you know you're a blogger when...

you know you're a blogger when you are in target and you overhear someone on the phone say something about a dashboard and you automatically think they are a blogger, then you continue listening and she says, "no, i'll go pick up the car but i'm telling you, i left the papers on the dashboard!"

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

lately i have been going to Barnes and Noble to read a Karen Kingsbury book that i have been wanting to read, but haven't wanted to buy. so i go, i find the book, i find a chair, and i read 3 chapters. by the end of next week, i should have the book finished! In this particular book, she mentions the verse 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18: Be joyful always pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. this verse is something i have known my whole life, but as of recently, i have not put it into practice. we have been praying for a job for me for a while now and nothing has opened up, not even sub positions. we have been through so many emotions through our circumstances, but i have not given thanks through every moment of our circumstances.

a couple weeks ago, my mom called and said one of her friends who teachers 5th grade with her is going to have surgery and will be out for 6 weeks and was wondering if i wanted to take the sub position. i laughed about it because it is in friona, which means 6 hours away from my husband. as we have continued to pray for God to open a door for me, this sub position has kept coming up. so as of yesterday, i will be taking the sub position in my home town for 6 weeks. I will come home on the weekends to see my wonderful husband, and i will miss him probably more than i can even imagine right now. but as of right now, this is the window that God has opened, and through the next 6 weeks, we will be joyful, we will pray continually, and we will give thanks through our circumstances. it will be a hard 6 weeks. it will be hard going back to a long distance relationship. but i am excited about the teaching experience i will get from it and how much landon and i will grow in our relationship with each other and with the Lord during this time.

i will start september 21, and leaving the 20th. so for the next week and 3 days, i am going to cook for my husband, hang out with friends, be joyful, and get ready for a new experience. if you think about us during the next 7 weeks, your prayers would be appreciated as we know this will not be easy, but we know God has a plan.

"bring your wife to work" day

the pro's to not having a job:

1. i get to come to work with landon
2. i get to actually lay out, get a tan, and enjoy the summer weather
3. i got to keep my nephews for 4 days
4. sleeping in is always great
5. i can wear whatever i want
6. i can text my husband throughout the day

the con's to not having a job:

1. our bank account
2. cute "back to school"/fall clothes....................if you are wondering why this is a con, it's because of #1.
3. i get bored at home
4. get to start paying back student loans in december
5. both of our cars have had problems in the last weeks. both of our cars require money to fix.

There are more pro's, does that mean i don't need to get a job? i don't think so! If anyone has any ideas on any kind of random job, let me know!

I know the Lord will take care of us, it's just hard waiting.

church camp

landon and i had the privilege of going to church camp with some of our friend's youth group this week.  we went to lead the high school group.  going as a leader was completely different than going as a youth.  i was challenged in a new way!  Ben Stuart was the speaker and Charlie Hall was the worship leader, both extremely incredible!  Ben went through the life of David every day and applied it so our lives today.  The kids were very receptive to him and i really think God did a work in their hearts.  

the last night really spoke to me.  he read out of 2 Samuel 7 which is about how David wanted to build the temple of the Lord.  God comes to Nathan, David's friend, and tells him to tell David that he doesn't want him to build his temple.  He says that someone in David's line will build His temple, speaking of Jesus.  Ben went on to talk about the plans we make for ourselves and the plans God has for us.  Even though our plans are not always "bad" plans, sometimes God wants to do something else to use us.  Am i willing to let God change my plans for his?  Billy Graham wanted to be a chaplain in the military, not a bad plan.  He tried 3 times to get into the military and every time, he was too sick to get in.  He was confused as to why God didn't allow him to get in because he wanted to simply preach His Word.  God had other plans.  I think Billy Graham is probably glad that God's power overruled his plans.  

Too many times i have made plans for my life, especially in my current situation.  I have made all these plans about what I am going to do and when i'm going to do it.  now that it hasn't happened yet, i have started to panic.  Who am I that i would worry and stress over something that God has complete control of?  Who am i to not trust him completely?  Who am i to think that i know what's best for my life?  Who am i to limit myself rather than expecting God to do something great?  

so what am i going to do now?  i'm going to trust him.  i'm going to bask in his sunlight.  i'm going to pray for peace.  i'm going to let him blow me away with his plans for my life.  he is an awesome God!

pound cake

tonight we had landon's grandparents over for dinner. i know, you are thinking, how sweet! but i won't take all the credit, it actually wasn't our idea, ha. landon's mom mentioned that his grandma had casually brought up that she "didn't even know where her grandkids lived", so we had them over for dinner.

ok you know that typical meal that your grandparents always eat? you know, like pinto beans, that weird meat that you aren't really sure what it is, and anything else they can find? well that's what we had. i had never cooked that kind of meat before (landon got it) and landon told me they like their meat well done, and well done means very well done! because i didn't know what it was supposed to look like, and he did tell me it needed to be "well done", i might have let it get a little bit TOO well done. when you drop it on the plate and it sounds like you dropped fork on the plate, that's a little TOO well done. i ran to the grocery store and got some fried chicken, hid the box in the pantry, and they never knew....they even ate the rock solid "well done" meat and complimented it.

the dinner and night ended up being a productive night, they enjoyed being here, we enjoyed having them. there is just something about grandparents humor that makes the night fun/interesting.

ps...when your grandmother-in-law asks if you are going to try her pound cake, always say yes, even if you made your mom's brownies that you have been craving all week...better yet, eat a piece as soon as she brings it in. AND before she leaves, when she asks if you want to keep some, ALWAYS say yes!

jean shopping

landon hates my jeans, well at least the pair i wear the most.  after i wear them the first time they sag in the butt and he hates how long they are.  he keeps telling me he is going to buy me a good pair of jeans.  so yesterday we ventured to Plato's closet.  he was going to find me a pair of jeans.  he started on one side of the store and i started on another.  by the time i was ready to go to the dressing room, i had 4 pairs and he brought me like 8, all nice brand name jeans for awesome prices.  you would think out of TWELVE pairs of jeans, i would be able to find at LEAST one that i liked.  3 was too short, like 4 were to small, 1 made my butt look WAY too big (mom-type jeans), 1 was saggy in the crotch area, 1 was too big, 1 was just not cute, and there was 1 that COULD have worked, but i didn't love the way they looked on me,  so i didn't want to spend money on something i didn't love.  

did i mention i HATE jean shopping???  

i could shop all day for anything OTHER than jeans, that just makes me crazy!  i try watching What Not To Wear to get ideas on jeans that would look good on my body type, but it never fails, i can't find anything.  i really need staci and clinton to help me i think......................oh yeah, and that $5000 visa gift card too!  

i want to be a teacher

four years of tedious hard work to get my degree in education, all to just sit and wait.  i have a hard time doing that, i always have especially if i have no control of the situation.  it's something i'm trying to work on.  graduating from a university in oklahoma and then moving to texas right after graduation makes it hard to find a job, especially in teaching.  

i tried starting early in my job search in texas.  i started applying for jobs, took resume's, and applied for a texas certificate a couple months before i graduated.  heard nothing.  texas is very picky in  choosing their teachers and doesn't want anyone working in the education field if they don't have a texas certificate, or that's my conclusion.  i have waited for my oklahoma certificate to come in the mail so i can finally get it turn into texas and figure out what i need to do to get my certification there.  along the way, there have been some obstacles that have left me discouraged, frustrated, and negative.  finally, after a one-day trip to OKC to the education department, i might be on my way to being certified in oklahoma, but with it being middle of july (1 month until school starts), only having 2 interviews, and knowing just about everyone else in my education classes already has a job, the discouragement has stayed about the same.

landon has been such a huge support in all of this.  he knows when i get down and frustrated and he knows exactly what to say and how to pray for me.  he is my rock.  God has been working on me in this whole process as well.  i know "All thing work together for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."  that verse has been brought to my mind several times over the last couple weeks especially.  the Lord is teaching me to trust him....completely, because that is where i am falling short.  

landon has been going to his "alternative certification" class last week and this week he will finish them up.  i am also helping him with his online classes that he has to take as well.  as small as it may be, talking to him about these different teaching principles he is learning and the things that i am "re-covering" on his online classes excites me even more to be a teacher.  i know this is what i am supposed to do for now and i know God will provide a way for that.  he has called me into this ministry of teaching, my mission field and he isn't going to leave me hanging now.  i'm excited (and a little nervous) to see where this road will take me.  it's already been a crazy ride, but with a wonderful, loving, and supportive husband and an unfailing God, i will be right where i'm supposed to be in the end.