Back Again :)

We have taken a little break from our family blog because of life but now that we seem to have a few things under control, we are back at it again.

Most of you know from our previous posts about Jon's unemployment. We have had some really hard and amazing past three months but it is nice to say that it has all come to an end. HE GOT A JOB!!! He is working for Intelitech Group as an associate business analyst and has a great opportunity to grow and learn a lot of skills that will help him in future jobs. I was also just hired and work for CDM Services as a caregiver to elderly and disabled people in their homes and I am enjoying that.

It was a rough time while Jon didn't have a job but we were spiritually strengthened in ways I can't even describe, we were blessed in our finances and were able to pay all our bills and still had enough for all of our needs. Heavenly Father has been watching over us and we feel this is where He wants us to be reght now so I guess we will be staying in Vancouver for a while. Summers here are nice :) and I am looking forward to that!

We are all happy and healthy, Lauren just turned 6 months and now has two teeth and is starting to crawl. Katelynn is a smart little 3 year old, her new favorite things are playing pretend (I usually get to be some fairy tale character and she gets to be the princess) and asking me how to say things in Spanish (she now wants to say her prayers at night in Spanish and it's pretty cute to hear her pronounce the words).

We love you all and are so thankful for your prayers in our behalf, we have felt your love and concern for us. We post more soon.

Love ya Sarah

AMICA's looking really good!!

So I am feeling really good about the possibilities of getting a job with AMICA, and I'll tell you why. Since my last update I had an interview with a manager and two supervisors in Seattle and that went really good! On the way to the interview I felt the spirit come over me very strongly and testifiy that "This was it", this was the job. Bytheway the job is an Associate Adjuster, Claims. It starts off paying really good and they even provide a relocation package and will pay to move us wherever we end up going, plus Iwill also get a company car I can use for anything.
So after I felt those feelings going to the interview I got really excited about the interview and it went great. There is only one more step, if they like me they fly me out to Rhode Island and do a day of interviews, after that I'll know. I should be hearing back about that any day.
I just spent the past three days in Seattle attending a Claims Conference that over 2000 people attended from all over the counrty from many different companies. It was really interesting and good for me to go. I ran into one of the supervisors I had an interview with and she was very positive about my chance in getting this job, again I felt the spirit strongly after talking to her telling me it was all going to work out.
Last week was a very different story. After my interview although I felt really good about it after a few days of not hearing back, fear and doubt took over. The whole week I was miserable. I have been rejected for many jobs before so I slipped into that mode. Late in the week I prayed one night to know if what I felt before the interview was real. After the pray I opened up the scriptures to D&C 63 where it talks about having faith and not asking for signs. Sarah then shared a scripture that she had just come across in D&C 6, "have I not spoke peace to your mind concerning the matter, what better witness have you than this?" I felt I was being told something. I really feel that Satan saw something good about to happen and was trying to destroy it with fear and doubt. Well that's not going to happen anymore! We have learned so much during all this. Our Heavenly Father really does have a plan for us and is waiting to bless us with what we need as long as we show the faith needed and are humble and trust in Him.

News about jobs

So a few things have happened in the past few weeks some bad and some good. After having a really good phone interview with GIECO I was turned down for that position. But the recruiter said that I was definitely qualified for the job and that if it were up to him he would have hired me. That was really hard to hear that rejection after feeling so good about it but I was reminded that Heavenly Father's wisdom is infinite and that these events are not the mere productions of chance ( see Joseph Smith manual page 39 starting with the second paragraph, I received an impression to open up to this exact page and paragraph while praying one night, I was amazed to say the very least). So I got up and am continuing on this journey knowing that I am not alone in this and that things are happening the way they should be.
Then something good happened a few days later. I heard back from a company, AMICA Insurance. The recruiter set up a phone interview with me but I had the thought I should ask about there being a time difference between us but did not. I called for our interview at the time setup and nothing, nobody answered. I left messages and called back the next day, nothing. After the weekend I called again and found out she was out of the office till Thursday but if I needed to get a hold of someone to call this other person, so I did and got another interview set up with her. Come to find out they are in Rhode Island and I was not told or I did not follow the impression I had to ask about the time difference. Lesson learned!
The interview went well and I just heard back from her yesterday and they are moving me to the next step in the hiring process. Also I have been invited to attend a three day insurance claims conference in Seattle in two weeks. This is pretty awesome. They are asked to bring 4 college students to the conference and asked if I would want to go. Usually they only bring current students but they want to bring me!! Plus I went to a career fair a few days ago in Seattle and have an interview next Tuesday with EFinancial in Bellevue, Wa. Things are happening but slowly. So slowly that if I get the job with AMICA I wouldn't start till September! But nonetheless we are being blessed and watched over. Lesson learned!

Hi!!

Well it's been a long time since we've posted anything and now that we are all back together again I thought I'd post something.

Sarah and the girls were gone to Rexburg for a couple weeks while I stayed home looking for a job. Katelynn had her third birthday party while there with her cousin James. he had lots of fun and got some more princess stuff.

Her she is with her cheerleder outfit on with a scarf, purse and princess shoes. She also got a to-to and cell phones. She had a great time and is such a little girl!

Here is a video of Katelynn making Luaren laugh. This is the first time that she has really laughed, we've heard her giggle only a little but this was new.

Katelynn as a princess and other exciting news

Last night some friends from our ward came over, the Houston's, they have a boy named Ben who is Katelynn's age. They are the best of friends, almost "too" good of friends sometimes. Friday we are leaving for Rexburg so Sarah can get some dental work done and Katelynn and Sarah will be out of town for their birthdays so the Houston's came bearing gifts. As you can see from the above picture Katelynn got some "princess stuff" as she says. She loves it!!! She woke up this morning and came into our room and said, "Mommy come get my princess stuff, I need my princess stuff" the crown lights up so whenever she turns it on she runs into the kitchen with it on her head to look into a small mirror we have on the refrigerator to see it blink. All she needs now are some little shoes and a dress, oh my she would love them!! She is such a little girl.

Also some more good news about my job search. This morning I added two more interviews. Both next week, one with Country Financial (in Vancouver) next Thursday and another with New England Financial (in Portland) next Friday. They both called this morning about 5 minutes apart from each other.

Exciting News!!!!

Hey everybody, I've got some, yep you guess it--exciting news!! Today two things happened. First this morning I got a call from Gieco Insurance who I applied to about a week and a half ago. The guy talked to me about the position, Auto Claims Adjuster that I applied for in Seattle. He asked if I would be able to attend 12 weeks of training, he then said it consists of 2 months in San Diego and a month out in Virginia, Whoa! I said let's go for it. It will be all paid for but that is a lot of time away from my family. Training starts in March and goes till the end of June. After talking with me he set up a time I could take an online test, I took that test and he said I passed and that he wanted to do a phone interview. So I have an interview Friday morning!! After I talked to him this morning I went to the "networking" lunch where I met with someone who works at Country Financial about an agent job there, we talked a little about the position and he took my resume and said he would give it to the person that does the interviews. That sounds good but Gieco actually sounds better. So things are starting to happen!!
Also something else cool. When I was at this lunch a lady who works at a local dentist office which has multiple offices in the area and just happens to be owned and operated by dentists that are members of the church made a cool announcement. The company she works for is offering free services this Friday only. It is there way to help others in need, especially those with no insurance, such as us at the moment they're wanting to do at least $75000 in free services. They will be doing free exams, ex rays, cleaning, and fillings all for free. So I made an appointment. Sarah is actually heading down to Rexburg to get a crown put on by a dentist down there that is the family dentist to some of our family down there for only $600, this price is amazingly low. We have been so blessed during this time of me not having a job. I just filed our tax returns and we will be getting a huge amount back, twice the amount we got back last year!! Heavenly Father is really looking after us and blessing us. More exciting news to come, I'm sure of it!!