Things were pretty uneventful until mid January. First came January 20, a proud, historic day! We were very excited to watch all the footage of the day as Barack Obama became our 44th president.
This picture has been framed and hung in our hallway!2 days later, on January 22, I received news that I would be downsized from my position at Manpower. I had been employed there for 2 and 1/2 years. It was both shocking and somewhat expected. This was just days before we saw the number of over 70,000 people lose their jobs all in the same day.
So, I've been looking for work and staying home getting lots done! Right away, my mom and I went out shopping for flowers. Thanks to the wonderful help from one of my bridesmaids, Tammy, we found everything we wanted for all bouquets and decorations for the outdoors. I went to work and put together some of the bouquets.
The left is the bridal bouquet, the right is the bridesmaids.My mom is on her way to Des Moines today to get some more planning out of the way!
Aaron and I also went registering for gifts. That takes a lot of time and decision making! My favorite part was when Aaron looked at my spice rack choices and I shared with him the one of my choice. He tells me "I don't want to commit to that one yet," haha! Needless to say, it took a lot longer than either of us expected but it really was a ton of fun!
I also went to town on painting inside the house! I purchased all the paint needed and got started in the much needed kitchen right away. Since finishing the kitchen, I am procrastinating on even starting the living room! Man, is that a lot of work.
Before....
After!!Once we finish the living room and hallway though, we will be done with painting for a while. The bedrooms and bathrooms will come in time when we decide what we'll actually be doing in those rooms. The outside of the house has much need for repairs/updates and once the weather warms up, our focus will be out there when we're not busy getting married and attending our friends' big days!
Last weekend we had a great trip to Minneapolis, MN with some friends to see a band called Umphrey's McGee! We had a great time! On Sunday, the venue opened up a little early with free appetizers and a big screen for the Super Bowl! A few members of the band even came out to enjoy the game with us. One of the band members told my friend "you better cheer for the Steelers for the sake of the show" as there was a huge Steelers fan in the band. He was happy, but we weren't! We were hoping for a win for UNI native Kurt Warner. Oh well, the concert made up for the football loss.
Ryan; bassist, me, Kris; drummer, and Jeff. Jake; guitarist and me.
So--we're onto February! I'm not hearing too much back from the positions I'm applying for, but send at least 2 if not more resumes out per day. I'm confident something will come up and realize this opens up more options for me. I haven't ruled out child care again and the possibility of earning my teaching degree. But we will see....time will tell!
