Not Dead

Hi, Everyone. I'm not dead, but I have been insanely busy.

Work is going ok....
Church is going well.....
I went bowling last night and I didn't do very well, but we all had fun.....

Buh-bye

Recap

Wow!! I was just thinking (yes, it was painful) today about how it's Cynthia's six month birthday tomorrow, as well and Shannon and Josh's three year anniversary. One thing led to another (as it always does in these cases!) and I realized it's been like SIX MONTHS (or a little more) since I've moved away from Wisconsin. WOW!! Time really does fly by so quickly!!!

So...I thought I'd just recap what's been going on....

September/October - Move to Virginia
October - Cynthia was born;
November - Thanksgiving...time at Marilyn and Karl's and time with Krystina's Family
December - Job layoff; Dad's Heart Attack; Mark and Krystina's wedding; Dad's Heart Surgery
January - Dad's recovery; Return to VA and move to SC
February - Settling into SC, job hunt; Joined Morningside Baptist Church...love it!!
March - Stephanie and Hugh's wedding; GOT A JOB!!!
April - Nothing yet....it's only April 1 right now :o)

Wow -- that's a pretty full six months(ish), huh??

It's been neat to see how the Lord has worked things out for me. Things were so tough for a while, when I was in Virginia. The Lord taught me SOOO much about depending on Him and trusting Him to meet my needs...emotionally and spiritually, mostly.

Jer. 29:11 says "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." As I was looking up this verse online to get the exact verbiage, I came across a devotional that was talking about the context of this verse, and how it's in the middle of the Lord proclaiming judgement. It is SOO comforting to know that we serve a loving Heavenly Father who knows exactly what He wants for us and how to go about accomplishing His perfect will for our lives, even though it's hard and it hurts sometimes. I think that is what the Lord has really been teaching me the past six months or so. Growing pains are a "necessary evil" so to speak. When the Lord stretches our faith, it hurts. BUT we know that He is always there for us, and we know that we can trust Him...even though what is happening doesn't make any sense to us whatsoever.


I am REALLY loving it here in Greenville....I've actually been wanting to move back here since I graduated college. Church is going really well, and I've made some GREAT new friends!! Ben and Tiffany are my neighbors, and then there is their friend John and his brother Pat and another guy named Jeremy. The group of us have started having Sunday dinners together....it's a blast!! That is one thing that I have missed. Sunday dinners are a big part of family life at home. It's so nice to have such fun neighbors!

My apartment is still really great....I'm getting even more settled in here. I'm definitely putting down roots, and I'm not planning to move any time soon.

Well...that's about it for the update. My brain is pretty fried....it's bedtime. Ya'll have a great night!!

So far....ok

Wow!! It has been SUCH a busy week!! Training for the new job started on Monday, and I have to say it's been very interesting. I'm finding that the job is going fairly well for the most part. It's coming to me fairly easily which is nice. BUT they have given us homework every night, which I don't really like....but hey -- life isn't made up of what I do and don't like. HA!! If only, right??

I haven't gotten home until really late every night. Well, not EVERY. I got home on Monday and tonight about 9:00pm, and I got home around 7:30 on Tuesday. It's Bible Conference week at BJU, so I was hoping to be able to get to more of the services, but so far I've only been able to make it to Monday's. I'm planning to go tomorrow night, though. It's the Alumni Association annual meeting and reception.

ANYWAYS....the bus kids TOTALLY wore me out, so I'm exhausted...pretty sure it's bedtime. Thanks for all your prayer and support. I appreciate it!

Work and Stuff

Well, I have some news. I have a job. It's not THE JOB that I really wanted....the one I interviewed a week ago for. BUT is a job. I will be working for a company called Level One. The job is working in their call center....er....Central Leasing Office answering incoming phone calls about apartments and such. The thing I'm not too fond of is that the hours are second shift and I'm required to work one weekend day a week. That means that I have to work every Saturday so I can go to church on Sundays. PLUS there isn't really much of a chance that I'll even have 2 days off in a row. BUT it's the job the Lord provided for me. When I talked to the recruiter, he said that you can eventually work up to being able to have first shift hours....so that's a bonus. And, he and I talked about career opporunities with the company, outside of the call center. There seem to be quite a few. So in all, I'm starting to get a little excited about the job. It's always fun to learn new things, right??? Oh -- I start Monday.

I also had a Stampin' Up! workshop last night. It went really well, and even though there were only 3 guests, the hostess got some nice stuff. Here are the projects we made:


This is just a cute little spiral notebook....the kind you get at Wal-Mart 4/$1, but they are so fun to alter, and I really love the way it turned out!!

The best way to make these is to unwind the spiral and take the notebook apart. Then, after you finish your design, use a small circle punch (we used 1/8") to punch the holese for the spiral to go back in and re-wind the spiral.

Supplies:
Stamps - A Beautiful Thing
Cardstock - Groovy Guava, Blue Bayou, Whisper White
Ink - Groovy Guava, Blue Bayou, Wild Wasabi
Accessories - Groovy Guava Double-Stitched Ribbon, Brads
Punches - Circle Scallop, 1 1/4 and 1 3/4 Circle, Round Tab



The other project we made is this card. Isn't it fun?? I fell in love with this stamp set when the new catty came out, so I'm really happy to have it now. ACTUALLY, I traded for this set...so I didn't even spend any money to get it.

Supplies
Stamps - The Free and the Brave
Cardstock - Soft Sky, Purley Pomegranate, Blue Bayou
Ink - Blue Bayou
Embelishments - Soft Sky Double Stitched Ribbon



This project is what I gave the hostess of the workshop as a thank you. It is a 4x4 magnet that came with my phone book. I think there was a roto-rooter ad or something on it. Doesn't it look MUCH better with pretty ribbon and sparkes??

Supplies
Stamps - Bugs and Kisses
Cardstock - Soft Sky, Purely Pomegranate
Ink - Purely Pomegranate
Embelishments - Purely Pomegranate Double Stitched Ribbon, Dazzeling Diamonds (glitter)



And here are some other projects that I've made. You can find details for these cards on my Splitcoast Stampers gallery HERE.

It went like this

Well....I was chatting with a friend today. It went like this:

Them: What are you up to tomorrow?

Me: I don't know yet. What are you up to tomorrow?

Them : Working

Me: That's nice.
I'd go to work...but I don't have a job.
I might do some stamping.
In fact....
....it is very likely that I will do some stamping.
In fact.....
I'm almost 100% sure I will stamp some cards tomorrow.

Them: That's cool.
(insert cheesy grin here)

It amused me greatly, so I thought I would share.

Interview

Hi. It's me again. I just wanted to say THANK YOU so much to everyone for their prayers. My interview went really, really well. The job sounds quite fascinating. There is so much attached with the ministry....it sounds fabulous!! I won't bore you with all of the gory details, but the Chavers were both really nice. I enjoyed chatting with them over lunch. They are very down-to-earth people Oh -- and I met Frank Garlock at lunch today, so that was interesting. Apparently, they are old friends. ANYWAYS....after lunch, they took me back to the place where I would be working. It is a renovated school that was built around the 1870s, I believe. They have a complete stage there, including a turntable and all sorts of other nifty gadgets.

So, it sounds like a great job. They are going to be letting me know within the next 2 days they said, but hopefully by Monday. I appreciate your prayers that the Lord would give wisdom and direction.

Thanks again!!

The Desires of our Hearts

As you may or may not have noticed, I have a flare for the dramatic. Being such, I REALLY love plays and the theatre. I was introduced to opera while I was in college, and I actually enjoyed it (especially since they display sub-titles so you can read what's going on!). Well, this year at BJU, the spring Opera is The Barber of Seville( <----- production photos, if you are interested.....). I especially enjoyed this production when I was in college, particularly because they perform it in English....yessss!!!! So, I really REALLY wanted to go, but couldn't swing it financially. Sheesh....what a disappointment!! Weeeell.....a friend of mine, Mrs. Joyce Parsons (who works in the costume room at BJU) had an extra ticket and invited me to go with their family. So, now I get to see the opera.

What is it the Bible says about the desires of our hearts??? Hmmmm......