Trabajo

So I got a new job.....which means I am back to work.  I had orientation Monday and very crazy training the rest of this past week.  I work for Providence Health Care in their corporate pharmacy services division as a specialized tech.  The job is very different from anything I have ever experienced before.  Everyone I have talked to who has worked the job 2 years received 4 months of training.  One of the newer hires had a 6 week training because they were in a bind.  Me?  I get 2 weeks with a week of implementation.  They are short 5 techs, they hired 4 new people including me, but 3 won't start for another week and an existing coordinator just had a baby so they are needing help pretty quick.  Training involves 8 hours of learning new programs and policies.  I basically have 12 applications running on my screen at any given moment in time and all of them interrelate to each other, I am supposed to learn what each one has on it and how to use it and what I am allowed to say or do on each of them.  Thus far I am semi familiar with about 8 of them, have 4 different passwords to keep straight, and still have 4 to go.  I keep being told to not feel too pressured, that it takes about 6 months to know what you are doing and 2 years to understand why you are doing what you are doing.  Seeing as I probably don't have 2 years with them, it isn't the most helpful advice.  So that is the story of what I am doing for work.

Astoria

For this weekend's adventure we drove up to the Evergreen State and hit Astoria & Seaside in Oregon.  The coast has been socked in with a nasty marine layer all week so I was shocked when we got to Seaside to blue skies and pretty warm temperatures.  We first went to the Astoria Column.  It was dedicated in 1926 and is basically a really tall column that you can climb 196 stairs to the top and have a neat view of Astoria, Columbia River, Oregon, Washington, Astoria-Megler Bridge, and the ocean.  The side of the column has different frames of Astorian history and is pretty cool.  You can buy little wooden planes in the gift shop and people will through them from the top of the column and watch them circle down (with kids anxiously waiting to catch them), they had a burial canoe, and that is about it.  It is kind of a random landmark, but it is worth going to, especially on a sunny day.  We then drove up to Washington and explored Cape Disappointment which has two lighthouses and a Lewis and Clark exhibit.  On our way home we stopped in Seaside to eat our fancy peanut butter sandwiches.  Before leaving we stopped in the candy shop, The Seaside Candyman, mainly because it was playing the Candyman song from Willy Wonka and how can you resist that?  It was FULL of salt water taffy.  When we have more time I definitely want to see what some of the 170 taffy flavors are someday.  It was a really fun day, I just wish we could spend time together like that more than once every 2 weeks.  The next activities should be interesting, we are going into territory where I have never been: Mt Hood & Sauvie Island.

The Orchards

We went to Bell Orchards today and picked some honey crisp apples.  Sadly, the peaches are all done and gone :( but the apples are delicious and I really like UPick Orchards, they are quirky and cheap.  It was a nice very mini break-it is owned by people in our ward here and is just down the road-from JD studying and I have been munching on apples all day.  Happy picking!

Cooper Mountain Nature Park

We live in an area with a lot of 'parks'.  While there are your typical soccer field and playground parks.  There are also quite a few nature parks which entails pieces of wilderness and trails.  We are right below the Cooper Mountain Nature Park, which has multiple trails.  We were walking the Little Prairie Loop Trail tonight and came across this: the little prairie.  At first I couldn't figure out why there was a sign and two benches looking at this field until JD pointed out that this was the namesake of the trail we were on.  It is a pretty funny nature park, I can't wait to see what the big prairie looks like.

On the Menu

I am not a fan of cooking....at all.  I never have been.  My sister, Emily, is a master chef.  She was the one willing to help with the entire meal when we were growing up.  I would peel potatos and book it out of the kitchen.  I don't like timing things, making a mess, cleaning it up, shopping for the ingredients, going to cook something and missing a single ingredient, etc.  It is just a hassle I don't enjoy.  Since moving up here, I have been cooking a lot more.  I have enjoyed finding new recipes and only one was absolutely terrible (I blame false imagery on the part of CrockPot because I rechecked and I followed everything exactly correct) but that hasn't taken away from the whole process that I loathe.  One thing I have done to help that has worked well for the first 2 months at least is preplanning my shopping list for an entire month making me grocery store free for 29 days of the month which I love.  One the menu this month: frito pie, swedish pork roast, parmesean chicken, southwestern chicken chili, tacos, chicken curry, and honey spiced glazed chicken to name a few.

Silver Falls

We had a blast at Silver Falls State Park yesterday.  While not doing the entire Trail of Ten Falls, we did do 5.5 miles of the loop and saw 8 of them. My gracefulness cut the trek a little short with a bloody knee and scuffed up ankle and hands-not bad, just not very fun. Silver Falls is a really amazing place though.  We loved walking behind the falls, looking at crazy trees growing out of stumps and fallen down trees, and driving through the Christmas Tree Farms on the way to the park (those are not grassy rolling hills in the pictures, those are full grown Christmas Trees, it is crazy).  We are definitely going to try and make it back when the leaves are on in a month or so.  Sorry there are so many pictures, it was hard to decide which ones to add.  I had fun (probably a little too much) playing with the manual settings during this hike, so there were a lot to choose from.  Just click on any picture to get a bigger view.

Salem Bound

We had an interesting time getting to Silver Creek Falls today.  We were surprised to find that we were stuck in pretty thick traffic on our way to Salem and couldn't figure out what was going on.  Then we started noticing a trend of very bedazzeled cars with PomPoms, duck feet, beavers, flags, magnets, stickers, etc.  The drivers were often in bright green and yellow or orange and black attire as well.  We later found out that both Oregon State and University of Oregon were playing, one in Eugene, the other in Corvallis, both of which require I-5 to get too.  It was fun people watching and I got some great car decorating ideas too.  We also stopped by the Lego Store on our way to get a surprise for our old upstairs neighbors.  I love looking at their displays.  The movie theater one was fantastic.  It is hard to see but you have kings sharing popcorn with Harry Potter, light sabers, maces,wands, and bows are all perfectly normal in a Lego Theater.

Work Stress

I have had a month off of no job.  This has not been a fun thing.  I go crazy when I am not working and it has been hard not having work.  I have been making fancy dishes in the kitchen and have cooked a lot more than I probably ever have over the past month to take up time.  So this week I got three job offers within a few days of each other.  They are all very different along the lines of work, pros & cons, how offers have been made (or the lack there of and still an expectation to take the offer).  I hate business in healthcare (I know in general it is bad, but healthcare is really bad).  I like when an offer is made that is fair and just there.  I don't like the well what are you looking for?  How much were you making?  What have your other offers been?  I don't like the politics and the stress it creates. Look at my resume, tell me what you think and if there are problems we can talk.  I just need a job that can help us keep our debt down a bit, one that I can do for a few years before JD does clinicals, and that will be a good fit for what we need.  At this point I honestly am not sure as to which job/s I will be taking.  So who knows where or what I will be doing?  I don't, but I will let you know when I know.

What I've Been Listening To

It has been awhile since I have been so excited about a new album.  I love this band, they have some Utah roots so I've known about them for a few years and it is really exciting to see them getting more attention, I even heard them on the radio here in Portland the other day!  It is a great album with some of their past works added to this one like It's Time and On Top of the World.  Check them out, see what you think.

The Navigator

Today was a big day.  I drove through Portland, across bridges, along OR-10, OR-8, OR-26, I-405 S, I-5 N, I-84 E, I-205 N, OR-30 E, OR-30 W, I-84 W, I-5 S, and I-405 N.  I did this alone.  I did this without a map.  I did this without getting lost.  I did this in great time.  I DID IT!  I love maps and I love knowing where I am.  Moving here has been a little difficult in that I couldn't look at maps when I was driving, and I didn't know where I was.  Today was liberating to say the least.  Having a GPS would be easier, but then I wouldn't have victories like today and oh how good they feel!

The Study Bug

JD studies super hard all week and by the time Friday rolls around he is a bit worn out.  The above picture took place about 5 minutes after he got home from school on Friday.  The one below is JD's desk.  I thought it was pretty clever how he came up with the idea of balancing my totes to create a nice desk.  My supply of crayons, markers, and colored pencils that I use for primary is readily on hand just in case.  I am grateful that he is such a hard worker, I know I wouldn't have the fortitude to go through the program he is doing.  It has been a good experience so far we are interested to see what else is in store.

Seaside in September

I love September 1st, it means the coming of Fall.  It is the day that I can officially pull out fall decorations and get excited about changing leaves, apples, peaches and all that wonderfulness that comes with autumn.  We went to Seaside and spent some time feeding harbor seals, looking at creatures in the aquarium, watching kites, and relaxing on the beach.  JD wasn't sure why everyone thinks seals are so cute, he refers to them as "Fat Floppers".  Personally I think they are adorable.  I love being so close to the ocean, and having fun places to spend time with JD before he gets back to studying each Saturday.