Take Notes Boys!

This is what I found waiting for me when I got home from work today.
Because it was the end of the first week at my new job.
And because my husband is awesome.

It's been a good Friday!

Family Stuff

My parents are cracking me up right now. I just got off the phone with my mom, which turned in to a 3-way conversation, with her in the middle relaying messages between my dad and myself.

It all started when I got a message in my inbox today entitled "Don & Jody's Vacation Itinerary."

You see, they're leaving next week for a whirlwind trip through Colorado, Utah, Las Vegas (where my mother swears she'll play the pennies), Arizona, and New Mexico.

Here's what the attachment was entitled:

Ah yes! Have I mentioned that every time my grandparents go out of town my grandma calls me to let me know where they're going, when they're leaving, and when they'll be back? Must be a mother-son kind of thing.

Either way, I hope they have a good time and that my mom wins big! And luckily, I'll be able to know what they're doing at every hour of every day they'll be gone.

Maybe I should print it off and hang it at my cubicle.

Feeling (a little) Autumnal

I am over this whole summer thing.

I've found myself the past week or so literally craving fall. It's my favorite season for a number of reasons:


::1:: Football! Go Colts, Go Steelers? ::2:: The perfect fall album you ask? Thinks of Her by Andy Davis ::3::Look at that amazing fall boot! I soon shall have a pair of my own. ::4::Ah, candy corn... I love it when mixed with those little pumpkins and peanuts. Blissful! ::5:: Sweet Cinnamon Pumpkin from Bath & Body Works smells amazing ::6:: The changing leaves, who doesn't love that? ::7::Pumpkin roll! I've never made one but I have plans to as soon as I deem that it feels "fall" enough outside. ::8::Apple Cider. 'Nuff said. ::9:: The Office cames back in September... not a second too soon.

I hope I've inspired you to look forward to Fall as much as I am!

Tomorrow, Lovely Tomorrow

I have been out of work since December 12, 2008.

That's over half a year.

But as of tomorrow, I will be employed at an imaging clerk at a local cell phone company's HQ in Elizabethtown!

I couldn't be more excited! This has been in the works for a week or two, but I got the official word this morning, so I figured I could leak it onto my blog.

Yessss!

Dreams//Visions//And the Like

On Wednesday I had a job interview that went rather well. As in, pending the signatures of a few more higher up, I got hired.

I'm super excited, but I also know that there is a slight possibility that I won't get the job. I mean, Mr. CEO could decide he's having a bad day and push my paperwork to the bottom of the sea.

Either way, I'm good. Before I woke up the day of the interview, I had this dream. Or maybe a vision. I had a "formula" for how to get this job, and to make it I took one cup of some fluffy mixture of something and mixed it with water. However, and here's where I say it's more of a vision, floating above the mixing bowl was the number 145.

And right before I woke up, someone in the dream said Psalm 145. So I read it.

Enter awesomeness: (vv. 15-19)

The eyes of all look to you in hope; you give them their food as they need it.

When you open your hand, you satisfy the hunger and thirst of every living thing.

The Lord is righteous in everything he does; he is filled with kindness.

The Lord is close to all who call on him, yes, to all who call on him in truth.

He grants the desires of those who fear him; he hears their cries for help and rescues them.

I'm not afraid to admit that I am that needy.

How about you?

A Jumble of Variables

This is a pretty accurate picture of what I've looked like all day.

My dad gave me a pep talk this morning and said something that has been ringing in my ears all day: "You've got to make a plan Emily, and then work on the backup plans for your backup plans."

But what do you do when you don't really like any of your choices?

I guess that's what being an adult is all about. Biting the bullet, swallowing your pride, and sometimes looking like the bad guy.

Consider it Pure Joy?

Today in Sunday School (that's still weird to say by the way) we looked at the first few verses of James 1. Here's what it says:

"Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing." (vv. 2-4)

Brother Dave is in the habit of asking very pointed questions, so he says to me, "Emily, what trials did you face this week?"

I rattled off my answer and we got to talking about this verse and what it means for our "trials" and "tribulations."

Can I pause and say that sometimes, and Lord don't strike me dead, I think this verse is a little cliche? Actually it's not the verse that's cliche, it's people like you and me who make it cliche. Because when a friend of ours if have a rough time of it, we like to remind them, "Consider it pure joy..." But we definitely don't like be reminded of it ourselves.

And sometimes, there's just no stinking joy, okay?!

B. Dave said something that I thought was simple yet profound, "Maybe if we don't consider it joy, we aren't really considering it."

I'm not going to lie, I've got a nerve-wracking week ahead of me. And I don't know what's ahead of you. And I'm also not going to offer you a nice little Christian Cliche with a bow on top.

But I will say that I am going to try to renovate my viewpoint this week. Because if I'm not considering whatever-it-is as joyous, then perhaps I'm simply not considering it the way the Lord considers it.