Stefan's Visit

Last week my 'baby' brother Stefan was on Spring Break and he asked if he could come spend it with us. Of course we said yes and the day after Easter he arrived for the week. I was pretty excited! Even though we are about a decade apart Stefan is most definitely my buddy, especially as he has gotten older. Sadly, Ryan and I both had work, but our evenings and free time were well spent! As soon as Stefan arrived he and Ryan fired up the grill and got their man status established. We had a nice dinner and took Rylie for a walk (which made her absolutely ecstatic... I think Stefan is one of her favorite people in the world!)

 

Ryan was actually on the rifle range all week so he had some very early mornings, but on the plus side he was home early enough in the afternoon to take Stefan out some places and have me meet them later. One day we went to the beach on base and got to see a pretty neat training exercise. Stefan was pretty stoked about it! The beach was a bit windy and cool both times we went, but the guys still did some skim boarding and had a blast.

 

I am so glad Ryan and Stefan get along. These two are like frick and frack... Stefan has even sort of adopted Ryan's sense of style. My brother has had the high and tight hair cut since we got married and he wanted to blend in with the other groomsmen, and the sperries and cargoes are definitely a staple of my husband's that Stefan borrowed! I think it is adorable. My amazing little brother also took it upon himself to weed and edge our yard and clean out our garage to say thanks for feeding him for a week!

I was actually off work on Friday so Stefan and I went on base to see the Budweiser Clydesdales. It was hot and sunny and we both got a little sunburned, but we both had a good time. Those horses are huge! Plus they had the dalmation (and a dalmation puppy in training!) along for the ride. It was a lot of standing around and waiting for them to arrive and get harnessed up and then they did a lap around the exchange parking lot. After the passed us we dashed out of there to avoid traffic and we stopped by the library so he could see where I worked.

 

Saturday I had to work but the guys had a good day together. After I got off of work we went bowling on base and ended up playing about five games in a row! We had a lot of fun together.

 

Proof I actually WON a game!!! I am the 94 (: and yes we know we are awful

I also used the opportunity to take some rare pictures of me and some of my favorite guys...

 

This is my new screensaver on my phone... I adore it!

Then somehow Stefan stole my phone and was messing with it. He told me to smile for a picture but then I quickly realized he was just holding down the button and taking picture after picture after picture! I think he took about eighty in a row! Below you can see the exact moment I realized it too...

Stefan left Sunday morning after I left for work and drove the long six and half hours back to Westen North Carolina. I am going to miss my buddy when he goes off to college this fall all the way in Vermont! He finally decided on Norwich University (or as Ryan likes to call it, "The North's version of the Citadel") and will be attending as a cadet this fall. I am ridiculously proud of my kid brother, if you can't tell! Thanks for the visit Stef, I will see you at your HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION in two months!!!

At long last, a job!

After ten months of unemployment I finally have a job!!! After sending in tons of job applications to various sources I scored my first interview. I applied in November, interviewed in December, trained in January and will start Monday (aka in February)! It was a long process (including a background check that took me almost two hours to do) but it ended up being worth it. I was hired!

I am an official Library Aid for MCCS.

This week was my MCCS customer service training, three long days of powerpoints and presentations and trust games that at times were enjoyable. Our main trainer was wonderful and tried to make things as fun as possible, which was appreciated, but some presentations were just the kinds you needed to chug caffeine to get through!

Did you know the only 'I' in team is in the a-hole? ;)

 Also being on base for long periods of time was interesting. Especially those moments when helicopters fly so low you feel like you got a little trim off the top of your head!

We also had an interesting little bus tour. I now know where the post office is. Score.

Like I said, our trainer made it fun and every day pumped us up with the Chicago Bulls entrance theme. There was clapping, cheering and maybe even the wave. Well HR got jealous of our fun so one day they started playing the macarena in the hallway and dragged us out of training for a flash mob up and down the hall!

At the end of it all I met my new supervisor and I am pretty excited to start Monday. I will work some evenings but the library I am working in doesn't stay open past 7, so not too late. Also I will probably be working every other weekend, but that is doable. I hope my coworkers like me and I am excited for the opportunity. I will be surrounded by books and that is heavenly to me. We have so many resources that I am anxious to take part in.... if your base has a library check it out! There is so much more than just books.... Rosetta Stone, nooks, DVDs, Wii and XBox and Playstation games for rent, and so much more.

My supervisor took over the library late last year and is open for suggestions and program ideas and I have so many ideas that I hope I can put into fruition.

It has been a long wait but I am so thankful that I got this job. I am hoping it is really meant to be, maybe I had to wait this long because this is the place I needed to go.

Let's hope!

I will keep you posted on how it goes after my first day.

And I plan on auditioning for the show at the community college on Monday so I see a busy few months in my future if I am cast. Fingers crossed!