Since this is a personal blog and all, I feel the need to update all of my one readers.

Finally, finally! I've gotten a new job. I feel really great about it. I'm working for a company called JPI (Java Productions, Inc. www.jpidev.com), and I'm a technical analyst. I love it so far.

I moved!! I'm out of the world of isolation and long commutes! We live in Blacksburg, Virginia now. Sure, Hokie stuff is at a constant level of barrage, but the nearness and variety and diversity of the town are completely worth the large university and sports obsessed folks. I have a 2-3 minute commute from home to work. I live in a house that is near everythign but still secluded and surrounded by trees. We have one neighbor within shouting distance, an elementary school teacher in his twenties who lives in the basement apartment of the house. We're leasing from a real estate company and not a woman too old to turn a key much less accomplish fixing a hole in the door (or paying to have it done). Amelia has a room instead of a hallway living space. She has a door, so we don't bug her while she's sleeping. The bathroom, as compared to the last place, is enormous. It is BLUE! I didn't even like blue until I saw this bathroom. Now, I love it. I got the most gorgeous shower curtain ever and it looks perfect in the bathroom. We have TONS of vanity space and enough room to dry my hair in the bathroom so I don't wake Luke up. The tub is also blue, and the shower head works AND is way up high. All of the electricity works in every room, and all of the electrical outlets have the capability of supporting a 3-prong plug. The yard outside is suitable for sledding - adventurous sledding even. We have an outdoor storage area and a gorgeous porch! The porch will be perfect for a glider and crocheting in the spring and summer. I will have flower pots. Our unit is A, the downstairs guy is B, and the maintenence guy put a C on a birdhouse out back. The back even has a swingset for next summer. Everything is on one level inside, and it has three bedrooms. The laundry is right next to the kitchen, so I will never bee too sleepy to wash clothes. We also have...a dishwasher! I don't know how to use one, but we have one! The kitchen has a lot of cabinet space and a raised oven with a countertop stove. I could go on and on raving about this house,...and I might. Skip it if you don't care. The floors in the bedrooms are carpeted while the rest of the house has wood floors, tile, or linoleum. The WINDOWS are gorgeous and enormous. I have what I consider pretty close to a window wall. I have great space to light my plants without taking up food prep space.

Nearby, we have tons of restaurants - all kinds that you can imagine: Indian, Thai, Burger, BBQ, Italian, MACADOS, PANERA BREAD! We have Target and the BIG bookstores like Books A Million and Barnes and Noble. We have Pier 1. Everything. We have a COLD STONE CREAMERY for the love of God. I am just fascinated with everything there is to do and see here. It isn't too busy so far, but it is winter and I've not been here for any Hokie games. I'm sure it will be busy then.

I'm slowly learning my way around. So far, I can find home, work, Target, a Panera, and daycare without the GPS. This is big news because I have lived here for a week, worked here for two, and I already know some places! I assumed I'd rely on the GPS for the rest of my life here.

I guess I don't realy have to tell you anymore. Can you tell that I love it here? I LOVE IT HERE!

I love my job. I know that I don't have all of my responsibilities yet, and it will probably get more stressful when I get more familiar with the work, but that's okay. It's a small office and I like everyone that I work with. I get to run the web site! I really get treated like a professional here. I sometimes have to remind myself that I'm an adult but not while I'm here. I am given responsibility because they have faith that I can be responsible for that. And I can. When someone believes in you, you start to believe in yourself. I like the respect that I get here even though I'm the new person and have yet to prove myself to anyone.

I could really go on and on about great things that are happening. I hope that this luck continues because Luke lost his job (his position was terminated and they wouldn't even let him transfer to another call center and be on the phone instead of in management...don't work for Dish Network. They steal your livelihood and cheat you out of promotions, raises, and even demotions), and he is on the hunt now. He's taking it pretty hard. He's been unemployed for probably almost 3 weeks and is already discouraged. He really wants to work. We really need him to work too. Last year was so hard on us that we have a lot of catching up to do this year. We sold our stock in Dish Network and are awaiting the check so we can get caught up on immediately important bills and get some groceries so we can stop living off of what is available at Target (I got a Target card because they have food and we definitely couldn't get any food anywhere else). It is really hard, but I am staying very positive because I really think this year is going to set us straight. I am hoping that the next month or two will get us back on our feet. There is a lawsuit out against Dish Network that we've been asked to join in on, so maybe we'll benefit a little bit out of that too.

The snOMG storm of 2010 is heavily upon us. If Comcast would stop rescheduling on us, I'd probably be spending a few days working at home. I was stuck for the weekend and yesterday until some angels named Amanda and Jeremy helped get my car out of the snow. Luke had a flat and had to get a new tire (*wince*).

What is the snow's equivilent to rain's "pouring?"