Promotion

Exciting news! Two days ago, John was approached by his manager and the store manager at Dillard's about taking a position in furniture. This would be a promotion. More money per hour and commission. They said they were impressed with his selling and offered him the job. Of course, he accepted the position. He said it would be a few weeks before he started and he will have to go to Dallas for some training. I'm not sure what kind of training...maybe on furniture and the types of furniture they sell.
It is always amazing to me what God has in mind for us. We would have never dreamed that sales would be where John excelled or that I would be working in the area I am working in the time that I have been with Blue Cross.
Premier business is going well. I've had two shows so far with several more on the horizon.
Just thought I would catch you all up on what is going on with us!

Starting out with Premier

Well this week will mark my first Premier Jewelry show that I will be doing on my own. I will be doing a show for my sister on Thursday, a show for a girl at work on Saturday, and a show for my Mom's teachers on Monday. I am really excited about it! I am trying to get everything as organized as possible so things will run smoothly.
Since my last post we have slowed down quite a bit...thankfully! Of course the 3 days of rain helped to slow us down, and now it is COLD!
Yesterday, I started back going to the gym. Our work finally last year added a gym to our benefits. Only employees can workout there and it is FREE. My current gym membership expires and I did not want to pay since I have a gym for free at my disposal. They have some very nice equipment and it wasn't so bad to workout again. I forget how much better it really does make me feel after working out.

Whirlwind of a New Year

WOW!! So far we have been off and running in this new year.

Thursday, January 4th - I had my training show for Premier Jewelry. The weather was bad, so I only have 4 attendees (5 counting Camryn), but I did get to see a full Home Show and took mental notes as to how to do a good home show. It did end up being a good party...and I am REALLY excited to start having Home Shows. I have 3 on the books and possibly another.

Momma and Daddy celebrated 33 years of marriage on the 5th. However this exciting time was marked with sadness as they lost one of their closest friends-Jay Stevens-to congestive heart failure. Keep Annette, Suzanne and Jaymes in your prayers as they are dealing with the loss of their husband and father.

We also had a party at the Proctor's house with the Overstreets, the Herbolds and Andrea and Camryn. It was lots of fun....we had fajitas and played games. Thanks to John and Kim for introducing us to a new game "In a Pickle".

Saturday, Jan. 6th, we celebrated the life of Jay Stevens that morning with one of the most awesome life celebration services (notice I didn't say funeral....that conjures up sadness and mourning...this services was far from that) I have ever been too. Everyone who spoke did an excellent job and the music was just wonderful. God was truly given all the praise in this service.

Then in a fast hurry, John and I drove to Cabot where my neice was having her 5th birthday party. It was a wild time, but they kids had fun and Camryn got LOTS of presents! Here are a few pictures:

John has been working a lot and because this past Saturday evening and Sunday evening were inventory time at Dillard's he worked all night long checking inventory. He was pretty exhausted yesterday, because his body's clock was messed up from working at night and sleeping in the day.

Yesterday, January 8th - Camryn Olivia turned 5 years old. She had a pretty good day until the afternoon when she started running fever and had to go to the doctor. Early results were negative for strep throat, but the doctor said there is so much of that going around that she thinks we just caught it in the early stages. However, after some Tylenol she felt some better and wanted to go eat. She chose Golden Corral. It was good and the wait staff sang to her as she stood on her chair. At that point her fever was starting to come back so she tried her best with a fake smile to enjoy them singing. Then this child was blessed. An older couple was leaving that was sitting close to us and he stopped by there and teased with Camryn by saying, "Someone told me your birthday was last month"...and then handed her a 5 dollar bill. What a sweet couple!

That is a lot and it is only 9 days into 2007....can't wait to see what this year holds!

Christmas Update

We had a great Christmas this year!

On Christmas Eve, we had our Christmas with Alison's parents (well John had to work until 6 pm so he didn't come over until after work). We had our usual breakfast casserole and then opened presents. Camryn racked up, of course. She was excited about all she got and that is what is so fun about Christmas! Her Pawpaw got her a magic kit...she seemed a little disappointed that is was more "trick" that "magic". Santa brought the family the game "Scene It- TV Edition". It was fun. The four of us played and then when John came over we played again. It was relaxing and fun to be with family. To see pictures of this you will have to go to the link for "Momma's Photos" and click on the Christmas Folder.

On Christmas Morning, we woke up and opened the gifts we got each other. Then in a mad rush we loaded up the Explorer and went to Keith and Janna's for our Kerr Christmas. Not our normal Kerr Christmas, because Pat's family didn't come and Bobby and Melba could only stay for a few hours, but it was fun to get together and eat and play games. Melba made breakfast casserole and we ate and then opened some presents. Then we played Cranium! That game is always fun. After Bobby and Melba left to do Christmas with her family, Janna and I had made snack foods and Keith had smoked a ham and chicken. We just ate and ate and ate...even when we weren't hungry we ate some more! We played Hand and Foot and then Mexican Train.
Well as you can tell we had a good time during Christmas. Now is it time to start exercising to work off the extra food that was eaten during this time. Click on "Our Photos" link to the right to see pictures.
Happy New Year!

New Things in Our Lives

Well there is quite a bit going on with us...excluding the Christmas Holiday.

1) This week John became Full-Time at Dillard's. That is an answer to prayer as he really enjoys working there and has wanted to be full-time for a while now.

2) Because John is now full-time, he is having to be a work either when the store opens or around noon. That making finding someone to take him to work difficult. So, his dad helped out in getting his license reinstated so he can drive and Keith offered the Ford Explorer for him to drive...so as of yesterday, he has a vehicle and can drive himself to work. Another answer to prayer.

3) Since this summer, I have really been thinking and praying about selling Premier Jewelry as a side business. Now that John works a lot of nights and the weekends, I realized this would be the perfect time for me to start selling Premier Jewelry. So, today I am expecting the FedEx driver with my starter kit and package of sample jewelry. Premier's core values are God, then Family, then work. Pray for me to be God's light to all the people I come in contact with in Home Shows. Also, if you want to have a party, our hostess receive 30% of total retail sales in FREE jewelry! So get in touch with me and we can get your Home Show on my calendar!

Oh yeah...and Christmas is coming in 4 days!!!

God Bless you and your family this Christmas Season!

Update on John

Just a small update on John. He was feeling better yesterday, but was pretty sore. We went over to Park Plaza mall to do a little shopping and after a while, he started to swell more (he said he looked like a chipmunk) and seemed to be a little feverish...so we headed back home. He took his medication and some Advil and that seemed to help. He was sleeping good this morning when I left for work. Keep praying for continued healing...and thanks to those who have called to check on him.

Doing Good

Well, we are back home and John's wisdom teeth removal went well. They did have trouble getting him knocked out and had to give him more Versed to get him in "La-La" land. We expected that, but he is doing well. In fact, he is snoring as I write this blog. Gus is being the loyal dog that he is and staying right beside Daddy in the recliner (see picture below). Thanks for your prayers. He has not felt any pain yet and hopefully he won't have a lot of pain with this healing!