Unexpected July

I used to believe that I could control everything in my life. If something happend that I was not expecting, I could always pin point it to a decision that I had made that lead to the unexpected event. Well, July has proved me wrong...and I wish that I could say what it is, but I have to wait a few more weeks till I can announce it. All I know, is if it is confirmed...it was COMPLETLEY unexpected, but the lord has his ways.
I received the promotion for the HR Generalist position, but have been waiting to start till they fix the salary they originally offered me. I will not work for peanuts here people! And that is what I was practically being offered. A little bit disrespectful in my taste. I have a new HR manager who is causing annouance amoung operations and HR, so that has made the last few weeks a little difficult.
Mark got in to U of A to finish up his last year and a half in chemistry. Never really doubted that he would get in because of his steller grades. My mark is so smart :) He has worked so hard in school and has not taken any breaks this year so he could transfer asap. I can't wait till he is finished with school and we can take a little more vacations together. But I am so proud of him for sticking to school, golf and working almost every day...he is the hardest working person I know. Some people think he is a slacker because of golf, but what they don't understand is that if it wasn't for golf, we probaly couldn't afford his education. Golf pays for everything! I am very grateful for his amazing talent, he works so hard to be good at it. And he is.
He starts in August and is so excited to be a wild cat. We are hoping that he will be able to continue to law school at the U of A, which will be nice cause we won't have to move...but then again, expect the unexpected.
So pretty much, we have been blessed. The 'unexpected' event is also a blessing, but will just be a challenge for the first few years while mark and I are working, but we will make it work. I know that heavenly father does things for a reason, and his hand was DEFINITLY in this one...no doubt!

PROMOTED!

About two weeks ago I made a quick decision to apply for the HR Generalist position with my companies west location working with Apple technology employees. I was encouraged by my peers to apply for the position, they have a lot of faith in me. I was doubtful about recieving the postion as I have not yet reached two years in HR and have been working as an assistant to HR with no prior experience. I read through the resumes of those who were applying for the position (as I have access to those things) and realized just how little experience I have in comparison to these verterans of HR that were applying for the position.
Well, after 6 interviews with both SDM's for the site, our regional HR director, HR manager, HR assistant manager and our Vice president of operations, I landed the promotion!!! I could be super excited about the huge pay increase, or the fact that I will be working at one of our nicest locations, but really I am just excited to gain some really great experience and work closer with the employees.
When I recieved the news I felt that I was going to vomit. I am REALLY going to miss my current team. They are my mentors and have given me the tools to succeed in my current role. Plus, they are my friends...I am so sad to leave my center. I am also going to miss the employees that I have known and followed since they started with the company...bittersweet. And it is such a big responsibilty and a lot of people counting on me to do a great job. PRESSURE! But I trust my peers, and if they have faith that I can excell in this position...then I will!

27th Birthday Pics

I love my Liz....but I love my mark more!

Birthday at my parents, lots of fun. There were so many candles on the cake I thought my face would burn off.

Apple Cider in a Frosted Mug is probably my favorite drink now!

Mm mmm PIZZA! this is pretty much the best Pizza ever. Good ol' Gramaldis!

Love the Sun!

I got a Manicure and Pedicure thanks to my amazing friend Samantha. It was my first one from a salon, and it definitly won't be the last! I can't stop looking at my nails!

Oh isn't he just the cutest thing in the world!! SO CUTE!

Me and my floppy hat.

Arrrrg mattie! Is it just me, or is marks head place way to low? haha!

Love love love him!

27 is Old!

It was my birthday this week, and I am now 27 years old. I remember when I used to think that 25 was old...now I am thinking I will push that idea to 35 being old. Getting older is, strange. Days go by so fast, I don't realize how much has happend in my life till I take time to think about it. I still can't believe that I am completed with school, have a career and am married. Guess it will be even more insane when I have kids...crazy.




Well, I had a wonderful birthday! I took the day off from work and mark took me to Breakers water park cause he knows how badly I have been wanting to go down some water slides. We chilled in the wave pool and had fun going down the slides. I think my favorite part was just spending time alone with mark, which does not happen very often because of school and work.

Mark suprised me with cupcakes and sang me happy birthday, it made him all the more cuter.

I am grateful to have such a wonderful birthday and to be able to celebrate another year of life.

Right now we are just trying to plan for our future. Mark is going to be done with school in a year and a half and then will be applying to law schools. We would like to stay in Arizona close to our families and mark wants to stay a wild cat. But we also have BYU as a second option. Though I dread living in Utah, I would go for marks future. I have a second interview tomorrow for a new position in my company as a HR Generalist, which means more responsibility and higher pay, which would be amazing. I was told by my first interviewer that I was a top two candidate for the position. However, no matter if I get the job or not, I will be happy. I still have an amazing job that is helping me further my career and I am well respected by my peers, I am happy regardless. I think mark is more excited about me getting the job cause we can save for a down payment on a house, I am more looking forward to progressing in my career. We are talking about trying for a baby in January, but we will see if the lord has the same thought.

Medicine

I never thought that a person could make you feel so good inside that they actually heal you. Well I was wrong. Mark is my medicine and it is the most amazing thing!
Yesterday Mark participated in the Pima County Am. and I walked the course with him while he played. It was about 4 miles all together and it was a two day event, so about 8 miles in the sun all together. Which isn't such a long walk, but when you add it to 99 degree weather and having to wait for each person to play, it comes out to about 5 hours each day in the sun. It was fun, but my body was starting to hate all the exposure to the sun that it is not used to. I got a very painful migraine and felt like I might vomit. I couldn't sleep, couldn't eat and just felt like crawling into a hole and ending my life. I've had these headaches many times before, but this was probably the worst I've had since I was a teenager. So we came home, I took some medicine, but the pain did not go away. I prayed for my headache to cease, and I felt that I needed to go to mark for help. I asked him to lay down with me and to just hold me while I tried to fall asleep. He kissed my head stroked my head and said a few things to make me laugh, and within minutes the pain in my head was gone. I felt great, as if I never had a headache! He is truly my medicine! I was amazed that my headache went away so quickly. Mark has such an amazing way of making people feel calm, safe and happy, it is truly his talent and his gift to our family. I am so grateful to have such a loving and caring husband that I can go to when I am feeling scared, stressed or in pain. I know he will heal me with his love and tenderness. I love him with all my soul.

Chef boyar-Mark!

Tonight Mark made dinner for the first time in our almost two year marriage, so naturally I have to blog about it. So delicious! I came home from work and saw him at the stove making chilli, it was one of the most attractive things he has ever done! Now I understand why he is more huggy and kissy while I am making dinner...it is just so sexy to see your spouse slaving over a hot stove. He even cleaned the apartment! Man, what a hottie! I love domestic surprises!!!

Bright Future

In the Saturday afternoon session of General Conference, Elder Nelson gave a talk about faith. He said something that really hit me, "your future is only as bright as your faith". For those of you who know me, I am always fearing the unknown...such as the future. Especially the last couple days I had suspected that I may be pregnant. I began to fear a lot for whether or not the time was right or if mark and I were ready to bring a little person into this world. As I listend to elder nelson's talk, it helped me to realize that heavenly father knows what is best for us. If something happens that we are not expecting, or we feel that we may not be prepared for, if we have faith that heavenly father knows what he is doing and that he will be there to help us. Then we have no need to fear. When we fear, it is because we are losing faith. And if we are losing faith, then it is because we are not being obedient to the lords commandments to the full extent. I have been examining my life and have realized that I have been picking and choosing the commandments that I will be obedient to and omitting the ones that seem to difficult to keep. No wonder I have so much fear! This is a great opportunity for me to re-gain that relationship and that faith with my father in heaven. I said a prayer last night telling my father in heaven my goals of repentance and letting him know that if it was the right time for mark and I to have a baby, we would accept it and be happy. But if it was not, then to help us to prepare to bring a little one into our lives and build a home of faith. Needless to say, I am not pregnant. I was very sad, and a little releaved at the same time for the oppurtunity to prepare. I am very grateful for the prophets who are always there to speak for the lord and remind us of the things we need to do to keep our relationship with our father. I am grateful for a husband who no matter how much I freak out about the future or assume that trying times are coming, he always stays grounded and makes living the gospel seem as easy as breathing. He is going to be an amazing father, because he is an amazing husband. My future is only as bright as my faith...and I plan on making that faith as bright as the sun.