The Lovely Folks I Work With

Today's Joy: Our Corporate Christmas Party.
Had a wonderful time yesterday, Reader. Our 11 store managers and the corporate staff gathered at Venuti's in Addison, IL for a last meeting & holiday party to round out the year. The food was amazing and it was great to be able to visit with everyone. I gave out a dozen of my Oreo Truffles to each store manager and they were met with much delight. We also did a gift drawing and I received a cute little lime green Ipod Nano. (Never had one before, so someone will have to show me how to use it!) The company I work for is incredibly generous. What a blessing it is to have this job and be surrounded by great people!


A Sampling of the Venuti's Buffet
(Clockwise from top: salad, green bean salad with white beans, roasted potato wedges, ziti with vodka sauce, cheese-stuffed ravioli, broiled tilapia, steamed broccoli & crusty Italian bread)


Got Some Great Stuff in the Gift Drawing:
A Yoga Mat & matching Ipod Nano

Uncle Raking Hay with the Team

Today's Joy: Living The Dream.
After more than a year of thwarted planning, I finally got the chance, on this beautiful Sunday morning in October, to photograph Uncle fulfilling one of his lifelong dreams: raking the hayfield with his Belgian Draft Team.


A Good Day's Work

I've photographed Uncle & Aunt Chef doing many things with their drafts this year: trail driving, showing in reinsmanship and cross-country classes at local driving shows, even getting dolled up and pulling a circus wagon in the costume class. But I think Uncle's favorite thing to do with the team is work around the farm.


Having a Great Time

Raised and trained on a working Amish farm, Fred & Ginger have adapted beautifully to our much more play-oriented lifestyle. Still, they don't seem to mind putting in the occasional hard day's work. While they plugged along, pulling a non-motorized rake that gathers hay into orderly rows for baling, Uncle spent the whole morning grinning from ear to ear. I couldn't help grinning, myself! It was a thoroughly delightful fall day on the farm!

Straight Rows Only!


Uncle Has Been Looking Forward to this All Summer

Making The Turn

Side View

Workin' Horses

Uncle & Aunt Chef Making Sure Everything's in Working Order

Hay on the Nose

Farm Dogs Wrestling

Old Technology Meets New

Tessa, Portrait

Hooligans

An Idyllic Life

Backsides

Today's Joy: Getting A Raise.
I was hard at work this morning, Reader, when my boss called to tell me they are changing the title of my fledgling position from Data Entry Clerk to POS Coordinator--and I'm getting a pay raise. Woo-hoo! This position has been such a blessing! Have only been with the company for a little over two months (just started full-time a couple weeks ago) and now I'm getting a nice-sized raise.

"Christmas comes early!" My boss joked. It's really wonderful to be surrounded by great people in such a supportive environment. I've never enjoyed a job as much as I do this one.

Of course, I have God to thank entirely. It was His voice I felt nudging me to look online at a particular website within hours of this job being posted there. It was His guidance I listened for during both my interviews and His will working through others that created such a great opportunity for me. I have prayed often for guidance on how to do this job to the best of my ability. And it's through Him that more incredible things continue to happen.

He has become more real to me through this process than at any other time in my life. I feel as if I can take risks and put all of myself out there in this situation because I know, whatever happens, God is there and He's guiding me. Being afraid is suddenly and simply irrelevant. As far as 'AHA' Moments go, this one's a doozy.

Daylily After Rain

Today's Joy: Going Home & Putting Up My Feet.

What a crazy couple weeks, Reader! As you can see by my woefully sporadic blog entries (I apologize and will post the missing entries as soon as all my photos are uploaded), these last two weeks have been a whirl wind of work and art show chaos! All great stuff, but I haven't had a day off since July 25th! So, tonight I am going home to put on my jammies, prop my feet up and watch mindless television for a few hours before hitting the sack early.

After all, have estate auctioning, more work, church activities and house-cleaning on the agenda for Saturday & Sunday. Ah, yes. Another restful weekend. Thank You, Lord, for keeping my activity calendar full. Amen.

Sometimes the most important thing in a whole day is the rest we take between two deep breaths. ~Etty Hillesum

Today's Joy: Goals Accomplished.

Long day, Reader. Had a full day at work (Lord, thank you for blessing me with a job in which there's always plenty of work to do and which I enjoy so much). Then Aunt and I visited two Pier 1 Imports to buy a lovely new patio set for her screened porch. We found a gorgeous set on clearance and matched them with some sumptuous peacock-inspired cushions patterned in chocolate brown, dark turquoise, soft greens and a rich cream. A few coordinating throw pillows and Aunt now has the makings of a blissful porch oasis.

Now at home, with humidity hanging thick & heavy in the air, I think I'll have a glass of iced tea and climb into bed. Sleep tight, Reader.

Quote courtesy of The Quote Garden.

Look at a day when you are supremely satisfied at the end. It's not a day when you lounge around doing nothing; it's when you've had everything to do, and you've done it. ~Lord Acton

Today's Joy: Putting It All Together.
Am feeling on top of the world, Reader! After 2 & 1/2 weeks of intense on-the-job training, something clicked in my brain today and all of the skills I'm learning suddenly fell into place. I felt like a dynamo whipping out inventory adjustments, credit memos, transfers and receiving every invoice in sight!

Got caught up on everything so the store's in great shape for tomorrow's month-end paperwork and I left the office tidy & well-organized. Love it! I can't believe how fast the time flies while I'm working. Hurray for being challenged all day long! And thank you, Lord, for leading me to this wonderful organization that makes a difference in people's lives. What a blessing!

Quote courtesy of The Quote Garden.

Verigated Leaves

Today's Joy: Hard Work Paying Off.

Well, Reader. Today marks the end of Week 2 of my No Grumbling, No Complaining Challenge. In some ways it was harder than Week 1. But I'm grateful for the test of my resolve. The more of a habit it becomes, the easier it will be to stay aware of how my words and actions impact others. I already feel so much more positive and proud of myself for finding opportunities to lift others up, rather than lament the things that aren't perfect in my life.

Today was also my last day of farm-sitting. My cat will be very glad to see I'm actually sleeping at home tonight. It will also be nice to sleep in my own bed. That being said, I really came to enjoy doing chores every day. Taking care of the critters and cleaning stalls became a familiar rhythm. It even turned into time spent with God, once I found the barn radio and got it tuned in to K-Love.

I love infusing God into little moments during the day. After all, He wants a living relationship with us. That means going beyond attending Sunday service and prayers before bedtime. It means sharing our thoughts and concerns, joys and disappointments with Him as we go about our day. It means being focused on that love throughout the day--and how we can demonstrate it. What a difference it makes when all of your actions originate from a place of peace and fulfillment. Makes life a lot less frustrating too. Give it a try, Reader. See how an attitude of loving compassion changes your interactions with people this week. You might be surprised...