April Update!

Me and Jon at Barbacoa for my birthday

Hello!  Time for another update from the Hastings!  We've had a very busy spring and can hardly believe it's almost May!  To start off with, the business is doing very well, and they're building houses like crazy!  The housing market seems to really be picking up, and we're seeing a lot more consumer confidence here in Boise/Meridian.  Jon hired an intern from BYU to help with drafting until August, which has freed Jon up to spend more time marketing, selling, doing concept drawings, and everything else that takes up 70+ hours a week.  They moved their offices into a beautiful model home in March, and that's been awesome.  The model is literally two minutes from home so I see Jon more for meals and such, and it's so much easier to sell your product when your sitting in it, rather than a dingy office in downtown Meridian.  Not that it didn't have it's charm...or did it?  Let's just say we won't miss late-night encounters with drunks roaming the streets.  Anyways, since moving into the office, Jon and Russ have hosted a realtor open house and a subcontractor appreciation barbeque - both very well attended.  Jon is hesitant to say this, but it just kind of feels like we've arrived.  After three years of putting their noses to the grindstone, they've really made this company into a thriving and legitimate home-building business.  The other day I snagged my neighbor's landscaper to talk to him about moving a tree of ours.  I mentioned that my husband was a home-builder, and later in the conversation he asked, "So, is your husband just an employee of a builder, or a small-time guy..." I proudly told him the name of the business and that Jon was co-owner and his eyes got real big and he told me that he was doing the landscape for one of their new homes!  Jon told me later that that landscaper's been looking to do more work for his company- needless to say he did a great job transplanting our tree!  Oh, and when Jon was looking at web analytics the other day for his website, he saw that one of the referring sites was Pinterest.  His homes have been pinned!  I was pretty excited to hear that, seeing how Pinterest is my favorite new time-waster.  Then again, can finding delicious recipes, cool DIY projects, ideas for my next home, and even YW ideas really be a waste of time? Back to the point though, wouldn't you say it sounds like we've arrived?  Industry recognition, a model home, four employees, and Pinterest?  Yes indeed.

While Jon works hard at being amazing, I work not quite-so-hard at my insurance job, though work is picking up these past few weeks.  I actually worked 7 hours straight the other day and thought I was going to die!  I know I'm spoiled, but I treasure the lifestyle I've created for myself over the past few years.  I sleep in, work out semi-regularly, go on walks with friends, go out to lunch with other (or the same) friends, put lots of effort into my calling (I love those Beehives of mine!), keep the household more-or-less running smoothly and do the occasional project, be it painting, sewing, crocheting, or gardening.  Last week I painted our front bedroom blue, finally taking care of the glaring green that we've hated since we moved in.  You might ask, "Didn't you pick that color since you built your home?"  The answer is yes, but we chose it at 2 in the morning and it turned out tons brighter than we expected or wanted.  Therefore, I painted the room a beautiful and more serene blue, and we converted the room from "junk room" to a home office for Jon.  Don't ask me why we didn't make the room his office earlier, but it became a necessity after he moved into his model home.  Saturdays are Jon's most productive days for playing catch-up on his administrative and design tasks, but now that his office is also a model home, Saturdays are a day for heavy foot-traffic and sales if he tries to work there.  So we set up a desk and monitor, took care of the terrible color, and viola! Home office!  I decided painting a room is like exercising - it's terrible and such hard work while you're doing it, but all the pain (and paint in the hair) is worth the end result.  Just don't ask me to pick up a paintbrush anytime soon!

As you can see and as Jon pointed out to me a few weeks ago, I really do lead quite a charmed life.  Though there is the sometimes gaping hole in it called motherhood, I count my blessings daily and strive to have faith that we'll be blessed in the Lord's time and in the Lord's way.  On Easter I gave a lesson to all of the Young Women in my ward, and I felt impressed to focus my thoughts around the word "nevertheless."  It was such a neat experience to receive inspiration for my topic, and though it was a strong prompting, it was only one word, and the Lord left it to me to turn it into a 40 minute lesson.  It was a testament to me that Heavenly Father works with the talents we have to bless the lives of others, and in this case it was my love for and training in the English language.  I gave a brief explanation about what the word "nevertheless" means (a transition word linking one statement with a surprising or unexpected conclusion), and then we looked up scriptures that used the word.  Did you know that, according to my research on lds.org, the word "nevertheless" appears something like 247 times?  And over half of those in the Book of Mormon?  While not all of the instances are used according the definition I gave, there are examples like when Nephi didn't know what to do about the Laban situation and he says "And I was led by the Spirit, not knowing beforehand the things which I should do.  Nevertheless I went forth..."  Don't you love that?  He had no clue, but still he says "Nevertheless I went forth."  This was just one example of many that I pulled from the scriptures for the girls to look up in pairs, and then we ended with Luke 22:41-42 and D&C 19:16-19, scriptures in which the Savior resolutely says "nevertheless" despite the pains he had to suffer in Gethsemane.  In my lesson we discussed how this nevertheless was the most important "nevertheless" in all of scripture, in all of history, because without it we would all be lost.  If Christ had not said "nevertheless," it would mean that he had given up, that he decided to refuse to take the bitter cup and drink.  After discussing the atonement and playing the song "Oh Lord, My Redeemer," I tied is all together with this statement (the concept for which Jon helped me solidify at midnight the night before - I'm so grateful for his wisdom): "Because Jesus Christ uttered the most important "nevertheless," we also have the choice to proclaim "nevertheless," turning our most bitter moments of sin and sorrow into declarations of hope, faith and solace."  I handed out paper for them to take home and write their own nevertheless statements: including their trial/sin, the word "nevertheless" and then their declaration of faith.  I wrote mine on the board for them, bearing my testimony that because of Christ's atonement I can be comforted through my trial of infertility, that Christ will bear me up and make my burdens light if I take my yoke upon him.  All in all, this Easter lesson was an incredible spiritual experience, mostly in preparation but also in its delivery.  I learned a lot about myself and about my relationship with Jesus Christ, and reaffirmed my testimony in Him.

I think I'll end on that note, leaving you with a post-Easter message of faith and hope. Love you all!