Home Sweet Home

Since some of my friends now know and since I am feeling a little less embarrassed to tell the whole world, I am letting you all know that we are moving. It is not by choice either. We have to be moved out of our house by March 15th. I am very sad and very very scared but I know that everything will work out in the end. I am actually taken back by the love and concern that has been showed to us the last couple of days. We've already had 3 offers from friends for us to live with them. Since I like my friends and want to still be friends we have declined those offers but I am very very grateful for them and their willingness to share.

So who knows what will happen to us. For now our plan is to live in one of my sister's rental houses for a little while until we know what we are doing. Heaven knows I don't want to live in Grantsville but at least the rent will be super cheap and my girls will get to see their cousins more.

Now it's time for my bawl session. I love my house. This place has been my home for 4 years. It is really the only home I've had since the home I grew up in. I've had my babies here (literally had them here...in the house), we've grown into a family here. We have painted it crazy colors because that is who we are and now we have to leave it. I guess I would feel different if we were leaving for good reasons. For a job somewhere and a new adventure but since it's not that way it is super super hard. We are going backwards here. I thought we were supposed to be progressing. All I know is that the last year of my life has been about the hardest I can imagine. The Lord has seen fit to stretch me as far as I can go and then a little more. I only hope that I am proving my worthiness. Most of the time I feel I am not but I am trying. So now I have to get my act together and pack like crazy. The thought overwhelms me more than you can know. I have no idea how to pack a whole house. I've only ever had to pack myself up really and that's nothing. Now I have to pack myself, a husband, 2 kids and a piano....a very very heavy piano. Yikes. Any strong men want to come help us on the 15th??

Latino-American Love

I thought this was hilarious. But you might only get it if you've taken a semester of Spanish.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngRq82c8Baw

A Sign

This past Saturday our family had a wonderful outing to of all places, IKEA. We do love IKEA but boy were we exhausted afterwards. On our way out Ivan and I had the following random sarcastic conversation:

I: Maybe I could design caskets for IKEA.
J: Huh?
I: You know, a put it together yourself cheapo version but still make it look cool.
J: Now there's an idea. You could make some novel ones you know like they do now a days where they make caskets in the shape of guitars and pianos and such to reflect how the person was while living.
I: Hmm....maybe I should sketch some and stick it in my portfolio.
J: That's sounds kind of morbid.


I know, weird conversation. Why on earth would we be talking about this? I have no idea.

Then yesterday Ivan got one of those emails from Monster where they send you job openings in your field. This was the job the came up:

Product Designer

Looking for a challenging opportunity with a successful corporation where your dedication and results will be noticed? Batesville Casket Company offers a team environment where we recognize and promote dedicated and results oriented employees.

Batesville Casket Company is more than the world’s leading producer of premium caskets and cremation products, we set the standard for success and productivity. We play a vital role in the funeral process, assisting funeral directors in helping families honor the lives of someone they loved.

Several of our manufacturing facilities have recently been recognized by both the National Safety Council and Industry Week for their best practices and efficiency as well as their commitment to excellence. Join a winning team and receive the spoils of success such as competitive pay and benefits.

We are currently looking for a Product Designer at our Batesville, IN location.

So how random is that? Is it a sign? I don't think that we want it to be a sign because really, who wants to design caskets and urns. Not exactly a dream job. I guess it has one advantage though, I'm sure business is always steady no matter what state the economy is in. At any rate we are going to apply. It couldn't hurt and besides it's right outside of Cincinnati which we love so it couldn't be all bad right?

Being creative

Here is a little something I made for a friend last night. I thought it was actually blog worthy. Hopefully this qualifies me as good enough to do the Stampin' Up! thing.

Free stuff

I love getting stuff for free. Who doesn't? Take today for instance. We splurged a little and met daddy for a lunch date. We have not done that in forever. I guess we were feeling pretty rich since it was pay day so we went to Chili's (Lili's idea). And I have to admit that nothing makes me happier than having a good meal with out me having to do a thing but just sit there and be served. However our food took much longer than we imagined. A lot longer. Our server never even came to check on us and we had run out of water to drink. I was getting a little antsy. I didn't even see her anywhere to flag her down. I was getting annoyed. FINALLY she came to the table to give us water. I asked about our food and told her we had been waiting a long time. After all, Ivan only has an hour lunch. So we finally got our food brought out to us by the manger who apologized profusely. Now the good part. We got the girls' food free and then he gave us an envelope with some gift certificates that would cover nearly a whole meal for all of us. Score! I love it when that happens. Of course we had to be extremely annoyed (and had to pay for our food) in order to get our free stuff but I'd have to say it was worth it.

I had another free stuff thing happen this week. My sister in Cali called me on Tuesday and asked me if I had any secret desire to own a Bosch. Uh....YEAH! I've been wanting one for years but figured it would have to wait until we were settled into a real job. Hallelujah! Just so happens her neighbor was giving away her Bosch. She said she had prayed about who to give it to and she just kept thinking of my sister. Funny, because my sister already owns a Bosch. My sister was very gracious and asked if it was alright to give it to her sister. I feel so lucky. But that's not even the best part. It also just so happens that a good family friend who lives in Salt Lake is heading down to CA for the weekend and will bring me back my Bosch. Funny how things work out sometimes. Now I just need a wheat grinder and I can be the true granola that I know is inside of me!

To stamp or not to stamp

Lately I've been quite into doing crafty things. In particular making cards and other cute paper things. I love it. It helps me be creative and it's a good distraction from all the poopy things going on in my life. Last night my wonderful friend Laurie had a Stampin' Up party. I was so excited to go because I love their stuff and I was determined to actually buy something. (Last week I sold something on Craigslist just so I''d have money for it). I wound up spending nearly twice as much as I had planned but that's because they were having a deal where if you spend $50 you get a free stamp set and of course, I love free stuff so....I just had to do it. Besides, it is all stuff I "need".

Then I got to thinking, what if I become a demonstrator? Would I get a good discount? Could I earn enough money to support my habit? Would it be fun? The thought has actually crossed my mind before but I've thought that there is no way that I'm talented enough to do it. So I am in a dilemma folks. What do I do? I want to do it. I want to do it for the social aspect of meeting new people and hanging out with gal pals doing girly stuff. I want to do it for all the stuff I could buy to make cute things. It's a little bit of an investment though. Ahh....what do I do? My husband actually supports me in my endeavor but do I feel confident enough to go through with it? "Sigh". I will mull over it for a little while and get back to you with my decision. Feel free to weigh in with your opinion.