Career Academy of Hair Design

Laura
We have been in NWA for two weeks now, but there are tons of things we still need to do to get settled. One of those things is find someone to cut our hair. We had to move away from our favorite hair cutter, Taylor at the Gossip Shop, in Arkadelphia. Because I know nothing about the area, I thought it would be fun to try out the local beauty school, Career Academy of Hair Design.

I have never had my hair cut by a "student" before and thought now would be the best time to try. I love saving money and you can't beat $7 a hair cut. Cameron and I both had our haircut by different girls. It wasn't a traumatizing experience, but it did take an hour and a half. Even though it wasn't the best haircut I've ever gotten, I'll probably go back again.

I'll offer my hair to someone to learn because so me people offered me their hands to stick IVs in while I was learning :)

Crafting Organizer

Official News

Well it's official!  We will be moving to NWA after we graduate.  :D  Graduation is May 11 here in Arkadelphia, and we should be pulling into Northwest Arkansas driving the biggest truck we can rent a few days later.  Laura officially accepted her position at Mercy in Rogers and begins working at the end of May.  I will continue to operate ALAMO MEDIA, just move it into a new region.  Having ALAMO has been wonderful for us, and has single-handed provided everything we need where Laura has not had to have a job the entire time we've been married.

So, we're excited!  Just wanted to get the breaking news out!  :D

Cheap Laundry Detergent

A post from Laura! :D

The other day some of the people at the hospital were talking about making The Dugger Family laundry detergent. I decided to see if I could make it. I bought all of the ingredients at Walmart, plus a five gallon bucket for $12.61. This is about the price of store bought laundry detergent, but the ingredients will make multiple recipes. There are only four ingredients:
1 cup of water

1/4 bar of Fels-Naptha soap

1/4 cup of Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda

6 teaspoons of Borax

Grate the 1/4 bar of soap and add to saucepan with 1/4 cup of water.
Stir this continuously over medium heat until all of the soap has melted.
Fill a five gallon bucket with 1 1/4 gallons of hot tap water. Add the melted soap, washing soda, and Borax. Stir until all the powder is dissolved. There will be bubbles on top (don't worry, this is normal)
Fill the five gallon bucket with water halfway up (making a total of 2.5 gallons of liquid).
Let this sit overnight to thicken. Be sure to shake before each use.

This recipe makes 2.5 gallons. The original recipe makes 10 gallons, but I cut it in fourths so it would be reasonable for our two person family :)

For top load machines use 5/8 cup per load
For front load machines use 1/4 cup per load

I just made this and can't wait to try it!

Laura's Job

Laura looked at three different hospitals in the NWA area. Two of them had positions online accepting applications, so she applied. The third one did not have a position open, but a representative there offered to to give her a tour of the facility even though there weren't positions open at the time.

Northwest, Bentonville
Washington Regional, Fayetteville
Mercy, Rogers

She interviewed in Bentonville and it went alright. She interviewed in Fayetteville and felt like it went well. The tour in Rogers was fine of course, but no leads on working there.

She really liked Washington Regional (Fayetteville), and because she felt good about it, we have been hoping that one would happen.

There was only one job open on their website, that's the one she applied for, but when she was interviewing the guy told her that they were actually hiring four people. He had 7 people coming in for interviews for that one job, but there were actually 4 positions and he would pick 4 from the 7. He said he had a few more to interview and he would call her personally at the end of the month with news either way.

Early this afternoon, their HR department sent her an automated email saying the position you applied for has been filled and we're sorry that you didn't get it. Bad news.

So, she sent a personal email to the guy who interviewed her just saying she really appreciated the opportunity he gave her to interview and she was sorry to hear the news but thank you very much.

He sent her a personal email back saying wait wait wait... He said he called HR and asked them to pull the position off the site because he didn't want any more than the 7 to apply and he was finished with interviews. THAT is what triggered the automated email.

Then her phone rang and it was him. He said he had chosen 3 for sure, and the 4th position was going to be hard to pick between the 4 people that were left. But, that Laura was in one of the 3 that he liked. :D Good news. He just called to clear up the miscommunication that Laura thought she didn't get it but that she would. I was trying to get her Mac connected to her grandparents' WiFi next door so that she could begin sending her resume out to more hospitals and places she didn't want to work. :)

So, things look good! The guy was very nice and said she would receive a formal notice from HR at the end of the month, but just called so that she wouldn't start trying to get a job somewhere else because he liked her. :D We'll still wait for that final word officially, and some form of paperwork to make it final, but at least for now, WE'RE EXCITED. :D

yip yip!!