Life Lately

Life lately…yeah, I think now is a good time for a post like this. My life has been crazy lately! But mostly crazy good.

I have been able to spend a ton of time with my mom this last month and its been such a treat. There were hard circumstances that brought me there but we took full advantage of the chance to visit. We talked and we painted our nails and we did mom’s hair and bought cute earrings. It was hard to be away from Chris for so many days, but a treasure to spend time with my mom. She’s such an amazing woman, and I only wish we lived closer and could spend more time together.

At the beginning of September I gave my two-week’s notice at the credit union and took the position of Project Administrator that was created for me at NICA. I have enjoyed working for NICA for almost 2 years now, and my boss and I make a really good team. We’ve got a lot of big projects in the works and she wanted me completely on board, not splitting my time between the 2 jobs. So she made me this amazing offer and I’m still a bit in shock that this is what I do now! NICA is a non-profit organization and I’m so excited to be coordinating classes, creating and curating curriculum, updating our website and staying on top of our social media campaigns, and so much more. I’m the admin for our flooring apprenticeship program and all the behind the scenes stuff for the company. There are exciting times ahead of me here where I will be able to use my creativity, my passion for people and multitasking skills to their full potential. This is my first full week, and I’m loving it already! I was with the credit union for almost a full year, and I know I will miss everyone there. I learned a lot and enjoyed being a part of such a great company. They got me flowers and a card on my last day to say goodbye. So sweet.

Chris and I are rocking our weight loss!! Chris is down 90lbs and I’m down 55lbs. It has been an amazing journey together and its brought us so much closer. I am proud of the progress we’ve made and excited for what’s to come. Being healthy feels so good!

And finally…we bought a new car!!! It’s a 2012 VW Beetle. I’ve named her Golden. Chris found her online and we drove 4 hours to get her. We got such a good deal…she has under 4000 miles, heated leather seats, Bluetooth and is sooo much fun to drive! I’ve wanted a Bug since forever…but especially since my dad gave me a toy one as a gag graduation present. I’m so glad that everything worked out and now I get to drive this darling car everyday. I love the retro styling and that the inside dash is yellow too. It just makes me smile!

So there are some of the things in my life lately. I’m feeling eager for autumn and getting settled into all these new changes, but I’m happy. Really, really happy. Grateful for the big things and all the everyday little things too. Like Thomas Hammer coffee when I was visiting my mom, and being able to go on a long drive with my dad and just talk; taking Gibson with me to work everyday and seeing my husband reach his goals. And wearing size 14 pants again! Man that feels good!

What’s new with you?

#blogtember

Day 15 Prompt: A ‘life lately’ post. What you’re up to and how you’re feeling.

A week to remember

I am back to work today after an amazing week of training in Spokane. It was great to be in the city again for a bit and I am so excited to be a part of the team at Horizon Credit Union. I had fun getting back into the swing of dressing up a bit and wearing professional clothes again, so I wanted to share my outfits from the week.

I wore my new favorite blazer on Monday… I just love how it fits. And then I found some cute purple pants at Target, so I wore those on Thursday. Everything I wore was from Maurices, Target and Burlington Coat Factory. Those are my favorite stores. And if you look closely you might notice the other new thing that I got on Tuesday night: a new phone! I was due for an upgrade so I went ahead and got the Samsung Galaxy S III. I have a hard time with letting go of things (even when they barely work anymore…) so it took some convincing and a really good deal for me to make the switch. But I am so happy with my new phone!

I also took the opportunity of my time in the city to meet up with some of my friends that live there. And go to my favorite (and new favorite) restaurants. My nights were full of great food and encouraging conversations and my days were full of learning.

I know that this last week will be on that I remember for a long time. I felt like I was coming home and starting anew all at the same time. I love the financial industry and the values and member service based philosophy of this credit union. I think its going to be a very good fit for me and my personality.

The group that I was in training with was awesome. We had a lot of fun together and left with so many inside jokes and many important lessons: like remembering to check the expiration date on your cans of pop. I felt like a valuable member of the team at Horizon from day one and my skills and knowledge of the industry were utilized at training. I was able to help explain federal regulations and reporting, bring money handling and customer service experience to the table and it made me feel so good. I learned a lot from the instructors and made some new friends. “Yeah Buddy!”

It was such a terrific week!

And now I’m back home with Chris (thank goodness!) and in my branch again working with members. I am grateful for this opportunity and can’t wait to watch life and my new career flourish.

What’s your favorite thing to wear when you dress up?
Do you have dreams of making a change in your life?
What’s holding you back from moving onward and upward?
I’d love to hear about your experiences with changes…

My first day

On Thursday (10/11/12!) I started my new job at Horizon Credit Union. And they even had my name tag ready for me already. Little things like that make me really happy. If you want to catch up on the story of how I got the job and why I made the change come read this post HERE.

My first day with them went so good. I got to meet everyone at one of the branches that I’ll sometimes work in. Today I’m going to the branch inside of the Safeway store and then next week I go to Ephrata branch, where I’ll mostly be working.

All of the people at the branch were so friendly, kind and welcoming. I just know I’m going to love being a part of this team and fit well with the Credit Union’s values.

What’s the best first day you ever had?
Do you enjoy what you do for work?
Have you ever worked in the banking world?

The next step in my journey

This last week has been a bit of a whirlwind…and the end result is something amazing! I’m sorry I’ve been absent here a few days, but I am so excited to back and to share my inspiring news with you all.

I GOT A NEW JOB!!

I was asked to apply for an open teller position at our local credit union. Chris and I bank there, and they sent an application home with him last week when he deposited his check. They said, “Please have Shaina fill this out and bring it back with a resume.” That was Tuesday. I went back the next morning, met with the manager, gave her my application and resume’ and we talked for awhile about the position and the company. Later that day I got a call from the Moses Lake branch asking to schedule a formal interview, which took place on Thursday morning. Then Friday morning I got a call from HR out of Spokane and had a phone interview too. I was told they would do background checks and everything else and get back to me and let me know either way. I was feeling really good about how my interviews went.

We went to Whidbey Island for the weekend to visit with Chris’ grandparents (I’ve got lots of pictures to share soon from our trip!) and the whole time we were away I was praying that this would work out. It felt like this job would be the answer to a lot of questions and prayers regarding my schedule and our upcoming Russian Language Class. There was no way I would be able to take it with my current work schedule; I wasn’t going to get every Saturday off.

I got the call yesterday afternoon and was offered the job. And because of my experience in the field they’re starting me at one step above a teller with more per hour pay rate. So I’ll get my Saturdays that I need, but not be feeling the less hours financially. It is an amazing blessing!

It is an answered prayer.

I gave my two-week’s notice yesterday and my last day at my current job will be October 10th. I see God’s direction in every part of this…the Russian class starts October 13th.

So this is a time of big celebration!! And lots of happy tears.

My mum has always likened life to a staircase. Sometimes there are a bunch of little steps leading to a big open landing…this feels like the landing I’ve been climbing towards for awhile. I am so grateful and excited for this new chapter and challenge.

So celebrate with me! Think of me while you drink your coffee tomorrow or when you say your specific prayers. I am amazed anew by how Jehovah God cares for me. Thanks for letting me share my exciting news.

I am so happy!

it all makes sense now

This weekend I was reading through my blogs on Google Reader and stumbled across a post that stopped me in my tracks.  With each line I read I kept thing:  "Whoa, this is so ME!" 

The post can be found HERE.  Written by the talented Sarah Wilson, this concept and her take on it made me feel understood.  And even helped me understand myself a little better too.

It all makes sense now:  I am a scanner.

The author, Barbara Sher, who created the term describes "scanners" as "people who are genetically wired to be fanatically interested in multiple things at once."

This is soooo true for me.  I find it debilitating to just pick one thing and say that's what I am.  Right?  I work at a payday loan store, but that isn't who I am.  I love to scrapbook, but I haven't sat down with my papers and pictures in months.  That doesn't mean I am or am not a scrapbooker.   I take pictures...but I'm not just a photographer. 

The world that we live in now puts so much pressure on us to pick something and become an expert.  Its always "What do you want to be when you grow up?"  "You should be a doctor, or a lawyer, or an architect."  "What do you do?"  Being surrounded by this type of thinking makes those who don't fit into just one category feel like there is something wrong with us.  Having an internal need to diversify within our lives creates doubt, and the pressure to pick just one career path immobilizes us for fear of picking the wrong one.

Um, yeah.... this is me to a T!  When I graduated high school I knew all I wanted to do was pioneer.  I wanted to volunteer my time teaching people about the Bible.  But the key word there is volunteer.  So I had to find something to make money to support myself.  And in came the local scrapbook store.  Something I loved and something I was good at.  But when the store closed I had to find something else.  Which led to into the banking industry.  I worked as a teller and I guess now I still kind of am a teller.  I enjoy working with people and with money, but its not a passion of mine.  You want to talk about passion?  Now here is where we get into my love of photography, poetry, design, writing, learning and art and being a wife.  But, whoa!  That's too many things to love to do, right?!  How can I justify loving all those things??  How can my love of those things even begin to be enough to survive on? 

So that is where my idea to take the medical transcriptionist course came from.  I went to a seminar and was completely fired up about the idea.  But now, two years later, I still haven't finished.  The author I spoke of earlier says that “scanners learn fast and need to move their passion onwards. A bee doesn’t hover on a flower if it draws the nectar quickly. Its passion isn’t the flower, it’s gathering nectar.” 

I'm not using this new realization to justify the fact that I haven't finished.  I know I will finish.  But for right now I'm just "gathering my nectar" elsewhere.  I cycle through my interests and I will come back to it.  

For now I'm reveling in the fact that what I am and how I approach life has a name.  And also, I'm not alone.  Its a huge relief to feel ok in flitting between dreams and wanting to do it all and sometimes just doing nothing at all. 

Hi, I'm Shaina and I'm a Scanner.  ♥

Do any of you relate to this??  I'd love to hear your take on the subject! 

its true love

this handsome man of mine has made me a garbage truck driver's wife... and i couldn't be happier!! we have been struggling for some time finding chris a full-time job. and by "for some time" i mean a year and a half. he was laid off from his job in october of 2008 and in the interim has been substitute school bus driving, which is at max 4 hours a day during the school week/year. and because of that title "substitute" we were unable to qualify for a mortgage to buy our house last summer when we first moved in. we are living in it, but paying rent to the homeowners until we could qualify.
hopefully with the news of the new full time job for my hubs that we got yesterday, things can finally fall into place for us!!!
i am so proud of this man. proud to call him my husband and proud to be his wife.

these years we've spent together have been a struggle, but i would not trade them for the world. they have taught me so much about love and life and what marriage really means. this man is my soul mate, my best of friend, and my biggest reason to smile!

its thursday...

but there is nothing that {i love} about it! haha.

right now the shop that i work at is getting audited. yikes! big job to make sure everything is up to par. i'm knee deep in files and paper cuts!
so that's what i've been up to this week.
sorry i have been away...

chris and i are slowly getting over having Influenza A. dude...that sucked. chris is still coughing bad, like -cough till you choke- coughing. poor guy. :( feels like he's been sick forever!

on my days off this week i totally got some spring cleaning done! wahoo!! cleaned out our hall closet, our bedroom closet, and my little scrapbooking room. i had a big pile of stuff to donate that chris dropped off for me today. and now you can see the floor in my scrapbooking room. i don't really do much scrapping in there (mostly do it at work) so it kinda became the "dump-all" room.

look....the floor!! :P

my pile of donation stuff. lots of shoes!!

i am looking forward to the weekend though. friday night marta and i are going to a scrapbooking crop night at the local scrapbooking store. its been soooo long since i scrapped with friends. i'm really excited! i've got to get organized and have some projects ready to work on.
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