Changes...

Ever since Aaron and I have been married, we've only had 1 car. We just haven't been able to afford to get another one. So, we've always just delt with it. For a while, we were both working at Olan Mills, and he was at a permanent studio in Banning, and I was training at various studios in our district. So I would just drop Aaron off at work in the morning, and go to the studio I was working at, and then I'd pick him up after work and we'd go home. Then I got pregnant and was horribly sick and couldn't train anymore... and Aaron got promoted to a mobile studio... so I took over Aaron's studio in Banning and he traveled. So, the roles reversed... he dropped me off, etc... Well, one thing after another, we quit Olan Mills, and there were issues with our car... so Aaron found a job locally so he could walk to work. Then we got our car back, and he got laid off. Then he found a job in Moreno Valley as a cashier at Chick-fil-A. It's about a half an hour away... so the whole dropping him off thing wouldn't work. So every day, Aaron leaves for work and is gone with the car for about 10+ hours, and I am home with Connor. We've been fine with this for the past 7 months. My parents and sisters are close, so if we ever need anything, they're always there for us. Well... our car died. That was horrible. He was going to take the bus to work, but the bus system stops running at 6:30pm on his route, and he usually gets off at 10:30pm. So my wonderful parents drove Aaron to work and back every day for a few weeks. Then we were SOOO lucky and found a lady who was selling her late husbands car, for VERY VERY cheap (way below what she should have charged) because she just wanted to get rid of it. So YAY!! We were back with a car. And then, a few weeks later, Aaron and a guy from church were able to fix our other car for $40 when we were told it'd be $1500 at the shop (LOTS of labor time into fixing it!). Sooooo... this is the FIRST time that we have had TWO cars!!! It's such a different experience, being about to actually go grocery shopping during the afternoon, and not have to hurry and get out in the morning before Aaron goes to work! :)

Since we have two cars now, I decided that I would try to find a babysitting job. In my head, I thought up the perfect job. I wanted to find a job that was local. I wanted to find a job where I could bring Connor with me. I thought it'd be great if I could find a job where there was a kid that was Connor's age. I wanted to work between 25-35 hours a week. And I wanted decent pay. So, I went about all my ways, trying to find something. I went on all the normal nanny sites I've used before... but nothing was coming up. So, I figured I'd put a little ad on craigslist and see if I could get anything from there. I had a few people write me, but nothing came of it.

This Sunday, we had Stake Conference. There were three main topics that stuck out to me.


#1 Get an education


#2 Get out of debt


#3 Get your year supply of food storage



1. Aaron's been talking about going to school for a VERY long time. He wants to go to school and become and LVN. He's been looking into schools, programs, grants & loans. But... no matter what, we have to have money. Not everything can be covered even if he gets a grant. We make enough money at Aaron's current job to pay bills and everything, but there's nothing extra for school. So we were at a standstill on that subject.


2. We are lucky enough to not be in any debt


3. We don't have a year supply... but we do have a supply. We sort of came to a "we have no money" standstill on that subject to.



Another thing that was said during conference was that if you want these things to happen, that you need to make sacrifices. It's not going to come easy to you. You need to work for it. So with that being said, I made a decision... I needed to find a babysitting job. I would love it if my photography was making me millions, but it's not. And I needed steady money coming in, not money here and there from photo shoots. So, I continued my pursuit. With becoming night manager, Aaron talked to his boss, and if he can commit to 2-10:30pm at work, his boss will only schedule him then, so that he can go to school in the mornings. I wouldn't even consider asking Aaron to find a second job. He wouldn't be able to function. So... I went on my pursuit.



What I think is the most awesome thing though, is that Heavenly Father knows EXACTLY what he's doing. He's no dumby. What I was looking for in a job... that's not what I got. I did get a few aspects of it, but not what I was thinking.

I went on the interview this afternoon at 3:30pm... I spoke with the dad & daughter (they're divorced and the dad was hiring the sitter, not the mom). The interview went very well and he said that he'd like to talk with the girls mom and if I could call him at 6pm that would be great. So I thought/prayed about it for the next 2 hours, and when I called him at 6... he hired me and asked if I could start tomorrow :)


-It's only 3 hours a day, from 2:30-5:30... Tuesday through Friday (there will sometimes be more hours here and there, but for the most... 12 hours a week)

- They are only 5 minutes from my house

- I am able to bring Connor with me

- It's only one little girl, who is 9 years old

- It's decent money :)

Totally not what I was looking for... but I prayed for a job that will help to have enough money for Aaron to go to school & enough money to get our 1 year supply of food storage... and that's exactly what I got. No more... No less! The man told me that he's been looking at Craigslist nanny ads for a while now and nothing seemed to pop out at him, but he came across my ad, and e-mailed me right away.


So wish us luck on our new adventure. Lots of changes are coming our way!

I laughed... Connor cried...

Today my mom, sister, Connor & I went shopping. While we were out, we decided to stop in at a Halloween store. Bethany and I thought it would be fun to try on some of the masks. As we put them on, Connor was getting a little uneasy. He wasn't sure what the heck we were putting on our faces. We tried everything from werewolf's, scream masks, freaky clowns with scary teeth, zombie babies, etc... and Connor seemed a little scared, but kind of intrigued also. But then Bethany found and tried on an Obama mask, and Connor screamed, started crying & shaking/flailing his arms (terrified) & ran away from her.

He scares me to Connor...