11th Birthday, 12th Anniversary, and Our New House

Elliott doing pushups after learning he was nearly 21 lbs. already!

Well, after last Sunday’s big update, this will just be a quick blog entry of some big events during the past week.

MADDY’S 11TH BIRTHDAY

Madison’s birthday was on Tuesday, but the big family party was at Amanda’s mom’s house last Sunday night. She got some fun presents from everyone, but the 2 she was most hoping for were the original “Parent Trap” movie starring her Aunt Libby…I mean, starring Haley Mills (and Haley Mills!!):



Also, she got a big set of LEGOs (and now there’s SLIGHTLY less fighting over the LEGO pieces):



She asked for a “Golden Snitch” cake—for those of you not familiar with Harry Potter, the snitch is a winged golden ball integral to the sport of Quidditch in the wizarding world. Ours didn’t fly, but it did have candles on it! (And yes, that’s only 10 candles, but they’re in the shape of an 11):



I’m not sure if she’s blowing out the candles, or trying to catch the snitch in her mouth (like Harry Potter once did):




OUR 12th ANNIVERSARY

Today is our 12th wedding anniversary, and our theme this year was “Cheaper by the Dozen.” Because we’re tight on money, especially with the move (and what would we get anyway?) we didn’t buy presents, and we used some free movie passes to go see “A-Team.” We did eat at Chili’s for lunch, which was our one “splurge” but it was totally worth it (the burger in the previous post is nothing compared to the Ultimate Burger I ordered).

It’s been a wild 12 years so far, but we’re happy with life and excited to see what the next chapter of our life has in store for us and our family.

OUR NEW HOUSE

So, while there was nothing particularly wrong with our plan of staying in a hotel for a month while looking for a house to rent, it presented some problems:

1. Staying in a cheap, one room hotel room for a month with a family of 6, including a baby, had us worried we’d be driven crazy and Elliott would never get a nap (and that none of us would get a good night’s sleep).
2. Since we’re a 6-person family with a 5-passenger car, we were going to have to come up with interesting house-hunting solutions, some of which included leaving the 2 older kids alone in a hotel room—that idea made us uncomfortable, especially knowing other people have keys to the room.
3. The money for a month’s hotel stay could be put to better use in a house.
4. The thought of unloading the truck into a storage unit then loading it up a month later and unloading into a house seemed really annoying—especially wondering what to do with the kids while unloading/loading.

So although renting a house without actually walking through it presents its own challenges and risks, we went ahead and found a place that seems really nice, is in our budget, and we can move into on the day after we arrive. It’s a little further from my work than I originally had hoped for, but it’s still only a 19-minute drive, 16 of which is freeway—still a shorter drive than I was making to 8fish.

Here is a collage of pictures from the rental listing (and a view from above, via Google Earth) [CLICK TO ENLARGE]:




It’s in a housing development called Augusta Ranch, and it’s only a ½ mile walk to the kids’ elementary school, and the church building is only about 1 and ½ miles away. Also nearby: Albertsons, Wal-Mart, Best Buy, Jamba Juice, and a 12-screen Movie theater (including IMAX). And we’re only about 5 miles from my friend Jana’s house (she’s already offered to let us come swimming at her pool!!)

So we’re now in the final stages of packing and getting everything together. Amanda only wants to drive a 17-foot truck, so we’re hoping it all fits. We’ve sold or given away most everything we don’t want to take with us (or don’t think will fit) and we just put our washer and dryer up for sale since the house we’re renting has one already.

This is most likely my last blog entry until we move to AZ, so expect the next update to be really hot and desert-y!

Awesome June Update of Awesomeness

Elliott's SUPER excited to be moving to AZ:



OK, let’s just re-cap the main details of the last couple months:

MEMORIAL DAY
We had our own version of a barbeque (cooked indoors since we don’t have an actual grill to cook on):



Here’s my burger, which included 2 patties, lots of processed cheese, onion rings, bacon, lettuce, mayo and a pickle:



Yes, it was entirely delicious.

KIDS
Maddy and Joel finished the school year on May 28th and were totally bored by the 30th. Frankly, I was jealous—if I’d had hours and hours available every day to sit around watching movies and TV shows and playing video games, you wouldn’t hear me complaining!!

They did discover one way to entertain themselves…climbing the walls:



Abe’s been happy to have kids around to play with during the day, though he likes to play rough. Here he is in boxing mode:



Elliott started getting jealous of all the good food we’ve been eating, and is now starting solids (can you call liquidy, mushed vegetables SOLIDS??) Here he is in his chair, messy-faced (ignore the Spider-man toy in the foreground):



The other night, Amanda noticed a strange mark on the back of Elliott’s head:



We couldn’t figure out what it was. My thought was that he had gotten a scratch back there which had then gotten irritated by Elliott laying on it in his crib. Amanda thought it was from Joel’s loose tooth poking Elliott in the neck while Joel was bouncing the baby on his lap. The next morning, Amanda realized the cause: Joel had been pulling Elliott around on the floor (which Elliott quite enjoyed) and this was a rug burn on his neck (why she let Joel do that to the 5 month old is still a mystery).

The Job Situation
As I’m sure you all know by now, I got a job in AZ and we are moving down there on July 10th. You all know the basics, but here are some of the details:

IMAGINE LEARNING

In mid-May, I applied for several motion graphics/animation jobs in Provo/Orem/Salt Lake. The only one that replied was a company in Provo called “Imagine Learning”—they make educational software. The job listing was for a motion graphics artist/animator/video editor, and also would require some video shooting/production.

I had 6 interviews for the job:

1. Phone interview with HR
2. In-person interview with the head of the Video dept.
3. Panel interview with members of the Marketing team
4. Interview with the CEO
5. Interview with the Art dept.
6. Follow-up phone interview with the head of the Video dept.

After all that, they decided that although they really want my skills for future company needs, right now the job is primarily a video shooting/production job with only a little animation/motion graphics. They said they were going to interview some other candidates for the position, but keep me in mind.

MINDSPACE

On June 14th, I was searching for jobs online and found a Craigslist posting in Phoenix (dated May 21st) looking for an animator/After Effects pro for a full-time salaried position in Tempe. Now, as you all know, I’m an experienced animator, and After Effects is the software I’ve used almost exclusively for work/personal projects since 2004. So I gave it a shot and applied.

The very next day, one of the heads of the company emailed me, saying they wanted to interview me. A couple days later, I had a really good phone interview with the New Media Director at the company. He sent some samples of the work they’d been doing and asked for my opinions on the projects and whether I’d be interested in doing the kinds of projects they do.

***Special note: The same day I had the phone interview, we got an offer on our condo…still waiting to see if the bank OK’s the sale, though.

They wanted me to come down for an in-person interview that Friday, so we quickly (hectically) arranged for family members to babysit the 3 older kids while Amanda, Elliott and I took a quick (11-12 hrs each way is QUICK?) trip down to Tempe for my interview.

Elliott did pretty well on the trip (I spent most of the time in the back seat, entertaining him). But since we had to leave at about noon, the last several hours of the drive down were in the dark (including mountainous areas with “watch for deer” areas throughout). Very stressful for Amanda, who drove the whole way. Tempe seemed like a nice place overall, and we had a good feeling the whole time we were there.

Friday was the interview, and I showed up in suit and tie (OK, no suit coat, but I did have my long-sleeved shirt, since my short-sleeved shirt has a pink gum stain on the pocket). I was met by the guy who interviewed me over the phone—he was dressed in shorts and what could’ve been a Hawaiian shirt (needless to say, I felt overdressed, though technically he WAS taking the day off except for the interview). I met several of the employees, and was interviewed by the heads of the company—it all went well and everyone there seemed friendly and genuine.

The guy that had animated some of their previous videos took me out to lunch at Moreno’s Mexican Grill, across from ASU. It was delicious—similar to Beto’s here in Utah County, but even more authentic-tasting. That afternoon, we drove to Mesa to visit my high-school friend Jana and her family. We had a nice visit, and realized that our kids (especially Joel and Abe) will have a lot of fun visiting them on occasion!

That night, Amanda and I ate dinner at…Moreno’s Mexican Grill (what can I say? It was delicious, and Amanda was jealous of me—her lunch had been a Lunchables and some Swedish Fish).

So on Monday they offered me the position and we worked out a deal where I’ll start the week of July 5th (working from home) then come down the following weekend and start working in AZ on the 12th.

After a lot of praying, pondering, and planning, we decided the best way to go would be for us all to come down to AZ at the same time. We got a great deal on an Extended Stay hotel, and because the U-Haul is only being rented one-way, they’re giving us a month’s use of a storage unit. Also, I’ve had several freelance projects come along these past couple of weeks which not only provide us with a good chunk of the money we need to move, but also show the Lord’s hand in getting this all arranged and timed out right for us to move.

The past year and a half has been an intense divine-education experience, where we dealt with what (so far) have been some of the highest highs and lowest lows of our lives. But through it all, the Lord has been there, inspiring people to help us and teaching us how to listen to Him better. Although we’ve loved living in Utah and being close to much of our family, we are excited to move onto this next phase of our family’s life in Arizona. I’ve always felt like Arizona was “home” to me, and I think my kids will have a lot of great and important experiences there.

Plus, we will never have to see THIS in Arizona, especially in early June (which is when this picture was taken):

MAY as Well Blog

[NOTE: For some reason, the "Comments" link isn't showing up on the bottom of the blog post--to comment, click on the blog's title and comment on THAT page.]

I keep putting off writing a blog, partially because I’ve been busy, and partially because I’ve been waiting until I have something fun or interesting to write about. I keep hoping some exciting event will happen in our life that will be worthy of putting into writing. Unfortunately, when your life consists of failed attempts to find work, your condo going into foreclosure, and your wife not getting accepted to her Master’s Program, it’s hard to feel like writing about what’s going on in your life.

But let’s press forward and focus on the positive side of things.


Let’s start off with Joel, since, as the middle child, he rarely gets to be first for anything. He’s still the video-game-obsessed, tender-hearted, insane child.



A couple weeks ago, his music class did a talent show during the school day. For his talent, he and his best friend Kenneth asked me to record them singing an original song of theirs into the microphone, then I burned a CD of it for them to play at school. The song, called “Secret Agent Barney,” went something like this:

He’s Secret Agent Barney
And he’s in
Disguise.
He’s on a special assignment
To poke out some kids’ eyes!

He’s jumping through the lasers
To get the golden eye!

When he’s heading to the door
He’ll set off the alarm
And the guards will bash right in
And Barney will hit them
with his bellyyyyy!

I think they ended up changing some of the lyrics, since they couldn’t come up with a tune for the last part of it.

Abe is really doing well learning his letters and numbers, and has recently learned how to use the TV remote, which has given him a new sense of freedom. He’s also REALLY excited for the new “Iron Man” movie. Here he is in his makeshift Iron Man Suit (made with Amanda’s help):



And in the Iron Man shirt we bought him in preparation for the movie:



But that doesn’t mean he’s forgotten about Spider-Man—here’s Abe’s Play-doh version of the web-slinger:



Maddy has been busy with the school’s choir program, which was last week. They sang a wide variety of Disney songs, including stuff from “Newsies,” “Mary Poppins,” and “The Little Mermaid.” Seems like she had a lot of fun doing that, and it was good for her to do something else besides sitting in her room watching TV all afternoon. OK, to be fair, she isn’t always watching TV—sometimes, she’s creating new alphabets, writing stories, drawing pictures, or inventing new planets.



Elliott is still a baby:



He smiles and laughs all the time:



Here he is dressed for his baby blessing:




He’s started grabbing stuff all the time:



However, he does NOT like to lay down most of the time (even his bouncy chair is too horizontal for him). Hopefully he’ll learn to sit up on his own soon, so we don’t have to always hold him when he wants to sit. Sometimes he even falls asleep sitting up:



As you all know, I spent some of my free time (of which I have a lot lately) entering another animation contest—this time, for Sesame Street. Even though I don’t have much luck with the Aniboom contests, I am really proud of this one—I think the artwork and animation turned out great; I think the idea is clever and ideal for recurring episode segments, and it even has good potential for online kids games, toys, etc.

Here it is, in case you want to watch it again:



Watch more cool animation and creative cartoons at Aniboom

I also applied for a job at the Church Office Building a couple weeks ago. The job is for an E-learning Course Developer, creating online courses for various church departments (Custodial, Family History, Human Resources, etc.). Going for the interview was quite an adventure.

First of all, they said I’m supposed to wear a suit and tie. The last time I had a suit was after my mission, and I outgrew those suits long ago. So we had to drop the kids off at grandma’s a couple days before the interview and head down to JC Penney to buy me a suit. We found an inexpensive suit coat and pants that mostly matched each other, and a dress shirt that mostly fits (I can either have a shirt with the proper neck size or proper chest fit, but not both).

Monday morning, I headed up to Salt Lake. I was used to driving to that area from my time working at McCann, but I’d never driven myself to the Conference Center parking lot (where they asked me to park). I did know that I was supposed to just drive north on West Temple and the parking garage entrance was in the middle of the road. However, I mistook the brand new City Center parking lot for the Conference Center lot and had to make a U-turn out of there, then another U-turn to continue north to the CORRECT parking lot.

Once I got to the parking area, I was supposed to give my name to the ticket booth operator an he’d give me a parking token. Well, there was no one there, so I just parked—I later found out that on some days, it’s just open parking and no token is needed.

I got to the Church Office Building and gave my info to the ladies at the reception desk—they asked for my driver’s license and all sorts of things, making it all very official, and gave me a lanyard with my picture and info on a little card. I had to show it to the security guard, who let me through the turnstile to the elevators. I took the elevator up to the 21st floor (of 27)—there were some serious G-forces going in that elevator.

The interview seemed to go pretty well, but after 2 weeks, I still haven’t heard back regarding the position. I tried emailing and calling last week, but have gotten no response. It seems to be my lot in life at the moment, that I apply for jobs and either hear NOTHING, or I find out that I ALMOST got the job, but they decided to pick someone else. But I still keep sending out resumes, hoping that eventually I’ll be the right pick for SOMETHING.

Amanda un-quit her job at the Disney Store, so she’s now working part-time there and part-time at a local Senior Care facility. The job at the old folks home requires her to do graveyard shifts—usually 6pm-6am or 10pm to 6am, so she doesn’t get much sleep those days. I let her sleep in as much as much as I can the next day, and MOST of the nights, Elliott has been pretty good about sleeping and taking a bottle in the night.

Oh, and Amanda cooks chicken that looks like a T-Rex:



Of course we cancelled the Disneyland Trip—actually, we re-booked it for the middle of October, in the hope that we’ll be in a better financial position for the trip then. It actually works out better that way, since Elliott will be older, the weather will be nicer, and we’ll be able to see the Halloween decorations at the parks (and take the kids to the special Trick-or-Treat Party at Disney’s California Adventure).

Well, that’s all the positive news I can think of at the moment—but here’s hoping I have some even better news to write about soon!