In The Last Week

We've been busy.  :)

Jessie AND Tori have new  jobs.  Jess had FOUR scheduled interviews this past week.  He only made one of them and called the others to thank them for the opportunity, but to let them know that he'd accepted an offer.  And so, Jess will start his new Executive Chef job on February 28th.  And I'm SO excited for him... US!  It seems, thus far, that our new boss is a straight shooter, bold truth speaker, and may even be truly virtuous and full of integrity!!  Should this be the reality and not just my sense of things (which has sometimes been swayed by Jessie's description of his experiences, though this is usually not a problem when I listen harder to the Spirit than his words), this will be the SECOND time we have had such an employer.  Jim, back at Red Star Tavern, was our first experience with such a man and he was WONDERFUL.  Seriously awesome.  But we didn't get to have him long cause he wasn't willing to be treated poorly by the establishment and he left RST before Jess did.  We've had a couple other bosses that were either completely or mostly fully of integrity, BUT were not straight talkers and/or WERE totally passive aggressive in management and otherwise.  Those experiences were very valuable because they taught Jess how detrimental such behaviors are, generally, and for bosses, specifically.

Tori has a job?  Yes.  Actually, I do.  It's a gig that will be more an investment at the outset, but can potentially pay well enough to constitute a nice stream of income.  Also, it's totally contract-type work, so I don't clock-in anywhere, which, from what I've been hearing (from the Spirit) is the only kind of work Father will approve me to do while I am primarily engaged in childrearing.  (This also means, if you read between the lines, that I'll probably be paid very little for the time I'll put in - ESPECIALLY at the beginning.)  The work is something I believe in and will enable me to do something that I'm pretty good at already... sorta being paid for one of my Gifts.  So, what is it?  I'm a new Area Representative with ICES.  I am officially an Area Representative as of this past week.  I received my start-up package yesterday, as a matter-of-fact.  In it: lots of paperwork to become familiar with and some business cards (my name is not typed, I wrote it in, but still, it's official...).

Jessie has been inspired that we should pursue multiple streams of income.  I have felt the Spirit witness to me that this is of Father.  So, I began to ponder on what I could do?  Should I do anything?   The kind of work Jess does just doesn't leave him much time to do much else (especially when he's in an Executive Chef position).  Well, I'd looked at a particular possibility way back in September or October last year and expressed interest to the companies I found.  I didn't hear anything and, though I'd received confirmation that this is something Father was approving I could pursue, I figured it wasn't meant to be.  I started hearing back from them in November, but I didn't respond immediately.  Finally, I did write to one of the companies at the end of December.  I got paperwork in January and faxed it back this month.  Now I "just" need to establish relationships with area high schools and find some host families.  :)  No prob, right?  Well, I figure if Father really wants me to do this as a stream of income for my family, He'll provide in this area just as He does so marvelously and miraculously in all others.  I will have to do my part, of course, but where I end He will begin and complete.  He always does for us, so how can I doubt!?  I cannot.  I refuse.

Have you heard that song?  "I Refuse"?  OH!  It is AWESOME!  And inspiring.  And just wonderful!  If you haven't heard it (or my favorite song), and you can leave your internet on to hear an awesome radio station, I HIGHLY recommend: Z88.3 for ALL your listening enjoyment.  It's SAFE for the little ears in the back seat (^_^) and it's super uplifting.  My favorite song currently is:

Sanctus Real - “Lead Me”

I look around and see my wonderful life
Almost perfect from the outside
In picture frames I see my beautiful wife
Always smiling
But on the inside, I can hear her saying...

“Lead me with strong hands
Stand up when I can't
Don't leave me hungry for love
Chasing dreams, what about us?

Show me you're willing to fight
That I'm still the love of your life
I know we call this our home
But I still feel alone”

I see their faces, look in their innocent eyes
They're just children from the outside
I'm working hard, I tell myself they'll be fine
They're independent
But on the inside, I can hear them saying...

“Lead me with strong hands
Stand up when I can't
Don't leave me hungry for love
Chasing dreams, but what about us?

Show me you're willing to fight
That I'm still the love of your life
I know we call this our home
But I still feel alone”

So Father, give me the strength
To be everything I'm called to be
Oh, Father, show me the way
To lead them
Won't You lead me?

To lead them with strong hands
To stand up when they can't
Don't want to leave them hungry for love,
Chasing things that I could give up

I'll show them I'm willing to fight
And give them the best of my life
So we can call this our home
Lead me, 'cause I can't do this alone

Father, lead me, 'cause I can't do this alone

The other streams of income?  Well, obviously Jessie's job will be our primary one.  Additionally, the ICES gig is another.  In addition to those, I've felt led to pursue the goals I felt compelled toward since before we actually moved here, but to pursue them for our family AND as streams of income.  Do you remember what those activities which I desire to pursue are?  Probably not.  It's only super important to me, I think.  :)  Here they are (but not in order of how they will come about): rabbits for meat and pelts, chickens for eggs and meat, bees for honey, and vermiculture.  I still really want to raise Nigerian Dwarf goats, but given this winter, I know we need to make sure we have enough income to buy feed for the goats through a winter cause the chickens ate up the yard all on their own!... so goats will have to wait a bit. I'll also have to wait on sheep for the same reason.  Not enough land!  I think the vermiculture will initially be primarily for composting and creation of vermipost for sale, but I'd also like to get into African Nightcrawlers for fishermen's bait (for sale).  We'll see.  :)

All of this is a lot more difficult than it sounds BECAUSE I have a problem.  I know it's a problem, given our current system, but I'm going to overcome it because Father is leading me on this path and He desires me to overcome myself... to take up my cross and become what He has in mind for me to be.  My problem?  I'm ready to live Consecration NOW.  All these things I would do for home use and then simply give away our excess.  But Father has in mind for me to help our home and family in financial ways and to build streams of income doing these things He has inspired in my heart a desire to pursue.  I accept His leading, so that's what I'll do until Consecration is truly possible... and along the way I'll give away what we can and do what we where we can for others.  :)

As another stream of income, Jess has become an Amazon Affiliate.  If you look at his blog, which the previous link will get you to, you'll see the Amazon ad carousel thingy to the right of his posts as well as an ad for the Kindle in his post about the same.  I'll probably have some Amazon ads here soon (via his affiliation).  How does this thing work?  Well, if you wanna buy something, see if it's sold via Amazon.  If it is, click on over to Jessie's blog and get to Amazon through his ads (or his ads here, when they're up) and use his link to get to Amazon and then to what you want.  That way, if I understand the whole thing correctly, he'll get paid a small sum for your purchase.  Neat, right?  I need to learn the whole thing better, but that's the gist I've got so far.

We are going to pursue some other affiliations (like Home Depot or Lowes as well as others) because it can really benefit a body.  Jess went to a conference thing about it and came home determined that we could figure it out (rather than paying $2000 for the program that the conference thing was set up to sell).  So, we're doing things slowly, but hopefully building a strong foundation in the slow laying of it.  :)  We'll see, of course.

By way of update about our pregnancy: I've been awakened by contractions 3 or 4 mornings in the last 10 days or fewer.  Those mornings have resulted in  a few hours of crampy contractions (no, not Braxtong Hicks... THOSE are way easier to deal with) and then I was able to get some sleep.  Thankfully!  On last check I was dilated 1-2 centimeters (which I've walked that for about 2 months each baby before this one) and was soft and effacing, but not significantly enough for my midwife to give me a percentage on the effacement.  So, the contractions are doing their work, though slowly.  I'm still hopeful that this will be a different labor and delivery... and really, I'm right on track for that.  I've not been having these kinds of contractions this early before.  So, we'll see.  ^_^

I have been nesting something fierce!  What have I done?  Well, I think I've already mentioned the nesting coop for my chickens, which I'm building.  It's about half-way done now, which includes the door (probably the most time intensive bit).  Still have a bit left, but hopeful that it'll come along quickly when I get back outside to it.  I've been a bit tied up inside with nesting fits, though.  I've reorganized the living room.  I've reorganized and done some better ordering of things in our office/craft/media room.  I've put together some milk-crate-shelves for books and, as a result, I've been able to get my library more organized.  I've actually reached a stopping point on that project because I have no more crate/shelves to put books out in/on.  Bummer.  I used 3 crates to make some shelves for organizing clothes on top of a long dresser Jessie saved from the curb a few weeks ago.  One crate is neatly full of newborn items, which were already freshly washed.  I placed them every so nearly in the crate - just waiting the arrival of our baby.  The other two crates are stacked and full of clean t-shirts for Jess which are organized by color.  It looks SO nice!  Because of those clothing shelves, the laundry room is beginning to look REALLY spiffy, neat, and orderly!  Having that room all straight and tidy feels SO good!  I've been able to catch back up on laundry (the kind that needs washing and putting away, I mean), which ALWAYS feels SO good!  The only organizing left to do in the laundry room is to straighten up my own clothes (our laundry room is big part of our closet system) and then maintain!  YEAY!

Still left to do in Nesting:
-Dump all girls clothes out of stuffed, messy drawers.
-Repack drawers with summer appropriate attire - NEATLY.  (We will keep some warm clothes out, but most will be put away cause we've had a lot more warm days than otherwise lately.)
-Figure out where to keep Tea's clothes (they used to be kept in the laundry room on a shelf that is now used for some linens).
-Go through, take out to add to daily wear, and repack (as necessary) clothes previously set aside for growing girls.
-Finish chicken nesting coop (with run, preferrably).
-Hem some pants for Jess (totally not as easy as it should be since I don't know how to operate the sewing maching we do have).
-Finish a small crochet project for Kat.  (When she sees it, she asks for it, so I know she wants it!)
-Wash couch cushion covers.  UGH.  Such a frustrating job cause the girls always dump something on it right after they are put back in place.  *sigh*  And such is life with littles, eh!?  :)
-Call High Schools in my county (to start with) and figure out what needs done to prepare the way for International Exchange Students with my company.
-Clean two remaining kitchen drawers to put back in place.
-Begin pulling fence boards from rotted wood and stack in the place already set aside for them (preparation for when we can afford cross beams to re-set our fence).
-And, of course, basic maintainance, which is always there to be done (sweeping, mopping, dishes, trash, feeding chickens, homeschool, daily piano practice, food prep, work for Calling, etc.).  And very soon I'll have to add lawnmowing!  YIKES!  Hopefully the baby will be happy with that kind of noise....

I've already come to terms with the likelihood that all of these projects will probably NOT be totally and compeltely finished prior to the baby's birth.  I'm mostly okay with that.  But it sure would be nice to get it all done!

I will share news about the baby as I know stuff.  Basically, all there is to know now is that the baby rolls around and moves well and regularly.  Strong baby.  :)  And the girls, Jess, and I are looking forward to welcoming this new little person to our family!  My next midwife visit is sometime next week.  No appointment set yet, but I'm supposed to set one.  And as of Sunday or Monday I'm 38 weeks along.  Getting closer.  ^_^