The Sanborns

For months I’ve search for a job. It’s been a sore spot for me because everyone uses it as conversation piece.

“How’s job hunting?”

Up until today, I would think bitterly in my head, but respond with the voice of angels.

“Oh, it’s going swell.”

Ok, so I really haven’t been thinking or acting like that, but job hunting has been on the top of my least favorite things to do in the world.

Today that all changed. I had an interview in downtown Nashville at a law firm. Since Gray had the afternoon off, he drove me. The firm’s office was on the 28th floor and the elevator ride was kind of like being on the Tower of Terror at Walt Disney World, granted I love that ride, so it wasn’t so bad for me.

As soon as I walked out of the elevator, the receptionist greeted me.

“Are you Becca?” she asked. It caught me completely out of nowhere. I was not expecting her to know me off the top of her head. I said yes and she dialed Kristen, my friend from high school who got me the interview. Kristen appeared after a moment and explained that her boss always goes for coffee at 3:00 p.m. and we were to wait.

The boss showed up a minute later and the interview began. I’m not the type that researches the company and gets attached before the interview. I usually get attached after the interview. After talking for about fifteen minutes about what they do and the benefits, I was excited. I will get to use the skills from my degree for the law firm. That’s probably what excites me the most, I would be getting paid to do what I love to do. Score!

After we left, I called up my mom, Cathy and Trina and described the interview to them. Just when I had finished talking to people, we were back in the Murfreesboro outskirts and my cell phone rang. I glanced at the number, Gray told me to answer it and so I did. It was Kristen, letting me know that the firm wanted to hire me.

So I accepted and I start work on Monday. It’s a great relief for the Sanborns. We were so happy tonight, gushing about how the extra money will help with finances. I’m dreaming about paying off my student loan and I’m glad I’ll be able to give more money to get it paid off.

So now you won’t see posts in the job hunting category, but instead the WORK category. However, I probably won’t post about work unless it is positive. I wouldn’t want to be dooced, right?

To celebrate, Chile actually posed for the camera! 

I’ve been hesitant to mention my upcoming job interview on here for a few days now. I’ve been job hunting since December and have been very frustrated with the process so far. I’ve been on interviews, only to have my heart set on a job. Then a few weeks later, I find out I didn’t get it.

The job I’m interviewing for is a legal assistant job for a law firm in Nashville. I actually have an old friend from high school, who works there already, that referred me. If I get the job, it will be a huge relief for our little family. We’re not starving, but finances have been tight since we got married. It seems that once we got married, the universe decided to dump a bucket of “hate” on us.

The job is not in my dream career, but I’ve been told they are OK with me being in transition. There are many thoughts of where I might go in the next few years. Gray is going to graduate in 2009, next year, and we’re not sure where his career will take us. Since his career will pay more money (and mine can be anywhere) we’ll probably move where he gets a job.

This entire process has been most frustrating for me because I am a very controlling person, at least with my future. I want a job and I want it when is convenient for me. I’ve been fighting with God over this for the past seven months. I haven’t gotten to a point where I don’t have money to pay the bills, and perhaps that is what God is trying to teach me.

Religion is something I dislike greatly. You will not hear me “blog” about it much at all. You see, I was brought up in religion and I came to realize that people are corrupt and make religion a set of rules… something I never liked. When I was in high school, I became aware of this and left my parent’s church for some time. I now attend a church that is very freeing and open. We like it. After all, we’re followers of Christ and his teachings, not a set of rules from a group of people. People are not perfect and we shouldn’t expect them to be.

So on Monday, I will go to this interview and figure out if this is the next step I am supposed to make in life. I hope so, because my birthday is in less than a month and I already told Gray I’m expecting an ice cream cake…

Over the past few days I’ve been quite busy. Gray and I were discussing what I could be doing until I get a job. I realized that I have skills that could easily get me hired, I just needed to give them an upgrade.

Back in 1996, when I first discovered the internet, I also discovered webdesign. I began “blogging” in 1998 or 1999, at some point I was the youngest blogger (while in 8th or 9th grade, mind you). Webdesign was always a hobby, back then you didn’t really make money off of it because there wasn’t a need. It was mainly a personal website world, until blogging and the e-commerce age took off.

Now, I find myself finding several jobs requesting someone with html or photoshop skills. My skills are kind of rundown since I haven’t done anything in that area in about 3 years. I kept a blog, but I got lazy and a social life. Now I figure, I’m married and no social life again. jk

I decided to start working on getting to know photoshop again. This has led me to finally make www.grayandbecca.com a portal hub to all our websites. Gray is pretty much non-existent on any of this, unless I make him post on here. I’ve added a portfolio website, for me; a cooking blog, for me; and a photography blog, for both of us, but I’ll probably be the only one to use it.

So, enjoy what is up so far. The rest I’ll be working on when I have a chance. Tonight Gray and I are going to enjoy our online selection of netflix movies and then tomorrow we’re planning on going to a wedding of some friends. I hope we’ll get to relax some and of course, I’ll be making sure he gets his projects done, so that means little photoshop time for me.

Have a great weekend!

Gray and I spent the weekend in Memphis visiting his family. The trip was originally planned to watch Taylor, his younger brother, graduate from high school. We also managed to pick up a few wedding gifts, Gray’s chest and a lot of yummy food! Along the way to Memphis we visited my parent’s house to drop off some stuff. 

Now we are home and unpacking and I am getting ready for a big interview tomorrow morning. I really need to stop putting interviews the day after I get back from traveling, not such a smart idea. However, tomorrow after the interview is going to be a busy day. I can finally go get my driver’s license changed to my new name and then we can update all other IDs such as bank accounts as the like. I also will finally get to hang up curtains in my living room and a pot rack for my kitchen area. These are the final additions to our home.

I’m slowly getting used to the fact that I’m married now, complete with cooking for my husband and sharing a not-so-big bed with him. I love him so much and being married just amplifies that. I’m lucky to have married my best friend.

This next week is going to be rather busy. This weekend Gray and I are going to Memphis to see his little brother Taylor graduate from high school. So we’re spending the weekend with the Sanborns.   

Once we get back, I have an interview Tuesday morning in a nearby town for a job that actually uses my degree. I received an email after I submitted my resume that asked a few questions and explained they would only be interviewing 5 people. I got another email a day later asking for my references and if an interview Tuesday morning was ok. So I have an interview and I’m supposedly 1 of 5 doing so.

So, busy week, hopefully my next entry won’t be so boring.

 

DSC_0277

Originally uploaded by becsaboo

So we’ve been missing in action for a while. I finally got around to uploading wedding pictures to flickr, so check those out. We’re still unpacking the apartment and I’m trying to keep house and job search at the same time.

Please keep us in your prayers and thoughts as we begin this journey together. So far it’s been pretty great but soon the bills will be coming and I’m sure that will add tension if I don’t have a source of income. Until then, I’ll post as much as I can with updates.

 

Memphis Bridal Shower

Originally uploaded by becsaboo

Gray and I had a wonderful time in Memphis this past weekend. Friday night we got to see the newest Jackie Chan movie with his family and Saturday we both got haircuts before going to our wedding shower. It was themed in Mexican and had GREAT food!

We were, once again, showered with gifts and enjoyed every minute of it. Our china pattern is almost complete, we have just about everything we need for our new apartment and we have several generous couples that are praying for us. We are definitely blessed.

I had a job “recruitment” interview today with Veterans Affairs and in a couple of weeks I will begin the application process for that. Until then Gray and I will both be very busy. He finishes classes tomorrow and finals are next week. Thursday we’re moving him into our new apartment and boy am I excited about that!

It’s hard to believe that in 2 1/2 weeks we’ll be married!

I truly can’t hold back my sadness that today is my third and final bridal shower. I’ve enjoyed my showers, it was fun to see family and friends I haven’t seen in a while. Yes, I can’t believe that the wedding is 3 weeks away and I am definitely excited about that as well. I just will miss these parties where it’s all about Gray and I as a couple and starting our lives together.

Tonight’s shower is a couples shower, meaning that couples from Memphis and surrounding areas will gather together to come celebrate with us. They will mostly be from Gray’s side with a special appearance by my parents! It’s been two weeks since I’ve seen them and although that isn’t long, when you’re getting married you realize you will hardly see your parents as consistently as you did as a single person. So I’m more than happy that they’re making the drive to Memphis. Actually, I am pretty shocked, but excited.

After this weekend I will be going back to Murfreesboro to pack up Gray’s room and my room for the apartment! I do have an interview on Tuesday but other than that, my week is filled with errands. I need a haircut, gotta get bridesmaid dresses fitted. It’s all crazy.

Next weekend we’re moving all the furniture we’ve collected to the apartment from my parent’s garage. We’ve put our bedroom suite together and now all we are really lacking is the living room furniture, but that’s not needed until after the wedding, realistically.

I may post about the shower tonight or tomorrow… depending on when I can. Gray and I are very excited about what is to come.

Time sure flies by. Gray and I are in the process of trying to get an apartment for when we are married. We’re both coming to the realization that we’re getting married in less than two months… crazy! We were able to order a headboard and bed frame on Monday that won’t be in for about a month, but that’s fine. Now we just need a queen mattress/spring set. The only other furniture we need is a couch or two, which we can get from Goodwill.

We’re beginning to realize that finances are going to be tight, especially if I’m jobless until after the wedding. While I have some money saved up, Gray doesn’t and that’s putting us in a pinch.

Sometimes I wish I knew what was going to happen, like when I will have a job, but right now, all I can do is have faith that God will provide for us. I know he will, even if I’m too stubborn to admit it.

So, it’s been a crazy 24 hours. I spent yesterday afternoon in Brentwood/Franklin, Tennessee at an interview and noticed the weather was weird. However, I didn’t think much of it. At around 7:40 p.m. my roommate, Samantha, called to say that a tornado had been spotted and was moving straight for us. I immediately freaked out because I hate storms.

At this time, nothing much was going, so I called my mom. Mom informed me that Union University in Jackson, TN (about 3 hours West of Murfreesboro but only one hour from where my family lives) had been hit by a tornado. At this point, all we knew was that a roof had been taken off a dorm. My sister later chimed in to say that buildings had been demolished. I had no clue what was going on, only that the bad weather was heading through where my family lived and possibly to Murfreesboro. Thankfully, the weather went just South of where my parents live, hitting a town about 45 minutes away.

The rest of the night I watched the news like crazy and felt much better, but worried because I knew people at Union U. and was very worried about their safety. Right now I know that at least one of my friends is safe and I know that my friend Mandy’s sister-in-law is safe after being trapped in the rubble. 

Please pray for the university as a whole. Two thirds of the housing complexes have been damaged or destroyed as well as several buildings. I am just so thankful that everyone I know there is alright.

For those of you who wonder if there is a God, Union University is a Southern Baptist private college. The college was made into a mess last night but after everything was said and done, not one person who was there has died and only a few were seriously injured (but not life threatening). Yes, several people across four states died, but I believe that God protected Union was further destruction.