Ok, I suck, I know...

Hello to all my blog fans out there! All 2 of you, that is! :) Sorry, but I guess I'm not too great at keeping this thing updated. I thought I could be a decent blogger, since I already spend quite a bit of time on the computer. But it turns out, that's not the case. I have some pics to post from this last weekend with our friends Chris & Jonna, but I unfortunately do not even have them uploaded onto my computer yet.
Anyways, just wanted to write a quick post to let all our Montana friends know that we are coming home for Thanksgiving!!!!! It's going to be a quick trip, since we decided to drive the 12 hours instead of maxing out our credit cards just to buy stupid plane tickets! So if anyone has plans to be in the Bozeman/Livingston area over the holiday weekend, please let us know so we can get together.
Otherwise, things here are just plugging along and trying to stay positive in spite of the terrible economic situation that is plaguing this country (and especially the state of California). Still getting lots of work done on my grad school app. I'm done with the bulk of the paperwork and now just waiting on letters of recommendation. I should be able to submit it right before the madness of Chrismas begins.
Happy (almost) Turkey Day! Pat & I are really taking this time to be grateful for the wonderful family and friends in our lives. We love you all!

Happy Halloween!!!!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!

I'm not sure that very many people actually read this, which is why I've done such a terrible job at keeping it up-to-date. So here's the 411 on all the goings-on around here:

I just started working on my grad school applications for the MSW program at Sac State. The application itself (just the paperwork part with contact info, work experience, community involvement, etc) is about 5 pages, plus a a 6-8 page personal statement. Needless to say, this is a very intimidating task. In order to gain some insight and helpful tips for the application process, I set up a meeting with my bosses at Placer County (one of whom formerly taught in the MSW program for 18 years). This meeting proved to be very worthwhile, as Tad was able to give me plenty of useful information, and he also agreed to write me a letter of recommendation. I was elated! Since this program is so competitive, having Tad as a reference is invaluable. I spent the better part of last Sunday working on my personal statement. Now it's just a matter of fine-tuning and completing the remainder of the paperwork. The application is due Jan. 16th, but I intend to submit it before the holidays so I can relax and fully enjoy myself during Christmas.

The other good news that came from my meeting is that we now have a definite date for determining when my employment will transfer to full-time (or at least permanent, since I'm not sure my boss will want to bring me on full-time knowing I will be unable to work 40 hours once school starts). The week before Thanksgiving will be the time when the decision is made. I'll be sure to keep everyone informed when I have a more concrete idea of what's going to happen with that.

As far as Halloween goes, Pat & I are just enjoying a lovely night "in" this evening. Quite different from our wilder days in college...I guess that's what happens when you get married. :) I also haven't been feeling well the last couple days (a combination of a bladder infection and a cold that I caught at the exact same time). I can hardly wait to eat our traditional jack-o-lantern pizza from Papa Murphy's and then crawl into bed. It's times like these that I really appreciate my husband and all of the sweet things he does to take care of me. Sometimes I think he longs for his college, bachelor days. But he's just stuck with me now. ;)

I suppose that's all I have for now. I hope everyone has a "spook"-tacular holiday! Be safe! And keep warm (for those of you who live in Montana and have to wear those bulky snowsuits over/under your costumes, I don't envy you).

Camping & A Visit From a Good Friend

Hello All! Sorry I haven't made an entry in awhile. The monitor on our desktop has been out-of-commission for the last couple weeks. And I keep all of my pictures on that computer, so I didn't have access to my photos to post them on here. It's been fairly exciting here over the last couple weekends.

We FINALLY got a chance to go camping a couple weeks ago up in the El Dorado National Forest. We went to a place called the Icehouse Reservoir. It was absolutely beautiful (and much needed after a hell of a work week for me). Here are a couple pictures from that trip:

Beautiful sunset (reminds me of Montana)

Yummmmm, toasted marshmallows!!!

Pat putting his Boy Scout skills to good use.

Last weekend, my good friend Christie finally came to visit! I've been out to Las Vegas to see her a few times within the last year (hey, who doesn't love an excuse to go to Vegas??). It was so great being able to show one of my best friends all around this area. Sacramento really does have so much to offer, and I know I feel that I finally know the area well enough to be able to show someone else around. We watched a chick flick, drank LOTS of wine, drove up to Tahoe, celebrated Christie's birthday, and went wine tasting. It was an AWESOME (and much-needed girls weekend).

Beautiful South Lake Tahoe!

Christie & I by the lake.

Oh, and as far as the state budget goes, the state of California has FINALLY signed one into law (only 80-some days late!). I'm not sure whether this new budget is good news or bad news for my job situation (it just depends on what the budget entails for education). I'll keep everyone posted once I know more. Have a lovely weekend!

Rest in Peace

Collin James Keck 12/31/85-9/18/08

I want to dedicate this post to an old friend from high school who passed away yesterday. Collin was a year younger than me in school, and I was ashamed to admit it at the time that I had developed a slight crush on him (it's SOOOO not okay to date younger guys in high school). When I was a junior and he was a sophmore, I asked him to Prom. He was going to be one of the only sophmore boys there. But he paid no mind to that fact. And because of his lack of concern for what other people thought, I had more fun at that dance than at any others! We went on a few dates after that, and things eventually fizzled. But Collin was one of those people who was genuine and real. And there are not very many people like that in this world. May Collin always be remembered for the gifts he shared with each one of us. His gift to me was the wonderful memories I have of our short (but sweet) time together. Rest in peace Collin James Keck.

Raiders Football!!!

I just wanted to post a few pics from the football game we went to the other night. Pat got free tickets to the first Monday night football Raiders game from work (his company has 3 sets of season tickets as well as a luxury box).

We had awesome seats, 46 rows up, in the last row of the lower deck!

I just went for the $9 beer!

Make note of the score: Ouch! The Raiders took a beating!

The game itself was nothing too exciting. Unfortunately for all of the Raiders fans, they got spanked by the Broncos. Let me just say this (and if you are a Raiders fan, stop reading this blog right now), Raiders fans are CRAZY!! True, they love their team, just like any other fanbase. But I was literally fearful for my safety in this environment. Had I not been wearing Raiders colors, I would probably have been taunted, cussed at, and possibly beaten up (and I am not even kidding). And don't even get me started on the traffic! Driving in the Bay Area is a whole different scenario than what we are used to here. The traffic on the way there was not bad. But once we turned into the stadium, it took us about 2 hours to drive 1/2 mile! When we did get to the stadium, we found out that the parking was sold out, so we drove to the "Overfill Lot" (same price, dirt field, 1 mile walk to stadium). I'm glad I can now say that I've been to a professional football game, but I let my husband know that the next free tickets he gets will go to better use if he takes someone who's a little more of a football fan than myself.

Oh, and we are now 72 days into the fiscal year, and still no CA state budget. :(

Ahhh, the wonderful state of California...

Sorry that I haven't posted for awhile. There hasn't really been anything significant to post about since we got home from Vegas.

There is one subject I'd like to bring to light, however, because it directly affects me in terms of my field of study and potential career path. And that topic is the budget situation as it stands in California. As of today, the state is 66 days late on signing an official state budget. Consequently, the future job security and stability for thousands upon thousands of people in this state hangs in the balance. All part-time and temporary employees have been laid-off (which makes the dreaded annual trip to the DMV even worse than it has to be). Additionally, the individuals who are still fortunate enough (if you could call it that) to have a job with the state of California have all been cut down to minimum wage. The purpose of this monumental decision, according to "the Governator", was to apply some added pressure to the legislature in an attempt to expedite some sort of budget agreement. Incidentally, this blew up in good ol' Arnold's face. Instead of both sides approaching that center aisle, and each making a compromise for the sake of negotiation, neither side will budge. Here we stand, the grand state of California, where celebrities are aplenty, where one can visit the coast and go skiing in the same day, home of Disneyland and the Dodgers (the greatest baseball team of all-time, according to my older brother), and no state budget. Yet our legislators (the highest paid in the nation, might I add), continue to show up to work every day, to collect their $116,000 annual salaries, along with their $35,000 annual living expense stipend, and accomplish nothing! Forty-nine other states have been able to compromise and negotiate their way to a budget that both sides can live with.

Being someone who's job security depends on the decisions of others, this disgusts me! Have these legislators lost sight of what they were elected to do?????? Why should they care about the future livelihood of mere teachers, social workers, school nurses, and psychologists???? They can still show up every day to work, collect a hefty paycheck, and take their long weekends (because God forbid such upper-class individuals be required to put in a few Saturdays here and there for the sake of doing the job they are paid to do). I suppose this is just another example of bureaucracy at its finest. Like I've been saying to my good friends and family who live out-of-state, the longer I live here, the more convinced I am that this state is going to hell in a hand basket!





Thanks for reading my rant. :)

Vegas Baby!!

So we had an absolute blast in Las Vegas over the weekend. My brother came up from Bakersfield to meet us. It was a long, tiring weekend, but definitely worth the trip. Vegas is our very favorite vacation spot, and even more so with airfare being cheap along with the fact that one of my best friends, Christie, and her husband, Ryan, live there. It was fun doing some "light gaming" (as my brother would say), even though we didn't win.

Christie & I in the motel room before we went out for the night.

In the back of Christie & Ryan's car.