God is Good

The last couple of weeks have been quite a whirlwind and God has been good for sure. I was just reading my last post (quite depressing), but things have turned around since then.

Two weekends ago Chad I traveled to Priest River for a wedding (congratulations Annie and Don) and we had an absolute blast. It was great to see many friends that we had not seen or hung out with in a long time. We were home for 3 days and began driving south towards San Francisco. Our final destination was Santa Rosa (about an hour north of San Francisco) for another wedding of some great friends (congrats Danny and Becky). We drove through Oregon and at the California/Oregon border we headed west towards Crescent City and the Redwood Nathional Forest (more pics coming). On our second day of travels I received a phone call from the principal at Sandburg Elementary and he wanted to interview me for a 6th grade position. I was beyond excited, yet nervous because teaching 6th grade wasn't exactly what I'd had in mind. Beings that we were driving through the mountains the reception was poor and the principal said he would call me back in about an hour, as he was already fully aware that Chad and I were on vacation in California. As soon as we had cell reception we pulled over and waited for the phone call...The interview was a little different, but an hour after that I received another call from the Director of HR. I assumed he was calling about something in regards to subbing; however, he said that he would like to offer me the 6th grade position at Sandburg Elementary. Following his statement was an awkward moment of silence and then I shouted, "I'm totally in!". He laughed and said a bit more seriously, "Yes, Robin, you are totally in."

Beings that Chad and I were about an hour from the rehearsal dinner site, we decided to continue towards Danny and Becky. It was bittersweet sharing the news, because we had a hamburger and then turned around to head home. We were both full of emotions when we left the rehearsal dinner...sad to be leaving, yet excited that I got a job. Not only were we going to be missing Danny and Becky's wedding, but the following weekend we had plans to travel to sourthern Idaho for another wedding (congrats Anna and Brent). We pushed through that night until about midnight where we then stopped in Redding. The next day we drove 10 hours the rest of the way home and the following morning we were up bright and early to go put my classroom together (again, more pics soon).

God is good. Many family and friends had been praying for something good to come our way and mainly for me to get a job. Through much prayer and support, it happened. Again, God is good. Thank you everyone for your prayers.

Now I'm off to correct papers with my morning tea in hand. =)

Desire

I've been in a bit of a slump lately (poor Chad) because I want more than anything to be in a classroom teaching. It's frustrating to go through and spend so much money on a great education and then not be able to use the knowledge learned. I have finally found something that I want to do and I can feel it right at my fingertips, but I am just unable to grab a hold of it....grrr, this makes me mad! There are many other attributes to my "slump", but this seems to be the main thing right now.

In the meantime, I've tried to channel my "slump" to other areas of my life...or rather, get rid of the negativity that I feel towards everything lately. Therefore, I began training...for a triathlon. In May I participated in my first sprint triathlon and became totally hooked. Throughout the summer I have diligently trained for my second sprint triathlon that I competed in this past weekend. This sprint triathlon consisted of a 1/2 mile swim, 12 mile bike ride and 3.1 mile run. I surprised myself and beat my last time by about 12 minutes. It's hard to compare the two triathlons because the swim was shorter and the bike a couple miles longer; however, my "enginerd" husband was able to compute that my time was about 12 minutes less.

I'm competing in my third triathlon in 5 weeks here in Kirkland. The distance for this sprint-tri is 1/4 mile swim, 12 mile bike ride, and 3.1 mile run. I enjoy biking and running, but I am an AWFUL swimmer. This is the area that really slows me down. I feel if I could improve on my swimming I could be more competitive for my age group. Hmmm...maybe swim lessons will be in my near future. Until then, my goal for this next triathlon is to complete the 1/4 mile swim in 8 minutes, bike 12 miles in 45 minutes and run 3.1 miles in 27 minutes. I also need to shorten my transition time from the swim to bike by a couple minutes and maintain the transition time from bike to run at a minute or less. Totally do-able...I have 4 1/2 weeks left....I better get to swimming, biking and running!

Real Thoughts

My real (yet sparatic) thoughts for the day...

It would be so nice to have a teaching job in the fall.
Thank goodness I can sub if I don't get a full time job.
When are we going to be able to have our own family?
This scares me.
I'm thankful for my friends.
Yesterday was a nice day with friends.
We are broke.
Thank God we have each other.
Thank God we really don't go without.
I'm worried about my brother.
I'm worried about my dear friend's baby...I know it's going to be healthy, but I still worry because I love her and don't want her to go through what I've gone through...Only a couple more weeks until the "safe zone".
I'm thankful for my pastor and his wife. They are nice people.
I wish it was sunny today....maybe that would not make me feel so gloomy.
CRAP! I only have 6 days until my next triathlon! Must train today! This is exciting!
I love my nieces and nephews....they help with the void in my life of not having my own.
My stress is hard to control...my hands, arms, neck and shoulder hurt....oh, lupus, you are not my friend.
I'm sleepy.
I think I will take a rest....maybe watch a movie and snack on popcorn.
I just want September to get here so I can know if I will be teaching or not.
Looking forward to Labor Day...excited to see my friend get married.

Hope everyone I know and love is having a good day.

4th of July in Idaho

Over the 4th of July we were in Idaho. We took with us our neighbors, Danny and Becky, and we had an absolute fabulous time. The 4th of July is special to Chad and I because that was the beginning of forever with us. Twelve years ago we watched our first Coeurd'Alene firework show together and since then, it's been a tradition to be in Idaho over the 4th of July (generally at Chad's parents' cabin on the Spokane River in Post Falls). There is so much fun to be had...boating, tubeing, wakeboarding, swimming, eating, drinking, playing cards, and just enjoying great family time. Evening boat ride....Thanks Sonja for the photo.

Chad loves his mom.

Bob on the boat.

"Shoot'n" guns.

Chad and Danny on the tubes.

Danny strapping on the wakeboard.

Chad, mid-air, on the wakeboard.

Family Reunion

A couple of weekends ago we went to Prosser, WA for a family reunion on my Mom's side of the family. We had a great time meeting new family and seeing others that we hadn't seen in a while. There were about 35 people that showed up for the reunion, the farthest coming from Oklahoma. We had a great time playing ladder ball, horse shoes, eating and drinking (a lot) and just enjoying each other's company. I'm determined to attend the reunions more often, rather than waiting 15 years.

The pies came and we were ready to dive in.

I love my Granny so much.

It's not too often that all three of us are together. I miss my brothers a lot.

Every little kid loves Uncle Chad, but especially his niece Jade.

New cousin, Gary, from Oklahoma. He was such a blast!

My brother's family...Rolan, Kira, Jade and Raiden.

My grandparents mean the world to me. I wish we saw them more often.