The Six of Us

I was going to make a list of all my goals for March but they haven't changed much.  I need to get healthier which I have started but I am still not as good at as I should be be.  I can tell a big difference on the days I drink enough water and the days I don't.  I am eating more fruit and veggies at home but I don't eat healthy enough at work.   That will change.  Plus I need to stick to a budget. Well the whole family does.  We got our taxes done and are waiting for the refund.  That means that we will be able to afford to go to Cali in July.  The question is now do we fly or drive. I am still leaning towards driving.  So booking the condo and the rental car is on my list for March.  Also it looks like we should be able to pay off our final credit card in the next few months.  Well probably closer to May.  We are still getting rid of stuff and Lee now said I could just give it to good will and now I am thinking we will just skip the garage sale.  I may hold on to it unt

60 Minutes Money Workout by Ellie Kay.  This book started out pretty good.  But then towards of the book it seems to repeat itself quite a bit.  It had a lot of good information but it wasn't anything that I hadn't heard before,  This book might be good for somebody who didn't have a good direction on what to do with their money.  This book is broken in to several different chapters.  Each chapter is called 60 minutes ______________ Workout.  The blank is filled with titles such as split personality, debt, travel and fun, and college plan.  There are several others as well. The chapter is broken up into several "workouts" to help you plan.  This book is great for budget beginners but not for somebody who is more experienced in that area.  I received this book free to review.

My blood work from yesterday showed that I  am normal.  Good and bad.  Good because I am  normal bad because it would require more tests to determine what is causing all of this.  More tests means more money and time.  Both things I don't have extra of.  So I am a little off balance. It is part of the charm  :) Lee didn't end up going to Utah because the roads were so bad.  Sometimes things just don't work out as planned.It kind of worked out because my mom didn't come over to the house that right at this moment looks like a tornado came thought it.  Hopefully Lee and the kids can get some things done while I am at work and school. Lee just texted me and said he was hoping for a hectic free weekend with just the family.  Not sure if that will happen but it would be nice.  The weather should be bad so it might be a good movie watching and laundry folding a couple of days. I just hit the jackpot on my paper.  I found a few really good references.  I know my professo

Only about half of all the post I write get posted.  Mostly because writing clears my head but that doesn't necessarily mean that I want to share everything with you.  Blogs are super funny things to me.  Especially with people who I know personally.  It is funny to me how people present this perfect life when I know for a fact the person isn't anything like that.  But perception is reality and that is the way it is.  I like blogs that show the family more the way they are.  We had a blast in Washington, dinners, movies, roller skating, basketball game, and we ended the weekend at Chuck E Cheese.  Our friends are great.  But now back to reality.  Chapter two of my thesis is due Friday and Lee will be gone all day Thursday on a one day trip to Utah.  Since I have school the kids will be spending ALL day with my parents.  From seven in the morning until ten at night.  Which I hate.  I love my parents they are great.  But I would rather be the one spending all the day with the k

Lee and I are in Washington visiting friends. We have really great friends.  Last night we went out to dinner and a movie with just the adults.  Great time.  I think the only time we ever go out with another couple is when we come up here.  On our way to dinner I got some bad news regarding a good friend.  She was in the hospital over the weekend.  This friend has some major major chronic life threatening stuff going on.  She was doing well for a quite a while and then around Thanksgiving it all fell apart.  She still hasn't been able to get back to where she was before Thanksgiving and is now dealing with the fact that she may never be where she was before. I have a three day weekend well actually four.  Although I may go into tomorrow to make some hours as well as working on some school things.  I sometimes forget just how blessed I am. I am getting paid to sit here on my laptop and watch my children play games.  Life is good. I made contact with somebody in Lee's family

I love mornings.  I love getting up and working out and getting my batch of laundry done before sun up.  However, my body struggles with the idea of getting out of a warm cozy bed. So more often then not I am not up early.  However, this morning my alarm went off at 3:45 am.  I was taking my mother in law to the airport.  That was just over an hour ago.  I just walked in the house started the washer and now I am going to work out take a shower and be to work a little early.  That will make up for the few days this week I have been late and for the fact that I am leaving a little early today so we can get out of town. I love that my job is so flexible. Jake's parent teacher conferences were yesterday.  Yup he rocks!  :)  His teacher adores him and he is way above on the benchmarks.  So his teacher raised Jake's goal.  He wasn't all that happy about it but I think it is good for him.  I also got to see some of Victoria's dance class.  She has so much personality when sh

Today was my follow up doctors appointment.  Yup still nothing.  The doctor checked some things but wants me back for more blood work.  She said everything looks good and she came up with 101 reasons why things are going the way they are.  Funny thing she didn't agree with Lee's hypothesis. So I have to go back to Boise on Wednesday.  My insurance may not cover the tests so I may call it good and start over when we have more money.  Although with close to six figures in student loans who knows when we will have more money. We are leaving Friday for Washington.  We won't be back until Tuesday.  There will be racquetball, ice skating, adults only dinner out, fixing a lap top and just spending a nice weekend with friends.   A week from tomorrow I have chapter two due for my thesis.  Really struggling this time around with ideas and getting the whole thing pulled together.  I need to be able to focus and just start writing but it just isn't that simple. 

I just have to say that I love Valentine's Day.  Yes I know that it is so commercialized.  We don't do a lot.  I did buy Lee a small gift and the kids got something small as well.  But that isn't why I love it.  I love it because it means that Spring is right around the corner. I love spring.  I love planting a garden and being outdoors. I love spring cleaning.  This year spring will be exciting with planting the garden, Victoria turning five, the first ever (and possible last) Pitcher garage sale, general conference, Easter and my Graduation.   I am having the party a few months before I get my degree but, NNU only has one graduation a year in May.  So I don't want to wait another year for the ceremony.  I am hoping for other good news this spring.  But no use discussing what may never happen.   Plus I am in quite the discussion with NNU on when I can take final exams.  They are saying that I may not be able to take them in the summer.  Waiting as long as they want m

That is the only word I can use to describe my internship.  It started out rocky but ended up with a job offer.  I must have done something right.  When I was debating on an internship my Program Manager (my boss's boss's boss) encourage me to do my internship with CPS and take a stipend.  It would have been a lot of money but it would have also meant a year commitment AFTER graduation.  Which means at the earliest I would be at the state until August 2012.  I am not saying that I won't be there then I hope not but I want the opportunity to leave without having to pay the state.  There are some things that are in the works that may prove my internship more valuable then we ever ever imagined.    I love the social workers and the case managers.  I am glad that I get to keep working there although not every week like I was before. 

My kids are super crazy tonight.  Not sure what wound them up.  For example:  Jake is in the bathtub and Victoria is on my bed.  She said something way off the wall...She said that five and five is eight.  So I started tickling her.  As she keeps giving wrong answers I kept tickeling.  Then she tells me to stop because she had to pee.  Too late.  She peed on me, her, my quilt which went through to the sheet.  I was laughing so hard that I could barely get the sheet off.  So I had to get Jake out of the bathtub and Victoria in.  I told Victoria she needed a bath because the pee would burn her skin.  She then said "Will there be a fire on my butt?"  Seriously, where do they come up with these things?   So we have prayer, desert and scriptures. Jake then starts using the kitchen table as some sort of gymnastics equipment.  Then some how Jake got attacked by the bathroom drawer.  I go to tuck Victoria into bed and see Jake running from his bedroom to the top of the stairs and t

This week has been so emotional.  Between work and news of horrible horrible things happening.  Then we got news that we knew was coming which was hard to handle but not as hard as in the past.  Plus the first chapter of my thesis was due today and I really struggled with it.  I am not sure what direction I want take it.  But then tonight came news that made me rethink things. Somebody received some horrible awful news.  My heart is breaking for them.  My life just isn't so bad. This week I have hugged my kids a little tighter and a little longer at night.   I love my kids and my husband.  I don't understand why people do what they do.  Why do people hurt the innocent? Plus I am really thinking some major changes in my life.  Lee is supportive of them but due some financial stuff I am not sure that I can do them right now.  But I am hoping by graduation then we will be able to make some big changes.  Change can be so very scary but that is how we grow.  Sometimes we need to p