Well,  a lot happens in a year.  Had a job, lost a job, found an apartment with roommates, moved in with my cats, and am still looking for a job. 

Utah has been both good and bad for me.  My asthma is still out of control which makes it difficult to do things, so I've gained weight, more weight than I ever wanted to do.  I am looking for a job in my field, but I'm in Utah which doesn't pay well, and is slightly discriminatory.  Some days I wonder why I even try.

At the end of September I managed to total my car.  I am currently without a car or any form of transportation which is a strain.  Luckily my older sister is here and is willing to help me out as much as I can.  Then to top off my Autumn, last week I managed to break my ring finger so typing is difficult.

However there are some really nice things that have happened.  Last Saturday my niece Eliana was sealed to my sister and brother-in-law.  My other sister Caprice was able to join us here in Utah for the ceremony and the next day Eliana received her blessing from her father.  My uncle Don and my cousin Adonis were both able to participate in the blessing which almost made up for the fact that my father wasn't able to be there in person.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!  I need to remember and count my many blessings this time of year

Westward Ho!

For those of you who have been following my blog, and know me, I have to tell you that I moved West.  I left Kansas and moved to Utah.  Other than finally finding a full-time job after looking for three years, I'm not sure why the Lord wants me in Utah.  I found a job with Ancestry.com, the genealogy website.  I'm a project lead helping put together the databases that are offered online.

I miss my friends in Kansas/Missouri, especially those in the 70th Explorers/149th War Wolves.  Wish I could come back and troop with you.  I really miss my friends from the Stanley Ward, and wish I could transplant all of you here in Utah.

However, I am now a member of the Alpine Garrison here in Salt Lake City.  I am currently living in Sandy, but may move to Utah County (trying not to think about that) because the commute is killing me.

On another note, I just read my sister's blog about my Dad and holidays.

4th of July Remembrances

Which made me cry (at work no less) and laugh remembering the cars screeching to a halt because they ignored the "Road Closed" signs and found their way blocked by fireworks.

Caprice, the game you can't remember is the card game Waterworks.

And all I can say in remembrance is also:

Dad, I love you and I miss you more than you can imagine.

I'm finally officially a Member of the 501st Legion - Vader's Fist!!!

For those of you who have been friends with me for a while, and read this blog, you know I'm into Star Wars Costuming, and primarily it is for charity.  Well, I have been working on my Imperial Security Bureau Costume (it is the least expensive costume for me to make) and submitted it last week and was approved!  My lifetime TKID number for the 501st Legion is 4053.  I chose that number because it is a slight reversal of my father's birthday (5/3/40) and he was the person who took me to see Star Wars back in 1977, and started this whole crazy thing.  Now I'll always have the number to remind me of him and seeing the movie together.  Okay, for those of you who won't recognize the uniform, it is from A New Hope (the original SW movie) and can be seen in the scene where they are all in the conference room.  The officer sitting next to the idiot who challenges Darth Vader and gets Force choked because of it.

My Imperial Security Bureau uniform.

My first official troop:

As for the job search, it is continuing.  I'm applying for jobs in Los Angeles, CA; Redmond, WA and of course several here in the KC area.  Just wish I was having better luck. 

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

Christmas Blog Woes

Okay, I was going to post during the Christmas season, and add a snappy new background, but wouldn't you know it...when I added the background, it completely erased all my posts.  I couldn't post anything new, and I couldn't do anything with it, even though the background said it would be compatible with my template.

I guess I'm going to have to make my own backgrounds from here on out.  It just isn't worth the aggravation.  I went through 2 different websites, different designs both with the same result. It just is incredibly frustrating.  So I'm going to have Caprice show me where to get the different elements to make my own backgrounds, then I won't have to rely on others and my blog will always look like I want it.  Besides, Valentines Day is coming up so I'll shoot for that for a new background.

Okay, to bring everyone up to date, I still don't have a full-time permanent job.  Getting rather frustrated, but I'm not giving up hope yet. Spent Christmas with some friends as Caprice and family headed to Denver and her in-laws for the holiday.  Had a great time, and wished I wasn't working retail so I could have had the whole weekend off instead of just one day.  The day after Christmas...

Holiday retail jobs...life-savers, but also aggravating at the same time.  No, do not expect the store to have gift boxes at 5pm on December 24th.  Most likely they won't.  No, we aren't going to have anything coming in later in the day on a truck when it is 2pm on 12/24.  I don't know what stores are still open at 6:30pm on 12/24...I'm only concerned if the one I need to get to before going home will still be open, (Thank you Wal-Mart.)  Do not expect the store to be open after 7pm on Christmas Eve, we also have families or friends we want to be home with.

The Day after Christmas?  No, we didn't have that item in stock on Christmas Eve, and no, we haven't received a truck yet so it is still out of stock.  Please expect long lines in customer service.  Everyone else is also trying to return the gifts they received and don't fit or they hate.  We are working as fast as we can, and most likely are feet are hurting, our heads are hurting, and we would love to snap back at you after you've complained about the wait, but we won't.  Please have patience with all retail workers this holiday and every holiday season.  They work long hours for little pay, and little recognition.  I bet most of you don't even know how long it takes to put the store back together after it has been shopped.  It takes a lot of effort.

Okay, back to the grind of job applications.  I'll probably blog again soon though.

TTFN

Used up one minute of fame this morning!

Okay, one advantage of this Star Wars group is that we get to do fun things...like Live TV promos for some of our charity events.  Yes, I'm there in costume, and looking at it, I think I need to do a lot of working out.  I really really need to lose weight.  But its all fun.

Santa Claus and Star Wars Invade Kansas City

So click on the link and you can see me in all my Imperial Security Bureau glory...not exactly the look I was going for, but it works.

Now for an update on the job hunt...still haven't found anything.  I'm getting really discouraged now.  Can't get anything solid.  I've applied for another retail position for the holidays, but haven't heard back from that even.  If I can't get hired for the holidays for retail, what chance do I have getting hired for regular work?

Okay, that's just the depression talking, but I'm still not really happy.

Oops, just realized I still have my Halloween Wallpaper up. Guess I need to change my background.  Maybe I'll leave it up until after Thanksgiving and then put up christmas wallpaper.  Of course for those of you who know me it will be Nutcracker Wallpaper...

TTFN!

Monday Night Fun????

Okay, just have to post that I finished my DBA class.  I'm now trying to get the last couple of chapters in the book finished so I can take my exam.  The class was very intensive, but I learned a lot, a whole lot.  Now to get certified and find a job.  A real job.

Okay, now for my other pasttime...

Last night was the night before the video game Force Unleashed II was to be released at midnight.  The GameStop store on the Ft. Leavenworth PX requested our group to come out and help generate interest in sales of the game.  Okay, remember this is a midnight release.  We arrived at 5pm, set up everything and so began the long wait.  We were supposed to be there to take pictures and Darryl Woods our Lucasfilm Licensed artist was there to draw caricatures.  So we waited...and waited...and waited. 

Around 8pm the store purchased pizzas and soda for us to eat and drink.  That took up about 45 mins of time.  So we were bored.  When we're bored you have to entertain yourselves somehow right?  What better way than to race in those powered scooter shopping  carts?

Of course the Imperial Biker Scout had to get in on the fun.

However, overall it was a very boring night.  To top it off we didn't get home until the wee hours of the morning and now we're all to tired to think. And I need to be able to think right now.


Oh well, until next time...



Busy Busy Weekend...and it won't stop until after Thanksgiving!!!

This past weekend was incredibly busy for me.  On Saturday I spent the day at the Kansas City Zoo Howls and Yowls dressed as a Star Wars Imperial Officer.  We had a fairly good turnout for the event from our group, including the debut of our latest Darth Vader.  We also had some of our group travel up from Wichita for the event so of course afterwards we just had to get together and talk, and talk, and talk...going to bed around 2:00a.m. which would have been fine if I hadn't had to get up at 6:30am to get ready for church.

The children loved us.

However, the trumpeter swan did not.  So we shot him (not really, but he was very vocal at one point).

Our Vader with Honor Guard.

At the end of the day everyone was getting a little munchy...

The best part of the day for me though was having my nieces come to the zoo and see us in our uniforms.  They've seen Aunt Tiff carry hers to and from events, but never seen me in it.  All in all it was a great day.  Only to get up the next day and do it all again for some friends' wedding.  Yes it was a Star Wars Themed wedding, my first, but really the only Star Wars part was the costumes.  Very tasteful, a beautiful setting, and a beautiful ceremony.  Yes, several of us female guests did cry, but it was all worth it to see Dave and Stephanie so happy.

The wedding party.

Of course there was a lot of fun at the reception including dancing in armor and other fun times.  In all honesty I was glad to see that it wasn't going to be an entirely Star Wars themed wedding as I think the little formal touches the uniforms made to the wedding party were kind of nice.  But then I'm a Star Wars Geek.



In other news, I started my Database Administrator course last week.  I was overwhelmed by the first day, and have slowly caught up.  I'm not sure I'll be able to get a DBA position immediately following this course, but if I can get something in IT, then I can move over to a DBA position within a short time.  The certification exam is what I'm studying for, and I wish I could take the second course so I could get my Professional level certification, but I can't afford it right now, so maybe next semester.  Gotta run because I've got to go study.  If anyone knows of good job I can apply for, just tell me.  I'm getting a little desperate now.

Until next time....