Sunday Post #1

I just love Sundays. As I was sitting in church today, I had the feeling that I need to start doing a better job of documenting life again, as I have done in the past. There is just so much going on that it makes it hard to sit down and write and upload pictures often. But, I feel it is important, so I am making a goal to write every Sunday! Let's see how it goes. I really don't care who reads this either, it's mostly for my own purposes. But, read on if you dare; today's post is likely a doozy, just like our week!

First, an adoption update. Here is what I posted on our Facebook group page on the 4th:

Our dossier cleared customs and arrived in Quito yesterday. The next step is the assignment of M to our family! The next committee meeting is in 2 weeks, so that's the soonest it could happen, but I'm not holding my breath for that. With Flor, we traveled about 6 weeks after we were assigned. I am scared either way...if we are assigned soon, are we ready? If we aren't assigned, will there be issues with our dossier that could delay things a lot?? Like I said, I have anxiety either way...

We're mailing a check today for the translation fees. Ecuador is awesome in that I think they make up new fees just to get more money out of us. So that's another $400. Our cars keep sucking money out of us, too. Every month it's something new. This is why I think I feel anxiety about things going fast. I want to make sure we have everything covered and with so much money flying out, it worries me. I tell you all this to be honest with the feelings and ups and downs of this process, not to make you feel bad for us or like you need to send us money. We said in the beginning that we would not do fundraising again like we did with Flor and we have been very blessed to be able to handle the costs as they come. My business has been a big blessing. We are very busy and all the money I make there goes directly into our adoption fund (and toward car repairs :-)) The costs this time have been much higher, but I am grateful that we've been so blessed.

We're praying for Heavenly Father's divine timing in this all!

 I feel like we are definitely being pushed against right now. Luckily, we seem to be keeping our heads above water and our attitudes aren't terrible yet. So, that's something! The more oppression I feel, the more I have to remind myself that what we are doing is right. 

I think there are a few things working against us right now: 

1) Money. It's a constant worry when you feel like something is always going wrong and pulling money away faster than we can replenish it. Life isn't always about money and honestly money is not that important to me, but when you feel like you are supposed to be doing something specific with that money and it gets pulled away, that's hard. This week was trying in that way, as you'll see if you read on. That said, we have been so, so blessed and have been able to handle all costs as they come. 

2) Time. The other big thing right now is time. We are so busy. There have been some changes in our lives that I can't really go into, but we are being pulled a million different directions. It is hard to keep everything going the way it should and keep our family life at a priority when we have so much to do. Nothing is a bad thing and there isn't really anything we can cut out right now, but we are clinging to the time we have together as a family and making the most of it. I think because I am so busy, it is a blessing and a curse in regards to our adoption plans. The positive is that because I am so busy, I have so little time to worry or stress over the process and what I can't control. The negative is that again, because we are so stretched thin, we are probably not doing enough to prepare ourselves right now to be bringing a ten year old into our home. I think Satan uses this against me often, whispering to me that we won't be a good enough family and that we won't be prepared, so this whole thing is going to be a big mess when we get home. I have to remember our initial promptings and everything we have felt since and truly trust that the Lord will make up for our shortcomings. I also have to remember that the efforts we are exerting in working so hard are for her benefit right now (and to live of course). I have felt some promptings in this regard in that because we are (mostly) living our lives the way we should the Lord will bless us with our transition with M and help her feel loved and a part of our family. I hope that's true. 

Ok, so on to this crazy week. See, all that and I haven't even really started yet. Oh boy. Last Sunday was Jace's birthday and we had a lovely time with that. I will do a separate post about that (no guarantees as to when, though...)

Monday I think was fairly normal. I work Mondays and Tuesdays at the hospital and so we all get home in the evening and have dinner, FHE, bedtime routine, and bed. 

Tuesday was when the fun began. We had a huge storm here...the biggest of the winter and it's March! It was white out conditions (then back to Spring two days later- go figure! Utah weather!). I take the kids to my sweet neighbor while I work. She lives up a small hill. When I got there, the roads were not plowed and I almost didn't make it up. We were spinning the tires like crazy and I was just praying we would make it, because the alternative was sliding back down onto the busy road. Yeah, no thanks. We finally did make it and I breathed a huge sigh of relief. I wasn't thinking about the going back down part, and boy was that a mistake! On the way back down, I had zero brake control. I just slid completely down the hill. I was praying like mad that something would be able to stop me at the bottom before too much damage was done and also that there would be no traffic (remember, I was headed towards a busy road!). Both prayers were answered. There was no traffic, so I slid right across the through street and then hit the curb across the street, bounced up on it, and landed in a neighbor's yard, right between their mailbox and a fence. Luckily, I hit nothing. This experience convinced me that I can't live on a hill! 

Since I have a reputation for leaving the scene of wrecks (okay, that just happened once. The dumpster story that I will never live down!). I decided that all was fine and backed up and drove on. All was fine until I was about 10 minutes away from work. I was on highway 89 leading into Ogden and all the sudden traffic completely stopped. I had nowhere to go but to sit there. There was a concrete barrier blocking us from the other side of the road and then just stand still traffic for as far as I could see. I called my boss to let her know I'd probably be a little late. Well, a little late turned into TWO HOURS late as I sat there, unable to move for that long. Occasionally, we'd inch along a little, but with no real movement. At one point my boss called back to tell me that she saw that Highway 89 was closed and she told me just to turn around and go home. Well, I couldn't do that and I was much closer to the hospital than to home, so I just sat and waited it out. Finally, about a mile later, we began to move again and I was able to get to work. While sitting there, though, I noticed that the temperature gauge in the car was reading -10, then a few seconds later -25, then a few seconds later it finally settled on -40. I thought that there was no way it was that cold! Sure enough, days later, it still says -40. So this was my first clue that I may have done some damage to the car. Later, after work, I was meeting some clients to pick up their home study and when I got out to meet them, I saw that I had lost the hubcap to the car. Just lovely. I decided then that I better take the car in the next morning.

This is me stuck in traffic thinking "wow, it really is cold!" then shortly after thinking "It can't be that cold..." 

So Wednesday morning, Hallie, Jace and I spent the morning at Les Schwab where I learned that I broke some bar under the car, ruined the alignment, and that we needed two new tires. Three hours and $450 later...we were out of there! I took the kids to Target nearby for a portion of the time and Jace threw the BIGGEST fit over a ninja turtle toothbrush that I have ever seen. It was colossal. I am sure we were quite the site, me dragging him out of the store screaming blood murder, Target bags in hand, and then dragging him clear back across to the Les Schwab. People probably wondered why the heck I would ever venture out with such a child. The answer is that I don't know myself. 

I had two home studies to write this week and two updates, so all my spare time was spent typing those. I really hate to feel behind and I definitely felt behind all week with all the kinks in the system! This is important for later in the story...

Thursday the kids and I met up with my friends Meghan and Kim at the children's museum in SLC. We spent the morning there and had a great time. It is important for me to take breaks like this because if I allow myself, I can come up with a lot of excuses as to why I am too busy to meet up with friends. But I need it. I am a social creature and I crave that kind of friendship and outings. So, that was really a bright spot in the week, even though it meant we had McDonalds on the run to get the kids back to for school and they were both still quite late. Oh well. You only live once, right! While they were in school (Jace does afternoon preschool T/Th), I went and got my hair trimmed and my eyebrows waxed. Alone time! It's the little things in life...

A few pictures from the Children's Museum

Everyone eats a loaf of bread while working on their car, right?

I sure love these ladies. Kim (in the middle) is moving to Seattle, so we are going to have to go visit her there! I have always wanted to go there.

Thursday night, I went to meet some clients to do a home study update. It should have taken an hour or so, but ended up taking three. There last home study was a disaster, so I had to spend extra time interviewing them to write a complete update. So, I didn't get home until after 10 and went right to bed as I was exhausted. 

Friday was a realllly fun day. :) The mornings are spent shuttling Hallie and neighbor girls back and forth to dance and then they play until kindergarten. I was trying to get an update scanned to a client who wanted it before Saturday because LDSFS was hosting a fair to help clients get on the new adoption.com website and they needed it for that (this was the clients that I saw Wednesday night, so it was not like I was slacking-- I was doing them a big favor to get it to them that fast). Anyway, the scanner chose that very moment to stop working. So, as soon as I got the kids to school, Jace and I went to the library. I was thinking I could scan it there, but nope. They don't have scanners for public use. UGH. So, then I was thinking that I would go home, get us some lunch, and then go see about buying a new scanner. After we ate, we headed out the door (I had other errands to run too, so I figured we'd need all the time that the kids were in school). As soon as I slammed the locked front door shut, I immediately realized that I had left the keys in the house. I prayed it wasn't so, but...it was. Of course, right when I felt like I had a million and one things to do. I called Devin but he was working and could not get away. I called our neighbor whose daughter helps with Flor sometimes so she has a spare key. The mom didn't know where it was and her daughter was in school. I called the landlord and they said they wouldn't come from North Salt Lake. UGh. 

While I tried to figure out what to do, Jace and I walked down to the closest park, which is right behind the cemetery (I know, weird spot for a park). He was on his wiggle car and went careening right by a graveside service going on at full speed. Oh, gotta love that kid. I couldn't keep up as I was on foot. We spent an hour or so at the park and then walked back home as the girls would be getting home soon (early out day on Fridays). By the time we got home, Hallie was already home and standing on the porch waiting for me. She had a birthday party to get to so I knew that we needed to get into the house sooner rather than later. I was waiting for the neighbor girl to call me back as her mom said she'd call as soon as she got home and she was out of school by then too. After a while, I tried her and her sister said she wasn't home and wouldn't be home until 3 (this was at 2- we got locked out around 12). I tried Devin again, but he again couldn't come home. Flor got home and we all spent time in the backyard jumping on the trampoline and hanging out. My phone was about to die at this point and I was getting desperate, so I decided I would call a locksmith and just get it over with. I called the first on the list and my phone was at 1%, so I just gave him quick directions and hurried and got off. It took them a half hour to arrive and then they told me that it would cost me $90 to open the door! $90 for the cheapest method, mind you! I told him that I would not pay that and that I would call someone else (even though my phone was dead and I really couldn't call anyone else). He called his boss and said they'd do it for $50. So he went and tried and could not do the cheaper method, so then he said that he'd have to pick the lock and it would be $90. By this point, I was so frustrated that I just told him to go for it. UGH. We got in right at 3 and Hallie's party started then. I rushed her to the party, drove and got myself the biggest diet coke known to man, and went home. Oh, and guess who called about ten minutes after the locksmith was done? Yes, the neighbor with the key! Oh, gotta love it. After we got home,  I prayed and prayed that the scanner would work because I still hadn't solved that problem. Lo and Behold, I installed some updates per the website and it worked! YAY!! You see, the Lord does care about our small problems in life, even scanners. :)

I spent some quality time with Jace during our time locked out of the house. Maybe the Lord was trying to send me a message to SLOW DOWN and smell the roses! I did enjoy my time out in the beautiful weather with Jacer, which I definitely would not be doing had I not locked us out of the house, so there's a small blessing there. Anyway, I really should not have been taking so many pictures at this point because it definitely contributed to my phone dying when I really could have used more battery life...Oh well, you live and learn.

We had a lot of jumping time while we were locked out too! 

We met my dad for dinner that night, which was really nice and a good break. After dinner, I went out to do another home study update at a client's house. This one was shorter which was nice. I was also on call that night for trauma call (as I had been on Tue and Thur as well and also today. One of our regulars is in Hawaii, so we have extra shifts because of that. Luckily I was not called in Tuesday or Thursday). Anyway, it's not really smart to schedule appointments on the same night that I am on trauma call because if I get called in, I have to go. I have done it a few times and luckily it has worked out okay (only with appointments that are really close to my house, though). Anyway, Friday night...you guessed it. I got called in. Luckily I was done with the appointment, but it still scared me enough that I don't think I will do that again. Anyway, I got home, was home about 10 minutes, and then got called in. This was about 9 pm. I was there until 12:30 am. I was working the next day too and having been there that night, just looking at the stack of papers on my desk for the next day and seeing how packed the ER was, I knew it was going to be a long work day Saturday! 

I don't do too well on a lack of sleep and I only got 6 hours Friday night, but I actually did okay Saturday at work. It was pretty busy, but not as bad as I thought it would be, for sure. While I was there, Devin took the other car in to Les Schwab because the brakes were sounding funny. Another few hours spent there, $250, and we got a new set of brakes! I swear, these cars are going to be the death of us. We would be better off driving super fancy cars at this point and paying a monthly payment than keeping our cars that are costing us more than a monthly payment each month. It's awesome. 

Anyway, I think the pearls of wisdom in this week are that there are blessings in small things, that I need to slow down sometimes and take advantage of time with my kids, and that no matter how tough things get, we can always keep moving forward and keep a good attitude. I recognize that the opposition we feel is for a reason. I know the more we feel, the closer we are to good things to come. We're holding on to that.

Medals for each of you that made it this far! 

Happy Sunday!

Post #1 done. Let's see if I can make it to week 2!