Life is Crazy

Life at Washington Mutual is crazy!!! Construction has commenced and is going... Hopefully we will have carpet tomorrow. Today it seemed like we were working in a warehouse, it was echoey and cold. Some places they were able to get all of the tile off the floor, but others they could not get the glue stuff off, so the floor is not even flat. It made it really hard to walk on especially if you were wearing heels or using a cane. Anyways, so now we have a teller drawer and give out money instead of printing a receipt and having the customers pick up the cash. It is a lot different, but we all love it and the customers seem to like it too. And they don't get as confused anymore, which is nice.
Russell is still doing great in school and will get A's this quarter, even though he doesn't think so. We still plan on him going to the University of Washington, he is already making connections so that he can get a job for the fall of 2010. He is the best husband ever. He also got a job offer from Lowe's for the rest of the school year and the summer. When he told me it cost $17,000 for his grad school next year, I told him to GET A JOB!! We shall see where things go from here...

Kim and Ryan VanderVeen

I finally got some pictures from an unknown source from the wedding. All of my pictures did not turn out too well and I didn't get to take any at the reception.

Here is the beautiful couple coming out of the temple after they were just sealed for all time and eternity.

Oh, and did I mention that is snowed all day and night before the wedding day. It was a little cold so Kim was able to wear a little coat to keep warm.

It did make for some really great pictures, with all of the snow, it was a winter wonderland.

Here are the pictures that mysteriously showed up on our door today. These are at the reception. Russell and I were part of the bridal party, that is why I have a wonderful blue dress and he has a cool blue vest. We were not the same color because I "walked down the aisle" with Ryan's brother and Russell walked with Kacee (Kim's best friend).

My hair totally died by this point and I did not care. Everything was very beautiful, and as always it went way too fast.

Our Future...

So it has been a while since I have last written... sorry about that. Lots has happened, so let me catch you up. Russell has been accepted to the University of Washington's accounting masters program. Apparently it is really hard to get into or something, they only accept 45 people to the program a year, so I am very proud of him. So since he will be going to school there and probably getting an internship there for next winter we are going to be staying in Bellingham. I know it makes so much sense. We just feel like it is not our time to move away from all that is going on here. I finally have a job that I look forward to going to each day and don't want to destroy everyone I come in contact with. Anyways, Russell is going to drive to Everett each day and take a bus into Seattle for school. It is only four days a week so at least it won't be so bad and he is already driving to Everett each day for his internship, so it won't be much of a change for him. He will be able to do homework on the bus both ways.
As for my job/life... we are starting the conversion process. We have the new uniforms started and the training for the new systems have begun. It is going to be a long process that is suppose to be done by this summer, but who knows. It sure keeps things interesting.
We sure are excited for the spring weather we have had these past three days, hopefully it is here to stay. Russell and I have been wanting to try out our new tennis rackets. That is all for now, we shall see what the future has in store for us.

New Jobs

So today was my first day of work at Washington Mutual (a.k.a. Chase). It was awesome, the people were great and the work so much more relaxing. A very nice change from T-Mobile. The people were really nice there too, but you never got to talk to any of them. It also has all the same perks as T-Mobile, included discounted rates for home loans, which will come in handy.

The other good news is that Russ also go a new job, or a job offer for the winter. He will be working at Hascal and Sjoholm accounting firm in Everett. It is the biggest firm in Everett, but it is the only office. They are definitely growing though, as this is the first year they started actively looking for interns at Western. He will be there for the tax season and then they also usually have the interns work a couple of hours a week while in school.

We are really excited about the new jobs that we both have and hopefully things will continue to work out. Hopefully we will be able to update you soon on things that are going on.

Cattle Herding in Goldendale

Welcome to Goldendale!! While we were there we were able to witness a cattle herding. They were moving the cattle from one field to the other. They move them about every 6 months. They move them by pushing them out of the field onto the road and the make sure they don't take any turns they don't want them too. It was pretty interesing. We wanted to help, but knew that we would be in the way more than anything, so we decided to watch. To the right are some cows that were really mad at us for driving in the middle of them. Below is Andrea who lead our car through the herd of smelly and angry cows.

Here are some cows below that got out of our way by trying to jump the fence, when they were unsuccessful they would MOOOO at us. I told them to move faster and not worry, but they just kept mooing.

Here are some more upset cows. We also noticed that when they got more confused and scared on where to go they would go to the bathroom. And if you notice they are moving the cows on the road. So let it be said, our tires were covered in cow droppings.

Here are more cows running from us and trying to get where they were suppose to go. But they don't know where that is.

Here is my uncle Ray, he held up the back, making sure all the cows went where they were suppose to go and that none got left behind. What a smelly experience.

Goldendale Wedding

We went to visit my Great Grandma Willis this weekend. My cousin Joe was getting married, so we all got together. Goldendale is about an hour and a half south of Yakima, and it is a total farming community. As I am sure you will see with the cattle herding pictures that I will post later. This is my family with my Grandma Willis. Yes, I know Jake looks like a girl.

This is Joe and Amy Willis, my cousins that got married. It was a very beautiful wedding. The weather was perfect with a small breeze to keep us cool.

This is their "hick" cake. The cake topper says "just hitched" and it is a parade float. The cake was actually really good. The dancing was another fun hick aspect - they made everyone do the chicken dance. I don't think I have ever done that dance in a skirt, let alone at a wedding. It was a lot of fun and that was only Saturday night.

Leavenworth Vacation

We had the pleasure of going to Leavenworth, Wa over Labor Day Weekend with the Rigby's and the Webb's. It was awesome!!!

There was some amazing weather as you can tell from the picture - of course really dry as well. This picture was taken at a park that had some really crazy looking rocks.

Here is Russell climbing up one of these crazy looking rocks. I told him not to since he was wearing sandles, but at least he came back alive. I am just glad that he didn't try to go any higher than that...

Last but not least we have us as Bavarians... Aren't we SO cute. This was outside the resort where we stayed. We went with Nathan and Sarah to take some pictures (well they took the pictures because we are pathetic and always forget our camera). It was all wet because Nathan decided to pour water all over Sarah's head during their photo. He thought he was so cleaver - but Sarah got him back and poured a water bottle down his shirt and it even got his socks all wet... he totally deserved it.