September Tid Bits

 After the mayhem of August, the universe gave us a bit of a break in September. 

For one precious week, Trader Joes carried an ice cream version of their fabulous maple leaf cookies and they were amazing! A woman overheard Gita and I going nuts over them and grabbed some for herself.

They had some really beautiful fall flowers too!

Among the things we found in going through my parents stuff was this plate I made for my mom for Mother's Day. Honestly I don't remember my mom ever having fresh flowers much. She would do a little teacup with a pansy now and again but she just wasn't into big bouquets for some reason. So it's kind of funny I drew her this image of a clean kitchen table, looking out of a sliding glass door on the backyard, with fresh flowers. Then I realized it was an image of peace I had in my own head that I've been able to make a reality. I saw a quote that said You grow into the woman your younger self would run to for protection. And that was like the warmest hug I could ever receive.

There was a shaved ice truck at one of Gita's cross country meet and can we all agree- when it comes to shaved ice, there's really only one flavor?

At Parent's Night I was treated to this page Ireland made about herself for ???

For a hot second Sydney was worried she broke her arm when she ???

False alarm! She was fine (phew!)

Beautiful sunlight on a drive to school.

Another fall bouquet.

Gita wanted to show off the pumpkin cookies she crafted so when I took the picture I said, "Smile!"

"No Gita, SMILE!"

"REALLY SMILE!!!"

LOL- even looking back on those makes me laugh. I love busting her chops! Gita also made these 6 7 cookies because, why not?

With a job secured, I indulged on these Clueless outfits for the AG dolls.

The new job comes with a gym so we let go of our membership. I'll miss my morning swims, but I'm excited to move on to new things!

I decided I needed a pedicure and went for a shade that coordinated with my Birkenstocks. I really loved how this looked! Birkenstocks can look a little hippie but this made them look rather polished (pun!). 

When we were in Utah, Gita was running around a pool and slipped. She fell and smacked her teeth on the pavement and her tooth felt a bit loose for a while. I'm pretty sure her braces held that thing in place until it healed but the bracket had to be replaced.

Good as new!

Brent and I both decided to wear ties to Stake Conference. Oh man- I got so many looks over this! I with I had a pin so I could make it more lopsided and interesting. I think I'm going to wear ties more often!

Ireland rocked this 80's look for HoCo spirit week. You can't lose with hot pink and denim, right?

Tay Tay

Brent was called to the bishopric and so we were interviewed by our Stake President. He asked us how things had gone while Brent was Elder's Quorum President and we were honest about the struggles we'd had over the years. I mentioned I had lost my job and he looked me right in the eyes and said, "You're going to get another job." Oh! That's nice! I thought. President Cieslak has bright, blue eyes and he was wearing a bright, blue tie that made them all the more intense. He held my gaze and continued "In the next 30-45 days." Wow- that's... specific. 

We went home from that interview and I put in another 10 applications. Not long after, I started getting pinged by some old coworkers asking if I was still looking for a job, because their new company was hiring. Better yet, they'd told the hiring manager about me and the job wasn't even posted yet! Rather than game the bots of the employment world, I had an IN! When the job posted, I immediately applied and I went through rounds 1 and 2 of interviews. Word finally came back... I didn't get the job. It went to an internal candidate who had basically been doing the job for a year. 

On day 46 I was contacted by a recruiter and even though I figured it was a bot or a scam, I responded. Turns out it was legit, and I landed the job! It's one I'm extremely excited about, another SaaS company and this one seems to have a fantastic company culture. The only drawback? It's in-office... in Schaumburg. 

To make this work, Brent and I knew we'd need another car and so I began researching something fuel efficient and then checking inventory nearby. With my own dad out of commission, I called Brent's dad who happened to own one, and was very happy with it. I emptied the cash I'd saved with my 100 envelope challenge and he threw in some more to help with the down payment. I cannot tell you how grateful we are for that! Not having to work has its perks but man, it was hard on the pocketbook and my unemployment had just run out. 

We found what I was looking for and after some test drives decided this was the one. It had actually been on the lost less than a week and supposedly someone else had their eye on it (not sure if that was a sales tactic). In any case, I love this car! 

This is not a mom car, this is MY car. I haven't had a car to myself since I was single and while that was also white (technically this is "pearl"), it was very old and very used. This is new with only 1 other owner- also a woman who tinted the windows and put in an organization tray for the center consul. I immediately tricked it out with a air freshener that looks like a record player (the different scents look like Taylor Swift records). I bought all the cleaning things and signed up for a monthly membership at the local car wash. 

I love this car. She's peppy and even if the house is trashed, she's clean. This is my own, personal sanctuary on wheels. The car is in my name only, as are the payments (which I negotiated). I dubbed her Tay Tay and I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship!

I'm so grateful for miracles. For the 100 envelope challenge. For father figures who step in where there are voids. For leaders with faith. For new beginnings.