so it's been a busy week.

i know it's been a while since i've blogged. since Jacob lost his job, I've been trying to pick up more hours at work. the result: i'm exhausted.

i also know that several people won't read my blogs because of my poor use of punctuation. as a former english major, and one who has a passion for writing: believe me, if i could, i would fix it. however, my laptop's keys SUCK. i am often hitting backspace because the "A" key doesn't hit. like in my title on today's blog....i had to hit the same key 3 times before it actually registered on the screen. so...if you have anyway of advising me to clean them, please let me know. otherwise, i only have the patience to hit backspace once per word....not more than that. sorry.

anyway....

i have been working lots. it has helped me to see that not only do i not want to work retail past March, but it has lit a fire under my butt. i have finished my resume, and sent it into Rosetta Stone. I'm only hoping, but i have little to no expectations. It would definitely be nice to be making twice what i am now and working the same amount...i know that we could definitely use the money.

so..i'm in the process of planning a Valentines Banquet....Dinner and a movie. it's a lot, but it's for our church. trying to plan food and everything....it's overwhelming. it's my first time heading something like this up...and i'm not feeling very confident. i'm feeling very, scared i think would be a good word.

i'm also in the midst of reading The Shack. it's a good book, but i'm having a hard time getting through it.

With me working more, and Jacob not working at all (still waiting for sheetz to call....), he has REALLY stepped up and started taking on more around the house...for which i am grateful! he cleans the dishes and cooks dinner, and if i ask him to, he'll fold laundry and put it away! he's soo wonderful!!

as a result, i get home, eat dinner, and i'm so wiped out i fall asleep after working on my resume or job hunting or whatever i was working on. i'm usually out by 10 or 10:30. Man! i feel OLD!

anyway...i'll try to blog some more later!

christmas and new years as a new wife

i know that christmas has been over for a while, but our first christmas was CRAZY!

it all started on the 21st of Dec. we went to my family for christmas dinner and opening presents. at first, it was a little tense, b/c apparently my mom and sister both had bad mornings. i got snapped at as soon as i walked through the door, which put me in a mood of "fine. be that way. but don't talk to me about it."

but they got over it and i spent most of my time watching football with the guys anyway.

then, i worked monday and tuesday and a little christmas eve morning. after work christmas eve, i went home and got things together for my extended family's dinner in churchville. my aunt Gay just bought a new house, and this thing was way ginormous!

This is her stairwell:











anyway....it was huge. my pictures don't do the house justice.

anyway, after dinner we went home and slept! well...more like crashed!

we woke up christmas morning:

and look what santa brought me for christmas!!!











actually, jacob bought me a new camera for christmas and this was me trying it out a couple of times.

we had TONS of fun christmas day. after we exchanged our own gifts, we went to my mother in laws for christmas. it was really interesting to see how another family does it and for the first time to be involved with it. this was the first time i haven't seen my family on christmas. it was a little difficult, but i managed.

after my mother in laws, we went to my father in laws. chaos. there was chaos at my mother in laws too, but it was all very very different.

then afterwards we went to my husbands uncles house. i was so exhausted, that i was ready to crash. i'm used to crashing in the afternoon on christmas day. i didn't get to bed until MIDNIGHT! i was EXHAUSTED!

i think i'm still trying to catch up on sleep. :o)

new years we had a few people over. it was so much fun to be around people who love us and who we love as well. we were able to see some fireworks from down the street (for free!), and we opened champaigned and sparkling cider. it was a joy!

so...that's about it! Jacob has a job interview tomorrow at Rosetta Stone, so we're praying for favor!

Blessings to each of you in the new year!

update!

Jacob has had a couple of call backs on his resume. one from rosetta stone and another from a former manager at Sheetz, where he worked in college.

Rosetta stone called today to talk about his resume, and it sounds like they're proceeding on with a potential position.

then he talked with Shane from sheetz. they can give him 32 hours a week in the meantime, and they're looking for an assistant manager position for him!

so...

the story continued:

God intervened, and no matter what happens, we WILL be okay. we WILL be taken care of.

God is good!

Praise you Jesus!

christmas sometimes comes early

with our crazy christmas schedule, jacob and i have been trying to work out when we get to do our gifts to and from each other.

we decided that with all the bad stuff lately, that we should be able to do some today.

we exchanged one gift a piece.

I gave him my gift of a Redskin throw.

and he gave me:

a 10.3 MP digital camera!

my husband is SOO good to me! it's a Kodak, black, and WAY better than my old one! at least so far! i'm having fun playing with it! Yay!

thanks love!

hope.

i got this verse in my email inbox today:

Psalm 33:22:

"May your unfailing love rest upon us, O LORD,
even as we put our hope in you."

i started thinking about the verse, Jeremiah 29:11:

"'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 a hope and a future."

then i started thinking about hope.

it's kinda a funny thing. hope.

i mean, i used to hope for a date on saturday night. or those concert tickets. or a good grade on a test i studied really hard for.

but that's not really hope. that's wishful thinking.

hope is trusting when there is no reason to trust. hope is believing even when you don't see anything happening. hope is Jesus.

let's see:

in the last year, i had hoped for good weather on June 28th. i had hoped for vacation time showing up on my paycheck on time. i even hoped for saturdays off so that i can take that hot date! ;o)

never would i ever think that i would hope for a job. for my husband. for the "bread winner" so to speak. never would i think that we would be in a position, like so many other people, who will struggle over the holidays. never would i think that we would be given something wonderful....a REAL gift from God...only to have it taken away 6 months later.

part of me wants to say that i feel like that woman in 2 Kings 4. she asked for a son, and one was given to her, only to have him become sick, and then die.

verse 28:

"Did i ask you for a son, my lord? Didn't i tell you, "don't raise my hopes"?"

God, didn't i ask you not to raise my hopes?

what happens in the story?

Elisha intervenes, and the son is brought back to life.

God interevenes, and.....

To be continued.

wow

about a year ago, my life changed. it has created probably the worst thing in me. because of family issues i left my house and basically moved out for a time, until jacob and i got engaged.

this "issue" has not been repaired, and probably will never be. i just survive around this person(s) and deal for the time being.

i vowed, when i moved out that my family would never be that way. jacob and i love each other with every fiber of our being, and we work things out. it may not always be pleasant, but we suck it up and do it.

about two months before our wedding, Jacob lost his full-time status at his job. meaning he would be making enough just to be paying the bills for what he had at the time. a month later, still no job, we were getting a bit panicky. 3 weeks before the wedding, God came through and supplied him with a job making at $10,000 more than what we were even hoping for.

six months later- that's been taken away. his last day will be this friday, which ironically he had taken off for vacation time.

God, what are you doing?? all these loops in the last year....i might as well be jumping through fire...if not rolling through it.

i know you will take care of us. even through this uncertainty, it is sooo hard for me to say this: we will trust you.

under the weather

soon after church yesterday, i started feeling the effects of a migrane.

took some medicine, and prescribed myself some rest.

rest did not come as i suffered through the annoying affects of a fever. my body was a steaming hot (i don't have a thermometer, so i don't know the temperature exactly, but jacob said i was burning up), while i shivered from the cold.

i thought that going to bed would help, but i would get cold, put lots of blankets on, then get hot. unbearably hot. so i was constantly shifting. i'm surprised my poor husband got any sleep.

i battled nausea last night, and battled it some today. ate half of a bowl of cereal, and then didn't eat anything until dinner, which jacob made.

i probably shouldn't have eaten dinner, because now i just feel sick. i think soup and crackers are in store for me tomorrow...

i think it's the flu. but i'm not sure. i just take it moment by moment.

hopefully i will feel better in the morning, because i do have to work.

i tried calling in, and they said, "call around, see if anyone can take your shift." i did, no one can/will, or have called me back, so, i'll probably end up going in and hoping that i can get off early.

hope you all are well!