Sweet Sixteen

Up until this moment, I have neglected to mention that this makes for my 16th post this month. That's the most I've posted in one month, all year. I'm happy about that. I know the next few days will be exciting, and I not have time to post... I'm hoping to at least produce a picture update, but we'll see.

I had my first full day of training today at the Arch. We got our security badges and listened to a 2.5 hours lecture about national parks or something (I was too busy trying to stay awake to retain any of the information), learned how to work our checkout computers, learned about safety and security measures at the arch, etc.

Also, two people (out of the 12 or so who we hired with me) got fired today. One for being obnoxious and overbearing. And the other for accidentally smuggling a marijuana pipe into the Arch. He got a ticket too. $250. A citation AND a pink slip. Bad day for him.

Anyway, it was a long day. 7:30-4:30. And lots of walking. In heeled boots. It felt like Paris all over again (roommates). But now it's over. I'm exhausted. But I have a full time job that doesn't start till after Christmas, I have my last Coke Zero gig tomorrow night, my Christmas shopping is finished and I'm getting a puppy in a little over 24 hours. Life is good.

Signs of Things To Come...

our little Christmas tree!

next to our stockings that I made from leftover couch pillow fabric...

(That's actually Todd's stocking, not Gotham's...)

(yes, our friend Emily bought Gotham a Dog Snuggie for Christmas.)

his collar with his super cool, non-jingling tag...

(that's a pillow I got in college. I hope he likes it. :)

Two more days!

Employed!!!

So... I got the job!!!!! :)

I now work at the Gateway Arch, on behalf of Photogenic Inc. I take pictures of the 3.5 million people who visit the arch every year. I am SO grateful to have a job that is fun and approximately 6 minutes door to door from my house. Amazing.

I had orientation this morning from 10-2. I came home for lunch and to see Todd for a bit before he left for work. In an hour, I'm gonna head over to the rec center, because tonight (and last night) we helped/are helping a non-profit org called Kingdom House with a program called Affordable Christmas. Using the gym at the rec, volunteers organize thousands of articles of clothing, toys, household goods and appliances, baby stuff, etc like a store. Locals can come in a pay a small amount per item and actually shop for their families for Christmas, rather than receiving a handout from a charity. It's really cool, but the "store" is open from 10am-6pm and when it closes, it looks like the Bargain Basement at Old Navy on Black Friday. Hot. Mess. So we're folding/organizing clothes. I secretly love it, because it's like doing laundry, only you don't have to put it into drawers/hang it in the closet.

I also have my 2nd to last Coke Zero event tonight at a SLU Basketball game... I hope it goes quickly because it's hella cold outside.

I'm also realizing that this whole having a job and keeping a house in order and cooking and being a puppy mom is going to be no joke. I'm going to HAVE to organize my time or I'm going to seriously run out of it! Speaking of that... I gotta finish the laundry. Holler.

Ketchup

So, I know I'm behind on posting now, but I still have time to catch up. :) It's been a busy few days!

On Sunday, Todd and I had an awesome day of relaxing together (we were both a little under the weather... Todd's recovering from bronchitis... and I have some kind of cough now, I don't know if it's from him or not...) anyway, Sunday night, we had a great night at August Gate worship service. We went to eat at Chava's (our fave Mexican joint) after church, and then drove out to Illinois to look at Christmas lights! Delicious and beautiful, respectively.

Monday, I spent a good chunk of the day at an amazing coffeeshop in Benton Park called The Mud House. I drank orange sencha green tea and worked on our upcoming newsletter. Later that night, we had an amazing time of fellowship at our very first August Gate covenant members "induction". We're officially at 14 members, with a few more to join this coming week. It was such an awesome time of encouragement and affirmation for all of us who have committed to this adventure. I look forward to many more of those meetings over the years!

And then today... I had a job interview! :) It's with a company called Photogenic Inc who's based out of Chicago, but they have branches in several other large cities with big landmarks (NY, DC, Boston, Chicago and now STL). They're the ones taking the pictures of families and couples in front of said landmarks. So they're JUST starting up at the arch in St Louis, and they're hiring photographers, supervisors and managers... and the group interview went really well, so we'll see!

After that, Todd and I went to buy ear candles and puppy things! Both very exciting. We bought Gotham a collar and tags with his lil name on it and some food and a toy football with a tug-of-war rope in it. Super cute. We could not be more excited for our pup to come home! We moved our pickup date so we can spend as much time with him as possible before Christmas. He gets his last shots tomorrow and he turns 6 weeks old tomorrow too! So, Sunday morning at 9:30am, we're going to pick him up! Can't wait!

Okay, I want to say more, but I'm so tired. I'll catch up soon.

www.jonahrocks.com

I promise you want to watch these.

This is definitely the coolest kid you will see all week.

If you haven't already, meet Jonah Rocks...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RffBbMN7Rw

He's 4. FOUR!!! He's not even in school yet!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ieXjnfTumn8

I can't stop watching them. He's amazing!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3wf0azrzcM

There's a ton more videos too... Here's the bio from his website:

Way back in 2008, at the age of 3, Jonah Rocks was lining up his Play-Doh cans to make a drum kit. He would sneak all the baby spoons from the cupboard, and use them as drumsticks. His daddy asked him if he wanted a real drum kit, and of course, Jonah said "YES!" Once he sat down behind that kit, and held that first pair of 7A's in his hands, he has never put them down, playing as much as he can, whenever he can. Jonah is completely self taught, never had a lesson, and if you've watched him play, you know he absolutely loves it.

I promise there'll be more substance to the blog in the coming days. But Jonah deserved a blog post all to himself.

Things I Love/Am Slightly Obsessed With Right Now...

• This commercial.

• This commercial.

• Fritos. Just regular kind. I know, I know. But I love them. I always have.

• Honey Bunches of Oats with soymilk.

• The color orange.

• Speaking of... my amazing new puffer jacket. Thanks, Mom & Dad.

• Orange Sencha Green Tea.

• Caramel Apple Cider.

• Glee. And probably The Sing-Off.

The Minutes of 12/10.

So yesterday was crazy.

What I Did...

• Woke up and told my husband "Happy 2 months!!!"
• Ate breakfast, got ready and loaded the car up with the broken trash can I keep forgetting to return to Bed Bath & Beyond.
• Drove with Todd to pick up our car from the shop. Praise the Lord for insurance.
• Picked up car with shiny new hood and paint job, parted ways with Todd at the shop and headed to BBB.
• Spent roughly an hour destroying the clearance section of curtains, hoping to be able to clothe my kitchen and living room windows for $4.95 a panel. Almost doesn't count.
• Hunted through the entire section for 2, non-existent "63 inch panels. At first I had a style and color in mind. I finally just went with whatever I could find.
• Also wound up buying 4 panels of chocolate brown blackout curtains for the living room, 2 tension rods, and a set of toys for Gotham.
• Ran out of gift cards and had to put $89.00 on my credit card. NOT good.
• Went home, made lunch for hubs, sent him to work and put up curtains. Discovered I only needed 2 panels for the living room.
• Gathered extra panels, an unused crock-pot (i'll buy another eventually) and an extra shower curtain, along with the packaging from everything I'd just bought and opened.
• Drove my butt back across town to BBB.
• Returned and rebought enough stuff to put all $89.00 back on my credit card AND receive $32.64 in store credit. Score.
• Contemplated buying a few poster frames to complete a few creative projects i've been pondering.
• Realized that I probably won't have time to finish them in the near future and so I shouldn't spend the money.
• Resisted the urge to go into Trader Joe's.
• Came home. admired curtains. Cleaned the living room and then headed to the kitchen to make the aforementioned baked potato soup that didn't happen the day before.
• Who knew freaking potatoes would be so frustrating. I didn't cook some of them long enough and ended up microwaving them while trying to brown onions and garlic without burning the butter and blah blah blah. Not a good experience.
• Finished the soup. Ate the soup while watching the Office. Was not impressed by the soup. Drowned it in bacon bits an sprinkle cheese.
• Cleaned the kitchen that I destroyed.
• Wrapped a couple of presents for Todd.
• Checked facebook, gmail, and university job sites. then facebook again.
• Spent some time organizing our 8000 wedding pictures until Todd got home.
• watched Late Night shows with Todd while editing our upcoming newsletter.
• Re-edited Christmas eve service invites and emailed them out.
• Photoshopped a picture of Buddy The Elf for our Rec Center Love event.
• Marveled at the fact that I've yet to watch Elf this year.
• Quit marveling and went to bed at 1:15am.
• Realized that I didn't write a blog.
• Realized that as long as I write 2 today, I'll still be caught up, staying on track (for the first time ever!) with my goal of blogging 31 times this month.