Latest Updates

Well, let's see. Since I last posted we have had a few changes. I did find a job. I am working part time at WAY-FM as an administrative assistant. It is a little different (LOL) from my HR job but I am loving it. It is much less stress and Alan actually has his "nice" wife back. Cameron moved from here to Lexington then to Columbus to live with my sister, Anne. Mikaela moved home, but didn't exactly come alone. She is expecting a baby boy in February. She plans to name him Stetson Bradley Lucas. Josiah has started high school and seems to like it. He is doing NJROTC and that has been very good for him. Cassidy is conquering 7th grade and has some pretty good grades to show for it. Alexis is loving 5th grade and doing very well. Alan is busy being Alan. :) He has been helping our friends Glen & Wanda remodel their kitchen.

Just like everyone else we have been very affected by the gas prices. Right now it is DOWN to $3.69. I can't believe it is DOWN to that price, but at least it is down.

Our embroidery business is quiet right now. We recently finished a large job for the Air Force and that was a lot of work but it was fun. We are ready for the next big job. :)

Our small group is still growing and we are so blessed to have such wonderful friends who have become family. We are trying to finish up studying Ephesians but there has been so many things that we have done outside of our study. Last week we went to see "Fireproof" with Kirk Cameron. WOW!! Go see it!!! Take kleenex too.

We have also all discovered Facebook. If you have a Facebook please add us. You can search by our names or email addresses.

SAHM?? Yeah Right!!!

Since it has been 7 years since I was a stay at home mom (SAHM) you would think that I would remember how little I stayed home. Today I got up and got the kids off to school, watched a few minutes of tv while I ate my Cinammon Pecan Special K, decided to lay back down "for a few minutes" and fell asleep. Woke up at 8:10, jumped in the shower really fast. By the time I got out I heard Wanda pull up in my driveway. I threw my jammies back on and ran out to tell her that I was getting ready and give me a few minutes. I finished getting ready, hair - makeup - clothes and minimal jewelry, slipped on my sandals, grabbed my cell phone and purse and was out the door. We headed to Sam's where I renewed my membership and got dryer sheets, cups and spoons for small group and milk. Sam's has the absolute best price on milk, $3.14 for a gallon of 1%. We left Sam's and headed to church. Wanda had picked up supplies for church and restocked the kitchen. After unloading that we decided to stop at Subway for lunch. I got a sub and spent my lunch flirting with a cute younger man, ok so he is 1, but he is cute!! Hunter was blowing me kisses and he has learned to say my name!!! It is so cute, he says Dia. :)

I got home, unloaded my four items and then headed out to a local spa to do some business. My neighbor gave my name to a local spa who was wanting some embroidery done. This is going to turn out to be a very good job. She wants 5-6 smocks embroidered with the spa logo, she wants some wraps sewn for her clients and she is going to want to do some retail from her shop starting with monogrammed spa robes. I have a few other ideas that she may want to include when she gets to that point. :) I brought home one smock and one wrap. I am going to have to go to Hancock Fabrics (hopefully tomorrow) and see if I can find the smock material to do some test stitching on before I stitch on the one she sent home with me. I am so impressed with this logo!! Alan is working on the spa name and pulling it together with the picture. It is wonderful!!! I am so proud of him and so excited that we are working this business together. I also have to find the material for the wraps. My neighbor has loaned me her very nice Huskylock 905 serger and I can't wait to learn how to use it. She is going to show me this week so that I can get the wraps done.

After I got home I tackled some laundry. Read through the new Taste of Home Simple & Delicious magazine to pick out something for supper. I made a chicken tater tot casserole. It was ok. Read a couple chapters in Isaiah (I love the Old Testament books!! God does the coolest things in the OT). When Lexi got home we went to the grocery and got the stuff for the chicken/tater tot casserole. She got to push the cart and ask at the meat counter for the chicken breasts. I am so enjoying this time with her. She was 3 when I went to work and I just feel like I have missed so much of her growing up.

Back home to more laundry. Then the dishes and a little bit of school work for me. I checked my email, which is a lot since I am on several email groups for embroidery and my embroidery machine. I cooked dinner which I waited a little too late to start. Alan didn't get to eat before he left for his softball game. Then it was back on the computer to do more school work and check out the local jobs. I really only want a part time job if I have to get one. I am so not ready to give this up. Tonight I have more school work to do. My goal is to write 2 essays and finish a quiz. That will leave me with 2 more quizzes and 8 more essays which I need to finish by the first week or so in June. I am just slightly rushed. ;)

Well, I am off for now. I need to get working on school and get the other logo I need from Alan so I can stitch the shirts for our friends' hard surface cleaning company. If you are in the Charleston/Columbia/Florence area and want your tile floors or carpets cleaned let me know. I can get you in touch with a great couple who can do wonders with tile and grout.

Been a long time...

It has been a long time since I posted and so much has happened. Probably the biggest thing is that I am no longer working. I am currently among the "unemployed" and to be honest, I am LOVING it!!! Alan and I invested very heavily in a new business venture for me. As you all probably know I LOVE to do anything crafty. I have been toying with machine embroidery for about 2 years now and had been looking into starting an embroidery business for a while. Back in March I discovered that I would not be working much longer (imagine my surprise seeing MY job posted on Monster.com) and started to financially and emotionally prepare for what was coming. The amazing thing was that the day before I saw the ad on monster.com I test drove a car that I really liked and probably would have bought that weekend. God allowed me to see that to spare us a car payment that would be very difficult to manage given our current situation. We discussed options for me like working some temp jobs, substitute teaching, Alan kept saying "you can do a little embroidery work on the side" ... well, I started doing some research and I was hooked. I did sign up for the substitute training the week after I lost my job and have completed that. I am still waiting for that to happen, it took me a few extra days as I had to get a TB test that I didn't know about. I am hoping that by the end of this week my name is in the system. I doubt that I will have much work this school year but am relying very heavily on it for the fall.

I lost my job on a Tuesday and on the following Saturday we drove up to Columbia, kids in tow, to check out a machine. I was just going for the basics, no bells and whistles. I came home with the whole package PLUS some Quick Snap frames and a really great software package thrown in by the owner because I took the cabinet which was included in the package. We weren't going to take the cabinet because Alan could build me one. We were trying to save some money and we did because the software she added in was very expensive. I got a great deal and am really excited to get started. I have one job that we have been working on. The really cool thing that I hadn't planned on was Alan getting into this. After all, it is a machine and has moving parts. ;) He has become "The Digitizer". It is great for him to be involved in this with me. I really enjoy working with him in this and hope this leads to a great family business that maybe someday the kids will get involved in.




I have registered on etsy.com and will be listing some merchandise there for sale soon. I am still trying to get all my bearings and get adapted to being "home" again. Of course I have been home for 3 weeks now and have yet to be HOME except for the first couple of days. I was only home then because Alan's car was broke and he had to drive my Yukon to work. I have been running around like crazy and really wanting to just stay home more. This week I am volunteering at the middle school during PACT testing. (For those non-South Carolina residents, PACT is the South Carolina yearly acheivment test, it lasts 6 days, for 3 hours per day) Next week I will be at the elementary school.

Cameron has been back home as he is preparing to move to Lexington, KY. I am so not ready for that but he is 21 and gets to make his own choices. I am just glad he will be close to family there. Mikaela has moved out and living across town. Josiah is nearing the end of his middle school career. It is hard for me to believe that he will be attending high school in the fall. Cassidy turned 12 today. YIKES!! Lexi is glad that school is almost over. This has not been her favorite year in school, I am really hoping for a great year for her next year. Tomorrow is Alan's birthday. We sang to him tonight at praise team practice. ;)

That should have caught us all up now. Hopefully now that I am home LOL I can keep up with the blog a little better.