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

Housewife Life Musings

Since I've been a housewife, you know, for a week, I've had a lot of little tidbits I've picked up.

Although I've lived "on my own" for four years, college seems to be a little different. Especially when you have the CLEANEST roommates of all time! Becca and Corinne put Martha Stewart to shame on how clean they keep a home. Although I contributed, they were always one step ahead of me.

Now, Jeremy is a clean person. Actually, clutter and dust seem to bother him more than it does me. (Little thing I learned this week). But since I've assumed the housewife life (I like the rhyme) I have been bestowed the Crown of Cleanliness.

Things I have learned:

• Pigeon Feathers are a beast to pick up. They're small and fluffy and roll at the speed of light when the wind blows. (When we open our door they come in with us). Note to self: sweep the pigeon feathers outside.
• 
• Having a fly in the house is worse than driving behind a bad driver. It's in the shower. Hovering while you're eating. It disturbs the zen of my life. Thank you to Gma Viki for our swatter. Note to self: buy a venus fly trap.
• 
• Spaghetti sauce stains Tupperware. Our nice, sparkling, new, clear Tupperware (thanks Cronin fam!) is orange :( Note to self: buy crappy Tupperware for sauce storage. Bleach stained Tupperware.
• The second you get married, everyone thinks you're having a baby. Especially in El Centro where it seems to be the norm! Babies abound here! I think El Centro produces the CUTEST babies in this world, by the way. Note to self: have a baby in El Centro. Wait...
• 
• Naming appliances makes using them much more fun. Example: "Rosa and I are going to make some cookies." Note to self: Name the blender and toaster. And make cookies with Rosa.
• Self-motivation is key. Nothing gets done on it's own! Note to self: get self-motivation.

Well, folks, that's it for this week's musings on the Housewife Life.

With love from El Centro,

Paige... and Rosa;)

Married Woman

Well friends, it's happened! Jeremy and I are married :) Woo hoo! I can't begin to tell you how happy we are!

The Wedding

In a nutshell, we had the GREATEST time our wedding week and day! We are surrounded by the most supporting and loving families and friends EVER! We honestly could not have asked for a better time.

* Bill and Mary did an amazing job on the rehearsal dinner, and we felt like that could have been our wedding! It was fun to have the family in town meet each other and our wedding party.. and eat an amazing amount of delicious Mexican food!

* The day between the rehearsal and wedding was awesome, as I got to see so much of our family and go on a FUN bachelorette party planned mostly by my new sisters!

* The wedding day went really smooth. All the vendors did what they were supposed to do (yey!) and everyone was on time to everything! I really felt relaxed and able to cherish the day. I can't wait to get the photos from the photographers! We saw a few and looooved them :)

The Honeymoon: Grand Velas resort in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

Ahhhh.... sipping Pina Coladas in the pool... sleeping until whatever time then calling room service for food... jet ski rides along side dolphins... massages by the ocean.... let me just say: it was AMAZING! We took advantage of every opportunity we had to relax and it was SO worth it! We loved not having any cell/internet service so we couldn't be distracted from pure relaxation and time with each other. :)

The El Centro Life

We came home to a little bit of job stress in him catching up, and our house was a disaster for a few days... but the overwhelming amount of peace that I have is the kind that is only from the Lord! As the piles disappear and the job stuff gets conquered, I continue to praise God and thank him for the grace he's showing us! Here are a few highlights/stories for you:

1) We've made some fun meals! Something we love to do together is cook, and he has much more natural talent/risk taking abilities than I do, so we seem to make a good pair (I'll start cooking and he'll come in & spice it up!). Our first meal with had spaghetti and our second we tried out our new wok and gave homemade stir fry a try! It was delicious, and now we definitely know the order to cook things in for next time! :) Last night we grilled teriyaki chicken and I attempted (and almost conquered) Mom's baked potatoes in the oven recipe!

2) I did all my name change/legal work in under THREE hours. Yes folks, I went to the DMV, the Social Security office, and the County Recorder's office, filled out all the paperwork, stood in line, and waited all under THREE hours! In Pasadena, that literally was the time I waited for my number to be called at the DMV! It was such a pleasant experience!

3) Ok... so we don't have any tea. I was holding off buying some because we brought home the tea from our hotel room, and I feel like tea should be free so I refuse to buy it until necessary. Well, I decided to make a cup of my hotel room tea. I got to cup, put the water and tea bag in, and put it in the microwave for 1.20. I walk away and when I look at the microwave there's a FIRE! I say a few choice words, run over to the microwave and pull out my tea bag that has become a candle. (Jeremy was in the shower this whole time) Our house smelled burnt, so I opened up all the windows and doors (that's 3 total) and went to check on the microwave (which was fine). I forgot that at this time, El Centro has a.... particular smell that has developed from the fertilization of the farms. It resembles that of Bakersfield, Turlock, or a porta potty. Well our burnt smelling home then has a burnt POOP smell in it, which I laughed about all day as I went around lighting scented candles.

4) It's 85 degrees here today. I'll take the poop smell, this is awesome.

5) A Lucky grocery store stocker struck up a conversation with me, found out I was new and was SO nice (and not pervy nice, like actually nice!). He literally wanted me to have the best Lucky experience I could have (and told me that). After our conversation where he told me to let him know if there's something I don't see in the store and he'll order it for me, he found me as I was perusing the aisles and had gotten me an add and explained how the weekly sales work. Love it.

All pics are on Facebook, so check them out if you'd like to see the pictures that correlate to the stories (minus the sleepwalking ones... I didn't photograph that :))

I'm so thankful the Lord has given me such a peace and faith about what will happen in our lives and the roads he'll take us down. I can't tell you how nice it is to not be in school and to eliminate the millions of tasks that gave me to do. I truly couldn't be more joyful. :)

With love from El Centro,

Paige Aaron

P.S. I have updated a few of my contact info:

Skype: paigeaaron21

Email: paigeaaron21@gmail.com

:)

El Centro & Finals.

Of course I should be studying, but I am not. I'll leave that for late nights and early mornings...

At this moment, I will update you on my life. :)

This last weekend my wonderful South African sister Katie and I went to El Centro to visit Jeremy!! It was SO much fun! Katie is hilarious and wonderful to be around, and we did a lot of Psych watching (a TV show), food eating, and hanging out.

We also got our BEDROOM FURNITURE!!!!!!!! :) :) :) fslfjsda;fjdsklfjdsk;fjsa;f!!!!! We love it! We don't have our bedding yet or decorations yet, which I'm excited about getting. Katie documented the making of our room:

Seeing if it fits...

It does!

Soooo many boxes!!! Made our place a mess!

Assembly!

Not clear directions...

I'm not gunna lie, I gave a "thoughtful" pose here :)

Completo!

With love from chapel programs (for the last time!),

Paige

[an addition a few hours later]

I have to add this, because I'm mean like that. But I just got back from laying out in my backyard working on finals. Yes folks, I just said that! It's 80 degrees of sunshinefantasticness here on December 13th and I'm getting my pre-wedding tan on NATURALLY! :) WOoooooOoOoOOOoooo HooooOoooOOooOOOoOOOoo!!!!!!

With love from los sungelous,

Paige

Random Monday Rants

1 month and 2 daaaaays until Jeremy and I are married!!

2 weeks until I graduate!!

...so why does it feel like 2 years?

This semester has been wonderful but boy oh boy am I ready to be done!! And I will be soon... I tell myself. A LOT has to happen in these next two weeks... finals, moving out, packing for Sacramento/Arizona, finish the wedding details. But there's not too much of any one thing and I'm confident it will all happen and I'll sleep :) Plus I'm getting a lot of help, and I don't feel alone in all of this craziness!

This weekend was full of fun! Mary and I did some wedding favor shopping on Saturday and it was so nice to get those finalized! I had a Thrifty Nifty Winter Formal at my home (The Well) hosted by the 6 of us roommates and it was a blast! We all got ridiculous thrift store outfits and danced/ate food/made snowflakes and hung out with our friends. Here's the roommates and I:

Me, Corinne, Holly, Tiffany, Natalie, Bre (bottom)

My South Africa friends:

The wonderful Megan Goeman who won best dressed of the ladies:

On another note, many of you have asked how my holistic living is going. Remember that whole phase I had about 13 weeks ago?? Well, it's been... well, I mean I've... to summarize generically...

Let's be real.

WHO lives perfectly?! They aren't real. Or they have a personal chef and a lot of self-motivation.

Well, I have neither.

Let's explore this more in depth:

• Physical- How many of you run 4 times a week? Ok, I'm not talking to you. I'm talking to the other 98% of this world that goes in spurts of physical activity. HOLLA! There's only so much a girl can do, right? And why deny myself sweets?? My body craves sweets! It must be natural. Why deny myself something natural?? (I can hear my mother tell me this is how people end up prego... )

• Emotional- So I'm basically a roller coaster. That's ok. I was MADE to cry! I have tear ducts! Justification: upcoming transitions. I'm preparing now for them.

• Intellectual- I'm in college. This part of me must be in use... right?

• Spiritual- The Lord and I have been connecting in my dreams a lot lately. I wish he would explain the falling ones though...

• Interpersonal/Social- I am GOOD in this area! Thriving. As if I was made to talk and hang out. You should be proud of me :)

• Environmental- What was my goal in this? To recycle? Humm...

The synopsis: I've met well under 50% of my goals. Which means I get an F.

But I'm ok with that :) Although I have not achieved some sate of perfection, (guess Scientology is out of question...) I am really happy. I think sometimes when we take the rules away and just live life healthy and balanced it's so much more fulfilling then following a workout schedule or a checklist to perfection.

So join with me and throw them out. Snuggle up and drink hot chocolate late at night, knowing all of those calories are going straight to your hips. And smile :)

Well, those are my random Monday rants! Thank you for tuning in.

Until next time...

With love from chapel programs,

Paige