Well, I finally did it. I signed up for a blog. Ashley and I are both so bad at keeping in touch with people, hopefully this will help people keep tabs on us. I love this picture. It's one of our engagement pictures, so it's about six years old, but that's part of why I love it so much. Life was just starting and ignorance was bliss. Not that life hasn't been grand since then, but; you know, all young people have this picture in their head of what life will be like as a "grown up" and very few have a real clue. We definitely learned some things the hard way, but we are closer for it. I feel blessed to have someone like Ashley who, even after six years of real life, can still make me feel butterflies. (Aww...I know; cheesy, but true.)
Anyway, Ashley is still finding his footings in the insurance business but he has done well so far. I think we both underestimated the amount of paperwork and organization that goes into being an insurance agent. He seems to really like the people he works with and gets satisfaction from knowing that part of his job is helping people that need it. His focus is Senior Benefits, so he helps Seniors with Medicare understand their coverage options, as well as helping them look at ways to make some of their investments safe and helping them determine what other kinds of insurance they would qualify for and benefit from. It's been an educational process for both of us, as far as understanding insurance. He's working hard and I'm very proud of him. I know we are both overjoyed that he was able to get out of Dollar-Rent-A-Car. The situation was getting worse by the day and he was miserable there.
Speaking of no longer being miserable, I have now been out of Skool Lunch for six months! I have been working at Myriad Genetic Laboratories since mid June and like it more every day. I also work with insurance, but it's the other end of things. I am more like a patient advocate, working with insurance companies and health care providers to get patients coverage for genetic cancer susceptibility testing. It's quite rewarding, and the company is a really good company to work for, especially in these lovely economic times. They really know how to treat their employees, it's no wonder they have people that stay with them for years. It's a totally new and wonderful world to me. It was an quite an adjustment to go from literally running my butt off all day, maybe getting to eat half a muffin, to sitting in a cubical at a computer with designated breaks. For the first month or so I didn't know what to do with myself. There are things about Skool Lunch that I still really miss, but I'm pretty sure all those things are no longer a part of Skool Lunch anyway. Someday, maybe, I'll have my own restaurant that will have some of the things that made Skool Lunch such a part of my heart. Melissa, if you're available in that distant future, I'll hire you to be my right hand man again in a heart beat.
Other than work, we are both busy trying to get things in motion for our performing arts group we're putting together as well as trying to decide where to move when we finally move out of my parents house. It's been nice to stay with them for so long, but we are ready to be on our own again. I have loved being in the ward I grew up in. It's fun to get to know them all again. My parents, my little brother, Ashley, and I are actually singing with a small group from our ward at church on Sunday. It's going to be great. That's one other blessing I've been given through living at my parents house the last eight months. I've had so many awesome opportunities to sing or perform in some way. It's really been amazing and my voice is in such better shape. It's a new goal of mine to keep it there whether I'm performing or not.
