A Long Year

Wednesday, November 4, of this week marked one year since I have been laid off. One year later I am still jobless. One year later we are still trying to figure out how to get by one salary. One year later we are in a smaller apartment, which is part of trying to get by one salary. One year later and it still hurts. One year later I am still reliving the scenes in my mind from that day.

I thought Wednesday would be harder than it was. I definitely thought about it most of the day, but no snide or sarcastic remarks actually made it from my thoughts to my tongue. But I can feel the bitterness starting to move in. It's like I can feel it crouching in the dark hidden woods around me, waiting to pounce when I am most vulnerable. I can't let it. It's been a tumultuous year to say the least, but I am a better person because of it. There is no way I would want to return to the person I was at this time last year. So in an effort to stay positive and not dwell on the pain of the last year, I have decided to come with one thing I day I am grateful for every day from now until the end of the month. I'll even make it retroactive so that I am forced to find more ways that I have been blessed. So here goes.

November 1, 2009: I am thankful for my wonderful, kind, supportive and handsome husband. There is no way I would have survived the last year without him. Granted, I would likely still be sitting on the couch unshowered and not eating. But in more ways that I can mention, he has dragged, pulled, bribed and loved me through the last 365 days, even when I wanted to give up.



November 2, 2009: I am thankful for my amazing family. They make me laugh so hard that I cry and are always guaranteed to bring a smile to my face. While I do miss when we were all kids and lived carefree lives, I am thankful to be figuring out the grown up world with them by my side. On the topic of them making me laugh, this picture is one of my favorites from the last year. We were trying to take a group picture with a timer but no tripod. As I hit the timer and started running to get in the picture, the camera shifted. So logically, everyone ducked down to still get in the picture. Cause, clearly we would not have all fit otherwise.



November 3, 2009: I am thankful for the opportunity to travel this past year. This last year we have been to Paris, London, and on a cruise to Jamaica and the Grand Caymans. Nathan has started traveling for work and since I didn't have a job, I was able to accompany him to Paris and London. It was fabulous - we now officially have the travel bug. The cruise was for our one year anniversary. Here we are swimming with Sting Rays in the Grand Caymans.





November 4, 2009: I am thankful for the opportunity to go to grad school. I didn't really want to go to grad school - it wasn't in "my" picture of life. I had a bit of a debacle with A&M near graduation so my grades did not end up being very good. But Nathan encouraged me to at least apply so I did. I was accepted to the University of Dallas in their Masters of Politics program. With a 50% scholarship. And with a grant that made up almost the rest of the tuition money. There was no way I could deny at that point that the Lord was clearly pointing me to grad school. And I love it! I am learning so many cool things.



November 5, 2009: I am thankful for a wonderful and comfy apartment to call home. We moved in the middle of the year to save some money but ended up with an even better apartment before. Other than the raccoon that calls our attic home, we love it. Its safe, cozy, close to friends and most importantly within walking distance to Target and our favorite Mexican food restaurant.

November 6, 2009: I am thankful for my new to us car. About 3 months ago I took Max the Maxima in to have her alignment fixed. I walked away with an unaligned car and a suggestion that my car needed $4,500 worth of work. Needless to say, my car was not even worth that much money. So we drove it to a place that buys cars the next day to see what it was worth. The offered us $1,700 which was less than what we thought the car was worth. We walked away from the offer knowing that we had 7 days to think about it. The next morning, my power steering and air conditioning went out. Thinking about the offer over: we took it. The next day Nathan found the most beautiful car I had ever seen. It has been my dream car for about four years and I never thought I would actually own it. My sweet husband traipsed all over Dallas and the internet trying to find one in our price range. We found the perfect car: a 2006 Hyundai Santa Fe with 62,000 miles. I love my Fe.