Checking in............

Hello - Yes, I'm still here and alive!! I just have been busy running to the chiropractor. It's amazing how out of wack I really was and how crummy I felt. I now feel much better. My chiro has me on a nutritional program as well. I am still selling Norwex, making greeting cards and occasionally scrapping. Now that summer vacation is half over........WHAT?!! It seems like last week Nicolai was finishing the third grade! I am finally back to having energy to do things with the kids. I took Nicolai to see a movie yesterday. Night at the Museum...it was cute! I was disappointed at a few spots of the movie that were unnecessary, but all in all it was cute!

Nicolai finally got his hair cut...........a little! His hair is all one length now which looks better. Nicolai will be entering the fourth grade next Sept. He still enjoys his St@r W@rs characters and "acting"! I am still in search of a program to get him into. He now wants to be an actor. I will have to check out the community programs.

Sonja is three and almost potty trained. She does really well during the day, but struggles at night still and sometimes nap!

We finally got the "dog dish" (pop up swimming pool) up! It still needs the filter attached and the pump. Not sure how to do it, so waiting on Daddio to take care of that! It's been cold the last few days, so the pool hasn't been missed!!

Well I hope all is well with you.......my blogger friends!

My Niece!

Check out this article regarding my niece, Emily! She is the one most of you have been praying for - Thank you!! Emily

I haven't forgotten...

At Easter time an anonymous friend sent an Easter Card and a gift inside!! IF IT WAS YOU.....THANK YOU!! That was very generous and very helpful - thanks for thinking of us!!! I posted a thank you on Facebook but never got around to posting here!!

God's Goodness continued....

On March 11, 2009, I wrote a blog entry regarding our current status. I wrote how God had carried us through four months without a steady income and how He used friends, family and anonymous gifts to get us through. Not much had changed until mid April hit!!! What a whirlwind...

I need to back up a little....back in September of 2009 our neighborhood had been blessed with a new couple. They moved in across the street from us. They have no children, but have desired to. Joel had gotten to know them while out in the yard and chatting from time to time. I was yet to meet them.

I finally met "A" in early December. She had walked over and rang the doorbell. Joel answered, but I was on the phone. My neighbor left and returned home. When I hung up the phone finally, I felt compelled to get dressed and walk over to meet her. I'm so glad that I did.

We sat down and chatted for over an hour and within that hour's time we had shared many things. Womanly issues, religion, faith and work situations. I don't know why, but I felt compelled to tell her our current financial status. She felt very bad and took it upon herself to try and find my husband a job. She spoke with her husband and he in-turn found out that his place of employment had positions opening. Joel applied and we waited. And waited. And waited!!

In the meantime the neighbor would pop over and ask if we had heard anything yet regarding the position. We hadn't, so she continued to talk with her husband about it. She asked on several occasions if he had heard anything. Thankfully her husband did some checking around and found out that Joel's application and resume' were put into a "reject" pile. Upon further investigation he found out that the people hiring were skeptical and thought that Joel was over qualified. Our neighbor insisted that they take another look at his application and reassured them that we had indicated we were done with our business. We were closing our doors and no longer were going to be open. They then pulled out Joel's information again - PRAISE GOD!!

He finally heard on April 9 via email that he was expected to be at a certain hotel at a certain time for an all day testing, background check and interview process. We were so excited! In the meantime Joel had made arrangements to fly up to AK and do some temporary electrical work to get us by. He was all set to go and the confirmation and travel was to take place the following week. On Wed., April 15, Joel made sure that he was on the location he needed to be and was ready for the interview. It was a long day, but he felt very good about how the day went. Before leaving the interview, he was told that the candidate picked will be notified the following week.

On Thursday, April 16th, Joel was all set to travel and get up to AK on Friday, April 17th. All of his flights and information was confirmed at 3:30pm. At 5pm on April 16th, Joel received another email from a major railroad company, thanking him for interviewing on the 15th and offering him a position for conditional employment. WOW!! Our world was getting very interesting by the minute!!

Joel weighed the pros and cons with a friend about still going to AK for a shorter time or not. He decided he needed to stay in MN to be available for the further testing and background checks that this railroad needed him to perform before starting. I was relieved to hear that Joel wasn't going to travel to AK. The next morning instead of hopping on a plane, he called up to AK and announced that he had been hired here locally!! Praise God!! The people in AK completely understood.

Over the next two weeks, Joel would run off to appointments that were set up for him and finally on April 29th he received another email congratulating him on passing all of his testing and wondering if he could start work on the 1st of May.

We were excited. It has been a journey of emotions. Closing down a business, turning a leaf to a new career has been quite the transition. We are so grateful to God for everyone he put in our path to help us on our journey. God has carried us every step that needed to be taken.

God provided a neighbor who stuck his neck out and was an advocate for my husband, who he had barely known.

We are so excited for Joel's new job. Today was his first day and I'm anxious to hear how it all went. God has been there for the closing of our doors and the opening of this door. He carried Joel through interviewing and testing. I know God has carried him through his first day. I can't wait to see what God has for us now through this job and with our neighbors!!

Eight....

My sister in Christ,-Jane Jane has tagged me. So here goes...

Rules for Eight...
~ Mention the person that tagged you. (check)
~ Complete List of 8's (gonna)
~ Tag 8 Bloggy friends - not sure I have that many?
~ Go tell them you tagged them.

8 Things I am looking forward to:
~ Heaven
~ Meeting Jesus face to face and having him answer my questions.
~ Seeing my children as adults
~ My husband starting his new job.
~ Having our business completely closed.
~ Being comfortable in my own skin.
~ Hopefully traveling on vacation again.
~ Starting a new!

8 Things I did yesterday.
~ Read my Bible
~ Showered
~ Changed Sonja's pants
~ Peeled the WEI logo off of our work van.
~ Made dinner
~ Talked with the neighbor
~ Facebooked
~ Neglected the dirty dishes

8 Things I wish I could do.
~ Sing the National Anthem in front of a large stadium of people and sound good.
~ Fly a plane
~ Not get frustrated with my children when they make wrong choices.
~ Get Sonja to be completely potty trained.
~ Ignore sweets, sugars and anything bad for me.
~ Consume only water, veggies and fruits (and an occasional protein).
~ Open an orphanage and not have any red tape from any governments.
~ Grow a huge garden and love working in it.

8 Shows I watch.
~ The Locator
~ How It's Made
~ The Office
~ Deadliest Catch
~ Chase
~ The Amazing Race
~ Jon and Kate Plus 8
~ Biggest Loser
I don't catch these on a regular basis - I watch when I have time - which isn't much!!

~ 8 Bloggers I'm tagging.
~ Sorry - I haven't been blogging for well forever - so if you are reading this and want to play along - YOU ARE TAGGED!!! Have fun!

Happy Birthday, Babe!!

Happy Birthday, Honey bunch!! :) I LOVE YOU!! I am proud of you for all you have endured lately and how you have found your strength in Christ to keep plodding forward. It hasn't been an easy time, but with God's grace and strength we have made it six months without a paycheck!! That is huge!!!

I thank God for you and am so blessed to have you as my husband. You are an amazing husband and father!

I'm sorry we aren't going out or doing a huge party, but I think you will like what I got for dinner! It's your favorite!! I hope the grill has gas!!!

Happy Birthday!!

Spring Canoe Run 2009

Today Joel decided to pull out the old aluminum canoe and take a spin in our river...er I mean...Lake! The river is up approx. 6 to 7 feet. Here are the pics from today...

Oops - these pictures posted backwards - what up?!

Returning from the little trip!


Check out the height of the river...


The Voyagers


Sonja is ready and waiting for Daddy and Nicolai to return with the canoe.

Not much new.....

Hi - I know I have neglected my blog quite a bit lately. I'm busy with various things. I have been doing a few Norwex parties here and there - so thankful for them! They have helped put groceries in our cabinets and in our fridge! I have been putting together a few cards and working on ministry "stuff"!

I'm loving my newly organized home. My husband and I have completed the under-garage and the upper garage. There is nothing in them - lovely!! Life is so much simpler with an organized home! It has felt very freeing!

Onto other stuff....

Nicolai is wrapping up third grade pretty well. He ran into a little bit of trouble on the bus so I pulled him. Yeah! He doesn't think so - it was his social networking, but I am thankful because I don't like the bus! We needed it for a few years, but now that Sonja is not sleeping as much, we can have more flexibility to bring and pick up Nicolai from school. Nicolai's favorite thing to do is read. He has been reading H@rry P0tter books lately. He gets through them pretty quickly.

Sonja is napping less and less. I'm sad about that, but realize she can't stay little forever! She does a great job of imitating her family. She "talks" on the phone like Mom, "Reads" books like Dad and jumps around and dances around like her big brother. She loves to ride her bike.

Joel continues to look for work while wrapping things up at our business. It's taking its toll on him, I think. We will get through this though. This too shall pass!

As I said, I'm busy with various things. Picking up Nicolai from school every day (we share the duty with the neighbor lady and her daughter). Nice! Scrap booking with our church group and some friends. I'm making cards here and there for friends. And also working on Youth flyer information. I'm looking forward to warmer weather! We have gotten a taste of it. It seems that whenever the basketball tourneys are going on - we have bad weather, but once they finish up then the warmer weather comes quickly. Waiting for the B-Ball tourneys to get over with!

Happy Spring to you and yours!!