News! and a little update

Now. if you know me, you know that I have not been loving my job. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy working with the kids, and I enjoy helping them. What I don't enjoy? Driving out of town and all over town everyday, the rough families that I work with whose stories just emotionally drain me, the barely getting 30 hours a week if that, the hours, no benefits, etc, etc. Don't get me wrong, I was so blessed to find a job so quickly after moving to Pocatello, but it just isn't what I wanted to do in the long run - even if the long run was just two years. So, I've been searching for jobs for the past little bit to see what I could find. (Remember when I blogged awhile ago about potentially exciting news? It was because I had applied to a job I thought I might get, but I didn't so that is why you never heard anything again.) ANYWAYS. With that back story....

I was just offered a new job on Thursday, which I accepted yesterday morning. 

It is at a facility called Seasons of Hope, and I will be starting out doing some PSR work (which is what I am doing now), while training to become the Billing Manager. 

(This is the story of how it happened - feel free to skip if you want!) This job basically fell into my lap, and I am so grateful. I sent in an application on Tuesday night in response to an Occupational Therapy aide position ad. I was called Wednesday morning to set up an interview, and I interview on Thursday. I interviewed with the owner/director of Seasons of Hope and the Regional Operations Manager. It was a different type of interview I found - as I was basically told, "well, you don't meet some qualifications for the position you applied for, but we are really impressed with your resume and wanted to interview you anyway to see where we could fit you into our company." The interview/discussion lasted about 20-25 minutes and about half way through they said basically this was a secret interview to be the Billing Manager! We also spent time talking about what I wanted in a job including compensation, benefits, etc. In short: they want to hire me as the Billing Manager, but since it is such an important job (ie: handling a lot of money) they wanted to put into a PSR position while training in order to monitor my trustworthiness, work ethic, ability to do billing, etc. I was offered $13/hr, benefits (still working on what that entails), and forty flexible hours a week. It's a great resume building experience, and I will be honest - from my experience I love working in the administration/management side of an organization, so I am really excited about this opportunity. The owner/director also promised me he would minimize my driving while doing PSR which equals no out of town driving. It was so unexpected, and so great, and my mind has been reeling for the last couple of days. This will be great for our little family, and I feel so blessed - both knowing that my Heavenly Father is looking out for me, and that my hard work is paying off (an employer sought me out for a job I didn't even apply for/know about!). 

Ok, that's all about that. Sorry for the long novel. In other news...

*Kyle's brother Alan and his wife Jess had their baby on Wednesday afternoon. It was a healthy little girl who they named Claire.

*We had a great night last night which included a cheap meal at Costa Vida ($6 for deep dive nachos and two drinks!), doing some Christmas shopping (a belt for Kyle, dress pants, leg warmers, and a set of 4 ramekins for me), and some grocery shopping. After which we came on home, made some microwave chocolate melting cake and watched Die Hard. I also chatted with my BFF Dani about wedding plans for about 30 minutes last night, love her.

*Today is another great day: we slept in, are currently watching the BYU vs Utah basketball game, and we are planning on a trip to the dollar store (Christmas gifts for my kiddos), a matinee movie (In Time at the dollar theater), and some cleaning, laundry (maybe), and other things around the house - plus spending time together.

*K only has one more final (on Monday) before he is officially finished with his first semester of graduate school! I am so proud of him! And grateful that he is working so hard. 

*We are planning on coming down to Utah next week as there was a great deal on tickets for the BYU vs Baylor basketball game. And then of course we'll be back down the next weekend for Christmas!

*I got a new calling in our ward! I am now the Young Women secretary and I'm so excited about it. I've wanted to be a leader in YW since I was a young woman, and I'm excited to get to know the girls in our ward better.

And just because a picture should be included because this was a long blog post, how about a little flashback to high school?