Kendall's Baptism

Kendall was baptized today at church. This was a decision she made completely on her own. She went to a baptism class last Sunday morning to find out more information and to make an informed decision that was right for her. We discussed at length that this was her choice, and not something we were forcing her to do. We explained that some decisions are between her and God and we can't tell her what is right or wrong for her. After the class, she decided that this was something she wanted to do.

Here are some photos of this important event in her life. We took some video also, which I attempted to upload, but 4 hours later I gave up! All our loved ones are more than welcome to come visit and we'll show you the video in person :).

New Toy

Well, we have a new addition to our driveway. We ended up purchasing a 2009 Nissan Titan, which is a blessing, but is giving me a bit of a heart attack. We got an unbelievable deal through USAA and although the timing is difficult for us financially right now, after much discussion we agreed that the timing will work out for us in the long term. Jay's truck is on its last leg and my car has 126,000 miles on it and we don't want to be in a position where we have to replace both vehicles at the same time and therefore, two car payments. So, we decided to go ahead and replace the truck right now and then hopefully wait about 4 years to replace my car. We are going to sell the old truck and (boo hoo!) sell the Harley as well. Not just for financial reasons, but Jay's back is not doing well and riding is just not an option right now, until he strengthens his back quite a bit.

We all love the truck, it's beautiful, rides really well, and will hopefully last us for years to come!!!!

Birthday Cards

Just some birthday cards for now. I am going to do some more posting tomorrow with some current events. Please come back!

This is a birthday card I made for my friend Kim

This one was for Staci, my musical friend!

This one is for my Mom

Happy birthday everyone!!!!

Another Biker Babe in the Family

We were unable to find the Halloween store in Santa Maria this year, and since finances were a bit tight anyway, Kendall got creative with her costume. She decided to be a "biker chick" so she borrowed Jay's leather vest and I got her some temporary tattoos from the Harley Davidson store and we put a bandanna on her head. She looked absolutely adorable and played the part perfectly. She is such a Daddy's girl! I'm hoping to get some pictures of Nicole in her costume from her Mom. I will post them if I'm able to get them into my hot little hands!

We had a really good Halloween night. We went to the Harvest festival at church and all volunteered to help with games. Kendall helped with the maze in the youth room and Jay and I did some games in the preschool area. The little ones are so adorable! We saw bumble bees and ironmen and spidermen and butterflies and cows and cowboys and policemen and firemen and some of the sweetest little faces! We got home late and only got a couple of trick or treaters but it was a really fun evening and we always enjoy serving together.

Congratulations Jay!

Jay has been working to complete his Master's degree for several years now. A week ago Thursday, he had to take a comprehensive final exam to complete his degree. He had to pour over all of the material from every single course and be prepared to answer any question that was asked. He was not given any details as to what would be asked on the exam and had 6 hours to answer 4 questions (worth 2 points each.) Each question was in essay form and required 3 pages so essentially, he had to write 4 short papers on information he could only hope he was prepared for. We went out for dinner last Saturday night to celebrate because I was so confident that he would pass that I didn't think we needed to wait. Today we received the news that he passed!!!! He now has a Master's Degree in Space Studies. He should be receiving his degree by November 15th. I am so proud of him. Not only for this incredible feat, but for who he is and all he does. He has managed to work an extremely stressful job, keep up with helping around the house, study for this incredibly challenging exam, and be an attentive father and husband. He is not only a rocket scientist, but a superhero. Well, he's my superhero, anyway :). Please congratulate him with me.

New Creations

Here are some of my recent creations. It was nice having the last week off and getting a chance to do some more card making. Tomorrow is my first day on the new job, wish me luck! My Mom asked me tonight how I feel...nervous, excited, both? I told her I didn't know and I still don't know. I guess I'll figure that out on the drive to Buellton in the morning :).

A Halloween card I made for Kendall using the great stamps my friend Leslie gave me a few months ago.

A thank you card I made for Grandma Willett. She sent us a belated Christmas check, which came at the perfect time for us. We were able to use it to go out for a very nice dinner Saturday night to celebrate Jay completing his Master's degree final in Space Studies.

A congratulations card I made for Jay for completing his final. It's not champagne, but he prefers coffee!

Birthday card for my Dad

A get well card I made for my friend and neighbor and stamping buddy Michelle. She had her gall bladder removed. She also inspires me by her beautiful cards and so I wanted to make her something very special.

Job Change (again)

Ok, so here goes....this all has been stirring up for quite some time now, but I didn't want to post anything until I knew more. There is still a lot up in the air, but I feel like it's time to share what's been going on with my job situation. It's been a lot to deal with and there have been A LOT of emotions going on through the whole process. I have cried a lot of tears, spent a lot of time worrying, and have fought with God at times, but I'm finally in a place of acceptance and am optimistic about the future.

Back in July, Jay went to Colorado Springs for a few days for some meetings. When he came home, that Friday night he told me that the wing commander for his group had offered him a position back in the Springs that was starting on October 1. The timing was out of the question for us because a) Kendall was going to be starting 8th grade and we promised her we would not move while she was in Junior High School b) the housing market is a mess right now and we were not ready to either sell or rent our house c) the position would require a great deal of travel and Jay would have to spend too much time away from the family. He told me he was going to decline the offer, however, in all likelihood, the chances are good that we will be moving to the Springs next summer. He has been with the same squadron for 8 years now and is getting really burnt out, and he is up for a big promotion next summer. Additionally, if we are going to make the move, next summer would be ideal because then Kendall could start out High School there and complete all 4 years at the same school. Kendall (like myself) is not fond of change and likes to set her roots and stay in one place.

Unfortunately, I was in a very tough position with my employer. It took them close to 6 months to find me to fill the Office Manager position and I was about 6 months into a one year (+) training program. It is a bit insane that any position has a training period for more than one year, but after having undergone extensive training, I can safely say that the timeline they depicted is accurate. I felt a great deal of guilt in continuing to train knowing full well that the chances were more than 50% that we would be moving next summer. Jay and I talked about it all weekend and I spent a couple of sleepless nights and I was feeling like the right thing to do would be to tell C&D about our situation. I received confirmation when that Sunday night, Jay suggested I tell them the following week. We both felt that it was the right thing to do and that God would honor our integrity and obedience.

I went in on Monday and scheduled a meeting with one of the Partners. My hopes (of course) were that even if they could not continue the training process, they would find other work for me to do and would be willing to keep me on in some capacity. About two weeks after that meeting, my boss and one of the Partners told me that they would be interviewing for my position and that they could only guarantee that I could stay through September 1. I was heartbroken. They expressed their gratitude for my honesty and thanked me profusely, but the bottom line was that I was going to be unemployed as of 09/01 and in a tough situation to explain to a prospective employer why I had left a position I loved with a company that I loved, with people that loved my work and did not want to replace me. The Partners offered a glowing recommendation, but I still was in a very difficult situation.

I continued to give my all, even continued training to fill in for some upcoming vacations in the admin department. We had a new employee starting on 09/03 and some additional upcoming vacations and the final tax deadline coming up on 10/15, so I was able to secure work until October 15. Hallelujah! All along, I kept hoping something would change and they would need me longer, but as the date kept approaching, I was finding that my hope was dwindling.

Around the beginning of October, my friend Emily at C&D told me that she thought I would be a good fit to work for her husband. He is a civil engineer, and he just started his own company in October of 2007. He has been overwhelmed and has had to focus so much on Accounting, Marketing, and office administration that he hasn't had the time he needs to go out and secure additional projects. She said that due to my organizational skills and work experience, she thought I would be a really good fit for him. The whole thing sounded too good to be true, so I tried not to get my hopes up. That night, I updated my Resume and brought it in the next day and Emily said that she would give it to her husband, but he had a really busy week so he probably wouldn't be able to talk to me until the following week.

At the end of that same week, I got a phone call from Dennis, asking me to come in for an interview. The next week, I went to his office after work and me with he and his dad and the interview went really well. I liked them both and got a really good feeling about the way they run the business and got excited about the work that I would be exposed to. I got a call Thursday and he said that on Friday, he and his dad were going to sit down and do some financial forecasting and ensure that they could afford to hire someone right now (he was not looking at getting someone immediately, but the interview went so well that he decided to look at the timing more carefully.) He said he would call me the following week. Monday morning he called and asked me to lunch. I met him for lunch and had a second interview and he told me he would draw up an offer letter!

I got the letter on Friday afternoon, printed it out, signed it, and dropped it in the mail. The position is for Office Manager. Right now, it's for 3 days per week starting out, at least until business picks up. It's quite a large pay cut, but it's better than not working at all and I am going to get exposed to a lot of new tasks and I think I am going to learn a tremendous amount. I will be doing all the AP/AR (in Quickbooks, which I am excited to learn), payroll, learn their timing and billing software, advertising, working on the website, recruiting, researching company benefits for the future, event planning, going out to job sites and taking photographs and doing some note taking, putting together an employee manual, ordering office supplies, assisting him and his dad in whatever capacity necessary, getting the office organized, and whatever else comes up along the way. The best part is that they are an extremely nice family and I think I am really going to enjoy going to work every day, just as I did at C&D. We will have to cut corners and things will be tight for a while, but I'm still grateful for the opportunity and am thankful to God for providing, as He always has.

My first day is October 28th. Wish me luck!