I will be getting rid of this blog, I've started another. the address is:
http://quietbirdsandbeasts.blogspot.com/

I'm BACK

I'm back to it. It's been entirely way too long since I've posted anything on here. It's insane how much has happened/changed. You see, our computer died, then everything else went up in a whirlwind.
Let me start at the beginning.
In I believe it was in June, we visited our friends JD and Callie in Oregon. Just for a quick weekend visit. While we were in Portland we stopped by the Diesel store and I was told a Visual position was opening up very soon and that I could transfer in before the fall. So, when I got the word that it was true, I put in my notice, and I got ready to leave. Unfortunately I was getting ready to go alone. Deuce would have to stay behind and finish the house to put on the market.
On September 3rd Deuce and I, along with our dogs, embarked on the journey to Oregon.
So, here I am, staying with the very gracious JD and Callie, in their home with my two crazy dogs.
I am working for Diesel in Portland, and the only two things I could complain about are as follows:
1. My commute. Yes, I was spoiled rotten in Denver with my 7-15 minute commute, and I see that now, because I have to drive at least an hour and fifteen minutes to and from work everyday. It's not my favorite thing to do, but I'm trying to make the best of it and use my time wisely, and listen to NPR or MARS HILL podcasts.
2. Deuce not being here. THIS is the big one. Being separated from your husband isn't fun. I married the guy because I enjoy his company. Not to have a long distance stupid relationship...
And I do hate the fact that he is all alone working on that damn house. I was visiting every weekend to help him, but now that the holiday season is right around the corner, I must be present for all the store's holiday meetings which fall on Sundays. But this is just temporary, and it will pass, and I will soon have my husband in my life on a day-to-day basis again and he will be MUCH happier after walking away from that house.
We are hoping he will be able to drive out here mid-November, and he'll just fly back and forth to keep the airline gig until the house sells. Callie has also set up a job for him in her company. It pays quite well, which we need right now, because we need to get out of debt and be able to settle down. In a NEW house that needs NO renovations.

Prayer needs:
That Deuce will get help on the house on a regular basis, so he can move up here sooner than later.
That we are financially taken care of one way or another.
Books I'm reading:
I just finished A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius-Dave Eggars.
Mere Christianity-CS Lewis, I've never read this, but I'm very excited.

random thoughts

So I've been getting grilled at work, my area manager is calling me with ridiculous feedback and making me do the tiniest touch ups to certain parts of the store. I don't mind, I'd rather have busy work than no work right now!! But when I get called to put a button up under the leather jacket on the rack I'm thinking we need to be using our time a bit better! hahaha...
We have our new housemate Meg living with us right now, which is good, she has a little Yorkie named Mogwai he's pretty adorable, but a little yapper when he's upset, which isn't my favorite thing, but he's pretty darn cute!
Needless to say it's a full house, and we have our friend Jeff coming to stay with us this week. He went to CCU with us, and now he lives in Ohio. We haven't seen him in a few years, so it'll be good to have him around.
This week should be pretty busy again, with work on my back, Jeff to entertain, and oh yeah my car broke down on Friday night, don't worry mom Deuce was with me, and I wasn't stranded or anything! :) But I just hope it's not going to cost an arm and a leg! I hope it's just a computer bug and they can just reset it and it'll all be ok!
So Anna and I went to see Watchmen today. It's awesome!! It's 2 and 1/2 hours long, but so good! It's based off of a graphic novel, so it's not a movie for anyone with a weak stomach or under the age of 18... but very moving. I enjoyed it.
Books I'm reading:
Just finished The Alchemist and currently reading Diary by Chuck Palahniuk (he wrote Fight Club, he's one of my favorite authors)
Music I'm listening to:
Elliott Smith, Over the Rhine, and Boys Noize
Documentaries I'm watching:
I'm in the middle of a short called Trafficking. Google some stats on Human Trafficking, it's terrifying!!
OH and those of you who pray, which I'm sure is all of you, pray for my friend Serissa. She is going through a very rough time right now, and I'm trying to be a support to her (she really has nobody right now) I won't gossip about her troubles, but just pray for wisdom and the strength to do what's right for her and her 2 year old.

it's been a while

Sorry I've taken a bit of a vacation from blogging. Let's see here... so I went to Kansas City to visit Sarah and it was a very relaxing trip. We didn't do much, just hung out, and we were able to catch up which was fantastic. She's temporarily there living with her mom to save some $$ before heading to NY.
Once I got home, it was back to the grind! I had 3 days to plan another floorset when I usually have 5. Which ended up being ok, I work with a very seasoned staff, so I can depend on them (most of the time) to help me out. Sunday night was the floorset and the windows took me forever! They weren't difficult, just very detailed and I kept getting pulled out to help our new sales girl Alli with placing some product on the floor. Which was fine, it just set my normal routine off. I'm usually done with the window in 2 hours, this time I finished it in 4.... ugh! but here they are... Beautiful!
So every year in Denver they do something called Denver Restaraunt Week. It's where all sorts of high priced restaraunts create a menu that is either $26.40 for one person or $52.80 for two. Deuce and I LOVE $52.80 week, we get to try new places without breaking the bank! We are super busy, and rarely get quality time, but we were able to squeeze two date nights in last week and had two great experiences! One of his snowboarder buddies is the GM of this great place called VITA, he had a special table reserved for us, and bought us an amazing bottle of wine. The next night we tried Sullivan's Steakhouse, which was great too! I'm sad we weren't able to go to more, but I'm happy with what we were able to do!
This week Christy and I have been trying to work out more, which is killing me! In a good way! We are doing her Power 90 dvd's... and man is it working! I'm so sore! hahaha... it's great, because summer is JUST around the corner, and Deuce and I are going to try to go on a cruise, which means bathing suit time! ugh...
just thinking about that makes me want to work out right now! I better go do that then. I'll be better at posting more often, I promise!

Vegas Baby!

So I'm back. What a week it's been! So on Sunday the 1st, I did my install/floor set which was fantastic. It was quite the long night, I think we left the store around 1:30 in the morning... but I had a great team working with me, so the store looked phenomenal when we were done. Here is the finished Denim Wall, I'm very pleased with it.
So, the following two days all I was doing were final touches in the store, and getting ready to leave for Vegas. Wednesday I had to catch a 6:15am flight out, 4am is an hour I don't usually wake up to, it's an hour I usually fall asleep to! So that was hard! But I landed, met up with the visual from Seattle, Sou. (He and I always hang out together) we had a few hours to rest before our meeting at 1:30. Funny story, usually at these things everyone gets really dressed up and tries to impress everyone else with how cute they are... well I've been to so many I don't care anymore. I knew I'd be sitting through 7-8 hours of continuous blather about the new collection, why bother right? Well, as you walk into the suite the meetings were held in, you see a big pane of glass that looks into the shower (mind you this is in Vegas) and in the shower is a stripper pole. So we were all asked to get our picture taken with said stripper pole. A. I don't do stripper poles, B. I did not look cute enough to have my picture taken! C. Really?!?
But I had to do it... I just hope it was accidentally deleted from the camera! haha...
So after the meetings we had a mixer, and we were in bed by 11:30pm, ready to go at 5:30am to meet in the store by 6am to do our workshops.
We were broken into groups to work in specific shops, (mens, denim, accessories...etc) I was in the men's group which was fine except that there was only one other guy out of the six of us in the group who had been with the company longer that 1 month! It was a challenge to say the least, but the store looked amazing when we were done.
I won't bore you with pictures of the Vegas store, apparently it's only interesting to me! haha...
We were finished with the store by 1pm, we had lunch at this great sushi place Ra.
After sushi my roommate and I went back to our room and took a nice long nap!! My roommate by the way was amazing, a bad roommate can really ruin a trip! So I was thankful I was rooming with her. Then after our nap, we rushed downstairs to meet up for our dinner and night out on Diesel!
We had such a great meal, and even though the club we were originally supposed to have our "night out" in somehow forgot that we were coming and turned us away (oh Vegas is just so on the ball!!) we ended up in another club having a blast! It's really nice to spend the evening with people you know, rather than complete strangers!

On our last day we had meetings, and were kicked out two hours ahead of schedule because the hotel had double booked our meeting room! Like I said, Vegas is really on the ball! haha...
So with our extra two hours a few of us went to the Bellagio and really dorked out like tourists! but it was beautiful!
I arrived back in town Friday night, and I'm back in the store getting everything ready for my boss to arrive tomorrow night! These next few months with our personal lives and work lives are going to be nutty!

Deuce is enjoying the airline, he is out on the tarmac now, either throwing luggage or directing the planes. It's a bit boring for his liking, but it's a job! We are very blessed to have the work we do! Even though I'm tired, I'm so thankful to have a good reason!
We have a girl moving into the house in March for a month, guests coming into town the last week of February and a guest coming into town in the middle of March! Will there ever be a time when my life isn't planned three months in advance? Probably not!
Sorry the post is so long, I just wanted to pack it all in!

Denim controls my life....

Work.
This week, the next, and the one following that will be insane. But I'm welcoming the change! Sale is the worst! The store is messy, the customers are messy/rude, the standards just disappear, but now is the time of the season when I get to "take over" again... and start putting out the new collection as well as bringing the standards back to where they belong... So this week I'm putting out all the new denim. These pictures are of the denim wall... its one of the largest in the company, and it's a TASK to put together! The first picture is of the entire wall, the second is the first half that took me most of Thursday to re-set. I finished it up on Friday. I am doing the big floor-move on Sunday night, putting in windows, placing a new collection and basically moving the entire store around. SO getting the denim wall done early will save me and the team SO much time Sunday night. And yes, I work for a company that is made up of so many homosexuals that they schedule a major floor-move to be executed by every store on the biggest sports night of the year... hahaha! Good thing I don't care about football!

Next week I go to Vegas, where I will be learning about the new Spring Summer collection and what new standards I have to implement in my store. Then the following week I will then come back and have a visit from my boss (area visual manager) and his boss (area manager) so the store must look amazing. I also have to present everything I will have learned in Vegas to the staff with my area bosses... oh what fun!
BUT I am thankful for the work, and the ability to be creative in my job, and that I don't have to sit in front of a computer all day long.

things on my mind:
Family
My stomach issues (am I REALLY this stressed?)
Preforming the perfect balancing act of a good friend/sister/wife/employee....

Last week was horrible.
after the flu hit me I took it very easy all week. Usually when something sad like losing my cat happens, I keep myself busy so I don't stay in the sadness, last week I just couldn't be busy, that flu just kept me down. However, I bounced back faster than normal, and I do attribute that to my chiropractor. Airborne and liters of water every day helped too! :)
So with all the time to relax I was able to realize that I'm not happy. It's not that I didn't know, I was just able to really realize it. The other night Christy and I were watching TV and she invited me out somewhere, and I declined. She kept probing as to why and finally asked "what's up with you? aren't you happy?" I just burst into tears. I nodded no. Her response "Wow, you are good at hiding it!"
Sometimes, with the depression I deal with, masking your emotions is the only way to get through the day! After I was able to vent to her my stresses of working two jobs, still barely making ends meet, and various other little issues, I felt better. It's not that I don't have a good support system in my life, I do. It's that I am moving through this life so fast I don't realize I need to use it every once in a while!
So no, I'm not happy with where we live, or the fact that I work two jobs, but this is all just a means to an end, we are working toward moving forward. I am constantly reminding myself that this literally is only the interim. Deuce getting the airline job is just one more step closer.
I am happy with my husband, and the life we have built, I am happy the next step is so close. I am happy with the big picture, just unhappy with the small snapshots.
But on to better things!
Sunday was great! We both decided to take a day for us, so we had breakfast in bed, then we went rollerskating with some friends from the club. It was a blast. Deuce had never been to a roller rink before, and of course although it was his first time on roller skates (he only used roller blades growing up) he was awesome.
After rollerskating we went and had some lunch with our friends at a great little Chinese restaurant. Came home and relaxed.
This week at work will be CRAZY I am resetting the entire store on Sunday, so all week will be prep work for that. But I'm excited, it is about time for me to actually DO MY JOB! (I hate sale....)

sick day

Saturday night I felt a bit of a tickle in my throat, it hit me hard Monday morning... I was so achy and felt horrible! Plus working till 7pm didn't help me either. I came home feeling dizzy and terribly achy, watched the rest of There Will Be Blood with Christy (excellent film btw!!!) then went to bed. I didn't sleep really well, my cough kept me up. Woke up this morning, showered, arrived at Diesel 20 minutes late, only to have my boss tell me to go home and rest up. Awesome! So I turned right around, came home, and crashed on the couch, getting my last cuddles in with Sylvester before Deuce took her in to be put to sleep. It was hard today to say goodbye to Sylvester, but I know it was the best choice for her. She was in pain.

I missed the inauguration but watched the ridiculously long parade while I drifted in and out of sleep on the couch. Deuce came home later in the afternoon, and we went down to our chiropractor. He's great because he is holistic and doesn't believe in drugs at all. He doesn't usually do manual adjustments, he uses this strange gun that is a more gentle and an area specific way of adjusting things back to where they belong. He even did something crazy to my sinuses and forehead and I feel so much better!
Good news, Deuce got the job with Great Lakes! He starts his orientation on Monday. They only fly to little towns like Billings MT and Kansas City, but after 90 days we can fly Frontier and Southwest for free as well as other airlines for a discounted rate. What a HUGE blessing!!!
My first trip will be to Kansas City to see my dear friend Sara! I'm very excited.

crazy times

I'm taking it easy today. I'm still recovering from this week. Wednesday I worked at Diesel, then I did coat check, made a whopping $14, but luckily I've convinced the manager that they do not need me there Wednesdays. Then Thursday I had to work 1-9:30pm at Diesel, then went straight out to a dance club to see a favorite DJ of mine with my friend Anna and Deuce. We met up with some other friends, and Christy came by the club later that night as well. It was a blast. We hung out for a bit after the club closed down, and ended up hanging out with the DJ. It was a great time. Anna and the DJ hit it off, which was good for her. She's quite elated about the situation actually. Then Friday I had to work at Diesel in the morning, which was rough, because we didn't get home until at least 4:30am. I promptly came home from work, crashed for a few hours before getting up to go back to work coat check. Luckily I don't have to run around for that job! It ended up being a good night as well.
So today Deuce and I have been moving quite slow today.

Other news, Deuce had an interview with GreatLakes Air on Friday, he is 98% sure he got the job as a luggage carrier. Which is SUCH a relief. It's a bit of extra money, and we can switch to his health insurance so that I could get pregnant and not worry about my job! PLUS there are free flight benefits to be had! Very exciting news!!

Some sad news, we made an appt. to put my cat Sylvester down on Tuesday. She is 18 years old, and not doing well. I don't want her to be in any pain anymore, so Deuce will be taking her to the Dumb Friends League. I won't be going, I don't think I'll be able to handle that! She was really cute today with Deuce. She never cuddles with Deuce, so this was definitely a moment!

easy day

Today was quite relaxed at work. I moved a few things around, but nothing major since I'm going to be putting the 1st delivery of our spring summer collection on the floor Feb 1st. This time of year is always hard for my creativity to flourish. It's the end of sale, which is so boring to merchandise. "Bulk and pop!" is the term for the sale season. Meaning put as many units on the floor to make the sales pop! This time of year also means inventory, which means the store is a wreck for a week... I spent three hours organizing our denim back stock on Monday...
But my trip to VC always gives me a renewed passion for my job. I usually come back with new ideas, and enough fuel to last me for another 6 months.

I did see a video on my break about a family in Penn. that named their children: Adolf Hitler Campbel, JoyceLynn Aryan Nation Campbell and Honszlynn Hinler Jeannie Campbell. The children were removed from their parents home today because of reports of abuse and neglect. I am in a state of shock over this. More thoughts to come later.

After work today I went over to the Chiropractor again for a quick adjustment. Now that my bones are being put back where they belong my muscles are sore! So Deuce bought us a massage chair which I'm using at the moment. A-MAZING!! It's a nice way to relax before I go in to do coat check at the club tonight. I'm hoping it is a more lucrative evening tonight, last Wednesday night I made about $14. But it's much colder this week and should snow by 10:30, so that should bring more coats my way. Luckily I like Wednesday's crowd, we have Goth night in the basement and a breakdancing upstairs. Goth night is my favorite! Very polite crowd, intelligent, they tip well and they are very interesting conversationalists. Not nearly as scary as most people think it is. Plus my coat check room is next to the 80's room. Not a bad night at all.

Well I should go get dressed for work! Thanks for reading....

Things on my mind today-
The Campbell family (Why so much hatred?)
All the things to do in our house.... (when will there be time!?)

the genesis

The thought of blogging hadn't crossed my mind until I received a note from Doris today asking if I had one. So I started think that it might be a good way to not only keep you all up to speed, but to help me capture this time in our life!
I've named this The Interim because Deuce and I both feel as though we are stuck. Stuck between where we were and where we want to be. The house we live in at the moment has been many things to us over the past 4 years, but right now it is a burden. We are almost finished with it and both looking forward to moving to Vermont to start a family and settle. Denver is just not what we want.

So it begins...
Didn't do much today. I worked at Diesel for a nice short 6 hour shift and Anna was working today as well. She has become such a dear friend in such a short time. We rarely get to work together, so today was a treat. I ran out of Diesel and sped over to my chiropractor, Dr. V. for a quick adjustment and some time on the massage bed. What a nice end to my work day! Ran home from there and vegged out for a bit, made some dinner, waited for Deuce to get home from snowboarding in Breckenridge all day with Travis. Expected them to go tinker with all the motorcycles in the garage for their weekly White Trash night, but the snowboarding took too much out of them, so they called it a night very early.

Work has been getting better. I have been getting along with management much more than in previous months. I think my competence is being acknowledged more and because of that I feel more respected, and I'm given more creative freedom. It's nice! I am flying to Vegas Feb 4-6 for training. I am very excited to get out of Denver for a few days. For those of you who don't know, every 6 months I am sent for a training session called Visual Camp. All the Visual Merchandisers from each Diesel store are sent to one place where we learn about the new collection, the inspirations, what they want us to implement in our stores, and then we get to do some hands on workshops in the local Diesel stores. Always accompanied by great hotels, great dinners, and much merriment! I have befriended a few of the other Visual Merchandisers in my area and it's always so fun to see them for a few days.

Well tomorrow should be similar to today, work-chiropractor-dinner.... but then I have to go to the club to do coat check.

Some issues on my mind lately:
How love changes (for better and for worse)
Friendships (why must I have such a hard time investing in them?!)
Children (am I ready? Are WE ready? What about money? Health insurance?)