New job!

Hey everyone! Sorry, we haven't updated in awhile, there just hasn't been much to update and Brian and I have both been swamped with school and work. December can not get here fast enough! I (Dawn) wanted to write a quick update on the results of Brian's job interviews and also give you an update about my health and treatment this week.

To start with, Brian has accepted an offer with KLK, an accounting firm in Tucson. We were desperately praying that God would guide us to the perfect job for our family. There was a chance we were going to have to choose between Phoenix and Tucson, which would have been difficult. However, God decided for us, (Yay!) and Brian ended up not getting an offer from the firm in Phoenix. So, we are here to stay. There are many more "pros" on the side of staying in Tucson verses moving, so we are actually relieved that it worked out this way. Thanks Dad for always making us write those "pro" and "con" lists! I didn't believe you when I was young, but they are actually quite handy! lol :) Brian was given a wonderful salary and the company is really great. He likes the people he has met and also likes that it's a smaller firm of about 50. He will be working downtown, so the commute will not be too bad depending on where we end up living in the future. I am so proud and excited for him! He is really looking forward to only having to work one job and is ecstatic to be able to work as an auditor. He has discovered he really likes that line of work. His goal is to complete his 9 missing accounting hours that he needs for his CPA license this coming year and then to also take the CPA exam. He always impresses me with his ambition! I know he will be a wonderful CPA. The official start date for KLK is tentatively the second week in January. So, Brian will continue to work at Fry's until then. Praise the Lord for cheap Cobra Insurance from Fry's! Health benefits won't start until April, but we will be able to pay Cobra until then so we don't have to gap. It's SO nice to have this all ironed out. We feel so blessed that Brian got such a wonderful job offer in this economy. It's a tough market right now and competition is fierce. God is truly our provider!

Now onto a health update. Starting last week, I started having quite a lot of problems with my autonomic nervous system going crazy. It was strange because I am pretty far out from my last treatment segment. However, Lyme is so unpredictable and I also know the medication stays in your system for quite some time. My sensitivities have seem to have flared and so every day it has been an adventure as to whether I will react to what I call my "safe foods" or not. Thankfully, I haven't had any problems with my water and I have still been able to find something to eat; however, I have just not enjoyed being able to only eat about 10 items instead of 20. Oh well, I can feel blessed for things I can eat and the assurance that God will provide for all of my needs. It helps to imagine I'm eating something delicious when I am actually eating chicken for breakfast. :P We think it might have something to do with our neighbors that just moved in above us. Every time they run their dryer our entire apartment smells like the laundry isle at Wal-mart. It's terrible! We think the dryer hose empties into one shaft because as long as we run our dryer, the fumes won't come in. So that is what we have had to do, turn on our dryer whenever they use theirs. Good grief, the hoops we have to jump through, lol. I was thinking about going up and asking them when laundry day is so that I could be prepared. Ha! J/K

I have also struggled a lot with an irregular racing heart, temperature regulation (hot then cold and even chills) among other unpleasant symptoms. Plus, it's starting to be a regular occurrence of not being able to fall asleep until 2-3am. Thankfully, I don't work in the morning and can sleep in, but you don't ever feel rested when you are on that schedule. It's been kind of a tough week, but I am trying to keep my focus on God knowing that He will carry me through this. I started another treatment round today. That has made things a lot worse. It seems like the more treatment rounds I go through, the tougher they get. I have been extremely nauseous and dizzy while having to endure the bone pain and overall body aches and this is only the first day! Thankfully, I only have one more day of work and then two days off. So, that is my health update. If you could please pray that my treatment would be bearable and that my sensitivities and symptoms would subside. I have so much to do school work wise that I really can't afford to take a week off.

This brings us to our final prayer request. Both Brian and I are getting down to crunch time with our classes. I am extremely overwhelmed with all that has to be done while I seem to be getting sicker and Brian's plate is full with handling all the household responsibilities (grocery shopping etc.) while trying to finish his last semester. If you could please pray that God would multiply our time and efforts in the area of school work. Also, please pray that Brian would stay healthy. He is pretty tired with everything going on. He was able to take some time on Monday and Tuesday to rest as he was starting to get sick. So, he is better for now. Only 5 weeks to go! We can see the finish line! Thank you again for your prayers! I will update after we get done with this treatment segment to let you know how everything goes and hopefully I will be doing better! :)

Sending (((Hugs))) and prayers to all of you!!