Sunday, January 30, 2011

Explaining it all….

This post is going to be hard to write but I think it’s time. This will probably turn into a long post, but will explain a lot. Over the past few months, I’ve made several references to things being difficult and have asked for prayer for our family.

The bad started back right after we returned from our summer vacation in July. That week, my dad was let go from his job of 18 years. They couldn’t give a good reason, just that they weren’t “satisfied” with his performance. This being the first time he’d heard that in all 18 years, he asked if he could have a chance to make it better. They said no. However, that same day, the other owner (one came to talk to my dad), went to Oklahoma City and also let go the man in the same position as my dad in that office. Coincidence? Don’t think so.

I have to stay, in spite of this, we have all been so proud of my dad. Not many people I know would be out the same day as losing a job, looking for a new one. He was willing to do whatever it takes. We prayed long and hard for something to come open for him. He had several leads early on and sadly none of them panned out. Fortunately, before he ever went to work for this company, he worked with my grandpa and uncle doing home construction. They don’t build homes, but rather work on cosmetic things on the inside and outside. They still have this business to this day and my uncle offered my dad to work until something more permanent came open.

One by one, the Lord worked things out. They found short term medical insurance that was affordable. Another uncle whose truck just sat in the driveway b/c of having a company car let my dad drive his truck for a few months (he’d had a company vehicle he obviously had to turn in). We prayed for a new job for months. The bad thing was is that my dad worked in a very specialized line of work. It’s not something that you will find everywhere. So, despite having impressive experience as well as an MBA, the job search wasn’t easy. He faced two things: finding a new job in a new area or leaving here. He wasn’t crazy about either option but just continued to pray for guidance.

In the middle of October, someone who worked for another company in the same field and had heard of his predicament, called and said they had the same position job open and would he be interested in it? Huge praise. The downside: it is six and a half hours away in Amarillo, TX. Not so much a praise.

They headed out to Amarillo at the end of October to just check it out. After that, they decided they needed to look into the job further. My dad went through the interview process. For a while, we didn’t think it would come to fruition because of several factors. But the company really wanted him. And as happy and sad it made us at the same time, he took the job. He started in mid-December.

I have a sister who is 18 and in her last year of high school. My parents decided that they didn’t want to take her away from her last year. So, she and my mom are sticking around here for the time being. My mom will move later this year. Our family has an exciting summer/early fall. My older brother and his wife are expecting my first niece or nephew in June and Stephen and Leslie are getting married in September. After that, mom will pack up and join dad.

This has been really hard on all of us. We are all very close and it makes me so sad to think of my family living so far away. As of now, my dad comes home to visit every other weekend. Because it is a bit of a drive, it’s not one that you can do easily for just a weekend but fortunately his new work is being very understanding and accommodating about his family being here. He always really likes the new job and in all reality, it will probably end up being the best thing for him.

It’s so funny how so often God takes something that can be so hard to deal with and turns it into something positive. And in reality, God knows that it will turn out ok. But He uses that time to draw us closer and cling to him for peace. The offer of the job was definitely an answered prayer and although it wasn’t answered how we’d hoped, it was answered nonetheless. And for that we are thankful. This has pretty much been my mantra the last few months: “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” Thessalonians 5:16-18

I’m sure as this plays out, it will be hard over the months to come to see my childhood home packed up and my parents to leave for good. But I know that God’s will is always right, so everything will be ok. How could it not?

If you made it this far, thanks for hanging in there!

And because I hate to post w/no pictures, here’s a couple from the weekend. It was a dad in town weekend. Ava and I had dinner with them last night because Zach had to be out of town most of the day. Ava really enjoyed some dessert:

IMG_0208 

And today we celebrated my mom’s birthday. Ava had to help blow out candles and thought everyone was singing to her!IMG_2200 

I hope you have all had a great weekend. Word is that we might get a tremendous snow storm this week. Hoping it’s not the case! Yesterday was in the 70s. The high Wednesady is 23. Blech.

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Fun opportunity!!

I was contacted by the wonderful people at CSNStores.com this week asking if I would be interested in hosting another giveaway or in reviewing a product! Since I’m planning a fun giveaway very soon (when I reach the magic 100 followers – soooo close!) and since I gave the opportunity to my readers last time, I decided I’d take this one for us to get something to review. What will we get? The possibilities are endless! Something for me? Something for Zach? Something for Ava like one of these awesome swingsets? With their over 200 online stores, we have our pick of pretty much anything! We’ve yet to decide but be watching – we’ll review whatever it is we get! And if you haven’t checked out this awesome shopping site, DO IT!

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Walking contradiction

Thanks for the help on my previous post about Disney! I have lots of research to do!

Last night, for a change, Ava was hamming it up for me for the camera. So unusual for her.IMG_2185 IMG_2188I LOVE LOVE LOVE her precious curls. Love.them.IMG_2189

Tonight was my 2nd class for Financial Peace University! My work is offering this class and I signed up for it. We got a great deal! They are paying for half of it, and we get to do one of the 2 hours on work time, and the other on our time. I have already learned SO much and am excited to apply some of the lessons to our lives. Zach is totally on board and we are sharing ideas and ways to improve our financial being. I think this will be really beneficial to us and our financial future. Have any of you done FPU? Thoughts? Suggestions??

And because this is just a little contradictory to my taking FPU, let me just share with you this bag I am currently drooling over.purse

Seriously. My friend Amanda has this and I saw it last week when we had lunch. I want it SO bad. I’m not usually that way about purses, but man I like this one!

So how’s your week going? Tomorrow is hump day, and I for one am ready for another weekend!

Friday, January 21, 2011

I need your help!!!

Ok.. so, we are very casually tossing around the idea of possibly taking a trip to Disney World this year. At this point, we are just starting to look into it. We have no idea if we’ll actually go or not, but we do want to explore the possibility.

disney  We’ve been doing a little looking on the internet, and Ava gets sooooooooooooo excited seeing the different characters. I can’t even imagine what she would do if she saw Mickey in person. I think she might faint! ha!

Anyway, I wanted to ask if anyone had any websites they’d recommend as far as helping us plan? Anything you know of that tells how to get good deals, what to do, etc. If you do, please leave a comment or email me at efamilyblog{at}gmail{dot}com.

OK? Ready. GO!

Monday, January 17, 2011

strike a pose!

My future SIL is quite the fashion guru and she and Stephen got Ava this super cute outfit for Christmas. I know Stephen didn’t pick it out! Ava loved the shirt b/c it had “Ava’s pock-it”!

IMG_2172 IMG_2177

This picture cracks me up because it looks like she is in a model’s pose!IMG_2171 

So last night I gave Ava a vitamin and she went on her way like normal. I went into the room where she was watching a movie and noticed she kept picking at her hair. I told her to come to me and found her vitamin stuck in her hair!! IMG_2181IMG_2182 Nice work, kid! It took a little pulling and yanking and cringing by Ava to get it. She lost a few hairs in the process too.

Super long week ahead. Lots going on. Prayers definitely needed and appreciated.

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Randoms and a funny

Zach got his wish and got to stay home yesterday! He and Ava settled in for a quiet day at home, while I trudged out in the nastiness and headed to work (I know… wah wah!). After Ava talked forever and a day about the snowman, he promised he’d take her out for a bit to play in the snow. Love the excitement in her face!IMG_2110IMG_2111  Oh, and if you are a fan of this hat, hop on over to Jill’s blog! She is giving away some of these adorable hats that Kristy makes! She has a ton of adorable hats and you could win one or two!!

Just wanted to share this picture from this morning:photo(6) Every morning when I drop her off, Ava’s favorite thing to do is go for the dress up clothes! This is her favorite dress! I love seeing her imagination growing and developing!

And I’ll end with a funny story: this past weekend at church, Ava was sitting with my sister. Out of nowhere, she points to her chest and says “what’s dat? BOOBIES!” Nice, Ava. Real nice. =) Thankfully I don’t think too many people heard!!!! Hope you are having a good week!

Sunday, January 9, 2011

Where’d the snowman go??

We, like much of the south, have gotten a little bit of snow this afternoon/evening!! After it first started, we told Ava to go look at it out the window, and she asked us about a snowman! I’m not even sure how she knows about snowmen. I found her in her bedroom like this….IMG_0191 ….so I told her we could get bundled up and go outside and see the snow falling for a little bit.IMG_2068 IMG_2083 She kept asking “where’d the snowman go?” while we were out there and one time she asked it while she had her hands out! So cute!IMG_2082IMG_2088

She got snow on the bottom of her pants in the back and I told her to look at it, and she couldn’t figure out how to turn around and see the snow back there!IMG_2086IMG_2087

Love this shot of her face and eyelashes!IMG_2092IMG_2096 

With as cold as today was forecasted to be, we thought a pot of chili would be the perfect meal! Ava had never tried chili before but we let her taste it and she wanted it. It was a huge hit!IMG_0199 

A view of our driveway tonight:IMG_2098

I know Zach is hoping for a snow day tomorrow! He promised Ava if they were out they’d try to build a small snowman! If you have snow around you, stay safe and warm!!!

***The adorable hat Ava has on is from All Warm and Fuzzy! There are lots of different styles to choose from and you can have it made in custom colors! These are the sweetest hats – check them out!

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

You hurt me!

Hey friends! So glad it’s Wednesday – I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again. I feel like if I get through Wednesday, the rest of the week is smooth sailing. Maybe it’s because the week is more than half over?!

So, Zach always calls me after he picks up Ava and today he called and said “Ava got hurt”. Well, this isn’t unusual. She’s a walking accident, people. Seriously. We’re not entirely sure what she did, but we think she was excited her daddy was there and she was trying to get off a toy and it flipped over and hit her in the face! (this might also be a good time to record this: when we do something that might “hurt” Ava, like washing her face or whatever, she’ll say “You hurt me!”. I can just imagine her saying to the toy “You hurt me – Ava”. She says Ava afterwards sometimes, just in case we don’t who the me is! Just didn’t want to ever forget that!)

Her nose was bruised and swollen. You can see the bruise across the bridge of her nose. Fortunately, she doesn’t seem to be hurting so that’s good!IMG_2052 IMG_2055 Praying we can make it through the year with no broken bones or trips to the emergency room like we had in the previous 2 years!

Also, just wanted to point you to All Warm and Fuzzy! My friend Kristy is making hats and they are precious!!!!! She made one for Ava but I haven’t been able to get a picture of the girl wearing it yet! She has the cuuuuuuuuuutest owl and razorback hats. These would make GREAT gifts if you know someone having a baby! Check her out!

And lastly, here is my sweet girl showing her support for our Hogs yesterday:IMG_0188 Sadly our support didn’t help our Hogs win, but I’m still proud to be a Razorback!!

Until next time!!

Monday, January 3, 2011

Match made in heaven!!!!

So most of you who read my little ole blog know that back in July, I linked up to SUYL – Single boys that Kelly hosted! I posted about my little brother, Stephen. I never imagined in my wildest dreams that by writing that post, he would meet the love of his life!!!!!!Engagement 12-31

But he did and now he and Leslie are engaged to be married!!!!! I could NOT be happier for these two! When you are around them, they ooze love and I have honestly never seen Stephen happier in his whole life!!!! (and I have to say your photographer of this picture did a pretty great job – ha!)

You can read all about their engagement on Leslie’s blog!

Leslie and Stephen, I seriously am SO HAPPY you found each other!!! Leslie, you make Stephen so incredibly happy and I am SO excited to have you as my new sister! Stephen, we’ve prayed for this for you and God answered that prayer with someone even better than I imagined for you! I can’t wait to see you get married and to see what God has in store for the two of you!!!!!

Ok, I’ll stop with the love and mushy stuff and I’ll end with this – the beautiful couple and their flower girl:

IMG_0182

Maybe they should reconsider having this little ragamuffin who won’t pose for a picture with them in their wedding?! :)

P.S. – They are famous, too. Kelly did a post about them and another couple today. You can check it out here!

Sunday, January 2, 2011

1/1/11

A new year. Time for fresh starts and new beginnings. I could not have spent my first day of the new year in a better way! (Ok, maybe I could have slept in past 6:00, but waking up early was more than worth it for how I spent my day!)

I spent yesterday laughing, talking, eating, and having the BEST time with Candace, Kristy, and Jill! We’ve all read each other’s blogs for a while, and since we’ve all been on twitter this year, we’ve gotten even closer! I knew Jill from college (Woo Pig Sooie!) but hadn’t seen her since. Kristy and I met in November for lunch. I’d never met Candace but we both have Ava's and she is my comrade working mom!

So, here’s our day! Jill lives almost equally between Candace and me so we decided we’d hit up her town for the day! Kristy lives right on my way so I set out around 7:00 and headed towards Kristy! We met up at her house and she took over the driving! I got to meet her adorable daughters. I love that blogging makes you feel like you know someone and have forever. We seriously talked the whole 2 hours to Jill’s!

IMG_0156 Candace beat us there, and while we were still driving, she and Jill made a Starbucks run! In the meantime, Kristy and I arrived and she texted her husband Jill’s address just in case something were to happen to us! ha! We laughed because all of our husbands were skeptical about this and had the same thought: “what if you get there and it’s really some perverted man?” Thankfully, everyone was who they said they were!

Ok, so from the time we got there, to the time we left, we talked NON-STOP! There were seriously no breaks in conversation!!  We went to lunch and they stuck us in a booth in the very back – we joked that they must have known that we had some serious talking to do!!!

Jill and Kristy at On the BorderIMG_0159

Me and CandaceIMG_0160

Group shot!IMG_0161

After lunch, Jill drove us around her town to show us the highlights! As we were driving, we were laughing about the concern people had about us meeting up!

Sweet Candace told us she went to the website of Jill’s school district and showed her husband a picture of Jill to confirm she was, in fact, a teacher there!!!!!IMG_0162 

Jill telling C told hold up because she had NO clue that she had a picture out there on the website. Jill, I checked it out a while ago – it is there! And it’s a good picture! :)IMG_0163

Kristy just enjoying the ride in her dream car! :) IMG_0166 

We also went to stand in two states at one time!   IMG_0168

IMG_0170

Afterwards, we had some yummy ice cream and talked some more. We seriously were walking out the door to go home still having conversations. We were trying to get it all in before we left.

Kristy and Candace at Jill’s caaaaaaaaa-ute house!IMG_0171

Jill and me before saying goodbye IMG_0172

This was seriously one of the most fun days ever!!!! It’s so sad that girls that I am so close to don’t live close enough to see on a regular basis!!! I’m so grateful for the time we got to have!! Jill pretty much summed it up with the text she sent us after we left: “If i could still find them at Claire’s, I’d buy us those matching bff necklaces that look like interlocking hearts!!” Kristy and I got a huge kick out of that on our ride home!! Thank you girls for taking the time out of your busy schedules to meet!! I cannot wait for next time!!!!!

The Edwards Family

The Edwards Family
Ebates Coupons and Cash Back


Designed By:

Munchkin Land Designs

 


Search This Blog

Total Pageviews

Influenster

 
Designed by Munchkin Land Designs • Copyright 2012 • All Rights Reserved