Piano!

thrilled!

This month, after a few years of looking for a piano, we finally found the perfect one!  And it's all thanks to Zak's amazing Craigslist skills!  I've seriously missed playing the piano regularly and my skills have severely diminished, and I had all but given up hope of getting a piano anytime soon.  Zak tried to convince me that a nice electric keyboard would be a better investment for now, but I wasn't thrilled about it.

But then Zak found this piano online and contacted the lady about it.  It was in good shape, in the family for awhile and was the right price!  It seems like every other piano we've inquired about either was in ok shape or too expensive, too far away, but we could hardly believe what a great deal this was!  We went over one night to check it out and I fell in love, it was beautiful, and kept in good shape and the lady was really concerned about the buyer being someone who would take good care of the piano because it had sentimental value, etc.  I could hardly believe my luck!  We went home and decided we'd check with moving companies to see how much it would be to move it to our place.

Zak contacted them; it was going to be almost as much as the piano and that meant it wasn't likely we'd be able to get the piano.  I was really upset.  He talked to the lady, but she was convinced that, with the help of a few guys and some moving equipment, we'd be able to do it; she needed the money and the piano out of her house.  I texted my guy friends and asked if they'd be willing to help us move the piano in that weekend.  Bryan texted back about using a moving company and before I knew it, a few texts later, he was insisting that we let him and Chad pay for the movers as an early Christmas/birthday gift--it turns out they were planning on getting me a keyboard anyways, so they wanted to do this for me.  I cried a bit at work, I was so blown away by their generosity.

A few days later we were able to move the piano into our place.  The moving company I contacted were very nice, professional and quick.  I was so thrilled, I played for about 2 hours straight that night!  Since moving it in, I have been gathering lots of piano music and trying to get back to my 'old piano skills'.  It's been rough, some things are coming slower than I'd like, but at least I have something to practice on every day!

I am seriously so happy right now.  I'm so glad Zak found this piano, and that Bryan and Chad helped us out with it.  What great friends they are!  (When Bryan came over with the cash, he gave me a hug and a kiss and said, 'Don't you know you're family by now?')  I wake up, walk out to the living room and look at my beautiful piano.  The next step is to get it tuned, I've emailed a few local piano tuners in the area, but I need to save a little before I can do it.  It's a very nice piano, the keys don't really stick, the wood is nice and the stand for holding the music is really beautiful--all cut from one piece of wood.  It's a Baldwin Acrosonic, which dates to the mid 50s or 60s, I believe.

hard to see from the flash, but it's really nice

Anyways, that's the story of my piano!  It's wonderful and I'm a very lucky and thankful lady!

complete w/a globe she gave us--it's made from stones and gems, it's crazy cool

Rachel's Grown-Up Job

After a few years of ups and downs, it looks like I have finally found a steady, full-time, long-term job!  And we both couldn't be happier.  I work for a company called Digilent; it was founded in Pullman about 10 years ago by some WSU engineer professors.  We sell microchip boards and engineering tools.  I'm still not 100% sure what everything is, but I know it has to do with engineering.  People can use our boards to make robots!  There is an office in China, Taiwan (where everything is made) and in Romania.  We ship all over the world, including companies such as Apple, NASA, Microsoft.  Pretty neat stuff.  Click to see the website: http://www.digilentinc.com/

I am on the end of my third week here and I just love it. I am responsible for processing the orders we receive online.  I record them in QuickBooks, and print out shipping labels (I don't pack the boxes).  It takes up the morning, and usually by 1 or 2 I've finished and can move onto filing or reading the news.  I've been working on typing up my notes and organizing my own, personal desk!  It's great.  I have two computer screens, a window and a sweet desk.  I also have my own email address and extension on the phone AND a name plaque on my desk.  It's pretty official.  I can listen to my music, have snacks, wear jeans & flip-flops...it's pretty amazing.

Everyone here is really nice, and I am now the fourth woman in the office.  I think there are about 2 dozen people, including the interns from WSU, that work in the Pullman office.  We ship everything out from here.  But we do have some international distributors.  I'm still now 100% how it all works, but I know what I do and I'm pretty good at it!

What's been great is that everyone has been nice and friendly, offering me food and advice, and wanting to help me when I ask questions.  It's been great.  I feel really good about this job, it's so great.  The one downside is that now I have a commute (so grown-up!), and while it's only 15 minutes, I'm not looking forward to the winter...I've been checking for carpool info online and we are thinking we'll end up buying a commuter car for me in the next few months.

But other than that, it's great!  I'm so happy!  It's kind of a strange feeling to not dread going to work!  I mean, I do sit all day and my wrists get a little bit tired by the end of the day, but I have a little drawer full of candy and snacks, and I can take it easy if I need.  The reason I got this job is because Zak is an excellent job scouter--he sent me a ton of jobs he found on-line.  I had kind of forgotten about this job, because I had done so many applications in a few weeks.  But I came in, nailed the first interview, and was called back for a second one within three days.  I got the job offer call twenty minutes later, just as I was heading into Moscow!

I'm still in my probation period, but no one has given me any reason to be worried.  In fact, the girl whose job I now have didn't leave, they had to create a job for her; no one has left the company, really.  A lot of people have been here since it started.  So there is a great future in store for me here.  I'm really happy to have this job, it just makes life so much better!

where I work

entrance

up a flight of stairs & through this door...

my desk!

some of the things we sell

my view

fancy!

another shot of my desk area

view from where I eat lunch sometimes

where I eat

excited to be at work!