Is this my calling?

I can't sleep. I'm up and I am sad. I have been in a place for the last couple of months of being really unsure that I am in the profession that I was called to be in. In college, when I choose social work, I did so because I felt that it was the profession that would allow me to do what I was called to do. Now, I am not so sure. This is my second social work job and I am beginning to feel the way I did during the end of the last one. I don't feel like what I am doing is making an impact. That sounds egotistical I'm sure, but it isn't meant to. I'm not in this profession because I want applause or even really expect a thank you. But, I do hope that I can say that what I am doing is leaving people better off than they were before we started working together. Right now, I feel like I am juggling schedules, legalities, personality types, and the like without really improving the lives of the kids I serve. I spend all my time making sure the t's are crossed and the i's are dotted, until I have no quality time with the kids to impact them in a positive way. I am worried that at 25 I am already getting burned out in this field. Please, pray for me that God will direct my path and help me to determine what His will is for my professional development.

Car Drama

I should have posted this picture a long time ago, especially with the recent turn of events. Before now, I have never had a new car. I have always been blessed, and I really mean blessed, not in a sarcastic way, with being able to use the cars my parents no longer needed. However, prior to the wedding, I was having a lot of car trouble and having to jump my car a lot. It was really not reliable enough for the amount of driving I do for work. When we got home from our honeymoon, I was still having to jump the car and after a fender bender that involved rain and a sleep deprived Becca, Jeff and I decided to buy me a new car. Jeff had been doing research for a couple months, knowing I would need a car sooner rather than later. So, the Saturday after we returned from our honeymoon, we purchased a new 2007 Saturn Aura. It is beautiful with Moroccan brown leather (my teenage clients call them the peanut butter seats) and On Star to help me with directions, and tons of other wonderful features. I love it and am so happy to have it!

Well, on Saturday after the wedding we went to, an older gentleman backed his car into my brand new car. It isn't a lot of damage and if it were in the past when I had older cars, I probably wouldn't have even gotten it fixed, but this is a new car. I went to get an estimate today and it is a bit more expensive when we expected. These type of situations are difficult because for minor damage, isn't really worth dealing with insurance companies and deductibles. Plus, we feel bad for the man that hit us. But, the body shop said I would be out of a car for three full work days and the man is going to have to pay for a rent car for me. We are in a pickle trying to decide what to do.

Weekend Fun

We had a fun, but busy weekend! Mr. and Mrs. Albus, Matt (Jeff's brother) and Austin (our nephew) came to visit for the day on Saturday. We missed our morning marathon training so we could rest up for the day of fun. They came about 10 AM. We showed them the changes we had made to the house, mainly just hanging pictures and putting away wedding gifts. Then we went out to eat and to the neighborhood pool. Our neighborhood has several awesome swimming pools and one of them is like a mini-water park for kids. It's actually really fun for adults too! They have three big slides, but Austin was too small to go down those. However, he loved the one shaped like a frog. He also enjoyed mushrooms that shot water down on you and water fountains that come out of the ground. We all had a lot of fun and we are so glad they came to visit!

After our company left, we got ready to go to my friend, Trisha's wedding. Trisha and Jason started dating around the same time we did and are a sweet couple. It was the first Catholic wedding I had ever been too, so it was interesting to see the differences in the ceremony. It was funny because at the end of the wedding, the priest pronounced them Mr. and Mrs. "James" Bunetello! Oops, but I think it is still legal if they say the wrong groom's name, right? Another new thing for me came at the reception. They had what is called a "Grand March." I'm sure this is more common than I think, but I have never seen it done before. Jeff and I observed the festivities, as we weren't sure exactly what to expect. It looked like a lot of fun though! We enjoyed the wedding, our second to attend since our wedding, almost 3 months ago! Here are some pics:

Our Retreat

We are so happy to report that we enjoyed a wonderful retreat this past weekend in Round Top. The retreat center was beautiful and instead of cabins they had what appear to be historic homes. Jeff and I felt like we were at a bed and breakfast, which is somewhere we have been wanting to go. Our room had a King sized bed and two twin beds in it and we had our own bathroom and shower. The speakers were Steve and Debbie from Shreveport, LA. They are an amazing couple with a lot of experience to share not only of their own marriage, but also of countless couples they have ministered to. We learned so much, but more importantly God revealed himself to us both individually and as a couple. He ministered to us through the leaders of our class, the speakers, and the other couples. We are new at this marriage thing and are so grateful for the guidance and wisdom we have available to us through our class. Here are some pictures from the retreat.

On another note, last night we walked 5 miles. We had to do it on our own since we were out of town on Saturday morning and couldn't walk with the group. However, I noticed 5 miles did not seem as hard as the previous 4 mile milestone. We have worked up to almost 1/5 of a marathon. YAY us! Jeff is so encouraging and disciplined or I'm sure I would have already given up. With his help, I know I can do it! Next weekend we will walk 6 miles. Please, pray for us to continue to stay injury free as we train.

INSANITY

So, there have been several events over the last several days that seem quite odd/weird/maybe funny. I woke up yesterday morning after several nights of late night calls in a row to Jeff laughing. Jeff uses his cell phone as an alarm. Apparently, when I heard the alarm, I said while still asleep, "This is Rebecca with DePelchin, how may I help you?" Of course I have no phone in my hand and when no one answered me, I said "Can you hear me? Hello...hello." At first this seemed really funny and then I started to worry. Have I finally lost it? Thank goodness I am officially off call starting tonight and I don't have to worry about it again for a whole year. Praise the Lord!

The second incident occurred tonight. I had a late home visit and had to go to the grocery store, so I didn't get home until almost 8 PM. When I opened the door, who do I see but Harvey? Now, this isn't odd, except for the fact that Harvey stays in his crate while we are at work and Jeff wasn't home yet. Having read the previous posts, you know Harvey can be quite destructive so I was scared. I just knew everything in the house was going to be destroyed! But, nothing was touched. He had knocked over his water bowl, probably trying to get water, but other than that all was in tact. What is even weirder is the view I saw when I went to see how he got out of his crate. This was it:

How did my dog flip his crate over on it's end? We are looking at the side on the left and the bottom of the crate on the right and the side door on the other side of the crate is open. I don't know how he did it. The crate was originally against the wall in the corner of the room on top of the boards. As I promised here is a picture of the damage he has done to the bedroom wall:

Can you believe that this sweet dog could do all of that?

Puppy prozac, late night calls, and marshmallow man hands

Okay, so I have had my dog, Harvey for four years. One would think that by this time he would have grown out of his "puppy stage" where he destroys things and is hyper. I have to admit those of you who have heard the Harvey horror stories would agree he is much better behaved. When we are home he is calm and sweet, but when we aren't home, it is another story. We bought our house almost a year ago. Due to wedding planning and me living in Sugar Land, we have not yet begun to decorate per se. So, we have several rooms we'd like to paint etc., but we weren't planning to paint our bedroom because we like the color. Well, Harvey had another plan. He has decided that when we are at work, he is going to flip the crate over until it rubs against the wall. Anyway, now the walls in the corner of our bedroom have places where there is dry wall exposed. Jeff is upset about it. I don't blame him, and I am attempting to find a non give the dog away solution. So, we bought this pheromone calming stuff, no help. I took him to the vet and get this, the vet said it is seperation anxiety and suggested puppy Prozac. However, he said that having a dog on this medication for a prolonged period is bad for their kidneys and liver, so he recommended Benadryl. We haven't tried it yet. I will let you know if it works.

I didn't sleep at ALL last night. Isn't that a line from a song? I am on call for work from 5 PM to 8 AM on weekdays and all day and night one weekends for two weeks. I am about half way done with my 2 week rotation and I only have to do it once a year. Praise the Lord! However, the freaking on call phone rang at 11 PM last night, 3, 6, 9, and 11 AM this morning and, 3 PM and 7 PM tonight. It is really hard to do crisis management when you are woken up from a dead sleep! Jeff said I sounded really funny trying to introduce myself on the phone.

So, this morning we were supposed to get up at 5:30 AM to go to our walking training (we are training for to walk to Houston Marathon in January of next year), but we didn't make it of course! Jeff being the wonderfully disciplined man that he is, suggested we go at 1 PM instead. It was HOT! My fingers swelled up until I couldn't bend them. I had to take my wedding ring off because it was cutting off my circulation. It was ridiculous. I felt like that white ghost/marshmallow man from the tire commercials. We only had to walk four miles and you would have thought it was 10 the way I was complaining. Poor Jeff! He married a wife with marshmallow man hands that hasn't ever walked over 3 miles. We are working up to 26.2 miles. Pray for us. We are going to need it! I should say I will. Jeff's already run a full marathon and a half marathon before.

I will take pictures of our wall to post and the after as well. We have decided to cover the damage with material until we can do something different. It should be interesting!

Jumping on the Band Wagon

Here we are on our Honeymoon in Hawaii!


Okay, so it seems like everyone I know either has a My Space page or one of these. Considering the horror stories I have heard about My Space, we are opting for a Blog. Shot, my mom has one, why not us!

Tomorrow we will have been married for exactly 2 months! It has been an amazing time so far and we look forward to a lot more exciting times to come. Next weekend we will be going on a retreat with our Sunday School class called Mad About You in Round Top, Texas. It sounds like a lot of fun! Our Sunday School class is wonderful! It is the Newlywed or Close class at Houston's First Baptist Church. It is a class of couples married under 2 years or couples that are engaged. It has modules on topics such as communication, finances, conflict resolution that are discussed from a Biblical perspective. We started the class the weekend we got engaged and have been in it ever since. We even have friends in the class that were also in our Singles' class. We love it!

We are also counting down to a trip to Durango, Colorado Labor Day weekend. I'm really excited because I have never been to Colorado! We are both busy with work right now as Jeff is finishing up the quarter at work and I am on call for two weeks at my work. We have only had one late night call so far, so it is going much better than I expected. Look for more to come!