Yum..... (And a new job!)

Tonight I had Red Robin! Story: My friend at work, Cassie, asked me where she should go to eat in Idaho Falls. So I'm thinking... Red Robin! But she said that she didn't want a sit down restaurant... Thats when I started to think about it.

Red Robin Yum.....

Red Robin Yum....

Red Robin Yum.....

Red Robin Yum....

It was stuck in my head all day! So I asked my dear friend Rianne if she wanted to go to Red Robin (YUM) with me after work. She said yes, and so we went!

In other news..... I got a new job! I am still going to be working at the Student Health Center, but instead of going back to being a receptionist, I'm going to be the HR manager. I'm not sure of everything that I will have to do, but I know it will involve making job descriptions for all of the positions, doing background checks on all of the employees, and teaching the managers how to properly interview someone, as well as just general HR stuff! At first it was just like, we should hire someone to do these things, and then it was like, Tara, you could do some of these things next semester, and then it was like.... Tara, will you take this job and do this instead of being a receptionist.

I can't remember if I blogged about how I didn't want to be in a management position next semester because I didn't want my winter to be really stressful. But I'm excited about this job, because it won't be as stressful as a management position! Its a brand new position and I will be starting from scratch, kind of like what I did this semester with the Operations Director! They said I will be working directly with the HR department in the Administration building. I will also be taking a class next semester called HR Management, and I have talked to my future teacher about helping to mentor me as I start this new job. He said he would love to help, so I'm pretty excited about it. It will be really obtuse to begin with, and I will probably just be asking my boss what exactly I should be doing. But I feel like it will be a great experience for me and I will learn a lot from it. Instead of having 3 years of Reception experience, I will have about 2 years, 6 months as a manager, and 6 months in HR! I think that combination will give me a good boost on my resume as far as having experience to be a Healthcare Administrator! I'm just so excited!!!

Sleep and Thankfulness....

Today I was thinking about how incredibly fast my vacation went, and then it occurred to me why it was so speedy quick! Usually my days consist of about 16 hours of awake time and 8 hours of sleeping time... this past week, it was more like 12 and 12. I was sleeping in that oh-so-comfy bed in my parents house, and I never wanted to stop sleeping! Everyone in my family goes to bed pretty early, and I don't like being alone in that huge house all by myself, so I would usually go in my room and be on the computer until I fell asleep. One night it was around 2 before I fell asleep, but the norm was 11 or 12. But then I didn't have anything huge to wake up for, so I would sleep in until 9...10...11:30... It just kept getting later and later. Then it would be 9 that night and everyone is going to sleep again, and I'm thinking, I have only been awake for 12 hours... I can't go to sleep now. I think that might have had a huge impact on why it zoomed so fast.

That was the greatest vacation I have had since... my last vacation! I had a blast just hanging out with Ty, Kyle and Nat and little Abby, going to lunches with my mom and dad, and just talking and being with Keri! We have the most fun together! Sometimes she would have homework, so I would play with play doh on her bed until she was done! I liked those times!!! I'm pretty sure we ate out everyday, expect last Sunday and on Thanksgiving, but I'm not complaining! It was a blast just being in the warm Arizona sun, hanging lights up with my dad, eating In-n-Out, and teaching a 6 month old to crawl!

Everyone likes to use this time of year to say what they are thankful for. I think I'm pretty much telling my Heavenly Father each night all the things I'm thankful for, but I think I will share it with the blogger world tonight! This Thanksgiving, I'm thankful for my wonderful family! I'm thankful for the laughter that is in my home! I'm thankful for the friendships I have amongst my siblings and especially with my parents. I'm thankful for a dad who will take me on car rides and will listen to me talk his ear off for hours. I'm thankful for a mom who appreciates lazy days where you just need to watch Chopped and Say Yes to the Dress before you shower! I'm thankful for a sister who can open up to me and share anything she is thinking. I'm thankful for Ty who held my hand as we walked in to Kay Jewelers to surprise Kyle, and I'm thankful for Kyle for laughing at what Ty and I thought was super funny! I'm thankful for an older sister who calls just to talk and allows me to invite myself to spend a week at her house next year!!!

I hope that one day I can create a home for my family that is half as wonderful as the one I grew up in!

Vacation!

A day in the life of Tara... on vacation!!!

Wake up around 11:30,

Play Racko until about 1:00 with mom,

Go out to TGI Fridays with the parents for lunch,

Play Settlers of Catan,

WIN Settlers of Catan!!!

Road trip to the lake with my dad,

Pizza for dinner,

Movie date with the one and only Staci Beckham,

and then watching movies on Hulu until I decide that I'm tired!!!

I sure do love vacations!!!

I wish I had a photo booth in my room...

Did I mention I love being home and being with my sister???

Doo daa lee dooooo

Basically, I just love being home!!! If you didn't know that already, you should just know it! I just think Arizona is the best state in the whole world, and if you don't know that yet, move to Arizona, and then you will know it!

I got home yesterday. About a month ago, Southwest Airlines didn't consider me to be a full time student since I was only doing my internship and not enrolled in 12 credits of classes. So they didn't give me any benefits, NO FREE FLIGHTS!!! It was horrible, I'm not sure how the other half live without the ability to hop on a flight whenever they would like to come home. So I had to buy my first plane ticket. I went through Aliengent Airlines which is this small little company that flies small little planes to small little airports. I flew out of Idaho Falls and into Mesa (both airports were smaller than the food court of the Salt Lake or the PHX airport). I paid for a ticket and got squished between two big men, one of which had a carry on dog that smelled. (Remember how I hate pets, I really hate sharing airplanes with pets!) But I was pretty tired and slept/played bejeweled on my ipod for most of the flight anyway. It was delayed about an hour which was annoying, but I tried really hard not to be annoyed. I kept reminding myself that there was nothing I could do about it, and I would be home eventually, so there was no point to be mad. But I was still mad!

But eventually it did land, and my mom and dad were waiting at the airport for me! They picked me up and took me to Oregenos! True story: I had never eaten there before. "Really, I'm sure we have taken the whole family here before..." my dad said. I'm pretty sure they all went without me :( But it was really good food, and it was fun to be with my parents.

We played a ton of games of Racko last night. And then we watched Jeopardy, Chopped, and Bones! My mom made delicious chicken and potatos and vegies in the crockpot. Then my dad and I went to the Apple store to fix my laptop. Then we ate ice cream!

And that was just the first day!!! I am so excited to be here for another week! I have some big plans, like going on a date with my dad later today, going to see Breaking Dawn with Keri and maybe with cousins and then tomorrow again with Staci!!! Watching my mom jump out of an airplane on Monday! Meeting my best friends fiance!!! Putting up Christmas decorations and lights! Oh ya, and Thanksgiving!!!

I just love being home with my family and seeing my friends again! And I'm NOT looking forward to going back to the snow and ice and coldness that Idaho has to offer! :/

I love movies!!!

At the end of work today, someone was watching the preview for Breaking Dawn, which comes out THIS week!!! So I called Keri and was telling her how excited i was to see it. Then I get on facebook and saw THIS preview out!!! AAAHHHH!!!!!!

March needs to be tomorrow, because seriously this is going to be the best movie of all times!!! I can't wait!

Merry Christmas!!!

Today it snowed... a lot! And it is so beautiful!!! So I went to Walmart, saw Christmas candles, peppermint ice cream, and Michael Buble's new Christmas CD. Naturally because of the weather, I had to buy all of them! And then I came home and had to put up my christmas tree while listening to the CD and smelling the new candle! Its been the best afternoon ever! Now I think I'm gonna go eat some ice cream and maybe go play in the snow!!!

11:11 on 11/11/11

Yesterday was the COOLEST date ever! When I was in high school I remember thinking that I wanted to get married on November 11, 2011... well that didn't quite work out, but it was still a really fun day! All day long I kept thinking about how I wanted to do something memorable. I barely remember what I did on 10/10/10, or 09/09/09, or 08/08/08.... so I decided this day had to be stuck in my memory because a date THIS cool won't happen again for another 100 years!!!

So here is my very memorable day.

Woke up, read my scriptures, took a shower, and hurried to work for a meeting that I forgot about until the night before. Both the student director and the medical director were going to a conference, and I thought I had to prepare the agenda and figure things out for the meeting, but turns out the other doctor thought he had to, and he did! So I went to work early for nothing!!! Then I got a text from my friend Karly telling me I better have my wish ready for 11:11! I had totally forgotten that you were supposed to make an amazing wish at 11:11 on 11/11/11. So I wrote down a whole sticky note full of wishes and made them all! I was working up front and all of us receptionists made our wishes, and then talked about how great of a minute that was!

Later I was in the conference room and there was an orange left up for grabs from the breakfast meeting the day before. I thought, hmm... I have never peeled my own orange, this will be memorable if I do this for the first time on 11/11/11! And before you start judging me, I have eaten oranges before, but someone else always peels them or cuts them or something first! Anyway, I peel it with my own hands, and its a disaster, but I felt pretty good about myself.

After work I call my sister to see how things are going and tell her about my 1st orange peeling adventure! Then she breaks my happy bubble by telling me how she remembers me peeling an orange before! She explained the situation and I totally remember peeling one when I was younger. So then I thought, great, if that first peeling of an orange was memorable, this 2nd one that I thought was 1st sure won't be memorable either. So I need ANOTHER memorable thing to do this day!

I texted Gaby and asked her what she was up to and if she wanted to do something fun. Her idea of fun was to make macaroni necklaces... mine was to go see Contagion in the cheap theater! My idea won! We hung out at her place until her hubby came back and the 3 of us went to dinner, and then Dave, being the lame-o he is, went home while Gaby and I went to see the movie! Half way through the movie stopped. The lights came on, and there was a flash light up at the projector sight! So we sat there for about 10 minutes while they fixed the film, and then the movie started! I was afraid that because of this delay we were going to miss 11:11 P.M, so I set an alarm and put my phone on vibrate so I would know! Luckily the movie ended at 11:07, so we didn't miss it! Also, that movie was SO GOOD!!! It was pretty intense, and so realistic! If something like that happened, the events in the movie are exactly how us idiot humans would react to it! It made me want to get my masters in Epidemiology and move to Georgia to work for the CDC! Its so interesting!!!

So as we are driving down main street, I interrupt Gaby to celebrate 11:11! I can hear her breath out and say done after a few seconds, and I'm thinking, there is only 60 seconds until I will never again see 11:11 on 11/11/11, so I have to make these seconds count! I thought of everything I wanted and wished for as much as I can until the clock turned 11:12...

Then, it was over! But thankfully, the weekend is not! Its Saturday morning, and I am thinking about all sorts of fun filled activities to fill up my day! So peace out blogger world, I am off to bigger and better things, but don't you worry, if something is super big and supper better, I will always come back to blog about it! ("Blogging is just graffiti with punctuation! -Contagion).

Chauffeur

I am Tara. I am a sister, a daughter, a roommate, a student, a tutor, a co-worker, a supervisor, a teacher, and a friend... but my favorite thing to be.... is a chauffeur! I'm not joking when I say this either! I love it so much! The other day Gaby called me and needed a ride to Walmart, and I was so glad that she asked! One of my employees at work asked me to drive him to the Jensen Jewelers so he could pick up the ring he bought for his girlfriend without her knowing! I drive Julie to the Ricks every Tuesday and Thursday, I drive Rachel to the gym every time we go, I drive Rianne home from work everyday, and today my old roommate Emily (who now works in the pharmacy) and another pharmacy girl asked for a ride home too, so they hopped in and came along with us!

There was once this incident (when Brittney Spears was singing really loudly in this Ford and the small girl driving it accidentally ran the car into the car in front of us) that really freaked me out!!! That was in 09, but I still have a hard time letting other people drive me around. I would so much rather be in control and driving! Plus, when you have a car as sweet as mine, you NEVER get tired driving it! Sometimes I think about what will happen when I get married and my husband wants to drive my car, or just wants to drive. I'm gonna have a hard time with that!

One of my fondest memories in my car would be last Fall when I would drive Gaby and Robyn to school in the mornings, and then I went to work. Every time they were getting out I would say, "Bye girls, have a good time at school!" It made me feel like a mom dropping off her two elementary kids off before driving to the office for a busy day of work! For some reason I just thought that was so much fun!

Today I went to Idaho Falls. I just love the drive! I love being by myself and driving! I love plugging my iPod in and listening to all my favorite songs as I think about whatever is on my mind! And I love cruise control!!!!!

Dang it Plasma Center...

So today I didn't have a ton planned after work, so I decided, hey, I should go save a life! (and get $20 in the process!) So I go to the plasma center and wait over an hour when I start to see people who just walked in getting called up about 10 minutes after they came in. So I looked up and frowned at my friend who was working, and she asked me how long I had been waiting. When I told her a long time, she found my name and someone had crossed me off as being checked in! Um, annoying! So last time I went I was living in apartment A3, so this time I had to show proof of residency because I am back in A6. So I brought an envelope that was adressed to me as proof. Unfortunately that envelope was stamped October 4th... and the proof has to be within the month! I missed in by 4 freakin' days, and they wouldn't let me donate because of it! I was so annoyed! I wasted over an hour of my day and I didn't get $20 or save a life! So then I went to Gaby's because she needed a ride to Wally World. Then I bought some chocolate and we went and ate it at her house as we caught up with each other! It has been a whole... 3 days... since we last saw each other! We had a lot to catch up with! haha. Anyway, it wasn't a complete waste of an evening, I just wish I hadn't spent an hour in the waiting room at the plasma center. And then I just felt like I needed to blog about it. Maybe if it goes out on the internet, I won't feel the need to tell EVERYBODY how annoyed I am! (Even though, I still probably will bring it up, just like my dad and Fords!)

Homebound...

I want to go home... so so so so so badly!!! There is just something about Thanksgiving time that makes being at home 1,000x better than going home any other time of the year. Maybe its the weather in Gilbert in November! Maybe its spending time with extended family. I think its putting Christmas lights up with my dad!!! I am literally waking up every day reminding myself that if I get through today, I will be one day closer to going home! I feel as though time has moved very slow since August, the last time I went home. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I do the same thing EVERY DAY! Don't get me wrong, still love my job, but I can't wait to be home and not go to work for a week and a half! Hopefully after I get back the rest of the semester will just zoom by, and before you know it, I will be taking classes like, HR management, Project Management, Program Planning, Research Methods, Linear Algebra, and Prep for Eternal Marriage! That sounds like a whole heck of a lot more fun than sitting at my desk and looking at schedules and excel spreadsheets and thinking about what I'm going to say to President Clark when I present at Presidents Council.

Point is, I go home in 2 weeks from tomorrow. Thats only 15 sleeps away! And in 2 months, I will be my busy self taking classes! I hate not being in school. I just hate it! The ONLY upside is that I get to take a 10 day vacation at Thanksgiving!!!