FIRED!

Yep, it's true. Yesterday, I got fired from my job of 11 years at Pearson. And this is my 200th post on this blog which must be cause for celebration!

Everyone wants to know what happened, and to be honest, I'm really not quite sure. Seven online designers were merged with the paper design department a little over a year ago. Three moved on to better things. My 9-month position was taken away (which meant I had to work the full year like most humans), I was put through a 6 week intensive training starting a few months ago and then I was given practice training samples to work on. I chose to work on live work with real deadlines instead. Bad idea, according to management, I guess.

We had our "test" on Wednesday, got feedback on Thursday saying that they would get back to us in a few days time. Even though the live work I was doing actually utilized many of the skills in the training samples the mistakes I made on the 3 1/2 hour high pressure test that paper designers (legal resource) were not able to easily help me with, management found that I was not meeting the expectations of a designer in the department. I read: "You do not subordinate to authority as you should and therefore you must be eliminated because you are otherwise a threat to our authority". Not a new theme for me. If I'm gonna go down, it's gonna be me standing up for myself, my friends.

The official story is that I was let go because of performance which was actually a blessing because it means that I get severance pay and am elligible to apply for any open position at pearson as a result. So I have 2 weeks full pay for every year of service plus 2 weeks in lieu of notice for a total of 24 weeks or almost 6 months of full pay. I was already covered under Cam for insurance so nothing really had to change in that respect.

I felt really sad for about 15 minutes, knowing that I was going to miss my friends and the familiarity that I had grown accustomed to. Then I drove home. And in the privacy of my car I shouted, "I trust you God, I trust you God, I trust you God!!!" and I gave over every emotion I had. You know what? God took it all and in return poured love and grace over me. I can not even fully comprehend the totality of God's goodness in all of this.

Cam and I knew that when we left our church to seek God in new ways that our lives were going to change drastically. We really thought that was going to look different, but the promise is being fulfilled. I have been set free of something I thought I liked and I thought I wanted but in the end God says this door is closed. Stay tuned to learn which new doors open as a result. I don't know what the heck I'm doing but that's OK because God knows and that's all that matters :)

So we move forward with anticipation of what is to come. I'm so thankful for God's provision and I struggle to find rest because I want to know what's next but I know the only way to understand what is next is to be still and listen. Crazy how God works, but fun and wonderful at the same time. We are blessed indeed. Blessed indeed.

09/09/09

Several weeks ago Adi approached me and said, "Mama, I made up my mind. I want to go to school." Wow. OK. We've been choosing to follow her lead on the preschool thing and up until then we had always heard the same answer from her when asked about going to school, "I'll go to school when I grow up."
Adi's friend Avra is attending Kinder Farm, which we thought sounded like a really fun place. However, when we called, they only had afternoon openings left and that wasn't really going to work well with our schedule. Then Nana suggested Our Redeemer Lutheran Preschool, she has co-workers that attend that church and she felt really good about it. We checked it out and after visiting a couple of times felt like it was going to be a good fit for our family (the preschool - not the church ;)
Adi was so excited to go to her new preschool and make some new friends. We love the open space, and there's lots of it. I like the "Montessori" type approach to learning that Our Redeemer uses in its preschool and they include Bible story time and prayer. Most public preschools don't do that and I really appreciate that she will be learning preschool level Bible material. Of course we do a ton of talking about and to God and Jesus at home so she's getting the full package.
So here she is on her first day of preschool which just happened to be 09/09/09. What a special day. Adi has her adorable rainbow name tag and she was such a big girl - no crying at drop off time!
And here she is, so proud of her cute Tinker Bell back pack. She gets to bring projects and other info home in it every day that she goes to school (Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings).
The free time is so needed and much deserved for Cam. He moved the elliptical trainer into the living room so neither of us have an excuse not to use it. Well, I do currently with extensor tendinitis, but it's only a matter of time before I get to work out on the machine and watch Bethel or other teachings at the same time. So excited to get back into a work out routine!

Omaha Zoo

Our last chance vacation for the summer was a trip to the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha, Nebraska over Labor Day weekend. Adi, Cam and I went with Nana.



Highlights:

1. We got saw some really cool wind farms on the way there, it was almost surreal, the windmills are just gigantic and incredible
2. We listened to a Christian artist that was new to us on the way. Her name is Misty Edwards. During one of the songs in particular we really felt God's presence with us in the van. I was crying, Cam was crying, Nana was laughing and so was Adi. It was intense, powerful and seriously amazing.
3. We were blessed by Cam's Uncle Dan who treated us to lunch at his restaurant in Council Bluffs. Uncle Jeff and Aunt Laura stopped by too and we had a nice visit. It was an honor to pray for Laura, again, God's presence was strong as we reached out to pray in a situation that we'd normally shy away from.
4. We prayed for good parking spots at the zoo (if you've ever been there you know what a blessing this can truly be) and God answered our prayers both days we went!
5. When we checked into the hotel they had made a mistake so we ended up with two rooms for the price of one. A nice treat for Cam and I.
6. We saw the IMAX movie Under the Sea which was 3D - and I've decided I'd rather watch 2D movies but it was cool just the same.
7. The butterfly and insect building was bliss. I loved walking through that indoor rain forest atmosphere with butterflies swooping around me everywhere I looked. They're so cool to watch and Adi was in heaven.

We had a fun and exhausting two days at the zoo and were happy to get home to a freshly hatched monarch butterfly which we let go the next day. Photos of that wonder to come!

August

Just a few photos from the beautiful month of August.

Including a trip to Grandma Marsha's - photos with cousins Keely and Elleh; a very special egg from a happy hen and an adventure in Hickory Hill with Daddy.