Decisions, decisions

Our lives are full of decisions right now! First of all, we are trying to decide when to have children. We want the timing to be right for us, but we also want to trust God to tell us when He wants us to have kids. It is really hard giving up that control, but we are at the point where we are just going to place our trust in Him and let Him lead us.

Another decision is getting another car. We have started looking at cars to replace our Tacoma. We don't really "need" a new car until we have children, but because we are such planners we are trying to figure out how what we want now. We will probably get a car sooner rather than later, simply because my truck is worth more now and it will help us pay for our new car. That makes it a little more complicated because we will need something that can pull our boat if we get it now, and if we wait until the end of the summer we won't have to get something that can pull the boat, but we will have to have another vehicle that CAN pull the boat at the beginning of next boating season. It is all very tricky. We also don't need a 4WD vehicle, because we don't do much off-roading or anything, but there are occasions, about once or twice a year, where we head up to the ski area in the snow, or drive up to the cabin in the snow, and it would be really nice to have 4 wheel drive at those times. This is a hard decision for us. We are looking between the Highlander and the Pilot right now, both 4x4 and both can pull our boat. Oh, another qualification is it has to hold Abby with no problem, which means we either have to get a 3rd row seat that can fold down, or a very large trunk area. Those two cars both have a 3rd row seat that folds down. It might be tricky taking Abby with much stuff, but we could make it work, especially before we have kids. We are only doing this because my truck will not hold a rear-facing car seat, and that is kinda important for when we have kids (obviously). But, considering I am not even pregnant, there is no rush. I don't know why this is eating at me so bad! Not to mention, the Tacoma was my dream car that I paid for outright when I was in high school and I have loved every minute of driving that truck. If it held a car seat we would not even consider getting a new one. Blah. I'll keep you posted.

On a positive note, I am going to be tutoring this summer. I will be tutoring two kids in both Spanish and Algebra, and a third kid in reading. The two that are doing Spanish and Algebra are doing it to get ahead for next year, so it will be fun to work with them and I think they will work really hard for me, even though I will be making them "do school" during the summer. The child who will be doing the reading is going to be a little more tricky. He is unable to attend school for medical reasons and it seems like the school doesn't really care, they just tell him to "come when he can" and that will be enough. Well, thankfully his mother really cares about his education and wants to see him reach his full potential, so she asked me to work with him. I am going to try a new program I have been trained in and I hope it helps him. I think it will, but it is going to be a matter of how much time I can spend with him each day and each week. I got enough materials to work with him for 20 lessons, an hour and a half each. I don't think we will get through that much, but I am going to try to work with him as much as possible. I hope it helps him! Luckily, this money that I am going to make while tutoring will be enough to cover our future car payment (that we have never had to make before because both the cars we own now are completely paid for). That is a good thing since I am not entirely sure I will have a job next year.

That brings me to another thing. I have to keep reminding myself that I will at least be able to sub next year, even if I don't have a job. Several of the subs at the school I was at this past year are going to be doing their student teaching in the fall, so that opens up some permanent sub positions at the school. I don't know if I would get hired there, but it is worth a shot, if I don't get a job somewhere else. What makes me a little more hopeful is that there are so many bilingual openings in Albuquerque, and even though I can't apply for them right now, I don't think they will all be filled by the time school is supposed to start in the fall, because none of them are going away when I check the website. I'm so glad God put it on my heart to get my bilingual certification, because without that my opportunities would be much more limited. I keep praying something comes my way and God would open those doors for me (and all the other teachers who have lost their job in this budget crisis).

Ok, enough of my rambling for now. I'll post more when some things happen. God bless our troops on this memorial day!