Interview

I was so down last Thursday when I found out that they hired someone to replace me, but then was encouraged when later that day I got a call asking me to come in for an interview that next Monday! The location was only 15 minutes away (which is amazing around here) and something I actually felt like I would enjoy doing.

But what do you do when you bomb the interview?!? Well, you have no other choice but to get back up and keep trying...even though it is frustrating because it was only the second interview you have had in 7 months of applying...

Yesterday I walk in for my interview feeling fairly comfortable and ready to answer questions...but what I wasn't prepared for were the first words out of their mouths: "We had over 100 applicants for this position. We aren't looking for skill in this interview, because skill can be taught. What we want to find out is about you and your personality; we want to find someone who will mesh with our current staff."

And the rest of the interview (which hadn't even really started yet) went downhill from there...

Taken so off guard with their words, I stumbled through almost all of the questions. Especially because I am so analytical and have trouble one on one, let along in an interview, with questions like "what has been the hardest event in your life?" "What has been the best event in your life?" "Why should we chose you over anyone else?" What are your top 5 goals in life?" etc. Yikes!!! (goals, what are goals?!? :) :) )

Apparently this is the new trend in interviewing...which I didn't know since I haven't interviewed in over 6 years. My friend told me it is called "behavior based interviewing", and is getting me typical questions so that I can practice for my next interview...

Anyway, if I get this job, it will be purely God and not me...because it was terrible!! And I really mean that.

Oh well, at least I had an interview!! With as many applicants as they had, it is pretty impressive that I got that far. I find out for sure tomorrow whether or not I got it, but with at least 3, possibly 5-7 people interviewing, I would be surprised. But I asked God to close doors, so maybe that was His way of doing that...even though it was embarrassing :(

Thank you to those of you that have been praying...because unless I am completely wrong about this job, this is one more closed door. And as my friend Lois said, the no's are just as important as the yeses.

Blessings on your Thanksgiving Day!!

My Job

I just found out officially that my job will end at the new year (they are negotiating, but the new person most likely will start January 4).

I knew that the probability of me being able to keep my job was slim to nothing, but I guess I still held on to that sliver of hope. The finality of the whole thing is very hard.

Trusting God's timing...

Memory Book

Connie that used to work in our office told me about a website where you download their free software and then just drop your pictures in and create an awesome photobook, cards, or calendar. It is www.mypublisher.com.

I wanted to make a memory book for the kids so that they would remember our church, friends, family, and special places from Indiana. And for us too...I mean, we lived down there for 10 years, so it has a special place in our heart! And, as a special bonus, when I signed up and downloaded their software, they gave me a special promotional deal where I could get one of their really nice books and get one free!! This is really nice because then each of the kids can have one.

Well, I FINALLY finished it...and I think it turned out cute!! I got an email from the company and they asked if I wanted to share it with anyone...well, of course!!

If you want to see the finished product, just click here.

Enjoy...

(And if you end up doing something similar, put me down as a reference on their website, because I can earn credit toward another purchase!!)

Updated: I found out that in order for a referral, I need to give them your email address so that they can give me a credit. So if you are interested, leave a comment or email me (michelle(dot)mowat(at)indwes(dot)edu) with your email address and I will have them email you the information and then you can get started creating your own photobook! :)

Playing at the Park

In Indiana we used to live withing walking distance to the city park, and I thought I would miss it...but I don't because we are blessed to live next to TWO play areas now :)

Where we live it is really nice - right on main street so easy to get to, but behind our house is a large field that belongs to the elementary school which is also right next to it. So the kids and I go there and play with the dog and we play on the school playground since it is so close and good exercise for the kids. The kids are so much better outside...so it has been the main thing I look forward to every afternoon when I get out of work. Well, also right next to the school, further behind our house, is the city park, which sits on a hill right by the lake. It also has a playground, so lately (I love the nice weather we have had lately!!) we have been hitting both up and taking more time - which is nice when I am by myself with both kids and the dog...which is actually quite frequent with the schedule of things at the church. But that is for another post :)

Anyway...

It is really nice living so close to both places, and really gives you the perspective of how close we really are to the water...which I love.

Here we are on top of the hill at the park by the lake, looking back at the house...as you can see, we are pretty close - only the school's open field is between us. (see the red circle on the picture if you are having trouble seeing our house - well, garage.)


A view of the lake from the playground...




The island on the lake...


Having fun...












And of course Eve had to try out the playground equipment...and even went down the slide on Titus's lap :)






It's too bad I have to throw out the raincoat (see huge rip in the left sleeve, and the type of material raincoats are, there is just not an easy way to sew it back together or patch it)...she looks adorable in it...




Damaris loves the swings...and she tries to do it by her self by leaning forward and backward...it is very cute!


I love how carefree she can be...

Birthday Party

Kenidee is a girl in our church who just turned 2...so we joined them for a birthday party this past Sunday night, and we had a lot of fun...

Tara does fondant cakes - makes her own frosting and everything. It is pretty cool!


Gina & Fred with the birthday girl


Kenidee eating her cake


This picture is blurry, but I thought it was too cute to delete!


Just another cute picture :)


Again, blurry but cute...




Tara (who made the cake) and Jason


Titus obviously enjoyed the food :)


And here is video of Damaris running and laughing...I love hearing her laugh...

Stephen's Grandma

9 PM Update:
Stephen's grandma came through the second part really well too!! She was even eating good. This is great news! She is definitely not out of the woods yet...and it will still be a difficult year, but we are thankful that the surgery went good. Now, if you could pray that Stephen makes it home safely...that is my big concern. He has a two hour drive, he is SO tired, and there are a lot of deer. I will feel much better when he is home...

8:30 PM Update:
Part 1 of the surgery got done around 6 PM and apparently went OK, and then they took her for part 2 soon after. I am not sure what that is all about, and not sure how long it will take before she gets done with this second part, but I will let you know.

3 PM Update:
Apparently the doctors have gotten Stephen's grandma a little more stable. Surgery will be sometime between 3 and 4 PM today. I will post again when we know more - probably late tonight after the surgery. Stephen is very exhausted - understandably so.

9:30 AM Update: (From Stephen)
Grandma's heart rate came down during the night (praise the Lord), however at the same time her blood pressure went down as well (way too much). Surgery will not be this morning...they are aiming for late afternoon. If they can't do surgery then, they will have to move her to Traverse City. Thanks for all the prayers.

ORIGINAL POST:
If you are reading this early on Wednesday morning, please pray for Stephen's Grandma Cascaddan, who is 89 years old and is undergoing hip surgery at 7:45 AM, and the surgery should last about 6 hours.

She fell on Sunday and broke her hip, and between congestive heart failure, her kidneys failing, high heart rate, and low blood pressure, they have not been able to operate.

She is in so much pain that they now have no choice - and Stephen said last night they only give her a 20% chance of surviving the surgery - and less than a year to live even if she does come through the surgery OK. Obviously this is very hard on everyone.

I am praying for peace...and comfort...and hoping that you will pray for Stephen and his whole family...

We are thankful that we live close right now...

I will keep you posted as I know more.

Flour Proof

If you read my last post, you know what this is from :)

Some Days I Could Just Scream or Cry or SOMETHING

This isn't going to seem like a big deal to you when you read all this, but today when everything was happening one right after another...it was not cool, and I was not doing so hot...

Why today was a bad day...

• I don't even remember how (it happened so fast), but somehow in the midst of me pouring a glass of water I dropped our Britta pitcher and water and pieces of the plastic were everywhere.
• Titus screamed/cried for over an entire hour. I have no idea why and no matter what we did he wouldn't stop.
• Titus and Damaris managed to get flour all over themselves, the flour, and the counter
• Eve peed on the floor when I was already overwhelmed with trying to get dinner
• Stephen has been gone since 6:30 this morning and won't get back until very late tonight.
• The washing machine broke

Why today was a good day...

• The kids had fun playing with flour and pretending it was snow all over our little decorative pumpkins
• The kids picked what we had for dinner...homemade biscuits and gravy and doughnuts (the kind we make ourselves with tubed biscuit dough) - which also explains why I was overwhelmed - because I was trying to keep track of the kids, watch the dog (and clean up after the dog), make the biscuit dough, fry the doughnuts, make the gravy AND make the icing all at the same time... :)
• The washing machine wasn't really broke...the button just got pushed in and I didn't realize it (we always leave it out because the knob is broke). Too bad it took calling our treasurer who is also an electrician to come over to figure out such a silly thing. Embarrassed - yes...
  
• I was able to get the house picked up and clothes washed
• Titus gave me a big hug and kiss good-night and told me he was going to use his words tomorrow instead of just screaming/crying
  
• It is quiet and peaceful in the house right now...
  

Lions vs. Rams Game

Stephen found some cheap tickets on eBay so of course we had to jump on the opportunity since neither one of us had ever been to a regular season game for the Lions, especially not at Ford Field! If you remember from our blog last year, a guy from our church in Indiana took Stephen to a Colts/Lions preseason game last August. And I had never been to a professional football game before, so it was fun to be able to go! Of course Stephen had to take a vacation day :) :)

We had tried to find two other people to go with us, because Brent (at our church) had two extra tickets, but we couldn't find anyone on such sort notice, but then Brent and his brother Brian (who also goes to our church) changed their minds and decided to go. It was fun riding down and back together, and getting to know them better - and they knew where to park where it was close and we didn't have to pay $20-$30. But don't tell anyone from the church that we skipped and took two others with us ;)

Did I confuse some of you? This is actually the Detroit Tigers...not the Detroit Lions...but since the Tigers field is right next to the Lions stadium, of course we had to go see it :)


Here is Ford Field


Warming up before the game...




Running out of the tunnel to start the game


As you can see, we had great seats! Lower level, 5 yard line. It was so much fun (even though they lost, but that wasn't a huge surprise :) But hey, like Stephen says, a true fan sticks with their team no matter what)!!!

Today

Damaris + Fever = Michelle Stays Home

Titus + waking up before we do + letting the dog out of her crate = poop on the floor

Not happy. But Titus had to clean it up, so hopefully he learned his lesson...

And I really hope this doesn't set the housebreaking back. We were doing so well :(

House Pictures Part 3 (last one!!)

BEFORE

Kitchen




AFTER



The church surprised us and redid the floor. It looks SO good.

So you can see the color a little closer...as you can see, it matches the counter really good!



AFTER
Dining Room

No real change here, but just so you can see the room at least :)





BEFORE
Laundry Room
(no real change)


AFTER



This is our work in progress...but it is all we have left to figure out places to put things. I would like to finish, but with only one closet in the whole down stairs, and it is already really small, we are a little limited. We already have filled two cabinets in this room, and don't have room for a third. We will come up with something!



BEFORE
Office


AFTER
Office

This doesn't show it, but I just bought a used piano bench that matches really good. You will have to check out the post below where my sister is playing the piano with Titus and Damaris sitting with her on it.


Still a few more pictures to hang up in the corner...


My desk where I work all day! It is a very small space compared to my actual office at IWU, but it works.


I think the green pocket doors are hideous (and would be a pain to repaint), but we have to keep them a little ways out because otherwise it is really hard to get them back out, and we need to close the doors...because this is where I work while the kids are here on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday (which by the way has worked out GREAT. The same girl that watches them at the other house on Thursdays and Fridays just comes here the other three days. I am SO glad that worked out)



BEFORE
Upstairs Bathroom







AFTER

This picture isn't to show you the toilet...it is to show these cool basket type things that I found at a garage sale this summer...you would have to click on the picture to see them, but they are made of red beads. I really like them!


No shower upstairs, which is a pain...but the claw-foot tub looks kind of cool. The church is trying to find a shower head that could connect to it, but the options they have found so far are really expensive, so we are going to keep looking (and keep going downstairs for our showers)!


So you can see the two colors together...


There are no counter tops or cabinets in the bathroom, which is a pain, but we make do! I would rather have no cabinets compared to what was there last time!! The mirror is old and has been painted over a few times, and we thought it looked bad, so for now we don't have a mirror over the sink.


Just so you can see a good before and after picture of the colors on the door and the furnace (this is actually a new furnace, so that helped!)!!



BEFORE
Downstairs Bathroom


AFTER

This is the bathroom where our shower is. No bathtub, but since we have one upstairs, it is no big deal.



BEFORE
Top of Stairs



I already showed you this picture, but it goes more with the picture below...

AFTER

Stephen now has a good spot for his N scale train set. He has a lot of the materials now, so he is looking forward to starting his layout.


These are really nice bookshelves! And I have no idea what we would have done with our stuff if they weren't there!

And that is it...all the before and after pictures of our house :) I probably should have broken up the pictures into 4 or 5 posts instead of just 3, but I wanted to just finish it!! :)

Puppy Update

Eve (pronounced Eva) is doing VERY well. She still doesn't cry at night, we still have had NO ACCIDENTS in the house (one VERY close call that I care to not repeat ;)), and is still a sweety!! She has been a great addition, and the kids are thankful for her too. The church officially presented her to us at church yesterday. I am glad I have been able to keep my sanity...puppies and me do not normally get along :) But thanks to some great house breaking tips and crate training tips I listened to online for a small fee, I have felt much more confident with this dog than any other we have had. The guy said if she wasn't housebroken in two weeks, than there is something we are doing wrong...so here we go!

She sleeps so funny sometimes... :)


And this dog bed is HUGE...but no point in buying twice...she is going to get pretty big!!


What a cutie!!


As you can see...Damaris really likes her too...

This has nothing to do with the puppy, but we had our very first overnight guest!!

This weekend, my sister came for a visit!! The kids were sad to see her go...and were still asking about her this morning. We miss living close to her!!

More Fun Fall Festivities

The house where the church had us pick up our puppy is right by a really cool apple orchard. It is called Anderson & Girls and it is neat because they have a HUGE petting zoo with all kinds of cool animals - even a zebra (but I didn't think to get a picture). They also have an area where the kids can play, plus hayrides. Since we were right there and the weather was really nice, we thought we should stop so that the kids could see everything. And of course we had to get apple cider...one of my favorite treats in the fall!! :) We have heard that their homemade doughnuts are amazing, but they were closing and so we were hurrying and forgot about them...next time!

Riding on the train...we thought this was so cool!!


Stephen liked this tractor a lot...


A donkey


This is some sort of deer...


We thought this bird was pretty (I have no idea what kind it is)


Petting the goats


I have no idea what animal this is...


Kangaroo

They had lots of other animals, too, but we didn't take that many pictures :)

Fall Pictures

I am much more into spring and summer, but I do like fall when it is warm outside :) And it is always so pretty with all the different colors of leaves... :) On Tuesday (when it was warm outside :) ) we had a lot of fun doing "fall" sort of things...such as:

Throwing leaves on each other...


Finding pretty leaves...


Throwing leaves in the air...

Taking silly pictures...


And of course some cute ones...


Awww...I think they like each other! :)


Jumping in leaf piles...


Playing in leaf piles...


And more playing in the leaves...


And of course what would fall be without carving a few pumpkins?!? :)
Titus designed the one on the left, Damaris designed the one in the middle, and I did the one on the right :)


Titus with his finished work of "art" :)


Damaris with her finished work of "art"

Pastor Appreciation Month

October is Pastor Appreciation month...and you will never guess what the church got Stephen...I don't think they could have picked out something better...he always enjoys animals and was already missing not having a dog around...so let's welcome Eve (pronounced Eva)...named by Titus after the robot from Wall-E.

She is a registered chocolate Labrador Retriever, 9 weeks old and is a sweety. She is also surprisingly quiet (not even wimpering in her crate - which is almost all puppies I have ever known do at first). The kids are SO excited...they are very happy to have a dog again...and we are too :)

This evening when we got home from getting all the "dog stuff" that we needed, Titus informed Stephen that Eve is not Daddy's dog but that she belongs to the whole family... he heard me say that the church was giving the dog to Stephen for Pastor Appreciation and must have felt the need to "stake his claim" in the dog. :)

Yesterday

Did you miss me not posting yesterday? If I had posted, it would have been a post every day for a solid week (did you miss any of my posts since I did so many?!?). I have never done that before, so I probably should have posted...and I even had something to post about...but it is not good, which is why I probably didn't want to write about it at first.

I found out yesterday that my boss is going to post my position and find a replacement...which makes me sad, because I would love to work for IWU longer.

At first, before we moved, I wanted to find a job up here, but was thankful for the opportunity to work from home for the university and keep my job. After being up here, I really felt like it was going well. I like the quiet, and I could get a lot done. I told my boss that I would be willing to stick it out long term, and wondered what her thoughts were. She said she wanted a month to think about it. At first I was upset, because anyone else I would have worked for would have probably been all about it...but then I realized that it really is a big decision...and it was more than fair for her to take time and think about it.

Well, yesterday I asked her about it again because it had been over a month, and that is when she told me she was posting my position. I am trying to stay positive in the midst of it...because it would be WAY too easy to get discouraged. I have been looking and applying at a LOT of places in the area (and even had an interview), but there really is nothing. The unemployment rate in our county is almost 20%. We are in the middle of nowhere, so most likely if I did find something, it would be a long ways away, which would be hard. But I know that God will provide. As a good friend/coworker of mine (who has really been my inspiration because she telecommutes too!!) emailed to me: God didn't bring Stephen and I up here to abandon me now. Maybe God will provide a job that I like even BETTER. Who knows, maybe IWU won't find someone, and I will be able to keep my job. If nothing else I REALLY hope that I can keep my job through the end of December.

As my little note by our picture on the side of this blog says...praying for God's timing and direction...and also trying to trust.

House Pictures Part 2

I have to warn you on these next few pictures...it seems like the new colors are plain and boring, but I think after seeing so many colors (and bright colors!), I just wanted to go neutral for a while! These next few pictures are all a khaki color now, even though that is kind of hard to see in the pictures...

BEFORE
Hallway


AFTER

Looking the opposite way, but I think you get the picture :)



BEFORE
Upstairs, in the landing area above the stairs.
There are 5 different colors in this picture...can you find them all?!? :)


AFTER




BEFORE

Entryway


AFTER






BEFORE
Stairway


AFTER




BEFORE
Living Room




AFTER








Only a few more rooms to show you!
Part 3 coming soon...I hope ;)

Titus

I think Titus looks so cute in these pictures... :)

The next few pictures are ones that Titus took...can you tell what is important to him??? :)

His dog "Sandy"


His convertible from Tony


His Daddy...(with a sneak peak at the kitchen!)

His sister...


Damaris and me from his perspective :)


I am not sure about this, but I am pretty sure he took a picture of himself inside his sweatshirt...what a nut!! :) :)


And of course making funny faces!


Yes, Damaris is eating raw Brussel sprouts... :)

Selah

If Stephen and I had to pick a favorite singing group, we wouldn't even hesitate to tell you that it would be Selah. If you haven't ever listened to them before, you seriously have to check them out (you can click here)...you won't be disappointed!

It has been 4 years since we have seen them in concert, and so we were excited for another opportunity! The concert was last night in McBain - which is a TINY town in the middle of nowhere...and the church was nice, but definitely not that big. So it made for a nice, small concert, which was fun!! No matter where you sat, you were still very close to them.

All the people in Selah are just so genuine and sincere, and sound AMAZING. Todd and his family actually have a wonderful (but very difficult) story, and I have been reading his wife's blog for quite some time. You can check it out in my sidebar - it is called "Bring the Rain" or you can click here.

Todd - I could listen to him all day! :)


Allan, Amy, and Todd
Allan is amazing at the piano, and Amy has been a great addition to the group - I was worried when Todd's sister Nicol left the group, but Amy was a good pick!


Getting our picture taken with all of them! Of course we had to get their new CD and have them sign it for us!!

All GIRL