A Pretty Unpleasant Commute

Glen got a new job this past year and now has a 145-mile commute to work. 

No, I'm not missing any decimal points there and, yeah, that's about as pleasant as it sounds. 

He spends all week in a Residence Inn and comes home for the weekends.   In other words, our weeks seem long and lonely and our weekends far too short.   But it's a good job that's giving him good professional experience, decent insurance for our family, and a paycheck...all things we were mostly missing in 2018....so we are grateful!  

Right now he's in an interim position, so it makes no sense to uproot the family to join him yet, but after living 5/7 of the last three months in separate states, moving is definitely on the radar screen if his position becomes permanent.   We've lived here in the DC area for about 20 years, so moving  really is a HUGE deal that makes all of us pretty nervous.   My kids at home have never even lived in another house, yet alone another city or state.  

So this last weekend we decided to switch up the commute and instead of him coming home as he usually does,  he stayed there and the rest of us drove to join him!     What better way to get a feel for an area, than to be there and experience it for ourselves?   

I weirdly took very few pictures while we were there, but this is what the day looked like when we left... 

It was a very small snowstorm in the scheme of things, but it did make for more stressful driving.   And temperatures were pretty frigid, so nothing was melting fast and we had to bring lots of warm clothes!  

Our three main goals of being there {besides saving Glen 300 miles of driving} were to 

1. Drive through some neighborhoods....

{It's a cheaper cost of living in the Philadelphia area!}

2. Go to the temple together.... 

One of the best perks about working near Philadelphia is that Glen has been able to go to the temple almost every week.   This is especially nice because the DC temple is currently closed and will be for at least another year.  Me getting to Philadelphia has proved a little more challenging, so this was definitely one of the motivating factors to switch things up last weekend. 

And it was lovely to be there and have a little date in the city with my hunny.

3. Visit a couple of wards (church congregations)

{I didn't take any pictures of us at church, so this picture of me after church  will have to do here}

Let's just say that church-wise, it will be a pretty significant adjustment if we end up moving there.  We've been spoiled.   

All in all, it was a productive weekend.   And next time, I'll take more pictures!  

Cupcakes, Cupcakes, Everywhere!

If someone were to track our family's grocery purchases over a period of time, they would end up pretty  confused.  On the one hand, we buy spinach, carrots, chia seeds, avocados, quinoa, and bell peppers by the bucketload.    I've even had to scold my girls for using a few healthy items too quickly because of the expense (like coconut oil and nuts).  On the other hand though, in the past few weeks we've plowed through 20-lbs. of butter, several quarts of whipping cream, 2 Costco size containers of vanilla, over 15-lbs. of cream cheese, pounds and pounds of flour and sugar, and countless dozens of eggs.  

No, we don't deep fat fry all of our spinach leaves in butter....

What we have is two teenage girls who are walking incongruities.    

Emma and Cami both love to bake sugary goodies with everything that they are, BUT themselves eat zero sugar, few grains, and loads of nuts, fruits, and vegetables.    And since they don't eat their own goodies, guess who ends up being their frosting sampler to make sure the flavor/consistency are good....me!     

Recently Cami had an order for 20-dozen cupcakes and a cake topper for a wedding.   

I was a little nervous when she said that she'd accepted the job to make a cake topper, since her specialty is definitely cupcakes and not cakes.  

But she did an absolutely beautiful job.   

The order overwhelmed our house a bit (the chairs were to keep Rocky from getting at them)...

but she pulled it off without a hitch!  

The display was absolutely gorgeous (as was the cupcake baker)! 

Shortly after we finished cleaning up from that order, Cami hosted a cupcake camp at our house.  

It was mainly 12-year-old girls who were part of the camp...

They did a lot of baking over the course of the week...

and I think it was a smashing success by all accounts.   

They each got to bake cupcakes on their own and decorate them on their own as well.   It was a delight to see their creativity in action!  

It did give Cami a  little boost into her college fund...

but more than anything I think she was mostly excited to share her love of baking with the next generation!  

Speaking of which....with Cami at college, Emma is now poised to take over the cupcake business.   She's been a faithful assistant to Cami over the years and she is ready to take the reins now!  

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One Step Closer to Normalcy

I am pleased to announce that Glen has signed a job offer to begin working at a local mid-size company the Monday after Thanksgiving.     We're excited to be staying here in the area and even more excited for the career opportunity it presents to Glen! 

While it will definitely take some getting used to not having my grocery shopping companion, kid entertainer,  or assistant chauffeur around anymore...

we know this is the next step forward and we are completely thrilled for this new opportunity! 

I don't envision that life will ever be quite the same as it was before January 10, 2012 (nor do we necessarily want it to be), however we are hopeful that this exciting development brings us one step closer to achieving that new sense of normalcy that we've been longing for for almost an entire year. 

Thank you to all those of you who have helped Glen and our family along in this aspect of our journey.  So many of you helped him make connections, gave him resume pointers, gave us little gifts, and prayed for us along the way.   We are deeply indebted to all of you. 

Thank you. 

Enjoying the High Water at Great Falls

With Glen at home a lot of the time lately while he looks for a new job,  we're trying to take advantage of some of the off-times between interviews/workshops/etc by going on outings together that we normally would not have the time to do.    Since we're trying to do things on the cheap, the outings almost always involve either running errands together or  spending time in the outdoors.  We've walked around lakes, gone to Costco together ( a new experience for him), explored new parks, and most recently visited Great Falls solely for the purpose of me taking pictures of it after Hurricane Sandy. 

Far from historically high levels, Great Falls was still a sight to behold on November 1, 2012 ( a few days after  our area was grazed by Hurricane Sandy).    It was supposed to have crested sometime that morning, so I think these pictures were taken at near its highest stage. 

The water was a roiling mass of debris and mud and it was awe-inspiring (and slightly disconcerting) to see how close we were to the water compared to normal water levels. 

Between the deafening sound of the river and the nearness of the water to the pedestrian overlooks,  it was somehow easier to imagine how the river ever hits those high water marks that look so unattainable up listed on the signs near the visitor center. 

After admiring the power of the falls for a while, we hiked along the river trail hoping to take in some beautiful fall foliage.  We did see some colors, but mostly they had already fallen to the ground. 

It seemed that the winds of the hurricane had hastened the leaves falling and with the gray clouds that filled the sky that day, the whole landscape seemed rather muted and earth-toned. 

A little off the trail we discovered this beautiful little inlet of water from the Potomac River, where the water was also surprisingly high.  I loved the natural stone walls here and it made me wonder if that's what the fjords of Scandinavia look like. 


We are praying fervently for Glen to find a job soon, but in the meantime I'm soaking up this bonus time with my husband and know that it will be  a serious adjustment for us both when life gets back to the REAL normal.  The normal where I drive the kids everywhere they need to go during the day,  where I go grocery shopping by myself again, and where my day-time conversations are either on the phone or with myself.  

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still looking...

Although Glen going through his first ever experience with unemployment this year has added to our already stressful 2012, being unemployed while Spencer was in the hospital was a huge blessing in our lives.  It allowed Glen and I to put forth more of a team effort into taking care of our family during those long months.   Additionally, Glen was also able to go to youth conference and Spencer's high adventure trip this summer without worrying about whether he might have been able to get the time off of work.  Knowing that Glen could be with him in Spencer's first few weeks out of the hospital and away from home, was a huge comfort to both of us.

With how perfectly the timing worked out at the beginning of all this sick child/getting laid off adventure (read here if you don't remember the details), we just assumed that as soon as the need for him to be at home had passed, that he would find a new job easily.    He didn't really start looking in earnest until late summer, but since then we've discovered that job searching does not come easily and the hunt itself has turned out to be a full-time job.  Over the last few months, he's gone to employment workshops, networking events, met with head hunters, gotten in touch with long-lost colleagues, sent out his resume a million times, gone to mock interviews to help improve his skills, etc. and still he's had nary more than a couple of nibbles.

We are not discouraged yet. 
We have felt the hand of God so constantly through this entire journey, we have faith that the right opportunity will present itself eventually.  While we hope and pray that it's sooner rather than later, we also recognize that our timing is not always the Lord's timing. 

In the meantime, if you're in the financial world and think that you might have an opportunity for Glen, please feel free to get in touch with us.  He has a master's in tax and has several years of experience with corporate accounting, but he is looking to stay more involved with the business side of finances, which is more congruent to his most recent experiences working for about seven years as a fund manager at a private equity firm.   We strongly prefer a job here in the DC area, but would consider relocating to other locations if the opportunity was just right.


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While unemployment is not a fun thing, it does present unique opportunities. In addition to being able to spend the time Glen needed to spend with our family this past year, he has also been able to participate in some other opportunities he otherwise probably would not have if he were working.  Enjoy these pics of Glen from a recent getaway to Maine he took with a friend--a getaway he never would have been able to take with his previous job. 

This is a picture of a wild bald eagle doing some fishing while Glen did some fishing of his own. Glen said this sight in and of itself was worth the trip up to Maine.

Fly fishing so happens to be one of Glen's favorite past-times in the entire universe and I love this picture that captured the art and the beauty of the sport. 

Most of their days were spent kayaking on Moosehead Lake in Maine (one of the largest freshwater lakes in the US) and he loved the opportunity to enjoy the outdoors,

Although there were some harrowing moments on the lake with 4-5 foot waves tossing his kayak around out in the middle of the lake miles from land, the weather was largely ideal and made for some great photos:

One of the days, Glen was out fishing and this little hitchhiker landed on the under side of the bill of his baseball hat and just hung out for a while. I laughed at the fact that Glen didn't mind a bit about having a large insect so close to his face.  Although I admire dragonflies from afar, I am fairly certain that if a dragonfly ever lands on my hat that the dragonfly along with the hat would probably be thrown unceremoniously to the ground, most likely accompanied by a whole lot of screaming! 


Unfortunately, the dragonfly, eagles, and fish didn't have any job leads for him and now Glen is back home, nose to the grindstone searching for the right job opportunity.  Although we are very ready to have Glen back to work, it was a welcome treat for him that he was able to tag along on this trip. Going back to his childhood spent in the Rocky Mountains, Glen has always found solace in the outdoors and loves opportunities to explore them. 

Next week it's my turn for my own little getaway!