First Day of Work

Tomorrow is my first day at my new job. I am SO excited but I would be lying if I said I wasn't a little nervous. But it's the good kind of nervous. The kind where you want to jump right in, learn as much as you can and shine. I think my biggest nerves are because I am not familiar with the TeleCom industry, which make up a number of clients I will be working for/with. Praise the Lord I'm a quick learner and from what I've experienced so far, the team is so nice and are really willing to help integrate me into that world. I feel so blessed to be a part of this team and I haven't even had my first day yet! :)

Here's to a great night sleep and an amazing first day! I'll let you know how it goes! 

A Photo Summary

Just a quick photo summary of what we've been up to lately:

David with his new drill from my parents

David trying out his lawn mower from Kat, Alex, Ali, John and myself

Sometimes, you just have to pamper yourself. If I could afford to get a pedicure every other week, I would. They are the most glorious things ever. 

Beautiful sunrise on my way to work

One of my best friends Alex had her baby two weeks ago and he got to come to work to visit. I died. Look at these tiny toes!

Cobie is the most handsome little thing

Ali sent me this magical drawing. I've named him Jonah and he now lives on our fridge

My last day of work I was surprised with a balloon bouquet and a gift from my coworkers. So sweet!

This handsome creature and I went on a walk today and it's his favorite thing to do. He smiles like this the entire time.  

After our walks, he usually crawls under the blanket and takes a nap. Look at that sweet snout. 

Change is in the Air

Wow, what a whirlwind of a summer this has been. With the cooler days coming soon, we are on the brink of change. I should say I hope the cooler weather is coming. I love summer. LOVE summer. But this summer has been especially toasty and I’m ready for some cooler temperatures. Anyone with me?

This summer has been so fun though. Between moving into our first home, David settling into a new store for work, and a number of fun events, weekend trips, and so on, I am ready for a little break. But not before one more big change!

I quit my job. 

I have been with Opus for 15 months as the Promotional Production Coordinator. I really love the position; however, due to growth constraints and my eagerness to climb the professional ladder, Opus was no longer a great fit for me. 

Our friend reached out to us about a Marketing Coordinator position that had opened up at the company he works for. It sounded too good to be true! It would combine my love for copy writing and editing for various mediums (print, social, broadcast for example), with design and coordinating. In early June, I eagerly sent in my resume and cover letter and waited for a response.  

I heard back on the Fourth of July, asking me to come in for an interview. I went in on and had a great conversation, which was quickly followed up with a second phone interview the next day. Finally, I had a writing test which was probably the most fun interview I’ve ever had. I got to write, design and edit different things they presented to me. Then the Pivot team went on vacation. I did not hear back until late August when they all returned and asked for my reference information.

It is funny how God’s timing is always perfect, even if it means we have to be patient. If I would have heard back from Pivot immediately, we would have lost our house (you aren’t supposed to change jobs during a loan process, FYI). It worked out perfectly because we were able to close on our house and move in before any job-related changes happened. Funny how it always works out. :)

On September 4, while standing on the beach for David’s birthday, I received a job offer and excitedly accepted it on September 5. 

My first day as a Marketing Coordinator is on Monday, September 22 and I am so excited and eager to start. I really believe it’s going to be an awesome career move for me and will allow me to use my passions and my degree to do what I love. 

I know there will be challenges and a lot to learn but I am excited and I can’t wait to see where this adventure takes me!

White Trash Bash

David's birthday continued on Saturday when we hosted a White Trash Bash for his 29th birthday. We invited a bunch of friends and got to enjoy the night dressed up as White Trash. It was hilarious to see how everyone brought the theme to life through their costumes and with a ton of delicious food and drinks, we enjoyed the evening with our core group of friends (well, those that could come). 

It's really, really fun actually. David introduced me to his friends and we've all gotten quite close. Plus, we're all married so it makes it fun for couple things too! Are ready for this?

• David met Andrew at school who's brothers are Dan and Kevin.
• David met Tori and Danielle through school (or church maybe?) and then introduced them to Andrew, Dan and Kevin.
• Andrew and Tori got married
• David met Max through school who married his high school sweetheart Megan. 
• David met Jake and Ben through school. Ben married Stephanie, while Jake married Megan's best friend Shelly (are you still with me?)

The list goes on and on but those are the funny interwoven connections. We have a group of about 16 close friends that make for fun birthday parties, BBQs and get togethers. We are blessed by that, especially since we're all Christian, all around the same age, and all get along really well. Love it!

Anyway, the core group came over to our house on Saturday to celebrate David's birthday, along with Kat and Alex and my parents. We had so much fun hanging out, playing Catch Phrase (the girls dominated) and Cards Against Humanity. The evening ended around 1 am and we spent Sunday cleaning and watching football. David said it was his best birthday ever and the most fun birthday party he's ever had. Nailed it! :)

Tori

Max

I was really excited about something Danielle said

Erica (Dan's wife)

Cards Against Humanity with Andrew, Tori and Kevin. I think I was trying to photobomb this picture  

Erica and Stephanie

Our happy dog 

Andrew's mullet blowing in the wind

Me!

Look at this t-shirt from Walmart. So amazing.

Catch Phrase!

Dan and I

Alex

Chris and Danielle

Dan

The Birthday Boy! Have you ever seen anyone so handsome?! 

David's temporary tattoo. His nickname is now Fire Panther

David's Hostess birthday cake. A layer of Ding Dongs, Twinkies, and Ho-Hos, with a giant Ding Dong topper

Our temporary tattoo station and S'more stuff. We didn't end up making S'mores though, so now we have a lot of supplies leftover. 

My handsome Fire Panther

Mom and Dad

Mom and I 

Me, Dad, and Kat

Chris, Danielle, Erica, Dan, Stephanie

David's Birthday Week

Well, David's officially in his late 20s. He turned the big 2-9 on September 4 and we celebrated together by taking the week off of work and relaxing together. We were so grateful for time off together and loved being able to spend the days doing whatever we wanted. It's so nice sometimes to not have anything to do, unless you want to do something. 

Wednesday morning we woke up and got on the road back to the Lake. This time, it would just be Hank, David and I as it was mid-week and the family doesn't really go down after Labor Day. We got to the Lake around 11:30 or noon and unpacked and relaxed. We immediately went and laid in the sun on the dock, David shot his BB gun and went fishing. We brought our TV down and David's XBox so we could watch movies (We watched Jurassic Park and The Lost World). It was so fun! 

Thursday, his actual birthday which always starts with a Happy Birthday song at midnight, we decided to drive the hour into Florence to spend the day at the beach! It was SO hot and was so fun walking in the sand with Hanky. He loves the beach and loves digging in the sand. We were going to walk down to the ocean but when we got to the surf, we noticed there were tons of jellyfish that had washed ashore. No peeing on each other today from a sting, thank you. We turned back around and drove into town to grab some lunch.

We originally planned on going to Mo's but found a seafood place next door that allowed dogs on their patio. We found a cute little picnic table and Hanky got to join us for lunch. It was so cute seeing all the owners with their dogs, and it was really nice that we didn't have to leave Hank in the car. It was hot out too and David and I are strong believers that no pet (or person) should be left in a hot car.

David's love language is seafood I think. Unfortunately, it's not mine so it's rare he gets to have it. He ordered calamari and a whole crab and was in birthday-lunch paradise. It was so cute and makes me happy to see him indulge on his birthday.

After lunch, we found a cute little ice cream shop and stopped for a scoop and some Taffy. With that, we drove back to the Lake and spent the rest of the day swimming, lying in the sun, napping, and relaxing. 

Friday, we spent the morning and early afternoon relaxing too. We were sad to leave but had a fun birthday party to prepare for on Saturday! 

Triangle Lake

Wow, what a fun end to the summer. David and I have been busy, spending time with family at our Lake House at Triangle Lake, celebrating his birthday, spending time with friends, and working on the house. 

Triangle Lake is my favorite place in the world. My dad's side of the family all own our Lake House, so we've had the extreme blessing of spending summers down there. Growing up, we'd go almost every weekend in the summer, or so it seemed. As we all grow up, it's a little trickier to get down there as often but it's never a disappointment. David and I decided that we're going to just request some weekends off next summer so we can get down there more. Here's a photo dump of our time there. I didn't take very many pictures because there's no service so our phones stay nice and tucked away while we're there but I did manage to snap a few.

Hank and I on the way

Our handsome chauffeur 

Wilson (my sister's dog) had too much fun

 

Murph did too apparently

Brother Bear (Alex, Kat's husband) and Wilson

 

Alex and David rocking out  

Our beautiful view

Happy, happy, happy

Kat (left), my cousin Noelle (middle) and I (right) went inner tubing. See that stick pointing up out of the tube? That's my leg. Yeah. Definitely felt all of my falls the next morning, haha! SO fun though!

Hank could get used to vacation too, I think

I think my favorite parts of the weekend was either riding the jet ski with David (oh my word, the most hilarious thing I've ever experienced) and the campfires at night. I love looking up at the billions of stars, sharing stories around the camp fire and spending time with our family. No place better.

And finally, a random picture of Hank, Wilson and I when Kat and I made marinara sauce at her house last weekend. We used tomatoes, basil, and onions from her garden. I can't wait to eat it, it smelled DELICIOUS.