2013 Reset Button

We are only 3 months into 2013, but oh what a year it has been already.  Two weekends ago Dillon and I were talking about how we needed to find the Reset button on 2013 and start it all over.  We have had one thing right after another creep into our lives.

Dillon got hit with a cold the end of Jan and it lasted F.O.R.E.V.E.R!  Like from the end of Jan til the first part of March forever.  Just when we would think he was getting on top of it he would have one, maybe two pretty good days and then it would be back, full force or worse.

As he was fighting his nasty nasty cold and fighting to stay well enough to go to his 40 + hour a week (unpaid) internship everyday he was also fighting to find the time and energy to work on his professional project.  The professional project that his advisor had dropped the ball on and had to come out with a very rigorous schedule Dillon and his group have to follow in order to get done in time.  If the schedule wasn't/isn't followed exactly, graduation could be pushed to August.  PLEASE NO!

In January we were planning to do a third IUI to try to become pregnant.  We almost weren't able to do it with timing and weekends and schedules and everything else which caused a few very stressful days.  But, we ending up being able to have it done.  Only to find out it was unsuccessful. :( AND, the ultrasound tech noticed I have a heart shaped uterus that would need a closer look if we didn't become pregnant and possibly surgery. :(

We were hoping to have a nice relaxing birthday weekend for Dillon on the 22nd of February but Dillon was STILL not feeling well and to top it off he got pulled over on our way to a birthday dinner at Texas Roadhouse with his family and got hit with a nice little speeding ticket.  So much for a relaxing birthday.

For the next few weeks we continued jugging along; Dillon busting his butt at his internship and working on his professional project every spare second; me going to work, babysitting Mon and Wed afternoons, cleaning house for a lady every other Tues, going to mutual Tues nights, coaching YW volleyball and playing women's volleyball Wed nights.

The first Wed in March I spent all evening coaching our wards YW in our stake tournament.  I had to wait for Dillon to get home from his internship to finish babysitting for me before I could head over to the Stake Center.  I was in a huge hurry to get there before I was too late and didn't stop to get gas on my way in.  Bad choice.  After my girls got eliminated from the tournament (they played hard though), one of the dad's offered to take us to go get ice cream.  On the way I ran out of gas.  My first time ever to run out of gas, and let me tell you, it will also be my last.  It wasn't as easy as I thought it would be to just have Dillon come in and fill it up with some gas while we got our ice cream and be done with it.  Oh no, 2 hours later (about 11pm) we got home with only one car.  We had tried everything but couldn't get the car to start.  Turns out when I ran it out of gas I blew the fuel pump.  Awesome.  Mechanics were going to charge anywhere from $400 to $600 to fix it.  I lost it and became a huge emotional mess for 2 straight days.

The next week we went in for the closer look at my heart shaped uterus by having a Hysterosonogram and it was confirmed that I would need surgery.  I have been on my parents insurance but my birthday is coming up quick and I will turn 26, thus kicking me off of my parents insurance.  So, if we were going to be having surgery it needed to happen right away or would have to wait however many months until Dillon gets a job with insurance. 

Isn't it amazing how when it rains, it pours?  Truly.  Every time, without fail.  These 3 months of 2013 have tested us to our limits.  But do you know what else is amazing?  That even amongst the trials Heavenly Father gives us, He doesn't leave us to go through them alone.  He helps us make it through each and every one.  It is amazing to look back over the last 3 months and see just how the Lord has blessed us through each and every trial.  He loves us, He truly truly does. 

We were able to finally get our hands on a prescription for Dillon's cold and it cleared it up within days.  And I was able to stay healthy the entire time he was sick (nothing short of a miracle for my immune system!)

Dillon's group has been able to stay on track with their project and they are so very close to being done.

Dillon's internship advisors have been so good to work with him and allow for time off for sickness when he needed it and for time off to run to Dr appointments with me.

Because of this IUI we were able to discover the heart shape of my uterus and because it was unsuccessful we were able to take a closer look and discover that yes we would need surgery but that that was good news because it means the heart shape can be fixed; increasing our chances with fertility and decreasing our risk of miscarriage.

Dillon was able to take back his birthday presents, boo :( , and have just enough money to pay his speeding ticket.

I have an amazing coworker who has an amazing husband and son who was willing to come and help Dillon put a new fuel pump in the car.  Saving us hundreds of dollars.

My dad's new job in Alaska came with amazing insurance that will cover most of the cost of the surgery and we were able to get it all approved and set up to happen before my birthday.

I have been saving my cleaning and babysitting money so far this year in my sock drawer for a rainy day.  I ended up having almost exactly what we needed to cover the new fuel pump and what we owe upfront for surgery. 

The Lord loves us.  Even when we feel totally and completely forsaken, He is there.  He wants to and will help us find the strength to 'climb our mountains.'

"Strength is not something you have, but something God helps you find" Emma Smith

Here is to a better last 9 months of 2013!

Holiday craziness

I have an extra long weekend this weekend and Dillon is busy slaving away at his internship 8 hours a day, 5 days a week... so why not catch up on some blogging? :)  But honestly I don't even know where to begin.  I have been quite the slacker lately but seeing as how this is the best I get at writing in my journal, I better do some updating for myself even if everybody else has given up on me. 

To start the holidays off we headed to Star Valley to enjoy a nice Thanksgiving dinner at my parents house.  All of my siblings and their kids were able to be there, the only thing missing was our parents.  Yes, it was a bit strange to have Thanksgiving at my parents house without my parents there but we still managed to have a great day and didn't even burn the turkey or the house down :)  

We missed our parents but thanks to technology we were able to Skype with my dad in Alaska and my mom that had to be in Arizona for a family emergency as we had a little Christmas party while we were all together.

From Star Valley we headed down to Preston to my sister Nicole's house to throw a bridal shower for our (now) new sister Julie.  I think we sufficiently embarrassed her as we welcomed her into our crazy family :)  But it was a fun day getting to know her and her family just a little better.  The mustaches we used for a game were definitely a big hit with the kids, and Aunt Heather.

 

The Monday after Thanksgiving, after I got off work and after Dillon got done with school, we hustled down to SLC for the evening to watch the Utah Jazz take on the Denver Nuggets.  Dillon's little sister's in-laws have season tickets to the Jazz, and our brother-in-law, knowing Dillon is a Nuggets fan, let us have 4 free tickets to go watch them play! (THANK YOU DRISCOLLS!)
We were able to have our friends the Hardy's meet us there and enjoyed a nice friendly game of basketball... :)

 

Well...I guess there was the one guy that thought maybe he needed to fight with Dillon.  See the gentleman in the green shirt on his phone?  Yeah, he kinda thought he was tough.  But he had nothing on Dillon and that gnarly beard :) 

 The Nuggets lost and it was a fast trip that made for an early school/work morning the next morning, but we still had fun!  And it was SO nice to be able to see the Hardy's and spend some time with them!

Thanks to school and work the first few weeks of December were spent close to home, going to a bridal shower for Dillon's cousin and then their wedding, chopping down a Christmas tree...

 ...and of course Dillon studying for finals.

The week of his finals I thought maybe he could use a little break and invited the Bastow's over for some gingerbread house making fun.

 Luke was a little tired and ready to go home by the time we finished and didn't really want anything to do with having his picture taken with the finished products

Sof just wanted to eat :)

Despite the studying distraction, Dillon went on to take his finals and pass ALL his classes with A's!  Not only is he a handsome man, but he's SMART! :)

After finals and in the 2 weeks surrounding Christmas we managed to do a LOT of traveling.  We went from Blackfoot to Logan UT and back twice, from Blackfoot to Boise and back twice, Blackfoot to Shelley and back twice, and from Blackfoot to Star Valley and back once.  All in just 2 weeks.  Yes, it was crazy.  But it was good crazy, spending lots of time with family.  We got to experience the temple for the first time and witness the sealing of my awesome older sister and her fabulous husband on December 22nd.....

... and witness the marriage of my studly little bro and his beautiful bride on December 28th

 *side note: I still cannot believe my only brother is married...he is still supposed to be the little brother.

When we weren't celebrating wedded bliss at the temple in Logan or at receptions we were able to spend our Christmas and New Years in Shelley with Dillon's family.  As always we spent our time shoving our face full of yummy yummy food, opening presents, taking naps, hot tubing, and playing cards.  And I even got to go see Les Miserables with Dillon's mom and sister (by the way, AMAZING!)  Of course, my camera died so I have one picture from Christmas....

:)
Christmas day did come with another little surprise....Dillon SHAVED!!!! 

...ok, I didn't say he shaved it all off :)  LUCKILY this little style only lasted long enough to get a few laughs and sufficiently gross me out then it was gone by the next morning.

Our trips to Boise, once before and once after Christmas, were quick trips to the airport to pick up/drop off my dad and back.  Only stopping to grab some food (which I threw up 5 mins after eating) and hitting up Cabelas for a few minutes while we waited for my dad's flight to come in.  A LONG drive for a short trip.  But, we were glad that my dad was able to come home and experience all the wedding/sealing awesomeness and it was great to have the car ride to get all caught up on his exciting new life in Alaska.

Our last trip of our traveling craziness was also our last trip to Star Valley to visit my parents.  Weird.  We spent our time setting up and enjoying hot chocolate and cinnamon rolls at Cody and Julie's reception then, of course, sledding the next day.

We also helped my mom go through and pack a few more things before saying goodbye to her and her life in Star Valley.  I can't believe it...my parents officially live in Alaska.  My parents live in ALASKA!  Whoa.  But, we cannot wait to go visit this summer! :)

Oh and did I mention that amongst all this craziness we also got to welcome a new little one to our family?  Meet Ty Carson Miller, our newest nephew!  SUCH a cutie!!!!

But now the excitement is over and real life is back in full swing.  I'm working away as usual, babysitting an ADORABLE little baby girl a little on the side, coaching YW volleyball again, and all the other boring usualness while Dillon, as I mentioned earlier, slaves away doing his internship at Bingham Memorial Hospital here in Blackfoot 8 hours a day 5 days a week for 12 weeks.  After tomorrow he's got 2 weeks down, 10 more to go.  Then.....GRADUATION!!! :)

Thankful

Thanksgiving is in just 2 days.   It has snuck right up on us.
I'm not going to lie, this year I have had a hard time being grateful.  I've only been letting myself see the "bad" in our lives rather than focusing on the "good" that surrounds us.  Because of this, I really haven't let myself be truly happy.  It's much easier to wallow in self pity and feel sorry for myself over all that we don't have.  Yesterday for FHE my amazingly wonderfully awesome husband suggested that we finally sit and write a few things we are thankful for on our thankful tree.  Then he pulled up President Uchtdorf's talk from the October General Conference, "Of Regrets and Resolutions."  It is an amazing talk!  

Here are some of my favorite parts.....

"So often we get caught up in the illusion that there is something just beyond our reach that would bring us happiness: a better family situation, a better financial situation, or the end of a challenging trial.

The older we get, the more we look back and realize that external circumstances don’t really matter or determine our happiness.

We do matter. We determine our happiness.

You and I are ultimately in charge of our own happiness."

"My wife, Harriet, and I love riding our bicycles. It is wonderful to get out and enjoy the beauties of nature. We have certain routes we like to bike, but we don’t pay too much attention to how far we go or how fast we travel in comparison with other riders.

However, occasionally I think we should be a bit more competitive. I even think we could get a better time or ride at a higher speed if only we pushed ourselves a little more. And then sometimes I even make the big mistake of mentioning this idea to my wonderful wife.

Her typical reaction to my suggestions of this nature is always very kind, very clear, and very direct. She smiles and says, “Dieter, it’s not a race; it’s a journey. Enjoy the moment.”

How right she is!

Sometimes in life we become so focused on the finish line that we fail to find joy in the journey."

"Brothers and sisters, no matter our circumstances, no matter our challenges or trials, there is something in each day to embrace and cherish. There is something in each day that can bring gratitude and joy if only we will see and appreciate it."

"Perhaps we should be looking less with our eyes and more with our hearts. I love the quote: “One sees clearly only with the heart. Anything essential is invisible to the eyes.”

We are commanded “to give thanks in all things.” So isn’t it better to see with our eyes and hearts even the small things we can be thankful for, rather than magnifying the negative in our current condition?"

Really...Dillon and I have so much to be thankful for despite the "bad" or "not ideal" situations we find ourselves in at this stage of our life together.  I may want some things to change (school to be over, more financial stability and to have a family) but I can and I will be happy with where we are in this moment.   
"It's not a race, it's a journey.  Enjoy the moment."

So, some of the things I am thankful for this Thanksgiving season:

-Dillon.  His love for me.  His patience with me.  His hard work and the sacrifices he makes everyday in order to get a good education.

-My job.  I LOVE working in preschool and I LOVE working with the preschoolers with special needs and VERY special spirits.  Yesterday our little deaf girl signed "I. Love. You." to me; I am thankful for that moment.

-The house we live in.  The location.  The rent.  The space.  The warmth.

-My family and Dillon's family.  The love and support they show us.  The fun that we have together.

-Skeeter. :) He loves me no matter what and he's right there waiting with tail wagging when I need someone to hug and love on when I'm feeling down on life.

-Modern medicine.  Doctors that care and educate themselves  in order to help us that need it.

-The gospel.  The peace, the love, the comfort it provides me in my life.

-My health and my life.

Today I got a phone call that reminded me just how fragile life can be.  Sometimes I forget and I hate the things that have to remind me.
I am blessed.  I am SO lucky to live the life I live.  It's not always perfect and it's not always fun.  But it is my life and the memories I make and the lessons I learn are worth every hard time and every heartache.  

Fall

I'm pretty sure I say this every year but, I love fall.  I love the changing of the leaves, the harvest trucks, the hunting stories, the first snow, pumpkin yumminess.  Everything.  I love it!  This year I'm even excited for Halloween.  Normally I am not much of a fan, but this year I have actually had fun decorating for Halloween, not just fall but Halloween.  Now I just need to figure out a costume to wear to work....

This weekend the Bastow's came over and we had a yummy dinner of some delicious beef stew, pumpkin chocolate chip bars for dessert and then entertained ourselves by carving pumpkins.  Now really, it doesn't get any more "Fall" than that.  It was so much fun!  Luke kept saying that he wanted a Lightning McQueen pumpkin.  So, being the awesome Aunt I am, I found a little pattern online so he could have his Lightning McQueen pumpkin.  In the process we found a Cinderella pattern that Sofia just loved.  Their parents may or may not have been cussing me not even half way through the process but they turned out SO cute!

Such silly kids :)

Dillon and I went simple with traditional scary face for Dillon and a, slightly more creative than usual, ghost for me.

 The Bastow's had a third very large pumpkin but Jake cut the top off only to find it rotten.  Oh well, the kids still had a great time coloring it.

And Sof of course had to taste the marker too :)

 Now some pictures of the whole process ...

 HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Fishing and a beard

I love spud harvest.  I really do.  It makes living in Idaho and working for the School District totally worth it.  Not that I hate either, but you know. 

 It is seriously the best. 2 weeks off of work, who wouldn't love it?

  Well usually I am quite bored during harvest and am ok with returning to work.  But this year, it has been the most relaxing AND productive break ever.  Seriously. 

 How is this possible?  Well let me tell you.  

I get to sleep in, find my way to the couch, cuddle up in a blanket and eat breakfast/watch 'Price is Right'/browse Facebook/browse Pinterest/browse Blogs (yes this takes a little while :), finally go shower and half get ready for the day.  

Then comes the productivity.  

Make the bed (I know right? I told you I have been productive!), wash whatever dishes are in the sink, straighten things around the house, deep clean or organize something, and then depending on the day and if I'm staying home or going to Lacie's I paint something here (if I have the paint I need) or spend time playing with those cute little twins/painting at the Bastow's.  

Seriously, it has been great.  

As my spud harvest began Dillon asked me what fun things I had planned for my break and what I wanted to go.  I told him clean and organize.  He rolled his eyes.  So I added go fishing, since we have been so lame and/or busy and haven't gone hardly at all this year.  

So yesterday was the day.  Dillon took me fishing.  

We debated where to go but decided to take our chances and stay a little closer to home.  It was so much fun.  The river was low enough that we were able to wander upstream to a new place, which proved to be a wise decision and a success.  And the sunshine and beautiful day made it that much better. 

The fish we caught right at the same moment.  Yeah, not the best picture ever but you try taking a picture of 2 people holding 2 very alive flip-flopping fish by yourselves.  It's quite comical :)

One of my fishes

One of Dillon's fishes

Now lets discuss that beard.  

I know.  

When he started growing it and I kept asking him when he was going to shave, every time his answer was the same.  

"When I get my deer."  

I just laughed at him and said he wouldn't last another week.  Well that was much more than a week ago.  He still maintains that it is not coming off until he gets his deer.  I'm starting to believe him.  That is why he is allowed to go hunting as often as he would like :)

But, beard or no beard...I still like him.  A lot.

:)

And while we're on the topic of Dillon...let's have a little kitten update shall we?

As of Sunday afternoon we are down to one.

Doomp may or may not have gotten his head run over by Dillon.

Now, I don't like cats, but that was sad.

But Boggy is dealing with the loss of her sister quite well and now thinks she is a dog.

These 2 are always together.  Cuddling.  Eating out of the same bowl.  In the dog house.  

They love each other.

We do plan on getting another little kitten and from the same batch as Boggy and Doomp, but not quite yet.  We are going to let them stay with their mommy a little longer and get a little bigger.  I think we pulled these little girls away a little too soon.  Oh well.

Mouse adventures

Oh dear!  I am beyond lacking in my blogging skills lately.  I don't even know how to begin getting all caught up.  We have been and continue to stay sufficiently busy.  And it's not even all boring busy. YAY! But it certainly hasn't all been fun.  Dillon is fully immersed in his last, and I repeat, his LAST, semester of classes!  YAHOO!! (Not sure who's more excited about this).  And while I am out for 2 weeks for spud harvest (YAY) I am working hard on deep cleaning and organizing our house, and getting things done for Little Yellow Door Design. 

 But....

 Our latest adventure?  Mice....and now kittens.  

So I really REALLY don't like mice.  I know they are not going to hurt me.  That's not why I am scared of them.  They are fast and creepy and sly and dirty and carry diseases.  And they just pop up out of nowhere without warning.  And that scares me.  And I HATE being scared! Like, so much so that if Dillon plans on standing in the dark and saying "boo" he knows he better be prepared to get slugged.  But anywho, I know we have mice in our house, we catch them in our traps frequently.  But I have never seen them alive, running freely about my house.  Until last week.  Last Friday evening Dillon left for a few hours to go hunting.  While he was gone I was lazy and watched TV and then started dinner not long before I expected him to get home.  As I was making dinner (chicken enchiladas) I was standing at the island, minding my own business, when a disgusting, filthy mouse scurried out from under the pantry door (on the other side of the island) and hurried into the living room and under the couch.  Naturally I screamed, 3 times, and jumped onto the island.  Once my heart stopped pounding and I regained composure and realized my phone was in the living room with the awful creature I wasn't left with many options.  Luckily everything I needed to finish dinner was there on the island with me.  So, I finished putting the enchiladas together, (did not cover them with foil since that was in the pantry and going near there was out of the question) put one leg on the ground as I reached over and stuck the enchiladas in the oven, and resumed my position on top of the island.  Dillon had said he would be home between 8 and 8:30, it was now only 7:55.  I was left with no choice but to watch whatever show came on the TV and wait for Dillon to get home.  At 8:30 my phone went off.  Oh boy.  What if it was Dillon letting me know he actually got a deer and would be late?  What would I do then?  So I told myself if Dillon was not home in 10 mins I would have to suck it up and make a mad dash for my phone.  EXACTLY 10 mins later I was greeted by the sound of Dillon pulling into the driveway!  SAVED AT LAST!!  He walked in and as he was taking off his boots asked what the heck I was doing on the island.  I filled him in on the events of the last 45 mins and told him to hurry up and get the filthy bugger.  Of course, he couldn't go at it empty handed so he grabbed his blow gun and got to work.  He flipped over one side of the sectional where I saw him run.  Nothing.  He flipped over the other side.  Nothing but poop, lots of poop.  EWWWW!

The site of him hunting the mouse, with his blow gun, in his camo was just too good to let pass by without pictures.  Luckily my purse, with my camera in it, was only a hop, skip, and a jump away (all the while on counter tops of course).  In the meantime he started investigating inside the hide-a-bed.  And there the little bugger was.  He took a shot at it, and missed.  Then he lost it. 

A few mins later it came running back into the kitchen.  Luckily I was still very high, out of reach.  I screamed and pointed to the fridge.  Before Dillon could make it to the kitchen it popped out from under the fridge and made it's way under the stove. 

 Dillon made me buck it up at this point and help him pull the stove out.  Which I half agreed to, I helped from on top of the counter next to the stove (yeah, not really much help).  But the little bugger had DISAPPEARED.  There is a tiny little opening behind the stove leading behind the counter where a hose runs, which has to be where he went.  Filthy, disgusting, slimy creatures.  Since he was gone and there was nothing to be done, I had to buck it up and go on with our evening.  The next day we did some deep cleaning, re-set some traps, got new sticky traps and these two little fellas.... 

Doomp

Boggy

Right now they are both so tiny that they are pretty worthless.  They better hurry up and grow and stop pooping on my front porch or they might not live at this house long enough to help with our mouse problem.  But I think Skeeter likes having them around to keep him company.

Just not sure they share his enthusiasm to be friends :)

But, since that awful night almost a week ago, we have caught 2 mice in our newly set traps and have thankfully not seen any more frolicking about the house at their leisure.  Let's hope it stays that way.