New Happenings!
Great things have been happening for us here in Texas. We are immensely enjoying our time here, but we miss all of our friends and family dearly. First and foremost, we would like to let you all know that Toby has been hired to work as an E-Tech 1 (Electronics Technician, Level 1) for a company down here called Frac Source Services. He will be monitoring and repairing electronic components in natural gas fracturing pipelines or something along those lines. We found out about the position through one of Toby’s best friends, Tony. Although there are some drawbacks to the job, we feel confident that this is where Toby needs to be working right now. He will be working around 70 hours a week, which will leave little time for all the things we normally like to do together, but the pay and benefits are such that we will be able to get out of debt completely in about 6 months. Toby will be receiving time and a half pay for all overtime hours, paid holidays off, a 401K plan, health and dental benefits, and 2 weeks paid vacation every year.
Tony is currently the IT Manager for the same company, which is currently going through a buyout. When the buyout is complete, Tony is planning to hire Toby to work for him. So, he would still be in the same company with the same benefits, but his hours and pay would be much better. We feel that with all this put in place, we should be able to get our own place by the end of this year or beginning of next.
I have really loved all the time I have been able to spend with Toby over the last few weeks since we’ve been here, and I am terribly going to miss it when he starts working again. But, I have made the decision that I am willing to give up some of that time in order to get our family in a better financial situation. I am, however, looking forward to when he can change departments and spend more time at home. I am even more excited for the day when we can start up our own business, and Toby can work from home. Until then, I will sacrifice what is necessary to make our dreams reality.
I am having a blast taking care of Britni and Kelli. (I spelled it wrong before. Oops! J) We have been creating some fun projects and planning new things. Both girls have been great helpers for me. They give me ideas on activities and games and help out tremendously with Mya. They all love each other and love to be together. We’ve been trying to get to the zoo, but it hasn’t happened yet—due either to scheduling conflicts and the weather.
Wednesday night we had a pretty intense thunderstorm. At about 2:30 or 3am, I awoke to the sound of the tornado warning sirens. It was a little surreal to actually hear them in person. It was thundering, lightning and raining like crazy. The internet and cable were down all day Thursday, and the power went out a few different times. However, Thursday was quite sunny and warm. Britni spent all day with us on Thursday as well because all of the HEB (Hurst, Euless and Bedford) schools were closed due to damages from the storm the night before. One elementary school had the roof torn off and playground blown away by a tornado. Britni’s school had debris everywhere from a tornado as well.
I also wanted to share with you all Mya’s first haircut. Yay! We finally decided it was time to trim her bangs; it was just getting in her eyes all the time. I didn’t really want to cut her hair—I would rather just let it grow out and brush it to the sides or back. But, Mya has her daddy’s hair and it doesn’t like to brush to the sides or back, it just goes straight forward, making it a bit of a necessity, at least until it gets longer. It took both Toby and I taking turns to get it cut, but we managed. It is a little crooked, but overall, I think it turned out pretty well. Hope you enjoy the pictures!
Tony is currently the IT Manager for the same company, which is currently going through a buyout. When the buyout is complete, Tony is planning to hire Toby to work for him. So, he would still be in the same company with the same benefits, but his hours and pay would be much better. We feel that with all this put in place, we should be able to get our own place by the end of this year or beginning of next.
I have really loved all the time I have been able to spend with Toby over the last few weeks since we’ve been here, and I am terribly going to miss it when he starts working again. But, I have made the decision that I am willing to give up some of that time in order to get our family in a better financial situation. I am, however, looking forward to when he can change departments and spend more time at home. I am even more excited for the day when we can start up our own business, and Toby can work from home. Until then, I will sacrifice what is necessary to make our dreams reality.
I am having a blast taking care of Britni and Kelli. (I spelled it wrong before. Oops! J) We have been creating some fun projects and planning new things. Both girls have been great helpers for me. They give me ideas on activities and games and help out tremendously with Mya. They all love each other and love to be together. We’ve been trying to get to the zoo, but it hasn’t happened yet—due either to scheduling conflicts and the weather.
Wednesday night we had a pretty intense thunderstorm. At about 2:30 or 3am, I awoke to the sound of the tornado warning sirens. It was a little surreal to actually hear them in person. It was thundering, lightning and raining like crazy. The internet and cable were down all day Thursday, and the power went out a few different times. However, Thursday was quite sunny and warm. Britni spent all day with us on Thursday as well because all of the HEB (Hurst, Euless and Bedford) schools were closed due to damages from the storm the night before. One elementary school had the roof torn off and playground blown away by a tornado. Britni’s school had debris everywhere from a tornado as well.
I also wanted to share with you all Mya’s first haircut. Yay! We finally decided it was time to trim her bangs; it was just getting in her eyes all the time. I didn’t really want to cut her hair—I would rather just let it grow out and brush it to the sides or back. But, Mya has her daddy’s hair and it doesn’t like to brush to the sides or back, it just goes straight forward, making it a bit of a necessity, at least until it gets longer. It took both Toby and I taking turns to get it cut, but we managed. It is a little crooked, but overall, I think it turned out pretty well. Hope you enjoy the pictures!
Getting ready for the cut! :)
The final product.
The hair we cut! We kept it to put in Mya's scrapbook.
Well, I guess that is about all the news we have for right now. I will keep you all posted, and I hope more than just one person is reading this. If not, oh well, at least I know you read it. ;)
Comments
I envy you having your move over. We are quite at our wits end. But I convinced Rich to let us drive which means we no longer have to get rental cars or deal with car shippers! Hallelujah. Once the house goes through this month, I'm really going to miss our savings.
We just wanted to let you know that we are reading your blog and are happy to know how things are going for your family. Julie I have the same frustration with our blog. You just never know if anybody is out there.
We are so glad that things seem to be working out for you. We wish you all the best with settling in and with the remainder of your pregnancy. Give Mya hugs and kisses from Uncle James, Aunt Elizabeth, Evan and Emma
It's nice to hear that things are going great for you all. I do take the time to read more often to find out what's new. Sorry I just haven't been able to do the Pampered Chef thing. Things have been so busy and crazy with work, etc... that there just hasn't been the time to do it. I will let you know when things calm down. Love you all!! Liz :-)