I have internet

Ok so it's been awhile....but me and Jen now have internet in our apartment! It's awesome. So an update...I know I'm a little late and that Nik's beat me to it like a couple months ago or something....but... I'M ENGAGED! Since like the end of Nov....so I'm really slow at this whole announcement deal, but whatever. We're thinking the end of June and are just trying to find a place for right now. I think I picked my dress, so that's cool. Um...not much else. We're gonna make a website or blog soon that'll have more info. So what else....work it still going. There are some good days and some bad weeks, but I get three day weekends, so that's pretty sweet. Ok I have nothing else to say and my fingers are freezing, so I'm going to stop typing.

Um...more work drama?

So I work four days a week. No bad...usually. This week seemed like it took forever. Lots of drama thursday. Repeated drama Friday, plus a few add-ins. I don't know how much I can say...but one of my girls got the crap beat out of her by another of my girls, I had to call the police, and they wouldn't take the girl so I was stuck dealing with her all day yesterday and listening to her complain about how she hopes what she did won't effect her home passes. The girl who got beat up is ok. Her nose is fractured, but besides that, she's just really sore. I'm so frustrated because I feel like there is no punishment for these girls at this place. They punch, kick, and smash a girls face into the ground and the police just says "What do you want us to do? They aren't even holding car thieves in jail anymore because they are too crouded". I'm so over this girl who thinks she can just "Teach someone a lesson" by beating them up. That's not going to help her in the real world when she wants to keep a job and support herself. Is she gonna just beat up every co-worker that looks at her wrong? Anyways...one good thing about this week...the girl that got beat up, she is now open to the idea of God. She never really talked about Him before. But after a few conversations with me and one of the other residents, she seems to want to know more about Him. It's cool how God works sometimes.

My life so far...

Dramatic title, but not much has been going on. I started my job in the beginning of September. This week I changed my shift so now I work four days a week instead of five, which will be a nice saver on gas. It did however, take away one of my weekend days. I now work all of Saturday. But work is going good. I have had some pretty amazing conversations with some of the girls. With one girl I talked about Spiritual warfare and the protection that God can give us. With another girl I was able to talk about what it means to be a Christian woman and what it means to be set apart for God. Most of the time I complain about my job and how there is no freedom to boldly minister to the youth there and be backed by the rest of the staff. While I still don't have the support from the staff, I have noticed that God has provided moments where I can talk about Him to the residents. It's pretty cool. I am however, still looking for something a bit closer to home. An hour commute to Pasadena is not the funnest.

My car was stolen on Friday. I am in the process of finding another one, since it is unlikely it will show up again. I was meaning to get a more dependable car, now I'll just find one a little sooner that I had expected. One nice thing has been my insurance company through the whole thing. They've been really nice and helpful and I haven't really had to stress about anything. So that's cool.

Let's see....what else. Um...I think that's it. Wait...I've fallen in love with The Office. It's the best show EVER. Ok...now I'm done.

29 Days...

I have been a homeless bum for 29 days. I travel around from friend to friend, family member to family member, friend's family member to friend's family member. Today marked 29 days, but it looks like we might be able to move into our apartment this thursday....if they get the new carpet layed down. Jen and I scored an apartment to stay in during the time being, but there is someone interested in it. Hopefully we can move into our actual apartment before the people who want to rent this one moves into it. Luckily this is a holiday weekend, which means they can't get their paperwork through until Tuesday at the earliest.

Last night Jen and I slept outside. I have been staying at Marina's for quite sometime, which is bad because techinically I needed to have been out of there after four days. For those of you who are school housing officials....do not worry...I didn't stay the entire 29 days of my homelessness here. I spent a lot of time hitch-hiking to and back from Oklahoma. And by hitch-hiking, I mean Jen drove me there and my sister drove me back. Of course I got to eat Braums, drive by Bushland, and tour Lake Tahoe for a few days...oh the miserable life of a bum....weep for me....at least for the Bushland thing. Bushland? Creepy. Anyways...outside....is where Jen and I slept last night because Marina totally kicked us out of her apartment. Not really. The balcony looked fun and Jen had an air matress.

Alright. Nik is getting restless. I should go pay him some attention. And then it's off to coldstone. Life is hard I know....look forward to a video about our toil of finding an apartment.

Here we go...

I have a job! woot, woot. I can breathe easy, sort of. I still have to figure out the apartment thing. I think I'm gonna go with the two bedroom no matter what, but I really hope Jen can stay in California. That would be sweet.

So the job...it's weird how God works. So on my way to camp this summer, I had two interviews. One for a baby group home in Orange county and one for a teenage girl group home in Pasadena. The baby home interview went really well and it sounded like there would be positions available in August when I would be done with camp. The Pasadena one sounded even better, opportunity-wise that is. It would allow me to do case work, lead group behavioral therapy sessions, and it would pay for my masters degree. They also told me to call back in August, but I wasn't as sure there would be spots open, and I figured I'd have more interviews, since I was supposed to have interviewed with a whole pannel of important people, but at the last minute they all had meetings so I interviewed with just one lady.

So when camp ended, I called back the baby home, thinking it was a for sure thing. And there was a position open, but I had to interview with the actual home. So I did and waited to hear back, but it took for ever to get a hold of them. I finally did, but the position had gone to someone else who was like over-qualified or something. So I set out to find any kind of work, even secretary jobs. I called and left a message with the Pasadena place, not really expecting much, since I told them I'd be able to start early August, but didn't call them till end of August. The next day I received a call, thinking it someone from one of the many positions I applied for, but it was the lady from the Pasadena job! She wanted to know how my summer was and what shift I had said I wanted. I couldn't remember so I asked her to tell me them again. She said there was one from Sun through Wed. or Wed through Saturday. I was about to say the Wed through Saturday one, but then she remembered another shift had just become available. It's monday through friday from 2 to 10pm. Which actually works best traffic wise, since I would be commuty from Riverside. So I was all prepared for her to say I needed to go through a few more interviews, but then she just said she'd like to offer me that shift and to come on Monday to fill out all the paper work. And that was it. I have a job. It was weird, I thought I had heard her wrong. But I went in today and signed all the paperwork, and I start training next week.

It's crazy how God works. This summer I was torn over which job opportunity to pursue. This pasadena was the best opportunity-wise, but I felt more secure in the baby home job, since I was pretty sure I was done with all the interviewing over there (which it turns out I wasn't). Plus, lets face it...it's a lot easier working for toddlers who just want to play and cuddle, than it is working with pre-teens who have no problem telling you how much they hate the rules, you, etc. One thing that sticks out from this summer is a conversation I had with Lorraina, where she told me that God might make it completely clear which direction I should take. He has a way of closing some doors and opening others. And that's totally what He did.

So this is what it's like to be a grown up...?

Homeless. Jobless. That is what grown up life is like right now. I don't know what the big rush to grow up is...seems pretty lame...but at least I don't have to write any more papers. Anyways, in a week things could be totally different. I should hear back about a job and I found an apartment.....now it's just a matter of getting Jen out here so we can be roommates again! The apartment is pretty cute. I'm excited to start decorating. I think Nik will like me having my own place to decorate. Because right now I just spend all my free time (which is a lot...remember...no job) trying to decorate his apartment. So that's the update on my life right now....still waiting.

Road Trip!

So I'm on my second road trip of the year....again to Oklahoma. Jen's moving out here for the time being and I'm her driving buddy. Driving to Oklahoma from California is a lot easier when you stop and spend the night somewhere. So now we're at Nikki's. Wednesday I fly to Denver, Colorado where I will start round two of this road trip....driving back home with my sister, Emily. We'll make a few stops on the way to national parks and to visit some of her friends. Then it's a few days in San Leandro and then hopefully to Riverside where I will meet with some people and they will offer me a job. Let's hope!