MEXICO!

Many of you know that I went on a complete spur of the moment Cruise to Ensenada, Mexico a couple weeks ago. We went with a group of 15. It was planned for about 3 weeks before we would leave, but I didn't have a passport, and was NOT about to pay a large lump sum to get my passport expedited, so I thought I wasn't going to be able to go. I was bummed, but my bank account was definitely smiling at me for my great decision to save save save. ha.

It only took about 4 days to find out through a travel agent that passports are not required until June 2009 for trips via boat to canada or mexico. I was so excited, I don't know how I didn't wet myself! :) We signed up and were good to go, but we had one problem. I wasn't 21. To go on a cruise without a parent or guardian, you must be 21, or have someone over 25 in the cabin with me. I felt like a child- but I can guarantee my mom wasn't about to come supervise this cruise. ha. Josh did a lot of calling around with me, and we found out that Allison is over 25, which is perfect because Josh was wanting to invite her anyways.. Everything was good again! :)

So to the actual interesting details of this story, we met at Mickelsen's on Wednesday, the 18th at like 6-ish and drove straight through the night to San Diego to board the boat at noon. Why we were all stupid enough to stay up all night, no one knows, but when we got to san diego, we all crashed and slept outside for a few hours before we had to get on the boat. It was a cold day, but very nice to get a little rest. We got to the dock at about 12:30, but due to our little international girl, Jenni, we had to wait for about an hour or so for her to clear some things through Canada so she could leave the states and return. Last thing we need is for a cute white girl to get stuck in the slums of Mexico. After a lot of issues and a lot of figuring details out, we finally got on the ship and were ready to have the best days of our lives! :) Who wouldn't want to spend 4 days, 3 nights, with me all day long?! I mean, seriously!? Ha just kidding.

Well, the cruise was absolutely phenomenal, and the memories we had are priceless! I got to gain stronger relationships with people I didn't know as well, and our group of friends bonded together a lot more. It makes me grateful for the kind of friends I have in my life. On two different occasions, the boys had to give two different girls a Priesthood Blessing. The power of those blessings were amazing, and the girls were able to be relieved from their pain and enjoy the vacation with us. Though the weather was not super sunny, it was still pretty warm, and the best part of all... ready for this?.....all you can eat dinner! Our waiter, Ivan, was great, and was soo good to us always letting us order about 15 things a piece. It's still kind of hard to adjust to paying for my food now. ha ha. Here's some fun pictures from the cruise. This blog is getting pretty lengthy, and no need to keep rambling on and on and on!


You have no idea how excited we were to finally be in San Diego and no longer in the car!
I had to pay him to take a picture with me, but in the long-run, he was happy he did. ha.. Jon and Jen

It was kinda weird that there were 2000 people on the Cruise and I managed to find a girl one night wearing my EXACT same outfit. Creepy, I don't know. ha... Funny thing is her and her friends ate breakfast with us that morning randomly. So weird.
This is our whole group on the formal night. The best group of friends I could ever ask for :)

I'm Finally a Grown Up

I sit and think about how time has flown. In high school, I always thought I was one of the "cool kids" so to speak as I was involved in just about everything a high school student could be involved in. I had no worries, and I was very much confident in myself and my abilities.
Reality soon slapped me in the face as I started moving on with my education and began my new life on my own. I realized that high school life was far from what life is really like. I had to make new friends, make my own food, support myself through the small amount of income I was making, and I was finally able to date freely and get into relationships as my parents banned me from having a boyfriend in high school, although I sort of had one for about a year. :)
It only took me about a month to fully accept the fact that I was on my way to being a full-pledged "Grown Up". The thought of that scared me to death, but I figured I wouldn't be starting out in the real world until I had my bachelors degree and I was working like all the other older kids did after college.
Well, the time has come. I am graduating this April with a double Associates in both accounting and a general business transfer degree. It has been rough doubling up in classes, but I am very glad I did. I was always planning on transferring to the University of Utah to finish out my bachelors, but about a month or so ago, I started to feel very uneasy about transferring there right now. I was confused and didn't know what I was going to do. I did not want to transfer to a 4-year right away. I then decided to apply for a well-paid recruiting internship at the college, but again, after applying for that, I did not feel like that is what I should be doing. I was enthralled with frustration and wanted to just give up until I heard about an outstanding job opening with a company called Liberty Mountain.
Liberty Mountain distributes gear and supplies to many well-known outdoor companies such as REI, Sports Authority and Big 5. They also distribute to smaller local "mom and pop" shops. They specialize in camping, hiking, mountain biking and rock climbing. Having grown up in a very outdoorsy family, my interest was peaked when I heard they were hiring for an Accounts Receivable position. I applied right away.
I was called for my first interview and was told I was one of about 25 people who applied for this job. Having limited experience, I thought I was done for. I then was asked to come and meet with the owner of the company. I met with him, and our interview kind of turned into more of a casual conversation. Always being told to be very professional in an interview, I again thought I was done for. I then received an e-mail stating that they wanted me and two others to come back for yet another interview with the Controller. I was very surprised that I was asked to come back, but I definitely wasn't going to complain. I met with the Controller yesterday, and like the Owner, our interview turned into more of a conversation. I left wondering if I even said anything that would make him want to hire me. I thought back on some of the things I said, and wanted to punch myself for some of my stupid, ridiculous answers.
About two hours later, I got a phone call stating that they chose to hire me above the other two. At first, I thought about asking if they really meant to call me, or if they got the phone numbers mixed up, but I decided that even if the numbers were mixed up, I was still going to accept the offer! Ha. They talked to me about the pay, and it was significantly more than I was expecting. I also will be getting a raise in 3 months according to an evaluation that will be taken place. They also told me that I didn't have to start work until I was finished with Student Government at LDS Business College. My official start date is April 13, but can always be changed if I want or can start earlier. Wow, what more could I ever ask for?!
It makes me extremely grateful for the stumbling blocks I had in my life leading up to this amazing job offer. It is crazy that I am going to be starting my career as a twenty-year-old, but I know now that I really am ready to be a "Grown Up" :). I'm ready to step into the real workforce and make real money. I don't know what I'm going to do when I will no longer have to be living on $500 a month, and will actually have more than enough money to spend, save, and invest. Everything feels so very surreal right now, but I am so glad I was given this opportunity! I will be getting my bachelors degree by taking nigh classes, and slowly working my way to finishing. It may take a while, but that's alright. Especially with the recession in the economy, I do not believe it is the right time to give up such an amazing career start.
Wow, life is good. I am far more blessed than I deserve to be.