Insta-Friday, except not so much.

I failed in taking pictures this week.
I took one.
And it's straight up depressing.
(it's a picture of a 5 inch long grey hair that I pulled out of my head...terrifying.)

I started cleaning houses this week for Andrew's cousin's company. I'm having a hard time having a good attitude about it all. Not being able to find a job has been so discouraging, and when I'm working so hard mopping, vacuuming, and cleaning people's poop off a toilet all I can think is "I went to 4 years of college, and am thousands of dollars in debt for this...really!?"
See? I told you. Bad attitude.
I should be grateful to have something to do, but my sore muscles, flared eczema hands, and tired feet are keeping the grateful deep inside.

I really really really want something else to happen, to be doing something I love and worked so hard to achieve.
It kills me that it's this hard.

I'm so sorry that all you've read here lately is me complaining about not having a job, I really am. I want to be upbeat about it, have a smile on my face and say "oh, it's okay, I'm okay, it's going to be okay.", but that's not how I feel right now. It doesn't feel okay.

I know it will be eventually. Someday we will look back on this time and talk about how hard it was, but how much it taught us. I look forward to that day, and hope it comes sooner than later.

Trusting & Hoping

It's a new week, full of new possibilities.

My plan as of this morning is to try and relax, quit stressing, and trust. 

I'll be making my rounds to the nursing homes in the city to look for work there, and hopefully that will be productive. 

I'm so ready to work, to be a nurse, to help people, and make a difference. 

Here's hoping. 

I didn't get the job.
I got the call last night at the boys' football game. She said she was sorry, that she would have loved to work with me, and that she's sure I'm going to make a great nurse.
But the other candidate had more experience.
If I got a dollar every time I've heard that I wouldn't even need a job.
It's so frustrating. This feeling of trying so hard and not getting anywhere.
I've been applying for jobs since MARCH and have gotten 2 interviews. TWO.
I'm discouraged, confused, sad, and stressed.
I'm ready to be over those emotions and feel empowered knowing that God is going to provide something. I'm just not quite there yet. Even though I know that, it hurts to not get what I want.

This season will pass, I know.
But right now it feels like I'm going to be stuck here forever.

Thanks for listening and for continuing to pray.

Insta-Friday

Our sweet little J giving me his best "tough face". At this game they scored 2 touchdowns, something they have never done before. When they scored their first one all the coaches wives went nuts. You would have thought that Drew Brees had just threw the winning touchdown at the super bowl game. They still lost pretty bad, but no one cared. It was amazing.

I took J home and told him we could stop at the store to get a good game, good attitude treat. He chose hot fries (spicy cheetos), and a big shot (famous new orleans fruit flavored soda). 

We went to the first LSU game. It was my first time at a big college football game and it was fun to soak it all in. There were so many people and they were all so excited about their team. LSU killed Northwestern, living up to the stadiums "death valley" nickname. 

I made this delicious soup, a copycat recipe of Olive Garden's Zuppa Toscana. I changed it up some by using chicken sausage (healthier, no preservatives), and cooking it longer for the kale to become softer. It was YUMMY. I think it would have been better with regular italian sausage, but I don't regret the chicken sausage decision. 

I hung out with the little guys at football practice this week. They are 5, way too young to be playing/practicing with our team but they just love to come out and hang out with us/play on my phone. 

Julie sent me this adorable Texas apron. I love it. 

Oh my gosh, these cookies. Oreo cheesecake cookies. I made them for bible study this week, and they were a big hit. I enjoyed making them because I got to snack on oreos the whole time. 

Cutest toothless smile I know. Love this little guy. 

                       

I made a little fall flag banner for our mantle. It was really fun. I made a few mistakes and it has its flaws, but that just means that my Christmas one will be even better! 

 I've decided that when I get a job, the thing I'm going to miss the most is lazy Friday mornings with Andrew. He gets Fridays off since he works on Sunday. He usually sleeps in late, I get up, drink my coffee and plan breakfast. It may be my favorite time of the week. 

Speaking of the job situation, I now know that I am in the top 2 candidates and will hopefully know more today. Thank you for your prayers, they are cherished! 

Have a joyful weekend! 

Encouragement for an anxious girl (me)

Therefore, I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was nor arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?'...But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added to you. Therefore, do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

Matthew 6:25-43

"For I know the plans I have for you", declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." 

-Jeremiah 29:11

Insta-Friday

Because I take so many pictures with my phone every week and use the wonderful little photo app called instagram  I've decided to start sharing these pictures on our blog every friday. I think it will be a fun way to document every day life around here! 


So, this week is kind of a mash up of last week and this week. Mostly because this week has been weird and I haven't taken many pictures and also because I have some gems from last week that I can't go without sharing. 


Starting with this one...

 

We had a ministry fair at our church last week to show all the ministries we are involved in and allow people to get involved. Miley was helping sitting at our table eating some gumbo and a sucker and fell asleep face first in it. It was so cute.

Picking up one of the boys from school. I love the old school buildings here. They are so pretty. 

Got to facetime with Juju! It was my first time to use it on my phone and I was pretty impressed with technology. Every time I use something new on my phone I'm always amazed at it's capabilities and it makes me feel like I'm 80. 

I busted out Jillian again. I've been feeling super self conscious lately (not good) and decided to do something about it. Well, it lasted for maybe 8 minutes and I was too tired to keep going. Ohhh motivation, I need you. 

I made scrambled egg whites with green peppers and tomatoes one night for dinner. It was SO GOOD. I am not usually one to crave eggs. It's actually one of those foods that I have to be in the right mood for, but Andrew's been wanting omelets for a while so I modified it a bit and really enjoyed it. I also perfected separating eggs. Bonus. 

Football season means we start picking up the boys from school around 4:15 and don't take them home sometimes until 10:30. This makes for hungry, upset, irritated, and eventually angry and uncontrollable children. My solution (which has yet to actually work) is to get food in their bellies. It was PB&J and cheese sticks this week. Our bread disappeared so quickly. 

This was also the day that I had my second interview (which went very well...still waiting to hear back about it). Andrew called me around 5:00 asking for me to go pick up 2 of our boys from school because he was dealing with another one because of a miscommunication. I didn't get out of my interview until around 5:15 and when I tried to call him back to see if I still needed to get them, his phone had died. I drove to the school anyway only to run around an empty school in high-heels and talk to a teacher that was just as confused as I was. I never found the kids, and as it turns out they had gotten released from school at 1:15 on a wednesday. Schools here as so bizarre. 

This morning we enjoyed a free breakfast a chick-fil-a. It was YUM! 

Our weekend plans include lounging, possibly going to a LSU football game, welcoming some friends and their son home from Ethiopia, and having college students over on Sunday evening. 

Busy, but fun. 

Quirky New Orleans

This city is full of little and big quirks. Our neighborhood is smack dab in the middle of it all so we get to experience quite a few of them. 

One of them is this man who drives around in a truck full of fruit and vegetables with a speaker attached to the top yelling into the microphone what he has. It's usually not understandable and sounds a little bit like a muslim call to prayer. 

Every time I hear him I laugh, and today I thought I would try and capture it for the rest of you, who live in normal places, to see. 

The only thing I understood from that was "I have PEARS". Maybe broccoli was after that? I don't know. before I could get the camera on he did say "I have apples and bananas" very clearly. I really have absolutely NO idea what the last longer thing he said was. I've watched it about 15 times and cannot get it. Let me know if you crack the fruit guy code. 

Someday I'll be quick enough to stop him and buy some fruit. He drives way to fast to give people time to come out of their house and buy something. Fruit man needs to take a lesson from the ice cream man who has mastered lingering and making all other drivers stuck behind him angry.
By the way, I don't live in a prison. Our gate was locked and I didn't have time to unlock it. One more reason fruit guy should drive slower...people in New Orleans have two doors to unlock. 

To Do

My to do list this week consists of: 


-clean bathrooms
-clean kitchen
-change name with loan company
-vacuum 
-laundry
-OH MY GOSH, GET A JOB! 

Lee

Well, I can say now that I have lived through a tropical storm. I mean, it's still pouring down rain here so I guess it's not ever yet but it hasn't been as bad as the media made it out to be. I know we're all surprised by that, right?


It ended up being a really lazy, relaxing few days for Andrew and I. I went on a cooking/baking spree which ended in us eating a lot of taco soup, chocolate chip cookies, and banana bread. We watch a lot of Parks and Recreation, Friends, and other various tv and movies.


College football started which means our friday nights consist of me trying to come up with funny things that the players name sound like/rhyme with. 


Job interview went well. I'll hopefully be having a second interview sometime this week. I am READY to have a job. 


Happy labor day everyone! Enjoy not laboring.