Glittery Bombshell

This past Thursday, while finishing and packing up from a sewing class I'm taking, I get an anxious phone call from Aaron.

"Where are you?" he says.

"I'm still at sewing class. Why, what's up?" says me...

"Ummm, well, when are you coming home?"

This is when I start to get worried - what happened? Did he hurt himself? Did I forget to put the parking break on the car and it rolled down the hill? Did he break something!!?!

"What is going on..."I hesitantly say.

"Well, it's confusing, just come home."

Sooo - I pack up and try my hardest to get away from all of the craft ladies at the craft store but MAN do those ladies like to talk. SERIOUSLY. I was trying not to be rude but I just could not break away from the chit chat.

Eventually I just blurt that I need to go and leave. The sewing place is about a mile and a half from my house.

I walk in the door and sniff - no fire smell. no bloody carpet. no screams of pain. *whew!*

All seems well.

I find Aaron in the dining room looking oddly upset.

I fight my inner desire to go up to him and grab his shoulders and yell "What Happened!??" but instead I say I calmly say "Hey babe, what's up?"

He drops what I would call a "Glittery Bombshell"

Aaron got a job!

HURRAY!!!!!! Right??? Well - sort of. Aaron's new job is governmental which is fantastical - but, its in Utah.

What a great opportunity - what awful timing and so very far away.

We are both trying very hard to remain strong and positive about this very unexpected situation. After all - he's been striking out a lot for a year now and I think he'd given up for awhile - that mixed with the fact that he applied for this job in March/April and had heard nothing.

I'm not sure what I am expecting people to say or how they will react. Most people are ignoring the distance and separation and instead really saying how fantastic it is that he got this job.

Which it is - and I know there are the people who didn't get the job or who don't have the job - but at the end of 2009, if Aaron finished this project on time we will have only lived together for 14 out of 52 weeks.

We are newly weds folks... this is tough for us.

My good friend Michelle mentioned that it makes people uncomfortable and maybe that’s why no one is saying anything. Which could be true.

We are still dealing with this news - I have no idea how soldiers spouses do it. Really, I don't.

So here's the facts:
- Aaron is the crew leader (Hurray!)
- He'll be working in North East Utah
- He'll be doing work with an invasive herbaceous species and leading a small team of workers.
- Aaron leaves August 1st and will return at the end of November (if the project is on time...)
- There is no internet but there is a hill you can climb to use your cell phone. No word yet if there is mail service yet.
- This is a huge opportunity for Aaron to get himself out there and to maybe get a long term government job (the ULTIMATE career goal for Aaron!)

Sooooo - we're dealing. Aaron is having a harder time dealing with it than I am. I tend to distance myself from him before he leaves - it makes goodbyes easier for me but it makes things super hard for Aaron because it feels like he's already gone.

The other hard part is that there are other peoples agendas to take into consideration. The new house has two major projects (Painting exterior and sub pump under house) that are supposed to be finished before August 1st (I don’t know where this worrisome deadline came from....) and we are behind with both of them. I have a conference for a week and Aaron and I are going to Laramie together, but for research purposes - not leisure.

So, finding time for each other in July is going to be tough.

He’s also taking the car which I need for my new teaching job that starts August 6th, so if the magical car fairy could bring me a car, that would be great!

That's our news, folks!

We just never know what is going to be happening.

Love,
A&M

Bob Villa doesn't stand a chance against us!

It's been about three weeks since my last post - woops. Time does slip away from you when you are busy out of your mind. This of course begs the question - what have we been up to?

Well - We are completely moved in and almost finished organizing. We live with my brother-in-law Nathan - (I don’t really care for the term in-law - Nathan is like a sibling). Consolidating two households into one is a lot of work - but we managed. Along the way Aaron and I (mostly me, Marissa) discovered that I have a lot of extra JUNK. This means we're going to attempt to have our first garage sale next weekend. Whatever we don't sell Friday and Saturday will be given to charity - I'm actually pretty excited to see how this works out. Some of my friends also want to simplify their lives and are going to join me. Lets hope it’s a success!

I'm not sure if I've mentioned it in pervious post or now, but Aarons parents own this house and we kids are the renters. Except - this house is in need of some updating and fixing, so for now we're working on the house as workers of course most of which we give right back as rent. It's a good little summer gig but working on a new house that needs a lot of help is a lot of work!!! So far we have spent a lot of time working in the horrible awful overgrown yard - which had mountains of poison ivy. It's now finished (if you could ever call a yard finished) and we've planted a garden full of mammoth sunflowers, pumpkins, watermelons, squash, decorative corn, tomatoes, peppers and herbs! Things are already sprouting and I’m so excited for the fall when its time to harvest all of these things. For those of you who know Missouri - we really REALLY got lucky with our garden dirt. Because all of that overgrown brush and ivy in our back yard, there was a lot of decomp underneath it and as a result our earth is fertile! We suspect there may have been a garden here previously because there was no clay when we tilled it. How lucky is that?

The same cannot be said for the privacy fence we built with the neighbors. Last weekend we built a privacy fence that separated our property from the neighbors. Good fences make good neighbors I believe the saying goes. Since we've built it we haven't seen them at all! For the record they were nice before hand and the fences were for their dogs who can climb chain linked fences. Anyhow - I have yet to experience any work that is harder than digging post holes. Whew - its tiring! The fence was built to perfection due to Robs (Aarons father) expert skills. The fence looks great!

We're also taking the paint off of the house in preparation for new paint! Taking paint off of windows is less than fan but its brainless work that matches easily with an iPod.

A new stove has been installed, new shelves built in the garage, air ducts were added to the bedroom, and we have a new toilet seat that doesn’t go *WOOSH* when you sit on it!

Things are lookin' up!

Love,

Marissa

Relocation!

Good news everyone - we're moving!

Aaron, his brother Nathan and myself will be living in a new house located here in Rolla. Aaron's parents are closing on a house on Wednesday and the three of us will occupy, rent, and renovate with them. It has three bedrooms and two bathrooms and a nice backyard.

From 1 Johnson Street

Also - I have received the keys to my classroom! I turn in my contract tomorrow. I will post a description and pictures of my classroom soon!

From Random Photos

Those are actual keys to my classroom - I edited them to make them look a little arty.

That's all for now!

Love,

Marissa and Aaron

"Good news everyone"

Last week already seems so far away because it was such a busy week.

I interviewed at one school Monday and I interviewed at another school on Wednesday. Both interviews went very well and I felt confident about both of them. I found out at the first interview that I was one of 5 candidates - which made me feel very nervous about standing out. The second interview I felt very confident - it was a unique interview but I felt confident that they liked me.

Originally, I was told that I would have to wait until Friday for an answer. Imagine my surprise when I got a call Thursday night by the school I interviewed with on Monday and was offered the position. I gladly accepted the position. Aaron was very excited for me as was almost everyone else. I was told that I sign my contract on Friday pending approval by the school board on Thursday.

The following day I was offered the position at the second job I interviewed with - which was a huge boost in confidence that both positions accepted me.

Aaron is trailing two job leads here in Rolla and we are both keeping our hopes up about that.

In a few weeks we'll be relocating to a house in Rolla that we'll be renting from Aaron's parents. Hey everyone - with a job and a "house" its almost like being grown-ups! ;)

P.S - the quotations around the title are for Futurama fans! Enjoy!

Update!

Hello World!

Things have been busy here at the Roe House (well the basement where we are living in the Roe House)!!

Aaron continues to look for jobs and has had a few nibbles for summer opportunities that we hope turn into something long term.

I have applied for three teaching jobs and immediately heard back from two. I had one interview today and another on Wednesday.

The job interview today was wonderful. I believe I was articulate and presented myself very well. I was complimented on my vocabulary and again on how well I interviewed (complemented many times on this actually). Once the interview was over I was given a folder with a salary schedule (excellent sign), and a school tour (another good sign) and introduced to other teachers (another good sign). All in all the interview took an hour and a half! After the excitement and adrenaline rush of the interview I was exhausted after it was all said and done.

I was told by the principal that there are four other applicants other than myself. I was the first interviewed and the last will be on Friday. I'm so scared that I won't get it but probably more scared of what I'm going to do with my own classroom if I actually DO get the job!

The other good news is that I have another job interview - but the person on the phone sounded a little frantic (hopefully just end of the school year stress).

The interview today went so well that I'm not as scared about the second one.

Both opportunities are tremendous!

The next two weeks very well could drive me insane!

Things could stay the same as they are now, or I could end up working in two different areas of Missouri.

I wonder how well I'll sleep the next two weeks?

I wonder how crazy I'll drive Aaron in the process? :)

Wish me luck everyone! Wish Aaron luck too!

We need it. It's time to get our lives started!

Help our friends Kara and Jen!

Our friends Kara and Jen are a committed, happy same-sex couple wishing to adopt an infant from the USA. If you or someone you is know is making an adoption plan, please visit their website at www.jenandkara.com


The issue of Gay Rights is important to Aaron and I. We also firmly believe that our friends Jen and Kara would make excellent mothers.

Thanks for taking the time to read this!

Good Luck Jen and Kara! I think about you and your future new family member all of the time.

New Look!

Thanks to our trusty friend Kara, we were able to drop the drab preset layout we had previously.

It took Aaron and I awhile to come to an agreement on a blog layout - most of them we found were pretty feminine - but this look seems earthy and woody, which fits us well.

It also took some time to fit the colors to match the layout but we got there. The part that took the longest was the picture - holy jeeze! It's still a bit large and maybe I'll tweak it sometime but for now, it's staying - so I hope you like looking at our huge mugs, because they'll be there awhile!

Miss you all.

Marissa & Aaron

Killer Bunnies!

Evening Everyone!

Marissa here again - I will request that Aaron makes a small post sometime soon.

Things here are relatively stable right now. Aaron is still steadily working on trying to become a Forest Service Employee. I am substituting but not as frequently since Spring Break - which I predicted.

I applied to work at Family Video here in town - that did NOT go well at all. As funny as it seems, it was the worst interview I've ever had. I was over dressed (I had just finished substitute teaching and was wearing a nice skirt, top and cardigan), the interviewer was under prepared - the questions were sparse and hard to elaborate on. She as looking over my application and papers trying to come up with questions. She was also younger than me and it was obvious that I made her uncomfortable. Needless to say I did not get the job even though I would have provided the citizens of Rolla, Missouri with fantastic customer service and wowed the other employees of Family Video with my mad alphabetizing movie shelving skills.

Ultimately, it's a loss for Family Video. I've never have been rejected after a job interview - funny its for a job like this. I'm still bitter (obviously) but I'm getting over it.

Aaron is struggling as well with employment - there is a continuous call for Botanist and Biologist AVUE Digital/USA Jobs but when he called them, they won't tell him which forests are hiring, and told him that he needed to call each forest separately. There are over 120 forests.

This entire situation is exhausting and frustrating. It's difficult to get into the forest service and I have no problem with that. It's a great job - but currently it's a seemingly impossible task. I don't know what to do.

Eventually - everything will pan out. We will bounce back and be just fine - its the in between area that I'm worried about. I'm working on finding long term work in Rolla and Aaron is looking for temporary Biology/Ecology/Botany work to for resume strength and esperience.

In the mean time, Aaron and I have taken the opportunity to connect with old friends. Recently we've been hanging out with friend Matt and friend Mandy. Tonight we played a wonderful game we discovered while living in Laramie called Killer Bunnies and the Quest for the Magic Carrot.
Example of a card:


We really enjoy this game - its quirky and fun and has many unexpected twists and turns. Players beware - this game has many multi-sided dice involved, so if you don't want to be branded a nerd/dork, then don't play. For those of you who don't care - you should check it out! It has many expansion packs and it's a great game for a group of people. I especially enjoyed t tonight because I WON!!!! :D

That's all for now.

Maybe next time I'll talk about something else besides employment issues.

Goodnight!

Scallops and Job Applications

Hello Everyone - Marissa here.

Our first update and already we've had three readers! Thanks Katie, Jen and Kara!

This past week has been pretty mellow - That's what Spring Break is for. So far, I've been to Illinois to visit my Mom and Uncle and his family. I've also visited Nathan, my brother in law. It's always nice to visit everyone.

Other than the visiting, there is no exciting news to report. Aaron continues to apply for Biologist, Botanist, and Ecologist jobs around the United States. He currently has a little over 25 applications out and we are both patiently waiting with our figures crossed. Some of the places he's applied to include the Forest Service, USGS, Fish and Wildlife, and the private sector. These place are found in New Mexico, California, Colorado, Florida, Minnesota, Missouri, Tennessee, Kentucky, North Carolina, Maryland - So who knows where we will end up! Landing that first job is the toughest part but we are trying to remain positive (its hard at times) that something will happen soon! Something could happen any day now and we are strongly looking forward to it!!!

I continue to substitute teach here in Rolla. The work has been very steady so far and so the job has proven surprisingly lucrative. Being a substitute teacher is trying as every day is like the first day of school - you don't know the entire routine or childrens names and you have no relationship/rapport with the children - so its difficult. Some days are better than others but in general its pretty hard work.

In other news - I have discovered my love for scallops! Aaron, Nathan and new friend Matt and I went to a Thai restaurant where I tried Squid and Scallops for the first time. I've been scared to try any seafood because of allergic reactions I've had when I was a kid. So far I can eat shrimp, lobster, crab (my favorite), scallops, squid, salmon, halibut, tuna and hopefully many more to come. I'm going to eventually try clams and mussels.

Also, Aaron bowled his very first strike while bowling with friends this past friday! Woo hoo. :D

Thats all for now.

Love you all,

Marissa and Aaron

Why the blog? - an introduction

Family and Friends!

Aaron and I admit we are not the best at letter writing, emailing and phoning. So, in order to allow friends and family near and far keep abreast of events in our lives, we devised the plan to start a blog.

The ultimate goal is better communication! We hope to fill this blog with stories, pictures and adventures - the substances that make our lives together quirky, interesting, lively and loving.

We will try our best to update this blog weekly. Also, we will both try to author posts on here.

Hopefully this idea is well received - Here we go!