Where have I been????

I don't think many people are actually following this blog to be honest, but I just looked at it, and remembered that it has been almost 2 months since I have updated this thing at all.  I have a million excuses, and all of them good ones.  The biggest excuse is just that we were MOVING.... but then, I would be lying if I said that I didn't have some down time in the last month and a half.

Here is how it's been for us and what you may have missed along the way:

• We left Hawaii in the beginning of August with a flight into Los Angeles where we met up with my mom and spent a couple of days in Disneyland.  It was a blast.  Jared enjoyed every Mickey filled moment of it.
• We picked up our car in LA and then drove to Las Vegas.  We spent about a week there with my mom, my sister, my dad, and a bunch of friends.  It was a nice relaxing time.
• We left Las Vegas and drove for 8 hours into Hayward, CA, where we were supposed to see Beauty and the Beast and meet my sister in law's soon to be hubby.  By the time we made it to Hayward, I was not feeling well, caught some small virus of some kind, and spent that night on the couch, not feeling so hot.
• We left Hawyard the next day to drive into Nevada City, CA.  This is where Cara got married.  We spent many hours helping with the wedding set-up and then time just enjoying the HUGE amount of family that Brandon had there.  I even met some of the MacDonald side of the family that I had never met.
• We then left Nevada City, and drove 12 hours into Keizer, OR, Brandon's home town.  We were supposed to spend 3 night there, but ended up staying an extra day.
• Then we took off again and drove for 13 hours into Idaho Falls, ID, our new home.  When we got here, we had only what we had in the back of our car.  So, we shacked up in a hotel for 2 nights and enjoyed at least a hot shower and TV.
• We bought some furniture, because we sold most of ours before we left Hawaii.  It was delivered by Saturday (we bought it on Friday), and we were able to at least sleep at the apartment.
• We had some visitors here, Gramma Lei and Papa came and stayed for a few days and just loved on Jared.
• We finally got our household good on Thursday and have spent the last several days unpacking and reliving.

I promise I will try and update more later, and even include some pictures.  For now, this will just have to do.

Brain Purge

• I have a "To Do" list that is way longer than I want it to be and there is no end in sight.
• The emotional part of the move has started for me.  I go through phases.  Sometimes it hits me, and sometimes it feel like we aren't moving at all.
• We STILL have no official word from Idaho.  We are staying strong in our faith and trusting that God will provide us the answers we are seeking.
• I have a plan A, B, C, D, E, F, and G for just about every aspect of this move.
• I don't think Jared has any idea what is coming, only that he gets to go to Disneyland and then visit family.
• I don't think I have any idea what is coming.  Period.
• I have tried to keep myself super organized, and for the most part, I have been, but I know that there are going to be things that I didn't think of, and that frustrates me.
• I have been eating a lot of humble pie lately.  Stress can make me mean, and I am taking it out on all the wrong people.
• Jared favorite thing about this move:  he gets to move suitcases around and sit in them and pack them and unpack them and do it all over again.
• I wanted to be able to move with less than 5 suitcases, and I think we are going to have 6.
• I am going to miss my friends, a lot.  I am older now, and it's a lot harder to make friends than it was when I was 8.  I can't just offer someone a friendship bracelet and ask them to swing with me.
• Oddly enough, I have grown closer to friends rather than pushed them away as the end comes.  I thought for sure I would not want to hang out/talk to most of the people I love out here, simply because it would be easier.  But, I find that I am treasuring each moment I get with these people.
• I feel like all I talk about these days is this move, and that is because that is mostly what is going on in our lives.
• I bought myself a new Bible study book that will demand my time 5 days a week.  I am excited to get closer to God, and maybe let the other things fall away. 
• I wish I knew what tomorrow was going to bring, but for the moment, I am hoping to get through today with less tears, less stress, fewer things on my to do list, and more love than yesterday.

Garbage men are good helpers

I think that Jared must be at the age where he wants to help with everything.  If anything in the house is getting done, he always wants to be in the thick of it.  If there isn't house work to be done (which, let's face it, isn't often), he will treck into the laundry room and take our DIRTY laundry into the living room to be folded.  I do not condone this practice, because it is just nasty. 

Whenever Jared is being a good helper we always praise him and tell him what a big and good helper he is being. 

Now, whenever he asks us for something and we concede, he always tells us that we are a good helper.  It is quite amusing.  He will also tell others that he doesn't know that they are good helpers.  Often to the stares of those strangers who have no clue what he is talking about.

This morning Jared heard the trash truck coming and he sat at the window to watch them pick up all of the trash cans and collect the trash.  As the truck drove away, Jared was sure to tell them what a great helper they were.  That's right, not a good helper, but a great helper.  I had to chuckle into my breakfast.

An Update of Sorts

I guess it is pretty obvious that I haven't been keeping up on my blog very well.  Things have been a little crazy/hectic around here and I have not had a moment to spare. 

We are all moved into the house that we are staying in until we leave the island.  We are so thankful for the friends that we have who have allowed us this extraordinary favor.  Jared is still trying to find new things to get into here, but for the most part, he has settled in nicely.

Shortly after we moved into this house, my mom came to play with us one last time.  We got to celebrate the 4th of July together and do some "sight seeing" with her.  We enjoyed doing some of these things for the last time before our departure from this beautiful island.

Tomorrow Brandon leaves for Idaho to take a test and interview for a position that he is desperately hoping to start working at.  God has opened a lot of doors about this particular place for us, but we are still praying that He leads us where He wants us to be.  I don't do well at night by myself, but then, this too is all part of the process.  I TRUST God enough to know that He has all of our best interests at heart.  He will not lead us astray, and that includes me while Brandon is away.  He won't be gone that long, I think a total of about 63 hours, and at least 20 of those hours he will spend on an airplane or at an airport.  I have the easy part of this job.  I am thankful that Brandon loves us enough to go and pursue this dream.  It would be a wonderful opportunity for all of us, if it works out the way it seems to be.  More details to follow after the interview.

Now for some pictures of the fun we have been having in July:

         Looking at the fish in the aquarium/Getting ready to go swim with the dolphins with Nana

Swimming with the dolphins

Feeding the sea lion

Fourth of July fun

 Looking at the all the hungry fish

Looking at everything going by

Putting Legos together with Nana (building a cool airplane)

Flying a kite for the first time

Loving flying the kite

All tuckered out.

The good, the bad, and the ugly

It is Saturday afternoon, early afternoon, as it is just shortly after the noon hour, and Brandon and I are completely and totally spent.  The packers came to our house yesterday at 8 am and did not leave until after 4 pm.  At the end of it all, our household good filled 4 complete moving crates and still had 3 overflow boxes.  All things considered, that isn't very much, but it sure felt like a lot of stuff.  As I watched them seal the last crate my heart broke just a little bit.

We had to say good-bye to a house that we have built so many memories in for the last 5 years.  For the majority of mine and Brandon's marriage we have lived in that house.  We brought Jared home to that house.  It was the first real place that we called our own. 

I wish I could say that move went smoothly and we are on the other side sore with happiness that everything went as expected.  It didn't.  No matter how much planning I put into the move (and I have a 2 inch binder FULL of stuff pertaining to this move), it wasn't perfect.  I could not plan all the things that happened to us, I just had to find ways to make it all okay.

Here is a list of the good parts, the bad parts, and the UGLY parts of this move:

The Good (it is always a good idea to look at the good parts first): 

• We did not have to pack out our house by ourselves.  In fact, we didn't have to do much packing at all.  Three guys came into our house and packed all of our stuff, and I mean ALL of our stuff.  We only had to be there to supervise.
• We have an amazing friend who lives in Hawaii, but is currently visiting California for a couple of months, and she is letting us use her house as a place to stay and live for the next 40 days until we leave Hawaii.  
• This same amazing friend is allowing us the use of her car once we ship our car.  It is amazing how much money we get to save by not having to rent a car or stay in hotel.
• Brandon was able to take 4 days off to help facilitate the move and make sure that everything ran smoothly.
• We don't have to pay for the downstairs carpet to be replaced.
• Good friends that stepped up and helped out in the ways that we needed most.  

The Bad (these are the things that aren't awful, but still just add a touch of stress to our lives):

• Brandon does not have a job yet.  Right now we are currently starting the next chapter of our lives and we have no idea where it leads us.  It is a BLIND FAITH jump that we are taking.  We trust God and that His timing is perfect, but we'd be lying if we didn't admit to being a little bit stressed about it all. 
• I contacted a woman about coming into clean our empty house, and she agreed (3 weeks ago) to come and clean it for us on Saturday.  Three days ago I tried to get into contact with her again and she never got back to me.  Here it is, Saturday, and my house is not clean.  I did find someone else to come tomorrow, and I am hoping that he actually keeps his word and does what he says he will.
• Jared is CONFUSED.  He is doing well for the most part, but it is hard to see him looking so out of place and unsure about what is going on. 

The UGLY (the stuff that just out and out sucked about the last couple of weeks/days):

• Three weeks ago Jared came down with Pneumonia.  It was awful.  He did not look like he felt well, and it was hard on us as a family to try and keep him quiet so that he could heal.  This was also in the midst of all of our move out appointments and stuff that HAD to take place at a certain time.
• Exactly one week before our move was to take place, Jared got the stomach flu.  It lasted until Tuesday of this week.
• The same day that Jared got the stomach bug, I got bit by a spider and had two large, red welts on my left leg that made it incredibly painful for me to walk, let alone get any of the 50 things on our "to do" list accomplished.  They are still there, a little less painful, but still there.  I am on antibiotics to help with the infection
• The night before the movers are supposed to come and pack us out, so Thursday, Brandon complains of not feeling well.  He, too, struggled with the stomach flu.  
• Here it is Saturday and we still have so much to accomplish at the old house and we are both so physically spent that it is taking hours to get what should only take 30 minutes, accomplished.

One day we'll laugh about all of this.  But for now, we are trying to remember that God is in control and He knows where He wants us and what He expects from us.

Moving Chronicles Pt. 3

With our impending move just about a week away, I find myself wondering if I got rid of enough stuff.  I have tried to repeat the mantra of "purge, purge, purge".  I did not want to ship a bunch of nonsense across the pacific ocean to only make it to our new home and wonder what I was thinking.  We decided to get rid of most of our larger furniture, mainly because most of it was 5-6 years old and had already survived one move.  We have been able to make a little money on some of the furniture.  Yet, I still sit here and wonder if I could have gotten rid of a few more (insert object here).

We have really tried to make the transition easy for Jared.  He's almost 3 and lately it has seemed that a lot of changes have taken place in his world.  It isn't easy explaining to him why some of his favorite people aren't around and why he can't see some of his best friends whenever he wants to because they are visiting grandparents.  No matter how hard we try, the moving transition is going to set him off.  There is no way that watching all of our furniture leave the house piece by piece, or watching his toys slowly dwindle when he wakes up from his naps is going to make my little man happy. 

One thing I forgot, though was boxes.  No, I don't mean that I forget to purchase/acquire boxes, I mean that I forgot the joy that boxes can bring to a little person.  Jared has been finding many many ways to use the left over boxes/rubbermaid bins that have been left empty while I go in search of things to fill them with.

Top Ten Things I LOVED About Today

I feel like so many of my posts over the last couple of weeks have been me complaining about SOMETHING.  I wanted to write a post tonight about wonderful things.  Today has been an awesome day.  It has literally been filled with people I love and family time I crave.  Here are the top ten things that helped me feel happy and full today!  These are in no particular order.

• Getting to talk to Dustin.  He's my brother.  No, not biologically, but he's still my brother.  He knows most of my secrets and loves me anyway.  We don't talk nearly as much as we should, and every time we do, I walk away remembering why I love him so much.  He is a good man.  If I could move him wherever I were to move for the rest of my life, I would.  Creepy, I know, but that is the kind of person he is, I just want to be near him during my life.

• Talking to my mom.  I DO talk to her everyday, but for some reason, today it felt different.  I love talking to my mom.  We even talked on Skype today.  It's nice to see her face every once in awhile.  She is coming to visit in July, and I cannot wait.  

• Going to the Waikele outlets specifically to let Jared ride the quarter operated machines.  The smile on his face was worth the $5 in quarters we spent on the stupid rides.

• Cleaning out closets and getting closer and closer to the day that we are going to move out of here.  While cleaning I found a letter that Dustin wrote to me our senior year in high school.  I read it and, once again, remembered why I love him so much.  I also saw a picture of a former best friend and I playing the tuba.  It brought back memories.  I don't want to go back, but it's nice to reminisce from time to time.

• Falling in love with my husband again.  I do this every single day, and today was no different.  He's a good man.  He makes my life complete.  He reminds me to be a better mother and a better person.  I am so lucky to call him my husband, and I will for the rest of my life.

• Talking to my Amy.  She's my sister.  Yes, biologically.  When she lived in England, I talked to her ALL the time, and yet, now that she lives in Vegas, we hardly ever talk anymore.  So, it was nice to hear her voice, talk about life, and remember why I love having a sister like her.  We are so much alike in some ways that it is scary, yet, different enough to know that we are completely different people.  I love her.

• Feeling the relief of being able to cross a TON of stuff off of our "To Do List" for this upcoming move.  Still so much to do, but it is much less than it was.

• Jared is still steadily getting better.  The pneumonia sucks, but I am thankful the his pediatrician knows what he is going and continues to give Jared the care that he needs.  

• Talking to Gramma Lei/Mom Payne.  She left Hawaii a couple of weeks ago now to a shower of tears.  My life here in Hawaii hasn't quite been the same since.  Although, she has kept her word and called me once a week.  I love hearing her voice.  She reminds me to hang on just a little tighter to things that I may want to let go of.  She also demands that I stop stressing about things and just let God sort it all out.  Tomorrow is her birthday.

• Personally having a growth day.  A day where I could feel myself fitting into the life that I want to fit into.  I love the people in my life, and I don't let them know enough.  Today, I got to tell several of them, and that makes me personally happy.