Five Years

Five years ago (as of August 1st), I started my very first post-college job.

Five years later...I'm still here! 

So, to memorialize my five years here at the Texas Department of Banking, here are five random facts about my job.

1. I love the people that I work with. It takes a special type of person to be able to do what we do, travel as much as we do, and still remain relatively sane. We work together, travel together, eat together, and laugh together. We all know way too much about everyone we work with, and we're almost like a little family. If/when I leave, I'll miss the people the most, hands down.
2. My most favorite part about my job is training new employees. There's just something about teaching something someone and then seeing them utilize their new found knowledge. It makes me so proud when someone else asks them a question and they're able to answer it. Love it.
3. When I first started this job, I thought it was so cool traveling around from bank to bank and staying at various hotels in small towns. Five years later...I'm not going to lie, it gets a little old. Sometimes I hate that I know my way around towns like Sherman, Tyler, Mount Pleasant, Paris, and Longview. This job would definitely be cooler if we got to go to places like New York or Chicago. But if you ever find yourself traveling to a small town in the North Texas region, chances are, I can tell you where you can go to get a decent bite to eat. Oh, and I know a little bit about Washington, DC. When the Department does let us travel outside of Texas, it's usually to DC, but only because the FDIC training center is there.
4. Having every other Friday off rocks my socks. If/when I leave, it's going to be excruciatingly difficult to adjust to a five day work week. Also, I have more vacation and sick time than I know what to do with. And each month, the State throws more vaca and sick time my way. It's pretty awesome.
5.  For the past five years, I have bought every single person in my office a birthday card each year. On average, we have 25 employees in our office. At $3 to $5 per birthday card, that adds up to a lot of moolah. I've also been known to bake or buy cupcakes/cookies for someone's birthday. What can I say, it's my way of improving office morale. I like to think it works.

Working as a bank examiner has been interesting. Most times, people don't understand what you do. And when you try to explain it to them, their eyes glaze over within five seconds. It's not exactly an exciting job, and bankers aren't exactly thrilled to see us each week. But it has definitely been a good job to have. I've learned a lot, both about banking and about myself. I've made a lot of good friends, and if it weren't for this job, I would never have met my husband! All in all, it's been a great five years!

And, as a token of the Department's appreciation for my dedication and hard work, I got this:

A certificate of service...signed by the commissioner himself (I think it needs a new frame).

And I chose this as my five year gift - the Pyramid of Success. I was given a list of options to choose from, and I couldn't really tell what this was, so I picked it. ha! It's actually kinda cool, and I have it displayed proudly on my desk in my little cubicle at the office.

Who knows where I'll be in another five years, but if I could do the past five years over again, I wouldn't change a thing.

Life Planning

Today, the FedEx man brought me something I've been waiting for all month...

 Inside this beautiful box was...my life planner!

Allow me to explain. About a month ago, my friend, Nicole, posted a Plum District deal on Facebook. Plum District is kind of like Groupon and Living Social, but their deals cater to women - moms in particular. The deal that Nicole posted was $25 for $50 towards anything on Erin Condren's website. I'd never heard of Erin Condren, so I went over to her site to check it out. And I instantly fell in love. The fun designs, cheerful colors, and organization overload, had me at hello! More specifically, I LOVED the life planners. For the past year or so, I've been trying to go "green" and use my iPhone instead of a paper planner to keep track of everything in my life (not that there's a whole lot going on). Using my iPhone has been working fine, but there's just something about writing everything down, and seeing everything right in front of you. And color-coding things. Oh, how I love color coding things. So when I saw the life planner, I knew I had to have one.

The hardest part was choosing which design to get! I settled on the Fleur Feliz in Splash. I got to personalize it with whatever I wanted (I chose my name), and even opted for the two personalized notepads (which match my Life Planner, obviously). 

Now, I haven't started using it yet, and I'm not positive that this life planner is any different than a regular At-A-Glance DayMinder that you can get at any office supply store, but it sure does look better than anything you could pick up at Office Max.

There are tabs for each month, and the planner is organized by each week of the month. There are spots to add to-do's for the week, as well as weekly goals that you set for yourself.

There's also a couple of blank pages before each month.

Towards the back, there's more blank pages for notes.

And at the very back of the planner, there's a couple of folder pockets and a zipper pouch!

Talk about organization station! They even threw in a couple of freebies.

Personalized stickers and gift tags!

I can't wait to start using my life planner! If you're like me, and you love planning and color-coding things, this life planner might just be for you!

*This was not a paid endorsement. I'm just way too excited about a planner, and I wanted to share it with you guys!