March Madness

For the past two years, March and April seem to bring about big changes in our lives, specifically in our employment. Last year it was Graham's transition from Crossroads to ServiceMaster and me starting my Arbonne business, allowing me to stay at home with Ellie as of October 2007. The year before that was the closing of The Little Gym and our getting hired on at Crossroads Fitness. This year is the same but also different in other ways. Graham got hired on as an Auto Adjuster with Farmer's Insurance after a very grueling testing and interviewing process! It feels different to us this time because it seems like a career that Graham is excited about and has a lot of promise in the benefits such as paid vacation (what is that?!?!?), a group health insurance plan (woohoo!), pension, profit sharing, retirement, and a company car! This truly is proof that when you wait on the Lord-as Graham is very good at, (and as hard as those waiting times are- especially for me) He knows the timing and has a plan for that which we can't even imagine!

As I look back on the past four years, after we moved from Chicago, I am amazed at God's faithfulness even in the midst of uncertainty and financially hard times. There is a lot to be said for those times when we feel completely dependent on Him for provision. The lack of control is an invaluable lesson in the fact that we are called to become dependent on Him and give up the false idea that we can be in control of our lives. As wonderful as all of the benefits Graham is about to get from this new job, we know that worldly security is fleeting and false. The only true security we can have is through the promises of the Lord, and I have been (and still am) in the process of realizing that those are more than enough! What a faithful, good God we serve! I am in awe.

I thought I would also share some photos of what we have been up to so far in March.

Sleeping (this is how El sleeps at night)

Holding Babies (Wyatt is Laura Ensor's new baby)


Making basketball cookies


Coloring


Learning how eat like a big girl (unsuccessful so far)

Eating cake batter (yummy!)

Good: Baby chicks

Better: Baby chicks at a farm

Best: Baby chicks at a farm supply store ;)

My husband vs. Rivaldo

MyHeritage: Family trees - Genealogy - Celebs

They say that my hubby looks like Rivaldo?

This is weird...

I found this website through someone else's blog and just played with it for a minute. Basically they said that I most look like Kelly Hu- never heard of her. I didn't believe them so I decided to morph myself- if nothing else it is somewhat amusing.

MyHeritage: Family trees - Genealogy - Celebrities

Influenced...

This past week, El made a perfect illustration of how things we watch (on TV in particular) can make a difference in what we do. She received an amazing Elmo's World DVD collection for Valentine's Day from Grammy Wendy (I think we, as parents, were actually more excited that we didn't have to keep watching and listening to the Pets one). Last Thursday was the first time she had seen the video below and had never had an obvious affinity to anything listed in the title. On Friday at breakfast, she kept pointing to the kitchen counter where the bananas were. I finally realized that it was a banana that she wanted- I happily obliged and she ate the entire banana (a first for her). At lunch, the exact same thing happened and she ate another entire banana. Finally, dinner came and I figured that I would be able to give her a pear or orange...boy was I mistaken! By then, she started saying, "Nana!" and pointing to the counter again. So, by the end of Friday, she had eaten 3 ENTIRE bananas...that has got be some kind of record, right?!?!? Which brings me to this video: thanks to Jeremy and Ashley for introducing me to this quite some time ago! Why not use technology to reinforce good eating habits?

It's the small things...

Can I just tell you that I have been getting excited lately about little things? My latest and greatest discovery has by all accounts, literally changed my life! What, you ask? It is a little gadget called the Swiffer Sweeper-Vac! We have pergo floors throughout the living/dining room and kitchen so I find myself getting down on my hands and knees either with a paper towel or dust buster on a daily basis. This beautiful invention allows me to get all the dust bunnies, crumbs, dirt pieces, and random chunks of food off the floor while standing up straight! On top of the swiffer cloth, there is suction to pick up the bigger debris. The past few days I have actually looked forward to sweeping the dust bunnies up although please don't expect that to last forever. (By the way, how can 3 relatively clean people create daily dust bunnies?- I will never know)
I also just had to share this picture with you of El. I love it because it has a couple of her favorite things and is just so her with her rosy cheeks, blue eyes, and her smile that we love. She adores Elmo and can't ever seem to get enough of the book, "Boom Boom" or "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom". She is in her reading nook where we often find her when she is playing by herself and pretending to read the words to all of her favorite books. We are blessed!

To Dream Again

I can clearly remember dreaming when I was little...I used to dream that I was an Olympic jump roper (is there such a thing?), an NBA basketball player (or WNBA nowadays), a professional beach volleyball player, and a teacher (mostly because I liked to write on the chalkboard). Three of the four of these were very big dreams for a little girl but I remember how real they were in my mind back then.

When I went to college, I really started to dream about how I was going to change people's lives and the eternal impact that I longed to have. This drove me to my majors: Christian formation and ministry and Bible/Theology. From the outside looking in this might have seemed foolish because it was costing a not-so-small fortune to put me through a Christian liberal arts college. Wouldn't it be better and more practical to become a business major or something that would look good on a resume? These are questions that I struggled with because although I knew that I loved my majors, I also knew that worldly speaking they may not be the best resume builders, but I didn't really care. Somehow I was still thinking that the Lord had a purpose for my doing what I did in college.

My post-college jobs were varied. I went from data entry girl at a Chicago mortgage company to Christian College Admissions Counselor. After moving back home to Colorado I was the program director for teaching children gymnastics and motor skills, then the personal assistant to the owner of a fitness club. By the end of this time, I felt like my dreams were dying; sitting at a desk doing different mind-numbing things, washing and filling his car with gas, and getting his daily tall, triple shot americano just wasn't doing it for me. By this time I was also Ellie's mom...which is truly a dream come true!

Out-of-the-blue, last summer I was invited to an Arbonne party that one of my friends was having. I knew nothing about Arbonne except that it was skin care and I hardly ever went to those in-home parties because I was a big skeptic. I decided to go just because I needed some time out of the house. For whoever knows me at all, growing up I was about as much of a tom boy as you can get. I didn't wear makeup until I was in college, my mom did my hair for me every morning until I was a sophomore in high school, and I just didn't care about "that stuff" in general- oh if only I had a picture to post. Anyway, I didn't purchase any products from the party that day but the lady doing the party, Margaret, talked about the incredible business opportunity with Arbonne and how the Lord was using it in her life and the lives of those around her. I went home, did my own research on all aspects of this business, and jumped in! It has caused a huge amount of growth in me already and I am dreaming big dreams again. This time though, my dreams are filled with visions that the Lord has given me about this enormous piece of art that tons of people are looking at in awe and the only words I have are, "It was all the Lord, I didn't really do anything!" This is the dream of the masterpiece I see Him creating in me and through this business He has given to me.