Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween everyone! Justin and I are amazing by the amount of kids running around our neighborhood. Spiderman, princesses, witches, fairies, ghosts, ninjas, every costume possible. This past weekend Tim, Katie and the kids stayed with us. We had a lot of fun but the best part was dressing Gabriel and Maria up for our church's Trunk or Treat. Sunday morning we went to worship, lunch potluck, and came home to get the kids dressed. Then we had evening services, chili and hotdogs, and Trunk or Treat. J and I dressed my car up. We bought a hay bale, pumpkins, gourds, cobb webs, big fake spiders, and an insane amount of candy. There were probably thirty cars in a circle in our parking lot with their trunks all decorated. It was so neat! We loved it. Gabriel was Buzz Lightyear and Maria was Lady from Lady and the Trump!! I've never seen cuter kids! I got some great pictures. Everyone at work today wore orange and black, very festive. J and I are debating putting up our Christmas tree Thursday, November 1.....I know it's a bit early. We love Christmas so much and why not celebrate it for 2 months!? Hmm....

Finally settled

Well the past few weeks have been incredibly intense but are finally over! Trish is gone, the auditors are gone, I'm back from Little Rock, and I still have my job! :) I actually got a raise too, go figure. The internal auditors came from corporate on Monday and Tuesday. Todd flew in from Houston to go through it all with me. I was pretty much drilled for 2 days about all of our policies, procedures, folders, accounting, deposits, blah blah blah. After the 2 days they briefed Todd and I and said we are in great shape! It was a really great review. The report back to Danbury was great and Todd was thrilled. God is good! Wednesday morning Todd, myself and Angela went to Little Rock for their Physical Inventory. We worked through Thursday afternoon and had a great inventory! The auditors were also there the same days, so we had a packed few days. In talking to myself and Charell (Little Rock OA), Todd told us our district has the best OA's in the company. Our review from Trish and the auditors far exceeded his expectations. That gave me the reassurance and confidence I needed in my job. I came home last night to my wonderful husband! He always makes me feel so missed....he's the best. I am incredibly blessed. His work is going great as well. He's closing alot of big accounts and finally seeing the rewards to all of his hard work. I am so proud of him! I came home from a really good day at work to Katie, Tim and the precious babies. I can't believe how cute Maria is, she gets prettier every time we see her. Gabriel is such an independent toddler. He is running constantly and is just a ball of fun. I've managed to smash his fingers in the bathroom door and make him hit his head on the floor since I got home. :) Tim has to work tomorrow so Katie and I are going to the Merry Marketplace at the Agricenter to do some Christmas shopping while J watches the kids. He doesn't know it yet. Better get to bed, it's been a long day. I have said countless prayers today thanking God for some peace. All the chaos is finally gone and J and I can get back to normal fun life. Work is quiet again, our church is doing great, we're making more friends and have more time for family....it's a good time.

State Fair of Texas, Trish, & Auditing

This past weekend J and I drove to Dallas to visit his family. We went to the State Fair of Texas, which was AMAZING! It was so much fun. I have been incredibly blessed to have such phenomenal in-laws. They made it a lot of fun for us. I couldn't help but think about Jordan and Christian the whole time. They would have loved the rides and booths and fried everything! Of course, I couldn't eat any of the weird fried things, but J did get me a tornado potatoe. We had a great weekend with them as well as Brooke and Ryan.

After weeks and weeks of hard work I finally am through with my first audit from corporate! Trish Buyer, VP of Operations, visited my design center today and audited my folders, AR reports, PO reports, DOSR's, etc. She has a reputation for being extremely meticulous and detailed, so I was a bit nervous to say the least! She was a tremendous help and apparently we are "operationally sound"! Justin (Houston District Regional Project Manager, based out of Houston) told me I was doing "phenomenal, and everyone really loves you here". He also said I was a "valuable asset to our team and incredibly appreciated". I was floored!! He has NEVER complimented me, much less to that extent. Justin, Trish, and Todd (my immediate boss, Houston District Operations Controller) could tell I was very happy. Now the internal auditors (for Sarbanes Oxley Testing) come on Monday and Tuesday. Todd will be back for those 2 days and then we travel to Little Rock for their audit and physical inventory. Crazy week, but if I can get through all that, we'll be good to go. God has blessed us tremendously! I cannot believe how well today went.....God is good!

Why do we work?

Tonight I am questioning why we work. I know it is to make a living, but then we spend so much time working to live well, that we loose ourselves completely. Tonight I saw how much my work affects me. I took what was an extremely frustrating day and took it out on the one person in this world that loves me the most. I just became mean and selfish and difficult. That is not me and I hate it. I have gotten scarily close to losing myself in work. I enjoy my job, but if I don't learn to seperate it from my TRUE life....I will alienate myself from reality.

Justin's 26th!

Today is Justin's birthday. I made him a homemade card from magazine clippings! He loved it! After work we went to Texas de Brazil downtown. It's J's favorite place to eat. I made him get the full meal with all the endless meats. It was amazing and we are so full we can hardly move. Afterwards we came home and J opened his presents. His birthday gifts were a putter, 12 months of Xbox Live, and a wireless remote for his Xbox. He can now fully enjoy his Halo 3 and play with other people. It's amazing what a little boy he turns into when playing video games. We're having a birthday cake tomorrow night with some friends. I am so glad he was born 26 years ago, he is the best thing in my entire life. I thank God for him everyday! :)

New beginnings

This past weekend J and I drove to Jackson, Tennessee to my sister's new house. Tim and Katie just moved from Searcy with their 2 babies, Gabriel and Maria. The house is so cute. It has so much personality. They have always lived in new homes and this one is a little older. It takes less work to give older houses character. The 4 of us worked from 8:30pm - 1:30am unloading the moving truck. It was insane! I have never been so sore in my life! When I and I finally got in bed we couldn't even talk we were so tired. Katie and I went shopping Saturday morning and left the babies with the boys. Over the rest of the weekend we were able to paint Gabe's room, paint the entire living room, take out the old appliances, bring in all the furniture, bring in all the new kitchen tiles, steam cleaned all the carpets, etc. Exhausting but worth it. It will be a great home for them. I got to talk to mom for almost an hour. I wish she could be here enjoying all this with Katie too. Only 9 weeks until they get home!

Prayer request - I am still on the hunt for a new doctor. I have decided my current doctor is ripping me off and making me visit far too often. I am going to try a regular family doctor and not a gastroenterology center. I am secretly hoping the new doctor will tell me I don't have celiac disease! :) Somehow I doubt it....