New Job!!

Next Thursday (July 26th) I will be starting my new job at Banfield, The Pet Hospital in Federal Way, Washington.  Acquiring the job with Banfield was quite the process.  When Nate found out that he would be getting his residency, I started looking for Banfield jobs in the Seattle area.  I had worked for Banfield during the summers in vet school and loved my experiences.  I had hoped to work for Banfield after graduation but there is only one Banfield in Iowa.  Once we found out where we were moving too, my goal was to find a Banfield to work for.  Although a few jobs were open, it was too soon for me to apply back in March.  The jobs often needed someone to fill the position before I was able to.  I knew I wouldn't be able to start until July 1st or later.  Eventually the job opened up in Federal Way.  This was after I had interviewed with a different veterinary clinic in the area.  I thought it would be a good opportunity to have a comparison before deciding which job would be best for me.  I didn't want to rush into anything.  First I spoke with the corporate headquarters in Portland.  After that I spoke with a regional director from Washington State.  Then I had an onsite observation day at the local clinic.  After that, I was under a timeline from the other job offer to make a decision.  I approached Banfield and told them my situation with the other veterinary clinic.  That same day, Banfield offered me the position.  Two days later, Nate and I moved out of our hotel and into our current townhouse.  The paperwork with Banfield is a little bit of a longer process so that is why I haven't started working yet.  Honestly, it's been nice to have this time off to become adjusted to the area before working.  I will be working 4 days a week and the shifts will be 12 hours.  The days I work each week will rotate.  The clinic is open 8-8 M-Sa and 9-5 on Sunday.  It will be a very busy job but there are many benefits.  Banfields are small animal only clinics located within PetSmarts.  The location is great -- near many restaurants, the mall and Trader Joes!  The clinic I will be at has five doctors right now, which is wonderful.  The lead doctor loves to mentor so that will also be extremely helpful.  Although I am nervous to start, I am also excited.  Wish me luck!

One other quick story --
Yesterday, Addie decided to venture out on her own!  I had her out back, hooked up on her lead.  She wandered off to the side to lay in her nice moss area.  I got up to check on her a bit later and Addie was gone!  I panicked, ran outside and starting yelling her name.  Although I don't think she would "run" away, she does love dogs and kids and wouldn't hesitate to go find some fun.  A lady pulling out of her parking spot asked if I was looking for my dog and pointed out where she was.  She had found her way to the front of the townhouse unit and was very happy to see me.  I'm not sure how long she was untied but I'm glad I found her!

Another Day at the Beach

Last night I was looking back at my blog and noticed I hadn't written an update for almost a week!  I was going to write something last night and realized I didn't have anything cool to write about.  Have I really just been sitting on the couch for a week?!  What was I going to update people on?  The only story I had was how I almost lost it at the mall when the Mastercuts lady made us wait 2 hours for a haircut.  2 hours!?!?  No... no one really cares about stuff like that.

Or do they?!

Ok, so one quick story and then I'll show more pictures of Addie on the beach.  Everyone loves Addie on the beach.  :-)

Last weekend, Nate and I were taking a short study break (he's studying for his pharmacy board test) and decided to go to the mall to get his hair cut.  After that, we were going to stop by Trader Joe's (my fav), which was just across the street.  I was feeling sorry for myself because Nate and I hadn't been spending much time together due to his work and board test.  We went into Mastercuts, put Nate's name on the list and were told it would be about 30 minutes. We wandered around the mall for about 20 minutes and then returned to Mastercuts to wait out the last 10 minutes.  You never know, they could be ready early.

After 15 more minutes, we started to give each other puzzled looks.  If we were told 45 minutes, maybe we wouldn't have waited.  After 10 more minutes, Nate calmly asked the lady what the hold up was.  She started to make some excuse and then said "well, I didn't guarantee that it would only be an hour."  AN HOUR!?  You've got to be kidding me.  You told us a half hour.  <-- That's what I told her.  I turned to Nate and said it was up to him if he wanted to wait but I wasn't going to listen to any more excuses.  And I left.  He stayed, talked to the manager, got a free haircut but still had to wait another 45 minutes.  Unbelievable.  By the time this all was over, our study break was long gone and so was Trader Joe's.  I was so mad...

Onto the positive story!

I decided to take the dogs to another park today.  First we went to Brown Point Park in Federal Way.  There was a little beach and Addie was a little more brave and walked further into the water.  Lucy was still pretty scared but did get her ears wet (they are so long that they actually touch the water before her feet do).  I demonstrated to them how to walk into the water.  It didn't really help...

Then we went into downtown Tacoma and went to Wright Park.  No beach there but lots of places to walk.  They enjoyed that a lot too.  I showed them the ducks and they thought they were pretty cool.  The weather was perfect.  I've heard the word "hot" many times recently.  I continue to find that funny.  I was also asked by a lady today where I was from while she laughed at me... all I had said was, "it should be in an amazon box."  I didn't know I talked funny.

Don't forget to look at the cute pictures below!

A day at the beach

Today I woke up and the sun was shining!  It was a beautiful morning.  Although my day got an earlier start than I anticipated due to the maintenance guy showing up at the crack of dawn, I decided I would take advantage of the situation and take the dogs to the park.  After looking up what parks allow dogs, I realized I had quite a few to pick from.  I decided on Defiance Point Park because it had a section of the beach that dogs are allowed off-leash.

I got the dogs all ready, regular leashes, retractable leashes, poop bags. fiber one bar for me, hat, sunglasses, etc and headed to the car.  I walked out where my car was parked last night and it was gone.  It turns out the apartment complex decided to re-pave the blacktop where my car was parked.  Yesterday the apartment complex people put signs up in my normal parking area that said no parking 7/5 - 7/6.  So what did I do?  I moved my car to a different area.  Well, it turns out that the sign was misleading because the area that was actually being redone, was the area that my car was moved TO, not FROM.  So, naturally I kinda panic, just slightly.  I text Nate, which doesn't do much good because he's at work.  I decided to walk to the leasing office and find out where I can get my car back from.  On the way, I FIND MY CAR!!  Luckily the complex had it towed to a different location within the complex.  My key didn't want to start the vehicle right away and the e-brake was on... but other than that, things were fine.  Oh, and Nate did text me back and was very thankful that we didn't have to pay to get my car out of jail!

I headed back to the apartment, with my car, loaded up the dogs and headed off to Tacoma.  We made it to the park without too much traffic, which was nice.  One crazy lady tried to hit me, but other than that, it was fine.  For Dubuque people, the park was similar to Eagle Point, just a little bigger and more wooded.  We found our way to the beach section and walked around for awhile.  Addie even put two feet in the water!  I think she was trying to drink but wasn't enjoying the salt water taste.  Lucy was scared the whole time.  We eventually made our way to an off-leash dog park area where we walked some trails.  Addie loved it. She's such a good girl.  :-)  Pictures of our adventure below!

Now I'm back home with two sleepy dogs watching Secret Millionaire.

 

New Place!!

Nate and I finally moved into a place that we will live for the next year!  We decided to not go with the one month townhouse because I was offered a position at a veterinary clinic in Federal Way.  Until the position is officially secured, I'm not going to give out details regarding that.  Once the offer came through, I looked at our top three living choices based on the 18 we viewed three weeks ago.  One was a townhouse in an apartment complex with a lot of amenities, one was a duplex on a nice little street but with less amenities and one was a townhouse in a townhouse community with some amenities but not as much as the first.  We decided to go with the first option, even though it was the most expensive.  Last Thursday we moved our first load of items over but then stayed at the hotel that night because the hotel had a bed and the townhouse did not.  Friday morning, while Nate was at work, I moved all of the remaining items over, including our large TV and the dogs.  As soon as I let the dogs in, they ran around like crazy creatures!  They've settled in really well.  Lucy's favorite thing is the airbed that we bought to temporary use and then make the "guest bed."  Addie liked it a lot too so we bought her a twin sized air mattress to use.

I'll post some pictures below of the townhouse.  It is a loft style where the upper floor is just the master bedroom, bathroom and closet.  We love how open it is.  It has a skylight in the living room which provides a great amount of natural light.  It also has a fireplace.  The back area is semi-small and has a weird ledge that the dogs have to jump up to get to the moss yard, but we are finding a way to make it work.  Nate's going to build stairs so they don't have to jump the ledge.

Today I am continuing to get things situated!  See below for pictures!