The Beach

Last week my mom and I each had a pretty difficult time. Because of that we decided to get away for the day. While we would have loved to go somewhere far far away, we're both broke as can be. So we decided to head down to San Diego (a favorite place for both of us). We spent the day at the beach. We took our lunches and a blanket and some chairs and we were set. It was such a nice and relaxing day. We found this little beach to just sit and relax. We walked down to the water and got our feet wet. While we were soaking our feet we saw something neither of us had ever seen before. Just under the top layer of sand was black sand, that in and of itself was pretty cool. But the unusual thing about the sand was it seemed to shimmer. As the waves would crash onto the sand the water would sparkle with the newly disturbed sand. It was pretty incredible. My mom said it looked like there were gold flecks in the sand. It was beautiful. I wish the camera could have caught that. But it didn't. It was also the softest sand I've ever felt, except for the stuff you buy at the store that is.

When we went back to our spot on the beach it was a little warm because where we were sitting was in a little cove and so the breeze from the ocean wasn't quite hitting us. But other than being a little warm it was perfect and a much needed break from the norm. As we sat there I turned around and noticed this little guy just inches from me.

I was amazed and very careful not to make any sudden movements. He seemed to be fearless. My mom even had enough time to get out the camera and take a couple of shots as he walked right behind us. Amazing. When we left we made a stop to get some ice cream. Yum. So a great little outing with just my mom and I. Since my mom was working 4 days a week, this summer we have been getting together every Friday. It's been such a nice time to just spend with my mom and I'm so grateful for it.

It's Done!

After quite a bit of work and a lot of redoing everything over and over and over. My site is done. I've included a new feature. If you want to get my updates emailed to you, you can simply type in your email in the box to the left to subscribe. Don't worry. It's completely safe. I won't be spamming you. ;) Leave me a comment and let me know what you think of the site.

Under Construction

If you hadn't noticed, I'm in the midst of redoing this site. No more generic layouts for me. No sir. I'm completely doing this one on my own. Which means I'm teaching myself quite a bit about html code. I'm learning a lot but have a long way to go. Hopefully, this won't take me too long to finish. So don't mind me I'm just trying to build a site.

Breakfast

I have one of the most wonderful husbands ever. Every Saturday J.R. either makes breakfast for me or goes out and gets breakfast for me. More and more he's been doing a lot of cooking. He's gotten pretty good. He'll make me breakfast burritos or pancakes. He even started using cookie cutters to make me shaped pancakes. Very cute. This week he branched out a little and made me french toast. I am very impressed. Thanks babe! You are the best!

I GOT A JOB!!!

I GOT A JOB!!!!! And yes I'm yelling that at the top of my lungs. Finally, finally, finally. I'm really excited about it. I got a call yesterday from a tutoring company. They noticed my resume on one of the many job search sites I signed up with. It's only part time work. But I get to schedule my own hours and pick what I want to tutor. She also informed me that they have a lot of clients in the area. So it looks like I'll have a pretty easy time staying busy.

It's probably going to take a few weeks before I actually start. I have to get all my information in, do a livescan (fingerprints) again for the 4th or 5th time. Plus I apparently lost my Social Security card. Not sure how I did that. But now I have to wait for them to send me one. Hopefully it won't take too long. But the important thing is I have a job!! Woo Hoo!

I was really excited about simply having a job. Then I began to calculate how much I would be making if I worked the full 25 hours they'll allow me to work. I was stunned. I wouldn't need another job. I could work part time and make just as much, if not a bit more, as I was working at a full time teaching job. That's a little sad. But I'm really excited about it.

I'm completely flabbergasted at how great God is. He is exceeded my expectations here. I plan on still looking for maybe another part time job or I might sub. We can use all the extra money we can get. I'd really like to get completely out of debt. That would be a big relief. I can't hardly express how excited I am and how grateful I am to God for His every provision.

Debbie's Delicacies

Last week I was pretty busy working on my mom's website. My mom has been decorating cakes since before I was born. She is completely self-taught, which is amazing. When I was growing up she would always do the occasional cake for friends and family, even a couple of wedding cakes. The past 5 or 6 years she began to branch out a bit more. She was getting a lot more orders for cakes, no longer just doing them for friends. That's about the time she decided to start her own business. It's still just a side thing that we do. One day we hope to open our own bakery. But for now she just does cakes for friends and family and anyone else that happens to hear about us.

A few years ago, I began helping my mom out more and more. I figured because I had watched my mom do this stuff for years it would be no problem. I was wrong. (Silly me.) I needed practice. So I signed up for some classes, which were pretty fun. I knew most of the basics but needed a place (and an excuse) to just practice and get my technique down. Now I can do basically what my mom can and have learned a few tricks that she doesn't know. She refers to me as her design consultant. :) I help her out whenever she has a lot to do or just needs the help. She also tells me I'm her flower girl, which translated means I get to sit and make flower after flower. Woo Hoo. (Note the sarcasm?)

One time she did this bridal shower. They wanted cupcakes. Ok that's cute and really popular right now. However, I had to make close to 200 itty bitty little flowers for the blasted cupcakes. Then I did something I never should have done. I asked my mom how much she was charging. My jaw dropped when I heard the answer. I was amazed at how little she was charging to do such a big job. Needless to say my mom is not a salesperson. She has a hard time pricing things fairly for herself. Thankfully, we've almost overcome that. She's not outrageous with her prices. But at least she's making a fair amount now.

So for years people have been asking her if she has a website. She would have to respond with no. Then she would turn to me and ask me when I was going to do that. I would then respond, "Whenever you get your pictures up for me." Well, about a week ago my dad finally did just that and I got to work on her website. And now it's up and running. It's not the best thing out there but I did what I could with what I know. (Which isn't much.) But I'm proud of it.

This has gotten a lot longer than I expected. Almost done. Promise. My mom's name is Debbie so I think it was my dad that came up with the name of Debbie's Delicacies. I think it's cute. When I started getting more involved she suggested we change it to Debbie and Daughter's Delicacies. But I told her that wasn't necessary and it was fine the way it was. My mom's name means bee. So on her logo she has a bee. We really feel that this represents the whole thing. My mom would say that physically bees shouldn't be able to fly. However, they do, much like this whole business. The orders we get and the things that happen shouldn't happen. But they do. Just evidence of God's blessings. :)

So here's the site if you want to take a look. Let me know what you think.

Debbie's Delicacies

God's Provision

Throughout this whole situation of my not having a job, I've been nervous. I've wondered how we are going to get through this. I wonder when a job will come along. It's not easy feeling like your entire life is at a standstill. But I know God works through ALL things. I know that He is using this time to teach J.R. and I some lessons and to cause us to grow. That's usually not an easy thing. So I'm trying to learn what I can (as fast as I can) so I can move on to the next step.

In the midst of all my questions God continues to tell me one thing. He keeps telling me "I am your provider." Everytime I start to worry and wonder, God steps in and says, "I am your provider." It's been wonderful to hear that time and time again. I'll be honest, it doesn't stop me from worrying all the time. But it does give me a peace of mind to know that God is my provider no matter what circumstances in life may come.

It is one thing to hear that God is my provider. However, living and walking that out can be difficult. Over the past few weeks God has proved His faithfulness to J.R. and I time and time again. Some of these are just small little things. Others are huge. Either way they are reminders that what God says is true and that He will provide for us. So I just wanted to take a minute to give praise to my God that has provided for us. I also want to get this down in writing so I won't forget his every provision.

For example:

1. A few weeks ago J.R. and I were at a Bible study. During that time, we prayed as a group that I would find a job and that God would provide for our needs. When we got home there was a message on the machine offering me $200 to be involved in a survey. Woo Hoo!
2. Over the past almost 2 weeks, J.R. and I have had to pay for a total of 3 dinners for ourselves. The rest of the time we have been to friends and family for dinner. That has definitely saved us quite a bit of money.
3. My mom has been wanting me to do a website for her cake company for a LONG time. She finally got my dad to get all her pictures uploaded so I could work on it. I finished it last week. On our weekly hang out time (my mom has Friday's off so we usually spend some time together. It's been really nice.), she gave me a card thanking me for all my hard work and $100. Amazing!
4. At church on Sunday, a friend of mine walked up to me during our time of offering. (Our church does offering in a rather unusual way. I love it! Rather than having buckets passed around, people bring their offering and place them in buckets in front of the church. It's not about showing off that you are giving or the pastors checking to make sure you are giving. It's seen as an act of worship to bring your offering to God. I think it's cool.) Anyway. She came up to me and gave me a hug. She shoved something in my hand and quickly said, "I'm just doing what I'm supposed to do." Then she rushed off. She had given me a check for $100. I began crying. (As I'm writing this I began to cry again.) I was so touched because I know they don't have a lot of money. But I know that they were being obedient to God. I knew God was taking care of us. Because of her gift and the money my mom gave me, we were able to make rent this month. We wouldn't have otherwise.

Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the
ground apart from your Father’s will. But the very hairs of your head are
all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many
sparrows.

~ Matthew 10:29-31

A New Chair, a Job Update and a Second Birthday. Oh my!

We got my parents chair!! Yea!!!!!!! I'm very excited about that, as we were down to one wheel the past week. Seriously! It was pathetic. Now I don't have to balance when I sit here all day. And really there is no balancing on one wheel you just kind of sit there leaning forward the whole time. Funny but pathetic.

This weekend I went to my friend's baby shower. It was really nice to see some of my friends from work again. They basically all went to the college where I'm hoping I get the job. I was able to learn some valuable information. Apparently, that school takes forever to hire. For instance, one of the girls at the shower works there. She put in her application in December and didn't start working there till mid-February! Wow talk about slow. Good news is I put my application in August. So it's October now. Hopefully I'll hear something soon. This is THE job. It's the one I really want and think that's mine.

Also, I found a teaching job there this summer, US History, right up my alley. I then learned they wanted a master's in that subject. Wasn't surprised by that but I got all excited about it without reading everything. Silly me. But (yes there's a but) one of my friends is teaching Math there right now and only recently received her master's in education. Hey! I have my master's in education. Maybe they'll let me have that job. It's truly my dream job. It's not till next school year so I have a bit to go there. But that would be awesome. So here's to more hoping.

Finally, I must commemorate this day as it is a very special day. It's J.R.'s second birthday. He's now 14 years old. Say what? No, I didn't rob the cradle. That would be just gross. No, today is the day that J.R. celebrates his new life cancer free. It was 14 years ago today that he received his bone marrow transplant. After months of chemo and radiation, a short remission, and then a relapse, numerous procedures, including a couple of bone marrow harvesting (trust me you don't want to know how they do that), a shunt placed in his head (which is still there, creepy), loads of drugs (almost was put on cocaine for a 3 day nose bleed), about every symptom in the book, and season tickets to the Kings (hockey) from Make A Wish, they finally used his own bone marrow (harvested during his remission) for his bone marrow transplant. 14 years later and he's doing great.

I must say I'm so glad I didn't know him back then. I don't know if I could have handled going through all that with him. Just looking at the pictures makes me tear up. And just so you know how amazing God is and how he works through every little thing. I began praying for my future husband when I was 12 years old. J.R. was diagnosed with leukemia when he was 13. We are a year apart. God works in mysterious ways. So happy second birthday babe! I love you!