New Job

Ok, so those of you that follow me here probably already know this, because we talk elsewhere, too! But...I got a new job! I was subbing at St. John's, but now I'm teaching Preschool full-time starting Monday! I'm very excited about the full-time aspect, and also the salary increase and benefits (which I have yet to find out about entirely).

A LOT of changes are going to take place in the Preschool class, and I may be taking pictures and posting them so that I can remember where it started, keep track of the changes, and share them with you. I am hoping to blog more often, because I know it's a good process for me to take part in.

Anyone out there? Should I keep blogging? More often, that is. I'll be blogging either way. =)

Madness

My life is becoming a never ending, maddening cycle. I'm over it. I need a break. I need sleep. I also need to not be working two jobs. It's just not going to work long term.

Staples? You and I may not be buddies for much longer. Just saying.

http://www.di.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/the-holstee-manifesto1.jpg

That's a really cool wordle-type thing. It's a bit more...readable than a wordle, though. Pretty inspirational. Enjoy!

Emotions. Bleh.

Sometimes, my emotions get the best of me. I've found myself in tears on my drive home from work more than 5 times in the last couple of weeks. Yes, a lot of it is probably lack of adequate sleep. However, I think it's really just the whole situation of life hitting me hard. I mean, this last year (plus!) has been extremely tough. I am far away from my best friends, and even though my family is here, I tend to turn to my friends instead of my family, especially when it's my family that's taking the hits the hardest.

Anyways, things I feel are absurd now when I consider them have been making me cry. Things I shouldn't be thinking about, because they're just daydreams and temptations. They are meant to distract me, and recently they've been doing a good job. I need to refocus, and allow God to heal me when I'm emotional. I need to remember to pray and thank him for his many blessings, because they are abundant, even though the trials are nearing the abundant mark as well.

Work is going well. Not that I really have much to update. I'm floating around the school, helping in different classrooms and also teaching my health classes. So far, so good. And Staples is the same ol', same ol'. Jason's pushing us to make more ESP sales and to give better customer service. Not that that's really new...

Anyways, I miss my friends. I feel like my social life is non-existent. At least I have had a little bit of time to spend with Emily over the last 2 weeks. I need that. Time with any friend is special these days, but Emily just lifts my spirits. We laugh, and somehow we convince each other to join music groups/musicals at church, etc. Ha. It's good. =)

Seriously, I'm getting up in less than 5 1/2 hours, so goodnight! <3

Note to our Country...or Society?

Dear America,

You need to stop being so selfish and learn to read. Here are my reasons:

#1, you need to learn to read because when your coupons expire, you can't use them! Seriously, people. If the date says you can't use them, why do you think I can automatically make it so you can use it? I am not a magician. I am also not a manager. Due to these pieces of information, it's important that you consider the expiration date BEFORE entering the store and attempting to use your coupon. Also, if YOU make a mistake (you're human, I'm aware) and try to use an expired coupon, please don't get mad at me. I am sincerely sorry that your coupon expired before you could use it. However, it's not my fault, and there's nothing I can do. Just so you're aware.

#2, If you can't read the fine print, then why read the ad at all? Our ad says the limit and the end date for the sales. Please read it. If the sale ends Wednesday, why one earth do you expect to receive the deal on the following Saturday? That's not how it works. Also, there are limits. If you bring 15 notebooks when the limit is 2, expect the total to be higher. Seriously.

#3, stop being selfish. Yes, we have coupons and cheap sales at times. But if you make a mistake, don't demand that we fix it for you. It's not my job to make sure that the world turns at the speed you expect. Make sure you've got your facts straight and that you're sure your deal/coupon is still in affect/usable. Otherwise, don't get mad at me. You're just being dumb.

Anyways, America, take a moment and consider things before you enter the store. Are you sure you know what you want? Are you sure your coupon is usable? If you can answer either of these questions with, "No," then get the heck out of our store. Our job is not to think for you, or to make sure that you can use things that are no longer good according to their date. Seriously. Think about it.

Erin

Playing catchup...

I am so behind on blogging. This week was CRAZY. I am now working two jobs (Staples and St. John the Apostle Catholic School). I am teaching 2 sixth grade health classes, and subbing throughout the school. This last week, I worked 22 hours (or so) at the school and 34.5 (or so) hours at Staples. Oh my! If you were wondering where I've been, I've been working. Seriously.

At St. John's, we had meetings and things early in the week, and I've been getting to know the staff. I've helped people set up classrooms, watched training videos, and shredded a bunch of papers. Literally. On Wednesday, we had "Faith and Formation" day, which was at St. Therese up in Portland. As a part of this day, there was a mass service. It was my first mass, and I was kind of nervous and excited, because I didn't really know what to expect. I liked it, though. It was uncomfortable at some points, because everyone knew what to say and when. I didn't know what was going on for most of it, but I liked the formality of it. I don't think I'd like to have mass as my only worship service, but I like that it's the history of our religion. While Protestants don't agree with everything that Catholics believe, all Christians descend from the Catholic faith. Anyways, I'm looking forward to more masses and learning how they work/what to say when, etc.

Things have been going really well, though. I've been so busy, but it's going to be good financially, and I've been doing really well at Staples. I've sold 11 ESP (product replacement plans, etc.) in the last week or so. That's pretty good, and I'm in 3rd place for the store's competition. I'm working to beat out the others, but they're definitely more experienced than I am. I've also been selling a lot of pens and getting donations. That's also a big deal, I guess. Woo. =) My bosses seem to be noticing that I'm working hard, and they've told me that I'm doing well and also that a customer called to tell them that I was very helpful. Awesome!

I'm not sure what else you would want to know. I'm going to try to update more often, even if it's short. That way, you'll know what's going on! Sorry to be so MIA lately! Miss you guys!

Just call me Ms. Wilson!

I got a teaching job! I'll be starting at St. John the Apostle Catholic School in Oregon City on Monday. I'm teaching two 6th grade health classes (2 hours each week, with 1 hour prep). I'm also a sub for the TA's and teachers. There are also some additional possibilities for more teaching later in the year. We'll see what happens.

For the time being, I'm going to continue working at Staples, but I need to talk to my boss and clarify my schedule and make sure he's ok with the change and all. Nervous for that conversation.

Anyways, my sister and I are watching Ever After right now. I absolutely LOVE this movie. It got me thinking, though. There's that one scene where Henry finds out that Danielle is not Nicole De Lancret, and he discovers that she is infact a servant. The raw emotion that I feel during that time seems to be the emotion I have felt a lot throughout my life, pre-teen years to now. It's that feeling that you're just not good enough for the guy you're interested in. I have that feeling all the time, and I absolutely hate it. I think Cinderella (especially this Ever After version) is a wonderful story that crosses those boundaries of class and societal rules. While we may not have those class distinctions today, there are times I feel that a guy I am interested in is "out of my league". This story is a great reminder that love crosses those "league" boundaries. I just hope my Prince Henry (or Charming in the Disney Cinderella) shows up pretty soon, and he realizes what a catch I am. =)

Ok. That's all for now. I need to do another Scripture Trip. I am too tired tonight, but hopefully I'll do one tomorrow.

Ink-stained hands

Hello there! I haven't posted in a few days. Woops! I've been pretty busy working, and also spending time with my sister a bit more.

Let's see...I closed on my own for the first time the other night. It went pretty well, and I closed on my own again last night. So far, so good. I have been coming home with ink stains on my hands, though, from all the recycled ink cartridges. Yesterday my right hand was magenta. The day before my left hand was cyan. Ha.

Side note...I had a job interview this afternoon at St. John the Apostle Catholic School for a teacher's assistant position. I'm really hoping I get it, because then I'd get to work with kids, rather than just selling things at Staples. It might be nice to have two jobs, and then I can save more money and pay things off, etc. *sigh* I find out about it next week.

Tomorrow is my sister's birthday. I don't know what we're doing tomorrow evening, but I know she wanted to do something. We were considering going to the drive in, but they took away the movie she wanted to see. Now they're showing the Smurfs and Transformers. She's totally uninterested. Ah, well. She'll plan something, or we'll hang out at home. Either is fine with me.

I want to do a Scripture Trip again, but tonight I'm too tired. Maybe tomorrow or Saturday.

Night!

Staples and such

So, things are going pretty well at Staples. Yesterday I started hands-on training on the register. Not too bad! I picked things up pretty quickly, and even the managers told me so. I did, however, make a few mistakes. My first few transactions were cash sales, and the cash drawer opens for those. When someone used their debit card and the cash drawer opened, I just thought the drawer opened for every sale. I closed the drawer, and gave the guy his receipt, and he just looked at me like, um...? He said, "I wanted cash back." I called my trainer over, and she helped me get the register open and give him the cash back he wanted. Omg, I am so lucky he was nice and patient. Anyways, he got his money, and things were ok after that. I made other mistakes, but since my badge says "in training", most people were very understanding.

Tomorrow, they're going to train me in the cash office. I feel like that's a sign that I'm doing well. =)

On a side note, the shoes I wore today are very squeaky. It was irritating me, so I'm sure it was irritating other people, too. My sister and I are going to go to Fred Meyer tonight and get me some different shoes to wear. Hopefully they'll be more comfortable, too. My tootsies are kind of hurting!

I'm enjoying my job, the people I work with are nice, and most of the customers seem to be in a good mood. I'm sure I'll have harder days, but both yesterday and today went well!

Scripture Tripping #1

So, I'm going to start a "segment" of my blog, as we'll call it. It's going to be called Scripture Tripping, kind of like "StumbleUpon", but I didn't want to use their terms. One of the things I like to do from time to time is to randomly open my Bible to wherever it happens to open at the time. Sometimes I aim for the New Testament, other times the Old. Sometimes, I pick a number and turn to that page. Once I am on the page, I read through until I find something that stands out. I focus on the part that stands out, reading the context to help me better understand. I believe that God has something to say to us at any point in time with any portion of Scripture, and that if we read and listen, he will provide us with a message.

Today's Scripture Trip is 2 John 8-9. For those who don't know off hand, 2 John is a single-chapter book of the Bible, which means that "8-9" refers to verses in this case. Anyways, here are those verses from 2 John (1984 NIV):

"Watch out that you do not lose what you have worked for, but that you may be fully rewarded. Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God; whoever continues in the teaching has both the Father and the Son."

My initial reaction was, "Yes, that makes sense. We need to keep following the teachings of Christ and not get ahead of ourselves. We have worked to learn what he teaches, and in that we will be rewarded."

Then I read it again. My current situation taken into account, I realized that there could be a variety of messages in this. For me, where I'm at now, I realized that I have spent the last 19 years of my life in school. I have worked to become a teacher, so that I can help others become successful members of society, train them to educate themselves in the future, and provide them with a foundation of skills they can continue to refine for the unforeseeable future. I have applied to many jobs, including a couple handfuls of teaching positions. While currently I do not have a teaching position, and I don't necessarily expect to obtain one for this fall, I should not give up on this possibility for the future. I cannot "lose what [I] have worked for." I need to hang on to this and persevere toward a teaching job in the future. That's not to say that I cannot be content with employment of any form (i.e., Staples) for now. Employment and income are what they are, and in our society they are highly necessary. I can embrace my current employment and continue to "keep my eyes on the prize".

As for verse 9, my thoughts are that we cannot get ahead of ourselves. This applies to ANY number of situations, but the first two areas that popped into my head were employment and love. When you are seeking work (or love), you can't assume that things are going to work out. You have to stay the path. Keep working toward God, focus on him, live by the teachings of Christ, and act in ways that will glorify him with your job search and/or aspirations for love. You can't fall in love just by thinking it will happen. You can't get a job just because you want it. Pray about it, glorify God in your thoughts and actions, and be patient. Follow the path and stay the course. I firmly believe that God will provide in all things, and that includes employment and love.

So, that's all for now, except just a mini-shout out that the Chris Tomlin station on Pandora is amazing. Love it!

"That was easy."

Ha. Sorry for the cheese factor. I had my first training today at Staples, and I have to admit that their training videos are so stinking cheesy, that they may have rubbed off on me a little bit.

So, I went in at 9:30 this morning, read my associate handbook, filled out paperwork, and watched 5 videos (one of them twice!). *sigh* I know it's necessary, and it's extremely helpful to the managers to have the time I'm busy watching videos to get work done, but I would SO much rather talk to a manager about all of this than watch all the videos, especially since the scenarios are clearly scripted. The acting wasn't the worst I'd ever seen, but it wasn't that good. In fact, in one scenario a woman was an associate, and in the next she was a customer. Wow.

I hear there are some more videos tomorrow, and there are "tests" on the computer to make sure I know what I need to know. I also know that tomorrow I'll be doing a little more hands-on training, or at least personal training, rather than videos and such.

I think I'm going to like working at Staples, because everyone is so friendly and genuinely seems concerned with the customer's experience. That's good!

I don't really know what else anyone would want to know about my day, but feel free to ask if there's something you want to know.

Job!

Well, look at that. I hadn't even had time to discuss calling Jason with my mom, and he just called me and offered me the job! Yay! I was in the middle of emailing a friend of Mom's about a teacher's assistant position when he called. How ironic is that? I'm still going to apply for the TA position, because Staples will be part time, but at least I have some form of employment, which means income!

Finally!

Ok, so now on to my to-do list...cleaning, organizing, no longer stressing about a job! Whew!

And just as a random shout out, there's a guy giving away his VW Bus on facebook. Check it out here: http://win-franks-bus.com/?u=fbuid56901597

The Runaround

I'd like to describe for you something that I've noticed. It takes place at Universities, doctors' offices, and places you apply for jobs. I'm sure there are other places you can find it, but these are the places I have experienced it most recently.

You start by finding all the information you have available to you. You pick up the phone and call (or email) the person you think will be most likely to be able to help you or provide you with the additional information you need. They, in turn, direct you to another person who should be more helpful. When you get in touch with the suggested person, however, they indicate that you need to contact yet another person, or worse...the original person you contacted. Even if they do direct you to another person, you eventually end up with someone recommending that you talk to the original person. When this happens, you are likely to be extremely frustrated (possibly to the point of wanting to throw your phone against the wall). When you talk to the original person (assuming you can reach them), they try to send you to the person they sent you to before. When you try to tell them that you've already talked to that person, they tell you that they cannot help you. Seriously?

Ok, so in my job search, the runaround has not gotten to that point quite yet, but it is frustrating me to see the similarities between this process and the previous runaround experiences I've had.

Let me start at the beginning of this particular story. I applied to a large quantity of employers, including those that I found on snagajob.com as well as through their own employment listings. I didn't hear anything for the first...week? Finally, last Tuesday I got a call from a number I didn't have in my phone. I thought, "This is it! I finally got an interview somewhere!" When I answered, however, the woman asked for Victoria. I told her she had a wrong number, and I went about my business. Not even five minutes later, the same number called. "Seriously? Did you not hear me tell you my name isn't Victoria?" I answered the phone, and this time she asked for me! She proceeded to apologize for asking for Victoria, and asked me if I was available to interview on Friday at 10am at Staples. I told her I was, and she told me her name was Kristy, and that I'd be interviewing with her. Finally! An interview!

Friday rolls around, and I'd been out at the hospital in Portland with my mom every day. I hadn't been getting enough sleep each night, but I was still excited (and nervous) about the interview. I arrived early, and my sister told me she'd be at Starbuck's for a little while, before coming over to Staples to do her school supply shopping. We planned to meet in Staples when my interview was done. I walked into the store, not quite certain where to find Kristy, since she hadn't mentioned where to find her or ask for her. I decided to walk up to the customer service desk and ask. The guy behind the desk looked at me funny when I asked for Kristy, and for a moment I thought I'd gone to the wrong Staples. Nope, it turned out that she had been in earlier that morning, but had left for the day already. I thought to myself, "Ok, Kristy. You call me and ask for Victoria, and then you don't show up to the interview appointment YOU set? You've got two strikes..." The guy calls the general manager, and then tells me that Jason (the general manager) will meet with me in a few minutes.

He takes me back to the furniture section, and says I can take a seat to wait for Jason. While I wait, I hear them announce to Jason over the store-wide speaker that he has a call on line "101" about...four times? "I sure hope those are four different calls, and he's not making them wait that long to talk to him! I don't want to wait an hour to talk to him!" Anyways, after approximately 20 minutes, Jason comes out from the back of the store, introduces himself to me, and apologizes for making me wait and that Kristy isn't there. So far, no actual strikes for him.

Jason proceeds to interview me and at some point we end up talking about education and how he's considering putting his daughter in private school. He asked my opinion, I told him, and we chatted a bit about education. No big deal. I was confused that it ended up there, though. Anyways, Jason asks me if I have any questions for him, and I ask him where the process goes from here (tossing in that I am aware he probably has a stack of applications to go through). He admits that he does have a stack of applications, but that he'd like me to come in for a second interview, this time with Kristy. He asks me what my schedule looks like, and I tell him I am basically free except that I am taking my Mom to an appointment on Monday. He says, "Monday doesn't work well for us. That's a busy day for conference calls. Can you come in tomorrow at 1?" He apologizes that it's the weekend. I tell him I'd be glad to come in on a Saturday, and that 1pm works great for me.

I arrive the next day, and ask for Kristy. The girl I talk to says she doesn't know if Kristy is in, but she will call and find out. While she calls, I'm thinking, "Seriously, Kristy? If you're not here, that's three strikes and you're out." What happens if she's out? I don't know, but I'd probably write her off...Anyways, Kristy is there, and the girl tells me I can wait for her in the furniture section. I waited, again hearing that Kristy had calls on line "101". Geeze, the managers get a lot of calls! Finally, Kristy comes over and talks to me. She doesn't ask me very many questions, but does discuss my availability and training with me. We talked for approximately five minutes, and at the end she asked me if I had any questions. I again asked about the process from here. She said she and Jason would talk on Monday or Tuesday and give me a call. She also said that if I hadn't heard from her by end of day Tuesday to call on Wednesday.

I called today, since I hadn't heard anything yet. Kristy isn't in today. Does this woman not know her own schedule? Seriously? I'm trying to decide if I should call and ask for Jason, or if I should try to call Kristy again tomorrow. I'll probably ask my mom's advice, which will probably be to ask for Jason. Good grief.

Television

I really enjoy watching Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune. It's a guilty pleasure that started sometime during my childhood, as I would watch both shows with my grandmother after dinner when I was at her house. Of course, I say it started during my childhood, but it was not a continuous thing, as I had "better things" to do during jr. high, high school, and college. I absolutely love it, though. Jeopardy makes me feel really smart or really dumb. If I know an answer, or a few answers, I get really excited and feel like I am just so amazing. On the other hand, if I think I know an answer and I don't, I feel horrible. Feeling horrible doesn't last very long, though, because there are so many questions to answer! Wheel of Fortune is so fun for me. I love word games, and Wheel of Fortune is like the best word game ever. During my junior year at APU, my roommate and I watched it together. Oh, to go back to the days of hanging out on the couch, trying to beat Alison to the answer!

Anyways, I'm currently watching Jeopardy. That's what got me thinking about all of this. One of my best friends, Amy, and I sometimes play Jeopardy and/or Wheel of Fortune together over skype. Let me explain...we don't make up our own game or anything. We just watch the shows at the same time and try to beat each other to the answers. It's kind of fun, but it's not as great as sitting next to each other on the couch!

I have a lot of "guilty pleasure" tv shows, now that I think about it. Reality shows, prime time soap operas (though none of them have that label), sitcoms, etc. I watch too much tv, but I just love it! I watch a lot of it while I'm trying to fall asleep at night, either on my computer via the internet (places like hulu) or reruns on television. I don't know what it is, but I love watching Bachelor/Bachelorette contestants "fight" over the bachelor or bachelorette, watching the silly things that happen on The Office, sitting on the edge of my seat while I hope that no more crazy stalkers show up on One Tree Hill, trying to figure out what on earth Sheldon and Leonard are arguing about on The Big Bang Theory, and rolling my eyes at the ridiculous ways of the Gossip Girl characters.

I still say the Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune are probably my favorite. While in many ways they are more trivial, they are much less trivial than most of the other things I watch.

What are YOUR guilty pleasure shows? What are shows you like to watch that you wouldn't label as "guilty pleasures"? Who do you like to watch tv with? Would you rather watch the shows as they are played, or catch up later online?

Erin

Starting anew

Ok, so this blog used to be a place that I would come and write random ramblings. I wasn't using it regularly, and I had very few readers. I have decided to start over and tell my friends about this blog, so that maybe it can actually become a way for people I care about to know about my life.

For those who are "behind on the times", I moved from Southern California to Dundee, Oregon in February, 2010. I have been living with my mom over the last year and a half, and during that time, I completed my Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) degree, including the ESOL endorsement at George Fox University. In addition to the MAT program, a number of life changing events happened, as well. In August 2010, my maternal grandmother passed away. In March 2011, my paternal grandmother passed away. This year has been tough, trying to balance my schooling and family situations/grief.

Even though things over the past year have been challenging, current events are also challenging. In May, my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer. This summer (up until now) has been a whirlwind of appointments and such. I've been her transportation for much of it, with help from her friends and our family. Things are looking good, even though the path isn't easy. She has her good days and her bad days, and we're hoping and praying that she will have more good days than bad days from here on out.

In addition to helping mom out with transportation and other things, I also got to be a bridesmaid in two weddings this summer. The first, in June, was for Raphael and Melissa (Jacobson) Melgar. Melissa and I went to high school together, played in the band together, hung out in the same group of friends, and were a part of a Bible study group called "GIFT" (Growing in Faith Together) that we formed with two other girls. The GIFT girls were my core group of friends at school during the end of high school, and I love these girls so much. I feel like we are all still close, but I know that it's been hard since we are so far apart. I love the times that we get to spend together, though, because these girls are so uplifting and fun to be around! It was a blast to get to spend time together and celebrate Melissa's wedding! The other wedding I was in was for Mike and Sarah (Reinhart) Hofer. Sarah has been one of my best friends since elementary school. She's been there for me through some of the hardest times in life, and it was such a pleasure to be a part of her wedding! Sarah and I met at church, and we went to school together for three years in middle school.

Another thing that's been happening this summer is job search. You'd think that finishing school with my Master's would help me find a job, right? Not in teaching. I know that the job market in general is a real challenge these days, but teaching is one of the worst. I feel like I've applied for a thousand teaching positions, but in reality I don't know that the total is even at 20. I haven't gotten any interviews for teaching, but my outlook currently is that I need to find a job (any job) and make some money, and I'd like to do that nearby so that I can be available to Mom if she needs me. So, in the mean time, I've had two interviews for a position at Staples, which has actually been my only interview all summer. I'm waiting to hear from them to see if I got the job, and if I did, I think I'll probably take it.

Well, I think that's all for now. There's a lot that has been going on, but I just wanted to give everyone a starting point. I'm hoping to update regularly, filling everyone in on the job situation, how Mom is doing, providing anecdotes about my cat or dogs, posting pictures from fun travels or with friends.

Feel free to bookmark this blog, write down the url, check it periodically, and check up on me.

Erin