New in 2011

Hello loves!

Hope the holidays treated everyone well. Also hope you're all well rested now. I've been up to Columbus a few times for work, and now I get to see Erin when I go! Working from home is still an adjustment, but now that the sun is shining here and the days are getting longer I have a feeling that might help a lot. Alex is studying to get his FE (first step in becoming a professional engineer) so that's been keeping him busy every night. The test is the first weekend in April so there will be a little more suffering for both of us... We play in a dodgeball league on Tuesday nights with our new friends. That's been super fun and a great way to get out of the house.

Speaking of new friends, it seems like we're starting to get a group of friends that would like to adopt us and call us their own. We're heading to Maryland this weekend to stay at one of their cabins and ski! I'm so excited to be included and just get away on an impromptu trip (Did I mention their dad is the VP of Sales for North America of Alex's company? Crazy...)

Once spring hits we might start looking for a house, but haven't decided for sure. Alex is drooling over the thought of buying a house, or a rental property (investment property). I see the real estate industry in our future. We've even been talking a little bit about starting our own business... it's definitely exciting to have someone like Alex to dream big with!

So at some point I decided I wasn't busy enough and I started another blog... and another one.. and another one. Here's how it all started... Mid-December I started officially working from home. My role was changing due to my promotion and also due to working remotely, and I found myself doing more research about human resources topics. I basically wanted to find out how you keep current on this particular subject (really it's hundreds of subjects). I'm still searching for the answer, and I find more and more resources all the time.

As I started finding these interesting articles and factoids I wanted to share them. However, now that I was no longer in the office I couldn't turn around and say "Hey Rachel, listen to this..." In my quest to feel heard and not over take my coworkers inboxes I created a blog as an outlet for this! It's called http://www.ponderinghc.blogspot.com/ (Human Capital is basically a newer term for Human Resources.. .)anyways... give it a read if you're ever feeling bored without a book or a magazine! (The posts don't necessarily relate to what I do on a day to day basis).

The second blog stemmed off of this. Somehow I became the person on our HR team that everyone asked the "technical questions." I'm not "technically" technical, but I went with it! So my second blog, http://www.lpjtidbits.blogspot.com/ is all about the little shortcuts and how-to's that I learn or am asked by others. This blog would probably REALLY bore you, so I wouldn't recommend reading it.. although I will be doing some blog posts about what's happening with Skype and LinkedIn, which most people have heard of! Mostly it's a place for me to dump info. Otherwise my brain gets crowded since I have no verbal release. I love to solve problems and figure out how to do things faster and more efficently. (I also love knowing how to do things that other people don't hahah).

The third blog is a blog about Alex and I. I'm hoping to use it to write about our food adventures, travel adventues and eventually life updates like buying a house, getting a dog or having a baby (how are you doing over there Maria?). I love facebook, but it's not really a place I would like to write personal details about our lives so here's the blog... http://www.alexandlauren.blogspot.com/  There's a good recipe for Swedish cheesecake if you need a simple dessert to throw together! I have lots more recipes to post about too.

Anyways, I'm not sure what prompted me to start all these but I've got lots of blog posts to do and lots of book to read as well! It turns out I love to read and write. (Actually I already knew this, it's just been a while since I didn't have mandatory reading and writing for school!).

I just read the second book by the author of Eat Pray Love, called Committed. I would definitely recommend that all of you read it. It's a narrative about her life, but it also talks about the history of relationships and marriage. I learned so many interesting things.

I'm about to start a book with Karleya about a little boy that saw heaven (I got chills just from reading the description, check out the link). Is anyone else reading any good books lately?

Maria R mentioned maybe coming to Columbus in March sometime. I just wondered if there were any more updates on potential dates so I can try to get a reunion on my calendar! I'll already be up there a couple days for work, so hopefully I can make that align. I've seen a couple of you recently, but I want updates from everyone! I just can't believe how time flies.. It feels like we graduated an eternity ago.

Sorry for the SUPER long blog. Apparently I was in a "chatty" mood : )

Love you all. I hope you enjoy your Valentine's Days! It might be a cheesy holiday, but it's a great reminder to tell our friends and family that we love them. Which reminds me, gotta get my grandparent's vday cards in the mail! If anyone likes to write letters (legit, handwritten ones in the mail) I would love to have a pen pal or two!

Lauren