Looking Back

As many of you know, a year ago this past week my husband Jon lost his job as a mortgage loan underwriter for a bank that he had worked at for almost seven years.  I remember that day like it was yesterday.  I remember the afternoon when he came home early and gave me the news and that immediately my head was filled with questions.  What was going on?  Why did this happen to us?  How were our bills going to be paid?  Why at this exact time in our lives were we going through this?  What were we going to do?  Leah was only 6 weeks old, and I was only half way through my twelve week maternity leave.  Naturally I wondered how in the world we were going to make ends meet when neither of us were working.  Had anybody asked me at that time what I thought the next year had in store for us I would have had no idea what to say.  All I knew is that we were in a bad situation and that we were going to have to trust that our needs would be met.  I knew that there was no way that we could survive on my income alone, and in this economy there is no telling how long a person can be out of work while looking diligently and even putting personal preferences aside.  I was scared to say the least.  That was one year ago.

I returned to work as planned, and after six months of being unemployed Jon finally got a job working for a boarding school in the area for kids with Asperger's Syndrome and high-functioning autism.  He currently works third shift four nights a week watching over the students and getting them through their morning routine to prepare for classes.  He loves his job and I am so thankful for that.  He went from an unbelievably high-stress situation to a position where he can impact people which is where his heart really is. 

As I look back at the last year I now have answers to some of my questions.  There are so many details that I have left out for sake of time, but I know that God allowed all of this to happen to us for very specific purposes.  I am constantly amazed that we have not yet had one bill go unpaid, in fact we have actually managed to eliminate several smaller debts.  I am thankful that Jon is now working in an area that he is truly gifted in.  Working with people is what he does, and I am so thankful that God has put him in the place that he is now doing just that.  He has already had a huge impact on some of those kids in the six months that he has been there.  I am also amazed at the things that we have learned through this seeming crisis.  God is in control of every situation that comes into our lives, and He has a purpose for everything even if we don't know what it is at the time.  Looking back I am thankful for the many lessons we have learned this year. :) 
 

   

Hello Again, Friday...

So, as many of you know I'm sure, Friday is my favorite day of any given week.  Although I'm not necessarily sure why sometimes since most of my Fridays are spent changing diapers, doing laundry, scooping litter boxes, etc.  Today was no exception, of course.  I try to keep these days somewhat routine, but for some reason with three small kids that is kind of difficult to do sometimes.  I also don't really know why, but I am that person who feels the need to get all of my "chores" done first then relax and enjoy my day.  I despise procrastination when it comes to housework.  And still, at the end of the day as I sit typing, I look around and despite all of the things I've managed to get done today, I could pick out a hundred more things that need to be done.  I start to wonder how I can never manage to keep up with these things, but then I remind myself--what mother can?  If you are that wonder woman then good for you.  I, on the other hand, have decided that my house will always "look lived in" as Jon likes to say.  No, the dreams of my house looking like those in Better Homes and Gardens will never come true.  That's fine with me though because this is how we like it. 

Today I enjoyed doing schoolwork and activities with the kiddos.  It's hard to believe that Michael will be going to school in the fall!  Time flies by wayyy too fast.  Baseball starts up again next week already so we are all very excited about that.  Just more stuff for us to do, but it's great to see him out there playing and he loves it!  Not to sound biased or anything, but I think he's a natural :)  He gets to be on the same team as last season too, and Jon will be helping coach again so we can't wait--will post pics too. 

Now, what to do with the rest of the night...All three kids are spending the night with Nana and Jon will be going to work soon.  I think I will probably go to bed early (I'd be crazy not to).  If I didn't have to be at work at 8 in the morning I would probably stay up late and watch movies though honestly....                

Learning Something New

First of all, I would like to preface this blog by saying that I am by no means a professional writer.  One of my hopes in blogging is to enhance my writing skills.  In other words, if you come across any grammatical errors or typos please overlook them as I am a work in progress.  :) 

Another reason I decided to blog was to write about our daily experiences as a family for fun.  Those of you who know me well would probably say that I just enjoy hearing myself talk...haha.  There is a method to my madness...the idea kind of reminds me of making family videos.  These "stories" will someday be what we and our children can look back on and enjoy just like watching those old home videos.  I will be able to write about the memories that we are creating everyday, and those of you who aren't quite as close to us geographically as we would like can also enjoy our experiences and stay up to date on our family.  :)

I must be perfectly honest and say that there will be plenty of times I'm sure that my posts will have nothing to do with family, but will be more of a random ranting of whatever happens to be on my mind (that's where the part about me hearing myself talk comes into play...).  That is definitely to be expected so I'm giving a fair warning.  So if you're more interested in Jon and the kids you can just bypass those posts...just don't tell me....

I also do not know how often I will be able to post as of right now, but I hope that it will be frequent.  As you can imagine, life with a husband, three small kids, and 2 cats demands much of my attention.  Fortunately for all of my faithful followers though, I am a wonderful multi-tasker!  (no applause necessary)  So, we will give it a shot and see how it goes.  That's all for now...