OMG! It's August!

OMG!  Have I really not posted an update since May?  Wow, how the time has flown by! 

Probably the biggest update is that the possibility for a $20,000 grant to help us fix this place up fell through.  For months, we were looking forward to getting this grant with one mitigating factor - it looked like we might be making too much money to meet the income guidelines.  For months we were fixated on hoping our income would be low enough to qualify.  I was even scared to make too much in my business fearing that it would tip us over the line.  Dan's income flucuates, but this entire year it seemed every payday put us further and further away from getting under the limit.  Finally, I got some hard stats from Dan's office manager.  There was no denying it, we are over.  For about a minute, I could feel the tears surfacing behind my eyes.  We were so intent on getting that grant, we hadn't really saved our own money.  We'd just gotten back from a big (and expensive) business trip.  I just felt like a total schmuck for putting all of our eggs in one basket.  For about a minute everything just felt like crap.  And then I realized I had been praying for prosperity and blessings, only to be hoping that I wasn't too prosperous!  Suddenly, this was wonderful news!!  We didn't have to worry about making too much money.  Dan is having an awesome year!  I had been holding back on my business and now I am free to go for the gold.  I quickly recognized the foolishness of my mindset just moments past.  You can't ask God for help at the same time you are saying "but make sure you do it like this!"  Man, how could I have been so dense?  LOL

So, we're on our own to fix this.  Big Project #1 is now definitely a new roof, as we started to have a leak during the heavy summer rains within about an inch of where my new cabinets are sitting, waiting to be my new desk.  Our neighbor has given us a great estimate and we hope to get started ASAP.  The good news is that without this feeling of having to keep our income down, we're really free to go "pedal to the metal" on making money.  I just applied for a position as a Para at the school across the street, really hoping I get it this year (I also applied last year) and I have a ton of leads and pretty good sales from the county fair I worked last week for my jewelry business.  Dan is working hard and bringing in some of the best pay he's ever had.  Patrick is also staying with us for the time being and paying rent.  So, all in all, this is a good thing.  We'll make it so.

We've also gotten some work done, which I will update on soon.  In the meantime, I'm going to continue to affirm God's blessings on us and our prosperity - without restraint!  I'll pray the same for everyone.