{Thankful Thursday}

Well, I missed Thankful Tuesday...again...so today is Thankful Thursday. I start blogs all the time lately, but with everything that's going on I never get them finished!

This Thursday I'm thankful for...

1. Downsizing our stuff. Shaun and I are finally getting rid of a whole bunch of stuff we've been keeping around for little to no reason. It's my goal to make our house (and life) simpler and less cluttered, and making a bit of money while I'm at it! So if you're interested in anything, we've got most of it posted on Craigslist - antique dishes, antique piano, couch, chair/ottoman, two dressers, some music stuff (a bass, a bass road case, etc.). Let me know if you want to see photos of anything!

2. Having more time to be busy. Sounds crazy, right? But it's true - since leaving that one job I used to have, I've been busier than ever. I'm getting to do things that were important yet shoved to the bottom of the to do list for ages. AND I get more time to play with my sweet baby!

3. Free diapers. I have yet to buy diapers, thanks to all the wonderful ladies in my life. Before Kellen was born we were given boxes and boxes of those awesome tushy covers, and I could not be more thankful. That's an expense that I'm grateful to avoid thus far!

4. Kellen's cuteness. His latest cute baby trick is trying to say "I love you." Whenever we tell him "I love you" he smiles and says "I looooooooo oooooooooo." It's the sweetest thing ever! I don't know why he tries to say that certain phrase, but I'm definitely okay with it! :)

{What's that? More changes, you say?}

It's only Wednesday, but this week is already full of big decisions!

I kept it kind of hush-hush, but I was able to do an interview pretty quickly after I lost my job, and after a second interview Monday I was offered the job. Pretty awesome, right? Right.

Unfortunately, my head and my heart were saying two different things. My head said "this is a great opportunity with a great company with opportunities for great advancement. Jump on it!" while my heart was saying "this isn't the right choice, despite how enticing it sounds."

Shaun and I prayed and talked and prayed and talked, and realized that yesterday was the day to take a leap that we've been talking about since I found out I was pregnant:

I'm now officially a stay-at-home mom!

For years I've read Bible passages such as Proverbs 31 and known that God's plan for the mother includes staying home. I know that a lot of moms aren't given that option, and I blame today's societal structure (and ultimately, sin) for that, but I also know that today's society views a stay-at-home mom's role quite differently from the Bible.

The mother in Proverbs 31 does anything but "stay." That word is so stationary, so inactive, but a godly mother is one of the most active individuals you could imagine! She works with her hands, is diligent in bringing home the perfect food for her family, makes investments (buys fields), uses profits to plant a vineyard (more investing and work!), and much more. She takes care of her family in every way possible.

I could go on and on about how beautiful the woman depicted in Proverbs is to me, but I won't! I will, however, ask for your prayers. Please pray that God prospers and blesses my family for following His outline for the family.

This will be a hard transition, but it's so worth it. I'll be doing some odd jobs, probably including some work for Oklahoma Woman magazine (wanna buy some ad space??) and an antiques/home decor booth. I'll keep busy, for sure! I'm also still actively looking at jobs that are 12 hour shifts, such as hospital jobs. I'd get to be home the majority of the time!

As for Shaun, now that I can watch Kellen during the day, he has time to work more on his freelance design projects. If anyone has a design project they need done, let me know! He's available for a wide range of designs, from t-shirts to album covers to animated trailers. I'll also be working as his project manager, so I can cut you a good deal. ;)

The next few months will certainly be an adventure! If nothing else, our budget will probably be very interesting. :) After the year we've had, though, we're great at trimming the fat from a budget. And it's pretty hard to phase us now, after all we've been through. So bring on the trials. We've got a Bible in hand and God to guide us! What more do we need? :D

{3 months old!}

...well, almost. Kellen will be 3 months old on Monday, and yesterday I decided to take a few photos with our DSLR. I'm not great at getting him to pose, so I just set up a (very wrinkly) sheet as a backdrop and let him do his thang! I think the photos turned out pretty cute.

An update from the life of LL

Sorry I've been somewhat MIA lately! The past few weeks have been hectic. Actually, crazy is a good word to describe it as well.

At the end of last month, I lost my job, along with at least 24 of my fellow employees. It's a long story that won't all be recounted here, but it's a doozy. To boil it down a bit - it started with some huge company changes that meant most of us would lose our jobs anyway, got muddled by extremely poor executive communication, got inflamed by an enraged company president who just flat didn't want to let us know the truth, and ended with a large number of "random" firings as a "punishment" for those who wanted to know what was going on. If that doesn't make sense to you...don't worry. It doesn't make sense to me either.

I'm upset that I didn't deserve to lose my job, but more than anything I have this sense of relief that I no longer work there. I can actually sleep at night now. It's amazing. I think it's equally amazing how people band together in these situations. A lot of us have grown much closer, and so many people are helping me find a new job. God is doing great things in my life.

I may find a job soon, or it may be a while. Either way, God is taking care of my family, and I'm getting to spend all my hours with Shaun and Kellen, which is just perfect.

So...thank you to everyone praying for me, please continue to do so. Thanks to everyone who's given me job leads, and if anyone else has anything please let me know! And last on my thank you list for now - thanks to everyone who's bought and IFYL shirt lately. You're really helping us out!