Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Traveling and Working
Wednesday morning I was talking to my Mom on the phone when I opened the curtains in my room to see clear skies and sunshine. I then told my Mom that I had a view of Mt. Rainier, and it was snow covered. It was very nice to see the top. Now this was also on Wednesday, and my Mom says to me, "You just now figured out you have a view of Mt. Rainier from your hotel room, where have you been?" I just laughed, mainly becuase to see the top of Mt. Rainier is VERY rare. It is a place almost always covered with clouds. I actually had not taken the time to look out the window since my arrival on Monday. Below is the picture I took Wednesday morning. I haven't seen the top since then.
Mt. Rainier 2011 |
I go home tomorrow and I will be back in Tacoma on Sunday. Should be a short but good weekend with Razorback Baseball.
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Thursday, March 17, 2011
HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY
Green Beer in Honor of the big Day |
Chicago 2008 River Dying Green |
A friend and I at the Chicago Parade with our good friend Guinness |
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Busy Weekend
Michael and I at the Park |
Sunday, March 13, 2011
New Project-Garden
We have a front garden area, which the builder setup at our house. They didn’t know what to plant or something because most everything died. I blame it on the fact that the front of our house is a direct sunlight area, and the plants burned up and died. The few that survived are going to be dug up and thrown out; survival is not in their favor.
So, I have a plan of action. Step one is to clear all dead plants and mulch out of the garden. I spent a lot of time raking and shoveling the mulch. The garden is not huge, but is big enough that I spent 4 hours working on clearing the mulch. I had to have Michael come help me. It was hard work and I am very happy Michael helped. Once all the mulch and dead/alive plants were removed, I sat on the ground and pulled weeds and grass. I want this garden to be nice and I knew if I didn’t pull up as much of the weeds and grass that it would become a bigger problem. Grass was probably the worst. We have Bermuda grass and it runs wild. At that point there was no mulch, no weeds, no grass, and basically no plants. I remembered my parents putting this black stuff down in their gardens to help with the weeds, Weed Control. So, I then proceeded to lay out the Weed Control stuff and it was by far the easiest job. Spread and cut to size, making room for the few plants we had left in the garden. In order to keep the weed control from blowing out of the garden we used a little mulch to cover it. The garden, at this point is ready for some planting.
When picking the plants to put in the garden I had two important wants. First, I wanted something that would come back every year, so that this project would not be a yearly event. The second thing I wanted was to have flowering plants. I love plants with color. Every time I see a colorful garden I think, WOW, that’s so pretty. I picked three different plants. One is called, Freesia. It is of course a flowering plant that has a wonderful scent. It will be at the front of the garden. Another plant I picked was the Gladiola. Hopefully they will become my favorite flowering plant in my garden. The last, but definitely not least, plant I chose was a Dahlias. I saw these beautiful flowers one visit to Seattle. It is a gorgeous flowering plant that was in every single bouquet at the market. I was so in love I couldn’t resist when I saw them at the store. During the first day of my gardening project, we were able to plant the Freesias.
On the second day of my gardening project, I planted the rest of my bulbs and laid the mulch on top. I didn’t forget the most important part, WATER. The garden got a good soak. I can’t wait until summer, when I should begin to see my flowers. Hopefully I will be proving to Michael that I can garden, when my beautiful flowers sprout. Below you will see pictures of my progression.
The Beginning:
Thursday, March 10, 2011
What makes a dog happy?
I don’t know about everyone else’s dog, but my dog is probably the easiest to please. There are a few things in this world that will bring a smile to her face. Yes, dogs smile. Sometimes they wag their tail to let us know they are happy and sometimes they truly smile. For instance, the above picture is one of my dog, Gabby, smiling. She loves the snow and she loves the water. Gabby loves our daily walk to the mailbox to get our mail. She knows when I ask her if she wants to go get the mail, which means she should go sit by the front door, which she does in the most impatient way running from the door to me and back. She also knows we only go out the front door for things she loves, walks and mail. What dog doesn’t like a good swift walk around the neighborhood? Exercise is the key to any happy dog. There is just one other thing Gabby truly loves, FRISBEE. She likes her ball but she loves the Frisbee. She isn’t the best at catching it mid air but she loves to try. I thought today I would share a few things Gabby loves to do.
Don’t worry people there are plenty of things she hates to do, as well. Gabby is probably the only dog in the world who hates going bye bye in the car. She loves her best friend, Callie (my parents’ dog) but she hates the car ride to get to Callie. We have been working on this fear for awhile now trying to fix it. Newest product, ThunderShirt. Google it. It has been helping. I refuse to drug my dog, unless it is absolutely the last resort. So, ThunderShirt is working for now, for the most part.
Well enjoy the pictures of happy Gabby.
Monday, March 7, 2011
Back in December
I wanted to wait awhile to write this blog. In December I was laid off from my job. I really wasn’t upset about the whole thing, mainly because I had been looking for a new job since November. I was unhappy in my position, so were a lot of my co-workers. In fact, two quit right before the lay off, and myself and one other were putting our feelers out for new positions. So, when I got the call it was almost a relief. One might say it was a blessing in disguise. It gave me time to really job hunt.
My number one goal in finding a new job was to find a growing company and a company with positive revenue. When you get out of school, I think you feel the need to just find a job. After I quit my first job, it was to move to Chicago and be with Michael. So, in the search for my second job, I asked more questions. In my first job, they glorified the position and the company and then once I got into the company reality wasn’t the same. It gave me great experience and helped me to decide how much I loved being in sales. As I interviewed for my second job, I definitely asked more questions about day to day life and responsibilities. When I started my second job the company had great vision and definitely could go somewhere. After about a year and a half things started to change and the futuristic visions started to fade. The reality set in for me that it might not be the best fit for me and my career ambitions. So, that’s why I started to look in November and why I wasn’t too bothered to be laid off. I saw it as an opportunity to find a company and a position I could grow with my career and spend a lot of time investing myself and my life.
There aren’t very many people who knew I was laid off, but now I think it is time to share about the time I spent looking. I am very lucky, Michael and I are super smart with our money, so first and foremost we didn’t stress about that portion. Michael was great, and told me not to take any position just to take a job. I started looking for a new job the same day I was let go. I knew two things, I wanted to stay in sales and I wanted to stay in the Healthcare industry. I love selling to people and I am pretty good at it. The reason for staying in the Healthcare industry is simple. It is constantly changing and growing and reality is it will never go away. So, with that I had a lot of companies to look into. Number one thing when looking for a job, don’t apply for a job just because. I always read tons of information about companies before I even got to the career section on the website. I only applied for jobs with companies that caught my interest in one way or another. I believe I have been very lucky, because I have had 1-2 interviews a week. Lots of diverse companies and definitely several, after the first conversation, I knew I would not like to work for them. I have received offers and rejected them, for one reason or another, but I have been looking for a company that could get me excited about selling for them. In the sales world I think that it is very important to one believe in the product or service you are selling and two believe in the company.
During the week of Valentine’s Day, I was sent to Seattle to interview with a company. The company had been the top of my list from the first time I spoke to them on the phone. I had a good feeling about them, and each time I spoke with someone their excitement and enthusiasm was infectious. I love people like that, mainly because I can definitely get excited over the littlest items. My first discussions started in December, and I wanted to meet everyone in their main office the next day. I wasn’t interested in moving Michael or I again, so I would be working as a remote employee. The company wanted to try and find people local, darn…but then they called me and had changed their minds. Reality is finding a person with specific skills and abilities can be a struggle for any company and then also looking for that person in a certain area definitely adds to the struggle. I was lucky yet again. So, they flew me out to meet everyone. I must say I was impressed with each individual for different reasons, and felt like they were definitely still at the top of my list. So, I quickly learned everyone liked me and they were going to be sending me an offer.
I received and accepted an offer to work for this Seattle based company last week. I am very excited and will be beginning my new adventure next week. I will be traveling between Arkansas and Washington several times over the next few months. I am truly excited about this position. It was exactly what I was looking for in a company and for my career. Even though, I turned offers down for whatever reason, I knew there was something out there for me, and I didn’t want to settle. Everyone, especially Michael, has been super supportive of me finding a good job no matter how long it took. I find job hunting to be very interesting, mainly because of the things people say and the types of companies out in the world. I hope if you are unemployed or unhappy in your current position, that you will take the time and find something wonderful that will make you happy.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
February 1st
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Gabby Loves Snow
About Us
- Married Sperrys
- Michael and I have been together since 2006. We met in college at the University of Arkansas and began our life together. We bought a house and moved to Fayetteville from the Chicagoland area in November 2009. We were married in 2010 and had our first child, a boy, in 2013. Our favorite thing to do together is travel and we have gotten the opportunity to go to lots of fun places. We are working, breathing, playful parents. Our fur baby and child are the center of our crazy life, but we wouldn't have it any other way.