A Look Back on 2013

As 2013 comes to a close, I look back on the year and I see how much God has blessed us.

I am in complete awe as I look here and see what has been accomplished and what we've done.

In 2013, I made my word of the year, 'Grace.'

We bought a new-to-us car for Tyler.

We had our first B&B experience.

We vacationed at Walt Disney World {Here, here, and here}

We started a new way of eating.

I wrote for Young Wife's Guide.

We celebrated two years of marital bliss.

We had a getaway to celebrate those two years.

I quit my horrible job and got a new one!

We bought our first home!

I learned what grace really meant.

Overall, this year has been a milestone for us in our adult-hood.  We've made a lot of adult decisions, but it's been a fun year!  I am extremely blessed to get to do life beside my best friend.  

I hope and pray that your New Year will be blessed! :)

Hello!!! :)

Well hey there, Blog!!

You do remember me, don't you? 

I totally wish I had some awesome excuse about why I haven't blogged in 80 million years.

Buuuuut........I don't. 
Life has been full of exciting things, that yes, I keep telling you I will share.

I promise I will...starting with my new job! 

Well, here I am almost two weeks into my new job.
Yes, it is definitely different than what I've been used to. 

This is my third accounting-related job.

I worked for a small grocery store while I was attending grad school. 

Then when we moved to St. Louis, I worked for a small hospice company.

Now I work for a super-humongous cable and internet company!

I am working predominantly with all the utility invoices.  St. Louis is one of three corporate offices, and the utility bills for our locations and anything else you need to get cable and internet come here.  I think it was said that we get around 5,000 utility invoices a week. Say wha??  I help validate them once they are scanned.  So it's a lot of data entry, but I also get to cross train in my spare time.  The Accounts Payable department is almost 30 people and there are lots of different positions, so being able to cross train is amazing.  I love knowing that I have choices in other areas in the future.  There is a lot of room to grow!

Not only has the job been good so far, the atmosphere is wonderful.  At hospice, I had my own office and the 7 employees that worked there were very spread out within our 16,000 square feet.  It was nice to have an office, but there wasn't any bonding between all the employees.  Here at Charter, I have a cubicle and I'm close enough to my co-workers that we can have conversations all the live-long day.  I'd take a cube and relationships with co-workers over an office and no relationships ANY day!!  Those of you who know me know that I need to talk to people!  So I'm really looking forward to getting to know everyone better. 

Did you know that there's such a things as Accounts Payable Week?  
Neither did I.
This year it's October 14th-18th.
I'm not sure what is planned for the week, but I know that we're celebrating it.
How cool is that?

Oh, and did you hear the Cardinals are in the playoffs?
Yeah...we're celebrating that, too!
We get to wear Cardinals gear to work!

Working for a large company hasn't been bad at all...it's been a great change of pace.  I think it's been exactly what I needed.  I hope that once the newness of it all wears off that I will love it.  I hate being new...not knowing exactly what I need to do and how everything works.  But I have plenty of support, in which I'm grateful.

I hope to be more of a regular around here!  I miss you all!

Re-Grand Opening!!

Yay!! I am back in business...literally!  I really needed the break to figure out a routine with my new job.  I couldn't keep up with all the different custom orders that I was doing.  I was so blessed to have started this while I was unemployed, and now I want to continue this as a creative outlet for me.

So without further ado...here's a 10% off coupon code for you.  Use it at checkout to receive 10% off your entire purchase!

BLOGFRIENDS10

Happy Re-Grand Opening!! :]  Click here to start shopping!

The Last Chapter

Today I'm grieving.

I'm grieving the last chapter of my life.

No, not the last chapter.

Rather, the one I just closed.

Today was on-campus worship with the campus ministry that I was involved with in college.

I'm sad because I've gone to that worship service since I was in 6th or 7th grade.

My brothers and my mom were there.

My dad had to stay home and teach Sunday School.

I'm sad.

Is it okay to grieve the life that I had before I grew up and entered "Big Girl World?"

Is it okay to miss my college years where I had so much fun?

So many memories?

Is it okay to grieve the city where my heart has been left?

Well, even if it's not okay, I still am.

I'm trying to make life good here in STL.

It's hard.

I know God never said life would be easy, and I'm trying to suck it up.

But it's amazing how God works.

I heard a sermon at church this morning.

It was exactly what I needed to hear.
Sometimes when you're asking God for something, maybe you need to start seeking answers. 

So maybe it's time to start looking for another job.
Maybe it's time to let my tears out.

And when I finally did, my husband knew exactly the thing to cheer me up.
He went to get supper.
Then we watched "The Princess Diaries."
My favorite movie. Ever.
I'm so thankful God placed Tyler in my life.
He is my soulmate. 

While I'm sad today, I know it's just
For a little while.
One day there will be no more tears.

For now, I shall start my job search over again.

You Can Be Anything in the World

"What do you want to be when you grow up?"

I never thought I would be "grown-up" this fast.

I still don't know what I want to do.

I've really been thinking about this lately.

I'm in my second accounts payable job, but this isn't forever.

Or ideal.

I always thought I could sit at a desk all day and crunch numbers.

Who was I kidding?

Anyone who knows me could tell you

...I'm a people-person.

I have a want need to talk to people.

All this to say {or ask}...
Is it a complete waste of money to not use the degree I went to college for?

I want to love going to my job every day.
I want to know that I could have an impact on someone.
I want to change the world.

I want to be passionate about my job.
I'm not.
Maybe one day I will be.
For now, I'll keep praying about it.