Life as 'Acting Manager'

Hey everyone! So they haven't yet hired anyone to take Tiffany's place so I am currently doing the job until they either tell me I can continue doing it or until they do hire someone else. Jayme was in quick little interviews here all day yesterday and I saw him shred at least two resumes! So there is hope still! :) Work is really calm right now, relaxed and quiet. Just me in the office today and it is kinda nice right now. I'm going back and forth from my laptop to working and I feel that I'm accomplishing more than I do when there are others in the office. My days have changed to having Sat-Sun off. I told Jayme I was willing to do whatever was needed if it was that or staying at Sun-Mon off. We decided me being her Monday would be good. I told Courtney that if things do get slammed on Saturday she can always call me and I'll come down.

Tomorrow Ray and I are going to look at wedding bands. This jeweler specially designed some bands to match my ring so hopefully we will be able to get one of those! We are then meeting Ray's mom for lunch at Cheesecake Factory...yummy!! Then tomorrow night Kyle is in the State Pre-Finals or something like that. A lot of the family showed up for his game last Monday so I think we are all going to be there again tomorrow! It is fun to spend time with everyone!

I got my hair done on Monday but I'm not sure how I feel about it. Only one person out of my family noticed it was done at the basketball game and that was Jaime. :) And there were soooooo many bobby pins that my head was hurting so bad when I got home!

I like having curls because I never do but I don't think I liked the french twist that she did. I was hoping it would be like the previous picture I posted of the feather lady where it was smooth and elegant. I wasn't expecting to have hair poking out the top of my head..that looks funny! And the comb I have is too big to do half up. I think I will just have it done all up and have a few tendrils falling down. We pretty much decided on our cake and my mom I think is going next Monday to put the money down on it. :) We were given an incredible deal by an old friend so that was amazing! I can't wait to see it all finished! The next couple of weeks I need to buy the bowls/dishes to put the candy in and buy the disposal cameras for the tables! We put the money down on the tables and chairs and those are set to be delivered on the Friday before the reception! :) Feels so good to get so much accomplished! :)

I am very proud of both Ray and myself for doing such a good job of paying off our debt! We have paid almost $2000 to debt since January 1st and that is about 50%!! Our goal was to be out of debt by the end of the year but it looks like we may be out of debt before our wedding! It is such a wonderful feeling everytime I go online and look at a $0.00 balance on all those cards! I even called on my Capital One card to close it but they lowered my interest by 12% and they will waive my annual fee the next time it comes up! So nice!

And I almost forget! I am very proud of myself for working out now! I have only gone once so far but I plan on going Mon, Wed and Fri after work. I went on Wed this week and I could only do 20 minutes on the eliptical. I hope to be able to do at least 3o minutes tonight! I bring my clothes to work with me because I know if I go home to change I won't come back down! So yay for me for actually working out and not just saying I will! :)

Keep praying that I get this job!

Quote of the day: Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.

Life on a Beautiful Day in February!!

Today was an absolutely beautiful day in Seattle! Was so nice after so many rainy and gloomy days! We spend most of the afternoon at Seward Park in Seattle. We tried to go to Coulon Beach in Renton...they don't allow dogs!!! Can you believe that!?!?! Rudest thing I have ever seen!! So we drove around the lake to Seward instead. We walked for almost four miles! Of course, we got almost to the end and turned around, not knowing that it went in a circle! So we walked like twice as far as we needed to!! I'm such a nerd!! There were these amazing treese there as well! They had reddish trunks and branches with bright green leaves and it all looked great against the bright blue sky! Max really enjoyed himself, he was acting like he has never been out of the house before! There was so many people there and so many dogs as well! What a gorgeous day! We couldn't have asked for more! Here are a few pictures from our day!

Quote of the day: It isn't enough to talk about peace. One must believe in it. And it isn't enough to believe in it. One must work at it. - Eleanor Roosevelt

Life in Engagement Photos

WWW.RAY-JULIE.COM

Quote of the day: A successful marriage requires falling in love many times, always with the same person.

Life at Work

So Tiffany has given her two weeks notice and her last day will be Wednesday the 20th. She is going to a bigger company that will hopefully make her happy. In the meantime I have put myself out there as interested in the position and I know that I can do it. I know that I am almost already doing it. I do almost everything in this office. I will admit there are a few things I would need to learn/need to ask questions on while I'm starting out but I know I can do it. This company looked me over for the Assistant position before and learned that I was the best at it. Now I think I'm going to get looked over again for the Manager position and that will be their mistake. I haven't decided yet what I will do if they do hire outside of the company. I may stay and see how things go. But if the new manager and I don't go well together or I end up training them on stuff, then I will leave. They had Jayme come in on the day that Tiffany announced her leave to make sure that none of the other staff would leave as well. Even Tiffany has been telling Jayme that I should get the position, that I can do it. It is really really frustrating to work for a company that won't even give me a chance to prove that I can do it, someone that doesnt' believe in me! I know I can do it, I know that if they hire someone else that they will be making a big mistake! I have learned a lot the last two years working for Tiffany and I just wish someone would give me the chance to show that! So that is how work is going right now...my job is basically in balance until I hear back from them. And the way Jayme has said things I don't think I'm going to get it. :(

Quote of the Day: Anyone that can walk to the welfare office can walk to work.

Thoughts

So I finally have a picture of our new car!!! Isn't it purty!? I also have attached a photo of my hairpiece for the wedding. Sorry about the layout, I'm having issues with blogger right now.....

I have decided on colors finally, teal, white and a light blue. We found some really cute gerbera daisies at Michaels and they were having a great sale so we are going to use those in the vases from Jaime's wedding with sand as the centerpieces. :) Now I just need to find napkins and plates to match those colors. :)

We are getting our engagement photos taken on Sunday! Olga will be taking them and I'm so excited! I hope it is a nice day out! PRAY FOR NO RAIN!! We are going to this place in Marysville where Matt and Kevin had their senior photos taken. They should hopefully turn out well! I'll get those posted on our wedding webpage as soon as possible!

So my new outlook on life is to be happy and to not let other people's attitudes affect me. (This is not easy for me to do!) I'm trying really really hard but working here makes things even harder! I feel like the harder I try to stay happy the more stuff goes on here to make me unhappy. The newest thing is that I can't trust my leasing agent to do anything correctly. Really, very frustrating! I just wish I could do my job and be done with it but it isn't turning out that way! I've even been reading a morning/evening devotional since I have not been going to church. I think I've just been so torn down and heard so much complaining in the last couple of years that I can't get out of the rut. I don't want to complain all day long, it isn't fun and it doesn't do anything for me but make me feel worse but it's a habit that is hard to get out of! I know that complaining about my job isn't going to change it and it isn't going to change the company, it will just make me do a bad job and make me unhappy. :::sigh:::

QUOTE OF THE DAY: 'First thoughts are not always the best'

New Car!!

Ok, so I have updates but I've been trying to get pictures but it has been so icky weather that I haven't gotten that far yet.

So we got a new car!!! My car needed so much work and for having about 90,000 miles and not being worth the money that it would cost to fix it, we traded it in. We got a 2007 Chevy Trailblazer! I LOVE IT!!! I like being up higher in a larger car! It doesn't have all the gadgets that I would love but it is perfect for our current budget!! I definately will be posting pictures of it as soon as it isn't raining outside.

I also took photos of my hair comb for the wedding but again, on the camera and I can't find the cord right now...I have some issues...

I'm still kinda looking for a new job, haven't really heard back from anyone. I got contacted from one property for a position I wasn't too excited about, I went for an interview anyway to see what I thought. The company sounded like they would be wondeful to work for but it wasn't something that I really wanted to do. I don't want to just settle for something that I'm not going to love. I love my job here. I love the work I do. I love most of the residents. I don't love that the attitudes in this office bring me down. I don't like being an unhappy person. I miss being the happy Julie that everyone loved. My mom helped me realize that and I'm trying very hard to not let negative attitudes get to me and to stay positive. (and it is not easy!)

It has been nice to spend time with my mom once a week going over wedding stuff. Could you have imagined me saying that two years ago?? I know!! We've gotten a lot accomplished together and it feels nice.

I have my dress, and for some reason when something isn't sitting right in front of me I don't always remember it. So I haven't even put it on yet...also has to do with Ray being home when I'm home and so this Monday I think I will try it on for the first time! :) I need to start shopping for a bra that won't show and jewelry.

QUOTE OF THE DAY: Love comes unseen; we only see it go.