Buts

I love love LOVE when God gives me encouragement just when I need it most.

If you've been keeping up, you know that I've been pretty down lately. With not one of the, what seems like bazillion, jobs I've applied for recently giving me any feedback, I was feeling super discouraged.

But..

I love buts. Don't you? But. But. But. I think that is my favorite word in the Bible. But always precedes something wonderful that God is doing. But. (smiles)

But.. God moved in some very positive ways this week.

one.

Aaron got a call from his former supervisor saying that he had a check to pick up at the business center. Already this is a "yay" moment because finances are very tight right now. Christmas doesn't help. Well, we went on Tuesday to pick up the check to find not only one but two envelopes for him! This is getting good right? I took it upon myself to open his letters while walking back to the car and nearly tripped over my jaw when I totaled the check amount to be triple what we were expecting!!!  This was much needed relief in the money department. Now all our bills our paid through the end of our lease and we have some extra for the Holidays!

Yay God! 

two.

I got called for a phone interview early this week! The recruiter said I made her "A" list (though I'm sure everyone says that..) The job is for a marketing coordinator at a highly-successful fertility clinic. It sounds like a lot of fun with great resume-building potential. Not to mention the fun challenges that type of environment would birth. ;) 

three.

My sister-in-law hooked me up with a phone interview for a Guest Services Manager at the hospital she works for. I really enjoyed the interview and felt super prepped for it.

four.

Yesterday the recruiter for the fertility clinic called back and asked me to come for an in-person interview on Friday! Awesome!!! I'm already nervous!

five.

The woman I met with a few weeks ago about an amazing opportunity to work for the church emailed me to check in and said I should be hearing from her soon!

six. 

Most significantly, I had a really great conversation earlier this week with the hubby about how I have this whole other part of me called "Emotional Wife." We discussed at great lengths about how "Emotional Wife" needs to be connected with "Emotional Husband" in order to have her love tank full. Despite the fact that Aaron claims "Emotional Husband" doesn't naturally exist, he's been absolutely wonderful about checking in with me and making sure I'm feeling okay. Not only that but he's also been highly responsive to my inquiries for feedback. 

Ahh and it only took a year of marriage to realize that we needed to have this conversation. 

WIFELY NEEDS: Mental-Physical-Emotional

HUSBANDLY NEEDS: Entertainment-Food-Sex

God, you are too funny. 

Best-Ever Mac-n-Cheese

The Thurmon's Best-Ever Mac-n-Cheese

Ingredients:

2 lbs of Elbow Pasta

1 8oz block of Mild Cheddar Cheese

1 16oz bag of Shredded Monterrey Jack Cheese

1 6oz bag of Shredded Parmesan Cheese

1 8oz can of Evaporated Milk

1/2 stick of Butter
You will also need to have on hand but in no specific measurements:

Parmesan Flavored Bread Crumbs

Milk

Salt

Pepper

Red Pepper Flakes (Optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350.

Boil liberally salted water. Add pasta. Cook till just past 'al dente'.

While pasta is cooking, cut cheddar cheese block into cubes, the smaller the better.

Drain pasta. Return to pot.

Stir in to the mac the butter, cubed cheddar, shredded monterrey, and a can of evaporated milk until the cheese becomes stringy and mostly melted. Add a few splashes of normal milk till the mac is the consistency of a thick queso dip. Season to taste with pepper, red pepper flakes, salt, etc.

Butter/grease a 9x13 pan. Transfer cooked mac into the buttered pan. Do not press mac into the form of the pan but rather shake the pan till the mac spreads evenly. Add a healthy layer of shredded parmesan cheese to the top followed by a moderate layer of bread crumbs.

Cover with foil and place in oven at 350 for approximately 30 minutes. 

After 30 minutes, remove the foil and set your oven to a low broil. Do not walk away! Keep an eye on the mac until the top layer of parmesan gets crisp, it will not melt all the way. It is ready to come out of the oven when you notice pieces of cheese getting brown on the top (not all, just some). 

Let set for a few and then serve!

Enjoy!

(Serves 6-8) 

This was a HUGE hit at our small group. It was also really easy to make in bulk! Let me know if you try it!

Beast

Thanksgiving took us to three different places this year. My grandparents in Dallas, Aaron's grandparents in Tyler, and our brother and sister-in-law (falling somewhere in between the two) all played host to the Thurmon's first married Thanksgiving festivities. 

I played hide-and-seek, helped chop up a tree for firewood (with an axe, mind you), and spent a lot of time loving my poor, sick nieces. The youngest, who is teething, learning to crawl, not sleeping through the night, enjoying a dual eye infection, ear infection and congestion, did not have much to be thankful for this year. I loved on her anyway. :)

Aaron spent most of his week being thankful for Justin Tucker's accuracy and reliability (HOOK 'EM), frolicking in the great outdoors and reliving the tale of how he shot his first hog! 

What a beast! 

And the hog doesn't look too bad either! ;)

Now, we're back at Command Center sipping on sangria  and relishing in the comforts of home. We went to church this morning to teach Sunday school at ten this morning and didn't get home till after six thanks to an impromptu "window shopping" trip to the mall. 

How "window shopping" turned into getting gifts for everyone on the list I didn't even know we'd made yet, I cant recall.  Oh, and new pillows. We bought pillows. 

I feel like I put a lot of stress on myself financially right now. I was barely planning on getting a gift for my husband let alone other people.  I mean, we have an income. It's an unemployment check, but it's something. We have some savings. Not much. 

The bad thing is, my poor little soul absolutely LOVES buying and giving gifts. Yes, I do a lot of DIY, used, and financially conservative gift giving. But the hubby doesn't seem to float that way. Despite talking about it beforehand and sticking to our budget, I feel like maybe we aren't in a life situation that would condone spending on non-necessities.

I haven't concluded if I'm more concerned that other people will think our spending foolish or if I myself think so. I know that in the end, a few bucks is not going to change our situation. When we run out, we run out. But having this financial beast over my head constantly reminding me "You don't have a job!" really wears on my heart. 

It doesn't help that I haven't felt confident towards any of the options that we have available. I think if we end up spending too much time focusing on what the right decision is, we wont make one. 

Pick-Me-Up

I wish that I had more to talk about.
More news, more happenings, more of anything really.
Sadly, though, that is not the case.

Between looking for jobs, applying for jobs, sending jobs that don't quite fit my interests to other job seekers, reformatting twelve (okay four) resume types, categorizing twenty plus cover letter variations, updating my LinkedIn, and following up on those jobs for which I've already applied... I feel like I work an eight hour day. It's exhausting.

Even though it's still fairly early in the game, I'm getting a little bummed out, to be honest. I haven't heard from any prospective employers in so long. I'm starting to think that most companies are probably too busy with the holidays coming up to focus on hiring new employees. Unfortunately, that probably means a little bit of a dry spell for me.

Meanwhile, it's becoming increasingly difficult to comprehend what God is doing. If we don't end up hearing some news soon, it's pretty apparent that the hubby and I will end up moving to another city. The idea of starting in a new place is kind of exciting to me. But we aren't quite at the point yet where we need to move.

So it's sit around and look and wait and pray until something happens.

I'm kind of nervous about what that something will be. Aaron says that I'm "enamored" with the idea of moving and living with family. He's probably right which makes me question whether my heart is in the right place. I want to ultimately do whatever will please God, yet I'm finding that rather difficult to discern and even more to continue this phase with a cheerful heart.

I need a little pick-me-up, some life-caffeine to get me through this dry spell with a smile. I'll take a large Caramel Macchiato with an extra shot of expresso. Hold the whip, please.

Fishing

Being unemployed has its benefits. For one, I can pretty much go out of town on a whim, being that I'm on an 'extended vacation' anyway. My sister-in-law, Lisa, and I had planned this fantastic man-weekend for the men in our family. Aaron, my brother-in-law, my father, my father-in-law and my sister-in-law's father all went fishing! We chartered a private boat for them and picked out a great beach rental! 

My father made the first catch of the day and Aaron caught the biggest one! These two reds and the eight flounder made for a delicious meal, or so I hear. He was warned not to come home with any fish as I am NOT in any way a fish-fan and he stayed true to his word. All I heard about when he got back was about how good the eats were.

I really think they all had a great time. I've been informed that this is now an annual event. I was just happy that someone took a few pictures! 

Whilst my wonderful husband was celebrating his birthday, I spent the weekend with my sister-in-law. I really enjoy spending time with her and my three beautiful nieces. We made homemade play dough (throwback to my high school job at an art studio), colored (A LOT), and jumped on the trampoline till my legs turned to jelly.  My eldest niece is the perfect age to make spending time with her rather funny. She says the most interesting things. Oh to be four. 

Every time we visit them I try really hard to be the kind of house guest I would want if I had three kids under five. I hope that having an extra set of hands is helpful. 

When the kids were asleep, Lisa and I spent a lot of time talking about my employment situation.  She has a lot of good advice to give because not only is she a recruiter by trade, she and her husband went through the same thing that Aaron and I are going through. Lisa makes for a nice confidant. Plus, she says just about everything that comes to mind and I tend to disclose just about anything so we chat quite a bit.

Meanwhile back at the homestead, it's back to the job search. I have applied for so many jobs that it's making my head spin. Plus, we have expanded the search to not just our current city of residence. I feel like I'm just fishing for anything that will bite. A lot is in the wind right now. 

For Poorer

I've applied for more than 40 jobs this past month. I feel like that's a lot, especially when you consider that the Texas Workforce Commission only requires that I have something in the area of 15. It's been kind of frustrating to not have had ANY phone calls or emails about any of these jobs in the past two weeks.

I figure that Aaron and I are getting the "for worse" and "for poorer" part of our marriage out of the way from the start so as to make room for all the "for better" and "for richer." :)

I'm sure God is waiting for the perfect time to open a door to the perfect job. Again, this waiting game is not my strong suit.

Aaron and I have been praying a lot and seeking a lot of Godly counsel. We've also received quite a bit of unsolicited counsel, Godly or not. We know people are trying to help but it's causing us to flip flop a lot on our decisions. It seems as though every time we come up with a plan we feel good about, the next day something comes up that suggests otherwise. It's exhausting to be so confused.

Meanwhile, we've eliminated cable, which only existed for College Football Saturdays. Netflix is our new BFF. And I get to cheer on my husband as he plays a lot of XBOX NCAA 09. He named his star players after our children. He'll tell you it's to get me involved in the games, but I think he would have done it whether or not I was here to watch him. He even came up with a whole story the other day about how one of them had a shoulder injury but that the other two were okay and were playing really well. To which I inquired as to how we ended up with three boys all in college. Well, he had this whole story outlined about how we held one of them back in pre-school and the other was really smart. And blah de blah.. it was kind of endearing.

I think we've both been really stressed about our situation, however. So today we decided to take a day off and went on a date! I know, I know. We should save our money and just stay home but we were kind of driving each other crazy being at home. Don't worry, we were frugal. We had a luxurious lunch feast at the nice McDonalds down the road. Then we went ice skating!

Aaron had never been before! I had forgotten just how cold they actually keep it in there so neither of us had jackets or gloves. They were much needed. Still, we had a great time!

And now it's back to NCAA and job searching. Aaron will be leaving tomorrow for his birthday weekend with his brother, his pops, my dad, and his brother's father in law. They are going to have a great time doing man-things and will probably come home smelling very testosterone-y. I just pray they come back with all their limbs and phalanges attached and in working order!

I Laughed

November 1st. That's when Aaron and I agreed that we would make the big decisions surrounding my job loss. It also coincided quite nicely with the deadline to give our apartment notification of renewal or move-out. It's the date we gave ourselves so that we wouldn't spend every other minute worrying about what might happen and what we might have to do about it.

I worried anyway.

Really, I thought myself to death if you want to be accurate about it. I'm a "what if.." kinda girl. It makes me a great planner but also drives me crazy with all the little possibilities and potential outcomes. This drives Aaron crazy.

October 7th to October 31st. I can't tell you how many times I rationalized the situation to my sister-in-law. I can't recount the number of various game plans for best, mid, and worst-case-scenarios we developed. I can't tell you how many times I heard not to make any "drastic changes" from my mother. Nor can I recall the number of times I cried to my loving husband. And I can't tell you how many times I prayed for God to give us direction.

I was so tired of not knowing. If you've kept up at all with this blog you already know that.

Here's me and my little family, standing at a fork in the road with ten different routes to choose, waiting for the catalyst to give us clearer indication of the right road to travel.

I lay in bed on October 31st thinking "Tomorrow's the day!" but feeling no more confident about the answers that we were supposed to have by the next morning. I wanted God to choose for me. I wanted no other option but to say "Yes! This is what God wants us to do because its the only path open." Funny, but He doesn't always work like that.

On November 1st  God shut a door. God didn't reveal the one right answer. He just narrowed our window. I don't like the implications of a narrowed window. It still leaves room for the wrong decision. It leaves room for it to be our fault if things don't work out.

In five day's we've made most of the big decisions we didn't have answers to six days ago. We've almost finalized a game plan.

There's a lot I am going to think about when I reflect on the past week later on in my life. I hope, though, that I remember three things that happened on November 1st.

1. I laughed a lot.

It was kind of perfect timing for God. How funny of Him to use the day we set to give us a little glimpse into His plan.

2. I smiled with relief.

We had an answer. We knew, for the moment, what we were gaining, losing, and had a small vision of what was to come.

3. I looked at my husband with more love for him than I'd ever felt.

I know that's sappy but when you're on the verge of having everything around you, all the stuff you've filled your home with disappear. You realize its just the three of you that matter. God, Aaron, and I are going to do alright, even if we don't like facing the bigger decisions ahead.

Fried Rats

I had a busy weekend...

On Friday, Aaron and I got to see his youngest brother play football. We cheered OG all the way to a close victory over their rivals. Plus we got some great pictures of all the family together.. which is nice.

 Plus, I stood up and holler'd when the cheerleaders asked.. AND won a free T-Shirt! It was freezing outside, if you didn't gather that from the family huddle, so the extra layer was much appreciated!

Well the wedding went off without a hitch.. except for the happy couple.. who were hitched themselves. We stayed at a cute little beach house in Port Aransas. It was kind of fun because all of us "kids" slept in the downstairs basement area, which was huge. There ended up being like eight of us down there. We didn't get much rest with all the chatter and nonsense.

Saturday was D-Day and I was self-titled photographer, florist, coordinator, and cake repairer. The cutest part was that my Mother-in-Law was nervous about getting married! Made me "awww" just a little bit inside. :)

After the wedding, we headed to the house for some yummy barbeque, cupcakes, and champagne toasts! To sum up the post-wedding events, we played beach football, I caught an interception, I learned too much about my brother-in-law, and after multiple family discussions, we were no further along in our decision making regarding our job and apartment situation. 

It was able to keep my mind off of all the craziness that is my life at this moment by focusing my attention on Monday's Halloween Party! I hadn't done any decorating, save for a giant spider I'd hung in the kitchen on Thursday. I had so much cleaning, cooking, and costuming to do! My stove even caught on fire! And yes, the first thing I thought of was "BLOG PHOTO!"

All in all I think it turned out great! Everyone's favorite part was that I had put dry-ice in our cauldron of punch to make it smoky and fun!

Eyeball Eggs!

Yummy Food!

Fried Rats! ... My culinary contribution...

Aaron won the costume contest as "Mayhem" from the Allstate commercials. 

I was dressed in 80s fashion but I'm definitely seeing some similarities between my completed costume and my mother circa 1995..

. 

Poor Mayhem all tuckered out...

And then the turn of events that is... 

my next blog. 

You'll want to read it I promise.  :)