Blogging for Books: What Color is Your Parachute 2016

I recently signed up for Blogging for Books and received What Color is Your Parachute 2016 by Richard N. Bolles complementary in exchange for a review here and on their site. 

As someone who has many interests and doesn't see myself being in only one field my entire life, I figured checking out this book was a good fit for me. 

It's broken down into two main topics--searching for a job, interviewing and salary negotiations and finding out what you are good at and like to do. 

I found both sections to be extremely useful and it taught me a few new things I hadn't read before, especially about searching for a job. 

I've been the interviewer on panels for the last three months and learned a lot from those experiences. One of the reflections I had is that interviewing is a lot like dating and the book also states that!

I really liked the five questions an employer is concerned about during an interview. He broke that section down into simple language to really help you prepare for a nerve-racking interview.

While I didn't complete all of the exercises in the section regarding what you want to do and good at, I will do that soon and I think they are great reflection activities.

I definitely can see myself coming back to this book as a great reference one to use for job searching, interviewing and self-assessment. I would highly recommend it for that person in your life struggling to find their path or the recent grad who needs a little insight into the changing and competitive world of job searching.

My rating: 4.5 stars. Definitely worth purchasing!

I received this book from Blogging for Books for review. 

What a week!

This has sure been a crazy week!

We moved last weekend.

 Loading up the truck at our old house.

My mother-in-law cleaning our old tiny kitchen!

 Chaos in the dining and living areas.

On Saturday night, we walked to our corner Mexican restaurant one last time to enjoy a margarita pitcher, chips and salsa and fried ice cream.

If I look exhausted here it's because I was (still am). I had walked over 25,000 steps that first day.

On Sunday, we loading up the moving truck twice and didn't finish our day until 10 p.m.

Once our help left for the evening, Craig and I drove back to load up more little things and the whole garage. Then we had to get the cats in their cages and I drove them back to the new house. Tears started flowing then. It was the last time the kitties would be at the house they "grew up in."  I felt so bad since they hate being in cages. Tanzi and Pema meowed the entire 20 minute trip and Shiva was silent.

The new basement freaked them out a bit and Tanzi wanted out of there! Shiva and Pema hid behind the washer and dryer.

We spent Sunday night at the new place and I woke up to a gorgeous sunrise to greet me on Monday morning!

I was still off of work on Monday and ran errands to Steinhafels to complete our living room couch order and Costco for groceries and whatever else I could find. I'm bummed that our special order couch for the living room won't come until January if we're lucky, but at least we have a new couch to enjoy in the entertainment room.

Of course I found two fabulous and cheap rugs at Costco--this one is for the kitchen sink area and the other is a runner I scored for under $10. I have to carefully select rugs now because we bought a Roomba and it's picky about what it cleans!

After two nights in the basement, we let the cats out on Tuesday evening. Tanzi was excited to explore the new place and Pema was nervous, but came up. Shiva protested and stayed in the basement. Eventually, we got him upstairs and he is still pretty nervous at any odd noise he isn't familiar with.

Shiva exploring a bit once he was more comfortable.

The new kitchen was a mess for a little while but now it's coming along. Thanks to my wonderful friend Danielle and my mother-in-law, we got dishes washed, dried and put away on moving day #1.

We needed barstools for our breakfast nook and I found these at Target.com for about $70 each (which is a total steal). We love them and so does Pema. At least if the cats scratch the upholstery, I won't fret too much vs. $200 barstools.

By Wednesday, I started getting a bad neck ache and stiffness. I think it was a result of overexertion from the move. I came home from work early yesterday and watched part of this movie in bed with a heating pad on my neck. I experienced the exact same issue two years ago in November and it was awful. I'm trying to take care of myself and rest this time.

Boy am I glad this week is over, even though it was filled with lots of positives, it was exhausting.

Lately

Here's what I've been up to lately! (Basically, most of it has to do with moving, so you've been warned). I'm finally sitting down after a long day at our new house of cleaning, vacuuming and unpacking. I got a bit emotional driving to the new house this morning because I feel so lucky that Craig and I are moving to a place that we love so much.

Last weekend was full of more packing and labeling boxes.

One thing I miss lately is reading a good book. I haven't had much time or interest in reading, so I hope I'll get to do plenty of it this winter. I started The Martian earlier this week. Anyone read it? I heard mixed reviews.

We closed on our house on Wednesday morning! We celebrated after with some shopping, including checking out the Container Store and photographing lots of things we'll probably buy eventually. This adjustable OXO drawer organizer looks great!

We celebrated with lunch at Bel Air Cantina in Tosa. We love that green salsa--it's so delicious. Instead of margaritas, we ordered Mexican Smores as a special treat.

Unloading at the new place this morning. This is the first time I've ever owned or rented a house with a garage for me to park in (our current house has one but Craig usually parks in it because of timing with our commutes). I really appreciate having a garage for both of us to park in now and I know I will every single day this winter.

The previous owners left the welcome mat I loved so much! I even bought the exact same one from Target last week, but now I can return it. :)

 In the empty new place.

I took a break from cleaning to grab lunch at Good Harvest. Yum! I know I'll be heading there a lot for groceries and quick meals when we don't feel like cooking.

By 2:45, I was at 37 floors climbed according to my Fitbit (it's 9 p.m. now and I'm up to 54). Our new house has four levels, so I'll be getting my workout every time I clean the house from top to bottom.

Off to pack a little more before bed and to stretch my aching back. I vacuumed and swept so much today and my back is hating me.