Try

Today's #reverb10 prompt: Try. What do you want to try next year? Is there something you wanted to try in 2010? What happened when you did / didn't go for it?

I've always wanted to try being a DJ and spinning and mixing music. Unfortunately I know absolutely nothing about it, the equipment to try it out is expensive, and the opportunity to learn from someone else has never presented itself. The best I can do for now is play DJ Hero 2 on Xbox. So come on over and see if you can beat me at pushing buttons and turning knobs on a plastic turntable.  Ha!

Appreciate

Today's #reverb10 prompt: Appreciate. What's the one thing you have come to appreciate most in the past year? How do you express gratitude for it?

I truly appreciate having a job and all of the things it affords me - a roof over my head, food on the table, clothes on my back, a car to get me where I need to go, and the list goes on and on.

Every day through my job I see people who have nothing. No job, no home, no health care, no food, no support and nowhere to turn. These people are so desperate for someone to just listen to them and try to help them. I see people who were hard-working and successful but were then laid off over a year ago and have still not found work - and they want to work. The have lost unemployment benefits and the lifestyle they used to live. They are now sleeping on couches at friends and family's houses or sleeping in shelters or in parks. They are having to utilize the food bank and local missions who provide meals. They may be in pain due to a medical issue that they can no longer afford (or can't afford insurance) to treat.

Every day I am grateful I don't have to go through the things our clients go through.

I am grateful for a job, and even more so, a job that allows me to help other people. We may not have much, but praise God because we have what we need and even a little extra. Unfortunately, not everyone can say that.

Action

Today’s #reverb10 prompt: Action. When it comes to aspirations, its not about ideas. It's about making ideas happen. What's your next step?

My next step is to wait. I know, it doesn’t sound exciting and it certainly isn’t moving me forward but it is what I need to do. Before I can take any action towards settling somewhere, buying a home or having kids I need to wait for Dave to graduate and be offered a job.

Sure, Dave doesn’t need to graduate for us to have kids, but on a grad student’s income it would be very difficult for us to do. More difficult than it needs to be. So we we are patient and just have to wait a little longer. We could also start the process of buying a house, but there’s always a chance that with Dave being so specialized in what he does that he could be offered a job in another city or even another state. With the housing market the way it is it just isn’t practical to buy a home and turn around and sell it in a year.

We’re in a sort of holding pattern right now. But believe me when I say we will spring into action the minute a job offer is on the table and Dave’s doctorate degree is in his hand. It will certainly be exciting to see how all of this plays out in the next few years. We can’t wait!

Novembeard - Day 31

Sadly, this will be the last Novembeard picture. The 30 days are up and after this picture was taken Dave trimmed up his shaggy beard.

He still has the beard, just a shorter and more trimmed version. He’s debating whether to keep the beard or go back to the goatee. Thoughts? I vote for goatee…

Well, it has been fun doing Novembeard with you all this year. Maybe Dave will participate again next year or maybe he’ll switch over to Movember and put his facial hair growth to use and raise money for prostate cancer and the Livestrong foundation. We didn’t know about it before we started Novembeard but I think it is a great idea because, you know, charity is kind of my thing. So long, shaggy beard!

Wisdom

Today’s #reverb10 prompt: Wisdom. What was the wisest decision you made this year, and how did it play out?

The wisest decision I made this year was to leave the only job I had known since I graduated from college and seek something new, different and unfamiliar to me. It was scary to think that I would be working for an organization I wasn’t as familiar with and in an environment so unfamiliar, but it was all worth it! I now have a job I love at an organization I love and with people who are so wonderful, caring and uplifting - a welcome change from where I was working before!