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.