WE ARE BUYING A HOUSE!!!

I think it has been about two weeks now since I asked for a raise. George said they would respond positively, but didn't say much more than that. I think I expected him to sit down and talk with me about it or something - I'm not sure what he would've said, but he didn't say anything. He walked into Carol's office yesterday and told her to add $50 a week to my paycheck (yay!). So she came out to me and asked if he'd said anything yet. no. "well, you can't tell him you know, but he told me to add it to your paycheck but I don't know how to so I need you to add it for me." I chuckled and took care of it. I thought maybe he would say something to me yesterday afternoon or maybe this morning. Nothing. So she gave me my paycheck this morning. I walked back to George's office and the conversation went like this:

G: yes?
J: Thank you for my raise.
G: You're welcome.
J: It was very gracious of you and I appreciate it a lot.
G: Well, that's all right.

and then I walked away. 

His way of conversing amuses me. Maybe you had to be there.

Tomatoes

I love tomatoes. In my Real Simple magazine, they had two interesting facts about tomatoes.

1.) "Tomatoes were thought to be poisonous when Robert Gibbon Johnson brought them to Salem, New Jersey, from Europe in the early 1800s. To disprove that notion, Johnson, a wealthy local landowner, ate an entire basket of them in front of a shocked crowd on the courthouse steps on September 26, 1820."

2.) "A tomato is technically a fruit because it is a ripened ovary of a plant. But for trade purposes a tomato is considered a vegetable. The identity crisis stems from an 1893 Supreme Court ruling that classified the tomato as a vegetable so it could be taxed under tariff law."

On a more personal note...
We have started the house hunt again - Jason is getting married in March of 09 (which is still 10 months away) but we thought we better at least start looking since we want to buy. We went through a duplex on Monday that we are pretty interested in. We are setting an appointment for next week to get pre-approved for a mortgage. Now we're just praying that the right house works out - it's hard not to get too emotionally involved in these things! I want to get excited about a house, but not before it could actually be ours!

Exciting things are happening at church (Dave is now the Worship Pastor Intern - yay! which should officially start sometime in July. And good things are happening in Sunday School. And just growth in the church as a whole.) and at work (I asked for a raise to help provide since Dave will be decreasing his hours at work to take more classes at school and they said yes!)

I feel like there has been other good things lately. Yet I feel a bit lethargic. I have really been questioning myself lately - do people look at me and see Christ or do they just see a good person? Do they even see a good person? I know in the back of my mind that I should somehow be more open and sharing my faith, and I know if I would ask God to help me see more of the opportunities He gives me and take them that He would answer and really use that sort of heart attitude - but I feel scared and I'm really holding on. Which is dumb. I know. Why wouldn't I want to share my Jesus with everyone around me? And I do. I just don't know how to say it. Or when. And so now is a period of restling. Holding on to what isn't mine to begin with. I figure more time spent with Him will work everything out.

Yay!

We moved in with Jason. It's pretty fun. We have a good balance of hanging out together and alone time. Sometimes I'm outnumbered - Dave and Jas like to do these boy things together. like pretending they are lumberjacks and chopping down trees. and watching movies I have no interest in seeing. and wanting a dog. no dog yet though, so I'm happy. I just think that a 900 sq. foot house with three people and a cat has no room left for a big dog (because they certainly don't want a small one...). Anyway...so I'm having fun at Jason's. And thankful to be saving money.

Dave has switched majors and we're super excited about it and there is, of course, a long version of the story but the short version is as follows: Dave is now going to Lancaster Bible College (LBC) pursuing a bachelor's degree in Bible/Worship. Wahoo! It has been really exciting to see how the Lord brought this all together in a really short time and he gets to start classes next week! Just part time for now, but hopefully in the fall he'll be able to take some more classes.

I'm still at Alspach and Ryder. Keeping up with my secretarial duties. I feel like I want to do something more, something I love, something exciting. I just wish I knew what "something" was. Good thing God includes all phases of life in His end plan. In the meantime I am thankful and trusting He has some purpose for me being here right now.

I just remembered I have Monday off for MLK day. I LOVE holidays. It's good timing for a day off too. Everyone needs a catch-up day every once in awhile. Wouldn't it be nice if weekends were three days long? I guess the third day would fill up just as much as two do now. Well, I better get to some shredding...

Why do I say things like this?

I was walking to the bank to make a deposit for work and by the time I got there I needed a tissue because the cold weather was making my nose runny. So I asked for one and as she was handing me the box to pull one out she said something like 'yes, we have some, but they aren't very soft'. To which I replied 'that's ok, it's better than my sleeve'.

yup.

the thing is, i didn't wipe my nose on my sleeve...i had just walked around sniffling. But in my head I was thinking 'if I don't get a tissue soon I'm going to have to use my sleeve'. I wish I always said what I meant and meant what I said. Now this lady at the bank is a little bit grossed out thinking I was walking around wiping my snot on my coat sleeve. yick. I'm feeling a bit embarrassed...