Moving Update

Still packing. I was doing a little while I was getting ready Sunday morning and I injured myself. I was trying to take a picture off the wall, dropped it and it landed on. my. face! There was blood. But it actually doesn't look terrible. Vaseline (which my mom will always swear keeps things from bruising) and an ice pack saved the day.

I took a couple of days off, but resumed packing hard core yesterday - until I ran out of boxes...need to make a Lowe's run. Saturday was spent with my mom and bro and my girls. My mom and bro and I headed to the bridal shop to meet the girls. They have pics of my dress, but I have no pics of them in theirs, so you are gonna have to take my word when I tell you they looked stunning! SILTB cried - not because my dress is the bomb (even though it is), but because we're moving. It's still all new and I don't think the full extent has sunk in yet for me. I'm so busy packing and finalizing wedding plans that I don't have a lot of time to think about it (this is on purpose people - I have to get through the wedding and the move...I'll cry while Precious is at work).

Right now, Precious and I know that we will be flying to Cleveland on September 12 and coming back on September 16. We are hoping to be packed before we go. When we return, we will hopefully have a place to call home. Ideally, we will head back to Ohio and move our stuff. SO. MUCH. STUFF. (mostly mine). Precious will start his job around the 26th and then come back for the wedding.

So, wedding plans are coming along nicely--almost done. Pray that we find an nice yet affordable place to live in Akron and that we can find a church (we have a checklist people).

Sheena Talks About....Torque Vectoring and other racing stuff?

So, yesterday I decided that I was going to start doing posts about things I really have very little knowledge of but most certainly have opinions about. It's gonna be crazy, but perhaps we'll all learn a little something here. Today it's racing stuff.

It started with Precious talking about how the new Ford Focus has torque vectoring (which according to Precious is impressive because that's typically only found in expensive sports cars). I know. I know. You're thinking, "What the crap is that and why do I care?" Here's the scoop in Sheena speak: Torque Vectoring allows different amounts of power to be sent to each wheel - one wheel can practically stop turning while the others keep turning - it helps with the control of the vehicle in tight corners. A downhill skier shifts his weight through turns to help with balance and stability. Torque vectoring allows one wheel to get a little brakage (yep, that's my word) and keeps it from slipping in corners. Here's why you care: oh, who are we kidding? You don't care and neither do I except for the fact that my car doesn't have it and I NEED IT on the days that I want to pretend to be a race car driver! Hello.

So, the torque vectoring conversation led to him telling me that torque vectoring has been banned in Formula 1 racing...for very ridiculously stupid reasons....mostly Ferrari is a whiny, cry-baby racing team (my opinion after the conversation). The people who were complaining were the ones who were losing. Boo freakin' hoo! Get a better team. Build a better car.

So, there was this other thingy - looks like a HUGH snow blower fan on the back of a car.

This one actually makes me laugh a little. The car was designed by Gordon Murray (some important racing guy on McLaren's team - all unimportant information when Sheena talks...). It was a like a vacuum, sucking the car close to the track and making it faster than everyone else. Other teams whined that they were getting pelted with crap from the track blowing out of the ginormous fan on the back of this car. Result: BANNED.

I personally think that these teams should be rewarded rather than punished - like if they beat everyone else by a landslide, they should get a bonus or something. If they're smart enough to come up with a way to  make their car faster than everyone else's - good for them! They're gonna win...DUH! And I personally don't think that banning their ingenuity and creativity is just wrong!

Nascar - your "car of tomorrow" sucks! For the love of all things racing (which I really care nothing about), you have taken all of the artistry out of Nascar. Stop punishing smart people for being smart and creative. Let them make better cars and win and let everyone else suck it up!

Ok, Sheena's done talking now. Tune in next time. Crystal's hubby wants me to talk about astroid mining. We'll see.

Boxes....Oh The Boxes

So, today the packing began.

I packed a little at the house (pictures and my Willow Tree angel collection).

I packed stuff at the studio.

Studio packing made me a lot more sad than house packing. Perhaps that's because I was still half asleep while I was packing at the house and was too tired to think about it. Regardless, packing up the studio is hard. HARD. However, I have to keep believing that God has something as good, if not better for me in Akron. Still, it's hard to leave something behind that I've worked so hard for. And my students...I can't even think about it without crying. I have some really great students. I am going to miss them and the time that I get to spend with them each week.

Precious packed too. He boxed up quite a lot of stuff...so much so that I've had to stay away from the packing area. I was close to having an anxiety attack just looking at it.

Pray for us, people.

And I apologize now for upcoming blog content. It may involve a lot about packing and moving and enough mixed emotions that you may begin to think that I have a personality disorder.

Prayer Monday - August 22, 2011

I know that I am a blog slacker, but so much has been going on in my life. My Precious got the job that he interviewed for and while I am freaking out a little about everything we have to get done in order to move and then wedding stuff on top of that, I'm really at peace. There are so many things that just scream, "Hey, God is smack dab in the middle of this!". 

When Precious decided to go back to school, he was intending to finish a major in Physics. However, he sort of stumbled upon the Center for Advanced Friction Studies at SIU (GOD) and ended up deciding that Mechanical Engineering was the way to go (that was the shortened version). Through this, he ended up gaining experience with carbon-carbon friction materials (the CAFS lab does research for F1 racing teams) and that was exactly what Meggitt (the company Precious will be working for) was needing. Apparently, it's difficult to find someone with this experience...once again - GOD! 

I lost my job at the end of the school year. They cut the music program in Cairo. (door closed) Nothing full-time was going to be open around us until January. So, this summer I have just been drawing unemployment and teaching part-time at the studio. Precious had a friend come and tell him about this job. The friend is not a US citizen and you have to be to work at Meggitt, so the friend puts Ronnie in touch with the job recruiter. (open door).

Precious and I have just been praying that God would close doors that need to be closed and open ones that need to be open - that He would make things so abundantly clear that we made no mistake in knowing that we were in HIS will. That happened after the interview. Precious flew to Ohio and interviewed on Tuesday of last week. They told him it would be this week sometime before they contacted him because they would need approval from the higher ups. We knew that he had a 50/50 shot - only 2 people were interviewed during the 2nd round. On Thursday - 2 days after the interview - Precious received an offer. Here's where it gets interesting. They offered him $2000 more a year than he had asked for. They offered a moving package that included flying Precious and I to Ohio for 3 days (accommodations and meals included) to find housing. The recruiter said that he has NEVER seen them offer to pay for the couple to come and find housing.

God, people. It's totally God. And it's abundantly clear that we are supposed to be serving in Ohio. Please pray for us as we attempt to find housing. Pray that it is as abundantly clear as everything else has been. We have to move everything before the wedding, so pray for Precious as he goes to live in Ohio and me as I stay here to finish up wedding plans.

Big Day

This guy has a BIG day tomorrow! Feel free to pray for God's will in our lives to be accomplished. Tomorrow could definitely change a lot of things in our lives.

  Good luck My Precious! You'll do great!

Me and My Boring (Yet Busy) Life

School is starting. I'm not. It's strange. The school where I was teaching cut their music program at the end of the last school year, so I am not returning to work this year. It's weird. As far as finding plenty to do - no worries there. 

I am still teaching at my studio, but this coming week I switch to Fall schedule, so I won't work during the day. I have plenty of other things to do, though.  I have been trying to refinish a sideboard that I intend for Precious and I to use for a TV stand in our currently non-existent living room. So far, it's mostly sanded (well, about 1/2 to 3/4 - that's mostly, right?). I fully intended to work on it this morning, but I received a call from the wedding coordinator at our reception venue, so I opted to go meet with her instead. SO glad I did. She helped me to iron out minor details that were really bugging me. 

Precious and I had lunch at a place that we call Dora's (it's a little Mexican joint that used to be ran by a lady named Dora - now her kids run it and the name is actually Cerro de la Silla). We ran a few errands and I went home to try to clean and pack up a few things. EPIC FAIL! I need boxes. I have too much crap! I am refusing to clean anything else until I have boxes and can pack. It just seems stupid to take stuff of shelves to dust and clean, put it back up, only to take it back off to pack as soon as I get boxes. So, not cleaning until I pack.

This is kinda random and unrelated, but I have also been on the search for lip gloss. Please tell me I am not the only person who has WAY more make-up than I need. In my defense, I DO use it most of it, but I most certainly have my favorites. However, lip products are different. I go through phases. Sometimes I want a little color. Sometimes I just want a clear gloss or plumper like Lip Venom, but right now I need something wedding appropriate. I was looking for something that looks pretty natural with a little sheen. So, I found my perfect wedding lip gloss. 

I LOVE Buxom, but I never could find color that I was in love with. Thanks to the nice lady at Sephora who put up with me trying 15 different things, I found a Buxom color called SUGAR. It's a sheer gloss that's kind of a rosy terracotta. Super excited. Here's a photo I found showing different sheer colors:

Tomorrow I have a doctor's appointment about these dreadful headaches that I can' seem to get rid of and THEN....THEN mom and I get to go see my wedding dress. 1st fitting. So pumped!

All Dressed Up

So, Precious let me take his picture and I must say...he cleans up really well! ;-)

I get to marry him!

An Interview and a Suit

Precious has a 2nd interview with a prospective employer. We are excited, scared, nervous...my emotions are all over the place. This is a BIG deal for us. It would require a BIG move (him before the wedding and me afterwards). We have prayed over this situation and it just seems like this is the direction God is leading, so we are preparing for whatever He has in store for us - taking life one day at a time.

I have to be honest, though, I had to have my "kid in the cereal aisle fit". You know what I'm talking about. Anytime something comes that I am not expecting, I have to have my spoiled rotten kid moment except mine ends up looking nasty like a kid in the cereal aisle who isn't getting the cereal that they want. Sad. I know. Don't judge me!

So, Precious had an interview a few weeks ago via Skype. It went well. I was really feeling like the move was a very good possibility. We waited for a call. It never came. I finally encouraged Precious to email and we are so glad he did. They had apparently been trying to contact him (or HR was supposed to have contacted him). Either way, contact was made and the 2nd interview will take place a little over a week from now. The company is paying all expenses for the interview. Everything just seems to be falling into place.

Yesterday we went shopping for a suit. Hopefully I can get him to put it on for a photo op before he goes. He looks super dapper in it! Somehow the suit just makes it more official. We are trusting God to continue opening doors that need to be opened and close the ones that need to be closed. Please pray for us as we approach this new chapter of our life together. A new job (a LONG way from home), a wedding, a move...it's a lot, but we want God's will and if He says "GO" then we will go.

Thought Provoking Thursday is cancelled this week

Due to my insane schedule and trying to take care of wedding stuff. This week I will not be hosting Thought Provoking Thursday. If I have time tomorrow night I'll post a quick update on the wedding planning.

Prayer Monday - August 1, 2011

So, I'm late posting today but I spent the afternoon with my mama - prolly gonna do it again tomorrow. :-)

Precious and I could really use your prayers right now. He still hasn't heard anything from the company he interviewed with. They said up to 2 weeks. Tomorrow will be 3. I know it's all about God's timing. There are just so many things hanging in the balance. He doesn't know whether to enroll for Fall courses. I don't know what to do about my SCC classes. We don't know what to do about looking for a place to rent here because we don't know anything about the job. Please pray that God will give us direction and faith to believe in spite of everything that hangs in the balance.

Please keep praying for my mom. Chemo is going well. She is experiencing very few side effects. It's rather amazing to watch God work through all of this. However, she has problems judging when enough is enough and she starts back to school in a couple of weeks. I worry. So, please pray that God will help her to chill out and be able to let things go that don't have to be taken care of right at that moment (she's a 'complete all tasks before you stop' sort of gal and that doesn't really work so well when you are fighting something like cancer). So pray for her.