I didn't realize how badly I missed reading....

...until I started again. I'm currently reading That Hideous Strength by C. S. Lewis. I read Perelandra and Out of the Silent Planet a few years ago, but never got to the third one. So far, I'm loving it.

The Pantry - We're not at Outback Anymore...

My first day at the Pantry went really well. Because I'm familiar with the whole hostess thing, that part was really easy. I'm also a cashier and barista (only because we have an espresso machine up front that I get to use). The cashier part was also a piece of cake, and I'm sure that I'll figure out the whole espresso thing sooner or later. On the whole, working at the Pantry is very little like working at outback. At Outback, there were at least 15 servers on hand at all times. Between these 15 servers there were 15 sections of the restaurant. At the Pantry yesterday, there were at most 3 servers on hand with 3 sections. We're just a tiny bit smaller than Outback..... oh and there were only about 10 tables seated in the 5 hours I worked. Not exactly the hustle and bustle I'm used to! But sometime slow and easy is a good thing, so I'm sure I'll adjust. My hope is that I'll move up to serving quickly, since that would give me more to do. I work the late shift tonight (5pm to Close at 10), so maybe things will be different.

I got it!

The interview yesterday was great, and I start work as a hostess/cashier on Monday. If they think I'm a good fit for serving, I'll move up to server quickly. My only concern at this point is that my schedule would permit me to keep watching Evangeline in the morning. We're so thankful this has moved quickly!

Interview!

Bran and I have decided that it would be good for me to have another part time job (along with babysitting Evangeline) so that we can put some money into savings. I applied at a few places a while back, but didn't hear anything. The Best Western in town posted a sign saying that they are hiring, so I applied yesterday and have an interview today! I applied for a position at The Pantry, which is one of the hotel's two restaurants. If the interview goes well, I'll be working as a hostess until they decide I'm server material. Pray for me - I'm pretty confident that I'll get the job, what with my experience hostessing at Outback, but I'm nervous about how much time I'll spend working. Pray that God will extend my days, and that I'll figure out how to cook dinner in the morning when Evie is there.

House Dinner

Since all of those that will be living with us this year have moved in, Bran and I decided it would be nice to do a weekly "house dinner" where one of us cooks dinner and we just get together for some good fellowship. This was especially important to us because of our unique living situation. Jen and Ty are both living with us, and we have another border named Rachel living with Jen in the basement. Since four out of the five people living with us are related, we want to do everything we can to help Rachel feel welcome, and not like she's invading our family.

Tonight was our first dinner, and I was elected to cook, since I'm the "woman in charge". I think it went really well - I had fun cooking, and no one has died yet from the chicken pasta dish I made, so that counts as a success in my book. It was fun to just hang out and get to know Rachel - I think she's going to be a perfect fit.

The idea of not starting school right now is so strange to me. I realized that I've been going to school my whole life (obviously not including the toddlerish years), and this year I'm not. I love the beginning of the school year, when the newness of the school year hasn't worn off yet. I'm so jealous of everyone going to NSA (I went to Convocation last night with mom - the speeches were fantastic). I've decided that one of my goals while I'm out here is to either actually attend the school, or, at least, audit some classes. Hopefully that will work out in the near future.

Where's the good stuff?

Being so busy with school/work/wedding planning last year prevented me from keeping up with the music scene. The most exposure I've had to newer music videos was the hour of MTV I watched before leaving my apartment for our wedding in May. Now that we've settled into our house in Moscow, I decided it was time to see what's going on in Music World. Moscow isn't exactly known for it's awesome radio stations (I can't tell you how thankful I am for stations that stream live online) so I jumped on yahoo to check out their current top 100 lists... The number 1 song right now is Katy Perry's "I kissed a girl", which pretty much sums up my frustration with what I found on yahoo. Where'd the good music go? All of the top music videos are either hip hop, or, my personal favorite, Jesse McCartney pretending to be hip hop (see "Leavin'"). The top video that surprised me most was Enrique Iglesias' "Hero", which came out in 2001. Have there really been so few good videos since 2001 that Enrique is still at the top of the charts? I'm going to continue my search for good new music and hopefully won't be entirely disappointed. By the way, I know that Yahoo isn't the best place to find good music - i've never had the same taste as the masses...

What does she think about?

I watch Evangeline Anderson every weekday morning. She's 2 months old, and just about the cutest baby I've ever seen (we all say she looks like a little monkey). It has been so much fun getting to play with her and pretend to be a mommy for a few hours every day :). One of her favorite things to do is just sit in her bouncy chair and stare... This morning she was exceptionally happy and smiley, and also pretty sleepy. We played for a few minutes, and then she started to drift, so I put her in her bouncer and she just sat there, looking off into the distance and smiling and laughing every few minutes. I always wonder what's going through her head when she does that! She's so sweet, and content, and sooo easy to take care of. Michelle (her mom) says that everyone keeps warning her that they won't all be like her - I sure won't mind if mine are!
She's much prettier than this picture would lead you to believe - it's hard to look good when you're somewhere between asleep and awake!

it's been a while...

but we finally have internet again!! One of Bran's friends, Jordan, came over tonight and helped us install our wireless internet... we're not sure how he did it, but now we are all able to access our wireless anywhere in the house (we think he used magic...). Things have been pretty busy. The Antkowiak family came out to visit around August first, and they stayed until the 7th. My family came out the 8th, and my dad and brother left yesterday. Mom is staying until the 20th, after Jen starts at NSA.

Bran got a job at Moscow Building Supply, which could not have come at a better time. He likes it, and the fact that he gets to wear his favorite hat and a pair of jeans to work helps that a lot ;)

Our border, Rachel, gets here on the 16th, which has given us some extra time to finish up the last-minute repairs that needed to happen in the basement. We're all eager to meet her!

I'll give some more updates later on....