Ramblings

HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY!!!

We had a fun weekend, what with the mini-Olympics party on Friday night that we hosted (USA! USA!) and the Japanese-themed Valentine’s dinner on Saturday night that our church hosted. Seeing as Valentine’s Day fell on a Sunday this year, we didn’t want to go out to eat, so instead we exchanged cards and little presents while Weston was awake, and then transformed our living room into a romantic little restaurant after he went to sleep. This might sound corny, but I realized that (minus the décor, service, and clean-up) we can have almost an equally pleasurable dining experience at an expensive restaurant as we can have in our candlelit living room (especially when curried shrimp is on the menu - yum - one of my favorite shrimp recipes!).

Anywho, on to the scandalous/degrading/uproariously hilarious job update (because I know many of you have been wondering what's going on). In lieu of the nitty-gritty, here's the basic recap of events:

Nov 2009: Luxoflux (a.k.a. summer internship company) offers Tim a full-time job. Hooray! Tim considers it, counter-offers, and waits for their response.

Dec 2009: Tim graduates from Art Center, and Luxoflux tells him that they can't get back to him right away about his counter-offer, because HR and Accounting have basically shut down for the holidays. So, we wait longer.

Jan 2010: After Tim inquires as to when his contract can be finalized, Luxoflux tells him that they still want to hire him, but they just don't have the funds for new hires until the next videogame project is green-lit by Activision (the parent company). We are told it might take 2-3 more weeks. We start to worry, and Tim starts searching for other jobs and freelance opportunities just in case.

Feb 2010 (this past Thursday): After five weeks of waiting, we receive a cryptic and distressing email from the (awesome) Art Director at Luxoflux (Tim's would-be boss). Soon enough, the internets are awash with reports of Activision closing their studio Luxoflux and downsizing some of their other studios. (See the LA Times article HERE.) Yep. Tim and I realize that our solid-as-a-rock backup plan has just evaporated, take turns having panic attacks, and then start applying with extreme vigor to other job openings.

Today: Nothing yet. Tim and Jean alternate between sobbing and laughing deliriously at this most recent turn of events.

Okay, just kidding about that last part -- there have only been a couple episodes of sobbing, and they were both me, and they were both a few weeks ago and not since. I am so happy that Tim has graduated, but since then, there has been that horrible, constant battle inside me between faith and despair (that ol' battle). Despair was winning in the beginning, but lately (surprisingly), faith has taken the lead. I truly, strongly believe that when one door closes, another one opens, and that things will ALWAYS be okay in the end. I just wish we could get to our happy ending sooner than later, and then laugh about how crazy and stressful that whole job search period of our lives was. :-P

But in the meantime, we're hanging in there, and there have been many blessings during this trial, too, which tells me (as usual) that all will be well. Right now, we're just trying to find a practical plan for our future. We'll keep you posted. Oh, and if you have some space in your prayers, we'd really appreciate if you could give us a shout-out to the man upstairs. :-)

Last but not least of my ramblings... this week Suzanne Collins released the title and cover of the third and final installment in the Hunger Games trilogy!:

WOOHOO!!!!! Click HERE to see an article about it. I CAN'T WAIT!!! Anticipation for this book will get me through ANY struggle that we may face. I love this story!!! :-)