Halloween is my Favorite!

Halloween has been one of my favorite times of year for as long as I can remember. I love dressing up and any excuse I can get to wear I costume, I take it! I also love the fall weather, candy, bats, pumpkins, scary things, the smell of campfires, and so on. My list of things I can't get enough of this time of year goes on and on.

Our favorite things.

A new reason to love this holiday came four years ago when Brandt and I started dating. We went on our first date in early October and spent one of early dates carving pumpkins.

Brandt and his Jack-O-Lantern.

Me and my artwork.

Our first picture together.

 We also went to a Halloween party together and Brandt dressed up even though he wasn't excited about it. His costume was simple but creative and he did it because he knew of my Halloween obsession.

Golf accident victim and cop.

In celebration of costumes, I'm going to post pictures of previous Halloween's below. There are much fewer parties when you're not in college and don't have kids, so I don't think we'll be going out this year. I may dress up for work tomorrow but I still have to be in uniform. We'll see what I come up with!

2005

Beauty Queen

I rewore my prom dress my freshman year of college. Keeping it cheap!

2006

I wore two costumes, each on a different night of celebrating All Hallow's Eve. Pictured with me is one of my wonderful roommates as a Gold Digger.

Swimmer

Angel

2007

Pirate

Continuing my trend of keeping costumes cheap, I put together a pirate outfit! I love pirates and one of my neighbors (pictured below) ended up being a pirate too so it was that much more fun. I drew my own "tattoos," featured below. Also, I had just turned 21 and we had a great time in Aggieville. 

2008

Greek Goddess

I finally splurged and bought a costume but didn't get that many pictures. My friend is a cereal killer but you can't really see her costume either.

2009

Vampire

Pictured with Captain Picard and Lady Gaga.

2010

Cop

I was a "big kid" and working, but we still got to dress up!

2011

Fisherman

This year was inspired by my nautical themed dog costumes. I painted my face with eye shadow to give myself a beard. Apparently, I was quite convincing! I drew my own tattoos again this year as well. Brandt surprised me with his (now infamous) squid hat and the four of us enjoyed the evening walking around Halloween Street in Wichita.

Pondering in my office at work and showing off my "beard" and tat.

Fishing for the giant squid!

My turtle, fish, and squid. Not a bad catch!

Had to add a picture of our Jack-O-Lanterns.

2012

Link from the Legend of Zelda games

Inspired by the video game exhibit at work, I made my costume. I sewed the shirt, hat, and sword belt then painted the shield.

Jack-O-Lanterns from that year.

 2013

Bat

I made a bat costume thanks to Pinterest. I cut up an old umbrella and sewed it to a hoodie. Brandt didn't dress up this year because he was working. My sister joined me and we took the dogs to Halloween Street.

Bat wing makeup.

Sparrow was a witch.

Ellie was a Jack-O-Lantern.

Cedric was a vampire.

Our Jack-O-Lanterns, not hard to guess who did which.
And Brandt did a second (the killer turkey).

My Thoughts on Working at Target

In high school, I worked at Wal-Mart and it has come to be the thing to which I compare horrible situations. I thought it was the worst job ever, then I had that job this summer "marketing" makeup. That made Wal-Mart look like fun. Target would seem like the same situation but so far, it's been great.

I knew Target would be different because they make a genuine effort to recognize their employees and to provide great customer service. They start by calling employees team members and customers are guests. While this is just terminology, it does help set a standard. We are encouraged to go out of our way to help guests find things.

I had such an experience last week when a couple was looking for a mattress topper that wasn't in stock. First, they were impressed that I could just scan the shelf and see how many were in stock in our store and others. I checked in the back and we were out so I offered to call another store. They were already appreciative and saying how great it was that I was going through this effort. We joked about the antiquity of the phone while I was on hold and I eventually found one at another Target and had them reserve it for the couple. They were astonished at my efforts and truly grateful. This is standard procedure and I didn't personally go out of my way. This set of procedures shows Target cares about finding what guests are searching for.

Team members are also encouraged to share stories about great things other team members, or even they, have done. There is a meeting in the morning and evening where some of those situations are shared. It helps recognize employees that are going above their regular duties and shares stories like my previous one to spread the good vibe. There is also a huge board near the time clock where we write out great moments and post them. Just the fact that the board is expected to be filled, showed me that Target wants the working experience there to be pleasant.

So far the two ladies in HR have always been smiling and welcoming. The leads have all expressed their desire to help me learn and genuine concern if I ever have a question. Coworkers have also been helpful with my unending questions and ready to show me how to do something new. I haven't felt devalued or disrespected at all, which is a nice change for retail work. I'm encouraged to problem solve, which I love, and given the authority to make decisions.

I've only been working at Target for about three weeks and today I was given the task of reorganizing the seasonal section. Last week, they put out all of the Halloween items and have none in backstock. This made for full displays and many unlabeled areas. I was told to label accordingly and flex items as I saw fit. My OCD and true love of organization were dancing in circles with excitement. Plus, my favorite holiday is Halloween so going through all of the merchandise was fun. I spent the entire time cleaning up and organizing the area. My lead checked in with me via radio half way through my shift to ensure I was doing OK but didn't hover over me or require approval for everything I did. It was a fun shift and I was proud of how it looked when I left. I know it will all be destroyed by close this evening but hopefully it can more easily be put back together now.

Overall, I'd rate working at Target quite high on my list of enjoyability. I'd like to be full time and better pay but I'm grateful that it's a good place to work. My coworkers are nice and I'm not stuck on a register! I think that helps make all the difference.

We Love a Good Deal

My life has been overwhelmed with work lately but I've finally found some time to sit and type. I am still working at Target but quit at Barnes and Noble due to schedule conflicts and an unprofessional work environment. I loved the job itself but that particular location wasn't run well. The only example I will give is that after I asked about transferring (and was told I couldn't for a year) the store manager asked why. When I started to explain the hour drive wasn't working she started shouting "Cry me a river!" on the sales floor and saying that this manager and that manager had long drives too. I didn't get a chance to explain that I was trying to make two part-time jobs work and those managers were probably getting more hours and better pay. I kept my mouth shut though. I had an interview last Friday and one at another place tomorrow. Brandt has an interview on Monday!

I aged another year recently. After college, it's been hard to keep track of how old I am or tell time relative to other events in the past. So this birthday feels much the same as the past five years or so. I had an overwhelming outpouring of birthday well-wishers on Facebook. It was nice to feel the love from so far away and was a reminder that Brandt and I aren't out here without support. I rarely splurge, especially not on myself, so I took the opportunity to buy some things we needed with my birthday money (and take us out to half-price dinner!).

I love getting a great deal or finding something awesome on sale. I've used my 10% Target discount, plus coupons, plus Cartwheel to save $20 each of the last two trips to Target to get things we desperately needed! Brandt has been cutting coupons like crazy and getting things like laundry detergent for $1. I don't buy something just because it's a deal if I don't need it though. That kind of defeats the purpose of pinching pennies if I spend all my savings on things we don't need.

We have desperately needed new sheets, comforter, and bed-skirt for more than a year. Cedric had a problem of ripping things apart when he was a puppy. He'd run into the bedroom and rip the sheets or tear a hole in the comforter. He even did it while Brandt was sleeping in the bed. Cedric did the same in our spare bedroom but we threw out those sheets and comforter when we moved. Here are some pictures of Cedric's work with my attempt at sewing things back together.

He ripped this hole open more than once.

This sheet lost part of the side, which we never found. I think he ate it.

This was a hole in one of the pillows.
It wasn't so comfy on your face when you're trying to fall asleep.

I have kept my eye out for new bedding since we moved and hadn't seen anything I liked. What I did like was much too expensive or came with 8 pieces. We don't need decorative pillows, especially since we don't even use the shams that come with the comforters so I was unwilling to drop $100 - $200 on things I didn't want.

I looked at Target, JCP, and Amazon, then decided to give Macy's a try. I'd never been in a Macy's since there aren't any in KS any longer and I never visited the one that was in Topeka. They were having a huge sale last weekend and I happened upon an awesome deal! I found the perfect comforter set with only one extra pillow. I also splurged and got new sheets. The total coast was about $55! I was quite proud of myself. Brandt was less impressed when he saw that the sheets I picked out were purple. When I told him that I almost bought the purple comforter, the dirty look left his face. So here is our new pretty bed, with Ellie as a model. Because any time we get something new, Ellie must sit on it if she can.

So thanks for the birthday money, dear family! You helped make our home look a little less sad and much more put-together.