Ending One Chapter, Beginning Another

Hi everyone. I really wish I was better at updating this. The last time I posted on here, I had just found out that I would be the new editorial assistant at Charisma Media. It's been almost three weeks since that post, and a lot has happened since then. I realize that if I kept up on this I could write shorter posts, but it's becoming my style now I guess.

I did give Applebee's my notice, and they were not as grateful as I thought they would be. When I turned in my notice, my general manager wasn't there. He never once mentioned me leaving. He didn't ask about my job opportunity, congratulate me, say he would miss me, or anything like that. He is a nice and personable guy, so this felt uncharacteristic. For my last week, I worked Friday through Friday. That is eight days in a row with no day off. I also had a double on two of those days. It was completely awful, but I did make a good amount of cash. I was just SO exhausted by the middle, let alone at the end. I think I used all of last weekend to recover.

It was so nice to know, though, that there was a light at the end of the tunnel! I put in my time at Applebee's (in June it will be two years since I started at the one in Bloomington) and I finally started a full-time job related to my degree. My first day was Monday, March 14. Let me start by saying that I work for a great company. I have not met one person I haven't liked. Everyone has been so nice and welcoming to me, some even coming up just to meet me! I was even greeted by a wonderful sign on my office door, and candy and flowers sitting on my desk. I have never felt so special. :)

For those who are curious, the editorial department puts out three magazines and two e-mags. These pictures are the covers of the latest issues of our print magazines, Charisma, Ministry Today, and Christian Retailing. As I mentioned, I am in an administrative position. The editor hopes to give me some editorial tasks as well, but not right away. So far I have mostly been doing administrative things, but I still like it. There is a lot to learn and I haven't felt too overwhelmed yet. I've been working things like budgets, author agreements, and copyrights. I go through all of the e-mails for each publication (there are A LOT, so that takes up a good chunk of time) and I even worked on one of the e-mags. We put out one called SpiritLed Woman, and I got to put that together last week. If you'd like to see it, let me know and I can e-mail it to you.

I am looking forward to getting into even more editorial things and not having to ask Leigh what I should do every time I have finished a task. Leigh is a copy editor in the department and she has been training me. My predecessor left a few weeks ago, but Leigh did this job a while back and has been helping me with everything. She is so wonderful and I am sad that she is leaving soon. She's getting transferred downstairs to the book group, and I'm afraid that I'll be lost without her. I'm grateful that we still have two more weeks with her on our team though. Our team is pretty small right now, but everyone seems to be making it work. They are all really hard workers, and I am really going to enjoy working with them.

I am excited to possibly write for some future issues and to be involved in their publication. I will mostly be working on Charisma, but will also be helping with Ministry Today. I may do a few things for Christian Retailing, which is an industry publication, but not as much as the others. My background is in newspapers, but I am loving working with magazines so far. I'm praying that I will continue to love it and that this job will open some wonderful doors for me

I am not used to an 8:30-5:30 schedule, so I felt pretty tired a lot of the week, but I know my body just needs some time to adjust. My wonderful husband has been trying his best to wake up with me, even though he doesn't need to start his day for a few more hours. He gets up anyway though and helps me pack my lunch and makes my breakfast for me. Bless his heart!

I am definitely loving having the weekends off. It is still kind of weird not having to work. We were supposed to volunteer for Give Kids the World this weekend with our life group, but that fell through last minute. =( We're still going to hang out with friends from our life group though, which we're excited for. Tomorrow we're going to see Anberlin at the UCF Arena, woot woot! Well I hope you all have a great weekend, and thanks for reading! :)

Two Week Notice

Hi everyone! Please welcome me back from my hiatus. I don't know why, I just haven't been feeling the blogging lately. For a while there I was slacking on writing but still staying faithful with reading the few blogs I follow. Lately, though, I haven't been doing either. However, I got some great news today and I thought it was the perfect opportunity to jump back into the blogosphere.

I GOT A JOB TODAY!!!!

I will officially be putting my two weeks in at Applebee's tomorrow, and it feels GREAT! It has been a bit of a process, but I did not want to get my hopes up (like last time) so I waited to post it online until it was official. At the beginning of the month I interviewed for an assistant editor position for a couple of the magazines produced by Charisma Media, which just went through a re-branding (up until Feb. 1 they were known as Strang Communications). I went in for testing and an interview and I thought it went well, but the person who interviewed me, Marcus, was very up front about the fact that they weren't exactly sure what they were looking for and that it could be a while before I heard anything back.

I found out last Monday (Feb. 21) that Marcus did not think I was right for the job. I was really sad, but tried to remain positive and keep in mind that God has a plan for me and will provide for me. Just two days later, the HR person I have been in touch with called me and said Marcus did not think I was ready for that particular position, but was impressed with me and had another role in mind. They let their administrative assistant go on Friday and need to fill the position immediately. He thought of me and wanted me for the job. Although I did not go to four years of college to become an administrative assistant, this role is great because it will also include some editorial responsibilities as well, including copy editing and writing.

This is the perfect role for me to start in, and is what I have been praying for! I went in today for the final step in the hiring process. I met with the woman who is the assistant to Joyce Strang, the Chief Financial Officer, Chief Operating Officer, and co-owner. She asked me a bunch of formal questions and it went really well. The interview was not over until 3 p.m., so in no way was I expecting to hear back before the end of the day. Best case scenario I was hoping to get a call tomorrow morning before work. Imagine my surprise and delight when my phone rang at 4:57 p.m. and I got offered the job!!

Thanks to everyone who has been encouraging me and supporting me through working at Applebee's, being unemployed, and working at Applebee's again. This has been a tough year and a half, but also so rewarding and full of blessings. God is so great, and I am really happy and encouraged about this opportunity he has provided me with. I am hoping to start as soon as March 14, so I will (try to) keep you all updated!

Please Pray for my Mom

So I was hoping to have the post about our trip home done by now, but for whatever reason it isn't. Anyway, this is just a quick post updating everyone on my mom. On Wednesday, December 22, we woke up early to get ready for our flight to Chicago. At about 8:30 AM (EST) my Uncle Steve called me to let me know my mom was in the hospital with a brain aneurysm. I didn't know much about aneurysms, but I knew they weren't good. I was flooded with a mix of emotions, mostly anxiety and sadness. My Aunt Tammy picked us up from O'Hare at around 1:30 and drove us to see my mom in the hospital. This was my first time seeing her since our wedding day. She was in the ICU, but she seemed to be doing pretty well. The doctors explained to us that her aneurysm was too small to do a method called coiling (where they go in from an artery and stop the bleeding) and in too much of an awkward place to clip it (brain surgery). They were transferring her to Northwestern though, and seemed fairly confident that those doctors would be able to fix her. Once she got to Northwestern, they did plenty of tests and decided that the aneurysm was inoperable...there was nothing they could do and they said she would die within a week. However, Northwestern is not only an excellent hospital, it is also a teaching hospital. Apparently one of the young doctors there came up with an experimental procedure they wanted to try on mom. When I say experimental, I mean it has never been done before (to their knowledge at least). The aneurysm is on her carotid artery and is not your run-of-the-mill aneurysm. It has split the vein vertically, which is very hard to repair. Since the aneurysm was too small to operate on, their plan was to put her on blood clotting medicine (risky since she had already had a stroke) and grow the aneurysm to a size where they could. While we were in Illinois, Erik and I were able to go spend a day with my mom at Northwestern and all things considered, she was doing pretty well. She was totally alert and coherent, eating regularly, and even looked pretty good.

My floating head (hehe) and my mom the day
we visited her at Northwestern.

She stayed there for about two weeks and they released her to go home on Thursday, Jan. 6. They wanted her to keep coming back to the hospital every week so they could monitor her, and the plan was to do surgery in four to six weeks. It has been about two weeks, and when she went to the hospital this Monday (Jan. 24) they decided to admit her and operate on her today, Jan. 27. My mom has been fairly calm about everything, and according to her husband she gets confused sometimes. Now because of this I didn't realize how serious this surgery actually was. She went in this morning at 6 AM CST and is still in surgery 10 hours later. Her husband, Ralph, said the doctors told them the surgery could be 12-16 (or maybe he said 14, I can't remember) hours. I am not totally clear, but it sounds like what they are doing is moving her brain (particularly the frontal lobe I think) so they can access her carotid artery, which is located under the brain. That is where the aneurysm is, as well as a tear in one of the veins. Their plan was to either coil the aneurysm and stop it that way, or do a by-pass, which means they would take an artery from somewhere else in her body (for her it would be the neck or wrist.)

This is all I know right now. Thanks everyone for your thoughts and prayers, I really appreciate it. Even if she makes it out of the surgery there are still lots of things that can go wrong afterward, so it will be a while before we know how she's doing, but I will update when I know more. Love to you all!! <3

Finding Solace in Busy Orlando

Last Thursday Erik and I had the pleasure of visiting Harry P. Leu Gardens for free! It normally costs $7 a person, but our generous friend Jessica gave us a pair of free tickets. I do like nature, but I'm not into it as much as some people. My Uncle Bill and Erik's mom, for instance, could probably spend an entire day at this place looking at each individual flower and plant. We went through it an hour and a half, which included a half-hour tour at a museum on the grounds. That being said, it really was a beautiful place and a wonderful way to spend an afternoon. We woke up to a rainy, cloudy morning feeling a little sick and our day wasn't shaping out to be too great. However, we went back to sleep and woke up feeling much better. The weather had also cleared up, making it a good day to go to the gardens. It is 49 acres and right on a lake...really a beautiful place! It was originally farmlands back in the 1800s when Orlando wasn't much of a city. The fourth and final owners remodeled the home and made it absolutely amazing. That is where we took the tour, and it was so cool to see some genuine antiques. They developed the property into a scenic oasis, and donated it to the city of Orlando in the 1960s. If you're ever in the Orlando area, you should check it out! It's not an exciting attraction like Universal Studios or Disney World, but it is definitely cheaper and offers a great place to view some lovely nature and just take a break from life. :)

PS- I'm working on a post recapping our trip home, but it's going to take me a while so please bear with me! In the meantime, enjoy some of these pictures from the lovely Leu Gardens!

Enjoying the January sun!

Erik fighting a cactus.

The beautiful Leu home, decorated for Christmas!



We walked under this tree upon entering and exiting the gardens. It was HUGE and beautiful. I  loved it!

Pondering the New Year (and a recap of the last)

Today is New Year's Eve, which means it is the last day of 2010. Here's a little recap of the last year of our lives:
January: Erik got in a car wreck that totalled his car and forced him to look for a new one
February: Erik turned 23 and my aunt's grandpa turned 90. Wow!
March: Erik got a new (used) car and we were only one month away from getting married.
April: I turned 23 on the 7th, and Erik and I tied the knot on April 17. It was one of the best days of our lives. We also went on our honeymoon to Cozumel, the first time either of us has left the country. April was an eventful, but amazing, month!
May: We were adjusting to married life and also decided we were going to move to Florida so Erik could attend graduate school at UCF.
June: We told our friends and family about our plans to move and were grappling with that decision.
July: My cousin Jamie got married and we had a lovely "reunion" of sorts with my dad's side of the family. We said goodbye to them and to my Aunt Tammy, Uncle Steve, and cousins Joe and Tyler.
August: We said (a temporary) goodbye to Illinois and drove across the country to our new home in Florida. Erik also started his first semester of grad school.
September: We were adjusting to our lives in Florida and I spent the month unemployed, looking for a job.
October: I received the news that I didn't get the job I was hoping for and remained unemployed for this month. We continued to adjust and make new friends.
November: I started a job at Applebee's in Maitland as Erik wrapped up his first semester at UCF.
December: Erik finished his first semester with a bang! He got straight A's and made his wife proud. We also travelled to Illinois for Christmas and were reunited with our families and many friends. My mom went into the hospital and gave us all a scare. (More on our trip home in a future post.)

I'd say 2010 was a pretty eventful year, wouldn't you? The year 2011 is coming, full speed ahead, and I have absolutely no idea what it will bring. I've been thinking about how the last two years I had an idea of what was ahead. On New Year's Eve 2008, I knew I would graduate with my Bachelor of Arts the next year and I was pretty certain Erik would propose to me that year as well. Last New Year's Eve I knew we would get married in 2010 and that it would be the year Erik started grad school, which most likely meant we would move out of state. But this year I don't have any milestones planned and I have zero idea of what the year will bring. I have to admit this kind of scares me. I know things can't always be planned, but part of me thinks "why not?" I love having a plan and not knowing what will happen is intimidating and scary. Last year at this time, I knew the upcoming year was going to be challenging, but I also knew it would be amazing because it was the year I would say "I do" to my best friend. But then again, on New Year's Eve 2007 I had no idea that 2008 would be the year I met my future husband or the year I started a job I truly loved at the Daily Vidette. Come to think of it, 2008 was a pretty great year and I had no clue what it would bring me. Maybe this whole not knowing what will happen thing isn't so bad after all. Here's to a new year full of surprises (both good and bad), blessings, and joy. How are you feeling about the new year? Anyone else want to share a recap? I'd love to read about it!

Well I am off to go spend my last day of 2010 with my husband and some wonderful new friends. Happy New Year's Eve, everyone!