Saturday, April 28, 2012

New Job!

Well it seems that we just did this update not even a year ago which is true.  Yes you all heard and or read about my employment snafu a few weeks ago and the outlook was initially very grim and stressful!  God brought me to my knees for a couple of days as the hopeless feeling of the unknown was lurking.  But after praying, and thinking ALOT I got back up on my feet and started to network.  There were several opportunities that presented themselves and God continued to open and close doors as they days went by.  After the first two weeks I probably had 10 different interviews between 5 different companies so life was crazy and very draining.  After the smoke cleared my search was narrowed down to two companies, Avago Technologies and Dyson.  Both jobs were completely different and after thinking through each one and having the TIMING factor play in I decided to sign on with Dyson.  I will be the Western Regional Sales Manager for their commercial division managing the entire West Coast sales team and overseeing the sales activities for the Dyson Airblade (commercial hand dryers).  It's exciting to think that I will be entering into an entirely new industry with new faces and new products that are way outside the norm.  Another great perk is that my office is now my home.  I don't have to make the commute and the flexibility of my schedule will be great.  I thank all of you for your prayers and thank God for his gracious heart and looking out for me and my family.  If any of you want Dyson vacuums or fans just let me know and I can get you a deal.  RW

Saturday, April 21, 2012

Rain, rain, go away!!!

We were hoping the rain would go away for the grandparents visit, but no luck.  They left Portland in the snow and then came here to the rain.  I guess that is some improvement!  We did have a few nice days and they took advantage whenever the sun peeked out.
The kids had school, so we didn’t get to go and do a bunch of fun stuff, but grandma and grandpa did get to see the Reggie do piano, swimming and Ainsley gymnastics.  We also visited the library where the Ainsley read to service dogs and later in the week, we enjoyed watching the egg drop at Rancho (every year the 3rd graders build a contraption to keep an egg from breaking when thrown off the top of the school building).
We spent lots of time getting Ainsley's hat ready for the hat parade.  Grandma made flowers out of kleenex and we made bugs out of various craft supplies.  This wind caught it just as I took the picture.

Grandma and Ainsley working on pie crust..


 Relaxing with Grandpa


 Reggie got a lesson on checkers (the real rules) and was not so happy with grandpa.  When grandpa was a kid, he used to play all the time and it is his game!  Reggie has gotten a lot more competitive and frustrated when he doesn’t win, so it was a learning experience for him.  The Shuffleboard table was also a huge hit.  The grandparents played the kids a lot and the adults finally played and it was quite obvious that grandpa needed a bit more practice!
When grandpa wasn’t chatting with the locals and buying donuts, he was busy in the yard and made a huge improvement trimming the trees. It feels so much brighter and bigger and the sun shines in the window in the afternoon and it is awesome! I’m very glad he didn’t hurt himself or knock over the fragile fence.



We celebrated my birthday while mom and dad were here, so that was a nice treat. Apple pie and stew/pork. We had a bit of trouble deciding on meat, so she cooked two and the beef won out! It was delicious :o). Ryan and I had bought tickets to Ray Ramono and Kevin James and it happened to be that weekend, so we had a date night with the Williams. It is always fun to laugh!! The neighbor even remembered my birthday and brought over some tempura vegetables and whole fish. The kids eyes were as big as golf balls. Ainsley wanted to see the fish head, so mom tore it off and then dissected it to show them the eye ball. I’m thinking they won’t be eating any whole fish in the near future.
Painting pottery at Cafe Art when we played hookey from school!
Getting ready to eat pie :o)!!
Did she really bite the head off the fish?
Sorry for the crazy format....blogger changed everything and I didn't take the time to figure out how to make it work for me....maybe next time

Thursday, April 5, 2012

Spring break

Ryan and I are sitting in the Vegas airport, waiting yet again for our flight. I think this might be our last Allegiant flight ever! We arrived at the Stockton Airport for our 1 o'clock flight on Monday and boarded the plane, but noticed we were sitting for quite awhile. They announced that something was hanging from the wing and we had to deboard. Stockton is a tiny airport, so there are no extra planes and not really anyone to fix them. So, 5 hours later, we finally got a new plane! That really changed our Monday plans and was a total bummer. We didn't get to our hotel until 8:30. So much for laying out in the sun! Thankfully, the trip got much better and we spent lots of time relaxing by the pool and floating around the lazy river, playing ping pong and eating. We also saw the Hunger Games and went bowling on Tues. and then made a trip to the strip on Wed. to walk around, go to Pawn Stars and see Cirque Du Soleil's "O". We even ran into our old high school Washington State History teacher! It was a nice break from reality and we definitely relaxed a whole lot :o).
First time seeing the water show from the inside....very cool (too bad the one drink cost $18!):
The new Cosmopolitan Hotel:

Sunday, April 1, 2012

One conversation....

will change our lives forever. Ryan has been courted by a company for about 5 months and they finally gave the green light to hire him. They came to an agreement on salary, start date, stock options, etc., but they wanted him to resign first due to politics between his current company and the new one. He felt confident they would come through, so he did it and they backed out. His current company was very upset with him, so, as it stands now, Ryan will be unemployed on April 11th. He is trying to get that date extended, so he can scramble to find another job.
We've had a lot of emotions in our house the last few days and we are settling into the unkown and feeling much better about it, but unemployment is a scary thought. We've been praying a lot and I know God has a plan for us and it is better than the plan we have for ourselves, so we just have to trust that he'll provide. Lots of lessons learned and probably more to learn and right now we are just trying to focus on the positive. Ryan has a lot of contacts and already has an interview tomorrow and we'll just take it day by day. I have also looked at the job market, but there's not much in human resources and with a gap of 8 years, I've realized I might not be that employable.
Funny how our lives have changed in one day and it makes you realize that all you had is all you ever wanted, but you can't get it back. God must have something better in mind....
P.S.  Unfortunately, this is not an April fool's joke :o(