Published!

On Sunday evening I received a very exciting e-mail... ERIC (Education Resources Information Center) sent me a message saying that they've published my thesis to their database! This means that students and researchers can search the database for my paper--and even cite it for their own research. How cool is that?!
In other news, I'm still on the job hunt. This week I'm applying for the "Community Support Specialist Supervisor" position with Catholic Community Services here in Portland (among other jobs). The job description sounds like it's right up my alley and I feel like I could do lots of good in that position-- please wish me luck as I apply! 
This weekend I am driving down to Eugene to watch Joe and Susan's three little ones--I'm sure the kids and I will have lots of fun during the few days that I'm down there. Hopefully the weather clears up a bit, though! It was raining bullets a few hours ago, but at the moment it's clear and sunny. Gotta love the bipolar weather up here.

Entering the Real World

It's official, I'm done with schooling for good! 

Thank you all for your well wishes, love and support!

Last week I permitted myself a few days "off" to savor my success and reward myself a bit. I also bought myself flowers in lieu of flying down to San Rafael to attend my graduation ceremony. I will admit that this grad school graduation has been pretty anticlimactic. I didn't realize how significant "walking" is in providing closure after two years of hard work. At times it has been difficult to find closure for this chapter in my life because there was no "significant event" to mark it. Granted, I still don't regret my decision to stay home rather than fly out solely to attend the ceremony. I just have a better understanding of what it can do for one's psyche! Maybe getting my diploma in the mail will help me mark the end of that chapter. 

I've applied to several jobs lately, from social worker to university "success coach" to kindergarten teacher (yes, there are a couple teaching jobs out there-- keep your fingers crossed!). As long as I can secure a job within the Social Services arena, I will be very happy. No interview calls yet-- but I have a feeling that next week will be a good one.

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

He's Hired!

NICK GOT THE JOB!! 

WOOHOO! 

Monday evening Nick got a voicemail on his phone from the staffing agent with Bank of America. When they finally spoke that night, she offered him the job as personal banker in North Portland! We are so excited, as we were getting just a bit desperate with our situation! He has worked incredibly hard for this (with over 40 resumes distributed in under 30 days) and I couldn't be more proud of him. :)

Nick left for Portland this afternoon to take care of business (i.e. fingerprinting and paperwork) with the company before his first day of work, February 9. He'll be living in our Portland rental for at least the next couple weeks while he settles into the new job. After that, we'll be looking for a place to finally call our home.

Last night I realized that we'll have been living in temporary housing for four months at the end of February. Because of our nasty landlord situation, we got out of our Novato rental in early November and moved to Concord for the month. With December came my surgery** in Orange County, and that's where I stayed until we headed to Portland on January 1. Now it's February and I'm in Eugene for the month. In four months I've been in 4 places across 1000 miles: North CA, South CA, North OR, South OR. Needless to say, I am very ready to have a more permanent home again. We're already browsing potential rentals-- the time can't pass quick enough!

**Sidenote: today is 2 months post-op for me! I still have quite a bit of back muscle pain and soreness where the bar is placed. Mornings are the worst for me because I wake up very stiff. I also hear/feel a "clicking" in my sternum when I breathe in and out... it doesn't hurt, but it can get annoying! Otherwise I feel great and can do most everything I could pre-op. We went on a hike this weekend and I did pretty well--I could tell that I was out of shape though! Hopefully the soreness will go away soon. We've been using the hot tub almost nightly here at the cabin, and it makes a huge difference!

Happy Dog

Yesterday morning Nick, Toby and I drove down to Eugene. Toby and I will be staying at Auntie Linda's home for the whole month of February to house-sit while she and Uncle Mike vacation in Arizona (and beyond!). They live on the outskirts of Eugene, somewhat in the boonies. Their cabin and surrounding property is beautiful and so peaceful. People pay big money for vacation homes with this kind of atmosphere. :) It is such a nice getaway from the house where we've been staying. While it serves its purpose and is a reasonable price, our temporary home in Portland is quite dark, dreary and cold... the complete opposite of this warm, cozy cabin! Needless to say, I am more than happy to be staying here for the month--and I am pretty sure Toby is, too. 

He was pretty cooped up in Portland and could only stretch his legs when we let him outside (for mere minutes at a time... because that dog can't be trusted with his digging habits in the scent-filled yard!).

While he can't be off leash around this property because it's not fenced, he gets plenty of outside doggy time  on his extra-long leash (tied to a tree several yards away from the house). He also gets free reign in the house, which keeps him mighty busy following the many strange new smells. 

Anyway, onto some human-related matters: This week Nick finds out whether or not he got the job as a personal banker with Bank of America. He'll be staying with me in Eugene until he finds out. If he got it, he'll head straight back to Portland and get to work! If not, we will likely move out of our temporary housing in Portland and stay in Eugene permanently, looking for work down here instead.

Either way it will be a bittersweet situation, as we truly like Portland and Eugene for each of their unique qualities. Regardless, I'm sure we will be visiting the other town very frequently because there is so much to do and explore in both places!

   

Quick Job Update

Phillips and Co = no-go. It sounded promising, but apparently becoming an "Investment Advisor" would have me as one of about 50 guys working in a call center making cold-calls to individuals and businesses to solicit portfolio management services. The job required 60-100 cold calls per day, 2 to 3 solid leads, and no face-to-face time with clients. The base salary for that job would've helped us make ends meet, but I have a hard time seeing myself advancing in this company--they claim that it is a team environment, yet there are 50 or more guys vying for a single Junior Partner position with the firm. I just can't bring myself to be the next Bud Fox (Charlie Sheen) from Wall Street:

If you want an idea of the work environment, picture a 60x25 room. Fill it with 50 frat boys, cheesy sales pitches, and the word "bro." It sort of had the vibe of an AT&T tech help center. It was a little disappointing. 

Last night, Katie and I were talking about moving down to Eugene to try our luck out there for jobs. With over 40 copies of my resume and cover letter circulating the field, I felt like I struck out up here after achieving only a 5% response rate. It was a hard decision, but the competition might not be as fierce in Eugene, which is why we were considering it. Katie will be watching my aunt and uncle's place for the month of February, so we would also be able to benefit from having a rent-free month. Plus, Eugene is absolutely beautiful and more up our alley than sprawling urban metropolises... metropoli? 

Versus:

 

Around 8:30 this morning, however, a staffing agent from Bank of America called my phone and invited me to have an interview with one of the Portland branches. I said "absolutely!" Before hanging up, she asked me if I was familiar with the Lombard-Greeley area of Portland, which I sort-of am. She said, "Well, there's an open position out there for you also--do you want an interview?" 

"Sure!"

It is amazing how our situation can change in just a matter of hours. With Bank of America being my first choice, and with the greatest opportunity for career development in Finance, there was no way I could turn it down (even if it wasn't in beautiful Eugene). I had my first interview today for a Personal Banker position at the B of A just down the street (1.4 miles) and I have another interview for the same position this Thursday. Today's interview went great--I felt confident coming out of the meeting and am sure I will do even better this Thursday. It looks like Portland is back on the map! Sorry Eugene--your turn will come.

In other news, we had a very enjoyable weekend with my Eugenian and Lake Oswegian cousins--Joe, Susan, Timothy, MacKenzie, Jacob, Madison*, Danny, Chris, and Hieu. On Saturday we went to The Old Spaghetti Factory and spent some time at Chris and Hieu's condo, where we played video games and hung out as kids. The next day we met up with them for a nice nature walk, lots of Oswegian exploring, and an awesome trip to an indoor clubhouse pool with an extravagant slide and waterpark-like features:

Since our visit, Katie and I have been inspired to check out Lake Oswego for our first rental--it is a lot like Walnut Creek/Moraga/Eugene in terms of layout and scenery. most of the apartments and townhomes in that area are about $400-$500 less than the rent we were paying in Novato, and have free access to that clubhouse. The heated indoor pool, full-range gym, spa, sauna, and other indoor recreation activities definitely sweeten the deal of living in this community. It is a little more south of Portland, but only about 15 minutes from where we currently live:

Regardless of what happens over the next few weeks, things are likely to change drastically. If I secure a job up here in Portland, then we will likely have a nice rental by March. I really hope this is the case, simply for the sake of adding some stability to our lives and being able to have some friends/family up soon! If I don't get the job, however, I'll be down in Eugene and pounding the pavement down there for work. Those are the plans for now--both are bittersweet and full of excitement :)

Nothing more to say on my end, so I'll leave you with a few pictures from our weekend that Katie and I took. By the way, click them for full-size versions!

Katie and Baby Jacob

Nature Walk Through Lake Oswego

Cousin Joe and His Son Tim

The City of Portland from Rocky Butte 

-Nick

Nick has an interview!

Just a quick note to let you all know that Nick has landed an interview with Phillips & Co, an investment firm in Downtown Portland. He did an informal phone interview on Thursday and he goes in for the formal interview tomorrow at 11am. If he gets the job, his title will be "investment advisor." Keep your fingers crossed for us and say a little prayer-- he deserves this job more than anyone I know!

**Another update is coming soon; we've had a pretty busy weekend.**