goodness, where have i been?

Hi all! I've been away for a while, but now I'm back. The biggest reason I've been absent is that...I've found a job! How awesome is that? I was job searching for almost 9 months and right before I almost wanted to give up, out of nowhere, this small software company in downtown Seattle, PayneGroup, Inc., called me for an interview. They were looking for an administrative assistant and I had applied for the position months ago on Craig's List.

So far, it's been great. It was SUPER overwhelming at first, namely because I don't know squat about computers, but they said they liked my personality and I'll learn all the computer stuff as I go along.

And I have! It's coming slowly, but surely. Everyone is so nice there and very supportive, which is the most important thing.

Here's a picture of me behind my desk that the CEO, Donna Payne, took of me for their Twitter page:

Hmmm, I look a bit pale, but I swear most of it is the lighting (i hope).

This job definitely came out of no where and I wasn't even expecting to get it, but it turned out to be the best thing. I really think it was meant to be.

Crafts: LOST ATCs

i recently joined an atc swap with the theme "favorite lost characters". we had to make 2 atcs each depicting a favorite character from lost. these babies are going to manitou springs, colorado. my very good friend, shannon, is from manitou and i hear it's beautiful.

of course i based mine on john locke and ben linus. i love them.

love that show! LOVE IT!

karen-o-so-awesome

kevin and i spent the better part of the other night looking up yeah yeah yeahs videos on youtube. *sigh* and in every one karen o. is spectacular. she is my ultimate hero and all around person-i-most-want-to-be-like.

this little red number was for the "heads will roll" video.

MAN! she looks so good. new haircut for jen, perhaps???

the holidays are over...

it's been a while since i've updated. sorry for the delay. the holidays were so busy. kevin and i spent about 2 and a half weeks back home in hawaii for the holidays. i spent lots of time with my family and there was lots of food!

christmas was great; my last post was about all the awesome presents i received. here's my niece, emily jay, with her presents on christmas day:

she loved her bear and new hello kitty suitcase.

new year's was fun too. this past new year's eve was the last year that people could pop fireworks before the new law was enacted, so everyone on the island went NUTS, including our neighbors. we didn't really pop any fireworks, so we just watched everyone else's.

midnight is when all of the red chinese firecrackers came out. EXCITING!

now we're back in seattle and settling back in. more updates to follow!

happy holidays!

i hope everyone is having a spectacular holiday season! christmas time is over, but don't worry because there's still new years to look forward to.

here's a look at some of my favorite presents i received this year and pretty much all of them are from my sister and her family. they know me so well.

a beautiful vintage purse from time echo vintage on etsy.

vintage recycled necklace from noble town vintage on etsy.

lord of the rings plushes from think geek. i got frodo and gandalf; they're so cute! i'm a big lord of the rings geek.

kevin got me some great stuff too. i have heart shaped measuring cups at home so he gave me a few things to complete the set.

heart shaped whisk from fred flare.

and heart shaped measuring spoons from amazon.

it was a great christmas!

merry christmas eve!

i'm finally home in hawaii for christmas! it feels so good to be home and with my family, it's just the heat i can't take. it's so humid. but nevertheless, being near my niece, emily jay, is worth the sweat.

let's start off our christmas celebration with one of the best things i've ever seen.

while waiting for my flight at the airport on tuesday, i heard music coming from down the way. it started getting closer and everyone realized that it was a one man band going up and down the gates playing christmas music.

it was the cutest thing ever. he even had strings connecting his feet and the bass drum mallets, so he had to walk to the beat of the song.

yay for christmas!

Crafts: Dexter ATC

after a short little hiatus from atc making, i dove back in with a dexter atc swap on swap-bot.

if you're not familiar with what an artist trading card or "atc" is, go ahead and click here to find out more!

here's my dexter atc:

i tried to go for a splotchy blood look and it came out eerily real. i promise it's red ink!

if you haven't seen dexter yet, go out and watch it NOW!

i hope zelda and link get married one day.

i have a very special place in my heart for legend of zelda games. they are my ultimate favorite video games EVER. love the characters, love the game-play, love the traditions and call-backs that each game has.

i brought my gamecube up to seattle with me and have the collector's edition of "the legend of zelda: ocarina of time"

and "the legend of zelda: majora's mask".

so guess what i've been playing! i managed to finish ocarina of time and now i'm working on majora's mask.

i hear the latter is one of the hardest zelda games ever and it is definitely proving to be a challenge. wish me luck!