One Week In

It's been one week yesterday since Dan has had his full-time job. So far, it's been great for both of us! The only time that Dan worked from 2:00pm - 10:00pm was on his first day, and every other day, it's been 9:00am - 5:00pm. Perfect. He hasn't had to work on the weekends yet either! Well, other than his training meeting that he had Sunday morning, but I don't think that really counts as working per say. I just found out yesterday that he has to work from 2:00pm - 10:00pm tonight. I'm hoping that this doesn't have to happen that often. There is another guy there who works the same position as Dan and he prefers to work the later shift, which is nice for us! Dan has really been enjoying this new part of his life. He has been working in different departments in the store everyday so that he learns about all of the product. And there is a lot to learn! The only ones who don't really like having both of us working all day is our cats. They have been spoiled with having at least one of us at home during the day, but now they are all alone all day, every weekday. I think they'll get over it. At least they have each other to keep themselves entertained. I really like the feeling of being at work, and knowing that Dan is at work too. I hate it when I am working and Dan is at home. It also sucks when I come home from work and Dan is just starting work. It hasn't really set in for me that Dan actually has a job, but I think it will once he gets his first pay check. We are going to try our very best not to go overboard now that we have more income, because our goal right now is to save, save, SAVE! We are trying to cut back on eating out, even though we don't that much, I want to cut back even more, and buying the "little" things, like treats or toys. I know it's the "little" things that can really add up and make a big difference. And most of the time it's things we don't really need either. It's time to cut back... even more. However, it's going to be tempting knowing that we get an awesome discount at Best Buy in 3 months. Yikes!

Last Saturday we decided that we should go check out the Balzac Mall again. I needed new work pants because the weather is getting colder and I only have one pair! Well, I have more, but they're too small for me now. Yes, it's true, I've gained weight. Maybe this no more eating out thing will help me with that too! So we went to the mall and I got one pair of pants that I need to hem. However, we spent a good chunk of cash on some home decor. It was really needed though. Our home doesn't look like a home. And now it looks a lot better. We have some pictures that still need to be hung, and I think that will tie everything together. We bought a tree plant, a phone stand, and a small pot with grass in it. Of course the plants are fake because nothing would last in our steaming apartment. And we really needed a phone stand because we were using a TV tray before.

I promise we won't go overboard with spending... starting... now!

Happy News!

Dan got a job!!! I honestly couldn't be any happier! Here's how it went down..

Dan applied to Best Buy online and an hour after he finished, they called him to set up an interview for a manager position. The day finally came and he was told that all of the positions had just filled up, but there would probably be something better at a different location because of his degree. So Dan drives to the Best Buy in Deerfoot Meadows and meets the person he was supposed to see and was offered the job right then and there. He didn't even get interviewed! He looked at his resume and noticed that he graduated from U of L and turns out, that's where he had graduated from too! He was told that he could move up very fast in the company and pretty much expected him to in about 3 months or so. We won't get our hopes up, but until then, Dan is working at Best Buy as a Business Coordinator. The starting pay is just what we need especially for right now. He started today at 2:00pm to organize his working schedule and details. I'm so proud of him. We ever expected it to take this long for him to find a half decent job, but I'm sure glad he stuck it out long enough to find this one. We are excited about the potential it will give him and for the second income. This is the first time that both of us have had full time jobs at the same time. I think we'll like it. I can't wait to buy a house!

Cat Moments

I have a couple videos of Izzie and Chester that I finally got off of my camera. The first one is Izzie's first experience with cat grass. She really didn't know what to do with it, but Chester showed her the way:

This one I just took this morning. Can you find Izzie?

Little Izzie at the Vet

I took Izzie for her very first Vet appointment yesterday. Before we left, I set out the pet carrier so that she could get used to going inside and feeling comfortable in it. Before I knew it, Izzie was sleeping inside of it! She slept for pretty much the full hour before we left. I felt bad though because when it was time to go, I had to wake her up to put her bed inside of it, so when we were on the move, she was a bit groggy and confused as to what was going on. We arrived and she was very popular! The receptionist called up other veterinarians so that they could come and have a look at her. First thing they did before we got into a room was weigh her. 1.17 kgs! That's just over 2.5 pounds! I wonder how much she weighed when we first got her? She's grown so much since then. I really thought she would have weighed more than that. She is such a mooch when it comes to food. She will beg and beg until you give her some of what you're having! We really made it a point to not give her too many treats, so maybe that made us think that we were already giving her too much and expected her to weigh more. We got into a room, which was actually the same room I had when I took Chester in, and he checked her out. She was such a good girl the whole time. She didn't even flinch or meow when he gave her a booster shot! The appointment took no more than 5 minutes inside that room and it ended up costing us close to $100! I wish I could make $100 for every 5 minutes of work. Turns out that she will need another shot in a few weeks too! For Izzie being a free cat, she sure is expensive! But we love her anyways. When we got home, Chester was pretty excited to see her again. I put her down and opened her carrier and Chester greeted her right away. So cute.

Birthdays Lately

September has become a busy month for Birthdays! I'm so sorry I'm late on this birthday post! Last week, we had 3 birthdays in my family.

On Monday, Sept 14, was Madison's 5th birthday!


Then on Friday, Sept 18, was my sister Kristie's birthday. She is the oldest sibling in my family.


And on Saturday, Sept 19, was Cheslea's 3rd birthday! Both Chelsea and Madison are my sister Jodie's daughters. We are going to celebrate their birthdays this Saturday, Sept 26.


Also, it's Dan's dad's birthday today!


Happy Birthday to you all!

J.D Power & Associates

This morning I got to work and we were all treated with some very good news. Last Friday the managers all went to Jasper, and at the time, I didn't know why they went. I came to find out this morning that they went to accept an award from J.D Power & Associates because Sterling Homes won the highest ranked in the 2009 Canadian New Home Builder Customer Satisfaction Study for Calgary Alberta. We even won it in Edmonton too! I am very happy to be apart of such an accomplishment in this company, and hopefully many more to come! Click here and go to pages 3 & 4 to see the results.

3 Month Mark

I have now been working at Sterling Homes for 3 months as of today. I can't believe it's been that long already! It sure doesn't feel like I'm still new here, I know my way around pretty good I think. It's just weird to think that it's been 3 whole months since I came in on my first day.

My parents and my sister Kimberly came by yesterday to see where I worked. That was a nice pick-me-up. Lately I have felt so distant from my side of the family. I don't know exactly what it is, but I don't like it. It was nice to see them for that short visit.

Izzie also just passed her 3 month birthday as of two days ago. She seems to be growing up so fast, but she's still really tiny. Over the month that she's lived with us, we have learned that she has an obsession with feet and shoes. Maybe it's because her feet have an extra toe on them? Her and Chester get along great... for the most part. We haven't seen them really fighting to actually hurt the other, but they do play fight pretty rough sometimes. Izzie and Gunther, well that's another story. All of the animals share the same room at night, and Izzie learned how to climb up Gunther's cage and hang out with him all night. Sure it was funny at first, but lately Gunther has been a little more attracted to her if you know what I mean. Gunther is not fixed, and neither is Izzie. We don't want to have anything happen just incase. So we had to board up the top of Gunther's cage, which I don't think he likes at all. Now it seems that he gets even less attention from everyone because he's all covered up. Hopefully we won't have to do this for too much longer.

Oh Nine

Today is September 9, 2009. You know what that means...09/09/09! Turns out, it's my friend's birthday today too! Happy birthday Meaghan!

Tonight, I officially start my new calling in 5th Ward as Cub Scout Assistant Leader. Our first activity of the new season starts at 6:30pm. I am so nervous! I have no clue what to expect, let alone what I'm supposed to do. I'm sure with time I will learn, but until then... I'm still scared.

Two Jack Lake

This past long weekend we started off on Saturday by going to a place on the way to Banff called Two Jack Lake. Dan and I drove ourselves and met up with his parents and his brother Spencer and two of his boys, Ethan and Will. Spencer cooked up some hot dogs and corn on the cob for lunch right when we arrived. We brought some fruit with dip. We ate, then walked around for awhile. Ethan and Will wanted to show us the island that they had named Apple Island. Last time they visited Two Jack Lake, they threw an apple on that island, and now that's what it is named.

They played in the water pretty much the whole time we were there. They also wanted Dan and Grandma to play on the island, but since Grandma was wearing sneakers, Will thought up this great idea. "Hey Uncle Dan, you can carry Grandma across!" That made us laugh pretty hard.

After seeing Apple Island, we went to the other side of where our picnic table was to another island which was a bit bigger. We then went on a small hike alongside the lake. The kids really enjoyed that.

It's so peaceful and quiet there, I didn't want to leave. It was such a change from living in the big city.

On our way out, we came across these two goats right on the side of the road! We were so close to them!

Once we left, Dan and I went to Banff to make a stop at a candy store. We couldn't go all that way without treating ourselves, right? While we were there, we saw a horse and carriage too. We went home and relaxed for the rest of the day.

Sunday we went to church, and barely anyone was there! It was a nice Sunday and I actually got a lot out of the lessons and was able to feel the spirit there.

Monday we meant to go out. We had planned on maybe going to Sylvan Lake to go to the water slides there, but then we thought it might be a bit too pricey. Well what about rafting down the Bow River? The forecast was calling for stronger, cool winds, with the temperature not as high as we'd like either. Why don't we go to the Zoo? Again, with the money thing and weather. So Monday ended up being a day of relaxation, which turned out to be quite nice. We rented a movie - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, then went to bed.

The long weekend was just what I needed.

Seeing Double

I have been pretty bored at work lately (there's not as many sales coming in right now) so I have been watching my blog pretty close. I happened to notice my Anniversary Ticker. Dan and I have been married for 2 years, 2 weeks, and 2 days as of September 2nd! I thought it was pretty cool.