Tough Times

This has definitely been a season of trials in our family. About 2 months ago, Mike lost his job. Boo. Life has definitely been a blur since then. We've been working hard to stretch our savings, I've been working a lot more, and Mike has been around a lot! He's been working really hard at job searches and networking. Luckily for us, there have been job opportunities available for him to apply to. I'll post the results shortly, as there have been some new developments, but this has been both a time of stress and joy. Here are some of the blessings we have found amidst this trial:
1) Amy has a new found love for her daddy. He can walk into a room and she immediately starts to giggle because she wants to play with him! This is quite the contrast from her constant need to sit by me and on me. Granted, she's still Mommy's girl most of the time, but she definitely misses him when he's not here and asks for him when he's out. Sometimes I'll be on one side of the house and I'll hear hysterical laughing come from her room where they're running around and tackling each other and just having a great time! It's so cute to see!
2) Mike has learned a lot about what he wants to get out of a job. As he has been looking at jobs and realizing he would have options and wouldn't have to take the first job that jumped out at him, he's learned a lot about what he's looking for, such as the fact that he likes somewhat smaller companies as opposed to the large Lockheed Martins, and there are different technologies that he is very interested in that he hopes to be able to work with in his next job.
3) We can live off a VERY tight budget. VERY tight. We have made "budgets" before in the past, but most of the time they end up being averages of what we already spend and don't require us to watch our money at all. This time we watched it at least weekly to see where every penny went. And we learned we can do it! Yes, we had to turn down some dinner invitations and we tried to drive around less, but it is definitely doable!
4) We have learned to rely a lot on the Lord and what he wants us to do. As many of you know, we have found NO job opportunities in Arizona. This has been very hard to stomach because we love our home, our ward, our area, and being close to my family. I really believe, because the Lord knew this, that he knew he wouldn't get us to look outside the state without removing all possible options for us staying. Well, we thought, there's always Utah. We've done Utah before, it's not a big unknown, and Mike's family is there! Utah would be nice. However, the jobs in Utah just didn't sit right with Mike and to our shock we knew we weren't going to Utah. So out we venture into the great unknown (again, details coming soon). Lucky for us, the Lord knows what's going on with us and what we need.
5) We have the best friends and families ever! We have always tried to be the kind of friends that people could call on when they needed something - meals brought in after a baby, babysitters, house sitters, whatever! We have definitely put our friends and families to the test to see if they would do the same for us - and they did! Thank you so much to all of you who have watched Amy while I was at work and Mike was busy with job searches. Especially my mom who was always willing to drop everything to let Amy come play for the entire day while I put in some time at work. Thank you for those of you who invited us over for dinner or camping or games. It was so nice to get out of the house sometimes because our attempt to keep to a tight budget kept us somewhat limited to the house and nearby parks. I feel so blessed to have friends and family that are so willing to help us out when the need arose. I know the Lord blessed us by sending us all of you! Thanks again!