Portland, OR

My first official trip to sell ladders was to Portland, OR. I really enjoyed being there and I learned a lot. There are a lot of great people who live there, and I made quite a few new friends while working. It was also fun to see some friends who moved there a few years ago and their new home.

Here are a few things that I learned while in Portland:

1. When buying cases of beer, you must purchase either 1 or 3. I don't know why, but I was positioned across from the alcohol section and watched as people loaded their carts up with beer.
2. On that note, $300 for a ladder is a lot of money, however, $300 for wine isn't. I'm a little confused by this considering that the ladder has a lifetime warranty and the wine...well, a moment on the lips and all that.
3. Apparently, there are a lot of people who eat fish. This is a phenomenon not seen in Utah and definitely not appreciated by me. I mean seriously, why choose fish when you can have a good steak or something?
4. Rain gutters have to be cleaned out regularly. Of course, you have to have foliage for this to be a necessity.
5. Babies love to be in backpacks. Now, I have seen this before, just not in such high numbers. It seemed like every baby I saw was in a backpack on a parent's back.
6. The whole athletic clothing in the morning while running errands after your run isn't just for mornings when you are in Oregon. You can wear your workout clothes all day long. I often felt quite overdressed in my polo and khakis.
7. Lemon pudding cake is my favorite dessert ever. Previous to this, I had always thought it was my mom's pie. I must have been misinformed.
8. If you make friends with the sample ladies they will give you as many samples as you want. This is really good when it is steak and cheesecake day...I don't want to talk about it...
9. Days Inns do not have complimentary conditioner. Their target market must be men with short hair, because women understand how important hair conditioner is.
10. I have also had it reaffirmed that people outside of Utah find my sense of humor charming. In Utah, people stare at me blankly when I am trying to be funny. Elsewhere, they think I am freaking hilarious. I would move to a different state, but being in Utah keeps me humble.

I also found a new Italian restaurant that I love, visited the Portland Temple (pics will be up later), and realized that, yes, I can do this whole being a salesman thing. In fact, I quite enjoy it. Now off to Nashville, TN.

The End of the US Census

Now, as the Census slowly draws to an end and the temporary Census workers put on their job seeking hats, I have to think to myself how thankful I am to have already been placed in a position at a different company. I will forever be thankful that I was able to work here and save my sanity (I don't do well being at home), as well as my financial situation. I have made some great new friends, but I am ready to move on.

This may sound snobbish, but I didn't go through all my years of schooling to work in a position that won't even compensate me enough to pay off my student loans. Instead, I spent the time earning an MBA so that I can be a ladder salesperson. Yes, I see the irony in that statement. I will be working as a salesperson for Little Giant Ladders, the same as Todd.

There are quite a few pros for the job:
1. This will put me on the same travel schedule as Todd and we will have every 0ther 10 days together, without me having to go to work while he gets to sleep in.
2. There is a pretty decent upside to the payscale (although it is 100% commission, which can be good, but also can be bad).
3. I will be working with a company that has integrity (and surprisingly, this is not an oxymoron) that I can believe in and who has a superior product.
4. Spending a few years working in sales will help me bolster my resume, which will enable me to truly utilize all of my other preparations for the corporate world.
5. Oh yeah, and did I mention that I will have every other 10 days off? I will have time to work on all sorts of projects that have been put on the back burner until a time when I have, either more time, or more money.

I am quite excited to see this chapter in my life end and the new one begin. You never know what could happen next. Maybe I'll actually learn to cook or sew or something...probably not.

Random Dreams

I must be feeling nostalgic because lately, I have had a lot of random dreams about different friends from the past, or friends who I don't see very often anymore. So, I just wanted to put a note in here to wish all those friends well and let ya'll know that I've had you on my mind.

Why am I so overwhelmed?

Yup. This pic pretty much sums up how I've been feeling lately.

I'll be honest, I have no idea why I feel so overwhelmed these days. I could blame it on the fact that I am working, but that never used to be an issue for me. It does seem like there are many people pulling me in many different directions (though not overly much, so that isn't a good excuse), plus work literally gives me a headache everyday. I blame the headaches on the cheap headphones that we have to wear, which put pressure on my head all day.

I don't think that it helps that I am feeling so unorganized. That is actually something that I can control, and I love to organize, it just seems that I am never able to keep it that way. Plus, there is definitely an added level of difficulty being married to someone who prefers chaos to my over-organized ways.

I've slowly been working at getting my church calling a little more organized. It helps that there are now three adults to 6-7 girls for Activity Days. Now, if only I could get my house in order. It seems that every time I finally start making some headway, something happens to mess up what I am doing. I am going to have to go back to putting all of my clothes out for the next day, carrying my large homemade planner (it is actually very cool and very fitting for my needs) and planning my meals a week at a time.

After I get organized, again, I can definitely start focusing on all my other goals that seem so far away at this moment...oh, and the perpetual list of things to do around the house.

If anyone reads this post (haha...that's the big if) and has any great ideas to help me out with this, please, do tell. Heck, right now, even this post is a big jumble.

Hi Ho, Hi Ho...Thankfully, it's off to work we go.

So, Todd started his new job this week. It's a month of training and then back to traveling for a living.

This is a good thing, for those of you who are thinking, "Oh, that sucks." We actually had a couple companies that were wanting to hire Todd and we chose the one that involved travel, because it just works for us. Todd loves to travel, (sometimes I'll go with) and we get the added benefits of hotel points and frequent flier miles. *Hey, we all have our priorities.* Oh and it helps that technically Todd only works half of the year, when he's home, he's really home and he gets a month off starting just before Christmas.

Things worked out pretty well after Todd got laid off. (Ah, such is the life for salesmen during this economical low.) He found a new position and started work about two weeks later. Those two weeks became paid vacation due to his old position paying him wages for his accrued vacation time. All I can say is, thank heavens for the blessings of tithing.

Now if only I can find a position as quickly after this temporary position ends at the end of July...Oh, and can I request that it is applicable to my degree and moves my career in the direction I want it to go? Maybe that is too much to ask.

Happy Birthday to Me

Anyone who knows me, knows that I love birthdays...and holidays in general. Todd, not so much.

So, although Todd got laid off and so we have been (as always) pinching pennies, I know he loves me when he spends the majority of the day planning and preparing a great dinner meal. The table was set with our fine china (we only have 5 place settings so it doesn't get used very often, but it is beeeautiful), the crystal and even a votive candle in the middle of the table. Todd dressed in one of my favorite outfits on him and we had a great meal with every food being something different from our norm.

The theme of the evening was "stuffed." We had stuffed peppers, salad, green beans and stuffed pork chops, and to top it off...I was very stuffed at the end. We're going to have to wait a while before we decide on what to eat for dessert. I still have some sugar cookie dough and cream cheese frosting from yesterday. Mmmm...