Surprise!

Today my office threw me a surprise baby shower. I definitely was not expecting anything--because they definitely didn't need to throw me one--but looking back, it's pretty funny how sneaky they were. Like, "How are you spelling Isaac?" "What else do you need?" "Have you gotten one of these yet?" etc, etc. So, some of the exciting new things included a baby bath tub (or, better put: a chair to place in the tub for bath time), a saucer (I think that's how you spell it--basically allows the baby to stand and be entertained) a high chair, newborn diapers, baby medicine....needless to say, it was great. I feel blessed to be working with such a great office--I've only been at the office for two and a half months, so I really felt undeserving of this surprise.

Another exciting thing going on at work is a new training I am going through. Currently, a loan officer takes an application and then gives it to me to process the loan. I process it and then submit it to underwriters who authorize the loan. A lot of pressure is being put on the underwriters right now given the market and the need to be thorough and not put our company at risk. Well, First Horizon has a program that all processors can go through to be certified as underwriters. There are five levels and I am currently a "Level One Decisioner." I started the training today, which basically included two conference calls, and after I finish a certain amount of files that I personally underwrite, I'll advance to the next level, and so on. I find it fascinating and really enjoy the material. Eventually, I'll be able to process and underwrite my own loans. Right now I can begin underwriting certain loan types, and as I do those well I gain added responsibility and capability of doing other loan types. (I can do the very conventional loans now, like a 30 year fixed loan, as I perform well on those I will be able to underwrite some of the government loan types). I really like the added responsibility this program offers because this is something that a person can advance at as much as they want--so I hope to reach the highest tier that I can to be as marketable as I can. Then, down the road, if I need to transfer to a new location, i.e. we move, I will be able to say that I have the experience of processing and underwriting. I think it's pretty cool. :-)