We're finally back from our three week backpacking excursion through europe. It was quite an adventure that deserves hours of uninterrupted blogging on a "real" computer. I am currently stranded at a hotel in savannah, GA with Andy and our trusty dog, Toby. Our whole life is sitting in 12 year old Saturn in the parking lot. Thirty-eight hours is an unbelievably long time in a car! I will try to post pictures of our europe trip as well as our cross-country trek this week. I would do it now, but unfortunately the only relevant picture that my blackberry has is of my distraught face after I voluntarily got into the full body scanner at the SLC airport the morning we left (so far less exciting and way more idiotic than pictures of Rome). Full update later!
Congrats that Lisa and family for your new adventure. South Dakota will be great.
Congrats to Heather and family for your new edition. Keep us updated. Nathan will be an awesome big brother!
Congrats to Alex and family for third! You're a supermom so it will be absolutely amazing and a piece or cake.
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Goals
Andy and I decided to make a list of our top three goals. Hopefully by putting them out there for the "world" to see, we'll be more accountable. Since our goals are shockingly the same these days, it wasn't a hard little list to put together.
1. Participate in the New York marathon next year and finish it...even if we're last.
2. Take our respective graduate school tests by February 2011.
3. Get into a graduate school on either of our lists--Mine: NYU, Boston Univeristy, UC Berkley, San Francisco State University. Andy's: USC, Standford, UCLA, NYU, Dartmouth.
We realize these are ridiculously amibitious schools to get into, but why not go for it right? The worst that can happen is that they'll say "no" and we'll go to a different school. No harm in trying though.
4. Go backpacking through Europe the end of March/beginning of April (Thanks to Natalie Oaks for suggesting such an outrageous idea that we can't seem to get out of our heads. Thanks for encouraging us to have some spontaneous life experiences instead of just following the "plan").
5. Find a career AKA a "real job" that gives us benefits like health insurance so we can get crackin on that whole baby business.
I think that's it for now, thank goodness. I'm a little aprehensive about finding ways to accomplishing these goals as they all take severe motivation and dedication, and to be honest, some days I don't think I like looking at our list of goals...lol.
Hopefully we'll be able to keep ourselves accountable and motivated!
1. Participate in the New York marathon next year and finish it...even if we're last.
2. Take our respective graduate school tests by February 2011.
3. Get into a graduate school on either of our lists--Mine: NYU, Boston Univeristy, UC Berkley, San Francisco State University. Andy's: USC, Standford, UCLA, NYU, Dartmouth.
We realize these are ridiculously amibitious schools to get into, but why not go for it right? The worst that can happen is that they'll say "no" and we'll go to a different school. No harm in trying though.
4. Go backpacking through Europe the end of March/beginning of April (Thanks to Natalie Oaks for suggesting such an outrageous idea that we can't seem to get out of our heads. Thanks for encouraging us to have some spontaneous life experiences instead of just following the "plan").
5. Find a career AKA a "real job" that gives us benefits like health insurance so we can get crackin on that whole baby business.
I think that's it for now, thank goodness. I'm a little aprehensive about finding ways to accomplishing these goals as they all take severe motivation and dedication, and to be honest, some days I don't think I like looking at our list of goals...lol.
Hopefully we'll be able to keep ourselves accountable and motivated!
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Epic Fail
So Andy and I have come to realize that we're so pathetically behind in our blog. I'm 100% sure that we've lost the little audience we had to begin with, so I apologize for the seemingly inconsequential ramblings of our boring lives, but I figure I should be keeping some sort of record for ourselves.
Right now we're in that weird, transitional limbo phase of being adults, but not being "grown-up." I never thought the day would come when we'd both be done with school, but it's not only come, it's passed us by! The only thing we've realized is that we miss school so we're trying to go back. Somewhere in the universe pigs must be flying. That being said, Andy and I are spending are hours of free time studying for the GMAT and the GRE. I've spoken with some admission counselors at NYU and Boston University and that's given us some excitement in our lives. We still need ridiculously good scores, so hopefully our brain matter hasn't downsized too much since our education hiatus.
My once awesome job was taken away from me, leaving me job hunting...again. The only upside is that I've gotten quite good at finding jobs and my resume is top notch. The FBI came into my ex-work and took all the paperwork and computers and everything. It was like something out of a movie. I've added it to my growing list of "things that don't happen to normal people." I was lucky to be able to work at Hale Center Theatre during the months of September, October and November, helping out with costumes. It's been quite a ride.
We're still applying for job after job, but it's looking like we're just going to have to pick up and move...take the plunge into the world of big cities and corporate America. The plan is to do it in April if nothing comes along by then. But what's life without a little risk-taking? We've played by the rules for so long, so it's time throw caution to the wind and just jump.
Andy is working on his resume with the help of the International Marketing manager from eBay. He's been a godsend and we're truly blessed to have met him the day Andy and his team won the case competition all those months ago. Hopefully some interviews will come our way.
Besides job hunting, working, exercising, and studying, we were able to go to Disney World again--this time with Andy's parents. The heat was sweltering and the humidity was unbearable...but we had a great time! We were also able to go to the Puyallup Fair in September with my sisters. It brought back so many funny memories of Krumpy pups, free chocolate milk, and trolling the fairgrounds for cute boys.It was so surreal to see Celeste and Olivia there doing the things Lisa, Heather, Alex and I used to do. I can't believe how fast they are growing up. They went from playing barbies and dress-up to squealing over Justin Beiber overnight. Weird.
The goal is to update more frequently, especially since the holidays are upon us. Fun and interesting things are bound to happen.
Right now we're in that weird, transitional limbo phase of being adults, but not being "grown-up." I never thought the day would come when we'd both be done with school, but it's not only come, it's passed us by! The only thing we've realized is that we miss school so we're trying to go back. Somewhere in the universe pigs must be flying. That being said, Andy and I are spending are hours of free time studying for the GMAT and the GRE. I've spoken with some admission counselors at NYU and Boston University and that's given us some excitement in our lives. We still need ridiculously good scores, so hopefully our brain matter hasn't downsized too much since our education hiatus.
My once awesome job was taken away from me, leaving me job hunting...again. The only upside is that I've gotten quite good at finding jobs and my resume is top notch. The FBI came into my ex-work and took all the paperwork and computers and everything. It was like something out of a movie. I've added it to my growing list of "things that don't happen to normal people." I was lucky to be able to work at Hale Center Theatre during the months of September, October and November, helping out with costumes. It's been quite a ride.
We're still applying for job after job, but it's looking like we're just going to have to pick up and move...take the plunge into the world of big cities and corporate America. The plan is to do it in April if nothing comes along by then. But what's life without a little risk-taking? We've played by the rules for so long, so it's time throw caution to the wind and just jump.
Andy is working on his resume with the help of the International Marketing manager from eBay. He's been a godsend and we're truly blessed to have met him the day Andy and his team won the case competition all those months ago. Hopefully some interviews will come our way.
Besides job hunting, working, exercising, and studying, we were able to go to Disney World again--this time with Andy's parents. The heat was sweltering and the humidity was unbearable...but we had a great time! We were also able to go to the Puyallup Fair in September with my sisters. It brought back so many funny memories of Krumpy pups, free chocolate milk, and trolling the fairgrounds for cute boys.It was so surreal to see Celeste and Olivia there doing the things Lisa, Heather, Alex and I used to do. I can't believe how fast they are growing up. They went from playing barbies and dress-up to squealing over Justin Beiber overnight. Weird.
The goal is to update more frequently, especially since the holidays are upon us. Fun and interesting things are bound to happen.
Monday, April 5, 2010
And the winner is...
This past week has been a whirwind of chaos, but in a very good I-can't-believe-this-is-happening kind of way. Andy participated in an extra-curricular case competition sponsored by Union Pacific and with long hours spent crunching numbers in the library came a spot in the top three! The top three finalists had to present their findings to a group of board members from the marketing advisory. Andy and his team had the best presentation. It was well put-together, thought out, and funny (well as funny as anything with a ridiculous amount of numbers can be).
The other teams did great too, but we were ecstatic when Andy and his team were announced as the winners. They won money and the chance to network. That evening we were able to attend a banquet with 40 top executives from companies like eBay, Amazon.com, Proctor and Gamble, Union Pacific and others. Andy made some excellent contacts, so we'll see if anything comes from them.
Andy and his group posing for their "win" photo
Wednesday greeted Andy with a call from the VP of Sales for Paramount Pictures. They set up a time to meet for lunch on Saturday in between conference sessions. We couldn't believe it. So we prepared what he was going to say, we updated his resume and got some business cards together. They met at Wendy's and bonded over spicy chicken sandwiches. The meet-and-greet turned into an interview and Andy came home bursting with excitement. Though Paramount has had to cut back personnel, it came down to this: Andy has a lot of work to do. He needs to research the industry and come up with some good ideas. If he can do that, a real interview with the hiring manager will be a realistic probability.
He's never been closer!
And though nothing may happen, it's been nice not being in a stand-still regarding employment. We're going to encounter lots of "no's" for sure, but we're making contact and we couldn't be more hopeful.
The other teams did great too, but we were ecstatic when Andy and his team were announced as the winners. They won money and the chance to network. That evening we were able to attend a banquet with 40 top executives from companies like eBay, Amazon.com, Proctor and Gamble, Union Pacific and others. Andy made some excellent contacts, so we'll see if anything comes from them.
Andy and his group posing for their "win" photo
Wednesday greeted Andy with a call from the VP of Sales for Paramount Pictures. They set up a time to meet for lunch on Saturday in between conference sessions. We couldn't believe it. So we prepared what he was going to say, we updated his resume and got some business cards together. They met at Wendy's and bonded over spicy chicken sandwiches. The meet-and-greet turned into an interview and Andy came home bursting with excitement. Though Paramount has had to cut back personnel, it came down to this: Andy has a lot of work to do. He needs to research the industry and come up with some good ideas. If he can do that, a real interview with the hiring manager will be a realistic probability.
He's never been closer!
And though nothing may happen, it's been nice not being in a stand-still regarding employment. We're going to encounter lots of "no's" for sure, but we're making contact and we couldn't be more hopeful.
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Life is...
This last week has been one crazy ride. On Thursday, I found out that my previously temporary job is turning into something permanent which means a steady income until we leave. So Yay! It was such a high to finally be sure of something in the midst of all the unknowns we are facing (and will continue facing for the next few months...and years...at least).
Then Saturday came along and we took our car in to get checked. Lo and behold, our transmission is bad. I'm definitely not a skilled mechanic, nor do I know really anything at all about cars, but even I know that you do not want to have a bad transmission. Basically, it comes down to replacing a ridiculously expensive part (we're talking thousands) or buying a new car (which is not on our current "to do" list).
So I was so upset the whole weekend, trying to solve an unsolvable problem. I agonized over life being hard and kept asking myself all variations of the question "why?".
Today in sacrament meeting, my mind was everywhere. I hate to admit that I wasn't paying attention to the testimonies, but I wasn't. I was so wrapped up in our seemingly large trials, that I almost didn't hear exactly what I needed to hear. Almost all the testimonies were about stretching ourselves spiritually or taking leaps of faith. They were simple testimonies with no elaborate stories to entertain the audience. They were spoken like fact--straightforward and bizarrely simple.
The one thing that I gathered was to have hope. No one told me where to find a FREE brand new car or how to grow a money tree. Our car issues are far from being over and we still have no clue what to do. But I have something that I didn't have yesterday...hope.
It's pretty ridiculous how upset I was (and still am to a certain extent). I'm so positive that I'm going to look back on this in a year and think "man, why can't I have more problems like that? I could fix that." I'm sure that living in a small, dingy apartment in a large and strange new city, getting coffee for people that may or may not deserve it while we try and climb the corporate ladder, pinching every penny we earn, and living off top ramen will rock the boat.
I just pray that if that time comes, when it comes, I'll be able to remember to have hope even when it doesn't seem like there is any, or at least any reason to have it.
I want to look back on this problem with two insights in mind.
I want to say, "hey, we fixed a broken transmission issue when we were broke college students. We can get through ___ (whatever the bigger problem may be)."
And and I want to be able to say, "And I thought a busted car was a big deal. I knew nothing back then. I should have been more thankful for problems like that!"
This weekend I realized some things I probably should have realized years ago:
1. Life sucks sometimes but you just have to get over it and move on. Bad things happen and though being optimistic doesn't make it any less bad, it certainly makes it easier to want to try and get through it.
2. Life is horribly unpredictable, but how boring would it be if we knew everything before it happened? Besides, no one likes a know-it-all.
3. Life is totally wonderful. Part of me can't comprehend the fact that I truly believe that in lieu of our current situation, but I know that good things will come our way if we are obedient and humble and faithful. We can't know how sweet the sweet is without the most bitter of bitters.
There will come a time when we'll all be able to "cash in our blessings" and all our trials will be worth it. In fact, I'm pretty sure we'll be thinking that we could have handled a lot more in comparison to the greater rewards.
Then Saturday came along and we took our car in to get checked. Lo and behold, our transmission is bad. I'm definitely not a skilled mechanic, nor do I know really anything at all about cars, but even I know that you do not want to have a bad transmission. Basically, it comes down to replacing a ridiculously expensive part (we're talking thousands) or buying a new car (which is not on our current "to do" list).
So I was so upset the whole weekend, trying to solve an unsolvable problem. I agonized over life being hard and kept asking myself all variations of the question "why?".
Today in sacrament meeting, my mind was everywhere. I hate to admit that I wasn't paying attention to the testimonies, but I wasn't. I was so wrapped up in our seemingly large trials, that I almost didn't hear exactly what I needed to hear. Almost all the testimonies were about stretching ourselves spiritually or taking leaps of faith. They were simple testimonies with no elaborate stories to entertain the audience. They were spoken like fact--straightforward and bizarrely simple.
The one thing that I gathered was to have hope. No one told me where to find a FREE brand new car or how to grow a money tree. Our car issues are far from being over and we still have no clue what to do. But I have something that I didn't have yesterday...hope.
It's pretty ridiculous how upset I was (and still am to a certain extent). I'm so positive that I'm going to look back on this in a year and think "man, why can't I have more problems like that? I could fix that." I'm sure that living in a small, dingy apartment in a large and strange new city, getting coffee for people that may or may not deserve it while we try and climb the corporate ladder, pinching every penny we earn, and living off top ramen will rock the boat.
I just pray that if that time comes, when it comes, I'll be able to remember to have hope even when it doesn't seem like there is any, or at least any reason to have it.
I want to look back on this problem with two insights in mind.
I want to say, "hey, we fixed a broken transmission issue when we were broke college students. We can get through ___ (whatever the bigger problem may be)."
And and I want to be able to say, "And I thought a busted car was a big deal. I knew nothing back then. I should have been more thankful for problems like that!"
This weekend I realized some things I probably should have realized years ago:
1. Life sucks sometimes but you just have to get over it and move on. Bad things happen and though being optimistic doesn't make it any less bad, it certainly makes it easier to want to try and get through it.
2. Life is horribly unpredictable, but how boring would it be if we knew everything before it happened? Besides, no one likes a know-it-all.
3. Life is totally wonderful. Part of me can't comprehend the fact that I truly believe that in lieu of our current situation, but I know that good things will come our way if we are obedient and humble and faithful. We can't know how sweet the sweet is without the most bitter of bitters.
There will come a time when we'll all be able to "cash in our blessings" and all our trials will be worth it. In fact, I'm pretty sure we'll be thinking that we could have handled a lot more in comparison to the greater rewards.
Friday, January 29, 2010
Vote for Toby!
Hi everyone!
Today is the day when voting starts. Click on the widget to the right and vote for the cutest dog you've ever seen.
Thanks!
Today is the day when voting starts. Click on the widget to the right and vote for the cutest dog you've ever seen.
Thanks!
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Moving on
To all those who have been wondering what we've been up to since we dropped off the face of the earth 8 months ago...we're alive and well.
Currently, I'm working at a pharmaceutical company in American Fork and though it's not my dream job (haha), I love the people there. It makes for long days since I still do the crossing guard job too. I'm gone for about 14 hours and come home utterly exhausted.
Andy is almost done with school. Can we say "yay"? He is graduating in April, but he will still have two classes left to complete. He will officially be finished in June.
As of the last two months, we've been applying to anything and everything. I applied for a few publishing companies in New York as well as MTV, for a position in Ad Sales.
Andy just turned in an application for the EGP (European Graduate Program) which is a program by Sony. He is brushing up on his Spanish and we are navigating our ways through Italian, German and French because he has to speak a myriad of different languages. In short, if he gets accepted, we will be living in Europe for at least two years. Whew! It's a pretty long shot, but we've got nothing to lose at this point. He has also applied to Adobe (the makers of photoshop, illustrator, InDesign, etc.) and we will probably hear back in March. He has also established connections with a couple notable people from Paramount Pictures.
Everything is up in the air and I almost hate to say anything just because we don't know what's going to happen at this point. We could end up somewhere we never thought we would at a company we never even considered. But that's what's been going on with us. I'll be sure to let you know what happens next.
Whatever the case may be, we will be out of Utah by the end of the summer for sure and we couldn't be more happy about moving on.
Sorry I have no pictures to post. If I did, they would be of our ridiculously boring lives and no one wants to see that :)
Currently, I'm working at a pharmaceutical company in American Fork and though it's not my dream job (haha), I love the people there. It makes for long days since I still do the crossing guard job too. I'm gone for about 14 hours and come home utterly exhausted.
Andy is almost done with school. Can we say "yay"? He is graduating in April, but he will still have two classes left to complete. He will officially be finished in June.
As of the last two months, we've been applying to anything and everything. I applied for a few publishing companies in New York as well as MTV, for a position in Ad Sales.
Andy just turned in an application for the EGP (European Graduate Program) which is a program by Sony. He is brushing up on his Spanish and we are navigating our ways through Italian, German and French because he has to speak a myriad of different languages. In short, if he gets accepted, we will be living in Europe for at least two years. Whew! It's a pretty long shot, but we've got nothing to lose at this point. He has also applied to Adobe (the makers of photoshop, illustrator, InDesign, etc.) and we will probably hear back in March. He has also established connections with a couple notable people from Paramount Pictures.
Everything is up in the air and I almost hate to say anything just because we don't know what's going to happen at this point. We could end up somewhere we never thought we would at a company we never even considered. But that's what's been going on with us. I'll be sure to let you know what happens next.
Whatever the case may be, we will be out of Utah by the end of the summer for sure and we couldn't be more happy about moving on.
Sorry I have no pictures to post. If I did, they would be of our ridiculously boring lives and no one wants to see that :)
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