Work-at-home-husband

We've been keeping this on the down-low for awhile now, but Tim was recently offered a fantastic job at a new company, and this Friday was his last day at his old job.

Going away party at Figueroa Mountain Brewing Company on Friday night. His coworkers will miss him!

His new job is such an awesome opportunity. The company is located in Atlanta, GA, which means that we'll be moving!

Just kidding! Sales is a unique field in that it isn't necessary to be in the office, so he will be working remotely from home. Such a blessing!!!!! He will be traveling less than he was at his other job (PRAISE THE LORD), and since he's selling to the Western coast rather than the East, the trips he does take will be shorter. All this plus great benefits, a small ground-floor team with a collaborative mentality, and a bigger salary.

We are so grateful for this opportunity, since Tim has only been in sales for a few years and is still considered "green", so it is a huge blessing for this company to see his potential and invest in him. Whoo hoo!

We're doing a staycation in town for the next few days, since there was a week between the start of the new job and the end of the old one, and we're planning on drinking.that.in. We're on vacation mode! We're setting up the new office (which includes a few little decorating projects and one big woodworking one!), going to the beach, going on hikes, planning some really fun and interactive date nights... Going to be a fun and exciting week!

Here's a sneek peek about what we're doing for the office:

via Pinterest (Etsy store no longer accessible) // Home Decor Express

We're building Tim a standing desk using those two as inspiration. If all goes as planned, he'll have a split-level standing-height desk with a bookshelf on one side! We were going to go with a combination of a few Ana White plans, but are modifying it so much that it's not even recognizable. Wish us luck!

submitted

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via 

As of last night, my final round of grades are officially IN, which means my last semester at Westmont has come to a close.  I  still have a little over a month left on campus, but the majority of the students are gone and I'll be prepping the place for my "successor".

What. A. Trip.

in between

photo via

Big news: I gave my notice at work last week.

I've been thinking and praying about this decision for several months, so it's not like it was a spur-of-the-moment thing. Still, it's just now starting to hit me: I won't be coming back next year. This spring semester will be my last here as Lab Coordinator.

These students, these coworkers, this place that has been my world  the past three years will no longer be at the forefront anymore. After seven total years, I'm finally leaving Westmont.

For those of you who don't know, I received my bachelor's degree in Psychology three years ago and immediately started teaching in the department from which I had just graduated. The people I'd been taking classes with immediately became my students, and my professors and I were all of a sudden on the same level with each other. It was a trip, to say the least, but it was perfect for me.

However, I've known since the beginning that I don't want to teach Psychology labs forever. While it's been a wonderful experience and I wouldn't trade it for anything, it is time to move on. I'm ready to try something new!

photo via

Tim has been incredibly supportive during the whole do-I-or-don't-I progression, and I am forever grateful for it. I am incredibly anxious for what's next {because as of now that's a big huge question mark and that's pretty nerve-wracking!} but am excited for the process. The next few months of soul-searching are going to be a trip.

wonderful wednesday

It's time.

Campus is starting to   s  l  o  w  l  y   wake up from its summer slumber. First-year students move in tomorrow, and the upper classmen will be trickling in all weekend. Offices are neat and tidy (for the last time this semester).

Fall 2012: get ready. We're coming.

mourning the end

Today is a sad day*, folks.
It's my first day back at work after my summer break.
*sniff*
Tim and I spent the weekend in the Bay Area, visiting family. My cousin will be moving to Korea this week for a year, and we went up to say goodbye. And to hang out with my fam. And ride bikes around Angel Island in San Francisco, which I haven't done since I could fit in a baby bike seat .

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We also ate a lot of Armenian food, nursed our sore muscles, and hosted a bird meet-and-greet.

Tim might have been a little nervous about this.

Also, we have a stinkin' menagerie. Carry on.

I think that's it.
But now, the spontaneous mid-week trips have to come to an end. Because I've gotta go back to the 8-to-5.
I think I'm in mourning. {Although the paycheck will be nice!}

*ps: I'm not really that sad. My job is pretty cool.

The Inevitable {and incredibly long} Awkward and Awesome Thursday Post!

First of all, how on EARTH is it only Thursday? I feel like this was the longest and slowest-moving week EVER.  Anyone else feel the same way? Yick.

I apologize in advance with how long this post is today; it's been an interesting week, to say the least. So much so that I created an EPIC and incredibly awkward banner for the occasion. Behold: 

no one's ever accused me of underdoing it...

~Awkward~

one

Scheduling an important meeting for next week... whiiiiiiiiiiiiiich happens to be spring break and therefore no one will be around {Yet another reason why this blog should have been called "whoops"}. AAAAAAnyway. Wasn't paying attention to the dates because, well, I DON'T GET IT OFF. I'll be in my office working away while the rest of campus is at play. Boo.

THAT'S how I feel about that!

two

Realizing JUST how dependent I've become on my new "roommate" (AKA new husband) to keep my head on straight. He was out of town for FIVE DAYS and I about died. Seriously. Allow me to elaborate: 1) left the house purple. 2) started the dishwasher without having put soap in it. Realizing this after I'd poured my morning coffee into a {dirty} cup. 3) was late to work two days in a row because I forgot that husband wasn't downstairs making breakfast and coffee 4) I haven't been able to sleep at ALL because of the creepy noises our house makes. Locking every door in the house doesn't make me feel better. 5) Also, the house is freezing without an extra body in it. 6) I was migraine-y on Sunday, and probably would have been better a lot sooner had I remembered to eat something. 

Thank the LORD he doesn't leave me very often {the extension of this, though, made me really appreciate him and all he does for me when he came back from his trip! }. 

illustration via my awesome powerpoint skills

three

I left my Kindle at home on Monday, so rather than enjoying my lunch and a book in the DC, I decided to sit and enjoy the sunshine by the pretty pond on campus. Of course, I had forgotten the fact that this was the first sunny afternoon in a long while and I subsequently get a itchy and blotchy sunburn across half of my body. On my way back to my office, I catch a spiderweb across my face, drop my keys into a mud puddle while brushing the web out of my eyes, break my purse strap while picking up my keys out of the mud (which subsequently resulted in the purse falling into the mud as well). Flustered, I take a shortcut off the path to get back to my office and catch my shoe on a stick, and spilling coffee all over one of my hands. I wipe it off as best as I can, and then open the door to my building at the same time as someone exits, resulting in the dumping of the other half of my coffee on my other hand. Somehow, blessedly, all of this occurs without anyone noticing. I felt like Larry, Curly, and Moe all rolled into one.

via Wikipedia

(side note, did you know they're coming out with a Three Stooges movie in April?? I just watched the trailer and it's just as slapstick-y as the old show. I can't wait.) 

~Awesome~
one

Having a successful shopping-out-on-the-town afternoon all by myself this weekend. It was a beautiful day, the sun was shining, people were happy and dressed for spring (and I swear EVERY SINGLE STORE had a window display done in either florals, pastels, or neon)! I only bought a few things after a whole day of shopping (and I will openly admit that they were all thrifted or from "Vintage" or "recycled fashion"stores), but it was completely wonderful and relaxing. Also, two new outfits for under 10 bucks? I'll take it! 

two

Successfully meeting a goal: I full-on worked out this week THREE TIMES. Whoo hoo!!! If you know me at all, you know that this is a HUGE DEAL. I work out so infrequently that a moderate-intensity hike results in dizzy spells and lightheadedness. Okay, I'll admit it, my workouts were about 1/2 hour-long and from youtube, I was so sore after each one that I had to take at least a day's break between doing another one, and husband dragged me kicking and screaming off the couch to do them, but it's a start :)

three

Leaving the good 'ol crock pot to do my work for me. Can't sing it's praises enough.

Again, awesome powerpoint skills in action.

How was your week? What do you do when you have a "just can't get your act together" week (or is it just me)?

When being AntiSocial isn't a bad thing.

I discovered a really handy computer program last week, and I thought I would share what I've found.

Facebook can be a serious productivity problem. I usually don't go on FB when I'm at work (I am usually pretty good about keeping it to my lunch and 10 min breaks), but I remember those times in college when I would be "studying" and wind up surfing facebook or my other preferred time-wasting websites for hours and hours on end. Productivity shot.  My "study breaks" would wind up being hours and hours long and I would have to start taking breaks TO study. 

{I feel like I can't be the only one with that problem here.}

Enter AntiSocial. Blocks Facebook, Twitter, and any other sites you tell it to. (ColdTurkey does the same thing for PCs. They make me use a Mac at work)

WHOO HOO! via Comic Vine

I first heard about it on a blog I stumbled on, and I figured what the heck, why not? Even though I don't really waste much time on facebook, it could come in handy when I'm finding myself losing focus.

I wish I had known about it sooner. At this point, I'm using the trial version (they haven't forced me to register yet, haha!). But it's changed my life.

This little gem makes you REBOOT your computer if you want to check the blocked sites before the time limit has been met. And that's major shame if I restart just to check recent newsfeed updates. :)

You can set it to block sites for any length of time between 1 minute and 8 hours, and you can access ANY other internet site except for the ones you indicate (Twitter and Facebook are automatically blocked).

There are just a couple weird things about it that I've discovered when using it {although I could just be non tech-savvy}:

1. You have to force-quit the program if you need to shut down your computer before your allotted time is up. Why, I'm not sure, but it's bizarre. So if you decide to use the program, make sure to give you some time at the end of the day of "unblocked" time.
2. It won't let you download email attachments while the program is running? That's another weird one. I need this capability every day at work, so I have to REALLY want to isolate myself if I want to use this.

Because of these things (especially the second one!), I can't use it at work all the time, but I thought someone else might find it helpful! Do you think you'd use something like this?

You, Dining Commons, are a mind reader.

I try to eat healthy, especially for lunch. But when it's overcast and icky outside, sometimes all you want is comfort food. The DC delivered.

Stay tuned for a weekend recap! It was joyous.

Personalizing the Office

Pretty filing cabinets make putting invoices away more fun.

Decals from Ikea.

It's the little things in life :)

Shared here

Finding the Joy in everyday

Today was one of those days that reminded me very clearly that I am not a morning person. At ALL. Why would I want to get out of bed when it's so cold outside? The bed was so cuddly and inviting, and the little heater by our feet was putt-putt-putting away. Snooze button+snooze button+snooze button=late for work.

I barely remembered to re-brush my teeth after my halitosis-inducing breakfast of coffee and onion bagel (ouch), and even then I left the house and drove all the way down the street before I realized I hadn't combed my hair or put on makeup.

Yikes.

haha kind of...

Even though I adore my job and love the people with whom I work, there are many days (like today) where I just struggle find the joy in the day.

I was recently reading a prayer adapted from "A Diary of Private Prayer" by John Baillie, and I was struck by it.

O Lord and Maker of all things, from whose creative power the first light came forth, who did look upon the world's first morning and see that it was good;
we praise you for the life that stirs within us;
we praise you for the earth and sea and sky, for scudding cloud and singing bird. 
We praise you for the work that you have given us to do; 
we praise you for all that you have given us to fill our leisure hours; 
we praise you for our friends, for music and books and good company and all pure pleasures.

Oh Lord, give us tender hearts today towards all those for whom this day is less than joyful;
those in whom the pulse of life grows weak;
those who are confined to bed throughout the day;
the overworked who have no joy of leisure; 
the unemployed who have no joy of labor; 
the bereaved whose hearts and homes are desolate. 
Grant your Mercy to them all.

...

Humbling.

Little Things: Lunchtime Bliss

It doesn't get much better than a good book and a sunny day :)