I can't believe...

... I forgot to tell you about a MAJOR occurence that happened here in my last post. On Friday, April 18th, at 5:37am, Chris and I were awakened by a VERY loud ROARING sound, accompanied by our whole house shaking so hard that I felt like I had to put my hands out on the bed to steady myself! YES - IT WAS AN EARTHQUAKE!!!!



Chris flipped over in bed and looked at me and asked, "Did you FEEL THAT?!?!?" To which I replied... "Yes!" Of course, he then asked me what that was, and I told him that I thought it had been an earthquake. (Since I am very experienced and have been to a lot of places, and know these things! **wink, wink**!) Actually, and seriously, I was in another earthquake once. At that time we lived in Montana, and I was very young... somewhere between 5-7 years old maybe. I remember that my mom had a set of those old iron decorative spoons hanging on the wall, and all of the sudden, they started banging against the wall.



All of that said, when we got up for work, Chris turned on the news, and sure enough, it was an earthquake. We live in southern IN, and the epicenter of the quake was 100 miles west of us in IL. It was a 5.2 on the Richter scale! Chris said he felt the aftershock later that morning, but I didn't. Earthquakes in the Midwest (for those of you who didn't know) are not very common, although we do live on a fault line (which I didn't know until we had the earthquake!) So - now we have another great story of something we've experienced! Thankfully it wasn't bad enough to cause any damage to our house!



In other news... after a lot of drama with our lawnmower, we finally did get our lawn mowed last week. The mower wouldn't start because the carburetor was "filthy"... though how it got that way with us only using it once, I don't know. The lawn now looks very nice and manicured, as Chris took the weed whacker and edged the lawn as well. I got tired of sucking up huge, nasty looking spiders in our house with a vacuum cleaner, so I got some spider/ant/bug spray that is supposed to keep all those kind of critters out of the house for up to 12 months! Hopefully I won't have to kill any more spiders with my bare feet! :-)

The weather was beautiful this past week, so I took the opportunity to take my exercise outside in the sunshine (rather than in a darker gym) and went rollerblading around our neighborhood. It reminded me of my college days when my friend, Joy, and I would rollerblade from campus up around the Watertown High School, and then back down the hill holding our arms out and singing, "I believe I can fly" at the top of our lungs! I also got to take D to the park a couple of days. I'm working on getting him to LISTEN and OBEY when I tell him to "come here" or "stop." It's hard when he doesn't have consistent discipline, but I would hate for him to get hurt because he doesn't obey. He didn't do too bad at the one park. He also got to feed the ducks, which he loved, since he has quite a fascination for them.

Also, this past week, I got a knot in my left armpit which ended up being an infected sweat gland (sorry if this is TMI!) I was hoping it would go away with some of my treatments (I won't go into detail here :-}), but it didn't. The pain was starting to move down my arm and into my chest, so I finally gave in and went to Urgent Care. I was quickly diagnosed and given a prescription for antibiotics (pill and cream) and narcotics! I didn't fill the narcotics script, since the pain wasn't THAT bad! :-) Anyhow, they called my prescriptions in to the pharmacy, and I went to pick them up. When I went to pay, the lady asked me if they told me how much they would be. I told her that they hadn't, and she proceeded to name the cost of $142 and change! I about choked, I was so surprised! EXPENSIVE meds! I put them on my credit card, since we didn't have the money in the bank at the moment, and went home. I checked the mail when I got home...(can you see where this is going?)... and in the mail was a VERY unexpected check for $139 and change! I immediately said, "Thank you, Lord! That is a blessing!" So, in all reality, I only paid about $3 for my meds! THEN I was telling some of my friends about it, and they told me that I could have gotten the antibiotics at Meijer for FREE! Wish I would have known that before, but I'm thankful to have them paid for in any case! :-) I'll definitely remember free antibiotics for next time!

Sat. night, one of the guys Chris works with invited us to go down to the riverfront for the "Fest-a-ville" Chow Wagon. It's part of the Derby Festival that takes place the 2 weeks before the KY Derby. We had fun, but I'm not sure that we would really go and spend time there on our own again. One area is all a big music stage, beer garden, and food vendors. The other area is another music stage (a band was playing... they were girls ranging from 9 yrs - 13 yrs old, singing oldies), more food, some alcohol, and inflatables for the kids. That night they had a 25 foot inflatable screen up showing an Indiana Jones movie. We mostly just stood and talked to Chris' friend and his wife and nephew, but were pretty uncomfortable when they decided to drink beer. NOT something I think we'll do again... it's just an awkward situation. They are nice people, though, but we don't want to get used to being around people who drink.

Well, that's about it for now, I think. We go to St. Louis on Sat. for a Cardinals/Cubs baseball game. This is our 2nd annual trip to St. Louis on Derby Day! :-) Then the following Tues/Wed, we take a QUICK trip to Pensacola for PCC's graduation. My SIL is graduating, as well as the last of Chris' siblings... his bro, Jon, with an undergrad, and his sis, Tiffany, with her Master's. We also get to meet our newest niece, Jacquline, who will be almost 9 months old at that point. We can't wait to see parts of our family... we also get to see another 2 nieces and a nephew (and their parents, of course!), and I get to see my bro&SIL.

Have a fantastic week, everyone!

So AMAZING!

... and people say that there is no Creator!

I just wanted to say THANK YOU SO MUCH to all of you who have prayed and are praying for us through this time. I also wanted to share these pictures with you, because I think that they are SO AMAZING! Though Chris and I would never have chosen to go through in vitro fertilization to have a baby, we have received many blessings through this trial. One of which is that we have actually seen pictures of all of our embryos (babies, in our minds!) It is just so amazing to see what God is doing and most parents have no idea that their babies have even been conceived at this point, much less SEE them!

Our embryologist, Dr. Cristina, likes to take pictures of the embryos within an hour of the transfer. We went in for the transfer at 2pm, and she showed us the first picture (taken at 1 pm). She said it was OK, but she would have liked to see a little more definition. Dr. Homm, my fertility doctor who actually does the transfer, got delayed with another patient for about an hour. So, Dr. Cristina took another picture at 2:20pm. That is the second one you see below. She was very thrilled with the growth of the embryo, and was very positive.


This is a picture of our embryo at 1pm... as you are looking at the picture, the baby forms to the right side, and the bumps on the left side are where the embryo attaches to the uterus.


This is a picture of our embryo at 2:20pm. It is so amazing to me to see how much it had grown in just 1 hour & 20 minutes! Chris and I feel SO BLESSED just to be able to see these pictures. Most parents don't even have a clue that their baby exists at this point!

There are still no guarantees... it is totally up to God to choose to give this baby life and breath. However, we continue to pray as we wait, and have faith knowing that WHATEVER God chooses to do... "As for God, his way is PERFECT."

Again, we appreciate so much your love, prayers, and support! We will know the first week of March whether or not we are pregnant, and we'll let you all know when we can! :-)

A few memories...

I wanted to post a few pictures today. These are the few memories that we have about our precious babies, and I'd like to share. Hope you all don't mind! I also wanted to say that we so much appreciate your outpouring of love toward us in this difficult time. Your prayers mean so much to us! Thank you, thank you!

Chris and I the day we found out we were pregnant (12/19/07)

Chris and I get a personalized ornament every year. I bought this one, and then wrapped it up and gave it to my mom and dad for their "anniversary." They didn't get to keep it, though! :-)

My parents didn't know about us going through in vitro fertilization, mostly because I wanted to surprise them. They arrived here on Saturday night (12/22). Their anniversary is 12/18 (celebrating 37 years!), and I hadn't sent them a card or anything. I couldn't wait for Christmas to tell them about the baby (especially since we had been pre-warned about the possibility of miscarriage.) So, I bought this little photo album and made a small scrapbook for them.
My parents love lighthouses, so I thought this was the perfect cover for them... especially since the bottom says "Life is filled with wonderful surprises..." This was the first page of the book... this pic was taken after the Christmas program 12/16.
These were the second and third pages. I think if you click on the pictures you can see them bigger. Anyway, these are both pictures of the embryos they transfered this time. The page on the left quotes our promise "Psalm 113:9 He maketh the barren woman to keep house, to be the joyful mother of children. Praise ye the LORD." The second page (which is difficult to see) says "Our baby's picture" and the little pregnant girl stamp says "You Grow, Girl!"
These pages are pictures from our doctors office. The one on the left is a picture of the sign in the dressing room. I think it's hilarious. On the right are our babies' doctors and the IVF nurse coordinator... Dr. Bastias (embryologist), Dr. Homm (fertility specialist) and Kara (IVF nurse).
These next few pages of pictures are some we took during the transfer process. I kind of combined pictures from both cycles.


I also have the pregnancy test from our second cycle. I was so nervous the morning we went in for the test (more nervous than I've ever been in my life, as a matter of fact), that I had to use the bathroom twice before we even got to the office. My urine was VERY diluted, and the pink line is SO faint that you almost can't see it. Our nurse practitioner told us it was no problem... as long as it was there, that's what mattered.

Oh, yeah... my parents opened their "anniversary" presents (we did video it, but can't seem to get the CD to work), and the look on my mom's face was priceless when she figured out what we were trying to tell them. She squealed and raised both her hands up over her head, and then started pounding my dad (who was sitting next to her) on the back! It was great! Of course, we had to tell them right away about the probability of miscarriage, but at the time, I was pregnant, and Chris had me on bedrest, so we chose to tell them anyway. I'm so glad we did.

God is good, and we are thankful for the little things. Lord willing, the promise we are claiming will be fulfilled shortly: Psalm 113:9 He maketh the barren woman to keep house, to be the joyful mother of children. Praise ye the LORD. :-)

Thanks for letting me share my memories. Though this is difficult, I'm glad God allowed us a few days with our babies.

Salesman of the Year!

I just had to take a minute to brag on God and my husband. Chris' company Christmas party was on Saturday night, and his boss announced there that Chris is SALESMAN of the YEAR! So, why do I say I'm bragging on God? Well, because God is the one who brought the customers to Chris, God is the one who blessed Chris with "the gift of gab" (as my grandma puts it), and if it weren't for God, none of us would even be here! It is only in Him that we live, move and have our being (Acts 17:28a "For in him we live, and move, and have our being;")

This is Chris' first year ever in sales. Add to that we only moved here 3 months before Chris took this job, so, unlike most of the salespeople, he didn't really have any contacts from which to network his business. He drove onto the lot every morning, stopped and asked God to help him sell one car today, and went to work. God blessed him tremendously... not only allowing him to sell cars and make money to provide for our family, but also allowing him to have many conversations with co-workers and customers alike, sharing Jesus Christ with them. He won Salesman of the Month in January, March, and April. He finished the year with 145 cars sold... 27 more cars than anyone else in the dealership. Praise the Lord for his provision!
Also, I just want to say this... I love my husband so much! :-) Though the hours are long and days sometimes frustrating, I am so thankful that I have a man that is willing to work long and hard to support our family. Many women are not blessed in that way. Thank you, Lord, for giving me Chris... You knew I needed him! :-)

Here is a caricature drawn of Chris by a guy at the Christmas party:

It's a picture of Chris catching a home run at Fenway Park... He's sitting on the Green Monster. The player is supposed to be Jonny Damon from the NY Yankees. I think the artist did a GREAT job... it looks just like him! :-)

Doubting, whining & complaining...

I haven't posted in a while... partly b/c I didn't really have time, and partly because I didn't feel like posting all of my whining and complaining! :-) Seriously, though, this month (up until 2 days ago) had been a rough one for us. I hesitate to even tell you what was going on b/c I'm so convicted about my unbelief in God's goodness and provision, and the fact that I was so frustrated about the fact that I was being so self-centered and wallowing in self-pity. All that said, I'll share with you what GOD did for us the past 2 days.

First of all, I've been sick off and on (mostly on) for the past month +! I got strep throat on 10/25 and couldn't get rid of it for 3 weeks. Then I got it again last Saturday 11/24. I've been on 3 rounds of antibiotics now (thankfully no yucky side effects from that!). On top of the strep, I got 2 stomach bugs. I tell you what, it makes me very thankful for my normal health. I don't know how people live their lives when they are struggling with diseases and being sick all the time! Of course, with all of that is the added financial costs.

Another factor is the health insurance is fighting us trying not to pay a few thousand dollars worth of medical bills that we submitted. What a blessing...

Because of the sickness, and the fact that D (the little boy I work with) turned 2 this month and his dad is taking him every weekend, I have missed about 5 days of work. Thankfully, again, I was able to work a couple of extra hours to make up for some of that time I missed. But still, the bills are demanding to be paid....

Then, on top of all of that, Chris had only sold 4 cars as of the 28th (one on this paycheck). Again, I'm ashamed that I was so unbelieving in the greatness of our God. I was having emotional meltdowns about every other night. Chris is usually the really positive one, and I am the negative one in our relationship. When Chris would call on his way home every night frustrated with what was happening, I didn't deal with it very well. Of course, I'm sure that being sick and very tired didn't help, but that's no excuse for the way I acted.

So - here's what God did... on 11/29, He brought 3 customers to Chris, and Chris sold 2&1/2 cars. Then, on Friday, 11/30, Chris sold 4 cars!!!!! God is SOOOO good! When any of the salesmen sell more than 3 cars in one day, they also get a bonus for the "hat trick." So, not only did he get the comission for all of the cars, he got a bonus. He went from 4 cars out for the month to 11 cars out, and he still has the rest of today to sell more. So - why did I even think to doubt God??? I'm not sure, but I think He gave me a slap upside the head!

I'm still not feeling great, but my throat is not nearly as sore. I have today, tomorrow, and Monday off, so hopefully I'll be able to get some rest and kick this nasty stuff!

Chris got to teach the 9th&10th grade SS class last Sunday. I missed it b/c I was home sick! Anyway, he said that he had forgotten how much he enjoyed teaching/preaching God's word. He was happy to have 4 of the teens come up to him afterward and tell him that they enjoyed it. I was pleasantly surprised on Wednesday night when 2 of the teens came up to me at church to tell me they were glad to see I was feeling better. :-) Especially since we've only been around them for 2-3 weeks. That made my heart happy. We have our 1st SS class activity on Sun. afternoon. We're going to CiCi's for lunch, and then bowling, then to the Rodgers (the actual TEACHERS of the class) for snacks before heading back to church. We're excited to try to get to know some of the teens that way.

I've spent a lot of time the past few weeks working on Christmas cards as well. You can check out pictures posted on my other blog.

I enjoyed decorating the house for Christmas this year. It's a little more difficult since I don't have all of the nice built-in shelving over the fireplace to fill like I did in the house in MD. Oh, well, I guess you can't have it all... at once, anyway! I'll post pics in another post.

I think that's about it for now. Thanks for reading! :-) Happy December!

I am so blessed!

One of the verses I read in my devotions this morning really jumped out at me again: Psalm 68:19 "Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation. Selah."

I am so blessed! First of all, I have accepted God's gift of salvation which protects me from an eternity spent in Hell, and above that, gives me the certainty of an eternal home in Heaven. But not only did God do THAT for me, He also DAILY LOADS me with BENEFITS! Everything else good that happens to me on a daily basis is just another benefit from God that He desires to give to me ABOVE and BEYOND all that He has already given, and exceedingly abundantly above what I deserve. Thank you, Lord, for the many benefits that you have given me!

Virtual Tour of Our New House!

Welcome to the tour of our new house! I know there are a lot of pictures, but it gives you a better feel of what it really looks like. Unfortunately (in my opinion) the Louisville skyline art piece doesn't stay, nor does the dining room or living room furniture, which I LOVE! Oh, yeah, the big flat screen TV doesn't stay, either. We will be painting the kitchen burgundy for sure, and I would like to paint the 2 guest bedrooms eventually as well, but that can wait. I am SO excited! We did have a little "hiccup" with our financing... a bunch of the banks didn't want to count Chris' income b/c it is commission based and he's only been there for 6 months (they want to see a yearly average). However, today we got a lender, so all should be OK. Enjoy the tour!

40%

I am excited! After 3 months of weight loss, I have crossed over a big goal... 40% of my total goal... I have now lost 20.5 pounds!!! It's been a slower process since I haven't been able to exercise like I would prefer to do, but my back is still giving me fits, and I don't want to overdo it. I feel a lot better, and feel like I LOOK a lot better, too. (That's always nice!) :-) Only 29.5 pounds more to meet my goal. To put a time limit on it, I'd like to have lost the whole amount by September. I don't think that 50 pounds in 6 months is unreasonable by any stretch.

Things went well with Lil' D's surgery this week... he is home today. I was able to pick up a shift tomorrow, as well as working my regularly scheduled shift on Saturday. The Lord provided the other shift to make up for the one I lost yesterday, and we needed the money. So - thank you, Lord, again, for your provision for us!

Also, the Lord is "making up for lost time" with Chris this month. He has sold 4&1/2 units already, and he still has 7&1/2 selling days left. Praise the Lord! :-)

We have been having beautiful weather here. I got to lay out in the sun (yes, I know I could get skin cancer and wrinkles and all that, but I hate being white!) both yesterday and today. I only stay out for about 30 minutes on each side, so I don't overdo that either.

Well, other than that, not much is going on here. I've been stamping today, so I may post a few of my cards in the next couple days. I'm thinking of making another blog just to post my cards, cross-stitches and other crafts, as well as any really cool photos that I might take. That way they don't all have to go on slide shows.

Have a WONDERFUL day!

WHY???

Why do I so often doubt the goodness of God and His provision for me?

Psalm 37:25 I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.

Praise the Lord! After a seemingly very slow month at the dealership, and Chris missing several selling days for various things, he closed out the month selling 10 cars (selling 10 cars means he starts getting extra bonus money, and that bonus money increases with every 2 units sold after 10.) On the 30th, he had only sold 8, and we were praying that he could get to 10, so that we could actually pay the bills for the month. Well, long story short, God provided the 10th car, and we had plenty of money to pay the bills. God also allowed Chris to be a testimony to God's blessings on His children when they obey His will.

Wednesday night, the 30th, Chris was still short of his goal of 10 cars. However, for the first time in a while, he did not have any customers coming in for appointments during church time. Instead of staying and trying to get another sale, he chose to honor the Lord and come to church. The other salesmen couldn't believe that he would leave to go to church, but Chris told them that God would bless him for going to church. Of course, that is EXACTLY what God did, and it was a great opportunity to be a witness to the men with whom Chris works.

Another thing that happened to "slap us in the face" so to speak about our faith was this: I bought ribeye steaks at the store the other day for Chris to eat. Since I am still using Nutrisystem, all my food is provided for me. Chris loves steak, and I haven't really bought any meat other than hamburger and chicken for the almost 7 years we've been married. Chris is TIRED of chicken! :-) ANYWAY, he told me to pull out a steak to thaw the night before in faith that he would sell a car the next day, so I did. However, the next day was very slow, and frustrating for Chris. About an hour before closing, God finally brought in a customer for Chris... it was actually the couple who bought the very first car that Chris sold. Chris said he was humbled by realizing that God was just testing his faith, and though Chris doubted Him, God still came through in the end... like HE ALWAYS DOES! So - Chris got steak for dinner that night! :-) By the way, Chris only gets to eat steak that night if he sells a car that day. So far this month, he has been eligible to eat steak every night... again, God is providing for us in a great way! Speaking of which... I need to buy more steaks! :-)

More news: we have decided to look into buying a house here. We have talked and prayed about this matter for a while now, and we are praying that God gives us wisdom in what to do. We really do not feel that God is leading us back into full-time service at this time, nor has He given us any direction other than to continue doing what we are currently doing: serving as laypeople in our church on the bus routes, in choir, and I work in nursery, and working at our jobs. We are kind of thinking that it may be another couple of years before we are ready to go back into full-time service. Only God knows when that may be, whether it's 6 months from now, or 6 years from now. Our strongest desire for ministry would be working in the camp ministry full-time.

All that to say, we started "putting out feelers" regarding buying a home in this area. Saturday night/Sunday morning, neither Chris nor I could sleep, so we were looking at houses online. We found this one: http://homes.realtor.com/prop/1079489938 It is only about 3 miles from our present location. We ended up stopping by the house to "case the joint" after church on Sunday afternoon. Well, it so happened that the best friend of the owner was there, and gave us some great information regarding the house and the situation. We left our number with him, and the owner's realtor called us Monday. We are going to look at it tomorrow morning. It looks very promising, but we'll see. Right now it is empty, so if we were to decide to buy it, we could probably move into it very quickly. Most of our stuff is still packed from our LAST move, so no major issues there! :-) So - you can pray that the Lord gives us wisdom as we seek His will in all of this! I told Chris on Sunday afternoon, "Maybe this is God's direction!" It was just so weird the way everything happened. We'll see what happens now...

Babies Galore...

We were THRILLED to hear the news this week of two of our friends having babies. First of all, a little one by the name of Chad was born on Tuesday night to our friends Pete and Amy. Secondly, our friends, Jeff and Jean, have been in the adoption process for 3 years, and their baby girl, Kathryn, was born on March 27th, and they were just able to bring her home. We are rejoicing with our friends in their adventures of parenthood and God's provision of a baby to our friends. :-) We are so excited for them!

Also, we had a good surprise the other day when a family member that we hadn't seen in about a year and 1/2 called to tell us they would be in the area this weekend. We met that person for dinner and had a wonderful visit. I am so thankful for family!

My New Car!

My new car!

Monday, April 9th, my husband surprised me by bringing home my new car! Let me tell you the story...

Chris had promised me that after we sold our house we would start looking for a car to replace mine. When we bought my old car in 2002, it already had 41,ooo miles on it. In the 4&1/2 years that we have had it, we have put on an additional 84,ooo miles. The car still ran alright, but it was getting to the point where it was going to start costing us more money in repairs, and it was starting to make funny noises. A couple of weekends ago, Chris brought home a bright blue 2007 Chrysler Sebring for us to test drive. It was hard for me to get used to driving a new car as opposed to my old car. Chris was asking me if I liked it, if there were things that I did or didn't like about it, etc. I told him that I didn't know... I've never driven a brand new car before, nor have I ever had a list of things that I preferred to have in a vehicle. Up to this point, I've just wanted the best car that would fit in our budget, which didn't leave me many options. :-) I'm sure many of you are there!

After driving the Sebring around a bit, it really started to "grow" on me. However, I wanted to look at the 300's, just because I think they look cool. (What I REALLY like are the Dodge Chargers, but I've been told by several people that they have a very small field of vision in relation to the size of the car.) Anyway, the Thursday before we left for FL, I went over to the dealership and drove a 300 Touring model. It had upgrades like leather seats, etc, but there were a lot more options in the Sebring that I had driven, and I didn't feel like I really needed the extra space in the 300. So - I told Chris that I really liked the Sebring better, but I didn't want the blue... I wanted a car that was "Dr. Pepper Red." (Yes, Hindto, I am a Dr. Pepper addict, too!)

The night that I got my car, my bro, Greg, and his family were spending the night at my house on the way home (to the UP of MI from FL). Chris ended up beating them home, and called me and asked me to come outside because he needed my help with something. When I walked up to him, he tossed me the key to my "inferno red" 2007 Chrysler Sebring, and said, "I need you to transfer your stuff from your old car to your new car." Of course, my jaw almost hit the ground because I had NO idea that he would get me a new car so soon. He then continued by telling me that the reason he got me the car was that it was his way of saying "thank you" for all the years that I have worked hard to keep our family financially afloat when he couldn't do it by himself.

I am so thankful for such a grateful and sweet husband. Not only because I now have a new car, but also for the MULTITUDE of kind and wonderful things he does for me on a daily/weekly/monthly/yearly basis. Of course, I LOVE my new car, and am enjoying that evidence of his love and gratitude for me immensely! :-)

A couple of other side notes... that morning I got a speeding ticket on the way to work (Long story... I won't bore you with ALL of those details), and Chris told me that he didn't know if he should give me the car after I had just received the ticket. Also, I am thankful for my God who cares about the little things, and this is why: Where I work, the only parking spaces available for me to park in are ALL directly beneath some type of power/phone lines (Can you see where this is going?!?!?!?) I really didn't want to have the paint on my new car ruined right away by having bird droppings all over it, so I prayed and asked the Lord to not allow the birds to poop on my car. All was fine for a week, until Saturday, when it was storming and raining all day. I guess I just didn't think to ask the Lord about that matter that particular day, because I didn't think the birds would be sitting on the wire there in the rain. However, apparently a few of them did, because when I got out to my car after work, I had 8 spots of bird droppings to clean off. Thankfully, since it was raining, they were easily cleaned away. Since then I have remembered every day, and only had one spot yesterday, but it was on the windshield. Thank you, Lord, for caring about the stupid little things in my life! :-)

*** By the way, in case you were wondering, since Chris works at the Chrysler/Jeep dealership, we got a GREAT deal on the car which allowed us to get it! "It's not WHAT you know, but WHO you know!" :-) ***

Jehovah-Jireh

Wow - what a week this has been! I just have to share our excitement at the way the Lord has provided for us!

First of all, CHRIS DID IT!! He not only made salesman of the month again in March, but he also sold 18&1/2 cars. Because he sold so many cars, he also earned the "Eagle Award" for top sales... which entitles him to an EXTRA $5,000 bonus this month! God has really had his hand upon Chris in this job, and we give ALL the glory and praise to the Lord our Provider!

Secondly, the sale of our house provided a great stress relief financially, as you can well imagine. We were able to completely pay off one of 3 credit cards with the money we got from the sale of the house (the one with the highest interest rate and the highest balance,) as well as being able to pay off 3/4 of the second highest balance and second highest interest rate. That was exciting in and of itself, but today, between both Chris and I getting paid, we were able to COMPLETELY pay off the SECOND credit card! 2 down, 1 to go! Most of what is left on the remaining credit card is money that we have spent in the last week, so it's not like a huge amount looming over us, and it should be paid off by the 20th of this month, again, between my paychecks and Chris' paychecks! Not only all of that, but ALL of our bills are paid for April! I just can't hardly grasp the magnitude of this financial turnaround that the Lord has allowed us to have! God is SO GOOD!

Tomorrow we fly down to Florida for my family's get-together. I am so excited to see everyone together again! We picked a good weekend to go... it is only 39 degrees here today, and I saw some snow flurries. It was 82 degrees 2 days ago!!! What is going on here?!?!?

All that to say, we are rejoicing in the goodness of the Lord! Jehovah - Jireh, God Provides!

What a day!

I had a great day today. In spite of my original plans being cancelled this morning, it was a GORGEOUS day weather-wise outside. I went to the gym to work out, and did a BMI test again to see how I've progressed in this weight loss program. My BMI (body mass index - the percentage of body fat I have) went down 1%. It sure is encouraging when you eat right and exercise to be able to see results quickly. From the gym, I cam home, got ready, and took my husband his lunch (for today and the next 20 days that he needs his own lunch.) I buy him microwaveable sandwiches from Sam's Club... he enjoys the Philly Cheesesteak subs, and this time will try Angus Cheeseburgers. Anyway, I enjoyed the time with him during lunch. After he finished eating, we went out to the front of the dealership. He pointed out his manager, Ron's, demo drive vehicle... a Dodge Ram with a Viper engine. That may not mean much to some of you ladies that read this, but it basically translates to MORE POWER!!! Chris asked Ron if he could take me for a ride in it, but Ron said no b/c he didn't know if it would even make it to the gas station around the corner, the gas was so low. So, instead, he said, "But you can take your wife for a ride in the corvette." As you can imagine, my face broke out into a HUGE smile! Today, I got to ride in a corvette for the first time in my life! IT WAS SWEET! (and fast... I love fast!) I didn't get to drive it (seeing as it's priced at $40K, and I wouldn't want to wreck it and have to pay that kind of money for nothing.) I sure did enjoy the ride, though, and Chris enjoyed the driving. Here is 2 pictures for you:

The Corvette

Chris and I standing with the corvette in front of the dealership.

After that, Chris had to get back to work, and I had errands to run. I went by my work office and picked up some paperwork for additional work that I am doing next week. I received an e-mail from my cousin who is working with Campus Crusade in a foreign country, and a couple of their converts led 4 other people to Christ! How exciting to see the fruit of your labor, and those that you lead to Christ learning and teaching others also! I am thrilled at the way God is working in & through the lives of those that are working in this ministry.

I then went shopping for my mom's 60th birthday present. All of the kids are going in together on it, and I was asked to do the actual shopping, so I got to do that today. Just before I got home, I received the call from Chris that the closing went well, and there were no problems. I am just so excited, I just can't hardly believe that it is really true, and that we FINALLY do not have to worry about that any more.

Now I am at home, blogging, and rejoicing in God's goodness to us, and sharing our blessings with you all! It's been a great day, and I'm thankful to God for "daily loading us with blessings."


Psalm 40:5
Many, O LORD my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done, and thy thoughts which are to us-ward: they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee: if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered.

IT IS FINISHED!!!!

IT IS FINISHED!!!! Praise the Lord!!!!!!!!! The closing on our house is done and we no longer own a home.

The closing went through without any trouble, and we now have $2,000 less a month to pay in housing costs, as well as having almost ALL of our credit card debt paid off! Praise the Lord!!!

Today is the BIG DAY!

Well, this is it! Today is the day! (I can say that now that it is 12:12 AM, Friday, March 30th.) Again, I can't sleep, so here I am blogging. (What else do you do in the middle of the night when you can't sleep?!?!) Today is the day set for the closing of our house in Maryland. The closing is set for 4:00 pm. Everything SHOULD be in order (**please, Lord, let everything go smoothly!**) I am so thankful for the way the Lord has provided through all of this. Yes, we went through some VERY difficult times, but during the past 3 months, the Lord has TOTALLY turned our financial situation 180 degrees around. Chris and I stand amazed at what the Lord is doing! Back to the closing... our friend is authorized to sign the final sheet of paper for us, and the title company is going to wire the money directly into our bank acct. Wow - what a blessing that is. It will be so nice to be able to transfer that money right away and be able to pay off those blasted credit cards! :-)

Also, I know that I have said this many times before on this blog, but I hope I never get tired of giving thanks to the Lord for all that he has done for us. In this particular instance, it is God's provision through Chris' job. He finally did it this month... he sold enough cars to qualify for the extra $5,000 bonus, and barring some kind of freak thing where another salesman sells 6 more cars in the next 2 days, Chris should win. He actually sold one extra car than what he had to sell, and has 2 more selling days left in the month. I never dreamed that we would be given this much money. We are so excited to have now the opportunity to GIVE in a way that we never have been able to before this.

We were able to buy plane tickets for our trip to FL next week for my family's get-together to celebrate my mom's 60th birthday! This was a HUGE blessing as it will save us from 24 hours of driving to be in FL for about 24 hours, if we were lucky. This way, we won't have to put all those miles on my poor car, nor will we have to spend all that time driving, AND we will get to spend more time with my family. I am excited to see them all. We haven't seen Steve & Kathryn since their wedding in June 2005. We haven't seen my parents since Labor Day weekend right before we moved. We were able to visit with Nathan and Caroline a little over Thanksgiving when we were in Pensacola for Chris' family gathering. I haven't seen Heidi and her family or Greg and his family since Aksana was born in Feb. 2006, and Chris hasn't seen them since Steve's wedding. It will be nice to have us all together without being so busy with wedding preparations (which is usually what gets us all together at the same time these days... but only one wedding left for my immediate family - Nathan and Caroline in June.)

I have lost 10 lbs. now on my weight loss plan. I am super excited about all this! I am thankful that the Lord has helped me be INCREDIBLY disciplined with my eating... Nutrisystem has really worked well for me. Of course, going to the Y and working out 3-4 days a week has helped tremendously and I already feel better.

Praise the Lord for the way he works in our lives... even through the valleys, as well as on the mountain tops. I was thinking about all of the financial stuff today, and was realizing that all of this money wouldn't have been such a blessing to us (nor do I think we would have been as wise with our money as we are now) had we not gone through the 4 months of barely (if being able to pay them at all) paying bills and not having work that we got paid for doing, and the other trials that we went through recently. We now have a much better understanding that it is not our money, it is just God's money that He is entrusting to us to give us the opportunity to be good stewards with what He has given. I pray that we will always be found faithful, and that we will use this money to help others learn about our Great God!

Spring is here!!

Last Wednesday, March 21, officially marked the first day of spring. This tree was right on time... Tuesday night the branches were bare (seriously, I noticed, because I was so anxious for signs of spring!) and Wednesday morning, it looked like this! Literally, overnight, the tree burst into bloom!

I managed to take a couple seconds on my way to work one morning to capture this sunrise on film... well digitally, anyway. I love the flag in the picture, as well.


So - today, it is 82 degrees out! I'm lovin' this weather, but unfortunately, our apt. complex doesn't really have much of a nice spot to be outside, so I am wasting this beautiful day indoors, blogging! :-) I am so thankful for the beautiful weather!

Chris made it home from his sales conference, and was very encouraged. He has done so well (please forgive my bragging!), that the company that did the conference interviewed and videotaped Chris as a testimonial to their sales training. The speaker at the conference "took to" Chris pretty well. When he found out how well Chris was doing, he told Chris that if Chris implemented the things that he learned at the conference, in 3-5 years he should never have to take another "up" (customer coming on the lot at the dealership that does not have a salesman to work with). He should be busy with all repeat customers and referrals from his customers. The speaker also told Chris that by that point, Chris should have so many of his own customers that the dealership should have to hire a secretary and finance person just to work with Chris' customers! That is very encouraging! Now, of course, we don't know if that will happen, or what God has in store for us in the future. It is encouraging to see my husband so successful, though, and all the praise and glory go to the Lord for bringing in to Chris the people that will buy the cars. We are so thankful that the Lord led Chris to this job, and don't want to lose sight of that!

Yesterday, we were able to join another couple and their 4 kiddos for lunch after church. It was fun getting to know them better. We have been able to do this for the last couple of weeks, and it has been nice getting to know the couples with whom we attend church. Thursday, I was able to have lunch with a friend, and thoroughly enjoyed the fellowship with her, as well. It is nice to be making friends now.
Chris also started playing basketball with some of the men/college students after church on Sunday nights. He has really enjoyed being able to PLAY sports, rather than be coaching or in charge of refereeing the games. It's good for him to meet the guys that way, as well, just as I get to meet the ladies at stamping parties!

On a totally different note, my brother, Nathan, and his fiancee, Caroline, have made the decision to complete this semester of school, rather than sit out the rest of the semester due to Caroline's father's sudden passing. Please continue to keep them in your prayers, as I'm sure this will be difficult for them. Nathan will have one week to make up, Caroline, 2 weeks. Please also continue to pray for the LaChance family as they continue to grieve the loss of their loved one.

I'm BACK!

Well, it's been a while since I last posted. Things have been rather busy around here it seems, but yet I still don't feel like I get anything done. How does that work? :-) Actually, my lack of blogging is indication that I'm doing something OTHER than sitting on my tail on the computer... like EXERCISING! Yep, I know it's hard to believe, but it's TRUE! Read on for more details...

Here is the update on what is going on with us:

unwanted guest

Yep, you guessed it... we have had a mouse in the house. He apparently like saltines, ramen noodles (thankfully they don't cost much!), and some of my NutriSystem lunch bars (see below for more about NutriSystem.) I was a little bitter about the NS bars... I paid good money for those! Fortunately, one I was able to salvage by cutting off the end, and the other I cut in half and ate the rest that did NOT get nibbled on by our furry "friend." I guess this is a little payback from the Lord for not being sympathetic to my friend, Beth. Beth HATES mice, and she had one very tricky one in her house for 4 & 1/2 weeks. She tried glue traps, which the little thing pulled against the base of the counter until he got loose... several times. Finally she bought the real mouse traps and got him. Now, our mouse got the treatment you see above. However, apparently my mouse was small, because as you can see, the trap is licked clean, but the mouse did not spring it (twice.) I know D-Con works very well... if the mouse eats it. Since I wasn't sure that the mouse was eating it, after the first time the trap got licked clean, I mixed the peanut butter WITH d-con to make sure he ate it. He did, and we haven't seen signs of him since! Praise the Lord! (There have been no nasty smells, either, so we are hoping he died outside somewhere.) How do mice get in houses anyway? :-)

my weight loss program

I know I've already made mention of the NutriSystem program, but first of all, the exercise part that I am doing with it! Last Wednesday, Chris and I joined the YMCA. We had discovered, Monday night, that it is within about 2 minutes drive of our house... very conveniently located! :-) It is about a year old, and is very nice. We both started working out there. Last Saturday (Happy St. Patrick's Day, for any of you that care about that holiday), I met with a personal trainer (for FREE with membership) that set up a workout program with me. It's a 12 week program: 1st 4 weeks - 3 days - 30 min cardio, plus lower back and abdominal weight training - light weight, lots of reps. 2nd 4 weeks, as above, plus more strength training targeting other areas of the body... 3rd 4 weeks, more of the same, plus more strength training exercises. I can always add in days of cardio, so I am doing at least 4 days/week right now. I met a lady today that I think will be my buddy on M/W/F. Her name is Deborah. Man, time flies when you're talking WHILE you exercise!

Now for those of you who really KNOW me, know that I don't really care for exercise AT ALL! But, I'm actually EXCITED about this. This is the first time that I am DETERMINED to lose the weight... but more importantly, be healthy, feel good, feel like I LOOK good, and make these things HABITS!

So... here's the REST of the program (for now): nutrisystem

Here's how it works... You get a NS entree for breakfast, and add 1 serving of fruit and 1 serving of dairy or protein. (I usually eat yogurt and drink 1/2 cup of juice for my servings)

Sampling of Breakfast entrees
Lunch: NS Lunch entree, 1 dairy or protein, salad, 2 tbsp fat-free dressing
(My salad consists of romaine lettuce, raw spinach, mushrooms and cucumbers, with cottage cheese for the dairy/protein and basil&balsamic vinaigrette)

Snack: 1 fruit, 1 dairy/protein
(I usually eat cottage cheese with 1/2 cup no sugar added fruit)

Sampling of Lunch entrees

Dinner: NS dinner entree, 2 servings of vegetables, 1 salad or fruit, 1 fat(I vary this a little more, but usually eat cooked carrots, broccoli, cauliflower or green beans, or a combination of them, then fruit. I use 1 slice of American cheese for my fat if I'm eating broccoli and/or cauliflower. I'm not sure if that counts, but it does for me! :-) )

Sampling of Dinner entrees
Dessert: NS dessert
Sampling of desserts

I drink at least 64 ounces of water per day (most days) and green tea for a little variety. I can drink as much tea as I want, but usually limit it to drinking tea with dinner. I also have mixed things up a little bit to fit my lifestyle. I have moved some things around... for example, I eat more of the dinner extras at lunchtime, and eat my dessert after lunch. That is when I am most tempted to snack... when I'm at work and there are yummy (junk food type) things around to eat that I normally don't have at home... and I'm feeding kids every couple of hours. I figure it's better to eat it earlier in the day anyway, right?!? :-)

As close as I can figure (as of last Thursday), since I started exercising at the beginning of March, I have lost 6 pounds. I started Nutrisystem on March 12th. So far, I love NS!! It is so easy, you really don't even have to think about it! The food actually tastes good - I only had one thing I didn't like so far - and eating what I am supposed to eat actually fills me up. (I picked my own menu.) I figure that if I can just get used to the right PORTION sizes, I should be OK. The only thing that I DON'T like is that I still have to cook something for Chris, and I don't get to eat with him, since I won't eat after 8pm if I can help it. Other than that, so far, so good.

Chris' work

Chris is still doing an AWESOME job at work. At the risk of sounding like I'm bragging... well, let's face it... I AM! Chris has sold 13 & 1/2 cars (deals) this month so far. Most salesmen average 8 cars a month! Chris had 11 cars out before the second pay period of the month started, which exceeded his goal of getting into double digits before the 15th. As of Tuesday night, he was 5&1/2 cars in front of everyone else at the dealership. Praise the Lord for his provision through this! So, you may ask, "What is Chris' secret?" It's simple. Every day before he gets out of the truck at work, he stops and asks the Lord to help him sell one car today. The Lord has honored that... not every day... but enough to make him very successful at his job. He actually is at a sales conference now in Indianapolis, to which the manager says he NEVER sends salesmen unless they have worked at the dealership for at least a year. The management loves Chris, and are constantly encouraging him, and telling me that they hope he stays around for a LONG time. You don't know how encouraged and proud it makes me to see my husband successful in a field that he has never worked before now. I thank the Lord often for giving Chris good success in this job.

My work

Well, my work should be changing at the end of this month as well. I don't have to work quite as much these days to help financially, so I am actually quitting one of my cases. There are many reasons for this, but it boils down to the fact that I do not feel that I am the best nurse for this particular patient. I get very irritated and frustrated, though I know some things this patient does are not their fault. However, it is getting overwelmingly stressful, and since I don't HAVE to work that case, I'm not going to continue to do it. I will be going full-time at the other case that I am working, I believe, and will be very happy to do so.

Our Maryland House

We received all of the papers to sign from the title company today for our house closing. We are blessed to have a friend in Maryland that is willing, and with our authorization, is also able, to sign the HUD sheet for us so that we do not actually have to be physically present in order to close on the house. Only a little more than one week, and Lord willing, our house will be sold! YEAH!!!

I believe that is about all for now. I think I have pretty much caught up with the events of the past couple of weeks that I've been out of blogging land. Oh, yes, one more thing...

Google Reader

If you have not yet discovered Google Reader, you need to check it out. It is a great time saver for those of you who check multiple blogs on a regular basis. As a matter of fact, it saves so much time, it will allow you extra time to surf for other blogs that might be of interest! :-) Though I do miss going down the list and clicking each individual bookmark, and reading all the comments others leave on people's blogs, Google Reader really has been good for me since I don't have as much free time on my hands now that I'm working out. For those of you who have no idea what Google Reader is, it is a central place where you can subscribe to the blogs that you frequent. Instead of checking every blog every day for updates, you can just go to Google Reader, and it will show you only the ones that you have not read. When you subscribe to a site, make sure you mark the box for "Mark all read." Anyway, it is a great time saver, and thanks to Trisha, who introduced this to me!

Happenings over the last week...

This past week has been a rather crazy one at the Mitchell household. Last Friday, I had the day off work. The situation was a little crazy... I was scheduled to work, but when one of the guys from the office sent my schedule to me, he didn't include the first 3 days of the month. Therefore, I thought that I wasn't scheduled to work. Then I found out that I was supposed to work Friday and Saturday, but the child I was supposed to be taking care of was in the hospital on Friday, so I didn't have to work anyway (which was FINE with me!)

I joined Chris for lunch at his work that afternoon, and as we were eating in the break room, the TV was on. President Bush was giving a speech at a school in New Albany, IN, which is basically next door to where we live! (I wish I could have seen him... that would have been SO cool!) He also gave a speech somewhere downtown, so they had freeways and roads closed off, which totally messed with traffic.

After enjoying lunch and some time with Chris, I headed over to go shopping at a store. I received a gift card for this particular store for Christmas, and it is now going out of business, so everything was 30-80% off. I figured it would be a great time to get the most for my money! After a few trips into the dressing rooms to try on armloads of clothes, I came to a decision... I HAVE TO LOSE WEIGHT! I've been saying this for a while, and I've known this for a while, but trying on clothes really hit home that day. I am big enough that I can't really wear a size 16, but too small to wear a women's 16. I have determined that I WILL NOT shop in Plus sizes! So, in order to carry out this determination, I am going to exercise at least 4 days a week (no Sundays, and I don't really have a chance to exercise on the days that I work 10 hour shifts). Chris and I also decided that I am going to try the nutrisystem food program. (You may have seen commercials for it on TV.) I don't know if it will work, but I'll let you know if it does. Some of my struggle in losing weight is that I don't see results right away, and it's very discouraging. With my body type, I can lose inches like crazy, but not lose pounds right away. In the past, I have had Chris take measurements of my body in order to record progress, and will do that again. ANYWAY... I have had it with my lazy, undisciplined self. Hopefully, this will go well, and I can look good for my bro's wedding coming up in a couple of months.

Later Friday night, after finally finding a knee-length denim skirt and a pretty red tank for layering at the store, I arrived home and went to exercise. I opened the fridge door to get my water bottle out, and as I closed it, realized that there was water on the top of the door (the freezer is above the fridge.) I opened the freezer door to investigate, and found that everything in my freezer had thawed out! At this point, it was after 7 pm. I called Chris and told him about it, and when he got home, we called the 24 hour maintenance guy. (I did get my exercising in, by the way.) He came over, and determined that the compressor had gone out, requiring a new refridgerator. Long story short, we finally got a new fridge yesterday, after losing everything that we had in the freezer because we had to go for 5 days without one. I am thankful, though, for a few things... 1) we didn't have much in the freezer because I needed to go grocery shopping. 2) I didn't have to cook for 5 days! 3) Chris' paycheck was enough that we had the money to eat out, without it hurting us financially. 4) We live in an apt. complex that provides that appliance, so we got a brand new fridge free to us.

The other thing that happened Friday night was that I was doing laundry, and the dryer stopped partially through a load. I don't know what it was with us and appliances that day, but it was crazy! Chris went to work on Monday and was talking to a couple of the guys at work about it, and they told him about a store whose manager buys cars at Chris' dealership. This manager gives great deals to anyone who is an employee at the dealership. One of the guys told Chris, too, that it is cheaper to buy a new appliance these days than to have them fixed. He paid over $150 to get one of his appliances fixed, and could have bought a brand new one for a little over $200. Chris went and talked with the guy at the store, and bought us a brand new dryer for just under $200. It normally would have been about $75 more, had he not worked at the dealership. That was a blessing! Again, we had another blessing in that the Lord had provided enough money in Chris' paycheck to buy the dryer out of our checking acct, rather than having to put in on a credit card.

Besides all of that drama on Friday, we have been struggling a little with not feeling well. Chris had a horrible headache on Sunday night. I have been fighting off some kind of stomach thing since Tuesday night. I felt horrible at work yesterday, so I didn't eat anything all day. When I got home from work, I went to take a nap, and slept for almost 3 hours. I woke up at around 8 pm when Chris called to tell me he was on his way home from work. I cooked dinner for him, and then we watched a movie, then went to bed at 10:30 pm. I slept well all night, too. We both woke up with stomach issues this morning as well. Hopefully, we will feel better soon.

We heard from our realtor that she now has the contract to our house in Maryland signed and in hand. The home inspection is scheduled for tomorrow. If that goes well, the selling of our house should be a done deal.

Well, other than that, we have just been busy with work. Chris sold 5 cars in the first 2&1/2 days of March. That is encouraging. He was going to take today off, but one of his customers that came in yesterday told him that she would be back at 9 am this morning and she was "bringing her checkbook." He went in to work this morning! :-)

Salesman of the Month!!!

Chris made Salesman of the Month for January! He sold 14 cars (the next closest salesman sold 11.) He missed getting the extra $5,000 bonus by 1&1/2 cars, but he still gets tons of bonus money for the amount of cars he sold, being salesman of the month, etc. On top of that, he gets a prime parking space for the month! :-) God has really been good to us in providing through Chris' job. We are so thankful for that. We are also thankful that God has provided in other ways... a tax refund for the first time in our married lives, being able to sell some stocks and get money from that to start our savings acct. back up, etc.
I also have been working regularly, and that helps with the financial aspect of things as well.
Our house in MD still has not sold, nor have we had any activity on it for about a month now. Please just continue to pray that the Lord will provide the buyer that we need.

YAAHHHOOOO!!

Chris made his first car sale today! Yaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhooooooooooo!!!!!! Praise the Lord for His provision. I know that His name is Jehovah-Jireh... God Provides, but many times (especially lately) I find myself stressing out over our job and money situations. Chris and I were just talking about this last night, and I told him that I am having a really hard time handling the stress. He told me, "Psalm 55:22 says 'Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.' Heather, leave that stress with the Lord. HE is the one responsible for our bills. We are to do our part, but ultimately, the responsibility is HIS!" That sure takes a weight off my shoulders, especially since I am looking at almost 3 weeks without work if something doesn't come up. Now, I love staying home, and I have plenty to do when at home, but I know that we need the money, too. SO - I'm learning to lean on Jesus, but in my independent self, it's awfully hard to let Him do what He so willingly WANTS to do for me. I'm so stupid sometimes!! Anyway, I did get some work yesterday and today, and will be working for a few hours tomorrow as well. Every little bit counts! Praise the Lord!