Big changes for us

August has brought some pretty big changes to our household. All good, thank goodness! After 9 months of unemployment, Don has a job working at a place called Fortifiber in Fernley. They make tar paper for the building industry. He is working nights, so it has been an adjustmnt for all of us. We're not sure how long this job will last, as it's through a temp agency, but we are greatful for any work that pays more than unemployment.

Also, at the beginning of the month, I found myself a job teaching at Austin's school. I am teaching preschool and Kindergarten math classes. It is a private school, so I do not need a teaching license. I work under the owner's license. She didn't seem to mind that I have no teaching experience, a Bachelor's degree was good enough. It doesn't pay a lot, but it certainly helps, and being employed there means a discount on tuition. So we were able to pull Austin out of public school and put him back at Discovery for Kindergarten, which is where we wanted him to be all along. This will be a very good thing for him. He will be in full-day Kindergarten and learn much more than is being taught in the public school (especially since they only go 2 1/2 hours a day, 4 days a week in public school.)

I have been working there for 3 weeks now, and so far I love it. The children are wonderful and being there with Austin everyday is a blessing. So far he is really enjoying having me there and has been real respectful of my position there. He tells me that I taught a good class each day and comes home to tell Dad what he learned in "Ms. Mom's" class. He calls me mom at school, and Ms. Amy at home.

So hopefully we are closing the door on the unemployment phase and can move on with getting our lives back on track financially. I don't know why we had to endure this particular trial for so long, but I do know that we are supposed to learn from our trials and this particular trial was no exception. The scriptures say we will be blessed if we pay our tithing. I can honestly say that we were put to the test each and every month, and each and every month, we paid our tithing and were blessed for it. We still managed to make ends meet when unemployment didn't even cover half of our expenses. We are greatful for many members of our ward who provided us both with work to get us through these rough times. I don't care how many people bagged on us for counting worms, when you have a family to feed and a mortgage to pay, you do what you have to do to make things work. And I know that our little boy watched us day after day and learned valuable lessons about work, family, sacrifice and putting your faith in the Lord.

I also learned valuable lessons about cutting costs wherever possible. I have always been able to bargain shop like nobody's business when it comes to clothes shopping, but through this experience, I was able to apply that to groceries, toiletries and cutting back on our monthly bills. We have enough free cereal, soup, Kool-aid, shampoo, and toothpaste to last many months. I've learned about stretching a dollar when it comes to preparing dinners (as well as time-saving in the kitchen buy doing things like boiling 2 whole chickens at a time, shredding the meat, separating it into smaller portions and freezing it for when we want fajitas, nachos, chicken tacos, etc.) And I've cut back our electric, water and gas bills. We also cut back on services we didn't need. We cancelled our cable and survived just fine. I'm not sure I can say that I'm greatful for this trial of unemployment, but I'm greatful for the lessons I've learned that will continue to help my family in the years to come.


** Other recent changes worth mentioning - after almost 2 years as the 2nd Counselor in the Young Women's Presidency at church - I was released this past Sunday. I thought I would be taken out of the youth program completely, but I'm excited to say that I'm now the 1st Counselor in the YW Presidency. So for my 12 and 13 year old girls who thought they were getting rid of me - they are all turning 14 very quickly and will be stuck with me again! I'm not sure how excited they'll be about this, but I'm happy about it.