2010 Goals (I know I'm a little behind)

Most people set their new year's resolutions at the very beginning of the new year, but here I am, a month late. Like the saying goes, "better late than never".

1. I want to lose at least 30 pounds by the time I graduate
- I plan on getting up every morning and working out at the fitness center
- I am going to eat less at sittings and make smarter choices about when I eat and what I'm eating

2. I want to run a mile in 7 minutes or less by March 1, 2010
- For those of you who know me, I tend to "run" a mile in about 10-15 minutes...ha, which is not really running at all
- Anyway, I plan on starting out at a moderate speed and each week I plan on increasing the speed a little until I reach my goal

3. Continue editing my resume and start sending it out by January 2011
- Work on it as I receive more experience with school and hopefully work
- Under the education section, I want to make sure that I include my GPA and my pending graduation date

4. I want to have my own photography website and business cards by May 2010
- Figure out how to upload pictures to my domain address
- add harmoniousportraits@gmail.com as my contact e-mail
- build my clientelle mostly by word of mouth (senior pictures, child portraiture, weddings...)

5. The most important: I am going to trust God more in everything I do and to seek His will in my life
- I don't want to rely on my own planning and my own will
- I'm going to read God's word daily and continue to pray about every decision

Upset

Well today we got the news that we most likely will overqualify to live in the house that we were hoping to get. It is frustrating because they figured in a raise that Pat could POSSIBLY get, but probably won't, so that put us over the top. They also based our income off of the bonus Pat got around Christmas time and made that a constant for the entire year which is about 50% higher than what he normally receives. On top of all of that, they took my two largest paycheck stubs and based my income off of those, which shows us bringing in about 50% more than we actually do. It's a bummer, but we know that God is good and as long as we are doing our part of the deal, He will do His. We are kind of on edge trying to figure out where we are supposed to go because in order for our apartment complex to confirm our rental history, we had to let them know that we plan on leaving. So we turned in a letter to our front office informing them that when our lease is up, at the end of February, that we will not be staying here. It's tricky because we're in a catch 22. The housing place will only refund our security deposit if we are ineligible to move into the house. If we withdrawl our application, they keep the security deposit, which is quite a chunk of change. So, even though we don't think we're going to qualify to live in this house, we have to continue with the process and let God do his thing. Since we had to tell our current place that we are no longer staying here in order for them to get the paperwork filled out that has to go back to the place we're wanting to lease the house from...well you get it...it's a viscious cycle.

We believe that God has a plan for us and that He will lead us in the direction he wants us to go, wherever that may be. I'm sad that we're probably not getting the house but I trust in God completely to take care of us, so I'm not worried!

Update

So if you didn't know already, we're trying to move into a house hopefully by the end of February. They are just waiting on some verifications and we should hopfully know by the end of this week if we are set to move. We will be in between Troy and Wentzville in a quiet neighborhood and we are SO excited! As excited as I am, I am not looking forward to the packing and unpacking part, but the overall outcome is going to be MUCH better, which makes it all worth it in the end! God is already blessing us and the first month isn't even over yet!

Yesterday, I went to get my hair trimmed and my eyebrows waxed and decided that Alaina needed a trim, too. She has this one curl in the back that always ends up tangled and knotted and so we had Trista cut it off and make the back a little more even. We also had her trim the front since it kept getting in Alaina's eyes. The front is a little shorter than I wanted, but it will grow out, so I'm not too worried about it. Since she got her haircut she looks a little older.

Update from the last blog post...since Alaina is now 2 years old and has all of her teeth, we decided it was finally time to take away the bink or as Alaina calls it, her "b". So she now only gets it at nap time and bed time and she has been talking alot more. Although the first 3 days or so were rough, she's been really good since! Now if you say "Alaina are you a big girl?" she says "No, I baby" because we told her that "b's" are for babies, so now she tells us she is a baby in hopes that we'll allow her to have it. No such luck but it's really cute to hear her say it!

My 2 year old

Alaina is now 2 years old and now tells me she is not a baby anymore :o(

Wrapping it Up

Here we are at the end of the year again! Alaina's birthday is today and I can't help but think that she gets pushed to the side when her birthday rolls around, considering it's New Years Eve. As the year comes to a close, and I look back at all of 2009, I can't help but think that this year just flew by. With Pat and I both in school and working and taking care of the kids, it seems we have lost track of time. My baby is 2 years old today! I can't believe it. I can't ask for a better life, I love my life and especially my family and friends! I can't wait to see what God has in store for us in the upcoming year!!!

Update

Well, I am going to go ahead and work while our friends are up, as much as I don't want to, it's the right thing to do. Not too much new is going on here. Pat and I finished our last cluster of this year and both of us finished with STRAIGHT A's!!! Pat found out that he does not graduate next December, but in June of next year, so he is super happy about that. It feels really strange to be on break and not have any homework or anything to do. I don't know what to do with my "free time". I presented my marketing plan to my class on Monday night and my instructor was very impressed and asked if she could share it with some other people. My project was on starting my own photography business, so I made a website to show everyone and then I passed around a pricing sheet. Anyway, my instructor showed the website to her class last night and then she e-mailed me afterwards. This was what she wrote to me:

Jennifer,

It took me a while to get the internet to work..as we did not have firefox on the system at the LCIE Building..However, one of the students was able to put it on and we showed the pictures. There was a positive response to your pictures and to your prices. Some one was interested in possible wedding pictures. I did not press the issue..just gave the information and price lists. Unfortunately the system here is not as good as what we have in Wentzville which was very disappointing.
I also left the CD and the information along with the picture you gave me for Lori Malloy..She is the Office Manager of the LCIE Program. I think you know her, she remembered you.
I told her about your still life pictures of flowers as well as your portraits..she is very interested in looking at them and to speak with you. They are redoing the office and walls and are in the process to look for art work. She asked for you to call her and speak with her.
She will be in the office Thursday and Friday and also next week.
I obviously could not give her prices on the pictures...
Lori's number is 636-949-4500. Her e-mail address is lmalloy@lindenwood.edu. I think she comes in after 9 am.
I also gave your price list to an instructor who was teaching, I think his name is Dr. Bailey....
Let me know how the contact with Lori works out...You might have to check with her to see if she has the access on her computer. I also gave Lori the information you gave me for access.
I think you have great potential and I am most interested in seeing how this goes. I think this is very exciting!
Warmest Regards,
Phyllis
314-540-3485 cell

Decisions, Decisions

So, working in retail during the holiday season has posed a few issues this month. Four months ago I requested some days off that I needed in December. It happened to be two weekends in a row, the 11th-13th and the 18th-20th. We also have a crazy amount of birthdays in December such as: Grandma Stroot and Lydia on Dec. 1, Doug on Dec. 9, Dad on Dec. 15, our anniversary on the 18th and Alaina on the 31st. It's a crazy month, plus throwing Christmas and New Years into that mix makes it a little crazy. So knowing that I requested those dates off FOUR MONTHS ago, I assumed that I would have those days off. I am babysitting the entire weekend of the 11th and the weekend of the 18th is our last chance to see the Robertson's before they move to Costa Rica. Well, to my surprise I received NONE of the days off that I requested. So, tonight when I go into work I'm going to be having a conversation with a manager and if they cannot work with what I am able to work, I'm going to have to make a decision of quitting or sucking it up and working even though I gave them plenty of notice. I will keep you posted and let you know what's going on.