Thanksgiving

Today I am Thankful for:

My Mom... without her $upport right now, I literally would not be $urviving. I love and miss you mom!

My jobs... even though it isn't what I would choose to be doing right now, it is what God has chosen for me to be doing right now, and I am thankful to have 2 jobs when many people don't even have one right now.
My family... even though they are 1600 miles away from me, I love them very much and I'm very excited to get to see them next month!

My friends, old and new... I miss my CA friends so much, but I am thankful that I can keep in touch with them (mostly through FB) and I am thankful for my new friends in Austin.

My best friend and her family. I am so thankful that I am able to be here to be a part of my niece and nephew growing up, and to be able to be here for Steph when she needs me, (and her for me when I need her)
God's Grace and forgiveness that I do not deserve.
God's plan for my life. Even though it is hard being so far away from most of the people that I love, I know that He has me here for a reason and those reasons and plans are better than any that I could come up with.

I hope you all had a FABULOUS Thanksgiving with your friends and family.

Miss and love you all!

See you in 22 days!!!!

Update....

Well, I haven't updated in FOREVER...So....
*Teaching.... still subbing. I am getting called by a couple secretaries which is nice. My favorite school in Pflugerville I am subbing at a lot which is really nice! :) I'm still hoping to get hired permanently before the end of the school year, so please continue to pray that God will open that door.
*Waitressing.... still waitressing downtown at Iron Cactus, but I am honestly trying to not do that anymore. It is just getting really hard physically and emotionally to be doing that and subbing together. I am hoping to get another job or start doing some tutoring. However, my waitressing income is most of my income so I don't know if that is possible. Please pray for that as well.
*Everything else.... I still don't have a lot of friends here. Especially single friends. This has been hard on me, I'm not used to that. And since I'm in a big city, it's not like I'm going to go out by myself, it isn't safe. Sometimes it gets really lonely here. But I know that God has a plan and I am trying to be patient as I wait for HIS timing in everything.

The good news... make that GREAT news......

I'M COMING HOME FOR CHRISTMAS!!!!!!

I'm so EXCITED!!!!! I miss everyone so much. It is my Christmas gift from my mom. I get to be there for 2 Sundays so I can see people at Grace. I get to be home for Erica Oliver's wedding, which is also a blessing to get to see such a great friend on her special day. I get to spend Christmas with my family. I get to see friends that I MISS SO MUCH! I am very excited. I will be flying in on the 18th and staying until the 28th.... so expect big hugs, and let me know if you'll be around! I hope to see as many people as I can!

Bye for now! LOVE AND MISS YOU ALL!!!!!

One year in Texas!

Yesterday was my 1 year anniversary in Austin, TX. I can't believe it's already been a year! In some ways it has gone by so fast and in others it's gone by so slow. I definitely am not where I thought I would be at this time. I definitely thought I would be teaching by now, which I'm not... still praying that may happen this year. God has a plan and I am trying to be patient while I wait for HIS timing.... not my strongest trait :)
I have been blessed with a few friends the past year and that has definitely helped.
I found a church that although it is ginormous has a fabulous pastor who is a man of God and who knows my pastor back home... just a small bonus and a little reminder of just how small this world is.
I have been blessed with jobs to fill my time (literally fill! worked 6 days a week during the school year) even though they may not be what I really want.
I have been blessed with being able to be in the same area as my best friend!
I have been blessed by being able to be a part of Daniella and Brady's life this year. Being able to go on a few Auntie Dates with them, enjoying time at the movies by allowing Greg and Steph to have some alone time :)
I've been blessed by being able to be there for Steph during what has been the hardest time of her life so far (for those of you who don't know, she lost her sister earlier this month at the age of 37)
I've been blessed by being in a growing area, that puts money into Education. God definitely moved me out of CA at the right time for my profession.
I've been blessed by being able to be in my own place, a cute apartment with an office and a garage!
I can't wait to see what God will have in store for me this coming year!
I will try and be better at posting on here.... even if it's just to update you that my life is still the same :)
Love and miss you all!!!!

35 years old

You say it's your birthday... na na na na na na na na :)

It's hard to believe that I turned 35! I certainly don't feel that old... and no one ever believes me when I tell them my age... but I am! This was a hard birthday being away from family and most of my friends, but the few friends I do have here helped make it a fabulous one! As well as the tons of people on Facebook who sent me birthday wishes. And Aunt Donna and Elizabeth who joined my mom in mailing me Birthday cards! :)

I had dinner with Steph and the fam (Spaghetti and Meatballs! Yum!!!). Steph bought a birthday cake, chocolate of-course! Then 6 of us (5 girls and Greg) went downtown Austin to celebrate! Below are some pictures from the evening. We had fun as you can see. The silhouette pictures are in front of a pillar that is yellow without using a flash! So fun!

I was hoping that I would get a call from a Principal for an interview for a teaching job for the ultimate birthday gift, but unfortunately that didn't happen. I am still waiting for that and for any full time job at this point. I did get a call today from a local credit union, so hopefully I will interview for that next week. I will keep you all posted between here and facebook!

Love and miss you all!

Now What?????

Okay, so a lot of you already know because of Facebook or Twitter... but I passed the two tests that TX has required me to take in order to get a permanent Teaching Credential (I got a one year just for having my CA credential)
I had to get a 240 on each test and I got 280 and 276... so I passed with flying colors :) Yay!
WELL... now what???? I sit and wait and HOPE that GOD will BLESS me with a full time TEACHING JOB!!!
In the meantime, I am also looking for other full time jobs. Since I have sent out 16 resumes to schools and I have not gotten one phone call for an interview, I'm not so sure this is the year I will get to teach full time. (Which truly breaks my heart) I know that I can NOT do another year of subbing and waitressing. Not only is it too hard on me physically, but I don't get any sleep when I am doing them back to back, and it doesn't allow me to have any social life.
I've been here since August 30th of last year... so ALMOST a year now... and I can count the number of friends I have one one hand.
I cry often because I am so far away from most of the people I love. Going home was such a blessing and a curse. I loved getting all the hugs and everyone telling me they missed me (phew!) and that they had been praying for me all year (thank you again!!!)! But when I came back to TX, it made it even more evident that I don't have friends or a support system that compares to home. And not that I expect to have the same amount from 11 months compared to 20 years, but I definitely am not used to having this little in both departments.
Anyway, enough of the pity party. Just pray for PATIENCE while I wait for GOD'S TIMING and HIS PLAN for my life to unfold. Anyone who knows me, knows that patience is not my best virtue.
Love and miss you all like crazy!!!!

Home Sweet Home

I had a FANTASTIC time at home! Unfortunately two weeks went by WAY TOO FAST!!!
I started with a very early flight out of Austin on Tuesday, June 9th. I scored a seat in the emergency exit row with no seat in front of me.. .mega leg/foot room! (picture below) I made it a few minutes early to LAX, got my bags, and Dan and Robbin Mote picked me up to take me to the train station. We made it there right as my train was supposed to be leaving, so I left all my bags in their car and ran through the train station to see if I could still make that train! It had been delayed, so I could still make it. While I was getting my ticket, Dan grabbed all of my bags and brought them in for me, and then waited with me until I checked my bags so I didn't have to carry all of them myself (such a great guy!!!) Then I hugged him good-bye, thanked God for holding the train for me and waited for it to leave. 2 hours later.... we were boarding. I was a little bummed that they didn't know how long the wait was going to be, b/c I could've spent some time with Dan and Robbin... but oh-well!
So then I got on the train, and was fairly excited b/c I had never been on a train before! So I took the 5 1/2 hour train ride up to SLO (a few of the pics are below) Once I got to SLO, Bre picked me up from the station, we went to my mom's to drop off my bags and give my mom some hugs, and she was having bible study there, so we headed off to eat dinner at Franks and walk part of the Bob Jones Trail with Bekah. (pics below)
The following 2 weeks consisted of meals with friends and family; beach time; visiting one of my favorite teachers who was retiring this year, Mrs. Waterbury; SLO High class of 2009 (I was class of 1992) graduation; graduation parties; more beach time; Grace church on Sundays; walking the Bob Jones trail; movie and dessert night with Julianna; walking a trail in Pismo with my good friend Jen and her daughter (no pics of that one :( though); getting a visit the last weekend from another friend Jen who lives in Livermore and came down, she had never been to SLO... then the last 3 days I spent in Ventura to see my family since I won't be home again until most likely Christmas. (Well, after Chevy fixed my mom's car! One of the computer chips went bad and the car wouldn't start that last Sunday afternoon that I was in SLO), so on Monday we had to wait all day for it to get fixed before we could drive down to Ventura... so I really only got 2 days there :( I also got to see one of my good friends, Kam, that I've known since we were in 6th grade together! Mom and I got mani-pedi's on the last morning, then we went to my Aunt Donna's and she drove us down to LAX, after a stop at In-n-Out to meet Robbin Mote for my last meal in CA! :)
It took almost 3 hours to upload all of these pics so I'm not going to comment on them... but these are just a sampling of what I did while I was home.
It was so fun to be home, but so hard at the same time. I miss everyone so much, and there were people that I wasn't able to connect with, so they will be on the top of the list for Christmas time (or sooner if I make it back before then by some miracle)
Please pray as I continue to wait for God's timing on a teaching job. This is what I have dreamed of since I was in first grade. I know that I am supposed to be out here and I really don't think it's for waitressing! Please know that I miss and love you all!!!