A prayer

I thought I would share this prayer I've been saying a lot (as we make all these big decisions!) I'm sure we are not the only ones!

Beloved Father,

Please continue to remind us that you are at work. You are in control of everything. It may not always seem that you are listening ot our prayers, but we know you are. We know that you will act on our behalf in Your timing and in Your plan. We promise to trust even when we don't see, especially when we don't see. And we promise to always believe. We remain steadfast in knowing that faith is being sure of we hope for and certain of we do not see. We must stop wanting to find Your plan so that we might find You instead. No longer wanting the "answer" we want the one who knows the answer.

"You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart." Jeremiah 29:13

Wishing everyone a wonderfully sunny weekend!

God Bless!

And the news is....

We are moving to Denver! Everything has been put into place and we are on our way! It is a long time coming, and it certainly wasn't an easy decision but we are very excited! We have so much to look forward to in Denver. We have both been blessed with excellent jobs here, my sister lives here, Craig's family is only a few hours away, and we both know Denver well as we we went to school here. Craig will be working at the Suncor refinery as an environmental engineer. Craig has been wanting to work at this refinery since college and it certainly isn't an easy one to get into...so we are very proud of him. I'll be working at the Lockheed facility as an Atlas V avionics engineer (as a federal employee). We couldn't be happier at this point and we can not wait to be in one state together again. Our house is on the market and we are hoping and praying that it sells quickly! Our realator did say we have one of the cleanest houses he has ever been in ;)....that is a compliment for someone like myself who is a super clean freak! Hopefully someone walks in and falls in love. We are also very lucky to be provided with an excellent relocation package from Suncor. They are treating us very well and are committed to making this move as easy on us as possible. More to come as all details unfold!

Oatmeal...it works!

For the last 5 years or so, my doctors have consistently told me that my LDL (bad) cholesterol is boderline high and my HDL (good) cholesterol is slightly low. Ideally, you want to be in the optimal range for LDL which is between 100-129. For the last 5 years, my levels have been somewhere in the 130s. Well folks things are changing! Since starting up work again, I have religiously eaten oatmeal every single day for breakfast. I have not missed one day in over a month and a half. A week ago, I went in to get my cholesterol levels checked and guess what! HUGE improvement! My HDL was measured at 107!!!! This is amazing for me. My LDL was slightly higher as well... (one point below optimal), but still a HUGE improvement. This makes sense because oatmeal has been said to lower LDL cholesterol. I'm living proof folks...it really does...a lot (20% for me!).

My HDL improved slightly because I have been exercising 4 days a week for a 1/2 hour. Exercise is said to raise your HDL (good) cholesterol. My company allows me to leave 1/2 early every day just to exercise! Isn't that fabulous?? Every company should do this in my opinion. This exercise has certainly raised my good cholesterol!

So, if you are anything like me and have cholesterol levels that aren't optimal...seriously, one packet of oatmeal will make a HUGE difference! Easy to do and life long effects.

The Tesoro Refinery

Last night (about 12:30 am) the Tesoro Refinery (where Craig works) had a fire. Craig is fine, he was not at the refinery during the incident. What we know so far is that three people are confirmed dead, and four are critically injured. Please, please keep the family of these Tesoro families in your prayers.

Back and Forth

Okay, a quick post…I’ve been leaving my faithful readers in the dark! Craig and I have been working on some very big changes in our lives these last couple of months. We have been waiting to reveal all the upcoming excitement....but we have had some decision making dilemmas…however… we have finally come to a "final answer"....unless unforeseen circumstances pull us another way! These last couple of months have not been easy for us since we have been living in two different states (me in CO and him in WA), but we are getting closer to being together once again (I cannot wait!!!). Unfortunately I can’t reveal the details of our upcoming adventures just yet (hold on just a wee bit longer), but I will say this…I am glad we have finally made some decisions! Phew! These last couple of months have been quite confusing indeed but one thing (if nothing else) has become crystal clear to me. God knew exactly what kind of man I would need! God bless my sweet, sweet husband. I have often talked about my impatience on this blog but I undoubtedly have another “feature” as I like to call it that I often struggle with. This “feature” has been with me since birth. When growing up, my mom called it “back and forthing” and now, my man often says, “back and forthing…that is the perfect name.” For those of you that are not familiar with this said term, it goes like this:
I have my mind made up, I know…without a doubt the direction I want to go. And then boom…wait for it …wait for it…I change my mind. This “back and forth” process can go on for quite some time. This is where God comes in, and where He gave me the perfect husband. Craig has the patience of a saint (seriously so), and no matter what decision I have my heart set on, and no matter how much he knows I will change my mind at any given moment, he supports every decision I make! Not only does he support every decision, he gets excited about every decision. The amazing part, when we finally land on a “final answer”, he has prepared accordingly. This man can multi-task, and multi-plan! While I am in the process of going back and forth, he has successfully (and carefully) planned for both scenarios and fully prepared to execute either at any given moment.
If you know us well, you know that most of our life resides (in one form or another) on an excel spreadsheet. You should see our library of spreadsheets! So in the process of going back and forth between decisions, Craig often develops different spreadsheets for each possible outcome. He is like a fine oiled machine! When a decision is finally made, we can take off in minutes executing. It truly is amazing. I know I often brag about my man on this blog, but I just can’t help myself. I often tell him, “life would be better for everyone, if everyone had a Craig.” He usually just smiles and nods (giving me a yeah right).
I write this with a weight lifted off my shoulders and an excitement in my heart as I know that we made the right decision, and I just so happen to be the luckiest wife in the world.