Coming into focus...

The past month has been quite exciting. I’ve been in touch with various people from Exxon and their relocation sub-contractors getting the ball rolling on our move.

We’ve been in touch with the relocation consultant, the moving company, and a realtor for the Houston area. We’ve researched apartments, weighed pro’s and con’s of different neighborhoods, and mostly just been simultaneously ecstatic and terrified ;)

Also in that time, I’ve talked with my future supervisor at Exxon to get a better feel for what my job is going to be like. My official title is “Knowledge Management Analyst”, and I’ll be working on a team that makes sure all of the Information Technology Department at Exxon is keeping their data organized and is making progress on upgrading to new systems. My supervisor seems like a great guy, and the position sounds far better than what I expected for an entry level IT job.

Next week Erin and I will actually head out to Houston to meet with the Realtor and look at some of the apartments.

It's Official! We're Moving to Houston

I finally got the phone call I've been waiting for today...

When I went to Houston last Fall for my interview with Exxon, they told us that there were several locations throughout the country where I might end up being assigned. They said that Houston was by far the most common assignment, but there was that little possibility of something else that was keeping Erin and I from being able to make concrete plans.

Today I finally heard from the lady in charge of my recruiting division with my assignment. After months of wondering and waiting, I finally know some general information assignment... including the fact that Erin and I will officially be moving to Houston after the wedding. :)

The plan is that Erin and I will go down in May to look for a place to live. I'm waiting to hear back from HR about specifics. I've been a bit more reluctant to do my research than Erin has, but now that I know we're going to be in Houston I'm looking forward to looking at all our options before we get there.

I don't really have too much information at the moment about my specific job, other than that I'll be working in SAP application development. To me, that means it's time to go book shopping so I don't show up on day one needing a syntax lesson.

I'll know more about exactly what my job will entail, as well as what part of Houston I'll be working in (Exxon has facilities throughout the city) hopefully sometime next week. My future supervisor is supposed to give me a call sometime...

I'll keep you posted as I get more info :)

Four Months!

So today marks the day that we are officially 4 months away from the wedding! Sometimes it seems so far away, and yet sometimes so crazily close. Four months ago from now was the beginning of December...and four months from now with be August.

Today also marks the day of a month and a week away from graduation. Which means I have 3 weeks and 2 days left of my internship (Gerrit has a little longer).

Time is flying by!

A Tale of Two Weekends

Last Friday was Philips rite of passage ceremony. As a part of his 15th birthday, much of the extended family was in town to celebrate and attend a ceremony designed to indicate his transition into manhood. It was great to have so much family in town and to get to hang out with family friends that I hadn't seen in awhile, and in some cases that Erin hadn't even met yet.

On Saturday, everyone that was still in town went up on the mountain for a picnic. It was a wonderful way to usher in Spring! The weather was spectacular, and it was nice to spend some time outdoors. After eating lunch, most of the family went on a hike around the lake. Erin and I stayed behind and I occupied myself feeding a very brazen and curious squirrel cheetos.

Saturday evening we did presents for mine and Philip's birthday's, had delicious dessert, and watched "The Hurt Locker".

All in all a very nice weekend...

This past weekend was a completely different story.

As you already know, I’m interning as an accountant for the semester. I don’t have any desire to be an accountant, but the job paid well, was in Starkville, and fulfilled my graduation requirement. This past weekend marked the end of the first quarter, meaning all of the accountants had to work in overdrive in order to make sure all the I’s were dotted and all the T’s were crossed. Unfortunately, this meant we had to work all weekend.

Though it wasn’t exactly the way I’d hoped to spend my weekend, I will certainly enjoy the overtime check when it comes in. Until then, I’ll remain exhausted, and my biological clock will continue to make me think it’s Friday.

At least I have this upcoming weekend and Erin’s visit to Starkville to look forward to :)

EDIT: no... you're not going crazy... I accidentally posted this as "Draft" and didn't realize it hadn't published until today (4/5). I

Internship

This semester I'm doing an internship at Auburn Public Library, so I thought that I would share a little bit about it.

First of all, I love doing an internship and not going to class. Especially on days (like today) where I wake up to rain and don't have to dread walking through it.

Pretty much the biggest thing I do is answer questions. Where are the biographies? Do you have any information about Native American medicine? Do you have (insert book title)? Can you help me with the computer? How do you divide fractions? Can you recommend and book to me? (That last one is definitely the hardest one...first of all I still have a lot to learn about what books we actually have...second of all, where do I even start with such a broad question?)

Another thing I've done is help out with the programs. I just did a Preschool Storytime about Lions the other day. I'm doing a Baby Time about farm animals in a few weeks. And pretty much every week I've been helping someone else with preparation for their program (aka I cut out lots of crafts).

Sometimes I feel a little bad because my internship is not super intense (especially when compared to Gerrit's). But then I realize how much I am learning. Every day, at least several times a day, I pick up some kind of tidbit of information about how libraries work. Whether it is something I think our library is doing wonderfully with or something I think our library could improve on, everyday I am filing away notes and information in my mind for future use.