Good jobs are hard to come by

i'm gonna really miss this place i call work

So, I am in Topeka again for yet another training. Usually I moan and groan about how much I DON'T want to be here, but this training is different. It is different because I realize that it is one of my last ones with these great people I work with across the state of Kansas.

I am a lucky girl to have found such a great job where I get to work with amazing people everyday. Not only that, but I get to make a positive impact on youth in the southeast Kansas area! It is an awesome opportunity to make a difference, do something different everyday, gain valuable skills and meet new people.

Leaving these people, the youth and this job will be extremely difficult for me. Will I find a job that I love this much in Indiana? Will I find co-workers that are as fabulous as Misty, Amanda and Lisa? Will I work with people across the state that are as awesome as Brenda in Salina, and Janine in Olathe, Heather in Hays and Max in Topeka? These people are irreplaceable in my eyes. I have learned so much from them and now I can only hope that all that knowledge will come in handy when choosing a new employer, new co-workers and a new career, possibly.

I will just work my resume magic and pray that someone will want me, put up with me and love me as much as all these great people have for the past 3 years.

Heading back to Kansas

whew, what a trip

Jared and I are heading back to good ole Kansas tomorrow after our long weekend in South Bend. We had a great time and I think we are really going to like this place.

We found an apartment that is close to all the shopping and restaurants (which I will love that). It is kinda small, but it had 2 bedroom, 2 bathrooms, just like we wanted. It was also newer and updated a lot more than most of them we looked at. The complex is called Runaway Bay, but Jared kept calling it Mandalay Bay, haha. I wish we were in Vegas... at least it would be warmer. The weather really wasn't too bad while we were here. There was still snow on the ground when we got here but the sunshine yesterday and 50 degree temperatures today has melted most of it.

Last night we had the most delicious steaks at the Texas Land and Cattle Company Restaurant and then we ventured to downtown South Bend to RumRunners Dueling Piano Bar! It was a blast... I can sit and listen to the dueling pianos forever, I just love it. Of course, we got a little tired of the "You're not in Kansas anymore" lines from everyone. GET OVER IT PEOPLE... THAT MOVIE IS FREAKIN' OLD AND WE GET TIRED OF HEARING IT! :)

So, anyway, we had a great time and we started to feel like we were learning our way around pretty well. It helped that we had a GPS system that we borrowed from Hicks.

Here's a photo of one of the apartment buildings in our complex. This is looking from the clubhouse across the pond. Jared and I are pumped that they actually let you fish in that pond in the summer!

This is an upclose photo of the building we will be living in.

Completely wiped out

we made it to South Bend

Jared and I made the voyage from Girard to KC to Chicago to South Bend yesterday. The plane ride itself was relatively short, however its the drive to KC (2 1/2 hours) and the drive from Chicago to South Bend (1 1/2 hours) that killed us. (Plus, I haven't been feeling too good for a while now. I keep taking meds for sinuses, but it is not helping.) We were so tired I bet the people at Olive Garden thought we were a bunch or hoodlums in our windpants and sweatshirts! It was really difficult for us to get excited about ANYTHING last night. We passed by the Notre Dame campus and we both said, "well there it is" with little or no emotion. Everything was covered with snow also, so it was just hard to see and take everything in.

After a good night's sleep and a hot shower, we are slowly regaining our momentum! We will be scoping out apartments today, so that will be exciting. We saw a few of them last night as we were driving around and they looked promising. And it helped that a few of them were right by the Old Navy and Kohls... at least it MY eyes that's a great location.

Once we find an apartment, we will have a nice dinner tonight (our belated Valentine's Dinner) and then hopefully find that Karaoke bar that I found online last week! haha Wish us luck!

Happy V-Day everyone!

so busy, i forgot all about valentines day

Can you believe it? Stacy Birk, the girl who LOVES Valentines Day, forgot all about it this year. Can you blame a girl though? We've been so busy with preparing for this huge move that all my life has consisted of is houses, apartments, resumes, airplane tickets and rental cars!

Of course the one year that I forget and don't have time to get Jared a card, he gets one for me and puts it in my car for me to find this morning. Super sweet... it played a Tim McGraw song (his Greatest Hits CD was all we listened to the first 6 months we dated). But it made me feel like the worst wife in the world, haha. Especially since this is the first v-day since we got married.

I may have to slip into Wal-Mart on my way to a meeting later and try to find one for him. :) I'll let you know how it turns out!

On another subject, this will probably be my last post for a little bit, unless I get a wild hair and take my computer to Indiana. We are leaving for South Bend tomorrow and we will be back on Monday (then I will go straight to freakin' Topeka for a training, YUCK). It should be fun and I will let everyone know all about it when we get back.

Have a great Valentines Day and weekend everyone!!!

WOW, that was fast!

all I've heard from Jared today is "I told you so"

WE HAD AN OFFER ON OUR HOUSE TODAY!

It was the first person to look at it and it has only been on the market for about 5 days! It is contingent on her house selling, but its a great offer, so we will wait it out and see! We are excited and a little overwhelmed that it happened so fast. We just hope it all works out. Keep your fingers crossed!

Happy Hump Day

just a simple, little blog

Not much to say today other than we have our first people looking at our house today! YAY! It has been on the market for about 4 days, so I thought it was great to have lookers already! Anyway, I took the advice of some fellor bloggers and checked out two photography websites, onexposure.net and flicker.com (which I have used flickr before). I found some cool photos and just thought I would share a few that struck my fancy. Have a wonderful day everyone and stay warm!