First Day

Today was my first day at my "new job"! It was such a loooong day (I got there at 7:30 this morning and didn't leave until about 6:15 pm) but it was so productive. The best part about it was that the girl training me is one of my best friends, Michelle, so we got to spend the whole day together. And we live very close to each other so we are car pooling this whole week because we are working the exact same schedule all week. So that is so helpful with gas and everything. It was fun to talk over the day with someone who actually understands! (unlike my husband...who listens for about a second and then tunes me out. That's love, I'll tell ya!)

It was very overwhelming because on top of learning a new job, we also have a new store manager, with new ways of doing everything. I had a meeting with her this morning that lasted almost two hours going over most of the things that are expected of me in this position. It was definitely eye opening, but totally fun to learn all this new stuff! I am so excited, but incredibly nervous that I'm just going to screw everything up! Thank goodness Michelle is here for the rest of the week so at least I'll have an idea about what I am doing daily! I am so excited!

Clint also started his new school this morning. He is going to Laurus College for Web Design and he is very excited. He goes Monday through Thursday, 8-10 am. This will last about 18 months, so hopefully he won't get burned out and will be able to finish well. I am so proud of him for wanting to do this, for actually getting his butt in gear and doing it, and for still holding down a job to help support the family! What a great husband, I definitely married a winner!!! :)

The latest and greatest

It seems like I am only posting about once a month...I feel like that's about the extend of our exciting news. But still, I have some great news to share with everyone!

I have been offered a new position at work! Anyone who knows my work history with this company will know EXACTLY why I am excited! I have been working the same position for almost 5 full years now (and I have been with this company for almost 6 years)...thats a LOONG time to be doing the same thing day after day, week after week. Starting Monday, I will be the new Customer Service Lead at Bed Bath and Beyond! I am officially OFF the front end...and hopefully will never have to go back (for an extended amount of time that is...). All next week (minus about half the day Saturday) I get to be in training for my new position. The existing Customer Service manager and I will be attached at the hip for a whole week while she trains me, because starting the following Monday, it's all on me! Oh joy! :) As sad as I am to leave my girls (my cashiers and other leads at the front end), I am so excited about this new job! It will be a great opportunity and wonderful stepping stone to hopefully bigger and better things.

Clint has also got a new job. If you remember, he was working for a company that went door to door selling Charter internet, cable and phone. As of this past week, he has started doing the same thing, except for Dish Network and Direct TV. He is much more comfortable with a lot of their policies/procedures and feels a million times better after making this decision. The cool thing was that the owner of the company flew out to train Clint and his friend Joey on everything and spent two full days with them. The OTHER cool (or funny) thing is that this guy is from Utah, so of course my first question to Clint was, "Is he Mormon?" Clint asks Kevin this the next day, and obviously his answer is, "Yes." For some reason (I know what reason!) that little statement made me feel a ton better as well. I feel good about our decision for Clint to start working for this company as opposed to the last one. It just feels right!

Yesterday was our 1 year anniversary! Can you believe that?! I had to work in the morning, but I was able to convince my boss to let me leave early (one hour early...let me tell you, it took a full week to convince him...I love my job, I love my job, I love my job...) and then Clint met me at work. We drove to my mom's house where we both changed into nice clothes and chatted with my little sister Hannah. Then we headed down to Pismo Beach for dinner. We went to the Sea Venture restaurant and had such a fun time! It was MUCH fancier than either of us are used to so that was a big surprise. But it was so much fun! Here's to the rest of our lives together my love! :)

That morning, Clint had dropped Chase off at Petsmart to get groomed. So after dinner we headed over there and picked him up. He looks TONS better and I know he feels tons better too! He went from looking like this: ...to looking like this: We are just really excited that he is no longer looking like a wooly mammoth!

Today is also a very somber day for me. Seven years ago today was the death of two boys my age. McKay Edwards and Ian Purdon. It is always a hard day for me, so I decided to spend some extra time with my mom and sister. I miss you both so much, but I do have the knowledge and faith that I will see each of you again someday.

Family Pictures

Hannah's gift to my mom for Christmas and her birthday was to have all of us take family pictures. We recruited Melissa White and her fabulous photography skills to help us out! On December 29th, we all got together at Cuesta Park and spent some time taking pictures. Thanks to my mom, it felt like senior pictures ALL OVER AGAIN! First it was pictures of the kid and their significant other. Then it was pictures of just the kid (what's she gonna do with those? I think she told me they were going to be for her new dart board........thanks Mom!!!) and then it was pictures of the five kids, then of the kids and Mom, then of everyone! Let me tell you, that was a LOOONG day! BUT it was also a long time coming; the last family pictures we took were in I think 2001! And before that was "the awkward years" pictures that have since been hidden (Hannah, we still have to destroy those!!!). So these should be really good this time around. We were just let known today that they are ready and Hannah will be getting us copies of the pictures by this weekend (fingers crossed that they turn out good!!!), so soon, I am going to be changing photos in frames!! I'm so excited! The things we do for our mother!!!

Love you momma!!!

Christmas and after...

I feel like I'm always posting a "catch-up" post...I feel like I just never have the time to post something!!! I'm going to try to remedy that this year, and post more about our lives! *The biggest problem I face is that we just aren't that cool...nothing fun really happens to us!* I guess that could be a good thing, in that nothing BAD every really happens. But I will try to find things that we are doing that are blog worthy...

That being said...

We spent Christmas with my family in SLO. Hannah had to the night before so we all showed up around noon to let her sleep in a bit. I only took two pictures at Christmas (I know, I suck). One was of my mom getting her special gift:

We all pitched in and got her an Ipod. It's the only thing that she wanted, and since we are good kids, we got her one! The only other picture I took was of Clint after he opened up his gift from Chase...I have to admit, it was pretty darn cute!I got this frame from my work where you can decorate it yourself (some of you parents will recognize it; my mom and I got them for our kids in our Primary class to decorate for their parents!) So I decorated it and Chase "gave" it to his Dad! Clint loves it (despite his face in the picture!) We spent the rest of the day just hanging out and playing games as a family; it was truly a wonderful Christmas season this year!

The next day (December 26), Clint's sister Karina got married! She was married out in Cayucos to a great guy, Jovanni (I think that's how you spell his name.) I was able to get out there JUST in time for the wedding; I literally ran inside and was sitting for maybe 3 minutes before the ceremony started! It was a very quick ceremony, but it was very touching. Karina looked so beautiful! I took a few pictures, so enjoy the people you probably don't know! :)

The other pictures I have are pretty dark and just not really of great quality...maybe a career in photography is not going to happen for me!

Giveaway

Thanks for the tip Leighanne...
Go here for a great giveaway - $100 to the store of your choice!!! :)
What a fantastic giveaway!

Catching up with the Erdmans

* Best friends*

So I know I haven't blogged in a while...I just really haven't had anything to say. I will just update you on whats been happening in our neck of the woods:

• Clint is now working for Charter Communications as a salesman. If any of you are interested in switching to Charter or upgrading in any way, let me know and I'll get him down to you as soon as he can. He just started last week and is enjoying it a lot. He also just finished a season of Men's Softball up here in Atascadero. He really likes getting out there and getting some exercise. Clint is a really good ball player and I loved when I was able to get out there and watch him play!
• I am still working as hard as ever at Bed Bath and Beyond. Like I mentioned in the last post, my direct superior is out on medical leave for an undetermined amount of time. I have heard she is trying to get back as soon as possible but I can't see that happening any time soon. So, in her absence, the responsibilities of the department have fallen on me, as the full time lead. Last week I was able to sit down with our district manager Dennis and discuss my options and future with the company. I left the meeting with no exactness as to what will happen, but a definite feeling of hope that things in the store will be changing for the better, and that I am not being overlooked as far as promotions go. The district staff is well aware of all my hard work and accomplishments and that's basically all I need at this point. I am still team teaching with my mom in Primary at church - we love it so much! We started out the year with 7 or 8 kids (I really have lost track!) and we are now down to 5. But they are such lively and crazy kids - I LOVE them all so much! They make teaching so much fun with all their little comments and questions and ideas!
• Chase is...well, still the same! He seems to be getting bigger, but I really think its just the fur. He spends his days being lazy around the house and his nights trying to get either Clint or myself to wrestle around with him (after we get home from work and just want to be lazy).

Clint and I were able to get down to Ventura at the beginning of October to visit with some friends of ours. It is a tradition for us to go to Universal Studios and do their "Halloween Horror Nights": it is AMAZING! Think about it - a movie studio putting on a Halloween party, complete with costumes and all kinds of great special effects. It is absolutely insane! This was the first year that Clint could come with us, so that was really neat! They have a couple mazes that are built after some of the classic scary movies (Halloween, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Friday the 13th, etc) and everything is SO real! They also have scare zones, where you just walk through and people jump out at you and scare the crap out of you!!! Its so much fun!

Other than that, everything is pretty boring. :) Just the way I like it - drama free!

And to leave you with a treat (since you read SO much already!!!), here's a picture of Chase dressed up for Halloween:

I thought he was cute...he didn't like us too much after the photo shoot was done. ;)