U P D A T E !!!!
I feel like if I don't title it huge like that, people won't get it. It's true...here's an update for ya.
Um, some details for ya...I'm still at JMM (Joyce Meyer Ministries) and I still love my job. We're going through a trial right now, but God is good and I trust that His truth will be revealed through it and that instead of the breakdown that people are attempting to throw at the ministry, I am confident that they will see the integrity and honesty of JMM. So, it should be good. We're not doing overtime any more and that's bitter sweet...bitter for the paycheck and sweet for the time's sake. God has increased my territory there and I am so grateful. He has given me more responsibilities and privileges and my job has become even better. I just celebrated my 1 year anniversary and it seemed to fly by for me. I am doing an early shift from 5am until 2pm and it's freakin hard! Caleb gets off school (that's right I said school) at 3pm and so it gives us more family time. It makes issues like bedtime at 7:30 and mid-week services at church impossible, but I really thought it would be great and sometimes it still really is! I don't so much appreciate it when the alarm goes off at 3 am, but I sure do when I clock out at 2:02pm! Ok, so moving on . . .
I'm still married . . . ha! And I still really love that too! We actually just went on a marriage retreat with our church and it was really cool. Chad and I were so I am glad to get away for the weekend and stay in a lodge. We haven't gone away since the honeymoon, so we very excited! It was awesome! We were the "youngest" couple there with 9 months under our belt. When we arrived there were rose petals on the bed and (plastic) champagne glasses with a bottle of sparkling grape juice (yuck!)...and chocolate covered strawberries (yum!) The teaching was very cool too. The speaker was Ted Cunningham, from the Smalley Relationship Center. He spoke on conflicts that marriages face are never the conflicts but reflections of one's heart. It was challenging and funny! We enjoyed it! It does get sweeter though, even just after 9 months.
Chad is still flying high. Right now he is working on his instrument and commercial rating. Right now, we are looking into a part time position and believing God for the right schedule, location, and pay...God's faithful like that I we trust that it's going to be perfect. He took me and Caleb up a few weeks ago and it was beautiful. The leaves were perfectly peaking in color and it was such a blessed time. We flew up to the U of I airport and hung out there for a little and ate a snack...awesome FBO! (That's a pilot term. It basically means a place in the airport were you can chill, eat, relax, and get updated info about the weather.) So, that is going pretty good. There are slow times and busy times depending on our schedule and the weather, so that's why we're looking for a part time position to add more "structure" to our lives and add to the income. He did a night flight last night to Sikeston and ate at Lambert's. (He brought me a roll, isn't that nice?! And they actually threw it to him ;-) Anyway, so he is still going strong with that and of course it has it's challenges, but God is awesome and it's through those challenges that He completes something in us. So, we remind each other of that.
Caleb! Oh Caleb! He's great! He's SO funny! He just says funny stuff all the time. The other night we were praying before bed and he went to pray for me and he said, "God I pray you just bless this food...wait, let me start over!" I asked him if he was going to eat me. He's so great! He is in kindergarten and he is doing very well. He just got him report card and I am glad to report all O's (outstanding) and S's (satisfactory) and where he could get actual grades, he got all A+. So we were excited for him. He's reading everything...he loves to read and I love listening to him. He is learning stuff that I remember learning in 2nd grade. I guess they just do things differently now, but I think that he will definitely be smarter than me very soon. He's growing so much too...he grew 3 - 4 inches in just the past 9 months! Anyway, so that's the scoop on the monkey! I love having him!
What else? Oh yeah! Josiah is getting married too, to my oldest (still) friend, Catherine. We got pregnant with our sons at the same time and Jayden and Caleb are 3 days apart. Cat started coming to our church almost 2 years ago and it was love at first sight, right Cat?! Josiah actually at one point went up to Cat with a list of reasons why she would not like him and they ended up talking most of the evening and scheduled a coffee date the next week. It was a done deal from then on and they are getting married April 4, 2008. Chad is Josiah's best man (Chad calls it "pretty good man") and I am a bridesmaid. So that should be cute! It's exciting too bc Catherine also has a little girl named, Janey and Josiah is going to be the best dad. It's fun that both Chad and Josiah now have kids the same age. Well, we don't have plans for a little girl yet, but we'll catch up someday ;-)
Also, I am hanging out with Gina and Elise more. We're trying to get stuff together more. It's been hard sometimes with our schedules so opposite now, but we're trying everything we can to squeeze it in there. The other day Gina and I attempted to put a desk together and that didn't work, bc we stopped to go get a couch and then we got sidetracked again bringing it in bc we cleaned Elise's room up and so it just felt like the "old" days when we would just hang out and do whatever and just be together. I was so giddy just thinking about how excited Elise was going to be when she came home to her room. It was a wonderful warmth that I haven't felt in such a long time. I remembered doing that kind of stuff for her and her for me and so it was awesome to be able to connect that way. I hope that makes sense...it just felt normal. That's the best way to describe it. Since I got married, it's been hard to figure out what "normal" means bc before I was married what would have been "normal" was impossible now and so all three of us have been trying to figure out how to be friends all over again. God's been helping us and I think He's bringing us into a new season. Anyway, so they both came over last night and we made "Chocolate Balls." This is a highly technical term for some crazy dessert with Oreo cookies and melted chocolate (sorry for the semi-sweet, G!) I think they turned out pretty good and I brought them to work today to share and I didn't bring any back, so I guess they didn't mind that it wasn't milk chocolate too much.
So, that's a long post for now. As you can see, I'm still figuring life out after the wedding compared to before the wedding. I apologize that I haven't posted much, I hope that you enjoyed what you read so far and I'll do what I can more in the future. Alright...peace out!
