where we've been

we've been busy, oh-so-busy. we've been busy, and frenzied, and craaaaazed....

a few things that have happened during the blog hiatus:

• we've been working on our landscape project. projects: french drain, pavers, tiered planter, and bench.
• my sister totaled her car on easter sunday

[sis's airbag...no injuries. see that "yes lord" card in her steering wheel? someone else was in control here.]

• survived the crazy storms that pummeled alabama & north georgia (our pantry was ready for us should we need to take cover)
• celebrated BB's 90th birthday at birmingham's "The Club" on april 30 

[iconic entrance overlooking B'ham where Cricket's folks had their wedding reception]

• oh, and cricket got a JOB. did you hear me? a JOB. a real one. a challenging one. a motivating one. 

for those who don't know, we got engaged in jan 2009. by mid-march, cricket was laid off. he found full-time hourly contract work with a friend that sorta helped pay the bills while he decided to finish up school. after a while though, he was really jonesing for a "real" job with growth opportunity, a stimulating office environment, and to be surrounded by like-minded peers. he was pounding the pavement looking for the right opportunity, willing to step down several rungs on the career ladder to transition into the digital marketing industry from the video production & integration world. but it was hard.

it was hard on him. it was hard on me. it was hard on our bank account. it was hard on our marriage. it's weird to think that the whole time we've been engaged & married we've been pretty much a single income household. luckily, i have great benefits & kept us afloat. we didn't struggle like so many have during "econo-geddon." we didn't have extra mouths to feed. we didn't have a crazy mortgage (the economy actually helped us buy a house that normally would've been unattainable). we weren't putting any kids through college. we didn't have car payments. we were okay and able to get by, even with a treat for ourselves now & again.

but emotionally, it was TOUGH. i don't think either of us realized how much extra stress we were carrying until we got the news:

tuesday, april 28, jason was offered a job.

let me repeat:

tuesday, april 28, jason was offered a job!!!!

for the next two days after the offer letter arrived, i was shaking. i'm convinced it was the stress leaving my body! we would just catch each others' eye and smile. what a relief.

and not only did he land a job, he landed the PERFECT job. it's a culmination of all his best traits, yet it will still challenge him and allow him to grow. he's joining a digital marketing agency where he'll work on digital projects with a team of producers and marketing professionals for a particular telecom client. the office space is very creative, hip, & laidback...even a few four-legged office mates (lula's not so sure about this part).

i'm so excited, proud, relieved, and so many other things i still can't put into words. he's the same way.

don't worry, we'll still be doing the diy projects. we didn't win the lottery. besides, we like getting our hands dirty.