Loving my new job

Well the subject says a lot. I have been working in my new job for well 7 weeks now. I am really liking it. I am learning a lot probably something new every single day. I have been to several new places doing audits. Darby, Havre, Augusta, and Poplar are the new towns I visited. But I have also done audits for Bigfork SD and Evergreen SD. Every audit I seem to add something new to my work load. I have been traveling with the two partners Kim and Bob. They both have different teaching skills but it seems to work for me. Bob is a little more into the explaining the reasoning behind things while Kim will just tell you how to do it. Both styles work for me. The school districts and city audits are a little different in their own ways. I don't know which one I like more yet. The next few months I have a lot more audits coming up. I think I am doing a few counties, cities, and school district. I believe I am also doing a closing of the books for Lincoln County also.

Tax season is fast approaching. Bob was telling me their thoughts for me during the tax season. The hope is we will get around 150 walk in clients and those people would all be given to me. The thought is most of these would be in my comfort zone of individual returns and work my way up to the bigger and better returns in the coming year. Being that our office is right on the main street I think we really could get that many clients. I am also going to help with the free tax site on the weekends so that will keep me very busy. Nothing but tax for about ten weeks!! Then probably back to audit.

Lets see the rest of life is going really good. We have been going to Libby most weekends so Kyle can hunt. Which means I get to stay at his mom's house and sleep!! It is a little scary being out there when nobody else is around. They live in the woods and a lot of people come and go around their hunting. I stay inside for the most part. So far hunting season has been uneventful. Kyle has one more day and he can actually shoot a doe so hopefully we will see one on thanksgiving and we will get some meat for the next year.

This weekend we have another full weekend. We are going to Kyle's mom's for the holiday and then Friday we are driving to Billings to see his dad. They are having a 50th wedding aniversary for his step mom's parents. So we are going to attend that. We will drive back Sunday so I can be back to work on Monday. I have a four day weekend. I almost can't wait for a weekend at home!!

Christmas is fast approaching I am hoping to go get my decorations out of storage on Friday and get them up before leaving for Billings. Kyle thinks I am decorating too early. I dont' think so. Day after Thanksgiving is fair game!! Well that is about it for us.

A new month and a new job

Being that Oct seems to be almost half over I thought it was time for a blog. I have started my new job, been here 6 days. I have been doing a lot of reading, and catching up on everything that I have forgot over the last year and half of being out of school. I did my first tax return for them the other day. Hopefully I did a good job on it. Probably one of the first tax returns that I have done with a business and depreciation.

I went home for a few days between the two jobs. Spent time with the family and got to see pretty much everybody that lives at least in Oregon. We had birthday celebrations with both sides of the family. For my birthday I went out with some friends to the bar that we went to during college. I came to the decision that I was over the loud music and drinking. Besides that fact that I can't drink anyways. Tia and I went to Whites for breakfast on Friday so that was really good!

Kyle and I are really wanting to buy a house. We went to a talk this last week about a new subdivision that they are starting. They called it affordable housing. I am not sure who gave them their definition but $169,900 for a 2 bedroom 1 bath 940 square feet home didn't really mean affordable to me. So I think the decision we have reached is work hard at getting everything paid off and hopefully try to buy in about 6 to 8 months. Probably end up buying an older home. We really want a garage on it for Kyle and a bigger bathroom. Those are the two things so far it has to have. Ohh and a dishwasher.

That is about all I have right now, we are trying to figure out the coming home for Christmas or Trina's wedding. We are probably coming for the wedding because I wouldn't have to take much time off that way, we got Jan 1 off for the holiday and Jan 2 for the firms birthday. Probably come by train, because it is cheaper and we know that we can get to the train station. Never know what the roads could be like that time of the year. So hopefully that will work out for getting time off.

3rd time better be a charm

So this weekend was a beautiful weekend. Saturday I was super busy being lazy all morning and afternoon. I got up at ten ate breakfast and then went back to bed and slept till one. Then I watched several lifetime movies. Saturday night was the last night at the race track. Kyle's friend Kyle had one more race that he was in. He ended up getting to do the trophy dash and won. So he was pretty pleased to get a trophy. The main event would have gone okay but they blew a tire and their stuff to fix it had been put away so it took way too long to get it fixed. He made it back out for the last lap. Saturday I started to have problems with my starter in my car so we decided to work on it Sunday.

Kyle took the one we had put in the car just two months ago out and took it to Napa, turns out it was faulty. So we got a new remanufactored one and got it all put in and my car didn't even try to start. They had given us another bad one. We took it out again and then took it back. At this point Kyle wasn't happy at all. They ended up giving us a brand new one for a discount so now I have a brand new one that better work!! We spent the rest of the day getting stuff done around the house. We did buy a few more halloween decorations. Kyle bought a scary skelleton guy and hung it outside. And it did a good job by scaring me this morning when I left for work.

I only have a day and half more of work. And Wed I leave for Oregon!!

Changes

Well again I have made another change. I have 5 more days at Northwest Montana Human Resources and will now be working at Denning, Downey, and Associates. I will be a staff accountant working in the audit and tax departments. I am excited for the change but nervous at the same time. I have hope that this change will give Kyle and I more of a chance to go forward and do what we want. We really want to buy a house at some point. Hopefully sooner then later. So hopefully with this new job will help us save some money and then also pay our bills off.

Kyle has also had a change with his job. He is now working three days a week. They hope that this change will help with him working so many hours and also cut down on their costs for him driving over there.

With my time at NMHR I have traveled to Chicago for some training. I loved visiting Chicago. I did a lot of walking around the downtown area. Sunday I think I walked like 20 blocks looking at different things. I went to Sears Tower, on a architecture tour, to Navy Pier, and then on bus tour of town. On the bus tour I went to the different ethnic communites which was neat to see. Got me out of the downtown area the whole time and saw some other area. They are trying to get the 2016 summer olympics so they have built this beautiful park right in down town. It is so neat with a huge performance area, fountains, tennis courts and so much more.

Tia and Jessie came and visited the first part of September. It was fun to get to hang out with them. We went to Glacier park and went camping for a night. I learned how to play phase 10 and fell in love with that game. I still need to go buy it!!

I am coming home first of Octoboer. I am taking a short break between the jobs and will be home Oct 1-5 and then will start my job Oct 6. I will be hopefully finding some professional clothing for my new job and then be attending Amber's wedding. Plus it is my birthday while I am home!!

That is my update for now. I should get back to work. 5 more days!!

It is over!!

Well my year of service is over. Our new vista has arrived and we have been trying to track down some furniture for her. I think we will get along pretty well. I am excited to start my new job. Jane has already started giving me odd jobs to do. Which is nice to know that I am needed. I got my airline tickets to Chicago. For once flying out of Kalispell I have a direct flight. That doesn't ever happen.

We started our third financial education class. Once again this group is different from the other. I think we might actually have a few drop outs and that is okay. We knew it would happen but we were just really lucky with the last two classes. This class is a lot easier to teach cause they actually participate in the class and give answers!!

TJ is on her way here as I type. They were just in Libby so she should be here in about an hour. Kyle is off to the big Montana 200 race. There are four cars on the team that he helps pit for, but yesterday was practice and they blew up an engine already. So now there is three. Tonight is time trials to see which lucky 12 will race tomorrow for $40,000. People come from Canada, Idaho, Washington, and Montana to race this weekend. Should be an interesting race, I am a little sad I am missing it. I will have fun though with TJ. Don't know what we are doing yet but I kind of want to go to Glacier and then even up to Big Mountain for the summer festival. So we will see what we can fit in with time. I haven't been up to Glacier since they finally opened the road to the sun. That only happened like the first of the month. Very late opening cause of the snow we had in June.

I need to figure out a new name for my blog since my AmeriCorp year is over. If you have ideas leave me a comment or tell me.

Catch up

Well again it has been a month. It never seems that I have enough time to sit down and write a blog.



The good news of the whole month is I finally have a job. Yesterday I interviewed and accepted a job here at the agency. I will be financial educator/grant writer. First big event will be my traveling to Chicago for train the trainer training in home buyer education. Don't know where I will go after that I think it is either horrible Denver or DC. I think those are both coming up just don't which is which. I am really excited about my job. Pay isn't the greatest but I do love the financial education program and the people I work with. So I think that makes up for it. We will see. Doesn't mean I am stuck here and maybe something else will excite me and I will do that. Never know.



Lets see we will work backwards in the month. This last weekend was the 4th of July we went to Libby of course. Two of his aunts where visiting and 5 of his cousins. It was quite the full house. Kyle and I stayed in the trailer which was actually really nice so we could still get away from everybody when needed. Friday Kyle worked and ended up putting in 62 hours last week. People drink to much beer over the holiday. When he finally got off Friday we raced to Libby to get there by dark. We got there at the start of the fireworks. From their backyard we watched about 10 different shows. Here in Montana we can set off whatever we want. What everybody went to a certain place to watch we got to see from the backyard and set off our self. Saturday we pretty much a lazy day. They got a kitten for Kyle's grandma. Super cute cat and she just loved it. When we ate dinner she wanted to go check on her and make sure she was okay. Saturday night they got out the shot guns and has some target practice. I even shot 3 times and hit the can once. Turns out I really think I am blind. Once I tried to see the can it was all blurry. That is my story and I am sticking to it!! Sunday we all got up and went on a hike. We hiked to Geiger lake. It is in the Cabinet Mountains. Three miles up and then Three miles down. I was pretty tired and sore. Turns out just being back at the gym for two weeks wasn't quite enough. But it was beautiful once we got up there.



Kyle and Kyle finally got the car finished and they did their first race about three weeks ago. My Kyle helps with the car and mechanical stuff and his friend Kyle actually races it. They have another one tomorrow. Kyle came in 8th with the car. He did cause a small accident. The race he is participating in is called the hornet class. It is a bunch of older cars with everything torn out of them and then they race. His is a Pontiac and his hit a mini van. The mini van won't be racing any time soon as he hit the wall straight on. While trying to finish the car they were welding and actually started the seat on fire Friday night before the race. They worked all day Saturday to finish it up.



We also went camping for Kyles vacation to Wallaw Lake. It was really fun to see Kyle in just heaven with being able to pet the deer. We did a little touring around the area and over heated my car as we were going up a hill at like 20 mph. The last full day we were their it rained and snowed. That night it snowed so much that our tent caved in on us. In the morning we got up early packed everything up and then headed home. I was so cold I was pretty excited to have the warmth of the car.

That has been pretty much our life. This month the new Vista will start, I start my new job, and TJ and her mom are coming to visit. The summer is going by to quickly. Tia and Jessie are even planning their trip here for Labor day weekend.

Last few months

Well once again I have fallen behind on my blog posts. My last post I showed pictures of our new place. We got all moved in a settled. We are loving having the place. It is nice to have a place with two bedrooms and possibly a little extra space. We even have the garage but it is full. Kyle took off the next day after we got everything moved and went and got his car from his mom's house. So it is all tore apart in our garage. It sits and waits till he has some money to do something more with it. It will be a long project but keeps him entertained for a few hours each weekend which is actually kind of nice!!

My parents come and visited the first part of May. We took them around some more of the area. They even meet Kyle's mom and soon to be step dad. Saw their new house also. They also have gotten all moved. It was a moving month for us. Getting them all moved and ourselves.

After their visit to see us I actually took the train home to go on my mom's family coast trip. That was enjoyable. I spent one night up in Portland and got a chance to actually see some friends that are living up there. Then I went home and we headed to the beach for the weekend. After getting home from that I got to see Sharlee and Ali for a few. Not too long they have to come visit me. It was a short but very productive trip.

Kyle and I actually braved the rain and went camping for a night during memorial weekend. We went to the river near Libby. It was just for a night, I ended up getting burnt by the fire but that only hurt for a little while. We tried out our new tent. It is huge, a lot bigger then we thought. It is going to be nice to have. We are slowly going to buy some more camping stuff as we go.

Last weekend we actually went to the race track. My first time seeing live car races. It was a lot of fun actually. I had a really good time. We were actually in the pit because kyle has some friends that are all racing. Kyle was helping in the pit. One of the guys on the team ended up coming in third. Three out of the 4 cars were going to need some good repairs before the next race actually. One car blew an engine cylinder, another lost their breaks, and another guy got in a wreck. It was an interesting race but lots of fun. On Sunday we went for a little drive. We went up to a town called Polebridge next to Glacier Park. It was a little spooky drive. It felt like a scene from a scary movie. We then were told about a pretty lake up the road about six miles. I had this picture in my head of the ranger following up the road and killing us. He didn't kill us and turns out it is a beautiful lake. I wouldn't mind going back there and camping on a nice weekend. We might consider taking a gun though just cause now we have scared ourselves. I will have to post pictures when I get home.

This weekend we are planning on going to Willawa lake and going to see my parents again when they meet up there. It should be a nice little get away.

Lets see for a work update. Tax season is over. We ended up doing over 200 tax returns!! For a first year site and I pretty satisfied. We doubled the amount we are suppose to actually do. We had over 150,000 in federal refunds back to our clients. We are in out second quarter for financial education. I have started teaching the classes. I am really enjoying this new task. Hopefully we will keep doing this. We have hired somebody as of today to take on the Vista position as my replacement. She is coming from Georgia. I am excited to have somebody replace me.

As for what I am planning on doing as of July 18. First task is to get a better paying job!! Easy task I think. I am hoping to stay on with the agency and hopefully a job will be opening up here in the near future and I will be applying for a job when it does open. I am looking forward to a new adventure and the training that will come with this possible job!! :)

Well I should go I am down in Helena for the night for some meetings. It has been raining here and some how I think I got lost on my way down. I don't really know where I went wrong but I didn't come to Helena like I have in the past. I thought I was going to Greatfalls for quite awhile. I figured if I ended up there I knew where to go from there but I got here just not sure how it happened. Hopefully I will get easier then I got here. I think I took the long way I guess.

New House

Well we have finally found a new place that we can afford and fits our needs!! As usual today started looking through the Daily Interlake for another possible place to move to. Was getting discouraged as usual but then found a place for $700 with 2bed room and 1 bath. Didn't think for that cheap there was a chance it had a garge but figured what the heck. To my surprise it did. So we set an appointment to go look at it and feel in love with it. It is a small 2 bedroom place, but will work great for us. It is at the back of the property of a older gal, probably late 50's but real nice. We saw the place at about 5:30pm and found out by 7pm that we had the place. I was super excited!! Here are some pictures will post more after we get moved and unpacked which could take awhile with our work schedules. Our goal is to move this weekend and clean my place and be out by the end of the month!!

Been a long long time

Well it is March and I haven't written a blog for about a month and half. Lets see if I can give a full update.

I have been working a lot about ten hours a week of over time. Free To Choo$e has started and we are actually in the 8th week. It is going great. Nobody has dropped out which we find amazing!! I have been teaching the kids. I have enjoyed it and feel that they have learned a lot. Ten weeks is a lot of time to teach them what they should know about bank accounts but we are starting a new project this week with them earning money for being good and participating in the class. At the end of the ten weeks we are going to have a store for them to buy things!! So far I think a couple of my kids really like it. Two of my kids don't seem to care. Next term we might be finding another teacher to teach the kids so I can start teaching the adults. We are going to see how it goes!!

Taxes has been talking up the most of my time. We have done a lot of tax returns and well last time I was told we had done about 72 returns with about $70,000 in returns. I am really enjoying doing them besides the stress but it is alot of working with people which has been quite enjoyable. Taxes aren't as bad as I thought, and the nightmares weren't worth it!!

Lets see, I got sick, I started to get sick around Christmas just being sick to my stomach in the mornings well that turned to throwing up every time I ate. Then I turned yellow and went to ER. Turns out my new medicine that they gave me was messing up my liver. Went off of it and then I feel a lot better. I am not trying to go off the steroids again with out any other medicines. So far so good!

Kyle and I are still looking for a place to move to. So far not much luck. We need something affordable with not too much move in costs. We want to find a place with possibly two bedrooms, garage, and laundry hookups. If we find a place that will work it is usually already rented. Hopefully we will find something before July if nothing else!! We had talked about moving in with his friend Kyle but I don't know that we are going to do that anymore. It isn't being talked about between the boys and I am just not going to bring it up.

We went over to Libby this weekend. His mom and Paul are in their new house. We were on our way home and we saw a moose.

I also got a chance to go sledding. Didn't quite have the right clothing but that was okay. I actually only went down like four times, but it was lot of fun!! The last time down I lost control of my sled and ended up in some fresh snow that also ended up in my face and I came close to some trees. I guess I looked like a snow man.

The other thing I had fun doing was shoveling snow. One weekend that we were in Libby it snowed a lot so we shoveled snow at the new house and Kyle's Grandmas' house. It was actually a lot of fun. I want my own shovel now. Maybe next year because it looks like it is not going to snow much more. We keep getting about an inch but it melts with in a day or so. It is melting off pretty quickly. Feels like spring, I am ready for it to be a little warmer then 32 so I can break out the flip flops again!!

A long week

It is only Wednesday and it has been a very long week. This week is tax training. I have been sitting in class for three days and learning everything I actually was suppose to learn last year in a full term in college. It is all making a lot more since now, which is kind of nice in the end. But it is very tiring!! I had 7 volunteers come to training which is totally awesome. And I have 4 more doing the training on there own which is going to be a little challenging teaching them how to use the computer program.

Other then that we have already started taking appointments which is great news. And the financial education class is coming together really great and will kick off strong next week.

This last weekend I went sledding!! It was a ton of fun. There is a rather large hill near my house. I will have to post a picture. I don't have snow pants so my butt got a little wet and cold, but it was worth it. After sledding we went over to Abigales house for a potluck. It was fun but lots of little kids. This one little boy came over got on my lap and started eating off my plate. Then ate some bread and then decided he didn't like it so he spit it out. He was then removed from my lap. After that my friend Jessica and I spent the night together hanging out. It was nice to get out with her!!

That has been pretty much my life. I am getting a little nervous about the tax season starting but hopefully I will get it up and running and then things will run themselves. We will see how that goes. I am also going to start getting my certification to be a first time homebuyer education counselor and then foreclosure prevention counselor. Should be interesting. I will be spending a week in Great Falls for the first of my training.

Well time for bed taxes is running me down!!

Welcome 2008

I figured out how to change my layout and figured I would update my blog. I went home for Christmas. It was nice to get to go home for awhile. I saw quite a few of my friends. Sadly I missed a few of them but will hopefully see them the next time I make it that way. Although to be honest. I have no idea when that time will be. Kyle and I are planning on going camping when he gets vocation and probably not actually in Oregon.

New Years come and went. I was sick when I got back to Oregon so I ended up in bed about 9pm. Kyle had to work so we didn't go over to Libby and hang out with friends over there for New Years. We did go over to Libby this weekend. His mom's house is looking great and will probably be ready to move into in about a month or so. That will be a grand moving day/weekend.

As for work things are really coming together. Classes for the first financial education class will start Jan 24. The April class is already full also. We are taking sign ups for the June and September start class. It is crazy how many people want to take our class!! Training for the tax season starts in about two weeks. Hopefully start getting calls for people to come and get their taxes done here soon!!

Kyle and I are starting to look for a place to live!! We are thinking hopefully end of February to be the time!! Things are pretty expensive to get into so we are saving and then will hopefully find the perfect place. We want a place with a garage, dishwasher, washer and dryer. I really want to hopefully find a place with 2 bedrooms also!! That way when people come to visit they will actually have their own bedroom. Plus it would be really nice to have a room for me to be able to set up as my room for homework!! Kyle will have his garage and then I would have a room for school work!!

I found out this last week that it looks like I won't have a job at the agency when I am done with my year in AmeriCorp. So I will start really looking for a job in a few months. Hopefully find something that I will like and then make a little money doing. See what happens, there are lots of jobs though so I am not too worried about it.