Clarification

I wanted to comment about a recent blog post here. If you scroll through the comments, you'll see me on them. I felt like I should clarify my stance on this issue to avoid any hurt feelings for my friends. It's regarding the music feature of blogger.

I'm a very audio person. I cannot read, write, pay bills or do anything else that requires thought while there is music playing in the background. The only time I can listen to music is when I'm doing mindless things like the dishes. When Nathan is home, he usually has music playing. I like it for awhile, but then it starts to drive me crazy. I get irritable.

So, when it comes to blogs, I obviously can't read them and listen to music at the same time. Several of my friends (Megan, Tif-do, Selbys, among others) have music on their blogs. However, I've never felt it was my place to say that I didn't like this feature. So, Tif-do, if you want music on your blog, put it on there. It's your blog and no one else's. And, if I'm too retarded to read it while the music is playing, I'll keep my laptop muted.

Just a little note to Lisa about the music on hers. Once I pulled up the page without knowing that my laptop wasn't muted. The song that started playing was a Nickleback song that Nathan has on his iPod. It made me laugh. Brian and Nathan haven't seen each other in ten years, but they still have the same taste in music. :)

#1 Complaint

The parking lots are smaller here. I'm not joking. I feel like a giant driving my Expedition. People zip all over in these economical little cars, and I'm left to wonder, "Where are all the Mormons in their Suburbans and 15 passenger vans?"

Seriously, I can hardly park ANYWHERE! I told this to my sister in Wyoming, and she replied emphatically, "Yes, they are!" She sympathizes with me. When she ventures down here in her full-sized van, she has trouble parking, too. We're used to home on the range, where the deer and the antelope play in the freeway, and where buying an economy vehicle means you get the F150 instead of the F350, but both have four wheel drive, and I wouldn't recommend either for the parking lots around here.

Photo Tag

Tif-do tagged me for this post. The instructions are to go to your photos, select the sixth folder and the sixth photo in the folder, then tell the story behind the photo. Then tag six of your friends.

This picture was taken in March of 2005. We had just moved to Big Timber, MT the week before. We heard about Big Timber Falls and wanted to go see it, but when we got up to the mountains, there was still too much snow to reach the falls. We stopped instead at the small camping area off the same road. The river was very low, and we were able to walk around on the rocks. Some of the snow had melted off. This is Mazie sitting on the rocks at the side of the little river. She had just turned one. It's hard to believe she was so small when we moved there.

Okay, I tag Tharker, Amy J., Megan, Earlgirl, Valine, and Kelly.

Someone's Else's Bucket List

So, this list appeared on Facebook. You were supposed to copy it, mark with an X the things you'd done and then tag your friends. A few things occurred to me as I read this list filled out by someone else:
1. I've led a pretty uneventful life.
2. I HAVE done a few meaningful things that aren't included.
3. I'd rather put this on my blog than on Facebook. (At first Facebook was kind of fun, but now it's starting to annoy me.)

Things I've have done during my lifetime:
(x) Gone on a blind date
(x) Donated Blood
(x) Skipped school
( ) Watched someone die
(x) Been to Canada
( ) Been to Mexico
( ) Been to Florida
(x) Been to Hawaii
(x) Been on a plane
(x) Been on a helicopter
(x) Been lost
( ) Gone to Washington, DC
( ) Hugged a homeless person
(x) Swam in the ocean
( ) Swam with Stingrays
( ) Been sailing in the ocean (I have been jet skiing in the ocean, though.)
(x) Cried yourself to sleep
(x) Played cops and robbers
(x) Recently colored with crayons
( ) Ran a marathon
( ) Sang Karaoke
( ) Volunteered at a soup kitchen
(x) Paid for a meal with coins only
( ) Been to the top of the St. Louis Arch
( ) Seen the Northern Lights
( ) Been Parasailing
(x) Been on TV
(x) Done something you told yourself you wouldn't
(x) Made prank phone calls (pardon me, but your cows are in my yard...)
( ) Been down Bourbon Street in New Orleans
(x) Laughed until some kind of beverage came out of your nose
( ) Fed an elephant
(x) Caught a snowflake on your tongue
(x) Fired a gun
( ) Been to the Opera
(x) Written a letter to Santa Claus
( )Serenaded someone
( ) Seen a U.S.President in person
(x) Been kissed under the mistletoe
(x) Watched the sunrise with someone
( ) Driven a race car
( ) Been to a National Museum
(x) Been to a Wax Museum
( ) Eaten caviar
(x) Blown bubbles
(x) Gone ice-skating
(x) Gone to the movies
( ) Been deep sea fishing
( ) Driven across the United States
( ) Been in a hot air balloon
( ) Been sky diving
(x ) Gone snowmobiling
( ) Lived in more than one country
(x) Lay down outside at night and admired the stars while listening to the crickets
(x) Seen a falling star and made a wish
(x) Enjoyed the beauty of Old Faithful Geyser (I marked this one, even though I haven't seen Old Faithful. I've been through Yellowstone and saw many geysers, just not that one in particular.)
( ) Seen the Grand Canyon
( ) Seen the Statue of Liberty (Does the one in Las Vegas count? No?)
(x) Gone to the top of Seattle Space Needle
() Been on a cruise
(x) Traveled by train
(x) Traveled by motorcycle
(x) Been horse back riding
( ) Ridden on a San Francisco cable car
(x) Been to Disneyland OR Disney World
(x) Truly believe in the power of prayer (Okay, now is not the best time to ask me about this one, but fundamentally, I know it's true.)
( ) Been in a rain forest
( ) Seen whales in the ocean
( ) Been to Niagara Falls
( x) Ridden on an elephant
( ) Swam with dolphins
( ) Been to the Olympics
( ) Walked on the Great Wall of China
( ) Saw and heard a glacier calf (I don't even know what that is.)
( ) Been spinnaker flying (...that either...)
(x) Been water-skiing
(x ) Been snow-skiing
( ) Been to Westminster Abbey
( ) Been to the Louvre
( ) Swam in the Mediterranean
( ) Been to a Major League Baseball game (I'm anti-professional sports, so a big NO on this one.)
( ) Been to a National Football League game
( ) Swam with sharks
(x ) Been White Water Rafting (Disney Land does not count)
(x) Written a book or screen play

Here are some things I have done that are not on the list:
(X) Seen a prophet of god in person
(X) Been baptized into the only true and living church on the earth
(X) Been inside a holy temple
(X) Given birth to four children
(X) Lived in four states
(X) Driven almost 2000 miles with four cranky kids
(X) Stayed in love with the same man for fifteen years
(X) Moved 15 times (yes, FIFTEEN!)
(X) Read the entire Book of Mormon (I don't know how many times.)
(X) Stayed up all night with a crying baby (Ethan)
(X) Drove myself crazy trying to think of unique things I've done.

So, there you have it. My life's accomplishments. I supposed to most people they are pretty slim. Even to me, there are things missing that I'd hoped for, but at least the essential things are there.

Blizzard, anyone?

Anyone else want to join me in the blizzard? No? We turned our noses up at the Weather Channel winter storm warning, and felt validated Saturday morning when it had only snowed a skiff. But then it started to snow as soon as it was light, and it snowed and snowed and snowed. By evening we had six inches. We dug out the car once again so we could go to church on Sunday. This is the fourth time I've dug my car out of the snow. It snows, then melts, then snows some more. By Monday morning all the roads were clear. The sidewalks were clear. The grass still had a lot of snow, but it was melting. Last night we noticed another winter storm warning and woke this morning to a dusting of snow. Since then it's snowed about four inches. I can see the school across the street, but not the mountain behind it. While the snow is kind of a pain (since it's February and not December), I don't mind it too much, because at least the wind isn't blowing. Also, I know all this snow will be good for the valley come summer. Let's just hope it's not an unusually warm spring, or we'll be dodging flood waters!

Rockin' New Library

We just returned from story time at the county library. I think I'm in love. They have TWO story time hours, and TWO different story areas-- one for older kids and one for younger kids. I walked around the kids section of the library and saw so many books that Dylan would love. He'll actually have some selection at his reading level now. And, at the front door they had suggested reading lists for each grade in school. I looked them over and found several titles I didn't know already, which made me very happy.

Mazie asked on the way home if we would go there everyday. I told her no, it was just once a week. But still-- once a week with fun activities for her. Books, music, interaction with other kids. I am thrilled to say the least.

Yes, I will definitely be adding the library to our weekly calendar!

Parental Amnesia

I suppose you could call it selective memory. I'm just surprised that in three and a half short years since I last had a toddler, I've forgotten so much.

Here are some of the things I failed to remember:

All of my kitchen counters would be cluttered with things I took out of her hands.

The top of the desk, the entertainment center and the top of the file cabinet would be cluttered with things I thought she couldn't reach on the counters and I took out of her hands again.

Boxes of Kleenex, packages of wipes and rolls of toilet paper would not last near as long as they should.

No one's toothbrush would be safe anymore.

And neither would the camera...

I'd forgotten that she would only eat the cream out of Oreos but still manage to get chocolate smeared on every piece of clothing she's wearing.

All my favorite toddler clothes would be stained on the first wearing, and that she'd just wear cute, stained clothes thereafter.

Every pencil in the house would look like this...Some of those pencils haven't even been sharpened yet.

I would schedule my life around nap time.

No matter what I'm eating, she'll say, "Me! Me!" until I give her a bite.

Even if I'm eating something that she hates, she's say, "Me! Me!" until I give her a bite. Then she'll spit it all over the floor.

The cordless mouse would be constantly missing.

The older kids' underwear would be the favorite dress-up clothing.

If left alone for even one minute with the laptop, she would pull six keys off the keyboard.

The sound of the other kids' names coming from her little mouth would be so darn cute!

I would spend a good part of the day bending over and picking things up off the floor.

I'd be exhausted every night by the time she fell asleep.

She would mimic the kids jumping, but never get off the ground.

And of course, like all the others, she'd love Daddy best!

Six days?

I saw myself on Earlgirl's bloglist, and thought to myself, "Really, has it been six days since I posted?" I guess so. I'll post for real today. Sorry, I've just had a hard time coming up with lots of nice things to say.

Blessed

Today I'm counting my blessings. Before you'll understand why, I have to give you a little history-- and a scripture.

Ether 12:6 "... Wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith."

After Nathan was laid off, his boss, Greg, called and said that they would really like to have Nate back. A day or two after the lay-off two other guys quit. They'd had enough of the empty promises and a company that was clearly headed into trouble. They found better jobs, and they left. This was a source of great frustration for us because we didn't have another job waiting. And, if they'd had enough money to fund those two positions, then why couldn't they hire Nate back when the other guys quit?

Greg called again the week Nathan got his offer from Westinghouse. Nathan told him that he had to give Westinghouse an answer by Monday. On Monday we left to find a place to live. I fully expected that the minute we committed to the job, Greg would call. Well, he didn't. Nathan accepted the job, we found a place to live, and Nate took his pre-employment physical. Then we headed home to Montana. This was the weekend I was a complete basket case, but every time I prayed about whether or not we should be here, I received peace. It was like the Lord kept trying to tell me it would be all right, but I was just so scared to leave my comfortable life.

While we were sitting in the parking lot outside the doctor's office, another company called and asked Nate if he was interested in an interview. It was a really good company in a town where we used to live, but it was in a mine, and we'd already decided that we wanted him out of the mining industry if we could. Plus, Green River, WY is even colder than our home in Montana, and while I love my friends there, I don't think I could live there permanently. The job he accepted still seemed like the right job.

After we got home to Montana, Greg called again. Nathan told him he'd already accepted the job and that we'd signed a lease on a house. Nate told him that we'd be moving the following Monday. Greg again said they didn't know if the company had the money that they needed, but as soon as they did he wanted to give Nate his job back.

It was so hard. On the one hand, we really wanted to say in our home and Nathan's old job paid better. On the other hand, they'd laid him off without any sort of compensation. They didn't take care of Nate when it really mattered. Plus, we'd already committed to this move, and it felt more and more like the right thing to do.

On Monday Nathan's parents and youngest brother drove out from Washington. They helped us pack the entire house into the U-Haul. Then they were going to drive down to Rexburg that night so my brother-in-law could finish a test for one of his classes. Right before they left, Nathan's cell phone rang. It was Greg. He said the company had gotten enough money to operate for five months and Nathan could have his job back. He could start Friday.

I simply cannot tell you how angry I was. Nathan and I had already made up our minds that we weren't going back, but his mom was like, "We can unpack. You could stay in your house!" It was tempting, but we knew it was only five months and we'd be back in this same situation and we might have missed out on a great opportunity with a new STABLE company. Nathan said he'd sleep on it, but we told his parents we were still going. They took our boys and headed south to Idaho. That night as I said my prayers, I said, "I still think this move is the right thing to do," and again I felt peace.

Here we are a week later. Nathan is four days into his job, and so far, he doesn't love it, but he's still in orientation. He's wondered several times, "Did we do the right thing?" Our house didn't miraculously sell in the week we were gone.

Last night one of the guys he used to work with called. The money they said they had fell through, and the acting CEO who gave Greg the go-ahead to offer Nathan his job would have known it a week ago. In fact, if the company doesn't get something in place by Friday, it will close it's doors.

And so, today I know that we received a witness after the trial of our faith. We stayed true to the answer that we got, and we were led to a new job, a new, more-challenging school for our kids, a new community, a new ward. It was one of the hardest moves we've ever had to make, but now I know we did the right thing. It's so difficult to be led into the unknown, but sometimes it ends up being the best place for us. I still wonder how we're going to make it financially, but I know that the Lord will bless us for our obedience. We'll be fine-- somehow.

What I Had Planned

I had planned to do a really nice farewell post for our home in Montana. I thought of the playground we helped build and that has pickets with my kids' names on them. I thought of the pool where we spent so much of our summers, the library newly remodeled that my kids love to visit. There was the burger joint, Crazy Woman Trading Company, and of course, our house. I wanted to go around town and take pictures of the places that we love, post them with sweet thoughts.

BUT, it was seven degrees and the wind was blowing forty miles an hour. There was no way I was going to step outside to take a single picture. The morning we left Nathan had to go outside to tie down the four-wheelers on the trailer. The wind had picked up even more. They were expecting gusts of seventy miles an hour in Livingston. He came back inside (very irritated) and said that maybe it was a sign we should just stay. I laughed. Maybe it was a sign we should get the heck out of Montana and never look back.

Coming through Livingston, I signaled Nathan to take the cut-off through town. Crazy man that he is, he didn't. He took the freeway over the mountain. I followed in the Expedition pulling the ATV trailer. He was in a 26 foot U-haul pulling our car. It blew so hard at the top of the hill that I could see the side of the truck, and I was in the same lane. While the truck was pulling, the wind blew his back tires toward the shoulder of the road. He had both girls in the truck with him. When we got to the bottom of the hill, I realized I'd been holding my breath. My heart was pounding. It was so scary.

Seven hours later when we reached our new home, the sun was shining. It was twenty-three degrees with NO WIND. We haven't felt even a small breeze since we've been here. It snowed all day while we unloaded the U-Haul. Nathan and I were wearing hooded sweatshirts and gloves. Yesterday it was thirty-seven degrees. It feels like SPRING! Every time we've talked to someone from our old town, we ask, "Is the wind still blowing?" The answer is always yes.

Ethan and Mazie are already terrorizing the neighborhood on their bikes. We attended our ward on Sunday. It is HUGE!!! Relief Society alone had more people than the sacrament meeting in the branch. I expected to come in quietly, sit on the back row and mind my own business. I expected that they'd ask Nathan and I to introduce ourselves in Gospel Doctrine class. Everyone would nod and say hello, then we'd be ignored. We walked in the door fifteen minutes early and sacrament meeting had already started. This couldn't be right, I thought. Mormons don't arrive or start anything EARLY. So, we wandered around the building and found our ward. It has Relief Society/Priesthood meetings first. One of the sisters in the Relief Society presidency offered to show us around. Pretty soon a nice gentleman came around the corner and said, "You must be ...." They'd already received our records. People knew our names. A sister came and sat by me. Her daughter is in Ethan's class.

Wow, I thought. They really care that we're here. Also, I'd forgotten how small the boundaries are around here. Pretty much everyone I met lives on my street or one of the streets on either side. I've now met half the neighborhood. Even the school secretary is in our ward. She walked up to me and said, "How are you, Michelle?" It was nice to see one familiar face. Our ward has an assigned temple night every month. The Relief Society sisters have a craft group and an exercise group. They also have a group that goes every Tuesday morning to the temple.

Yesterday Dylan was invited over to a new friend's house. This new friend is in his class and in the ward. They live two houses down.

Our house faces east. This is the view from our living room window. (Okay, it's actually from the front step because the window is grossly dirty!) Its sort of ironic. We left the small town in the mountains and now we live closer to the mountains. Yes, I think we'll be fine here. I just hope Nathan likes his job and that someone buys our house soon.