upd8

i won't go on the record and say that the frequency of my blog posts is a point of shame for me but i will say off the record that it is. here's an update on the bosts: we're happy in charlottesville. william is back in school and loving his biochemistry and middle eastern politics classes. he's sporting some new khakis and can be seen riding his newly repaired bike up and down the hills of c-ville, including to UVA hospital where he's been working as a scribe for the past few months and bringing home sad/crazy stories. his scrubs are comically huge on him. tonight he's there til midnight! he's working hard and he's cute and he don't care who knows it. i am working tentatively (this is my MO) as a secretary/office manager for an investment firm over in the swanky boar's head offices west of town. my days consist of delivering wall st. journals to the guys, brewing their coffee and setting out their plate of fresh fruit et crudites. then i send emails and make copies and surf the net all day and all night. don't bother telling me about your cool site because i've already seen it along with every other website. so there's a lot of down time and it's the sweet life over in suite 100. i'm also getting free lunch every day from the restaurant of my choice so i bring home goodies a lot and in lieu of the real thing we love and nurture our perpetual food babies. it's uncommon for poor newlyweds so we feel pretty lucky. and we're saving on groceries HEY-O!!!!! in other news, we go to richmond to see our families a lot and it's always fun. william's mom ginny bought me "the book of mormon girl" by j. brooks for my birthday (24 on wednesday can you beleeb it!) and i'm going to go read it now. AFTER i add these pix of recent goings-on because this blog is FUN dammit!: 1. this guy was just hanging out in our backyard one day. nbd.

2. emma, sweet dog of joe/ginny. our common interests include blank stares, cats, and going on nature walks.

3. birds galore on our river walk in richmond!

4. four generations!!!!

5. wm and I out for a sat morning stroll near monticello - the crib of cribs

6. poses near a GIANT tree stump. wm doing his signature freaky deak move.

7. decorative knobs for our new bookshelf!!!

8. basking in the glory of william's hard work in the garden

9. beautiful day at the DC temple!

10. we later went into town and encountered the GAY PRIDE PARADE!!! here we are looking gay (happy!) and showing some love

11. this cop was losing it

12. so many characters!

i realize this series could have been 12 posts but in the words of sweet brown (my new nickname): ain't nobody got time fo dat! also, cold pop. xoxoxoxo

new jorb!

things are happening! today was my first day workin' a new job! it's only for the summer BUT you are now reading the original thoughts of the new office manager/admin assistant/research assistant for an investment firm here in c-ville. it is only for the summer because i'm covering a maternity leave for someone, but for now it is great news. and a great blessing. in other great news, i have great friends and family who build me up. they are all lovely and wonderful. they talk me through things and they are ever-present. as my dad would say hypothetically - "i'm rich in everything but money." more news (awesome): william and i celebrated my first day of work by getting our dinner at bodo's bagels. we enjoyed our bagel sandwiches on a bench at booker t. washington park, where we watched the beginning of a sunset and the jovial play of a clean and not stinky dog! (golden retriever) things were getting zen. it felt great. (this was a sunset from a night we spent on our honeymoon in beautiful mal pais, costa rica.)

it's been a pretty good day, and i'm on my period so this is when it really counts. did i mention that i get FREE lunch AND snacks EVERY day with my new gig?! freelunchandsnacks.

a slight blow

so, in the past few months i have managed to wrangle not one, but TWO new jobs and to maintain employment at not two, but ONE of them :( yes, i was fired. i had never been fired before because of my personal performance, only laid off or left willingly, so this was a real blow to the old ego. although the longer i ruminate on it the more i make peace with it, or at least that's what i'm telling myself. their parting words to me were that i have a great personality and a great work ethic but my attention to detail was not what the job required. and good luck to me.

fair enough.

the good part about being fired is that it provides the perfect moment for an old-fashioned, no holds barred life evaluation. i definitely had to come to terms with certain insecurities and the fact that maybe i didn't do my best and i should take more pride in my work or whatever i do, even if it's not particularly interesting. it's still work that has my name on it and i want to be proud of what i'm doing everyday. also, i am coming to see it as a second chance to find work that is better suited for me and that i would enjoy more. and realizing that i'm not a failure, i'm just not awesome at everything. and when i do fail, it doesn't mean that i'm incompetent. it means i am an imperfect person. and that is ok and that is normal.

and here is where i pull the old LDS blog trick on you and give some scriptural insight about all this.

we've all heard the scripture in matthew 5:48: "be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." i read this once and followed the footnote reference to where it explains that "perfect" should be interpreted to mean: complete, finished, fully developed. this was really comforting to me and reminded me that perfection will take a lifetime and probably some afterlife to achieve. i is still kind AND smart AND important.

secondly, of all the people to receive life's hardest blows, wouldn't Job be the poster child? after he loses his wealth, health, home, family and friends he still has the faith to say in Job 13:15 - "Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him." that is pretty profound. i only lost an ok job, so i'm good.

lastly, i've been thinking a lot about how moses and probably joseph smith and a lot of other prophets questioned their callings from the Lord and said like moses did, "i am not eloquent but I am slow of speech." i feel like this a lot but i know that with the Savior's help i am capable of great things.

that is all. and sorry for the novel. but before i go,

in other news, i starting volunteering with charlottesville's SARA (sexual assault resource agency) to work on their hotline. we are still in training mode so i go to meetings for that twice a week. i pass my old work building on the way and i have been giving it the middle finger as i drive by but i am slowly growing out of that.

in other great news, william and i celebrated easter and his grandma lucy's 80th birthday party this past weekend in wadesboro, NC. it was super fun and great to be around our family. pictures forthcoming.

married

well it's still hard to believe, but i'm a wife and i'm married to a great, cute guy. we are learning about the give and take and we're having a good time doing it too. william is back in school learning about all things bio, and i am on the lookout for a bangin' new job. so...it's back to that for now but i thought i would chime in since last year i posted ONE TIME. after a year off the radar for the most part, it's time to get back in the saddle.

here are some of my goals for 2012:

> build some muscle
> read the mark twain canon
> write more
> know the issues for indecision 2012
> learn to knit
> be more calm and confident/stop ruminating!
etc etc etc