More random thoughts!

Jon and I have gone house hunting with a realtor yesterday and today! We talked to the financial people today, and they're supposed to get back with us with an estimate of how much we qualify for. I have a feeling we won't qualify for much. We mentioned to our realtor that we had a nice down payment saved up and that we didn't have any debt or credit card bills and she seemed to think we'd qualify for all kinds of money. However, we're down to one income, and that one doesn't really pay that great--it's sufficient, but not great--so I'm not expecting the number to be very high. It's a little disappointing that we would work so hard on the down payment and financial responsibility and still not get the "house of our dreams." But oh, well. It's a first home, and who knows how long we'd even live there. And who knows if we'll even get a house! Mostly we were just wanting to do some fact-finding, since we don't know how the process works. And it seems to be a really good time to buy.

We'd like to get a place with enough land for Caleb to run and play. That puts us looking at houses outside of Fort Worth, and probably more expensive than we can afford. We'll just see what the financial lady says tomorrow and what our budget will allow! It would be exciting to have a house, and to know that we're actually going to stay for awhile. I gotta admit, as much as I've loved Fort Worth, I'm kind of ready to move on--just because we've been planning to move on for the last year, so mentally I've been prepared to say goodbye and go. But I wouldn't mind staying if I knew we could be settled for a little while.

Jon took a higher-paying position at his security job. He starts training soon. It's a month-long training, and he has to 1) get tazed, 2) endure some kind of pepper spray, and 3) fend off 3 people (in a controlled environment with lots of padding). I'm not looking forward to it at all! But I gotta say I think Jon is! Maybe it's the male/female difference, but I just can't see enjoying that! Once he's trained he'll start new hours at a new post. He's already worked there 4 years, so there have been hints that he'll move up in the company fairly quickly now that he's finally committed to this new position. (His boss has been wanting him to do this for months; they love him there!) So, maybe this is the stability we need for awhile. It would give Jon a chance to continue his studies; he's working on a masters in military history right now, and hoping to get his doctorate.

On a completely unrelated note, some of you know that I finally took my cartilage piercing out last month. 16 months of trying to get that thing to heal and stop hurting, and I just didn't want to deal with it any more. So out it came! It took awhile for it to finally heal. What a relief to lay down at night and not have to protect my ear from my pillow! Two nights ago, though, I tried putting an earring in the hole on a whim, and it went through! Hole's still there, and completely healed! It felt just like my earlobe piercing. How awesome is that? So I kept the earring in for a day and a half, and it started hurting again. Poop. I remember when I got my earlobes pierced that I had to wear gold earrings for years; otherwise the holes would get infected. Maybe I'm dealing with something similar here? So, the earring is back out, and I'm giving it a little bit to heal up again, and then I'll try a gold earring instead of the silver I've been wearing.

Jon taught Sunday School yesterday, and did an awesome job as always. Our class has a teacher rotation, and I always look forward to Jon's teaching more than any other! (Maybe I'm biased, but I don't think so!) He planned a time of purification and worship, coordinated with the guy who leads music for our class. It was a very neat time. Husbands and wives washed each other's feet and prayed for each other, and then we worshiped with very good songs of dedication and sacrifice to our Lord. I'm thankful for a husband who will put so much time and effort into his teaching, not because he's getting paid for it or because he wants to look good in front of class, but because God has something to teach each one of us, and Jon wants to facilitate that in any way he can. Yeah, I know...he's awesome. :)

How do you like our family portrait that Karen took for us? Aren't we a handsome family? Jon and I are in constant awe that God would bless us with Caleb. He's such a great kid; we can't get over how much we love him!

Random Thoughts for the Day

1. My kitties are snuggled among the neatly folded stacks of laundry on my bed. They're so cute.
2. Today I scrubbed, sanded and painted a freezer we bought for $50 on Craig's list. I had to wait 'til evening when it was cool enough to paint. I got the first coat on before it was dark. It will definitely need another coat. Now I have a freezer with wet paint in my front yard. Didn't really think ahead on that one. I need to figure out a way to get it back in the garage before I go to bed, or someone else will have a freshly painted white freezer! Maybe everyone will realize it's wet paint and they won't touch it. The june bugs didn't get the memo, though. I had to pick two of them out of the paint already!
   
3. I've also been working on a ghetto cat scratcher. It's a revamp of the ghetto cat tree. Pictures to come!
4. Full-time-mom-hood has been a transition for sure, especially given the crazy last month. I'm hoping August is much calmer!
5. The beach was great. Definitely ended July on a high note.
6. Jon finally accepted the higher-pay position at his current job. He'll start a month of training in a couple of weeks. It's been kind of a disappointment for us; we were sure he would have found a job by now, and are confused about God's timing of things. However, we recognize the blessing of a job, and thank God for it.
7. Jon got pulled over on Saturday...and got off with a warning! The police officer asked him what he did for a job; Jon told him he was a security officer. The policeman told him he needed to be on the police force and even wrote down a web site for him to check out. As we drove off, we mused that perhaps this was the clear direction we'd been praying for. We'll ask God someday, "Why were You silent when we asked for Your will?" And He'll tell us, "I sent a cop and pulled you over to tell you what to do in life. What more did you need?" Despite that, we don't think the police force is in our future.
8. You cannot make chocolate milk by mixing hot chocolate mix with cold milk. The chocolate powder stays mysteriously on top of the milk, no matter how hard you stir.
9. When I was a kid I loved reading Nancy Drew books, but couldn't read them at night because they gave me bad dreams. I've been reading a mystery series lately, and found that I am still a weenie. Even my fairly docile mystery books are giving me bad dreams.
10. Nothing else to say, but couldn't leave it with just 9. Good night all!