Cancun & a New Job!

I just recently returned to the US from Cancun, Mexico. My darling fiancé (Dmac) won an all-inclusive trip to the Riu Palace Las Americas for doing his job at Vector. Seriously, his job rocks, and this trip was INSANELY fun. I'll post some photos at the end of this post. We had a blast and I wish I could go back! I'm really looking forward to more fun trips in the future.

While in Cancun, I received a follow-up phone call from CVS/Pharmacy. The manager at the local store where I interviewed was calling me to say I had passed my drug test (Duh, like I didn't know that would happen. I've been drug free since 1991!), and that I needed to go to a class the following weekend (today) in Orlando. Which I did. And can I just say that the people who claim that Vector is a scam are FREAKING RETARDS?! By their logic, CVS would also be a scam. So, here's my fun little joking "rant" on why CVS is a "scam" according to other people's logic:

CVS Pharmacy is a scam!! I was called one day a couple of weeks ago, and asked to come in for an interview that day. I couldn't make it there that day, because I had my daughter, so I went the following day. She basically told me I was hired before I even left the store. I was told that I could work in my local area, but then I had to drive "out of my way" for training. This drive was about an hour from my local area, and I was not reimbursed for the gas to drive all the way out there. The training is three days in a classroom. I went all the way to Orlando and found a sketchy little office that was shared with some credit union or something. There was only one person there, the trainer, and there was a group of people from all over the area training for the same position. I was not given any information about getting paid for training. And then, she tells us during this 6 HOUR training class that we have to pay $105 for a certificate to continue working after 6 months?! Who PAYS to work somewhere? Clearly, this is a SCAM!  I still have 2 days of 6 hour long training classes at a sketchy little office before I'm done training.

Ok, OBVIOUSLY that was all a joke! Because I really enjoy CVS so far, and I am SUPER thankful for my job. But doesn't that sound like absolutely ridiculous reasons to call something a scam? I thought so, too. But that's literally exactly what people say about Vector when they say it's a "scam". Guess what losers? The #1 pharmacy in America does all the same stuff!! So grow up, and do your job or find a new one! To prove my point, these are some quotes from websites that say that "Vector Marketing is a scam":

"Any business you have to invest money in to get hired, you should know it just ain't right!!!How do they expect you to purchase something like that and you are trying to get a job."
"i just went in 4 an interview 2day, yes like many othres posted here i scheduled the interview 4 that day, they said they are really tighly booked but they actually have an opening today, then i thought i was luky, now im having 2nd thoughts." 

Yeah. It's that silly. So once again, I'd like to reiterate that I do NOT think that CVS is a scam, nor do I think that Vector is a scam (obviously, I mean I just went to Cancun, come on.) The purpose of the above writing about a "scam" was to prove that people who do believe things like that are dumb with their reasons. :P 

Anyway, I'm totally diggin' CVS, and I'm excited about furthering my career by becoming a licensed Pharmacy Technician. :) Most of what I wrote in the above commentary were true about CVS. I was asked to interview same-day, I was basically told I was hired when I left (contingent on my background check & drug test passing), the office where I trained at today was kinda sketchy at first & it is shared with a credit union, but the trainer was super nice and I really like her. I really do have to pay $105 for my pharmacy technician license, but I am PERFECTLY okay with that, because it will help me further my healthcare career. I really enjoy my current pharmacology class at UCF, so I know this will be a fun job for me. I do not by any means dislike anything about the process. I actually had some fun at training today, learned a lot about CVS and it's history, and feel pretty good about my upcoming experience there. :) I also want to reiterate that I really do like CVS and that I find absolutely NOTHING wrong with it, so please don't take anything out of context. 

And as promised, here's some photos from Cancun:

Here we are. We look like a bunch of scam artists, right? ;) 

Matching swimsuits! :) 

Me & my sweetheart. <3 

Sunrise by the pool. :) 

Too pretty. <3 i love it there. 

And that's all I got for ya. Until Next time!

xoxo

PUMPKIN!

How great is this: The first day of October is also National Dessert Day! What better way to celebrate both occasions than to make some yummy pumpkin desserts? That's exactly what we did today.

Here's the little McNugget helping! She really enjoyed reading the Pumpkin Pie Spice label.

And then she proceeded to push the container of Pumpkin Pie Spice into the batter.

I think she saw Mommy turning it upside down to pour some in, and she didn't realize she had to open it to do the same thing. Good thing though, or these would have had far too much spice! 

We baked No-Egg Pumpkin Cookies and Lovin From The Oven's Pumpkin Bars. I made a couple of minor alterations to those recipes, like using Pumpkin Pie spice in place of the individual spices. But they both turned out FANTASTIC. I made the cookies without Nuts, but some have raisins. I didn't use as many raisins as it called for, because I don't like super-chunky cookies. I also knew Layla would have some, and I wanted to make them easier to eat. :) 

My whole apartment smelled of pumpkin. AND I opened the windows today. The fresh air was amazing. 

I also worked out without A/C. I did this BodyRock workout. And I felt it hardcore! I couldn't even finish!! I see great results already from just a few days of BodyRocking. :) 

And, I have an interview in a Pharmacy tomorrow. I'm pretty stoked about that one. Wish me luck, and keep those fingers crossed! 

xoxo

Six Pounds!

What is the significance of six pounds? A human skin weighs about 6 pounds. Some newborns weigh about 6 pounds. Know what else? I LOST 6 POUNDS THIS WEEK! Oh yes. One week. Here's what I did:

-Limit my soda intake. I simply stopped buying it for home. I rarely got it when I went out. I probably only had about 2 sodas this week. Water and milk was all I drank the rest of the time. H20 does wonders with weight loss, or so I'm told. 

-Smaller meals. I chose to eat a little less this week. A fun weight loss tip I use is only eat half of what they give you at restaurants. Sometimes I even ask for them to go ahead and put half of my meal in a to-go box. Other times I just split it all in half and that's the most I eat. 

-BodyRock! Boy was I sore this week. Ohh man. Some of my muscles are STILL sore! And I didn't work out yesterday or today!! If you want a good workout, I definitely recommend BodyRock.tv. Always do a Fit Test first. The Fit Tests are definitely awesome workouts and teach you to push yourself. I'm most sore from my Fit Test this week. 

And that's pretty much all I did. I've also noticed that I eat when I'm bored sometimes. So I've completely stopped doing that. I only eat when I truly feel hungry. Which is a LOT less food now. 

I'll be looking much better for Cancun than I would have. :) 

Get off your butt & do it! :) 

You know what else I'm proud of & feel the need to brag about? My grades!

Pharmacology: 95%

Issues & Trends in Public Health: 94%

Interdisciplinary Studies (Cornerstone): 100%

Management of Operations: 82%

Woot woot! 

I have a kid, I workout, I go to school & get good grades. I bake. I coupon. There's not much I can't do.

Now, I'm off to decide on a ri-dank-ulous pumpkin recipe.

Tootles!

(Mommies get this reference)

Cancun, Cancun, Cancun...Did I mention CANCUN?

As you can probably tell from my title, I'm pretty darn excited about Cancun. 7 Days from now I shall be lounging on a beach drinking who knows what just feeling like a princess. Did I not tell you? My darling fiancé, who does AWESOME at his job, managed to win us (with my help, of course) an all-inclusive free trip to Cancun, Mexico! Oh yes. His job is the greatest. We're staying at an all-inclusive resort, with unlimited food & drinks, and gorgeous views. I seriously cannot express to you how excited we are. In fact, my 2 new swimsuits came in the mail today. And they fit perfectly. Super comfortable! AmiClubwear.com. Cheap, awesomeness. Shop there. Like now. :)

But before I can go to Cancun, I have to do a ton of school work. My Interdisciplinary Studies class is tough! Well, it's not really so much tough as it is a TON of work. I have straight 100's in the class. It's just time consuming. What did I do tonight? I wrote an Intellectual Autobiography, which, if you so desire, you can read here! I'm not sure that you'd really want to read more about my life. But in case you ever wondered what Interdisciplinary Studies majors do, and how I reached that major, this is a good read. In my not-so-humble opinion.

Speaking of work, I've been working out like a mad woman. BodyRock is simply fierce, and I do it daily now. I'm so sore, it definitely kicks my butt. But that's what I need: Someone to kick my butt into shape! Because, you know, NEW BIKINIS for...do I need to say it again? (cancun!)

Alright, I'm just loopy. Maybe I should stuff my face, since I skipped dinner. Adios amigos!

A year already?

It's been almost three months since I've updated this thing?! Really? Man, I gotta do better than that! I really need some blog activity though, so I don't feel like posting is useless. You know what that means? It means get your hiney down to "comments" and leave one! :)

Anywho, what's gone on in the past three months? The biggest thing, my daughter (Layla) turned the big ONE! :) And of course, there were cupcakes, coupons, and chaos.

This was the food set up (well, part of it). See the little cupcake tree? Those cupcakes were fan-freakin-tastic! You can get the recipe I used here!

I also did a fabulous job royal icing cookies, in my own humble opinion. This is the best I've ever done with royal icing. Oh, and P.S. I did this at like 9:30am the day of the party. (party started at noon)

Layla's Smash Cake! I'm actually proud of how good it turned out. I used a healthy smash cake recipe, using bananas, applesauce, and a bit of vanilla. There was no eggs or sugar in her cake. Except for the buttercream icing. :) 

As you can see, she was pretty thrilled about her birthday. I made that outfit (with the assistance of my mother), and the hat. I'm oh-so-crafty. 

She really enjoyed her day. Played with a few friends, got lots of new clothes and toys, and looked darn cute the whole time. Who can say they did that at their most recent birthday? Not me! 

Anyway, I promise to give more blog entries. Promise promise. Now comment, kids. Make it worth my while.

Why Farts Should Not Be Noisy...

Today, my receptionist at work was working on her first essay for her writing course. The topic? "Why farts should not be noisy..." Yeah, her teacher is a little whack apparently, but I decided it was a perfect prompt for a new blog! I know, exactly what you wanted to read, right? ;] Here's my opinion on the matter:


I really feel like "passing gas" isn't that strange or funny of a thing. I don't think it's rude. I don't think it's silly, or embarrassing. It's a natural bodily function. And guess what? It means you're healthy! If you don't fart, there's something wrong with you. 

These are  some fun facts I found online: 

"The sounds are produced by vibrations of the anal opening. Sounds depend on the velocity of expulsion of the gas and the tightness of the sphincter muscles of the anus. Contrary to a popular misconception, fart noise is not generated by the flapping of the butt cheeks. You can see proof of this in the close-up video footage of Carl Plant's fart on Mate-in-a-State " (source: heptune.com) Interesting, right?

 I also thought this quote was quite humorous: "A gentleman is mostly likely to fart first thing in the morning, while in the bathroom. This is known as "morning thunder," and if the gentleman gets good resonance, it can be heard throughout the household." 

Also, "There is a company called Fartypants that sells underwear designed to absorb the odor of farts. If you should be caught without your Fartypants, another ploy is to blame the dog or cat, if one should be present, or complain about how the wind must be blowing from the direction of the paper mill.
    As for the sound... if you are in a large group of people, act oblivious and innocent, or glance quickly at the person next to you, as if you think he/she did it. Other strategies include coughing or suddenly moving your chair so that people think that they misheard the fart. If you are with one other person, you can act as if nothing happened, and the other person may believe he was mistaken in thinking he heard a fart.
    CJT addresses the problem of farting loudly in a public restroom as follows: "My solution: use a handful of loose toilet paper, cover your butt hole and it will muffle the farting; my friends and I call it the 'Buff Muff'!"
    Depending upon the company, another strategy is not to cover it up, but to proudly proclaim the fart as your own grand accomplishment and to issue a challenge to the others to outdo that one if they think they can." 

Google farting. You can certainly learn some fascinating information. :)  Thanks for reading my wonderous blog. Tune in next time. You never know WHAT I'm gonna write about. 

Tips (Common Sense) For Job Hunters

I work for my fiance's marketing office. I do all the calling to job applicants to ask them to come to an interview. I've been really annoyed lately at how little common sense people have when job hunting. It really is no wonder there's such a high unemployment rate. So here's a friendly reminder of some things that people should know when trying to get a job.

1. When you fill out an application, and someone calls you shortly after from a number you do not recognize, ANSWER IT. And identify yourself. It drives me crazy when a call conversation goes something like this:

Job Applicant: Hello?
Me: Hi is this [insert name here].
Job Applicant: He/She is not available. May I ask who's calling?
Me: This is Bri from The McLeod Group. I was calling about the application you filled out online.
Job Applicant: Oh. Then yes this is she/he.

WHAT?! I understand that you're trying to avoid telemarketers/bill collectors, but don't lie. That's a terrible first impression for a possible employer, FYI.

2. When you get said call from unrecognized number, DON'T TEXT IT BACK LIKE THIS:
-Yo! What up? Who dis?
or something along those lines. Not a good idea. Also texting and asking who it is isn't a good thing either. Even if you use proper grammar. Maybe if you answered your phone when I called, you'd know who it is. Fail.

3. When a person calls about your application, this is your first impression to the company. Try not to sound asleep, sick, tired, or groggy. Even if I woke you up, please fix your voice to sound somewhat normal. When people call me in the middle of the night or early morning, I fix my voice by clearing my throat and making myself alert. It's not hard, people!

4. When you are asked to come in for an interview, and we tell you specifically that there are a LOT of applicants and you should come in as soon as possible, we're not lying. We're serious. Come in TODAY if you can. I mean, you want the job right? Don't do this:
Me: We do have a LOT of applicants & the manager's interviewing on a first come, first serve basis. So I do want to try to get you in ASAP. What's your schedule look like today?
Job Applicant: Oh, I'm busy today.
Really? Busy with what? So busy you can't change around your plans to go to a job interview? You must not be that much in need of a job. I understand certain things come up, but if you tell me "I have a party to go to" or "I'm supposed to be meeting up with some people" or "I have people coming from out of town", you're retarded. Those friends can wait. You have a job interview!!! Fix your schedule, and BE THERE!
Also, "I just woke up" isn't a good excuse for an interview that is in an hour and a half. Big deal you just woke up. Get dressed and get your butt here! Dang!

Now that you've made it past that first impression call, you're ready for your interview.Here's some tips for that too:

1. Dress professionally. When I tell you to "dress nice" on the phone, I don't mean wear jeans and a tee shirt. I mean PROFESSIONAL ATTIRE people! Suit. Khakis. Skirt. Dress. You know? Those things you'd wear to an office? Yeah, wear that. Avoid crazy hairstyles too!

2. Talk like a normal person!!!

I don't have tons of interview tips cause I haven't ran actual interviews yet, I just do the calling part. But really...Common sense here people. Dang! Can you tell people's stupidity irritates the heck out of me?