Jared and his Ipad

Today Jared came home with a little toy..... and Ipad. (picture is of him configuring some programs)

His company is going paperless, so they needed a tablet for customers to sign contracts and collect payments. He and his buisness partner have been researching many different brands of tablets (Archos, Blade, HP, etc) but Jared did not want to go to Mac (he is a die-hard PC), I on the other hand think Macs are way cute, therefore I am an advocate. => After trying various tablets they just were not cutting it. So Jared and Jermiah decided to just look at the Ipad.....
Needless to say, thye fell in love. It is far superior to anything they had previously looked at. Jared brought his home and is practically in heaven playing on it! I have to say, it is dang cool! I played with it for a little while and I was in awe! And I have brought Jared over to my side-knowing that Apple stuff is amazing! One of these days I will make a post using the Ipad, as for now, I will let Jared have quality time figuring out his new buisness toy. =>

Exhausting Job

In high school it seemed like I never needed sleep. I would wake up at 5:00am or earlier, go to seminary then school then dance, come home, maybe do homework, then be out and about as a teenager would, staying up and out as late as possible. Nowadays it seems I can not get enough sleep. I am sure a part of that is due to pregnancy, but a part of that is also my job. So those two coupled together it is cause from some very exhausted Alyssas. => And the other night was no exception. JAred and I were chilling on the couch, some show playing on the tv. And I cant remember if we were talking or not but all of a sudden I am being set down on our bed, and the clock says its three hours later than my last recolection. Yep, I had fallen asleep, am most likely mid talking haha And Jared thought I was sleeping in such a funny position he took a picture of it. He said I am a true poser girl because I even pose in my sleep. haha Well, what can I say, sleep is great! Especially when you are exhausted! =>

My Little Miracles

Lately I have not done much of picture worthy things, which I guess is why my last couple entries have been photo-less. This post will be the same. But don't worry, there are a few planned things coming to take a picture of (like my stomach and a new In-N-Out opening, and Nicklecade date) so there will be pictures soon. As for right now my mind is so filled with recent little miracles in my life I just had to write them down.

The first major one is Jared! I know, he has been in my life for almost two years now, but I just can not believe how lucky I am to have a man like him! Seriously I do not know how I could do some things without him (like getting up and ready for work today, just one example) He helps and supports me in everything I do, and even the ideas of things I want to do but never get around to. And especially lately, when my body just doesn't want to work anymore, he jumps right in and goes above and beyond his 'call of duty' => I can not even think of the right words to say to acurately express my feelings of love, appreciation, respect, admiration, (the list could go on and on) I have for him! He is probably the biggest miracle that has happened to me in my life!

The second miracle recently happened last Sunday. I honestly don't know what came over me (probably too much time to think at work) but I invited three of my high school friends and their husbands to a dinner party last Sunday. Yes, me, willingly cooking a large meal for seven adults! Really what was I thinking? I was so nervous about it, but the gathering turned out fine. And my little miracle that day was the food. I had never cooked for seven adults before so I made two dinners, roast and chilie, and a side of homemade rolls. I can not even tell you how scared I was for that food. I am definately NOT a great cook, I am actually just beginning to learn how to cook, and good food turns out about half the time. I sometimes wonder what Heavenly Father thinks when I pray to Him. Especially while I was making that dinner. I do not think I have said so many prayers about food in my entire life! Jared even asked me to say the prayer on the food when they were all here, and I don't know if any of the guests caught it but I definately prayed for it to taste good. => And there were no complaints! And even some compliments! I tell you, even tho that does not seem like a big thing, or may even seem weird to some, but it was a big deal to me to have decent tasting food. I didn't need it to be the best meal they ever had, just enough to satisfy them for one meal. And I can say that this experience was a testimony builder for me, that no matter how small the matter, or insignificant the fear or worry may be, Heavenly Father knows that its important to you, therefore it is important to Him. And I am so thankful that He helped the dinner I made not turn out horrible. (and I probably wont be cooking dinner for a party for a while, I still havent gotten over the stress of food =>)

And the third miracle happened/is happening at my job. My job gets paid of piece rate (however many bundles of clothes you sell is what you get paid). And I had officially entered the training curve last week (they give me 18 weeks to get to 100% efficiency) I had been steadily progressing at a rapid rate, which I was comfortable with, and on the first week I was doing really well. But then I had a bad day. Not just in how fast I was sewing but how bad my body hurt, cutting my finger opened, huge headache. Basically you name it, I had it. That day just really shot my enthusiasm down. Then I had a weekend, expecting to get refreshed and back to the normal pace I was working at, but coming back to work Monday, I still preformed less than I would have liked. This really got me down and again I turned to my Heavenly Father. He really loves me. I can not explain it any other way. He knows the goals I have for myself and He has helped me exceed them more than I could have ever imagined! Again it is a small and insignificant miracle to anyone but myself, but in my life, it is a huge miracle!

And the last one I will talk about today has to deal with my job again. My job provides insurance. This was a big blessing when it comes to our baby. When we first found out we were pregnant there was no way we could have afforded this baby, and that scared us a little. But we figured we could just make extra money on the side and try to negotiate with he doctors and hospitals. And for the first two visits that is what we did, and as far as we knew it was working well. But there was always the lingering fear of 'what if' like 'what if the baby is premature' or 'what if I need a C-section'. Those were expenses we could not have handled. But luckily with this job, I get a good insurance plan that will help cover a lot of the costs. And a new miracle that comes with this insurance deals with Jared. He was set to have his jaw surgery on November 30 up in Idaho. His parents had kept him on their insurance plan for this specific reason. But something happened (I am still not entirely knowledgeable about the details) and the insurance company was changing and decided not to cover Jared's surgery. Well, they cant just not do surgery. The doctors have spent practically the last two years prepping his mouth for this corrective procedure, and if they just leave it how it is, his jaw will be more messed up than before they started. But again Heavenly Father, I am sure, knew this and He provided a way for Jared to get the procedure done. The insurance I get thru my work covers it, then same if not better than the insurance before. This is one big complication that we never would have thought of, and yet Heavenly Father had prepared us for it.

These recent miracles in my life have me so emotional (and yes, a big part of that is probably pregnancy) about our Father in Heavens love for us! I have not doubted that He loves me, it just astounds me when I look back and see part of the extent of His love for me and my family! I am eternally grateful for everything He does for us and how He watches over us! And I hope I can provide at least a portion of that love for this baby coming to us. I know that my Heavenly Father loves me, and that gives me the greatest peace and reassurance I have ever known!

My Job...

I have a full time job! The first one in my entire life! 40 hour weeks, who knew they were so killer? (ok maybe people who work them =>) Anyways, I work at Beehive Clothing sewing ladies garmet tops. When I told Jared I was applying for that job his first response, no joke, was "Do you even know how to sew?" Haha I think that is pretty funny! After over a year of marriage we still are learning fundamental stuff about eachother. (Yes I know how to sew. I am definately not perfectly great but I can hold my own) I even got put on the second hardest job in ladies tops! How is that for sewing skill? haha
I have been working there for two weeks now (i know, so long) but I discovered this morning that my body is already programed to work. The hours of this job are 6:30am to 3:00pm, and we need to get there between 6:15 and 6:20 to get things ready so we can start sewing at 6:30. Needless to say I sleep in as long as possible, at first I set my alarm to 5:56am. Jared and I have a pretty good morning routine I get dressed and he packs my lunch (I know what a stud) and then I eat breakfast (he is still packing) and I leave the door around 6:10. Thats right, wake up and our the door in less than 20 minutes! I am a little proud of that! => But just this last week I switched the alarm clock to 5:54am, but it makes a HUGE difference! There is a two minute allowance to slowly wake up, cuddle, and roll out of bed. I will sacrifice 2 mins for that. => But back to this morning. I was so looking forward to sleeping in, you dont even know! And Jared even kept me up until 10:30 (yes, two hours later than I normally stay up. A girl needs her beauty sleep! =>) to help me sleep in. But alas, that was all in vain! I woke up this morning, no joke, at 5:56 alive and awake and ready to go! It was the weirdest feeling because I was sooo tired still yet my body REFUSED to go back to sleep! Yes, this dumb job schedule is taking over my life! =>
So a little more about my job. Beehive clothing has some what of an assembly line when doing any garmet. One person does one specific job, like sewing a sleeve or putting elastic on, and then passes it to the next person who does their job and so on and so on. My job is to sew the miters on the womens square neck tops. Miters are the corners on the necks, essentially the part that makes the neck square instead of round. There are four per top. And this job pays by 'piece rate' which means they pay you not by hour but by the number of tops you do. While I am in 'training' they give me a little slack and make up my difference to 100% until I get there (and they give the trainee a set number of weeks until they need to be up to 100%) On my fastest day I sewed 252 tops (with 4 miters each mind you). And I thought I was cruising. But they then told be that I was only performing at like 37% and I needed to be up to 680 tops a day to be at 100%. Yes, that is a little discouraging, but I have 16 weeks left in my training period. I am sure I can get at least 100%. And the best part of 'piece rate pay', you can get over 100% and they will pay you accordingly. There was a lady that used to work on miters that did at least 175% and made $18/hour (of course, thats what they say, i have never met her) but it gives me a little hope =>
And another plus about this job is that it has full benefits! What a blessing, especially witht his baby coming! I am so grateful for this job, but I am still getting used to working soooo much and getting up to where I should be in production. I am excited to see how I continue to increase my production and make more tops! =>