Prayer Request

OK so i know i don't blog much but i read everybody's at least once or twice a week. I love hearing what is going on with my friends and their families.

I need prayers though for a several things:

1: I found out on Tuesday that i have hypothyroidism and started a thyroid med on Wednesday. Please pray that it works well for me and that i start to feel better soon without side effects.

2: I just got a call today from our cable company with a threat to cancel service because i was 2 months behind....I swear i made the payment and even marked it as paid on my bill spreadsheet but I have no record of a payment and neither do they so alas I have to pay it still. So i paid last month's bill today and will pay Nov.'s bill out of the money I get for watching baby Johnny. Problem is due to the computer crash we are already dipping into that money to make ends meet so i am not sure we will have any left over for Christmas presents plus we have to make our van payment late again since Johnny's money doesn't come in till the 2ND or 3rd and rent is due on the 1st and we have to pay that on time so the van gets paid late. So if you have any money laying around that your not using...i would be happy to take it off your hands....LOL!

3: I am having a really hard time lately with money(or lack there of actually). If we could get a head a bit and get stocked up on food and gas then we could be fine but we got behind due to some new bills when we moved and we just haven't got caught up again so we are always using bill money for household stuff and having to push bills off so we are always a week behind. Food is getting pretty scarce in our house and it makes me sick. We need help and have nowhere to turn. I am stressing so bad about how we are going to make it once i stop watching Johnny. As of Dec. 21st he can go to the daycare where his brother goes so i will get one last paycheck in January and then no more. Plus in June I have to start paying on my loans again and i know i am jumping way into the future but i have to keep it in my head so i remember to start planning for it. So please pray that God continue to give us financial provisions and help us to learn to spend way less and save on what we do spend so we can get more for our money. Which leads me to my next stress.

4: Brad is still laid off. The hospital job was supposed to start in October but was running behind so we thought November and then this month when Brad called the union rep he said they still weren't calling out guys and then at the end of the conversation he told brad to have a good holiday season as if there won't be any work till after the first of the year. We really can't afford for Brad to work anywhere else. He would have to find a job that pays a minimum of $18.50/hr with really good benefits. And that wouldn't put us ahead at all that would just keep things the way they are now. And he is very adamant that he does not want me going back to work until Ethan is in school because the cost of daycare would make my take home next to nothing which is why i quit working in the first place. The union (when he is working) pays so good and their benefits are awesome and that is the only way we are going to get ahead and actually save money. So please pray for Brad to get back to work with the Union REALLY soon.

5: And last prayer request......We just found out yesterday that Brad's insurance has expired. We are very grateful that it lasted as long as it did but with my new diagnosis and having to have blood work periodically, I am worried about getting our clinic bill too high and having them increase our bill. So please pray that Brad and I stay as healthy as possible and that he again gets back to work soon so that the insurance can start up again. The boys are covered by Molina so i am not too worried about them but Brad and I are not so we really need his insurance.

OK so I think that is the last of my vents. I feel as though i am sinking in a sea of stress and have been having some serious anxiety moments and need all the prayers i can get. So please pray that i am able to emotionally get through this as I can't afford to go back on my antidepressants and seriously worry about a mental breakdown happening. Please pray that Brad gets back to work soon so we can get caught up on bills and food. Please pray that God continues to provide financial provisions so that we don't get further behind. And please pray for my health as well as Brads. Please pray that everything with my thyroid condition improves with this medication and that i don't have side effects from the medication.

P.S. For those of you who are really good at getting lots of food for next to nothing....(you know who you are ;-) Please I would love to know how to do it and how to get started.

Update

Ok so i know i don't blog much anymore but i am on almost daily checking to see what other people are blogging. I love hearing about what is going on in other people's homes.

As for us....well we are all getting over a round of flu i think. I started with a sinus infection and then I think Cameron came down with the flu first with me following closely behind. Then Ethan came down with it and last but not least Brad is now 3 days into it and I am hoping he is almost done with it. I hate how little Ethan is because his poor little body just can't handle illness as well as Cameron. So Ethan was very feverish, lethargic, and his eyes got all red and puffy and he just looked so sick. He is still very tired and sleeping a lot but he's felt cool to the touch since yesterday afternoon so I am hoping the fever is done and now we just have to deal with all of us having a residual cough. ( I hate the non productive coughs that just last and last and last!)

Brad is still laid off which has been enjoyable getting to spend so much time together but I am still hoping the union will pick up soon. But life is ok right now. I really need to find a way to de-stress though. I feel like i am constantly stressed to the max and not sure what is causing it. But it is interfering with my happiness, my weight, my headaches, etc. So that is my goal is to take some time each day to focus on de-stressing. I want to get back to enjoying each and every minute I have with the boys and Brad. I want to get back to focusing on my growing relationship with God too. I have really let that slack and it has been bothering me a lot lately. I also want Cameron to continue to learn and grow his relationship too.

Well that is all I have for now. My wrist has been hurting for the past couple days and is hurting more and more as I type so I am going to go rest it.

For those of you who have inquired about my uncle, we do not know cause of death yet. We had a graveside service for him Oct. 5th with close family and friends. It was beautiful. They had a gun salute, a trumpet player played taps, Pastor Tim Wilbur did the service (he's the pastor that married Brad and I and he also did my dad's funeral) and I did okay through all of it until the end when the honor guard unfolded, presented the flag, refolded it and presented it to my Uncle Don and then I lost it. It's like it finalized something in my head and the tears started streaming. But the service was so beautiful and it was so nice to see how many people loved my Uncle Hal that i didn't even know. However, the coroner put on the death certificate that COD was pending meaning there was no clear cut cause for his death and that they had to send off tissue and blood samples for testing to see if they can find the cause of death but it may take 4-6 weeks to hear anything so we are all still waiting. So please pray for a speedy answer on that.

I hope you are all enjoying life and your family and that you are all healthy and flu bug free! Until next time.....TTFN

Prayer Request

I am asking for prayer requests from all our friends. Please pray that our family stay strong and lean on each other for support. We found out this morning that my Uncle Hal was found dead in his house last night around midnight. This is a huge blow as he wasn't sick other than dealing with his diabetes. The coroner is out of town till thursday so we won't know cause of death till then which makes it even harder. So please pray for us to stay strong.

I am trying to stay strong escpecially since tomorrow is Cameron's birthday and I don't want him to have a sad day. So I am strapping on a smile and hiding away my tears until I am away from him. I know we will get through this but it hurts so tremendously bad. Your prayers and thoughts are appreciated. Thank you in advance.

Oven Fried Chicken....

I made some really yummy chicken last night for dinner with my mom and stepdad. I am really enjoying being able to cook in my own kitchen again. So Sunday night I made turkey roast, stuffing, and corn on the cob. YUM-O! And last night i made Oven Fried Chicken, Mashed potatoes, gravy and butternut squash. It was so yummy. I decided to post about this so that I can have the recipe saved until I can get a recipe book started. SO you can try the recipe if you want or just disregard this posting....it's mainly for my own knowledge/use anyway. I will post more about the apartment when i have a camera that can take some pics to share. TTFN

Oven Fried Chicken

12 Chicken Legs-skinned
Milk for soaking
1c Bread Crumbs (i used garlic & herb progresso bread crumbs)
2/3c Parmesan Cheese
2T Parsley Flakes (i didn't use these because of the herbs in the bread crumbs already)
1/2t pepper

Place chicken in a shallow pan and pour in enough milk to cover. Let soak 15mins.
Dip chicken in breading mix. Coat on all sides.
Put chicken on baking sheet and lightly spray chicken with vegetable oil spray.
Bake at 375 for 45-65 mins or until internal temperature reaches 180.

This chicken was really good and didn't need any extra salt or anything to dip it in. It was really tasty.

Getting close and overwhelming...

The first of the month is fast approaching. We are so excited to be moving and yet the task of actually moving is so overwhelming. There is so much to do. We don't actually have a lot of packing to do but we have a ton of moving to do. Most all of our stuff is in storage so we have to move what we do have here and then empty out storage. We will still have a storage but we should be able to downsize so we will have to empty the current storage unit. Also all of our dishes and pots and pans are at the back of storage so we will have to dig back there anyway just to get the duplex functional.Ugh. It seems like such a monumental task. My husband is the best though because he plans on doing most of the loading and unloading I just have to unpack most everything. I get out of the loading and unloading because i started watching a 7mo on monday and will watch him full time till the end of the year when he can go to the daycare that his big brother attends. So it works out in my advantage...I get to make money babysitting and I get out of the hard part of the move. Yeah me! LOL

We are heading to republic tonight since this is the last weekend we will get to get out of town for awhile due to Cameron starting school. We got his paperwork on monday and his teacher is going to be Mrs. Lake. We also found out that Brad's stepsister Lisa is going to be a para pro in that class so I am curious to see how that will go. I am hoping that it won't be a distraction to Cameron or that he won't cause a distraction because of her. So we will see on that.

However, us going out of town means that we come home sunday and it's balls to the wall (sorry for the expression. LOL) to get things ready to move monday night, tuesday at 8am we do the walk through, pay first and last, and get the keys and then we can start moving in and our goal is to have it functional enough for us to stay there tuesday night. Cameron starts school wednesday but luckily him, and us go to the school on wednesday to meet one on one with his teacher and then he doesn't go a full day till friday and then will start full time after labor day so it allows lots of time getting the duplex set up before he actually starts full time.

I would like to ask for prayers that this move along with starting school all at the same time isn't too hard on Cameron and that Ethan handles brother going to school well and the move is fairly easy on him too. Oh and that the move doesn't throw baby johnny off too bad either.

Oh and please pray for safe travel to and from republic.

We may not have tv/internet right away after we move so unless I can steal a wireless signal it may be a little bit before I update again. So take care and be safe. TTFN

Praise is in order!!!!!!

Thanks be to God!!!

We got approved for the duplex. We will be getting one of the freshly remodeled ones so it will be all clean. We are super excited. We should be getting to move in by the end of the month which is nice because it gives us more time to save up money. And the duplex is in the Washington Elementary School Zone which makes me very happy because that is where we wanted Cameron to go to school so that made me very happy too. So hopefully we will find out in the next week or so exactly when we can expect the remodel to be finished so we can move in.

Also Brad's unemployment (based off of Tri-con employment) ran out this week so he opened a new claim (based of the union employment) and was approved for 26 weeks of unemployment plus at the end of that time, he will qualify for an extension which means we for sure will continue getting unemployment and that if he gets laid off again we will for sure have unemployment for up to 52+ weeks. That was a huge stress relief.

So we are very thankful tonight for everyone who prayed for us and especially God's provisions.

I admit that I strayed from my walk with Jesus after getting hurt feelings last year it has taken a long time to get back to it and I feel that a lot of the things that happened to us was God's way of trying to open my eyes to my actions and get back on track. Unfortunately it has taken quite a while but I am focused on getting back to learning to walk with Jesus and to know God and it's amazing what faith, listening, love and prayer can do. I feel so hopeful that things will continue to look up for us. I am proud of myself that as the good news came in today i immediately thanked God for his help rather than either not thanking him or thanking him but at the same time asking for more help. Today though....I simply thanked him. And you know what? It felt GOOD!!!!!

But............................as much goodness as there was today, we also got some kinda scary news and need prayers...and lots of them. So please pray for my family. I cannot give details but would appreciate your prayers that my family member who got some scary news will come through this hard time with a happy/healthy outcome. (I know it is probably annoying that i am not sharing more details but they have asked that I not tell anyone and so I am not sharing who or exactly what.)

So please say thanks to God for his provisions both in the way of shelter and income and please pray that my family member be ok. Thank you for all your support, love, encouragement, friendship, thoughts and prayers.

Nervous

So today is the day we can call and hopefully find out if our screening cleared and if we get one of the duplexes. I am very nervous. I really don't want a no. I want one of these places so bad. They are perfect for what we are looking for and how much we can afford. So please pray that when Brad calls, we get a yes. In the perfect scenario, we would not only get a yes but would get to move in in the next 2 weeks and only have to give the $400 deposit and first month's rent. That way we can use the rest of the money we have saved up to pay off the PUD so that we can get it put in our name again. Plus we might just be able to get local tel hooked up if that's the case otherwise we may have to go for a little while with no tv or internet. But look at me i am getting ahead of myself again. Right now I just need to hear a yes. SO please pray for this if it is meant to be. Thank you.