Three More Days!

Well......the end is almost here. Including today, I have three more days of being employed by Office Depot. I don't know if it's really sunk in yet. As often as I talk about it to people. or blog about it on here, I don't think it's really hit me. I made the decision to stay home with my little girl, and I don't regret it, but I don't know if I truly realize what I've gotten myself into!! Ha Ha! Can I really do this? Can I really be a stay-at-home mom? Can I be a housewife? Am I capable of doing both of these well? I can't be lazy, and I need to self-motivate. I'm not good at either of those things! I'm probably going to need a lot of help from other stay-at-home moms, and a lot of support from my husband. I'm venturing into unknown territory. I'm not a fan of change. Be prepared for a few "freak out"sessions, and forgive me for "losing my mind"! Pray for me! I know I'll need it, because I'm not sure of how strong I truly am!

One More Week

It feels strange knowing that a week from today will be my last day of working at Office Depot. Part of me is excited. Part of me is scared. Part of me is sad. It will be nice to not have to worry about finding someone to watch Kay, and being able to stay home and watch her grow up. But I know I will miss working with pretty much everybody there. I'll just have to make sure I go back to visit. I'm looking forward to this next chapter in my life, and hope I can be a good wife and mother. I have to teach myself how to do all the things required to be such! It will take a lot of practice, and I hope I don't give up too quickly. Maybe with the support of my friends and family, I can learn to be the best Stay-at-home Mommy for Kay, and an awesome housewife for Rex. I do know that I will have to find a few hobbies, otherwise I may go stir crazy!!! Wish me luck, and say some prayers for me. I know I will need plenty of both!

It's Official!

On Thursday evening, I sat down with my boss and told him the news: I had decided that I would be resigning from my position. He took it well, but he was a little surprised. He said he was expecting me to tell him I needed to decrease my schedule even more. (That would not have helped, considering my salary was already barely covering childcare!) But he also said that he understood my need to do what was best for me and my family, respected my decision, and that I would be missed at the store. It was nice to be appreciated. He also asked me to submit a letter, so it will be in writing, and can be added to my employee file. I said absolutely, typed one out at home, and put it in his box the next morning when I went to work. It felt good to have it done and taken care of! My last day of work will be on March 1st.

I will miss my boss, because I really enjoyed working with him the nine months he has been there. He taught me more in those nine months, then I had learned in the year and a half I had already been working at the store. I was always comfortable talking to him about anything, or asking him any questions I had. It's the kind of boss I would strive to be. I will miss working in the Copy and Print Center, because I enjoyed learning to do so many different things! Helping the customers make their orders look the best possible made me feel good. I was never happy, until the finished product was something I was proud to present to the customer. It was hard, but it was fun! I will also miss most of the people I work with (some of them I haven't worked with long enough or often enough to know them well), because they have become my friends. I know that I will continue to keep in touch with most of them once I leave the company (since many of them are my friends on Facebook), and I also know that I will go back and visit as often as possible since I enjoy shopping there and always need ink for my printer!

Choosing What's Best For My Family

I have decided (after discussing it with Rex), that I am going to quit my job at Office Depot. Though I value the company, and the people I work with, my income is just not making a big enough difference in our financial situation. Most of my disposable income is going towards childcare, and isn't really helping us get ahead. I have thoroughly enjoyed working there for two years, and have learned much in the time I have been there. I have learned the most in my year and a half working in the Design and Print Service Center. I have become better acquainted with several programs I had only had a passing glance at in the past. I have familiarized myself with Microsoft Publisher and Adobe Photoshop. I have also become more proficient in using Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. I am more comfortable creating documents for clients, and making their designs stand out to their customers. I will miss working there, and hope to find a position with another company that will allow me to stay home with Kay and still help supplement Rex's income. Prayers and positive thoughts are needed, because this was a decision I never thought I would make. I know it will be hard at first (and until I find a job that allows me the flexibility of caring for Kay properly), but I also know that after careful consideration, discussion, and prayer, it is the best decision for my family.

Walking and Weight Loss Buddies

I'm looking for several people who are interested in losing weight and getting healthier, to help get me motivated. I don't do very well on my own, and the more the merrier. I know not everybody is available all the time, so if we have a group of people who are all working together, we can keep going strong! That way, if one or two people can't make it that day, then will still have a few more who can! Please let me know if you are interested, and any ideas you might have for activities. I've already started by drinking more water, and trying to eat healthier by snacking on fruits, veggies, yogurt, and cottage cheese. Also going to try to add more chicken and turkey to my meals, instead of red meat. (Of course, since I love red meat so much, I'll have to have it occasionally, so I can keep from overdoing it). Come on guys and gals! Both Rex and I could use your help, because I'm pretty sure he's already on board with this!

Weight Loss Woes

For those of you who might have missed my post on Facebook last week- I need to lose 100 lbs this year, and don't know how to go about doing it. I got a lot of great suggestions from my friends, and have already started drinking more water than I was (not as much as I should, but definitely more), and I'm hoping when Rex and I go grocery shopping this afternoon, we can buy more fruits and veggies, and maybe some fish and nuts (not sure what kind to buy, because I'm pretty picky). I don't know what other kinds of "healthy" foods to get. I've never really bought any before, because my weight didn't bother me enough to do anything about it. Well, now it does. Mostly because of my little girl. I want to be healthy for her. I want to live a long life, and watch her grow up, get married, have babies of her own. I can't do that, if I die of a heart attack or some other health issue because of my weight! I can barely keep up with her, and I want to be able to run around and play with her, and teach her to be active.

It was much easier for me when I was a child, because I had and older brother and sister that chased me around (until they moved out), then I had PE in junior high school, and marching band in high school. All of those things kept me active, and though I was never skinny, I was healthy! It seemed like once I hit college, that was the beginning of the end. Everything went down hill from there. I ate all the junk food that they sold on campus, but didn't have much t keep me active. Most of my friends just "hung out", and sat around between classes (and sometimes through classes). then of course all the drinking I did when I was younger (with the same friends). When I was 20, I got a job working at a women's plus size clothing store, and had more money to spend on junk food! Sure, I was on my feet and somewhat active, but with getting off work at 9pm or after, I would often be hungry and eat a full meal when I got home. So not only was I eating unhealthy food, I was eating at the wrong times. With my work schedule being so unpredictable (no set hours), I couldn't eat meals at around the same time every day, and I couldn't do the "5 small meals a day", because I couldn't eat while I was working! (Plus I was still drinking occasionally, and alcohol puts weight on you!)

So......I have had 16 years of low activity and bad eating habits, that have made me lazy and turned me into the overweight person I am today. Everyone keeps telling me, you have to "make it a lifestyle change". I agree, but since I've had bad habits pretty much half my life, that's not going to be easy! I can't do this alone. I'm unmotivated and lazy, and easily discouraged. I need a support system, and I know my wonderful husband will do his best to help, but he is often as unmotivated as I am! We both need someone who can keep us BOTH going, who can encourage us to keep going and press on, and who can hold us accountable for our actions/decisions. We need a "weight loss buddy" (or buddies) to help keep us on track, and maybe we can do the same for them! (We're always better at encouraging others, than we are at encouraging ourselves). Any takers? Please apply now!

I'm the mother of a TWO YEAR OLD??!!

I can't believe my baby just turned 2 on January 7th!. These past two years have gone by so quickly! I remember when she was just a tiny little baby, totally dependent on Mommy and Daddy. Now she's a rambunctious toddler that wandres all over the place, and only needs Mommy and Daddy to prepare her food (she can feed herself), change her diaper (not potty trained yet), change her clothes (hasn't mastered the on and off by herself, but helps a lot!), kiss her boo-boos when she falls down, and read her books (because she understand all the words). I can't BELIEVE this!! Pretty soon, she won't need Mommy and Daddy to do anything for her (except maybe prepare her food for her, until she reaches junior high or high school)! As much as I complained about certain things when she was little, I don't want her to grow up! I wish she could stay this age forever. She's still cute, but she's so smart! Unfortunately, I have now choice, and I just have to watch helplessly as she gets older, and just do my best to help mold her into the person God wants her to be.

(I chose the current picture for my profile, because it was me at about her age. She looks so much like I did at this age!)

Good news

In my last post, I said that our car was running like crap. Well, not anymore!! As of about a month ago, Rex fixed the leak in the radiator. I guess there was a loose bolt or something. So the car was no longer overheating. (Of course, we were still having electrical problems). About a week after fixing the leak, Rex bought a new battery. Once he replaced the battery, the car started running awesomely!!!! No delay in starting! No problems with the radio randomly setting itself to a Spanish radio station! Rex said there is probably more he will have to do to the car, to have it running in tip top shape, but at least now I'm not worried about it overheating or not starting!!

Miss Kay has only been walking since Christmas, but she is getting so good at it! She almost never falls anymore, and now she's on the verge of running! Once that happens, we're really in trouble! She has three more teeth that have come through her gums, and one more that is just under the surface. Rex is pretty sure she's working on one of her sets of molars, too.

Our anniversary is next Wednesday, April 28th. We will be celebrating 3 wonderful years! I'm not sure exactly what is planned, but we're both looking forward to it!! I'm still wondering what we're going to do for our birthdays in August.....guess I'll just have to wait and see!

The Journey (our Young Adult Group) has been growing in number, and this year's Good Friday Service was awesome! We were able to hold it in the church's sanctuary, and our attendance was as many people as the first and second year we hosted combined!!!! I'm hoping that next year, we can open up the Overflow room, and we can seat even more people! I can't wait to see what God still has planned for out church and our group!!!

Randomness

It's totally been too long since I've posted. I'm not sure why. I have plenty of interesting things that have happened.

Katherine started walking on Christmas, and had her first birthday in January.
I'm being trained in a new department at my work.
Rex and I are looking for a bigger apartment, so Kay can have her own room (and we can have some privacy!)
Two couples that are friends of ours were expecting their first baby this month (One baby arrived last night!)
We've developed new relationships with really awesome people, that we absolutely adore!
Rex has a truck, so we're no longer sharing one vehicle (but the car we had is running like crap- overheating all the time).
My nephew is getting married in May, and I was asked to design and print their invitations. (Rex designed them, but I did print and cut them to size, and my soon to be niece and her mom loved them!)
My brother, who lives in Arizona, was out here working on a job, and I got to see him almost every week! (He's back home now with his wife and daughters, where he belongs!)
I've decided to quit teaching on Sunday mornings, come June (Promotion Sunday should be my last day).
I've taken a break from ushering on Sunday nights, but plan on going back once I'm no longer teaching in the mornings.
Starting this week, I'll have to take on more responsibility with our Young Adult Group (Pastor Shawn and his wife are one of the expectant couples, and Little C could be here any moment!)
Rex and I are trying (sort of) for another baby, but I don't know if that's what God wants for us. (I guess we'll just have to wait and see.)

I'll try not to stay away for so long next time, but I can't promise anything!

Family comes first

Rex and I have realized since we got married two and a half years ago, family should always come first (after God, of course). Before we got married, it was okay for us to put ourselves first, as long as our actions were not detrimental to those around us. But all of that changed as soon as we said "I do." We could no longer think about ourselves. We had to consider each other's thoughts and feelings in anything we did. We had to discuss things before a final decision was made. We no longer had the luxury to be selfish. Of course, we weren't very good at making sure we always put the other one first.

When a person gets married in their late twenties or early thirties, they are so used to not having to take another person's opinion into consideration when making a decision. They are so used to doing things for themselves whenever they wished. I know this from experience, because this was one of the problems Rex and I encountered once we got married. Neither one of us was used to having to discuss things with one another, before a mutual decision was made. We also weren't used to sharing space with another human being. I mean, we both lived with our perspective parents until we got married, but that was totally different. We may have lived in the same house as our parents, but we still had our "private space". Having to share a bed, let alone a room with another person, took some getting used to.

We had to remind ourselves to be considerate of one another's feelings and personal space. We could no longer take it upon ourselves to move or use something that belonged to the other, without asking first. We actually had to stop and think about how our actions would affect one another. We had to think, before we said whatever was on our mind, just to be sure that it wasn't hurtful to the other. I had to learn to give him the space he needed (which I'm still not always good at), and he had to learn to just listen to how I felt, rather than trying to "solve my problems" (which he is much better at now!) Even now, two and a half years later, we are still learning. We have gotten better about putting one another needs before our own, but now we have a baby to consider!

Our daughter's needs have to come before ours, but not at the expense of our marriage. In taking care of our daughter, we need to not neglect one another, or take advantage of one another. It needs to be a team effort, that helps us to grow closer together as husband and wife. We need to remind ourselves that as we raise and nurture our daughter, we need to nurture our relationship with each other, as well. If we neglect our marriage, our family structure will begin to crumble, and that isn't helpful to our welfare, or the welfare of our daughter. So as our daughter gets older, we need to set aside some time together, as a couple. We need to "take a break"from being parents, and remind ourselves of why we fell in love and got married.

Outside of our little family nucleus, we have to remember to stay involved in the lives of our extended family as well. We need to include them in the goings-on in our lives, as well as make sure we're up date on their experiences as well. (We are getting better at it, but it's still a "work in progress".) It is important to have close ties with our family, because we never know when we might need them, or even possibly lose them. We need to reach out to our "external" family members, spend time with them, and keep in touch with them as often as possible. Who knows? We may be the ones that are needed someday. The closer knit a family is, the better it relates and prospers. We were not put on this earth to be singular creatures. We were created to "go forth and multiply", so to speak.

All throughout history and the Bible, families lived together, and worked together, until the children were of marrying age. Then the wife went with her husband's family, and though they often had their own homes, they lived close to the family, and continued to interact and spend time with their family members. Nobody was ever expected to do anything alone. Farms were tended by families, businesses were run by families, and the entire family helped to raise the younger children. Then, when the young couple's parents became ill, or too fragile to care for themselves, the children would take them in, and care for them. In those days, it truly was a family "unit". Everyone looked out for the welfare of everyone else.

In today's society, we are not encouraged to do so. It's all about putting yourself first, and fighting your way to the top. Often, families are left behind, because of selfish desires. We are trained to do everything necessary to better ourselves, sometimes at the expense of others. Families and marriages are destroyed, because too often, people give into these selfish urges, without thinking of how it will affect others. People are taught to put their careers first, because if they don't, someone else will get the promotion. We as individuals need to STOP DOING THIS!!! We were not alone when we were brought into this world, and we are not meant to go through life alone.

Whether or not a person decides to get married and have a family, they are still not meant to be alone. We have families for a reason: to raise us, teach us, and nurture us. We are also expected to become caretakers when our elders become too fragile to care for themselves. Always remember to put your family first. Because without them, you would be nothing, and you would have nothing. God created us to be dependent on him AND one another. Eve was created as a Helpmate to Adam, because God did not want Adam to go through life alone. Why should we be any different?

New Beginnings

Well, this past month has brought about a lot of brand new beginnings (and/or firsts):

Our 18-20 something group at Centerpoint had expanded to a 20-30 something group. (We still welcome those in the 18-20 age range, but we discovered that we were reaching more people above the age of 29, so we've grown to accommodate them!) We're looking forward to the new things that God has prepared for us as a group! Our goal is still to reach those who need a small group, to help cement their faith in God, and offer support for their struggles along their path. So for anyone who is still in search of a small group that might offer just what you're looking for, come check us out!

Rex's cousin has enlisted in the Air Force, and that has helped to prompt us into strengthening our relationship with his family, because we realize that family is more important than anything else on Earth. We went to a potluck at Rex's uncle's house (his cousin's grandfather), and it felt good to connect with his family. I know it is difficult for him, considering his first cousins are considerably older than him. But, the more time we spend with his family, the more he will continue to discover that he has in common with them.

Our daughter has grown her first two teeth (and is working on her next two), and tonight, for the very first time......stood up by herself for almost 30 seconds! I know that may not seem like much to those of you who aren't parents, but for those of you who are, you understand how big of an acheivement this is! She has tried previously, on several occasions, but usually after a couple of seconds, has fallen right back down on hre bottom! But, being the determined little girl that she is, she refused to give up! And her perserverance has prevailed! We're pretty sure she'll be walking (possibly running) by Christmas!

Both Rex and I have reconnected with old friends, and are rebuilding those relationships as adults. We are finding that we have more in common with these people now, then we ever did as children or adolescents. We have all matured, and that has made us more aware of how our actions affect those around us. We are able to relate to each other better, and have learned to listen to one another. We no longer let our selfish desires get in the way of our friendships. We realize that it is no longer "all about us", but that it is about those who we surround ourselves with. We no longer put ourselves first in those friendships, and because of this, our relationships are stonger than ever.

Several of our friends have had new living quarters and/or arrangements, and it seems to be working out for everyone! (Of course, not without several roadblocks along the way, but they have all prevailed!) We are very happy for all of them, and hopefully our living arrangements improve soon! We really need more room for a growing baby, and two rambuncious cats! Our apartment is no longer big enough for our family!

As time goes on, I know that there will be many more new beginnings, and many more firsts. I look forward to whatever God sees fit to endow upon us!

Summer Sports Series V

That's right, Summer Sports Series fans! It's that time of year again!

Two weeks ago, The Journey started our yearly Summer Sports Series, by picking teams and names. This year's theme was food, so our teams came up with these names: Team Cookie Monsters and Team Roasty, Toasty Marshmallows. By the end of the night's activities, the score was 150 to 25, in favor of The Cookie Monsters.

The Roasty, Toasty Marshmallows refused to put up with that. On Friday, we played Dodgeball, and Team RTM creamed Team CM, 7 games to 2. Team RTM earned 100 pts for their win, and received the 25 bonus points for Teamwork, since they worked well together to defeat Team CM. However, Team CM received the 25 bonus points for Sportsmanship, because they took their loss so well. The score was then 175 to 150, still in favor of Team Cookie Monsters.

On Saturday, we had our yearly Beach Trip to Huntington Beach. From what I heard, everyone had a great time, and the teams took each other on in a raucous game of Volleyball. I was unable to go myself, but apparently, Team RCM won again! So, congratulations to both teams for all their efforts, and if you would like to keep updated on the Summer Sports Series events, and the teams scores, visit The Journey's website, at truthlivedout.com for all the details!