So Blessed

I just wanted to take a moment to express how thankful I am for the many blessings we have received these last few weeks.


First off I want say that Matt is finally employed with a great company, Karl Storz Endoscopy. He is just ending his third week with them and is really enjoying it. They sent him to Boston at the end of July for some intense and extensive training on their products. We are very grateful to his friend that was able to get him in front of someone and Matt did his part in charming them, not a hard thing to do for him. This job has really good benefits which is also another blessing, although my job has great benefits too, it's nice to be completely covered. The pay is good, it has replaced his previous earnings from Pulte. I'm just glad that Matt has found something that he likes. :)

Since we are now back to where we were in our income we have been blessed again by being able to find a place to call our own again. One of our friends owns a house just down the street from Matt's parents and was looking for new renters b/c her current one has given their 30 days. So when I saw that the house would be available soon we quickly jumped on the opportunity and have worked out a deal and we will be moving in at the beginning of Oct! This is perfect because we will not have to change wards or school for Scott. Although my mother-in-law will be sad when we leave b/c she has enjoyed having us in her house. But it's time for us to be on our own again. We will be forever grateful for Matt's parent's generosity in letting us invade their space for the last year.

I know that all of this was not possible had it not been for us in doing what we are supposed to be doing. We have been paying our tithing, being diligent in our ward callings and trying to live a good faithful life. We truly have been blessed. :)

Retraction

This is a retraction post to the one about Matt's new real job (click here to read).

After much talk, prayer and attending the temple, we have come to a decision that I will not quit my job and we will not be moving to the Lake Havasu area, for now. I will continue to work at Wells Fargo, :( so that we can save up enough money to be better prepared for a move if that is what we need to do. This decision feels right and we are grateful for the promptings of the Spirit and the ability to counsel with the Lord on such an important matter in our lives.

The thought of working does sadden me but it's not the right time for me to quit. Matt will continue to commute each week and we do miss him when he is gone, but we are very thankful for modern technology that allows to communicate via webcam and Skype.

What thought interesting as I was visiting teaching this month that the message was about Seeking and Receiving Personal Revelation. I want to share with you a couple quotes that I loved that pertained to what we needed to do, which we did.

“Prayer is your personal key to heaven. The lock is on your side of the veil. But that is not all. To one who thought that revelation would flow without effort, the Lord said: ‘You have not understood; you have supposed that I would give it unto you, when you took no thought save it was to ask me. But, behold, I say unto you, that you must study it out in your mind; then you must ask me if it be right, and if it is right I will cause that your bosom shall burn within you; therefore, you shall feel that it is right.’”

President Boyd K. Packer, President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles



“The temple is a house of learning. Much of the instruction imparted in the temple is symbolic and learned by the Spirit. This means we are taught from on high. … Our understanding of the meaning of the ordinances and covenants will increase as we return to the temple often with the attitude of learning and contemplating the eternal truths taught. … Let us enjoy the spiritual strength and the revelation we receive as we attend the temple regularly.”

Silvia H. Allred, first counselor in the Relief Society general presidency

Drum Roll Please . . . . . .

As some of you may know Matt finally has a REAL job!!! Yes, you heard right. Finally after months of looking and being let down, by what might have been great jobs, Matt received an offer to work at Freeman. Here's the catch though we have to move. The job is in Mohave Valley. For those of you that don't know where that is go look it up on the map hahaha, just kidding. It is in Northewestern Arizona, near the California, Nevada, Arizona borders. How about this about 40 miles north of Lake Havasu City. Matt started his first week there and he really likes it. He feels that he has a lot to contribute to the company to help them grow and become effecient.

Scott and I will not be moving until school is out. So that means May 27th is my last day working for Wells Fargo!! WHOO HOO!!! I have waited 6 years to quit my job and stay at home. There has been a divine plan that has kept me working, one when Matt lost his job a year ago I still had mine and the insurance benefits. Now Matt's new job has the same benefits and I get to stay home and take care our family. Can you tell that I'm really excited about this?! Well I am.

As for moving I know most of you will be sad to see us leave the area but we are excited and I hope that you are excited for us as well. We hope that we will have visitors. Our plan is to probably live in Lake Havasu City, so that means those of you with a boat or knows or someone with a boat will come and play with us. :)

Job for Matt

As promised I am posting about Matt's new job. Yes that's right! He was able to get a job somewhere, and that somewhere is Oregano's. It's only temorary until he can find something a little bit more permanent. His sister works there and was able to help out and get him the job. He has been on his own serving tables since last week and doing pretty good. Some nights are better than others as far as tips go but that's to be expected. One draw back is that he has to work Sunday nights. :( He wasn't to thrilled about the idea but I told him not to quit, but to ride it out and see if he could trade w/ someone once he gets the hang of it. It's nice to be able to have a little extra money coming in and he is grateful to be working. He only has to work 4 days which is nice. So YEA for work!!! He is also still looking for something else that would be more of a career than just a job.

Options

When Matt was laid off and struggling to find work he decided that he wanted to use his Russian skills in some type of job field. The fields that he was thinking of are the CIA, FBI and the Navy. He found out the CIA and FBI are a long process that won't guarantee him a job, so he has decided to become a Naval Officer and work in Intelligence.

At first I didn't know how I felt about it. But soon realized that he wasn't going to be an active duty solider but an officer so that put my worries to rest. Since then he has been faithfully filling out his applications and keeping in contact with his cousin, who is a Navy Seal assigned to the Pentagon. His uncle is also a retired Naval officer so between his cousin and uncle he has the connections he needs in order to become a Naval Officer.

This prospect kind of excites me b/c we will be able to see new places. Right now we are just waiting. He has a pretty good chance b/c he's a college graduate, who can speak Russian and has connection that can vouche for him as a good, hard and dedicated worker.

What brought this up is an article that I read in the paper today about people who have been laid off who are now turning to the Armed Services for a job. You can read the article here. I just found it interesting that we are doing just that.

I will keep you posted on the outcome.

100th Post

I can't believe that I have reached the 100th mark on my blog. So in honor of my 100th post I thought that I would post some great news. Drum roll please . . . . . . . . .

MATT HAS A JOB!!!!

Whoo hoo!!

Yes, it's true and what's kinda ironic is that it's back at Pulte, where he was before. He is doing something different for a little bit less than what he was making before. But hey, it's a job that will pay the bills! That means that Scott is back at daycare, only for the summer until he starts school in August.

Matt started his job on Monday, ya ya I know I'm a few days late in posting this news, but I got busy. I'm excited that we are back to being a 2 income household. It's kind of a relief really.

Piano Lessons = Crazy, Right?

Okay so I've been doing a lot of thinking of how to generate some extra income since my husband is currently unemployed. So I thought what if I do piano lessons? Crazy idea, but I think that it just might work. For those of you who don't know, yes, I do play and have been for quite some time. I think that I had the best teacher ever. My grandma, bless her heart, taught me and my siblings to play the piano. So knowing what I know I thought that I might try it out. I've posted, more like, advertised it on my ward blog/website. Now I need to get the students. I figured that if I have at least 6-8 students I can make just enough to somewhat supplement part of what was lost to be able to pay more of the bills.

Is It That Time of the Year Again?

So despite the fact the my husband doesn't have a job or that the ecomony is bad, I got a RAISE!!! Whoo!!! I had my quarterly review today at work and was pleasantly surprised that I was given a raise. I was not expecting one because of how bad the economy has been. Not to mention we were told not to really expect one. So in light of the bad there is a good.

Unemployment Update

Yesterday afternoon Matt got a call from the company he was interviewing with, Guardian, and unfortunately they did not extend him an offer. Bummer. :( It's back to the drawing board to look for another job. We were a little disappointed but I was somewhat relieved because the job would have moved us to Fresno, CA. That's all I have for now.

A Trial of Our Faith

You are probably wondering why the title. Well I will tell you, just when I thought that we were doing ok BAM! the Lord has hit us with a BIG stumbling block. On Wednesday Matt came home and said that it was pretty much his last day at work. He was laid off. Yep, my husband has joined the millions that are unemployed. He knew that it was coming when he didn't have much to do at work. Matt worked for Pulte Homes at their Truss Yard in Tolleson. Being as they are in the home building business and not as many homes are being built there wasn't much need for all the workers that they had. Because he had a feeling that he wouldn't have a job for much longer he started to submit his resume to anyone that would be willing to look at it. Within a few weeks someone did look at it, a company called Gardian. From what Matt has told me this company is in the top 50 of the Fortune 500 Companies that are out there. So this will be a really good oportunity for him. His charisma has won them over because they are really considering him to be part of their team. This is really going to test our Faith in the Lord to see if this is the direction he needs to go. But for now I still have a job but it can't support us for too long, without something not being paid. But this a big change that we didn't not anticpate but it has happened and we trying to deal with it one day at a time. I will post an update if he gets an offer.