Desert_Ratt44's Xanga

I think I'm going back to Blogger

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 18:08:38 GMT

I'm not sure yet, but in case you wonder where I am in the future, check here

Stuff Christians Like

Fri, 22 Aug 2008 21:57:39 GMT

Pictures!!!

Fri, 22 Aug 2008 02:41:52 GMT

I keep forgetting how east Macs are to use. Our iBook is out of commission for the moment, so I am using our slower, yet reliable, G3 tower. I had only used it a couple of times in the past (it was given to us by a friend who knew of Eric's love of all things Mac) but now the G3 is our main computer and I'm continually amazed at how user friendly all Apple products are.

Anyway, all I had to do was plug my camera into the G3 and presto! iPhoto opened up and started loading my pictures! Yay! Now you don't have to deal with boring text!

These pictures were from a Disneyland trip we took a couple months ago with my cousins Tom and Lisa. It was a spur of the moment trip and we had a great time!

Here is Eric and me at Cafe Orleans in New Orleans Square! They are famous for their Monte Cristo sandwich.

Next up is my cousin Tom and his lovely wife Lisa! They are the cousins we invade every so often! In fact, we are heading to their home on Sunday to watch the Olympic closing ceremonies! That's the fun thing about having Monday's off now. We don't have to worry about being home early on a Sunday evening in order to go to work the next day!

Here is the Mark Twain Riverboat. That was our view while eating.

Eric and I on Main Street in front of the castle

Disneyland Fire Station
(For those that don't know, on the second floor of the Fire Station was an apartment that Walt would stay in. Behind the window of the apartment is a lamp that is always on. It signifies that even though Walt is gone, his spirit will always be felt at Disneyland)

City Hall

Beautiful flowers that hang from the light posts

So that's it for now! I'm working on a little project for the moment, so when it's done, I will post some pictures of it!

God Works in Mysterious Ways

Thu, 14 Aug 2008 17:48:36 GMT

Remember this post? The one where I was so excited about having my Wednesdays off? Well, now I get to have another day off!!

The economy crunch has really hit our company hard. Last year this time, we had over 800 jobs (the year before we were over 2,000). This year, we are barely pushing 300. Thankfully, most of those 300 jobs are big commercial developments that will pay well, however, if you are familiar with any sort of development, it takes many many months to complete a big job, which means our company doesn't get paid for many, many months. That being said, our company is cutting more hours. They know times are hard and it's hard for anyone in the land development business to find a job, so they are trying as hard as they can to keep everybody on, but it's going to take some sacrificing on the employee's part.

On Monday, our project manager held a meeting to let us know that we are valued as employees and he is very happy with the work we are producing and wants to keep everyone, however the company can't afford to pay us all. He has proposed a new work schedule for everyone which means that administrative staff (that's me!) will be cut down to three- eight hour days a week and design staff (that's Eric!) will be cut down to four-eight hour days a week (we originally had a 9-80 schedule with every other Friday off, but they have changed that). That way they don't have to lay anyone off. Now Eric and I will have every Monday off and I will still have every Wednesday off.

You may think that we are completely stressed out over the loss of our hours and us having smaller paychecks, but we're not! God has given us a huge amount of peace about this and we aren't worried a bit. Well, I'm a little overwhelmed about a couple small things (to be described in a later post today) but it's not really about this situation.

After talking with my mom yesterday, we both agreed that this could be a small way that God is inching me out of my position at work. Once work picks up again and Eric can go back to working 5 days a week, we will be used to living on a limited income and I could perhaps take another day off or even quit all together! I'm not sure what exactly God has in store for us, but I know it's something great and I completely trust in His decisions for our lives.

I have a new favorite song

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 20:12:00 GMT

Let me start off by saying I'm a music snob. I'm really picky with the music I like, especially in the Christian music genre. I'm sorry to say, but the Christian music scene is seriously lacking in talented musicians. I've been trying to listen to more Christian music lately, but half the time I turn off the radio because some annoying band starts playing a "Jesus or my girlfriend song" (the kind of love song that can be sung to Jesus, or your girlfriend, but the lyrics don't specify to whom you are singing).

Anyway, about a year ago, my friend had me listen to a guy named Phil Wickham. She knew him from Bible college and told me he would restore my faith in Christian music. Boy howdy was she right! I bought his first album right away and listened to it non stop. Not only is he an amazing musician, but his lyrics are wonderful and so uplifting. I was hooked.

Two Sundays ago, our church worship band played a song that got me all verklemped. I hasn't heard it before but I loved it right away The lyrics are just amazing and the music is beautiful. As a matter of fact, the song is called "You're Beautiful" and it was written by Phil Wickham. I think I fell in love with his music all over again. Here are the lyrics:

I see Your face in every sunrise
The colors of the morning are inside Your eyes
The world awakens in the light of the day
I look up to the sky and say
You're beautiful

I see Your power in the moonlit night
Where planets are in motion and galaxies are bright
We are amazed in the light of the stars
It's all proclaiming who You are
You're beautiful, You're beautiful

I see you there hanging on a tree
You bled and then you died and then you rose again for me
Now you are sitting on Your heavenly throne
Soon we will be coming home
You're beautiful, you're beautiful

When we arrive at eternity's shore
Where death is just a memory and tears are no more
We'll enter in as the wedding bells ring
Your bride will come together and we'll sing
You're beautiful

Isn't this song just gorgeous? Since I don't know how to post a You Tube video, here is a link to the You Tube video of Phil performing this song live.

Rockin' and Rollin'

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 18:29:03 GMT

I always miss the good stuff. Apparantly, there was an earthquake while I was walking around the office doing my filing so I didn't feel it. It wasn't until I walked into our back office that I saw my co-workers wind chimes moving on their own.

It wasn't too major, seeing as I didn't even feel it.

I've Got Skillz (Or Lack Thereof...)

Mon, 28 Jul 2008 22:59:46 GMT

One of the things I am fine tuning in my life is my homemaking skills and I am always looking for informative homemaking blogs where I can glean some new info. Today while on my break, I found this fun blog and I thought I would try doing my own personal report card on all things homemaking! So here we go:

Sewing: F- I can't even sew a button on a shirt. If I lose a button I either give it to my mom or throw the shirt away.

Gardening: F- I HATE yard work. With a fiery passion. It messes up my allergies and I'm sick for days after pulling weeds, which is why the outside of my house looks like a white trash family lives there. All I need is an old dumpy couch and a few beat up old cars on cinder blocks in my front yard to complete the look.

Canning: F- I have no clue how to can and really, is canning necessary? I mean, I can get a can of peas at Winco for fifty-five cents! I do however, think Mason jars are cute!

Cooking From Scratch: A- I love to cook and I have had so much fun learning how to cook from scratch. I haven't been doing it much this summer because it's too hot to turn on the oven (We've been mainly using our grill or crock pot for dinners) but I'm already looking forward to cooler weather so I can start roasting and baking again.

Knitting and Crocheting: F- I have no clue how to do any of those. I'd love to learn, but I have no one to teach me.

Hospitality: B- I LOVE to entertain people in my house. I even cooked my own birthday dinner because I wanted to have people over. Hospitality is my main spiritual gift and I am working on using it more. My main problems is that because of my schedule, I don't have a bunch of time to clean my house up to "company standards" so I don't entertain as often. I'm fine tuning my daily schedule so that I can do a couple things each night so that daily chores aren't such a hassle. One of the biggest chores is keeping up after the cat hair. If I didn't love my babies so much they'd be gone because the cat hair drives me bonkers.

Good grief, I haven't seen a report card this bad since 7th grade (really bad year for me). As you can see, I need to really work on a few techniques, but I'm at a loss at where I can learn these things. I'm sure I could take sewing classes somewhere, but we can't afford for me to take classes. Besides, classes like that are during the morning when I work, so I'm out of luck there. Hopefully the more I browse the interwebs, the more I can figure these things out!

Dear Angry Client,

Mon, 28 Jul 2008 19:49:38 GMT

Just because you took out a four-hundred thousand dollar loan on your property, does not mean it's now MY problem to solve. I'm sorry the bank won't sign off on your parcel map because you are now upside-down on your home loan, but please don't take this out on me. Next time, don't be an idiot and pull money out you can't pay back.

Hugs and kisses,
Becky

Still Here

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 00:02:19 GMT

I'm still here, I just don't have much to blog about. I have some pictures, but our iBook is acting up and I don't want to load a bunch of pictures if we have to reinstall the OS.

As soon as I get some blogging inspiration, I will be back to posting!

Gah! I'm so whiny, and Othe Random Thoughts

Fri, 06 Jun 2008 17:52:13 GMT

Looking back on some of my older posts I realized how whiny I sound! I must have been hormonal, or tired or something because in real life, I'm not that whiny! I can get snippy and sarcastic, but not whiny.

I don't really hate my job (except for the Mojave Ground Squirrel) and I'm not really miserable. Yes, I would love to stay at home and be a home maker, not because of "religious reasons" but because I feel that is my calling. I think that's why I always had a hard time coming up with an answer when I was asked "what do you want to be when you grow up?" I just wanted to stay home and cook and clean. Freakish, I know, but that's what I want! It really is amazing how calm everything is when I'm able to stay at home and get things done. We are going out of town this weekend and it's nice to know that laundry is done and Eric doesn't have to freak out when he packs because nothing of his is clean (that has happened soooo many times, it's not even funny).

Oh yeah, we're going out of town this weekend! We invited ourselves over to my cousin's house to hang out. We really enjoy their company and even though we see each other many times at different family events, there are usually so many people there that it's a little chaotic and we don't really get the chance to visit. They are very hospitable and let us know that we can come down and hang with them when time allows, so we took them up on their offer. We are planning to play some Rock Band and go out for sushi. I'm really looking forward to it! Sunday we will be going to church with them and then we will head back to our place. Eric really wants to go to the new Bass Pro Shop at Victoria Gardens so we will probably stop by there on the way back "up the hill".

Other than that, nothing new is going on. Things are really great right not. My health is back (except for a minor cough) , we still have jobs and God blesses us daily. I have nothing to whine or complain about!