The Unadventures of Tracie

Those of you who are my Facebook friends may have seen that I'm beginning the doula certification process. I'm so excited I can hardly stand it. Becoming a doula is something I knew I wanted to do when I found out what they were, and I experienced what having one during labor was like. Basically doulas are awesome. So extremely awesome. I believe almost every woman would benefit from a doula, no matter the circumstances. Research supports me in this declaration as well. Many studies have shown doulas to be beneficial. There was actually one published just a few months ago that found After examining 21 trials involving over 15,000 women, the review authors found that women who received continuous support (i.e. a doula) during labor: were more likely to have a spontaneous vaginal birth were less likely to have intrapartum analgesia (i.e. an epidural) were less likely to report dissatisfaction with their labors had shorter labors were more likely to give birth without ...

I've written before about how I have a problem getting enough sleep. This was partially due to baby, PPD, and OCD/addictive habits. I'm happy to report that the last week I got about 7-8 hours of sleep every day. I'm still staying up later than I should, but I'm making a lot of progress. I'm hoping that I can continue to break the self-destructive habit/addiction cycle that I've been living in the last 2 years.  For those that didn't know, I couldn't make myself go to bed at a reasonably hour, even when I wanted. I would read, watch TV, or stay on the computer for hours and hours and hours. Sometimes even until dawn. Even when I wanted to go to bed, I couldn't make myself do it. I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that I don't feel in control of my life. I'm very busy taking care of a toddler and working all day every day. My husband is at school or work all day and part of the night. So by the time I get time to myself I have to w...

So I've received some good financial news, which is good considering all the bad that has happened lately. I received a bonus from work so now I can buy a camera (and a new computer for Austin). And I also received a raise. It's only fifty cents, but it made me happy because I didn't know if we would ever get raises. It boosted my spirits though it won't really make any financial difference. Gotta accentuate the positive!

Things are looking up a little. Austin has had a few job offers and has accepted one. I'll let him tell you about that whole thing. But anyway, I think we'll be okay. Though I am still mourning our loss of a car. Good thing I work from home most of the time now. So, Charity and I were talking the other day about not having anything to write about and Charity remarked that we probably do have something to write up every day it's just that we don't happen to notice it as a "something" in our life. So Charity and I decided that we would blog every day during the month of August to write about all the "nothings" that happen in our life. So now you can look forward to reading a little something from me each day. :)

So, before I bought my car I noticed the a/c go out during a test drive. We told the people that we wouldn’t buy it until they fixed it. Next time we came, it was “fixed,” and we bought my car. A month later the a/c started going out. Slowly the speeds and the fan died. It wasn’t too bad in the summer since I didn’t drive that much and I could get some cool air when on the freeway. Flash forward to the winter AKA the Cold Death of Coldness. So, I drove to Salt Lake and back every day. I have had almost no heat (except when cruising at higher speeds and when I had the defroster on from some reason). So last week the defroster stopped working and I was getting almost no heat. I couldn’t take it anymore so I finally took my car to the shop to get fixed. I found out that I needed a new blower motor and a new blower resistor (the thing that makes the air go different speeds). Sigh…. So $478 dollars later, my heater works again! I no longer freeze on my way to work, tap my leg to keep warm, ...

So great news! I got the job in Murray! Woo-hoo! They offered $13/hr with benefits. I did talk to them about the wage. I'll get an annual raise automatically, but they also do performance reviews twice a year where they discuss raises. There is also opportunities for advancement from Tier One to Tier Two, which most likely comes with a pay raise. So yeah. I'm excited! I start in two weeks! I don't have to wear business dress, which is great because I don't own anything like that, except the outfit I just barely bought to interview in. So now I won't have to fork out money for new clothes, except I will after I start making some money! I'm looking forward to work as an editor. I'm not looking forward to the commute or having to get up at 7, but I'll adjust. It'll be good to be busy again and have something to do. And it'll be good to have money. I'm going to miss my boys horribly. I've become rather attached to my nephews....

Yay! Good news! I finally got another job interview! The call came this morning at 8:30am. I was still sleeping (my alarm was due to go off soon.) I was in the middle of a sound sleep when my phone started ringing extremely loudly (did I mention my ringtone is extremely loud?) startling me awake. Lately I've been rushing to answer every phone call in the hopes that it will be someone wanting to set up an interview. In my startled state I knocked the phone off my nightstand under the bed where I frantically tried to recover it before it stopped ringing. Let me tell you the adrenalines was fun. I finally managed to answer it and I tried to respond as if I was fully awake and my brain was fully functional. Turns out it was a guy from Western Something University, an online university that had posted a job for an editor on craigslist. I mostly successfully handled myself and got an interview set up for next week. I was excited about this job because it's an actual full-...

So this....isssss....love. Sorry. Disney songs in my head. So, good news. Austin found a new job just like I knew he would. He starts a week from Monday, which is extremely fortunate as this was to be his last week at QualitySmith. This means that he will not have any days of unemployment. We're grateful that the company gave them two weeks notice before they were ultimately laid off. His new job is at a place called MarketPartner. They help out new companies that are just starting out with their marketing, brochures, websites, and the like. Austin will be a CSR (Customer Service Representative.) He will not have to be doing sales. They have salespeople for that. He will be checking up on customers for renewals and upsales. He'll be making at least what he was at the old place. He has a higher starting base, which is good, but we'll see how he does on his bonuses and stuff. The place also has benefits too which start after 90 days. They may not be as good ...

So things aren't as bad today. Austin already has 4 interviews set up this week, and it's only Monday. Friday I sent his resume out to like 20 companies. I'm sure we'll hear from at least 5 more before the week is over. I also scheduled Austin an eye and doctor appointment. Tomorrow I'll schedule dentist appointments. I'm so excited for Austin to get new glasses. It's been no secret that I've always hated his glasses. I never felt they did much for him, especially now since they've been broken in two for like a year (and he still wears them, only to drive or to watch movies though.) And he'll finally get his handicapped license. That will be great finally getting good spots. Plus it'll be so much easier for him to get to class. Austin went to class for the first time on Saturday. He liked it. More good news. Got my license plates! Yay! Now I don't have to worry about getting pulled over any more as my temporary registra...

So we're all moved in now. We're not all unpacked yet, but we will be before the week is over. Then I'll just need to buy cute decorations... So we obviously have internet. We pick up a really weak signal. We'll still get our own internet set up in a few months. Not only do we not have cable, but the TV doesn't work at all. We're not even getting local channels. We can still watch movies and stuff, but we haven't had time for that yet. I really LOVE my new apartment. I don't even miss our old place. This place is just much nicer and feels more like home. I just like it much better. I'll post pics later when it's all finished. Good news! Austin got a promotion at work. He gets a raise starting next week! Woo-hoo! Bad news. Still haven't heard back from Covenant. I'm beginning to think that I'm NOT going to get the job which will be depressing. The one downside to this place is that it takes me twice as long no...