(back track to April again) TOFW

Remember how I said this past April was super busy?  Well, I keep forgetting things, like going to one of my sister-in-law's baby showers in Pflugerville (I can't find any pictures of it though) or when I went to Time Out For Women (tofw) with three of my sisters-in-law [sils] in San Antonio the last weekend of April (I just got a hold of a picture of all of us that day, and the rest of the pictures of the event I just got from their website, so I could blog about it, lol).  Hopefully this will be the last post from April.  I just didn't want to forget about all this stuff I've done.

Preface to this post: this was my first time attending a Time Out For Women event.  I've heard of lots of ladies liking them, and my sils really wanted an excuse to get together without husbands or kids, just a girl's night out kinda thing.  The event, put on by Deseret Books, consists of inspirational speakers and musical numbers on Friday evening and then all day Saturday.  ... not to offend anyone who likes these events, but let's just say, I didn't know what to expect, and then it wasn't what I expected at all.

 On the weekend of tofw, Elena picked me up early from work that Friday and we drove down to San Antonio and met up with Kay and Jennifer at the hotel.  We grabbed a quick bite to eat at the mall next to the expo center, then headed on over to the main event.  This year's theme was "Choose to Become - All things are possible to him that believeth".  I suppose it was supposed to be an encouraging theme about how we can be whatever we want to be and about how we need to change how we act to actually live how we want to be, not just think about the changes we want... but sometimes it kinda felt more like the "secret" and if you wish it enough, you'll get it ... a little lame and a little too-good-to-be-true for me, I guess.

 We got to the main auditorium where I realized this event was HUGE.  It sat a full crowd of nearly 2,000 women and girls (this year the did a combined teenage girls and adult women, splitting up for different talks on Saturday morning)! crazy.  I wasn't expecting there to be so many people.  The stage was set up more like a conference I'd attend in college than a church meeting, and there were big screens so you could still see way in the back.

Friday evening we listened to Dallyn Vail Bayles and Sheri L. Dew.  Bayles is a mormon broadway actor/singer, so his presentation had a lot of really nice singing, though I felt like the message was only so-so.  Dew, president of Deseret Books, gave a fairly nice talk, but I guess I've heard so much great things about her, it felt lackluster, and also filled with promotions for the company and herself... not exactly fun to listen to.

 ... Friday was ... okay.  It was just so strange and unexpected.  I think the biggest thing was just the overall feel to the event.  It just feels wrong to have at the same meeting, prayers and applause, scriptures and advertisements, and hymns and pop rock while grown women jumping and waving their hands for both.  Maybe some ladies really like it, but I had a hard time feeling the spirit there, which I thought was supposed to be the point.

After the Friday session, all the sils and I stayed up half the night just chatting and laughing and snacking.  Elena and Kay had previously been to a tofw, and they tried to reassure Jennifer and me that this was different than the ones they had been to (I'm guessing now that it is a case by case basis on what to expect).  We decided to give the morning a try, but if it was really weird, we'd just ditch and go shopping at the mall instead, lol.  At least we had a lot of fun just hanging out and having a girl's night.

Saturday morning, we first heard from Amanda Dickson, a non-member radio morning show host from SLC.  okay, first it seemed strange to have a non-member presenting, but maybe it was just her.  It was a really weird talk all about how important friends were, but the way she gave it didn't feel like it had a point or any organization, and it made her seem to be either a psycho lady with a creepy laugh and big eyes, or possibly drunk, lol. ... needless to say, not very uplifting.  The next speakers were the mormon boy band, Jericho Road. ... They weren't bad, alternating between inspirational stories and songs, but for one, they were a good band over a decade ago and they just don't sound as good as they used too.  Plus, it was just too weird to see grown women standing up waving their cellphones like lighters at a rock concert during the music parts ... isn't this event supposed to bring the spirit and uplift us?  It felt like they were focusing on entertaining the crowd more than uplifting them.

During the morning break, Elena, Jennifer and I (Kay got sick and had to go home early) were definitely reconsidering staying for the rest of it after these presentations, but we did want to hear a couple of the other speakers, so we stuck out the morning.  Luckily, I enjoyed the next two talks quite a bit so that made up for the morning.  We heard from John Hilton III, an author and institute teacher.  He used a lot of scripture references (which I enjoyed) and talked about the theme "nothing shall be impossible unto you", and how, following the examples of the scriptures, we can overcome challenges and accomplish our goals by turning our weaknesses into strengths through God.  Very nice.

The next speaker was Emily Watts, an editor for Deseret Books.  She talked about habits for happiness, and making small and actually doable changes to help ourselves through life to becoming happier.  Some of her suggestions included loving yourself as a friend (not being so hard on yourself), developing thick skin, and pushing yourself to do seemingly hard things to help strengthen confidence.

Then we had a lunch break.  None of us cared to hear the next to speakers (one of which was just an encore of Jericho Road), but Elena did want to hear the last speaker, Kris Belcher.  So, we just took an extra long lunch break at the mall and did a little window shopping before coming back to catch her talk.  and it was really good we did, because it was probably the best.  Belcher talked about the hard times in life (she's had a lot of medical problems, including becoming blind as a teen) and how to have patience, a good attitude (she had a great sense of humor), and faith to keep going forward and to not fear because even when times get time, God is there for us and while he may not take away our problems, he will give us the strength to get through them.  A very nice end to an okay event.

the lovely ladies (l-r) Kay, Elena, me and Jennifer

So, all in all, I guess the event wasn't all bad... but I probably wouldn't have much interest in ever going to another one.  It felt too much like an evangelical service you see on sunday morning tv, and not enough of the spirit as I would've hoped.  And it's so hit or miss with the speakers.  Though it was a great excuse to get together with my sils, get to know them better, and have a much needed girl's night.

... okay, one more rant.  Every year, apparently, they give out free totes.  Elena was super excited and raving about them the whole time... and then we are handed these.  Okay, I'm sorry, but who actually thinks these are cute?!?  the whole event's color scheme was a dark purple with a puke-y light green paisley.  I can't stand paisley.  what is it with ugly greens and paisley? so hideous.

Our First Anniversary

Hard to believe it's already been a year since the wedding!  But we made it! yay!  For our anniversary, neither of us had that big of expectations, and with it falling on a Sunday too, planning got a little tricky.  Danny wanted to take me out to dinner, but work was getting really busy and he was getting ready for school to start and I was sick most of the time, and on top of all that we were asked a week before to give talks in church on August 14th (*ugh* ... of all the Sundays they could've picked, it had to be that one) so I spent the whole day before prepping my talk.

So, we kept it pretty simple.  I made a nice dinner with chicken cordon bleu, since we both really like it and it feels fancy, and we exchanged cards and he got me flowers (now that I think about it, it was really similar to our Valentine's Day, haha... guess I know what I like ... though we have since bought actual candle holders so we don't have to use plastic cups, lol).  Oh, and of course, we ate cake! :)  Danny was a bit skeptical of eating year old cake, but it's tradition and it was such a good cake.  And he'll admit, it was still pretty good ... though the frosting roses were still sickeningly sweet... and after a day or two in the fridge after we cut the cake, it got kinda stale, but at least we had some for our anniversary.  ... maybe next year we'll actually go out and do something ... or maybe not, lol.

our cards and my lovely red roses :)

unwrapping the cake ... getting wrapped up, frozen and moving a couple times kinda left it squished compared to the first day, but the cake part was still good

... dramatic first bite

yum! (... I think I even wore red in the photos for Valentines Day too... though it's a different red shirt, haha)

Congratulations Danny on making it a year with me.  We've had our ups and downs, our laughs and tears, our blessings and trials, our struggles and triumphs.  And I wouldn't have traded any of it because through it all we've grown so much.  I'm more in love with you every day, for the way you make me laugh with your silly jokes or smile when you tell me I'm beautiful, for your caring heart and listening ear and warm hugs, for your devotion to your family and the gospel, for your willingness to serve and to do so much for me and for us and for anyone who needs anything, and for just putting up with me.  I can't wait for all the years to come and being able to spend them with you, my best friend.  Happy Anniversary!

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!

Gonzales' baptisms

Over the past year, we've had the chance to get to know the Gonzales family.  Danny met Ritchie first through the missionaries as he was investigating the church.  Over the next few months, I began joining them in their missionary discussions as well as the rest of Ritchie's family, his wife Sonia, and their children Andrew and Heaven.  Eventually they decided to get baptized.  Due to extenuating circumstances, only Sonia and Andrew could be baptized at first (Heaven was only 7 at the time).  It was a lovely service.  Danny gave one of the talks, and I provided the music.  Then, about a month or so later, Ritchie was able to get baptized along with his daughter who had just turned eight.  I've never seen such an excited family to join the church and be baptized.  Again I played piano for this service and this time, Danny had the opportunity of baptizing Ritchie.  It was a pleasure to be able to be with this sweet family as they begin the rest of lives together and with the full gospel.  They really had such amazing spirits and Danny and I both had begun to look forward to visiting with them and the missionaries because through their small but earnest testimonies of the gospel and eagerness to learn more, we in turn learned so much.  Now they are preparing to be able to next summer go as a family and be sealed in the temple, and I can't wait.

(l-r) Sonia, Ritchie, Heaven (8) and Andrew (11) Gonzales

With one of the missionaries who had taught the family and baptized Heaven

Pioneer Day

This year for Pioneer Day (... I make it sound like we celebrate it every year, when in reality this is probably the first time I've celebrated it since I happened to be in Utah as a teenager on the day... whatever)... anyway, our stake put together a Pioneer Day celebration at a nearby ranch with lots of food and music and country dancing and such.  Last minute Danny and I decided to stop by because it could be fun and his brother, Nick, and his in-laws (who are in the Kyle Ward of our stake) were going, and well, it'd be a free bbq dinner.  So, we went, we ate really good pulled pork bbq sandwiches, we chatted with Nick and his in-laws (Nick's wife Kay was sick and couldn't make it).  We danced a couple dances, and then Nick left to be with Kay since she wasn't feeling well, and then I started not feeling well so we left too ... not even an hour after we arrived.  lol, oh well... so much for actively participating in church functions.  We tried, there just wasn't really anyone we knew or anyone to talk to, and the activities were really geared towards kids, and we just have more fun at home, I guess.  But, at the very least, we got a couple nice pictures.

flowers

One of the ways Danny likes to spoil me is by surprising me with flowers.  They really are a cheery way to brighten up a room and my day.  Danny made sure I had fresh flowers before he left for LTC, but of course no cut flowers can last for four whole weeks.  But that's okay, I appreciated them all the same.  Anyway, about a week before he got home, I was having a pretty rough day and just really really missing him when I noticed a voicemail on my phone (I have to keep my phone off at work).  It was from some flower company I'd never heard of, asking me to call back regarding my order. (?)  So I call them back and they inform me that my order was ready but they didn't receive an apartment number.  Confused but intrigued, I gave them my apartment number and told them they could just leave it by the door since I wasn't home yet but would be soon.  On the drive home I couldn't think what was going on.  I didn't think Danny could've sent me flowers, he's been in Ft. Knox with limited phone and no internet access for weeks... but who else would've sent me anything?  Lo and behold, right on my doorstep I was greeted with these:

The card reads:
Almost there!!!
Wanted you to know I love you
and am thinking about you :)
Can't wait to see you!
Love,
Danny

:D :D :D  Aren't they gorgeous?!?!  I absolutely loved it, they totally made my crummy day great even if they made me miss him even more, and I got so overwhelmed, I even started crying, lol.  I found out later he had been planning this before he even left and enlisted the help of his brother, David and his wife, Geneveive (he is in the Marines, so they can relate to Danny and I being apart due to military pretty well).  Danny knew he wanted to send me yellow roses (my absolute favorite flower), but needed some help getting it sent, and needed "a girl's perspective", as he puts it, on what would be prettiest to get me, haha.  So thanks David and Viva too!

I'm so lucky to have Danny in my life, even if we are sometimes apart.  Thank you and I love you Danny! :)

Fourth of July

Since Danny was going to be gone and I had a three-day weekend for the holiday, I decided to spend some time with my mom (my dad had gone to Utah for the weekend to see family and work in the family history library, but my mom didn't have enough vacation time).  So it was a much needed girl's weekend.  We did all the usual things, played games, watched movies, went shopping, baked cookies, and just talked, etc.  We also got to spend some time with my brother, Michael and his wife Meghan (they had made cookies too, so there was lots to go around).

... my attempts at making patriotic checkerboard cookies ... they turned more pink and teal than red and blue, and the logs weren't really the same size so they had a hard time fitting together, but they still tasted great nonetheless.

Michael and Meghan's cookies - they did a much better dye job getting them to look red and blue, and I really liked the firework burst ones too.

For Independence Day, we got to see a concert in the park in Plano that was really well done and had some really nice arrangements of patriotic and fun songs.  We were planning on going to see a parade like the year before, but last minute as we were getting lost and not really sure where the parade was even going to be (they changed the routes), we decided we'd rather just go shopping.  :)  And then that night, we were planning on going to see some fireworks, like the year before too, but we'd done so much all day and again weren't exactly sure where the best place would be that we decided to just stay in and watch some fireworks on tv... something I hadn't actually done in a while.  We kept flipping back and forth between the shows in Boston, NYC, and DC.  They were really cool, and we didn't even have to fight for a parking space.  In the end, it was a great weekend.  Of course, way too short as far as vacations and getting away from the office is concerned (I had just been switched departments at work and was having a hard time adjusting to the new people and workload and proceedures... or lack thereof), haha, but still really needed and really nice.

fireworks from tv ... so pretty! :)