This Week at Our House # 41

The week is almost over and I have not even updated about last week. Last week, I had my 40th birthday. I also had a wonderful girl's night out with some of my very best friends. The rest of the week I worked with John to make a decision on what to do. Finally on Saturday, John came to the conclusion that we needed to just go ahead and mover to Raleigh, N.C. I have felt that since General Conference and was happy that we came to the same decision. So that is what we are doing. The new owners are in our house now, we have an ABF truck packed and they will be moving our stuff out. We are at John's brother's house in Orem, Ut and are about to head out on this next adventure of our lives.

We are moving on faith, and moving where we feel like John will have the best opportunity to get a full time job in a place that will be good for our family. John has not had long term work since 2013. In the past, we have had little trials and some tough times that lasted a few months. Never have we had to endure so many difficulties over such a long period of time. I used to think that if you kept the commandments, used wisdom in your finances and education, worked hard, served others, and did your Church callings and home and visiting teaching that you would avoid many of the troubles in life. I feel quite differently now. I still know all of those are important ingredients, but life is just life. We cannot make it perfect through our actions anymore than we can make it to heaven through our works.

So, the next adventure of our life begins now, and I will update for this week in a few more days.

This Week at Our House # 40

1. John turned 44 on Wednesday. He had an interview in Salt Lake on Friday that he thought went really well, though we have not heard back from them as of Monday. Mostly, I am tired of waiting for another job rejection to decide where we are going and what we are doing.
2. I am having a hard time keeping my chin up. There is so much to be done and hardly any time left. 
3. Ruth is the only high school kid that has talked to her teachers about getting all of her tests and projects in a week before the end of term. I think in the end, we will find that she will be the most prepared.
4. Kate is anxious about moving. She wants to be dating and doing all of the fun things her friends are doing. 
5. Johnny hopes we move and homeschool him because he still doesn't like high school.
6. Adam is feeling the same as Johnny. But I actually think I need to homeschool him because he really needs some extra time reading.
7. Rachel finished her book report early at my request but was too embarrassed to be the first to turn it in. I was worried that she would lose it, so I emailed her teacher and asked her to tell Rachel to turn it in. She got back to me and told me to tell Rachel that if she turned it in early, she would get extra credit.That was exactly what Rachel needed yo hear.
8. Anya was sick most of the week and missed 3 days of school, but she still managed to read an entire book and get her book report finished and ready to turn in on time.
9. Joseph was sick on Thursday and Friday and missed school, but was excited to stay home.
10. Joshua had a fever for a couple of days and by the time that was gone, he had a bad cough. He is still pretty unwell. 
11. We went to our cousin Ada's baptism on Saturday and during her birthday party, Arwen puked, She currently has a bad cough and is now informing that she is just coughing, not puking.
12. Susan stayed healthy. She has not had a fever or a cough. I am glad about that. Sick babies can be a lot of extra work.

This Week's Pictures

Things I'm Nervous About Today

1. We have to move in 10 days.
2. My drivers licence expires on Wednesday and I do not have a forwarding address. I can't use this address because it takes the state 6 weeks to mail your licence to you.
3. I think I am going to have to take our cats to a shelter. It will devastate our children. I feel devastated at the idea.
4. John still does not have another job, but he keeps having prospects which is actually postponing us from making any final decisions about moving anywhere including to anyplace here. 
5. Our car needs some repairs but we only have one car and car repair places like to keep it for a week to do a one day repair job. I am not sure how we are going to work this out.
6. Hotels are really expensive. Homeless shelters are terrifying.
7. I am having a really hard time seeing into a future where things come together in time for us.

This Week at Our House #39

1. I am so glad that we had General Conference. We are now 16 days away from moving day. John is currently giving a math colloquium at BYU and has a job interview for a local company. The one job we thought was in SLC was actually either in Beijing or Chicago. We both feel like Atlanta is not the right place for our family and have crossed it off the list. Right now we are checking into this new local opportunity with the basic plan to move to Raleigh, NC if that does not come together before Oct 22nd. 
2. I have begun hunting for rental houses. There's a pretty good deal on a home near Raleigh that is very much like our current house, expect about 400sq ft bigger. I will probably start the application on that, as well as go and see a couple of houses in Bountiful. I hope things will all be together and known by next week.
3. Ruth has been trying to get ahead of her schooling. She's working a lot still, and spending a little more time with friends.
4. Kate was very disappointed, because she was one of only 9 junior and seniors asked to be a part of an academic competition in the state. She said no since we are likely moving. She had an odd experience with her financial lit teacher. The teacher asked the kids what they wanted to do when they grew up and Kate said that she wanted to go to BYU, get married, have kids and stay home.Her teacher freaked and said that could not be her plan a. Then when Kate was stubborn her teacher told her that she would not get married, and that she would not get into BYU. Kate felt pretty good when she was chosen as one of the top 9 juniors and seniors in the school because there's the proof that her teacher is wrong.
5. Johnny has friends now.But he mostly spends his lunch period doing homework. Because of that, Johnny rarely has any homework.
6. I had parent teacher conference last week. Adam has a really great teacher once again. She gave me some great ideas of how to get Adam reading more. And as usual, his grades and his behavior are wonderful. I think he'll do fine in life even if he makes me sad and never loves reading.
7. Rachel's teacher said she is life of the classroom and was really sad to find out we will likely move out of state.
8. Anya's teacher said that Anya is really good at math and well ahead in reading. I haven't verified it, but I think Anya and Rachel are on the same level for reading.
9. Joseph's teacher said that Joseph is really good at reading. He's tested way above average in everything. At the end of the day, Joseph always brings a book up to the teacher and reads to her or tells her about something he is interested in. And he is still too wiggly and touchy. 
10. Josh has found a new love in life. It's computer games. If I let him on the computer at all, I know it will be a huge battle to get him off. I should not have been surprised, he has always found one thing that he really loves and does that all day long. It started with cars when he was one.
11. Nothing especially note worthy happened with Arwen last week. She changes her clothes about 5 times a day, so she is always running out of clean clothes and underwear.
12. Suzy's just funny and oh so cute. I love the one year old stage. I think it is the cutest.

Suzy Tales

Little Suze came with quite the personality, and it's really starting to come out. I have 3 little tales of Suzy to tell.

First, Suzy is a bit of a screamer and purposely throws temper tantrums. I say purposely, because she doesn't just fall down screaming immediately when something bothers her. Instead, Suzy carefully lies down on the floor and then when she is comfortable and sure she will not be hurt, she begins to scream and thrash about.

Second, Suzy loves to sing. When ever anyone sings, Suzy hums along. She sings to songs at Church and in movies, and she sings along with Rachel all of the time. She sings herself to sleep at night. Occasionally when she is upset, I will turn on youtube videos for her to sing along too. Her favorites are "Beaker's Ode to Joy" and the primary song, "Gethsemane".

Third, Suzy LOVES shoes. Whenever we passed the shoe department in a store she would get really excited. I had not bought her any shoes yet, because I knew we had some packed somewhere. Last week, Anya's school shoes broke and I needed to find her something immediately before school. In that process, I found two cute pairs of shoes that would fit Suzy. Kate had a late start that morning and was home. So she put the shoes on Suze. Suzy was hyperventilating with excitement as the shoes were being put on her feet. Kate stood her up once the shoes were on. Suzy immediately looked down, touched the shoes and said, "hi".

This Week at Our House # 38

I wrote this up on Sunday. Finished it up on Monday, but then Blogger crashed and lost all of my changes and pictures. Now that it is Friday, I think I will just push publish.

1. John had a phone interview for a job in Atlanta, Ga on Thursday and he has a phone interview for a job in Salt Lake tomorrow. I'm hoping and praying that one of these will come through before we have to move in 25 more days. If not, then we have to decide whether to stay in Ut or to move across country. The hardest part for me is not knowing and not being able to plan.
2. The highlight of my week was taking Ruth, Kate, and Rachel to the Womens Session of General Conference in the Conference Center. I love how we stand when President Monson comes into the room. I quite enjoyed showing Rachel the first presidency. The talks were good, but I think my answers will come in the General Sessions of Conference next weekend. I am thoroughly looking forward to it. I can always tell when the end of the 6 months is near and I just feel like I need to hear from the Prophet and apostles. 
3. Ruth's still juggling work and school. She's having a little friend trouble so the idea of moving away isn't so horrifying to her right now. But I think she would still like to stick around too. I think she feels the same way I do where the not knowing is the hardest part because she would like to make plans. She would like to get a date and make plans for the Halloween dance.
4. Kate wants to stay. she absolutely does not want to move. She has friends here. She is comfortable here and she doesn't want to have to deal with making friends all over again.
5. Johnny had his 14th birthday on Monday. He went to school half day and took his chemistry test and then came home and spent the day playing games with John. Between the gift we bought him and the gift my mom bought him, he got just what he wanted for his birthday. I don't think Johnny cares if we move away or not. But he is finally making friends at Bountiful High. Johnny does have many opportunities to stand up for what is right and to stand up for himself. He is younger, he is smart, and he is good, so I think the bullies come out of the woodwork to bother him.
6. I have been seriously tussling with Adam over reading. He told me that when he is 18, he will not have to read anymore and that as soon as he turns 18 he is getting a job and moving out. Hahaha. We did have the conversation about the kinds of jobs nonreaders get and how he will never be able to move out with those jobs. Despite his distaste for reading, he's pretty smart and tends to get all A's. Hopefully with enough time forced, he will come to love reading. It took Kate until 7th grade, but she always loved me reading to her. Sigh.
7. Rachel does not want to move because she has lots and lots of friends and is in the play and loves that and she loves her school and her teachers and everything.
8. Anya has finally made some friends, Mia and Molly and she plays with them at recess. 
9. Joseph says that he wants to move. Of course, he has no idea what that really means. We moved to this house when he was 8 months old``