Our Little Thanksgiving

I know it's a little late, but I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!! Erik and I had a nice day at home, just the two of us. I didn't want to make a whole turkey and the turkey breasts were kind of expensive, so we made two cornish hens. My mom used to make them for Christmas and I remember always enjoying them, so I thought I would try my hand at cornish hens. They turned out really good, as did the rest of our sides. We made mashed potates, green beans with bacon, corn, and rolls. It was the perfect amount of food for us. We were stuffed afterwards and didn't have too many leftovers to clutter up our fridge and spoil (we're not always the best about eating leftovers). I also made a pumpkin pie, which was really yummy! We just finished it last night and I wish there was more!

It was kind of weird not being with family on Thanksgiving, but we did get to chat with both our families on Skype, which was pretty cool. I miss them all so much! My computer had been acting up a lot so I asked a friend to fix it. He finished it last week and we got it back just in time to Skype with our families!

We're doing pretty well down here in warm Florida. It's consistently been in the 80s lately, and it's so weird to think that this is not normally how I experience the end of November. I heard it is snowing up in Illinois right now, and it's almost hard to even imagine that with the weather we have had.

We're going back up to Illinois for Christmas and we're really excited to see the people we miss and love. We'll be there from the 22nd to the 29th and are trying to figure out the best option to see people. We're flying in to O'Hare, but we need to make it down to Peoria and Bloomington too. I'm sure the week will fly by, but hopefully we'll get to see as many of you as possible.

Well I hope you all had a great holiday and that your week is just as good!

Our wonderful feast, complete with flowers my sweet husband got me!

My delicious plate of food.

Erik and me before our meal. It was 82 outside that day!

November News

Well I am now in my third week of working at Applebee's and it is going all right so far. I haven't been getting as many shifts or making as much money as I had hoped, but I have faith that it will get better as I am there longer and become more established. It's easy to remember how much they valued me back at the Applebee's in Bloomington and feel discouraged, but it took time for that to happen. Even though I am a transfer and not brand new, I still have to prove myself. Plus there are a lot of people who have been there a long time and of course they're going to get priority in scheduling. It's nice to be productive and making money though. Overall I am enjoying myself.

I have also been keeping myself busy by reading. In the last two weeks I have read five books. I've got one more to get through and three more on the way. The Orlando Public Library lets you order books online and then they ship them to you for free. It usually takes a week or two, but it's totally worth it. I've been reading Meg Cabot and Nicholas Sparks. Any suggestions on some other books I may enjoy??

For those who don't know, I decided not to take the sales position at David's Bridal. I put a lot of thought and consideration (even some research) into it, and I feel at peace with my decision. Apparently in order to even get a commission, I would have had to make $12,000 in sales per pay period. That's pretty high, especially with the low prices David's offers. If I was only working part-time it would be even more difficult, especially until January which is when the busy season starts. Until then I am almost positive I never would have made commission (which is only 8% after the $12,000 sales mark). If I didn't hit that goal I would just make minimum wage ($7.25/hour here). Not only would I have had to work every Saturday and Sunday, but that is a busy store and I have a feeling it would have been really stressful. I would have taken the job if it was my only chance at making money, but I would much rather work a job I am more familiar with, and I certainly don't need to be overloaded on stress by working both jobs. We don't need the money that much. I appreciate all the comments and help I received though!

Thanksgiving is coming up, can you believe it!? Erik and I have been looking for some good recipes. Is cooking a turkey hard? Lol, I'm afraid I'm going to ruin it. Why has no one ever showed me how to make a Thanksgiving dinner before? Although it'll be sad not being with our families, we're really looking forward to being home at Christmas time. We haven't booked our plane tickets yet, but right now we're thinking about flying in December 22 and heading back here the 29th. We weren't necessarily planning to stay that long, but those happen to be the dates with the cheapest tickets. Hopefully it'll be okay to get that much time off of work. Erik will have a whole month off for winter break AND he will continue getting paid, which is a huge blessing! The semester is wrapping up for him and he hasn't had a ton to do, which has been nice.

My grandparents (mom's parents) and me on
Easter Sunday when I was probably 7 or 8.

Yesterday marked the one year of my grandma's passing, and it was pretty sad for me. She was a really great person and I loved her very much. She was my last living grandparent, and probably the hardest to lose. I miss her a lot and can't believe it has already been a year since I received the terrible news of her passing. It was especially hard to hear because I had been planning to go home to see her just two days later. I resent not being able to say goodbye to her and the fact that she missed my wedding by just five months, but I know she is up in Heaven with our Lord, and that is very comforting to me. My grandfather has been gone for almost 10 years now, which is even more unbelievable. I wish I had gotten more time with him, but I will always cherish the memories I have with both of them.

Thanks for reading my long update, everyone! I guess I should post more often so these don't have to be so lengthy. Who's seeing (or has already seen) Harry Potter this weekend!? We're going tomorrow and I AM SO EXCITED!!!!!!

Job Dilemmas

Hello friends! I will be talking about my job situation today, so I thought this comic was appropriate. Snoopy is always a good one.

For those who don't know, I started working at Applebee's last week as a server. I trained for two days (normal is five, but they sped me through since I have worked at Applebee's before) last week and served on my own for the first time yesterday. I don't have very many shifts this week, but I am hoping that as I start to prove myself I will get better shifts.

We've been talking about work ethic in church and I've been really challenged to adjust the way I think about and act at work. I've always had a great work ethic as far as being efficient and doing what I am asked, but I must admit I do not always have the best attitude about what I am doing. It is especially hard on days where guests leave me no tip or constantly refer to me as "waitress" and imply I know no more than a first grader. I want this time to be different though. I want to impress my employers and co-workers with my positive attitude and be the one person who doesn't complain or gossip. I want to be an example of Christ and spur others on. No matter what I'm doing, I should be able to do this. I'm sure it would have been a lot easier if I had gotten the job at the Jesus Film Project where I enjoyed what I did and was surrounded by other believers, but maybe that's why I didn't get it. Maybe God wants to challenge me, and I want to accept that challenge. (I can't help thinking of Barney in "How I Met Your Mother." Challenge accepted!!)

I have also been offered a sales position job at David's Bridal. When I applied I thought it would be full time and offer benefits, but neither of those things are true. I feel like it's foolish to turn down an extra chance to make money and an experience I could really learn from, but I'm just really wary about having two jobs. It's always sounded so stressful to me. I realize how grateful I should be. I go from having no jobs to two...that's awesome news, right? It is, and I don't want to deny that. There are just a lot of things to consider. It's hard enough one when boss can't get my schedule straight, but happens when two bosses mess up? What if I am scheduled at both places at one time? What if I get scheduled at one place on the days I had off at the other place and then I am working who knows how many days in a row with no days off? I can't just work AM at one place and PM at the other for five days because then when will I have time to see my husband, grocery shop, clean, etc.? Oh it just all sounds like a nightmare. But for some reason I couldn't bring myself to tell the lady at David's Bridal "no."

Please pray for me friends. Pray that I can be a good example at any place I work and learn to not complain or gossip but to be grateful that I am working and glorify the Lord. Please also pray that I can gain some wisdom about on whether or not I should accept both jobs. Any advice would be accepted as well. Thanks, and I hope you are all having a great week!