Bought a Washer and Dryer

Since Aaron and I are moving into an apartment with washer and dryer hookups, we figured it was time to get us a set. We've been looking around and trying to figure out which ones were best and I've been talking to my co-worker, whose son used to be in the business, about which ones were good, especially since we were thinking of possibly getting a used set. We, or I should say I because Aaron left the decision up to me basically, finally decided on what we should get. My co-worker had told us to avoid certain brands such as GE and Hotpoint and that the good brands are Kenmore, Maytag (except for their Neptune model), and Whirlpool. So I decided to look at Sears that has all three of these brands. We ended up deciding on a Kenmore 80 series washer and a Kenmore 70 series dryer. If you want to take a look at them, here are the two links to Sears.com:

http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/product.do?BV_UseBVCookie=Yes&vertical=APPL&pid=02626852000&subcat=Conventional+Top+Load+Washers

http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/product.do?BV_UseBVCookie=Yes&vertical=APPL&pid=02666732000

Even though different "series," they match in the way they look and I'm very happy with the options they have on them. I read a lot of online reviews for other washers and many women talked about how great having the "Second Rinse" option is and how you need the ability to turn off the buzzer on the dryer in case you have a child napping near by (or maybe if you are going to go to bed after you start it). They also mentioned how nice it is to have the Handwash mode, which can wash even handwashables very gently. So that's why I decided to get what I got. I'm very happy with what I chose overall. I've heard great things about Kenmore washers and dryers. What's also great is they're going to deliver them next Saturday (12/31) for free (after a rebate anyway). That's the day we move into our new apartment. I'm so excited to do my own laundry without having to leave the apartment! It's been over six years (except for sporatic times when I've been home). So exciting!

Job Interview Tomorrow

I am so excited. I was sitting in a conference room waiting for a meeting to start, and the manager for documentation walked by and asked if he could talk to me after the meeting. I figured it was about that job I applied for so I was very excited. After the meeting he said that he would like to set up a time to interview me. I told him when I was free and so he's going to send me an email about when he wants to interview me tomorrow. I'm so excited! I figured that they already had someone for the job, but maybe I do have a chance. I feel that I'm pretty much perfect for the job, and so I hope that it works out if it's suppose. Cross your fingers people. I need all the luck I can get. Here's hoping!

Possible Job Opportunity

So as I've said, I'm just a temp at the company I work at (and have been for over 9 months) and even though I am really grateful to work here, and they pay decently (especially for the area), and they treat me as if I'm a real employee, I'd really like to get hired on and not be a "contractor" anymore. One reason is I figure that even though I get paid all right, I still deserve more and if I were hired on I would most likely get paid more. And the second (and biggest reason) is that if I were hired on, I would have all the benefits, including paid time off (3 weeks' worth), holiday pay (10 days total), and health insurance (which I have now, but theirs is better and cheaper, $70/mo for the whole family), as well as vision and dentist insurance. I've been hoping that I would be hired on and they said they were planning to eventually. Then two days ago the company posted a job for an "Editor." How perfect! It's in another department, documentation, and I totally qualify (without over-qualifying) and since I already work here, I'm familiar with the company and the products, and I even know some of the people who work in documentation. So I put in my application yesterday.

Now I just have to wait and see what happens. I figure if I don't get the job, it will be because one of the interns that is already working there has applied and they are planning on hiring him or her and only posted it so it would be more legal (I'm not sure if it's illegal to hire someone without publicly announcing a job, but it might be). So if I get it, and it is a full-time position with benefits, I could finally get what I want. Yea!

Won a Salsa Competition

I can now say that my salsa is "award winning." We had a competition for the best salsa and I won! I got a $25 gift certificate to Chili's. Okay, I admit it, there were only two entries, but even so, it's still good to know I can beat out one other person. Our department bought a variety of store-bought salsas and chips to go along with the homemade ones and yet my salsa was the first to go, even though I made about a gallon of it. When I went over to get some chips and salsa, there were a few people talking about how good my salsa was. They didn't know I was the one that made it. Then more people came up to get seconds saying they wanted to make sure that they got more before it was all gone. They really liked it! Then the judges did the blind taste test (blind as in they didn't know whose salsa they were eating, not that they wore blind folds) and announced me as the winner. Sure I didn't have much competition, but it seems people still really liked it. Yay!

Sold the Car

Well, after 2.5 weeks of trying to find a buyer for our old Honda Civic (1984), we finally found someone. As two people predicted, it was someone who only spoke a little English, but whose native language was Spanish and who paid in cash. I guess those Spanish classes I took at BYU paid off because with that and his combined English skills, I was able to communicate with him for the most part.

We ended up selling for $400 because I didn't want to deal with paying for insurance while we tried to get our asking price. It was getting old making appts with people to come look at the car and then go out into the cold weather (sometimes in the single digits) and talk to them about it, explaining everything wrong with it. (Even though most of these problems were cosmetic--as in they didn't deal with how well the engine ran--it still made the car sound bad. One of the hinges of the hood was rusted through, there was no stereo, the driver door is a different color, there is no air conditioning--a big deal in Utah, and the heater doesn't work great, also a big deal in Utah.) So it was just really good to get it done with. We were also smart and made sure we got the license plates from them before we gave it to them so we don't have to worry about getting blamed for them doing something illegal while driving our car. I wish we could sign the plates over to them, though, since they will now have to get the emissions tested and have a safety inspection done (which will cost them $40 to do). I'm really glad it's gone. Only one car, but it's cheaper this way :).

We're Moving!

After being so patient for December to come so I could finally look for a place to move to at the end of the year, it's come and we've found a place. I'm very excited about this. I don't know how many people I've told, but I'm started to get sick of our apartment. I could stand to keep living there, but I really want a bigger place wither washer/dryer hookups. We've outgrown our 600 sq. ft. apt and can afford more. To top it all off, we could move closer to school and work now that I'm done going to BYU. So today I started looking and I got a call from an agent at Old Mill Realty saying that the apartment they're advertising we can have in January (or Dec. 31) if we look at it and like it. So we went and looked that night (along with two other apartments) and like it by far the best and for only $50 more in rent a month, it's so worth it. It is 1070 sq. ft. (so much bigger!) with two bedrooms, 1.5 baths, a laundry room, a crawl space under the stairs, 2 covered-parking spots with storage, a real place for a kitchen table, and a dishwasher (it's a townhouse, actually, so it has two floors). The only downside is it has a small kitchen, but we're hoping to fix that by getting some extra storage type things (including a kitchen cart) that we can use to expand the kitchen area. It may cram the dining table a little, but I think it'll be worth it. Here is a Web site on the place if you want to take a look:

http://www.oldmillrealty.com/bin/web/real_estate/AR136299/ACTIVATE_FRAMES/RENTALS/Orem/1092378311.html
(It's the one on the bottom, Meguro Apts.)

We can't wait to move in. It's going to be so great to have more room!