:(

Today was my last day at the Center for Childhood Development. It was a sad day. They brought me gifts and cards which was really sweet of them, but saying good-bye to everyone was really hard. I really had a fun time working with all the people there. It is hard to leave a good work environment. The hardest part was when my co-workers said they would really miss my friendship at work...awwww, that brought a tear to my eye.

on to the next road in my life...

new job!

don't be shocked...but i'm actually posting on this thing!!!

I have BIG news!!! I have a new job as a "personal lines research specialist" at Foremost! I am starting on July 2, hopefully. I just need to jump through all the hoops and hope that Foremost can get all the paperwork together in time. They want me to start on July 2 so that I can get the yearly bonus next February...sounds good to me!

I put in my almost-two weeks notice today at work. It was a very difficult thing to do. I really like working there, the people are great, but I just need to move on and start my career.

So right now I am excited and sad at the same time.

Life is not fair!

Guess where Dan is right now???


Orlando, Florida!!! On a business trip...business? yay, right! He left this morning at 9 and will be home Sunday around 2 or 3. He will be going to Universal Studios and Pleasure Island with all expenses paid. They are getting the entire park closed down just for them...how nice! They will have a few meetings during the day...or so I've been told.

It was fun to read through his itinerary...
Breakfast: Provided by Ford Motor Company
Lunch: Sponsored by General Motors
Dinner: Hosted by Honda, etc. etc.

Must be nice to have all these sponsors for your meals...I bet they're good!

I begged and pleaded, but Dan wouldn't take me in his carry-on.

twice in one week!

yes, that is right, I am updating the blog twice in one week's time! yay for me!

Just thought I'd let everyone know that I just took my first practice test for my Actuarial exam. I got 9 out of 30 correct, and I guessed on 7 of the 9...i think I have a long way to go...what do you think? To my credit, I have only gone halfway through my study guide. So there was a solid 10 questions that I didn't even know where to begin or know what the topic was about. However, the other 20 I should have known. I just forgot what to do!

Back to studying...

blogging

On a recent shopping trip with my mom and Lacey, we got to talking about posting on our blogs. Lacey mentioned that her friend Murphy doesn't update as much as Lacey would like. To which I replied, "oh, she's kind of like me." To which Lacey immediately said, "no, actually she's a little better than you!" Darn! I lose!

I'm really not so good at this whole updating thing. As I'm sure you all have noticed...

We are alive!

I know it has been FOREVER since we (I) have posted. The holidays are such a busy time! We traveled all over Michigan and Indiana while celebrating Christmas. We have had many opportunities to see friends and family...it really is a wonderful time of year!

So yesterday, January 27, I finally took down our Christmas decorations! yay! I'm pretty excited that I actually got them down before February! Our apartment looks so bare now...we didn't have many decorations before Christmas and now we are back to the blah look.

Dan has been battling sickness after sickness this winter season. He is sick again today...making for a real exciting weekend!

We visited a new church today, Chapel Point in Jenison. We haven't had time to really discuss whether we liked it or not. We went to our friend's house, Cristy and Daniel, for lunch. Daniel was just hired on as Chapel Point's worship director. Chapel point is moving into their new facility in two Sundays which will change the feel of the service alot. I really want to check them out again once they are in their new building. One thing that was really good about the church was their donuts! They had HUGE chocolate glazed donuts! It was wonderful! (there were other things i liked about the church too...i'll write later to discuss those!)

Christmas with the Grandville Stauch's

So I caved in...we planned to open presents on Friday, December 22, but we decided we would both be too tired after a long, busy day at work (more true for dan than me) so we should open them on Thursday...so we did!


Here are our stockings...hung on the wall with care...in hopes that st. nicholas soon would be there...



Danny - opening season 4 of 24...he says i can't watch the new season until i "catch-up" on the first five! That's a lot of 24 by January!



Emily - opening her big present...a Kitchen Aid Mixer!!! yay!!! I wanted one sooo bad. Danny really hinted that he would get it, but I didn't really believe him!

We don't have a picture of dan opening his big present because we ran out of battery power. Danny got an IPAQ, which he has been playing with since he got home from work today.

Christmas with the elder Stauch's was really fun too. We went to k-zoo on Sunday. Pat cooked us a WONDERFUL Christmas dinner: ham, potatoes, corn, rolls, even Cheesecake! It was yummy!

The plan now is Christmas with Oma and Ahdeshe then Christmas with the Rumley's...what a wonderful time of year!