Robinson Crusoe and New Card for 2S4Y

After some long stressful months of having my honey jobless, it is about time for me to get back to some normal things in life such as creating beautiful cards and reading good books. Thankfully Jon got a job a few weeks ago and little by little the stress is unwinding. I am finding a renewed thankfulness for what I have and what I continue to be blessed with. I am reading "Robinson Crusoe" by Daniel Defoe and enjoying it very much and there is something about the character of the shipwrecked "Robin" ~ that's what he calls himself ~ that changes as he spends years and years in solitude not knowing what lies ahead for him. He comes to appreciate what he has and recognize the mercies from a higher power that had spared his life and provided for his basic needs. I'm in the middle of the book and have still to find out how it all ends.



I bring up my reading adventure because while Jon was jobless we didn't know how long it would be until we were rescued from our struggles. The past few months have shown me that when I am thankful, truly thankful for what I have, no matter how difficult my situation, the more I am able to see the bigger picture and realize just how blessed I am, even in hard times.



Now that I can enjoy some "me" time, I started making cards again. This card is for Laura's sketch #26













This was fun to make. Hope you enjoy!!

Ok, Ok here are the much wanted pictures!!

This was a funny site. She loves to play with her wipes, she likes the crunchy sound the plastic makes and they were just outside her reach and really wanted them so she tried reaching out her hand.

She's only just turned 6 months and this is already starting! She likes to work out like her Daddy.
Please pardon the gratuitous nudity but it's just too cute. She is so close to crawling and she hasn't yet even mastered sitting up.

We went to Chuck E Cheese. We got some gift cards from my sister and brother-in-law and Katelynn loved it. She rode the rides and played the games and got a lot of tickets for some really cheap stuff that she no longer plays with. We went twice and she had fun, except for the time she got lost in the crawling tubes and couldn't find the way out. All of a sudden I look up at the tubes to see her bawling and scared. It is so loud in there that she couldn't her me telling her where to go. When she got out she never wanted to go back in those again!


This is at Vancouver Lake. It's a pretty big lake outside the west side of Vancouver. Katelynn enjoyed digging in the sand with her sticks and was having fun until she went to the bathroom right there on the beach. That was the end of the lake trip! We were only there for maybe a half hour. Oh well now we know where it is and we'll go back again, next time we'll bring a change of underwear though.

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.