New listings are up!

I've got quite a few new listings on Etsy now. Two days ago, I finally got the pictures of the new washer necklace in pink and coral and the two jewelry frames. After I took some close up shots of the necklace, I was going to get prettied up and take a shot wearing the necklace. That didn't happen. Instead, I took a selfie pic wearing the necklace and my swimsuit. Yep, that navy blue top is a swim suit. When I have to do anything outside for more than five minutes, it involves some time in the pool afterward. 

Pepper was a close alternate for a photo op. It didn't showcase the necklace enough to make it in the top five. 

She didn't appreciate being a model. 

I had some fun staging the jewelry frame organizers. I grabbed some of my turquoise and white jewelry to stage. I wish I had a place to hang them up outside to photograph them in natural light. Still, I think they turned out well. 

Black frame jewelry organizer and brown frame jewelry organizer

On Tuesday night, I was having trouble falling asleep so I pulled out the beads again. I told myself I wasn't going to make more earrings, since I had already stockpiled quite a few. There is also a lot of competition for earrings, so I wanted to try some different things and see what struck gold. So why did I go back to beads? I had set aside quite a few pairs of stone beads to make into earrings to get rid of remaining beads. These have been sitting along the back of my craft table for close to a month, so I decided to do something about them. I made nine sets of earrings rather quickly - this is a reason I love making earrings. 

Wednesday was dedicated to taking pictures of the earrings. I was a little more systematic taking these pictures. I pulled out the white nightstand table from our guest room to use as a prop. It was great, except that the earrings did not stay very well on the edge of the table. 

Sometimes they would fall off the table right before the timer expired. Whoops. 

I snapped from the 2-second timer instead of the 10-second timer, and had three main positions: front edge, top, side edge. I would set up the earring in each position, snap a few timed pictures from different angles, and move on. I had to do this in two batches due to the heat. When the wax in your candle prop starts to bead in the heat, you know it's time to stop. I wish I had snapped a shot to mark a new set of earrings, like Meeka or the pool in between pairs. When you photograph six almost identical sets of earrings, it is not all that easy to find the differentiating shots. 

So tonight, again failing to fall asleep, I put the listings up for the earrings. Now I have 30 listings! See them here. Even though it is only 30 listings, I have 68 items for sale. There are quite a few duplicate earrings. 

Now I am going to try to sleep and await the arrival of my parents tomorrow night!

Pinterest Interest

Today, my new posting got some attention on Pinterest from a high school classmate. Whoo!

There are three new listings in the store: this necklace, and two different jewelry organizers. Check 'em out!

New teaching job

This week has been a crazy, emotional week. 

Something really important happened on Tuesday. I interviewed, was offered, and accepted a job teaching 8^th grade Language Arts at Anthem School. Normally, one would be ecstatic about this type of information. I have been a bit of a wreck.

Let me back track.

At the beginning of the summer, I was contacted by a school in Deer Valley Unified School District that had an opening. They must keep their applicant files active for more than a year because I had applied there last summer. I toyed with the idea, but ultimately rejected it because I liked the school I was working in. I was going to be the assistant teacher with middle school students, working with an established teacher and a great incoming group. I was really excited about this.

When I brought this up to John, he immediately jumped on the business/rational end of it. He ran the numbers, which were deeply depressing.

John: “So you make $10/hour now, working at least 40 hours a week. Call it 42 hours a week in case of overtime, times the number of weeks in a school year (38).”

Less than $16,000.

Now I knew I did not make great money. But to hear that number, I felt worthless. I think that is below the poverty line, but I’m not going to check that fact. I got upset with him and told him I felt like he was devaluing my job. He wasn’t, but I needed to end that conversation. I agreed to at least pursue the other position.

This said position was a series of back and forth emails that died out about the time our guests arrived, since I was now occupied elsewise to care to call and find out if this principal actually wanted to interview me. During the week of our guests, I received a call from a different principal in DVUSD seeking an ELA teacher. Since it was pretty easy to return a phone call, I did. This resulted in a conversation that was going well until it came to screeching halt when she asked about my certification.

So, I scoured the whole certification process last summer. I first needed to obtain a fingerprint card through AZ, and could not even complete my application until I had the card. I had my fingerprints done in July and received them in late September. Real efficient. And since I was already working at MDS where I did not need the teaching license, I put it off. Call me lazy if you want. But the proper word would be cheap. See, I had already paid numerous fees to Ohio, Praxis, and Kentucky to obtain a piece of paper that said I was worthy to teach in said state. And those papers expire. And you have to pay more money to renew them. I was simply delaying the future renewal dates until I would actually need them. Because I didn’t need Ohio’s, and I am still a little upset with unknown BGSU education advisor who told me to get it anyway. Money flushed down the toilet.

Back to the conversation with principal. She asked if I had an Arizona license. When I told her no, I was told that she could not even interview me without seeking special permission because it was so late already. (The thought running through my head: Man! The Arizona Department of Education must be super slow.) So I hung up, found her email via the website, and forwarded a resume and cover letter with some lame note along the lines of: “If you are able to interview me, here is a resume and cover letter to review.” I wrote this school off, went back to enjoying my week with Anna and Juan, and almost forgot about it. I was a little disappointed, because I was more impressed with this school than the previous one, and I liked the sound of this principal. I pegged her as a Midwest transplant because she was super friendly on the phone. But life went on.

Fast forward to Monday afternoon. I get a voicemail from said principal, saying she has gotten permission to interview me and would like to tomorrow if possible. I returned the call and set up an interview for 10 a.m. What’s the harm in interviewing? I need to keep my skills sharp. Plus I had promised John to pursue any leads.

This turned into 7:30 a.m., so we could meet with the assistant principal as well. I gulped silently at the time, knowing full well it would be a struggle and a half, but given no real choice but to agree.

A little fudge about already sending in certification resulted in a mad dash to collect the items needed. I gathered the materials and took them directly to the UPS store after the interview to get a notarized copy and send it off.

I searched through dusty digital files to find some usable lesson plans to print off, thankful that only one had a date on it, since all of them were at least a year and a half old. Nobody is going to lesson plan if they don’t have to. Admit it.

And that was that. I printed the resume, cover letter, and lesson plans, gathered in a nice display, and called it a day. I was not going to waste valuable hours picking through Internet advice sites and old textbooks to prepare myself for this interview. I figured, if it was meant to be, it will be. Que sera sera. I only had about 12 hours anyway, and dinner and a good night’s sleep were top priority. Not to mention, figuring out if I could get away without wearing a suit jacket in the summer heat.

Tuesday morning, I arrived with 15 minutes to spare, and got to casually chat with the principal while awaiting the assistant principal. When she arrived, right on time, as the principal predicted, she reminded me of Ms. Banks, across the hall at Waite High School – same personality and even looked a little alike. I was surprised by how young both administrators were.

I was given a list of eight questions to follow along with as they asked. I really appreciated that touch – when someone asks you a three-part question, you can sometimes forget the question while you are answering, then, you have to muddle your way back to the question you think they asked. I felt like I did an average job answering their questions, and got to ask just a few questions back to them. I had more I wanted to ask, but when the principal stands and says, “It was great to meet you,” it’s not the time to keep asking. She had other interviewees waiting.

I was ready to get home and change into something cool and comfortable. About an hour after I got home, I received a call from the principal offering me the job. I had asked John the night before, “What am I supposed to do if they offer me the job on the spot?” He assured me that this would not happen; he had interviewed many, many times and never had been offered a job on the spot. This was pretty darn close, and I was a little unprepared for it. I asked for some time to discuss this offer with my husband, to which she reluctantly agreed. She was on a timeline, trying to make decisions before her vacation on Friday. I was not willing to make any decisions before coming clean with my current principal.

I made a call to Pat and asked if I could talk to her. No explanation, but she invited me to come in. I explained the situation, and she responded in the tactful way I expected. It was emotional to discuss, and endearing to hear her talk about my time at the school. I wasn’t sure about what to do when I walked in the office, but I left feeling more at peace. Maybe I just needed to make sure I wasn’t burning any bridges. She told me she knew what this conversation would be about when I called. I think she believed I had already made the decision. Maybe I had, but I wasn’t admitting it to myself.

Luckily, John was off work early on Tuesday. I met him at Paradise Bakery for lunch – an offer I knew he couldn’t resist. He loves their broccoli cheddar soup. We discussed the offer, and even though I still felt uneasy, I knew I would be dumb to turn something like that down.

Over the past few days, as I have been able to tell more people, I have become more solid in my decision. It is scary to be joining a brand new eighth grade team (all teachers will be new) and a new school environment. But if you can’t take a risk, you will only regret it. Lots of people pass up opportunities to stay in their comfort zones.  I am nervous in this new adventure, but luckily, I have a supportive husband, family, and friends. I am not facing this alone. 

What Facebook means to me

I had been mulling over a blog post about my thoughts on social media – that I thoroughly enjoy the last connection I have to most people who once played an important part in my life. I have often contemplated these thoughts: I might still hang out with certain people if we lived in the same area code, or I may never see so-and-so in person ever again, or what would my life be like if I remained within driving distance to these acquaintances. It's a slippery slope to fully delve into these thoughts, so I trudge forward with caution.

Don’t get me wrong. I am loving my life here in Arizona, but it came with a fair amount of sacrifices. And sometimes, I get sad and sift through old high school and college photographs. Sometimes, I get angry at the people that post pictures hanging out with their high school bff still. I have to ignore the social get togethers I can’t be a part of.

And sometimes, like this week, I can feel an outpouring of love from people afar. I received a heartfelt comment on here from a grade school classmate, 150+ views on the blog in two days, and some Facebook activity that makes me smile. A big part of me will always remain connected to Ohio. That wouldn’t happen if I couldn’t connect to these people online. I love seeing the marriages, pregnancies, vacations, and life events of the kids I knew growing up. I love seeing the perseverance and pursuit of dreams. You probably don’t know that I sift through your pictures and think back to a Girl Scout meeting from fourth grade. You probably don’t know that I giggle about having a crush on you that you never knew about as I see pictures of you and you girlfriend. My closest friends are starred and I am notified if they so much as hiccup and post it on Facebook. I crave this connection. I am not ready to give up these ties to my old self, at ten, sixteen, twenty-one.

I would lose so much if I were to turn my nose up at social media sites. I have been feeling somewhat lost, little, and disposable online lately as I am trying to maneuver this Etsy store. I feel like I’ve been waving my arms and sending up flares for weeks with no one even so much as batting an eye. It fills me with hope that people I know will follow my links, come here and poke around. It can be a little scary and disheartening at times to put yourself out there. But I’m glad I’m not alone on this cyber journey.

Pinterest Interest (a few days late)

Thanks Dawn for repinning this journal!

First Anniversary

Yesterday, John and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary. This involved buying new plants to replace our dead, "heat-resistant" plants in the front yard. We stayed away from any plant that was not labeled as "desert," and ended up with some Texas sage, desert spoon, Mexican bird of paradise, and red yucca.

I wanted to create a special dessert for tonight, since our wedding cake was long gone. We got to keep the top layer of our wedding cake, but had no easy way for it to survive the cross-country move. So on moving day (about two weeks after the wedding), my family and I all enjoyed the cake as a farewell. I had my eye on these key lime truffles I had found on Pinterest. John and I both enjoy a good slice of key lime pie, especially John. He is a citrus fanatic. I went with plain store-brand vanilla sandwich cookies for this recipe. It was half the price for double the amount of cookies. Good thing, too. John came in from planting and helped himself to quite a few of the cookies while I was making them. I also bought the wrong amount of white chocolate - one pound instead of two. And I opted for the vanilla candy coating instead of white chocolate chips. Cheaper, duh. It turned out to be just enough, since I left the bottom of the truffles uncoated to make them easier to transfer.

Still, they turned out amazing!

 No pretty decorations needed - these taste wonderful

We found a new restaurant in Scottsdale to try called Village Tavern. It was a great experience. John absolutely loved his seared tuna. My thai chicken salad was huge, and pretty good - a blend of different flavors that worked well together.

Dinner pics 

I also coerced John into taking some anniversary pictures with our wedding date frame. My aunt created a beautiful frame for our wedding shower that showcased the date. We used it at the wedding and have kept it in our house. She said we could replace the numbers with photos, but I like seeing the date as a reminder. Unfortunately, our cat Pepper knocked it off the piano and broke one of the corners. I was able to salvage most of it; it just has a rounded off bottom corner now.

Displayed at our wedding

Pictures to come. I haven't had a chance to get them off the camera yet.

After dinner, we watched the ceremony of our wedding and enjoyed the truffles.

Anniversary, part two is coming up tonight. We will watch the reception video and fill out the questionnaires I created.

I wanted a series of questions we could answer each year on our anniversary to create a record to look back on. I searched online, and the only ones I could find were extremely long and detailed series of 50+ questions, or misogynistic in nature (Wife question: "How can I help you as the leader of our family?"), or dumb/leading questions. Some I liked, so I compiled my own.

Here are the questions:
1. What do you look forward to the most in the future?
2. What do you fear the most?
3. What was your biggest accomplishment in the past year?
4. What was your biggest struggle in the past year?
5. What things do you enjoy doing the most with me?
6. What is one personal goal you have for the next year?
7. What is the best thing about our marriage?
8. What are three things that make you most happy right now?
9. How would you describe me to someone who has never met me?

10. What is your favorite memory from our wedding? 

Along with a list of favorites: 

Food
Color
Month
Movie
Book
Hobby
Name for a girl
Name for a boy

You can view the PDF document I created here. This picture below shows a screen shot.

Gifts to come. John's custom gift has not yet arrived, so we are waiting to exchange gifts. I have it on good authority that I will be so surprised by this gift, so I am a little antsy waiting. I hope all our anniversary celebrations will be this special.

Harry Potter journal live on Etsy

My new journal can be found here on Etsy. Thank goodness I have perpetual sun to take pictures outside whenever I feel like it. A little sun always makes pictures look better.