Playing Ketchup...Feb & March Excitement.

Well, it's been a while since I've posted anything substantial...or at all really.  I've been kind of dumpy to say the least.  Not so much depressed, just a little unhappy with things.  So, here is what we've been up to lately!

On February 2nd, our besterest friends had a beautiful little boy....We drove up to Nashville that afternoon and saw the little booger just as they were bringing him in to see his Mommy for the first time.  What an amazing sight to see!!!  This couple struggled quietly with infertility for years.  We never knew it.  

We'd ask when they were going to have children and they always said, "Eventually".  Looking back on it, I'm amazed that Ashley kept it together like she did.  Going through what we went through ONCE, I can't imagine being her and dealing with the miscarriages, the treatments, the stress, the loss....it's one more reason I have SO much respect for her and for her husband, Drew.  

Larkin being adorable!

The sweet thing is that this is their SECOND baby in two years.  :)  Larkin was born in 2008 and on her first birthday, they decided to start trying again (with help) because it took them SO long to conceive with Larkin.  The doc gave Ash a 7% chance of getting pregnant again.  First month of clomid and what do you know?  They were pregnant!  :)  This little boy is precious to say the least.  ((pictures are still on the camera unfortunately!)

This couple is "related" to us through my husband, Rik.  He and Drew were born living across the street from one another and lived there until they went off to college.  They've been best friends since before they even remember!  There are some of the cutest photos of them at 2 years old in leisure suits that have to be the cutest things ever.  

Drew, Ashley, Me, Rik

Anywho, we get to the hospital and Drew starts running down the stats of the baby and when they get to the name, we all thought we KNEW the name...until he said, "Miller Rik".  All I could do was look at Rik......the sweet man...his face lit up like a Christmas tree, he turned allllll red, his eyes filled up with tears and he looked like he was going to start jumping up and down!  I can't even begin to tell you how much it meant to Rik that his best friend would name his first-born son after him.  We had NO idea...we thought they were using "Andrew" (which will be our son's name and we were bummed they were going to use it!)...Boy! Were we surprised?!  

So that was our highlight of February!!!

In March, so far, we've made our annual trip to Roosevelt State Park for Feb Fest.  This festival was started 39 years ago by the "elders" or 1st Generation Festers.  It was a group of about 16 friends that got together every October for Oktoberfest.  Then they started meeting twice a year by getting together in February too.  After children and many years had passed, it became a once annual get-together of 1st and 2nd and now 3rd Generation Festers.  We are invited through Drew's family, who are 1st Generation Festers.  Drew and Rik went to Fest every year as children and now we go as adults...

It's just a lovely, long weekend spent with friends in the same cabins every year on a little lake.  We LOVE IT.  Here are a few pics....

My husband's fantastic artistic photos of the bridge near our cabin.

The Eders

Second Generation Festers

Dark, but this is the 3rd Generation

Drew & Rik

*this photo is taken annually for the slide show*

Me and the beautiful Ashley

This pretty much sums up the weekend.

My hubby hard at work.

The lake.

In other news, I've been absolutely MISERABLE in my job.  Ashley, my sweet friend I mentioned above, swears this is partly to blame for our lack of bebe.  I've never been so stressed in my entire life.  If you've ever felt like you're being set up for failure and then CALLED a failure, it's a REALLY hard pill to swallow.  

I love WHERE I work, but hate the job I'm doing there.  Rik and I both work for a large insurance company in Chattanooga and while the company is fantastic to work for (where else do you get 24 days of paid time off each year?) there seems to be something wrong with my department specifically.  It's just NOT a good fit for me.  Maybe perfect for some, but not for me.

So, I've been looking for another job within the company.  The problem is that we've had a lot of layoff's lately throughout the company so when a job is actually posted as an open position, tons of people are applying for it either out of necessity because their job's being eliminated, or out of fear that their job might be.  

There was a job I was interested in last year but I didn't apply for it.  I heard through the grapevine that the area might be hiring again soon due to growth.  So, I emailed the hiring manager to ask her what I could do to better align myself for a position on that team.  She didn't write back.  A few days later, she stopped me in the cafe' and told me that they'd be posting an open position within a week and to be on the lookout!!!  

I literally stalked the internal job posting site for a solid two weeks.  Then the job posted!  Now, here I am, two interviews, lots of nerves and a month and a half later with a SHINY NEW JOB!!!!!!!!!!!!!  There were LOTS of iffy moments during the process, but I firmly believe that God has a plan for us and even though I didn't get a different job that I wanted last year and was completely broken up about it, THIS job is better, within a growing department, an ambitious bunch of folks and I'm going to be part of it starting in two weeks!!!  When I applied for that job last year, I kept praying, if it's your plan for me, then let it be.  But when it wasn't, I cried and pouted for weeks.  :)  Little did I know what was in store!

So here I am!  No more of this current wretched stress....I still can't quite believe it.  I just can't believe they picked me for the job!!!  Lots of competition, what I felt like was a very mediocre first interview in the tiniest, hottest room I've ever sat in, a poor review from my current manager last week that I had no choice but share with the hiring managers of this job....I mean God HAD to have his hand in this!!  

When I got the call for the offer, it was a day earlier than planned, I had had the WORST day I've probably ever had at work, I was on my way out of town to a concert on the verge of tears, in the rain with a sick husband and a crappy wiper (yes, just one bc the other one blew off in a storm in New Mexico three years ago and we never replaced it)!  Suddenly, I was dancing in the middle of O'Reilly Auto Parts with a new wiper blade in one hand, the phone in the other!  Rik, who had been waiting on me in the car, made an appearance (still no idea what made him come inside) just as I accepted the job!  I mouthed the words, "I GOT THE JOB!" to him and after a few seconds of "surely not...." going across his face, he lost it too!  We were hugging and dancing in the aisle while some man checked out oil filters behind us!  

All I could do was dance around, smile, cry and laugh in alternating intervals.  :)  It went from the WORST day to the BEST day ever in one minute.  Oh, AND I got a raise!  

I had the pleasure of turning in my two week's notice on Friday, on my day off!  It had to be the happiest email I have ever sent.  I had to make a huge effort to keep the thing as professional and serious-sounding as possible.  But, I had to throw in an "I'm really excited about this opportunity and looking forward to taking this next step in my career here"....it just felt too good not to!!!!

Ok, that's all for now.  I'll try to post more frequently so the posts aren't 8 miles long!!!

Till then....