Mexican Street Corn Pasta Salad

 At work we have a tradition of holding a potluck lunch on an employee's last day. We had an opportunity for one last week. Another co-worker offered to bring gorditas. Having never tried them before, I was looking forward to it! Knowing what she was bringing, helped me pick what to bring. I scoured my saved recipes on Pinterest and saw this one for Mexican Street Corn Pasta Salad. 

The recipe was super easy to put together and turned out really good! I even received compliments from my two Mexican-American co-workers. Yes! 

Because this dish is served cold, it is a perfect one for a potluck. Bring some extra cotija cheese for everyone to sprinkle on top of their portion and your serving bowl will be empty before you head home. Or if you're lucky like me you'll have just enough to have a portion later. 

*Because I'm not a fan of onions or cilantro, I left those out and it still tasted really good.

My Pam Opportunity

As you may recall, I started a job in April and was not too thrilled with it. I was working as a Guest Services Rep at the inn on base. The job was pretty easy, but the pay wasn't that great. Plus the hours were really inconsistent and all over the place. Therefore, I started looking for a new job.

I applied for a job, I think at the end of last week, for a Receptionist position. The job listing said they needed someone to start this week and I thought surely that was not going to happen. They would have to interview people and then decide. That usually takes some time, so I applied for it.

Well, on Monday I received a call from the staffing agency handling the hiring. They referred me for the job and a couple hours later called back to let me know that I got it...and that I would need to start the next day.

I went into work that afternoon at the inn and let them know that it was my last day. I felt horrible for giving such short notice, but I would be dumb not to take this opportunity.

I started yesterday and it was good. Of course, there is an adjustment period whenever you start a new job. You have to get to know the office dynamic and get to know your co-workers and bosses. The commute is less ideal (about 45 minutes each way compared to 10 minutes), but the pay is much better and the job seems better. Plus they had cupcakes yesterday and I love cupcakes! I just keep feeling like I'm in an episode of The Office except no crazy people working with me. I just feel like Pam and I like it.

 

Fingers crossed it continues to go well!

Working Woman Again

While sitting at home all day and baking isn't exciting enough, I have been looking for a job. I have had a couple of interviews and yesterday I received the call. I have been offered a job! Luck of the bit of Irish in me ;)

I am very lucky because my new job is on base and I will have a short commute. A lot of the other positions I applied for were 30 to 45 minutes away. At my last job I had a 5 minute commute, so I was not looking forward to a long one. Plus, the hours are flexible. Hopefully I'll still have plenty of time to try out new recipes and craft.

I am not sure when I will start. First step is to complete a bunch of paperwork with HR.

Wish me luck!

Saying bye-bye

My last day at work was yesterday. It was so bittersweet. I have truly enjoyed my time there and loved getting to know all my co-workers. They became my second family and have been wonderfully supportive while my husband was away.

Tradition is that we give gifts when people leave. This was no exception. They gave two great things--a monogrammed tote bag and a monogrammed apron. The apron was perfect because they know I love to bake and I've been bringing in yummy things a lot lately as I try to clear out my pantry for the move.

Training is hard work...

...and I don't mean training for a race or something like that. There is absolutely no argument from me that physical training is hard work!

At work, I am in the process of training my replacement. I thought this would be easy. You explain and show a few things and then off they go. With my job (as I'm sure with most) there are so many factors. I'm finding it mentally exhausting to share all my knowledge. I wish I could give my brain to my new colleague.

As I think about this, it makes me less excited to move and start the process all over again. Regardless of where I end of working I'll have new things to learn. While I do not doubt my ability, it can be frustrating entering a new work environment and starting all over again.

Bad attitude

I've had the worst attitude towards work lately. I don't want to go. I am annoyed by everyone around me. I'm just not into it. It is a horrible feeling that I do not like. But I don't know how to get out of my slump.

With our upcoming move, I will have to start the job search all over again. I am trying to decide what I want to do (with my life). I currently work as a Leasing Professional for military housing. There are definitely wonderful parts of my job. But there are so not so wonderful parts, just like in any career. I am not sure what other career field I would like to go into and have not done any research about what my possibilities may be in California.

When I graduated from college, I wanted to go into Environmental Politics. I think I would highly enjoy working for a company that provides renewable energy. I am hoping there are some more options in that field in California.

I also love crafting (scrapbooking specifically). It might be nice to do something along the creative lines. The problem with that is finding a good paying, steady position in that line of work.

I think I would also make a great assistant. I've been watching Drop Dead Gorgeous on Netflix. The show makes me want to work at a law firm. Although I know the show is fictional and working at an actual law firm would be less glamorous.

My inclinations are all over the place. It's tough moving.

Back to School Party

My most recent resident event endeavor was our Back to School Party. Last year was the first time the community had this event and I wasn't able to volunteer. Because of that I went in a little blindly, but it turned out really well! The weather was gorgeous and a bunch of people came out.

Here are the highlights:

- Walking Taco's: We had these for our Cinco de Mayo event and they were a huge hit! I had never heard of them before that. Yesterday I ate two. To make a walking taco you need an individual bag of fritos, taco meat, lettuce, cheese, sour cream, salsa or whatever other taco toppings you like. You put everything in the bag and enjoy! We ran out about an hour before the event ended. Nice, easy cleanup!

- Bouncy House: this is always a huge hit for the kids. Towards the end of the event there were like 10 kids in there at the same time (of all ages, too). They decided to play duck, duck, goose. It was cute to watch.

- Frisbee Toss: I brought out one of our MANY Frisbee (Charles played Ultimate in college) and cones. I had the kids take turns throwing the Frisbee and the top two throws won a prize. I was pleasantly surprised at how well the kids threw. Some probably threw better than me when I was first introduced to the Frisbee in college.

- Egg Toss: Last year they did a balloon toss with very tough balloons. Apparently even after hitting the ground several times they did not break. This year we went with an egg toss for less prep work. Again the kids did surprisingly well. Afterward we still had a bunch of eggs left over and the kids did a mad rush towards them and quickly used them up by throwing them all over the place. It was very interesting.

- Pin the Tale on the Donkey and Cornhole: these were just out and the kids could play at their own leisure

The unpredictability of event planning

As you know from reading my past posts that I help plan the resident events for neighborhood I work for and live in. For today I had planned an Un-birthday party. No one seemed to get the reference. For anyone else who does not know, the un-birthday party idea is from the Disney cartoon version of Alice in Wonderland. This is one of my favorite cartoon movies! This event was more like a birthday party and not much like the spectacle in the movie.

However, after unloading everything from my car it started to pour down rain. And there was thunder! I looked at the radar. It wasn't a ton of rain, but there was a strip coming towards us. So I packed everything back up.

I was pretty excited about the event. Here's the run-down of what I had planned:

- Cupcakes--If you have a Sam's Club membership you can order a lot of cupcakes for a great price. I think it is $14 for 2 dozen cupcakes.
- a GIANT pinata. I bought the large cupcake pinata from Party City. It is super cute. I was going to fill it all the way, but after halfway it was quite heavy.

- Party Hats

- Goody bags--nothing fancy inside, but stuff that kids would like such as temporary tattoos, glo sticks, candy, little toys, etc
- Ring Toss, Pin the Tail on the Donkey, Duck Duck Goose, Hot Potato and a Frisbee toss game

From Amazon

- Birthday music--I found a Happy Birthday station on Pandora.
- Birthday decorations like banners and streamers

Event planning

As part of my job, I am in charge of organizing our resident events each month. Since being in charge of this, I've tried to plan some new and different things to appeal to a larger variety of people.

My latest venture is the largest event we have ever planned. Luckily I have a whole committee of people helping me out. We are organizing a patriotic themed festival. There is so much that goes into an event like this. I don't think I even realized it before starting.

I hoping it will be a successful and fun event. We have a food food vendors, game booths, pony rides, bouncy houses, prizes, a clown and more. If you think about me on Friday, say a little prayer. I'm hoping for gorgeous weather, a good crowd and lots of fun!

For most of our game booths we are doing Minute to Win It games. This should be really easy to accomplish and a lot of fun. I've seen it all over Pinterest. Here are a few of the games we are going to attempt:

Baby Rattle: for this game you have 2 liters taped together with gumballs inside. The goal is to get all the gumballs from one bottle to the other in less than a minute by shaking. You have one in each hand. It will probably be loud, but I'm interested to see how challenging this is.

Dizzy Mummy: I think this one will be tougher than I originally thought. You have to somehow wrap yourself in toilet paper without breaking the toilet paper.

Hanky Panky: you have to pull all the tissues out of a tissue box using only one hand in under a minute

Suck it up: you have to transport M&M's one at a time by sucking them up with a straw. 

Football Toss: cut holes into a tarp as targets for footballs

Worn

The past few days have been exhausting and for no good reason. I'm really feeling the fact that Charles is away.

Yesterday work just d-r-a-g-g-e-d! I could not get out of there soon enough. School was cancelled due to snow and one of my colleagues brought her daughter in. Her daughter is very sweet, but the cartoons in the background and just basic kid stuff got old quick. By the end of the day my head was killing me. You can tell I'm not a parent.

Today we hosted a Networking event for local businesses at work. We did this once before in November and this time was even better. Not everyone who RSVPed came out, but people talked and shared and it was really nice. It did tire me out. If you are an introvert, you will understand this. I enjoy spending time with people, but if I'm with people for an extended period of time (especially people I don't know well) I start to get really tired and am ready to just be by myself for a while. That's how I felt after an hour or so at this networking event. It was great talking to people and listening to their stories, but after a certain point I was mentally done. It's funny how something that basic can wear you down.

I made some scrambled egg cups for the networking event that turned out pretty tasty. I'll have to share the recipe soon.

So now I'm taking my lunch break and wishing the time away before I can see my husband again.

Crepes for Easter potluck

Peanut butter, banana and honey

Work has been a little hectic lately. I work for an apartment community and part of our goal is to stay at a particular occupancy level. Our occupancy levels have been dipping down and everyone, especially management, has been a little stressed. For a moral boost, I thought it would be fun to do a potluck this Friday to celebrate Easter. Everyone else seemed to like the idea, too! I offered to bring crepes and some of my coworkers had never heard of crepes before.

These look amazing!

For those of you who don't know, crepes are like thin pancakes. They are French in origin. You can eat crepes with various fillings. My favorite fillings are anything sweet, particularly Nutella and banana slices. They are also great with cream cheese and cinnamon sugar. You can also eat savory crepes. You can fill them with meats, cheeses, herbs and more. Anyway you eat a crepe, I'm sure you would enjoy it!

Savory crepe example

For my crepes, I just use the recipe in the Betty Crocker cookbook. If you don't have that, just search on Pinterest or Google for a good recipe. They are pretty simple so it shouldn't be hard to find a good one. And have fun experimenting with different fillings--peanut butter, vanilla cream sauce, caramel, various fruits, nuts, and more.

Blessings Monday

 

I am thankful for my job. I graduated from college almost 4 years ago (that's crazy). Since graduating from college I've worked for Yankee Candle, a company called My Carolina Town, The Celebration Cottage and maybe a few other odd and end jobs. None of those jobs were full-time or really challenging. I learned things from each that was very beneficial, but nothing related to my degree or really fulfilling.

When we moved here, I spent many months searching and applying for jobs. It was so frustrating because I wasn't having any luck and I just wanted someone to give me a chance. Finally, after applying three times to The Properties at Wright Field, I was called for an interview, and then a 2nd interview and then a third interview. And then I was offered the job! 

I love all the ladies I work with. They have all been so helpful and fun to spend 8 hours of the day with. I love being a Leasing Professional (like a real estate agent for one apartment community) and meeting different people. People continue to surprise me, frustrate me and confuse me, but it keeps life interesting. I am so thankful that they gave me a chance and that I can help people find a home, even if it is just an apartment home.

Aced

So, I finally got a step closer to getting a job! I had to take a typing test today for one of the jobs I applied for a few weeks ago. I'm a very good typer so I wasn't too worried about it. Plus, my husband was very encouraging. (I love him!) I wasn't really sure what to expect. I had taken a couple typing tests online months ago to see what my typing speed was, but I hadn't done a real typing test since high school computer class. I was hoping for at least 50 WPM.

The lady who administered the test was really nice. We chatted for a bit about what I was looking for. She also has a Political Science degree. She was very encouraging, too.

So I took the test and got an average of 65 WPM, which was better than I was expecting and hoping for. Plus, my accuracy was nearly 100% (just a few minor errors).

Now I have to wait to see if I get an interview. It's just for a part-time, entry level job, but at this point I'll take anything just to get out of the house and earn some money. Being a housewife is only super fun if you have unending resources to fuel your hobbies.

Rejection

A couple weeks ago, I applied for a job which I felt that I was a shoe-in for. The job description sounded great and was filled with things I could definitely handle and excel at. I even made it to Phase 2 of the hiring process. Yea! I felt really good about it.

Flash forward to yesterday and I received an email that basically said (like so many emails I've seen over the past 3 years), sorry...you suck...we went with someone who actually has experience. So, it didn't say that exactly, but it sure does feel like they might as well say that.

I drowned my sorrows with a little bit of retail therapy. I got a cute, casual shirt at Old Navy. It has white and yellow-gold stripes. I got it because the gold is a Winthrop University color. Go Eagles! I got a comfy grey skirt at Target, on sale! And I got two little wall shelves for our "office" to show off my little collection of lambs. The mascot for my college sorority is a lamb and I've amassed a  collection of them.

What do you like to drown your sorrows with?

Desperate

Lately whenever I look in my closet for something to wear I don't like anything that I see. I'm in a desperate need to get a job just so I can buy a few new pieces to add to my wardrobe. Plus I have some great "work" clothes that I have no occasion to wear.

Recently I applied for a job with a non-profit that helps with foster care and such. The job description was right up my alley and would be perfect for me. And I actually made it to Phase 2 in the hiring process! So, if you're the praying type, pray for me. If you have a lucky rabbit's foot or anything else, send it my way! ;)

Back to work...kind of

While I was living in Rock Hill, I worked for Libby. She owns the Celebration Cottage which is a super cute little shop and small event venue. She loves me to pieces! She's not as technologically savvy so I did a lot of things for her like creating a Constant Contact database, creating e-blasts, helping update her websites for her three businesses (the Cottage, Miss Libby's Tea Parties and Etiquette School of the Piedmont).

When I moved, she was very sad. I did a lot of things for that she didn't even realize I did. And I did a lot of things without her even having to ask. I'm just good like that. :) When I left, there wasn't really anyone to fill my shoes. Recently, she offered to pay me a small fee each month to continue creating her e-blasts and update her websites from time to time. Since I don't have any other job and I know she needs the help, I said yes.

Today, I've been sitting in our recliner in the living room for the past 3-4 hours working on two of her websites. They were both designed by someone else before I started working for Libby. They looked very cute, but the way they were designed limited me from adding new information easily as Libby's businesses expand. So I had to revamp them. Hence 3-4 hours of work. I'm not a website designer or graphic designer. The websites aren't fancy or fabulous, but they have all the up-to-date information and that's basically what she needs. But I'm proud of my work. Here are the three websites that I created for her:

www.thecelebrationcottage.com

www.etiquetteschoolofthepiedmont.com

www.misslibbysteaparties.com

Wanna be working woman

I've been thinking about writing about my job search, but it's so discouraging a topic that I've avoided it. But to coincide with my Facebook status for today, I thought I would share with you my experience.

I am an educated individual. I graduated from high school with a good GPA (I no longer remember what it was). I went to an accredited university and graduated with a 3.75 GPA. I was in two honor societies in college, one of which I was the president of my senior year. However, my job experience is severely lacking. I worked at Yankee Candle off and on from my senior year of high school until the end of 2009. And since then my job experience has been even worse. I attempted to sell advertising for a local website; I failed miserably for many reasons which were beyond my control. And I worked at the Cottage doing a lot for very little pay. But I figured my education could help fill the gaps of any lack of experience I may have.

After graduation I thought I wanted to do something in environmental politics. I still think that could be an interesting career field, but it seemed like the jobs I was finding in that field required a biology or science degree. I have a Political science degree, but that doesn't count as science.

The past two years I've been applying for administrative assistant types of jobs. I would do very well at this type of job. But after applying for probably 100 administrative assistant jobs and not even getting an interview I feel like that's not what I'm supposed to be doing.

I broke down a couple of weeks ago and applied to a retail position at T-Mobile. I haven't even heard back from them. I feel like such a loser. I want to work. I'll even take part-time. I feel like my college education is going to waste. And it feels like everyone else and their mother has a job. I know that's not true; the economy is still doing crappy and plenty of people are out of work. Charles was out of work for like a year and was rescued by his desire to join the military. I wouldn't last one second at BMT, so joining the military is not an option.

So, until a job suddenly makes itself available to me, the life of a housewife will have to suffice.

Tomorrow I'm going to blog about my sewing project. I would have blogged about it today, but I'm feeling too lazy to take pictures of my completed project. It's just one of those days. :)