Time and Time Again...

I've been thinking how pathetic it is that we have this great blog site, available for anyone to find out updates on us, if they care to, yet somehow it only gets updated every couple months!! So sad!! If anyone still checks for updates, my greatest apologies for not giving you something exciting to read, much less anything new at all!

Since my last post, many things have changed! The biggest news is that we are FINALLY done with the apartment stage of life! We are renting a wonderful 3/2 house in Richardson, and are absolutly loving every square inch! We've gone from about 800 sq. ft. to almost triple that! I've got my own wonderful office setup and Aaron has his own separate office setup as well! It works out great since we are both running our own businesses out of our home, we each have our own space to spread out and use. The downside to renting is that it makes no sense to try and do any updates since we don't own it, so we're getting used to the 1950's kitchen and windows. The rest of the house is wonderful, with the original dark hardwood floors throughout and the nice big rooms. I'll update with photos next time, it needs to be cleaned first!

Another big thing is that Aaron's business is going well, (http://www.wiredpcguys.com/) and he has taken on working at our church 20 hours a week as a contract IT person. I can't begin to tell you how nice it is to have at least some consistent income to be able to budget with!

My business is going great as well(http://www.expressyourselfcreations.com/). I have greatly expanded my life of products to include journals, notepads, fridgepads, baby books, pregnancy journals, planners, binders, address books, family binders and more! I am constantly coming up with new ideas and barely have enough time to even try them out! I had a chance in June to have a booth at McKinney Trade Days (for all of you who don't know what that is, it's an organized outdoor flea market) Texas is widely known for our upscale flea markets! Although the weekend was a flop, caused by none other than the awful turential downpors we have experienced for weeks on end, I did meet a wonderful lady there who does a lot of the upscale jr. league shown in town and she offered to let me setup with her for free in exchange for help with her embroidery business! SOOOOO exciting! So come October and November, I'll be super busy with a different show almost every weekend! I can't wait to see what the Lord does!

We have projected December as our magic "get-out-of-debt" month and so far we're right on schedule! This is very encouraging for us and has been a long time coming! It finally allows us to begin thinking through the family stage of life, andno one is more ready then I! The Lord has truly blessed us with Aaron's business and mine as well and I am encouraged and brought to my knees everyday thanking him for his rich blessings and provision! I find myself more aware of prayer now, since I spend lots of time praying for jobs for Aaron, and praying for the Lord's will with my business.

We are still plugging away at our church(http://www.watermark.org/). Being involved with the high school ministry is wonderful! We love the kids and I have had the great pleasure of helping out one of my closest friends with her group of soon to be sophomore's. I am so excited to dive in with them this fall and help her lead them into a deeper relationship with the Lord. I know it will help keep me on my toes! Aaron still loves to help out with the programming side of things. He's so great up on stage when they are doing all the funny youth group skit stuff! He makes me laugh like no one else can!

Our community group is going great. Having a close knit group of friends to share life with is so wonderful! We are getting ready to meet a new member of the group in just a few weeks as well. Karla, one of the wives, and also one of my closest friends, is having her 2nd baby, a little girl!! We can't wait to meet her! We've had the blessing of watching Dustin and Karla start their family with Noah almost two years ago and to see him grow into such a little man is so amazing! I can't wait to see how great of a big brother he will be to baby girl!

I guess that's really our only update, for now at least! I"d love to hear how each of you are doing! I'm praying for you and love you all!!

Jill

New Adventures

Well, it's been a while since I last posted anything and since quite a bit has happened, I thought it was about time to give an update! So far 2007 has been wonderful. We had a great Christmas in Houston with Aaron's family and started off the new year rested after taking over a week off! It was great! As mentioned in the last blog, Aaron was to have some great job opportunities happen in 2007 with the company he was contracted to work for, Celanese. Nonetheless, he had a great opportunity arise, just not where we thought it would be coming from! The middle of January, a friend of ours, Don Dinnerville, whom we know from church, and whom Aaron has done some business for before, IT Support, came to Aaron with a business proposal to partner with him and his company, WellDon!.net. We immediately started praying over this because it sounded almost too good to be true, better pay, flexible schedule - since Aaron would be setting his own appointments each week, and working for himself, not making money for someone else. I quickly jumped the gun and told him he should immediately take it!! But, after a few long talks with Aaron, realized that I needed to step back and allow the Lord to really show HIS plan for us. We were in the waiting room with Celanese to see if they were going to offer Aaron a full time employment offer and did not want to shut that door until it was time, so we waited, and waited, and waited for the Lord to do his work, not only in our hearts, but also through testing our patience and obedience to him. After almost two months of waiting, just last week, Celanese confirmed that they had no spot for Aaron at the moment, and so we decided it was time to change careers and start anew! Aaron has given his notice to Accenture (the company he was actually employed by), and will start working with Don on a full time basis, doing computer tech and IT support work the middle of March. We are both so excited for this new opportunity and adventure and I know that the Lord will continue to be faithful and provide for our every need! I am so excited for him to really pursue what he has tried to start for over a year now, WiredPCGuy.com!! Please pass the word around if you or anyone you know has computer problems, give Aaron a call!!

As for myself, I last mentioned that I was planning on starting my own greeting card business. Well, I'm still planning to start my own business, and continue, somewhat, with cards, but have expanded to journals! Pregnancy journals, regular journals and cards will be my main products, with the possibility of expanding in the future. All can be customized to have the person's name on the front or just the general cover in the pictures below. While it's still not official (I haven't registered with the state for an L.L.C., yet) the company name I have chosen is, Express Yourself! Creations. I look forward to having an online e-commerce business/website, as well as marketing to local boutiques in the Dallas area and possibly doing a few trade shows in the future. I am so passionate and excited about this new venture and cannot wait to see where the Lord takes me and teaches me through it! I'm also continuing to do flower arrangements for weddings through word of mouth and enjoy being able to use that gift to bless people on their special day!

As for us, we're doing great! Debt payoff is going well and we've decided that, Lord willing, we're going to try and take a trip to Italy towards the end of this year, kind of as our get out of debt gift to ourselves! Julie (my sis), Ben and the kids are getting ready to move in May. Ben is just a little over a week away from finding out where he will be going for residency!! How exciting, and stressful it is all at the same time!! Raleigh is their #1 pick, with Denver a close 2nd. Of course, I approve of either one, they are both more beautiful places, and have cooler weather than Dallas! We are still volunteering with Student Ministries at Watermark and loving every moment! The kids are so amazing and clearly love the Lord so much!! They are encouraging and challenging as well within my own walk of faith. I wish I had known that much when I was their age!! Our community group is going great. We continue to spur each other on to greater things and hold accountable our walks with the Lord, marriages and relationships with others in our lives. One of the couples is expecting baby #2 and we're all so excited to meet this little person! It's so amazing to sit back and watch the process, every little detail. I can't wait for the Lord to bless us with a little Garcia! Well, I guess that's it for now. I pray all of you are doing well and enjoying this year! Until next time...God bless!!