I may have mentioned it before, but I’m not very happy with my current career. I sort of fell into IT after college, and I’ve been wondering what else is out there for me. I spend my days sitting in front of a computer waiting for the phone to ring. It’s a very boring job.

With all of this free time on my hands, I’ve thought about getting an online degree. I’ve been thinking a lot about going back to school for teaching. I think I would be a great elementary school teacher. I love kids, and I love the idea of teaching multiple subjects. I found this website that offers an online teaching degree which would be perfect for me. I would be able to use all the free time I have during the day. I can’t afford to go back to school full time as a student so this is a great alternative. Also, WGU’s tuition is very reasonable, unlike the local University I contemplated going to. With the convenience of being online, I wouldn’t have to quit my job, so I could save up while I went to school. I’m really thinking about applying to WGU.

Is it just me or has the “Holiday Season” started up ridiculously early this year? I try to avoid malls around Christmastime, so I do all my holiday shopping early, and normally online. The few times I have set foot in a mall, I was horrified to see that Christmas decorations were up in September!! I love Christmas, but I don’t like it when it starts too early. That’s what makes it so special-the anticipation!

I have a rule (well almost a tradition) not to decorate until after Thanksgiving. Because I do love Christmas decorations so much, I usually decorate the day after Turkey day. I figure it’s the perfect day because I typically have work off anyhow.

I really love the Christmas season-from the holiday photo cards I get from friends, to the twinkling Christmas lights outside. It’s a time to get together with people we love. A time to celebrate, and just be cheerful. It is not a time to go broke shopping for presents, or to stress out about gift giving. Since when did the holidays turn into that? Isn’t it sad? So I’ve tried to make it a point to give heartfelt gifts, or make my gifts. That way it’s fun, and not a chore.

I can’t wait to walk around our new neighborhood and check out the suburbs decked out with all the holiday trimmings. There is just something about this season isn’t there? I love the clothes, the food, the decorations, and spending time with those close to me.
What are your favorite things about Christmas?

Have I mentioned that since we moved we have an extra bedroom? I’m so excited about it. We don’t have it all fixed up yet, because it’s been the place we shoved all the crap while trying to sort through the rest of the house.

Between midterms, social obligations, work, and getting the rest of the house situated there just hasn’t been time to work on it. I did manage to clear a spot so I could take a picture of the work in progress.

Not so bad at first glance right? It’s got a love seat, with the book shelf full of my favorite books to curl up with. Little reading lamp, kind of fun and relaxing right?

Oh right…there’s all the junk! I managed to hang up that painting plus a map of the US last night. I still have to sort through those bags and find a decent filing cabinet. This is also going to be the office, in addition to the reading room/the project room, and the whiskey bar. Yes…whiskey bar. D rolled in his kitchen island (which won’t fit in our kitchen) and put his different alcohols on it, and annouced that he’ll have poker nights in here at the table, and be able to serve his guests at the bar. I think it’s actually kind of cute, and I’ll post pictures when that’s all organized. But in reality, I’m betting it’s going to be the reading room, 90% of the time.

There are so many reasons to be happy it’s October.

-The Fall season with it’s beautiful leaves and cool crisp days.
-Halloween and all the fun parties to attend, and costume ideas to think about
-Dandy’s Halloween Giveaway (Which I really hope to win, because I can make cupcakes for the annual Halloween Party that my friends T&M host every year). Go sign up for the giveaway, and check out Dandy’s website, Spontaneous Clapping. It’s one of my favorite blogs. I warn you though, do not look at it when you’re hungry. There are way too many appetizing pictures of food on there. It’s torture!

This Halloween D and I have a great costume idea picked out. We’re once again doing the couple costumes because I think they’re a hoot. Hopefully we find everything for the costumes. I’m not going to tell you what it is yet, you’ll just have to be surprised. I will give you a hint though, it has to do with our favorite show, The Office. Care to make a guess?

D and I are talking about moving again. I feel like I bounce houses so fast the postal service must seriously hate me. I would really love to be settled in a place I can call home, and stay there for longer than a year. I know that’s probably not going to happen until D settles down into a career, but you can’t blame me for being anxious!

We’ve quickly outgrown our 1 bedroom apartment. We both need another room we can go to, be it for studying, having guests over, or just a little alone time. We also really need a yard for the pup. We just went on vacation and stayed in a rental house, and I can’t tell you how nice it was to just open the back door for our pup when he needed to tinkle instead of tromping downstairs, putting on the leash, and so forth.

Still, our place isn’t that bad. We’ve got a garage, washer and dryer in the bathroom, and we only share a wall with one neighbor. So part of me thinks we should just stick it out and keep saving our money. Plus D’s parents have hinted that they want to go to Europe again for a few months, and suggested that we live in their house and house sit. Now that would be incredible! Would it be rude to ask them to go now?

I started taking night classes at the JC to bump up my education in the IT field. I was hired on as a techie, but I didn’t have the right kind of education to back it up. I got by on my charm alone!
So now that I’ve been with my company for almost 3 years, I decided it’s about time I hone up on my skills. A degree in Zoology isn’t exactly going to cut it in the IT industry. So I’m in a beginning networking class, learning the ropes.

I felt like such a nerd because I was so excited about bringing my new fancy laptop bag to class, and my
Custom usb drive with my company’s name on the side. Even when I was a little girl I liked new school supplies. The smell of new pencils, the shiny new binder with my favorite stickers on it. I guess even in my 20s that new school supplies excitement hasn’t worn off.

I missed college a lot after I graduated, but now I’m remembering all the stuff I didn’t miss. Deadlines, quizzes, reading assignments. ACK! Now if I were only in school this wouldn’t be so bad, but I’m got a full time job too. And a blog I like to keep fairly up to date. Guess which one is getting neglected? So hopefully this semester I’ll be able to do this juggling act. If you don’t see me update my posts, or if I’m all of a sudden doing book reviews on Windows Command Line, you’ll know it’s because that’s the only book I’ll have time to read!!

I was bored at work today, and I decided to work on my birthday/Christmas/just because wish list. Here’s the list, in case anyone wants to buy me anything on it, you know, feel free!

• Wii and Wii accessories. When the weather starts cooling down again, it’d be great to have the Wii Fit to keep in shape and have fun. I like video games where you don’t have to sit still.
• 30 Rock, How I Met Your Mother, Arrested Development, and Scrubs on DVD
• The Outlander Series in hardback (awesome books, can’t put them down)
• All of the Harry Potter DVDS (maybe I should wait till the last two movies are out and get a boxed set)
• New Mattress and bedframe (might be getting this soon)
• Chaco sneakers and sandals. They are the only shoes that I can walk in, because the have arch support. Shoemakers should be required to make all shoes this way.

Next month I will have been with my company for 2 years. This upcoming anniversary has caused me to do some serious soul searching when it comes to my job. I’m still in the entry level position, though I have gained some new skills these past years. Still, I’m wondering if I should try to branch out and get some certificates, and move forward with my career within the company. I started looking into getting an online Project Management certificate at Saint Joseph’s University.

What really attracted me to their program is not only do they list what is available, but they also talk about the projected need for that particular job, as well as projected income. I haven’t seen anything like that on other University pages. I also liked that the pages were clean, without a lot of clutter, which made it easier to navigate and get more information.

While I’m still at the entry level, it doesn’t mean I can’t work towards the goal of becoming a project manager. I think I’d be well suited for the position, and I can see myself succeeding at being a leader.

Following the theme of romance for this month’s SPTs, this week is I think it would be romantic to…

I’ve always thought it would be romantic to go on a trip together. This past week was our first trip away where it was just us, no family, no holiday, no occasion, just us going on a trip together.

Like I blogged before, we went to Seattle, and we did have a lot of fun. We were too efficient, and got to the airport really early, and then our flight was delayed, so we had fun killing time taking pictures and playing with the filters on my camera.

We had a great time finding new places to eat and drink, and just people watch.

We smooched all over town

Then when D got sick, we snuggled together and spent the day in the hotel. Even though he was sick, it was romantic spending that time just us, no schedules, no agendas, just us being lazy.

The winner of the Routan Baby Contest is… drumroll please….. Katrina!!! Or should I say Baby Kaiden? Great job Katrina, and you will be receiving your prize pack soon. Thanks to everyone who participated, and I hope to have more contests in the future.