Monthiversaries

So today marked one month since I started working again...and also one month since Ellie started middle school. We are both a lot busier and thus, a lot happier! I love working, if only for the sense of security it brings.

Today was a sad one at work. My employer keeps 2 German Shepherd attack dogs in the yard (I am working in the office for a landscape and lawn-care company right now) and today one of them was hit by one of our trucks. I witnessed the last breath before she died. The saddest thing was how the remaining dog cried and moped around afterwards!

It reminded me of how things can change in the twinkling of an eye! I am so grateful for a knowledge that we will all be reunited after this life. I can't imagine not having the comfort that brings me.

This month I started a new visiting teaching route. For you not familiar, this is how the women of my church keep tabs on one another by making monthly visits to a handful of other women in our congregation. The purpose is to fellowship, teach, and serve one another. So far I have visited 4 different sisters. The fascinating thing is how different everyone is from each other. I love getting to know new people and hearing about their experiences. It's like being in someone's real-life blog!! ha ha ha...that's a little joke.

Anyway, I am about 98% sure that I haven't contributed much to their lives (yet), but I think it's made a huge difference in mine. Haven't you ever noticed how much better life feels when you are thinking of someone else for a change? It's the only thing powerful enough to bring me out of the dulldrums!

I have also been interviewing for a job at a small college here in Charleston for the last several weeks and was told yesterday that I was selected for the position...now I am just waiting for them to get approval from the head honchos and I will be switching back into a university setting. I miss interacting with college students so I am excited!

Ellie got a new flute yesterday. She is taking both Chorus and Band at the middle school, but no PE...I thought that was bizarre, but I guess the PE classes were filled up when we registered her. She loves her music and science classes the most.

It is still hot as blazes every day here in Charleston, but the mornings are starting to cool off and I never thought I could appreciate sweater weather so much as I do this year!

Sorry about this post...with my camera broken, it looks like I will be back to weird ramblings for a while!!

Ultimate Frisbee

On Saturday, the Elder's Quorum had an ultimate frisbee activity...Elle and I tagged along and I captured these cute shots. Later one of the guys left and I got to take his place...it was super fun but then my legs were all kinds of sore Sunday and Monday...I guess I am not used to all that stopping, starting, and changing direction kinds of running! Paul was just happy to start making some new friends.

rainy days and mid-afternoon munchies

So this has been our weather for the past little while! And I haven't spent much time in the kitchen for the last couple of...YEARS!! so here is what I made...salad,

Spaghetti,

and chocolate chip cookies!!!

mmmmm....yummy

Now maybe I should tackle something a little more complicated?!...Nah!

still cutting hair!

So Ellie was due for a trim and I was hoping that she would let me try out some of the new techniques that I recently learned. Alas, she was ADAMANT that I cut off only a TINY bit. She wants it all long and no layers. BORING. but it's her hair...

I took off an inch.

She read a book the whole time. Then I gave her braids.

The End.

makeover

So I gave myself a new haircut this morning. I thought about going short again and looked through one of those "short hair cuts" magazines, but decided to do something a little less drastic. Most of the styles in those magazines are completely unrealistic. They are ridiculous. There were maybe 2 styles in the whole thing that a real person could wear every day. Now, if you know me, you know I hate paying for haircuts because I am never really happy and I feel like it's a big waste of money (thank you, parental unit!). I have been cutting my own hair since high school (before that, my sisters Candi and Rachel did it). Anyway, I got online and watched a bunch of "how-to" videos on putting in long layers and I think it turned out perfectly professional looking. Sorry, I forgot to take "before" pictures this time! I also went a little crazy with the eye-shadow today. It's fun when you don't have to go to work! Can you tell I am getting bored yet??

Running: The good, the bad, and the sweaty!!

Running at sea level is wonderful...you can go really fast without even getting out of breath!! For at least a year, I have been battling running injuries and FINALLY I can go running pain free!!! It just rocks! It is awesome!! Alas, I haven't found very many good places to run from my house yet. Just big commercial roads which means a lot of concrete sidewalks! grrr...I hate concrete! It's the worst running surface! Luckily, I bought a huge bag of paper cups which I keep filled in the freezer and I have been DILIGENT about massaging my shins, knees, and heels with ice after every run. The benefit of running on main roads is that I refuse to look slow in front of all those strangers and therefore I have been keeping a good pace. Right now, I am running alone every morning, but that is a good thing because I have to get up at the crack of dawn to beat the heat and humidity here. We have had weather in the upper 90's and low 100's since I got here and the humidity is unreal! Another benefit to running at sea level...NO HILLS! That may sound like a negative to some of you hard-core athletes, but to me, it is pure running bliss!

Oh what a difference...

Above is a picture of our sunroom. I have big plans for it but right now it houses my favorite piece of furniture. My mother somehow acquired this from my Aunt Diane when I was about 5 and I laid claim to it before they moved to Tennessee. I am going to get some flowy curtains and a sisal rug and a wicker settee with fun pillows to soften it up...but not until AFTER I find a new job!!

Below is Ellie's cute bathroom. I just love the cabinet space!!

Here are all Ellie's books at the foot of her bed. I made her get rid of half her collection before we moved, but she still has plenty as you can see. At her 5th grade graduation, she won an award for "insightful comments in reading". They gave each of the kids adjectives that most described them and hers were "bookish and bouncy"! I have to agree. Right now she is reading Anne of Avonlea. It's one of my favorite series.

Here is her new bedroom. All the new stuff we got for her birthday looks even better at our new place!! And I recovered the lamps just before we left. I was going to put a cute print above the bed, but she insisted she have the pictures of Christ and the temple. I love this age! She is growing up, but still holding on to her childhood.

I am pretty excited about our new place. It makes me giggle a little. It is a lot smaller than our old place, but sooooo much nicer! Even though we still have to rent, it is a lot better when you actually like your place!

The kitchen has a great pass-through to the dining room and has a laundry room. We found a washer and dryer set for $160 on Craig's list. SWEEEEET!!!!

This is the master bath and below is the living room and dining room.

Here is Ellie a few weeks ago after I gave her a little makeover...I guess she is trying to have a staring contest with Buster. He is Sam's doggie so we had to leave them both behind and we miss them.

Painful Good-byes! SAD PANTS

Sam was the Maid of Honor over the weekend at her friend's wedding. Doesn't she just look beautiful? I am so sad that we won't be sharing a house anymore! This past year has been really fun for me. It's so nice to have sisters close by. I am also leaving my super-sweet sister-in-law, Coleen. She has been there for me through A LOT of personal drama (and such a patient listener) and I am really going to miss my brother (Jeremy) and their little boy too!! We had two fun get-togethers recently...and I forgot my camera for both of them! Also, they all help with Ellie and I am so grateful they have been there for her for pretty much her whole life!
My cute little friend, Holly came by to hang out one last time before I move. I try not to get sappy but I really hate leaving her!! She has been my sanity and my cheerleader and she is soooo funny!! Of course, she is moving on too so I would have to say "good-bye" regardless! I will miss her though!! Tomorrow is my last day of work. My boss wants to do a little "send-off" party. That will be thoroughly embarrassing. For some reason, I only like being the center of attention in certain groups...family mostly:) and other times, I find it quite uncomfortable!

The Big Birthday Week!!

Although I didn't actually get to spend time with these family members this week, I think it is cool that 4 members of our family were born the same week.
On May 26th, my brother-in-law, Evan turned 41 and my neice, Allison, turned 13.
I know these pics are terrible, but I stole them from facebook and they were all I had!!My sister Rachel also turned 36 today and my nephew, Steven, turned 15!! This pic is actually from Rachel's high school graduation...ha ha!!Happy Birthday to you all!!

New Home

I just got back from a weekend with Paul in Charleston. It was our 2-year anniversary and we spent it "house-hunting". We ended up getting a condo rather than a house, and I am so excited to decorate it! (but SOOOO not excited to go through all our stuff and pack it up) I have been spoiled in our current house because there is a ton of storage space and this new place is probably only 1/2 the size...I have LOTS to get rid of and not nearly the amount of time that I am going to need! YIKES!
Ellie is excited because our new pool looks like this:

Paul is excited because he misses us and has been anxiously awaiting us joining him!

Change is good...except when it's terrifying!

So if I am being completely honest with myself, I am terrified of this move. I don't mean to sound completely po-dunk, but I have never lived further than 2 hours away from my hometown...EVER!! Not only that, but I have always lived within 5 minutes of I-81. Whatever will I do with no soothing interstate noise to lull me to sleep at night?! And I don't think I have mentioned this before, but MY PARENTS ARE MOVING TOO!! They are going to Tennessee...a completely different state...for those of you who may be even less geographically inclined than me (and I hope, for your sake, that you are not). My little sister, Sam, who has been sharing a house with me for the past year is getting married in only 6 short weeks and she will be moving away too.
All these changes have really got me thinking about life and the meaning of things. Of course, I almost never STOP thinking about the meaning of things, but now my pontificating is slightly more focused. slightly. And what I have concluded is thus...(drum roll, please)...Change is the ESSENCE of life. It is the thing by which I measure time..."Well, after my 2nd divorce, I moved to Daleville", or "When I started dating Paul, I put on 10lbs", etc. It is the thing by which we GROW...Really, I don't need to give you an example of this...it's the ONLY sure thing to shake us out of old habits and motivate us to improve (and sometimes regress, if we fight it). So I am going to stop fearing the change and just embrace it. Maybe I will lose those 10 lbs...

Husbands and housework

Paul is already working in Charleston, SC and I am still working in Lexington, VA. I miss him. I really miss him, but...I get so much more work done!! Am I the only one who is just unable to get stuff done with my husband around?? I mean, I cook more, I clean more, I go to bed early, I run before work...I even get my "procrastinate pile" worked on (that's my pile of stuff that I have been avoiding for MONTHS). All these things that I have to work so hard to do when he is around and now it feels EASY. Perhaps I am just trying to stay busy so I won't miss him?! I think it's pretty funny! The temptation to blame him for never getting anything done just got a lot worse! Oh, this picture is from our wedding...We are celebrating 2 years this weekend so I am hopefully going down on Friday for a visit.

EMPLOYED!!

So Paul got the job in Charleston, SC that he's been interviewing for the past 2 weeks. I am so proud of him. He hasn't been able to find a full-time job since moving to Virginia 2 1/2 years ago. He moved here because I was in school and we were engaged. It has been a loooong journey and while I am very grateful that I had a good job, we really wanted to move towards our goal of me being at home with Ellie...So for all of you who were praying for him and I...THANK YOU!!! We are very very sad to be leaving so many good friends AND family members in Virginia! I LOVE Virginia, but I think a new adventure is overdue for me...having a beach won't hurt the transition at all!! Charleston has always been one of Paul's favorite cities and since they have a huge port and he is in the transportation industry, it will be a great fit!

Infertility

I want a baby...not that it is anything new, but it does seem that I am not alone in my struggle. Why are so many of my friends having such a hard time?

My personal story is that I have always worried about not being able to have children...since I was 16 or so (because of some wording in a blessing that I got). When I first married, we decided not to wait and I am SOOOOOO glad because I got pregnant after only a few months trying. I was 21 and REALLY healthy at that time. After Ellie was born we waited about 6 months to try again so that there would be at least 15 months between them. We tried for 18 months and then we got divorced...not related and looking back I am SO glad I didn't get pregnant at that time since we did get divorced. Well, now Paul and I have been trying for 2 years and I am worried that my window is closing! I wanted a big family and it's hard to accept that I am simply not as young as I used to be!! I was talking to a friend last night who said that a raw vegetable diet worked for someone in our ward...that wigs me out for two reasons.

1. I could never be that disciplined.

2. Then it might be my own fault that I haven't gotten pregnant.

THAT THINKING IS SO MESSED UP!! That is the big problem for me and probably a lot of women...we feel guilt over things that we can't possibly control. Especially LDS women.

Another issue for me is-- how far I should take the fertility treatments? My husband's ex tried everything including invitro but never got pregnant. My sister Rachel went through 8 or so years of treatments and is now pregnant with twin boys. Of course now it was worth the struggle.

A wonderful couple in my ward is going to adopt. Something Paul and I definitely would consider. it's all good and it's all right, but I don't know what I want to do yet. (and it's all expensive, too!)

We have been surviving off my paycheck for a while and I think I have been putting off any kind of action until we can survive only on his...I doubt I could keep working through a pregnancy given my health history.

Anyway, just wanted to pontificate.

Charleston, South Carolina USS Yorktown

Group shot before the tour.

Ellie, Paul, and I had a mid-week whirlwind trip down to South Carolina for two days.

Paul had a job interview...YAY!! and so we packed our bags and headed down. A 7-hour drive.

We were very excited to have time to get some history in...we did pull Ellie out of school after all!

Ellie is getting better at her camera skills...I am only pretending to know anything about this aircraft carrier...Paul is an expert!

It was totally cool to see how these navy boys lived back in WWII...even the details of their sinks,

clothes (these were for the women),

Here is the chapel!

The top had all the airplanes on it...it's so HUGE!! The view of Charleston was amazing!

We also looked at a small submarine...yikes! it was tight quarters in there!

Here is Ellie outside the submarine. She loved it and said "I don't do claustrophobia"!

Paul looked at the camera!!! He must've been in hog heaven (he is a military history major, after all!!)