Our Pride and Joy!

Most people blog about their kids! Me? I blog about our pups. Here are some pics of a few of our girls and boy! :)
This is Bo--the only male. Bo is short for Gumbo! :) Gotta keep my Louisiana roots!

This is who we are calling Tux....notice the white stripe? She is SO precious! She is super smart and follows Ella EVERYWHERE! She is very inquisitive and will make a wonderful hunting dog.

Here's another pic of Bo! He's outnumbered with 6 sisters!

Here's one we call Oreo. She was crying to get her pic taken. She likes to snuggle and play with her siblings. She is a SUPER sweetie!!

One of the pups got picked out today. It was bittersweet. It someone that teaches in CSISD and lives right next to where I teach. So I will be able to keep up with Bella. Isn't that a cute name? They wanted to remember their mom, Ella. Too sweet! They are coming to get her the day before Thanksgiving.

That is about all we are up to these days. I am really ready for a break from school. I haven't had a break since school started, which is very hard. I have a SUPER SWEET class this year, but we all need a break. Basketball is starting up, which means FUN and also some late nights.

Come see us and our pups if you're around!!!

The pups have arrived!

One yellow female (above)

One yellow (closer to white) male (above)

All the pups...even one on her back...just like Aunt Addi used to do!

5 black females (One was being a loner during this photo shoot!)

Lab pups, Anyone?

I experienced a first this past weekend. We invited a male Lab over to be our Ella's boyfriend for a while. Hopefully this will cause Ella to be a first time mommy. People ask if we are going to have kids. Nope, we are going to have puppies!!! HA! We won't know if it worked until a few weeks, but if all goes as planned, we will be welcoming some pups in the beginning of October. They will be ready to go several weeks after that. Let me know if you're interested in a pup---or 2!!!

God is good!!

I'm such a slacker when it comes to my personal blog!! My life is not interesting, I have facebook and a school blog...so add that up and it equals no posts for my personal blog!

Not a lot and A LOT has happened since we moved in! Clear as mud?! Life was pretty normal until last week. Jason got word he had lost his job. It was quite eventful because the week before he was called by the owners of the company and told how wonderful he was, etc. He even asked about the future of the company, how the econonmy has affected the business, etc. He was told not to worry. Then his boss came down to ride with him and praised him. He even told Jason he needed to sell his personal truck because he had his company truck. That was on a Thursday. Monday afternoon at 1:15P.M. his boss told Jason he was in town and needed to see him to give him something. Jason was met with, "I'm having to let you go. Please get all of your personal items out of the truck. I will also need your laptop, phone, etc." Jason called me to come get him. This was also the week my sister's kids had decided to come spend the week with us.

So I called my sis and asked her to come get the boys. We were in no mood to entertain the boys, and we had some major decisions to make. Do we move? Do we sell our house? What is God trying to tell us? My sis decided to come the next day. (Bless her heart...she just THOUGHT she was getting a week of silence to work!)

The next day my sis arrived, and Jason learned a lot more about his company. Not that he wanted to know more people had been let go, but it did bring comfort to know 12 others were let go. Jason thought he had done something wrong because of how everything happened. He learned the company was $250,000 in the hole in the first quarter. His boss told him they needed to get their finances straight, then they would hire him back. Ummm...no thanks! You totally just put our family on the street and want us to come back.?! Bobcat paid no sev. pay and no "2 week notice". Lovely timing since we just built a house.

When Jason called me to come get him, I had a few minutes to think and pray. I was angry, sad, upset, hurt for Jason, etc. I was ready to let his boss have it. I had my speech ready to go! :) When I got to Jason, it was like the Lord shook me and made me new person. I told Jason on the phone I was going to have a few words ready for his boss. Jason agreed. Then when I got out, Jason told me not to say anything. I told him I felt the same way. Funny how God works, huh?! I hadn't met this boss because he was just hired. (That was causing some issues of anger because they didn't have money to pay my husband, but had money to hire and move this man...and he pulled up in a brand new truck!) So I walked up to him and said, "Are you Brent? Hi, I'm Carrie Owen." ...as I shook his hand. I noticed tears in this eyes. WHAT?! He didn't look me in the eyes again.

Talk about God's timing....the week before when Brent was riding with Jason, Jason had witnessed to Brent. Brent said he went to church, etc. but Jason knew God wanted more of Brent. So after we cleaned out Jason's truck, I went to Brent and told him I was praying for him. They can't sell their house, so his wife and children haven't moved here. I told him I hope they could sell it, etc. He apologized for everything that was happening. I told him God is bigger than his and HIS ways are perfect. I told him this was not a shock to God, and He knows what is best. Brent just kind of looked at me. God is working...and if we have to go through pain for someone else to have a relationship with God, then so be it!

So we decided that if Ash would entertain the boys during the day while we got our ducks in a row, they could stay a few days. This was PERFECT! From 6-8:30PM they went to our church's Sports Camp. This allowed time for my sis and I to go get a pedicure, talk school talk, and to counsel Jason and me! :) Once again, God is good!

Fast forward to last week....JASON GOT ANOTHER JOB!! I could write 10 pages on how God worked to provide that job. But the bottom line is God is good, and HE provides in HIS timing. The timing of it all and the pain we had to go through was NOT easy. I pray it never happens again. But it also taught us to totally rely on HIM!!

Jason started his new job today. He called 2 hours later and sounded like a little kid at Christmas. He was SO happy and has already done well. Let us never forget God is good. His timing is perfect. He loves his children. This earth is NOT home, so He has to do things to bring glory to Him and bring people to his kingdom. Who are we to question His moves?

This world is a crazy place. I'm afraid it's only going to get worse. My mom used to ask me, "Carrie, is this an eternal problem?" If the answer is no, then move on. She always had the right focus. We must become less so He can become greater.

I'm getting my classroom ready for school. I teach Jumpstart, so I start earlier. I like it because I only teach 1/2 a day and get paid some more money. It's easy, and I get to know the kids before they start "real" school.

Jason and I celebrated 5 years of marriage on July 17th. He found out he got the new job on Thursday. God's timing is perfect. We could truly celebrate and enjoy it knowing Jason had a job to start on Monday.

I know this post was a lot of rambling and probably hard to follow. Sorry. Bottom line: God is good, and HIS timing in perfect. He is SO much bigger than any troubles we have.

To God be the glory...

Home Sweet Home!

See message below...sorry for the craziness of this post. This is our sweet Ella!

Great room

Our house!

First, let me appologize for the photos. They are in NO order and are not turned the correct way. I am having issues with our AT&T connection and this computer doesn't have my photo program, so I am trying to do the best I can with what I have! :) Here is our home...still a work in progress! :)

This is our mailbox.

Back patio. Our garden is behind the trees. We added some bird feeders, plants, lemon tree, etc. since this pic was taken.

This is our entry. This was my mom's "medicine cabinet", so it has special meaning. Now it holds my cookbooks.

This is the entry/hall/dining room.

Hallway--this was taken for my sis so she can see the pics on the wall!

Broom closet--still need to hang hooks to hold all of it.

laundry room--excuse the mess! Jason's favorite part: the ice machine.

One guest room--still needs lots of work.

Extra bedroom continued.

Bathroom for guest bedrooms

Another guest bedroom. I got this furniture when I was 13. The little chair/desk is from my 6th grade classroom at A.E.P.

Guest bedroom with my furniture and desk. (from above)

Kitchen

My desk area

Corner of great room--still need to hang pic.

Great room

Kitchen

Another living area

View from entry

Jason's office: Aggie maroon

Bathroom for Jason's office

Our bedroom

Our bedroom

Master bathroom

Jason's side of the bathroom

My side of the bathroom. The blue blob is a pic of Louisiana one of my nephews drew! :)

Far away view of whole house.

Life...As I Know It!

I know, I know...it's been a while. I am still shocked to see the number of people that look at this blog. Are y'all that bored?! HA!

Let's see if I can catch you up on us...
We sold our home and moved into our new home late January. I wish it was as easy as that last sentence sounds! God was FOR SURE in charge, and He grew us. We had to totally depend on Him and He brought us closer to Him. Jason and I had heard building a house could cause a divorce, but we were on the same page through the whole process. The stress came throughout the process, but the major deal was selling the house we lived in. The family that put an offer on it moved VERY slowly. God taught us patience. Then we got a call the day before closing that our loan might not go through. WHAT?!! Apparently the underwriter didn't like that Jason put he worked for Bobcat, so the letter from his boss said Bobcat. But his paycheck said Berry Companies. They were a tad confused. But a call to Jason's boss and a letter later, we were good to go. We found out at 5P.M. that we would close at 9A.M. the next day. God taught us to totally depend on Him and wait on HIS timing. So much easier said than done. We closed on our house with no problems...in and out in 15 minutes. Then we went to close at noon on our new house. There was a problem with our survey. If we didn't close by 5P.M. we would lose our AWESOME loan rate and have to start all over. UGH! So again, it was wait and see. Again, down to the wire...everything went through. We got moved in, and I felt like a weight of bricks had been lifted off of my shoulders. God is good and faithful!!!

Then I looked around and saw all of the boxes. The fun was just beginning! :)

February brought Jason's b-day and the writing TAKS test. We went out to eat for Jason's b-day and came back to our house for dessert. It was fun. Wish I could say the same thing for the test. But walking CONSTANTLY for 7 hours in a dead silent room is not what I call fun. It's torture. Wish these crazy people that make us do that would come for a visit. No child left behind, right?! I just wanted to SIT on my behind!!

It's now March!! Jason and I went with our friend Leanna to see Hillary's group, Lady Antebellum. They performed at the Houston Rodeo. We left RIGHT after school to miss traffic and got to see them a second before the concert. The hug from Hillary made it worth it. The concert was GREAT. We went downstairs to the dressing room after the concert and got to talk to Hillary a little bit more. They were going back to the hotel room to talk, but we still had to drive back home and then get up at 6A.M. the next morning, so we didn't go. The cowboy dude drove us all to our cars, and we said our goodbyes. It was worth going, but it was too short!!

Now it's Spring Break!! My partner teacher's husband (Vince) is a coach for the track and field team at A&M, so she gave us tickets for the NCAA meet. We went Friday night. Then Sat. we watched the women A&M basketball game on TV, then headed back to the meet. The woman (which is what Vince coaches) got 2nd place overall. It was awesome!

Now it's time to order rugs for the house, put up pics and start making this place feel like our home.

I think I have caught you up on our life!!!

Happy March!