Hi ho... Hi ho...

I really do love the place I work.

I know I've complained to some of you that it's boring or whatever, but it's really not that bad. I've worked in corporate America since I was 18 and I've never worked anywhere like this place before. It's so much more relaxed. You can just feel it when you walk in. Not to say that it's not professional. There is still a high level of professionality - just without the stress that accompanies so many other offices.

I think it has to do with the type of people I work with. In other jobs I've had, there is always at least one person I can't get along with. Someone who has a stick up their butt, or thinks they are more important than everybody else, or just has social issues. I've worked here for a year and haven't had a problem with anybody. Everyone just seems to mesh well together.

There's also a sense of honesty and loyalty here. I've worked for this company for a little over a year and I'm the newest person. Most of the other employees have been here for over 8 years. And it's not just because they're stuck here and can't get other jobs. A low turnover rate and people who genuinely like their jobs really says something about a company. Part of it stems from honesty. And that comes directly from the President of the company down through to the rest of us. I have never met a more honest person in the business world. It's refreshing and relaxing. It makes working so much easier. I have worked for other companies and I've learned that if the head of the company and its higher-ups are not honest, they are suspicious of everybody else as well. And that's not the kind of environment I can work in. I should be allowed to work and be trusted that my word is good. If I say I'll do something, I'll do it. Please don't be looking over my shoulder every five minutes.

Because of this honesty, we all know we can take breaks every now and then, goof off a little, and then get back to work and all will be well. I can't get over how different it is to work here. Everything is different. The people, the attitudes, the relationships - a lot of these guys have worked together for a long time and they go on camping trips together, spend time outside of work together (besides at the bar), several of them even came to my wedding reception and I never would have expected that anywhere else I worked - even the lunchroom is different.

I don't know if any other office is like this, it's a first for me, but people actually cook in our lunchroom. People keep frying pans, George Forman grills, cooking utensils, everything here and it's not uncommon to walk into the lunchroom at lunchtime and see someone making chicken burritos or frying a hamburger. At my other places of employment the only thing that ever got used was the microwave. Usually people just went out. So it was no surprise to walk in this afternoon and see the accountant frying up Swedish pancakes (they're kind of like crepes). The weird thing was that he was offering them to whoever walked in. He covered them in Lingonberry jam (a specialty of Sweden) and powdered sugar and butter and rolled them up. They were actually really, really, good. I wonder where they sell that Lingonberry jam...

Anything and Everything

The past week has been busy busy. But that's the way I like things. We finally got most of our extra gifts returned. Some after taking them to several stores. When in doubt, take it to Walmart. They'll take just about anything. Stores are more and more turning to giving in-store gift cards instead of cash. I guess that's ok because we generally frequent those stores, but I'd still rather have the money instead.

We finally got a couch. Yea!!! We had friends over this past weekend and there was nowhere for them to sit but the kitchen table. We've had to wait to get the couch to our apartment because we don't have a truck. Some nice friends with a truck brought it over on Monday and we were very grateful. I felt bad they had to lug it up 2 flights of stairs, but now the living room doesn't look so bare and we can really start having people over.

So things are starting to come together. We still have A TON of thank you cards to write from the wedding. Our goal is to each write five a night until they're all done. This is to start tonight so we'll see how it goes. Most of them will go like this: "Thank you so much for the (toaster, crockpot, waffle iron, etc). We got several so we took yours back. But we got (blender, towels, movies, etc.) instead and we're much happier with them so thanks!"

Think that'll go over well?

I think I'm taking my wedding rings in tonight to get them sized and soddered together. It's going to be weird not to have them for a few days. But they'll be BEAUTIFUL when they're done. Hubby wants me to wear another ring on that finger until I get my rings back. I don't get it. He wants me to wear a ring but he doesn't see a problem with wearing his wedding ring on a different finger because it's too big. We'll just see about that...

So, those are the babblings of married life. Nothing too exciting. Well, I have to leave those details out, anyways.

Am I missing something?

Can I just go back to Disneyland?

Life is so much simpler when you're on vacation. I wrote about the hassle of changing your name when you get married. School started yesterday and I had to go change my name and address there too. Piece of cake! Thank you!

But there are other super fun things that have to be done when you get married (can you sense the sarcasm?). We moved most of our stuff to our new apartment before the wedding but nothing was very organized. Then there's the fact that all the gifts from the reception were just piled up in the living room. Welcome home! We opened all of our gifts Christmas Eve day. Hubby decided it would be a good idea to cover me in all the bows and ribbons. I could barely move my arms to open the next present and I couldn't SEE what I was opening for all my wrapping.

We made quite the haul. However, there is something that just boggles my mind. We registered at two different stores, went through and scanned all the things we wanted or needed to make it really easy for people to buy gifts for us. We made sure everybody KNEW we were registered at these places and they could go buy us things off our lists and ensure we got things we wanted or needed. So WHY did the majority of people opt to buy us things from who knows where? And instead of possibly getting two of the same present (one from each store we were registered at) we ended up with 3-6 of some gifts. We ended up with things we definitely didn't register for and some we weren't even sure what they were or why we would need them! Like a cloth scissors holder. Why? Why would you need that? And it doesn't just hold one pair of scissors, it holds about 8! (But this gift was from my grandma and I've already talked about gifts from my grandma on here before.)

We got 3 waffle irons, 4 salad bowls, 6 crock pots. Who needs six crock pots? 3 sets of cookie sheets, 2 ice cream makers (we didn't even register for an ice cream maker but I guess we'll keep one, ONE, anyways.) So, for the extent we went to to make sure people knew what we wanted or needed, why wouldn't they buy those things? My mom told me one lady was saying how hard it is to know what to buy and that she bought us something (not on our list) because she didn't figure anybody else would buy it for us. Duh! Because we didn't want it!

I'm not trying to be mean or rude. I really do appreciate everyone's thoughtfulness in buying us gifts. And we did end up with some things that weren't on our list that we really will enjoy (like the ice cream maker). But really, isn't it a lot easier to buy something that was on the registry? They scan it into the computer so other people know that particular thing has been bought for the couple so they should buy something else. You know what to buy, the couple gets the things they want, it's really not that complicated.

What's complicated is having 6 crockpots (with no gift receipts. That's another thing - get a gift receipt and attach it to the present!) and having to take 5 of them back because people didn't buy off your registry, and having no clue where to take them back to (because there was no gift receipt to tell you where it came from). I've been going to all the major stores to try to figure out who carries which brand and it's been a pain. Some things I still have yet to figure out where they came from. It's been a blast, let me tell you!

Somewhere Only We Know

I know, I know. Some of you are thinking we went on quite the extended honeymoon. Really we've been back for two weeks and I'm trying to organize my life as a Mrs. and haven't had time to blog anything.

The wedding was wonderful. The day wasn't nearly as busy (for me anyways) as I thought it was going to be. The reception was beautiful and it was amazing to be surrounded by so many people who care about us and our families. Lots of wonderful friends and family helped to make everything perfect for the day and I'm greatly appreciative.

The honeymoon was equally as wonderful. It was soooo much warmer in California than it was here and we stayed in this beautiful resort by the beach. We had a whole condo to ourselves with several bedrooms, a huge bathtub, and our own kitchen. Everything was so nice. Disneyland was great. We got bride and groom mouse ears and everybody kept yelling "Congratulations!" at us. It was really fun. Anyone planning a trip to Disneyland, I highly recommend the fastpasses. It's so much nicer than standing in line. You get this little ticket and it tells you when to come back to jump to the front of the line. You can go stand in line for one ride and when you're done with that one it's usually time to jump to the front of the line for whatever ride you have the fastpass for so you get to ride two rides and only stand in line for one. It's great! California Adventures was alright but there are essentially two rides worth riding there: The rollercoaster, and Tower of Terror. That was THE coolest ride! I didn't know what to expect but it was awesome. If you go to California Adventures, the Tower of Terror is a must.

But now, with the honeymoon over, it's back to real life. And there are a lot of things that have to be taken care of when you get married that I guess I didn't really think about. Like changing my name. What a pain. I spent several hours at the social security office and DMV. THAT was fun. Nothing like spending hours and hours sitting there waiting to talk to someone for 2 minutes. I also changed my name at the bank and added my hubby to my account. But that was no problem. Thank you, AFCU, for being sooooo much easier than everywhere else! I just got my new checks and check cards in the mail too. Speedy, I tell ya! School starts again tomorrow and I need to go talk to them about changing my name at the school and also with financial aid. Should be interesting. Wish me luck.

And there are so many other things that have been going on that I had no idea were a part of newly married life but I've run out of time for today. Perhaps another installment is in order for Wednesday if I have time. Until then, I just wanted everyone to know that yes, I am still alive. I wasn't taken prisoner by the Pirates of the Caribbean or eaten by Pinocchio's whale.