Sisters

The best thing about having a sister is that you'll always have a
friend.

This is the second year in a row now that I have been a horrible sister to two of my wonderful sisters.

I remember that their birthdays are in February, and I even have cards ready to send to them, but somehow it slips my mind and then I end up missing their birthdays and feeling really crappy about it, because they are so awesome.

I was blessed with four sisters and one brother. Even though all of my sisters were born years before me and Dan, and were pretty much a different generation, they have always been interested in my life and being my friend. I am so lucky!

DeAnna- my first memories of DeAnna were when she was a new little mother living in Idaho. I remember visiting her with my parents, and once I remember being left there for a few days and then brought back down by DeAnna and her husband Terry. They had a little yellow beetle and I remember waiting until the moment we would turn the corner of their street and see the Volkswagen Beetle, my little brother and I would try to be the first to sock the other in the arm and yell, "SLUG BUG!"

DeAnna was always (and still is always) telling amusing stories, many of them poking fun of herself. I love that laughter and good humor are a big part of her life. She always seems so optimistic and looking at the sunny side of things. She also always had funny songs to sing to us. I remember her face she made when she sang, "Galumph Went the Little Green Frog", and her eyes would bat and bulge. Still makes me smile when I think about that. I remember singing funny songs all the way home back to Utah in that yellow Beetle.

Even now DeAnna is always keeping in touch with me. She sends me little notes on my blog, she reads my facebook sometimes, and she never forgets my birthday (how do you do it!?) even though it's so close to Christmas and easy to forget. She even prank texted me a few weeks ago when her and my other sisters got together for a silly evening. She offered to let my son live in her basement if he wanted to try BYU for a semester before his mission. I bet she's an amazing teacher, I'm so jealous of her students and would give anything if she could be my kid's teacher. I wish I lived closer to her. She has many talents. She made our wedding cake. She made a cabin by hand! She shows horses and is an amazing mom and grandmother.

Karen- my first memories of Karen is when she chased me into the basement and said something awful to me. Hahaha! Man, I was a little stinker and deserved it. I'm glad she loved me enough to chase me down. Karen and I have had some pretty close times. I have always wished I could be as pretty as her. She has so many talents too! Ever since I was little I remember being in awe of her artistic talents. She drew the best horses and painted the best pictures! "If I could have half the talent she has in one little finger"...seriously!

Karen was my roommate when I found out about sex from the neighbor's kid. Karen wasn't shy to clear things up for me and help me know what was right or wrong about that information. She saved mom the embarrassment of telling me, hee hee. Karen, I have two little girls I could use your help with! ;) Karen was amazing on the horses. I remember watching her ride Star and turning on a quarter. Somehow she made him look easy to ride, so much that I thought I could jump on him with just a halter and rope! Imagine my surprise when I landed next to the feed box! She always drove the funnest cars. I remember her taking Dan and me for rides in the back of a station wagon and letting us sliiiiiide across the back when she took corners. And her Camaro was so cool! She also has a rubber face. She is also full of good humor. I always thought it was amazing how she could turn her eyelids inside out, and swallow my socks and let me pull it out of her ear! I love her laugh.

Karen was the only one (I know of) who cared about how skinny I got when I was 13. I was 5 feet tall or so and 79 lbs. Karen was the one who cared enough to tell me, "people die when they get as thin as you." Karen cared when I came back to Utah after a horrific experience with a first fiancee. She talked to me and helped me know that things could be ok someday for me, when really I just wanted to die. She also noticed my talents and wanted us to write songs together. Too bad I have no musical ability, but she saw I could write. This last year she chose one of my photographs to turn into a painting! She painted the picture of my Joyanna riding her bike down the hill. I was SO TOUCHED when she sent me a canvased copy of the painting! It was even more beautiful in person than it was on the Internet! I put it right over my dresser so that every morning I can see this whimsical painting and smile with delight. I just LOVE it! She has no idea how much that painting means to me.

These are only two of my amazing sisters. I wish you could all know them. Everyone should be so lucky to have such amazing people in their lives.

DeAnna and Karen, I hope that you know I love you so very much and I am really sad about missing your birthdays, again. Please know you and your families are always in our prayers every night. Love you!

On the agenda today...

I get to have lunch with Joy today! Yippie!!!
We met with her teacher last night, for conferences. I'm really confused as to why Joy is hating school so much and why she feels like she's being yelled at (or in trouble) all the time. Her teacher said she is great. Well behaved, liked by the other kids, has self-control.... not like she is at home or church!
There was nothing that pointed us to why she is always saying she feels sick or needs to stay home/go home.
It's a mystery.  I am concerned about it, but glad that her teacher has caught onto what she is doing, and makes suggestions for what might make her feel better.

This morning it was very foggy on our way to Cambridge. Now I know what they mean when they say, "as thick as pea soup"! I couldn't see more than one car up! The sun is out and shining now, so it should all be gone soon.
 I have to get reading on two books I'm reading for class. One is The New Jim Crow, by Michelle Alexander. It's a tough read because I don't agree with her right at the beginning of the book where she claims that our judicial system and incarcerating blacks at a disproportionate rate are the way America has started a new caste system.  We will see if she can convince me.
The second book is Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis. It looks pretty good.

Happy things...

So, I have a new job, I'm working at a group home for handicapped people. I work every Friday, which is kind of neat because then I get to go with them to go to practice for Special Olympics, basketball.  I heard this is the first year they are offering basketball to these guys. It's pretty cool.  I saw a lot of great players there.

It's a pretty good job to have since I have to work. It fits our schedule really well, also it's doing stuff I am already doing now. It will be great on my resume. Also, we decided when we bought this house to do "whatever it takes" to make it happen. And this, apparently, is whatever it takes. But it's so worth it! We are so happy here! Some days I am struck with a great feeling of joy, especially when I drive down my driveway and look at the pretty land we have, and all the space around us. I love it! And it fills me with joy. =) The campus I go to school at now is so pretty too. It's on the Rum River and it's a new building. The classes are smaller and the building is very nice.  I never have trouble getting a close parking spot, which is very unlikely at the old campus. Sometimes I had to park about a half mile away, and walk in the cold and snow! So, can you tell how happy I am here!? VERY HAPPY!!!!

Today it snowed.  I am so happy about it! This whole winter has been brown and ugly and very depressing. Now, much of the ugly brown is covered in beautiful white. White is my most favorite color. It's clean and pure and full of hope. A clean slate, where many possibilities lie. I also love that at night the world isn't so dark.  I wish I had my camera with me today.  It's so beautiful.

Short news items...

I haven't had internet to write for a long time. Rats. Maybe more posts will happen now with having internet at school.
A few news items for us....
The kids got a new puppy, Duke, for Christmas. He started pooping worms last night. ICK! That makes me itchy just thinking about it. Got him and Buddy into the vet today for meds.
I have a new job, working Fridays and every other weekend. I'm working in a foster home for adults with disabilities. I like the job. It's a lot of long hours, but it's pretty easy work. It's just like being "mom" to the guys. I make their dinner, play games with them, make them do chores. Not unlike what I would be doing at home.
I have a new calling at church. 1st counselor in the Primary. I'm also in charge of Activity Days, boys, and have to do the activities for them until we have someone called. They tried to call Joel to it, but they were told that they can't touch him. They must have a calling in mind for him.... hmmmmm......
I have started a new semester at school. I have classes four days a week, and an online class. I'm doing 14 credits.  Yikes!  Can you say BUSY!?
Christmas was good. The kids had a good time. Josh knows about Santa now. I made him take a secret handshake and if he keeps it a secret he can be a helper next year.
We have basically no snow. This has been a really wierd and dry winter. I don't like it! I want snow! If it is going to be cold, at least let it be pretty with snow and not this ugly brown.

Update!

Oh I have so much I would have written about in the last few weeks, if only I had Internet, I would have! And now, I can only think of a few things to write about.
The move into the house went really well. I love our church! The men got our truck loaded up in one evening, and it was amazing. I didn't think our whole house would fit into such a small box, but they did it! They worked every piece like a puzzle, moving here, sliding there, squishing here and adjusting there, making it all fit. They were amazing! And then the next morning people from our new ward came to help us unpack the truck and they had it all out and in rooms in under 35 minutes! Then they also helped us put together beds and move around furniture. We are so lucky our church is such a service oriented well oiled machine! I can't imagine making the move without them. And JoAnne even brought us dinner so I could pack up our dishes and not have to worry about cooking. <3 Thank you friend!
I have the upstairs almost unpacked. Just a few more boxes in the living room need to be dispersed and tossed downstairs to be broken down. The kids all did their rooms the second day we were in the house, and that helped me so much. Plus, they got to make the choices about how their rooms should look. I got the kitchen unpacked this Sunday after church and that was a big deal. I have so much kitchen stuff! Oh and we need to put up shelving in our master closet and get the clothes boxes unpacked. Our closet is lined with cedar wood and it smells soooo gooood!
We have now seen one deer, heard pheasants, heard foxes, found fox poop and seen lots of deer tracks. I didn't know what I was hearing the other night and had to google YouTube on my phone to watch videos of foxes and coyotes and listen for the sound I heard. Turns out it was a red fox. Neat! Joel found a den out in the woods in an old log, so that makes sense.
We can't get internet at the new house for a while. We are out in the boonies and there is pretty much only one company that can offer us internet for streaming tv, I need my Hulu and Netflix! They came out the other day and told us that the antenna that came with the house needs a $129.00 part. Ouch. I was kinda hoping to spend that money on a water softener that takes iron out.  So now we are tipping scales. One side, internet. Other side, water softener that makes my water not smell like rotten eggs or chlorine. One is only $200, one is $5-600.  Decisions, decisions. In the meantime I am driving down to the campus to use their internet, which is how I am making this post today! :)
I am registered for next semester, but might make an addition if I can find a fun class to add.  Otherwise it's just 3 classes (11 credits) for me this semester.
Ummmm.... that's about all I can think of for now.
Oh! When you buy sheets and they are a bright color, wash them and rinse them several times before you use them! Jake got sent home from work the other day, and followed by his boss, because they thought he was turning blue. Turns out, it was just the new sheets I bought him that had bled onto him, lol! Love that kid!

Crunch

Click to see larger image.

Ouch!

20 Hours. Done!

This afternoon I finished up my 20 hours of volunteer service hours in a regular elementary school classroom. I had such a blast! I was lucky enough to spend that time in Joyanna's classroom with her teacher. She is such a great teacher. I loved her teaching style and I learned so much from her. She actually made me feel like maybe I would like to teach in a regular classroom.
The kids were so fun and they were mostly good to me. There were a couple of stinkers but I didn't let them get away with it. I made them love me by the end, lol. I think my walking like a penguin helped ;)
I was able to spend lunch with Joy each day I was there and visit with her friends. That was fun for me too. I loved being with her and spending time with her in school. I will miss that the most.
Today I got thrown into a group work session and at first it didn't go well. I had six kids and they all seemed to have their heads going other ways. We had to complete two pages in their math books. At first I was working individually with them, but then when I'd leave one child to do to do something while I helped another, I noticed that when I came back they hadn't done what I left them to do! So I ended up pulling a few tricks with them and got them to work somewhat as a group, and got them involved in trying to check each others guesses and see who could be first to find the answers. That worked good and we got their work done in time for them to get to music class. It was a good experience for me and gave me a taste of things to come. YIKES! Can I do this?!
On Sunday Joel and I took a drive, just us two. It was a very windy day. We were curious how the new property was looking with the leaves falling now. We missed the color, but it was great to see through the trees and see how deep the woods are by the house. It can be so deceiving with all of the leaves. We saw a lot of deer tracks and some typed of canine tracks. We stopped and just listened to the wind in the trees. I love that sound. It was so peaceful and relaxing. I've missed that sound. In this neighborhood I don't spend a lot of time outside. They've set up the house to look like people are living in it, to avoid more break ins. There's a trike, shoes on the porch, lawn chairs, etc. They did a good job. Hopefully it works and keeps people out until we can get into it!
I brought home several boxes today for packing. The kids want to start, but I am apprehensive and really don't want to begin until the time gets closer and we have our closing packet on hand. This week we received a letter in the mail from one of Joel's student loans and his payment is going up! AHHHH! This might make it hard to get our home loan, so now it's all questionable again.

I'M SO SICK OF THIS ROLLER COASTER!!!

I am tired of being excited, then let down, then excited again. It's really depressing and was really hard on me the last time. Then we got the go ahead from the bank last week and I've allowed myself to get excited again, and now there's this letter. UGH. Rocks in my stomach. I hate this. I'm finding more hair in the sink this week. This is the last time I do this. I told Joel if our loan doesn't go through, we need to stop. Walk away. Stop trying to find banks that will finance it. There's more banks that will, but I'm tired of jumping through all the hoops and I think that might be Heavenly Father's way of telling me that I'm crazy and heard a "yes" when he was really saying "no". Maybe we need to wait until after the famine is over.

Maybe. I don't know what to think anymore.

Almost there!

I am starting to get antsy to close on the new house, I wish it hasn't been postponed for so long. I am looking forward to getting out of this neighborhood. Every time I take the dog out, or go somewhere, I see/hear something that makes me hate this place more. I'm looking forward to the privacy and peace our new place will give me.  Also, I can't wait to throw on some hiking boots and explore the woods once the leaves fall and reveal the land to us.

I just finished my last speech in speech class today. I am excited to be down to only one class a week after next Tuesday. I'm also glad I took it easy this semester. It would have been hard with more classes, with all we've had going on in the last few months. I think I will start packing stuff next week. I've been putting it off because our house is so little and we don't really have that much extra stuff around the house to pack up.

The kids are getting excited about Halloween. Joy really needs dress up clothes in her size. She has outgrown her box of dress ups from when she was little and I haven't added to it as she's grown. she loves to dress up and will be spending the next couple of weeks getting into the Halloween box and pulling out all of the costumes. Maybe that's something I should think about this Christmas, as now we will have room to store that kind of stuff.

Moving Along

The other day we got word that our financing was approved. Shew! finally.

This has been such a UN-fun ordeal for me. I want the house too much to walk away, so it's been hard because I've felt like walking away a few times. This is the LAST time I buy a house.

I wish I could drive up there and take a look at the leaves in the yard. I bet it was beautiful this week. The wind has been blowing today and many trees in the neighborhood have been stripped in a matter of hours. We won't be in the new house until the leaves have all fallen and we have a HUGE yard to rake, because until we sell this house all we have is a small mower/bagger. It might have to wait until next spring to be cleaned up. There's no more beautiful place in the fall than Minnesota. 

My parents will be delighted to know that the ward we are moving into includes a special friend Amy that I was good friends with in our teenage years. Amy also married a non-member and her husband joined the church a couple of years after Joel did. He's now in the branch presidency. We are going to a pumpkin carving activity at Amy's house the day after we close. I'm so excited to see her again and also meet her kids and get to know her family. Also, I learned that her mother Alice passed away a couple of weeks ago. I was very sad to hear that. Her mother was such a nice wonderful lady.

I have started my 20 hours of volunteering in Joy's class for my Education class. She has a really great teacher and I am really enjoying watching how she teaches and the activities she has for the kids. I love that she never even seems to raise her voice, and the kids listen and hear her. It's been great.

Colds are going around early this year. A couple of the kids and I have already started/had ours. ICK. I'm trying to figure out what I should keep stocked up on for the season. Last year I loved cocktails of Sprite/Airborne/Zantac. It made me feel good through my colds and I seemed to hardly suffer after the initial onset. So far that's been the best thing to work for me.

The dog has been healing from his neck scratching. I have taken off his flea collar, and have stopped locking him up in his kennel and it seems to have cured the itching. This week I have started him on a diet of special food for dogs with sensitivity to certain grains and protein. Hopefully this will also help, in case it's a food allergy, but as of now, I'm convinced that it is entirely in his head and happens only when he's locked up for long periods of time.

Jaeden's class has been reading Pippi Longstocking and she has become obsessed! She thinks Pippi is the neatest girl in the whole wide world. This Halloween she wants to be Pippi and wants her costume based on the book's description of what Pippi looks like and wears. I borrowed the movie from the library for her, and she loved the movie. She even took the case to school to show her teacher. I asked her what she liked about Pippi, how would she describe her to someone who didn't know who she was. She said, "The most amazing girl in the world. Adventurous and wondrous, amazing and intelligent. She is a remarkable young girl."- and later she also said, "I think most people don't see Pippi the same way I do. Maybe they think she is odd, but I don't."  I love that she finds Pippi so interesting. I've tried to encourage my girls to live true to themselves and be themselves. Even sometimes if that means letting them go to school in very strange outfits they've put together. I love that she loves that about Pippi. I hope she embraces that in herself!

New Closing Date

Is October 28. Spooky! 8^)