Sincerest Regrets

To my avid followers,

I express deep sorrow and regret at the fact that I haven't posted anything for half a month. Please excuse my delinquency. I shall do better in the upcoming year.

Joanna

Finally!!

After months of job searching and applying, I was offered a job today by First National Bank of the Lakes in the Uptown area here in the cities! I will be their newest full-time teller starting December 28th. What a great Christmas present!

I don't know why it happened today of all days. For nine months I have been searching, applying, and interviewing for jobs with what appeared to be fruitless results. What I do know is this is an answer to prayers and happened when it was right.

With a new job, there are a few things I'm looking forward to:
1. A more consistent schedule without lots of variation in hours or days.
2. Benefits! I can finally go to the dentist after 2 and a half years. My teeth are excited!
3. I can wear my nice clothes, and I don't have to worry about them getting dirty.
4. I don't have to rush back here the day after Christmas to work. Yay for holidays!

When I was talking to Mr. Johnson, my new boss, I informed him I'd be gone for a week in January and he said that wasn't a problem. They understand that I have a life and have planned things so they are willing to work with me.

Yay!

Snow Day!!

Thanks to the "blizzard" we got yesterday (and the fact that I didn't have to work and Ben is busy studying) it was like those wonderful days growing up when school would be cancelled and we would just hang around the house all day. In order to make the day somewhat productive, I did a few crafty things. Here are the results!

Christmas Traditions

This year I am excited to be home for Christmas so that I can enjoy the traditions I've missed out on the past two years. This past Sunday Ben and I went to this:

Faces of the Nativity from Galen Erickson on Vimeo.

It was exciting to see all the different nativity sets and think of all the people around the world who share in the same tradition of celebrating the birth of our Savior. I can't wait to make this a tradition in the future. Ben and I also listened to the hand bell choir before watching the First Presidency Christmas Devotional later that night. It was great to spend the day with Ben especially at this time of the year, and I'm excited for all the other fun traditions to take part in over the next couple of weeks.

December 1

Back in high school Cory Wilbur and Amy Ruffner always celebrated the first day of a new month because it meant a time for them to write a new month. I never got it. It was a new month and every 30 or so days it would happen again. Today at work, though, that excitement caught up with me.

It's hard to believe that it's December already! Where has the year gone? Last year, I was in warm sunny Destin thinking that a December with snow and cold weather would never come. And, here it is! Time sure has a way of passing by quickly and unnoticed.

I'm going to keep telling myself that all month because it looks like it is going to be a long and boring month with Ben having finals and then heading back to Arizona for a few weeks. I might be making more trips home than usual this month just to give me something to do.

You can expect that January 1, 2010 will be an exciting day. I can't wait!