Life goes on!

Well, here's my update from our busy, yet fruitful week last week and weekend! I spent most of the week getting ready for our garage-sale on Saturday, which went pretty well. Including the futon we sold just before the sale, we made about $650, which is such a blessing! It'll really help with some of the upcoming expenses we'll have with the job search and moving.

On the job search front, we're both feeling pretty good about it right now. Collin has submitted his resume to several different government defense contractors, put in for a few GS jobs, applied with several companies like USAA, HEB, and Valero as well as posting his resume on monster.com. He actually received a phone call last week from the Target Distribution Center in Tyler, Texas about the resume he'd posted on Monster! They were wanting to discuss an "executive management position" with him and were calling to see if he was interested. While we're not closing any doors entirely, we did tell them that we just started the job search and, one of the most important things to our family is to move back home to San Antonio, so for now we're not going to jump on this opportunity. Even if it wasn't our ideal location, it sounded like a pretty good opportunity, and it feels really good and raises our spirits to have companies calling us with job opportunities just because they saw Collin's resume online!

What's most exciting for us right now, is that we were just taken on by Lucas Group, an executive headhunter that also specializes in transitioning military members into the corporate world. Some of the guys Collin worked with have gone through Lucas Group and found jobs that they are very happy with, so we figured it couldn't hurt to have others helping us with the job search! Collin took quite a bit of time last week getting his Candidate Evaluation Package together for them, and we received a call last Thursday that they've selected him as a Candidate! They are well-respected and one of the largest and fastest growing headhunting firms in the nation, so they don't take on just anyone that applies. From here, they'll be working closely with Collin and their corporate clientele to see what opportunities there are that he'd be interested in and attaining interviews for him. The next step will be for Collin to go to a Military Hiring Conference in Dallas on Sept 20 and 21st to be intereviewed by any companies who might be interested in him. Please pray that all these plans go smoothly, as we only have one month before this all happens! All in all, we're continuing to feel God's hand on our lives and His blessings continue to be showered on us. Thank you all so much for your prayers, love and support - as I've said before, keep 'em comin'! :)

In other news, Moira starts her first day in the Pre-K class at preschool tomorrow! We took her to the school on Thursday to meet her new teachers, Miss Jennifer & Miss Sheila, and see her new classroom, the City room. The room was so cute, with a city skyline painted on the walls and a huge dress-up corner, not to mention a treehouse cubby that they've named "fairytale corner" since they hung fairies from the ceiling in there! She's very excited about going back to school after having last week off and starting in a new classroom with new teachers, although I'm sure she'll miss Miss Shelly in the Mountian room too. I'm happy that she'll now be going on Tuesdays and Thursdays, instead of Mondays and Fridays... that was just too long a stretch to go without school for her! :) Poor Ian wants to go to preschool with his big sister so much now, it breaks my heart to have to pull him away crying every time we drop her off and pick her up. They do have a 2 year old class, I've just been hesitant to put him in since we're not going to be here much longer and it would be an added expense - although I must admit that the idea of even just one morning to myself is super tempting! ;) We'll have to pray about it.

As for me, I've going strong with my stamping, getting ready for a party on the 30th and a stamp camp in early September. When we first heard about the RIF, my reaction was that I'd have to sacrifice my Stampin' Up business to save money and do what I can to help out; but after talking to Collin and my mom and sister, they've all encouraged and convinced me to continue. And, I'm so glad I didn't give it up - it's been my sanity for the last few weeks, helping me focus my mind and effort into something that I love, into something that I can actively be doing! Plus, I realized that I'll finally be able to settle down in San Antonio and continue my Stampin' Up business without having to move every 3 years! Yea! :) It's also allowed me to save money by making some fun gifts for some of our upcoming Fall birthdays and Christmas! Here are a couple of recent creations for (I hope!) your enjoyment!

These are hanging photo ornaments for my Grandmother's heart-shaped photo tree that hangs on the wall. She'll be getting them for her birthday later this month. I told her I'd make more for her other great-grandchildren once we get back to San Antonio!

I've signed up for numerous swaps lately, and these are some of the things I made for the Halloween swaps. The first set of cards is a Halloween themed "view master" card, the second is a mini-can of Pringles I dressed up, and the last is just a cute Halloween card that I love!

"I know the plans I have for you..."

It seems I'm overdue for an update! I've been holding off posting until I had the time to really sit down and tell everyone what's going on in our lives right now, and it looks like now is as good a time as any. So, here we go...

While we were home in Texas visiting, we received news that we'd been caught in the Air Force RIF (reduction in force) and that we have until the 29th of January to separate. Whoa - big news, I know. We actually knew that his year group was up for the RIF board, and seriously considered taking the voluntary separation pay and getting out, but decided in the end that we weren't ready to make that decision ourselves. Now that the decision has been made for us, we're really feeling quite peaceful about it... we know that this is God closing a door for us, which means He has something much better planned for us, and hopefully it's at home in San Antonio! :) So, since then we've been doing the whole job search thing and praying that God will lead us back to San Antonio to be in the city we love, with all the family & friends we miss so dearly! We feel blessed that we have almost 6 months to find a job (although we can get out sooner if we find a job sooner) and that we'll be getting a decent separation allowance once we do separate.

Our interim pastor preached a message on Sunday about following God's will for your life and trusting God's plan, and he said something that struck me and seemed very timely: "God's still on the throne." Meaning that no matter how much of a surprise this was to us, it wasn't to God; that just because we don't know what's next for us, God does and everything is going according to HIS plan! Whew, what a relief that is. We know God is using this experience to teach us to trust Him more and have patience (especially for me) that everything will work out in His timing. "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future." - Jeremiah 29:11

We appreciate all the prayers that so many of you are lifting up for us, keep 'em comin'! We'll be sure to post updates on the job search as we have new information. Thanks for your love and support, what a wonderful group of family and friends we've been given - you're all blessings to us!

Texas Birthday Trip

We're back from Texas now, thoroughly exhausted from the drive home, but with many happy memories of our time there! We really enjoyed being back home and visiting with family, we all miss San Antonio so much. Moira had a wonderful Princess birthday party with her cousins! All the girls looked so sweet in their princess dresses, and we feel so blessed to have been able to share her special day with so much family! Here are a few pics from her special day:

We look forward to getting home to San Antonio again soon, to be in the city that we love, but more importantly, to be with the people that we love!

Preschool Party

Today was Moira's last day of preschool before her birthday and our trip to Texas, so Ian and I brought pink cupcakes to her class so she could celebrate with her school friends! I really enjoyed seeing her in a classroom setting and watching her interact with the other little kids. She loves preschool so much, and I'm glad we have her in such a great program! Ian seems ready to start going himself too... now we'll just have to see if Mommy is ready yet! ;) Here are a few of the pictures I got of them at her school today:

Everyone singing "Happy Birthday" to Moira!

Moira and her pink cupcake - she insisted they be pink!

Ian "spying" on Moira's preschool!

Moira playing in the "cabin"

Tomorrow we leave for our trip to San Antonio and we all can't wait to get there and see all of our family! We have all sorts of fun activities planned, like a Princess birthday party for Moira, a night for the adults at The Melting Pot, and a trip to Landa Park. I plan to continue posting to our blog while we're there, so check back soon for more pics and updates on our vacation! :)

Picture Day!

I took the kids out to get their pictures taken today. The pictures turned out pretty darn cute, in my opinion, but they sure were a handful to manage together! The photographers did a great job though, and we got some cute shots. And, of course, being the sucker that I am, I purchased the cutest collage they put together of the two of them! Now, this is the first time I've spent the money for anything like this (not that it was that expensive) but I think it will be well worth it! :) We'll be mailing pics out to the family after we return from our trip to Texas, but here's a sneak peak of the collage! Enjoy! :)

Our 4th of July Week

I hope everyone had a happy 4th of July! We spent the day with the Hunke family having a BBQ (we always make *way* too much food when we get together), playing around on the trampoline, and then went to watch the city fireworks once it was dark. The kids always enjoy playing with Kindra and Benjamin and they're so good with our 'little ones'!

Diane and I had a chance to get together and stamp on Tuesday while the kids were playing and the bigger kids (our husbands!) played a round of golf. I'm just so excited about all the new goodies in my Stampin' Up! catalog... which Mr. Brown did indeed bring to me last Thursday! ;) Here are a couple of cards we made together that night, with one of my new sets. I can't wait to get the rest of my new goodies in the mail!

Tonight, Diane offered to watch Moira and Ian for us, so Collin and I are going to see Transformers! He, of course, is thrilled about getting to see the movie, while I'm looking forward to having my hubby all to myself!

Artichokes?!

We live in such an awesome place! On our drive to the park in Lompoc today, we passed by the many produce and flower fields surrounding this little city, as we usually do, but something about the drive today hit me. There on the side of the road were tons and tons of artichoke plants! When most people think of artichokes, they think of those little jars of marinated hearts... and here I am looking at a field of artichoke plants! How cool is that?!


Now, I love to eat artichokes, but until recently, I had no idea how to cook them, extract the much sought-after 'heart', nor did I even understand what an artichoke was! It turns out there are two common types of artichokes, the green (which you typically see) and purple, which seem to be growing in popluarity here in California and have a bit nuttier, earthier taste.

The cool thing, that I did not know about artichokes, is that they are really a thistle plant, related to the sunflower. When they're past their prime for harvesting and eating, they actually flower into a breath-takingly vivid purple - which is exactly what the field of artichokes we passed today is doing! Now, I have no idea why the farmer of this particular field decided to let them bloom (as they're no longer good eats) but they're just stunning to look at. Since this sight took my breath away, how could I not share with you a glimpse of something you don't see everyday... unless you live in Lompoc!