Updates, updates, updates

Life has been so crazy the last couple of months.

I had a very large project with my account at work that had to be done by Thanksgiving. Then walking pnemonia struck, that took about 2 weeks to totally recoup from, then stomach flu on Tuesday, traveled to Dallas on Wednesday, Dalton had the stomach flu on Thursday and Blake had it yesterday. Between the stomach flu epidemic and spending 22 hours traveling on Wednesday.... I am exhausted this weekend.

Here is what I have been working on in my spare time. ;-) I graduated from knitting a scarf to knitting a baby sweater. My niece Katie is pregnant and due on the 23rd with her first baby. So I figured... hey I knitted one scarf successfully... I can knit a sweater. So Kathy, the wonderful woman I worked with gave me the pattern and off I went. All kudos to her for helping me. She taught me how to increase, decrease, cast off (again, she taught me on my first scarf too) and how to do button holes. She is such a beautiful person. Here are a couple of pictures. It is not perfect, but I think it is adorable.





I am going to get her a couple pair of leggins and onesies to go with it. I can't wait to see baby Scarlett in it.

How have you been? I promise to try and update more often!

Love it when I get deals

When I was young my mom would go to the store every Sunday morning, buy papers and get coupons! She had a metal box sorted by category that held all of her trusted coupons. That metal box saw more trips to various stores than I did. I am so blessed that my mom taught me how to cut coupons, she would even let me help cut them when I was younger. THANK YOU MOM FOR TEACHING ME THE VALUE OF A COUPON. I used to be very diligent cutting coupons and over the years time got short and coupons became extinct in my house.

I stumbled upon a website that just plain inspired me to start again!

http://dietzelfamily.blogspot.com/search/label/Coupon%20Shopper



So with the inspiration and just my paycheck to support us, coupons are back!

Here is what I got yesterday at K-mart (who was doubling coupons up to $2.00) are you ready....... for $1.83!!!!!!!!!!!!!



1 bottle of Fantastic Clean and Shine
1 bottle of Gillette Fushion Shaving Gel
2 cans of Oust Air Sanitizer
4 cans of Glade Air Freshener
2 bottles of Suave Shampoo
2 bottles of Suave Conditioner
2 bottles of Gillette body wash
2 bottles of Gillette Shampoo
1 bottle of Act mouthwash
2 tubes of Colgate toothpaste
2 tubes of Crest Kids toothpaste
1 Suave deodorant
2 bottles of Advil PM
1 bottle of Covergirl foundation (sorry mom, it's not Mary Kay)
1 container of Cover Girl eyeshadow

I did not get the youngster in the picture at K-mart, he was hand chosen by God to be there ;-) he was so proud of mama for saving $78.00 dollars at the store that he said we should go to Build-a-Bear to celebrate..... sneaky isn't he???

So... did I NEED all of this stuff... NO, but why not get while the gettin is good :-)

Hold Fast by Mercy Me

I love this song... and if you have the ability to listen to it, please do so!


"Hold Fast"

To everyone who's hurting
To those who've had enough
To all the undeserving
That should cover all of us
Please do not let go
I promise there is hope

Hold fast
Help is on the way
Hold fast
He's come to save the day
What I've learned in my life
One thing greater than my strife
Is His grasp
So hold fast

Will this season ever pass?
Can we stop this ride?
Will we see the sun at last?
Or could this be our lot in life?
Please do not let go
I promise you there's hope

Hold fast
Help is on the way
Hold fast
He's come to save the day
What I've learned in my life
One thing greater than my strife
Is His grasp
So hold fast

You may think you're all alone
And there's no way that anyone could know
What you're going through
But if you only hear one thing
Just understand that we are all the same
Searching for the truth
The truth of what we're soon to face
Unless someone comes to take our place
Is there anyone?
All we want is to be free
Free from our captivity, Lord
Here He comes

Hold fast
Help is on the way
Hold fast
He's come to save the day
What I've learned in my life
One thing greater than my strife
Is His grasp
So hold fast

Conclusion

I decided not to take the supervisory position that was open. God was telling me that the time was not right. So I shut the door, knowing that God is faithful and having faith in the fact that He is my Provider. He has always taken care of us, ALWAYS.
So just because the money from that position is much needed.... there are way more important things than money.
A week ago yesterday I was called into a meeting with my boss and her boss. They offered me a new position, and brand new position to the company and they offered it to me. It is a better suited position for me than the supervisory position and it too means more compensation on the paycheck. God is so good. He is GREAT. I start the position on Monday and the announcement went out to all employees yesterday via email... and here is what my bosses boss wrote.

Sarah Barker has accepted the opportunity to become the Lead Trainer for Project Management. This role is in addition to her responsibilities to manage the GameStop account. Sarah’s knowledge of NAS processes and procedures and her expertise in managing a primary client positions her to provide new Client Service Associates with the fundamental skills and knowledge required to successful manage projects and provide remarkable client service to our internal and external clients.

I love my job... I am really going to love my new role... and I am so thankful to God that He knows me so well and has afforded me the opportunity to be used for His glory.

In other news... Bill will not be seeing the board until at least October, he is very disheartened about this and needs and shockingly has asked for prayer. He has always been very prideful and not the most humble man on earth, but God is changing that. Him asking me to pray specifically about certain things is a huge step for him and he has been asking. God is transforming him and it is hard, and I know that it is fruitful. Bill is learning to trust and lean on God. Praise God that He is faithful and promises to love us and never leave us. How blessed are we? Abundantly. So we wait to see when he will see the board and what the outcome will be. I miss him so much!

Boys are great, school started and that throws us in the midst of chaos on most days. But I know that I will miss it when they are older. Tyler is a sophmore....a sophmore..... are you kidding me???? Blake is in 8th grade and Dalton in 4th. They are growing so fast ... too fast.... In a blink they will be done with school and starting their own lives and I will miss these chaotic days ;-)

The job, the kids and the hubby

I love my job! I am so blessed to have a passion for what I am paid to do. There is a position open for a supervisor position at my company. I just received a promotion in March and now this position is available. It would mean much more stress, hours and pay! I spent three weeks in prayer, more prayer and then silence. Supporting three boys by myself is no small task and the extra money would be nice, but the stress and hours outweigh the pay. The deciding factor for the decision was Bill and the boys. I had several meeting with my bosses boss and other's who would be affected by my decision. I was leaning heavily toward taking the position, thinking that by the time Bill was released I could have a good grasp on the position and would be able to scale back on the hours. Two weeks ago I told my boss that on Friday I would have a decision on the position. On that Thursday night Bill called to say that he received paperwork to go back in front of the parole board. So, there it was... God telling me where I was needed. I decided not to put in for the position. To be continued....

Scoop Diggity

Well no real new news. They have moved Bill, again. This time to a facility that deals with re-entry... so YEAH! It is a step closer but I know in my heart that it could still take a few months to complete this process. Patience never has been a strong suit of mine but God is faithful in changing that. I am missing Bill incredibly and have been in sort of a funk! God has been diligent in working on some issues that I truly needed to work on without Bill around, so He always has a plan. I would have never dealt with these things otherwise! God is good... ALL the time. Work is crazy and mentally draining every day.

With all that has happened in the last year from personal to work my energy is zapped and I just feel like I have no more to give to anyone. So I have decided that if it isn't good for me than I do not participate in what ever it is.

The boys are good and we did some back to school shopping. I can't beleive that summer is half over. The boys are getting so big so fast. Tyler will be 15 soon.

I am old! Ok... well not old, but I am getting there fast.

OK, not so great at updating!

Well, let me tell you what has been going on.

The Wednesday and Thursday after Memorial Day I went to Texas. Yep, that's right, Texas. It was a work trip and we (Tom, Patti, Alan and I) went to meet with 3 clients and one of the installer's that we work with (who I love). My boss picked me up at my house at 5 in the morning, we picked Alan up at his house, drove to Valporaiso to pick Tom up and headed to Midway Airport in Chicago. Flew to Kansas City, got off that plane, got onto another plane and flew to Love Field Airport in Dallas. I love Dallas and I love traveling with Tom, Patti and Alan. We immediately went to lunch with 2 wonderful woman who work at Fossil. We ate at Abuelo's. The food was awesome (TexMex) yummy. Then we went to GameStop's corporate headquaters in Grapevine, they are my main client and I love them too. They are so laid back, fun and hilarious. We took them out to eat at Ferrarri's (Italian) and it was incredible. We got to kick back, talk and relax with them. It was so much fun. I tried Calamari or fish bait as I now call it. It was about 8:30 by the time we left and we headed to Stonebriar Mall in Frisco to check out a Fossil sign that we are getting ready to make. It was almost 11 by the time we got back to the hotel, got up at 5 the next morning, ate breakfast and left to see another client, Paciugo. On the way to meet with them we passed the Mary Kay corporate office. It was very exciting for me because my mom sold Mary Kay while I was growing up and I know she had been there before, dorky, but I was excited nonetheless. We met with the owner of Paciugo very briefly and set off to meet with my beloved Zeke. He is an installer who we have worked with for a long time and he is so sweet and just adorable. Their office is in Mesquite and is beautiful. From there we went to Fossil's corporate office in Richardson and met with the group of project manager's that we work with. That building is absolutely amazing. From there we headed back to the airport. We were so busy on the trip, I never even got my camera out of the case (gasp). Can you believe that? I always take pictures.
We boarded the plane, landed in Kansas City, and we were supposed to stay on the plane. They had mechanical difficulties with the plane we were on and had to switch planes, so after a layover, we boarded another plane and headed for Chicago. I got home at about 10 that night and I think it took about 3 days for me to feel human again.
The next week, my mom had another seizure and was admitted to the hospital. The tumor in her brain shrank, popped a blood vessel, and due to the pressure fromt he blood had another seizure. Good news, the tumor shrank, bad news, double the seizure medicine. She was released and has since been back to the hospital to have her gull bladder out, it was full of stones and causing her to be very sick. She is out now and takes one week of preventive chemo a month. YEAH!
Fast forward, through ball games, work,and life as a single mom to this last weekend. We discovered that Tyler is highly allerigic to Poison Ivy, Poison Oak and Poison Sumac. We found out the hard way. He woke up Saturday morning with a slightly swelled eye and lip. After a short while he looked like he went 10 rounds with Mike Tyson. Swelled, blistered and in lots of pain. I called the doctor who is awesome and met us at his office only to give Tyler two shots of Cortizone and two shots of Prednisone, along with a prescription for Trioxolene cream and Prednisone pills. He must have walked through the smoke of one of the three being burned because he doesn't have it on his hands or arms. Just his face and neck, in his mouth and nose. His ear looked horrible and the blisters kept popping and seeping. I felt so bad for him, the prednisone makes it so he can't sleep and so on top of being in pain and itching, he can't sleep. Poor thing. He finally looks himself today and has slept a lot today. In true fashion of being a mean mom, I took his picture. HE HE!


Soccer is over and baseball will be over this weekend and hopefully life will settle down a little and then maybe mom can get some much needed rest. I miss my husband and don't ever sleep well when he is not here. My heart just hurts and this time is much harder on both of us. Pray that God's will be done, no matter what that is.