REaching A Breaking Point

There are some days when I think that making ends meet is just a part of life and we will get through with no problem. Then there are days when I cry because I realize that the truth is we are in a downward spiral to never ending doomedness. We are suppose to be coming to California in May and that is looking very dreary, I only have 4 ish weeks of pt work left then I have just enough hours for June and July to keep our medical benefits in tack with the exception of having to come up with the balance for the premium every month and then there is the dreaded "summer hours" for Garratt on top of his O-Chem Class he wants to take, although I have to pay off a student account balance first so that he can register...plus the normal bills and groceries and gas money. Then on top of all that we have to take Faith to Spokane ASAP to see an Allergy Specialist and have a consultation and a bunch of specialized tests done. OMG!!!!!!!! When will it all end?????????? AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!

: (

CRAZY AND CONFUSSING

Hello everyone. It has been awhile since I gave you any updates. A few weeks ago I mentioned that the Budget was very gloomy here at WSU well, not it is not just gloomy it is downright depressing, not to be confussed with the overwhelming anxiety that CA is dealing with, but yet still just as dreary.

The WA state Senate and House released their projected budgets which will be finalized May 1st, to the shock of everyone. We were anticipating a 12-18% budget cut what we saw was a 20% budget cut from the Senate and a 29% budget cut from the House....AWWWW!!! This is now the situation we have all been dreading, this is going to hurt and bad!!!

My job is basically done the 2nd week of May. I will have 8 hours in June and 8 hours in July for now to hang on to my medical benefits as long as possible. August is currently up in the air. So please pray for us financially.

As for the situation with Garratt, well here you go. We found out when Garratt went to do his advising that there was a class that he was required to take that was not going to be offered anymore. This ment that he would be short on credits and a pre-req for his major classes. His advisor said she would talk to the department chair and instructor and see about an exception, but she was not very optimisic, she was wrong, they decieded to grant his the exception and allow him to take the class as an independent study course. Ok, one obsicle down. Then Garratt got a department email informing all the Nutritional Science students that the Dean of their department was stepping down as of May. Then a few days later Garratt got an email from his advisor informing him that she was leaving in May and refereing him to a Faculty Advisor. WHAT?? What is happening? Well, the jist of it is simple. The dietetic program is low on the WSU agenda as far as priority goes. It is one of quite a few programs being cut, although like many others the students have been told that they have a certain amount of time to finish up. This is partially true, meaning that as long as the budget holds out then they will allow the students to finish up, the more the budget goes down for cuts, the more likly that situation is to change.

All of this is happening while I am reevaluating the whole situation and realizing that there are no jobs here that fit my qualifications. I realized that I should have just stuck school out a long time ago. For awhile I have talked about going back to school and I just kept putting it off, why? Why is a good question, I had no answer either. I always said well now is not a good time ( I also said this about having kids, now we are going on baby #2) but the truth is as my wonderful husband has reminded me everytime I talk about going back to school, is there every a good time? There is always something that is going to stop you. So Garratt and I decided that we are going to look into possibly transfering to a school that is not considering Nutritional Science/Dietetics a low priority degree and we are going to take a leap of faith and see where God leads. Garratt is going to appy to some schools. At the same time that he is applying I am going to apply. I will be entering as a Freshman in the BSN program (Nursing).

All in all we have very mixed emotions about it. We know that God has the ultimate plan for us and He knows where we are suppose to be, yet the Human in us is scared for our family financially and emotionally as well as futuristically (is that a word). We are also excited to see what God does. So our request right now is for LOTS and LOTS and LOTS of PRAYER!!!! The big things are 1) Finances to get through the summer and a little into the fall until I can work again. 2) Finances for Application fees...those darn things are expensive. 3) Finances for visisting CA in May...we do not want to cancel this trip. My sister is graduating High School, Catie ( a special member of our family) is graduating from High School, my Mom is having surgery on her hand, my brother is turning 10, and this is the only time we can come down this summer because Garratt is planning on taking O-Chem this summer and it runs through the end of July. 4) Finances for a possible move 5) Peace as we have to make decisions wheather to move or not and when!

So there you have it the chaos of our lives!!! We love everyone very much and are thinking of you all.

AND THE WINNER IS...

We are proud to announce that we are having a baby Brooke (girl). We are sure, as you will see below in the pictures, she was not shy about showing us she is a GIRL. We are very excited. She is very healthy and active and size wise is measuring "average" and right on target, unlike her big sister who was always big, thankfully Brooke is not. Here are some ultrasound pictures for your enjoyment.

This is a profile picture. You can see her head (looks a little big to me) and her cute nose and mouth.

This is her showing us that she really is a little girl... hello world. The arrow is showing us too..HAHA Those are some long legs...must be those Jeffery genes!! : )

This is Brooke's foot. The arrow is pointing to the foot and the little smudge under that foot is her other foot, just like her Daddy she had her feet crossed at the ankle.