Almost the End

So tomorrow is my official last day at central office. It is crazy to think it has been over 2 years here.

Welcome To Oxford

The Missionaries are here!!

Welcome Heather, Tate and Keeley

Mini Vacate

After Danny and Alyse’s wedding JP and I stayed in town and had a mini Vacation! It had been a while since we had taken time to go away just us. We went to a church where the pastor looked like Alex Trebek. Then we spend most of the day exploring and did some shopping. Hung out at the pool/hot tub and just relaxed. OH SO NICE!

Wedding #2

Today was Danny and Alyse’s wedding. It was out of town and a little warm, thankfully the rain cooled things off a bit before the ceremony! It was a very nice ceremony and reception.

Congrats guys we will be praying for you as you start your life as husband and wife!!

PRQ’s for Alyse and Danny

Danny works form MU, Alyse is doing some freelance stuff and will be job hunting soon! Please pray that they will follow God’s leading with open hearts, and that they will see how God is providing for them while they wait.

Interview and job way crazy

Ok so I feel like I have told this story a hundred times…but it is so cool to say it again because it is so obvious that it is all God and not me. So my interview… I took the day off work so I could have a day to get everything accomplished. And not to mention I had an exam that night too. Anyway. I woke up got ready not big rush, grab my stuff and headed out the door at the time I intended to leave. I was losing my voice so I was alternating between cough drops and mints(to avoid smelling like cough drops) Well about half way there I realized I had left my phone at home and that the construction was causing more delay than I had anticipated. (I had no phone to call and say I might be a little lateL) So I arrived at the interview on time (9:00) interview was at 9:00, so I was late by all normal standards. The hiring supervisor met me at the door, as he was apparently waiting on me…not a good start. I filled out the necessary paperwork and headed into the interview. IT went ok for the first part, I knew the answers to the questions and my voice was doing ok. They asked their final question and my answer sounded overly conceded and I honestly cannot believe I even said it…It was true but not something you usually say in an interview. I left the interview and got in my car. The interview had only lasted approx. 40 minutes…Oh that cannot be good was all I could think. Now I had to drive back home to get my phone before I could continue my day. I get home grab my phone and head out the door. I call Josh and give him the rundown of my day, and then I have an incoming call. I put Josh on hold and answer the other line; it was Summit offering me the job! Holy cow it had hardly been an hour. It was one of the crazies days ever…it got crazier. My mother called me and told me to call my direct supervisor at work. (she knew I was applying for the job) Well I called her and she proceed to tell me that everyone at central office knew I had the job since an email had be sent out just a few minutes after I had excepted the position. Wow pretty wild and I still had errand to run and an exam to take. Oh I am tired just thinking about it. But in the end God is so in control and that is ok with me!

Dairy, sugar and egg free brownies

Really a great Recipe:
Whitney’s Birthday is this week (May 23) and she is doing a Dairy Free and low sugar diet to help with the Baby.
So Megan and I made some really yummy dairy, sugar and egg free brownies…so good

Ingredients

2 c. Flour
2 c. Sugar or Sugar Substitute (I only used about ½ c.)
¾ c. Cocoa Powder
1 t. Baking Powder
1 t. Salt
1 c. Water
1 c. Vegetable Oil
1 t. Vanilla Extract

Directions:

1.       Preheat Oven to 350 degrees F.
2.       In a large bowl, stir flour, sugar, cocoa, powder and salt. Pour in the water, vegetable oil and vanilla. Mix until well blended
3.       Pour into a greased 9x13 pan.
4.       Bake 25-30 minutes.(or until the top is no longer shiny) Let cool for at least 10 minutes before cutting. (very important or they will completely crumble…trust me)

Andrews Graduation

Yea Andrew made it to graduation J We have a great time at the party, Volleyball, snack and cake YUM!          

Application/Job Opp

Ok so back on the work topic. Maybe I should start with a little background look at our lives. Josh and I joined the church planting team in the summer of 2007 (we were both finishing up college). We were married in 2009 lived in Oxford for 9 months before I took a job in Columbus (2.5 hours from Oxford) we continued to live in Oxford for the remaining 3 months of our lease. I would stay in Columbus for 4-5 nights a week, usually only home Wednesday nights and weekends. Obviously this was not going to work. So we moved to Miamisburg and moved in with Josh’s grandmother. Miamisburg is 1.5 hours from Columbus and 1 hour from Oxford) though this was much better it is still a struggle. “My goal”, I sat that with a chuckle, was not God’s plan. I thought we would do this crazy drive for 4-6 months and then I would apply for a transfer to Cincinnati and things would be back to normal. Well not exactly. You see I took this job in February of 2010 meaning I have been here for 2+ years. It has been hard, but God has always been faithful! And I know that the only way this works is by the grace of God. I have applied for countless jobs and transfers but nothing works out nothing opens. Earlier we contemplated moving closer to work, but after much prayer and what really seemed like no answer we stayed. I was truly discouraged, not because we were staying but because I had no clue what God wanted us to do. February and March were very hard; I went from planning on moving to trying to readjust to another year of not belonging anywhere. So in an effort to do something I started taking classes in April, which has helped give me something to focus on, but it is still not filling the void of church family that I often feel. Ok off that tangent.

SBH is the ODMH branch that is in Cincinnati, over the last year I have applied for every open position they have posted, many have been lower paying compared to my current job, but with the reduction in driving it would still be beneficial.  Once you have applied of most of their jobs you start to figure out what ones are left for you to apply for. Since there is only a small business office I know most of the employees that are left, none are close to retire, none were looking to move on…until today. One of the ladies I trained left; she came in and gave a week’s notice. Everyone was shocked! She worked hard seemed to like to position but for some reason she decided to leave. Like I said earlier I trained her, meaning I know about 75% of her job description and I know it pretty well.

Oddly enough I was extremely nervous applying for this position. In my mind I kept thinking if I don’t get this job than there is truly not another answer, God is saying no. So rather than applying right away I waited almost a full week. Within that week 4 people talked to the hiring supervisor at SBH to inform them that I should be considered for the position. Then they proceed to call me and make sure I was applying. So that only added stress. So today I put my application in and it is in God’s hands not mine!

Oh this would be a raise too J

Wedding #1

Today was Ricky and Christina’s wedding. I was the “wedding planner” kinda J. The day had it almost oh-no’s but in the end they were married and we all had a great time. Even if there were lots of wardrobe malfunctions and such!

Congrats guys we will be praying for you as you start your life as husband and wife!!

PRQ’s for Ricky and Christina

Christina helps lead our Summer Clubhouse program and she will be finishing up her bachelor’s degree over the summer, please pray that God will give endurance, patience and focus during the summer!

Busy Weekend (avengers, lunch, lisa and Helens bday)

Avengers was amazing J
Happy Birthday Lisa and Helen…Iron Chef was quite tasty.