Hey there! It has been quite a while since my last posting from back in September. This fall has flown by, and I can't believe Thanksgiving and Christmas is right around the corner!! Thought I'd drop in to give our friends and loved ones a run down of our September, October, and November adventures and preview of some stuff coming up in the near future.
In September, I began getting settled into a completely new schedule. I have had the awesome privilege of getting to study at Dallas Baptist University this semester. To say I'm enjoying it would be a huge understatement. I get to stay at home and do my school work on my own time and in between my ever-changing work schedule. I have absolutely love my major (Christian Ministries: which took me forever to finally nail down) and feel like its true conformation that I'm doing what I was created to do. :) I just registered for spring 2013 classes and am on the right track to graduate by December 2013. Hooray!!
At the beginning of this semester, I was given the opportunity to nanny for a family in the Garland area. After praying about opportunities to help bring in more income this summer, I was thrilled that it would allow me to work a more steady work schedule than I had been working at the shoe store. Starting our second year of marriage, it was really important to me to be able to be home in the evenings with Brett and be home to make dinner each night. The past year, I've worked a different work schedule each week and never knew if I would work mornings, close the store, or work Saturdays. This would be fine for a single person, but I had a hard time with the inconsistency. This nanny opportunity would not only give us the extra income I'd been asking for, but also allow me to be home EVERY evening to make dinner and spend quality time with my husband. I have really enjoyed my new work environment this semester and especially enjoyed my new schedule.
October seemed to really fly by for the Gilpatrick family. Along with nannying, I started being a consultant for Thirty-One Gifts and am really enjoying it. I had a couple of parties in October and love getting the pink boxes delivered to my door! Here's my website if you are interested in look at the super cute products: mythiryone.com/brandigilpatrick :) Brett started leading the middle school ministry each Wednesday night. He teaches and co-leads in the student worship team. I'm so proud of him. He is so dedicated and is incredible at what he does. We've been blessed with great opportunities for discipleship and growth at our church. Brett is able to shadow other pastors in many roles within the church. Its truly a learning experience every week. He has even been given the opportunity to preach the church services a couple of times this fall, and I love getting to sit in and be ministered to by my husband. (Proud wife moment, hehe...) At the end of October we had a Trunk or Treat at our church thrown by our student ministry. We got the chance to dress like we were from the 80s with our kiddos and pass out candy to the kids in the community. Here's some pics: these people are so fun!
A couple of unfortunate happenings in the month of October can be described through these photos:
We discovered a sewage leak under our bathroom, which turned out to be two leaks. Thankfully we have two bathrooms and did not have to go without toilets for more than a day.
I was rear-ended while driving to church on Wednesday. Not a traumatic experience. But my drink flew everywhere when they hit me (which was a cool effect), but when they got out to check on me, they were covered in their left-overs from Fuzzy's Tacos. I laughed about it later. Thank God for insurance.
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| My sweet Momma :) |
Now we are already a week into November, and I am already looking forward to Thanksgiving and Christmas. I've been anti-pinterest-projects when it comes to holiday decorations this year. I felt overwhelmed with everyone's fall wreaths and pumpkins that I just decided to skip the decorations for fall. I've rebelled against the expectation to have cute decor and still have our summer wreath on our door from when we moved into our house in May. Ha... (Don't worry... I will decorate for Christmas) A bit of news about my family. My mother just had to have a pacemaker put in a couple of days ago. She was having high blood pressure issues and feeling short of breath. The doctors say her heart is healthy but the pacemaker will help regulate her heartbeat and fix some of the issues she's been having. Please continue to pray for my mom, but I'm thankful she is doing well after the procedure and will be feeling much better soon.
Well, that's all for now. Hope to write some during the holidays and eventually post pictures of our new home (only six months late on that). Can't wait to have a break for a few days in good ole East Texas with friends and family over Thanksgiving.
Blessings,
Brandi
