10/3/10 5:48 PM
As usual, I need to apologize for not writing in many months. I’m hoping to blog more when school is done. So there is a ton to update you on so I’ll get started.
Last time I wrote, we were possibly getting another dog. It happened. We adopted Yo Yo (now Ollie) from a place out of California who rescued him from an elementary school in Taiwan. He is such a good dog. He and Lola were instant BFF’s. Ollie loves other doggies and is really timid around me for some reason. He loves Lesley and will only listen to her. I’m assuming he had a bad experience with men over in his homeland. He has adjusted well and is now starting to understand commands in English. He and Lola run each other till they are exhausted. It has been good having two dogs.
I started my MBA the same month as I graduated my bachelors. I will graduate in November of 2011. So far the classes have been intense. I am learning a lot and liking school. I will also like to be done!
Lesley has finished her school and clinic requirements. She is a licensed Radiation Therapist. She worked really hard and spent a ton of time. She was offered a position before she even graduated. She got a job at a clinic in Poulsbo, WA. It is located about an hour and a half from Renton where we used to live. Yes, we moved again—for the 2nd time in two years. It is located across the Puget Sound from Seattle. We moved to Poulsbo, which is a really cool old Scandinavian town. This also happens to be where Lesley grew up. I will be commuting and going to school at the same place—University of Phoenix. It is an hour and 15-minute drive or a couple hours if I take the ferry. We plan to live here for a year and then hopefully buy a house somewhere. Lesley really likes her work. Since moving, we have obviously been released from our callings in the EQ and YW’s. We await new callings here.
During the summer we were able to go to Utah and stay with my family. It was so fun to see them and my friends. We drove down there and took our dogs. They loved being around my parent’s dogs. It was a bit of a mad house with the gang of dogs running around. I’m sorry to report that my parent’s dog Cooper got really sick and passed away a week after we were there. It came quickly and unexpectedly. He was only one to two years old. He was buried where he was most happy, at the cabin.
Lesley and I played on a co-ed softball team with one of Lesley’s friends at school. We played double headers every Thursday night. We had a good season. We went on to win the championship. It was awesome.
We went surfing a few times. We went camping twice.
We just celebrated our two-year anniversary on Sept 12th. We went on a western Caribbean cruise for a week. We stopped in Grand Cayman, Cozumel, Roatan, and Belize. We did excursions at each of the stops. We went to Stingray City in Grand Cayman, Mayan ruins and beach in Cozumel, Beach in Roatan, and cave tubing in Belize. It was a beautiful trip and we had so much fun. I’m still peeling from my sunburns. When I rub my hand along my shoulders, it literally looks like it’s snowing from all my dead skin.
Rather than copy all our pics into the blog, I’m including the link to my facebook page that you can go see them.
Enjoy!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=528153&id=720885537&l=b85b57f93b
Love,
Parker
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Hot off the press!
5/4/10 6:16 AM
Hawaii seemed so long ago. It was a great trip! We were there for a week. We spent a lot of time on the beach and eating great food. We were able to do some surfing and stand up paddle surfing. We went whale watching, drove the road to Hana, and watched the sunrise from the highest mountain on Maui. It was really hard to come home. I’m ready for another vacation.
Lesley and I have barely seen each other over the last one and a half months. We have been so busy with our church callings and school. Lesley is the Young Women’s President and I am the 2nd counselor in the Elders Quorum. Our callings involve lots of meetings and activities. School has also been crazy for us. Lesley continues to do well in class and is commuting to Olympia three days per week. Olympia is past Tacoma. It works out to an hour of driving each way. I’ll be glad when she’s a little closer to home. We don’t know yet where she’ll be assigned for her summer clinical.
I have been doubling up on classes at school. Typically at the University of Phoenix students take only one class at a time. Students will go to class one night a week. Instructors will give enough homework to keep them busy throughout the week. I, however, just got done completing two classes at the same time. It nearly killed me and was a huge source of stress. Long assignments and fast approaching deadlines plagued my life over the past five weeks. I’m glad it is over. These were the last classes required for my Bachelors in Business Management. I am trying to start my MBA with an emphasis in Healthcare Management later this month.
Lesley and I celebrated our birthdays in April. She got me a really cool HD Flip video camera. I can now take video and upload it to the blog so you can watch all of our fun weekend trips and see how beautiful it is up here in Seattle. You will most likely see more videos of Lola because she is so fun and crazy to watch.
Speaking of Lola, we could possibly be adopting another doggy. My mom had sent me an email with a cute little dog in California that needed to be adopted. The dog’s name is Yo Yo and he is 7 months old. He is a Yellow Lab Whippet mix. He is the cutest little dog. We have filled out the application to get him. Our application has been accepted. We are now waiting to hear from the “foster” owner and I guess somebody needs to come check out our apartment to make sure it is suitable for dogs. The people at the shelter said that it is necessary to have another dog in the house if they are going to let us have him. Lola will love to have a playmate and somebody to cuddle with when she’s not cuddling with me. Hopefully the adoption works out and we can get the dog soon. We will have the dog flown here from Los Angeles.
Other than that, we had a great surf trip last weekend. The weather and the waves were perfect. It was the best day of surfing I have ever had. Lola got to run around on the beach and swim in the cold ocean. I think she accidentally ran into the waves and got tumbled a little bit.
The days are getting long with light and the weather is getting warm. Camping season is upon us. We plan on taking as many weekend trips as possible. If anybody wants to go camping with us, let us know and we’ll make some plans.
Well, that’s all for now! It is now time for me to go home and get ready for work. I have been here at the church since 5am this morning doing “seminary security.” For those of you who live in Utah, early morning seminary is when high school students take seminary at 5:30 and 6:00am throughout the week. I’m very grateful to have been able to live in Utah and go to seminary during the day. The challenge with Utah seminary was not sleeping in, but taking an extra long lunch.
To see our pictures from our recent surf trip, visit: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=416316&id=720885537&l=1f6c51a6d8
Much love,
Parker
Hawaii seemed so long ago. It was a great trip! We were there for a week. We spent a lot of time on the beach and eating great food. We were able to do some surfing and stand up paddle surfing. We went whale watching, drove the road to Hana, and watched the sunrise from the highest mountain on Maui. It was really hard to come home. I’m ready for another vacation.
Lesley and I have barely seen each other over the last one and a half months. We have been so busy with our church callings and school. Lesley is the Young Women’s President and I am the 2nd counselor in the Elders Quorum. Our callings involve lots of meetings and activities. School has also been crazy for us. Lesley continues to do well in class and is commuting to Olympia three days per week. Olympia is past Tacoma. It works out to an hour of driving each way. I’ll be glad when she’s a little closer to home. We don’t know yet where she’ll be assigned for her summer clinical.
I have been doubling up on classes at school. Typically at the University of Phoenix students take only one class at a time. Students will go to class one night a week. Instructors will give enough homework to keep them busy throughout the week. I, however, just got done completing two classes at the same time. It nearly killed me and was a huge source of stress. Long assignments and fast approaching deadlines plagued my life over the past five weeks. I’m glad it is over. These were the last classes required for my Bachelors in Business Management. I am trying to start my MBA with an emphasis in Healthcare Management later this month.
Lesley and I celebrated our birthdays in April. She got me a really cool HD Flip video camera. I can now take video and upload it to the blog so you can watch all of our fun weekend trips and see how beautiful it is up here in Seattle. You will most likely see more videos of Lola because she is so fun and crazy to watch.
Speaking of Lola, we could possibly be adopting another doggy. My mom had sent me an email with a cute little dog in California that needed to be adopted. The dog’s name is Yo Yo and he is 7 months old. He is a Yellow Lab Whippet mix. He is the cutest little dog. We have filled out the application to get him. Our application has been accepted. We are now waiting to hear from the “foster” owner and I guess somebody needs to come check out our apartment to make sure it is suitable for dogs. The people at the shelter said that it is necessary to have another dog in the house if they are going to let us have him. Lola will love to have a playmate and somebody to cuddle with when she’s not cuddling with me. Hopefully the adoption works out and we can get the dog soon. We will have the dog flown here from Los Angeles.
Other than that, we had a great surf trip last weekend. The weather and the waves were perfect. It was the best day of surfing I have ever had. Lola got to run around on the beach and swim in the cold ocean. I think she accidentally ran into the waves and got tumbled a little bit.
The days are getting long with light and the weather is getting warm. Camping season is upon us. We plan on taking as many weekend trips as possible. If anybody wants to go camping with us, let us know and we’ll make some plans.
Well, that’s all for now! It is now time for me to go home and get ready for work. I have been here at the church since 5am this morning doing “seminary security.” For those of you who live in Utah, early morning seminary is when high school students take seminary at 5:30 and 6:00am throughout the week. I’m very grateful to have been able to live in Utah and go to seminary during the day. The challenge with Utah seminary was not sleeping in, but taking an extra long lunch.
To see our pictures from our recent surf trip, visit: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=416316&id=720885537&l=1f6c51a6d8
Much love,
Parker
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Sorry no new pictures
2/17/10 7:05 PM
I’m sorry for not posting anything to the blog in recent months. I have been in transition for the past month. Not only have I got a new job, but today I started class up again. Lesley is also back in school and working hard at that and in the clinic. Lola has been her energetic self as always. We gave Lola a haircut. Besides looking really cute, she gets cold at night. She will burrow under the bed covers and sprawl out between Lesley and I. I’m so glad she does not shed! In the next couple of weeks we are going to invest in a king size bed. A king size will help Lesley avoid my flailing elbows and I can avoid Lesley’s crazy kicking legs.
As I had said earlier, I have changed jobs. It has been a great change in my life. Working at Paychex was terrible since I transferred to the Seattle branch. I really couldn’t stand the management. My direct supervisor was x-military and treated us like his little soldiers. He was direct, abrupt, rude, and crude. He lacked compassion and people skills. He is not a leader. He is a drill instructor. I moved desks and got another supervisor. She spoke to everybody as if they were 4 years old and it was their first day on the job. The branch manager was invisible to the branch and made everybody uncomfortable when he did interact with them. He is the manager that nobody dared joke with. The problem with the branch was the personnel crisis. The management was so concerned with client satisfaction that they completely forgot about employee satisfaction. There was a huge amount of employee turnover because most employees 1. Can’t stand management style. 2. Are 25 to 40 clients over budget. 3. Are covering terminated employees clients while management refused to fill vacancies.
I knew I had to change jobs when I noticed that I was consistently coming home from work in a bad mood. I would have a short temper with Lesley and the dog. It is hard for me to have a bad day because I try to maintain a happy and optimistic view of everything. I always try to create a healthy work environment. I had to get out of the company before I went bald from stress or it negatively impacted my personal life.
During the fall of 2009, I had been interviewing for sales positions at a few different companies but nothing felt right. My goal was to work for University of Phoenix. So I got on their website and searched for local jobs on a weekly basis. I submitted my resume like crazy. One day I finally got contacted them and got going on the interview process. The interview process went throughout December. I finally accepted a job offer to start on January 19th. I wrote a nice letter to Paychex management giving my two weeks notice. I thanked them for giving me many growth opportunities, etc. When I informed my direct supervisor, she didn’t even look at the letter. She criticized my job performance and then asked me if there was anything they could do to keep me. Hmmmm.
The next day, the branch manager finally made time to meet with me. He also didn’t read my letter. He just started by insulting my character calling me dishonest for going behind his back to look for another job. He told me I wasn’t a leader because I was leaving the company during the busiest time of the year. He also said that I was making a huge mistake in my career.
Once he had burned the bridge, I told him what I think about him and his management team. I confronted him when he insulted my character. I defended myself honestly and bluntly. I told him this would probably be the best career decision that I will make. I was surprised how I was treated especially when I had given 4 years of quality work to the company. I took nothing he said personally or seriously.
Working at the University of Phoenix has been great so far. I’m an enrollment advisor. I work with potential students and help them get financial aid and started in their desired degree program. It is more or less a sales job. I love the competition and results driven environment. Some days can be hard when you don’t have people progressing towards activity. (the same as it was in missionary work.) I am really excited to work at U of P because it includes great benefits. I get my tuition waived. This is a huge blessing, especially as I’m starting my masters program in 5 to 6 months.
To change subjects, Lesley and I are going to Maui for a week. We fly out this Saturday the 20th and will be returning the following Saturday the 27th. We are going with Lesley’s parents and siblings and their spouses. It is going to be an awesome trip. Lesley and I deserve a nice vacation. We have been working hard at work and school and are ready to relax. I’ll take lots of pictures.
Well, I just took a break and forgot what else I was going to write about. So I’ll end it by saying happy birthday to my pops on the 24th of February. Also, I need to congratulate Lesley for accepting a call to serve as the Young Women President in our ward! You go girl! I got your back. I’ll support you all the way. I gotta get working on homework so I don’t have to do any while I’m in Hawaii.
Much love,
Parker
I’m sorry for not posting anything to the blog in recent months. I have been in transition for the past month. Not only have I got a new job, but today I started class up again. Lesley is also back in school and working hard at that and in the clinic. Lola has been her energetic self as always. We gave Lola a haircut. Besides looking really cute, she gets cold at night. She will burrow under the bed covers and sprawl out between Lesley and I. I’m so glad she does not shed! In the next couple of weeks we are going to invest in a king size bed. A king size will help Lesley avoid my flailing elbows and I can avoid Lesley’s crazy kicking legs.
As I had said earlier, I have changed jobs. It has been a great change in my life. Working at Paychex was terrible since I transferred to the Seattle branch. I really couldn’t stand the management. My direct supervisor was x-military and treated us like his little soldiers. He was direct, abrupt, rude, and crude. He lacked compassion and people skills. He is not a leader. He is a drill instructor. I moved desks and got another supervisor. She spoke to everybody as if they were 4 years old and it was their first day on the job. The branch manager was invisible to the branch and made everybody uncomfortable when he did interact with them. He is the manager that nobody dared joke with. The problem with the branch was the personnel crisis. The management was so concerned with client satisfaction that they completely forgot about employee satisfaction. There was a huge amount of employee turnover because most employees 1. Can’t stand management style. 2. Are 25 to 40 clients over budget. 3. Are covering terminated employees clients while management refused to fill vacancies.
I knew I had to change jobs when I noticed that I was consistently coming home from work in a bad mood. I would have a short temper with Lesley and the dog. It is hard for me to have a bad day because I try to maintain a happy and optimistic view of everything. I always try to create a healthy work environment. I had to get out of the company before I went bald from stress or it negatively impacted my personal life.
During the fall of 2009, I had been interviewing for sales positions at a few different companies but nothing felt right. My goal was to work for University of Phoenix. So I got on their website and searched for local jobs on a weekly basis. I submitted my resume like crazy. One day I finally got contacted them and got going on the interview process. The interview process went throughout December. I finally accepted a job offer to start on January 19th. I wrote a nice letter to Paychex management giving my two weeks notice. I thanked them for giving me many growth opportunities, etc. When I informed my direct supervisor, she didn’t even look at the letter. She criticized my job performance and then asked me if there was anything they could do to keep me. Hmmmm.
The next day, the branch manager finally made time to meet with me. He also didn’t read my letter. He just started by insulting my character calling me dishonest for going behind his back to look for another job. He told me I wasn’t a leader because I was leaving the company during the busiest time of the year. He also said that I was making a huge mistake in my career.
Once he had burned the bridge, I told him what I think about him and his management team. I confronted him when he insulted my character. I defended myself honestly and bluntly. I told him this would probably be the best career decision that I will make. I was surprised how I was treated especially when I had given 4 years of quality work to the company. I took nothing he said personally or seriously.
Working at the University of Phoenix has been great so far. I’m an enrollment advisor. I work with potential students and help them get financial aid and started in their desired degree program. It is more or less a sales job. I love the competition and results driven environment. Some days can be hard when you don’t have people progressing towards activity. (the same as it was in missionary work.) I am really excited to work at U of P because it includes great benefits. I get my tuition waived. This is a huge blessing, especially as I’m starting my masters program in 5 to 6 months.
To change subjects, Lesley and I are going to Maui for a week. We fly out this Saturday the 20th and will be returning the following Saturday the 27th. We are going with Lesley’s parents and siblings and their spouses. It is going to be an awesome trip. Lesley and I deserve a nice vacation. We have been working hard at work and school and are ready to relax. I’ll take lots of pictures.
Well, I just took a break and forgot what else I was going to write about. So I’ll end it by saying happy birthday to my pops on the 24th of February. Also, I need to congratulate Lesley for accepting a call to serve as the Young Women President in our ward! You go girl! I got your back. I’ll support you all the way. I gotta get working on homework so I don’t have to do any while I’m in Hawaii.
Much love,
Parker
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)