Dear Former Boss

Remember all of those times you told me that I wouldn’t be able to find a job as a paralegal once I quit working for you? Remember how you told me that I wouldn’t be able to find a job that paid me more than you paid me? Remember how you took me for granted and never commented on my hard work and good work product? Remember how I worked for you for 50 hours a week and didn’t even take a lunch break?

I’m just writing to tell you that you were wrong. I did find a job as a paralegal. In fact, I found a great job that I couldn’t be happier with. Every day I wake up and smile at the thought that I’m off to their office, not yours. I found a job where I’m appreciated and the attorneys actually tell me when they like my work. I found a job that pays me almost 30% more than you paid me. I found a job where I get to take a nice, long lunch break. But wanna know the best part of all? During my first year at their firm, I will work 650 hours less than the year I worked for you! That’s 17 weeks, or 4 months and 1 week less, and I’ll get paid more for doing it!

IN YOUR FACE, SUCKA!

Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam!

I was recently called to teach the "Sunbeams" in primary. They are 4 years old and are the cutest little things I've ever met. As I was preparing their lesson today and was flipping through the manual, I was cracked up by some of the lesson titles.

• "I Am Thankful for My Eyes"
• "I Have Feelings"
  
• "I Am Thankful for Birds and Insects"
• "I Can Be Kind to Animals"
  
• "I Am Thankful for Fish"

Can you even imagine teaching a 45 minute lesson on being thankful for fish? I have to be honest- I'd have a hard time with this one. I don't even like fish!

These are valuable lessons, though. In fact, I think some of the men adults in the ward (ahem, Adam) need to hear the lesson on having feelings, for example. And it wouldn't hurt for everybody to be reminded of all our incredible blessings, like eyesight! It really is awesome when you think about it.

High Heel Drag Race

That's men in drag, not cars.

Yes, we attended the annual drag race in Dupont Circle, Washington's gay neighborhood.

It was an absolute blast!

The event featured hundreds of men dressed in elaborate costumes. The actual race began at 9:00, but the real fun was what happened beforehand.

The men paraded up and down the race course, showing off their costumes.

Most of the men didn't just dress up as random women, but iconic females or characters from movies. It was fun to see their impressions of these women.

This guy did a great Julia Child impression.

And of course we had Cruella de Vil.

Some men didn't look half bad as women...

But others really struggled...

It might sound risque, but it was all in good fun.

It's definitely one of those things you can only do in a big city.

This will definitely be an annual Halloween tradition for us!

Washington DC Tourists

We dressed up as tourists for Halloween this year. We were a big hit at our friend's party.

Our costumes included:

DC maps and guidebooks tucked into our shorts

socks with sandals

watches

dorky hats and sunglasses

cameras around our necks

shorts worn way too high

t-shirts with political sayings

a camelback filled with ice water

sweatshirt tied around the waist

When guests walked into the party, Adam would run up and start taking pictures of them and yell, "Look honey! Locals!"

We had a good time!

Andrew & Trisha's DC Visit

Adam's little brother Andrew and his wife Tiny Trisha came to visit us last week. They were the only Alba's that hadn't come to visit yet, so we made it a top priority to get them out here.



While Adam and I were at work and school, they did a great job of navigating the big city on their own, and on the weekend, we took them around to some of our favorite sights. Saturday I took them to Arlington National Cemetery to see the changing of the guard. Unfortunately, pretty much as soon as we stepped out of the house, it started pouring rain. I mean, harder than I've seen it rain here in a long time. There were only 2 umbrellas for 3 people, but Andrew, being the gentleman that he is, let me and Trish have them. He was soaked! It was pretty funny!







After church on Sunday, we went to Shenandoah National Park to see the beautiful fall colors along Skyline Drive. The only problem was that everyone else in the entire D.C. metro area did too.



We were stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic for 7 solid hours. We actually only ended up driving 3 miles through the park before we decided that it wasn't worth it (aka Adam was getting too crabby to handle anymore) and that we should head back. What a bummer! I look forward to going to Shenandoah every year.







Trish and I made an apple pie. She sure knows how to make a yummy crust! And on top of that, isn't she beautiful?

Thanks for visiting guys! We love you!

Wax Spill

Adam and I have a candle warmer by our bed, the kind where the bulb heats up the wax so you don't have to light the wick. We turn it on almost every night and love the yummy smell. But the other night, we had a little accident and the candle tipped over, causing the hot wax to spill all over the nightstand, picture frames, sheets, blankets, bed skirt, and rug.

Now I don't know what to do to get the wax off all of those surfaces! We tried the trick where you press a paper towel to the floor, on top of the wax, and then iron the paper towel. It's supposed to pick the wax right up, but it didn't work very well. We also washed all of the blankets in hot water, but that didn't get it out either.

How am I supposed to get this stuff off? Has anyone ever spilled a candle before and had success cleaning it up? Or is everything just ruined?

Update

Sorry about the lack of posts. I hate not blogging. It's just that I've been so busy!

I made a quick, last minute trip to Kansas City over the weekend to spend time with my mom and sisters, who were there visiting my sister Jessica. I decided that I couldn't stand it if they were all together having fun without me. I had to join in! We had a blast, and I'll post pictures after Jessica sends me pictures from her camera (I forgot my battery).

Also, I started my new job today.
Yes, you heard me right folks!
After 8 full weeks of hard core job searching, applying, interviewing, and waiting, I'm finally employed full-time!
What a freaking relief!!!
I have to say, the past few months have been some of the darkest, most discouraging, and lonely of my life, and I'm very happy that they are over!

I am working as a paralegal at a law firm in Alexandria, VA in their medical malpractice department (sorry dad).
It seems like it's going to be a lot of fun, and gratefully, I have a lot of experience doing med mal cases from my last job, so it should be perfect.

And the best part about it is that we're going to have money coming into our bank account again instead of just going out!
Life couldn't be any better!

Addicted to Baking

I have a serious problem.
I can't stop baking.

The typical week involves 3 or 4 different kinds of treats. I make oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, brownies, lemon bars, apple pies, raspberry oatmeal bars, snickerdoodles, scones smothered in honey butter, frosted sugar cookies, banana bread ..... the list could go on and on.

I justify my bad habit by telling myself things like, "by making this batch of cookies, I'm really just helping support Adam during law school. He needs treats to eat during his mid-afternoon slump." Or, "this dinner I just made really isn't complete without dessert." Or, "I'll make these and share them with the neighbors. They'll really appreciate it."

But the reality is that we eat way too much sugar and fat around here. I buy my butter at Costco, and we usually go through the entire package (16 sticks) in less than a month. Gross, right? When I really think about the fact that Adam and I have, between the two of us, consumed 16 sticks of butter during the past 4 weeks, I feel so ashamed!

Here's a sad example of my addiction. On Saturday morning, I was making a batch of chocolate chip cookies within 15 minutes of waking up. Who really jumps out of bed and thinks, "I need warm chocolate chip cookies STAT!"

I really need to change. My new goal is to only bake once a week.
Is that reasonable?
How often do you bake?