Can It Stop Already?

I can honestly say that when we made the prayerful decision 7 months ago for John to have major knee surgery that we had no idea the events that would follow. While neither of us wants to relive the past few months we are grateful for the lessons we have learned, for the many blessings we have received, and for the fact that we are stronger as both individuals and as a couple. There have been many sacrifices which we keep to ourselves. We have also learned to be more humble and be willing to ask for help from others. For this I am grateful.
The downside is we have learned who amongst our friends truly cares enough to ask us how we are doing. To ask do we need anything? And more simply to say hey we are keeping you in our prayers. To those individuals you know who you are I want to say thank you!
This past week has emotionally drained me and John both. There have been many tears shed, feelings of being a failure, of being terrified to get a job where knew things will be learned and failing at them. Theres so much more that is so very personal that I won't share publicly. If you want to  know you know how to contact me and you can ask and I might share. Lets just say I have learned a lot and some of what I have learned about people has made me sad and I again will be careful as to who I trust..
I will end with this...Im done with this trial. Can it just Stop Already?

The Laundry Room

I have been meaning to write this post for a week now but I keep getting sidetracked. We finally finished the laundry room and we LOVE it! It's been a room in progress since before John and I met and got married. I have counter space to fold laundry, a built in ironing board, a rack to hang up my brooms and mops, storage space for everything including food storage. The only thing it doesn't have is my dream washer and dryer but those will wait till they become a need instead of a want.
I hope the pictures are self explanatory. We have spent just over $100 to finish it because we had almost everything we needed. Yes we went with carpet tiles which someone already fave me crap about. I will just say this. This room is in the garage And its not heated so thus carpet :)

Changes Changes Changes.

For those of you who have been to my house you know about my lack of counter space amd my wonderful unfinished laundry room. Well since John is out of work we decided to finish the laundry room. We have been working on it off and on since we got married. However the end is if ally in sight. Another project on our list is to update our kitchen. While we aren't finishing it at this time we did finally put in the base cabinet that has been moved from the garage to the laundry room and finally into the kitchen. For now we are using a sheet of MDF that we had in the garage for a temporary counter until we can find one at habitat for humanity. Eventually we are going to refinish all the counters but that's being saved for later. I'm so excited to have the extra cabinet space. It has allowed me to put stuff away and finally have enough prep room. This has been a long time comming and I'm super excited for how it looks now and how it's going to look when it's all done. Here are the pictures of the kitchen.

Is there a Positive side to Unemployement?

Yes you read that right. John lost his job Friday. While the specifics aren't important, and well to be honest we are just tired of talking about it and dwelling on it. Today we decided to start to compile a list of the good things about John losing his job when he did. So heres what we have so far

1. He gets to grow his goatee back :) If you  know anything about me you know I LOVE when he grows facial hair.  No job at UPS means he can grow it back.

2. He will get to attend ALL three hours of Church on the Sunday before Christmas. Whats even better is we invited his parents to come watch the program in  Sacrament meeting which John and I are both participating in. Im excited because the program will be really good and is inspired. I told the sister who asked us to participate that she was inspired. I feel like Heavenly Father knew this was going to happen and wanted us to really live the spiritual side of this holiday season.

3. John doesn't have to work 16 days straight 12-14 hours each day until all hours of the night in the nasty weather.

4. We get to spend the entire holiday season together for the first time since we got married.

5. Not going to bed alone waiting for him to get home.

6. Being able to remember the true meaning of Christmas. Its not about the gifts. This is only something you really get when you make the conscious decision to not buy gifts for each other but instead others, and really putting thought into those gifts.

7. John being able to allow his knee more time to heal. One of the issues we have had since October with both the Insurance company and UPS is them wanting him to return to work before both he and the doctor felt he should.  We noticed tonight that all of the swelling has gone down in his knee and you can actually feel his kneecap.

Im sure we will think of more later. We have been truly blessed in many small ways. It has testified to us that Heavenly Father is looking out for us. Bills that should have been higher were significantly lower, and we found cheaper insurance than COBRA that we may go with if everything works out. We ask for continual prayers that we are able to find job or jobs (if its Heavenly Fathers will) that will allow us to meet the goals we have as a family.
One last note.. Its REALLY Ok for you to no longer use UPS. :)

Peace

With everything we have going on right now, one thing I was not expecting was the results of the Presidential election. I along with many other Americans was truly heartbroken that our current President won re-election. I only say this so you can kind of get a glimpse into my current state of mind.   I should also back up a year and say that ever since TOFW came to Reno last year and I knew it was scheduled to be in Sacramento, CA this year I was determined to go. Fast forward a year and as I have stated before John had knee replacement surgery at the end of July. I had talked to a friend a couple of months before that about having her go with me and thought it was all set. Well when I contacted her in August before I bought my tickets to go, I found out that she would not be able to attend. I was crushed. Especially since I didn't feel comfortable with driving over the hill to a city I really don't know that well to go to this event by my self so I decided not to go. I was really bummed but figured life goes on and there is always next year.
Right at the time that our fight with the insurance company began I found out that TOFW leaders had decided to do a live stream of the Salt Lake City event over the internet. And the Best part was it was for free. No I wouldn't get one of the nifty tote bags but it was the spirit of the speakers messages and the music that I was really wanting. Well I was lazy I admit and didn't make it a priority and missed out. I found out Monday morning that they decided to put it up for two more days and I knew that this was Heavenly Fathers way of saying I gave you one chance and you screwed up but because I love you and because you are a faithful daughter, Im giving you this second chance to hear what I need you to hear. So I told John I needed to do this and he agreed.
As the election results began to come in I knew what was going to happen so I turned off the TV and turned on my computer and began to listen and watch. And I watched all day today in between doing my daily must dos around the house. As John and I sat and talked late this evening we both said that for tonight at least in this small moment we feel peace in our home.
I have a testimony that our Heavenly Father does know each and every one of us and what we are going through and if we turn to him for comfort he does hear and will help us. While I know we have to have faith and be patient its hard to remember that the results we are waiting for are truly in the Lords time and not ours. While we don't know what will happen I am grateful for an amazing husband who has made it a point to have a substantial savings that can get us through for a couple of months if we are careful. Im also grateful we have food storage that so far has fed us with the exception of a couple of items we have had to purchase. Im also grateful for a father who was inspired to send an email out this morning to offer fatherly/brotherly advice..

Prayers

Without going into a lot of detail, we are asking for prayers in our behalf that Johns job situation gets resolved soon. Whether that be a new job or having the dispute with the disability resolved. This has been one of the most difficult trials we have faced, but we are grateful for the law of tithing and that we have savings to fall back on. I promise to give more information after this is all settled.

The newest member of our family

Meet Selena. Shes a Chihuahua/Mini Pin mix that weighs 8 pounds. She is very tiny but is full of energy which keeps Sophi active. She also has one of the sweetest personalities and is very loving. Shes not a super yippy dog that most Chihuahua's are which is nice. John and I had talked a lot about getting a second dog and had looked. We thought we had one we were going to meet but the organization who had her didn't make it convenient to see her. Then he found one dog named Ferguson who was similar to Sophi's breed but when we introduced the two of them the day after we met him we just didn't feel right about the match. That may not make sense but its the only way I can describe it. We talked to the volunteers and they suggested Selena. John bent over into the pen she was in and picked her up, then we walked the two girls and we just knew. So we adopted her. Having two dogs is a lot of work especially since Selena is an early riser to go out and do her business. She has her schedule which is go outside then come in and eat then play or sun her self then nap. That means that no matter how little sleep I got I'm up for the day.  Could this possibly be preparing me for parenthood? Who knows and before anyone assumes anything no I'm not making any kind of announcement about any little Zinnicks running around. LOL.
The only problem we have with her is that she is so small she fits through the slats on our fence. She does however listen and comes back when we call her. She's been a blessing to us at this time in our lives as we are facing some trials. We are so grateful we could give her a home. We strongly encourage anyone considering getting a pet to look at your local shelters because there are dogs and cats for any personalities. Selena is a perfect example. We were told she was a stray but after getting her home have found that she is housebroken and comes when shes called. So theres our plug for adopting pets. So far we are two for two