Skype. Business. Happiness.

Some actual life updates (no rants, I promise) for you all:

Since I'm far from Sacramento I've had frequent and fantastic Skype dates with the fam.

They mostly include an introduction from an adult family member, the entrance and entertainment of Evie and/or Chet, and an exit/apology from a different adult family member who has taken over the Skype while the original adult tends to a boo boo, make believe game, or dance-a-thon, hosted by Evie.

And I honestly couldn't love it more :) :) :)

Here are some pictures to chronicle this past month:

Showing off their dance moves!

Scene of a hilarious Skype with my entire family who lives in Sacramento at my parent's house! With a million cousins! :)

Mom trying to maintain quiet...

And loosing terribly to a grandbaby dog pile!

So much joy these conversations bring me! Feels like I'm right in the room :)

On another note, I have been making some progress on the establishment of my small business (huge thanks to Bill, Jeremy, Josh, Mom and Dad for their help!) and I currently have pending/processing the name of "Aaron Consultants and Planners, LLC" and my legal documents!

The main reason for this right now is so that I can continue contracting out Marketing/PR jobs, like I'm currently doing. Later the business could evolve to do wedding planning as mentioned before, but for now that's not my focus as I'm enjoying my current work.

It's fun to feel so official and get the wheels turning on making this idea legitimate!

Life is going good down here in El Centro! We are certainly enjoying the beautiful weather and keep our windows open as much as possible to get a good breeze! We know in a few months the heat kicks in and have to brag while we can ;)

Something I've been reminded of lately is the value of good friends and community. I've been so blessed with quality, giving friendships and lately I've been having such good, real conversations. I learn so much from the wise women that give so much to me, and I appreciate them so much. There's nothing like a girlfriend who can empathize with the craziness of life as a girl, right? :) I'm so at peace with where the Lord has me now, what is to come later, and everything in between. And much of that is due to the wisdom of you women in my life. Thank you for that.

Two of my good friends, Elli and Becca, gave me a copy of "The Girls of Ames" that follows a group of women who grew up together in Ames, Iowa to their present day in their 40s as they go through highs and lows, joys and losses, and still maintain a bond of friendship. If you're looking for a good read, I'd suggest it. If it has a bad ending, I'm sorry, I'm only 1/2 way through ;)

With love and joy from El Centro,

Paige

The Positive Re-Writing of Actually Bad Memories

Do you ever feel, like a plastic bag, drifting throughout the wind... wait, I'm not Katy Perry.

Do you ever feel like you're the only sane person in this world?

HOLLA!

Now, to be fair I often times feel like I'm the craziest person in this world. But those moments when you KNOW, when you KNOW you are right and everyone else is wrong...

(Mental Picture: Michael in Arrested Development)

That's what I'm talking about.

The Positive Re-Writing of Actually Bad Memories is a rant I've had deep seeded from the second/sixth grade. You see, in the second grade for a few months I had the WORST teacher in the world. No one in my class liked her and I don't believe she liked anyone in my class.

For years we all spoke of her name with a hiss on our tongue and one only could recall a bad thought.

But a funny thing happened in 6th grade when she was retiring and everyone who was in her 2nd grade class got an invitation to attend her goodbye luncheon. I scoffed, tossed that paper aside and said to a fellow classmate, "Go see her? She was SO mean! I'm not saying goodbye to that lady!"

And that classmate's reply:

"She wasn't mean. What are you talking about? I think I'm going to go to it."

That classmate had suffered the trenches with me, bore the burdens of that awful class and FORGOT? How is this possible? I told story after story to my classmate of times when this teacher was horrendous and in return I got a shrug and an, "I just don't remember her being mean."

Now, I know The Positive Re-Writing of Actually Bad Memories is probably a good thing. Why remember the crappy stuff if you can just re-write some good? Like my previous post, I will remember the good of the longest light in El Centro and not the bad because it's just a better, happier way to live my life.

But sometimes it's the most annoying thing. (Even if it's the best thing.)

So today, for a limited time only, I charge you to reply to a friend with The Actual Empathy of Actually Bad Memory to those who would like to sulk, vent, rant and rave in the drama of their second grade classroom... or whatever their memory is. And thank you for listening to mine. (Insert bow and applause here.)

For more insanity, watch Arrested Development. This is the main character Michael's life. Luckily, it's a rare instance in mine.

With love from El Sanetro,

Paige

Testing

Testing my patience, that is!

You know in Gilmore girls when Taylor puts the first stoplight in Stars Hollow and Lorelai and Rory are leaving on a spontaneous road trip before Lorelai and Luke's wedding and sit. at. the. stop. light. for.evvvvvver????

It's the ridiculous stoplight that doesn't turn green, even in the wee small hours of the morning when the sun is fast asleep. (Sleepless in Seattle reference for you fanatics- aka Mom). They tilt their heads and just stair at this nuisance.

Well, folks, Stars Hollow has met it's match!

El Centro possibly has the LONGEST wait at a stoplight! And what's hilarious is it's the one right by my house. (When I say house I mean apartment, but to me it's the same, k?) (And I don't actually think it's funny, at all.)

Back to my saga...

So daily I sit, head titled at a stop light with very little traffic and try to say something Christian like, "Well isn't this a good exercise in patience!" or "I guess I can take some time to pray!" but really in my heart, hatred is growing for the man who made the timer this horrifically long! I think he perches himself in the Subway parking lot with binoculars and giggles at the faces getting more and more red...

Dr. Evil, I'll call him.

So me and Dr. Evil don't have a good relationship, but I can tell you when I leave El Centro one day I will actually grow fond of that light where I learned to get a little more patience and prayed for a few people, or that's what I'll tell myself at least. (The Positive Re-Writing of Actually Bad Memories will be a rant for later, which is deep seeded with annoyance back to the 2nd grade.)

With love from Wake and 4th Street,

Tilted-Head-Paige

10 Things

10 Things you don't hear in your house,

that I hear in mine:

1. "It went great, but she had a HUGE uterus."
2. "Hey Babe! Do you need these scrubs washed for tomorrow or are you wearing your suit?"
3. "Let's develop a good talk track for this doctor."
4. "Do you want cherry grenadine in your Diet Sprite? Or just orange juice?"
5. "Quick! Shut the door! The feathers are coming in!"
6. "Should we do Chili's or Burgers & Beer?"
7. "Feeling another Harry Potter tonight?"
8. "Will turning on Psych disrupt your work?" "No, just pause it if a Doctor calls, I'm doing computer work anyway."
9. "IT'S SOOO HOT IN HERE!!!!!!" (Perks of El Centro in February)
10. "Do you want some breakfast?" "Yeah, I'll take some Buster Bar (aka ice cream/fudge!)"

Now, Jeremy doesn't just eat any ice cream for breakfast. No, he eats ROYAL ice cream for breakfast because Buster Bar, an Aaron recipe, is beyond what your taste buds might deem as "delicious" and moves into a whole other category of utopia!

And because many have asked and now you are dying to make this pretty easy and extremely delicious dessert, I'll pass the recipe on to you as well:

Buster Bar - An Aaron Favorite Request for Birthdays (& Bfast!)!

Ingredients:

First & Second Layer:

1 pound oreo cookies

1/2 cup melted butter

1/2 gallon ice cream

1 1/2 cup peanuts

Chocolate Topping:

2 cups powdered sugar

1 1/2 cups evaporated milk

2/3 cups chocolate chips

1/2 cups butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

First and Second Layer:

1. Crush 1 pound oreo cookies, mix with 1/2 cup melted butter, press into a 9x13 pan
2. Soften 1/2 gallon ice-cream, spread over cookie mixture
3. Sprinkle 1 1/2 cups peanuts over the top

Chocolate Topping:

Mix and boil for 8 minutes:

1. 2 cups powdered sugar, 1 1/2 cups evaporated milk, 2/3 cups chocolate chips and 1/2 cup butter. Add 1 teaspoon valilla.
2. Cool before pouring over bottom layers.

Freeze dish. (I froze mine for a night). Get a good strong knife to cut it!

Oh, this is love!

This video made my LIFE!

My nephew, Chet, and my momma just saying hello:

Happy Valentines day all :) And thanks for the video, mom :)

With love from La Casa de Amor,

Paige

Doctors and Starbucks

As some of you have noticed by now with the recent "change of employment" status on Facebook, I've gotten a job!

Well, technically Facebook says, "Paige Aaron works at Public Relations" but I really work IN Public Relations :)

You've followed my journey through this and we can all do the victory lap together! Woo Hoo!

In a nut shell, I'll be doing PR for two different doctors who are trying to promote their new practices. One is an OB/GYN and one is a Neurologist. I'm marketing their practices to fellow doctors, schools, groups, fitness clubs, retirement homes, etc. in the Imperial Valley. I've really loved the freedom and creativity I have to market their services and finding the work very enjoyable, challenging and rewarding!

On another note, this last weekend Bill and Mary came and visited La Casa de Amor (which is our apartment's name). It was such a fun time! We got everything off our registry that we hadn't already gotten, had some delicious meals and laughed our heads off at the movie Date Night! It was so nice to have family in our little town! :)

We also had some new friends who we met in our complex over for dinner on Tuesday and had a great time getting to know some new people! It's so nice to feel settled in and be able to host people and enjoy time in our home. They recently moved here from Detroit area and are definitely feeling the reality of culture shock so we've had lots of good laughs together, as we can relate in many ways!

This coming weekend we are going to LA to visit friends and family and celebrate Grandma Viki and Grandpa Chief's 49th wedding anniversary! It will be nice to be back on our old turf and everyone we love so much!!

Yesterday Jeremy and I went to Best Buy to get the paperwork started for my iPhone 4 I'm getting through Verizon. (Everyone in the Jennings family, switch from Sprint so I can talk to you for free! Shameless plug, I know...). Best Buy people said they were expecting a HUGE rush of people and would start handing out tickets at 6am to reserve a phone and it's first come, first serve.

So naturally (as any smart customer does, right?) this morning I wake up when the sun is still snoring, threw on my clothes and drove over to Best Buy at 5:50am... BUT to my surprise I was LITERALLY the only one in the parking lot. Fifteen minutes later, another guy pulls up. We basically did a car line up, the two of us, in front of the store to get our tickets and I left because I definitely wasn't going to freeze for an hour! When I left my Starbucks run at 6:30am, the lot was still empty. And for the four looong hours I was in Best Buy when it opened, there was only one other person!

Learning my lessons in El Centro! The guy at Starbucks said I made a rookie mistake and I couldn't agree more.

But the main point of my story is that I was driving back, Starbucks Tall Sugar Free Cinnamon Dulce Soy With Whip Latte in hand, and I was awestruck at the sunrise. It was cold outside and almost as if the morning was a secret, with only me on the road to witness this beautiful sight!

Everywhere I looked there was a 360 degree view of bright pinks, purples, oranges and blues. The mountains were a perfect backdrop and I just couldn't put into words the beauty I saw. And as quickly as the colors came, they left with the brightness of the sun and I felt like it was my secret with the Lord, that he painted a beautiful canvas just for my eyes this morning. Thank you Lord for your goodness and beauty!

I'm also very thankful for my new phone! After 4 hours, bad customer service, a return, and a beautiful sunrise it is HERE! :)

Thanks for listening to my hodgepodge of updates!

For more distraction, look at my sister's latest blog of the CUTEST boy in this world!!!!! (Nicknamed "Trouble" for this week)

With love from La Casa de Amor,

Paige

The Kicker

I have a story to share with you. A story of stories.

And it's a little long, but you CAN'T scroll down to the end.

Promise?

I know blog readers aren't really the "novel" type. Stick with me here.

Here's a taste of the climax:

So, I'm on the job hunt. And it's not the easiest of things.

First: the online search.

The online search is a little complicated. If you search "El Centro Jobs" you'll come up with over 1,000 posts. Well my friends, I've looked at each post. (You may recall the Facebook anecdotes about being an archeologist...). Out of over 1,000 posts, there was about 15 that I applied for, about 30 total seemingly credible options if I included all retail jobs.

Second: the application.

This took a surprising amount of time. First of all, I'm a little tired at this point since my have gone blurred from sorting through the 1,000+ postings. And now I'm on each post fulfilling their specific requirements (Eg, a cover letter, resume, survey, questionnaire, etc.). Props to people who have been unemployed longer than 2 weeks and have been doing this a LOT! It's not too fun :\

Third: the wait.

Since everything is online now, once you submit your resume, etc. you have to wait for 1) the automated response from the company that they've received that- IF they have a good HR staff that set up that feature and 2) any sort of rejection/invitation for further steps.

That was the setup. This is the story:

Now, I'm not the most detail oriented person. I like results, approximations, summaries... let's just say I wouldn't apply for any sort of position that thrives off of "data analysis."

So, as you can imagine, in my job hunt I gave a good look over.... er... skim over of the qualifications/job summary and sent my resume on. I figure if ANYONE is interested I'll look into it more then. (That's me defending myself- I know.)

Well I get a few automated responses, a few "I'm sorry you don't fit our criteria but you are still a great person, I'm sure" and a few blank stares. So after 4 days I start calling the companies that didn't respond already.

Now among many other companies, I applied to a local state prison. The bullet points I remembered from the job summary: executive assistant, good pay, four days from home and one day at the prison, seemed like personal secretary type of stuff, had to be independent and reliable.

Well, on the 4th day I called this prison and left a message for the woman in charge of new hires.

The 5th day, I called her back and had an interesting conversation. First of all, she was really confused and I was pretty sure she wasn't "the" person who I should be talking to. She had no idea about this job, kept asking me if I was talking about some other position, and I ended up just having her google a few things to find the posting I was looking at.

She regretted to inform me that it looked like a hoax add. She was super apologetic and I think she was a little embarrassed for me, applying for a job that didn't exist. And I was a little bummed since the job seemed like it would have fit perfectly. So we hung up and that was that.

So. I. Thought.

The climax.

I get a call later from a "760" El Centro number, excited if this could be a prospective job calling to say I'm the perfect candidate and they've been looking for me their whole life...

Well, it was prison woman and there was a lot of background noise from the people around her. She sounded a little... worried. She said she thought the job post didn't sit well with her so she had a few co-workers look at it. Then she said the kicker, that sent my stomach to a PIT:

"Paige, we have reason to believe this add was posted by an inmate. And we are very concerned."

...

...

...

My first thought: "I'M GOING TO DIE IN EL CENTRO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

...

...

...

So once I started breathing again, we talked about why she suspected this. And this is when I wished I was more like my husband: DETAIL oriented. Things that I had skimmed over sounded pretty fishy once they were read aloud to me: "Must be able to get through prison security," "Will work with motion picture types," and the kicker I am still embarrassed for:

"Busy h'w'd producer/philantropist currently inside (Name Excluded) State Prison"

Well I didn't know "inside" meant "ACTUALLY INSIDE!"

The resolution.

Well, although Miss Phone Lady freaked the CRAP out of me (please people of power, if you work in a PRISON don't tell someone who doesn't work in a prison that you are VERY CONCERNED- I thought I was going to DIE!)... sorry... it's still a fresh wound....

Anyways, although Miss Phone Lady freaked the CRAP out of me, 1) I did not get the job. HA! 2) I was never contacted 3) I did not give any information you couldn't find in a phone book... or on a resume lol. 4) I don't think my communication degree qualifies me for this sort of "independent" work.

So, I'm alive. And I think my chances of me staying alive are very likely.

:)

So, I continue the Housewife Life in hopes to not, ever, apply to work for a prisoner again.

With love and LIFE from El Centro,

Paige

Mind Reader

As I continue my housewife life, there are few things that I feel come as blog-worthy.

I could comment on my unemployed state of being and the annoyances of applying to jobs day after day. I could rant about the amazing weather and how much I'm enjoying 70 degrees right now. I could go on and on about how much I love Jeremy... and Rosa. I could talk about my "outings" of going to Lucky (grocery store) or our mini-gym...

But today, I will share a personal anecdote coming from a somewhere-between-midnight-and-4-am happening. Both Jeremy and I are active sleepers, and our former roommates have many stories of our weirdness. And Jeremy shared this one with me:

In the middle of the night he woke up to me over him, touching my forehead to his.

Now, this may sound simple and underwhelming, but I want you to picture being woken up to have someone leaned over you with their forehead touching yours, like they're stealing your mind!

Moments after the mind-stealing began, I conked down on my pillow and resumed my sleeping state. Guess I got what I came for! Mission accomplished.

In other news, we got back from a wonderful wedding-celebrated weekend in Sacramento with our amazing family! We had lots of laughs and I enjoyed seeing everyone so much and visiting with our lovely church family at the b.e.a.u.t.i.f.u.l party my mom threw for us!

One of my favorite parts was Jeremy being referred to as Uncle Jeremy by the kids... well, Evie. :)

With love and true happiness from sunny El Centro,

Paige