backstory: the facts

my laptop died a slow death over the summer. thankfully it held out until Daniel got his first paycheck at the end of September, but it needed replacing. I'm now posting from my new tablet. it is great at surfing the internet, but the lack of keyboard makes it a little less functional for blogging. I'm slow at typing, and unsure how to add pictures from my camera (maybe its as easy as moving an sd card...i just haven't tried it).

so anyway, in the months wherein I wasn't blogging, several really great things happened for our family. the most exciting was that we got to move! with Hannah so mobile and busy all the time, our apartment was feeling smaller and smaller, and i kept thinking of more things i didn't like about it. Daniel was on a business trip in Ohio when my mom and I went to check out a duplex/townhouse that i found on craigslist (where else would you look for housing...) It was perfect. Daniel and I had contemplated buying a house, and I had a list of requirements for my house...we had looked at several houses, and none of them matched my list the way this duplex does. It should be good for the next year or two while we work on replenishing our savings to make the eventual homebuying process more comfortable. the Only downside to this move was that we changed wards, which has been sadder than I anticipated. i know it can take a while to mesh with a new ward, so I'm really hoping that before too long we'll feel more at home in our new ward.

the other really great thing that happened was that we became a two car family. which is so wonderful. Hannah and I can now run errands and go to the children's museum and the library whenever we want. to say we are grateful would be an understatement.


Hannah turned one on November 1st, we moved on Daniel's birthday, November 11th, and got the car on the 18th, so it was a pretty busy month, but we are feeling very blessed.

What I've been thinking

I think I'm still a blogger.  I guess by posting this, I'm welcoming myself back into the blogosphere.

I used to blog at my desk at work, during my down time.  Then I quit my job to stay home with my favorite little baby, who is just not so little anymore.  Who is so busy emptying drawers, cupboards, baskets, eating cheerios, walking around furniture, taking one little half step out on her own, and crawling after me wherever I go.

My blog time plummeted, but my life satisfaction skyrocketed.  I regularly have over a hundred posts waiting for me in my google reader.  Sometimes I get it down to seventy or so.  Of course I have free time, but I also have laundry and dishes, and job hunting. Daniel is spending so much time focusing on school, so I've taken over the initial job applications for him.

When I left my job, I knew Daniel didn't have full time employment.  It was a huge leap of faith.   I expected things to go a little smoother on that front.  People say that babies bring blessings.  I don't doubt that, I just had hoped for a specific blessing.  When I quit my job, we had a savings account to hold us over for a while until his job came.  I guessed we'd have about four months worth of savings.

Hannah is now a few days shy of nine months, and that little savings account has lasted and lasted.  I'm continually reminded of the story in the Old Testament where the woman and her son were about to have their last meal and then they were going to die as a result of a famine in the land.  They ended up sharing their meager allotment with one of the Lord's Prophets, and they were sustained through their faith.  Their resources lasted and lasted.  They weren't living comfortably by any standards, and the famine raged on around them.  But they had looked death in the eye, clung to their faith, and they were blessed.

I know my situation isn't nearly as dramatic as that.  We have food to eat, a place to call home, and no fear of losing either.  Yes I'm frustrated.  It's so easy to be discouraged when the perfect interview doesn't lead to a job. It's easy to compare myself to others.  But these feelings aren't productive and they don't lead anywhere happy, so I try to focus on what we have.  The other day after two good interviews and no job offers I was feeling particularly frustrated.  While rocking Hannah with tears streaming down my face, I had the distinct impression that things will work out soon.  I don't know how, or what, or when. All I can do is trust that the Lord has not forgotten about us.  He know's we're having a hard time.  He knows what we need.  I know that we are already more blessed than most, and eventually we'll round a corner, and there will be a light at the end of the tunnel.  It may be dim, but it will be there.

I don't know if Daniel will get a job, or if we'll end up with lots more student loans than we were anticipating.  I don't know the answers, but I do know that through a sustaining faith, things will work out.

So I'll agree with those that say babies bring blessings.  I've never been happier, than I am as Hannah's mother.  This is what I was born to do. So I keep doing it, and exercising faith that as I keep fulfilling my role as mother, the Lord will bless our little family and that our oil will not run out.

I had the greatest thing happen this week.  On Thursday morning in the shower, I was remembering things that I've been meaning to do.  Things that I usually think about right before falling asleep, and then forget all about.  So in this thinking I remembered that I have been meaning to look for a couple things online. One of them is a swim skirt.  I plan on doing a lot of swimming this summer with Hannah (I can't wait to buy a baby swim suit!), and I have some stretch marks that appeared during the third trimester that a swim skirt would cover perfectly.  I'm thinking of something like this.  But that's not the point of this post.  The other thing I remembered that I want to look for, is a pair of red shoes.

Four years ago, I happened upon a perfect pair of shoes.  They were cute and red and comfortable, they went with jeans, skirts, yoga pants, etc. These were shoes that could match anything and everything.  However, the years weren't kind to them.   They were worn and torn and not so waterproof anymore.  Yet I kept wearing them nonetheless.  

 

This story does have a happy ending though.  When I googled red dockers shoes, the first thing that popped up was a brand new pair of these exact shoes in my size on e-bay.  I'm not normally an e-bay person, but I was so pleased to find the perfect replacement for my old shoes that I hurriedly clicked 'buy now' and the next day they showed up on my door step.  It may seem trivial, but I feel so blessed to have found new perfect shoes!

a side by side comparison!

yes, that's Wesley sneaking into the picture. he has boundary issues.