Hi All

Well, later today (tonight actually) I have an exam that I have spent the last four days (today is day #5) studying for. I have NEVER studied this much for a single test. It's over the three introductory chapters in my Theories book, Psycholanalysis, Adlerian, Existential, Person-Centered, and Gestalt Therapies. Good Lord that sounds like a lot! ...It is. Thankfully tho it is a publisher test and not a test written by the prof. I took another exam from this prof last week and had I not spend the four hours prior to the exam studying I would have sucked. It wasn't nearly as bad as they had made it out to be.

Okay, so I've been out of a job now for two and a half months, nearly three, and I've got a good lead on a job so I'm pretty excited. Don and I enrolled in the Dave Ramsey Financial Peach University program our church is doing. We've invested half our savings (now don't get too excited, it isn't terribly much) in a CD and next year we'll be able to go out to dinner:). Don is way too excited about his new class' this half of the semester and the Chef is really impressed with his knife carving collection. Don is also way too excited about his summer Co-Op. He's also way too excited for his last semester to start this fall. I'm way to excited to be in school full time this semester but am starting to have anxiety over my collateral reading. I'm way too excited about my organization for classes too! I'm also way too excited because I renovated my Praise and Worship library. I'm way too excited about our church possibily offering guitar lessons.

That's about what is going on in our lives. Spring break for Don is this week and for me it's next week. Other than that, not much is happening. Will talk to you later!!

A Life of Headaches and Blessings

Well, I know its been a while.  I apologize for that.  If there are any faithful readers yet, know that I’m really impressed. 

My computer crashed this past weekend.  Headache!  It’s all good now…just working on personalizing it again.   I ended up working with the Dell Tech in Manila and restoring my computer to the factory image.  GRAND!

But there were good things that happened this weekend too!  Don’s PR status was renewed to a PR without conditions.  What a sigh of relief that was.  Neither one of us were expecting it for another few weeks so it was great news.  The good news too is that we don’t have to go for an interview with the INS or CIS or NSC people.  Which would have been doable but nice that we don’t have to do.

So all is well.  I haven’t fallen off the end of the world yet.  School is going well.  Don, starting next week, will be working the lunch shift at The Heritage (a 4 star restaurant) for his class and he’s looking forward to that.  I’m plugging away at three counseling classes and one ministry class this semester and the reading will probably kick my butt (thankfully I’m about two days ahead right now).   Don will be finished in December, I should be finished with classes and starting my 3000 hours to be fully licensed in Jan 2011. 

For now, I pass.

Can We Expect Anything Else?

I read a news article on the net that criticized Wall Street Executives for their bonus': $18B...let's put that in a numerical figure: $18,000,000,000.  That is a huge amount of money...considering that they got that money from our pockets. 

But really, can we expect anything else?  When the stimulus plan went thru last year, most executives kept their jobs.  In my management class in college my Prof said that when companies were overtaken by other companies the first people to get fired were the executives because they were the ones that drove the company to where it got taken over. 

Can we expect anything else?  Government was the one that ever since 1981 has one at a time taken the regulations off of Wall Street encouraging free market, Clinton took the last of these off.

Can expect anything different from executives from companies going bankrupt to spend millions of dollars on private jets to fly to Washington (three executives, from three companies flying to and from the same city on three different private jets)? 

John Rich from Country Music's band Big and Rich have a new song out saying that the government and Wall Street are killing Detroit...well, they're killing more than Detroit and unless they can drop some huge cash into American's pockets real soon, there won't be anything left to rescue. 

What government needs to do is make sure the banks have money to loan people and that people have money to pay off debts and spend money.  They can give all the money in the world to the Big auto Three and if there aren't people with money able to buy cars, all that money won't make a lick of difference because at that point there will be a whole lot of efficient cars on car lots and no people to sell them. 

Think about that President Obama.

20 Degrees

I started today with a little bit of studying, an hour workout, and from there, I had lunch at YFC, Coffee with my mentor, and topped off with a little more study and class. 

So I drove down the highway though because I needed to get my book from home (thankfully the Mr Brown guy was on time).  I took the 40 minute drive (there and back) with the window's rolled down and the radio cranked up and singing along.  I was so in love with Jesus today...for no reason.

Perfect right?  It was 20F today. 

Thank you to all my friends and family because you have helped me get to where I was/am today.

Fresh Out of Detenton

As YFC's newest Female Volunteer for JJM, I came and went from Detention last night. I want to say, "For the first time" but I hardly feel like it was my first time. I came back to one girl (still there since the last time I went) and others had left and come back in that time or in the past couple of months.

The girls are relatively discouraged inside, which saddens me. One was promised that she'd get visited last night and wasn't. Others got the bad news that they'll be inside this time for a long time. And yet others are wanting to go back home after the leave and that won't be the probable outcome.

It was kind of difficult to be inside last night for those reasons even though I was excited to come back. I'm really looking forward to getting right back into the swing of things.

Thanks for your prayers.

Happy New Year!