Goodbye LSU!

Today is officially my last day at LSU. It has been a very fulfilling 10 1/2 years working there (2 years as a student worker and 8 1/2 years full-time). I have worked under 3 different managers and with hundreds of different people. My first few years included working (and living) with my older sister Candi, just 1 cube over. I learned a lot from her about HTML and Lotus Notes. People always wondered how we could work together and live together, but we're just close that way. Then in 2003, she left me to have all my nephews and nieces, which was just fine with me... you know I wouldn't trade those kids for anything! Then in 2006, my younger sister, Sara, started working in our office. It was fun to have a good friend at work again. We lived together too, just like Candi & I did. Those were fun times! Then of course, I got married in December of 2007 and moved to Mississippi. Since then, I have been very blessed to be able to continue working (via telecommuting) for LSU. Thanks to my great manager, Robin, who always fought for my job! But as of 4:30 pm, I am no longer employed by the great Louisiana State University... Geaux Tigers! I hope that Sara will continue the "Stanford" legacy at LSU. FYI... My mom worked at LSU for about 25 years.

I am looking forward to what God has planned for me in my new job, as well as my duties as a wife and mother (in the near future hopefully!).

Prayer Request

At the end of last year, I asked for prayer regarding my job situation. God was faithful and provided for us by allowing me to work for LSU full-time another 6 months. However, we are now at a crossroads again. My LSU contract is up on June 30th and is not being extended. I officially gave my resignation today. It feels like the end of an era for me, having worked there for over 10 years. It has been an emotional rollercoaster of sorts. However, I am sure that God has a plan for me & my job and He has been faithful (and will continue to be faithful) to take care of us financially.

As it was 6 months ago, I currently have 2 prospective job opportunities. And also, as it was 6 months ago, they are eerily similar. There is a job opening at church for the Children's Ministry assistant. I would work with the Children's Ministry assisting with many secretarial duties in that department and working with the children, of course. And you know how much I love kids, so I think this would be a good fit for me. The job would be 32 hours/week, which is considered full-time so I would receive benefits. I have an interview with the Children's Minister and the Children's Ministry Associate tomorrow morning at 10 am. So just pray that everything will go well (I hate interviews, by the way!). However, I know both of them fairly well, so hopefully I won't be too nervous.

The other job prospect is with a company called Team Halo. The owners of this company are the same people that own Fox Web Co, the company I've been doing work on the side for. I met with them last Friday and they presented a new opportunity to work with them as a personal assistant. They do a lot of public speaking for marketing consulting and are starting to focus mainly on that. This job would entail a lot of administrative work... keeping calendars, travel arrangements, putting together packets, etc... and I would also be the Website admin for their site, halobusiness.com. This job would be a salaried position and the work hours would be flexible, especially since Andy & Marianna travel a lot. I would also be able to continue to work from home (a great perk in itself)!

Please pray for Eric & I as we make this decision in the next month or so. I don't want to rush into anything because we feel the pressure financially. I just want to allow God to work through this situation and allow us to make the right decision. Thank you for your prayers and support, as always!

Party Pics from Levi & Micah's party

Here are a few pictures from Levi & Micah's
birthday party last Saturday.

Levi NOT blowing out his candle...
I think he was just mesmerized by it.
I ended up helping him a little bit.

Micah licking her lips...
or making a pucker face b/c of the lemon icing.

Micah finally digging into her cake.

About as messy as she got...

Sara with her little friends... Hannah and Miriam.

Levi opening his present from Eric & me.

Levi's name stool

A tired Levi Bevi...

Cameron helping to open Levi's presents...
since he was too tired.

Princess Miriam

Cute cheesy smile

Another...

Miriam & Aunt Sara

The birthday girl

The birthday boy

Miriam & Micah

Levi & Miriam sitting on Levi's new name stool

Luke

I realized at the end of the day that I didn't get any pictures of Cameron (except the one of him helping to open Levi's presents). I took this one of Luke close to the end of the day because I realized I hadn't taken any of him either. They are always too busy playing.

Wordless Wednesdays > Just for Levi...

Candi posted on my earlier Wordless Wednesday post that Levi wanted to know where his picture was. WELL.... I didn't get any good ones of him because he kept putting his hands in the way. Here they are though... just for Levi!

He's still a cutie even if you can't see his whole face!
Gotta love those blue eyes.

Singalong

Download Phil Wickham's new album, "Singalong"
FREE from his Web site!



http://philwickham.com/singalong/

Wordless Wednesdays > My girlie girlie

John Piper's response to President Obama's statements regarding abortion

A clip of John Piper responding to President Obama’s statement that abortion protects women and freedom, and that it’s a private matter:



View the manuscript here

2009 Churchmen Spring Tour

Monday & Tuesday was the Mississippi Singing Churchmen Spring Tour. Eric & I drove to Columbus, MS on Monday morning. They had rehearsal from 1 - 5 pm at Mt. Zion Baptist Church in Columbus. The church fed us dinner and the concert was at 7 pm Monday night. It was really great and they had a fantastic turnout. Here are a few pictures from Monday night. They aren't great because I didn't want to use a flash. But you can see Eric singing his heart out right in the middle :)


Tuesday morning, we drove over to Houston, MS for a concert at First Baptist. The concert was at noon and the church fed us lunch afterward. After lunch, we drove up to Oxford and had coffee with a few other guys in the churchmen, Joey Williams & Steve Reynolds. Joey is one of Eric's good friends from when he was in Natchez. I didn't get any pictures of them together... I'm slacking!

Last night was a concert at Anchor Baptist Church in Water Valley, MS. The church was pretty much in the middle of nowhere. But everyone was really nice there. They fed us dinner at 5:30 and the concert was at 7 pm. Here's a few pics from last night.


After the concert, we had a 2 1/2 hour drive back home. We had a great time seeing everyone again. And each concert was a great time of praise & worship. And although it is always alot of driving, I do enjoy getting to go to all the little towns in Mississippi that I would otherwise never see. It really is a beautiful state and has a bunch of cute little towns. Can't wait until Fall Tour... I think it will be on the coast! Yay for the beach :)

Wordless Wednesdays > My GQ Man

Our new grill!

Yesterday, Eric went to Home Depot and bought a grill! We've been wanting one for awhile but were waiting until the weather got warmer (and when we had some money). We got it pre-assembled at the HD, but really only because it's the only one they had... but I think it was worth it. It would've been annoying to put all those screws in. Anyway, to break it in, Eric bought us steaks to eat. He bought a filet for me (my favorite!) and a NY Strip for him. They were yummy yummy (even with my mouth half numb from the dentist). We ate the steaks with baked sweet potatoes and caesar salad.

Here's a few pics:

Our Char-Broil Silver Smoker

Eric's new toy :)

Eric lighting the charcoal

Our steaks marinated and seasoned

Eric putting the steaks on the grill

Just getting started...

Our yummy steaks!

I didn't get a picture of our whole meal. We were too hungry and ready to eat. Oh well. It was good though!

My loves...

Last week, we were in Baton Rouge because I had a training class at work Thursday & Friday. While we were there, we had jambalaya at my parents' house and I actually got a picture of all my nephews and nieces :) I hate being away from them so much. They grow way too fast!

All my loves...

Luke (6)

Cameron (4)

Miriam (3)

Levi (almost 2)

Micah (10 mo)

And last, but certainly not least...

Eric (31)

I had to put his age because he's 6 months older than me ;)

Roses

I was surprised when my husband came in from work this afternoon. He had an arm full of roses for me. How sweet!



Pretty :)

Happy Birthday Grasshopper!

This is my favorite video ever of Luke!
The quality isn't great... but it still makes me laugh :)

Luke about 1 year old


Happy Birthday Grasshopper! I can't believe you're 6 already.

Darth Vader piñata

The birthday girl



The birthday boy



Cameron Bob

My girlie girlie...

I can't resist that face!
(Just ask Eric...)

Wordless Wednesdays > Black birds...

or not so wordless...

I looked out of our kitchen window and saw hundreds of these black birds.

I wonder where they all came from?!?

Wordless Wednesdays > The Busby Brothers

Eric, David, Charlie & Billy