First day on the job...

Well, today was my first day at the Clackamas County Emergency Management team and I would have to say it went pretty freaking well!!! My day started off with introductions to all of the people in the office. The dynamic is a little different as there are 7 women and 1 man as opposed to my last job where there were 7 men and 2 women. They are all super nice and come in and see how I'm holding up. Other than a day of introductions and a few meetings I was able to get logistical things set-up and was even invited to sit-in on a conference call with the Senator on Thursday!!! ARE YOU KIDDING ME? So crazy.

My supervisor is very dedicated to making me feel welcome and is allowing me to sit in on as many meetings as possible to ensure that I meet everyone that is important to my cause. I really appreciate that he's dedicated to ensure that I will be able to make a name for myself. It's comforting to know that he's willing to help me in so many ways.

A few other cool things about working for the county... All of the county's services are housed on the same lot. 3 huge buildings that hold every county service you need. There is a cafeteria and a weekly newsletter, wellness classes during the day that include yoga and pilates, oh AND every thursday there is a mini farmers market!!! ARE YOU KIDDING ME? On Wednesday's an email is sent with a list of the fruits and vegetables that will be for sale. I am so excited for that!

Right now I haven't really begun to dig into my actual job description, Hazard Mitigation Specialist. That will begin next week after I have a meeting with my other supervisors that are with the Oregon Partnership for Disaster Resilience. Once that happens, I will have a clear picture of the set duties and set timelines set out for me. But until then, I will continue to familiarize myself with Hazard Mitigation and the cities of Clackamas County that I will be working with.

In other news... my 8 year old brother broke his arm today :( He fell of the monkey bars and broke it in two places. Poor guy, they had to rebreak his arm so that it will heal correctly. It's funny though because all of the girls in my family never broke a bone... only my brothers. But he's doing well, has pain medicine, and even gets to take the day off school tomorrow (Doctor's orders!).

In other other news... 45 more days til I get to see Andy :) I cannot wait. Counting down the days... literally :)

XOXO,
Someone who doesn't think she can wait 45 more days :(

Trying to adjust to all things new...

So, I pretty much had this long ass post about what has been going on the past 6 months and why I never updated this blog with the whole photo project. But once I published it the formatting was all wrong and I had no way to edit it. So annoying.

 

 

So I gave up.

 

 

Here's a short list of what has happened since my post in March:

-My best friend's sister got in a horrible car accident in Hawaii

-She has since recovered but still has long journey ahead of her

-I went out to Hawaii to celebrate said sister's graduation from the Masters program, and Teach for America

-Got accepted into the AmeriCorps program called, RARE (Resource Assistance for Rural Environments)

-Quit my job at Storitz to prepare for my new journey

-Had a reunion dinner with Summit Peeps (I'm so happy for how well we have all turned out)

-Received news that Andy's sister is engaged!!! Back to Hawaii next June :)

-Got a new job, new car, and new apartment

-My sister got engaged just before moving to Washington DC for her job!!!

-I'm her maid of honor!

-Moved to Oregon, just 20 minutes south of Portland

-Said goodbye to my best friend. So sad.

-Met the new peeps in the same AmeriCorps program

-Anxiously awaiting the first day of my new job!!!

 

 

I think that is it for now. Phew.

 

 

Wish this thing was easier to use,

XOXO

frustrated part 2

how are you supposed to edit posts? this is getting super annoying. how do you peeps actually use this thing. although i doubt it, maybe it's just my computer that won't let me directly publish from the new post section. or maybe it's just my computer that won't let me edit an existing post. but let me tell you: OMG.THIS.IS.SO.ANNOYING.

xoxo,

you have got to be kidding me. ugh.

frustrated...

why won't they let me copy and paste my blog in?? shit. so annoying. all that work and i'm going to have to retype it? ridiculous. it also won't let me publish it. why is there a publish post button if i can't even use it? you're telling me i have to save the post, then go back to the dashboard, select the post, and then publish it? what decade are we in? this is stupid.

xoxo,

frustrated computer user

Year Twenty-Four. Day Two.

Since everyone at work found out that yesterday was my birthday, today they took me out to lunch. Of course they made me decide on where to eat. If you know me well enough, you should know that there is ONE thing I highly dislike... and that is choosing where to eat. ugh.

So, I originally chose the ever delicious Apple Pan. I have only been there once before, so saying that it is delicious, well, it must be true! Seeing as there are 6 of us in the office today, and hungry by 12:30, Apple Pan wasn't the most sensible choice, and I should have known better :( This place gets super busy, especially during lunch. It only seats about 20 patrons, and it's like first come, first served. You seat yourself and it's pretty much on the honor system on who gets the next available seats. Finding 6 seats would be a difficult task... and nearly impossible during the lunch rush. So, we improvised and walked across the street to a restaurant called Westside Tavern. I had never heard of it but was told I wouldn't be disappointed. And let me tell you... w

ell... let the picture tell you...

It's not the best of photos, but it's the only one I got all day...

I was even given shit for taking it too :( Here's my delectable chicken, avocado and bacon sandwich. YUM! I really wish I had taken a picture of the scrumptious dessert they brought out but it was consumed within 3.45 seconds of the candle being blown out. seriously. It was called Sticky Toffee Pudding, and OH MY GOD was it TO DIE FOR!!! It was plenty big to share with the entire table, and it's a good thing they were hungry for it. If they weren't I probably would have eaten the entire thing by myself. Trust me, it was that good. Maybe one day I'll attempt to bake it myself. HA!

Tomorrow my sister is throwing a mini-birthday bash for me! Most of the Furness cousins that still live in Southern California will be there, yay! There will be plenty of photo opportunities... but they might not make it on here, that would just be mean... hehe. It's mexican fiesta time!!!

Love,

A girl who loves her margaritas...

Year Twenty-Four. Day One.

So for day one of my photo project, I couldn't just chose one picture to illustrate my day. Typical, but you'll quickly learn how I work. Work went by pretty quickly and I actually didn't get one customer phone call. Let me tell you, that is not normal at all, so yay! Despite trying to keep my birthday a secret, someone spilled the beans to my boss and so everyone at work found out. thanks dad. oh well. it was actually pretty funny because my uncle left to get lunch and came back with sprinkles cupcakes for everyone in the office (he didn't even know it was my birthday yet)!

That leads me to photo 1, my delicious, sprinkles cupcake!

Then, on my drive home my car also had a birthday :) He turned 223!!! How fitting. Anyways, for those of you who actually know me, I like to take pictures of random things that I think are cool.

So here goes photo 2:

Lastly, the night before I was surprised by dinner from Zanchou Chicken. And let me tell you... I had been craving it for weeks (weeks people!). I really wanted to ask to have it for my birthday dinner but I was never going to say anything because it's expensive and I usually get home too late for dinner anyways. But when I walked through the door and smelled that yummy deliciousness I was elated!!! It was the greatest early birthday surprise. ever. Every time I think about it I smile. So awesome that my mind was read... Unfortunately, I was way too excited (and hungry) to stop and take a picture.

Anyways, back to my last photo... since I was already surprised with dinner a day early, I wasn't expecting to get dinner again, which was fine. In fact, I beggingly asked, please don't get dinner tonight, and was told ok (who lies to the birthday girl?). hmph. Again, I was too hungry to take a picture of my delicious bowl from B-Mans... but instead I was able to capture the deliciousness of the funfetti cookies that were baked for me, in my honor!!!

So without further ado, here is my final photo for March 3, 2011:

Sit back and relax, year twenty-four is going to be an exciting ride :)

Love,

A girl who likes her things in sets of threes...

Well, the day has come. It's the last day I will be twenty-three. Ahh. Where have the years gone. Luckily, my 23rd year has probably been the best, in well, a really long time. There were definitely some ups and downs this year brought me, most notably, moving from to LA from SD. I dislike Los Angeles sooooooo much and would give anything (ANYTHING) to be able to move back to San Diego. Aside from my Los Angeles rant, which if you stick with me long enough you'll constantly hear about it, this blog is intended more for enjoyment than... self-pity?

So how will I spend the first day of my twenty-fourth year here on Earth? Not like last year at Balboa Park, or the year before that relaxing on the beach, but at work. ::sigh:: I'm pretty sure this will be the first (and hopefully not the last) time I'm going to have to spend my day making some scrilla, instead of enjoying myself. So that kind of sucks. But, at least I'll be making money? Still doesn't make me feel any better.

I've decided to start this blog as a way to keep myself occupied. I usually go through the same routine day in and day out: wake up, sit in traffic for an hour, work, sit in traffic for an hour, eat, watch a movie, sleep, repeat. So in order to spice up my life I figured I would do one of those 365 photo projects. I know, I know, I know... pretty lame and trending at the moment, but whatever. I'm always taking pictures, so why not post them for people to see. Well, I'll have to work on that for people to see part. As one of you already knows, when I take pictures I don't let anyone see them. Why? Because they're not good. I try so hard to be creative and think I'm getting a cool shot, and then it comes out looking stupid. So, for me to be doing this is really saying a lot.

Don't hold me to a post every single day, contrary to popular belief, I do have a life. But, I will make sure to at least do weekly posts with a picture for every single day of my twenty-fourth year included.

I've got some pretty neat things planned for year twenty-four so stay tuned...

Love,

A girl nicknamed Lolo...