We're Alive

The guilt of not updating this blog has finally overtaken me. We've been really busy settling into new jobs and our new life in St. George. We're having a blast living here. We like it more and more each day.
Our summer's been pretty fun. We've made a few trips up north for some family and friend fun. We were able to go up for the Fourth of July weekend and spend time with all of Ryan's immediate family. I amazingly got that weekend off, so it was even more special. We also got to see some of Ryan's high school friends.
We also went up for my friend Karen's wedding. One of my closest friends from Iowa got married in the Draper Temple and we were lucky enough to spend that day with her. It was so neat seeing that experience and meeting her new husband. We're so happy for her and for their new life together.

Ryan's been more than busy with his new job. He's been traveling a lot to different satellite offices all over Southern Utah and he's now adding Vegas to his itinerary for a few months. He's doing great and his boss only has positive things to say about him (like I'm surprised). He's learned so much and has grown so much in his clinical skills in just a few short months. We've been happy with the experience he's getting, even though he's been putting in some long, long days.

As for Wal-Mart, they have finally taken pity on us poor Assistant Managers. They've been testing out a new schedule for management in other markets and they've discovered that Assistant Managers actually like having a life outside of Wal-Mart. So, at the beginning of this month we started a new rotation of schedules. I now work 3, 12 hour days, followed by 3 days off. It's been really nice during the days off. I actually have time to do other things and have now taken up new craft projects. The 3 days on are a little more stressful than I would prefer, but we're still all getting used to our routines. The cool thing about this schedule is that I can plan out the whole next year or so. I actually get Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve off. (Even though I'm still a little skeptical that something is going to change so I don't.) Either way, I feel like it's about time they revamped our scheduling. They were using us for too many things and taking advantage of being salaried. I'm enjoying my store just fine. I feel like I got a lot more respect right off the bat here than I did at my previous store. And I also feel a lot more appreciated. That's been a really nice transition.

My newest craft project was an idea I got off TV and thought I'd try it. I think it turned out pretty good. Let me know what you think. It's just a simple picture frame where you place ribbon where the glass goes. Then you can just slide pictures throughout the ribbon. It's a fun new way to display photos. The picture don't quite do it justice.