The One with Paige = The New Pam Beasley

I started a new job today. I'm thankful to have even found a job in California. The 12% and growing unemployment rate is no joke. I think I applied to at least 15 different places ranging from Costco to a high school art teacher to a handbag designer. I heard back from zero of them. Then I applied to Target as a fallback option. They denied me! And I've even worked there before! Not gonna lie though, I probably could have called the places I applied to and pushed a little harder, but it's been sooooo nice relaxing at home all day every day... It was good while it lasted. Aaaand it's not like I haven't been doing anything, I still work from home doing Scrapbook Trends stuff.

A few weeks ago the Relief Society President came over to introduce herself and asked if I had a job. Nope, but I'm looking. She knew of something part time and I said perfect. I didn't hear anything between the time she visited until last Friday when I got a phone call for an interview that same morning. A few hours later, I found myself (gratefully) employed. It all happened so fast! I am now the afternoon shift Pam Beasley (in case you don't watch The Office, that means I'm the receptionist) of RBJ software. Not telling you which branch though cuz I don't want no stalkers :)

Here are my legs in the car on the way to my first day of work.One wall of my "office" is completely made of windows. I get to see pretty views and people watch!My shared desk. So reminds me of The Office.
I answer phones and try and decipher what the person on the other end is saying to me. I make hasty notes and transfer the call to the correct person.Plus I get to watch the sun set M-F."Thank you for calling RBJ Software, this is Paige, how may I help you?"

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The One with the Hollywood Hike from H-E-Double-Hockey-Sticks

In-between sessions of General Conference Chris and I decided to go on a spur-of-the-moment hike to the Hollywood sign. It's only 15 minutes away, why not?Hold the "before" picture smiles, cuz it got nasty.This was the ONLY sign we saw the entire time we were trail-blazing. And boy did we blaze some trails. There were paths leading this way and that way and upways and downways and sideways and there were NO SIGNS ANYWHERE. Like, don't a lot of people do this hike? Why aren't there any gosh darn signs? Some Eagle Scouts need to get on that.Top it off with horse-poop covered trails :)
Pause for a minute to admire a pretty tree.
We followed a long trail that was going the opposite direction of the sign, but we figured, it'll switch back eventually. Wrong. So wrong. The trail dead ended at this water tower.
See that radio tower waaaaaay off in the distance? Yeah. That's where we needed to be. So we turned around and headed back up the trail we started going towards in the first place, but had turned around at because it turned into a paved road and that just didn't seem right.
See that green water tower waaaaay off in the distance on the very right edge halfway down? Yeah. That's where we were. (See two pictures above.)Eventually we got to the paved road which was indeed the right path to the sign. And we made it to the top. The views were worth all of the trouble. At least I think so.You can't go down to the Hollywood sign itself, but you get a nice view of the back of it!I didn't know there's a lake hidden up in the hills, but from the looks of it, it doesn't seem like you can go out and do fun things on it. I think it's really pretty though. A nice touch of nature in an otherwise completely urban sprawl.
Man oh man, some of the houses in Hollywood are MAJOR!

On the way back home we spotted this extra large shoe car. So random.

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The One with Our Shiba Inu?

One of these puppies could very well be ours at the end of the month! (They get cuter as they age, I promise.)Last year Chris and I were at a pet store in Orem, UT. We were looking at the puppies and came across a breed that we had never heard of before: Shiba Inu. We fell in love. I mean, we fell in love with the puppies. We, Chris and Paige, were already in love. Right. So, we had been trying to decide on what kind of dog we wanted for a long time. I always wanted something small and cuddly: Pomeranian, Yorkie, Pekingese, etc. while Chris was holding out for a Poodle. When we both agreed that Shiba Inus are awesome, I started looking around for breeders. The closest one I could find just so happens to live less than one mile from my parent's house in Redmond, WA. When we went out there for Thanksgiving we met with the breeder and saw her dogs. We left a deposit which put us on "the list." We've been communicating back and forth for a year about her available puppies, but Chris and I never felt right about getting one at such an uncertain time in our lives. We didn't know where we'd be living or if we'd have room/time/money, etc. But we're feeling pretty confident in all of the above now so bring on the puppy!
Here's a slightly older litter that will be ready to go in two weeks. See, cuter already.
We're just waiting to see if the male of the litter will be a healthy little guy, then we can seal the deal. We can't wait to get our little Joey! Tee hee!

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The One with It Never Gets Old

The boys didn't have school today. I'll give you three guesses of what we did and the first two guesses don't count.
Disneyland. Duh :)
We finally got to ride on Space Mountain/Ghost Galaxy. Twice. It was honest-to-goodness scary!
We went up in the Tarzan tree house for the very first time. It was neat.
We met up with Jenny and Chris,
Melissa and Ryan,
and Brian, Mariah, and Veronica for lunch.
Then we rode some rides. Cuz that's what you do at Disneyland.
I wish candy corn really did grow on cornstalks.

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The One with Moxy Crochet

I wish I knew how to crochet. Then I could make things like these fabulous pillows, blankets, and accessories from Moxy Crochet. And my life would be complete.

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The One with September Layouts

One of the requirements for being on the American Crafts Contributing Design Team is to post two layouts to an online scrapbooking website every month. I'm quite fond of Two Peas in a Bucket, so that is where I choose to upload my layouts.

Santa Monica Pier: Cardstock, patterned paper, flair, thickers, pen: American Crafts; Chipboard bracket: Basic Grey; Buttons: American Crafts and Autumn Leaves; Pinking shears: Fiskars

Nature Girl: Embossed cardstock, cardstock, corduroy flowers, paper leaves, pearl brads, glitter brads, jewel brads, thickers, pens: American Crafts

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