Monday, July 26, 2010

Up Date

So Jeremy called the job this morning informing them that he wouldn't work Sunday's and was thus turning the job down. When asked if that was the only reason, Jeremy told them yes. After a few phone calls back and forth, they have decided to hire Jeremy and he won't be required to work Sundays! So Jeremy will be working for a temp agency for 2 months at a place called Verio. If he does well enough (which he should since it's a call center place) Verio will hire him full time. The temp agency offers benefits after the first month, and then Verio will offer benefits as soon as they hire him on full time! After 3 weeks of training, Jeremy will work an evening shift. He gets a differential (more money) for working in the evenings, and he will still be able to search for a full time graphic design job.

We still have to wait to see if his current part time job will give him 3 weeks off so that he can do the training at Verio. If they won't, then he'll quit that one. He'll talk to his boss tomorrow and see what happens from there. Thanks for all your support!

Hard Decisions

This week was was a crazy week in the fact that Jeremy and I had to make one of the hardest decisions of our life so far. We found out on Thursday that Jeremy had a job, which would start on Mon Aug 2nd. It would be full time (low pay, but full time) with benefits starting in a month's time. He would have to work on Sunday if he took the job, but he would still be able to attend church. He would have to (most likely) give up his current part time job to be able to do the 3 week training. (If his part time boss would be willing to let Jeremy take 3 weeks off for the training, at the end of the three weeks, the two work schedules would have allowed Jeremy to work both jobs.)

There were several cons to this job, but 3 good things. 1) It would be a full time job 2) we would have benefits 3) Jeremy would be learning to do something he isn't good at that could help him find a job later on. After several days of prayer, temple attendance, and discussions after discussions, we decided to pass up this job. I know that Heavenly Father would have understood if Jeremy felt like he needed to work on Sunday, especially since Jeremy would be able to still do his calling and attend all of his meetings. However, we just kept feeling like we would be blessed if Jeremy turned down this job so that he could better keep the Sabbath Day holy. I know our lives will not magically become easier because of our decision. I know that it might be several more months before we find a full time job that doesn't require Jeremy to work on Sunday, but I feel very peaceful with our decision. I know that we will be blessed for our desire to keep the Sabbath Day holy. Can I just tell you how hard that decision was for us. We are extremely poor at this point in our lives. We have been with out work for a lot longer than we ever though we would have been (especially with all the job interviews Jeremy gets.) It was very tempting to be a little bit more financially stable - although the pay was low enough that Jeremy would have had to keep is current part time job. But I still dream of the day when we have work again.

We did thoroughly enjoy ourselves for the 24th though. I love living in Utah where Pioneer Day is a state Holiday with so many fun things to do to celebrate it. Some friends of ours invited us over for a BBQ and fireworks. I figured Clara would run into the house crying when we lit them, but I was impressed when she kept asking for more. There were a few Whistling Pete's that scared her enough to run in, but as soon as those were done, she wanted to be back out where the action was. Clara also wouldn't touch a sparkler. Natalee kept offering, thinking that since Clara was watching her girls wave them around in the air, Clara might change her mind and want one. With each offer, Clara screamed, "No." But Clara did love to watch the spinning flower fireworks along with the smoke bombs, snake, and she LOVED to throw the "whites" (snaps.) We ended up staying up until 1 am playing wii with our friends. We had a blast!

P.S. For those who are wondering Jeremy did not get the job I posted about last post.

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

"Test"

In case you are wondering, Jeremy was able to do his best, but he still left feeling frustrated. He took this graphic design "test" on a computer that regularly crashes. The guy even knew this about the computer. Jeremy was only able to get through 1/2 the test. There were 4 "projects" that he needed to do. After looking at the instructions on each project, he was very happy because they were easy and he knew he could do them all quickly without much difficulty. (That was before he knew about the computer's tendency to crash.) The guy finally let Jeremy explain how to do the last 2 projects, but explaining isn't as good as showing.... So we'll see what happens!

Monday, July 19, 2010

Another Week

Not too much has happened this week. Jeremy started his new job. The first day he was gone, Clara came up to me about 3 times and said, "I need my daddy." Since he was gone for only about 5 hours, those 3 times seemed like a lot. It was cute.

Clara had just come in from playing outside in a wading pool. I heard her say, "Take my picture, Mom." I looked over and saw her like this: I debated on whether or not to post this next information, but I figure we could use the help. I hope your prayers help instead of jinxing it by writing about it. Jeremy has a 4th interview tomorrow morning with a company he would really like to work for. So if you read this before Tuesday morning, keep Jeremy in your prayers. This interview is a graphic design test, so he's nervous. Please pray that he'll be calm and do the best he can.

Monday, July 12, 2010

Part Time Job

Jeremy accepted a job offer last week! He starts that job today. We were almost out of unemployment benefits, so this is a huge blessing for us. Jeremy is obviously still looking for a full time job since a part time job still isn't enough to live off of. But this part time job is enough to give us the hope we need to continue to be happy and positive through this whole experience. This week is also the week where Jeremy would have been out of work for 5 months! When we got laid off 5 months ago, I would never have imagined it would take so long to find a job.

We were able to go to Logan this weekend. Jeremy had a job interview there, so we decided to make it a much needed family vacation. Unfortunately, I forgot our camera. But we had so much fun playing with the Brumbaughs and Petersons. Thanks to both of you for letting us stay at your houses. Clara loved her friends, and was very sad to leave them.

Jeremy had an old mission companion come visit him Saturday night. It was so fun to see those two talk in Spanish with each other and laugh and joke around like old times. He is from Peru, but moved to the US shortly after his mission. He now lives in Stockton, CA with his wife. They were out visiting Utah for a mission reunion of hers. We were so glad to get to see them!As I was typing this post, Clara came up to me with her wrapped around her like a cape. She then said, "Look Mom, I'm a hero!" It made me laugh. I had no idea she even knew what a hero was, let alone how to dress like one.

Monday, July 5, 2010

Happy 4th!

Unfortunately, we didn't make an effort to attend any 4th of July celebrations this year, but I'm still so grateful for this country. I'm so grateful for the freedoms that we have. I'm grateful that we can be any religion we want without fear of persecution. I'm grateful we have the right to vote in the leaders of our country. I'm grateful for all the service men who protect this country from losing these wonderful rights.

On Saturday, we were able to attend the baptisms of our twin nephews Carter and Parker. I am so proud of their decision to make those covenants with their Heavenly Father. I didn't get any pictures, even though I brought my camera. Somehow the event was too sacred to interrupt it with flashes. But I could feel the spirit, which was such a comfort to me in our current life trials. Thanks Carter and Parker for inviting us to come!

I was reading a book this last week, and Jeremy was kind enough to play with Clara. I loved watching and listening to them interact with each other. I couldn't resist taking a picture of their little "lunch" together. In this picture, Clara is pouring Jeremy some water to go with his chips that he has to eat with a fork.After they were done playing, Clara decided to lay down on the couch "just like Mommy." I love it when she imitates us.Clara and Jeremy attended a BBQ without me on Saturday. When they got home, Clara ran and gave me the biggest hug and said, "I'm so glad you are here Mommy."

Sometimes I ask Clara questions and even though she knows the answer, she won't tell me. So I've gotten to where I'll say a wrong answer just to make sure she really knows. She will always correct me when I give a wrong answer. So the other day, Clara and I were putting a puzzle together that had Bert, Ernie, and Elmo on it. When it was nearly complete, Clara asked me what it was a puzzle of. I did the same thing to her that she usually does to me, I replied with an "I don't know, what is it?" Clara then asked, "Is it a puzzle of Jesus?" I said, "No, it's a puzzle of Bert, Ernie, and Elmo." Clara: "Oh I get it now." I had a good laugh after that little conversation. She is way too smart for me!