temporary contentment

this is the time of year when i'm at peace with utah. the sky is blue. there's no inversion. the mountains are still green. and you don't melt away or freeze your butt off the second you walk out the door. 

i used to think i need 4 distinct seasons each year. i needed the extremes of winter and summer. 

now that i know better, i know that i don't need winter or summer at all. just the calm in between. 

so now, where do i go to find it??

they call me the wanderer

i try to not be a complainer. i think it's important to be positive about your circumstances no matter what they are. but darn it if i don't complain about life sometimes. there are just days when you wish you could trade places with someone who is living a more exotic life, or at least one moderately different than your own.

today was a day where i kind of just wandered around aimlessly. i thought about taking payton to the park. then ended up at the yarn store. meandered over to cafe rio. then found myself at the other end of the valley 40 minutes from home.

i wasn't sad or mad. i was just.....going through the very basic motions of life. but i looked out over the valley and just thought "life's pretty dang good."

Cry-Fest 2010

I've decided that I didn't just buy Milo out of a spur-of-the-moment need for something fuzzy to sit in my lap in the evenings while I read.

On Saturday my parents came into town and I offered to let them take both my boys back up to their house for a few days. I was planning on heading up there today for Thanksgiving so I thought it would be nice to have some alone time so I could get some big projects done.

I've sent Jackson to Grandma's house plenty of times before, but I've never sent Payton there before. Payton is always my little partner in crime. I thought I could handle 3 nights without my boys. I was already lonely by Sunday morning....

Yesterday I was preparing for my trip up to Idaho to see my boys and spend the holiday. I kept feeling uneasy about the trip so I checked the weather report and saw that there is a blizzard in eastern idaho (where my parents live) and when its done there it will head to SLC.

So unless I want to try my luck driving through a blizzard I'm going to be spending a few more days alone. Luckily I have my sweet, fury little Milo to fill a teeny tiny part of the void that I feel without my kids here with me.


So even though I'll be able to spend Thanksgiving a good friend, I'm still re-naming this holiday "Cry-Fest 2010" since I won't be with my babies.


HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

Update

It seems as though living by the ocean gave me inspiration to blog! Or maybe my blog lull is due to the fact that I'm actually experiencing winter this year. Who wants to take pictures of dirty ugly snow? But I figured I could at least give an update to any people who still visit my sad little blog.

Nate is going to another school in Arizona living in the barracks and going to school all day. He did get to come home for Thanksgiving and Christmas, and hopefully he'll be done in March and back home. His time at home may be short-lived though. His unit is deploying in June, but we don't know yet if he'll be going. Cross your fingers.

Jackson is in Kindergarten and LOVES it. He's really starting to figure out the reading thing and he has so many little friends. All the girls seem to have crushes on him too. But really, can you blame them? He's also loves his CTR 6 class. There are 4 other boys in the class and they are all so cute.

Payton is the sweetest most stubborn little boy in the world. He refuses to truly potty train. In fact, not even 2 minutes ago he stealthily pulled off his underwear and pooped on the floor. He was two feet away from the bathroom. He also sneaks into my bed at night and I'm such a heavy sleeper that I usually don't even realize he's there until the morning comes and I'm halfway off the bed. I still don't understand how a pint-sized two year old can hog a King size bed.

I'm still at home with the boys and loving it. We have a cute little apartment here in Utah and I'm really happy to be here. I'm the 2nd counselor in the Primary Presidency and I'm really enjoying it. I love being there with the kids and Jackson thinks it the coolest thing that I get to be in there with him.

We really miss Monterey, but we're so glad to be back here in Utah close to family!

I need my stuff!!

We've been staying with my parents for the last couple months. It's been a great stay. I love my parents more than anything else.

With that said.......I CAN'T WAIT TO MOVE INTO OUR APARTMENT!

I miss my bed and my T.V. and cooking dinners and my computer.........and the super exciting thing for me is that after 4 years of using old ragged hand-me-down couches, I finally bought beautiful furniture for our living room. Not only is it so exciting to picture myself sitting in my sweatpants on that couch in a couple weeks, but it just feels good knowing that I saved up money and paid cash for this beautiful furniture.

So, if the next two weeks could go any faster I'd really appreciate it. Nov. 16th is the big day.

Can't wait!!!!

Longing

We kind of miss the ocean.

DLPT

Nate took the SPEAKING part of his DLPT last week and felt really good about his performance. We won't know the score until he's done with the READING & LISTENING. He does the listening today and the reading tomorrow.

I've been all pre-occupied with physical therapy, doctors appointments, Harry Potter, Kindergarten Registration, and potty training Mr. P that I didn't even give myself time to freak out about the seriousness of this testing. Since my kids got up before dawn cracked I had plenty of time to quietly freak out in my brain while I cooked breakfast for Nate and the boys (I thought it might help Nate on his test if he got a break from the usual breakfast of cold cereal).

It's not like this is a normal test like the ACT's. I mean, I prepped for my ACT's by going to a football game and screaming my head off and following that up with a rowdy visit to JB's for dessert. After 4 hours of sleep I woke up with a nasty cold & headache but still managed to get a respectable score.

No, this test is major. After all, we did pack up all our belongings and move our entire life to Seaside, CA so Nate could learn this language. And all the perks that the U.S. Military is contractually obligated to give us depend on Nate passing this test and moving on to the next phase.

So, it's a little bit nerve-racking.

But,

Despite my moment of freaking out, I'm confident he'll do well. He's put in a lot of extra work and has a real determination to pass and get the "H" out of here (not in a mean way though, just, move on with life).