Job Update

Jared has been offered a job at Best Buy.  It kind of stinks that he has to resort to retail and various other crappy jobs after getting a bachelor's degree.  But oh well.  He needs something to occupy his time.  He's still waiting to hear back from a bank before he accepts the Best Buy job.  Working at a bank would at least give us our holidays together.  I guess we'll see.

I also found out that I'll be taking a third trip in November for work.  I'll be in Georgia in a week.  I'll get to hang out with my family on Saturday and then off to work the night shift starting Sunday.  As soon as I'm done with my shifts (Tuesday morning), I'll be on a plane headed home and back to work in no time.  I've yet to figure out how my sleep schedule is going to pan out.  I know two out of those three days will probably consist of no sleep since I have to adjust to the night shift and adjust back to the day shift.  And then I'll be in Ohio in two weeks.  Fortunately, it's the day shift.  And the weekend after that, I'll have off.  Yes, I will be working for 12 days straight starting a week from tomorrow.  Anyways, the week before Thanksgiving, I'll be in Reno.  Hopefully I'll be home in time for Jared's birthday.  Let's hope I'm not too exhausted before it's all over.

And then Thanksgiving will be here.  Jared and I will probably do something low key.  I'm still debating if I want to attempt shopping the day after Thanksgiving before going into work.  I'm not sure.  Probably not, but we'll see.

EEK!

I got the job!

Wisconsin

I am back in the frigid cold of Logan.  My family gave me weird looks when I was shivering in Salt Lake yesterday.  Utah is still 20 degrees colder than Wisconsin.  And let me tell you, the weather was a rude awakening for me when I hit Wisconsin.

Anyways, my day began at four in the morning last Wednesday.  The joys of living 1.5 hours away from the airport.  And then I got onto an airplane going to Chicago.  And you know what's more annoying than a really high-pitched four year old who talks nonstop?  Having that same said child speaking Chinese nonstop while sitting behind you on the airplane.  Needless to say, I was kicked for three hours straight all while listening to high-pitched Chinese jibberish.  I didn't catch up on sleep like I was hoping.  But oh well, maybe the kid enjoyed the flight.

And then I was in the O'Hare airport.  Never been there.  I think they need to implement some sort of underground train like the Atlanta airport has.  I swear I walked more than fifteen blocks to the other end of the airport to hit my connecting gate.  At least I got my exercise in, right?

I eventually hit Wisconsin.  I had the chance to walk around and enjoy the sites.  But it was 80 degrees there and humid.  Needless to say, I was dying.  So, when I got back to the hotel, I changed into pj's and pulled my hair back.  Then I passed out for what I thought would be an hour.  Silly Blackberry phones don't recognize time changes.  And apparently, three instead of eight hours of sleep from the night before messes with my ability to tell which time is correct...

On the University of Wisconsin campus.  It's a huge campus, and I was only on one end of it.  So, I took a few pictures of the buildings and scenery...

I want to have a castle on my school's campus...  I thought this building was hilariously awesome.

One of the two lakes that is in Madison, Wisconsin.  In case you were wondering, Madison is surrounded by two lakes (not the Great Lakes; it's an hour and a half to Milwaukee which is next to Lake Michigan).  There were a lot of boating and water stuff going on.  So different from Utah.

So, I woke up three minutes before I was supposed to meet an Epi( employee for dinner.  I'm so glad that I'm not one who has to primp myself when getting ready.  I changed and brushed my hair, then ran to the hotel's elevator.  Did I mention that I had a Governor's Club room where you had to use a key card to gain access to my level?  Yeah, hotel royalty was awesome, lol.

Anyways, my nerves finally got the best of me the night before the interview.  I woke up a few times in the middle of the night; I wasn't going to be taken by surprise with the time difference again.  I had a bad dream that caused me to jerk awake with cold sweats.  Yeah, I was getting nervous.

And then the day came.  I went to Epi(.  The whole day felt more like I was being introduced to the company than an actual interview.  Sure, I took some assessments and had an actual interview.  But I guess it really felt surreal.  I hope I get this job.  The work environment was amazing.  And I think I would fit in well and enjoy my work.  I won't hear back from Epi( for another two weeks though.  So...  I'm excited and keeping my fingers crossed!!

The Capitol Building in Madison.  Did you know they have the biggest capitol building other than the one in Washington, DC?  Yeah, I didn't know that either.  It was big.  And there's a gold statue on the top.  It made me think of an LDS temple which made me laugh...

One of the conference rooms at Epi(.  This one had a space theme.  Those are glass-stained windows also.  All of their conference rooms are themed.  They're amazing looking.

One view of the campus.  The landscaping is amazing.  And the company is very steered towards to being environmentally-friendly.  The parking is underground, geothermal heating and cooling is used, and the left-over building materials were used to build a tree house.  I didn't get a picture of the tree house though.

Yes, they have a water fall.  And you walk under it in the tunnel.  All of the buildings are connected together (except for one or two I think).  That way, you don't have to brave the cold weather in the winter.

All of their buildings have different themes.  This building was jungle-themed.  I had to take a picture of the main entrance area.

What does this tunnel resemble?  I'll give you a hint, it's a movie that involves Harrison Ford.  Yeah, this walkway is themed after the Indiana Jones scene where there's a boulder chasing him.  And there's even eerie music playing in this tunnel, haha.

Keep those good thoughts and prayers coming my way.  I hope I get this job.  I'd be a perfectly happy person if I got it.  But in the meanwhile, I guess I'll get back on track with the job search...

Interview Trip

So, I am flying to Wisconsin next Wednesday.  It'll be a quick two day/one night trip.  And since everything will be going fast-paced and I want to give the best impression, I'm not going to plan on taking dramamine.  So, let's just hope I don't go crazy on the plane.  I'll try and think happy thoughts and not voice my opinions of how the plane's going to crash and kill us all...

I'm so excited!  I want this job.  It is with Epi( by the way.  I haven't mentioned that tidbit yet.  Epi( deals with medical software; so in a way, it correlates with my dream job.  I'm hoping the interview goes smoothly and everything goes well.  I mean, what company invites you to an all-expense paid trip to interview with them and familiarize yourself with the company if they didn't have a big interest in you?  I hope it all goes well.  I want this job.

I'm ready for the next part of my life.  Whether that means leaving Utah or not, I'm ready to have money that I can play with.  And I want to see what Wisconsin's like.  Hopefully, I'll take to liking it!!

Gratitude

First off, I have to say I have the most amazing family members and friends.  They help me through life and make me want to be a better person.  My family has taught me about God and most importantly about forgiveness.  They really do make it look so easy to forgive someone's past doings.  And while I'm sure it's not easy, it helps make me to aspire to stay positive and happy.  There are some things going on in my life that have hurt me and made me cry recently.  I don't care to go into detail.  But I just hope I have the same kind of light my family has shown me when the time comes.

So...  Sorry my post is so vague, but it's best kept that way.  I just look forward to the greener hillside and a happy (although not perfect) family.

Update on the job hunt.  Both interviews ended well.  One has invited me to an onsite interview, and I have no idea how that all works out.  But I'm going to Wisconsin!!!  Funny how I've never been there, but I may end up living there.  The other job I've applied with interviewed with me today, so I won't hear back from them for another couple of days.  But I think I'll get another request for an interview with them.  Who knows?  We'll see how it all works out.  I'll just keep my fingers crossed that I have a nice career before the middle of this summer.

Job Update

I made an application on Monster and applied for tons of jobs.  I had four different emails the next day.  Also, a recruiter found my resume and sent me an email.  So, I will be talking with more recruiters next week.  I talked to a recruiter at the beginning of this week about a job possibly opening up in the next few months in San Antonio, Texas.  I'm now in the process of talking with a recruiter to get into the interviewing process for a company in Virginia.  It's actually in a city similar to Logan (another small college town) which I think I'd enjoy.  Another recruiter is helping get into the process of applying for a management position in Logan.  I do not want to stay in Logan though.  But the job says it's one that will move within the first two years.  So, as long as I get to move and explore another town, I'm happy.

Things are beginning to look good.  Let's just pray and hope that I make a good impression on these recruiters.

Almost There

I can see that life after college.  It's just around the corner.  There's only a couple of obstacles left to overcome.  Sadly, they're the most important obstacles to overcome.  The first is to get good grades and graduate.  The second and most important is to find a career...

I'm almost there.  Almost ready to leave Logan.  Going where the job takes me.  Actually having a salary.  Nor having to live below the poverty line anymore.  I'm almost there.

But this job search is making me depressed.  I'm coming to the conclusion that I'll be getting a secondary job in retail over the summer.  I just want a good engineering job that gives me the opportunity to grow with the company and move up when I'm ready.  One day, right...

Easy Day

So, I was kind of excited for today because I knew it would be kind of relaxing and boring...  Gizmo went to the veterinarian dentist today.  He had three teeth pulled.  And he's been laying down the whole day trying to get over the anesthetic and his sore mouth.  I feel sorry for him.  He sounds like a gerbil at some moments because he's making so many noises with his mouth.  He just doesn't want to be bothered right now.  On another note, Gizmo is one expensive dog.  I spent way too much at the vet's today.  But at least he's healthy.

So, Jared and I decided to set a goal with our job hunting.  We've decided to apply to at least one company a day.  It's an easy way to keep myself actively looking for a job, and it's not going to overwhelm me.  I hope we're able to find something...  Maybe I'll just look for an internship somewhere.  I don't know.  I think I will start looking into other graduate schools also.  I don't know.  One day, I may know what I want to do in the near future.  Until then, I'll ask God to guide the way and maybe throw me into the right direction (otherwise, I may go the wrong way again).