30 Days of Thanks- Day 7 & 8

Yesterday I was thankful to get to attend a party this place:

This is The Pavilion at The Angus Barn and I LOVE this place!  I have said for years if I ever get married, I would love to get married there.  (Although there are tons of other great places around RDU that would be on my list too!)  This is the third party I have gotten to attend here.  And they always do a fabulous job!  My company has these events once or twice a year but only depending on our whole North America's group performance.  If every team hits their numbers we get the party.  If not we don't.  Luckily we did!

Today I am thankful...

Yes, I am thankful for Microsoft Excel.  I love me a spreadsheet. When I tried online dating a few years ago I even made a spreadsheet of all the guys I was dating.  Crazy, I know.  I have kept all my personal budgeting under control for the past 3 years in Excel and recently was able to add a sheet for a year-over-year comparison of where I was spending my money and it has been sooo helpful!

As much as I love Excel I am no expert, but thankfully my boss got me some online training classes that are hopefully going to increase my Excel skillz!

30 Days of Thanks- Day 3 & 4

Yesterday I was thankful for...

My Job

I sometimes forget how miserable life can be when you are not happy with where you spend the majority of your waking hours (work...ugh!  who came up with this work week schedule!?)  Even though there are a lot of things at work that still drive me crazy and stress me out, I love my job.  I work for a great company, have awesome co-workers (who are even awesome to hang out with outside of work on the regular!), work on a great team, enjoy what I do, and even love the products (using one to type this post actually!)  So blessed in the work department!

Today I was thankful for...

Seasonal Food!

I love this time of year because there are so many seasonal foods to try!  I've tried both of Pepperidge Farms Seasonal breads- Pumpkin Spice and Caramel Apple (love!), Eggo Pumpkin waffles (pretty good), Pumpkin Spice and Pumpkin Chai lattes (yum!), and my favorite- Apple Cider!!

This week I am going to try pumpkin soup!  I will let you know how it turns out!

Prayer Request

I believe in the power of prayer.  I believe because I have seen it work many times.  Two years ago I asked you guys to pray for Bailey's safe return home and it worked!  (Read a more on that story here)  I never thought I could raise over $3,000 for a mission trip when I was at my lowest financial point ever, but I did. When I got laid off a few years ago, I never thought I would recover financially or find a job I love, but I did.  All of those were only accomplished through the grace of God and prayer!

This isn't nearly as urgent but it's something that needs to happen but I need a little help.  There is someone I need to have a difficult conversation with.  Please pray that God will create an opportunity for this conversation to happen and that I will have courage and the words to say.

I know that is very vague, but I promise I will give you more details eventually.

Thanks for your support and for being such loyal readers/friends!  I know I have been slacking in the posts lately.  It's hard to write when your mind is consumed.  But I promise to get back on the regular blogging bandwagon soon!

Lenovo Pinterest Challenge!

My Pinterest Challenge for work is finally live!  It launched a few weeks ago and runs through August 17th.  You guys should go enter!  You can win a new computer and three accessories to go with it and trust me your chances are probably better than just about any other contest you could enter to win a computer in!

Let me tell you...those people who say do what you love, I don't know how working on something you love doesn't ruin the enjoyment of it a little for you.  Working on this Pinterest Challenge definitely made me hate Pinterest a little.  I was so sick of hearing about it, worrying about it, trying to make sure everything was ready and in place, pulling the metrics on it...it was very stressful.  I used to check Pinterest and pin everyday and now I am lucky to get on there once a week!

Some of it was fun though.  I threw a Pinterest Party for my co-workers to get them excited about the contest.  Everyone brought something to eat that they had found on Pinterest (well, most everyone.  There were some moochers.)  It was fun to try everything.  My favorite by far were these cookies:

Source: hotpolkadot.com via ncsuz on Pinterest

I hope at the end of all this, the contest is a success. It's a great prize! I have been trying to win a computer at various internal contests at Lenovo for two years, but unfortunately I am one of the most unlucky people I know.

I finally gave in and bought a new computer a few weeks ago and I love it. It's different, and cute, and light enough to take anywhere. It is just perfect for me! It is last year's ultrabook and I got it on our outlet site a few weeks before our new ultabooks launched. The new ones are super stylish too!

 Here are a few pics of mine:

So go enter the Pinterest Challenge and win one for me!  If I could enter here are the items I would pick:

This thing is so cool! 27" touchscreen and folds completely flat!  Although I would take one of the ultrabooks too!

Everyone needs Microsoft Office!

I think these little speakers are so cute

This multimedia mouse/remote thing is really cool!

What would you pick?  Go check out the other options you can win HERE!

And no, you don't have to be a student or going back to school to enter or win!

And if you don't win, but want to buy a new computer, email me and I will give you my employee discount!

Working Girls Monday

Ever wonder what your favorite bloggers do for their day jobs?  Nikki has started a great series that highlights a different blogger's career every Monday and today I am guest posting over on her blog about my job- the one I have that allowed me to mark off #3 on my 30 Before 30 List- get a job I love!

Thank you for letting me share a little bit of my working life with your readers Nikki!

Go check it out!

  P.S. Wondering how I'm celebrating MLK day today?  I'm in the office. Working.  So try not to rub it in too much if you got the day off today :) 

Year in Review

Honestly I'm not sad to see 2011 go.  It has been quite a year, but I am ready for 2012.

Some good things:
I got hired on full time and am no longer a contractor at a job I love! I was going through old paperwork last night and it is hard to believe how far I have come since I started my career nine years ago. Less than three years ago I was laid-off from a job I was not happy at. It sucked!  I quickly found another job (that I really enjoyed) but it was at about a 30% pay cut from what I had been making. Now I have a job I honestly love at a company I love and am making almost double what I was making two years ago! I am so thankful for where I am career-wise. That lay-off ended up being one of the best things that has ever happened to me!

I quit smoking!

I took some awesome vacations- the epic Ski Trip 2011, the first crew beach trip, went white water rafting for my birthday and had three awesome girls weekends at the beach!

The bad:

Possibly the worst year ever in the love department.  I tried speed dating (3 times!) and hated it.  I made out with four guys this year and don't remember any of them because they were all on nights I had way too much to drink.  And one of them I REALLY should not have made out with.  Actually I probably shouldn't have made out with any of them.  I had no REAL "let me take you out because I really like you" dates.  No guys I was even really interested in this year.  I don't know where my freaking husband is, but if he is out there, I sure do hope we find each other soon because I am so over being single.

Last year at this time I made some goals instead of resolutions.  Three things to start doing, three things to stop, and three things to keep in my life.  Let's see how I did...


Start:

Getting to work by 9 am. - FAIL- I rarely make it to work before 9 am unless I have an early meeting that I have to be there for.  I usually get there sometime between 9-10am.  (I know, I am extremely lucky that I have flexible hours!)

If I go in to work between 8-9 am the traffic is double what it is if I go in after 9am.  But the downside is we have hired a ton more people and if you get there after 9am you have to park so freaking far away (if you can even find a spot!).  I need to get better at this though and just deal with the traffic or maybe even try going in way earlier because staying at work until 7pm (or even later) sucks.

Cooking more. - Semi-Success- I didn't make a new recipe every week but I definitely cooked more this year than I ever had before.

Wearing Make-up every day- Success- It is very rare for me to not wear any make-up whatsoever now.  I don't get crazy or anything, but makeup is now part of my daily routine.  (crazy it hadn't been before right?

Stop:

Neglecting my house- Success- I think I have the dog hair semi-under control now.  It is a lot of work, but I've developed a routine that works pretty well.

Drinking like I am in college- Semi-Success FAIL- I stopped drinking on the regular, but that made me have a very low tolerence.  So when special events would roll around I would get very drunk, very fast and ended up doing some pretty stupid things.  Now I have my 2 drink (or 4 if it is a long event) rule and so far so good...we shall see if I can keep it up.

Smoking- SUCCESS- I can't believe I was a smoker.  Even if it was just a few a day or week...I was still a smoker.  Yuck! I am sooo glad to have kicked that habit!

Keep:

Growing my faith- Success- I still go to church and b-study every week and I am head over heels in love with Jesus.  I don't want to sound like a crazy Christian, but God is the most important thing in my life and I wouldn't want it any other way.

My friends- Success- There was one little hiccup with my main group of friends, but I tell ya- you really know who your true friends are when they can love you and accept you after seeing you at your worst.  I do think I am going to skip the big New Year's party though because I am just so afraid that couple will be there and honestly I am terrified to face everyone else that I haven't seen in person since "the incident". (Gosh I did not even want to link to that post because I would like to erase it from my history, but any new readers might need some background on what happened.  Please don't judge me!)

I am still best friends with one of the very first friends I made back in college.  We have seen each other through a lot and to still have a close friendship where you talk almost daily with someone for almost 15 years is amazing.

I also have made a lot of new friends this year.  I have more friends at work and have some new best friends though my bible study- seriously have met some of the most awesome people in my life through that group!  And have also even developed some friendships through people I have met from blogging!

Friendship can be hard ya'll.  Especially when you get older and have more responsibilities.  You have to nuture and develop friendships all the time or you could end up losing some people who you once thought were very important to you or have no one to hang out with on a Friday night if you end up being single for an extended period of time!

This is one of the best blog posts I have ever read on developing friendship.  You should definitely go check it out!

Running- Semi-success- I ran 3 5Ks this year and started training for my 10K.  I start my half marathon training next week!  I'm going to run the Cooper River Bridge Run in March and then a half marathon in Raleigh in April.  (If everything goes according to plan!)  I got to where I could do 5 miles in under an hour (which still is kind of slow) but I haven't ran in almost 3 weeks now!  I am going for a run today but I have a feeling it is going to be tough after that long of a break!

Come back Monday to see my 2012 resolutions goals!

Random Wednesday

Sorry for the lack of posts since I announced "I'm back!".  Guess it is going to take a while for me to get back into the routine of blogging.

While I was taking my "break from blogging", I thought about a new idea for a regular segment here on the blog.  You know I am obsessed with Pinterest.  I participated A LOT in "Oh How Pinteresting Wednesdays".  But I don't want Pinterest to be just another time suck, I want to actually do things and use the ideas I see on there.  So I am going to try to feature something I've actually done, made, and/or bought as a result of something I have pinned on Pinterest. I'm calling it-

Some of this idea was inspired by the new marketing campaign at work.  Our whole culture at my work has shifted.  I work for Lenovo (we make computers).  Our new tag line is "Lenovo- for those who DO".  The "DO" culture has taken over.  We are all DOers and we make machines for those who DO.  It is everywhere you look from the elevators, to the break room, to our TV commercials, to even the stairwells:

I also recently read this quote:

The world needs dreamers and the world needs doers.  But above all, the world needs dreamers who do.  ~Sarah Ban Breathnach, Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy, 1996

I think this new feature will be the perfect chance to take that quote to heart.  Pinterest is all about dreams.  Things you aspire to, things you want, things you think are beautiful, things you want to make, dreams you have for the future, things that make you laugh, things that are ingeniously useful.

So look for this weekly feature next Wednesday.  I'm going to have a little link up on the blog.  So pick a pin you love on Pinterest this week and DO something with it.  Next week come back here and share what you did!

In the meantime ...


Also one other random peek into my day- Remember how I was obsessed with the Nancy Cooper trial?  Well, I am about to become obsessed with another trial  Today the trial for the murder of Eve Carson started.  Eve was a student at UNC that was shot and killed in the early morning hours on March 5, 2008.  She was student body president and apparently a wonderful young lady full of such promise.  When she was murdered a few years ago I was very interested in the story because she wasn't that much younger than me and I was just so interested in how and why she was killed.  I got obsessed with finding out more about local gangs because there was talk about a gang connection.  It is just so sad and so frustrating to have lost such a promising young individual for such stupid reasons.  Word to the wise- gangs are stupid.  Crimes like this are stupid.  I really wonder if these guys realize that and will ever feel the conviction and remorse in their heart for what they did.

I've been listening to the trial in the background while working today and her roommate and best friend was on the stand.  The prosecutor asked her what kinds of things her and Eve liked to do together.  She started talking about how they liked to do silly things, read similar books, and were obsessed with their flag football team and she started crying.  It just made me think how horrible it would be to have something like this happen to your best friend.  It is just all so sad.

One guy has already plead guilty and will spend the rest of his life in prison.  The guy on trial now was supposedly his accomplice.  He was underage at the time so he can not face the death penalty.  He is also linked to the murder of a Duke University student.  There seems to be a lot of evidence against him so I don't know how he is going to show he is innocent.  But I am very interested to see what happens.  It is such a sad and infuriating story.

Coming soon...bookshelf bog update, an update on my 30 Before 30 list progress, Black Friday buys, Christmas decorations and more!

It's been a long week

This week has been stressful.  If I could choose a word to describe how I feel at the end of this week it would be: Failure.  I don't know if it is because I put too much pressure on myself, or if I am just not trying hard enough, or if I get stressed out too easily, but a lot of times in my life I just want to hit the pause button and take a break from my life until it gets a little bit better/easier.

I was so busy at work this week that I forgot to submit my time sheet on Monday and didn't get it in until Wednesday, which meant I didn't get paid.  I am so broke.  I finally got my tax refund and paid off the credit card bill my car repairs racked up in January, but today I went to lunch with some friends and my debit card was declined.  It was so embarrassing. Sticking to #5 and paying all my bills on my own at 30 should not be this hard.  So I feel like a failure financially.

This week was crazy at work with a lot of our products selling out and a lot of new launches getting ready to happen, and that would have been stressful enough, but then I had a conflict with a co-worker that I still don't feel is resolved and is weighing heavily on me.  A few weeks ago we had our big end of the quarter/begining of the year meeting and I felt like I was the only one on our team that didn't get any awards.  I tried to hold it in and not let it bother me, but it does.  The stress along with my distaste for the contracting company I work for and their lack of benefits, vacation time, and lying to me about the amount of my raise has made me question marking off #3- get a job I love.  I feel like a failure at work right now.

I still have no prospects in the romance department and I feel old and ugly and past my prime.  I feel like a failure as a former "cute" girl who could turn a few heads back in the day, but no one seems to notice now.

I did run my third 5K last weekend but my time was pretty much the same as the other two 5Ks I have ran.  Every time I have come in at 37 minutes and xx seconds.  I was not feeling good that day and there was a huge hill at the beginning so I kind of gave up early on and walked the hill.  It didn't get much better after that.  I put #7- Run a 5K on my list because I thought I would feel proud and that I accomplished something, but after 3 of them I have yet to feel proud or accomplished after one.  So yeah I feel like a failure physically.

I wish I could take a vacation or something, but I only have 5 paid days off per year (sick + vacation) and I feel like I need to save them for something important.  I wish I had someone to just cuddle on the couch with that could tell me it is going to be okay.

As sad as it is, I wish I could have a cigarette, but that's the one thing I haven't failed at yet.

Ok I am going to try to stop complaining because I'm even making myself sick with all this woe is me crap.

What do you do to pick yourself up from a long day/week/year/life?


Maybe a jog with Cam listening to the words and melody of this appropriate song will soothe my soul a little...

#3- Get a job I love

Despite my complaining about winter and the need for a home office, if you have been reading for the last couple months you might be able to tell I have found a job I love. (You can read about some of my Career Girl related posts here.) I was hesitant to say I loved the job because you have to get to know the job a little before you can tell if it is love.

You know how people are always saying to find your passion and then find a way to make it your job and then life will be great and it will never feel like you are at work?  I think that is a lie for 90% of the population.  Because everything has a downside.  I love traveling, but if I had a job that was nothing but travel I would hate it.  I would feel like I had no home and would never be able to get into a comfortable routine or schedule.  I love books, but if I was an editor I would hate when I let mistakes slip through, if I was a writer I would get writers block and I would hate when people criticize what I write, and if I worked at Barnes and Noble I am sure I would get frustrated with demanding customers sometimes.  You are not going to love everything all the time.  So don't keep looking for that perfect job where you are just happy all the time.  But it is possible to find a job you love and a place you enjoying going most everyday.

Why do I love my job?

My boss- this can make or break a job.  I have worked for male bosses and female bosses.  I have worked for old bosses and young bosses.  I have worked for micro-managers and non-managing bosses.  None of that matters.  What does matter is that you have a boss that cares.  Every good boss I have had cares about the team.  They put effort and energy into building the team.  Every good boss I have had cares about my future.  Every good boss I have had has been open and honest.  Every good boss I have had is smart and easy to look up to.  My current boss fits all of these and is just great to work for.

My team- This is the most team oriented environment I have ever worked in.  It has to be.  We build and maintain a huge website and you have to have a lot of people working together to make that happen.  We have Happy Hours every Thursday and while I can't go often, I do go when I can.  We went paintballing together.  I am going speed dating with my boss and some other co-workers on Saturday.  We have monthly birthday celebrations and big events like Casino Night or the Comedy Night.  They even rented out this new upscale bowling alley for our Christmas celebration.  Not just a private room, the whole thing- they shut down to the public and we had the whole place to ourselves with free food and an open bar.  All these events lead to a great team atmosphere.  We have our core smaller team but are also connected to the other teams in our organization through these events and it really does make a huge difference.

Recognition- I have only been in this position 8 months but in that time I have received a Peer Recognition award, been invited to a fancy celebration dinner, and got two small financial "bonuses" for my work.  I have worked my butt off and have been especially stressed over the last 3 months, but these bits of recognition help so much.  Even just an encouraging email recognizing the effort you put in to something (which I get now and then) is so rewarding and just what you need to keep going when you are stressed to the max.

There is always something to do and I enjoy what I do- Some positions can get boring.  You are given work that you can finish in 3 hours but you find a way to make it last 8.  You are given no direction.  You never see the things you worked on implemented.  You feel like some things are just busy work.  It can get frustrating.  In this position what I do matters (almost too much) and if I don't get it done it is not ok. Now I don't jump up and down and say "Yay I get to make this awesome spreadsheet today!" But I always feel challenged and use my brain everyday and I love that.  The only downside I've discovered is the feeling that I am never caught up!  I hate that part, but my boss tells me I just have to let that go and it's ok because everyone feels that way.

I am good at what I do- Even though I am still in the learning stages on some things, this position is a good fit for me.  I get to use my creativity.  I am working on web functionality, design and navigation and making sure we have the content a customer is looking for. I am developing more efficient processes and procedures.  I get to use my analytical, problem solving and creative skills in this role and I love it!

Flexible Work Schedules- We are able to work from home if we need to.  We don't have to be there at a certain time each morning.  We don't clock in and clock out or even really watch the clock at all (except to make sure we are in the right meeting room at the right time).  We don't have to ask to go to lunch or if we can work though lunch.  We just work when we work best and where we work best.  There is so much work to be done and so many meetings it would be impossible to take advantage of this situation.  If you were not working, I think it would be noticed fairly quickly.  But I love the trust that this setup implies!

The Company-  I'm not going to try to hide who I work for because it would be pretty easy for an internet sleuth to figure it out.  I'm not ashamed of anything I write on here about my work and I love the products!  If you didn't know, I work for Lenovo.  They are a Chinese computer manufacturer.  They make the ThinkPad and IdeaPad branded computers.  It is a very modern company and our offices reflect that.  I LOVE my ThinkPad X301 laptop I use for work.  It is so light and speedy and easy to use.  I never even would have considered this brand before I had this computer, but now I am in love.  When it comes time for a new computer I will most likely get a Lenovo.  It just feels good working for a good company whose products you can get behind.

So tell me...do you love your job?  What makes you love or not love your job?  What's important to you?

Always wanting the one thing you don't have

It's been almost 2 weeks and Bailey still is not home.  That is all I want right now is for Bailey to come home.  I pray and pray and search and call his name but still nothing.  No sightings.  And part of me is like God could part the Red Sea, why can't he just bring home my cat?

But then I think about all the prayers God has answered- I love my job (yes, I finally admit it...I'm in love.  It makes me smile just driving in and seeing the company sign welcoming me...it's sick I know), I'm not in a financial hardship anymore, I was able to go on a mission trip, I was able to run my 5K two weekends ago without taking any walking breaks, tons of prayers for others have been answered- why is it always the things God is silent on that I hold against him?

First it was finding my husband.  Why couldn't God just let me bump into him at the grocery store?  Why did I have to endure all these sucky relationships?  I used to pray for God to send me my husband every day.  But it isn't as urgent now.  I'm lucky if I remember once or twice a week.  (Ryan Reynolds is back on the market though....I think that is why I couldn't find my husband before, but now he's available!  YES!)

Now my constant prayer is for Bailey to come home.  I sometimes ignore everything else and wonder why I can't have this one thing.  Why is it always the one thing you don't have that takes away all the glory of what you do have?

In other news- I haven't put up my tree.  I haven't shopped.  I haven't sent out the gifts I have for people far away.  I didn't do Christmas cards.  I have no idea what to cook for Christmas dinner and Christmas is almost here!  This is my last weekend to catch up!  I'm starting to feel the holiday stress!

One Word: Faith

I’ve joined Reverb 10, an annual event and online initiative to reflect on your year and manifest what’s next. The end of the year is an opportunity to reflect on what's happened, and to send out reverberations for the year ahead.  Each day, we get a new prompt and post a blog sharing what the prompt means to us.  You should join in too!

December 1 One Word.
Encapsulate the year 2010 in one word. Explain why you’re choosing that word. Now, imagine it’s one year from today, what would you like the word to be that captures 2011 for you?
(Author: Gwen Bell)

Faith.

“To take the first step in faith, you don’t have to see the whole staircase: just take the first step.” 
-Martin Luther King Jr.

My life now is very different from when I started this year.   I have a different job.  I have traveled to a different country.  The person I used to talk to everyday, I no longer speak to.  I was stressed and broke and now I am stressed (but in a good way) and not so broke.  I probably couldn’t run a mile or lift more than 20 lbs.  But now I am stronger from weekly weight lifting and am running 3.1 miles this Saturday.  It has been quite a year.

But the most defining theme for me this year has been faith.  I was in no position financially to sign up for a mission trip last January, but I had faith that God would provide a way and He did!  (A lot of it thanks to you readers!  I am still so shocked and humbled by the generosity, love, and faith you guys have!).  And I got to experience God half a world away, saw a different culture and country, overcame my fear of the middle seat and long distance flying, got to get to know some really awesome kids, broke down some of my missionary and middle east stereotypes, and bonded with some awesome members of my church.

Last year I was so broke.  It was worse than paycheck to paycheck kind of broke.  It was to the point of “I’ve cut almost everything that is not an absolute need from my life” kind of broke.  I was so stressed and depressed about it.  I loved my job, but it just did not pay enough to cover the bills.  I didn’t want to leave, but I knew something had to change.  Now I have a job I really, really like.  It is hard for me to admit when I am in love, but I think I might love this job.  Monday we had free massages and smoothies at work!  How cool is that?!  It is stressful and a lot of work, but it is also fun, challenging, and satisfying.  And it literally dropped out of the sky.  I had not applied to this job.  I randomly got a call about it on a Tuesday and less than a week later I had the job!  From being miserable at a job, to being laid off, to being broke, to being happy…it’s been quite a journey over the last 2 years and the whole time I had to have faith that I was right where God wanted me to be.  And now He has put me here and I love it!

But it all hasn’t been good.  The one area my faith has really been tested is in the romance department.  So much so that I have given up on dating for now.  I have been so disappointed in this department.  I used to believe so much in true love and that I would find my prince charming.  But the experiences I have had with guys over the last 12 years have beaten all the hope out of me.  I want it to come back.  I want to believe that God, knowing how important this is to me, would not abandon me in this area, but right now I don’t.  I hope it comes back.  I hope I believe in love again.  I hope I can trust again.  I hope I can have faith that God hears my prayers for a husband and family again.  But it is going to take some time.

The word that I hope encompasses 2011 for me is Unexpected.  I need some surprises.  I need to experience some out-of-the-ordinary events to remind me there are things I don’t know yet about this world and life.

What would be your word for 2010?

Where I Work

This month is crazy at work.  I'm working more than I ever have.  I'm lucky to leave by 7 and working on the weekends, but after December it should calm down.  Right now I am basically doing 2 roles though, and we have a huge launch this weekend, so it has been very busy.

Since I spend so much time here I thought I'd give you a photo tour of my work:

This is my building

Lobby

Another view of the lobby

Cafe in my building- yes they have Starbucks- and yes they were closed at 5 when I took this picture.

Elevators- boring but essential since I work on the top floor

View when I get off the elevator.  Every floor has a different color and a quote.  My floor says "You can't depend on your judgment when your imagination is out of focus". - Mark Twain

Another view when I get off elevator

My "row"- it's two pods of 4 cubicles each with a table for a meeting area in the middle.

My cube :)- minimalist

There are also these weird cubicle areas that have mesh curtains...I'm glad I'm not in one of those.

Building 2- where the cafeteria is...there is a nice winding walkway with a waterfall to get there

View of outdoor seating at the "caf"

I spend a lot of afternoons here in the conference rooms- we love some meetings round here!

Super Secret Design Center on my floor- you need special security clearance for this area- which I do not have.

Really cool chairs right outside the Design Center in a little lounge area on my floor.

I hope you enjoyed the tour of my workplace!  It really is a cool place to work. 

We went to play paintball a few weeks ago for team building.  My team is fun- they have Happy Hour every Thursday and both times I have been able to go (I do have a dog at home waiting for me!), the drinks have been free which is a bonus!

This week we are having our quarterly team night.  Last quarter we had a casino night.  This time it is a comedian.  They have food and drinks and give out the quarterly awards for the team (this is the whole eCommerce team so it is A LOT of people but I am still secretly hoping to win an award at one of these things!)

My actual role can be really frustrating because it is dealing with information that CONSTANTLY changing- so it is hard to keep up and a lot of the processes need work, but I enjoy it...when I'm not threatening to throw my computer down the stairwell because my edits won't show up...imagine blogger on crack...that is the kind of content management tool I work in a lot....and sometimes it doesn't want to cooperate...but everyone has those moments right?  Dang technology, it's a love/hate relationship.  But I believe in the products and the company as a whole which is always a bonus. Yeah, I really like it.

I just might have found a job I can love...one more thing I could potentially mark off my list.  My question to you is...How do you know it's love??

I think I'm falling in love!

I've nicknamed him Lenny.  And even though it has only been a week, every day has been wonderful.  It's still the early stages and I haven't yet seen any of Lenny's ugly sides, but I love what I have seen so far.  It's been the best first week I have ever had!

It's like Lenny knows me.  He knows that I have a problem running late and can never be on time anywhere, so he lets me show up whenever I want (within reason).  He knows that I am shy when I first meet people and has pushed me outside of my comfort zone this week to show me that everything is going to be ok.  People are nice. They aren't all judging me.  He has a lot of the same values as me.  He inspires me.  He is really smart.  He is so stylish.  He treats me like an adult and trusts me to do what I need to be doing.  I can already tell he is going to push me in a good way to be the best I can be.

Lenny is my new job!  Yes, it is just like falling in love with a person.  I had butterflies at our first meeting.  I felt lost and out of my element, but it only lasted a little while because my new job felt so much like coming home.  It felt so right.  I think I am falling in love with my new job!  I have actually missed going to work these last two days!

Seriously I had the best first week ever.  I wasn't even sure what I was getting myself in to.  It all happened so quick and seemed to fall out of the clear blue sky.  I got a call about the job on a Tuesday (I hadn't even applied to this job.  They had to read me the job description over the phone!).  I went in for the interview that Thursday and by Monday I had the job offer and on Tuesday (exactly one week later) I said YES!  If that isn't God and divine intervention, I don't know what is.

I started on Monday and I was so nervous that first day.  After checking in at security and getting my official company badge made, the people from the contracting company took me upstairs to meet my boss.  When I interviewed with my boss, I just had this feeling about her.  I knew I liked her.  I felt like we connected.  So much so that I told her about my blog and I would have never done that on a job interview before!  She is so down to earth but at the same time driven, smart, and loves a spreadsheet like I do.  It's like we are kindred spirits.  I've only known her a week, but so far she is just great!

She gave me my computer and had already put some files on my computer, sent me some emails, and wrote up a little "important info" sheet to get me started.  Then she just pretty much let me hit the ground running.  I spent the first week setting up all my stuff that will help me do my job.  I set up my computer, downloaded all the essentials and got set up on all the tools they use.  I attended several meetings.  They do like to have a lot of meetings.  My calendar is already packed!  I met with almost half of my team so they could explain their roles to me.

I started on the best week ever because this week was their North America and Latin America Kick-off week.  Lots of people who normally work remote were in the office so I got to meet them face-to-face.  On Wednesday we had a huge Kick-off meeting at the convention center in downtown Raleigh.  It was really inspiring and a good way to learn where the company has come from and where they want to go.  It was HUGE.  It was like a trade show just for Lenovo!  They served us lunch and most of the managers had to stay for the rest of the afternoon for meetings so my boss told me just to work from home for the rest of the afternoon!

Thursday night our team had a casino night.  They had food and beverages (every soda imaginable, great beer, and good wine).  They had door prizes and we played an ice breaker (we have a big team, so not everyone knows everyone else.)  The managers got up and kind of broke down for us how our team fit in to the company's overall goals and what our specific goals were.  They also announced some award winners.  They have quarterly and yearly awards for the team.  Five of the awards are named after people who inspired those awards and I already know the one I will be going after- The Albert Einstein Award (it is for creative, out-of-the-box thinking which is so ME!)

After that they had casino tables set up to play and had given us all chips to play with.  I couldn't stay though. It was after 8 pm and Cam had been home alone all day with one very quick potty break, plus I was reaching my limit for stepping outside of my shy shell.  I tell ya, it takes me a while when I first meet people.

I spent most of the end of the week going through their website and learning the product lines.  I didn't know much about Lenovo before I started this job.  I had heard of them, but I had never used one of their products.  I thought they just made boring business computers.  Boy was I wrong!  They have some of the best most cutting edge computers out there.  And it's not just for businesses.  They have a whole consumer line too.

I'm already lusting after some things.  I love the laptop I am using for work.  It boots up and shuts down faster than any other computer I have ever used.  It has a fingerprint reader so I just swipe my finger to unlock it and enter passwords while I am on it (much better and faster that typing all of that!).  And it is so light!  I carry it everywhere.  I take it to every meeting and I take it home ever night.  It is just like carrying a pad of paper and maybe even lighter than that.  And I haven't had to deal with this yet, but my best friend uses a Lenovo for work and says it is very durable.  She has dropped hers several times and says it is just fine!  If I dropped my Dell just once I would be afraid it would break.

This is the model I use and I highly recommend it:

The Lenovo ThinkPad X301

They also have very cool laptops targeted more to the non-business side of life.  All with fun features and cool designs and packed with a lot of the power of their ThinkPads. 

Lenovo IdeaPads

But this is the thing I am really lusting after:

The Lenovo A600 All in One

This bad boy not only looks good, but is everything I need for my bedroom!  It is like a HDTV, BlueRay Player, Gaming Console, and computer all in one!  The computer is built in to the screen part so there is no funky tower or anything to look at.  The screen is 21.5" so it is big enough to be a TV for a small room like my bedroom or office and has touch sensitive controls!  And I could blog in bed using this thing if I ever got tired of looking at my small laptop screen!  Yeah, I want one.

If you haven't heard of Lenovo before, I am willing to bet you will over the next few years.  They really do have great products and are on the cutting edge of technology.  And I'm not just saying that because I work there now and happen to be falling in love with my new job!

I know it is early, and I don't want to jump the gun yet, but this first week has been so good.  I have been so inspired and my brain has been running a million miles a minute with ideas.  It is really a place I could see myself being excited to go to everyday and I feel so blessed that this came in to my life!

Speaking of LOVE...check out my reviews of The Day I Shot Cupid and The Five Love Languages on my Bookshelf Blog!

New Territory

In my new job, I am not given much direction. Basically the first day my boss sat down with me and told me some ideas she had and some things she wanted to change and then cut me loose and it has just been pretty much "do your own thing" from there. Seriously, we have not had more than a 5 minute conversation since that day!

The first big project was getting postcard mailings out the some of her target neighborhoods. I used an old template and designed separate messaging for each neighborhood that featured what houses we sold in that subdivision recently, what houses we had on the market in that neighborhood, how many homes she has sold in that particular subdivision, along with some of the high points of why you should pick her as your agent. I let her proof them and made changes. I got the addresses for each neighborhood. I found a program to make the Publisher docs into PDFs and uploaded them all to a printer and placed the order. As of today, all the postcards are in the mail.

When I was at a stopping point I have kind of researched some of the other ideas we have discussed and done some little things like design some customizable pieces for the buyers agents, but I kind of feel lost.

I asked her what she wanted me to work on and she wanted me to come back with some options for her and she would choose what she wanted me to do next. I feel like I am defining my own role here and it is very different from my past positions. Usually I am told what needs to happen or at least a general idea of what they want to happen and I figure out how to get us there and make it happen. But now I am given free reign but with no budget, no general direction, and not a real good idea of the industry or company yet. It's hard.

My brain feels like mush from this past month of thinking of different ideas and trying to find a direction. But this is good for me. I need to take the bull by the horns and show her what I can do. It's like I have so much freedom I don't even know what to do with it.

But for now I am packing for the beach. Hopefully this much needed mini-vacay will help me clear my head and I can hit the ground running when I get back to the office on Monday!

First Day

I've had lots of first days. Tons of first days at school. Dozens of first days at camp. First day of rush/recruitment. First days volunteering at the ASPCA. And today was the 7th time I have been faced with my "first day on the job".

It has to be the loneliest position you can be in. All of my other examples of first days, I had fellow first dayers going through the same thing with me. But all but one of my first days on the job, I have been the only "new kid on the block".

It is so nerve-wrecking! What to wear? What do I bring? What will I be doing? What are the people like? Am I going to fit in? Am I going to like it? What will my workspace be like? What are they expecting out of me?

Miraculously I woke up on my own at 6:30, but decided to snooze a few extra minutes and ended up getting in the shower at 7:15. With all my old jobs, I timed my getting ready routine to the commercial breaks in the Today show. It is like I am permanently programmed to know that when they go to their commercial/local news break just before 8 am I should be heading out the door. So this left me plenty of time to eat breakfast at home instead of in the car and take my time letting Cam out since I didn't have to be there until 9. I LOVE the 9 am start time! It is just perfect!

I got to the office about 8:45 because I didn't want to be late my first day. But when I pulled up in the parking lot I seriously thought they were closed. There were no lights on and no cars in the parking lot. So I sat in my car a few minutes and at 8:55 I decided to venture in.

The door was unlocked, but there appeared to be no one there. Finally a girl came up front and gave me a kind of confused look. I told her who I was there for and that today was my first day. She asked if I had come in the front door and I said yes. She asked if the alarm was going off when I came in and I told her no. She explained that somehow the alarm had been set off by the front door and the police might be on there way so she had to go let them know everything was ok and told me she would send someone out for me.

When a girl from the team I was working on came out, she introduced herself and she said they were confused because they thought I was staring on Tuesday. I told her I had confirmed with S that she wanted me to start at 9 am on July 6th. She said she had to run to the bank really quick and told me she would send J out to get me.

So needless to say it was kind of a rocky start.

J finally came out and gave me a quick tour and showed me my workspace and I started to feel more at ease. He told me that the office manager was on vacation today so S was probably going to bring me along on her home inspection when she got in.

So the rest of the morning I spent going to the home inspection appointment with S. I learned a lot just riding with her and listening to her phone calls (her phone rings a lot!) and also just observing the home inspection and the clients (home buyers can be very particular). She told me stories of some of her clients absurd requests and what neighborhoods she dominated and other general information about her business.

After lunch we sat down and discussed a lot of marketing ideas. What they've done in the past and things they want to try etc. I read over all the marketing materials, looked online at some of the competition, and started to put together a mail plan and a list of marketing pieces that need to be created/updated.

So far everyone is super nice. The office seems a little disorganized and chaotic, but exciting. I feel a little overwhelmed because it wasn't your typical meet with HR (there is no HR) and go over policies and procedures (not sure if there are any) and fill out tons of forms (not one form in sight). So it kind of feels surreal. Am I really working here? What is expected of me?

But tomorrow I will meet the office manager so that should answer some of those questions I have in the back of my head. So far so good. Could this possibly be the one? Will I actually get to mark off #3 on my list and truly love this job?? I guess only time will tell!

I want my money

Remember how I said I felt bad about taking unemployment, well not anymore. The only problem is I haven't got any money from my unemployment insurance and it has been almost 2 months!

Here's the story. So, my former employer told me that I would get my last check from them May 14th. So that following Monday I filed for unemployment. There was a one week waiting period where I wouldn't be paid, but benefits should have started that following week. Well my former employer paid me again on May 29. I don't know what it was for because it was direct deposited in my account and I got no pay stub. I think it was for unused vacation time because it was a weird amount.

This however screwed me. Now the unemployment office says there is an unresolved issue on my account so none of my claims can be paid. I talked to someone a few weeks ago and told them the situation and they said they would note it my account. But since then I have heard nothing. I have been trying to get in touch with someone for the past three days and I can't get through on any of the three numbers I have for them. So I finally sent an email and they sent an automated reply that said it may take several days to get a response.

I would have been okay on money except that Volkswagen charged me $1300 for excess wear and tear on my leased beetle bug. That was like 6 month's worth of car payments! I got them to give me 15% discount, but only if I paid it immediately. So I did. Never ever will I lease a vehicle again and I sure as hell won't ever get a VW again.

So now my mortgage is due next week and I have enough in savings to cover it, but after that it will be really tight. The only good thing is I think I have a job and I should start the week after July 4th. I didn't get 2 weeks vacation like I wanted, but I can take unpaid time off if needed, so I figured beggars can't be choosers and decided to go for it.

I'm excited because I have always wanted to do something in real estate, but never had the guts to jump in to being an agent and pay all these up front costs and pray that I sell a house so I can get paid. This way I will be able to get a taste of real estate along with a steady pay check. Sure it won't be as much as I was making, but sometimes you have to sacrifice for your dream.

But note to the NC Unemployment Commission: I still want my money!