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.