So when I ran out of Downton Abbey episodes to watch, my thoughts turned to my little red-headed step child of a blog. Of course Sophia decided immediately to try and wake up early from her nap, but after replacing her lost pacifier and a bit of rocking and soothing, she's fast asleep again.
I think of so many blog topics, but I never write them down and so when I actually sit down to write, all I can think of is updates of what's been going on in our lives, rather than witty observations on current events or deep soulful outpourings of thought.
Sophia continues to amaze and entertain us daily. She is active and spunky. Her poor little legs look like I've abused her with all her bruises and scrapes from running into things and falling down. Her beautiful skin tone deepens with every trip outside. For now, she's almost a blonde-haired brown-eyed girl. In the back where her hair is thicker it's more brown, but her wispy tufts at the top are definitely golden in she sunlight. She also now likes to have her toenails polished. She will sit still while I do it. Yay for me!
John continues to work on the shaved ice truck. Believe it or not July and August are two of their slowest months (especially as far as neighborhood sales) because it is so hot, people are not outdoors much. They do still have events booked, so it's not terrible. He likes his job. Recently he completed all the testing to get into the Radiography program at our local college. The classes do not start until next summer and technically it's already full, but he is on the alternate list and the adviser feels almost certain he will get in as very rarely does everyone who's qualified follow-through with actually starting the program. I'm trying not to be anxious about him being an alternate. If for some reason he couldn't get in and we had to wait until summer 2016, I just don't know what we'd do. It seems like we've waited so long already.
I continue to work 3 days a week. As it is with all jobs, our duties at work continue to expand. There's always more I's to dot and more T's to cross. Sometimes we just have to nod and smile, while knowing that realistically, not everything they want done can be done. I still like my job :) I had an opportunity to take on the same type of job in another company, but for now I turned it down. As long as my job has hours for me, I think I'll stay put. We are fully staffed and looking at possibly hiring 2 more full time workers. That doesn't particularly bode well for me, but I won't fret about what hasn't happened yet. This year our company employees got merit raises based on a formula calculated from our annual review scores. I got a stellar review and may have gotten the maximum raise percentage, but because I'm "as needed" staff, I'm not eligible for a merit raise :( My boss was honest that our company wants all their as needed staff to come on full time staff. Oh well, I don't want to do that. So I'll just keep my same pay rate. If in time that really starts to irk me, I can negotiate for a raise or look elsewhere.
For a minute I thought "Well forget doing a great job if it doesn't get you anywhere". But then I remembered "And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as unto the Lord and not to men". So I'll continue to do my best.
We're also going through a bit of change in our church life. Long story short, our church does not have a Pastor right now. I'm not sure if they're looking for another one just yet or just taking time to regroup. We've been having guest pastors fill-in for now. The whole situation has been painful and saddening for us. I learned from John that even prior to this, he'd been considering/feeling that it might be time for us to move on. I was surprised to hear this. As with most big change at first I felt nervous and resistant to the change. But now that I've had time to process it, I'm ready, and maybe even a little excited. I will be sad to leave our current congregation and feel a bit guilty about it to be honest. But I'm also hopeful that our next church family will be a place where we grow and share even more than we did where we currently are.
I know that the primary function of a church is not socialization or even good works. The primary function is to glorify and worship God. But one of the many other functions is the fellowship of believers. We really only have one couple at our current church that we are in fellowship with. There are 3 other couples in our age range there, but none that we have "clicked" with. It is hard to start and maintain friendships when there isn't some common gathering time and place, besides the actual church service. I think we are hoping our new church home will have some groups geared toward younger married couples, with or without children.
John and I have also been taking on a new fitness program for the last month. It is a 60-day challenge through Beach Body fitness. John's mom has recently become a Beach Body coach after doing her first challenge, and graciously provided for us to try it. Part of the challenge includes drinking Shakeology. It's seriously the best protein powder drink I've ever tasted. It's still no Chick-fil-a milkshake, but for all the protein and nutrients in it, it tastes pretty darn good. I'll be sad once our 3 month program is over, because there's a reason it tastes so good, and it's high quality ingredients. So it's also high money. I mean, really high money. And we may be the exception, but we've had a lot of confusion and frustration with the customer service and product side of Beach Body. For the amount you're paying, a lot of their online system is archaic and it's very easy for them to make mistakes. But for now everything is supposedly straightened out.
We are looking forward to more family visits this summer. My dad came, John's mom is coming, and hopefully John's dad also. Sophia and I went and saw my mom a few weeks ago. She did pretty well on her first plane ride.
We are also hopefully doing ISR lessons when a convenient time slot becomes available. I've seen and heard amazing things, and I'll be sure to let you know how that goes!
Of course I can't post without sharing a least one Sophia photo. So here's one of my recent favorites.
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