Archive for July, 2009

My Last Day

Friday, July 31st, 2009

Today is my last day at the City.

After a few months of pushing out my end-date, the extra room in the budget in my department has run out. It’s not unexpected. In fact, we’ve known it would happen from day one when I was hired in September. This position has always been a temporary one. It’s funny though, because even though I’ve been temporary from the get-go, I’ve been with the City as a designer longer than I have anywhere else. Granted, that’s mostly because every other place I’ve worked (except one) has been as a student in internship-like design positions. So really, my temporary position has been the most stable and long-lasting. Even my coworkers welcomed me like I had been there forever, and would continue to be. I was given projects that had longer deadlines. I was treated like I would be there for a while. They assumed I’d be there. And they were right. I started out at 10 hours, which quickly grew to 20 hours, and then finally 30 in October.

I’m a classified employee in Media Services, which means the things I work on are considered confidential (not everything is, obviously, because they are produced for the public, but many things are for internal use only) and that is why I haven’t posted anything I’ve done on HolliRausch.com.

Most of my days were spent working on small tasks:

  • fliers
  • posters
  • banners
  • brochures
  • updating previous artwork/content
  • data entry
  • production work (binding, copying, laminating, grommeting, etc.).

However, there were some larger and more in-depth projects I worked on as well:

  • 2009 calendar sent to every Sioux Falls resident
  • Police department billboards (2 locations)
  • Media Services’ office artwork
  • Banners for conventions/trade shows

I was notified of my official end-date last Wednesday. The very next day, I was offered (and accepted) a position as a Graphic Designer with the University of Sioux Falls. I will start in a week. The timing couldn’t be more perfect. The only way I can explain it is that it’s God’s timing. I obviously had no control as to when the budget would dwindle nor if I’d ever again be offered a job in my field. It’s about the same hours as at the City, but since I will be the only graphic designer in-house, and this is a new position, we foresee that I will be very busy and my hours might increase. While I had a very positive experience with the City, and learned a lot, I am anxious to move forward with USF in a permanent setting and with a great group of people trying to make some changes.

There will be no pomp and circumstance. No party. We won’t divulge in treats. There will just be some good lucks and stay in touches as I leave at 4 p.m. and my coworkers return to their desks. I prefer it that way.

Our House

Wednesday, July 29th, 2009

Fireplace Wall

We finally have some pictures of our house. The place is put together and completely unpacked. Things might not be in their final resting place, but they’re out of their boxes at least! That’s further than we got in the apartment…we ran out of places to put our stuff!

Check out the rest of the set, Our House.

Things I Learned From Mowing Our Lawn

Wednesday, July 15th, 2009
  • Should have purchased a bagged mower
  • I feel self-conscious mowing the front yard when the neighbors are outside
    • I feel self-conscious mowing the front yard when the neighbors’ construction men are outside
  • We need work gloves
  • A bagless mower, on windy days, will not be fun
  • Filling the gas can is quite possibly the scariest task in the world
  • When not in a hurry, the front and back yards can be mowed in under 45 minutes.
    • We have a small yard
  • Mower vs. Gigantic Mushrooms = Mower wins (for now)
  • Picking up sticks sucks just as much now as it did when I was a kid
  • We need a weed-wacker