God is good...ALL the time!

We got GREAT news this morning! Eugene is moving to the territory that includes Mississippi...soooooo...the job search is over for both of us...we can settle down and move on with our lives! Next stop...buy a house!

God has brought us down this road for a reason and we know that. We have seen shades of his purpose over the last few months and I'm sure that he will continue to reveal many "lessons" to us. He deserves TOTAL glory for this! We would have never made it through this time without Him and continue to seek His face for His purpose in our lives. It's been a tough several months but God has taught Eugene and I to lean on Him in a way that neither of us ever have before. He's grown our marriage and our relationship with Him in a way that I am ever grateful for. God is so good and we are so undeserving of his grace. His timing is perfect...we have learned that for sure!

The San Francisco treat...

I'm sooooo excited! Eugene is going to Davis, California for work in a week and I was so jealous when we found out all the great cities that will be very close. Well after some research and discovering that he will be there for Memorial Day weeeknd...we wrangled (after much pleading on Eugene's part...they're stingy with those holiday weekend tickets!) a frequent flyer mile ticket and I'm going to San Fran for the weekend. I. CAN'T. WAIT. I've wanted to go forever but there are so many other places on our list that I figured that we wouldn't be going anytime soon. Being married to a traveling salesman (though it stinks at times) has its advantages!

And then there were two...

It's official...both O'Donnells are licensed to practice law in Mississippi. We had Eugene's bar admissions ceremony yesterday and were able to celebrate his HUGE accomplishment. (I stole this picture from Mandi's blog...thanks guys!)I'll post more pictures soon...

Boston Pics

This is Dick and Ricky Hoyt. They have done 29 or 30 Boston marathons and countless triathlons and Ironmans together. Dick pushes Ricky in every race he does...amazing!

We met Lance...need I say more?

Go Sox!

The finish line...hours later...still a great sight!

We had fun!

We are back from Boston and back to work...poo! I will post pictures soon but I wanted to report in quickly. We had a wonderful time, a much needed vacation and some good quality time together. Eugene had a great race...he ran the marathon in 3 hours and 8 minutes...he makes my job as a proud wife very easy! Pictures to come...

Reunited and it feels so good...almost

Eugene is on his way home as we speak...we have been separated for three weeks which I would absolutely not recommend to anyone! We are headed to Boston on Friday for the marathon and are very excited about the race and especially getting some much needed time together. We have no idea what our next step is or what the next few months hold...we shall see...

JT supports the Tigers...

Although the result was not what Memphians desired the Tigers still had a wonderful season and should be so proud! They haven't done this well since dear ole Dad was in college. And...hello! JT was there :)

Eugene's new ride

In a moment of weakness I agreed to this purchase. I have a wonderful husband though and it made him happy so it was worth every penny...

GO TIGERS GO!

When it comes to football season there is no room in the O'Donnell house for any other team than the Alabama Crimson Tide...I married into the mayhem that is Alabama football. Eugene, however, married into a tried and true Memphis family. Both my parents are alumni and are die hard Memphis fans. This, at times, is easier than others. I spent several rainy days in the Liberty Bowl stadium watching Memphis football...many of you know that is a waste of time...but my Daddy has stuck by them. There are basketball seasons that make them a lot easier to cheer for...this is one of them!!! The Tigers have finally made it to the final four and they looked awesome this weekend! Can't wait to see what next weekend holds...

And to answer the questions of whether we are just now Tiger fans or not...I ate white, blue and grey angel food ice cream when Larry Finch was the coach...die hard I tell you...die hard! These are the days when it pays off :)(This picture is from the commercial appeal...hope you can do that!)

Just because...

Nothing new to tell from our end...but I felt the need to update the blog at least with a new picture...Happy Wednesday everyone!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANNA LAUREN...a day early

Tomorrow one of our favorite little people is turning 1!!! We love this little girl and her Mommy and Daddy so much! She will always have a special place in our hearts...

SERIOUSLY?!?!?

Well unfortunately I will not be able to share any more pictures of our cross country trek...yesterday...we were robbed! Eugene's car was broken into in downtown Denver while we ate lunch. Praise God all they got was his work computer...we had all our luggage, our camera, both blackberries and my purse in the car! God certainly protected us!! However, ALL our pictures were on that computer...so no more cross country pics...poo! We are thankful for the protection yesterday and are still praying for direction...we wait...

Cross Country Trek

Two weeks ago we drove out to Colorado for Eugene to stay (poo!) and I flew back. This is a temporary fix...as most of you know...we have no idea what's next, but for the time being he needed to be in Colorado and I am still looking for a job...here are a few pictures...we hope only to do this one more time!


Who knew?!??!

From the non blogger in the family...

Here is an email sent to some of you by Eugene...he wanted all the blog world to know as well!! We are so thankful!!

Praise god praise god praise god!!!!!!!! I could say it 10000 more time a day for life and that would not be enough. Say it with me please and if you do not know how ask me. God came through I am lawyer right now only because of god. He is ever faithful and true to us no matter how much we fail him. In other words he never let's go!!!! Please do as I did rely on god and use him to get you through the darkest days of your life. His love for us is 100 percent everyday. Here is a story to show that for you.......

I failed the bar right after law school I had studied the wrong way or got stressed whatever but I failed. God allowed me to work for 10 dollars an hour at the ag's office and I took up the prospect of taking the bar again and I only had to take the essay's. So all in god's plan I studied with jennifer and she took the bar early in feb. I feel that god allowed me to fail the first time so that jennifer and I could study for it not that my wife needed me but we could feed off on another and praise god with our passage of the bar exam. Well as you all know jennifer passes it with her hard work and studying and I fail by .03 points so we move on to round two. As far as what I did for jennifer; The only part was one make her study even when she did not want to and I told her the areas of the bar that she did not need to mess with etc possibly saving time. We did study well together and learned things one would not have learned by themselves. Like a scout report in football. But she did the work and I would fail the bar again if that was why god's plan was for me to fail. Other than god jennifer is number one on this planet.

So moving on here is the hard part. One I had no license and got to watch as no only wife got a license but all my friends and hers!!! It killed me next the I lost my job. Basically life was down in the bottom. No job no bar nothing but my weaken faith in god and jennifer. Which I praise cause with out those two I might have been in even worse shape. Next enters a godly man named hastings who gives me a job within 24-48 of asking him no questions asked!!!! So here we go god lifting me up when I am down. But all along there is a plan going on. Praise hastings for giving me a job unrelated to law it kept me and jennifer from going broke. Next uplift god gives jennifer the job of the century. As her current position she is a district court clerk for the district of southern miss. Those two jobs put food on the table and without jennifer taking the bar early we would have had one 15 dollar an hour job for the summer wow god came through. But I was still shelfish I was mad about life, my job (since it was unrealted to law), not having a license. I was pissed and god might have used that anger for me to push for every job imagable. But I will be the first to say I did not handle failure perfectly. I was mad and did not rely on god to get me through this at first. I started to see maybe there was a plan in all this? God had provided me with the best professor (professor christy) in law school who was still a friend of mine and knew a thing or two about the bar. He lead me to WORLDS BEST APPEALS attorney who used to work for the board of bar admissions. Tom lowe!! He tells me it will be an uphill battle but we could win. Tom work tireless on my appeal and keeps me from wanting to kill the board. (Ungodly by the way). Ps I never knew the stress of a client till I was one. Lawyers such as mr. Lowe calmed my stress and crafted my appeal so that it would be correct and not by passion. I would have messed it all up. Wow god thank you for professor christy and mr lowe without them I would still just be a jd. So moving on I get a wonderful job with kaplan pmbr another praise from god for the job I love and enjoy doing. I was to become the regional director for west including 7 states and 15 law schools. I took the job in august and appealed the bar a few days later. We are in the process to be moving for this job to brommfield colorado (next prayer request). My job has been to help students prepare for the bar. I have been and will do my best to movtivate students to work hard and to be balanced for the bar. To be honest it has been hard to do without a license but I did pass the mbe which is the part we sell and of course with gods strength all is possible. At times I was frustrated but I knew god had a plan and I relied on it not me. The funny thing about gods plan is we only get to be a part of it not make it up. I have at times been faithful but at times unfaithful. But god has been 100 percent faithful to me and all along knew what was going to happen. I think in the end god delayed my passage for these possible reasons I am not god he is the only one that knows..... But here goes, to help me find my path (which I now have many), help jennifer and I pass together as one, open our hearts to colorado, bring glory to himself through this testimony, to make me appericate him and his glory and for me to rely on him 110 percent.
So finally on feburary 12, 2008 I found out the board dropped the appeal (as to why it was a great appeal well written and they felt it had merit) and I would be passed offically within days. As soon as they could draft an order. I will be sworn in as a offically licensed mississippi attorney with the month. Thank you all for your support. Please let me know if there is anything I can do for you also please let me know if I can share further what god has done for me and what he can do in your life. I promise it is for the better do not let the world and its views ruin what is so great.

Eugene O'Donnell, follower of christ, ESQ, ironman. (Pretty cool name huh)

What?!?!

I've been wanting to post but not really sure what to say. The events of this week have literally left me speechless. Most of you know the story but I wanted to let those faithful few that read my blog (and are prayer warriors) know what the latest was. As you all know we have been waiting on hearing something from the Court in Colorado. Well I received a post card in the mail on Wednesday night that said they had "postponed" filling the position and that they would let me know if/when they decided to do anything further. I literally couldn't comprehend the words on the page at first. I came to work the next morning and emailed my contact in CO and asked her if she had any idea what it all meant. She told me that the girl that had left...creating the vacancy...had returned! Seriously?!?! What are the chances? She also told me that they (the powers that be) were trying to decide if they would hire a 4th attorney (they are approved for 4). I had decided to call the Clerk of Court and see if I could get an appointment and go with Eugene next week and try my best to see if I could find out anything. I heard back from him today and at this point he doesn't see any benefit of us meeting face to face. I left him a message just expressing my interest yet again. We have yet to talk but we'll see where that goes...honestly I don't think it will go anywhere.

All that to say...I am disappointed. Words can't express how much I love my job and have enjoyed learning how to do it over the last several months and really want to have the opportunity to do it after we moved. I've expressed this to many of you that I have talked to over the last couple of months but as sure as the sky is blue I thought God had provided that job for me for that very reason. What were the odds that EXACTLY what I do would come open where we are moving?!?!? (The job I have is extremely rare!) In all honesty...I'm in a difficult place! Eugene has been...Eugene... encouraging, upbeat and his faith has never waivered...I wish I could say the same for myself. I can't imagine where I should go next and what I should do. The ONLY legal experience I have at this point is in a very narrow field that literally is only useful in this position.

It has been a hard two years of marriage of always being in transition...we have never been settled. We must be thankful that we have great jobs that pay the bills and allow us to do so many wonderful things. However, they are in two different places...I can't seem to make it all make sense in my mind. I'm lost! Please pray for us as we walk these next few weeks...we have no idea where to step next.

So fitting...

I read this quote from a friend's email that is going through a horrible ordeal physically and it was such a reminder for me and what Eugene and I are going through right now and in our impatience, God has a plan!

Make the conscious choice to move
the attention of your anxious heart
away from [the] waves and direct it
to the One who walks on them and
says, “It’s Me. Don’t be afraid.”
–Henri Nouwen

Broomfield, CO

We found both of the houses in Broomfield about 20 minutes from Downtown Boulder and 20 minutes from Downtown Denver. GREAT location!

House #1(These pictures were through a window so they're not the best)




House #2

Success

Well we are back from Colorado and had a successful house hunting trip. We found two houses that we LOVE!!! They are both older homes that have been completely gutted and redone and have a lot of character. We went to dinner with our realtor and her husband (Michael and Amanda Lovato) on Friday night and loved getting to know them. Eugene had met with them one other time and I had talked to Amanda ALOT over email mainly to express our picky I am :) Both Amanda and Michael are also professional triathletes so you can imagine how happy Eugene is to have them as our realtors! And I am ever so happy because I really like them AND Amanda found us two WONDERFUL houses. We then met up again on Sunday and looked at five houses...two of which became our favorites! We are now praying that all will come into place with my job before they are off the market! God is in control...we are learning! I will post pictures soon.

On the road again...

Well now that we have made the rounds for Christmas (very fun I might add!) we are headed to Denver for this weekend and new years. Eugene is in Vegas right now and we'll meet in Denver tomorrow (Thurs) night and we will check out the city yet again. I will house hunt while Eugene works on Saturday and Sunday and then we will look together the rest of the time. Still no word on my job but we're just praying. I still have a strange peace...whether that means that this is THE job or not I don't know but God has granted me peace for today and I will take it! Hopefully we'll have plenty of pictures to post when we get back...looks like it's snowy and COLD...guess I'd better get used to it!

Two years ago today....

I married the love of my life! God has blessed me beyond measure with a man whose passion for Him challenges me everyday and his love for me amazes me! I love you Baby...looking forward to 100 more!