Mint Chocolate Chip Heaven

So, there must be Mint Chocolate Chip cake in heaven!! It was definitely created by God. There's no other answer!
For at least five years, I have been begging Josh for an icecream cake for my birthday! Which, would haven't been a problem for him to find,except, I requested a mint chocolate chip cake. I saw one a few weeks earlier and knew that it must taste like a slice of heaven. Josh searched for a few days looking for a place that could make my cake in time for my birthday. After a team effort, my parents were able to locate a place that had one!! I was so excited!!!

Five years was SOOOO worth the wait! Since my little brothers were unable to come in for my birthday, there was plenty of left overs. The cake has been a highlight for several days now! Now the real problem is....how do you top that for the following year?

Birthdays

We were birthday party animals this weekend. The twins turned twenty-one last week, and we drove up to College Station to celebrate with them. They enjoyed showing us their homes, and I was surprised by how clean they were. Micheala loves all of the action and all of the attention that her Uncles shower her with. They love spoiling her and trying to give her things that she might not normally get, like Dr. Pepper.

Sunday was Josh's twenty-nineth birthday!! We went to Kobe's in here in Texas, and it was really good, but no white sauce and no banging on the drum to embarass Josh. The chef was "Japanese" from Mexico. He was very funny, and Micheala was in awe watching him cook.


Josh enjoyed himself and LOVED the food. We wanted to celebrate his birthday and his graduation from flight school. Kobe's was the perfect spot to celebrate.

Uncle Daniel and his Princess

Daniel and his sweet girl, Candace

Timmy and his sweet girl, Terra

Another family shot, but baby

isn't looking yet again.

The Dr. Pepper she snuck out of

Uncle Timmy house.

Fears

Fears...the stuff that Satan feeds off of...because then we begin to worship the situation instead of relying on God to take care of us.
Fears...everyone has ones they are afraid to admit. Failure to achieve, or the appearance of.
My fears...one of my biggest fears is taking care of Micheala's needs. Having the financial ability to get her what she needs. (*Maybe a few things that she wants.) Because if I can't take care of her needs I must be a failure as a mom right? I must be doing something wrong?! Or I made the decision to have her, and now... I know they are lies, and they eat at my heart. Satan the deceiver loves to feed me these lines...especially after I finish paying our bills. Its hard for me to relax and rely on God's provisions for us. We are blessed to have a place to stay, food in our bellies (GREAT Food too), and clothes. Although Micheala grows so quickly. We are blessed because we have jobs, and although they aren't exactly what we want, and we aren't exactly in the place we'd thought we'd be in once we had kids...we are grateful. Grateful that we will make some money to pay for our needs. There are still many needs, but we are peaceful and learning to be more patient.
Fears...what does our future hold for us? Will we still be living in my parent's house next year? Will we have been able to sell our home in Orlando? Will we have to move back? Be still...Bayje...trust. Wow, God is the giver of peace and love. I often fall and feel so scared that I'm literally sick, but then I hear him whisper to me (sometimes he shouts)..BE STILL.
Fears...I am learning to take them ALL to God. I fall so much, and I am have to continue to go back and do it over. No matter how many times he tells me, or someone reminds me, I fall and have to learn it all over again.
Thank you Lord for our jobs! For our health and the ability to work. Thank you for our healthy baby girl and protecting her! Thank you for her development and the chance to spend another day being her mommy. Thank you for the roof over our heads, for the food on the table, and the clothes our backs. Thank you that we have the ability to pay for gas in cars. Thank you for family love and support! Help me to continue to trust in your love and power. Help me to trust you with our future.

Home Again

We made it home! We connected to Atlanta, and I thought we were never going to make it out of there. We spent almost all day traveling. Which can be very challenging when you are traveling with an 18 month old. However, God did give us a little present to help us through it. Micheala slept for an hour while we were waiting to leave Atlanta (we were in Atlanta from 9:30 a.m.- 3:00 p.m.), and she fell asleep for the last fifty minutes of the plane ride to Houston.
We haven't really stopped since then. We came home, changed, and headed out for a Fourth of July get together with some friends of the family. Saturday, Josh started looking for a job at some of the local flight schools. Saturday and Sunday, all of my brothers came into town to help celebrate Aaron's birthday. Today Josh is back out looking for a job, and I am starting my job at the YMCA tomorrow.
The two weeks in Florida seemed almost as busy...trying to visit everyone. We had a lot of fun catching up and showing off Micheala. Micheala especially enjoyed her time with the big kids, Levi and Cooper. She even learned some new "tricks" that we're trying to break her out of. (High pitch screaming!)
Praise- The YMCA still wants me to work for them, even though I have a VERY limited schedule right now. AND, I'll be teaching soon.
Prayer- Still praying that God would show us a way to take care of our family financially and not neglect each other emotionally.

Adventures in Weenie Sitting

Florida has been hot and rainy almost all week. We've had a few days of "fun in the sun". And we've had lots of opportunities to get together with our friends. Micheala is enjoying her friends, Levi, Cooper, and Micah. She especially enjoys loving on Micah and feeding him. Micah doesn't seem to mind because his brothers are usually busy wrestling each other, or Josh.

Still no job for Josh. He hasn't heard back from any schools, businesses, or airlines. We continue to pray for God's guidance and a job.

Gale and Paul come back this Thursday from Brazil. I'm looking forward to picking them up from the airport. No matter how often we take the dogs outside, there always seems to be an accident waiting for us to clean up. They've been good with Micheala, but they don't really want her attention. (Unless she is willing to feed them.)

Another week in Florida...I'm looking forward to going back, Micheala is so off of her schedule. Not too mention I'm tired of saying no to the numerous things she seems to get into. However, it has been nice to see friends. There are so many people that I've really missed seeing.

Bling Bling

Children are truly a blessing. They're a lot of hard work, but so worth it. I was overwhelmed with love today as I watched Micheala dress herself up, with a little assistance. In just sixth months my little baby is becoming more independent and a toddler. She loves dolls, jewelry, and real babies. She bends down and talks sweetly to them. What she says, who knows. The babies usually giggle and smile at the attention and love. It is so amazing!!!! I wish that Josh could be here to see it all. My favorite thing is when she actually gives me kisses and hugs me! A mommy's joy!
In a few days Josh will be home and done with his training program! We are excited about him coming home and a little nervous about job opportunities. We are still praying that God will open up a job for him. With all the news about airlines cutting jobs, it is hard not to be a little discouraged. But, for now, this is where God has us. We will be traveling to Florida to visit friends and dogsit for Josh's parents while they are in Brazil. It will be first time we will have been a lone as a family in months. I'm looking forward to spending time with my husband and daughter.
I was offered a job at the YMCA here in The Woodlands. They have asked me if I would be interested in a director's position, and although the opportunity to work for a Christian company in that capacity sounds good, its just not an option right now. With Josh's job being unknown, I have to think about it as if Josh isn't here to help at all. Daycare is not an option because the pay is enough to make is a true benefit for our family. (More than half of my paycheck would go to daycare, while the other half to gas.) So, I'm holding tight. Being Micheala's mommy is a lot of work in itself, and I will be teaching soon. (Although that is just pennies too.) So this is where I learn to trust that God will provide for us, and that is okay to be Micheala's mommy. This is the first time in 12 years that I haven't worked at all. It is very weird. :)

Done?

Josh came home from ATP this past week! He passed every checkride and every oral exam they gave him!!!! I am so proud of him! We had a week to be together and then he was back at ATP for his final course, the jet course. He's pretty excited about it and says that he expects this to be a lot work, but enjoyable. He finishes on Saturday, June 20th.
Now we pray that a job will open up for him. ATP would love for him to come and teach for them in Dallas or Jacksonville, but we're hoping for a "real" job. Josh applied this week with ASA. It would be a commute for Josh, but we have friends and family in Atlanta, which is the hub for ASA, so he wouldn't have to get a crash pad.
I had my first group interview yesterday at the YMCA. It was an interesting experience. Twelve other people all fighting for an opening, or multiple openings. (They didn't specify how many openings for the position there were.) I have been praying that God would give me peace and help me to trust in him. I often get nervous about how we're going to provide for Micheala. My biggest fear is failure in this area. Sometimes Satan just throws it in my face and tells me that I shouldn't have had a child knowing that we are so unstable. God is so much bigger and I always have to remind myself that those are lies from the ultimate deceiver.
In just a week, we will be off to Florida for a little "vacation". "Vacation" because we coming all the way from Texas to dogsit for Josh's parents. I guess I can add that onto my list of "odd" vacations.