Update since the wedding...(Jennifer)

Since we got married a little over 3 months ago, I have taken a job working as an ABA therapist for a company called OATH. (ABA stands for Applied Behavioral Analysis; OATH stands for "Overcoming Autism Through Hope"). I work with children ages 2-9 years who have varying degrees of Autism Spectrum disorder. So far, it has been really fun working with the little kids, and really rewarding to see them improve. They are pretty entertaining and it's amazing some of the things they come up with. Of course, there are good days and bad days, and some days can be very trying on my patience level, but overall, the job itself I enjoy and I think it is great preparation for whenever Sterling and I decide to take on parenthood down the road.

However, since I have been employed with them, there have been some issues with getting the number of hours that I was promised during the interview process...so I've been picking up as many administrative duties as I can to try and bring in the amount of income we originally planned for in our budget...and we've certainly been praying about it...but we'll see where God takes us. I am trying to keep my mind open either way. If there is anything that I have learned in the past two years, it's that the things that I want to happen/try to plan/organize/sometimes even try to force to happen, is not necessarily how God is going to make it happen, if at all. And even though things might not work out exactly how I envisioned them--more often than not, things turn out to be better than I could have ever imagined. I certainly never saw myself married at 23 that's for sure! But I am very grateful that I am - married life suits us both really well. I am so thankful for Sterling. He's such a good man and a great husband and he makes me want to be a better person. God really blessed me by bringing him into my life--and with such perfect timing too!!

Other than that, I have been busy trying to find places in our apartment for all of our presents! It's amazing how quickly we have grown out of 900 square feet. Well, not necessarily "grown out of" but we have a lot of stuff! Sterling says it's because I have too many shoes....I say it's because he has too many books!! In all honesty, I've somewhat given up on trying to find places for some things. We have a rather large pile of boxes in our 2nd bedroom which we used to use as an office before the boxes and piles of paper took over the place! We also have some in our closet, as well as in our living room.

On the administrative side of the whole marriage process, we have officially closed all of our "single" banking accounts, combined all of our finances, made a budget, made chore charts, and I have changed my name to Jennifer Hill Cummings with the social security administration. I still have yet to change it on my license. Long story with that one, but basically I am waiting until we visit my parents over Thanksgiving to get it renewed in TN, rather than getting a TX license because we don't want to pay to get my car inspected, registered, new tags etc....there's a good possibility that we might end up having to get rid of it in the next year (long story there too. Sterling can tell y'all that one).

Needless to say, we've been keeping busy. Oh yeah, AND we are also looking for our first home! Yeah :) Exciting times ahead :) We'll keep you posted!
-Jenn