August was a very long, hard month.
Out of nowhere, Darin decided HE WAS DONE!!! He quit school. He couldn't do it anymore at the U of U. He was burnt out and was dreading going back to school or to class. That was a blow. He has been struggling for a very long time with school. We have been through many different options to make school work because he felt it was important for him to finish and that it was something that he was prompted to do. He tried full time school with no work, with part time work. He tried part time school with full time work, with part time work. He tried full time school and full time work. By the end of it, he was done. He wanted a break. He needed a better option. Luckily, I work for a University. We happen to offer the program he wanted that the U of U didn't offer and it has a better curriculum than what the U of U offered. He began the process to slowly begin at WGU for his IT - Security B.S.
Then, I felt an urgent prompting that we needed to move. MOVE? What!!? We were in the process of buying a house and settling down! For the first time in my LIFE I felt like I had a HOME. We had made a family and established our lives, had great friends, routines, all of it. WHY in the world would we need to MOVE? Plus, what does THAT mean? Move down the street? Across town? To the next city over? Out of state? Abroad (I would totally be ok with that one)?
I said to my husband, "Darin, I think we need to move." I wanted to leave it open to him reassuring me I was just kidding or that it wasn't really that we needed to move, but something needed to change. I hadn't had the "bug" to move in about 2 years so for a bug of this size to creep into our home and disrupt MY life. I was very unsure. As a response, my husband said, "WHEW! I was wondering how to break it to you!!" WHAT? Another bombshell. Apparently, he had gotten the same prompting about 2 months or so before me (such is the way our spiritual lives work).
Now what ...
We began praying and fasting and pondering and making decisions. First, it was, "Yup, you need to move." Then it was ok ... where? Our answer, MISSOURI! What!! We had so many other options on the table, why MO? Ok ... when? ASAP. Surely, we could move in November ... Nope ... NOW. Oh, Ok ...
So, our decisions were made. We were officially moving. We had 5 weeks to the date we chose and that felt "acceptable." We started hunting for homes and jobs in the St. Louis, MO area because there is no way I will move to Kansas City and there is no other real cities with a demand for IT. Springfield is a good size city, but no jobs. We began the process of renting a truck, saying our goodbyes, packing and making the necessary arrangements. By the end of August, we were set. We had our plans, we had our living arrangements - Darin's Uncle lives in MO and will shack us up for a month or two until we can get on our feet, find a place, rent/buy, find a job, etc.
Now, all we had to do was wait ... Wait until our moving day - September 18. It felt like it was forever away.
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Family Reunion for July 24
The Utah holiday, Pioneer Day on July 24 means it is FAMILY REUNION time. This year we made sure to go. We went to the little town of Marysvale, UT and camped, played with the 4-wheelers that were rented, went to the town's parade, enjoyed the town's rodeo and attended the childrens' FISH rodeo. Abigail was so tuckered out, she passed out where we were sitting and missed the fish rodeo.
July
July was a GREAT month! I will have to post twice because of all the pics we took. I don't take a lot of pics, but in July I didn't forget!
We had an amazing month! The best Independence Day I can remember. We had a lot of FUN family time and we enjoyed the perfectly, warm weather. This is the month we found out - WE'RE PREGNANT!!
First, we bought a Slip-n-Slide. Dad and Mom took turns showing the kids just how it's done! We had a blast. Dylan can go FAST. Dad turned on his back he went so fast and scraped up his back. OUCH.
Then, we had Fourth of July fun at Liberty Park. We chose the top Southeast hillside to watch the fireworks. It ended up being a PERFECT place to land. We got there early enough to get a great place to stretch out, set up camp and play at the park. When the fireworks started, the babies weren't having as much fun as the rest of us.
Next, we went to the Hill Airforce Base Museum and explored all the amazing planes and contraptions that the Airforce plays with to make our world a safer place. Of course, there were amazing exhibits, AND a child play area, complete with a dress-up stage so you can FLY the simulation machines. AWESOME!!!
We had an amazing month! The best Independence Day I can remember. We had a lot of FUN family time and we enjoyed the perfectly, warm weather. This is the month we found out - WE'RE PREGNANT!!
First, we bought a Slip-n-Slide. Dad and Mom took turns showing the kids just how it's done! We had a blast. Dylan can go FAST. Dad turned on his back he went so fast and scraped up his back. OUCH.
Then, we had Fourth of July fun at Liberty Park. We chose the top Southeast hillside to watch the fireworks. It ended up being a PERFECT place to land. We got there early enough to get a great place to stretch out, set up camp and play at the park. When the fireworks started, the babies weren't having as much fun as the rest of us.
Next, we went to the Hill Airforce Base Museum and explored all the amazing planes and contraptions that the Airforce plays with to make our world a safer place. Of course, there were amazing exhibits, AND a child play area, complete with a dress-up stage so you can FLY the simulation machines. AWESOME!!!
June
June was a fun time! We had a lot happen ...
I GRAD
UATED with my Master's. Wahoo!! That was a challenge, but totally worth it.
I got a new job that allows me to work from home AND pays me what a graduate of a Master's program should make!! Can't hate that. Now I work at Western Governor's University. I highly recommend checking out WGU for any parent who wants to work from home and has a college degree with work be!!
We also added a new addition to our family. We rescued another dog that was about to be put-down. He is the best dog I have had, yet! For those of you who know Ruby, our Viszla; you know that Ruby is an amazing dog. Blue (our new dog's name) is even BETTER. Blue is a pure bred Blue Nose Pit Bull. He is a little over a year and already very well trained. We just adore a lil' Blue.
Of course, for those who are worried, we did not just get him on a whim. We know the stigma of a Pit Bull. We did our homework. He is an incredibly good dog and we are very well aware what others think!
I GRAD
UATED with my Master's. Wahoo!! That was a challenge, but totally worth it.I got a new job that allows me to work from home AND pays me what a graduate of a Master's program should make!! Can't hate that. Now I work at Western Governor's University. I highly recommend checking out WGU for any parent who wants to work from home and has a college degree with work be!!
We also added a new addition to our family. We rescued another dog that was about to be put-down. He is the best dog I have had, yet! For those of you who know Ruby, our Viszla; you know that Ruby is an amazing dog. Blue (our new dog's name) is even BETTER. Blue is a pure bred Blue Nose Pit Bull. He is a little over a year and already very well trained. We just adore a lil' Blue.
Of course, for those who are worried, we did not just get him on a whim. We know the stigma of a Pit Bull. We did our homework. He is an incredibly good dog and we are very well aware what others think!
Sunday, October 24, 2010
May canyons
In May we had our family vacation. We had been planning for it since October when we started our History unit in homeschool. Our first experience in History was about continents and landmarks for each continent. The song goes like this:
North America
The Canyon Grand
South America
Amazon land
Antarctica
The snow is high
And Africa
The desert's dry
North America
South America
Antartica and Africa
Europe, Asia
Castles, Great Wall
And Australia
Best Reef of all
South Pole, North Pole
Bottom and Top
And that's my world
It's time to stop
Europe, Asia
And Australia
South Pole, North Pole
And that's my world
It is a really catchy song and makes learning the continents fun! Naturally, we couldn't visit the Great Wall, the Amazon, Europe's castles or the Great Barrier Reef. I would never visit Antarctica - brrr, too cold! Instead, we decided we were conveniently located very close to the Grand Canyon and often visit St. George near the Grand Canyon so it wasn't a big leap or an expensive leap to make our History lessons real for our family. We invited our dear friends and parents.
And since we were staying in St George, we got lots of great time together with Darin's brother and his new girlfriend, Darin's parents and my dear friend from Vegas. Below are some pics. Check out Aba's hair in the second photo - hilarious!! The wind was so strong!
North America
The Canyon Grand
South America
Amazon land
Antarctica
The snow is high
And Africa
The desert's dry
North America
South America
Antartica and Africa
Europe, Asia
Castles, Great Wall
And Australia
Best Reef of all
South Pole, North Pole
Bottom and Top
And that's my world
It's time to stop
Europe, Asia
And Australia
South Pole, North Pole
And that's my world
It is a really catchy song and makes learning the continents fun! Naturally, we couldn't visit the Great Wall, the Amazon, Europe's castles or the Great Barrier Reef. I would never visit Antarctica - brrr, too cold! Instead, we decided we were conveniently located very close to the Grand Canyon and often visit St. George near the Grand Canyon so it wasn't a big leap or an expensive leap to make our History lessons real for our family. We invited our dear friends and parents.
And since we were staying in St George, we got lots of great time together with Darin's brother and his new girlfriend, Darin's parents and my dear friend from Vegas. Below are some pics. Check out Aba's hair in the second photo - hilarious!! The wind was so strong!
From the beginning ...
My last post ... February ... then, I dropped off. However, our family continued to balance Darin gone for work and commuting on the bus from 6am-8pm every M-F/S and me being home until 130pm-1130pm M-F when I was at work. I was still balancing homeschool in the morning and my own studies in the afternoon. We were winding up towards Spring and life was moving on.
In April my sister asked to move in around the same time my sister-in-law asked to move in. Both sisters have two kids and my mom would accompany my sister-in-law. Luckily, we had just finished our basement over the Winter and had the space to make it work. Albeit, we knew it would be hard and cramped, I believe you can do anything for a short period of time for the benefit of helping others. As it was, my sister-in-law only needed to know she had an option at that point. She was hoping to get a job and if it worked out, would move to our home for the duration of her new job training. My sister needed a place to get back on her feet after some rough times. Shortly after the phone call, my sister and her two kids moved in.
We made it work, cozily. My sister has one girl and one boy. The boys shared my son's new room and the girls shared my daughter's bedroom. My sister re-claimed the office next to our bedroom and we divided the two living rooms between us. My sister had her own living room upstairs, we had our own living room downstairs in the new basement which was huge and doubled as our playroom and office for homeschool. It worked and I think it worked well! A 2000 sqft house with 4 bedrooms can totally house 7 people.
In April my sister asked to move in around the same time my sister-in-law asked to move in. Both sisters have two kids and my mom would accompany my sister-in-law. Luckily, we had just finished our basement over the Winter and had the space to make it work. Albeit, we knew it would be hard and cramped, I believe you can do anything for a short period of time for the benefit of helping others. As it was, my sister-in-law only needed to know she had an option at that point. She was hoping to get a job and if it worked out, would move to our home for the duration of her new job training. My sister needed a place to get back on her feet after some rough times. Shortly after the phone call, my sister and her two kids moved in.
We made it work, cozily. My sister has one girl and one boy. The boys shared my son's new room and the girls shared my daughter's bedroom. My sister re-claimed the office next to our bedroom and we divided the two living rooms between us. My sister had her own living room upstairs, we had our own living room downstairs in the new basement which was huge and doubled as our playroom and office for homeschool. It worked and I think it worked well! A 2000 sqft house with 4 bedrooms can totally house 7 people.
Inspired
I have been inspired to "catch up" on my entries. A beautiful family that we are friends with just "caught up" and it was so fun to see their adventures and read about their family growth!! Now, I want to have fun "catching up" my family and re-visit their adventures over the year. With the exception of anything substantial, I will not catch up 2009. There is just too much I have either forgotten or lost (in memory). So sad!
Let's start with a "where we are NOW." The details and (hopefully) pictures to come.
Let's start with a "where we are NOW." The details and (hopefully) pictures to come.
- We moved to Missouri!!
- We are living with an amazing Uncle and Aunt until Darin can find a job and/or until next month.
- I got a new job and work from home (legitimately!!).
- I graduated with my Master's degree!! Whew.
- We are (loosely and horribly failing miserable at) potty training Aba.
- Dylan is now in FIRST grade!!
- We still homeschool.
- Darin transferred colleges and is now at the college for which I work.
- We had our family vacation with some best friends to the Grand Canyon! What a FUN experience.
- We are PREGNANT!!! (For real, this time).
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