My Office! . . . Sort of . . .

I am so excited to share my beautiful disaster with everyone! Yes, this is my new office in the works :) Nathan and I just moved to Sequoyah Hills in Knoxville and are loving it so far!  I am pleased to say that I can finally work from home and not see the kitchen, living room, bathroom, and patio all from my seat.  For our first year of marriage, Nathan and I lived in a 625 sq ft apartment.  Can you imagine? From the start of our marriage, we had been planning on moving. However, life happened and plans continued to change.  Nathan was accepted into UT's Retail, Hospitality, and Tourism Management Ph.D. Program this past summer.  He was the first undergrad to ever be admitted into the program without having a Master's degree. AND he was given a full scholarship and assistantship!!! I can not tell you how proud I am of him!  He is definitely on his way to fulfilling his dreams.

These last few months have definitely been busy with all the changes going on.  I have had to take over a lot of financial obligations so that has been . . . uh . . . painful? In the beginning, his money was my money and my money was my money. LOL! Oh how the tables have turned! I just gotta keep my chin up and believe that this will all pay off in the end.  Luckily, my business flourished over the summer and fall (just in the nick of time) and continues to grow today.  

As a precaution to any financial woes, Nathan and I have taken up second jobs over the holiday season. Photography tends to slow down over the winter and I didn't want to get caught in a situation that was not favorable.  So . . . I'm now working at Pottery Barn at West Town Mall as well.  There were 250 applicants for this job and I was one of seven to get hired! Fortunately, God gave me great timing in going in to ask about the status of my application the night the manager was setting up interviews. Trust me.  They were not even planning on calling me before this. When I returned that night for the group interview, I had one goal in mind . . . be the "funny guy."  Nobody wants to turn down the "funny guy," right?  Everyone in the room was qualified for this job so I had to find a way to stand out.  All my interview questions were answered with stories of me riding on conveyor belts, scaling walls, and disposing of a dead cat. Needless to say, they remembered me :) BUT here's the real hysterical part: Nathan took a job at the Invisible Shield kiosk right outside Pottery Barn!  Yes, we are both officially West Town Mall employees. Hey, sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do to make the "master plan" a success.  This is just all part of the flight to higher ground.  I'm sure there will be many more adventures to come.  Until then, here is a picture of my new office.  My office is on the second floor and the french doors open up to a balcony! Neat huh? Apparently, Nathan thinks my office is his green house and has brought up his lemon tree.  The flattened boxes are for the shelves I'm about to paint.  I am in the midst of many projects . . . as you can see.  AND it took me three coats of that yellow paint to finally cover up the walls.  I still have to paint the closet as well. Can't wait to show everyone the finished result!  Furniture is on its way!