A Supervisor and a Mean Ol' Lion

You like my mini blog makeover? I was too lazy to actually make a new banner or anything so I just recolored everything. Green apple is my current favorite color so there ya go.

Ok, first....the BIG news!!

Remember when I posted that picture of Erick all dressed up in his suit for work? That's because he was going to a very important interview. He's been going through a somewhat intense interview process for a promotion to Supervising Juvenile Correctional Officer (for those who don't know, his job is Deputy Probation Counselor for the Orange County Juvenile Probation Department). It is unheard of for someone to be promoted after just 4 years service to the department. But Erick has always been very invested in the job and has always been a natural leader. He takes his job very seriously and is very passionate about the rehabilitation of these minors. So while his lack of seniority gave him unfavorable odds, his work ethic made him a dark horse in the running. So 200 applicants took the test to qualify. He passed. About 50 were called in for an oral test and interview. This qualified him for the "A List". Then they just wait to see if they're called. There were 12 positions to fill. Somewhere between 21-27 people on the A-list. Erick had the least seniority on the list.

But this morning, the Chief called our home at 8:45am and offered him the position of Supervising Juvenile Correctional Officer!!!!!!! I am so incredibly proud of Erick!!!! This position comes with a pay raise, retroactive yesterday. But we don't know how much and we honestly don't even care. We're doing well enough right now and the money was never Erick's motivation for applying. He really just feels he can make a positive difference in the department and in these kids' lives if he's in a leadership position. I'm so proud of him that his heart is in it for the right reason, that he beat the odds, that his work ethic has been exemplary and worthy of recognition...I'm just THRILLED for him. I can't wait to get all dressed up and go to the ceremony when he's sworn in. I'll be the most proud wife there. I'll probably cry. I cried when he graduated as Valedictorian of his DPC class too. I'm a sissy, I know it. I don't care. I can't wait! It's gonna be so cute. He'll get his own office so he asked me to order some photos so he can decorate with pictures of his girls. : ) And if I'm not mistaken, I do believe we now need to do some serious shopping. No more jeans and baseball caps. He's a button-down shirt/tie guy now. AND he gets to make his own schedule!!!! That means he will rarely have to work holidays, he can be at more family events, we can start going to morning church together as a family!!! Up until now we've only managed to squeeze in evening services at the church across the street but we really have always wanted to attend morning service at Trinity (the church where Erick grew up) because they have so many outstanding programs for kids and teens. So many benefits to this job! I'm just so happy! Now the one thing we need to wait for is to find out WHERE he'll be stationed. We're pretty sure it will either be Juvenile Hall (where he started out), YGC (the camp that is close by. He was stationed there when he was promoted to day staff.) or YLA (the facility he's at now.) There are 2 other camps he could be stationed at but they're unlikely and that's good because they're a 45 minute commute from here. So we're hoping for one of the 3 local institutions. Erick said he'd be happy at any of them. That's really all that matters to me!


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McKenna had dance class today and Miss Valerie sent home the music for the Spring Recital performance. It's "Mean Ol' Lion" off of The Wiz soundtrack. It's really Motown and Jazzy, super high-energy. She was showing me what she remembered of the routine and it's adorable! So much spunk and attitude!! It's really funny in some parts too.

And I can't wait for costume day at the end of the month. I'm dying to see what they're gonna wear. And lucky for me, I happened to find the one place in the whole world who makes a tap shoe in her size. It's almost impossible to find a tap shoe smaller than a 6.5 and McKenna is a 5.5. When she first started dance, I searched all the stores and scoured the internet and turned up with nothing so we bought her a pair of regular dress shoes and just made do. But we HAD to find her some real ones (or else have some special made) for her performance. So I was soooo lucky to finally find a store that has them! Now I'm just praying they're in stock! I placed the order this afternoon and I should hear by Tuesday if it's shipped or not.

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So yesterday was just a GREAT day all around! Everyone slept until 8am (Kyla actually always sleeps until about 9am). Erick received a promotion and a raise. He brought me a big bouquet of flowers when he came home from taking McKenna to dance class. : ) I finally got to hear the music for McKenna's recital and more importantly, I finally found a real pair of tap shoes that fit her. Both my Netflix movies arrived. My Beauty Habit products arrived. I did a really intense strength-training workout that I feel good about. I finished up a scrap page I'd been working on. I even went to bed at a semi-decent hour. I went to bed by 11:30, read my book and was asleep before midnight. The girls slept until 8:45am this morning(shh...don't tell Erick. He'll resent me because he had to be up at 5am) so I got a really good night's sleep. Woohoo!

Ok, quick review for you....

Pursuit of Happyness - Really good movie. Really sweet. I probably would NOT watch it again. Like Erick said "That was like 2 hours of depression and 3 minutes of happiness." It's true. Even though it ended well, I felt sad for the rest of the evening. So definitely not a "feel good" movie. I actually had more thoughts that sprung from the movie but that's a blog post for another day.

Beauty Habit products - Here is what they sent me:

Comptoir Sud Pacifique - Caramel Sunset - Soooo yummy! LOVED it!

Comptoir Sud Pacifique - Vanille Coco - Also very yummy but there's no need for two and I liked the Caramel Sunset better.

Burn Liquid - Tiare Coconut Body Cream - Pretty nice. Not worth the money. I think I'll stick to the Exotic Coconut or ILe de Tahiti lines at BBW.


DuWop Realipstick - Sophia - No. Way too orangish. Didn't look a thing like the color sample on the site.


DuWop Realipstick - Marlene - Great color! Very subtle and neutral.

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Alright, I just finished my lunch and now it's time to accomplish something. A little housework, put the girls down for a nap, workout, shower, get dressed...then we have Great Grandma Bieger's 101st bday party tonight.