Camping Trip and My New Job

***My next few posts will be full of all the things that we have been doing the last month! I hope to get y'all all caught up over the next few days!***

We try to go camping each year for Ryan's birthday, and this year was no different. Wait, that's not true... this year was different in that we had Auntie Anna with us! Anna had been living with us for just a few days when we loaded up my Yukon XL and headed off to Cultus Lake. Trust me when I tell you that my truck was LOADED!
We settled into our site... the same site we have stayed in the last couple of times that we went camping... and wrestled with putting up the gigantic tent. Thank goodness for step by step instructions!
Once we had all the comforts of home right inside our tent (including the amazing overhead remote control light fixture that took Ryan & Anna over an hour to install) we took off to go see our friends who were also camping that weekend at Cultus. Auntie Anna was in full nanny-mode with all the kids fighting for her attention, and she loved every second of it!
We spent most of Saturday down at the lake. Ryan & Reagan were the only two crazy enough brave enough to get in the cold water. Anna and I sat on the beach and took tons of pictures...

It was an amazingly fun weekend, and I wish we would go camping like that more often. To me, there is nothing like sitting by the campfire roasting marshmallows and eating smores in the evening, sleeping outside in a tent, and waking up to eat a big camp breakfast each morning. I LOVE IT!

One of the highlights of this camping trip was the phone call that I received Saturday afternoon not long after we had returned to our campsite from playing at the lake. You all know that I had been anxiously waiting to hear back from the hotel regarding the night audit job that I had applied for. I was pretty sure that I had the job of the Night Services Manager, but was still a little unsure because the General Manager of the hotel was hesitant to provide me with a schedule. I found out why he was hesitant while we were camping.

You see, the Hampton Inn in Langley knew that they wanted to hire me. The only problem was that they wanted to hire me for a different position that what I was applying for. You may remember from previous posts that I wanted the position of Night Services Manager so that I could still be home with Reagan during the day. I didn't care that I knew I was overqualified for that particular position, I just wanted a job that would still allow me to be a daytime stay-at-home mom. But after talking to the manager again that Saturday, I began to change the way I was thinking. I hung up the phone and looked at my husband and my sister with look of sheer panic on my face. The hotel was offering me the position of Event Coordinator and Group Sales Manager... and they were offering A LOT more money! We discussed it as a family, and my sister was actually the one who made me realize that I would be able to see Reagan more if I worked during the day than if I worked at night. If I worked at night, I would have to sleep during the day... I would never see any of them!

I was still a little hesitant about what decision I was going to make at the beginning of the week when the manager asked me to come in to the hotel again. I didn't want to give up being the one who takes Reagan to all of her activities: preschool, gymnastics, ballet, tap, etc. I was having a really hard time giving up the role of stay-at-home mom and transitioning back into career mode. I was honest with the manager, and I told him why I was hesitant to accept his generous offer. He surprised me and told me that he would be willing to work with my schedule when we needed to. If I needed to come in an hour or two late or leave an hour or two early a few days a month so that I can go to Reagan's special events, that would be fine. He was even willing to let me work my hours around my bridal business... he just wanted me to say yes to the job! So... I DID!

I am the new Event Coordinator and Group Sales Manager for the Hampton Inn in Langley. And there is already talk of me being promoted to Director of Sales very soon! I've been in the position for almost a month now, and I think that I am finally getting used to being back at work every day. The first week was horrible... I cried every day that I left the house, and then I cried when I got home because I had missed so much while I was gone. But I'm doing much better now! I'm enjoying what I am doing, but I still plan for this to just be a temporary return to the business world. I plan to make as much money as I can, and to get as many promotions as I can, before we get pregnant with baby #2. And no... no news on that front yet! We're still waiting another couple of months before we start trying!

Reagan has adjusted fairly well to my new job. She loves having Auntie Anna here with her during the day, and the two of them are CONSTANTLY doing some new fun arts and crafts activity or new creative game. Reagan asks me every morning to please not leave, but she seems to be fine once I do. I think it helps that she comes to visit me at work whenever she needs to. Of course, I'm not so sure if she is coming to see me or if she is just asking to come see the giant 3-story waterslide that connects to the pool at the hotel! She's yet to come go for a swim, but something tells me that day is coming soon!

So there you have it, the first of a few posts to get you all caught up. I'll try my best to get back on track this week... if only I could blog from work!!!