Time for an update

I am alive!

Wow. January 8 was really the last time I blogged on this blog? I only say that because I have been blogging sporadically on my baseball blog.

Now that I'm looking at my last blog entry, it's kinda funny that the subject of my dream then was named Charlie. In March, my dad brought home a stray puppy and I named him Charlie (because he was brown and I wanted to call him Charlie Brown). Charlie was the only name my brother and I could agree on. Because I was unemployed and couldn't afford to keep him, my mom made us give him away. We only had him less than two weeks and it broke my heart to send him up north with my friend's boyfriend. On the bright side, Charlie is happy, well taken care of, and he is loved.

The biggest change in my life since January 8 is that I am now officially employed! I guess you could say I was unofficially employed since I was working from home for a professional photographer. Work was sporadic then and I would occasionally babysit for my friend's little brother. I was barely scraping by when my cousin told me that the Los Angeles Public Library was hiring for two positions. As I was getting my applications together, I went on Craigslist to see what other jobs were out there.

I found a company looking for scanner technicians... I sent in my resume, got a response, and went in to interview. I was very pleasantly surprised to see that the equipment they used was the same equipment I used during my internship with PCC and my work for the professional photographer.

Long story short, I got the job. A few weeks into the job, they asked me if I would consider moving to customer service. I said yes and here I am, back in customer service after four years of retail and saying I don't want to do customer service again for quite some time. Well, I had about a year and half break from customer service. Guess that was long enough?

One of the nice things about my job is that I get to work with quite a few good looking guys. Okay, nice looking guys I suppose. Down side is most of them smoke.

Looking back, when I found out that I was going to lose my job, I knew it was for a reason. I didn't know it then, but God was leading me to this point. Even now, I don't know where He's leading but I know that I can trust in Him. After all, look what He's done in the last two years.

I lost my job in May 2009. In September of that year, I went back to school to finish my library tech degree. I accidentally sign up for the school paper thinking photojournalism was a class about pj and not actually the photography part of the school paper. Through that, I was able to meet the professional photographer who I now do some part-time work for, including some negative scanning at home. After I completed my library tech certification, I participated in an internship where I scanned hundreds of images for the Pasadena History Collaboration. In turn, I have used both those skills and my customer service time at Talbots in my current position. How great is our God?!?

Even now, I thank God every day for leading me here. And I pray for His daily guidance. I don't know where my next step is going, I just know who's going to lead me.

Yes, I have to admit... the last two years have been very difficult. There were times when I wondered if things were ever going to look up. If there was a light at the end of the tunnel. If things were ever going to get better. I got depressed. I got detached. But I held on because if Jesus is all I got, then Jesus is all I need. That's a little phrase Bro. Alan uses once in awhile that he remembers Bro. Ron saying. Sometimes that was all I had to get through the day. Just a prayer. Just a little thread of hope. Just barely hanging on, barely existing.

Now... well, I'm still hanging on and still existing. But before, it was more like one step at a time, just put one foot in front of the other. Now I've got a little more spring in my step. At least I know when things start going downhill, I know who's right beside me and will see me through the valleys, through the plains, and with me at the mountaintops.

If anyone is still checking in... thanks for stopping by! Maybe now that I've cut back on my facebook games and farmville, I'll try to blog more often.

It's funny how easy it is to write when everything is going wrong. That's a trend I've noticed over the years as I started my journal way back in 1999. I have to admit, I write in my journal as often as I blog on here. I guess I better dig that thing out of my closet or book shelf where ever it is. Who knows. Maybe if I have time during my lunch hour, I can park by the beach some where and jot down a few thoughts.

Twelve years of journaling and some times it seems like nothing has changed. Yet, everything has changed. But still, some things are still the same and some issues have never gone away.