So Happy It's Friday!

I am sitting at work after a yummy lunch, and I so don't want to work anymore. I think everyone should have Fridays off. I would gladly work four ten hours days if it meant I got a three day weekend. It would also cut down on commuter traffic which would in turn cut down on smog. Come on people we all need to get on board! Of course I guess school programs would have to change to accomodate parents work schedules. Ok, so maybe my plan has some flaws, but a girl can dream.

My cousin is getting married tomorrow which means tonight is rehearsal and dinner. Kaylie is so excited to wear her "princess" dress. I just know between tonight and tomorrow I will be worn out. The wedding is at 10am so we need to be up and around early for hair and pictures. I'm just praying we can get to bed at a decent hour. No matter what I am sure it will be fun. Congratulations Andrea and Nathaniel!

Dad leaves tomorrow for his three month trip to Africa. We have spent a lot more time at the house including our last family dinner yesterday. We watched our family's favorite show The Office. I haven't really stopped to think that he will be gone for so long. I'm just used to going over there and him being around or in the office playing Railroad Tycoon. I'll miss him, but I know it will be a good trip. I believe it will be life changing.

There happens to be a plethora of topics in this intense political and economic climate, but today I am content to leave those things for another day. It is safe to say that more and more I remind myself that I am no longer of this world, and I must rest in the knowledge that this is not my forever.

Until next time dear readers, have a wonderful weekend!

Update from Hibernation

I have not been a good blogger lately. Part of this is due to the fact that I have kept busy at work, and part of it is lack of interest. I hate that I say that, but some days I'm just not up to the daily broadcast. When I write I like to sit down and collect my thoughts and not be interrupted. Considering I do most of my blogging at work this is not always possible. I have a few moments now so here goes a quick update.

In the first tidbit we are no longer putting the house on the market. We were starting to get things ready when two foreclosed in our neighborhood were put on the market for about $40,000 less than we needed to make on our home. Considering they were in decent condition we could not justify to most buyers such a high cost at this time. To be honest it felt like a little setback. We were so pumped to sell the house and pay off a huge chunk of our debt as well as get a cheaper payment in an apartment. It seems like no matter what avenue we try to take God keeps bringing us back to stay in this house for awhile longer. We decided to go ahead and try to refinance. I was excited to find out that since we did not use an FHA the first time around we could qualify to refinance into one with a 4.5% interest rate. Now that is an awesome rate! Of course we will not reap the benefits of selling and collecting a huge sum of cash to pay off a large debt, but there is also no guarentee we would have sold right away or even anytime in the future. In the mean time we would have continued paying a ridiculously high interest rate. We will save almost $300 a month which will definitely help us accelarate our debt snowball. The only thing that could make me happier if if I could move our home out of Dallas county. The taxes are outrageous! We also received good news that our new rate will be assumable, meaning in the future when were try to sell, any potential buyer who qualifies for an FHA can assume our interest rate. Most likely rates will not be this low in a year or two. This will make our home a very attractive property and set us apart from others who might be selling.

In the meantime we are focusing on continuing our financial baby steps and making this home feel like home. Chris and I were both talking last night about how we have focused more on the future and eventually being somewhere else instead of just being content and making this our home for now. We still both carry a strong desire for the simple church ideas, and feel maybe our forward thinking has kept us from truly becoming apart of our neighborhood to impact people here and now in our community. Proverbs says,"In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps." I know we have made a lot of plans, but God moves our steps. He is in control, and we are most at peace when we don't try to put up roadblocks. Wherever I am and wherever I end up all I can say is,"God use me."

Another big change in our lives is my dad is going to Africa for three months. He has been appointed to go help bring some wisdom and structure to a ministry he has worked closely with in Burkina Faso. He has some hard work ahead of him, but I know it will be a great time for him to make connections and be in a land he has come to love so much. We will all miss him a lot. It really hasn't sunk in yet that he won't be around the whole summer. He has traveled for maybe two weeks at a time, but this is a little different. I know Kaylie is really going to miss her papa.

I really have wanted to post pictures, but our computer at home is a pain right now. It is running slower than molasses so it is not worth much. Maybe one day in the future I will get to it.


Now I need to get back and finish up for the end of the day. I'll try to make the next post sooner that two weeks!

I Want to Go Home

The days can be long being a working mom. This is nothing new for most women today. I have to be honest, I am tired. Before I was married I never knew how I could be tied down as a stay at home mom. I knew I would have to work. I just felt driven to contribute. After having children and trying to balance home and work life, I want to be home. Of course I enjoy adult interaction, and I do feel satisfaction from helping earn income for our family. Even with all of these things I realize with each passing day my children are not getting younger. There are many years ahead that I can work and do many other things, but I never regain those first years with my young children. I know staying home is not easy, and presents its own challenges. Getting up early and working 9 hours only to come home and hurry to prepare dinner and clean while trying to spend some time with the kids is getting exhausting.

I'm am praying so hard something will change because I don't want to wake up one day and find my children have already grown up.

U.S. bill seeks to rescue faltering newspapers

http://u.s.%20bill%20seeks%20to%20rescue%20faltering%20newspapers/


Dear Senator Cardin,
I am a poor buggy maker from the rural countryside of Pennsylvania. This business has been in my family for over 100 years. Since the advent of the horseless carriage in the early twentieth century our company has seen a considerable decrease in profit margin. I have maintained a sizeable marketing demographic within the confines of Lancaster county. I still feel that our business could be bolstered with some help from the United States government. I know many will say the buggy has become somehwhat of a technological dinosaur, but I feel by not preserving this business we are doing a disservice to the American people and our rich heritage in this fine craft.

I would love to demonstrate the remarkable experience of riding in a handcrafted, open air buggy. I invite you and any of your collegues in congress to make a trip to Pennsylvania in the near future. I will even offer to have one of my young apprentices pick you up in a covered wagon for a true old west experience.

I look forward to your response in the near future. I am confindent that the representatives of our country will see fit to utilize the taxpayers dollars for such a meaningful and historical business.

Sincerely,
Concerned Businessman

P.S. Due to the fact that buggy making is quite labor intensive perhaps President Obama could make a trip to Pennsylvania and conduct a town hall meeting to discuss the jobs that would be created by subsidizing this business.

Springing to Life

What a lovely day it has turned out to be. Yesterday's gloomy weather coupled with a Monday had me feeling a little blah, but today truly captures the essence of spring. I wish I could take credit for the picture, but even though I did not take it captured the vibrancy I was feeling. After a long week of feeling sick and then just trying to get back to a sense of normalcy, I feel so energized. This can only mean one thing. Look out house you are about to be cleaned!!

Today my husband sent me flowers at work. It made me feel so special, and I couldn't stop grinning like a school girl. They are some lovely multi-colored tuplips. If I had a camera at work, they would have been the picture on my blog. They are even more special since it was a "just because" gift and not a holiday or anniversary. I am so honored to have such a sweet and thoughtful husband even after 6 years of marriage.

In other Medrano news Micah started crawling this past weekend. He started off crawling a few inches, but he finally got the hang of it and he is starting to head all over the place. Even though he can crawl his favorite is sitting up. No matter what he is doing he loves to be sitting up. He looks so proud of himself. He just beams at everyone. We caught him trying to pull himself up last night. I think he still has way to go, but we decided we better drop the crib soon or he may be tumbling out!

I really need to post some recent pictures. I just lack the patience to upload and then sift through all of the pictures and then pick just a few from so many. I will make an attempt to by the end of this week. The kids are just too precious not too.

Now I better wrap up here at work. It's almost home time.

I Don't Know What is Going on, but I Kind of Like It

Shifting, changing, and growing, we are constantly in a state of moving forward. I have been through so many emotions as well as spiritual awakening in these past few weeks I don't know even where to begin. The air is thick with change and with urgency. I continue to realize how little control I hold and how dependent I am on our heavenly Father for every little thing.

I work for a company that manufactures pavers. When pavers are produces and then laid they go through a natural curing process which causes a whitish film to rise to the top of the pavers for the first few months. It is simply a natural process that takes time. You may clean the efflorecense off, but more will rise until the paver has fully cured over time. This is the best analogy I can use to where I am at right now. Things come to the surface and God deals with me and then more keeps coming. God is shaping, molding, and testing motives. I am no alarmist, but the times are short. I don't know what tomorrow holds, but I am open to the purification and strengthening that the Holy Spirit is doing on this earth.

I don't know exactly what God will do, but I think I kind of like it.

Mucus You are My Enemy

I attempted to go back to work yesterday. This turned out to be a bad idea. My voice was bad and I could not hear very well out of my right ear. I lasted three hours with everyone begging me to go to the doctor in case I had contracted bronchitis from Kaylie. I finally decided to go home, but I really wanted to hold off on going to the doctor. I went home and slept for a couple of hours. I woke up and it just kept feeling like it was getting worse. My ear was starting to hurt. I finally decided to bite the bullet and go to a Care Now since it was too late to get into my family doctor. I actually got in right away thanks to their web checkin. Chris took off to meet me at the doctor. I was diagnosed with a right ear infection, and an upper respiratory infection,no surprise their. The doctor prescribed me some flonase to make the stuffiness ease up in my sinuses, and some antibiotics for the infection. I also got a steroid shot for some immediete relief. That really helped and I actually woke up feeling refreshed. Here I am back at work. I'm not totally back on my game. I still have drainage, and I am still waiting for my ear to pop and relieve the pressure, but that will just take time and the antibiotics starting to kick in. One thing I am pretty excited about is regaining my sense of smell and taste. I have realized that life is so much more fun and beautiful when you can taste your food and smell the air. I've had a stuffy nose, but this is the most severe I can remember. All food tasted like sawdust in my mouth. I can't help it, I love the taste of good food. Having these things taken away from me made me realize what wonderful gifts from God they truly are. I'm hoping once the weekend gets here I will be feeling more like my old self. Kaylie is almost back to normal. She still wears out easily, but she wants to do more. Micah is still fighting a cold, but he is such a good natured boy he hasn't been too fussy about it. I just feel sorry for the poor guy when he gets to coughing late at night. Chris has been lucky so far, hopefully it will stay that way. He has been such a great husband taking care of me and dealing with all the medicine, doctor runs, etc. I love him so much.

So here's to nice weather and getting over this sick season!