They say patience is a virtue....

Here I am. Nearly two months of living in Rexburg....and not much to talk about. Well, I guess I always have something to talk about, just not much to make note of.

December was rough. The weather in Rexburg can be BRUTAL at times. Sub-zero weather cuts right through your skin. The snow was pretty at first, but after a few times of shoveling our cars I wasn't as thrilled! Thankfully, Ryan *says* he enjoys shoveling, so I let him have all the honors :)

After a few weeks of rough December came a calm January. AWW, relief! We had 3 good weeks of beautiful winter weather, and NO snow! I was just beginning to think I could handle this, when along came this week...with more snow and ridiculously COLD weather. For example, all the schools were closed today because it was -25 here! Ryan had a rough day walking around campus! :) This is the only time I am grateful that I don't have a job yet, so I can hibernate inside all day, everyday :) We went out last night to grab some food, and I quickly remembered the same cold feeling from December...and the reason why I hated it so much! BONE CHILLING! My car windows were frozen shut so we had to open the door to get our food through the drive-thru! And who knew your nose hairs could freeze the second you step out your door....

As far as the job situation (or lack thereof), it's been depressing and exciting all at the same time. Every time a job situation comes and goes, I get depressed for a day and then move on to my next option. Wells Fargo has turned out to be very disappointing when it comes to helping you find a new job within the company. I now know what another one of my co-workers was going through when she moved to CA. The job that I was excited about right after Christmas that they had posted on their internal website ended up being a big disappointment. It was THE EXACT job that I did in Arizona for 6 years, so I anxiously applied. Once the position closed, I emailed the hiring manager to bring his attention to my application, and come to find out, he had filled the position with an employee already in their office PRIOR to posting the position...he just posted because Wells Fargo's human resources requires it. The best part...HE TOLD ME ALL OF THIS! Guaranteed the person he hired didn't have as much experience as me. I'm pretty sure this could be a huge HR issue if I had decided to bring it to someones attention, but I decided it wasn't worth it.

I also had applied to two Teller positions with them, and got a generic email back from the local recruiter saying that they hired someone more qualified for the position, and to talk to my manager about finding jobs in the company more suitable for me. GET REAL! If they can hire kids right out of high school, I can do a teller job...I have cashiering experience and accounting experience. After that letter, I've written Wells off as a potential employer. If they won't hire me as a teller, there is NOTHING out here for me to do with them.

I have been applying to other jobs as well, of course, but there aren't that many! Living in a college town of 20,000, and with the failing economy, finding a job here is IMPOSSIBLE. I was even so desperate that I applied at Wal-Mart! But....they aren't hiring. I finally figured that I had to find a way to make money at home...so after a LOT of research, I found the "legitimate" way that women work from home (not one of those get rich quick scheme's...FAR FROM IT). It's called Virtual Assisting....where you work at home (virtually) and help small businesses with their back office work, etc. Lots of women are becoming successful doing this, and I figure I have plenty of office experience to be able to do this on my own. I've become really excited about the option, and am finding all the information I can about it. I'm in the process of creating my very own website, reading books about it, downloading different types of software to help me, coming up with a business plan, joined a virtual assistant website that posts hundreds of jobs from small businesses that they have researched to verify they are legitimate, etc. It's not easy...it's a LOT of work. I know going this route will be a long, hard process in the beginning. But I feel really good about it, and about the opportunity that I could stay home with my kids someday and make us some extra income, which I plan on saving away. I came up with my company name (after banging my head on a wall about it for a while!). Sunny Palms Admin Services. I even have my domain name bought on the web under SunnyPalmsAdmin.com. WHOA! Craziness. Now I just have to figure out how to make a webpage....

Ryan's doing great at school. BYU-Idaho is a great fit for him! He's going to school to major in Economics, and finally decided what he wants to minor in....Journalism! Not something he expected or planned on, but he feels really good about it and how it fits into what he wants to do...be a Research Analyst and report on what he finds! I think he'll be great at it. Here's a picture of Ryan heading out on his first day of school (Jan. 7th). Even though being out here has been a challenge for me, I know it is the right place for us to be...and that Ryan will be well on his way when we are done!

I'm trying to be a LITTLE more domestic since I have time on my hands...and actually cook for Ryan more often :) Here's the best creation so far...Chicken Taquitos! I made them myself! I boiled chicken, shredded it with a fork, then boiled it in some chicken broth to give it more flavor. I rolled it up in corn tortillas and fried them! Put them on a plate of lettuce and added Baja Sauce on top (based off of Macayo's sauce...but I still have some perfecting to do!), cheese, and tomatoes (on mine only...Ryan hates tomatoes). They were GREAT! Ryan loved them :) I thought they looked pretty....

The house is coming along nicely...here's a picture I took last week. They are painting and bricking it next. All the dry wall, plumbing, and electricity are in! It will be nice to be in a house...Ryan's mom is generous to include us in this! The basement apartment is going to be great! I'm mostly excited for the garage (to stay out of the snow) and the fireplace in our basement :) Oh, and the hot tub on the porch out back! Oh, and the jetted tub in the house! This house is going to be rockin'!

We had a nice Christmas at Ryan's aunts house in Boise, ID. I hadn't met her or her family before then, so it was good to meet more of Ryan's family! They were fun. This is Ryan's cousin's son, Ethan. He's 3 years old...I played with him all Christmas day...he was my little buddy! So cute. He was so excited about this shark he got for Christmas and held it ALL day.

I also got the chance to go visit my old salesman from Wells Fargo that I worked with for 5 years...Karle Armitage! He lives in Boise down the street from where we were, so I stopped off at his house and met his family. They were all very welcoming and fun to talk to. We only got to stay for about 30 minutes cause it was on Christmas Eve and we STILL had shopping to do before dinner, but it was a good visit! We'll have to stop by again the next time we are out there. I miss working with Karle.

That's about it! I need to write blogs more often so they aren't this long...but I feel like I don't do anything but sit here all day, every day!

Anyways, I love and miss you all....especially Arizona :)

Love,

Pam