The stress I feel and carry: Normal!
I can handle more than I think: Especially if Heavenly Father's on my side and helping me
I'm supposed to learn something from being sick
(everyone woke up on Monday sick with our 3rd cold) : patience? long-suffering? To slow down?
It's important to me and my family's well-being that I learn to handle my stress well: A-huh!
I'm grateful for all the family and friends who support and love me and my kids
This will all only be a little blink of the eye, but what we'll have learned from it will be huge!
Loving our ever changing, crazy, fantastic life
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Saturday, February 18, 2012
I Guess Life Can't Always Be Hunky-Dory
Are you ready to hear a whole lot of whining?
I hope not. I'm going to try to keep it to a minimum.
I can't tell you how much I would rather keep this to myself
but I think it's making the current pain I'm in worse.
Since we have moved here to Worcester, I have suffered 1 severely sprained/strained wrist, 1 slight
relapse with the same wrist, and several mornings woken up to a very stiff neck. The stiff neck I
attributed to the 2 colds I've had as well since we've moved here. You know, sometimes the achy yuckiness of a cold can move into the parts of your body where you carry stress. Well, I'm here to tell you that I now have a pinched nerve in my neck, which has given me a lot of food for thought that perhaps I've had stiff neck muscles and today's pinched nerve in my neck because of the current load of stress I'm carrying.
My stress level has been pretty high at different times since we've moved here.
It is stressful living in a new city, surrounded by risks I'm not accustomed to, drug dealers and scariness literally outside our door. My husband is gone A. LOT. Full time jobs have nothing on full time class loads. And I feel like I'm whining to a world full of other people who shoulder more stress than I do and carry it off with a whole lot more grace than I'm managing to right now.
I guess what I should be asking myself is what is Heavenly Father trying to teach me right now? Maybe he wants me to slow down, obviously he wants me to not get so stressed. Stress is something I've struggled with a lot in my life. I guess I need to learn better ways of handling it.
So now that you know why I've not been blogging this week, do you have any words of wisdom to pass along and make this time while we're in school any easier?
p.s. I miss home. In case you couldn't tell. I miss my quiet street. I miss my backyard for Aftyn to play in and run around in. I miss the playground close by that is nice and safe. I miss, I miss, I miss.
I hope not. I'm going to try to keep it to a minimum.
I can't tell you how much I would rather keep this to myself
but I think it's making the current pain I'm in worse.
Since we have moved here to Worcester, I have suffered 1 severely sprained/strained wrist, 1 slight
relapse with the same wrist, and several mornings woken up to a very stiff neck. The stiff neck I
attributed to the 2 colds I've had as well since we've moved here. You know, sometimes the achy yuckiness of a cold can move into the parts of your body where you carry stress. Well, I'm here to tell you that I now have a pinched nerve in my neck, which has given me a lot of food for thought that perhaps I've had stiff neck muscles and today's pinched nerve in my neck because of the current load of stress I'm carrying.
My stress level has been pretty high at different times since we've moved here.
It is stressful living in a new city, surrounded by risks I'm not accustomed to, drug dealers and scariness literally outside our door. My husband is gone A. LOT. Full time jobs have nothing on full time class loads. And I feel like I'm whining to a world full of other people who shoulder more stress than I do and carry it off with a whole lot more grace than I'm managing to right now.
I guess what I should be asking myself is what is Heavenly Father trying to teach me right now? Maybe he wants me to slow down, obviously he wants me to not get so stressed. Stress is something I've struggled with a lot in my life. I guess I need to learn better ways of handling it.
So now that you know why I've not been blogging this week, do you have any words of wisdom to pass along and make this time while we're in school any easier?
p.s. I miss home. In case you couldn't tell. I miss my quiet street. I miss my backyard for Aftyn to play in and run around in. I miss the playground close by that is nice and safe. I miss, I miss, I miss.
Monday, February 13, 2012
My Little Adventure, Craigslist Style
Here's a funny story to start off your week.
This morning I decided to be super diligent and keep checking craigslist all morning in hopes of finding the perfect piece of furniture to complete my front room area.
I was going about my business, doing my usual daytime routine, when I felt this prompting to go and check craiglist. Lo and behold in the free section was a piece that would be great! And, lucky me, it was just in the next town over which is only about 5 minutes away!
I quickly got the girls ready, then myself and we were out the door and on our way. The ad only mentioned that this wicker trunk, my perfect piece of furniture, was on the curb waiting to be picked up.
The whole time I was driving there, which ended up being about a 20 minute drive, I kept praying and praying that it would still be there and that my drive wouldn't end up being a waste of time and gas.
I finally pulled up to the house in this rather nice neighborhood and there the trunk sat! I was so excited! I quickly parked in front of it and walked over to investigate. It was SO nice!
I cleared off my front seat, all the while pondering how I could tell the person thank you. As I turned back to go and pick up the trunk, another car quickly pulled up behind mine. I smiled, because it was kind of funny that I beat this person, but I was prepared to be nice about getting there first. When out pops this older woman, literally running toward this trunk. I was kind of perplexed as to why she might be running, so I asked her if she was there to get the trunk too. She told me, "Oh no, I just talked to her!", I assume she was alluding to the owner, still coming quite quickly toward me and the trunk. I do not doubt if I had had that thing picked up in my arms that she would have literally pulled the trunk out of my arms. I.Joke.You.Not.
Having seen these people from Massachusetts in action and not wanting to get into anything, I calmly said, "Oh, okay" and walked back to my car. This woman said literally nothing to me. Not a "thanks", not an " Oh, I'm sorry". Nothing.
She was all business as she bustled about getting it into her car as fast as possible. I drove around the neighborhood a little more, hoping to find another freebie, trying to understand what just happened. I saw that woman hightail it out of there. With her trunk lid flying in the wind because the wicker trunk was too big.
( I am a little ashamed to admit I hoped that trunk would come flying out of there.)
Welcome to Massachusetts!!
This morning I decided to be super diligent and keep checking craigslist all morning in hopes of finding the perfect piece of furniture to complete my front room area.
I was going about my business, doing my usual daytime routine, when I felt this prompting to go and check craiglist. Lo and behold in the free section was a piece that would be great! And, lucky me, it was just in the next town over which is only about 5 minutes away!
I quickly got the girls ready, then myself and we were out the door and on our way. The ad only mentioned that this wicker trunk, my perfect piece of furniture, was on the curb waiting to be picked up.
The whole time I was driving there, which ended up being about a 20 minute drive, I kept praying and praying that it would still be there and that my drive wouldn't end up being a waste of time and gas.
I finally pulled up to the house in this rather nice neighborhood and there the trunk sat! I was so excited! I quickly parked in front of it and walked over to investigate. It was SO nice!
I cleared off my front seat, all the while pondering how I could tell the person thank you. As I turned back to go and pick up the trunk, another car quickly pulled up behind mine. I smiled, because it was kind of funny that I beat this person, but I was prepared to be nice about getting there first. When out pops this older woman, literally running toward this trunk. I was kind of perplexed as to why she might be running, so I asked her if she was there to get the trunk too. She told me, "Oh no, I just talked to her!", I assume she was alluding to the owner, still coming quite quickly toward me and the trunk. I do not doubt if I had had that thing picked up in my arms that she would have literally pulled the trunk out of my arms. I.Joke.You.Not.
Having seen these people from Massachusetts in action and not wanting to get into anything, I calmly said, "Oh, okay" and walked back to my car. This woman said literally nothing to me. Not a "thanks", not an " Oh, I'm sorry". Nothing.
She was all business as she bustled about getting it into her car as fast as possible. I drove around the neighborhood a little more, hoping to find another freebie, trying to understand what just happened. I saw that woman hightail it out of there. With her trunk lid flying in the wind because the wicker trunk was too big.
( I am a little ashamed to admit I hoped that trunk would come flying out of there.)
Welcome to Massachusetts!!
Friday, February 10, 2012
A Little Poem
Hickory Dickory Dock
the mouse ran across my floor
I would have screamed
but I wasn't sure I really saw what I saw
and so I went to bed. Upstairs.
Where there had better be no mice.
the mouse ran across my floor
I would have screamed
but I wasn't sure I really saw what I saw
and so I went to bed. Upstairs.
Where there had better be no mice.
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Our Fabulous Weekend in New York
We had been planning this fun weekend to visit our family in New York for a good week, but nearly didn't go when it came time due to sickness. After a very persuasive visit on the phone with my sister-in-law Kamber, I decided that to heck with any and all sickness, we were going to go have a fun weekend whether we all got sick or not. Plus we tried to keep up hand washing and coughing into elbows. :)
We arrived after a 2 1/2 hour drive from Massachusetts, through Connecticut and into New York. One thing I never expected was how quick it is to drive through the states here in the east. We drove through Connecticut in an hour and a half! You could never do that out west. Ever. Unless you were driving at VERY high and dangerous speeds. I think. Or flying.
We got there in the evening so after a few hours of chatting and the kids trying their hardest NOT to go to sleep, we went to bed. In the morning it was so nice not to feel like we had to rush off. We just had a whole day to enjoy each others company in whatever ways we wanted.
We started off at Costco for lunch! :) That was both delicious and fun. People kept stopping and staring at the cartload of kids we had, what with the 2 cute babies sitting in the front of the cart and the 3 older kids sitting in the basket of the cart. They kept asking if they were all siblings, since there was such a strong family resemblance. Kamber and I kept pointing at each other, saying that there were 2 moms to all these kids. Seeing as how it was Sample Central there in Costco at lunchtime, far too often Reed was not there to claim his girls so I'm pretty sure Brian was getting all the credit for all of the kids. It was pretty funny how many people kept staring at the kids.
After that we went to Stew Leonards. That was an experience! Between all the singing puppets and animals and the rush of ALL the people there, it was indeed memorable. It was fun to get to stop amidst all the groceries to listen to the puppets and to get to try a few of their samples as well. We're still eating our Blue blueberry bagels. Well, mostly Reed since he is the bagel man. Oh and they had the cheapest strawberries I have found here and they were delicious!
After all the shopping, we trekked over to New Jersey to see the Statue of Liberty. (Remember, the states are so much quicker to drive through. It was a quick drive.) It was so neat to see so many buildings I had only heard of or seen in pictures. Aftyn was not quite as dazzled. So here is the picture portion of this post:
The adults got home and put the kids to bed and then decided to stay up and chat for a few minutes. 4 hours later when we realized it was 2 am, we hurried off to bed. In the morning, Reed and I packed up and got ready for church and said our good-byes.
All in all such a fun weekend.
We got to spend some time with family and got our first glimpse of New York City!
We arrived after a 2 1/2 hour drive from Massachusetts, through Connecticut and into New York. One thing I never expected was how quick it is to drive through the states here in the east. We drove through Connecticut in an hour and a half! You could never do that out west. Ever. Unless you were driving at VERY high and dangerous speeds. I think. Or flying.
We got there in the evening so after a few hours of chatting and the kids trying their hardest NOT to go to sleep, we went to bed. In the morning it was so nice not to feel like we had to rush off. We just had a whole day to enjoy each others company in whatever ways we wanted.
We started off at Costco for lunch! :) That was both delicious and fun. People kept stopping and staring at the cartload of kids we had, what with the 2 cute babies sitting in the front of the cart and the 3 older kids sitting in the basket of the cart. They kept asking if they were all siblings, since there was such a strong family resemblance. Kamber and I kept pointing at each other, saying that there were 2 moms to all these kids. Seeing as how it was Sample Central there in Costco at lunchtime, far too often Reed was not there to claim his girls so I'm pretty sure Brian was getting all the credit for all of the kids. It was pretty funny how many people kept staring at the kids.
After that we went to Stew Leonards. That was an experience! Between all the singing puppets and animals and the rush of ALL the people there, it was indeed memorable. It was fun to get to stop amidst all the groceries to listen to the puppets and to get to try a few of their samples as well. We're still eating our Blue blueberry bagels. Well, mostly Reed since he is the bagel man. Oh and they had the cheapest strawberries I have found here and they were delicious!
After all the shopping, we trekked over to New Jersey to see the Statue of Liberty. (Remember, the states are so much quicker to drive through. It was a quick drive.) It was so neat to see so many buildings I had only heard of or seen in pictures. Aftyn was not quite as dazzled. So here is the picture portion of this post:
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| Ready to go to New York Mom! |
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| Isn't she so sweet to oblige her mom a picture? |
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| Driving to New York. Portable dvd player was the best investment for Aftyn! |
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| Riding in the back of the van for all of our Saturday fun! |
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| See that tall building in the middle of the picture. That is the Empire State Building! |
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| New York skyline |
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| Blurry, but it is the Statue of Liberty! |
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| Sitting on the boardwalk while the rest of us look at the Statue of Liberty |
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| If you close one eye and ignore the blur, that's us with the Statue of Liberty! (As you can clearly see, our camera does not take great dark/night pictures. I'm thinking we could use a new camera since ours is only 5 years old. : / ) |
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| Times Square |
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| Look at all the cabs! Know how they talk about all the crazy driving in New York City? From what I saw, it's completely true. Crazy cab drivers. |
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| I think this is right before Times Square. You can't even see the tops of the skyscrapers. |
All in all such a fun weekend.
We got to spend some time with family and got our first glimpse of New York City!
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Our Apartment - One Room at a Time III
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| Up the stairs! Our little landing before you traverse the large set of steps |
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| Longest closet I've ever seen right at the top of the stairs. The closet runs the entire length of the apartment wall! It's awesome! |
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| Master bedroom right at the top, if you turn left you would see the door to the girls room. |
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| Girls room! Bigger than it looks in this picture. It's bigger than their room was in Idaho. |
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| Lots of big pipes in this room. Bronwyn's side has the heater/cooler thing. :) |
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| Only brick wall in the apartment, and it's in our room painted over. Lots more pipes, but lots of nice windows. |
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| This is how we make our laundry/dresser work. The only light in the room is located on top of our dresser. |
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Our Apartment - One Room at a Time II
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| Front Closet/Coat closet in this lovely large hallway spot that also houses the bathroom |
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| The bathroom, directly across from our front closet |
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| A view into our bathroom. Notice the exposed pipes in the ceiling, remember this is a loft. This is a common sight. |
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| Heaviest door ever created. Must be an original because the doorknob and the whole door seem authentic to this building. It has this crazy frosted/lined glass that you REALLY cannot see through. Reed tried. :) |
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| This is what our floors look like throughout the bottom floor of our house. Kind of gappy. By the way, I'm standing in the tub to take this picture. The bathroom itself is a little small. |
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