lots and lots of things!

It has been sooooo long since I've updated! A lot has happened. Nothing too incredibly exciting, but we're learning a lot!

The week of the fourth, I was moved from the waterpark into the big kid room with Cory. The kids in there are actually divided into two classes, and Cory had the older class and I had the younger one. The lead teacher is leaving in August, and she is currently in school so she doesn't arrive to work until sometime around 12. There are two other teachers who occassionally help out, but for some reason, Cory and I were put in charge. He had been in the room a little longer than I was, so he was a lot more comfortable with names and the way they acted and what was expected, etc. But for me, it was somewhat of a nightmare. It was great to get to go on field trips with them, and individually all the kids were awesome. But as a whole, I just couldn't control them. I had somewhat of a break down on that Friday, and reluctantly ended up going to talk with the directors about it. This was actually a really difficult thing for me. I stood in the bathroom for about ten minutes before I summoned the courage to head up to the office. I guess I have a harder time than I really knew accepting defeat, and admiting that I couldn't do it just made me feel weak and useless. The directors said they would move me back to waterpark, but I would have to spend another week in there until they could hire someone to take my place. That next week I had to make a conscious effort to remind myself that I am not on my own, but it is God through me!

Last Thursday, Cory had an interview at a high school in Vernon, Texas. This was the first "bite" we have had, so we were really excited. Vernon is about 3 hours away from Keller. It is very very small, and surrounded by fields and prairies, so it would be quite and adjustment to move their, but we were excited anyway! He felt that the interview went really well, and we were to hear back about that on Monday. Well, the next day, Cory heard through a family friend about another postion in Grand Prairie that was graphic and web design, and no teaching. He sent off his resume as soon as possible! Now we were nervous about Vernon because now if he actually was offered the job, what would we say? He wanted the Grand Prairie job much more, but he had only just turned his resume in. We couldn't say no because what if the Grand Prairie job ended up not working out either. And we couldn't say yes but then keep going in the process with Grand Prairie and back out of the Vernon position later. That weekend a lot of our prayers were especially focused on guidance and trust -- trust that we would sincerely believe the truth that God has a plan, and is guiding our steps.

Meanwhile, my parents paid for us to attend a marriage conference at Gateway Church. It was incredible! First of all, it was such an awesome experience just to be in a huge crowd of only married couples. It was so cool to think about the fact that we were surrounded by husbands and wives who were all at different stages in their relationships, but who were all genuinely seeking after Christ and wanting to build their marriages His way. And second of all, the speakers were so good and relevant. They opened our eyes to a lot of things we need to be conscious of in relating to our spouse. They had so many personal examples that it made everything seem so much more tangible, and simply, easy. Now so far, we haven't had any major issues, but we know it would be unrealistic to think that we never will. And after the conference, we feel incredibly encouraged and prepared to deal with any situation in a good and wholesome way.

Soooo, finally, Monday rolled around and we heard absolutely nothing from Vernon. And then Tuesday we got the call that they chose a different candidate. Even though it was another disappointment, we were still very hopeful for the Grand Prairie position. And the contact that we have, who is like second in command over the whole district or something, emailed Cory to let him know he passed his resume and information onto the "decision-maker" for the position. Then, we heard that she left for vacation today, BUT, they talked and Cory is actually the first applicant for the position because technically it doesn't exist yet. But it sounds like if the board approves of the position, it's Cory's. Get your prayers on! He's still going to send out a few more applications just in case, but this is the position we really want. It's very centralized to all that's going on in the metroplex, and there would be a whooooole lot more opportunity for me to find something too. God is good! And we know He has something more incredible than we could ever imagine (even if that means not Grand Prairie).

Welp, that's it since the last post. I'll try to keep you all (whoever you are) better updated. Cory has three photo jobs coming soon! And I think we're going to go to six flags :)

The end.
Love, Casey
(and Cory)

p.s. send some comment love!