You in the Uinta's

Sometimes, it feels so good to lie in a little plastic house while it rains. I may be having some Oregon withdrawals, because all I wanted to do was walk in the rain.

Mr. Moose was banished to this towel for most of the trip. Mmmmmm, wet dog. 

RAIN WALKS

Fall is in the air.

Mandy and Sean have mastered the cow grate crossing. Check out those clouds, eh?

This game was not notable on any level; I lost.

 On Sunday we hiked to Granddaddy Lake. 9 miles (it should have been 8, but we got a bit lost).

 Is there a lake monster in there, or was Rusty skipping rocks?

 Ah, the self-timer shot...Mandy doesn't think I'm ready. 

Yay for the yurt and the rainy Uinta Mountains!

Change is Change

After 11 months, my crazy, start up, unorganized, occasionally fun, hectic job has ended. I say "has ended" instead of saying that I got laid off, or fired, because (although I did technically get laid off) my company ran out of money. I have a measure of relief, because a lot of the elements of that "start up culture" clash with my personality. Mixed with relief, I have a measure of panic -what now? I'm thankful that my online teaching is starting again - Aggie Pride. I'm thankful for Michael's steady job and benefits (being a married lady is kind of nice sometimes). I'm thankful that I get to hang out with Moose Dog for a few days and focus on my PhD applications.


But...what now? This year, with wedding madness, and my 40+ hour job, and my teaching job, has been chock-a-block full of activity. I'm gearing up for the job hunt (already been cruising Indeed.com), recovering from the whirlwind that was this job, and looking ahead. Any suggestions, any one want to be my life guru?

I went over the relief and the panic, but--and this one is surprising me--I also have a small measure of pride. I survived. Made it through this company from start to finish; I feel like I did all that I could (sometimes in a heroic way) to sustain the company I worked for. Working in a HR capacity can often be emotionally draining -- does anyone really want to fire someone, or watch a company capsize? But, I made it. I also kicked some student loans right in the face -- hiyah! I'm excited to move forward, and even though it would be very easy to bash on the job that just ended, I'm going to focus on the fact that it was very good for my little family's finances and it helped me understand what I'm good at. I also got to meet some amazing people. Will I miss fighting for regulation compliance and pushing payroll through?

The very last thing I did as HR (besides fire myself...) was run a food drive for the Utah Food Bank. We collected 486 pounds of food! Loved taking the collection into the food bank, and award prizes in the office. That may sound like a little thing, but I'm going to cling to it.

 Weighing in on the mega-scale. 

Here's to the future--Cheers! *throws up*