When Plans Just Don't Do It...

I really can't believe how long it's been since I even blogged anything. It makes me chuckle to look at our posts from the end of last year and resolutions to blog once a month. I say forget promises. Just blog when you want to. Doesn't have to be more than a couple of words. Put something up that you thought was funny on youtube, whatever!

Anyway, a ward trip to Big Bear got cancelled for this weekend due to weather and so I have a little time on my hands. The problem with time on my hands is that then I get restless and dissatisfied. So, I thought, why not blog and get my mind off of things?

Pretty much the life plan right now is to plan on going back to school in Fall 2011. That gives me time to re-take the GRE (with a very overpriced prep class), and actually spend time on as wel as save money for applications. The problem with this is that I get really tense thinking about surviving another year in a pretty stressful, undervalued job. And staying put for another year and a half. I can't even think about other people with my dream job because then I start to dream and get really impatient to be doing something else when what I really need to do is get my MA.

So, that's pretty much where I am right now. That means another 1.5 years living at home so that I can hopefully pay off some debt and maybe save a little bit of money. Not so easy when I'm already pretty much the oldest person in my ward and all I want to do is move out and feel like I am an adult instead of still living at home. No matter what, I MUST be moved out before my 30th birthday! So, besides that, I've been having some weird health issues with my stomach that I am trying to work out with a doctor. I'm also trying to suppress my impulse to run away and travel (for lack of funds).

Hope you are all doing well! Can you believe that one of us 4WMs really is going to be a mother soon? Crazy! Things always work out so differently than we sometimes think (well, maybe except for Jenny - haha!). Love you all!

As a random side note, if you want to see some pics from my Heart Walk last September, click here.

Theories

I've developed some new theories about my unemployment. I've never had a hard time getting a job that I wanted (up until now), so going on four months of unemployment has been a new and humbling experience for me. Here are my theories about why it's lasted so long.

1. The economy (obviously) - this is a big one... I apply for positions and they get cancelled, new jobs aren't posted, etc.

2. I am a young-ish, married BYU graduate living in Utah. This is my most recent idea about why I've been unable to get a job. I had my thoughts about it while I was still at BYU and interviewed with a few companies in Utah (not sure if you remember), but the ring on the finger is like the nail in the coffin. Since I've been unemployed, I've submitted applications for 36 positions, interviewed for more than 10 of those, and had second (or third) interviews for several. This destroys my theory about being a bad interviewer, because if I were really awful, I don't think they'd be calling me back. So, my strongest theory at this point is that I can't get hired because I'm a girl, I'm married (one step closer to baby) and they think I'm going to get pregnant any day now which means I'll last 9 months to a year at most, when they'll have to go through the hiring process all over again. It's times like this I wish I had gone into nursing or teaching - two fantastic, respectable professions that seem a little less subjected to this sexist rule.

3. God is trying to teach me a very important lesson that I haven't learned yet and will only see the meaning of in years to come.

4. I needed the time to get my own business rolling.

5. I'm supposed to be working on family history, volunteering, humanitarian aid projects, and serving the elderly in my now abundant free time. (this goes along with the lessons God is trying to teach me)

6. I'm supposed to have a baby. Now. (not sold on this one, just a theory)

Thoughts?

updates

Hey girls. I've felt so out of touch lately... with everything! You, the world, etc. Anyway, the thing that my life has been revolving around lately is the launch of my new business and the accompanying website. :) I don't quite know what my expectations are for Sugarhouse Ink, but for right now I'm only hoping that perhaps a steady stream of Christmas card orders will help pay for the crown I found out I have to get. Boo for expensive dentist visits. Although, I'm sure someday Whitney will learn to love and appreciate crowns, root canals and the like. For now, not so much my favorite thing.

Spencer is gone for the weekend so I'm just hanging out at home alone. Oh, and what's with me not having a job yet? Seriously, I never expected the unemployment to last this long... but I'm thankful that it has; it's given me a chance to work on lots of my own projects and learn so many things I wouldn't have if I had been working.

So anyway, that's that. It's really late and I'm super tired. Have a good night and wish me luck at the dentist...

Happenings

A few updates from my life:

1. This morning I found out that Aloha Airlines declared bankruptcy. Not like all the other airlines that continue to operate... Real, 100%, full-fledged, we're done, bankruptcy. Look here for proof. So the only reason that this really effects me is because Spencer and I booked our tickets for our Honeymoon on Aloha Airlines. Yep. So far Plan B is forming quite nicely though, and Visa seems hopeful that Spencer can get his money back. But it did give me a mild heart attack. I may even write a few letters and shed some tears over the phone and see what I can get out of the situation. Sometimes those things can go a long way.

2. Last night I made hummus and it's super good. Surprisingly good. I like hummus, I just didn't realize I could make it that well. It looks like I'm on the road to Middle Eastern domesticity.

3. Things at work are kind of slow and whenever that happens beverages are the first thing to go. So I bought a case of water for myself. Weird.

4. I'm getting married exactly six weeks from today! Ahhhh!

5. Lately I have been getting up in the mornings with plenty of time to go running (which I really should do, because I'm running this in eleven weeks) and I just haven't. I've just stayed in bed and listened to the world wake up and watched my room get light and read or done nothing. And it's been kind of nice. But really, I should go running.

6. That's all.

Love to you all!

The Joys of Grown Up Life

I feel like throwing an all out tantrum and I figured I might find sympathy among my fellow white mothers. Here's the deal -- the holiday season just isn't the same when you work full-time. Everything special about the season as I have always known it, has existed in part because of the huge lack of responsibility for say, a week or two, that accompanies Christmas break. But when you're a grown up and you work for a really fantastically ridiculous company, Thanksgiving means you get Thanksgiving day off. One random day in the middle of the week to stuff yourself and then somehow wake from your turkey coma on Friday morning to return bright eyed and bushy tailed to work. Christmas means you get Christmas day off. And that's it. No more lounging around mom and dad's house in pajama pants until noon, sliding across wood floors in your favorite wool socks and eating leftovers all day long. Those days are in the past. And the best part? At my current place of employment, we are not to ask for time off in November or December and from what I understand, any such requests will be denied. In other words, if my request of Christmas Eve is denied (it's a monday, for crying out loud!), I'm going to call in sick. And I announced that at our staff meeting last week. Might as well be honest if they won't be fair, right?

Now that I think about it, appealing to an audience comprised two-thirds of teachers, who will forever maintain in some sense the sanity-affording breaks that make the season special, may not have been the best place to call for sympathy.