Job season again

It is that time of year again, and hopefully the last time I'll need to be on the job market.  I have been watching several online resources for academic jobs and am excited to announce that as of today there are 10 jobs I am going to be applying for.  Last year I applied to 17, got 2 interviews and one offer.  I need my stats to improve slightly but if that happens then hopefully I'll get the offer for one of these ten positions. I'm not going to say specifically what schools I am applying to but they range from CA to MN, IL, MD, NY, IN and MA (I am very excited about the MA jobs-yes, multiple posting in MA). It would be so nice to be near the brothers and sisters again.   Skype and Face time do a great job letting me see family but it is not the same and being with family.  I don't think Mike is super excited about cold winters but if I promise he can go snowboarding we might be able to work things out.

I'll keep you all posted!

Happy Birthday to Me!

Today I turn 33.  I'm okay with this because I realized that I am way happier at 33 than I was a 23.  I can only imagine that at 43 I'll be even happier because hopefully by then I'll have a permanent job (hopefully near family), kid(s), a home, and of course Mike.  The only thing that makes me sad about one day turning 43 is that I most likely won't have Cali anymore :( Although with her mixed genetic background, living to 15 isn't out of the question.

I'm off to eat burger, beer, and ice cream cake!

Happy Birthday to Laura too!

Cali

What is that you say?  You want a picture of Cali?  Of course I have those :)

Cookies!

Had to post this recipe I made tonight.  M&M cookies.  They are much better than the recipe on the bag. I got it from this blog, which is my favorite food blog.

http://www.the-girl-who-ate-everything.com/2012/06/chewy-m-sugar-cookies.html

Yes, I still have this account.

To say it has been a long time is an understatement.  Life just got so busy and I figured you were all tired of pictures of Cali so I took a break.  Not to worry, I still take tons of pictures of Cali and I will post some on here (don't want to disappoint).  I thought I would take a crack at being a blogger again.  We have an exciting year coming up with me going on the job market again (and hopefully getting a job), Mike's college buddy is moving to the area so there should be a lot of good stories, and to deal with my stress I'm baking a lot.  All of these things will hopefully fill my blog and entertain you.

The last major event we got to participate in was Kara's wedding.  It was such a good time and we couldn't have asked for a better weekend weather wise.  Kara was a stunning bride and it was so great to see her take the next step in her life.  Congrats Kara Falise!

While we were in MA, we spent the night with Laura and family and Mike got a chance to be Uncle Mike to Jacob and Mason.  The kids loved hanging all over him and you can see here he was trying to assert is dominance over Jake.

House Guest

We have been watching Erika and Rob's dog, Aspen, for the last several days. Cali and Aspen get along very well together. She is a very sweet girl and as aunts and uncles are suppose to do, we are spoiling her rotten. We have already started a bad habit of letting her on the bed and couch. I mean, how could we let Cali be up there but not Aspen. That would have been cruel! We have her for another week and I think we will all be sad to see her go. But don't think that means we are going to add a second dog to our family. It is amazing how much extra work a second dog is.

A Sallee-Kerber-Williamson-Ferrara Christmas!

We had a wonderful trip to St. Louis, MO for Christmas this year. Despite driving 14 hours each way (Cali was such a good girl), it was a really fun time. We even had a white Christmas. Mike, Cali and I stayed at my sister Kelly's house with her family and dog Ginger while Laura, John, Jake and Mason stayed with my Mom and Dad and their dogs. When we all got together things sure were noisy! Although we will miss everyone, it sure is nice to be home. Here are some pictures from our week. And yes, that is in fact a picture of Mike holding a baby!