I wanted to shout this news on Thursday night when we found out, but hubby made me wait until today. I don't know why...We each have told multiple people! HA! (We're really bad at keeping our own secrets!)
Tony has been offered the job in Phoenix! He'll still be working as a news photographer, just in a bigger market. I'm so proud of him and his accomplishments over the years. To see him start in tiny Wichita Falls, and just continue to work his way up, I'm so incredibly proud of him. Now he has to buy shorts, and short sleeve shirts! It's already in the 90's down there and we're still wearing winter coats and fleece up here! Don't we have amazing timing? Just in time for summer!
Zoe was complaining today about the wind, coldness, and rain. I told her we would be moving somewhere totally opposite very soon and then she could complain about how hot it is.
With this new job, I will be able to stay home with the kids. Although I am thinking of getting a part time job just for a little extra money in my pocket, and so I can have some time outside the house. But I am looking forward to being close to old friends, who have kids now too. I imagine I'll find things to fill my days.
With this move comes a lot of transitions...Obviously. Tony is leaving for Phoenix in a couple weeks..(Literally two weeks from today) and the kids and I will be in Indiana for a while so we can save up some money to really get a home we love and to save up for some new furniture that we desperately need. It'll be hard to be away from each other (especially for Z-she's a total daddy's girl) but we know it'll be worth it in the long run.
We are so excited and blessed for this opportunity and while we're nervous about it, we're incredibly excited. It'll be great to be back in a big city! I will miss Oregon. It's always been home and it will always be home. Oregon has been great to us over the last 4 years. We're truly blessed.
Monday, April 8, 2013
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
listening, following, moving ...
For those of you who don't know, I grew up Catholic. Well, okay, I spent a majority of my life being Catholic. Before I started attending Catholic school when I was 6, my parents and I went to various Christian churches (Nazarene, Baptist, etc) and they would drop me off at Sunday School while they went and had breakfast. Don't ask...If you knew my parents you'd probably understand though.
Anyway, when I was 9 or 10, my parents finally became Catholic and attended Catholic church faithfully every week. In all the years I was Catholic, I hardly remember opening a Bible. I think I was a freshmen in high school before I remember taking a Bible study class...We always had religion classes, but I don't remember ever having a Bible in school. We went to Mass...We knew about the sacraments, Saints, doctrine, etc, but actually reading the Word was not a part of our daily education or lives.
Over the last 4 years since I started going to Church again (at a Nazarene Church) I have been much more diligent about reading the Bible. And I'd say since the beginning of this year, I have made sure to open it EVERY DAY. It was hard for me at first to find the time to really read the Bible and focus on it. But now, it's a habit. Now I need it. Now I crave it. I don't think I realized how important reading the Bible was until I really started to make it a part of my daily life. I hate to say that it's taken me until I was 28 to really get into Bible reading. I will also admit, that sometimes to be able to get the time with as little interruption as possible, it means turning on Curious George, or Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, to distract the kids. Not always, but sometimes. But it's important I get the time in. It's important I don't just skim it. I have to really focus. I have found a great blog (she's a mom to five and soon to be 6 kids) and often times she gives me scriptures and things to think about. I thoroughly enjoy reading her blog. You can find it here. She has an amazing gift and I'm so glad I found her blog.
I have started reading a devotional, "Made to Crave" and it gives me a little something to think about every single day. I have realized that over the years I have used food to try and fill this emptiness I feel somewhere in my soul. I have used food to deal with whatever is going on in my life, when in fact I need to be looking to Jesus and to His Word. As I read today, "Food can fill my stomach, but not my soul." My soul was made to crave Jesus...Not food. I have so many layers covering up me...Covering the person I really am. The person I know I'm supposed to be. I've been hiding underneath all these layers and it's time I shed those layers.
I can tell you that everyday I feel a little stronger. I feel a little more healed. I feel a little closer to Jesus. I sometimes forget that Jesus loves me. That He died on a cross for ME. On Easter Sunday we were singing about how much Jesus loves us and how we'll never know or understand why. And it's true. I've always thought about Jesus in an authoritative way and never really in loving way. I mean I've always known He loves me. But, I don't think I realized I could have this intimate relationship with Him. I realize that Jesus loves me always. He's seen my worst. And He still, somehow loves me. If Jesus can love me, surely I can love myself too.
With all that said, I'm trying to be better at listening, following, and moving. Lately with all this talk about possibly moving to Phoenix, I myself, have stopped moving. I've put life on hold in case we get a call and things move quickly. And today it's been on my mind and on my heart that I can't stop. (And I know, I know it's the Holy Spirit) I have to keep going forward and living life as normal as possible. It's our job to just keep moving. God will provide the direction. It's our job to listen and move. (I hear Dory from Finding Nemo in my head...Just keep swimming!) Whatever the decision is...To move or not, we know with God leading the way, it'll be the right decision.
Well, this is a very long post! And I probably didn't articulate all this in the best manner. It's taken me all day to write this one post, so I've had various thought processes each time I sit down!
How about some pictures?
Anyway, when I was 9 or 10, my parents finally became Catholic and attended Catholic church faithfully every week. In all the years I was Catholic, I hardly remember opening a Bible. I think I was a freshmen in high school before I remember taking a Bible study class...We always had religion classes, but I don't remember ever having a Bible in school. We went to Mass...We knew about the sacraments, Saints, doctrine, etc, but actually reading the Word was not a part of our daily education or lives.
Over the last 4 years since I started going to Church again (at a Nazarene Church) I have been much more diligent about reading the Bible. And I'd say since the beginning of this year, I have made sure to open it EVERY DAY. It was hard for me at first to find the time to really read the Bible and focus on it. But now, it's a habit. Now I need it. Now I crave it. I don't think I realized how important reading the Bible was until I really started to make it a part of my daily life. I hate to say that it's taken me until I was 28 to really get into Bible reading. I will also admit, that sometimes to be able to get the time with as little interruption as possible, it means turning on Curious George, or Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, to distract the kids. Not always, but sometimes. But it's important I get the time in. It's important I don't just skim it. I have to really focus. I have found a great blog (she's a mom to five and soon to be 6 kids) and often times she gives me scriptures and things to think about. I thoroughly enjoy reading her blog. You can find it here. She has an amazing gift and I'm so glad I found her blog.
I have started reading a devotional, "Made to Crave" and it gives me a little something to think about every single day. I have realized that over the years I have used food to try and fill this emptiness I feel somewhere in my soul. I have used food to deal with whatever is going on in my life, when in fact I need to be looking to Jesus and to His Word. As I read today, "Food can fill my stomach, but not my soul." My soul was made to crave Jesus...Not food. I have so many layers covering up me...Covering the person I really am. The person I know I'm supposed to be. I've been hiding underneath all these layers and it's time I shed those layers.
I can tell you that everyday I feel a little stronger. I feel a little more healed. I feel a little closer to Jesus. I sometimes forget that Jesus loves me. That He died on a cross for ME. On Easter Sunday we were singing about how much Jesus loves us and how we'll never know or understand why. And it's true. I've always thought about Jesus in an authoritative way and never really in loving way. I mean I've always known He loves me. But, I don't think I realized I could have this intimate relationship with Him. I realize that Jesus loves me always. He's seen my worst. And He still, somehow loves me. If Jesus can love me, surely I can love myself too.
With all that said, I'm trying to be better at listening, following, and moving. Lately with all this talk about possibly moving to Phoenix, I myself, have stopped moving. I've put life on hold in case we get a call and things move quickly. And today it's been on my mind and on my heart that I can't stop. (And I know, I know it's the Holy Spirit) I have to keep going forward and living life as normal as possible. It's our job to just keep moving. God will provide the direction. It's our job to listen and move. (I hear Dory from Finding Nemo in my head...Just keep swimming!) Whatever the decision is...To move or not, we know with God leading the way, it'll be the right decision.
Well, this is a very long post! And I probably didn't articulate all this in the best manner. It's taken me all day to write this one post, so I've had various thought processes each time I sit down!
How about some pictures?
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| Waiting for lunch after Church on Easter. |
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| Tired of waiting for lunch. |
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| A semi-decent picture of Zoe and I. |
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| Some hilariously bad pictures of the kids at the Easter egg hunt. |
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| The kids were really mean to each other all day...Until they started playing with the shoes and then the house got weirdly quiet. |
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| Zoe gave dinner a thumb's up! It was bow tie pasta with a creamy tofu sauce, garlic, and spinach. YUM! |
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| Watching the nice neighbor mow our lawn...He thought it was the coolest thing ever! |
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| "Daddy sleeping. I need to read to him." |
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Serious hiatus!
Wow. I haven't been here in a while! I have no good excuses for not being on here...I've been blogging a little bit at my blog so I should be on here too. Sorry family!
I believe the last time I was on here, I was telling you Tony was heading to Phoenix in a few days. And I'm here to tell you once more, Tony is heading to Phoenix in a few days! This time it's for another station and they have even gone so far as to PAY for his trip out there. He had an informal phone interview and they called back a week or so later and told him they wanted to fly him down there to meet everyone. We are SO excited. The other station is still a possibility but they have had a new news director start and I think they're just in a transition period right now so everything is slow moving. This other station sounds like they're moving quickly! They wanted him out there this week but all the flights were sold out. So he's leaving Monday and coming home Tuesday. Another quick trip. But he'll enjoy the sun, spending time with his mom and brother, and of course meeting people at the station.
Yesterday was Zoe's 3rd birthday! I can't believe it!
She's been asking me for cupcakes for WEEKS now so I decided to make mini chocolate chip cupcakes. Not to toot my own horn, but they are pretty awesome. I am known for my cupcakes and I'm quite confident that these are the best ones I've made yet.
After all was said and done, I made 72 mini cupcakes and 20 regular cupcakes for Tony to take to work. A majority of the mini cupcakes went with Zoe to school so she could share some with her friends. I felt less guilty about sending cupcakes because they were "mini" haha. But still felt like I should apologize to her teachers!
I made Zoe Mickey Mouse pancakes and she seemed to enjoy them. Her little crown has Mini Mouse ears.
I believe the last time I was on here, I was telling you Tony was heading to Phoenix in a few days. And I'm here to tell you once more, Tony is heading to Phoenix in a few days! This time it's for another station and they have even gone so far as to PAY for his trip out there. He had an informal phone interview and they called back a week or so later and told him they wanted to fly him down there to meet everyone. We are SO excited. The other station is still a possibility but they have had a new news director start and I think they're just in a transition period right now so everything is slow moving. This other station sounds like they're moving quickly! They wanted him out there this week but all the flights were sold out. So he's leaving Monday and coming home Tuesday. Another quick trip. But he'll enjoy the sun, spending time with his mom and brother, and of course meeting people at the station.
Yesterday was Zoe's 3rd birthday! I can't believe it!
She's been asking me for cupcakes for WEEKS now so I decided to make mini chocolate chip cupcakes. Not to toot my own horn, but they are pretty awesome. I am known for my cupcakes and I'm quite confident that these are the best ones I've made yet.
After all was said and done, I made 72 mini cupcakes and 20 regular cupcakes for Tony to take to work. A majority of the mini cupcakes went with Zoe to school so she could share some with her friends. I felt less guilty about sending cupcakes because they were "mini" haha. But still felt like I should apologize to her teachers!
I made Zoe Mickey Mouse pancakes and she seemed to enjoy them. Her little crown has Mini Mouse ears.
For lunch we went to Red Robin and Noah was sitting nicely UNTIL a group of college girls walked in. Then he tried escaping our table and he WOULD NOT stop staring at their table. (They were saying how cute he was and smiling and waving at him.)
With the possibility of us moving in the near future, we decided we shouldn't get Zoe a ton of stuff for her birthday. So we opted to take her to Build-A-Bear to build a new friend. And they are quite close. She even made her a bed last night and covered her up with one of Noah's blankets. She looked quite cozy. Her name is Fluffy by the way.
I have been told this is like the best picture of Zoe....Such a hilarious look on her face. I was trying to get her to smile and I think I surprised her instead. (Fluffy is wearing a Hello Kitty shirt...Tony loves the irony.)
And lastly Tony and Noah being silly. Yes yes...They look a lot alike don't they?
That's really all I have for you right now. I just dumped a lot of photos from my phone to my other computer so hopefully I can get those organized one of these mornings while Zoe is at school.
Hope you are happy and healthy! Miss you all!
Thursday, January 31, 2013
Quick Post!
1) We've been sick! Colds, tummy bugs, just total yuckiness. Oh and we're still fighting the colds and flu.
2) Tony's flying to Phoenix for a job interview on Monday. I know what you're thinking.
3) My job is going well and I've made some wonderful friends.
4) Kids are LOVING school (daycare, but we call it school).
5) I've lost 4 pounds in 2 weeks.
That's pretty much it. Our lives have mostly centered around sickness! It's been awful! I'm ready for happy, healthy, normal kids! :)
Oh and I was looking through old photos of Zoe when she was about Noah's age and just about died laughing. They are basically the same person. I could show you a million other photos that prove the same point. It's hilarious.
2) Tony's flying to Phoenix for a job interview on Monday. I know what you're thinking.
3) My job is going well and I've made some wonderful friends.
4) Kids are LOVING school (daycare, but we call it school).
5) I've lost 4 pounds in 2 weeks.
That's pretty much it. Our lives have mostly centered around sickness! It's been awful! I'm ready for happy, healthy, normal kids! :)
Oh and I was looking through old photos of Zoe when she was about Noah's age and just about died laughing. They are basically the same person. I could show you a million other photos that prove the same point. It's hilarious.
Saturday, December 29, 2012
Time to CATCH UP!
Well, how are you?!
We are doing well. Busy as usual.
Tony's been on vacation from work the last 2 weeks but goes back to work on Wednesday the 2nd. He had to use his vacation time or lose it. It was good timing since our babysitter has been in Brazil and now she's moving to OH. Good thing we found a daycare!
Tony's great Uncle passed away just before Christmas. While he had some health problems, no one was expecting him to pass away when he did. If you're the praying type, please keep his mom's side of the family in your prayers and thoughts. They were all very close.
I'm currently in the process of getting a copy of my immigration paperwork. It's been a long process and taken me almost 3 years just to get to this point. I was supposed to hear something within 6 months and it's been almost a year since I originally sent in my request. So I finally made a phone call and got an update. They're requesting 2 more pieces of "evidence" from me (just items to verify my identity and change of name) so I'm hoping to get everything sent in a month or so. (I have to wait to get certified copies of my marriage certificate in Arizona and they say it can take 2 weeks!)
I CANNOT wait until I get all this behind me and my paperwork in my hands!
Still no word from Food Network. I wasn't really expecting to hear anything until after the holidays. But the longer we wait the less hopeful we are. However Tony has a great attitude about it, that just getting the interview was a win. And it was. But you can't help but hope for the big prize!
Kids are doing well! Christmas was great and I feel like we didn't spoil the kids too much but they still got fun things that they really love. Zoe's big present was a dollhouse. Our house has been so quiet the last few days...She LOVES playing with it! Success! We also got her paints, paintbrushes, and finger-paints. Another success. She paints everyday. She loves it. Zoe also got basic things like underwear, PJ's, and a fun outfit. Oh and we got Knuffle Bunny Too, the sequel to Knuffle Bunny. I'm going to be hunting for the 3rd book this weekend.
Noah got a fun activity table and Zoe is very eager to show him how it works. She does forget it's not hers and tends to take claim over one half of it. But at least she's willing to share half. :) Noah also got a Sock Monkey and he seems to enjoy chewing on it.
Tony and I's big gift to each other were ... believe it or not ... tattoos. Tony got his first one early this fall and I'd been dying to get one since. So it made a perfect gift! Tony's first tattoo is of a fork and knife (which you may have seen in his audition video) and then his 2nd one is the word Focus on his left pointer finger (which he uses to 'focus' his camera). My tattoo is the word Blessed and it's on my left arm. I LOVE it and it means SO much. Not to mention the guy we got the tattoos from owns a Christian tattoo shop. (Tony did a story about it...)
I finally gave in and read the Hunger Games series. All 3 books. In a rather short time. I didn't want to read them, but I started my job and EVERYONE there was like "You have to read them!!!" so I caved into peer pressure. And now I own all 3 books haha. I got the first one from the library and then finished it in 2 days and the 2nd book had a wait of 50 people, so I went to the store and bought it.
Okay. Bored yet? Here are some pictures:
We are doing well. Busy as usual.
Tony's been on vacation from work the last 2 weeks but goes back to work on Wednesday the 2nd. He had to use his vacation time or lose it. It was good timing since our babysitter has been in Brazil and now she's moving to OH. Good thing we found a daycare!
Tony's great Uncle passed away just before Christmas. While he had some health problems, no one was expecting him to pass away when he did. If you're the praying type, please keep his mom's side of the family in your prayers and thoughts. They were all very close.
I'm currently in the process of getting a copy of my immigration paperwork. It's been a long process and taken me almost 3 years just to get to this point. I was supposed to hear something within 6 months and it's been almost a year since I originally sent in my request. So I finally made a phone call and got an update. They're requesting 2 more pieces of "evidence" from me (just items to verify my identity and change of name) so I'm hoping to get everything sent in a month or so. (I have to wait to get certified copies of my marriage certificate in Arizona and they say it can take 2 weeks!)
I CANNOT wait until I get all this behind me and my paperwork in my hands!
Still no word from Food Network. I wasn't really expecting to hear anything until after the holidays. But the longer we wait the less hopeful we are. However Tony has a great attitude about it, that just getting the interview was a win. And it was. But you can't help but hope for the big prize!
Kids are doing well! Christmas was great and I feel like we didn't spoil the kids too much but they still got fun things that they really love. Zoe's big present was a dollhouse. Our house has been so quiet the last few days...She LOVES playing with it! Success! We also got her paints, paintbrushes, and finger-paints. Another success. She paints everyday. She loves it. Zoe also got basic things like underwear, PJ's, and a fun outfit. Oh and we got Knuffle Bunny Too, the sequel to Knuffle Bunny. I'm going to be hunting for the 3rd book this weekend.
Noah got a fun activity table and Zoe is very eager to show him how it works. She does forget it's not hers and tends to take claim over one half of it. But at least she's willing to share half. :) Noah also got a Sock Monkey and he seems to enjoy chewing on it.
Tony and I's big gift to each other were ... believe it or not ... tattoos. Tony got his first one early this fall and I'd been dying to get one since. So it made a perfect gift! Tony's first tattoo is of a fork and knife (which you may have seen in his audition video) and then his 2nd one is the word Focus on his left pointer finger (which he uses to 'focus' his camera). My tattoo is the word Blessed and it's on my left arm. I LOVE it and it means SO much. Not to mention the guy we got the tattoos from owns a Christian tattoo shop. (Tony did a story about it...)
I finally gave in and read the Hunger Games series. All 3 books. In a rather short time. I didn't want to read them, but I started my job and EVERYONE there was like "You have to read them!!!" so I caved into peer pressure. And now I own all 3 books haha. I got the first one from the library and then finished it in 2 days and the 2nd book had a wait of 50 people, so I went to the store and bought it.
Okay. Bored yet? Here are some pictures:
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| Reading like daddy. Yes, her shoes are on the wrong feet. |
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| They get into trouble together. And neither one of them likes clothes. |
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| She was reading him a book before bed. |
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| One of Tony's coworkers...Noah was very content. Clear sign that Ty is a natural. |
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| She LOVED riding the horsey at a local restaurant. |
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| Mesmerized. |
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| Grams Gist crocheted this ADORABLE hat/cowl thing. SO CUTE! |
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| She also crocheted Zoe a hat and scarf. |
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| And got them new ornaments. |
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| So precious. |
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| Zoe's drawing of "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse". |
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| My tattoo. It's on the inside of my arm but still visible. |
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| Batman! |
Friday, December 7, 2012
AHHHHH!
In a hurry so here are some key points:
1) Everyone is healthy and happy and excited for Christmas!
2) Noah weighs 21.16 pounds as of Monday and it's starting to come down weight wise..I mean he's not losing weight, but his weight gain is slowing a bit. He's still however in the 95th percentile for weight.
3) Zoe and Noah will be starting daycare in January. We learned the hard way that when your sitter gets sick, it makes things really complicated. I think Zoe will do really well and love being with other kids in a fun, education filled, place.
4) Work is great. BUSY but really great.
And finally. The BIG news.
Tony has a Skype interview on Monday with the casting people for "The Next Food Network Star"! WOO HOO! We were both a little surprised to say the least. Trying to keep realistic expectations, but still very excited. You can check out his audition video here:
http://youtu.be/TwXnslDPXo4
1) Everyone is healthy and happy and excited for Christmas!
2) Noah weighs 21.16 pounds as of Monday and it's starting to come down weight wise..I mean he's not losing weight, but his weight gain is slowing a bit. He's still however in the 95th percentile for weight.
3) Zoe and Noah will be starting daycare in January. We learned the hard way that when your sitter gets sick, it makes things really complicated. I think Zoe will do really well and love being with other kids in a fun, education filled, place.
4) Work is great. BUSY but really great.
And finally. The BIG news.
Tony has a Skype interview on Monday with the casting people for "The Next Food Network Star"! WOO HOO! We were both a little surprised to say the least. Trying to keep realistic expectations, but still very excited. You can check out his audition video here:
http://youtu.be/TwXnslDPXo4
Thursday, November 1, 2012
November is upon us!
Well, we had a fun Halloween! Our Church had a Harvest Party at a local park with Trunk or Treating and it was perfect! Zoe got some candy (safely!) and not too much...She's 2.5 and doesn't need 5 pounds of candy. She also got to paint a little pumpkin (that I haven't yet taken a picture of) and have her picture taken with daddy and baby brother. Momma was not in the mood to have her picture taken. :)
Here are some pictures from last night:
And here are a couple random pictures:
I should have more pictures ... Where are they?! Haha. Maybe Tony has some too. But here we are...Kids are growing up (too fast) and life is GREAT! Work is wonderful and we are reminded daily how blessed we really are.
Love to you all,
Courtney
Here are some pictures from last night:
And here are a couple random pictures:
I should have more pictures ... Where are they?! Haha. Maybe Tony has some too. But here we are...Kids are growing up (too fast) and life is GREAT! Work is wonderful and we are reminded daily how blessed we really are.
Love to you all,
Courtney
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