Phone Interview - please pray HARD

As you all probably know by now, Eric and I are in Denver. We've been on the prowl for jobs since week 1 and have managed to land some part-time gigs. Eric is working in the deli at the local grocery store and I'm working a temporary position at a Halloween store. I feel like I've put out hundreds of resumes/applications and have not had a lot of response. Today, I wrote a cover letter and got my resume ready for a position on Monster.com and as I got ready to send it, Monster told me I had already applied to that position. Hey - Thanks for waiting until AFTER I had written another cover letter to tell me!

So, after a couple of terrible commission-only sales job interviews and other customer service stuff, I have a phone interview Tuesday for a Marketing Manager position for a start up web based health and wellness company. Think WebMD.com, but the focus is on integrative health and wellness.

I know some of you have already been praying pretty hard for us (Mom & Margaret) and we thank you. Please keep up the prayers to help me be at the top of my game on Tuesday to make it to Phase 2 of the interviewing process, and please pray for the interviewers to have the clarity of mind to see that I would be an amazing addition to their team :-)

Thanks for all of your support and I'll keep you posted!

Christmas

Christmas 2008 is over and now it's 2009. I can hardly believe it! I'm excited for the new year and what it will bring - most likely another big move, a new little niece, and my graduation (and completion of my thesis!) from school.

We had a great time in Denver - once we finally got there!! We had a bit of a disaster with our trip from Syracuse to Denver. After braving a bad winter storm to get from our hotel to the airport, the first thing we saw on TV was a story about an airplane that went off the runway in Denver and caught on fire! Then we experienced several delays due to weather and got very familiar with the Chicago airport. We were running from terminal to terminal to try to get on different flights. The standby list had over 100 names on it at one point! Luckily a bunch of passengers for one flight got delayed so we were able to get on the plane. We finally arrived in Denver 8 hours after our scheduled time. My luggage didn't arrive for 3 more days. I was running around looking like a true Ithacan with my crazy hair, no makeup and same clothes day after day. Eric got food poisoning from a former favorite restaurant and spent the day being VERY sick. But once he recovered and my luggage came in, we had a wonderful time with Eric's family. We played lots of dominos, put together a neat puzzle, and Margaret got me addicted to Catchphrase. We also ate lots of good food and sweets.

Christmas morning we woke up nice and early to see what Santa brought us. We must have been pretty good this year because Santa was very generous. After unwrapping gifts, we piled into the truck and made the trip to Colorado Springs for brunch at the Broadmoor Hotel. This was the most food I've ever seen in one place and it all looked delicious. Everything I ate (and believe me, it was a lot) was amazing! There was everything from crab legs, shrimp, caviar, prime rib, pumpkin pie, bananas foster, omelets, French toast, and so much more. We stuffed ourselves silly and then took a walk around the hotel's beautiful grounds. Once we got back to Eric's parent's house, we jut plopped down in front of the TV until we all came out of our food coma.

It was so good to see family and to have day after day of sunshine. We don't get much sunshine in Ithaca this time of year.

It was a great trip, and Eric and I miss our dominoes and Catchphrase partners.

Water, Rain, and Mist

I've never been as drenched as I was this weekend.
This weekend the Shoup's came to NY where it rained the entire time. But that's not why I got so wet. We spent a day at Niagara Falls where we got splashed by the waterfall from the Cave of the Winds, sprinkled with mist upon the Maid of the Mist, and completely soaked on the Whirlpool Jet Boat Tour. The falls were beautiful and the attractions we a lot of fun. The biggest adventure for me was the Whirlpool Jet Boat Tour that took us out on the raging waters of Niagara River white-water rafting style, except with out the raft and paddles.
When you get there, they make you sign a form, which we rushed through to catch the tour, but I'm sure it said something along the lines of " This tour will have you praying more in one hour than you have prayed in your whole life. If you aren't close with God now, you will be in a few minutes. By boarding the jet boat, you are agreeing to probably the craziest thing in the whole world, and we can't be held responsible for the words that come out of your mouth when you come face to face with the raging rapids. If you bring a small chid, you may want to put earplugs in his/her ears. By signing this form, you are basically signing your life away, and therefore, we encourage you to upgrade your life insurance plan prior to taking this tour. Enjoy the ride!"
My dear husband suggested we take the front seat of the boat that would eventually charge through class 5 rapids (class 6 being the highest and pretty much impossible to run). So we donned the wool sweaters they give you because not only are you going on crazy huge rapids, but the water that will be drenching you is frigid. Then they give you a windbreaker that is basically a joke because you think it will keep the water off of you, but there's no hope of that happening. Next, is the only mandatory piece of equipment - a life jacket. This so called "life" jacket hangs around your throat making it harder to take those big deep breaths that are important right before a gigantic rapid hits you fully in the face. Then you get on the boat where there are no seat belts and shallow walls. Clearly it was designed so you wouldn't miss a single drop of water. The tour advertises 3 runs through the class 5 rapid aptly named "Devil's Hole" but lucky for us, we had time to take a "bonus" ride. I swear, if Eric hadn't been sitting right next to me, I would have believed it was his ploy to get rid of me (and after only 2 years of marriage!). But somehow we made it through and ended up having a ton of fun!
When we got back to Ithaca, we had lots of rain. We sloshed through the mud to get to the Farmer's Market, braved the rain and humidity on the wine trail, and "swam" through downtown for dinner. But everything was great and we had a blast with Eric's parents. The only thing that could have made it better is if we could have had more time to spend with them. It was a quick, action-packed trip, but it was so worth it to see our family.

Going for the Gold

Several weeks ago I opened my big mouth and told the owner of the company I work for that I would "LOVE" to go golfing with him and some others the next time he was down to visit our office. When he told me to find a course and set up a tee time, I realized I had made a mistake. I haven't picked up a golf club, much less golfed, in well over a year. Now I was going to have to make a fool of myself in front of the person who signs my paychecks. I tried to "accidentally" forget to schedule a morning for golf, but a week or so later, he reminded me. So I dusted off my clubs and started praying for rain.

God only gave me a sprinkle of rain today. I guess I should have been a little more specific. So this morning the owner, my direct supervisor's husband, and I all met at Cornell's golf course to play 9 holes. I arrived at the course early to putt around and try to get a feel for the greens (and to try to spot some lightening and convince the course manager to close for the day). On the practice green I putted like Tiger Woods! I was amazed at how well I was doing after not playing in so long. Things were looking up!

Then we tee'd off and my ball went every way BUT straight! Geez! This was going to be a looooooong morning. A few holes later I hit my direct supervisor's husband! At least I got the owner to laugh...

After I relaxed a little, I played much better and even out drove the men a few times! I finished 2nd overall and it turned out to be a lot of fun. I think I'm even going to get to keep my job! Not bad for a Tuesday.

Holy Baseball!

Eric and I went to the Baseball Hall of Fame Museum in Cooperstown, NY, last week and all I have to say is "Holy Baseball!" I knew it would be full of baseball memorabilia, but I can't even explain how overloaded my brain felt after that trip. All I wanted to see was the asterisk by Barry Bonds home run ball, but that wasn't even there! So I was surrounded by pre-pubescent boys all running around like pre-pubescent boys do, looking around for an asterisk that wasn't even there! While it was baseball overload, I did enjoy the Babe Ruth room. But my favorite was the room dedicated to the women. It had original uniforms (just like the little dresses from A League of Their Own) and photos of the women. It also talked about how the women had to go through charm school to learn how to wear makeup and how to fix their hair so they could look like little ladies on and off the field! It was a fun little room, but it was also the same room where the pre-pubescent boys acted the craziest. I wanted to rip one of those baseball bats out of the exhibit and threaten their lives with it, but I refrained.
The trip to Cooperstown was an adventure in itself. We traveled down windy, bumpy, country roads the whole 2 hours and then when we were about 20 miles from Cooperstown, we finally got a highway. I was just very thankful for the GPS system we have or we would have had a heck of a time trying to get there.
All in all, it was a good day off of work and hanging out with Eric. We had a lot of fun laughing and looking at some really neat baseball stuff and I believe my baseball fix has been satisfied for probably my ENTIRE life now.

Lately...

I know it has been awhile since I've written anything so I'll update you on what's been going on with the Shoups lately.

Eric and I are both out of class right now, which is great! I get to come home from work everyday and actually spend time with my husband. Imagine that! This is a luxury we have not had since we started classes last August.

I have been busy working with Habitat for Humanity - I'm currently writing about 5 stories for them. I am also working on my internship, which is conveniently located where I work so I do a lot for that during work hours. I plan to wrap that up in the next month. I am creating a marketing plan for the Ithaca location of Comfort Keepers, which is an in-home care service for seniors.

Eric is still working on his thesis, playing video games and taking care of the dogs. They seem to have a lot of fun together!

Last month we flew to Missouri for Eric's cousin's wedding, which was beautiful. I finally got to meet Eric's grandpa and he is absolutely adorable! It was great to see the rest of Eric's family that I haven't seen since the wedding and to hang out with his parent's and brother. It was a quick trip, but it was a lot of fun.

We went to Union Station while we were there and there was an exhibit that was all about the human body. The coolest part about the exhibit was that it used REAL human bodies to show every part of the body. It was amazing! You could see everything from blood vessels, major organs, bones, and well, EVERYTHING! There were even some diseased organs on display and those made me want to puke, but it also made me want to take better care of my body, too. I had never been to an exhibit like that, but it was highly educational and very interesting.

While we were away, the dogs stayed at a vet's office - not the luxurious doggie B&B Princess was used to staying at, but we had to get them up-to-date on their shots. When we dropped them off, Eric made the quick decision to have Sarge neutered! Poor Sarge! He didn't know what was going to hit him once we left. But it's best that we took care of that while he was young. I just felt bad for the little guy. So when we picked them up, Princess was super excited to see us while Sarge seemed a little reserved. He got over it though and now they are back to normal - acting as crazy as possible.

We took the dogs out to a field today to play ball and run around. It's important to let them run that extra energy off! We are having such great weather right now, so it is nice to be outside in the sun. I don't even know if it got into the 80s today! That's just how I like my summers.

Other than hanging out with the dogs, working and writing thesis papers and PR stories, we haven't been up to much lately. Wednesday we are meeting Eric's college roommate, Brian, at the Baseball Hall of Fame Museum in Cooperstown, NY. It should be a lot of fun! So, more on that later!

Maryland, SOJA, and the hot, hot sun

This past weekend I went to Ocean City, Maryland, with a co-worker/friend, Amber, to see a reggae group she's been following called SOJA - or Soldiers of Jah Army. We had a great time and the concert was tons of fun. This band is from the East Coast and plays mostly East Coast venues. I decided that since I had never been to Maryland, I should go. The band was fantastic and I had such a great time with Amber and her family. Unfortunately, while we were there the weather got scorching hot. It was in the upper 90's and the house we stayed at had no air conditioning! I know - being from Texas I should be used to the heat. But in Texas, we have it set up so the only time we have to feel hot is when we go from our car to the building. Otherwise, it's a very comfortable 75 degrees all year long! When I got back to Ithaca, it wasn't much cooler. Actually, today the bank thermometer said it was 103 degrees!!! Amazing! This is New York! I'm shocked and appalled at how many venues in town do not have central air. Luckily, Eric and I happened to rent one of the only apartments in town with central air. And trust me, this was purely accidental. (I thought every building in the world automatically came with central air!) Who knew it could get so hot?! The good thing though is that it is supposed to get back down in the 70s where it belongs by the end of the week. In Texas, the 103 degree weather lasts for much longer than one day. Thank goodness it's just a freak occurrence here.
Other than being really hot here, not too much else has been going on. Eric had his final in his Team Building class where the whole class had to prepare a seven course meal. The morning of the final I woke up to him packing up kitchen gadgets, including his beloved stand mixer. I had to ask to make sure he wasn't leaving me! If he ever did, I know he'd take that mixer and the TV! But lucky for me, the TV was still there so I knew he wouldn't be gone for too long! He came back about 8 hours later. The final went well (which surprises me a little because I know how Eric likes to have the kitchen to himself.) I think he even learned a few new recipes. So he's done with Team Building but he still has his class on Motivation to finish.
My class (Crisis Communication) is still going great. It's gotten me slightly more paranoid because we're always talking about worse case scenarios. If I haven't told you already - learn how to text message. It's one of the best ways of communicating in a crisis when all other forms of technology either don't work or are too overloaded to work. So other than that, I'm really loving the class. You wouldn't believe some of the case studies we look at. It amazes me how heartless some companies can be. On a less horrible note, I meet with my grad advisor tomorrow to set up an internship for me. It will be in Marketing and PR. After this semester, I think Eric and I are going to have the second summer session off. At least I hope so. We have been pretty busy this session.
I'm also doing volunteer work for the local Habitat for Humanity chapter doing Public and Media Relations. I submitted my first article to them and they seemed to like it. Once it's posted I'll send a link. Now I have another one to write - I'll be interviewing the chapter president who is retiring after 9 years of service. They want me to capture the history of those 9 years and I feel really honored to do so. I'm also working on a few other smaller press releases for them, too.
Sarge and Princess are doing great. Sarge still hates the heat - let's hope we don't move somewhere too warm for Eric's Ph. D program! Princess spends most of her days lounging around and Sarge spends most of his days trying to get a rise out of her. He is a little pest! I guess that's typical of little brothers...
Everything else is going great. If you're interested in reggae music, you should check out the band I saw this weekend. Their website is www.sojamusic.com