My dear Wormwood,

If you do not know what 'The Screwtape Letters' are...

Wormwood: a junior tempter in Satan's army
Screwtape: Wormwoods uncle, an experienced tempter with much advice and many grand examples of keen tempting, for his nephew to learn from.
The Enemy: God
The patient: the human that Wormwood has been assigned to; Wormwood is to ensure his patient does not wander too close to the Enemy (God), or ever truly become one of His.

Wormwood's patient has previously converted to Christianity, but is now enduring his first "slump"...here we find Screwtape's advice for Wormwood...

My dear Wormwood,
Obviously you are making excellent progress. My only fear is lest in attempting to hurry the patient you awaken him to a sense of his real position. For you and I, who see that position as it really is, must never forget how totally different it ought to appear to him. We know that we have introduced a change of direction in his course which is already carrying him out of his orbit around the Enemy; but he must be made to imagine that all the choices which have affected this change of course are trivial and revocable. He must not be allowed to suspect that he is now, however slowly, heading right away from the sun on a line which will carry him into the cold and dark of utmost space.
For this reason I am almost glad to hear that he is still a churchgoer and a communicant. I know there are dangers in this; but anything is better than that he should realise the break he has made with the first months of his Christian life. As long as he retains externally the habits of a Christian he can still be made to think or himself as one who has adopted a few new friends and amusements but whose psiritual state is much the same as it was six weeks ago. And while he thinks that, we do not have to contend with the explicit repentance of a definite, fully recognised, sin, but only with his vague, though uneasy, feeling that he hasn't been doing very well lately.
This dim uneasiness needs careful handling. If it gets too strong it may wake him up and spoil the whole game. On the other hand, if you supress it entirely - which, by the by, the Enemy will probably not allow you to do - we lose an element in the situation which can be turned to good account. If such a feeling is allowed to live, but not alowed to become irresistible and flower into real repentance, it has one invaluable tendency. It increases the patient's reluctance to think about the Enemy. All humans at nearly all times have some such reluctance; but when thinking of Him involved facing and intensifying a whole vague cloud of half-conscious guilt, this reluctance is increased tenfold. They hate every idea that suggests Him, just as men in financial embarassment hate the very sight of a pass-book. In this state your patient will not omit, but he will increasingly dislike, his religious duties. He will think about them a little as he feels he decently can beforehand, and forget them as soon as possible when they are over. A few weeks ago you had to tempt him to unreality and inattention in his prayers: but not you will find him opening his arms to you and almost begging you to distract his purpose and benumb his heart. He will want his prayers to be unreal, for he will dread nothing so much as effective contact with the Enemy. His aim will be to let sleeping worms lie.
As this condition becomes more fully established, you will be gradually freed from the tiresome business of providing Pleasures as temptations. As the uneasiness and his reluctance to face it cut him off more and more from all real happiness, and as habit renders the pleasures of vanity and excitement and flippancy at once less pleasant and harder to forgo (for that is what habit fortunately does to a pleasure) you will find that anything or nothing is sufficient to attract his wandering attention. You no longer need a good book, which he realy likes, to keep him from his prayers or his work or his sleep; a column of advertisements in yesterday's paper will do. You can make him waste his time not only in conversations he enjoys with people whom he likes, but in conversations with those he cares nothing about on subjects that bore him. You can make him do nothing at all for long periods. You can keep him up late at night, not roistering, but staring at a dead fire in a cold room. All the healthy and out-going activities which we want him to avoid can be inhibited and given in return, so that at least he may say, as one of my own patients said on his arrival down here, 'I now see that I spent most of my life in doing neither what I ought nor what I liked.' The Christians describe the Enemy as one 'without whom Nothing is strong'. And Nothing is ery strong: strong enough to steal away a man's best years not in sweet sins but in dreary flickering of the mind over it knows not what and knows now why, in the gratification of curiousities so feeble that the man is only half aware of them, in drumming of fingers and kicking of heels, in whistling tunes that he does not like, or in the long, dim labyrinth of reveries that have not even lust or ambition to give them a relish, but which, once chance association has started them, the creature is too weak and fuddled to shake off.
You will say that these are very small sins; and doubtless, like all young tempters, you are anxious to be able to report spectacular wickedness. But do remember, the only thing that matters is the extent to which you separate the man from the Enemy. It does not matter how small the sins are provided that the cumulative effect is to edge the man away from the Light and out into Nothing. Murder is no better than cards if cards will do the trick. Indeed the safest road to Hell is the gradual one - the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts...

Your affectionate uncle,
Screwtape

The Screwtape Letters
By C.S. Lewis

Hangin' In There...

That's pretty much what we're doing right now: just hangin' in there. I am still job hunting, but have had little to no luck. I'll admit, it's kind of hard not to get discouraged sometimes. At times it feels like we're doing everything right, and getting no results. Kyle is working as much as he can, I am job hunting like crazy, we're scrimping and saving, we're following every lead we can but seem to be getting nowhere. I guess that's not entirely true. I should be getting a small pay check for the two days that I did work. There was some delay in that, and I had to go out of my way to get paid at all, but we should be getting a check any day now. I never thought I'd be so glad to see $150. Anyway, this whole experience has been, well, a bit of a character building experience. I've amazed myself with my newly found grocery shopping skills. We normally spend about $60-$80 (depending on if we have to buy meat) a week on groceries, but these past 3-4 weeks, we have spent about $20-$30 on groceries each week! Kyle has had a great attitude about living off of peanut butter and jelly lunches, haha. Thanks to Auntie Kathy and Uncle Rich, we have had a good supply of meat for free:) One of the wedding gifts we received from them was a catalog of frozen meats of all kinds, fancy stuff too(!), and a gift card for any package out of the catalog:) We opted for a big package of non-fancy meat, and that has proven to be the most useful wedding gift we got! haha:) So thanks to them, our nutrition (at least our protein intake) has not suffered, lol. If only we could order a bit of morale to go with it. Don't get me wrong, we're not broke, suffering, or getting into debt of any kind. We're just...well, a little discouraged. When I lost my job, we didn't expect that it would take this long for me to find another one. Now we're wondering if I even will. Since we're planning on leaving the area in June or July, my chances of finding a good paying job get slimmer and slimmer the closer that draws. Most companies want long-term employees, and many temporary jobs don't pay anywhere near what I need to be making. Needless to say, this hunt can get a little frustrating. In the mean time, if anyone needs their house cleaned...*holds up windex*:-D

Picture Update!

Here are the "before" pics...

...and here is the after pic:)


I'll try to get a better picture soon, but you can get the idea from this one:)

My 101 Update

This post is in reference to my post awhile back about 101 goals I'd like to achieve, or at least make progress on as some of them are a process, within 1001 days. So far, I'm not doing too bad:)
(1) I am finally OFF birth control. Those nasty little pills were too much for me...
(2) I've started a "Body Binder" to keep track of (a)my basal body temperature, and (b)what I eat!
(3) I've made it through a couple of grocery shopping trips now, without buying anything extra!
(4) This one is a process, but...I'm getting better at communicating my feelings to Kyle, before stewing about them for a long time. And he, as always, has been more patient and understanding than I could ever ask him to be.
(5) I've scratched "Learn to ignore pregnancy symptoms" off the list because (a)since getting off birth control, I haven't had pregnancy symptoms, and (b)if I do start getting pregnancy symptoms, I should probably not ignore them, haha.
(6) I am scratching "cut my hair short again" off the list because I am going to do that this weekend!:)
(7) We made chocolate dipped strawberries for Valentine's Day:)
(8) I've been getting better about eating my vegetables with a good attitude. I don't think I'll ever like them, but...I suppose I can tolerate them.
(9) And lastly (for now), I've begun to understand politics quite a bit more lately. With the elections going on, I can't really avoid hearing about them! And hearing about them regularly, I've started to catch on to the lingo, who's who, and so on. I don't think I'll ever really be "into" politics, but I feel a little bit more qualified to vote intelligently now:)

That's it for now:) Hopefully I'll have more to check off the list soon:)

Job Hunt Update - Perhaps A Change of Scene?

Well, I suppose it's about time I updated you all on the job hunt:) To make a long story short, things fell through with the job I previously blogged about, and I am still hunting. I have recently started broadening my job search criteria. See, I have been told that, based on my resume, "my field" is...well...the front desk. However, while job hunting, numerous people have commented that most of my experience is in working with children. This morning it occurred to me that I don't even have all of my child-care experience on my resume! I only included the experience where I was formally employed! Come to find out, many listings posted by people seeking childcare also accept experience such as church ministries, camp counseling, etc.! Now, I love working with kids. I wouldn't say I'm an expert - I'm not a mom yet, so I won't try to claim to be an expert, haha. But I have spent two school years as a part-time, unpaid teacher's aide. I have worked for a day care. I have been involved in non-profit children's ministries. I've been a camp counselor. I've taught sunday school, been an AWANA leader, and been involved in children's musical programs. I've worked in the church nursery. Why am I not building on that?! I love working with kids! Why am I hunting for a job behind a front desk?? SO...while I'm still keeping the front-desk option open, I've started searching for job listing that are more kid-oriented. I've applied for a job as a full-time teacher's assistant at a preschool, and one as a full-time nanny. I'm really hoping to hear back from either or both of them. The tough part is that I don't have any child-care or children's education training, as in college units in that field. I'm really hoping that somebody out there (an individual, or private organization) will at least give me a chance...

Anyway...please continue to keep us in your prayers. We're still doing okay financially, but we can only go for so long without a steady income! Pray that a good opportunity comes along soon:) Thanks everyone!

Valentine's Day :)

Due to the fact that Valentine's Day is on a weekday this year, Kyle and I decided, again, that we would celebrate Valentine's Day the weekend before Valentine's Day. So yesterday was Valentine's Day for us:) It was a nice day, so we decided to go to a park up in north Hollywood. Unfortunately, there was a run going on there, and we couldn't get in. We tried to go to another park we saw on the map that was nearby, but it turned out to be someone's private property - a big garden/park by a mansion. I'm not sure why it was on the map...anyway, so we ended up coming back home. Activity attempt #1: failed.
As a surprise for Kyle, I'd planned for us to make chocolate dipped strawberries sometime in the afternoon. So around 2:00, I started melting the chocolate. I'm not sure what I did wrong, but it ended up more like clay than melted chocolate. I'm sure I could've sculpted a sizable creation out of it, if I wanted to. Needless to say, it wasn't a very dip-able consistency. Activity attempt #2: failed.
Then Kyle, having figured out that chocolate dipped strawberries were supposed to be part of the plan, decided he actually wanted chocolate dipped strawberries, so we went to the store and bought some more chocolate to try and melt. This time it was successful, and we dipped our strawberries:) They turned out very nice:)
After dipping out strawberries and putting them in the refrigerator to cool, Kyle started fixing dinner. That's right - Kyle cooked dinner:) No offense to Kyle, but while I pretended to be fixing up my hair and makeup for our nice romantic dinner together, I was really keeping an ear to the wall, wondering what was going on in my kitchen. haha. Don't get me wrong, I have no fears about Kyle being in the kitchen. He can bake cookies like a pro, and knows how all the kitchen stuff works. But he wasn't baking cookies! He was cooking chicken fettuccini alfredo, from scratch! I've been cooking meals longer than he has, and I still failed at making alfredo sauce from scratch. And now he was trying to juggle three things at once (the chicken, the fettuccini, and the afredo)! I'm sure he forgives me for keeping my ears and nose focused on the kitchen. But, lo and behold, he didn't need my help at all! By the time I got pretty-fied and came out of the bathroom, he was dishing up pasta and salads, pouring wine, and lighting candles:) As for his cooking...well, I don't really have much reason to go back to Johnny Carinos anymore. I'll just make Kyle cook!;)

Wedding Pictures :)

To Check out our wedding pictures, go to www.myspace.com/theluckiestgirlever and click on my profile picture. It will take you to a page with photo 'albums' on it. Click on the album you want to see, and check them out! Sorry for not posting them all on here. Blogspot doesn't make picture-adding very convenient:-p Hope you enjoy the pictures!

Job Hunt Update!

Well, today I had another interview. I got there feeling like a windblown fraggle who'd just spent a half hour lost in downtown LA...okay, so aside from the "fraggle" part, that's all true. Two blocks further and twenty-six stories higher, I met some of the nicest people in Los Angeles:) I managed to smooth out my hair, suit, and nerves by the time I got to the office, thank goodness. First I met with Michelle. She is the HR person for the office. She was super nice, and made me feel really comfortable - not nearly the frazzled fraggle I'd felt like minutes before, haha. She interviewed me, and seemed to like me, as a person. I'm not really experienced enough with interviews to be able to "read" my interviewers, as to what they think of me professionally, but...she seemed to like me anyway, so that was encouraging. After awhile, a woman named Dee-dee (sp?) came in, and Michelle asked her to interview me also. Dee-dee was also really nice, and very comfortable to be around. I left feeling very positive, and extremely jittery! By the time I left, I wanted the job! The position is...well, actually they're hiring for two positions. One is as a receptionist, and one is as an executive assistant. Both job descriptions sounded fine to me, though I would definitely favor the assistant position (I'm much more comfortable with being a "go-fer" than a "company face" even though I can do either). The receptionist position is pretty much a standard receptionist job, but is with a far classier company than my previous job (no offense to my former company - I enjoyed my time there). The assistant position is basically like my old job, minus the receptionist part. The assistant would be responsible for keeping track of office supplies, coffee pots, paper stock, etc and would be consistently making sure that everything that the rest of the office needs to do their jobs, is available! Hehe, when describing this position to me, Michelle asked, "How do you feel about brewing coffee?" Feeling a bit silly, I said, "Uhm, well, I enjoy it actually." She then looked down at my resume to see my job at It's-A-Grind listed under job experience. Haha:) Apparently a lot of people would feel a little bit miffed being asked to keep track of other people's coffee. Hehe, I was thinkin' "I can make 'em lattes too if they'd like!" :-D Anyway, so either position sounds great to me. I definitely prefer being the "servant" over being the "company face," but I am fine with either, and walked out of the interview really really hoping I would get either position!
After the interview I went to the AGO fraternity house to kill time until Kyle got out of class. Nobody was around, so I had nobody to take my mind off my jitters, lol. So I called my dad:) I basically recited the interview back to him, haha, and he said it sounded like it went well:) Oh, I also called Stephen, who works for the staffing firm hired to find people for these positions. He's been really helpful in finding me a job, even to the extent of helping me improve my resume, coaching me on how to be a good interview-ee, and keeping me consistently updated on what positions may interest me. Anyway, I called him to follow up after the interview, and he sounded very positive about my interview:) He told me to call JoAnn, who also works with the staffing firm, for the same client, to follow up with her. She sounded positive also. I was getting tons of positive feedback, and encouragement from all sides!:) When Kyle finally got out of class, I picked him up, and of course updated him. We both got excited and hopeful, and very curious as to how soon we might hear back about the job opportunity.
Get this: Before we even got home, less than two hours after I left their office, JoAnn called from the staffing firm to tell me that, while the client still had a couple more people to interview, they were already 90% sure they want me! We are really hoping and praying that this works out! It seems like a really neat company, and so far everyone there seems really nice. It will also probably pay more than my last job:) We don't expect they'll shoot much higher than my previous salary, but any step up would be a huge blessing:) Anyway, be praying that this works out! We sure are! lol.
Oh, and for all you people out there who have a sort of non-sexual fetish for nice offices and office supplies (maybe that's only me, but oh well), this company's office is amazing! Sitting in the conference room, I had to keep myself from drooling on the polished mahogany table and leather arm chairs, or investigating the amazing wire-hiding techniques and classy screen-hiding-doors. Seriously, this office is beautiful. I won't be carrying too-full cups of coffee around, that's for sure! lol. OH, and they're on the top floor of a high-rise overlooking Beverly Hills, which is full of trees and bordered by a country club with a pristine green golf course! The view, as city-ful as it is, is quite a lovely sight:) ANYWAY, I'll quit daydreaming about mahogany conference rooms and get back to hoping and praying that I get the job! haha.

My 101

Inspired by Amee, who was inspired by Jocelyn, I've decided to write my own "101 in 1001". What is this "101 in 1001" thing? It's 101 things, goals if you will, that I would like to achieve within the next 1001 days. That's a bit less than 3 years, if my guess-work is correct. Anyhow...here's my 101:)

1. Actually finish a devotional book all the way through. (Apryl, I think the last one I finished was the one we did together...how sad is that? I've started at least one, but not finished!)

2. Get off birth control (I achieved this goal before I even finished writing my list!).

3. Be in awe at the blessing of feeling normal, once the birth control affects wear off (still waiting on this one though, lol).

4. Move out of L.A.

5. Buy a furniture set.

6. Make walking and/or running a part of my daily routine, at least on weekdays.

7. Lose my birth-control weight.

8. Learn to speak Kyle's love language(s) fluently.

9. Learn how to communicate my feelings without having to stew about them or let them "simmer" for so long before being able to put them into words.

10. Go for a whole week without spending any money (aside from essentials; bills, groceries, etc).

11. Make it through a trip to the grocery store without buying anything that wasn't on the list.

12. Get a job.

13. Quit a job (cause that means we'll be moving!).

14. Make or buy some sort of gift for our grouchy apartment managers.

15. Get over my hatred for beer (though I will never get over my hatred for drunkenness, but fortunately that's not an issue).

16. Buy Kyle a cowboy hat.

17. Take Kyle somewhere that he will actually wear his cowboy hat.

18. Attend a family reunion (where Kyle can wear his cowboy hat).

19. Send a care package to all the soldiers I know (that's only two, so I think we can manage that).

20. Get started making a baby. It's okay if this one takes some time...we'll maybe start trying around Day 1001...

21. Start going back to the dentist regularly.

22. Take a pottery or wood-working or other creative sort of class with Kyle.

23. Take a Biblical Studies course.

24. Learn Greek (I suspect this one may take more than 1001 days).

25. Buy a Greek Bible.

26. Paint at least one painting for our house.

27. Dance again, at least when nobody's around.

28. Stop complaining so much.

29. Learn to ignore pregnancy symptoms until I am off birth control (shoot, now I can't ignore them).

30. Own a dishwasher (This will be glorious).

31. Get Kyle an electric drum set.

32. Get Kyle a computer upgrade.

33. Forget about a past regret.

34. Visit the east coast.

35. Go camping.

36. Go backpacking at least once.

37. Get some good quality, as-comfortable-as-possible black pumps.

38. Make vacuuming a weekly habit.

39. Learn more about sex (sorry).

40. Build up a collection of children's books, Disney classics, the original VeggieTales, and Dr. Seuss books.

41. Rid my home of particle board (this will be difficult).

42. Get pictures taken with Kyle.

43. Volunteer somewhere.

44. Read the whole Bible.

45. Clean out my makeup stash and minimize it.

46. Start an IRA.

47. Become a more dedicated FlyBaby (Don't worry if this makes no sense).

48. Try a new recipe at least once a month.

49. Finish the Harry Potter books.

50. Get back to 26".

51. Get a dog (and train it before we get the nice furniture).

52. Buy us bicycles.

53. Paint a room.

54. Eat some MooseTracks. It's been too long.

55. Wear out a pair of running shoes.

56. Play in the snow.

57. Go to a fancy restaurant with live jazz and quiet customers.

58. Learn how to change my own oil.

59. Cut my hair short again.

60. Buy a real Christmas tree for Christmas.

61. Live somewhere that my parents will really want to visit (i.e. somewhere green).

62. Become a stay-at-home-wife.

63. Get involved in a womens Bible study.

64. Be an AWANA leader again if the opportunity arises.

65. Stop calling our kids by their potential names.

66. Donate more of our stuff to the Salvation Army or Goodwill.

67. Learn to eat my vegetables with a good attitude.

68. Figure out how to ignore the occasional baby itch.

69. Stop mentally laughing at this number like a junior higher.

70. Learn to sit up straight.

71. Keep a food journal/"body book".

72. Acquire a collection of various kinds of teas.

73. Start a tea cup collection.

74. Have someone over for tea :)

75. Take Kyle to see the Bar-D Wranglers again before they all die...

76. Go horseback riding.

77. Visit a Farmers Market.

78. Scrapbook our weddings.

79. Make chocolate dipped strawberries.

80. Create my own flower arrangement.

81. Have a front and back yard.

82. Buy a houseplant and not kill it.

83. Get into the habit of taking a shower every day.

84. Get into the habit of brushing my teeth more than once a day.

85. Learn a way to prepare vegetables where I'll actually like them.

86. Start taking pictures more often.

87. Get over how easily I get grossed out by bugs, and just kill them myself.

88. Begin to understand politics more.

89. Uhm....think of 11 more goals to add to this list...

Job Hunt Update

Well, today is day 7 of job hunting. So far I have had two interviews. One of them, at a temp agency, hired me on the spot, and kept me in their system even after I said I wasn't sure I wanted to actually accept the position. Apparently now if worse comes to worst, I can call them and say "assign me something" and they will. I could technically tell them to delete me from their system, but I figured a free backup job might not be a bad thing, even though I'm pretty sure I won't need it.
The second interview, I'm pretty sure was a failure. It was for a position that I'm completely unfamiliar with, and I didn't really have any real answers to most of their questions. "How do you handle stress?" "Uhmm.......gee, I can't remember ever being truly stressed before, so I don't have a clue!" How do I make that sound good? All I could really do was speculate. "Based on my personality, I'm guessing I would do/say/be __." I've no experience with most of the challenges they brought up, and had little of value to say. I felt kind of bad because someone in their company had specifically recommended me for the job, and I basically went to the interview and quickly discovered a hundred new ways to say "I don't know". Unless they recognized the incredible quick-thinking/improv skills, I doubt they were impressed.
Anyway, I have another interview today. We'll see how that one goes. It's actually an "interview for an interview"...this company hired a staffing firm to find them a receptionist. So I have to interview with the staffing firm, and then if they like me, I'll be interviewed by the actual company. They haven't even told me what company this is for, so...who knows where this one will go...
We could still use your prayers, of course. We're doing okay financially, and we're certainly not feeling hopeless yet, but we'll be glad when we have income again. Thanks for your prayers. And thanks for the support so many people are offering:) Your encouragement is really appreciated:) We'll keep ya posted!:)

Job Hunt Update

Today is Day 1 of my job hunt, and God may already be workin':) My first move toward finding a new job was to try to think of people who might know of job opportunities in their own companies. During my time at Mediaedge, I met a radio sales rep (he sells ad spots on the radio, not radios, lol) named Zayne. He's a really neat guy:) He came in every few weeks at least, including bringing his family in to hand out candy for Halloween and treats for Christmas:) He's one of those people who's pretty much always up for helping people. Whether it was "Know of any good date spots?" or "What's the quickest route to Westwood?" he had answers! haha. So today I thought, "Maybe Zayne knows of some job openings..." I e-mailed him and told him my situation. He was pretty surprised that I got fired, lol. He asked me to send him my resume, and let him know what areas I'd be willing to work in, and what my salary needs are. I e-mailed him back and sent him that information. Almost immediately he e-mailed me and said that the director of sales in his office is in immediate need of an assistant, and that he has referred me to him. I am supposed to keep my phone handy, as I should be getting a call from the director of sales there! Apparently the position needs to be filled ASAP, and I need a job ASAP, haha. Needless to say, I was pretty excited to already have gotten a recommendation! Be praying that this works out!! Thanks, to everyone who has been praying for us:) And thanks Zayne!!!

At Home, Thinkin' and Singin'

However long our feet have walked on this world
We've all lived long enough to know
That sometimes life will go our way
And other times it won't
But still I've got this joy inside of me
With each new dawn I do believe to

Say hey, it's a good day
Even if things aren't going my way
Jesus is Lord and I am saved
So, say hey, it's a good day

Circumstance and situations change
You know life can turn on a dime
But there's a constant hope and peace
That I have come to find
And it's all because of who God is
And that He is alive and I am His, so

Say hey, it's a good day
Even if things aren't going my way
Jesus is Lord and I am saved
So, say hey, it's a good day

We are all as happy as we make our minds up to be
I have just decided that nothing's gonna take this joy from me

Say hey, it's a good day
Even if things aren't going my way
Jesus is Lord and I am saved
So, say hey--
Say hey, it's a good day
Even if things aren't going my way
Jesus is Lord and I am saved
So, say hey--
Jesus is Lord and I am saved
So, say hey--yeah
Jesus is Lord and I am saved
So, say hey, it's a good day

--------------------------------
It's A Good Day
by: FFH aka Far From Home

I Think God Read My Last Post

Well, like I said..."God may be gracious and merciful, but He does have a sense of humor, so...we'll see what He does with me."

Yesterday, I lost my job. I've gotten a lot of "WHAT?!?"s and "What happened!?"s already. Well, the reason given was that they're doing some reorganizing. The reality, I believe, is that they were getting the idea that maybe this receptionist thing wasn't my little 'nitch' in life, and I kind of accidently confirmed that for them. My bad. Anyway, seeing as being a receptionist isn't my little 'nitch' in life, I'm seeing this as a blessing in disguise. I have to say, aside from quitting when we move out of LA, it couldn't have gone much smoother than it did. I still think my former boss is really cool, and his boss is pretty cool. I'm glad I could go through the firing process and still think that. Most people don't care much for their boss to begin with, so I consider myself lucky. Anyway, as much as I see it as a blessing in disguise, I do get the occasional "Wait! We still have to pay bills!" and "Where am I gonna find another job??" moments. But...God has provided already. I got a decent severance pay package;) lol. And I know a few people that I met through my job at Mediaedge, whom I can at least contact to see if they have any positions available. Even if none of those work out, at least in the very beginning, I am not feeling completely lost. I at least have a 'starting block'.

That said, while we're being optimistic, we could certainly use some prayer. If you guys could keep us in your prayers, that'd be great:) Thanks everyone:)

Wow, It's been a whole week?

Awhile back I was thinking about the world. I don't do that very often. Unfortunately usually my thoughts are limited to my little sphere of the world. I'm kinda nearsighted like that. But occasionally I think about the rest of the world. It occured to me that it'd been awhile since I'd heard any missions updates, ministry miracles, or cool stories about what God's been doing. For a moment (God didn't let this thought linger long) I wondered, "So...where's God been? What is He up to?? Why am I not seeing Him working?"...It quickly occured to me that I'm very nearsighted. The last time I saw God working was when I was involved. My first thought was, "Gee, I need to open my eyes. I'm sure somebody out there is doing something for God." *sigh* He didn't let that thought linger long either. In fact it almost felt like He kind of flicked me on the back of the head (lovingly of course;) and said, "Don't look harder! Move closer! You're not seeing Me move because you're not moving with Me!" Ouch...but it's true...The only times I question God's plans, work, and activity in our world, is when I'm failing to be involved in it.
Our church recently sent out (local loss, grand-scheme glory) two families who were very active in our church. They're moving on to work on a church plant in Arizona (it's been planted, they're "watering"). The church is not going to die without them, but there sure are quite a few consequent bulletin notices at our church: "We need nursery workers!" "Join us for worship team practice!" etc To be honest, I haven't really found my "nitch" in ministry. I'm not sure where God wants me. So I just kind of threw myself out there and told Pastor Jan, "Put me where you (or God, rather) want me!" Now, God may be gracious and merciful, but He has a sense of humor...so we'll see what He does with me...

Our Crazy Weekend

This weekend was quite an adventure for us! The plan was: get off work Friday, drive to Lancaster, meet Tim and Danny at their house, switch to a car load of their stuff, drive it to Arizona, sleep, wake up, help them move, drive back to California. Well, by the time we got to Lancaster, it was raining quite a bit. We decided that the cars would drive to Arizona that night, but the trucks would wait till morning, hoping for better weather. With that decision made, and our bags of snacks and drinks ready, we loaded up into the cars, and headed out for Phoenix.
As we made our way out of town, we quickly realized that Tim's windshield wipers were completely useless. This made driving in pouring rain pretty interesting. We were following Danny and his dad, which helped a lot, since their wipers worked, so they could see the road, and we could at least follow their tail-lights (barely).
This system seemed to be going fine, and we made our way onto *gulp* the 138. I hate the 138, so driving it in the rain wasn't real high on my "things I want to do before I die" list. In fact, I figured there was a good chance it would be the thing I'm doing when I die! Fortunately, there wasn't a whole lot of cars on the road. Unfortunately, about halfway down the 138 stretch, Danny and his dad pulled over all of the sudden. Sure enough, they'd got a flat...they both hopped out of the car and looked at their front tire. Kyle and I watched, thinking, "Oh no..." Danny, already dripping wet from the rain, ran over to our window and motioned for us to roll it down. "We've got a flat!" he shouted over the howling wind. We hadn't realized it was so windy! Kyle got out and went to help change the tire. When he got out of the car, it looked like they were gonna get blown away! They were out there for a good 15-20 minutes, trying to fight the wind, rain, slippery nuts and bolts, and the low visibility, all to change a tire. When Kyle got back in the car, he looked like he'd just jumped in a river...and kept half the river on him! He was completely soaked. His clothes and hair were saturated, and he was dripping everywhere. He shed his outermost clothing and we cranked up the heat. I laid his jacket on the floor and draped his shirt over some heater vents, hoping they would dry faster. After a bit of debating about whether to press on or go back, we decided to keep going, and just take it easy since they were driving on the spare.
For the rest of the drive, we had to go pretty slow. The rain and the spare tire kept us trucking along a bit slower than the semi-trucks:-\ Usually it's about a 5-6 hour drive to Phoenix. It took us 8 hours. We arrived at their new house at 6:30a.m. Now, if you remember, we'd told the trucks to wait until morning to come. It hadn't occured to us that this decision meant that we didn't have the option of unloading a mattress to sleep on, or blankets to sleep under! We arrived to an almost empty house. Sharon and Cheryl had come earlier that day with the babies, and play pens for the babies to sleep in. But that was the extent of the sleeping arrangements. Kyle and I slept in the room that would soon become Hannah's nursery. Her play mat and crib sheets served as our pillows and blankets. Thank you, Hannah;) lol. Needless to say, the floor wasn't all the comfy, but we were exhausted, so falling asleep was no challenge.
Unfortunately, we're used to mattresses, pillows, blankets and warmth, so the night didn't last long. After about three and a half hours, we woke up and couldn't deny that getting up would be more comfortable than staying on the floor for a moment longer. Sharon and Cheryl and the kids were awake, and I had to wonder how the kids had so much energy! I was ready to drop! lol. They had muffins and donuts and mini-bagels out for us to eat for breakfast, which helped in the energy department:) Thanks Sharon and Cheryl!
Soon the trucks, who had left Lancaster at about 4:00 that morning, arrived at the house, and we began unloading. I spent most of the time with the moms, watching the kids and unpacking boxes. My energy failed me a couple of times - keenly timed with the arrival of the big comfy couch - and I ended up falling asleep at least once. But the unloading got accomplished, and some of the unpacking as well. Hopefully we left them with things orderly enough to make the settling in process easier than usual:)
Around 3:30 Saturday afternoon, we piled into Danny's parents' car, and headed for California. Danny's mom drove, his dad rode shotgun, and we squeezed into the back seat. Awhile into the drive, Danny commented, "Wow mom, your car is really spacious!" I glared at him from the 8-inch-wide middle seat. The ride home wasn't too bad though. I stayed awake most of the time, because I don't think the driver should ever be the only one awake. We got back in to Lancaster at about 10:00 that night. Kyle and I hopped back into our car, and headed for my parents' house, where I immediately took advantage of the guest room bed. Ahh, the wonderfulness of a bed! *sleepy smiles*
Honestly, it'll take me awhile to recuperate from this weekend. I'd intended to use the weekend to recover from Christmas, two weddings, and New Years. I would plan on recuperating next weekend, but alas...that will be quite busy too. We'll see how long it takes me to recuperate via every day life...

Sick Today

Well, yesterday as we were leaving Lancaster, I commented that I was pretty sure I was going to wake up truly fully sick. *sigh* I was right. I've had a cold coming on for a few days now, and last night I could tell it was growing steadily worse. Sooo, I kicked off the new year by calling in sick to work this morning, sleeping half the day away, and filling the corner by my side of the bed with tissues. I'm not usually one to call in sick. My job is so easy it almost seems like a sin to call in sick. What sickness could actually keep me from doing my job? Well, I guess it's hard to answer phones, with no voice, and I think my coworkers would prefer that their mail be late, than sneezed on. However, since I have been gone for a week and a half, I have lots of work to catch up on, so tomorrow I will be dragging myself in to work...and hopefully not sneezing on everyone's mail.

A Couple Pictures

Here are a few candid photos from the rehearsal and wedding:)


Rachel, the church's wedding coordinator, giving instructions.


Rachel, the church's wedding coordinator, scaring us half to death! Just kidding, Rachel! We're just glad you're okay!

Pastor Jan and Kyle, during the ceremony.

Me and Kyle, entering the reception.

A replay of the bouquet toss.

The Holidays, The Weddings, and the Recovery Process

Well, here we are in the midst of the holidays! Christmas, New Years Eve, and tomorrow, New Years Day:) Christmas was great:) We spent Christmas morning with Kyle's parents, and Christmas evening with my parents, brother, uncle and grandpa. It was a neat new way to spend Christmas, and we enjoyed the time with family. The day after Christmas, more family began to arrive in town. It was nice to have some extended family around, as it's rare that we get to see many relatives at once:) On the down side, I spent the day after Christmas sick in bed:( It was a one day thing, but it sure was a lousy way to top off Christmas, haha. Kyle spent that day having a LAN party (or nerd party, as I call it;). He had a lot of fun with that:) And no, he didn't neglect his sick wife all day;) He came up to check on me pretty regularly and brought me water and snacks and such:) He probably looked pretty whipped, to the guys, but he doesn't mind;)
Anyway, as if the holidays aren't normally crazy enough, we decided to throw a couple of weddings into the mix. Our friends Mike and Erica got married December 27th. I was a bridesmaid in their wedding, and Kyle came to enjoy the festivities and support his "frat brother" in their special day:) It was a beautiful wedding, and Erica looked absolutely gorgeous, as always:)
The following day, December 28th, was Kyle's and my rehearsal and rehearsal dinner for our wedding (which Erica was also in - yes, we're a bit crazy, lol). The rehearsal began fairly smoothly, with Pastor Jan guiding us through the order of events, as Rachel, our wedding coordinator, helped us all find our places. The rehearsal didn't exactly go smoothly from beginning to end though. In fact, it became quite an adventure. Rachel is 6 months pregnant. About halfway through the rehearsal, she was suddenly in a horrible amount of pain! She's one tough lady, so that's saying something! Anyone who has been pregnant, or is old enough to have witnessed pregnancies up close, knows that sudden, extreme pain during pregnancy is a scary thing! As she lay down on the chairs in the sanctuary, the guys called her husband, while the women tried to figure out what exactly may be causing the pain. When she rated labor as a 10 and this pain as a 9 on the pain scale, we decided it was time to call the hospital. As we waited for an ambulance, Pastor Jan prayed for her. By the time the ambulance got there, the pain had suddenly stopped, but so had the baby's movement. There was a scary few minutes before she started kicking again, much to our relief. When the paramedics arrived, they took Rachel to the hospital where her husband met her and they made sure that everything was okay. Rachel and the baby are both fine, praise God, and are getting some rest for now. They say every wedding has an interesting story - I suppose that one's ours!
The 29th, the big wedding day, was pretty crazy. By this point we knew that Rachel was okay, but would not be making it to the wedding. Eryn and I got to the church at 8:00 in the morning, to begin decorating. Pastor Tim got there at 8:00 sharp to let us in and help us set up the tables for the reception (Thanks Tim!!). We immediately got to work. Soon my mom showed up and began ironing the folds out of table cloths while Eryn and I started breaking out the decorations. It felt like we were working all day, but within a couple of hours, almost everything was done. Around 10:00am, we started getting ready. Sharon did my hair (Thanks Sharon!) and soon all the bridesmaids (Eryn, Erica, Sharon and Cheryl) and I were ready for pictures. The photographers showed up and we began our formal shots. The photographers were great, and were a lot of fun to work with:) I trust they got a lot of great pictures, which I'll be really excited to see:)
The wedding ceremony went smoothly, though we did get a couple of laughs at little-seen accidents, like me spilling the unity candle wax on my hand (ouch!!), and Eryn's heel getting stuck in my train, haha, but it really went great:) The reception was small but fun:) We had catering from Camille's Cafe, my mom's yummy punch, and of course wedding cake:) We also had some super cute wedding favors - gingerbread bride and groom cookies, made by my wonderful friend Kathy!:) (If you need cookies for parties or something, she is one super baker!)
After it was all over, we were all completely exhausted. I don't think I got a chance to stop for a minute all day! I didn't even want to think about cleaning up! I changed out of my dress, and trudged back into the fellowship hall to see where I should start with tearing things down. There in the fellowship hall was the whole Clark family (some of our guests!) cleaning like crazy! I ended up not even having to lift a finger! I honestly don't know what the church would do without the Clarks. It seems like they are the servants of the church, working and serving wherever they're needed:) Thank you Clarks!!
After the wedding, Kyle's family had a re-reception (lol) at their place. It was a neat little gathering, and I finally got to meet and talk to a lot of his extended family:) We got to laugh and smile through close to a dozen toasts and stories:) After the re-reception, all the 'youngsters' went to Chili's for drinks and appetizers (yes, we had designated drivers even though none of us drank more than one drink). It was a fun evening:)
It was all a ton of fun, but I think it will take me a few days to recuperate from it all! lol. I'm glad we went through with the big wedding, and I can't wait to get the pictures from our photographers!:) That's about all the news we have, though I'm sure I've left out something. The holidays and weddings have all been so crazy that I can't possibly remember it all! But we do have a lot of memories anyway:) Thanks to everyone who contributed to our holidays and our wedding!!!

It's been awhile...

It's been awhile since I last blogged, so I thought it was about time. Kyle finished up the fall quarter at school last week and passed his classes with flying colors:) To celebrate the end of the quarter (and to get me to quit nagging for a date perhaps) we went out to Chomps, a sushi place in Fullerton, and got way more food than we could eat! We ended up with about 6 pounds of leftovers, haha, but they didn't last long;) They served as a yummy lunch later!;) After our date night we drove to Lancaster and spent the weekend with my parents:) It was fun:) We helped them decorate their Christmas tree, and eat some of the goodies my mom made (which was a ton!):) It was a busy weekend, as all the last minute wedding details are coming together, but it was fun:) This week is our last week of work until 2008!! Kyle got nearly full-time hours at The Coffee Bean, as many of the student employees went home as soon as school got out for the holidays. So he's been working nearly full time this week. I've been working, as well as working on a sort of project we've started: assisting my memory! I have always been a bit easily distracted, but lately I've been down right absent minded! So this past weekend I bought a "brain" as I call it - it's really just a planner/organizer, but I've been carrying it everywhere with me and writing everything down! When I think of something I need to do, I write it down on the to-do list for the day that I should do it. When I'm given a phone number, it goes in the address book. When I make a purchase, the receipts go in there (it also serves as a wallet). And every day I've got it with me so that my to-do lists are never far. So far it has worked pretty well! My favorite part about it though is that the front cover is a picture frame, so I can carry Kyle's picture with me everywhere;) It's really handy, having my calendar, to-do lists, note pad, address book, check book, bank cards, credit cards, IDs, insurance cards, etc all in one place. The thing now is, I gotta keep track of this thing! lol. Hopefully my absent-mindedness won't result in (literally) losing my brain!;) Anyway...I do still have a couple more things on my to-do list for today, so I ought to do them;)

Date Night!!!

Tonight is Date Night for me and Kyle! I can't wait :-D