A brag about our #1 man

We'll knock the monster Utah trip post off of it's top spot after only a day, but I did want to sit down and brag about James real fast.
We Smith ladies are sure lucky to have someone like him to provide for us! He works long hours, but the only thing he complains about is not getting to spend as much time with his family as he'd like. However, this hard-working gent has received a lot of respect from the people he works for. At work he's known as the one they can rely on. If a part needs to get out, they'll put it on his work list, instead of someone else's. Even if he's sick, he'll come in if the work needs to be done and they know it. He's the one people go to when they need programming help or even machine operating help. He's unofficially the one in charge on the night shift. When we began looking into a job change for him, his bosses were not happy. When those plans fell through, his bosses were thrilled (though they voiced sympathy).
Just last week we learned that James's boss was to nominate only two people on the entire shop floor for raises, and James was one of them. We're unsure of the exact amount yet, but it should at least 10% if not as much as 20%.
And, to add to his hard-working status: We had been looking into a job option that could've provided a lot of stability to our family. After the fiasco that was his job during 2009, we both began discussing what our options were when we were barely making ends meet. We had two plans, a Plan A and a Plan B. Plan B was a lot more work, so we pursued Plan A for the past 9 1/2 months. Unfortunately, those plans fell through at pretty much the last minute, which was devastating. However, as we always do, within hours of the bad news, we were picking ourselves up, brushing the dust off, and pushing forward with Plan B (well, I went and wallowed on the floor a few more times, but I did look over our plans while I was down there!).

James is currently enrolled in half-time at Bakersfield College for this upcoming semester. He will continued to do half-time on top of working 50-60 hours a week for the next year and a half to two years. It's unsure what the next step is, but for sure, James will be pursuing a college degree. It sometimes feels like we did things backwards kids and then college, but we've prayed and counseled with Heavenly Father on every step since before we even got married and feel that he has approved (and even beat us over the head to change our minds in some cases) every decision we have made, so we're relying on faith a lot to get us through these next few year.

But, I'm also putting a few bets on James's stubborn determination and all the hardwork he already puts into everything he does. Like I said, we are some lucky, lucky ladies. :-)