Last week should have been really bad...

but somehow, it wasn't. I can't explain it. As Chris and I were pulling back into our place, from a quick trip to Oklahoma for a funeral, Chris said "you know, this week should have been really terrible." I said, "yeah, it wasn't though, was it? I feel like I should be completely overwhelmed and exhausted, but I'm not."

As always, so much has been going on. Last week Chris was alone in the church office. Ron, our senior pastor, was out of town, so everything was left to Chris. He was preparing to preach on Sunday, and of course preparing for his regular youth activities. We got a call on Tuesday that his great grandmother had passed away, and the funeral was Friday. So we were going to have to head to Oklahoma on top of an already busy week. On Wednesday, I got laid off from my job. Fantastic timing! Oh, and by the way... Texas is ridiculous, so our electric bill for the last month was $350!!! For our apartment! Bad news. Not to mention that gas is so expensive and we had to drive to Oklahoma.

Yet somehow with financial stress, job stress, and family stress, we weren't stressed! God is awesome!

So, first thing Monday morning I had an interview with Dallas Christian College, and before I left the offered me the job! And they offered me more money than I thought they would! I start Monday. Praise God! I didn't even have time to stress about a job! I love how God provides.

Then Tuesday came with enough struggles of its own. I don't know if any of you know this, but sugar free gum is toxic for dogs, which is fantastic because my dog ate a whole pack! Wonderful. So we really needed to take the dog to the vet yesterday, but we did not have the money. We weren't even sure how we were going to be able to afford our rent check because of our electric bill and gas to Oklahoma. We have money coming in at the end of the week, but we needed our rent paid before that, and our dog was apparently going to die! So, we figured that just to afford rent we would need to come up with $75. We frantically scrounged around the house, and with the $50 check I had in my purse, the $5 bill Christ had in his wallet, and all of the random loose change coming to $26, we had $76! God is awesome again! (Go figure) We still weren't going to be able to take the dog to the vet, but low and behold, we got a check for $500 before the hour was over. God gave us what we needed and then some! We got to take our dog to the vet and he didn't die (though he did poop 5 times in the house!).

Then...

Later that day we found 20 bucks and someone gave us gift cards to The Cheesecake Factory! Haha! The Lord is crazy good to us!

Sick, Packing, Moving...

Working, preaching, preparing to graduate, changing jobs...

That has pretty much been our week. Unfortunately its not over yet! Chris's family came in on Monday for his Sr. Sermon, which was on Tuesday. We went out to dinner with one half Monday night, and with the other half Tuesday afternoon. He did an absolutely fantastic job, and as soon as it is placed on a podcast I will post a link so you all can hear it!
Our first official Sunday at our new church, Cornerstone Christian Church, was this last Sunday. I think it went wonderfully! I am loving the kids, and the whole church is so welcoming, but it is all a bit overwhelming.
I have been feeling under-the-weather all week, and Today is the first day since Saturday that I am feeling halfway decent. That has been no fun! Not to mention that it is especially a hassle when we are trying to get ready to move into a new place on Saturday. And have a gotten anything packed??? No. Not a thing. Poor Chris is finishing a paper that is due by midnight, and a project that is due Monday, but considering we are moving Saturday and have a children's picnic after church on Sunday, he really needs to get it done...well...yesterday. And did I mention that our electricity is being transferred tomorrow...which is Friday...we are moving Saturday. The electric company can't do a transfer on a Saturday, and they can't overlap days so sometime tomorrow, they couldn't tell me when, my power will get cut, and since I can't get into my apartment till Saturday morning after 9:00am I guess we will have to make sure everything is ready to go before dark.
Furthermore, Owen, our wonderful dog has gone on a new peeing rampage! I don't know what his deal is, but Tuesday he decided that he should pee all around the bedroom at 11:30 pm, as I was getting ready for bed, and I had to clean that up. So, I decided he needed to be put in his crate while I cleaned up the mess. As soon as I put him in his crate he managed to, from somewhere deep inside, find about a liter's worth more of pee to release in his crate, and then sit in it of course! As if that wasn't enough, last night he decided to get on my bed and pee in the middle of it, through the comforter, the top sheet, bottom sheet, mattress pad, egg crate, and finally to my beautiful, new, pillow top mattress. Oh lovely! So last night at 11:00 when I discovered this as I was crawling into bed...oh yes...crawling into bed...because you see, I have terrible vision and I wear contacts, which I took out in the bathroom. Thus, until i placed my hand and my butt into the pee puddle I did not notice it. I took everything off, had to clean it up, and had to scrub the mattress down with stain remover. Oh, how I love my dog!

So...needless to say this week = crazy! But, life's an adventure right?!

My dog must be...

demon possessed! These past two weeks have been a nightmare when it comes to Owen. Up until this point he has been so sweet, relaxed (for a puppy), and obedient. We had been going strong with the crate training. He had managed to go weeks without going to the bathroom in his crate or the house, and he wasn't chewing things up. Until about 10 days ago...

At first he just started getting a little crazy, like spontaneously running laps around the room, over the furniture and across people's faces (sorry Alison). Then last Wednesday he managed to break out of his crate. I know what you are thinking, "Smart dog, he figured out how to open the latch." Um, no. Actually he broke the entire side panel off. God forbid he should use the door and make it easy for us to fix! So, as I open the door after a long day of work, I am greeted by Owen, ever so excitedly wagging his tail, in a mess of ashes from the fireplace, shredded paper, and fruit, yes, fruit. I have a beautiful, plum colored, ceramic fruit bowl that was recently stocked with bananas, clementines, limes, pears, avocados, and one beautiful mango. I must say, I was grateful to see that the bowl was still teetering on the edge of the bar and had not fallen to its doom, but every banana was eaten with peels strewn about the apartment. I guess Owen decided he wasn't a fan of the clementines and the limes, but you better believe he tried every one of them! He may not have eaten them, but he made sure to mark them all with his teeth prints. As I walked into the bedroom I saw some more fruit and a little piece of gnawed plastic, which I soon recognized as a pill bottle cap. I won't lie, my initial thought was, "oh good, he overdosed, now I won't have to kill him," until I realized that my dog really is smart, because the bottle of pills he decided to devour was Pepto-Bismol, which is only appropriate after you have eaten SIX bananas!

Now as bad as this sounds, this was only the first time he managed to break out of his crate. I will admit the second time wasn't as bad. But, our third incident happened when Chris decided to put him in the bathroom so that he wouldn't destroy the entire apartment. First, he managed to lock himself in there. Now, I don't know how, because we don't have one of those locks that you push the button. You have to turn out lock, but like I said, he is gifted. Second, he smeared poop all over the entire bathroom! I am pretty sure that Chris spent 2-3 hours trying to clean it up, until he had to leave for his guitar lesson and I took over.

Yesterday he pooped in his crate, but at least it was inside his crate and not smeared all over my things. After Chris reinforced it with some electrical tape he couldn't manage to wriggle his way out. Other than that, Owen was actually decent yesterday. I am just praying that when I walk in the house today after work, he will not be greeting me at the door.

It doesn't even seem possible that a dog who looks like this could be so crazy!