That's How She Became the Nanny!

I know, I know.. I totally struggle with this whole blogging thing. At least my excuse is that I'm just really busy, rather than totally depressed. Ha ha. I guess I should update from where I last left off.

My job at Border's ended January 13th at the end of the holiday season. I must admit, I was pretty bummed when it was over. They offered me a job working in the cafe as a Barista, but I wasn't really feeling that. I had been praying about my job the entire time I worked there, and asked that if I was meant to stay there, that God would reveal that to me. Obviously, that wasn't in His plan.. but something even better was (I mean, of course it was even better! He knows my heart better than anyone else!). My good friend, Rachel, called me the week my job at Border's ended and asked if I was available to nanny for two babies, twice a week for three hours on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I LOVE kids, especially babies, so I was super excited to accept. The babies, Maddy and Mason, were 8 months old and 11 months old, respectfully, and their mom's are good friends.. so it made sense that they would share a nanny. I seriously fell in love with those kids.. they were both SO great! The next few weeks were rather rough, however, because Mason's mom, Amanda, and the full-time nanny didn't really get along.. I mean, she was a great nanny, but sometimes different personalities just get along better than others. Anyway, after those few weeks, Amanda offered me the full-time nanny job with Mason and I was more than happy to accept. Mason is the SWEETEST and happiest baby, ever. He's seriously a joy to be around every day. It's a good fit on multiple levels. Amanda and I get along great.. she's becoming a good friend.. and being a nanny totally fits my personality. I love the routine, and it makes the time away from Dan go by really quickly. Plus, the pay doesn't hurt either. :) Mason is 13 months old now, so he's just learning to talk and walk, which is super fun for me. My hours are great, and his parents are cool about letting me take him with me during the day to run errands or have lunch with friends. I love having such flexibility (well, as much flexibility as possible when you have a baby on a pretty set routine), and it makes working around my schooling really easy. I love being with Mason so much that I actually kind of miss him on my weekends and days off! Yeah, I'm pretty stoked about this job. :)

Seminary is going well. My classes started back up in January, so I've been pretty busy with that. I may or may not be pulling an all nighter tonight to get things finished up due to two of my classes ending on Monday. Ah, the joys of final projects and tests. I'm not really complaining though.. I really do love school. Sometimes I struggle with feeling like a failure though because I don't have my degree yet. I mean, realistically, it actually is a GOOD thing that I'm still working on my degree.. it's not like I've just been sitting on my butt doing nothing since high school graduation. I have a lot to show for the last six years (has it really been that long?!). And I know a lot of my friend's got college out of the way only to now have a degree they aren't even using.. so I think in the long run, it's all going to be worth the wait. But sometimes I get down when other friends are graduating with bachelor's degrees, and I'm still trucking along. Blah. I know God has a plan for me, though, and when I really stop and think about it, I know I'm on the right path.

Only 3 months until I get to see Dan!! He's coming for R&R sometime towards the end of June. Half the time I can't believe so much time has gone by, and the other half of the time it feels like the 15 months are just dragging on. We hit kind of a rough patch a couple of weeks ago.. we were really starting to feel the distance. It's totally normal, obviously, but that didn't make it any less sucky. BUT, our relationship is solid, and firmly grounded in Christ, and we're totally fine now. We're both looking forward to him coming home for a couple of weeks.. I'm way nervous as well. I seriously get butterflies when I think about seeing him again after all this time. We have some fun and relaxing stuff planned for his trip home.. we're going to stay at a bed and breakfast in Julian for four days and take romantic carriage rides and indulge in some spa treatments and ride some horses and llamas. That's right, I said llama's. We're also planning a night in LA to visit with our good friend Jeff and visit the tar pits (yeah, I'm weird and into that sort of thing). Mostly it's just going to be about getting used to each other again. I know it may not all be smooth sailing, but I have faith it's going to be a great reunion over all. It's weird to think of him here.. living in Anna and my's apartment, meeting Nandi for the first time, going through my normal routine's with me nannying for Mason and yoga on Monday nights with Morgan. But I'm excited!!

Let's see.. what else is going on? Oh! Next month I'm going to visit Amanda up in Chico, and then I'm going to swing into the Vallejo area for a few days and visit with Crystal. I'm SO excited to see both of them! Amanda and I always have a ball together, and I'm stoked to meet Crystal's boys. The last time I saw her, her oldest son, Landon, had just been born.. and he's three now with two younger brothers, so it's been awhile!

Please continue to keep us in your prayers! Dan has been moving all over the place in Iraq.. it's a little hard to keep up with him. :) He still appreciates all the mail, but generally doesn't have a ton of time to send out thank you notes. I apologize to anyone who has emailed me over the last couple of months and I haven't gotten back to you.. it's been a little crazy! Hopefully, I'll be better in the future. Oh, one last thing! There's a very good chance we will be going to Alaska next. We are SUPER excited about that and can't wait to start yet another adventure together!