30 minutes from home

Yesterday we drove to to Multnomah Falls--a great nature park in the town of Corbett. At only 30 minutes away from our home, it made for a nice day trip. The hike was only 1 mile, but there were 11 switchbacks and the path was steep. It was worth it, however, as we got to see one of the most spectacular waterfalls in Oregon.

Retreat

Just booked a retreat to the Columbia Gorge!

Katie and I will be celebrating 3 years together next month and, like last year, we've decided on a nice retreat to get away from city living to unwind. Hopefully the weather will cooperate and we'll get to enjoy a complete lack of responsibility for a couple of days. Here's an image:

Looking forward to a nice, relaxing weekend :)

Good timber does not grow with ease; 

the stronger the wind, the stronger the trees. 

--J. Willard Marriott

 

Getting Our Hands Dirty

This weekend Nick and I took a trip to the Home Depot for some miscellaneous supplies and got to work on projects around our home. For our backyard, we bought five bags of mulch to cover the weeds and mud. Nick spread the mulch around while I painted the white interior door we bought to use as my new desktop. We also bought a couple small chains to hang a light fixture that I'm using to grow my seedlings. I spent most of the day organizing our guest room/office, condensing the couple boxes we have left from the move, and hanging decorations above my new desk. We still have to secure the tabletop to the cabinets (you'll get the idea when you look at the pictures), but otherwise the room is pretty much complete!

I had a lot of fun putting the decorations together. The frames are from the dollar store and Ikea and the mirrors were a gift from Jodi a few years ago. The flower photo is one that I took a while back of some poppies and I painted the other flowers with acrylics when I lived in Rohnert Park. The other pictures are actually postcards from Ikea. This entire set-up only cost us $25 for the door--we had everything else on hand already.
To the right of the desk/under the window is where I'm growing my seedlings. Because the light was on when I took the picture, everything is over-exposed. But I think you get an idea of the setup.

I am trying to sprout cauliflower, lettuce, onions, chives, squash, zucchini, tomatoes, parsley, basil, rosemary, and sage. I've got seedlings growing in eggshells, milk cartons, egg cartons and plastic tomato & strawberry containers. In addition to my indoor sprouts, I decided to begin my outdoor gardening today, too. I planted some lettuce, catnip and cauliflower in the ground as a sort of experiment. I'm not sure how good the soil is, so we'll see what happens. I also hung my "over-the-door shoe hanger" outside today. I saw this idea online somewhere and thought it'd be perfect for our backyard because we do not get a lot of sun. The little sun we do get shines against our back fence, so this setup should be perfect for our circumstances. I planted basil, chives, rosemary, sage and parsley seeds in the top pockets.

 There are still several pockets left that I'll fill with my indoor seedlings once they get stronger. This is the first year that I have had my own garden, so it is a giant experiment. We'll see how it goes!
I had some good company while I was planting, but then he started doing some digging of his own and got in trouble. He had to watch from inside after that.

Here's one last picture from our second bedroom. The futon sits on the wall to the right of the window/my seedlings.

Now it's time for class! We'll share a picture from the auction Nick and I went to in Eugene last night once we get them sent to us. We had a lot of fun and got to dress up in western garb. More soon!

All in

I get so caught up with budgeting and planning my finances that I forget to plan my career! I've had a couple of good, solid weeks at work--my sales have been through the roof and, without realizing it, I've been asking for more responsibility. This is a good thing!

The Banking Center Manager is going on maternity leave for four months starting in late August. Along with the current Assistant Manager, I'll be temporarily filling a management-type role as head of sales. I'm not sure why it took me so long to realize it, but this is a great opportunity to finish out the 4th quarter with great numbers and (hopefully) pick up a couple of written recommendations for a Banking Center Manager position!

I've had a lot of hesitation about attempting to climb the corporate ladder with this company. I am, however, getting consistent feedback from my superiors that I will have no problem turning this into a career, which is a great sign. When I was having trouble with the job, I was reading up on some advice for young professionals and came across this quote:

"Transitioning from student to employee is never easy. Hesitation to commit is often a problem and leaves many young professionals in a state of limbo. Every employee will be presented with a tough choice--be all-in, or cash out."

I'm all-in!

A View of the Bridge

This is our view out in front of our condo. We can see the bridge from our parking spots :)

Pressure's On

I'm one month away from finishing my Master's work and it seems like the load has quadrupled in the past couple weeks. This past week I spent several hours each day doing research for a group project, only to come up empty on the data we need. Not only am I frustrated that the time spent on our project has yielded zero results, but I am also upset that all those hours I spent searching for statistics could have been spent on finishing my thesis! I have put in a call to my professor and e-mailed my group members about my lack of success, and now I'm waiting for a response. Admitting that I essentially failed at my group assignment is not easy. I tried so hard to find what we needed that I spent an entire week's energy doing research.
But research on our topic is not expected to just pop up, because the data we need is so insanely specific! If anyone knows where I can find reading scores for 15 13 year-olds from the UK sorted by gender, class and ethnicity, please let me know!
Okay, that's the end of my rant. :P When we uploaded our gun videos the other night, we came across this oldie from last summer. Turning up the volume for this one would be a good idea, so you get the full effect.

P.S. Happy Birthday, DAD!!

Free Coffee and a Trip to Scappoose

Our Banking Center had a heated competition with the Hawthorne branch on Friday. The manager there, Doug, challenged our manager that his team could open up three checking accounts and file 2 credit card applications before we could. Being naturally competitive, our manager accepted the terms of the bet. The losing team had to call the winning team's branch on Monday (tomorrow) and formally apologize to the team for "accepting a challenge they knew they couldn't win." To top it off, the losing team's manager had to hand-deliver coffee for the entire winning team. Pressure was on.

Within 20 minutes of opening, we had one credit card application and one new checking account. Lombard-Greeley: 1, Hawthorne: 0.

By 4:00pm, we were up to 3 credit cards and 3 checking accounts. Hawthorne had a respectable 2 of each.

By 6:00pm, we had 4 credit card apps and 5 checking accounts. Luck was on our side today as our average day barely yields two checking accounts and maybe one credit card app if we're lucky. We are at a big disadvantage with being in a less affluent area with minimal foot traffic (they are in a major metro area). Silly goals, but it won us coffee and bragging rights! The underdog prevails.

After a long week at work, Katie and I decided to head out to Scappoose for a little redneck fun. In case you're wondering, Scappoose is a quiet, rural town North West of us. See the map below for a general idea--we are at "A" and Scappoose is at "B."

It is amazing to think this place exists less than 20 miles from bustling downtown Portland. It feels like Eugene but with even less people and more hills.

I'm not sure why the font just turned blue... Anyways, technical difficulties aside, we found a nice little spot off a dirt road. We hiked in a few dozen yards and found a decent clearing that reminded me of the redwoods we used to visit in Moraga.

While we were there, we thought a little target practicing might be fun! After all, Katie has never shot a handgun before, and it had been a long time for me.

As it turns out she is a great shot. :)

We also brought the 9mm.

We had some extra ammo in the end, so I tried to shoot a can filled with dirt as fast as possible.

I'm pretty sure I missed the can 8 of 10 times. It's not easy!

After a couple of hours out there, we decided to pack it in and head home. It was a fun and rewarding time out--the ammo was cheap, the drive was short, and the weather was perfect!

What to do?!

Over the last few days I've been trying to figure out my "next move" in terms of future work. I've gotten a couple offers for baby-sitting jobs, but they're part time and only a few hours per week. In other words, I'd have to piece together a schedule with different families to make it sustainable. While I have plenty of experience as a nanny/sitter, I'm at the point where I feel I need to be shooting a little higher! As we all know, it's near impossible to find teaching jobs at this time. And if I became a preschool teacher I'd be making even less money than as a nanny. Unfortunately with all the budget cuts and layoffs, there are few jobs available to someone like me, with a heavy concentration of social science skills. This means lots more competition for full time, salaried jobs in my field of expertise. Which ultimately means that it could be a long while before I am hired for such a job.

I have a couple choices right now...

*I could start nannying again.
Pros: Instant money, "under the table," easy job, flexible, and I have plenty of experience.
Cons: I would not be gaining any "new" experience or skills for my resume, families want commitment for at least 6 months which limits my chances of finding a better (full time/salaried) job during that time. Also, I've been a nanny for 5 straight years now and I think I might be ready for a change.
OR
*I could look for full-time work that somehow aligns with my experience/education.
Pros: Hopefully more money and stability, new jobs skills and experiences to add to my resume, more potential for upward mobility and advancement.
Cons: Limited number of jobs out there, could take a while before I'm hired. Less flexibility than being my own boss as a nanny.

My biggest fear is not getting hired. Even with a Master's degree, I'll have a lot of competition. I'm staying optimistic that things will work out and I'll have a stable job in the near future. Until then, I've got 1.25 chapters to go on my thesis and a giant research paper to write with a group from my other class. My hands will be quite full for the next month, regardless.
After that I think I'll be needing another vacation ;)

Because I can't publish a blog without at least one picture, here's a shot of me with a "world's biggest pancake" at breakfast with our friends last weekend.

Pay no mind to Nathan's creepy face in the background... there was a mirror on the wall behind me.

Not sure if you can get the idea of its size in this picture, but this pancake extended 2 inches beyond the large plate on all sides. I only managed to eat half!

P.S. Check out that flat sternum! :P

Back to the Grind

I'm back from my warm and relaxing vacation and have been finding it a bit difficult getting back into the swing of things. On the up side, I finished two chapters of my thesis this weekend and have only one to go! Somehow I was able to write both chapters at Steven and Jodi's house, despite the noise and excitement of ten friends coming together for the weekend. The end is so close, I can almost taste it :P
Anyway, I had a fabulous week with family and friends. I was on the go for most of it, trying to fit in everything and everyone while I was down there. Palm Springs was amazing. The weather was incredible--85 to 90 degrees the entire time! It was about the same in Temecula and Grand Terrace (where Steven and Jodi live). I was spoiled with sun every day--not a rain drop or cloud in sight.

In Palm Springs we sat by the pool most of the time, trying to cram in a slight tan if possible. 

It was so nice to have time together with my sisters again. I saw them for a few hours when I flew down to move our stuff up to Portland, but otherwise I hadn't seen them since December. 

 We of course had to make a stop at In-N-Out on our way home from Palm Springs. There aren't any in Oregon, and I had been craving it for a couple months now. I'll have you know, the burger did not disappoint.

The day after Palm Springs, Kim CC and I had a quick "sister photoshoot" with our friend Jadrien, and then drove to Temecula to spend the day with our Opa and Oma. I think it was a special occasion, because my Oma got out the 30-year old liquor--Christmas bottle cozy and all--to add to our OJ. It was still good ;)
From Temecula, Kim and Courtney dropped me off with Steven and Jodi. I spent three nights with our Sonoma friends and it was amazing. I don't think we've spent that much time together since the dorm days four years ago (Was is really that long ago?!).

I already miss them! They might just be coming up here to Portland for our next reunion. That or Vegas... Either way, I really can't complain!

And now, back to the grind...

A Week with Toby

This past week, Katie was down in Orange County to visit friends and family. Yes, while I got to enjoy a week of rain and mid 50's temperature, Katie had to suffer through 85 degree days at the pool. Poor lady. She even sent me a photo of the sky in Palm Springs to show me just how much better I had it up here... I think something was wrong with it -- it was a sickly blue and had no clouds. Yuck.

Joking aside, I'm happy she got to go down and see her friends. It looks like they all had a great time reconnecting. I will admit: each photo Katie sent me from down there made me jealous!

That's okay, though. I managed to fill up the growler with an absolutely delicious Stout this week. I forget the name of it, but it was brewed right here in Portland. Seven dollars very well spent, in my opinion. 

I did manage to get out a bit while she was gone, though. A trip to Cathedral Park with the dog was a nice way to break up the day.

This past week went by kind of fast, even though I had to spend it without Katie. My branch sent me to Tigard (a small town South West of Portland) for a four-day sales training workshop. It was a great experience that has already paid off! The instructor did an excellent job at making it simple and engaging that managed to renewed my interest in working for the company. It helped me view the whole sales/relationship building process in a more positive light. Additionally, my sales numbers for the week shot up. The icing on the cake came at the end when the instructor told me he thinks I am management material and that he "doesn't have a doubt in his mind" that I'll be managing a banking center within a year. Woo hoo!

To unwind this week, I also managed to get in some extra games of Call of Duty with Todd. Working six days a week, albeit 40 hours, really does cut into personal time, so I am grateful we had the opportunity to log some gameplay.

Today, Katie came back home. And Toby was ecstatic to see her. On the way back from the airport, we decided to stop into our favorite Chinese restaurant: New Happy Fortune. Ultra cheap and delicious. For $5.95, we got to take advantage of an amazing lunch special: Pork fried rice with fried wontons, giant eggrolls, hot and sour soup, sweet and sour chicken, and Oolong tea. So much food.

Oh! I almost forgot to share my April Fools prank. Well, the prank was played on me by my scheming coworkers who had all week to plan it while I was away at training. Sneaky. One of the tellers took me into the vault and said, "Hey Nick I just want to give you a heads up so they don't catch you off-guard. I overheard the managers talking the other day about you being red-flagged for opening an account improperly. They said the guy ended up defrauding something like $40,000."

Wow! It seemed plausible because earlier that week I got two e-mails from Corporate Security regarding a very similar situation. One of the e-mails was directed at me specifically for an account I opened improperly (oops), but I thought I had fixed the problem. The other was about $40k missing from the bank. Anyways, a little bit later, my manager took me aside and told me I had been red-flagged for accepting phony identification. She led me on for a few minutes, telling me they had stolen over $40k from the bank and I was convinced it was all due to my mistake. I even had an idea in my mind of who it was.

"April Fools!"

What an effective prank, made possible by my own mind. I guess it's true what they say-- "Man's greatest enemy of all is himself."