I know it's been a long time since I posted. Well, I was hoping that I would be in my new house and then I could put up pictures and let everyone know what was going on. That, however, has not happened yet. The house has taken much longer than expected to close, and It's starting (okay, way past "starting") to drive me insane! The good news, though, is that we HAVE finally signed papers, so there is only 2 things left to happen before we actually get the keys. First thing, that hopefully happened today, is that the papers were looked over and the bank released funding for the house, second, should be tomorrow, is that it will be recorded and then officially it is ours to move in. Ugh, I'm almost too tired to be excited! But, I'm sure when I get there and start to unpack in MY house that will change. =)
In the meantime, it has actually been a blessing to be here. Not only have we been able to save money while we've been waiting, which will make moving in a lot easier, but we were also able to be here during what I can only hope has been the worst of the heat. Keith and I have been in the pool a LOT and it's been really great. He really loves the water, and it's been relaxing for me to feel lighter for a least a little while each day, lol.
We were lucky enough to find a 1995 suburban for a great price with low miles, so we actually have 2 vehicles now, which is so great. This is, officially, my first vehicle. And I love it! We've had some bad luck though, including some retard deciding to hold target practice with our back window using a beer bottle. GRRR! Unfortunately, that's life without a garage, I guess. But, shortly we WILL have a garage! Woohoo!
This pregnancy has been mighty uncomfortable, especially compared to the almost ridiculously easy pregnancy I had with Keith. The baby seems huge already and I feel enormous, which I never really felt with Keith. I also had no problem walking around with Keith even up to the very end, but this time I just want to sit a lot! I feel clumsy and off-balance. On top of that, this baby moves constantly, with big kicks and smaller fluttering/twitching movements. I've got a little more than a month and a half left and I'm so ready to be done! I put up a pole for guesses of the sex. I know it's a little early, but I was bored. And if everyone gets on as often as I do, they may need that much time just to see it!
Sorry there are no pictures yet. I have no idea where everything is right now, including my camera USB cable, so that's why it's been so long since I've posted any. When life gets back to kind of normal and I can start unpacking my stuff, I promise pictures.
Monday, September 15, 2008
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Is it for real?
Well, we're here back in Cali, and it's a little weird to realize that we're here to stay. Graduation was cool, and it was nice to have so much family there. All together there was me and Keith (of course) Arlin and Diana, Mom and Chuck, and Sarah and Rachel, AND Melissa! It was very cool. They only gave us 3 tickets so Paul ended up standing in line to get six extra tickets! Which, it was a good thing there weren't any more because six was the limit. Paul took Keith with him on his epic walk across stage. I, unfortunately didn't get any good pictures, but mom and Melissa (I think) did, so I do have a couple, and will make sure to post later.
The UHaul trip was pretty uneventful thankfully, except for the sheer amount of time it took. Because we were loaded up and were towing our car we couldn't quite go as quickly as we used to. Mom and Chuck stayed with us, which was nice, especially since Paul had to drive the whole time because I wasn't comfortable driving the truck towing the car, so I let him do it.
Paul starts work tomorrow with Matt Construction. If you're at all curious as to what type of construction specifically that they do, take a look at www.mattconstruction.com. That site is mostly based on their L.A. office, but it gives you an idea of how big the company really is.
I think we have found the house! I know, I know...I've said that before...but this time I mean it! We should know VERY soon what exactly is going on with it, and when we do I will let everyone know. Paul and I are going to try to get mom and Chuck, and possibly his parents to meet us up there, to look at it today. I will post pictures of that too...it's pretty boring empty, and we won't have much furniture to fill it up for awhile, but that's okay!
Even though it's still a bit surreal it's great to be home, and especially where all the swimming pools are. I've gone swimming 3 times in the last week, which is pretty good since our week here started Wednesday, and we've been running around trying to figure things out with houses, and work, and storage for our stuff. It's been busy, but productive. I'm excited to see what comes next.
The UHaul trip was pretty uneventful thankfully, except for the sheer amount of time it took. Because we were loaded up and were towing our car we couldn't quite go as quickly as we used to. Mom and Chuck stayed with us, which was nice, especially since Paul had to drive the whole time because I wasn't comfortable driving the truck towing the car, so I let him do it.
Paul starts work tomorrow with Matt Construction. If you're at all curious as to what type of construction specifically that they do, take a look at www.mattconstruction.com. That site is mostly based on their L.A. office, but it gives you an idea of how big the company really is.
I think we have found the house! I know, I know...I've said that before...but this time I mean it! We should know VERY soon what exactly is going on with it, and when we do I will let everyone know. Paul and I are going to try to get mom and Chuck, and possibly his parents to meet us up there, to look at it today. I will post pictures of that too...it's pretty boring empty, and we won't have much furniture to fill it up for awhile, but that's okay!
Even though it's still a bit surreal it's great to be home, and especially where all the swimming pools are. I've gone swimming 3 times in the last week, which is pretty good since our week here started Wednesday, and we've been running around trying to figure things out with houses, and work, and storage for our stuff. It's been busy, but productive. I'm excited to see what comes next.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
The Big Day!
So, moving day is just a few days away now! I'm so excited. It's ironic that the last ward we'll be leaving for a long time is the hardest ward for us to leave. The rest have been okay, some much better than others, and although there were certain people I missed, it hasn't been terribly difficult to leave any ward. Part of what will be hard is leaving the young women that I've come to love so much. One has been gone for a month in CA visiting her Grandma in Los Banos, and she FINALLY came back Sunday, so I actually got to see her last night. She came up behind me and put her hands on my eyes, and I said "hi Marissa" She said "aww!", and I said, "well, it had to be you! You're the only one I haven't seen in forever!" I'm going to miss these girls. I will have to keep in touch too because I feel kind of bad leaving them at 5 1/2 months pregnant not being able to even tell them the gender of the baby!
Tomorrow we're going to try to go to the temple, since we haven't gone to the Rexburg temple yet. I've done baptisms, and Paul's done a session before, but we haven't gone together yet. That will be a nice end to a great couple semesters.
Graduation is Friday night, and Mom, Chuck, Rachel, AND Sarah, and possibly Melissa are all supposed to be here Friday around noon to help us load up the truck. It will take no time at all with that many people! His parents are supposed to show up that morning sometime too. Then, Saturday, hopefully no later than noon, we will hit the road! We'll be making a stop in Smithfield to see his grandma since we'll be missing the family reunion this year, and grandma's 92 so who knows how many more family reunions she'll make it to.
As for a house update here's what's happening: we did put an offer in on the house in Fresno on Filbert. That's the one with 5 bedrooms, a big yard, and big pool. However, it was VERY popular and there are several offers in on it. We've heard nothing so far, and it's hard to say what will happen except that our chances really don't look that great. Oh well. We've been looking around like crazy and have a couple more houses we're going to go see when we get home that have some potential from what we can tell. There was one other that we saw while we were in CA that we were interested in, and I'm still thinking about it, but for now we have ceased all actions pertaining to house shopping until we get back other than looking at new listings and adding to our list of houses to look at when we return. I think it's best. I certainly don't want to jump the gun or rush into anything. If we're really supposed to get the Filbert house we'll get it on the offer we made. I REALLY like the house. I could live there for a long time. Lots of space inside and out makes it MUCH easier too.
Well, we'll be leaving this place and be back in HOT HOT California very soon! I'm so swimming the DAY we get back! Can't wait to see all the Cali people!
Tomorrow we're going to try to go to the temple, since we haven't gone to the Rexburg temple yet. I've done baptisms, and Paul's done a session before, but we haven't gone together yet. That will be a nice end to a great couple semesters.
Graduation is Friday night, and Mom, Chuck, Rachel, AND Sarah, and possibly Melissa are all supposed to be here Friday around noon to help us load up the truck. It will take no time at all with that many people! His parents are supposed to show up that morning sometime too. Then, Saturday, hopefully no later than noon, we will hit the road! We'll be making a stop in Smithfield to see his grandma since we'll be missing the family reunion this year, and grandma's 92 so who knows how many more family reunions she'll make it to.
As for a house update here's what's happening: we did put an offer in on the house in Fresno on Filbert. That's the one with 5 bedrooms, a big yard, and big pool. However, it was VERY popular and there are several offers in on it. We've heard nothing so far, and it's hard to say what will happen except that our chances really don't look that great. Oh well. We've been looking around like crazy and have a couple more houses we're going to go see when we get home that have some potential from what we can tell. There was one other that we saw while we were in CA that we were interested in, and I'm still thinking about it, but for now we have ceased all actions pertaining to house shopping until we get back other than looking at new listings and adding to our list of houses to look at when we return. I think it's best. I certainly don't want to jump the gun or rush into anything. If we're really supposed to get the Filbert house we'll get it on the offer we made. I REALLY like the house. I could live there for a long time. Lots of space inside and out makes it MUCH easier too.
Well, we'll be leaving this place and be back in HOT HOT California very soon! I'm so swimming the DAY we get back! Can't wait to see all the Cali people!
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Slumber Parties and Houses
Last night we had a slumber party for the Young Women and YW leaders in our ward. It's the first slumber party I've been to in quite awhile, I must say, and I had such a great time! We talked about so many things, played games, told stories, and generally laughed and had a great time. I am very sad to have to be leaving these girls soon, as I've gotten to love them all so much. This will be the hardest ward to leave out of all the wards we've been in and out of in the last 4 years. It's the oldest, kindest, more serving ward I've ever been in.
There were a couple girls that were tough at first and I didn't think cared for me too much, but it seems that part of this calling is taking the time to really get to know the girls individually, and not just the Mia Maids which is where my calling is specifically. Part of the reason that I have the feelings of people laughing at me is because of my self-consciousness in certain areas of my life, so when people are laughing around me, I usually assume they're laughing at me (which used to be true, unfortunately). Of course this is silly and even slightly conceited to think that people are talking about ME, but because of my past school years I have a hard time giving that notion up completely, but it's getting a little better with time.
So, an update on what's going on. We put an offer in on a house in Fresno. It's about 1900 sq. feet, has 5 bedrooms, on a large lot with a pool/spa (the spa doesn't really matter to me, but if it's there, hey, why not). However, the bank who owns the house (Indymac Bank) recently (as in yesterday) "imploded" (our realtor's word). Apparently in order to try to salvage their bank from the feds they laid off half of their employees. I'm not really sure what that means for us, other than that everything will probably slow down, which is really okay with me. I really want to see the house once more in person before we don't have a chance to withdraw our offer. So...wish us luck! I'm not sure what will happen, but I'll keep you posted. The one other thing that may be in our favor with this bank going half belly-up is that we no longer have to have a pre-approval through the bank who owns the house, but through any "known" lender. The reason this is probably beneficial for us is that we were initially pre-approved by Countrywide for $250,000, but when we went to get pre-approved from this bank to make an offer on this house the amount was only $205,000...big difference huh? So, maybe the larger number will work in our favor. We shall see what happens. In any case, we only have 10 days left! Woohoo!
There were a couple girls that were tough at first and I didn't think cared for me too much, but it seems that part of this calling is taking the time to really get to know the girls individually, and not just the Mia Maids which is where my calling is specifically. Part of the reason that I have the feelings of people laughing at me is because of my self-consciousness in certain areas of my life, so when people are laughing around me, I usually assume they're laughing at me (which used to be true, unfortunately). Of course this is silly and even slightly conceited to think that people are talking about ME, but because of my past school years I have a hard time giving that notion up completely, but it's getting a little better with time.
So, an update on what's going on. We put an offer in on a house in Fresno. It's about 1900 sq. feet, has 5 bedrooms, on a large lot with a pool/spa (the spa doesn't really matter to me, but if it's there, hey, why not). However, the bank who owns the house (Indymac Bank) recently (as in yesterday) "imploded" (our realtor's word). Apparently in order to try to salvage their bank from the feds they laid off half of their employees. I'm not really sure what that means for us, other than that everything will probably slow down, which is really okay with me. I really want to see the house once more in person before we don't have a chance to withdraw our offer. So...wish us luck! I'm not sure what will happen, but I'll keep you posted. The one other thing that may be in our favor with this bank going half belly-up is that we no longer have to have a pre-approval through the bank who owns the house, but through any "known" lender. The reason this is probably beneficial for us is that we were initially pre-approved by Countrywide for $250,000, but when we went to get pre-approved from this bank to make an offer on this house the amount was only $205,000...big difference huh? So, maybe the larger number will work in our favor. We shall see what happens. In any case, we only have 10 days left! Woohoo!
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Off to Californ-i-a!
Tonight, after Paul gets off work, we head off to California to go house hunting. Because the market is so crazy low right now, many of the houses we've been watching and been interested in have been sold, including the one we really like near FYI Airport in Fresno. Oh well! Nothing like an answer to a prayer like taking the decision away! Paul was really bummed, but I just figured it wasn't the house for us. I hope we can find it! I know there's a house out there for us. Problem is, we're looking in such a large area! We've really been searching from Fresno all the way down to Visalia. We've decided Tulare is just too far, and Sanger and Reedley are farther off the freeway than I'd like, so that leaves Visalia, Selma, and Fresno basically. We've found quite a few that we're interested in so hopefully when we go look at them in person one will feel like home.
Although I'm certainly not looking forward to the 30 hours + driving there and back, we both felt like this was the right thing to do, so I'm hoping that's a good sign and we'll be successful, and it's not just one of those obedience tests! lol. At the same time, I'm still a little excited to take the trip. I think it's mostly just to get out for a few days! Last year while we were here we drove around a lot, and went driving in Montana, and Wyoming, and took a few trips to UT but this year, with gas prices so ridiculously high, we've made an effort to be better about the money we spend, so I feel like I haven't been anywhere for a LONG time. The trip I took to CA in April seems like FOREVER ago! At least I got to fly for that one though. =)
I had a doctor appointment yesterday, and a full ultrasound. As hard as it was, I stayed firm with my decision to be surprised. It didn't help that the tech kept saying "Are you sure?" It was easy enough before it came up, but then after she said "oh, I just saw it now though" it was a lot more difficult to keep from asking questions!
After taking all the baby's measurements it appears that I am just one of the lucky ones to have small babies. They've already changed my due date forward 6 days. So, originally my due date was November 2nd. It's now November 8th, which would mean that when I went in yesterday I was 20 weeks and 3 days pregnant (after they changed it. Before I would've been 21 weeks and 2 days). She said the baby was measuring at 19 weeks and 3 days, which means that I'm kind of TWO weeks behind, and not just one. So, looks like I have slightly longer pregnancies, AND just small babies, and I'm okay with that.
So, tonight we start the journey of the beginning of the next phase of our lives. Wish us luck! And safety!
Although I'm certainly not looking forward to the 30 hours + driving there and back, we both felt like this was the right thing to do, so I'm hoping that's a good sign and we'll be successful, and it's not just one of those obedience tests! lol. At the same time, I'm still a little excited to take the trip. I think it's mostly just to get out for a few days! Last year while we were here we drove around a lot, and went driving in Montana, and Wyoming, and took a few trips to UT but this year, with gas prices so ridiculously high, we've made an effort to be better about the money we spend, so I feel like I haven't been anywhere for a LONG time. The trip I took to CA in April seems like FOREVER ago! At least I got to fly for that one though. =)
I had a doctor appointment yesterday, and a full ultrasound. As hard as it was, I stayed firm with my decision to be surprised. It didn't help that the tech kept saying "Are you sure?" It was easy enough before it came up, but then after she said "oh, I just saw it now though" it was a lot more difficult to keep from asking questions!
After taking all the baby's measurements it appears that I am just one of the lucky ones to have small babies. They've already changed my due date forward 6 days. So, originally my due date was November 2nd. It's now November 8th, which would mean that when I went in yesterday I was 20 weeks and 3 days pregnant (after they changed it. Before I would've been 21 weeks and 2 days). She said the baby was measuring at 19 weeks and 3 days, which means that I'm kind of TWO weeks behind, and not just one. So, looks like I have slightly longer pregnancies, AND just small babies, and I'm okay with that.
So, tonight we start the journey of the beginning of the next phase of our lives. Wish us luck! And safety!
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
I think there's light at the end of the tunnel...!
So, for about the last 3 weeks it's been cloudy and rainy. I think I'm going to go crazy! Just when it started to get really nice, and the sun came out and it was summery it goes back to this, but not just for a day or two, oh no! The weather here is never quick to change, it had to be yucky for 3 whole weeks! Ugh. Oh well, what can you do. It's actually supposed to get back into the 80's in a few days! Woohoo.
So. graduation is coming up. It's only 5 weeks from this coming Friday. Wow, huh? It seems like it's all gone super fast, and I thought it would, but wow. He's supposed to start at Matt on July 28th. We're almost there! We've been getting into moving mode mentally and trying to figure out what we're going to do when we get back to CA. Will we rent an apartment so that we don't feel rushed into buying a house, or will we squat? Well, there's a house we really like in Fresno, and the price is right! We sent Arlin over to look at it today, and he said it looks really well kept up from the outside. We sent up an appointment for him with the realtor and he's going to do a walk through on Thursday. I'm excited to see what he has to say. We've asked him to take some pictures, and notes about what looks good, and what kind of work it looks like it woul need. He said the neighborhood is nice, and pretty quiet, and looks like people really take care of their yards. We're pretty excited about this house. It's over near the Fresno Airport. Maybe this is the house for us! Who knows? We have some major life choices to make coming up here pretty soon, and it's going to take some serious thought and prayer. Wish us luck! It'd be so awesome if we could get into a house before the next baby comes. The possibilities are exciting. It feels good to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
So. graduation is coming up. It's only 5 weeks from this coming Friday. Wow, huh? It seems like it's all gone super fast, and I thought it would, but wow. He's supposed to start at Matt on July 28th. We're almost there! We've been getting into moving mode mentally and trying to figure out what we're going to do when we get back to CA. Will we rent an apartment so that we don't feel rushed into buying a house, or will we squat? Well, there's a house we really like in Fresno, and the price is right! We sent Arlin over to look at it today, and he said it looks really well kept up from the outside. We sent up an appointment for him with the realtor and he's going to do a walk through on Thursday. I'm excited to see what he has to say. We've asked him to take some pictures, and notes about what looks good, and what kind of work it looks like it woul need. He said the neighborhood is nice, and pretty quiet, and looks like people really take care of their yards. We're pretty excited about this house. It's over near the Fresno Airport. Maybe this is the house for us! Who knows? We have some major life choices to make coming up here pretty soon, and it's going to take some serious thought and prayer. Wish us luck! It'd be so awesome if we could get into a house before the next baby comes. The possibilities are exciting. It feels good to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
You wouldn't believe this!
Okay, so here's the deal. I found this book for potty training online from www.thepottytrainer.com. It was just a downloadable book by this chick who's potty trained over 300 kids, literally (she works in a day care), including her own. So, for $7 I downloaded it. All the testimonials on the site were just fabulous, so I figured I'd try it for that price. Here's what's happened since.
Yesterday was day one. In the morning I took off the diaper and said "okay, no more diapers. You're a big boy now." I set timers for every 20 or so minutes and put him on the toilet. He didn't pee the first couple of times. The first time he DID pee, it was not in the toilet, but he freaked out immediately, knowing that's not what he was supposed to do, and stopped the stream...impressive huh? So, I moved him to the toilet and he finished his pee. Anyway, to make a long story short, basically the whole morning went that way. It was awful. Just when I thought I would go seriously crazy, around 4:00 he emptied his bladder for the first time in the toilet. A REAL pee. It was awesome, and he was so happy! Between 4:00 pm and 8:00 pm, he did that 3 times!
Day two: He woke up this morning and I took his diaper off, and put his underwear on him. He had a couple accidents early on, but he always stopped mis-stream when he realized what he was doing, and he'd finish on the toilet. We put him down for a nap in a diaper, but when he woke up 2 hours later it was completely dry, and I put him on the toilet immediately and he emptied his bladder. Since about 10:00 he hasn't had one single accident! That includes a trip we took to Rexburg to go to Wal-Mart! He's so pleased with himself every time. He shouts "I did it!" with a big smile. (Paul heard him from outside the women's bathroom at Wal-Mart, lol). It's now after 5:00 on Day 2, and he hasn't had an accident since early this morning. It's AMAZING! I think he's going to be the easiest child to potty train ever! How did I get so lucky?
Yesterday was day one. In the morning I took off the diaper and said "okay, no more diapers. You're a big boy now." I set timers for every 20 or so minutes and put him on the toilet. He didn't pee the first couple of times. The first time he DID pee, it was not in the toilet, but he freaked out immediately, knowing that's not what he was supposed to do, and stopped the stream...impressive huh? So, I moved him to the toilet and he finished his pee. Anyway, to make a long story short, basically the whole morning went that way. It was awful. Just when I thought I would go seriously crazy, around 4:00 he emptied his bladder for the first time in the toilet. A REAL pee. It was awesome, and he was so happy! Between 4:00 pm and 8:00 pm, he did that 3 times!
Day two: He woke up this morning and I took his diaper off, and put his underwear on him. He had a couple accidents early on, but he always stopped mis-stream when he realized what he was doing, and he'd finish on the toilet. We put him down for a nap in a diaper, but when he woke up 2 hours later it was completely dry, and I put him on the toilet immediately and he emptied his bladder. Since about 10:00 he hasn't had one single accident! That includes a trip we took to Rexburg to go to Wal-Mart! He's so pleased with himself every time. He shouts "I did it!" with a big smile. (Paul heard him from outside the women's bathroom at Wal-Mart, lol). It's now after 5:00 on Day 2, and he hasn't had an accident since early this morning. It's AMAZING! I think he's going to be the easiest child to potty train ever! How did I get so lucky?
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