I Think I Should Be Getting Used to This :/

I've been avoiding this post for some time now, so I am not going to do it in too much detail.
In late March, we got an unfortunate phone call where DBop lost his job. We were devastated. It was something we didn't see coming, and DBop loved the company he was working for. He had worked there for exactly a year and after coming off of unemployment the previous year, it was something we were not prepared for.
We had been paying off debt from the year before and we had no money saved. DBop took a week to let his emotions loose and the next Monday, he was ready to conquer the "application world" again. We decided to stay in Grand Forks and look for something here, while I work at the gym and take piano students more seriously. We love this little city and all of our friends here, so he applied for anything and everything he could here. He had one or two interviews, but nothing worked out. However, we remained calm and peaceful, knowing somehow things will work out. As we had learned before.
We were really REALLY struggling with money about 1 1/2 weeks ago, and we decided to take a trip to Bismarck to do a temple session. It was stake temple day, and they had daycare provided. I got to be in the Lord's house with people I loved and to think about our dire situation. We prayed and asked for some kind of guidance for what to do next.

After we got home that night, my husband got a call from a family friend about a job in a tiny town of 800 people in Hemingford, NE (Western Nebraska, about 4 hours above Denver). He would work with farmers on tractors, and they had barely just remodeled a home that they would let us live in. He drove down for a couple days to look around the town and to be given an interview/tour through the company's venues. He came home thinking this would be great, but it's not in Grand Forks.
So we prayed. We didn't have much time to make a decision, and we know Heavenly Father's timetable isn't always aligned with ours, so we decided to wait on what to do for a couple days.
We went to the other ward for sacrament meeting, due to family being in town, and it happened to be fast and testimony meeting. After 2 or so people, a boy, no older than 13 stood up, and the only words he said was, "Moving is hard. Moving away from friends is hard. But it's the right thing to do." and sat down. I felt like that was our answer straight from Heavenly Father and I could the Spirit telling me that was the answer. We were meant to move.
So now we decide on all of the small things. How to move? Together or if he goes down first? At least we know that we have a place to live and money to be made. I'm sad to think about moving out of this wonderful place AGAIN, but I know that home is wherever we make it.

At least we have a little boy to help remind us to relax. ;)

I have been getting more and more positive about it each day and the more I think about it, the more excited I get to start this next chapter in our crazy lives. Who knew that one California girl would meet her North Dakota boy in Idaho and end up in Nebraska. But I will go where the Lord wants me to go, and at least I will have my wonderful husband and two children along for this crazy ride.
 I'm going to miss my water aerobics ladies at the gym, my awesome spin members, my bosses, and my wonderful, smart piano students. I'm grateful for my friends here and I just want to let everyone know how much I appreciate all that has been done for us through this trial that keeps repeating itself.
Nebraska, here we come!

Monkey's Thumb

It's interesting to me that such a small person, with a teeny thumb, can have such big issues with it! A couple months ago, Monkey looked at me while we were at the store, showing me his thumb. It was out of it's socket, and bent in an L shape. I barely touched it, and it popped back into place. I was pretty grossed out. I hadn't seen or felt it happen to him before.

A few times each week after that, it happened over and over again. I would pop it back into place and cringe each time. Until one day, while DBop was home (he had never seen it), it wouldn't pop back into place. It started swelling up, and we kept trying but we also didn't want to hurt him. So DBop got his coat and Monkey's coat on and decided to go to the ER. We had no clue what to do. While they were getting ready, Monkey said, "I did it!" and he had put it back into place.

The next day, we called our family doctor, and he wanted to see him. The doctor said he may have Trigger Finger, but he wasn't sure so they wanted to send him to Orthopedics.

The next week, that doctor told me he had Trigger finger, but not a very bad case of it. Usually people with Trigger Finger have their finger stuck 24/7 and need surgery to get it back to normal. Monkey only has a mild case, and he would need a splint to keep it stretched out. He would only wear it at night and naptime and it will help his thumb get losened up and hopefully stop "sticking." If that doesn't work, then he will need surgery.

We went to get his molding for his hand and through all of these appointments, he's done great. He just plays with his cars with his other hand, while they mess with his thumb. He actually was excited when we pulled up to the doctor's office the 3rd time. Little does he know he still has to get shots at this place. But he can be happy for now :)

The hand therapist basically took a plastic sheet and dipped it into hot water, let it cool slightly, and wrapped it around Monkey's hand, mainly his thumb. He cut off the corners and smoothed the edge, and this is how it looks:

It's pretty cute, and really small. But it was interesting to see how they were going to make it. I am also supposed to keep it in a cool place, or it will lose it's shape. 

He really was not happy first wearing it.

He also has taken it off a few times, but overall, he's been a champ.

Officially a OAMC-er

These last few weeks have been interesting. We have all been sick and, therefore, I have not wanted to be in the kitchen. I realized that through the week we had ordered pizza or Pita Pit FOUR times! Aack! Not really the best way to get feeling better, is it? We also had started spending way too much on eating out AND we were over budget on our groceries. I had planned once a week meals, but somehow, I just wasn't doing good enough.

I had recently been reading about OAMC (once a month cooking) and I thought, there's absolutely no way I can do it. We don't have a deep freeze and the only way to keep things cold is a teeny tiny freezer, which is normally full anyway. But the more I read about it, the more I wanted to defy all odds and just do it.

This blog post finally pushed me to do it:
http://www.blissfulanddomestic.com/2012/03/31-days-to-yumminess-grocery-shopping.html?showComment=1342681248761
She made it look like it was possible! Although she has a deep freeze, I knew I could adjust it to my little apartment kitchen.

So, I started planning. I read all about it, asked friends, got easy recipes together. I kept my budget the same as what it has been, I just spent everything but $50 that day. I wanted to keep some for more milk, which we can only hold so much in our fridge, and produce. I wasn't about to spend it all in one day, and leave nothing for the rest of the month.

I went to bed the night before thinking I was about to run a marathon (and it turns out, I was).

Monkey had a Dr. appointment that morning, which is another post in and of itself, so I wasn't able to get as early of a start as I had wanted. I also didn't really want to wait to do it without the kids, so my kids were able to eat any snack they could get their hands on while I was in the stores.

I got to Sam's club and went to town. I can't believe how much I was able to get, and it was SO MUCH cheaper than buying things once a week. Meat is less inexpensive in bulk and I can't believe how much I was able to get with the same amount of money. I made sure we had enough baggies, toilet paper, and diapers also. I wanted to make sure every little thing was accounted for, this being my first time.

Target was the other place I shopped at for the remaining small items. Again, my kids were with me, so I go to Target over Walmart because the bakery gives out free cookies, which helps mommy ;) Not to mention, our Walmart is awful. My budget was not overspent, and I was still able to save some for later unseen purchases. I was pretty happy about it.

When I had finally gotten home, I brought the kids upstairs, got their lunch ready, plopped them in front of the tv, got my running shoes on, and brought everything to the apartment. I think maybe next time, this is where the hubs would come in handy. We live on the 2nd floor of an apartment and in order to get to our door, we have to walk through a wind and snow swirling vortex of doom. It's horrible. But at least I was able to count it as my workout for the day.

A full pantry! Luckily we have a good sized pantry. **Disclaimer: Fruit Loops is for the hubs. Kids only get this on special occasion.**

I have a friend who told me to keep my running shoes on as I was in the kitchen, and boy she was right! I kept them on and dug right in. I put away all the pantry items, and decided to put the meals together according to their meats. I don't know why I didn't think of it, but I realized how much raw meat I would be dealing with and I got really nervous. I can't count how many times I wiped the sink down and washed my hands. I did the roast/cubed meats first and got the chicken I needed shredded to boil.

 The chicken enchilada casseroles. They will give us 4 nights of food.

I did the first few meals, and paused to get the kiddos in bed for naps. After I did that, I made sure my fridge and freezer was emptied out. Which I should do the night before, I realize now. But I was already pooped and there was a Dreyer's Rocky Road container that just wouldn't fit. So I took a half hour break to finish it off, darn.

My little helper. (And as I'm typing this, she has put about 20 stickers on her face and can't stop giggling. Silly girl)

I got all the chicken recipes done before the hubs got home for dinner. Which ended up being about 19 meals. The next recipe I would make was dinner. We had eaten this recipe before, and we hadn't had it in a while, so I knew I wouldn't be too tired to eat it. Rachael Ray, you are wonderful:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/super-nachos-recipe/index.html

I was able to double the recipe and get 3 meals out of it, so it really did save me some money. We all ate dinner, and I was done for the day. I still had about 4 meals to make, so I had gotten 22 in the first day. I was really pooped but happy knowing that 22 meals sit in the fridge for me, ready to be thrown into the crockpot, oven, or a skillet. I never knew that could feel so good!!

The next day, I made the rest of my ground beef meals, and ended up doubling each, but getting 3 each meal. Instead of 4, I got 6. I had planned for 25 meals, with 2 days of leftovers, and one day of eating out. But I ended up getting 28 meals, with 2 days of leftovers. So, no eating out.

Because of us having a small freezer, I wasn't able to actually make some of the food. For example, the chicken pot pies, I only made the filling and will make the dough later. But that saves me at least an hour of cooking and shredding chicken, boiling veggies, making the gravy from scratch. But with that, I was able to fit it in the freezer. 

Here is the list of meals:
* Chicken enchilada casserole - 2 meals, with 2 days of leftovers
* Pot pies - 4
* Nachos - 3
* Beef Burritos - 2
* Fajitas - 4
* Teriyaki Chicken - 3
* Roast - 2
* Oven porcupines - 2
* Spaghetti sauce - 3
* Taco Rice Skillet - 3

 

And a full freezer and fridge. I'm hoping this will last a while.

I'm sure I have much to learn as I do this, but I feel like I have already learned a lot in just this one time of doing it.

For instance, I will NOT use regular zipper plastic bags. I learned from experience that they pop open when laid down, so I made sure to buy the slider bags. Huge difference.  I also bought the foil containers with lids. I think it was about $11 for a pack of 30. Since my freezer can't hold too much, I only used about 5. I'm thinking those will last a long time too.

My friend had mentioned not to plan on eating anything I was making, because I wouldn't want to eat it. I had already bought the food for everything, and I didn't want to get spend more money than I had already planned, so I decided to have the nachos, because we hadn't had it in so long. However, next time, I will heed that advice.

One thing I'm glad I did was also plan for lunches/breakfasts. I was able to make my own oatmeal packets (18 twice the size of normal packets) and smoothie packets (16). I bought lunch meat, froze half, lots of tuna, and cheese for sandwiches. I will make chicken nuggets from scratch and pigs in a blanket with rolls from scratch. I also don't want to spend money on snacks, or juice. So the kids get one container of juice per week (they were getting 2 before this) and will learn to drink water when they get thirsty.

 

Oatmeal and smoothie packets. Ready to go.

I am also making everything from scratch, if you couldn't tell from before. Tortillas, bread, vanilla wafers, graham crackers, muffins, etc. Any time a fruit is getting bad, it will be thrown into a smoothie or a baked good to be utilized. This way, I'm not buying things I could easily be making. I also won't be spending time in the store as often, and I can even bake while dinner is cooking. It just frees up a lot of time to be able to do that if I want to. I will put baked goods in the freezer as I use meals up.

I made a calendar for all the meals as well. Every meal - breakfast, lunch, and dinner - is listed on that day so all I have to do is look, grab, and quickly put together. All the thinking is done already.

Some of my favorite ingredients (for future reference).
1) Jack's special salsa - this is the BEST one around. My mom always bought this at Costco, which we don't have, so I finally found it at Target. Yay!
2) Yoshida's teriyaki sauce - really good for teriyaki chicken.
3) House of Tsang teriyaki sauce - used in our fajitas.
4) French Vanilla creamer powder- used in oatmeal packets rather than powdered milk (ick!).

I can't believe all that work is already done, and I have noticed a difference even in the first couple of days. No thinking and wondering about what I'm going to do for dinner. Way less energy exerted into making the meals. If I only have to have these "marathon" days once a month, then it was WELL worth it.

A Week of Firsts

Teeny Bug has had quite the week! She turned three last June, which means, she moved up to Primary. In the LDS church, nursery starts at 18 months of age, where the kids have teachers, play with toys, have snack time, singing time, and a short lesson. The year after they turn 3, they go to primary. Where they have time with kids their age and older singing, listening to a short lesson, and then go off to their own class.

Here is Teeny on her first day of primary

 She did really well and always talks about it.

The next new thing for her was that she started swimming lessons. What better time of the year to get into a swimsuit than in January? There are 2 other kiddos in her class. They all stand on a table-like contraption with bars all around it so they are able to stand up in the pool. They kick, blow bubbles, then the instructor takes them around on their bellies and backs. She LOVES it.

 The best shots I could get. She is on the right.

 Here is Monkey and I watching her from outside.

Monkey with crazy long hair, which has been trimmed since.

 With snacks of course.

Here she is all finished.

Two random stories:

1) The other day I was driving and noticed the kids being uncharacteristically quiet. I looked back and saw this. Just the two holding hands. Then Teeny says, "You're the best brother, [Monkey]!" I had to stop and take a picture, because I doubt they would believe me about it when they are older.

 2) Monkey LOVES his cars. This is his favorite thing to do with them. Aside from crashing them and making them make lots of noise. What a cutie pie.

Christmas

We had such a great Christmas! We were only expecting to have our little family together, and at the last minute, my husband had my parents come out here. They were only here about 3 days, but it was well worth it.

All Teeny Bug wanted from Santa this year was a pirate ship. No dolls, no girly stuff. Just a pirate ship from her favorite show, Jake and the Neverland Pirates. Her only stipulation was that it had a crocodile. Monkey wanted a rocketship from Little Einsteins (Did you know that those toys were discontinued?? Santa sure found a miracle when it came to that toy!).

We saw the Christmas lights in the park while drinking hot chocolate, went and got our ornaments, saw Santa at the mall, and a few other of our favorite traditions.

(Pardon the cell phone pics)

Teeny Bug was so excited about the trip to see Santa. She could not stop smiling.

Monkey was really excited while we were standing in line....

 And then when he got there, he ran out of excitement.

 The two in their Christmas church outfits. I make Teeny's dress, which was SO easy this time around. Monkey's, however, I bought.

 They made a gingerbread house with Grandma on Christmas Eve. Followed by a reading of Christ's birth.

 In the end, they were both really good this year. Santa had gold coins leading down the stairs for Teeny leading to her pirate ship (and yes, it had a crocodile), new Jake, a map, spyglass, and her stocking.

 And Monkey got his beloved rocketship, (with a little help from Santa's sister-in-law, it got to Santa on Christmas Eve!), a dump truck, a new Cars race track, and his stocking.

Allinol (Cars moms will appreciate that one!), it was a great Christmas. We had a great time with family and LOTS of yummy food. Which is now why I spend more time than ever at the gym. But I have no regrets ;)

The Return to the Blog

It has been over a year since this was updated! I have left this poor blog in the dust and haven't looked back. Until I thought about taking a look at it today. Not only do I love being able to see the pictures from so long ago, but I love having those thoughts written down to reflect on. I now realize that it is a year of memories that I won't get back.

So, write I must! And I hope people can follow along as I revert back quite a ways.

The last post was in September, 2011. We were living in Idaho with the in-laws and DBop was working at a potato warehouse. He loved that job because he had gone from working to the Pentagon to working in a bin with potatoes. It was where he belonged and he felt good about the decision to leave Washington D.C. However, that job was for harvest season only (which usually means only October and a bit in November).

We also celebrated Monkey's 1st birthday with a few presents and a day trip to West Yellowstone. He was so happy with one glowing ball that he didn't really care too much about the other presents!

When the potato job was said and done, we needed another way to make money. So, we decided to drive down to Utah and stay with my parents for a month so my husband could lay flooring with my dad. The men kept busy while the women stayed home and held up the fort. DBop continued to look for a higher paying job, and while he went on interviews, I went and helped my dad with the flooring. Which was so fun for me, because I grew up helping him. It was fun to do the hard labor.

During our stay in Utah, I got a call from a restaurant back in Idaho that said they needed my help just after the holidays. My dad didn't have enough work to keep DBop busy after then, so yet again, we packed up, and drove to Idaho to stay with the in-laws - for the 3rd time! During this time of the year was our hardest. DBop had had interview after interview and it was wearing on him that he hadn't gotten another job yet. Christmas was humbling because we were given so much and we both had a hard time accepting it. We appreciated it more than people knew, but it was almost as though we felt like we didn't deserve it or that we didn't earn it ourselves. But it was definitely humbling and made us realize how wonderful it is to have family and friends who supported us so much.

January, I worked at the restaurant as a server 5 nights a week, and made great money. It was nice to be able to walk home at the end of the night, and have cash in hand. It was something I had done before, and, not to sound high and mighty, I found that I was really good at it. Which made me enjoy it that much more. I took as many extra shifts, and closing shifts as I could because I was the only one making the money in my family. The people working there were probably my favorite coworkers I've ever worked with and made me feel at home right away.

In February, we had a friend call DBop and tell him to apply for a job in - of all places - North Dakota! During the fall and holidays, I remember DBop kept talking about North Dakota, and how he thinks something was going to happen soon. So he applied for this job, and they interviewed him over the phone. This was one of a million interviews, but this one was different. We both felt at peace with this, not worried like we had been with other interviews. They wanted to interview him again, so he made his way out to his hometown in ND. He was gone for about a week, while I worked, and grandparents so graciously helped out with the kiddos.

When he got back, a week or two went by and I decided to take a nap one day because I was so tired from working. DBop came into the room, and I remember seeing a smile and tears on his face to tell me he got the job! After all this time, moving, job after job, and trying to find ways to make money, he finally had a salary again. He went back 2 weeks later, I put my two weeks in at the restaurant, and he went back to ND by himself while I stayed with my parents in Utah one last time.

He worked a few weeks, enough to make some money to get a place to live, and we moved out here in April. The ironic thing, was that he got the same EXACT apartment we lived in the first time we moved to ND. Everything about this move was right. His company is great and he is doing exactly what he wants to be doing.

I sometimes looked back and thought, "Was leaving DC the right thing to do?" or "Should we have left ND in the first place?" and other things like that. I sometime wonder what people think of our decisions and if they were too hasty and not well thought out. I can't look back with fondness because things were hard and got ugly.  I can say one thing for sure, I know that our Heavenly Father had a plan for us all along, and although our faith sometimes was stagnant and wavered, I had to have that blind trust that He would lead us in the right path. Yes, we were trying to keep ourselves from drowning and were merely trying to survive. I honestly now can say that I don't care what other people thought about our decisions, they lead us here. Where we are happy and have more of a testimony than ever. We know that no matter what, we will be taken care of by our Lord and Savior, and each other. And we so appreciate everything our families and friends did. There are people who don't have that, I know we are so blessed that we have such wonderful people in our lives. I am just so happy to know all of these things were for our good and made us grow. We got through it!

And now, we are never moving again. Ever. Possibly no vacations for the next 10 years also ;)



Now.... onto the fun stuff. Our kids have REALLY grown since the last post and I just have to talk about them both.

First: my Teeny Bug, who is now 3 1/2 years
* She is ALWAYS trying to make us laugh or giggle. She cannot stand to see people unhappy and loves to make us laugh.
* She is so smart and loves learning new things. She has a thirst for knowledge and I hope I can keep up with her as she gets older.
* She has one GREAT memory. This, she gets from DBop. I cannot believe some of the things she is able to remember.

* She is getting very independent. The other day, she got out her bottle, the juice, and poured it herself. It was really nice for mom! ;)
* She is really getting good at drawing. She is doing a joy preschool, where the moms do it at a different house every week. And she is drawing, coloring, and learning so well.

* One major accomplishment: She gets up to go to the bathroom! I still wake her up to go, but she is really getting it now.
*She loves going to church, nursery, and playing with people her age. Every day, she tells me of a new boy she loves.
*The last thing I can say about Maggie, is she is my helper. She always helps me when I need it, getting me something, throwing something away, and what not. She IS the oldest, of course.

And now, Monkey, who is just over 2 years old
* I call him my Sour Patch kid. He is really aggressive, hits, bites, but then he is sweet. He loves to snuggle, suck his thumb, get his back rubbed, rocked. He even has a crocheted blanket, which is getting very worn, that he has to stick his fingers and toes through. It's a pretty funny habit.

* He is so silly. He does it thinking nobody is looking, but he does the funniest things. The other day, he put a bucket on his head, but there were slits for handles, which he put over his eyes so he could see through it.

* He LOVES his daddy. When he was first born, he was a momma's boy, but now it's all about daddy.
* He is ALL boy. He loves cars, balls, tractors, noises of any kind. His favorite thing to do is go see DBop's "drive" (golf cart) at his work.
* He loves playing with anything that's mommy or daddy's. Shoes, the iPad, books, anything. I think he is going to be one who wants to grow up too quickly.

* He is now in a toddler bed. He and Teeny Bug share a room, and he is up playing at all hours of the night, which has reverted Teeny back to taking naps! He goes downstairs and plays with toys at 3 in the morning, jumps off Teeny's bed, and who knows what else in the middle of the night.

* He LOVES singing. We have to sing to him at night before bed, he loves listening to songs in church, and singing Popcorn Tree and Once There Was a Snowman.
* Lastly, he is always hungry! He will eat his whole meal, and want a snack 10 minutes later. I can't wait till he's a teenager!

Cute little Monkey

I just LOVE having these two kiddos, but since Teeny Bug has been so camera shy lately, I will do a post about her when I have photos.

Right now, Monkey is just over 11 months (seems crazy!) and he is SO stinkin' cute. He is the toughest little boy I know, and he never seems to get upset when Teeny Bug "plays" with him. He crawls so weird, scooting with his stomach on the floor and has been doing so for months. He is still teething really bad and is working on his 5th tooth, one of the dreaded big teeth. He knows how to wave and he clapped once, but only once. He has yet to walk, but can walk along furniture and the wall. I can't seem to wean this boy either. I have a feeling it's going to be a toughie when I get really liberal with it. He LOVES to snuggle and has a favorite blanket he will rub on his face. And yes, he is still sucking his thumb, which I absolutely love.

One thing he started doing recently was playing on our bed. He will sit up, throw his hands in the air, and lunge forward onto his face. Then quickly sit up and do it again. He can do it for the longest time and I love how hard he breathes while doing it. It's hard to believe he is going to be 1 next month and DBop and I could not have asked for a sweeter little guy.

***These pics were taken with my phone, our camera died, so this is as good as it gets.***

In the middle of waving

I really wish this one wasn't so blurry :(

And here are some with cousin A. (they are only 3 days apart).