#Hashtags

#Halloween

My favorite holiday has come and gone and sadly I didn't get fully invested this year. With the whole working thing it was difficult to commit much time to costume sewing. Coupled with some last minute stresses our Halloween weekend was a mess. I didn't get our costumes done so we ended up throwing together last minute costumes from things around the house... Dan was an army guy and I was Katniss from Hunger Games. We made it to the annual and awesome Monson Halloween party, but I didn't get any pictures, partially because our little devil was out in the car the whole time and stressing me out. Nevertheless, homemade chili was eaten, caramel corn was made, friends were visited and Otto was forced to wear an embarrassing outfit. Win, win, win.

{iconic Old Main picture}

#Jobs

The biggest thing going on for me lately is work. After two months of searching and finding nothing, I landed a job working in the afternoons for the Honors Office at Utah State. The day I started I got offered another part time job, this one a temporary gig in the Provosts Office, also at USU. So now I'm  a working girl 8-5, monday through friday, totally legit.
PROS:
- Its a paying job. Not easy to come by in this economy, especially in a very small rural town...
- I work in the iconic Old Main building, where it just so happens Dan has every single one of his classes. Sure makes car pooling easier.
- It  has benefits, like actual health insurance benefits, not the free diet coke benefits of previous Applebee's days.
- I have to dress in business attire, which I've discovered I love. If only my paychecks were large enough to indulge in a complete j.crew professional wardrobe...
CONS:
- I'm pretty sure Otto could do my job, if only his paws were adept for typing. I think 90% of my job is mindless typing in excel. Maybe even 95%.
 - I'm basically the lowest person on the totem pole in both offices... That means if coffee needs making, plants need watering, envelopes need licking... Guess who gets to do it?
- My job in the Provosts office is temporary while their regular employee is on a three month leave. So in January my hours/pay drop in half.
- Speaking of pay, I literally make 1/2 of what I did in Monterey. A little discouraging being that I now have a college degree and should be working a "real job".
- I actually have to go to work all day. I had gotten accustom to sleeping in and watching 8 episodes of Friday Night Lights a day in my pajamas. Kidding. Kind of.

#Doggydaycare

With becoming a full time working woman came the difficult decision to put Otto in doggy day care. Okay, before you decide I'm totally crazy hear me out. We used to just lock Otto in the tiled area of our house with a baby gate while we were out. However one day he decide to chew a hole in our wall, thus necessitating crate training. Usually he's only in the crate in the mornings because Dan is done with class and comes home to study at noon, but on Tuesdays Dan and I are both gone all day. We felt mean about leaving him in a cage all day, and the day care is close to our house, and its a good opportunity for him to get socialized with other dogs, and its really not very expensive, and he comes home so happy and tired from playing, and well...Does it seem reasonable yet? Posted above is his report card from his first day at daycare. We're so glad he is an "active camper" and "had fun playing with his new buddy Sherlock" and liked day care "3 tail wags, a bark, and a jump."Totally normal.

{random picture of me in Jordan - Wadi Rum}
#baddaytobeaconservative

Switching gears to a more serious subject, another big thing lately has been the presidential election. I have never cared this much about American politics before. Leading up to Tuesday night Dan and I listened to NPR every morning and read each other articles we found interesting on Obama or Romney, we talked about politics a lot! Election night was very upsetting - I won't get into it all. I was downright angry the next day but the more I thought about it, the more I mellowed out. Sure I'm not happy with the outcome, but at least I got to vote in free and fair elections (though there could be some argument on if the electoral college is truly free and fair). I thought about my time in Jordan and how even joking with friends about the King was very serious. People would quickly hush you if you said anything even remotely negative about the King or his government. No one dreamed about voting or having a say in anything at all. Though our system in America isn't perfect, its sure a lot better than most of the rest of the world. I'm still proud to be an American, even if I'm not proud of some of the things our President does.

{one of the interesting books I read in preparation}

#rejection

I debated whether or not to throw this on, because it still stings every time I think about it... But its a big thing in my life so it should go in my record. Yeah, I officially got rejected by Teach for America. Going in I knew it was a long shot (supposedly you have a statistically better chance of getting accepted by Stanford Law School than by TFA), but I decided to go for it - chase my dreams and all that jazz. I put in my application and essays and was surprised when I was invited for a phone interview. I was sure I was out after that, my phone interview was a complete train wreck with a snarky guy from Chicago who seemed to be contemptuous about every word I said. I was so excited (literally jumping up and down) when I found out that I had made it through another round and was invited for the full day final interview. I was really blown away! For the final interview I had prepare a sample lesson, participate in a group activity with 11 other TFA applicants, and then have a one hour one-on-one interview with a TFA staff member. In the weeks leading up to the final interview I allowed myself to really envision getting in, and I've never been more excited. I read books about education and poverty, spent days agonizing over my sample lesson, read up on all the TFA locations... Really anytime I wasn't working I was doing something to prep for TFA. I wanted it. so. so. bad. I honestly don't think I've wanted something/prayed for something/ got so excited for something more than this in my life. And I thought I had it. I got tons of compliments from the other applicants on my sample lesson, I felt I did well on the group activity (with some insider tips from my cousin's boyfriend who is currently in TFA), and thought I nailed my one-on-one interview. And then I got the rejected. I can honestly say I was/am devastated. I've struggled my whole post high school career to find my niche. And I still don't feel like I've found it. I really thought teaching, particularly doing Teach For America was my calling. Now I feel like I'm back at square one. And square one is a really lonely and depressing place to be.