So tomorrow my DH and our friend will be going to apply for a loan to get a second branch of the coffee shop opened (friend owns/manages original branch and DH is supposed to manage this new one once it gets going). If the loan goes through, we will be staying here (4-5 hours away from our hometowns) for a while (the loan will probably take 5 years to pay off). If it doesn't, it looks like we'll be on our way back to Arkansas.

Oh, and did I mention I'm due with DS in 13 days? :P

If the loan works out, here's the situation:

DH manages the coffee shop and takes on an additional part time job to help us make ends meet. (this job pays less than the job he has now, but we won't be paying hundreds of dollars in gas each month and he won't be on 3rd shift anymore). If the coffee shop does well, his pay may be raised.

We have committed ourselves to staying here longer than originally intended (said 3 years and we are coming up on the end of #2 in May). This means our DS will be raised further away from family for longer than we ever anticipated (he was a surprise).

I am stuck w/o a job b/c we have no one here who can watch DS (and even if we did, most of what I made would go to childcare, so it would be sort of pointless).

If this coffee shop thing fails once the loan has been taken out I don't know what will happen. (they are trying to get the loan w/ the original owner's signature and the original shop as collateral and may try w/ DH's signature if that doesn't work by itself) I'm afraid our credit will be hurt (and we've already had DH's emergency appendectomy bills turned into a collections agency).

If the loan doesn't work out, here's the situation:

DH will be jobless in 2-3 weeks (his current job changed his route and now requires he use a truck--we've had one on loan but have to give it back in the beginning of November).

I will not be able to get a teaching job for the next school year because I will need to stay home w/ DS (no one here to watch him) and my license will expire (I haven't gotten to use it yet due to delay in switching from an AR to TN license and lack of job market). I'm not sure what I'll have to do to renew it, but it probably won't be easy or cheap.

We will start getting ready to move back to Arkansas. (can't do this until after DS is born b/c we have Medicare through the TN system, plus we wouldn't want to move when I'm this close to my due date).
Benefits: his brother has a house all to himself that he would share w/ us until we got our own place, the cost of living is much more affordable (payment on houses is less than our current rent), we would have family to help us out and keep DS if needed, we have job connections (family friend can get me subbing/teaching assignments and possibly a full time teaching job, and DH can work with his dad (self employed) or find other work through friends and family members)

Downsides: We will be starting over w/ the job situation, and there is no guarantee that we will find them as easily as anticipated (we were on the hunt for months once we moved here, even though we were told it would be incredibly easy to get them), we aren't sure what we would do church-wise (we don't feel like we fit into the church in DH's hometown and the one in my hometown is 45 min. away, which doesn't lend itself to much involvement), we will be on the hunt for a place to live w/ a new baby (thankfully his brother lives alone and is usually out of town for work during the week, so at least we wouldn't bug him, and he had offered to let us move in w/ him after we first found out we were expecting and the families wanted us to come home).

The thing is, we don't want to move back just because it's the easy thing to do. At the same time, if we do, I don't feel like our time here has been wasted b/c we have grown and learned SO much since being here.

We had been discussing whether or not we should move back for months before the job situation went south, simply because we weren't doing much ministry which was the whole reason we moved here and we felt like the church would be able to move along without us now. Then the second coffee shop thing came up (which would be used as an outreach tool) and we thought we'd found the niche for DH (it's near a college campus and he's done student ministry). However, the church we were partnering with to do the second location has been dragging their feet for months (it was originally expected to be opened by the beginning of October) and it has come to the point that our friend (pastor and owner of 1st shop) decided to take care of things ourselves.

It seems like doors have been opening and then closing lately, and it's nerve wracking to say the least. We're really not sure what to do, but DH feels like we should see what happens with the loan and go from there. If it doesn't work, then he feels like God will have given us a clear answer on what to do. I feel that way too, but I worry about the loan thing b/c God will allow you to make the wrong decision sometimes too. At the same time, I don't see any other option than trying this and seeing what happens.

So tomorrow, DH and our friend will go to a loan meeting at 10 am to determine what happens. I can't believe that our lives will be changing so much (either way it goes) by tomorrow. It makes my head spin. I'm trying my best to trust God and to trust DH. That's all I can do.

I feel compelled to shout, "I'm here! I'm here!" like the Who's in Horton Hears a Who. It's been a while since I last updated. Since then, I've been growing bigger and getting more excited about my baby's arrival! He should be here in about 7 weeks now! So here's a quick synopsis of what has been happening in my little world...

Part 1) I've been making cards like crazy to try and sell in a local coffee shop my friend owns. Since I can't find a teaching or retail job and this is the only "marketable skill" I seem to have besides that, we'll try it and see how it goes. I'll give you guys a sneak peek into my cards...

and this is how I am displaying them...

Part 2) We have a new nephew!! My husband's sister had her little boy about 2 weeks ago now. We got to see him during Labor Day weekend and he is so precious! Here are some cute pics...

My hubby and an uncle playing "paparazzi" (the family's first baby in 15 years!)

We got him this onesie--it says, "pint size".

Coming Soon...We have baby showers next weekend, and I am so excited to see friends and family and get cute stuff for our little guy! I am really looking forward to going through things and returning what we don't need then using gift cards and cash to get the stuff we still need. I'm even looking forward to assembling stuff! Once we get back from the baby showers (they will be 4 hours away, where we are originally from), I will finally be able to pack our overnight bags for the hospital (didn't want to pack yet, since we have to use our bags to go home one more time).

Quick Notes: My hubby is having trouble w/ his job situation (looooong story) and will hopefully have a new job soon. If the new job doesn't work out, we may be making some major changes, so please keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we try to make good decisions for our little family.

We are still dealing w/ the hospital bills from DH's surgery. They did turn us over to collections, and I got in contact with the collector yesterday. She said something about a charity write off application and is going to send one out. She wasn't sure if it was the same thing we had already filled out or not, but we'll see! I called the business office of the hospital earlier that day and they said our application was still under review. *sigh*

On the bright side, our appointments w/ the midwife are still going great. Had a bit of awkwardness last class because DH was the only guy there and they talked about different types of birth control to use after pregnancy. From now on we will be focusing on birth, though--I checked ahead in our book to make sure!  We are going every 2 weeks now, and will be going back this coming Tuesday. I'm going to ask questions about my birth plan and see when I need to start coming in every week (the class schedule is a little off from my due date).

I hope you enjoyed my little update and the pics! Hopefully I'll be back soon to tell you about the baby showers, etc.! And if not then, I will def. be back to share my birth story and pics in a few weeks!