A Job I Never Thought I'd Have.

If you recall, back in February I got my first full-time job at Johnson Optometric. I worked at the front desk checking people in. I talked a little bit about it back back when I first started working. 

Welllllll now I actually have a different job! Same place - new position. A while ago they asked me if I had any interest in becoming an optometric technician and I was like yeah, sure. And then it was like BAM, okay, it's time to start training. I was like woahhh, awesome. That's almost exactly how it all happened.

So now I've been training for a couple weeks and I have learned SO much. 

If you've never been to the eye doctor, I'll explain the job this way: I'm the eye doctor's assistant/nurse-like person.

If you've been to the eye doctor, I'll tell you that I run all of the preliminary tests on your eyes such as the auto-refractor and visual field test. There may be additional tests/retinal photos needed depending on the patient. I then take you to the exam room and annoy you with a bunch of questions about your health and your eyes and your dog and your life. 

I check your vision, your eye muscles, your pupils, and then numb your eyes with a drop (everyone's favorite part!). I check your eye pressure, which we do without using the "puff of air" method that people hate, haha. I check your prescription ("One...or two...one...or two") and dilate your eyes. When the doctor comes in I help him with whatever he needs and enter his observations and instructions into the computer system.

(A few of those things I'm still learning. I'm such a noob.)

And all of that is just for a basic eye exam. Some of them are MUCH more complicated. Really every patient is different - that's what's difficult to me. I like having an exact routine and knowing every detail of what I need to do before hand. There's just no way to know that at any doctor's office. It sure does make it interesting though!

It helps tremendously that the girl training me is such an expert on all of this and an excellent teacher. I'm surrounded by smart, helpful, kind people at the office and I am SO thankful for that.

If you're wondering - yes, I warned them that I am a fainter and get queasy in a matter of two seconds. But they said it should be fine...we'll see. Haha. People have always joked about how I could never have a job in the medical field....but here I am. In scrubs.

And also if you're wondering - yes, I have terrible vision myself. My contacts are -6.00 with some crazy astigmatism. (Way beyond legally blind.) So maybe that helps me understand eye problems? Haha. 

God's plans have definitely taken me by surprise on this one. But He knows best. :) All glory be to His Name!

From the Office of Ashley Shelley.

We've had quite a productive weekend. Since we haven't been home for many weekends at all in the past couple months, we've definitely taken advantage of this long one. It's been FABULOUS.
We went out on a date to a lovely, fancy Italian place using a gift card we got for Christmas. (Yes, it was about time we used that thing.) If you live in the Raleigh area, Cafe Tiramisu is the place to go! But you will probably need a reservation so don't just pop on over there, haha.
We got some SLEEP, finally. We worked out. We went to the pool. Got to hang out with my bro who's home from college. (YAY) We got to fellowship with believers and then minister at a retirement village on Sunday. It's been such a good break.
But the main reason it was productive is because we got to CLEAN our messy apartment. But not just clean - organize. There's definitely a difference. 
While I was organizing in our bedroom, Jordan surprised me by completely cleaning out the nook area that's attached to our kitchen. It's been used for random items - guitar stuff, card table & chairs, and lots of things that we just needed to go through. 
Well Jordan took that little space and made it into "my office". :) 
There was already a desk here that was cluttered with items. Now, it is the home of our new desktop computer! Ahhh I'm so excited!
Let me tell you about its awesomeness. It's one of those all-in-one computers that doesn't have a tower or anything. It's a Lenovo. There are hardly any cords. The screen is big. It's also touch screen. (Which although unnecessary, is actually really nice!) It's cool to use a mouse now which I'm only used to doing at work. It is all beautiful. 
Jordan told me that there is one condition with this office though....I have to actually BLOG. Haha. Remember this post about my man wanting me to blog? He is such an excellent blog supporter. He and my mom have been pleading with me to blog lately so HERE IT IS. :) Thanks to finally being home and my new office! He even told the guy at Best Buy about the blog and how I love to write. Have I declared to the world recently how much I love this man??? I LOVE THIS MAN.
Here's my little space thus far.

I got that little drawer thing for the printer at The Container Store along with a couple of other desk items. I sure do love that place. Just breathing the air in there makes me feel more organized.

I hope y'all had a wonderful weekend too! Here's to hoping this is the end of my blogging lull! :)

Murder Mystery Party!

For Jordan's birthday we had SUCH a fun party for him. We'd been wanting to do a murder mystery dinner party, but didn't have the space in our one bedroom apartment. We decided to ask my kind parental unit if we could use their lovely abode, and they obliged! It was the PERFECT place for it.
Okay maybe I should explain what a murder mystery party is for those of you who don't know. Here's how it goes.
1. There's a theme. Ours was the murder of a millionaire.
2. You buy a packet online that comes with everything you need to play. It can be a small group or a large group, there are ones for all sizes. We had 17 people and I think that any more than that would have been difficult.
*Ours was from www.nightofmystery.com*
3. Everyone gets a character ahead of time. You are the only one who really knows about your character - your life, background, relationships with other characters, secrets, etc. You learn all about your character and come to the party as your character. And dressed like him/her of course. :)
4. When you get to the party, you mingle with the other characters and receive your first envelope. In that envelope there are objectives to complete and questions you should ask others, along with some fake money. You may find out more about yourself and your secrets too. You can use the money to bribe people to tell you secrets, or to keep yours quiet!
5. After dinner and when everyone completes what their first envelopes told them to do, you receive a second envelope. In our party this was after the reading of the millionaire's will (why we were gathered together). There may also be another murder! It probably depends on the party.
6. The second envelope tells you if you are the murderer. If you're not the murderer, it tells you more info about yourself and others they may help you figure it out. 
7. You spend the rest of the party trying to figure out who did it and why! It is SO fun. People got really into it. It wasn't a simple plot whatsoever. (Only 2 out of 17 figured it out at our party.) There were so many different motives and crazy characters whose stories intertwined. And it was hilarious to see our friends acting out the characters. For instance one of my best friends was my rival at the party so we were fighting the whole time. As in literally pushing each other, haha. The more you get into it, the better time you have. You can still completely play when you host it. Jordan and I had no idea who the murderer was or about anyone's secrets, even though we arranged the whole thing.   There are prizes, too! Whoever guesses the murderer right at the end gets a prize. There are also awards for Best Dressed, Best Acting, and Most Money.  Here is Jasmine Rochester and Reilly Ravish. (Also known as me and Jordan.)

And that was my prom dress from my junior year of high school, haha. Can't believe that was seven years ago!

Here is my friend Sarah whom I was referring to earlier, and her man Dane. (Neal Worthers and Jessica Rochester) You can see why Sarah won Best Dressed!

 

People were getting INTENSE about this. They kept having secret conversations in the "office" and I caught these two listening in on one. 

Here I am with my daughter Katherine. (My friend Amy.) We were snobby, obviously.

 

And of course, I can't leave out the pool boy - Fabio Fabulous. (Amy's fiance Eric.) He tied with Sarah for Best Dressed!

 

If you are throwing a murder mystery party anytime soon or want to - please don't hesitate to ask me about it! We were kinda anxious about how it would go, but it was fantastic. We definitely want to have another one. I think next time we may do a Western themed one. :)
Have you thrown any fun parties lately? I need some more good ideas - my birthday is 2 months from today!