Thankfulnes

I found these in the front seat of my car yesterday at lunch. They were a peace offering from my husband after the terrible morning we had...lets just say we weren't being very nice to each other...

So Nicole challenged everyone she knew to think of all of the reasons that we were thankful. The other night on my break I jotted down my reasons. I have great intentions to wake up and blog about the things I was thankful for...but when Satan jumps into the mix nothing ever goes as planned. Needless to say as thankful as I am for my life, I wasn't feeling very thankful yesterday. However, today is a new day and I am determined not to let the devil get the best of me, so here goes these are the reasons I am thankful

I am thankful for my family, we have had our good times and bad, but I love them just the same and would not trade them for the world.

I am thankful for my house, it is very small, but it's perfect for us and very cheap on rent. This house has allowed us to really work on our finances over the last two years, and finally there is light at the end of the tunnel

I am thankful that God loved me enough to send his son in my place.

I am thankful for my husband, he is truly a God send. As much as he drives me crazy sometimes I love him very much and am so grateful that he is in my life.

I am thankful for my teenagers at church, they are gifts from God with there own thoughts, ambitions and personalities. They are nuts, but incredibly fun to teach and hang out with.

I am thankful for my friends, that is one thing God has really blessed me with, I love that he has put people in my life that minister to me and I can minister to in return, friends are a true testament to Gods love.

I am thankful for my job, I am thankful that when I needed one God gave me one and he worked out the details so that I could have church days off.

I'm thankful for my in laws, I really lucked out in that department, they have taken me in as their own which means so much to me since my family is so far away.

I am thankful for the musical gifts God has given me. I love music and love to lift it up to him!

I'm thankful for Darian, my niece she is bright and contagious...and sometimes obnoxious, but I love that she speaks her mind in everything she does and she wears her emotions right on her sleeve.

I'm thankful for Destiny, my other niece, she is an amazing young women who has been through many trials and still tries to look at the positive sides of life. I love that she knows what she wants, but doesn't ever want to put anyone else out to get it.

I'm thankful for my youth directors that I had over the years, Jenny, John, Julie, Kyle, and Darrell. These individuals really made and impact on my life and I am eternally grateful for it. It is because of them that I understand how great the responsibility God has given me to work with the teenagers in my life.

I am thankful for my experiences. I have had some heartbreaking experiences in my life that have caused me to be a strong and well balanced person, I still experience heartbreak, but I am confident that God is in control and that he has a plan for my life that includes the lessons from all of these experiences

I'm thankful for my dad, I only got to spend a few short years with him and didn't realize how wonderful that was until he was gone. He was an amazing person who loved the Lord and made sure that Michelle and I have every chance to meet him in a personal way. He was an amazing man and a total cheese ball.

I am so thankful for pajamas, I love to wear pajamas!!

I'm thankful that we have housework. I hate to do it, but it means that we are living productive lives!

I'm thankful for airplanes, without airplanes it would be very difficult for me to go see my family and for them to come see me, I love that I can make it home in 6 hours on a plane!

I'm grateful for my childhood. I feel like I had a great childhood where I got to experience being a kid and was taught the standards of how to lead a God fearing life!

I'm grateful for my personality...my mouth gets me in trouble sometimes, but rest assured you will always know exactly how I feel about something and you will rarely misunderstand me!

Setting Goals

So I have been doing a lot of thinking about my life lately. You know when you have that epiphany that you need a total life makeover! That is how I have been feeling. Michael told me the other day that he wants to do bible study together, he has also mentioned a time or two about how nice it would be if I could keep the house up and fix dinner a little more often. When I was in school, it was really hard for me to keep dinner on the table and the house picked up. I felt like I was run ragged with all the stuff that was going on. Since I am finished with school and getting on a better schedule, I figure now is the time to make some goals. I have some total life makeover goals in mind, but anybody can tell you that when you are setting goals it's important to start small. So here goes, I am going to make a short term goal for this week. This week I am starting out with a clean slate, there are no dirty dishes, no dirty clothes and the house is actually company presentable, lived in, but company presentable. This week I am going to make an effort to keep the house up. Every night after dinner this week I will wash dishes and straighten up the living room. I will have meals planned and prepared for every night this week, and I will at least do one load of laundry this week. (I know all you mommies out there are thinking ONE LOAD???, but there are only two of us...and ICT isn't near as dirty as Hobby Lobby) pray for me that I can meet my goals this week! I know that making these things a priority will in the end make my life much simpler and leave me with more time to spend with my hubby and just relaxin instead of worrying about my house! Later on I will tell you about some of the other more long term goals I would like to set for Michael and I.

Productivity

Today has been a very productive day, and I even got to have some lazy time! I told Michael that I was not going to be going ANYWHERE today...he said, "you have said that everyday for the last 2 weeks." I informed him that I meant it this time! It's 4:30 and I still have not gone anywhere. I can proudly tell you that my house is clean...well clean enough...my vacuum needs help, so it's not vacuumed, however, the laundry, dishes, living room, dinner, and breakfast for tomorrow are all finished and I still have 3 hours before Michael gets home. Tonight, we are going to have a lazy cozy up on the couch and watch a movie night. On the agenda? The Boy in the Striped Pajamas.

Free Jeans!

So I thought I would give a quick update on work. I can already tell it is not going to be a glamorous job by any means, but I do think it is a job where I will be able to work, make decent money and not hate what I am doing. In fact, I actually find using the computer to look up random credit card info quite fun...pathetic I know. Plus, there seems to be a rapid pace of moving up in the company. Training is going well and I am actually enjoying this temporary training schedule of 3-11. Yesterday I was able to go to Bible study and go to the tanning salon and have lunch with the hubby before work.
At ICT they collect money for several different local charity's the way they do this is so have dollar jeans days. This means you can break dress code and wear casual clothes for a dollar a day. Last night the trainer challenged us to find some info on the system in exchange for a free jeans day...so today I can wear casual clothes for free! Woohoo! I know, I know thats enough excitement for a week huh? lol.

Today is the day!

So my facebook status for today is "today is a day for new experiences." Today is the day that i start my new job as a customer service representative at ICT. The Lord has blessed me with a job and I am praying that the transition is a smooth one and that I actually enjoy my work, as it has been a long time since I have!
Last week I blogged about my wonderful husband taking me shopping for new work clothes. Well folks, today is the day that they get to make their debut as today is the day that I can officially wear cute clothes and more importantly shoes to work!

Camping!

So this weekend, despite the rainy forecast, The Leslie's and The Harris' decided to go camping out in the national forest. Friday night Michael was getting the camper all set up when he thought he got stung by a wasp (we have a wasp problem here)when actually he got bit by a brown spider. So far, it has swelled up and got hot, then it cooled down and today it is not swollen and hard, but very hot...so needless to say Michael will be going to the doc tomorrow, against his will. So anyway, after a very late night we got up at 5am and finished loading up and headed over to Carrie and Henry's. We had to stop at Walmart to get a tarp and some congestion junk for Ella-Claire. When we came back out Michael put the stuff in the camper and felt a prick on his pinky...he got stung by a wasp. Poor Michael didn't exactly have the best start to the weekend.
Anyway, we knew there was a good chance for storms, but we decided to brave the woods anyway. We got to camp and got all set up and decided to go for ride. It was very nice, as much as I love to ride my own fourwheeler, I love to ride on Mike's so we can chat and view the "natures" together. It was neat, right when we decided to head back to camp it started to sprinkle and then when we got back it started to thunder. So we hung out in the army tent for about 2 hours visiting. Its always fun to visit with friends. Long story short, the rain only held us up for 2 hours! Then we went down the water fall where I learned that Carrie is afraid of heights and didn't want to hike in. Over all we had a really good time riding and right after we went to bed the bottom fell out and it stormed all night. Then this morning it was bright and sunny...that is of course until it was time to leave. We went out riding and on the way back to camp it poured and we got drenched...rain kinda hurts when it hits your bare face at 40mph. Of course...as we finally left the woods it was bright and sunny again.
All in all even with all the weather troubles and extra set up to shelter us from the rain I had a blast. We had a great time laughing and being goofy and playing in the mud. I want to thank God for the beautiful land that he gave me to live in, good clean (muddy) fun and good friends to share it with!

Happy Easter

I just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Easter. I hope that everyone has been celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ. I'm so glad that he came to this earth to be crucified for my sins.
Today has been a good day, we got up and went to the sunrise service and had breakfast at church. Carry and Henry Joined us for the sunrise service. Then we had regular Sunday Morning services. After church we had a wonderful meal with our family. I love it when we can all be together and have fun and fellowship while celebrating the death and resurrection of our savior. Unfortunately we were all to stuffed and tired to play redneck monopoly...sorry Henry.
Happy Easter Everyone!

Needs....

I have felt kinda down today...all day. (Maybe it's in the air...) I realize that there are many things that I need in my life. In fact, I think that I need someone to whip me into shape and remind me daily what I need. I feel convicted, I need to spend more time with God. I love God and I love serving him, but I do not spend near enough time with him. There are so many issues in my life and I need him in order to sort them out. As I have said earlier I am job hunting. I need a better job, both for monetary and sanity reasons. Why am I not trusting God to provide it? Instead I worry and worry and worry until I make myself sick.
I havn't said much yet about infertility yet, but I worry about it constantly. I desire so bad to be a mother...why am I not trusting God to take care of it? I know I know, you're probably thinking this girl is crazy....I know I am, but I am a child of God and he cares to know about my every desire. Now if only I could get myself to share with him like I should.

The Internet

So hear lately Michael has been giving me a really hard time about how much time I spend on the computer, he feels neglected when I am looking at this screen instead of him, or the television screen. Since I didn't have any homework last night I decided to make the computer off limits...it just about killed me! I wouldn't go as far as to say I am a computer addict, but I do use it a lot. All of my classes are online which is the majority of the reason I am on it. There there is the fact that I am a facebook junkie. I love that I can have access to my entire family and group of friends right at the tip of my fingers! I have noticed that I get especially attatched to facebook when I am stressed. There has been a lot going on in our lives over the last few weeks, infertility problems, job hunting, and all around stress. When life is stressful I get homesick and miss my California people. I miss my mom and my sis and my nieces and my whole family support system. Facebook makes me feel a little bit closer to them. Anyway, last night I turned the computer off and didn't mess with my phone or anything. I spent the entire evening with my husband. It was nice. I love spending time with him. He is an amazing man.

The Little Things in Life

It's funny how sometimes we make forget to thank God for even the littlest things. The first of the month is always a tight time, as all the bills seem to be then. Michael thought he was being helpful and scheduled a Discover payment for the first. He also neglected to call them back and reschedule it for a different week. So we were feeling a little stressed because it was going to put us way short. Today before I left I realized I needed to make a grocery list, so I grabbed my notebook as a last second decision on the way out the door. I never take it with me. I threw it in the front seat and headed to work. When I got there I picked it up and a piece of paper fell out that said "Discover, $110 on April 4" I was so excited, I called discover and rescheduled the payment, I never would have known unless I grabbed that notebook. Thank you God. There are a few other little things I would like to thank God for. Thank you Lord that I have a job, I may not like it, but it pays the bills. Thank you lord that I have food in the fridge, it may not be what I want, but it feeds my body. Thank you lord for my life, it may not be perfect, but it is yours.
Give thanks to the Lord and proclaim his greatness... 1 Chronicles 16:8

Job Interviews....

So this morning I drug myself out of bed at 5:30am, did you hear that 5:30AM.I got all dolled up and headed out the door.It was so not fun. No time for coffee, breakfast nothing. Then I get to my interview and quickly realize that everyone in Little Rock has an interview at AT&T this morning. The whole process at AT&T is a bit exhausting, but it sounds like a great job. I hope that I get get a one on one interview. Now starts the mad dash to do some homework and get something to eat before work!

Okay...Lets try this again

Hello everyone! Lets try this again! I have some exciting news! In two weeks I will be a degreed woman. It may not be much, but I am so proud to say that I will have my AA degree in Criminal Justice and will be continuing with my Bachelors Degree in Business. My Bachelors program will be starting in May. I have had some major changes in my life, but all in all things are well.

I am currently job hunting. I have had two interviews at Ethan Allen and have an interview in the morning at AT&T. I have my heart set on the job at Ethan Allen, but am trying not to worry about it to much. She said the decision would be made by Friday or Monday.
There are a lot of things going on in my life right now that I am not going to get into just yet, but I want to say a few things. I am so grateful for my husband. He is amazing. I couldn't have asked God to give me a better man. He picks me up when I am down and loves me no matter what. I love him with my whole heart and am so glad that god put him in my life.
I would also like to thank God for putting my friend Carrie in my life. Who'd have thought that someone I worked with for just three short months could become one of my dearest friends. I know that God put the Harris Family into our lives for a reason. We needed some good friends, and so did they. Carrie, I had a blast shopping today, I just love our marital affair with shopping...even though I got in trouble. =)
The final thing that I want to thank God for tonight is for using me to do his work. God has given me a very special job in my life. He has called me, little ole me, to influence teenagers at my church. I am so thankful for each and everyone of them. I pray that God will always provide what I need to continue to do his work.