God Is Good!!

Today was my interview at the bakery...and I got the job!!!!!!  THANK YOU to everyone who was praying!

Can I just say that God's timing is so perfect?! The day I went in to see if they were hiring, I was REALLY hesitant about it. I was having this battle in my mind as to whether or not I should even go in. In the end, I just gave it to the Lord and decided to do it.  Well, today they told me that they had been talking that very day about how they needed more help! 

They want to sit down and talk with each other about what exactly it is that they want me to do and are going to call me next week. I'll be starting the following week! From what we talked about today, I'll be working part time (for now),  doing food prep/baking and working the store as well. When they have events to cater, I'll help out with that. There is a 300 person party that we'll be doing at the end of February..and they do pretty high-end stuff! Once summer rolls around, I'll help out with farmers market as well! I am so excited about this!!

While they don't really do cakes like I've done, they have had requests and who knows maybe down the road they'll decide to add it to the list of things they offer since they have someone who has experience with it.  One thing they said about my cakes was that what really stood out to them is my attention to detail. I'll be the first to tell you that when it comes to cake I can be a perfectionist. :) Anyways, they really like that because it shows them that I desire to make things appealing to the eye which is what they want. 

The owners (a husband and wife team) are really nice and I think we're going to get along really well. They already told me I could have the Friday off that the youth group from BBC will be here...yay!  They were totally fine about me wearing skirts too (I asked because he mentioned providing a bakers uniform when I start working in the kitchen more, so I wouldn't mess up my clothes)...he said, "Hey, if that's what you're comfortable in then I don't care!" Also, they aren't open on Saturdays and Sundays.  Obviously with catering events and farmers market there will be some Saturdays I'll have to work, but I'll never have to work on Sunday. He said himself that he doesn't work on Sunday, and that he likes to have it off. Yay!

Hmmm...did I miss anything?

They have an espresso bar, so I'll learn how to make different coffees. :)

If there's bread at the end of the day, I can take a loaf home.  Family & friends get a 20% discount when I'm paying.  If I'm working < 3 hours, I can have a snack like a cookie or something. If I'm working > 3 hours, I can have a sandwich, soup & drink.  Yum!

When we cater events, we get paid more...so it'll be like a mini bonus every once in a while. :)

My commute, isn't really even one. It's only a couple of minutes from my house!

Anyways, if you can't tell, I'm SO EXCITED about this! Looking back I can definitely see God's hand working in all of this.  He is SO GOOD!

Well, if you're ever in the Okanogan area stop in and I'll serve you up a yummy muffin and coffee or something. =)

Sunday

Technically, Sunday is the beginning of the week, but for the sake of '7 days in the life of Kali' (plus the fact that it was an exciting day) here's one more post. =)

Sundays are long. We have to leave the house no later than 7:45 because it takes 45 minutes to get to church (depending on the weather), plus we have to set things up when we get there.  We have Sunday School at 9:30, Morning Service at 11:00 followed by lunch and we usually don't get home until 2:00.

Maggie & I rode with the Majors today, since my parents were picking up Theresa and her kids. 

My mom & I had kids class during the Sunday School hour. I taught on John the Baptist.

During the Morning Service, Maggie, Brother Majors & I sang a special.  We sang 'I Know Who Holds Tomorrow'...great song!  Before the video started Brother Majors mentioned how he kept messing up the beginning of the first and last verse...and what do you know...he did it again! That's the reason for some of the snickers...lol...if you're not familiar with the song you probably wouldn't even notice. =)

The message was really good!  It was about our journey as a Christian. When we get saved we start on a journey. We should be changing, becoming more like Christ. There are many examples in the Bible about those who received God's salvation and then were set on a completely different path in life, and that's exactly how it should be!  As Christians, we are on a journey to Heaven, Holiness, the Harvest and the House of God.

After lunch and cleaning things up at church we made our way to a motel for the use of their indoor swimming pool. Yep, we were going to have another baptism! We met Theresa when we first started the Highway 20 Project. I can't remember exactly when she got saved, but she's been coming to church faithfully the past several weeks and followed the Lord in baptism yesterday! It's so encouraging to see the changes in her life!

After we finished up there, we started to head home...or so we thought!

Head on over the Maggie's blog to read the rest. =)

Saturday

Ahhh...don't you love Saturdays? A day of rest...a day to go do something fun...etc etc etc...=)

Today started off with a delicious breakfast thanks to Maggie!

This afternoon we headed an hour north...not quite to the Canadian border...for a baby shower. We had a fun time and even got to go horseback riding. Raise your hand if you've ever been horseback riding at a baby shower! Haha, that's what I thought! Yeah, it was a first for me too, but SO much fun! I hadn't ridden a horse in years! I'm looking forward to doing it off on a trail sometime!

*Attempting to ride off into the sunset...lol*

The rest of the evening is being spent just relaxing. Yesterday I got this craving for s'mores. Not sure where it came from, but I bought the stuff and we made them tonight! Hehe...

Friday

Today was a slow day, but in a good way.

I didn't have Braxton, but I did get to see his sweet little face when I picked up my paycheck.

My mom & I did some rearranging downstairs. You see...we're excitedly anticipating the arrival of a brother....and NO my mom is not pregnant for those who don't know my family. hehe... I'll save the rest of the details for another post. =)

I went to *Super*Walmart. Yes, I love it! Coming from a small town....and well moving to a smaller town...haha...it's a very special thing. Lol. It's nice to be able to do one-stop shopping!

Tonight, Maggie & I went to the Majors for dinner and a game of Chicken Foot. :)

Oh my goodness...I almost forgot to mention the best part of the day! I decided to call the bakery and see if they received my resume. He said they did and that they had just been talking about calling me to set up a time to get together!  So on Tuesday at 3pm I have lunch and an interview!! Yay!! I'm so excited about this! Honestly, through the whole process of looking for a job I've thought that working in a bakery or even opening a bakery would be so cool! This is the only other 'profession' I could see myself being happy with outside of Administration.  I guess we'll have to wait until next week to see if this is where the Lord wants me!

Thursday

Today was pretty uneventful. 

Braxton came and went without any diaper mishaps. =)

I got a letter from Edward Jones. Since I knew someone in the office, I heard that a letter was coming. She didn't say what it was about, but from my 'experience' with letters I figured it wouldn't be good. But, it was an answer to prayer because I was just asking the Lord to let me know either way...and He did! Obviously that was not where He wanted me, and I'm OK with that. Who knows, maybe this bakery job will work out.

We had Bible Study, continuing in our study of Galatians.  The central theme in Galatians is our liberty in Christ and how Paul was dealing with Judaism (legalism). Something that was brought up again tonight that I really liked was this...If it was our inability to keep the law that condemned us to Hell, then why would we think that our failures could secure our salvation? Think about that one! Salvation is NOT attained through our good works. After all, our inability to be good is why we were condemned in the first place. It's only through the grace of Jesus Christ. Ephesians 2:8,9 says "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast." Praise God for that! I can't imagine trying to 'attain' or even 'keep' my salvation by my works because I fail on a d.a.i.l.y. basis.

After church there was some music practice. Yep, you'll be seeing a video on Sunday. Maggie, Chris & I are singing a special. Sunday is going to be a very exciting day! Now that you've been teased...

See you tomorrow!

Wednesday

The Lord sure does have a sense of humor. I say, "My life isn't that interesting right now." He says, "I'll make it interesting!" :)

Today started off with baking. I got up and decided I wanted to try a recipe I saw on a blog.  Applesauce Breakfast Cake...it was really yummy!

Braxton got here around 10:15 and the day took off from there.

WARNING: If you have a squeamish stomach, skip this section.

~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~

Both yesterday and today, Braxton had many...how do I put this delicately...bowel movements. You're probably wondering why I'm even mentioning this.  Keep reading.  By one o'clock we ran out of diapers. Great! "You're on your last diaper kid. Make it last over the next 2 hours."  I'm sure you won't be surprised when I say that it wasn't long before he 'dirtied' that diaper. Now what? I had to do what I never thought I would do. I cleaned the mess out of the diaper, put a paper towel inside and gave a generous sprinkle of baby powder. Did that last long? Nope. He had a big blowout after that. You've got to be pulling on my leg. (hehe...name that movie) What's a girl to do now???  I pulled a diaper out the the trash and basically washed it with wipes and gave it a very generous dusting of baby powder. Thankfully, that's the diaper he went home in with no more incidents.  Also, I experienced a first today. For the very first time in my history of diaper changing, I got peed on.  It was only my skirt, but it happened. =)

~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~

To those who opted out of the previous section, Welcome back!

After Braxton left, my mom and I headed into town to do some grocery shopping.  Before we went to the store, I had a stop I wanted to make.  If you know me or have been reading my blog for any amount of time, you've probably picked up on the fact that I like to cook/bake and cake decorating is a hobby. So there's a new bakery in town and I've been pondering as to whether or not I should go in and see if they're hiring.  Well, I'm here to say that today I did...and I'm SO glad I did! I took pictures in of most of the cakes I've done, and after talking with the owner it sounds really promising!  While the job wouldn't be only cake (which I'm totally fine with), he liked what he saw and wants to sit down and talk.  I've not been offered a job or anything, but just from our exchange it was really encouraging.  So we'll see what happens! Whether I get this job or the job with Edward Jones or maybe even something else, all I want is the job the Lord wants me to be at.  But I have to say I'm excited about the possibility! 

Now, I bid you goodnight. I'm going to go enjoy a delicious, warm, gooey oatmeal chocolate chip cookie!

Tuesday

If you haven't caught on yet, I plan on posting every day this week with the happenings in my life. It'll either be interesting or boring, I make no promises. Like I mentioned in a previous post, I feel the need to blog but I don't really know what to blog about and there's not been much going on. So I thought I'd let you all have a sneak peak into my *exciting* daily life!  Feel free to hit the red X at the top right hand corner of the screen at any time. ;)

Today was a day with Braxton. On a normal day with him he's here from 10:30-3:15. Today his mom worked more hours so I had him from 7:45-5:15. So naturally I had to get up at o-dark-thirty which I'm not a fan of, but it's worth it if it means I get to spend time with that little cutie! Have I mentioned I'm not a morning person? Those who know me will attest to that with both hands raised! haha...

Let's see...what did we do today? Probably an hour after he got here he went down for a nap and I was right along side him because I wasn't feeling too well. (Praise the Lord I'm feeling better now!) I won't say how long we slept. Ahem...=)  After that it pretty much went like this...eat lunch, poop, play, eat some snacks, poop, play, eat dinner, poop, play.  Lol, I'm not exaggerating when I say this...those who have kids or have ever watched them will say it's true.  Usually there's another nap in there, but alas it was not meant to be today. 

Braxton turned 10 months old this weekend, and is busier than ever.  He's walking all over the place now, which means I'm constantly on his heels trying to keep him out of stuff or away from the fireplace! Ahh!  He's talking more and more each day and is such a joy to have!  It makes me think of the day *Lord willing* when it'll be my own kids I'm chasing around.  Can't wait!

After he left I got started on dinner.  Potato soup was on the menu. A friend mentioned doing potato soup with roasted potatoes and I thought that sounded delicious, so trusty, old Google helped me find a recipe.  The recipe I tried is from Allrecipes...Roasted Garlic Potato Soup  It had really good flavor, but was THICK.  If you decide to give it a try, I recommend adding more milk than it calls for. I didn't, but definitely will if I ever make it again.

One more thing...I learned a very valuable lesson tonight.  When the oven has been roasting potatoes, cooking anything really, for any amount of time at a very high temperature....DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT have your face right there when you open the oven door.  VERY hot steam comes pouring out of the oven and it H.U.R.T.S! I'm ok now, but it seriously was stinging! I hope you all learn from my mistake. :)

Ok...that's all I have for Tuesday...see you back here tomorrow!

Monday

Today was (and continues to be) a good day! 
The sun was shining,
the snow is melting (for now!),
I made crepes with ham and egg inside for lunch *yum*,

played the piano for a bit,

plus I did some laundry...there's nothing like fresh sheets!...and other various things. :)

Now, it's time to head upstairs and get dinner going so it'll be ready by the time Maggie gets off work...Sour Cream Enchiladas! *drool*

Chocolate!

A while back I bought this...

Today, I finally had the opportunity to use it with these...

One word to describe these...Delicious! The frosting was a new recipe, and definitely a hit! The carrier made it so much easier transporting.  No worries about smooshed cupcakes here!

At a loss....

Have you ever found yourself in this situation? At a loss for words?  I have this urge to blog...but I don't know what to blog about. I guess I can bore share with you some random facts...

• My interview went really well! They seemed to like me, but from what I understand Headquarters makes the final decision.  Now it's the waiting game. :)
• Braxton is walking more and more each day!
• Selena is pregnant...due in June!
• We've had a burn ban for the past 2 nights, and will hopefully be able to have a fire tomorrow morning.  Something about the way the atmosphere is and the smoke will linger...blah blah blah...it's cold in here and that's all I'm concerned about! ;o)
• I've been Scripture writing and really enjoy it!
• The youth group from BBC will be coming in February for Winter Retreat!  We are very excited about this! =)
• I feel like baking...maybe I'll try a new scone recipe I received in an e-mail today.  If it's good I'll share it!

Later that evening...:)

Yum! Glazed Cinnamon-Sugar Scones

2010: At A Glance

 I can't believe the year is coming to a close already!  It sure has been a busy one. I thought I would go through and highlight *some* of the things that have happened this year! I had fun reminiscing, I hope you enjoy it too!

*Note* Each description is a link to the post, just in case you missed it the first time around. :)

Jan ~ Rang in the New Year with friends!

Feb ~ 2010 Sweetheart Banquet 

Unfortunately, I never did an actual post for the SB.  Here's a link to Carolyn's!

March ~ We found our house!

April ~ I housesat for the Majors...haha

May ~ Our house sold after being on the market 1 1/2 weeks!

June ~ SPG's went to LTIA in DC

June/July ~ We moved!!

Aug ~ Surprise Visit to Oak Harbor

Sept ~ Went exploring

Oct ~ Started babysitting Braxton

Nov ~ First snow of the year

Dec ~ Christmas with family & friends

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Christmas

We spent Christmas at home this year, and had an amazing time!  Josh got to come home, and we had surprise guests - the Rawls family! It was such a blessing to spend time with friends and family, and most importantly reflect on the whole reason we celebrate this time of year - Christ's birth!  The love shared by friends and family was overwhelming, but the love shared by Christ is even more so.  I do not, nor will ever, deserve His love, but praise the Lord He gives it to us anyways!  

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas! 

The first time our stockings have ever hung from a mantle. :)

A beautiful table arrangement 'picked out' by Braxton!

New game - Headbanz!  You ask everyone questions, trying to figure out what your card is. It's so much fun!

Haha...this is perfect for Chris!

Friends!

An Interview!

That's right people!  I have an interview set the for the 29th.  I'm so excited! The position is an on-call BOA (Branch Office Administrator) with Edward Jones. 

There are two ladies I know who work for the EJ office here.  A month ago, one of them told me that the company was only doing in-company referrals and that if I sent her my resume and cover letter she would make a referral.  So I sent her and the other lady my stuff hoping that 2 referrals would increase my chances! I soon received an e-mail that headquarters requested my resume and I should be getting a call soon.  The call never came.  I heard they might be looking for an on-call BOA, but they never had any positions open online, so I just kept trusting that if this was the job the Lord wanted me to have He would open it up.  That brings me to this morning.  My phone rang [I may or may not have still been in bed ;)] and it was an unfamiliar number.  I answered and was soon greeted by my friend at EJ asking if I would like to come in for an interview next week!  I can't tell you how excited I am about this possible opportunity. Even though it's probably a very part time position, it'll get my foot in the door and hopefully lead the way to a more full time position!

So that's my story for today. :) 

Interview...
Edward Jones...
Wednesday, the 29th...
11 am...

Your prayers are much appreciated!

Can I Just Say?

I'm so jealous of the SPG's right now! They're at Handel's Messiah.  I'm listening to my CD, but it's just not the same when you know that someone is there LIVE!  Oh well... :)

Last year...

The "Jesse Wall"

The first time we saw this house there was something about my {future} room that was a bit of a mystery.  Hidden behind the current room dwellers furniture was a mural of some sorts.  We couldn't quite tell what it was, except for the fact that bricks were involved. =) 

When we moved in we saw just exactly what it was...something I fondly refer to as the "Jesse wall"!  

Needless to say, it was going to be painted over. I thought about changing my name to Jesse and leaving it, but I'm kinda partial to my own name! Some even suggested that maybe it was God's way of telling me that my future husband's name is Jesse...haha...we'll see! Anyways, it took 4 coats of primer and then a coat of the actual color I painted my room! This was all done in one day too!  You see, this fact alone is amazing to me, because if we were in Oak Harbor it would have taken a week with a coat a day. But, we had the blessing (?) of HOT weather so it dried very quickly!

Here are pictures of my room after the paint job. You can also see pictures of the rest of our house on Maggie's blog if you haven't already.

I love having curtains on my closet!

What used to be the "Jesse wall"

One more thing...Braxton wants to say hi...d.
a
//zcfwwmmmmmmmmmmmmmm ...dm ,, wl,

g oml

Friends for the weekend!

This past weekend the Majors' went to Wyoming to present the ministry, and the Geist family came for a visit!  We had such a wonderful time!

Brother Geist preached Sunday on the topic of John 3:16.  He started by showing us the bigger picture of things - the book, the human writer, who was speaking in that verse, and who it was being spoken to. Then he zeroed in on the verse....it was amazing! Hopefully we'll get it up on our website, so you can listen to it!

Abby & Becky did an instrumental special which was really good, and Becky even played the flute while I played piano for the singing...it was really nice! Us girls had lots of fun and shared many laughs Sunday afternoon/evening as we played several different games and ate sour skittles. =)

The trip was too short, but so much fun!  I can't tell you how nice it is to see and fellowship with friends from BBC.

We also got a fresh layer of snow just in time for their arrival!  We got about 6 inches here, but over in Twisp they got 1 1/2 to 2 feet of snow!  It was insane!  We {and when I say we, I mean my dad!} had to unbury the steps leading to the grange hall, and even go shovel a pathway for Ruth to get out of her house! 

Lastly, I'll leave you with a picture of the car next to the grange hall so you can get a taste of how much snow we're talking about!  {haha...some people probably think I'm silly making such a big deal about the snow, but you have to remember that I used to live on an island where we didn't get much snow. even if we did get snow, it sure didn't last very long ;)}

Super Cute!

This little girl is SO cute, and she does a great job telling about Jonah!

The story of Jonah from Corinth Baptist Church on Vimeo.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

I love this time of year!

Saturday we went to the top of the Loup and got a Christmas tree. That was quite an experience! We usually get our tree from a store...only once can I remember actually cutting one from a Christmas tree farm. It's a whole new experience when you go tromping through the woods in at least a foot of snow! Our tree isn't as full as we usually have, but I love it! 

Some of my favorite decorations...

Don't you just love Willow Tree?  Some day I hope to get the actual Nativity.

Hehe...I bought this for an SPS one year and it never quite made it to her. =)

I love these!  [Thanks, Alyssa!]

Christmas lights...

Snow...snow...snow...snow!

It started snowing again last night and it's still snowing!

How much snow all depends on where you measure...this was in the yard.

Max likes to eat the snow. =)

White Christmas...ahh the classics!

Thanksgiving!

Today was a first in our family.  Believe it or not, this was the very first time we've EVER had Thanksgiving at home!  We usually spend in with my dad's side of the family, and have on occasion spent it with my mom's side. 

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with family (Josh, my Grandma and her husband, Don) & friends (Majors)!  I ate entirely too much food today, but it sure was delicious! We spent the rest of the evening enjoying each other's company and playing games, whether it was the Wii or a game of 10,000.

I sure am a blessed girl.  There are so many things I am thankful for - my salvation, my family, my friends, my church, etc etc etc.  I could go on and on, but I won't.  But, before the night is over I do want to wish each and every person reading this a very Happy Thanksgiving!  May we be thankful for the Lord's many blessings EVERY DAY!!!

1Chronicles 16:8 ~ Give thanks unto the LORD, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the people.

The 'Kids Table'  =)

<3 Family <3

**For Laughs**

I just read this in an e-mail and had to add it!

May your stuffing be tasty,

May your turkey be plump.

May your potatoes 'n gravy have nary a lump.
May your yams be delicious.
May your pies take the prize,
May your Thanksgiving dinner stay off of your thighs!!