Do the Mashed Potato
Hi everyone! It's been pretty busy in our household lately so I'm behind on a couple of posts that I'd planned to write for ya'll. One of the main reasons that I'm so behind is because I've been spending my time going through the job interview process for the first time in 8 years. Yup, that means a revised resume, interview prep, interviews with several people, and finally the salary negotiation process! It has been stressful to go through this experience, partly because I'm a "worrier" and partly because there are so many opportunities at my company right now that Jordan and I had to weigh several pros and cons of different positions before making a move. It was great to be recruited into other areas of the company, but there was much to consider: level of stress, autonomy in each position, potential boss, team environment, etc., etc.
Even though I don't know what I don't know, I can officially announce that I will be switching jobs in December! This will be an internal job change for me so luckily, I don't have to worry about changing benefits or anything of that nature since it's all with the same company. I'm relieved that the arduous process is over, but I've entered a phase where I have to hand off everything I'm currently doing and start to learn a totally different job. I'm used to being the "subject matter expert" but will now be the new kid on the block knowing very little. It's also going to be strange to leave my team. I've been given such an awesome opportunity to lead, train, and grow my people over the years, and discovered my passion for people development. That group of people has turned into a stellar team and that is going to be hard to walk away from. It's scary, but I'm grateful for this blessing and upcoming change!
With the job drama coming to a close a couple weekends ago, Jordan and I were happy to be at home and get some of our stuff done around the house. We hadn't been to church in a little while so we decided to go to a service in our area. Little did we know, this was no ordinary church service! We walked into a "day of service" and got put to work helping to make bags of food for a global charity. It was actually very cool to dive in and fill bags with dried food. The church had a goal to package 15,000 meals (last year they did 10,000) and as a congregation, we packed and sealed more than 16,000 meals! That's "food" for the soul people. It was great to meet some new faces, help the church exceed their goal, and do something for others. I even met some young high school girls who are thinking about applying to Texas Tech after they graduate! It was great to meet some potential Red Raiders and answer some of their questions!
Even though I don't know what I don't know, I can officially announce that I will be switching jobs in December! This will be an internal job change for me so luckily, I don't have to worry about changing benefits or anything of that nature since it's all with the same company. I'm relieved that the arduous process is over, but I've entered a phase where I have to hand off everything I'm currently doing and start to learn a totally different job. I'm used to being the "subject matter expert" but will now be the new kid on the block knowing very little. It's also going to be strange to leave my team. I've been given such an awesome opportunity to lead, train, and grow my people over the years, and discovered my passion for people development. That group of people has turned into a stellar team and that is going to be hard to walk away from. It's scary, but I'm grateful for this blessing and upcoming change!
With the job drama coming to a close a couple weekends ago, Jordan and I were happy to be at home and get some of our stuff done around the house. We hadn't been to church in a little while so we decided to go to a service in our area. Little did we know, this was no ordinary church service! We walked into a "day of service" and got put to work helping to make bags of food for a global charity. It was actually very cool to dive in and fill bags with dried food. The church had a goal to package 15,000 meals (last year they did 10,000) and as a congregation, we packed and sealed more than 16,000 meals! That's "food" for the soul people. It was great to meet some new faces, help the church exceed their goal, and do something for others. I even met some young high school girls who are thinking about applying to Texas Tech after they graduate! It was great to meet some potential Red Raiders and answer some of their questions!
Bottom Right: This is Jordan and I packing meals at the church we visited. Don't we look snazzy in these hairnets? Everyone had to wear a hairnet and gloves to help pack the food so we grabbed this silly picture.
Left: A friend of mine shared some "Haunted Ghost Pepper" chips with me recently. They are incredibly hot, ya'll. Unless you like that sort of thing, I'd caution against them.
Top Right: This is random, but Jordan took a picture of a sandwich I made him. It doesn't seem that special to me but he gets super excited about sandwiches. Men are easy to please...lol.
This last week was thermally challenging for us. On Saturday evening, we were winding down the day and watching some TV when I smelled a burning plastic scent. Everything seemed normal, but I couldn't shake this smell and sense that something was off. Like hound dogs, Jordan and I searched the house to look for the smell and figured out that our heater was broken. It had been working really hard to heat our house but the blower motor was dead (thus the smell).
Sunday, we made due with blankets, thefire place, and used the oven to keep the major chill out of the air but it was pretty dang cold in our house! Monday we woke up to 53 degrees in our bedroom! Brrrrr! Monday we got a guy out to take a look at the heater but unfortunately he didn't have the right motor to fix it correctly (something about incorrect amps). Finally, on Tuesday night, we got heat again! It was a chilly few days, but we survived and are very fortunate that the repairs weren't too costly. Jordan did great work finding a quality AC/Heater guy so that helped.
Sunday, we made due with blankets, thefire place, and used the oven to keep the major chill out of the air but it was pretty dang cold in our house! Monday we woke up to 53 degrees in our bedroom! Brrrrr! Monday we got a guy out to take a look at the heater but unfortunately he didn't have the right motor to fix it correctly (something about incorrect amps). Finally, on Tuesday night, we got heat again! It was a chilly few days, but we survived and are very fortunate that the repairs weren't too costly. Jordan did great work finding a quality AC/Heater guy so that helped.
Above are some pictures that Jordan took of the heater torn apart. The bottom left picture is really cool because you can see the gas and the blue flame!
Since we didn't have any heat, we had been keeping blankets all over our house and put Abby in a silly sweater. She is not a fan of this sweater, but it does keep her a lot warmer. She is not allowed on the couch during the day, but LOVED the abundance of blankets (aka nesting material) when she was allowed on the couch in the evenings.
As a result of the temperature and blankets, Jordan caught this hilarious video of Abby.
I laughed at this for days! The song in the background is a happy coincidence and Abby is working SO hard to get her bed just right. She was doing the "mashed potato"!
While our heater was out, the weather had a mood-swing and we got some snow flurries in the Dallas area (I think it was Sunday). It was nothing to get excited about but made for some pretty pictures.
While our heater was out, the weather had a mood-swing and we got some snow flurries in the Dallas area (I think it was Sunday). It was nothing to get excited about but made for some pretty pictures.
As I mentioned earlier, we used the stove and oven a lot more when the heat was out so we ended up with several yummy meals.
Above, I made Pioneer Woman Meatloaf! Meatloaf is one of Jordan's favorites so we decided to give this recipe a try. The biggest difference between this meatloaf and other recipes is that it is wrapped in bacon. Yup! I was sceptical that everything would fall apart but the bacon held everything together nicely. Ree Drummond is "the Pioneer Woman"; check out her blog and enjoy!
Lastly, we had a surprise visit from Jordan's brother, Kevan, and our nephew, Austin! It was great to see both of them even though it was a short visit! Luckily the heater was fixed before they arrived.
Austin is such a good natured boy! He had fun taking a walk with Kevan and Jordan and definitely kept Abby on her toes.
Abby has very little experience being around small kids but she handled it pretty well! She had a few moments of growling when Austin pulled on her, but she never snapped or scared him. I'm not sure who wore out whom more!
That's all I have for you guys! Hope everyone is getting ready for a wonderful Thanksgiving break!
Comments
Post a Comment