kristi's twins). It was so fun to see their family - Grandma and Dale and Terri came out from California so we got to see them. Those little girls are so cute and they received beautiful blessings.
John and I got new phones - yay!! I've been wanting a new one for a long time and John finally got fed up with not having service in the business building at school. So we got out of our contract with Sprint (after much arguing on the phone) and signed up with Verizon. I love my new phone - very sleek and fun. We spent the evening on Friday programing in all our contacts and the settings.
I'm so excited for the holidays coming up. I head Dean Martin's version of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer on the radio this morning when I was driving to work and it just made me smile. I love Christmas and I'm really looking forward to celebrating with family this year. We'll be in Utah for Christmas but we're still trying to figure out exactly how that's going to work. And we're still not sure about Thanksgiving... But I sure am excited!
I'll get some pictures up here soon, promise!
We went down to Gilbert yesterday to go to the baby blessings for Olivia and Kylie Thompson (my cousin Kristi's twins). It was so fun to see their family - Grandma and Dale and Terri came out from California so we got to see them. Those little girls are so cute and they received beautiful blessings.
John and I got new phones - yay!! I've been wanting a new one for a long time and John finally got fed up with not having service in the business building at school. So we got out of our contract with Sprint (after much arguing on the phone) and signed up with Verizon. I love my new phone - very sleek and fun. We spent the evening on Friday programing in all our contacts and the settings.
I'm so excited for the holidays coming up. I head Dean Martin's version of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer on the radio this morning when I was driving to work and it just made me smile. I love Christmas and I'm really looking forward to celebrating with family this year. We'll be in Utah for Christmas but we're still trying to figure out exactly how that's going to work. And we're still not sure about Thanksgiving... But I sure am excited!
I'll get some pictures up here soon, promise!
11.03.2008
Congrats to B-rAndrea
The Smith's have a new member in their family - Jocelyn. John and I are going to go meet her this evening and see how Mom is doing. Congrats ya'll! (John nicknamed Brandon B-rand and then we just added Andrea's name to the end... silly, I know...)
That's the best news going on right now. We had Mom and Dad Woodbury come visit last weekend (I'll put up some pics later) and Daniel came with them. We had a great time playing Wii and hanging out with friends. It was a good weekend.
John finished his first tri-mester at ASU last week and feels pretty good about all his finals. Now he's got a week off and I'm jealous he gets to stay at home while I'm working. But he's deserved a good break.
I started NanoWrimo on Saturday - I've committed to write a 50,000 word novel in the month of November. I've done it for the last two years and always had a great time so I didn't want to miss out this year. I'll post frequent updates at Book 'n' a Mug.
So hope ya'll are doing well!
That's the best news going on right now. We had Mom and Dad Woodbury come visit last weekend (I'll put up some pics later) and Daniel came with them. We had a great time playing Wii and hanging out with friends. It was a good weekend.
John finished his first tri-mester at ASU last week and feels pretty good about all his finals. Now he's got a week off and I'm jealous he gets to stay at home while I'm working. But he's deserved a good break.
I started NanoWrimo on Saturday - I've committed to write a 50,000 word novel in the month of November. I've done it for the last two years and always had a great time so I didn't want to miss out this year. I'll post frequent updates at Book 'n' a Mug.
So hope ya'll are doing well!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)