One Good Thing #21

One Good thing that happened today: Sam had a friend over today who said I was cool! But better yet, it was a great feeling to hear them laughing from the other room. My girl deserves the downtime!

3 things I am grateful for:
1. A nine year old willing to clean up sister's accident because mom was busy
2. The ability to kiss and snuggle an accident-prone 1 year old all better.
3. 5 min family home evening lessons from The Friend.

Good Thing #12

One good thing for today: Our Sweet Sam was willing to babysit tonight, and get the kids in bed while Bryan and I grabbed a quick dinner at Subway and then over to our dear friend's to play games for the night.  We played Quiddler, which is a game Bryan introduced to me the first weekend we met!  It's basically scrabble in card form.  We had a lot of fun, as usual.  And ate way too much junk food... as usual.  Thanks, Samantha for a great night out.  I owe her $3.

Three things I am grateful for:
1. Good friends
2. Golden Double Stuffed Oreos
3. That my calories start over in the morning... :)

One Good Thing #7: My Glass Balls

Tonight we had Family Home Evening. It was slightly chaotic with a busy two year old and one year old, but it was so nice to gather the family together after a lot of busy times, and just enjoy eachother. I am grateful that Sam took it upon herself to make sure it happened. She made brownies and made up a game, teaching us what we can do to be more like Jesus. Even Kayla said the prayer, Laci led us in "I Am a Child of God, and Jayce participated by trying to eat the dice.

More and more recently, I am being reminded and guided to putting my family first. I have a new business, in Direct Sales with Younique, and I love it. I love that it's whole foundation is to provide a way for mothers who would otherwise have to work, to stay home and fulfill their most important role: Motherhood. Granted, I have never had a job, but, I love that I can now work. Without having to leave my home(not that I can, anyway)

My friend, Ashley, recently went to a leadership retreat with Younique, and this is what she had to say: "So today, I'm thankful that I learned the difference between my "Glass" Balls in my life and the "Rubber" Balls in my life. As Melanie, the Younique Founder talked about how our Glass balls are the things in our lives that should be and are most precious to us. And the rubber ball can be important, but if you drop them they will keep bouncing and you can pick them up later when you taken care of the glass balls. As she talked about this concept it really hit home to me and made me really emotional. I decided my glass balls need to be my children, my husband and my faith in God. I need to set a schedule for myself and that it's ok to drop all the other rubber balls in my life when the glass ones need a little more attention. I need to hold them close and care from them. I need to protect them and not let them break. When my children need me I need to drop the rubber balls and be there for them. I learned that it's ok for priorities to change. To set times to work. Starting yesterday, my phone doesn't need to be in my hand 24/7. My team can wait when my Glass balls need extra attention. I'm so grateful to be a part of something where they teach us it's ok to be a mom first. So today, I'm grateful for my lessons I learned about the glass balls in my life."

Good Thing Day #6: Smooth Sunday

Time was on my side today. With church not starting until 1 pm (in order to have 4 kids and myself ready, while Daddy got as much sleep as possible), we started getting ready at 8:30 am. I was even able to take a 30 minute nap when the baby went down at 10 am. Because L loves me and entertained her sister. We were able to be on time, with out any major drama trying to get out the door. I was even able to get dinner in the Crock-Pot.  Kayla was pretty good during the first part of the meeting (gosh it sure helps when Daddy can make it), and I came home refreshed, with renewed patience, and ideas on how we can be better as a family, and I better myself.  I couldn't ask for a smoother Sabbath Day (and I don't expect it to happen again for a very long time)!

3 Things I am grateful for:
1. Tender Mercies: In my world where everything is chaos, I am grateful for those moments of calming reassurance, and the peace that comes in knowing there is someone Greater in charge and profoundly aware of me.
2. The ability to change.  Every moment is an opportunity to become better.
3. Crock-Pots.

The Adventure Continues

As we were preparing for Christmas, I found myself saying to Bryan, "Just think, next year we will be somewhere completely new, with our little family, enjoying the holidays together, reflecting on the year passed."  I knew change was coming, I did not expect it to come this quickly.  It is amazing to me, when we do our best to do what is right, and make wise decisions, putting our trust in Lord, how things that seem so big and scary, just fall into place.

As you have probably figured out, Bryan has finished his degree, all except a class that was neglected by his guidance counselor, that he found out, during finals week, he needed to have taken in order to graduate.  This is after his counselor insisted he did not need it.  Luckily, this class has nothing to do with his area of study, and he can take it online.

Over the last several months, Bryan and I have been considering our options, trying to decide where and what we wanted to do when we got to this point in his schooling.  At first, we were planning on Bryan going on to get his Master's in Medical Physics, from an accredited school.  That would take us out of the state of Utah.  Over the course of time, that plan has been changed. Instead, Bryan would like to find a job right away, and build stability for the family.  Okay, so that was our plan.

The next step would be deciding where we wanted to be. It was decided that we wanted somewhere it didn't snow, yet something new (Arizona and California off the list). That is when we decided on Texas.  I was still willing to go other places, but in my heart of hearts, I knew it was where I wanted to be.  Come to find out, there are a lot of jobs in the science industry over there.  And actually, in all his research of what is available in Texas, he has become interested in Nuclear Physics instead.  He would love to work at a power plant.

It seems since we made this decision, everything has fallen into place. We have become very interested in Houston. We have applied for an apartment, and we find out either Monday, or Tuesday if we get it.  If that happens, we will be moving the following week. The apartment is huge, compared to here, and for nearly the same price.  We are very excited for the warmer weather, and just simply starting a new life.

I will have to take a lot of my rehabilitation into my own hands, which has me a little worried.  But, I think I can do it.  I plan on taking Kolo on walks, and taking advantage of the weather.  I also look forward to the extra space for my yoga mat, and having room to do some of my PT exercises I learned in PT. Not to mention, I will be cleaning my own apartment still.  It is my hope I will continue lose weight, and gain more stamina. We plan on taking my manual chair out of the van, and have me use my crutches a lot more often when we go places.

I am going to miss my neighbors, our family, our ward, and dear forever friends here in Salt Lake.  I will miss my doctors and the convenience of the hospital.  I will miss my amazing Physical Therapist who has become a very close friend.  Not to mention, this will take us further from my family in Arizona. But, it is just that time to open the next chapter in the story of life. I will not miss the snow.  I will not miss the cold.  I will not miss the cinder block walls!

I am excited for this new adventure that awaits.  I am thrilled to see what Heavenly Father has in store.  I know, wherever we go, we have our little family, and we have the knowledge of the gospel, in knowing that if we strive to do what is best, then what lays in store will be better than we have ever imagined!  So I say, let the next adventure begin!

Our Big Move to Salt Lake City!

We have been so busy and I fell behind on blogging again. Sorry! This has been a busy two weeks(as usual). The girls left for Arizona on the 12th, and Bryan started packing shortly after that.

Saturday, the 18th was our moving day. We planned on leaving Ephraim no later than 12pm. Check out of the Ephraim apartment took longer than we planned. The landlord was way more nit-picky than we expected. By the time we got to our new apartment it was just before 4pm. Well, apparently when we told and verified our moving date as the 18th with the complex, they failed to look at a calendar and inform us that they are not open on Saturdays! So here we are with a full moving truck, friends to help us unload, and no keys to get in.

After doing enough asking around, we were able to find out who our Resident Assistant was for our building, and she was able to get special permission to give us our keys! (sigh of relief) Thank heaven for on-campus housing, and the grand idea of RAs.

By the time we got our keys, it was after 4pm, and everyone who was planning on helping us unload had to go by 5pm at the latest! So, in a rush to unload the truck we were massively blessed! Random people from our court(each tripod of buildings with their playground in the middle is called a court) started offering their help unloading. We were being helped by complete strangers! What a great first impression, and we knew we were going to like it here. We found out later that the ward we would be attending for church is made up of only the people in our court. 30 families! Everyday when we go outside, it's like there is a church gathering in our front yard. Last night we went out and all ate homemade ice cream. What fun!

Once we got everything *in* the apartment, the next challenge was to get everything to fit. The front room was completely packed with stuff, and it was then time to get everything in it's place. After a lot of trial and error we found a perfect setup for the front room, and everything actually fits! I should probably mention, that includes the kitchen and all the appliances that were once in my china hutch in Ephraim, now completely fit in my kitchen!

Unlike Ephraim, the girls actually have tons of room in their room, and since they weren't home, we were able to get rid of a ton of unimportant stuff. Plus, we also made a huge box of toys and books to send home with Russell when he brought them back home. We got them new matching comforter sets courtesy of Target, and partly paid for with two year old, wedding gift cards from my previous wedding. (I found them when I switched out my old purse for a new one) We went to one Target across the valley, and they only had one, but I fell in love with it, so thanks to Russ calling and asking to take them out to dinner before bringing them home, we rushed to another Target and hoped they would have two! They did! We were even able to get it all done before the girls got home. So the girls now have new comforters with butterflies! (Not to mention how excited I was to actually get to go to Target and pick these out, and I didn't have to settle for Ephraim's mini WalMart and it's selection) Oh and another bonus to new bedsets, we were able to get Laci excited enough about her new bed, that she is now completely off her baby blanket!

I was so nervous to move here at first. Actually, I was petrified! The first time I came to the complex and was shown an empty apartment, I left in tears. The doorways were so narrow, the bathroom tiny and the kitchen cupboards I could barely reach. As time went on, I began and get over it and have faith, and hope Heavenly Father would work it out. We were blessed to see when we first came in, that everything in this apartment is in pristine condition. The carpet brand new, and very taken care of! We also found out that ALL our utilities (water, electric, trash, phone, internet, cable) is included in our monthly rent amount. That will truly help us out, and with everything we get(the community, maintenence, campus affilation) it is such a steal of a deal! Oh, and not to mention, the doors here are actually wider than the unit I first saw, and I am able to get around and function perfectly fine!

As hard as it was to leave Ephraim, we truly love it here, and feel as though we have been put here for a reason. Bryan and I have enjoyed putting together our first apartment together, and it truly feels like home!