guess who got a job?

Me! Praise Jesus. The search is over, I am in. I will now be your very own Front Desk Agent at the Ramada Inn in Spokane, by the Airport. I love the fact that I am an agent, I feel so Jack Bauer about the whole thing. I am going in today to fill out paper work and get the grad tour, and from there we will see where it goes. Thanks so much for all of the prayers, and now; its time to go to work!

Bathroomology

Last night Tori and I went out to dinner with Bob and Nancy Crotty at the Old Spaghetti Factory. The night was great, the conversation was great, and...come on...the Old Spaghetti Factory was pretty darn good too. But toward the end of our meal I made my way over to the bano (sorry about the lack of a tilde, I don't know how to do it) and upon arrival and stay, I noticed that the cleanliness of the room of rest, was very nice. When my business there was finished, I took the time to check out some of my favorite "hot spots" (for those of you who don't know what hot spots are, they are those places that are commonly missed when cleaning a bathroom appropriately, as well as places where hands often go) and to my delight, they were taken care of. The person(s) in charge of accommodations at the OSF are on top of their game. At least they were that night. As you all know (or at least know by now) I have mad appreciation for a clean b-room. Props to the Old Spaghetti Factory for their diligence in camode cleansing. Any other restaurants/places that any of you have noticed have a respect for the same fine art? Let me tell you, its a true pleasure.

an update

Still no job. Although over the weekend I didn't really look because of the holiday and the fact that Jeff and Krista Crotty were in town. It was fun seeing them and hanging out with them and their family. Many good stories, and many good times. The dogs have officially been watched, and I am not too much worse for the ware (I cant really speak for the dogs though.) And so I am off, back out to job search and see what happens. There you go.

crab apple tree pruning and dog watching

It is almost as if I am a part of the Crotty family. In this time of transition (and what feels like utter chaos) I am just living. I help out the Crotty's by doing projects that they would like to have done, if they had the time. In a small way, it is my way of saying thank you to them for allowing Tori and I to live so close, and they aren't even charging me; so generous. And this weekend I am going to be watching Matt and Laura Crotty's dogs and cats as they leave town to go skiing with Laura's sister (some much needed time away.) I help out where I can for now while I am officially looking for any job that will pay me actual money. I am putting production on the back burner for now (as North by Northwest has obviously backburnered me.) Oh well, life goes on. So if any of you out there know of anyone looking to hire in the Spokane area, I am interested...

will they come, or wont they come?

That is the question. As Tori and I are (trying) to finalize our guest list we are ever asking ourselves, will they be able to come or not? As we labor over these names that we love, it is SO hard to draw a definitive line. We were given a number of 175 that can attend and recept after the wedding. We feel like we could do that with just our friends (especially Calvin Crest folk.) But as the drive to 175 continues, we realize that all of our family and us are included in that number which makes it tough to whittle that number down. This is hard. But, I am ever impressed with the grace and tact that Tori is displaying throughout this whole process, she is carrying the load and doing an amazing job of it. It is a pleasure to see her in action, and even though stress comes and stress goes, it is a privilege to see how generally happy she is about all of the goings on. I am proud of her. She's a champ. Me on the other hand I just follow along, encourage, and try not to get too in the way, while helping sift out the details and offer my opinion. I guess you can never know just how stressful wedding planning/engagement is, until you yourself are in the middle of it. That's all for now.

Im frustrated

The job search here in Spokane is not going as well as planned. That is just the problem, I was made to believe that there was not going to be an actual search and that I was shoe in for the very job that I wanted (full time, benefits, everything) and now I am contacting these people every so often and they just take their time and throw me a bone here and there, but I am getting tired of it. I don't know exactly what I am going to do if this doesn't work out. Plus I am getting married in 5 months. I am happy about that. But, that means I am not just looking out for myself any more. I am going to have a wife. I am going to have to look out for the both of us, and this situation isn't working out. Needless to say I am a touch stressed. Other things are going well, but this one glaring issue is on the forefront of my mind. I would appreciate your thoughts and your prayers.
On a different and brighter note, I had an awesome dinner with Tony Biasell the other night. It was grand.

She's Back!

Last night at 5:25, yes, in the middle of the Super Bowl (I could have cared less) Tori arrived in Spokane. It has been nice, catching up on life. She shared stories of Spain with me and would I share stories of life here in Spokane, while she was gone. We had dinner, we went and sipped on coffee, I really just wanted to look at her for a while but we had to go our separate ways. Soon enough, even that will change. Today has been a day of getting things back in order again, and her final semester begins tomorrow. The fridge is stocked clothes are washed, and now its time to to try and fight off the jet lag, a process that no doubt will take a while. But, shes back...and that's just fine with me.

I have a dream...

There will be more to come on this later I have discussed this briefly with Ben Fife and at length last night with Shalene (come on we all only know one Shalene.) I cannot wait for Tori to get home!