Summer 2012 - highlights

 ... yeah, it's been a while.  The past year has been pretty crazy to say the least but things have finally settled down enough so (hopefully) I'm going to be able to catch up.  I think the hardest part about blogging for me lately is the fact that I never seem to take pictures anymore.  Either someone else is going to be taking photos or maybe I forget about getting my camera or probably because you can only take so many self portraits, but mostly, it's just because while life is busy, it's been pretty ... well, boring, at least in terms of photo opportunities.  But anyway, here's the highlights of last summer (which seems like ages ago).

I was able to get off work for a day so we could take a long weekend up to Allen to visit my parents for Memorial Day.  We had a lot of fun and were even able to stay for the city's orchestra concert and fireworks display (though driving back home in the middle of the night so I could be at work the next day wasn't quite as fun).

LDAC (Leader Development and Assessment Course) - Danny was gone for another month this summer, this time for LDAC.  Unlike last year's training, this four-week course is required for all ROTC cadets in order to train and pass off all the skills they have (supposedly) learned in their time as a cadet.  You have to pass all the requirements in order to become an officer, so it's a pretty big deal and Danny spent a lot of time prepping and getting ready for it.  It was a hard month, for both of us, especially since they weren't allowed to use phones the entire course, so all we had were letters (well, I sent letters to Danny because unfortunately, we forgot to send him with envelopes and stamps, noted for next time).  But luckily, training for him and work for me kept us both busy and the time went by quickly.  These photos are a few of the highlights they posted of his company (the only photo he's in other than the group shot is the bottom right one, he's holding the rifle).

While back at home, I kept busy with work and projects and also trying to get out a bit.  I had 4th of July off, but it was a Wednesday, right in the middle of week, so I just stayed in town.  Some friends from church invited me to go to San Marcos's Summer Fest and fireworks show, so that made it fun and a little easier despite being away from Danny... a little at least.  I also tried an idea off pinterest (which, btw, I'm totally addicted to) and made these super easy and cute patriotic cupcakes.  They're just a regular box cake mix but dyed with food coloring and layered.  So fun!  and everyone loved them :)

Later in July, I was also able to get a couple days off for a short trip to Utah for my grandpa's 80th birthday / family reunion.  It went by way too fast and I really wished Danny could've come (he still had a week left at LDAC), but it was really nice to see all my family again, especially some of my cousins and aunts and uncles that I haven't seen in years.  Above are a few pictures from Grandpa's birthday lunch at the park, including a photo of the drawing I made him of our family tree.  I think it turned out nicely (especially for having finished it during my layover at the airport), and he seemed to like it.

After the park, we went over to Aunt Karen's for more relaxing and playing in her backyard.  It was fun to see everyone having a good time.

While in Utah, we also spent a day at Lagoon amusement park.  I mostly spent the day with my parent's and Amanda's family.  It was a lot of fun seeing the boys so excited about the rides, especially the bumper cars.  Seth must have ridden them at least five times and probably would've stayed on them all day if we let him.  And I even joined them on a ride or two.

Well, summer felt super long and went by really fast all at the same time.  A bit of the summer was spent trying to get some health issues figured out (side note, insurance and doctors and pretty much the whole health industry are such a pain to deal with), and the rest of my time was pretty much filled with work.  I finished up work at Texas State by the end of August, and I must admit as much I loved working there, I was really ready for a break.  My job responsibilites had completely changed that summer as there was a lot of reorganizing and schedule changes and new procedures.  They ended up taking the two regular workers from my department and moving them temporarily to another department for the summer.  They then moved me up to doing both of their jobs while they brought in three new temps that I had to train to do my old job, not including temps that came and left because they couldn't or didn't want to do the work (one only lasted 45 minutes!)  Oh, and on top of all that, for part of July, my supervisor was on vacation for two weeks and left me in charge of the department! oh joys.  Let's just say, I got to know the job really well, and I was good at it, but perhaps too good, lol.  And I've learned that while I can do higher up the totem pole positions, it doesn't mean I like it.  I'd much rather be at the bottom and do my work the best I can and not have to worry about everyone else's work too.  But all in all, it was a good experience and I am grateful for the time I had at the Financial Aid Department, and I really will miss it.


ps. I think I had a bit too much fun with this new photo collage maker I found online (http://pizap.com/) but I figured it would be a good way to sum up the summer :)

TX State Staff Luncheon

At the beginning of August, Texas State University holds an annual luncheon for the staff in several departments including admissions, financial aid, marketing, etc, as sort of a "thanks for your hard work this past year and let's get pumped up for next year" event.  I was able to attend since I was a temp working in the financial aid office.  I figure this is as good a time as ever to mention work.

So, a little back story.  When we first got married, I was no longer working since my student job had ended.  We were kinda in limbo since we weren't sure where Danny would end up at school, but I still looked for jobs in College Station to no avail.  Once we moved to San Marcos and got settled in, about mid-January, I started looking for jobs again.  I found a data clerk position that seemed to be very similar to what I had done in college, so I applied.  I got a call the next day from a temp agency (apparently the job posting was through them, though they didn't say that) and they had me apply for them and do some computer skills testing (data entry, keypad, etc).  I did really well on those, and so I got hired through the temp agency.  They sent my info for the position, and within a day or two, I had interviewed with the Texas State University Financial Aid and Scholarships Department and got the job, then started work that following Monday.

I worked in the processing department.  They had two regular full-time employees, and up to five temps at a time working with me.  I helped process incoming and outgoing mail and faxes, filing, and processing student documents.  The university was in the process of upgrading their systems to be more streamlined and electronic.  Before, every student had a physical file where all the paperwork was stored, and every time someone needed to refer to the file, it needed to be pulled.  Now, all paperwork is either received electronically by fax or scanned and indexed so that all the information for a student can be found on the computer.  So, I was helping implement the new system and helped scan, index and data entry all the student documents and records.  Our department also helped mail flyers or letters to the students.  Sometimes the job got tedious, but there was always lots of work to be done and it kept me busy, and best of all, it wasn't customer service so I never had to deal with angry students or parents.

Being a temp job, I was originally only supposed to work through the spring semester.  Once May arrived, they offered to extend my position through the end of the summer, though they needed me to move to the loans department.  I needed the job and liked the people, so I said yes and moved to the loans department at the beginning of June.  In loans, I was the only temp under two regular employees and the loans supervisor (who was also the associate director) ... a much smaller department.  I also moved across the hall.  Processing had been in a back room with only employee access, but loans was right next to the advisors and counselors, those who talk to students directly about their financial aid questions either over the phone or in person.  It was a lot more noisy and busier.  My tasks involved basically whatever the loans people needed for the day.  Some tasks I did more regularly included processing and data entering loan information, filing paperwork, and auditing past work and procedures to make sure the transition from the old system to the new system was working.  I also did a bunch of random tasks like helping them with word documents and spreadsheets or even just random calculations, or helping them stock the office snack bar (it was right by my desk), or make copies of procedures and pass them out, or write down a list of student emails or SSNs or phone numbers that they needed, or deliver papers to someone (once I hand-delivered a stack of papers to a professor on the other side of campus).  Basically my life at work become, "what do you need me to do today?" ... which often was answered, "um, I don't know, check back later" or "um, check with so-and-so" or "once I find something, I let you know, but for now, just keep busy". ... uh-huh.

I'll admit, while the work itself was more challenging and interesting (there are soooo many rules and regulations to remember regarding loans depending on grade level, requested amounts, banks, loan type, requirements, etc.), it was really nerve-wracking not ever really knowing what I was going to be working on each day and getting told "I have a project for you" that might take me ten minutes or less, or it might take me two or three days.  But, all in all, I did my best, I tried to work my hardest, and I think they actually liked what I did.  I even got my temp contract extended a second time to work through mid-October.  ... but by then, the work load was just not enough (they have really light loads Sep-Dec; they're really busy around Jan-Apr when all the tax docs are coming in, and then in Jul-Aug right before school starts in the fall and all the students start freaking out about paying for school), and the university just didn't have enough money in the budget to keep the temps on any longer.  ... and so, I'm currently unemployed again, looking for jobs with or without my temp agency.

But anyway, back to the original point of this post, the TX State Staff Luncheon.  It was actually pretty fun.  They had lots of drawings for prizes (didn't win any of those) that you could enter by playing games like ring toss or taking goofy pictures or video games or the cake walk (I actually did win in the cake walk on my first go around, ended up taking an apple pie though for Danny, and I had contributed a couple dozen cookies for the event, haha, so much for a "cake" walk) or during their Minute to Win It contest, which was pretty fun to watch as people tried to move M&Ms with straws or stack cups or keep balloons in the air.  They served box lunches from some local deli, and they gave out awards for best employee of the year from each department.  They also took photos of each of the departments, so it's neat to be able to have a picture of everyone I worked with (though I'm sorry to admit, there are a few people in the picture that worked in different parts of financial aid than me that while I recognize, I never learned their names).

the office! (way too many to try and name, plus they aren't exactly in rows)

(l-r) Kira (my processing supervisor), Anita (... one of the higher ups, can't recall her exact position), Boko the Bobcat (the school mascot), Criss (my loans supervisor, who is doing one of TX State's hand signs ... it's supposed to look like the state of Texas...), and Denise (another temp who worked on the phones)

Dr. Chris Murr (right) with his assistant, Lisa (left)

Minute to Win It!