Looking for good news?

Okay, if you're on my blog today, it may be because you're checking to see what the good news is that I was talking about on Facebook.
Well, I got a job!
Here are the details:
*I will be babysitting for 2 children in my home M-F. 9 a.m. till 4 p.m. Ages 2 and 5.
*The parents are friends of ours and we have a wonderful relationship and very open communication with them.
*They live in the same little town as us--so very convenient.
*I will be making just a little less than I have been making from the doctors office.
*This is a temporary situation (3-6 months). Their mother is quitting her job sometime in the next 6 months, but I will watch them until either she decides to quit, or another job opportunity arises for me.
*The 5 year old child is in kindergarten and will be at school the same hours as Grant is, so I will actually only have the toddler in the afternoons.
*They are very sweet, quiet natured kids that I am anxious to love on!
*I will still be able to do everything I normally do around the house while they're here (including workouts and cleaning, etc.)
*And...I had thought that this would mean I would have to quit going to the gym for my morning classes, which would have been REALLY REALLY SAD for me...but...my mom offered to watch them for me during those hours. I will pay her so that it will be fair, but she only wants $40 a month (which comes out to $5 everytime I go to the gym). Awesome!

At first I was a little unsure of this....seeing as how I've been thinking that my "big break" was about to come through as far as fitness instructing/ministry. But, the truth is, my classes are about to end and so far, they haven't asked me to teach any other classes as of yet...which means it's time to find something else. The more I think about this whole situation (the babysitting) the more I see that it is the perfect solution for both of us (me and the other family). This will "buy" me more time to figure out what I'm doing/where I'm going...and in exchange, they get to leave their kids with someone who they already know and trust. (what an honor for me!)

I'm not exactly sure when this will be starting, sometime in the next 2 weeks. Anyway, I just wanted to let everyone know so if you see me after school with 4 little kiddos in the car, you'll know whats up! :o)

Also, in other news:
*The doctor I work for has decided to postpone my layoff---until Feb.1st. YAY! One more month of working for him means more money to get out of debt with! Hooray! (Ps. I work from home.)

*I'm starting a new Beth Moore Bible Study called "Breaking Free" tomorrow night with the women's ministry at our church. I'm looking forward to digging deeper into God's word this year and I can't think of any better way to get off to a great jump start!

*I'm looking forward to the new season of The Biggest Loser which is starting tomorrow night. Since I will be at Bible Study during that time, I will be dvr'ing it and watching on either Wednesday or Thursday so PLEASE DON'T TELL ME ANYTHING!!!!! :o)

*Beginning today, Jan. 4th, I am back on my clean eating. I will be preparing weekly meal plans every Sunday afternoon and will be e-mailing it along with all the needed recipes to people who are interested. I'd be more than happy to add you to my e-mail list if you want. I guarantee you, if you'll stick to only eating the foods on this meal plan AND get at least 30 minutes of exercise a day, you WILL lose weight. I have already prepared this weeks meal plan and posted on my other blog. Feel free to check it out. Going to get to my 120 goal weight this year...no question about it.

*My little girl is turning 9 in exactly one week! AUGH! That is just crazy. I've never been so unprepared for her birthday as I am this year. It just seems like Christmas was yesterday and now it's birthday party time. Usually, it seems like, there is more time between those 2 events!?! It will be a small party this year.....because

*WE ARE GETTING OUT OF DEBT! Most of you remember that we had to borrow $1800 from my parents last year to get the transmission replaced in our van. Well, the "deal" was that we would start paying them back $100/paycheck as soon as Christmas was over. I gave my mom the first $100 today and it felt AWESOME! I can't WAIT to get our tax return back and pay off some more stuff. For a while there I was really focused on getting a new wedding ring and us taking a vacation in 2010...but....I really think those things can wait a little longer. As soon as we get rid of this mountain of debt that we're in, the next purchase will be a new vehicle to replace the van. It may take a year or two...but I think we're starting to see a small glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel now! (Thanks Rene!)

*PRAISE REPORT: While I was at my wonderful friend Rene's house last week working out with her, her handy hubby took it upon himself to look at my van and see why the heat wasn't working. Turned out the thermostat was cracked. He offered to let me use their (fabulous) SUV to run my errands while he went to the parts store, bought the part and installed it in my van. WHAT A BLESSING! And I can't believe how terrific it is to have heat in our vehicle again! My guess is that it hasn't been working right for a looooong time. Because seriously, I don't remember ever being so warm in my car before! THANK YOU SO MUCH DAN and RENE!!!

Okay, that's about all I can think of for right now. I need to get off here and go get prepared for my last Monday night of teaching classes at the gym. After this, it'll just be Thursdays! Hope you're having a good first week of 2010. Remember, it's up to YOU how good and happy it is!