On Thursday I started my training at the container store, where I am working part-time for the time being. After spending the day learning about the company they almost seem too good to be true. An example. Their founding principle: "Fill the other guys basket to the brim", focus on serving those around before yourself. They don't want people to buy what they don't need and are all about developing people...It was a big day, but I left very impressed. Their mascot: Gumbie!..Be flexible. With such a great day at the TCS, it was hard to want to tackle the traffic on I-25 to go into Denver to finally meet face-to-face with the Anthropologie store manager at Cherry Creek. I was referred to this store after 3 interviews with their other location in Colorado. What is exciting is the position I would be training for is in the visual/concepts dept., or under the art director. Every Store has 2 sets of management; sales and visual. Their unique quality lies in their freedom of creativity. Unlike most retail stores whom are given floor layout, sets and standards, Anthropologie has 2 artist per store who design everything beyond the store windows, giving each store it's own feel. They are a sister store to Urban Outfitters. One cool thing about this Anthropologie store is the location. I had not explored the Cherry Creekarea much, mainly due to talk of how expensive it was, but today on my little adventure out I found out why people would pay so much to live here. Most of my impression of the residential area in Denver was 'new construction' everywhere you look they are building...Well it turns out if you are brave enough to travel I-25 (They reworking the interstate: due to be done 2007) into the older parts of Denver you find a plethora of old cute housing(the $800K+ homes are in the cherry creek village). The streets are lined with mature trees, brick houses, and it gives you a feel of some of Chicago, but with seemingly unending sunshine!! There were even (3) large green parks, not something I was used to seeing! One of those parks is Washington Park, which I found out today the area is called 'wash park'. After utilizing my trusty Craigs'list search, I soon found some rentals in the area. My favorite was posted 2 days ago, I called today and the woman said she had already shown the 2 places to 15 people!! So we will see. This could prove harder than actually being able to move! http://denver.craigslist.org/apa/93087334.html http://denver.craigslist.org/apa/91028200.html Find a container store near you! http://www.containerstore.com/find/index.jhtml

Another update! With the help of Josh's tuition reimbursement we are now looking at Denver Seminary...One of our main criteria in looking into different schools has been price. At Denver Seminary if we are both attending (the plan) one spouse only pays half of tuition! The program is the same number of hours at CU, but is closer to Josh's work...so we have yet another road to walk down and explore it's possibilities.

http://www.denverseminary.edu/