And This is Why I Don't Make Resolutions....

Because I'm very apt to not keep them shortly after I make them!  In my last post I said I wanted to add blogging to my Sunday afternoon activities...well, obviously that didn't happen!  In my defense, though, it's been a little busy...

I was in Georgia to help my sister after the birth of her new baby.  They are adopting a precious little girl who was born on October 30.  Moriah was diagnosed with pneumonia the morning after her birth and was in the hospital for a week, so I went down to help take care of her other two girls.  I won't lie -- it was exhausting at times -- but I am so glad I was able to be there to help.  My time in Georgia included making two tutus for my nieces, hours of Spongebob Squarepants (I hate that show -- honestly, I hate it...I cringed every time the girls asked to watch it!), watching them play outside, supervising school work, and helping with crafts.  And, oh yes -- snuggling babies!  Not just Moriah, but my sister Erin's baby, Parker.  SO much fun to snuggle babies!  It is one of the great joys of life.  I am convinced that people in the world would be so much happier if they would just spend 30 minutes each day snuggling a beautiful, perfect, sweet baby.

Brienna's volleyball season wrapped up on Saturday.  One of her coaches said she was the most improved player from the beginning of the season.  By the end of the season she was starting almost every game.  We could see her improving every week.  She loves volleyball.  Both of her coaches wanted her to try out for club volleyball (travel team).  Unfortunately, though, it turns out that all of their games are on Sundays.  So when Brie's coach approached her about playing on a club team (one of her coaches is on the board of directors for the club program), Brie asked what days they play on. The coach told her they played all of their games on Sunday.  Brie immediately replied that she wouldn't be able to try out, then, because she doesn't do sports on Sunday.  SO proud of her -- she didn't even think twice about it.  We're going to look into some volleyball camps for her for next summer (maybe one at BYU), as well as taking her up to the local volleyball center for their open gym playing time, and whatever else we can do to keep working on her skills during the off season.  I have a feeling her high school years will be filled with volleyball.

And now that volleyball season is over, basketball season is beginning.  No rest for the weary!  LOL  Brie is playing on a team and Mark will be helping to coach a team at church.  He took this year off from coaching high school sports because of my work schedule, and I have a feeling he really misses it.  So this will help him keep his toes in the water until next year when he will start coaching high school sports again.  For the next 8-12 weeks, then, we will be a basketball family.  Mark will be helping with Brie's practices and games (when they don't conflict with his games), plus coaching his boys' team at church, so we'll be busy.  One thing that I like about the basketball league is that parents *must* volunteer to help (or pay an extra $40 or so in registration fees).  So I'll be helping with score keeping, time clock, etc., etc., etc.  Too bad Alyssa isn't here -- she was Mark's clock and score book person for his high school team for a couple of years -- she's very good at it!

Alyssa is doing well at BYU and it seems she has found her footing and rhythm there.  She has a wonderful roommate and I love that they go to the temple together each Saturday morning. How awesome is that???  She's doing better than we are on that front...we haven't been yet since we moved.  We need to do that soon.  She is doing well in her classes and has enjoyed going to BYU football games.  She gets to spend time with her cousin Jordan and his wife and sweet baby, and will be spending Thanksgiving with Mark's family -- a first!  We've never been able to spend Thanksgiving with Mark's family because of coaching schedules, so this will be neat for her.  I love that Alyssa calls home frequently, usually on her way back to her dorm for lunch.  :-)  We miss her terribly but we know she is where she needs to be.

We escaped Hurricane Sandy's wrath.  Really, down here there wasn't much storming going on at all.  We had worse rain and wind during several storms in Georgia.  But better safe than sorry.  It could have been so, so, so much worse if the storm had come ashore farther south than it did.  We were well-prepared for the storm and it was a good exercise in preparedness and got us thinking about the things we would need in case of a serious emergency.  I think we may buy a generator next year. 

We will be going to Georgia for Thanskgiving...just a quick trip...but we're all excited to go home again and see our family (and especially those sweet babies).  I wish the drive wasn't so long, but it's do-able.  And then we'll be back down there for Christmas.  :-)

The weather here is gorgeous today...blue sky and sunshine with light, wispy white clouds.  I see fall colors outside and am reminded of how beautiful this area is.  My menu and grocery list are filled with soups and stews...fall always makes me crave soups and stews.  So off to the grocery store I go...

We Did It!

The move is over.  Actually, it's been over for some time.  We arrived in Virginia on August 1 and are slowly getting unpacked and settled.  Mark really enjoys the school he is teaching at and gets along great with his fellow teachers. There are several other new teachers in the biology department and that has helped -- they all pitch in to help each other out and they get along great.  He tells funny stories about their lunchtime conversations all the time.  I'm glad he's enjoying his new job.  Brie is doing great in middle school and is at the top of her class in pretty much every subject.  She has some really good teachers and a teacher or two who are not quite as good.  As seems to be the case every year, there is always one teacher that is problematic and this year is no exception.  But other than that I think she really likes her new school.  She is playing on the volleyball team and has fallen in love with the sport.  She seems to have a natural ability for it and really enjoys it.  I find that I prefer being a "volleyball mom" over a "soccer mom"...mostly since volleyball is played indoors so we don't have to worry about either roasting or freezing outdoors during her games!  Alyssa is at BYU and making the adjustment to being a college student.  We miss her terribly and the entire experience has not been without growing pains (for all of us) but we know that she will be successful.  She has a wonderful roommate and is close to lots of family, which is nice.  She has enjoyed the football games, even though the football season isn't having the win-loss outcome we would hope for.  My job is ok...I'm doing something different from anything I've ever done before and, truth be told, I'm not really loving my current rotation.  But in another 10 months or so I'll rotate into something else that is more similar to what I really love doing and all will be well.  I am learning a lot, and that's good.  I don't love my commute, though.  It would be fine if I could read on the bus but, sadly, I get motion sickness very easily and just can't do it.  So in the mornings I listen to uplifting music and on the way home I get my fill of show tunes and Broadway musicals.  :-)  I have to get up at 5 am and leave the house by 6 am and I get home just a few minutes after 6 pm.  As a result I am constantly and chronically tired and I miss having more time with my family.  But I have some great coworkers and it all manages to work out.

We are getting settled in our home and have finally finished buying furniture to fill it.  Now it's just a matter of getting pictures up on the walls and finding places to keep everything.  It's been a long time since we've had stairs in our home and going up and down stairs all the time is helping to keep us all in shape.

It is definitely fall here.  The trees are blazing with gorgeous red, orange, and yellow leaves.  The colors are so incredibly vibrant.  It won't be long until winter sets in, and "the locals" are telling us to expect a long, hard winter.  Apparently the Farmer's Almanac is calling for a long, hard winter and, according to at least one person, the incredible abundance of acorns all over the place mean it will be a long, hard winter.  We'll see if that turns out to be the case.  I am hoping it is not!  We need to buy winter coats and boots...we have found that our Georgia "winter" gear is really more appropriate for fall here.  There has already been one morning that we had to scrape frost/ice off the car windows.

One of the things I have made a tradition of since we moved here is going to the local farmer's market on Saturday mornings.  Yes, the produce is (usually) more expensive than the grocery store, but it is SO much better.  And we have tried so many new varieties of tomatoes!  I never knew there were so many kinds out there!  This week we are trying green zebra striped tomatoes (no, they're not green as in unripe -- they're green and fully ripe!).  One of our favorites is "chocolate tomatoes" (named that because of their color, not their flavor) as well as brandywine pink tomatoes.  We've had tie dye tomatoes which are yellow and pinkish/red on the outside *and* on the inside.  Lots and lots of varieties of tomatoes and my goal is to try them all.  :-)  Now that it's fall apples are in season and we have fallen in love with locally grown honeycrisp apples.  We've tried freshly made local mozzarella cheese (well, Mark and Brie tried it!) and Mark even tried (and loved) banana salsa.  Yes, salsa with bananas in it.  No one liked it but him.  LOL

We love our new ward at church.  People have been so warm and welcoming.  Mark is serving as a Primary teacher, Brie was just called as the Beehive class president and I am serving as a RS teacher and ward missionary.  I bet you never expected to see my name in conjunction with those titles!  LOL  Honestly, I never expected those callings (and didn't want them).  But I am finding that I appear to be slowly recovering from my "allergy" to Relief Society.  It helps that our ward has the most incredible RS President.  She is truly amazing and inspirational and I learn something from her every time I hear her speak or give a lesson.  If I can grow up to be even a little like Sis. Tagg I will consider myself to be a success.

My goal is to add blogging to my Sunday afternoon routine that currently includes working on dinner and indexing.  Hopefully I can be better about updating so you can all keep up-to-date on what's happening with us!

On the Road Again....

Well, not me.  But Mark is on the road again and Brie went with him.  They left last night after dinner to drive back up to the Leesburg area to look for a house.  We had to increase our price range a bit (which makes me nervous...) but we actually found more homes that look like possibilities (at least from the MLS listings the realtor sent us) than we did in Woodbridge.  I find that interesting because Woodbridge is so much bigger.  We came up with a list of about 10-12 homes to look at.  Mark and Brie met the realtor at 11 am this morning and at 2:30 I got a text message about one that they really liked.  We talked and I looked at the pictures and we decided to put in an application.  Fingers crossed....

The local is really great...it's about 5 miles from Mark's job, about the same distance from the transportation lot I will be using, 3/10ths of a mile from the church -- which is right across the street from the community pool for the neighborhood, and 1.5 miles from the largest premium outlet mall in Virginia.  Yea!  (Mark is a little worried about that part...LOL)  Mark is hoping the paperwork will go through quickly so he and Brie can head home tomorrow afternoon.  I hope so!

An Eventful Couple of Weeks

Things have been pretty eventful since my last post.  We signed the listing papers for the house on Saturday, 16 June.  The listing went "live" on MLS on Monday, 18 June.  We had a showing that night, two showings on Tuesday, 19 June, an offer (which was insultingly low and we rejected) on Wednesday, 20 June, another showing on Wednesday, a showing on Thursday, and an offer which we accepted on Thursday.  It wasn't quite as high as we wanted but it is a good offer and the timeline matches what we needed.  So our home sold in about five days.  Not bad!  The unfortunate part -- a few days ago a full price offer came in on the house but we can't take it because we already accepted the other offer.  Boo!  But it's nice to know there is interest in the house and all of our hard, hard work paid off.

Friday night, June 23, Mark and I headed north to go on our househunting trip.  We drove to Columbia, SC, that night and stayed at a hotel that is usually known for a high level of customer service and good customer experience.  The customer service was fine....customer experience, on the other hand, was not so fine.  The hotel was completely booked due to two conventions and a wedding.  I had to call down to the front desk around midnight or 1 am because it sounded like there was a party, complete with a football marching band and drum line, in the hallway.  We didn't get much sleep because it was so loud.  We got up Saturday morning and tried to find a Chick-Fil-A to get some breakfast...no such luck.  I think our GPS doesn't like downtown Columbia.

We drove to Virginia and went to stay with an online friend of mine.  She lives in Maryland, just two and a half blocks away from the border with the District of Columbia.  We drove by the Pentagon (wow, it's huge!), saw the Capitol and Washington Monument, and drove through downtown DC.  That was an interesting experience.  My friend and her family were so kind and welcoming and her son and husband made a lovely dinner for us.  They live in a neat community and it is a completely urban lifestyle -- something Mark and I have never experienced before.

Sunday morning we got up and headed toward Woodbridge in Prince William County, which is where we had narrowed our housing search.  We scouted out a few neighborhoods and rental properties and went to church in one of the wards there.  It was a friendly, inviting ward in a lovely new chapel.  The gospel doctrine class was great -- there were only about 10-12 of us in the class, but the entire class was filled with discussion from the class members, whereas in our ward we don't get as much discussion.  I think part of it was the small size of the class and part was the fact that the class was in a room and not the chapel with everyone spread out.  Whatever it was, I enjoyed it.  After dinner we scouted a few more areas and went to dinner at the home of someone I will be working for in my new job.  He and his wife and children were very kind and sweet and we enjoyed spending time with them.  They were able to give us great information about the area, neighborhoods, where to shop, etc.  My only regret is that it looks like we won't be living there after all (see a few paragraphs down), because I was looking forward to having them over for dinner and offering to watch their children so they could go to the temple....

On Monday we met with our realtor and visited several homes.  Some of them were strange...like having the ceiling in each room painted the same color as the walls (pea green, or purple, or aqua, or yellowish peach...).  Some were in neighborhoods we just didn't love.  But we found one that we liked and we really liked the area.  We decided to look at it again the next day.  So back to the hotel we went.

On Tuesday we went and looked at the house again and decided to put in an application.  Then we drove around to different schools so Mark could try to meet the principals in his job search.  It was not a fruitful afternoon -- jobs that were posted as being available had already been filled.  It was frustrating.

On Wednesday we spent the day driving to Stafford County to check on jobs there (same result as Tuesday), and going to more schools in Prince William County (same result as Tuesday).  I ended up getting carsick and wasn't much fun at all.  I had poor Mark leave me at a small strip mall so I could be out of the car while he went to visit another school.  It was pretty frustrating and we decided that we would leave to go home on Thursday, with Mark continuing his job search the next week, possibly by coming back to the area.

Thursday morning the realtor called and needed supporting documentation for our lease application so we got that together and then went by the school district office so Mark could talk to someone in their HR department.  Again, not very fruitful.  They had no explanation for why they continued to post jobs that had already been filled and told him he needed "face time" with the principals.  Except it's hard to get "face time" when you live in a different state....  We headed to the mall to get some lunch and then something interesting happened.  As we were leaving the mall, my cell phone rang.  It was a principal in another county calling to schedule a job interview for Mark.  We weren't sure what to do so he told her he would call her back.  We found a wifi connection and looked up the area on the map and decided to go ahead and drive up there and check things out.  It was the first solid job lead we had had all week.

We drove to Loudoun County, about 45 minutes away.  Mark called and left a message for the principal that he wanted to interview and that we would be in the area that afternoon and the next morning.  We got to the area and drove through a quaint, historic downtown area and then got to the school, which is huge and new and gorgeous.  Mark was very impressed with the turf on the football field.  :-)  Unfortunately, the principal wasn't available and my anxiety level steadily increased throughout the afternoon/evening as she didn't return Mark's call.  All of my frustrations and worries over this move came to a head and I had a lovely breakdown.  Not proud of it, but that's what happened.  Poor Mark had to put up with a lot of that on this trip.  I have learned that I DO NOT like change, uncertainty, and moving!

Friday morning Mark decided to go to the school and wait until the principal could see him.  It was the right decision because when the principal arrived at the school she said she would interview him right then.  The interview must have gone well because she said she wants Mark to teach at her school and she is going to forward his name to the school district office to fill the job.  YEA!!!  So it looks like we have a job....in a different county than the house.  We still haven't heard back on whether we got the house or not.  We liked the house and the planned community it was in, so that's sad.  But it's just too far away.  So now we need to find a house in Loudoun County (Leesburg area).  Mark will go back up there this week to meet with a realtor and hopefully be able to find a house quickly.  We are impressed with the schools, at least from the information on their website, and Brie is especially happy that middle school doesn't start until 8:30, unlike the 7:30 start time here.  It is an expensive area to live and I'm a little apprehensive about that, but we have to go where the job is.

All in all, it was an interesting week filled with lots of growth opportunities!!!

On the Market

The for sale sign went up in the yard yesterday.  The house feels so empty -- it actually seems to echo in the kitchen.  Mark, Alyssa, Melissa, Bryan, and my parents worked SO hard to get the house ready.  (Brie and I helped, but they definitely did the bulk of the work.)  The challenge now is to keep the house clean so it can be shown on very little notice.  We're hoping to get people looking at it soon.  The house will go into the computer system on Monday so hopefully the realtor will start getting phone calls....our fingers are crossed.

It is so strange to be in a house so empty and so clean.  LOL  It doesn't feel lived in at all.  It feels sterile and boring.

Brie is home from girls' camp and had a relatively good time overall, although she definitely didn't like the campground they used for camp this year.  Sounds like there were a lot more bugs than there were at the campground they went to last year.  The house was too quiet with her gone this week.

Mark and I will be driving up to Virginia next Saturday to do a house hunting trip.  Should be interesting....I keep hearing about how horrible the traffic is going to be in the area we're looking at, like two hours to go 10 miles on a Saturday...and that makes me nervous.  But it's just too expensive to live in some of the other areas that are closer in and have less traffic.

This has been an emotional week.  I definitely could have used my ballet classes this week to clear my mind and focus on something else for a while!  I really want a beach trip soon...not in the cards for this coming weekend, but maybe the next weekend or the next....

A Little Progress.....

Well, we seem to be making progress, although at times it is hard to tell.  The major accomplishment over the last few days was Mark, with the help of Alyssa, Bryan, and my Dad, getting the new kitchen and laundry floor put in, and the new kitchen countetops are almost done.  Still lots of painting and touch-up work to be done in the kitchen but it's getting there. The challenge now is to figure out what needs to go back into the kitchen and the cabinets and what can be put in boxes, so that it looks like there is as much room in there as possible.  I feel like we're doing all the work that the movers are going to be paid to do, boxing things up.  It's quite frustrating.

The girls' bedrooms are getting there, also.  Alyssa still needs to sort through and box up more clothes and shoes, but the main cleaning is done.  I haven't started on our bedroom yet, really.  I guess I'm going to work on that this afternoon, as much as I hate to do that on a Sunday.  We're just running out of time.  The realtor is coming over tomorrow night to get the paperwork signed to list the house.  We haven't even started on the outside.  And all of the wood trim throughout the entire house needs work...patching up, filling in, and painting all of it.  Not to mention that the hall needs to be completely repainted, and the living room and kitchen need to be touched up and the master bathroom needs to be repainted.  *Sigh*
There is just SO much to do, and at times (ok, always) it is overwhelming.  People keep asking if they can help but I don't even know where to begin to take them up on the offered help.  I wish I had a master checklist and I could just make copies, hand it to people, and tell them to just pick something on the list and do it.

Mark still hasn't heard anything on job interviews, and that makes me nervous.  He is a good teacher and very marketable, but it makes me anxious that we're moving somewhere so incredibly expensive and he doesn't have a job lined up yet.  Prayers would be greatly appreciated.

A Colorless Home

The dining room (formerly cranberry on the bottom half of the walls) has been painted the same color as the living room, entry area, and hall...the girls' bathroom (formerly a lovely aqua/sky blue) has been painted that same color, and so has my scrapbooking room (formerly light yellow) and Alyssa's (formerly hot pink) bedroom, and Brie's (formerly aqua/sky blue but not the same as the bathroom) bedroom.  All a perfectly lovely but perfectly boring shade of tan/beige/whatever.  The color is very, very close to Benjamin Moore brand paint in "Lenox Tan".

I have observed to Mark several times in the last week or so that this just doesn't feel like our home anymore.  Tonight, while fixing dinner with me, both girls made the exact same comment.  It just doesn't feel like our home.  It is still our house, but it just isn't our home.  The pictures will be coming down off the walls and all traces that the Gisseman family made this their cozy home for the last 11 1/2 years will soon be gone.  It's so sad.

Our home is not large, it was not overly expensive, and it is not elaborately furnished.  We're pretty sure it's the smallest home in our subdivision.  There are things I would definitely do differently if we were to rebuild this home.  It's always messy, although I prefer to say that it looks well-loved and lived in.  I never wanted a home that was always pristine and showed no signs that a family actually LIVED in it.  I have at least succeeded at that, LOL. 

But this has been a good home.  It is where letters to Santa were written, where the Tooth Fairy knew to find us, where Brie learned to ride a bike and Alyssa was picked up on her first date.  It is where we planted and tended a garden and enjoyed the fruits (and vegetables) of our labors.  It is where my children made friends and had sleepovers and parties.  It is where we piled on the couch with the dogs to watch movies and TV.  It is where we have made many happy memories.  It has been our home. 

The memories will go with us...at least those that we remember and can take time to write down.  But this house is more than just its walls and doors, windows and floors, creaks and quirks.  This house has been a loyal member of our family for 11 1/2 years and I know I will miss it.

As I opened Alyssa's bedroom door this morning to let one of the dogs out, it didn't really hit me that it would probably be the last time I would be greeted by the glow of her hot pink (really, really hot pink) walls in the morning as the light came through her window.  As I walked by Brie's bedroom this morning, it didn't really occur to me that it would probably be the last time I would be greeted by the cheerful blue of her walls.  My girls' bedrooms, and the colors of those rooms, reflected their personalities.  Alyssa -- glamour, girly, dramatic (not in the sense of having drama in her life, but in the sense of wanting to make a statement with her life).  Brienna -- bright, sunny, full of life.

And now, this evening, those rooms are colorless.  Resigned to boring beige, which the realtor assures us will help the house sell quickly.  The house will be a blank canvas for another family, who hopefully will build a life and and memories of their own, and turn this house into a home again.

Ballet

It's very quiet here this morning. I usually sleep in a bit on Sundays since we don't have church until 1 pm, but this morning I woke up around 6:30 and found myself tossing and turning and unable to get back to sleep. That could be because I'm so sore from this weekend's activities. No, not preparing for the movie. I performed in a dance recital. Yes, you read that right. Me, in a costume, on stage, in front of people. Surprisingly, I really wasn't nervous at this recital like I was at the first two I performed in. In fact, I found it odd that I didn't really feel nervous at all, other than the last couple of minutes before the curtain went up for our first piece. I don't know if it was because I knew that this was probably my last chance to do something like this (who knows if I'll be able to find a studio with adult classes at my skill level in Virginia...), or what. But I wasn't nervous. (Thank goodness for prayer!)

All week long I had been reviewing the steps in my head as I went about my various activities, but even as late as Thursday night I was struggling to remember the order of the steps in our tap routine. I finally got them. We performed three numbers (one of them twice) at dress rehearsal on both Friday and Saturday -- one en pointe, one ballet, and one tap. It was fun and I cried and cried when it was over (in the car on the way home) because it was over and I will miss this part of my life and the wonderful friends I have made through it. Either my daughters or I have been going to Ms. Patricia's School of Dance and Gymnastics almost every year since we moved here 12 years ago. Patricia is one of the sweetest people I know. Brie started taking tumbling there again this spring and will take a "summer fun" tumbling series there this summer. This year, after some personal struggles, I thought I was going to have to give up my beloved ballet classes but Patricia came to me and said that she just wouldn't let me quit and she knew how much I needed those Monday night dance classes and she made it possible for me to continue to dance. I am forever grateful for that. And my teacher, Ms. Beth -- oh, how I love her. She has been my teacher, my therapist, counselor, example, friend, and one of the most giving and kind people I know. Even as she struggled with severe health problems earlier this year and had to cancel classes for a month, she always had a smile on her face and strong, strong faith. I love how she ended each class with a prayer, all of us in a circle holding hands as she said a prayer of gratitude and prayed for whatever needs individual class members had at the time. She is so sweet and I will miss her. I am planning to meet with her a few times this summer so she can help me choreograph a barre workout that I can do at home (did you know most kitchen counters are the right height to be used as a subsitute barre?) so I can at least keep up my basic ballet, pointe, and tap skills.

I really don't know how to explain why I love dance so much. One thing I like is that it is exercise but it doesn't feel like regular exercise. I can't explain that...I know it sounds silly. It is a very disciplined art...controlled movements requiring exact placement and movements. I think, honestly, it can take a lifetime to truly master it. But there is something very freeing in movement that is so controlled. As I focus my mind on muscle control, posture, feeling the rhythm of the music, body position, and movement, all of my other cares and concerns flee and for that hour and a half all I feel is joy -- really, that's the best way I can describe it. Joy. The endorphins at the end help, too! I am usually sore at the end but it's a good kind of sore. And I am definitely sore today!!! I ache all over -- especially my feet -- but it is a good feeling. The kind of feeling where you know you accomplished something wonderful.

I am not comfortable having my family watch me dance. I think that makes them unhappy, but really, I dance for ME -- solely for ME. I know that is selfish. But if they are there (and I know because they were at my first recital), I am worried about not messing up and wanting to be perfect for them and it changes the experience for me. I lose that inner focus on the dance and movements and the motion and the joy. For my Christmas recital this year, I didn't even tell them when/where the recital was! I finally broke down and told Mark yesterday morning when/where the recital was (he knew it was yesterday but that's all he knew) but told him that he didn't have to come, and if he did come, I did NOT want to know about it in advance. Crazy? Maybe. But when I dance, even though there are other people in the class and in the performance, I selfishly dance just for me and for what it does for me personally.

So yesterday, I asked one of the girls in my class to take a picture as we were warming up so that I could prove to everyone that I really did put on a costume and perform. She took the picture with my phone and I posted in to Facebook. One of my friends took the picture and edited it and made it really wonderful....she got rid of the people in the background and made this something beautiful that I love. And so here it is.... Yes, I'm not looking at the camera. Why? I don't know -- it just felt too posed and unnatural. I was trying to figure out what to do with my head and arms when Amber took the picture. And I like it this way.

Door Knobs and Drawer Pulls and Hinges, Oh My!

An update on this week's adventures in moving preparations.... -Why is cabinet hardware so expensive? And why can't door hinges for cabinets be universal? Because changing out hinges is such a huge hassle (as we learned when Mark refinished the vanity in the master bathroom), we decided to leave the hinges as they are in the kitchen and just replace the cabinet door knobs and drawer pulls with something in some sort of antique bronze or hammered bronze or something that would go with the old looking hinges. It has been a real effort to find something that would work. Mark finally found something that will do. No what I would use if we were staying here, but at this point in time it's the best we can find. Cabinet hardware is SO expensive. It's crazy to pay that much for a cabinet door knob. -And speaking of door knobs, I wanted to change out all of our door knobs throughout the house to brushed nickel or satin nickel but the price for that was crazy, too -- $400 if we had purchased everything through eBay. At this point in time, with the discouraging price forecast for our honme, I'm just not able to spend $400 on door knobs. And, of course, switching out the door knobs would have meant also switching out the hinges.... -The dining room is now painted and looks like a generic dining room. We had a beautiful cranberry color on the bottom half of the walls. It is now gone. The girls' bathroom is now painted -- no more aqua blue. Now it's the same tan color the rest of the house will be. It looks so strange and impersonal to me. I am looking for a new light fixture for their bathroom. -Mark re-popcorned the ceiling in the master bathroom yesterday and he did a great job. It's nice being married to a handyman!! -We met with the realtor again and she has done a downward adjustment on what she thinks we can quickly sell the house for. We will be lucky to break even. I need to get in touch with the government relocation program office to ask more questions about closing costs and things like that. If it turns out that we're going to lose money if we sell, we will probably just try to rent the house for a while instead. *Sigh* -My husband is now unemployed. STRESS! We are hoping to hear very soon from one of the several school districts he has applied to. We know we are supposed to make this move and so I am trying hard to hold onto my faith and to hope and not get discouraged, but it is hard at times. The tears have flowed on more than one occasion. But we will press forward and hope and pray for the best. -I really need a trip to the beach but won't be able to do that until the house is on the market. I'm so in need of some beach time!

Remind Me Why I'm Doing This....?????

The next time I get the hare-brained idea to apply for a job that will require me to move my family 750 miles away, sell our home, start a new job, and look for a new job for my husband, please knock me over the head with a 2x4, because maybe -- just maybe -- that will knock some sense into me. Actually, I'm going to blame this one my Mark and Dad who seem to have really pushed the idea. Dad, are you trying to get rid of us? I am trying so hard to have faith but there are times, like this very moment, when it's so very hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel. As of May 30 my husband will be unemployed, since he is leaving a perfectly good, stable, secure teaching job so we can move. Not only is he leaving his teaching job, but giving up the opportunity to be head boys basketball coach at the school where he teaches -- something he has wanted to be as long as I have known him. I am having a pessimistic moment. We have SO much work to do to get this house ready to sell. We have SO much work to do to get this house ready for my in-laws' visit -- and they arrive tomorrow. No sleep for me tonight. I have been having some health issues and saw my orthopedic surgeon today to get some test results. They don't look good. In the big scheme of things it's not horrific, but right now it's just not good. I will be seeing a rheumatologist in the near future, I suppose, for further testing and hopefully a diagnosis. Rheumatoid arthritis is a definite possibility, along with other joint problems. My husband does not have a job where we are going. We have moved like this before -- with him not having a job lined up before we moved -- and it worked out fine, as he is wont to remind me regularly as I have these pessimistic moments. But I would feel so much better about things if the school district there would at least call and schedule an interview for him. Just something to give me a little hope on that front. Alyssa is graduating from high school on Saturday. And the tears are already starting. I'm not ready for this. I haven't done enough to prepare her for the real world. I haven't done enough to prepare her to live on her own. I'm stressed about paying for the expenses that her scholarships won't cover (but in good news, she received another $1000 scholarship this week). There is so much to do right now, and just not enough time to get it done. Although I am continually blessed with answered prayers, the one prayer that has not been answered is my prayer for more hours in a day, less need for sleep, and more strength and energy to do the things that really, truly must be done ASAP. Oh, and did I mention that I have to speak in church on Sunday? And haven't had a chance to start writing my talk yet? And that I'm also playing the piano for seminary graduation Sunday night, where Alyssa will be singing in a group number? Yeah, I think it will be rather difficult to see the sheet music through the tears. Here's a word of advice -- just leave well enough alone. Maybe "good enough" is just that -- good enough. But on the other hand, there is a huge world of adventure out there just waiting for us...if we can just manage to hold on long enough to get there.

So Much to do in the Next Two Weeks!

It looks like our house will go on the market in about two weeks. SO much to do before then! Thank goodness my dear sister Melissa and her husband Bryan are going to be here to help us out. The project list: -Paint pretty much the entire house -Touch up all trim work through the entire house -Clean (spotless!) the entire house, including scrubbing the baseboards -Have the carpents professionally cleaned -Lay new flooring in the kitchen and laundry room -Order/install new countertops in the kitchen -Ceiling touch-up work (fortunately, it doesn't look like we'll have to scrape and redo the ceilings in some of the rooms like we thought since it looks like the faulty tape work can be fixed without having to redo everything. I hope so!) -Install new doorbell -Weed the flowerbeds and put down pine straw, and more flowers in the front beds -Declutter, dejunk, and pack up much of what is in the house -Fix outdoor wood trim and columns that need to be fixed I'm already exhausted. We may have to have a couple of "work party" days and ask for volunteers, although I really didn't want to have to do that. I don't like asking people to help with things like that, although several people have kindly offered. The realtor vetoed the flooring and countertops we had picked out and made a different suggestion. I like her suggestion, but I'm having a hard time picking out flooring to go with the countertops she recommended. I am not good at all at putting colors/textures/patterns together. I'm going to ask her to come back one more time before we order everything to get her stamp of approval on the things we picked out. I don't want to spend a lot on something that isn't going to look good. As for the selling price of the house, this is one of those moments when I'm kicking myself over our dealings with our builder. He cut two feet off of the house but we didn't fight him for a price reduction. We should have. There are other things we should have fought him on. We won't make as much as I had hoped on the sale of our home, but we're really hoping we won't lose money on it. If the Government ends up having to buy the house it looks like we WILL lose money, so we need to have this house in optimal condition when it goes on the market and priced right. We absolutely can't afford to lose money on this house!!! This is such a stressful process and I constantly find myself questioning my sanity and why we're doing this in the first place. I know this move is the right thing to do -- deep down -- but I find my faith wavering when faced with the prospect of potentially losing money on our home and Mark not having a job in Virginia yet. STRESS...much prayer, and many tears.

Projects for this Weekend....

Now that it looks like our move date is more official (we will leave here on or about July 29 or 30), it is really time to get to work on preparing for this move. The biggest job is getting the house ready to sell. Have I ever mentioned how grateful I am for a husband who is truly a handy man? There are very few home repairs that he cannot do. Evidence: He fixed our broken dryer a couple of weeks ago and he is now waiting on a part to fix our broken washer. He has spent countless hours stripping and preparing our bathroom ceiling to be re-popcorned. He has been working in the yard and on all sorts of other little projects. He stripped and painted the vanity in our master bathroom. We are going to be painting several rooms in the house and he can do that...we are going to put down new flooring in the kitchen and he can do that. It's so nice to be able to save money on those kinds of things! We are meeting with a realtor tomorrow to talk about what we need to do to get the house ready to go on the market. We already know we need to clean, paint, put in a new kitchen floor and countertops, declutter, get as much stuff out of the house as possible, and spruce up the flower beds and things like that. But we want the realtor to give us suggestions on paint colors and any other "quick fixes" we can do (inexpensively) to get the house ready to go on the market. We can't put the house on the market until I have my PCS orders, and that could be the end of next week. We won't have everything done by then, obviously, but we are hoping to at least get a good start. A huge blessing in our lives -- my sister Melissa and her husband Bryan. They're coming here in early June and have promised to spend lots of their time helping us with the house. We are so grateful that they are willing to give up some of their summer vacation time to help us! So the projects for tonight and tomorrow morning are as follows: -Clean the kitchen, clear the counters and top of the stove, and around the computer desk. -Clean the living room, dining room, hallway, and bathrooms, including dusting and vacuuming really well. -Pick up the girls' bedrooms (easier said than done for Alyssa since she's in New York City for a few days! I think I'll just put everything on her floor in a big box and she can deal with it when she gets home.) -Pick up our bedroom. Also on the list for this weekend -- addressing Alyssa's graduation announcements and getting those in the mail. And submitting some job applications online for Alyssa. We have got to find that girl a job! Here's hoping we have a productive weekend!

A New Adventure...A New Beginning for Blogging

In case you haven't heard the news yet, we are moving this summer. Wow...it was a lot harder to type that than I thought it would be. I have accepted a job in the Washington, DC area and so we will be moving. I never in a million years thought we would leave this small town, but Heavenly Father obviously has other things in mind for us. I had put together a list of conditions that I thought were nearly impossible for any job to meet, and this one has met them. We have spent much time in prayer and pondering, have been to the temple, and have fasted about it and we know it's the right decision. That doesn't make it less scary...and, in fact, I'm learning that it can often be scary to do the right thing. But we do have the peace of knowing it is the right decision. No, Mark doesn't have a job yet. That's what I'm praying for right now. That and that our house will sell quickly and not at a loss! I decided I'd better get better about blogging since this will be a great way for our family and friends to keep up with us after the move. So what have we been up to lately? Well, Alyssa is getting ready to graduate from high school. She has received many awards and honors and is her class salutatorian (which means she has to give a speech at graduation). She will be attending BYU this fall (full tuition scholarship!!). Brienna is finishing up 7th grade and has had straight As all year, as well as being captain of the academic team, on the basketball team and soccer team, and pretty much being involved in any school activity she can find. Mark and I continue to work and work and go to the girls' activities. A run down on where we're at on the move so far... I have packed three boxes of books and a box of my sweaters. The girls have packed some of their winter clothes. We painted the shutters and front door and Mark is working on prepping ceilings to be painted. We have SO much to do and it's really incredibly overwhelming. We are meeting with a potential realtor on Saturday and we'll see what she has to say. One thing that has been impressed upon me in this process is to always listen to the Spirit, even in small and seemingly unusual promptings. Especially in small and unusual promptings. Case in point -- about a year ago I felt impressed to start working on updating our home. The impression was to work on one room each month, putting in a little money to redo paint, replace some of the light fixtures in the house, decluttering, and generally just sprucing things up. I had the best intentions...but didn't follow through. The prompting continued to come and yet I didn't follow through. Things are always so busy and there wasn't much time or money for things like that. And so I didn't do it. In January I started a decluttering group on Facebook and I've done a pretty good job at following through on that, and so that has helped. But then when we found out at the end of April that we would be moving this summer, I really, really, really, really began wishing that I had listened to and followed those promptings to work on the house -- decluttering, deep cleaning, and updating. Because, had I followed through on the promptings, we wouldn't be stuck right now trying to do about a year's worth of deep cleaning, updating, and decluttering in just a couple of weeks and on a shoestring budget. *Sigh* Lesson learned the hard way!