Struggling- need prayer!

I had a big struggle mentally yesterday... and it's still going today... so I'm asking for prayer!

As you all know, I started my new job back at Wamu (becoming Chase). I have talked about this with some people, but for those of you who don't know, I took a HUGE pay cut (like half of what I was making at SWBC). I left a role as a supervisor and have taken a new role in an entry level type position! (this in and of itself is very humbling!)

The job I do is as simple as it gets... I could train my dogs to do my job! It's crazy! Anyhoo... when I got the job (even at the interview) I expressed that I just want to get in the door to work my way back up into a leadership role again... which is what I had before I got laid off from Wamu just over a year ago. My boss knew my expectations and she was/is very supportive of it. She knows I don't want to do this forever... or for a long period of time for that matter. Anyways, I kind of had in my head that I would probably just be in this position for a few months until something else opened up and I could transfer to the next level or straight up to management. Welp, I found out that they aren't letting anyone transfer out until after the conversion between Wamu and Chase is completed. That will not take place until January or February- and that's the earliest but is still not a guarantee!!! YIKES!!!

All along I have felt (and still do feel) and said that I would choose happiness over money ANY DAY!!! I would be okay with this HUGE pay cut IF I were HAPPY! I had a heart to heart with myself yesterday and it hit me like a ton of bricks... I'm sooooo not happy! I am doing a job that means NOTHING! I feel no self worth! I feel like I'm not doing something that makes any difference what-so-ever... to ANYONE or ANYTHING! I saw my first full pay check and thought to myself... man, I'd feel better about that amount if I were HAPPY with what I'm doing!!!

Would I trade it for the physical stress, emotional stress, and integrity issues that I dealt with at SWBC?... NO WAY!!! I don't want to sound like I'm ungrateful or like a total whiner... I am grateful that I have a job! It's much better than sitting at home searching for one and stressing out with no income at all. I just desire so much to be in a job that I'm happy with or passionate about.

I LOVED being a supervisor! I felt like I had an impact on things and I had an impact on people's lives! I could help make them better at what they did! I could be the one person who was encouraging to them! I could teach them! I could be there to be a listening ear! I meant something... and I loved it! I loved the challenge of juggling ten thousand things while making sure my team was doing good and getting there work done! I loved the challenge of bringing my team out of the dumps and helping them shine!!! I loved helping people feel successful and a sense of accomplishment!! I worked VERY hard to get into that leadership role... and now I'm back at the beginning!!

I'm in a stress free role now... that's for sure. When I first started working here I kept telling myself "I need the stress free environment for a little bit after what I went through at SWBC! Take advantage of it!" And I am... I am enjoying the stress free... but I would almost rather have SOME stress and be happy with my actual job function than to have NO stress and be NOT happy with my job function!!! I hope this makes sense!

Again, I'm sorry to be all whinny (sp?) about all of this. I just need to pour my heart out onto something and ask for prayers. I poured it out to Steve last night... poor guy! I love him so much!! He listens to me... with his eyes... and lets me cry and talk, and he loves me through it! He talks with me and feels my pain and frustration! He encourages me and prays for me! How blessed I am to be his bride and to be a receiver of his unconditional love and support! Thank you Lord for him!!! I just know that I need more than one person praying for me right now.

So, with all this being said, I'm job hunting! I'm still at Wamu and I will stay here... but I'm desperate for something else! Please pray for God to open a door to something else. I am okay if I stay here at Wamu and move up, and I'm okay if He wants me to leave and go somewhere else! I am open to where He wants me. If He wants me to stay where I'm at, I'm asking for peace about that... right now I do not have it.

The Lord tells us to make our requests known to Him and I know there's nothing to small or big to ask for, so I'm asking for the following things and I ask you to pray for it also:
1. For God to reveal to me what I'm passionate about- as far as a job goes! (my passion is singing... I would LOVE to just sing on a praise team or in a group where I could do harmony for a living!!!- If that's what the Lord wants me to do, He's going to have to do some of His miraculous work!!!)
2. For God to open a door to a leadership role position somewhere- even back at SWBC just under a different division
3. For a pay increase
4. For me to find happiness in whatever job I do

Sorry this was so long winded! But, thanks for reading... and even more thanks for the prayers!!!

Family, Swimming, Dancing, and Dogs

This past weekend was so much fun. See my previous post to see the events that took place Friday night. We had friends over until midnight (if you know us, we are usually in bed by ten... and yes, even on a Friday night!!- sad, I know)- but it was SO worth it because we had SO much fun!! Anyhoo... we had to get up at 6:30am on Saturday to go see Zach (our nephew) swim in a swim meet.

We got there at 7:20am (it was here in SA) and we were sitting with Steph waiting for the events to start and Ted and Sherry called her. They started asking questions about the meet and everything and then we discovered they were asking because they were on their way there- coming from Temple!!! So, it was a fun surprise having them show up and they ended up spending the rest of the weekend with us. Below are the pics from the swim meet.

We didn't have swim meets where I grew up... so this was so much fun to watch! They have kids from 3-4 yrs old up to 18! The little kids are cute to watch and the older kids are fun because it's a good competition!












zach's first race:


race 2: zach is in the 2nd lane from the top of the video:


Zach in his relay... he's in the far lane at the very top (he is on the board and then dives in):


After the races we were all STARVING so we went and had some lunch at The Longhorn- yummo burgers!!! After lunch we went home to shower and go to church. The family came over for dinner after church and then we sat around visiting, singing silly songs again, and listening to the Ipod.

Zach singing/doing the "chicken dance" while Autumn follows him and makes up her own moves:


Zach likes the beat to rap/hip-hop music, so we were trying to find some Christian music that has a good beat to it. Autumn likes any kind of music and loves dancing to it!

Autumn dancing to our "old school" DC Talk music from the Ipod. We busted out with the "Free At Last" Album for all of you who know what I'm talking about!:


It was a fun night!!! Then on Sunday we got up and took the dogs to the dog park.

Brily playing fetch


Landry being miss independent



Briley watching the other dogs and waiting for someone else's master to throw her a ball


Sisters playing together


This is the "mud hole" that everyone tries to keep their dogs away from in order to avoid some VERY dirty dogs!!!


It was just too hot for Briley and Landry!!! They were spread eagle into the cool water/mud hole!!!!


Landry is waiting patienly for someone to turn the water fountain on for her and fill up the bowl

Back at home after a bath- just chillin'


Another fun weekend with family and friends!!!

Game Night!!

Our weekend started off WONDERFUL!!! Friday night we had our lifegroup over for dinner, bible study, and then game night! John and Kim were having to leave for Spain the next day, so they only made it for dinner and bible study. Unfortunately I didn't start taking pics until game time and they had already left... so they aren't in these pics :-(

We played Balderdash for a little bit... which was fun!!! Then, we had to play Spoons... SO MUCH FUN! (Side note- it brought back memories of playing this game at the Bankhead Family Reunion... I remember people being drug across the table, diving over chairs, pulling people over chairs, fingernails leaving people bleeding from being clawed, my dad getting a cut on his eye from a spoon flopping up and hitting him in the face... we "Bankhead's" mean business when we play!) However, I was on good behavior and didn't drag anyone across the table! In fact, I LET Lisa win in one of the battles for a spoon! ;-) You'll see that video below.

Here are some (lots) of pics from our fun evening with friends:

You don't want to mess with these guys! Look at the determination on their faces!!

Steve, Austin, and Shanna

Austin holding his "spoon trophy" after he won a round of spoons (he and Steve- my Steve- were in the "finals" and Austin won)

Lisa beat me in the "finals" of the first round of spoons... here is her "spoon trophy"

Steve C was sadly knocked out of the game early on......see the video below for evidence:

Steve C losing...


Lisa with a "poker face" like she's all happy... when really she's getting ready to fight me for a spoon- and she's not that nice when she's fighting for a spoon! ;-)

Lisa and I "fighting" over a spoon


Everyone concentrating on their cards while keeping an eye on the spoons!

Me and Steve with our game faces on

Austin and Shanna- look at the concentration!

We are definitely ready for another game night!! So much fun and such great friends!!!

Morse Family Time...

We had a WONDERFUL weekend with Steve's family this past weekend! We celebrated Steve's b-day... which was back in May, but Steve and I have been out of town every weekend since then, so this was our first chance to get to celebrate with them!

We went over and had lunch at Steph and Ed's Saturday, then we all went to church Saturday night, then back over to their house for taco's and Ed's guacamole (which is the BEST guac EVER!!!).

After dinner we all sat around talking and singing silly songs and all these old songs that we could remember. I've got a few on video. We laughed and laughed at some of the "choreography" that Ted did to one of the songs. It's the "Ducky" song which became a new favorite to Autumn I believe!

Ted showing us how to do the duck song


We had fun watching her dance around and enjoy our beautiful songs!!! (hee hee).

Autumn dancing to the duck song


Zach busted out with some history trivia... that boy amazes me! He's growing up so fast... he's gonna be in 5th GRADE next year!!!! (I still remember the 3yr old little boy as the ring barer in my wedding!!!)

Sunday we all met for lunch at Willie's...



... and then headed back to Steph's house for the birthday cake! Ed's sister and brother-in-law (Linda and Andy) and their grandson, Daniel, also came over.



Sherry was such a sweet mom and granted Steve's wish to bake a "healthy" cake.
- Explanation: we got a recipe from the "Cooking Yourself Thin" cookbook. It's a Red velvet Cake... but again... a healthy version. If you've ever watched the show, you'll see that they replace butter or milk and things with fruit, buttermilk, butternut squash, orange juice, apple sauce, things like that. Anyhoo... this cake was determined to get Sherry! She made it before they came down to SA. By the time they got to SA Friday night (they had a 2 hour drive)... the icing had completely run off the cake!!! So, they re-iced it when and then put it in the refrigerator thinking maybe it got too hot in the car??? Welp, they woke up Saturday morning to check on it... and sure enough... icing had run off the cake again! (mind you- this cake is also homemade with their special recipe). So, Sherry decided to just get "real" icing and put that on there. It did work a little better, but it still had issues as you can see in the pics below where it is running off. All that being said, the cake wasn't bad at all! It was a little tough... but the flavor wasn't bad! In fact, I liked it and would eat it again! So, Sherry... great job!








After over indulging in the cake (which we had 3 different cakes because Sherry was so afraid that the "healthy" one would not be good) we sat around visiting and enjoying some family time!

Before Ted and Sherry left town, they came over to the house for a little bit to check out our garden and give us some tips on a few things. We officially have okra!!! YIPEE!!!! (When we get enough to fry, I promise I won't be the one to fry it due to what happened the last time I tried to do that- if you don't know that story... lets just say I almost burned my house down... literally!!! House full of smoke and all!!!)

Back to the point... here's a pic of our first piece of okra:

Here it is by itself:


Here's a pic to show you how big it is next to a regular spoon:



I'll leave you with a video of this song that Steve grew up singing as a kid. I believe Meemaw taught it to them (and maybe it was taught to her as a child... I'm not sure how long it's been in their family). Sherry said they aren't sure what it means either... so, we don't know what we're singing, but it sure is a fun/funny song to learn! I first heard it when Steve and I were "dating" and I made it a mission to learn it! I believe Ed is trying to learn it too (?)... it's just one of those things, you marry into the family and it becomes part of you!

So, enjoy "Quick Quack Quanny Wuanny":



After spending the last two weekends with our families, it reminds us how blessed we are! We love everyone so much and are truly honored to be a part of these families!!!

Cousins weekend

I have finally downloaded some of my pics from our "Cousin's weekend" last weekend.

My aunt (Pam) and uncle (Dickey)-(my mom's sister and brother-in-law)- live on Lake Conroe. They have 2 sons (Kevin and Keith) and they both live up in the area with their wives and children. When we were kids and we would come to Houston to visit, they were the cousins we spent most of our time with. When we have family reunions or other family activities, we don't always get to spend time with them and their families. So, we planned a "cousin's weekend" so that we could get some good quality time with them.

Here's a pic I took from the deck Saturday morning...


We had so much fun with everyone. Here's a breakdown of the families:
Pam and Dickey= 2 son's: Kevin and Keith
Kevin and his wife, Mandy= twins Hunter and Hannah
Keith and his wife, Jana= daughter Kaitlyn

And then there's my family: (I'll break it down for the readers who don't know my family)
Mom and Dad= 3 kids: (oldest to youngest=) Jason, me, Brad
Jason and his wife, Jenn= Julia and Johnathan
Me and my hubby, Steve= no kids
Brad and his wife, Shannon= Mallory and Morgan

There were a total of 14 adults and 7 kids (all 3 years old or younger).

It was fun and an experience! Obviously Steve and I are the only one's who were there that do not have children. It's a different world for us... but the norm for everyone else who was there. It's amazing how much everything revolves around the kiddos. It wasn't a bad thing at all... it's just not something Steve and I have to do yet, so it's different for us. ALL of the kids did so wonderful and were such a joy to be around! And the parents are all awesome to their children and it's fun to see them all be parents.

So, here's what we did that weekend...
Friday: everyone arrived and hung out (we got there late that night, so I'm not sure what they all did before we arrived)
Saturday:
- All the guys out on the boat at 7am to go fishing
- Girls just hang out on the deck with the kiddos- note: not at 7am... more like 10am
here's one of mom lovin' on Johnathan- he just soaks up the "cuddle" time! Precious!


- Late that morning all the girls got all the kids dressed in their matching clothes (from B-mom) and we attempted a photo shoot! (the first attempt went down hill as soon as we started putting them in place- never had a chance for one picture to be taken... the second was a little better and we moved to a different "location"- actually had a chance to snap a picture or two!)

(left-right) Johnathan, Mallory, Julia, Hunter, Morgan, Hannah, Kaitlyn




- Guys return from fishing trip and clean/gut the fish (I stood and watched the whole thing... quite disgusting, but I couldn't stop watching)
Here are the guys (minus Keith... he was inside helping put his daughter down for a nap I think)

Steve, Jason & Johnathan, Kevin, Dad, Uncle Dickey, and Brad


- photos with the fish and some of the Bankhead kids
In this one Mallory's not sure what to think, Johnathan just wants to grab one, Julia is mesmerized, and Hunter is probably trying to figure why the other kids are acting so weird... he's seen fish plenty of times as opposed to those Bankheads!



- lunch and visit with everyone
- kids down for nap and the girls go to Sonic and then shopping (had a 2 hour get-a-way before the kids were up from their naps)

- we load up for a boat ride around the lake

The captain (Uncle Dickey- see... yes... I got your picture!!!) and Kevin and Mandy trying to console Hunter while Hannah sits in between them calmly


Mandy, Jenn, Johnathan, Jason, Julia, Mallory, and Brad


- all kids 2 and under + on a boat + hot sun + life jackets up in their faces = not so happy campers after a little while.
Morgan crying... this is before the blankie and lots of consoling:

After:


Johnathan- crying with Morgan- before being cuddled and sang to by my dad (Pop)

After having Pop sing to him, he's about to be asleep:


Here's a video of everyone on the boat... before the little one's got upset... (WARNING- turn your volume down... the wind is VERY loud)


- The boat ride ends...


- home from the boat ride then straight to the slip-n-slide for the kiddos






- go eat at Incredible Pizza for dinner... which I must say I thought was INCREDIBLE! (they named it just right). The food was great and the entertainment/environment was even better! This place has EVERYTHING- go-carts, miniature golf, bumper cars, ice skating rink, mini-bowling alley, laser tag, video games/arcades, and a little room for small children. All the toys/furniture in this room were all rubber (with the exception of a few that the kids ride on verses climb on). It was great. Oh, and it was ALL in-doors!!

The men chillin' while the kiddos play (Steve, dad, and Brad)


Mallory riding the carousel


Hunter and Hannah on the slide w/ Mandy close by to make sure they don't fall off


Julia on the carousel


Hunter, Hannah, and Johnathan on the "dancing" game


Dad w/ his fun hat!


Julia and Mallory love each other so much...




- home to visit and then go to bed

Sunday:
- breakfast with everyone
- family photo shoot- Keith and Jana couldn't come over unfortunately, so they aren't in the pic :-(

I accidently had my camera set on "video" so, I thought I had set the timer for my camera. Welp, I did set the timer, but I set it to start video taping in 10 seconds! This is what we do to make the kids smile and ourselves laugh!... ( I think this is better than the actual pictures!!!)


- everyone departs to go home :-(

Again... it was such a wonderful time with everyone!!! The things that aren't told are the fun stories, teasing, funny people, visiting, and all the other stuff that takes place when you're with family! It was wonderful and I hope we do it again next year!!!

Lastly, we missed our "babies" after being gone all weekend. We left them at the Pet Hotel and this is how excited they were to see us when we picked them up... they are pretty much dragging the poor girl!!!