After an absurdly long time (ok, it was, like, two months, but that can feel REALLY long) of waiting, we finally received James's CFP test results in the mail today. We had a pretty good feeling that today would actually and at long last be the day since the results, according to the CFP website, were mailed out last Thursday. So when the boys and I got home from Little Lambs and some errands (poor James...I made him wait while I ran extra errands on today of all days) I ran straight for the mailbox. The long-awaited envelope was (and I cannot say this enough) FINALLY there. Without any ado I tore into it, and the first word that jumped out at me was CONGRATULATIONS. I assumed they did not mean, "Congratulations, you've lasted two long months while we tallied the scores" or "Congratulations, you get to study for this crazy thing again", and immediately called James at work. His shock and disbelief were priceless. He REALLY had prepared himself that he would not pass. I don't think he will truly believe it until he sees the letter with his own eyes. Phew! So that chapter can fade behind us now. His CFP is basically a title (and in my opinion there's a lot of stress attached for a title) that grants him greater credibility in his profession. People know you are serious about what you do when you have studied your butt off to put those three little letters behind your name. For James it was a combined effort of 11 years of experience, a year of classes, a week-long review class, and countless odd hours spend studying on his own.
There may be more opportunities and open doors for him via this designation, but for now I am just so proud of him and all the work he put into this endeavor and will have to think of a way to MAJORLY party to celebrate his accomplishment.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Friday, January 16, 2009
Movin' on
Another week has passed, not quite as fraught with self-abasement and cabin fever, despite temperatures at 30 below. Yikes! Part of what helped me cope a bit more positively was a few outings, including the return of Tuesday Little Lambs and MOPS to our life. Outside of that, not much new to report. Oh, except for the discovery of books on CD for use during Jeran's "nap" time (not that sleeping has been in the mix for a number of weeks now). Now if I could just get him to quit destroying the CD cases....the library will be very unhappy with us.
We continue to wrestle with our decisions about the future - where we will be, what we will be doing. It's no secret, I think, that we have been talking about moving back to Michigan to be closer to family. Obviously that would be the big draw (well, except maybe for also the beach); it's certainly not the economy there. :-) Anyway, we are at an overwhelming place right now where we realize all the huge, monumental things that must take place for this to happen: selling a house, finding jobs, leaving behind all that we know and love here in Illinois. Even if we did not end up in Michigan we are ready to get outta R-ville. It's not home. There's no community feel here. In all fairness we aren't ever really around the neighborhood long enough to pursue that feel, however... it's definitely not where we feel led to stay. So where do we feel led? It's tough to know right now. One thing I do know: God is faithful to lead us. Prov. 3:5-6 has been popping up all over the place lately, and I know it's His way of reminding us that He has it all under control.
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight."
What's interesting is this is the verse James and I chose as our "marriage verse" when we tied the knot. It's never been truer or more needed than at this crossroads in our life. And we need to remember that although we cannot see the way ahead, God knows it. It's only our job to trust.
So...many changes lie on the horizon, and the details are a mystery to us. We have our third baby due to arrive in about 3 months, gender unknown. We are planning on putting our house on the market in/around March. Lots of details to undertake so it's ready, and who knows how long it will take to sell. Future work - ? Future town of residence - ? We leave it all in God's hands who knows our personal desires, and in the end will work according to His purpose for us.
We continue to wrestle with our decisions about the future - where we will be, what we will be doing. It's no secret, I think, that we have been talking about moving back to Michigan to be closer to family. Obviously that would be the big draw (well, except maybe for also the beach); it's certainly not the economy there. :-) Anyway, we are at an overwhelming place right now where we realize all the huge, monumental things that must take place for this to happen: selling a house, finding jobs, leaving behind all that we know and love here in Illinois. Even if we did not end up in Michigan we are ready to get outta R-ville. It's not home. There's no community feel here. In all fairness we aren't ever really around the neighborhood long enough to pursue that feel, however... it's definitely not where we feel led to stay. So where do we feel led? It's tough to know right now. One thing I do know: God is faithful to lead us. Prov. 3:5-6 has been popping up all over the place lately, and I know it's His way of reminding us that He has it all under control.
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight."
What's interesting is this is the verse James and I chose as our "marriage verse" when we tied the knot. It's never been truer or more needed than at this crossroads in our life. And we need to remember that although we cannot see the way ahead, God knows it. It's only our job to trust.
So...many changes lie on the horizon, and the details are a mystery to us. We have our third baby due to arrive in about 3 months, gender unknown. We are planning on putting our house on the market in/around March. Lots of details to undertake so it's ready, and who knows how long it will take to sell. Future work - ? Future town of residence - ? We leave it all in God's hands who knows our personal desires, and in the end will work according to His purpose for us.
Friday, January 9, 2009
Adjustments
It has been a week of adjusting back to normality. And I do mean adjusting. For one thing, I definitely got spoiled having James off of work for a full week. For another thing, my pregnancy hormones, sickness rotating through my family, and being confined to my house every day but one this week have all conspired to make me lose my marbles, as well as my perspective. I have been playing the good mom/bad mom routine in my head with alarming frequency, if not constancy. All of my words, attitudes, actions are weighed on the scale of the good mom versus the bad, and the scales have been tipped far in favor of bad mommy. This has not been good for my self-esteem or confidence in this full time job I have and has therefore not been great for my kids either. I don't know what kicked off this self-sabatoging behavior, but it's GOT TO STOP! I have had so many "I can't do this anymore" moments this week it's not even funny. On more than one occasion I've stopped berating myself long enough to reassure me that I'm being crazy and way too hard on myself, but for whatever reason I don't believe me. And I get too prideful to admit it and ask for help too, sometimes even from my hubby. I have a newly realized fear (or maybe not so new, actually) of being a pest, a pain, a burden. I think it probably just all comes down to pride that I don't want to admit I'm struggling. I convince myself that everyone else has it all together and is doing just fine, which I also know is crazy. My breathing and heart rate have come down to a normal level, at least, as I've admitted this all in writing. I'm sure it also helps that the weekend is here, we have no pressing obligations for a whole day tomorrow, and James will be home with us. Maybe I can regroup and face the next week with a better grasp of reality.
Speaking of adjustments, my body continues to go through some as this little one progresses along. Heartburn has hit me something FIERCE, and I know (although it's painful to admit) that some serious food adjustments (there's THAT word again) will need to take place, so that I can begin to get some sleep again. Especially since I don't think Tums meets the recommended dietary allowance for calcium, really. Also, as predicted, my ice-crunching compulsion that has reared its ugly head in my past 2 pregnancies has hit at roughly the same time with this little bean: month 5. It's an odd thing and the only real craving I've had throughout my three pregnancies. It's also a bit embarrassing.
We gave the boys another trial run in sharing a room this past week. Up to this point, Ben has been relegated to the guest bedroom, which we have never given up as it is used so often with family coming through from out of town. Although he really could care less, I find that I feel badly for him that he doesn't have a "real" bedroom; rather, just a Pack 'n Play jammed into the corner of a spare room. With James's parents coming through and staying overnight this past weekend, I thought it would be a good time to re-try the arrangement. We had given it a go once Ben was sleeping through the night, earlier last year, but the boys had (and still have) their moments of waking up and needing to cry themselves back to sleep a little bit. Well, when one awakens in the night (or VERRRRY early morning) so does the other, and we found that to be true in this case as well. I had high hopes since they're both a little bit older, and admittedly, we did have some really cute brotherly moments to witness: laughing hysterically together one night at bedtime when Ben hadn't yet fallen asleep before Jeran came in. This grew considerably less cute after about 30 minutes, though. Also, Jeran, at first, loved having his little brother share his room, but when we moved Ben back into the guest room last night, I must admit he seemed relieved. Perhaps we can try again when they get even older. Better yet, perhaps we could move into a bigger house where everyone just has his own room.
Benjamin news: the kid is CRUISING. He can make his way, walking, around the perimeter of pretty much an entire room while holding onto things or people. It won't be long now.....and I haven't totally reconciled how I feel about it either way.
A few Jeranisms that catch our heart:
(saying good-night to Ben) - "Good-night, Minj (Benji's nickname). Love you in the mornin'!"
"I need some medicine (or cookies, or candy, or t.v., as the case may be) to feel me better, Mom."
Speaking of adjustments, my body continues to go through some as this little one progresses along. Heartburn has hit me something FIERCE, and I know (although it's painful to admit) that some serious food adjustments (there's THAT word again) will need to take place, so that I can begin to get some sleep again. Especially since I don't think Tums meets the recommended dietary allowance for calcium, really. Also, as predicted, my ice-crunching compulsion that has reared its ugly head in my past 2 pregnancies has hit at roughly the same time with this little bean: month 5. It's an odd thing and the only real craving I've had throughout my three pregnancies. It's also a bit embarrassing.
We gave the boys another trial run in sharing a room this past week. Up to this point, Ben has been relegated to the guest bedroom, which we have never given up as it is used so often with family coming through from out of town. Although he really could care less, I find that I feel badly for him that he doesn't have a "real" bedroom; rather, just a Pack 'n Play jammed into the corner of a spare room. With James's parents coming through and staying overnight this past weekend, I thought it would be a good time to re-try the arrangement. We had given it a go once Ben was sleeping through the night, earlier last year, but the boys had (and still have) their moments of waking up and needing to cry themselves back to sleep a little bit. Well, when one awakens in the night (or VERRRRY early morning) so does the other, and we found that to be true in this case as well. I had high hopes since they're both a little bit older, and admittedly, we did have some really cute brotherly moments to witness: laughing hysterically together one night at bedtime when Ben hadn't yet fallen asleep before Jeran came in. This grew considerably less cute after about 30 minutes, though. Also, Jeran, at first, loved having his little brother share his room, but when we moved Ben back into the guest room last night, I must admit he seemed relieved. Perhaps we can try again when they get even older. Better yet, perhaps we could move into a bigger house where everyone just has his own room.
Benjamin news: the kid is CRUISING. He can make his way, walking, around the perimeter of pretty much an entire room while holding onto things or people. It won't be long now.....and I haven't totally reconciled how I feel about it either way.
A few Jeranisms that catch our heart:
(saying good-night to Ben) - "Good-night, Minj (Benji's nickname). Love you in the mornin'!"
"I need some medicine (or cookies, or candy, or t.v., as the case may be) to feel me better, Mom."
Thursday, January 1, 2009
2009
2009 has rolled in, and I'm proud to say we stayed awake long enough to see midnight, although barely. I have great peace about the coming year and high hopes. There's something about feeling like it's a fresh start that is very motivating. Speaking of motivation, I guess I should unpack sometime in the new year....
Today was a relaxing day spent as a family. We restocked our shelves with a quick grocery trip, then braved the Brookfield Zoo. It was definitely chilly when the wind picked up but so worth it. Jeran's enthusiasm for the zoo is so contagious, it's hard not to love it. I can tell you I did NOT love the smell in the pachyderm house, though. Phew! After a lunch at McD's we came home, and the boys hunkered down for a nap while James and I had some deep talks about goals for the coming year and beyond. We're trying to be intentional about our priorities and where those are rooted, and there's just something so intimate, if I may use that word, about being on the same page in life. I definitely praise God for my hubby. Now he's off playing a friendly game of poker with his buddies, the boys are soundly sleeping, and I'm trying to decide what takes precedence around here: cleaning up and unpacking or the latest book club read that needs to be finished by Monday. What was I saying about motivation?
In pregnancy news, heartburn sucks.
Today was a relaxing day spent as a family. We restocked our shelves with a quick grocery trip, then braved the Brookfield Zoo. It was definitely chilly when the wind picked up but so worth it. Jeran's enthusiasm for the zoo is so contagious, it's hard not to love it. I can tell you I did NOT love the smell in the pachyderm house, though. Phew! After a lunch at McD's we came home, and the boys hunkered down for a nap while James and I had some deep talks about goals for the coming year and beyond. We're trying to be intentional about our priorities and where those are rooted, and there's just something so intimate, if I may use that word, about being on the same page in life. I definitely praise God for my hubby. Now he's off playing a friendly game of poker with his buddies, the boys are soundly sleeping, and I'm trying to decide what takes precedence around here: cleaning up and unpacking or the latest book club read that needs to be finished by Monday. What was I saying about motivation?
In pregnancy news, heartburn sucks.
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