Why can't things ever be normal for like...FIVE MINUTES?!?!

OK, so It's ten after eleven at night, and I can't sleep. My mind's Going in a hundred different directions. So I've told myself that I am going to blog this while its all happening, so that I can learn from this-hopefully (there's GOT to be a lesson in this or I might lose it!)- and then that's it. I need to go to bed, or tomorrow is going to be even worse than today. For those of you who don't want to listen to my complaints and rantings-NOW is the time to stop reading, and go see who else has something a bit cheerier to read about. Well, where to start...oh yes- Paul lost his job today. I have to say that i was pretty upset when he came home, but I've really tried to keep a lid on it, as I know Paul feels bad and that he wants to be that good provider for us and not have to worry. He is, I just don't want him to think that I think otherwise-if you're still following me. I definitely have not been so great at it today, but I am trying. It's just that this is about the worst time-which I now know is the PERFECT (with clenched teeth) time to have this kind of thing happen. I understand that his work is slowing down and that there is not enough work for everyone and he was the last hired-which means first fired-its just that I wish they would have gotten their act together a little sooner. Like even a week. This past Monday, Paul's next school term started, and he could have been in it, which would be great, but now that he has missed a week, there's no catching up, and he can't go till the fall. They have also given him five more days of work, which really isn't much. At least if they had done this a week ago, maybe we could have had a little more time. Maybe I should explain why the fact that April first is in five days is an even bigger deal than just getting another job. Paul called every shop in the Grande Prairie area today, and not one of them is hiring. it's just that there are too many shops around here, and not enough work to go around. not to mention that winter is the busy time in the auto body business, meaning that work slows down this time of year, even without the recession on top of that. Less people are paying to fix the cosmetic things on their cars. It's really only when absolutely necessary. I mean, we've been hearing about this whole recession thing for a while now, I just never pictured it hitting us, I don't really know why. Anyway, that means we have to move. Away. Next closest place? Edmonton. Five hours away from here. That means that Paul has a week to find a job and we need to find a place by next week in a city we don't live in that we aren't even close to. Also-it's the weekend, which means that dealing with money and getting people on the phone becomes much more difficult. But most of all, we don't want to leave. Paul has finally gotten to a place here where he has a calling that he loves (he really loves his scouts and doesn't want to leave his boys), and where he feels like he can go to church and he knows people and he is happy and comfortable. My parents are here, and we are there a lot, and we're going to miss them a lot. I feel like I have been closer to my family-especially my mom in the last few months than I have ever been. I'm really going to miss that. They are going to miss us-especially Amelia, and I wish for her too, that we could stay here with them, because she loves them so much and will miss them too. It just feels like we were starting to really have plans and to build a life here, and now that is gone-again. I just wish that we could just settle down for a while and stay put. I hate this moving all over the place and uprooting our lives every few months. But I guess that phase of our lives is just not over yet. So I guess that means that this is our very last Sunday living here, and that I've got to pack us up in a week and we are moving next weekend. I'm just not ready yet. But it will have to be. We have so many things going on, I just want this all to be done with. We finally get to bless Amelia this Sunday, and I'm glad we get to do it while we are still here, for my parents sake, and to be with all of those we have gotten to know here. And we are booked to go to the temple on the Easter weekend. I'm going through for my endowments on Friday night, and then we are going to be sealed as a family on Saturday morning. We have been waiting for this for so long and had to move it back, that Paul has just kept on saying that this has been so long coming and will be so good for us that Satan is using his best opposition against us. I totally get this-in my head. Sometimes it feels like my heart is a little slow on the intake though. It's just not catching up so fast. It will be a crazy next couple of weeks, hopefully things will be a little cooler in may. On the OK side, we found a really nice basement suite in the North end which is reasonably close to a shop that is hiring. It's in a brand new home, and is at a price that we can afford. It is 950 sq ft and has 2 big bedrooms. It will be a lot bigger for us, since we barely have 300 sq ft now, even for the three of us. It has several things we wish we had now, like a bedroom, a closet, a bathtub (currently we don't even have a shower or tub-it's in renovation, and we go across the driveway to my parent's house to shower), and a living room that's not the same room as the kitchen and dining room-all three are in one room the size of a bedroom right now! There are also 2 washers and 2 dryers for the house so I don't have to cart the laundry everywhere to do it. I'm trying to stay positive and not get really upset, even though I'm scared and nervous and stressed about all of this. I guess I'll just have to go on faith and keep praying, i don't really have another option, Do I? Guess this is how the Lord forces us to rely on Him. Maybe that's what this is about....

Well, Edmonton, here we come!

The Results Are In!!

Last weekend was the kub car rally here in grande prairie, and as you know, Paul and his 11-year old scouts participated in it. Paul had a lot of fun, and there were lots of kids there. He ended up winning the fastest leader and best in show of the leaders. He even won a trophy which is now proudly sitting on our windowsill with his ribbon. It's the first trophy he has ever won and he's so happy! He ended up racing all of his scouts and the cubs from our ward and even beat all of them. One of his scouts won third overall for their truck category and one of the cubs won second overall. They had a super fun day, and he had lots of stories to tell! Here are some pics from their day!
racing another one of the leaders
a good view, it looks like only one light is working, but they both do, one is just really dim for some reason
the truck and trophy

some of the kub cars that were there, not a great picture though

Sweet Surprize

OK, so Paul and I have been trying really hard in the last few months to pat of some of our debts and things so we can save to buy a house. It has been hard to do since we've been together. Paul has gone to school two times since we met and I've had two years of post-secondary. Thing is, when paul goes to school, he makes no money. We apply for EI and all we can, but somehow it's never even close to enough. It always seems like by the time the two months are over we don't even have a dollar to our name, and there are more than a few bills that need to be paid. Somehow things always come up. Like last year paul went to school from the end of April to the middle of June. He did great and enjoyed his time there. We were trying to catch up, but it was getting close to the time that Amelia was coming, and we had several necessary baby things on our list, as well as catching up. were doing both, and it was getting better, but then it was time for us to move up here to GP, and that took up a large chunk of our money. Where we were living in Whitecourt, there was another guy living in the basement of the house. He paid rent to our landlord, but we paid all of the utility bills for the house, and he paid us his portion. Paul lived in the house for two years, and whoever lived in the basement always paid half of the bills, since they had half of the house. But when the last tenant moved in, we ALWAYS had issues with getting money from him. He was late on several payments and always had some excuse why he couldn't pay. We never gave him a hard time, just let it be, and go on. It was tough at times to foot the bills, since they were more expensive, but we figured it out. Not long after Amelia was born the basement flooded. This guy had to find somewhere to stay for a while while the place was cleaned and renovated. He was gone for about a month, but all of his things were still there, and he still parked at the house. About this time he went and complained to the landlord that he thought that his portion of the utility bills was too high and that he couldn't afford it. So he then came to us and said that he was only paying a third since there were two of us living upstaris, and that he was not responsible for the utility bill for the month he was not there. It was a little frustrating, because he used just as much as us, and he was responsible for that money while he was away. Besides the fact that the bill for that month was really high because of all of the work down there. The landlord gave us a little bit, and said that yes, the other tenant was responsible. By this time we moved, and several of the cheques that the other guy eventually gave us bounced and we were left short of a good amount of money.

Ok, sorry about that little rant, i am working to get over it, honestly I am still a little miffed about it though.

Anyway, moving also cost us quite a bit, and right after we moved we found out that we can't get telus internet out here at our place, and that we had to pay out the computer that paul got from them when he signed up for the internet, because the term wasn't up. That made our telus bill like $700! Lets just say it took us a while to get rid of that one!

So the point of this is that, we've been a long time catching up, and needless to say at the end of the month, or shortly after paul gets paid, there isn't much left. Once we pay bills, buy groceries, diapers and food for amelia and leave money for gas, milk and any other little thing we may need, we're pretty much broke.

This month were were a little puzzled when our car insurance payment still hadn't come out of our account a week after it was due. SO on saturday were went into our records to look over our insurance papers, and came to realize after a bit that since this is the month our insurance is renewing, somehoe we don't have a payment! I don't know how we missed that when we got it, but it sure was a nice surprise that the $300 sitting in our account was still ours! We sure could see heavenly father in this one and were really grateful for it!

We were able to get some things we needed and we let ourselves get some things that we wanted too! We went to the farmers market and got amelia some cute hair clips and two really fun new bibs. I was able to spend a little bit at michaels and get a scrapbook for Amelia. I have been waiting for a while and putting the pages of her that are done in our wedding book. Paul got some things he wanted for his scout truck at canadian tire too. We rented a movie and came home. We had a really fun day together, and still have money for more catching up!

I have hope, but somehow i know this won't end. There will always be something! But maybe someday we will have a few dollars at the end of the month!

An update....although a little late

Well, so much for writing more often. It's funny to me sometimes that life happens and it feels like things are always happening, and then when i think about writing about something, I get nothing. It's like my mind goes blank, and all I can think is that Nothing ever happens in our life, which is not true at all. Several weeks ago Paul was assigned to be the 11 year old scout leader in our ward. He was pretty unsure about this at first. He's never really had a calling in the primary, and i think he was nervous. I think he felt a little inadequate too, since he was never a scout growing up. But, after some gentle reassurance, he went, and absolutely loves it! He is so serious about learning everything he can about scouts, so that he can be a good leader and example to his boys. He cares about them a lot and wants them to enjoy it and to succeed in the program. It was also a timely calling, as this month is the cub car rally. As they aren't scouts, they don't get to do the cars, but there is a category where scouts and leaders can do 18-wheeler trucks. As we all know, this is right up Paul's alley. Last year, he couldn't wait to help his nephew McKay with his Car, and they went all out and did a pretty good job. This year he is even more excited that he gets to do his own. He has decided to make his look like Optimus Prime from transformers, and he is really pulling out all of the stops. He has carved out several extra pieces to make it look more authentic and can't wait to paint it. He and his scouts have also taken apart some lights in order to put in little LED headlights. He just needs to find a place for his batteries now. There have been a few nights spent in the garage so far, and I'm sure there will be plenty more this coming week. I promise I'll put up pics as soon as he's done.
Amelia and I are still at home, like usual. We do try and get to the city when we can, but that doesn't always happen. This past Monday she had her 6 month shots and, as usual, I was a little nervous. But this time we were blessed with a really wonderful Public health nurse. She was quick, as some that we have had in the past seem to take forever! She also took a break in between the shots so that Amelia could calm down, and this cut down the crying substantially. Other times they give all three right in a row, and by the end of the third one she is just screaming. Why poke a crying baby? That only makes them cry harder. I was so grateful, since I don't enjoy having them poke my baby, I really hate needles, and doing it to her is almost as bad!
We have been lucky with Amelia too, because she has absolutely no reaction to the needles at all. I can touch and poke the spots within an hour and it doesn't even bother her. She doesn't get a fever or anything and isn't even cranky, or should i say crankier than usual. She weighs 19 and a half pounds now and is almost 28 inches long. She is either at or above the 97th percentile in every area! We truly feel so blessed to have a happy healthy baby, and are so grateful to our heavenly father for sending her to us. She is really developing her fun personality these days, and is learning so many new things. She can sit by herself, but she is still a little wobbly, she needs to practice a bit more! She is even starting to sit up in the bath, but she is so slippery in there that she has a tough time staying up. We need to find her something grippy or sticky to sit on! Here is a picture of her first bath sitting up!
Other than that we went to the museum in Edmonton on family day for a little while, and had fun there. Amelia was really great and had a lot of fun. Here she is looking at the butterflies in the bug room, she really liked them for some reason!
And here are just some other random pics from our crazy life!

So it has been a while since i have written anything-so much for writing more often this year! Nothing very spectacular has happened lately, but things have been pretty good anyway. This year I have been going to strollercize at the leisure center here in gp, and it has been pretty tough. In case you don't know what that is, it is like boot camp (which lots of places have) just with a stroller. Think stairs, running, jogging, lunges, push-ups, etc. nonstop for an hour. Plus, it is so intimidating to be there with all of these other moms who are so fit and hardcore! My partner the first week had 2 kids with her, a 21 month old and a 7 week old baby. For real? There is no way that i would have been even close to there when Amelia was 7 weeks, although i have to remember we were moving when she was that old. In any case, i think it will be good for me, I just haven't seen the results i thought i would yet, so it is a little discouraging. But I'll keep going for a while and see where we are at. Amelia and I have been going swimming after i work out too, which has been fen for us, although, it does make for a sore mommy the next morning! She really enjoys it, but it does take a few minutes after we first get in for her to figure out what is going on. Yesterday we were sitting by a little hole in the wall of the kiddie pool where water comes out of, and Amelia loved it! She was quite perplexed by it though. She could see it and feel it, but try as she might she could not grab it as she loves to do with all things. She tried over and over and then would give up and turn away, only to turn right around and try again! it was so cute and i liked that she didn't give up right away, but tried different ways and things to try and get it! She is getting so big and doing so many new things it amazes me somtimes, and makes me a little sad too that my baby is getting less and less baby every day. She can roll both ways and I can't take my eyes off of her or she will roll away! She is also so close to sitting up all of the time. She can do it for a minute or two, and then she gets tired and gives up. But it gets longer every time and she loves to sit up and hates to lay down now! She has also been teething pretty good for a few days now, and had two pretty tough nights where she didn't make her normal 10 or so hours, but was up really early. She also has a really bad diaper rash, one of the worst i've seen, which is from teething too. it was really bad for about three days, but seems to be doing a little better now, and is getting a little drier every time i change her. Although, we are going through a ton of diapers this last week too as all that extra saliva has made her poop a little more too. Other than that, she laughs and smiles and is generally a pretty happy baby!
Paul is hoping that he will get into school this spring, but we aren't sure about that yet, it looks like that may not happen until the fall. I wish his boss would just get on the ball and figure things out, If we need to register him, we need to do it right away, or there won't be any spots left. It's really tough not to know whats going on at all. There was no orientation or anything when he started, it was just, ok, come monday, bring you tools. Thats all. We had to bug about benefits, as we didn't even know until two months in if they even had them. He has asked about school several times, but to no real response at all! We aren't sure how they do it or if we need to pay for it or if they will or anything. It can get pretty frustrating at times. And talk about frustrating, this whole thing with Paul and his temple recommend is getting really out of hand. Our bishop can't do anything to take care of things without all of the paperwork that the branch president in Whitecourt has. He was supposed to send it after we moved here in October, but noone has gotten anything yet. We reallt want to get to the temple and I have a reccommend to go, but I want to wait so that Paul can be with me. He said on Sunday that it is in the mail, so we will see in the next few days what happens. Hopefully I can keep up with this a little better in the near future, and that we will have more things to tell!

So I've decided that this is a story that has to be told and recorded. It's one I cannot pass up. There was a family in our ward here in Grande Prairie named the fishers that we have known well ever since we moved here. Around the time that Paul and I decided to move here, Sister Fisher decided that her and her 2 sons needed to move and that Lethbridge was where they needed to be. So we did see them once when we were coming and they were going, but that was all. This Christmas they came up here to Grande Prairie to spend Christmas with their family. While they were here, 12 year old Mackenzie passed away very suddenly due to an extremely large tumor in his brain that began to bleed. They had no idea that it was there and the whole thing was a really big shock to the family and everyone who knew Mackenzie. He was a really sweet boy and he will be missed, but it's a comfort to his family to know they will see him again and that he is in good hands. Anyway, this is only part of my story. I went to the funeral yesterday with my parents as Paul had to work. We were there early as my mom was playing the piano, and it was already REALLY full! There were a lot of people there. We were sitting on the far right side in the second bench from the back, but the overflow is also full and there are people in the gym too. This is where the fun starts. As soon as I sit down with Amelia, she gets the HICCUPS. And I don't mean cute little baby hiccups, I mean loud, CRAZY, body-shaking, totally disruptive hiccups. So I just dealt with this for a while, cause, really, what are you going to do? Then we have the opening prayer, and during it, she reaches up and RIPS my earring out of my ear, while facing away from me! Backwards! You little STINKER! So, fairly early into the service, she suddenly becomes a wild woman! She is jumping and talking and throwing herself around and LAUGHING at it all! I was like, are you kidding me? I kept her as quiet as I could, but it didn't last forever. It didn't take her long to decide that she was hungry. not just a little, a LOT. She was not waiting. So I went and got her a bottle, and went back, as it was right in the middle of the eulogy. This was good, and things were great for a WHILE. The service was really nice, and I was definitely a little choked up. Amelia finishes eating and is much more satisfied, so I figure things are good. She is sitting in my lap and I am holding the blanket in front of her mouth on the chance that I encounter some puke. Her mouth is also covered to try and muffle her burp. Usually they are not that bad, but not this time! Suddenly she THROWS her head backwards and lets out NOTHING LESS than a belch! I mean I'm not sure I have ever heard anything this huge come out of her! It was inhuman! It was worthy of a fully grown MAN. Everyone around me starts to snicker, and I get a serious case of the GIGGLES. Seriously, I can't stop laughing. My face is buried in her blanket in her neck and needed more than a minute to compose myself. I was definitely embarrassed, hoping that not as many people heard that as I think. But my embarrassment passed fairly quickly, cause I know that this is life with a baby, and what are you gonna do? I just couldn't believe that it all had ACTUALLY happened, cause it felt like something you only read in a book! Anyway, we have another funeral to go to this Saturday for a man in our ward whom I have known well for several years who also passed away last week. He was diagnosed late last year with Lou Gehrig's disease. He was not doing well as of late and passed away just one day after Mackenzie. So, we will see if I can reign in my WILD WOMAN this time!

Merry Belated Christmas!

Well with the season over now and things finally getting back to normal, i should really get to recording a few things! My goal this year is to write as often as I can about all kinds of things and then print them out and keep a record, family journal kind of thing. I'm not the best at writing in a journal, so i figured this would be the next best thing. We had a really wonderful Christmas this year. We were able to spend it in Edmonton with my family, and then we went down to Sylvan lake to visit more of my family, and on to Airdrie to spend some time with Paul's brother Peter and his family. This year is Amelia's first Christmas, and she was completely spoiled, and really could care less! Her favorite thing was the tissue paper, closely followed by the wrapping paper. She got a baby sled, and plenty of toys and clothes. We can't wait until next Christmas, she will be really fun! Paul and I also had a good year, and received some really nice gifts. We got a car starter from my parents, which we are so excited for, although it won't be installed until Feb. 6. Paul got a new watch and a telescope, which he has already used several times, and LOVES! It's pretty powerful, and just the other day we got a really good look at the moon. You could see all of the craters and everything so clearly! I got a pair of new shoes and some gift certificates so that I could buy some new clothes ans scrapbooking things. Paul likes to be a little tricky with his gifts, and usually makes at least one of my gifts a joke or hard to guess. Last year he put a $5 pair of skate guards in a box and filled it with other random things from our house so I had no idea what it was and though it was much bigger. This year he got a jumbo cereal box and filled it with a few new kitchen tools, which is very fun for me as i really like to cook, and also a Ben moss box. At first I was a little surprised, and hesitated for a moment. I had told him that one day I wanted another nice pair of diamond earrings, but he wouldn't, right? We didn't spend that much! But then it hit me. He had wrapped my gifts in our bedroom...He had taken the box from my wedding ring and put an I O U in it! I was a little sad it wasn't real but mostly I had to laugh, cause he was totally killing himself laughing, and it was pretty tricky! As usual, things were fun, hectic, busy and wonderful! But it feels good to be home now, and back to a normal routine!