Stay-at-home-non-mom...?

Position elimination. Reduction in force. Downsized. Merge & purge.

Call it what you want, but it's all the same thing and applies to me.

That's right... I'm a product of the economy. Nothing like returning to work on Monday for the first time after a 5 week leave and only 5 minutes into the morning get the call saying that my position is being eliminated. My company was bought out by another company and as soon as everything was official on October 1st, somewhere between 1500-1800 people were laid off due to both budget cuts and overlapping or eliminated positions. I'm amongst that lucky group, but at least they waited until I returned from leave to notify me.

I cried for probably a total of 3.5 minutes yesterday and then I realized that I felt more of a relief than anything. First of all, my position won't be eliminated for a couple months, and then severance kicks in; therefore, I have full salary until the middle of February. Also, a few months ago Ryan and I felt the need to start budgeting more carefully, saving a little more, stocking up our food cupboards, and not yet booking that trip in November that we really wanted to take. We feel very, very blessed that we had these promptings several months ago and followed them!

As I mentioned, I really feel slightly relieved. I have loved this job and loved the experiences it provided me with that will hopefully help springboard me into something else, but I have been itching to get out of my tiny apartment all day, every day. Not only that, but I really dislike the company we were merging with and the way they did things, and I have been dreading coming back from my leave and having to switch over to their systems, policies, and overall culture.

Also, the timing couldn't have been better (for me). The company just forked out thousands for me to get my professional HR certification, to send me to consulting conferences and workshops, and to pay for both my surgery and my leave. A few weeks later and I would have been in big trouble!

Anyway, enough about all of this. It's boring and I'm sick of thinking/talking about it. All I know is that I can't ignore the constant feeling I have that this was for the best, so I am anticipating what the near-future holds for us!!

**In the meantime, if anyone has any good HR connections, send them my way! :)

Draper in the fall

This weekend was the peak weekend so far for the changing colors in the mountains by us, so before the storm rolled in (and, let's be honest, before the Giant's game started) Ry-guy and I hopped in the car for a quick jaunt up to the Draper temple. That temple is seriously prime location! Here is some of the prettiness we enjoyed...

(and proof that my face still looks chunky).

The grand total....

Just in case you were considering a new jaw, just know that it may or may not cost $36,084.84. To be exact.

I didn't realize that any time I asked for more meds, paged a nurse, blinked or exhaled I would be charged another $1,000. Maybe that's normal, but I call it outrageous! Thank goodness for insurance, because I paid next to nothing considering the overall bill!

Boo!

Nothing like some home decorating, pumpkin carving, and apple carmeling to put you in a Halloween mood! Are you working on your costumes? We are (read: Ryan is)... but it's a surprise!

So my legs are crossed in this picture, but you can't really tell and so it makes my feet look like they are backwards. Ha!

We always forget tea light candles for our pumpkins and have to resort to something else.

Fall apples

I love apples. I love them so much that I usually eat at least one a day. So when the owner of the two apple trees at a house on my grandma's street put up a sign letting people know that they can pick as many apples as they'd like, I got excited and immediately informed Ryan that he had to go pick us some. Which he willingly did. My parents saw a couple bring their pick-up truck last year and filled the entire bed with apples, so we didn't feel too greedy taking a few bags full! Anyway, on Sunday after General Conference, Ryan and Brandon took out a ladder and picked us out some good apples, which made it feel more like fall than anything else we've done yet this year. People pay big bucks for these organic kind, right? Not us! Free is my favorite! Now I can make a bunch of stuff like apple pie, apple crisp... treats that I can't eat... which is probably a good thing. :)

**Note: I know this whole fruit-tree thing is not a big deal to most people, but I never grew up with fruit trees and I always LOVE getting fruit from peoples trees when I go to AZ or CA. So getting some here in Utah is kind of a big deal for me.

We even had options... green apples on the left tree, red on the right.

All these ripe, good apples that we couldn't even reach.... too bad! Also, it was about to rain, so we (read: Ryan & Brandon- I just stood and complained when they dropped a really good one and smashed it) had to move quick.

Want an apple? Why, yes I do!

I love fall! Today even felt like fall since it was in the mid-60's most of the day... I surprisingly kind of liked it!

All of our free apples. Anyone have any good apple recipes? Send them my way, please!!

Fall

It's here! I think I could declare fall as my very favorite season, other than the fact it leads into winter, which is easily my least favorite season. Even though the middle of the day has been a scorcher this week, it's still totally fall-ish because it's so crisp and cool in the mornings and evenings, the leaves are all starting to change, pumpkins are popping up at every store... oh, and the Gardner Village witches are all up. :) I went there today with my mom and sister and it was refreshing to get out for an hour or two... but then I went home and had a much-needed nap! Ryan and I really need to make it a priority to get up into the mountains asap before we miss all of the spectacular autumn colors!

Progress...

Lest you think I still look swollen and bruised while sporting the ever-so-fashionable "jaw bra," I leave you with a few pics as of late. I'm kind of over talking about all this surgery stuff on here, but some people who have seen me lately have mentioned they were quite surprised, thinking I probably still look the same as the last surgery pics.

Please note that I still can't feel my face/mouth at all and I'm still very swollen, therefore, I can't smile. Also note the lovely shade of yellow/green all down my neck. :)

The doctor extended my lower jaw, and widened and cut off part of my top... which changed my side profile a pinch.

He's still alive, too! This picture got lost in the crowd from last month, but Ryan made a fresh peach pie and it was delicious... and I don't really even like pie that much!