Monday, January 26, 2009

t minus 3 hours

Adam's interview is today, not tomorrow. In 3 hours. We fasted yesterday and Adam feels confident about it. I'm having a major bout of nerves right now. I just want them to give the formal offer on the phone call instead of making us wait even longer. Get it over with already! We've only been waiting on these people since October!

Sunday, January 25, 2009

Emma!



I know we're really lousy about taking pictures, so I thought I'd go the extra mile and actually make a video this time, so you all can see her smiling and hear her laughing. Enjoy!

Friday, January 16, 2009

Updates at last

I finally did a few things on my page. I have a few more to do but I thought I'd let you know now anyway. I have a new question answered and I updated my favorites page. When I first put that section up I thought it would be easy to think of categories to list favorites in. It's not easy. If anyone has suggestions I'd be glad to think about them.

Tonight we are watching Joshy while his mom and dad have a night away for Nathan's birthday. When we first put him to bed I thought what a simple task that was. Then he started calling for Grandpa. After 5 or 10 minutes Grandpa gave in and went and got him so now they're watching TV together and will probably both fall asleep in the recliner, soon. I sure do love spending time with my grandchildren.

Sorry about the scare this past week. The doctors didn't find anything wrong and I'm feeling much better. Thanks for all the calls and prayers.

Love always,
MOM

Monday, January 12, 2009

I made it a goal

So I'd better post on here. It's one of my resolutions to write on the Family and Sisters blogs at least once a week. I didn't actually set this goal until after January 1st. Since my birthday isn't until the 14th I think that the new year can start then for me.
My other resolutions are
1) Write in journal at least once a week. I really need to work on this one.
2) Drink a half gallon of water a day. I have a half gallon water bottle to help me with this. I usually drink about half of it in a day. I did meet this goal once. I've been doing this for about two weeks.
3) Exercise for 30 minutes three times a week. I haven't this one yet but I'm planning to soon.
4) Write to my friends who are on missions at least once a month. This would include my friend Amy Christensen (Spain) who gets home March 11, Sister Jennifer Lee my former companion who gets home March 25, and Sarah Durtschi who leaves for Temple Square February 18. And any other friends who leave this year.

Since Jared hid my blog, I guess I'll have to post any big news on here :P

job search update

So I'm not sure who knows this whole thing, but here's the situation for Adam's job search ... He has of course applied for a ton of jobs, and he wants to work for the federal government. He got only one interview in October with the Army Corps of Engineers which is yes, under the Army's administration, but mostly employs civilians and Adam would be in a civilian position. So no military assignments or deployments or time commitments or anything.

The interview went very well in October - Adam felt really good about that job. They said they'd do callbacks for 2nd interviews in November, but we never heard from them. So we figured it was gone. Then out of the blue in December, in the middle of Adam's finals, he DID get a callback with the USACE. The 2nd interview was the week before Christmas with the General Counsel, who is the top attorney for the entire Corps, here in DC. It was supposed to be a 45-minute interview, and it lasted almost an hour and a half. That's a GOOD thing. They said they'd get back to him after the holidays but to email his preferences on a specific list of offices that had openings.

At the end of last week, he got a phone call from the Corps office in Vicksburg Mississippi to schedule a 3rd interview. It's not scheduled yet because the lead Counsel for that office is out of town until next week, but Adam will most likely have to fly down for the interview (and could look at apartments at the same time). We will hopefully have this resolved with a final offer and commitment by the end of the month so we can turn in our notice at our current apartment.

We are figuring this is it - we just need everything to be finalized. And to be perfectly honest, we've had the "We're going to Vicksburg" vibe since the 1st interview in October. We of course would love to stay in the DC area and we'll be sad to leave, but it seems like it's time to move on. My frustration with the whole job search/interview process is that I just want it over already so I know what's going on. But at the same time, NOT knowing way far in advance means that I stay focused on the here and now because I have no idea what the future is.

We'll let you know when the last interview is scheduled and everything is finalized. If/when we move for this, we'll be headed to Vicksburg in March. Here comes the Southern tour of duty ...

ADDITION: About an hour after posting this, Adam called to tell me he got the scheduling phone call from Vicksburg: Tues. Jan. 27, 2 pm, on the phone. He does not have to fly down to Mississippi for it.

Saturday, January 10, 2009

reunion notes

1. Mom put in the sisters' blog comments that she thinks the Palmer reunion should be in December with Mindy and Aaron's wedding, so if you can afford to travel only once this year, skip the July Beers reunion and go to Oregon in December. Is that now the official policy? Or is it up for discussion? Does anyone disagree or have concerns? If you do, why? I have no opinion yet - I'd like to hear what other people think first.

2. I think the Beers reunion, since it's in Oregon, should be BEFORE July 25, or at least include that weekend. July 25 is the last day the Portland Temple is open this summer before the 2-week cleaning break. If we're going to do a group endowment session, it has to be on July 25 or before, or wait until the end of August but I thought that option was out for the reunion.

3. Since the Rexburg finals don't end until July 23, that kinda puts the squeeze on the temple idea. Just so the planning board is aware of it, I guess.

4. Mindy, I checked Target for leftover clear-out Christmas stuff but everything was already gone. Sorry. I know I have blue and/or silver stuff, so when I get my decorations back out next fall, I'll see what I have to contribute. I definitely have a lot of silver garland, but it is getting kinda beat up - I've had it the entire time we've been married so 5 Christmases. We have white lights.

That's all I can think of right now.

Wednesday, January 07, 2009

December plans

I know it's a good year away, but when purchasing plane tickets a lot of warning is a good thing. There was a discussion through comments on the sisters blog about when/where the wedding will take place. Aaron and I have decided to get married in Portland, sometime at the end of December. (His parents don't know this yet, so that'll be a fun discussion.) There was talk of a Palmer Christmas reunion at some point, so will this be the time? Or do we all gather at the same time as the Beers reunion this summer? Mom said we should do it at Christmas, but I guess everyone should have a vote on that. As for the actual date of the wedding, we're still not sure. Aaron isn't done with school until the week before Christmas, and I'd rather be with the family for Christmas Eve/morning, so the soonest would be the 26th, or the following week on the 29th or 30th. Then we would head north to Canada for a reception before getting to Idaho in time for school to start (this year it started on the seventh).

Along the same lines, if anyone finds inexpensive Christmas decorations (since it is after Christmas now), and wouldn't mind picking them up for the wedding, that would be great. Our colors will be white, silver and blue - a true blue, light or dark, but not teal or aqua. Ribbon, garland, oranaments, lights, whatever. Just something to keep our eyes open for, since it all should be on sale.

Thursday, January 01, 2009

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Hooray! I manged to get on this time. Sometimes I can't get on to the website to post or comment. We'll see how it goes, now. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas; I certainly did. It was great having three grandchildren here and watching them. Christmas morning with little ones is so much fun.

I'm working on setting some goals for the new year. I think 2009 is going to be a much healthier year for me. I hope to accomplish a few more things on my 100 list.
I'm looking forward to the reunion in the summer. We still don't have an exact date for it. I sure hope everyone can come and join us.

I have several updates to get on my page and I'll work on them in the next few days. I need to answer the questions I've asked and some of you have answered. Now it's time for that special question you've all been waiting for. What did you learn in 2008? I'll work on that question first then get back to the others.

Sure do love you all.

MOM