Goodbye 2012

  2012 has been quite the year for us. We started out the year unemployed and desperately searching for a new job. We we're scrambling to finish our basement with the little bit of money we had. I had just had a baby, and I was still recovering from my c-section. Things
looked really bleak and unpromising. Shawn had searched all over the Utah Valley area so we could stay in our house, but there was not much out there and nothing was promising.
I had hoped that somehow, someway, we would get to stay in Payson. We were slightly upside down on our house so selling would hurt us also. The more we looked into the prospect of moving, the more we realized renting would be our best option.  We secured a job in Albany, Oregon and moved there in February. We soon learned that the schools were a lot worse than originally thought. It took more time to get them in school than it should have and the schools were very lowly funded. For the first time as a mother, I felt like I was making the worse decision I've ever made. I looked into other options, but nothing else was better. I prayed things would work out, but I was so unhappy.  Shawn wasn't enjoying his job either and the negative energy there played off at home also. We we're not happy and we kept asking why the answer to our prayers were to move to Oregon.
  This year we have experienced miracles. Because we moved to Oregon we broadened our area of search for purchasing a clinic. In June, Shawn saw a listing in Wyoming and thought about it for a while. I didn't even know he had requested information, or was even looking at a practice. When we looked at the listing together, it became clear the the biggest down side was location, or so we thought. We wanted to be closer to family, but this wasn't going to make that happen. After visiting, we knew what we needed to do. There were so many miracles in the process of purchasing the clinic in Laramie, WY and so many times  right before the miracle, we thought things wouldn't work out. Time after time we experienced the Lord's hand making a way for it to happen.
  The school here is awesome. The teachers truly care, and put in the time to show how they care. Our ward has been welcoming and encouraging. Shawn's staff is amazing and so helpful. As we get to know them more we feel so blessed to have such wonderful people working for us. We know that with out Shawn being laid off in Utah, disliking Oregon, and everything in between, we would not be here. The Lord opened our hearts and helped us achieve our dream and he placed us in a place that we can raise our children and feel safe. With gratitude we say goodbye to 2012 and all the trials, struggles and hardships that really were miracles and pray 2013 is just as good to us.

A Resolution

What's in a resolution? Every year people make New Year's resolutions, and a lot of the time, they fall short and the resolution goes by the way side. At least for me, that is usually how my resolutions go. The last few weeks though, I've been thinking about so changes I need to make for me and what ones I need to make now, and what ones I can work on as I get a chance. My to do list can be overwhelming and very long if I let it, but I have learned that over loading yourself with changes you want to make is not a very healthy or helpful thing to do and that usually doing so makes it so you get nothing accomplished.

This being said, I set a goal to blog at least 2x a week. I need to return to posting my Thankful Thursday post. This post helps me think of things I am thankful for and to see better my blessings, something I need a little bit more of now. My other post will be about something that happened during the week that needs to be recorded. 2011 wasn't a good blogging year for me, and I have felt sad at all the wonderful things my kids did that I never recorded. Those memories are lost not. I don't want another year that is lost of memories cause I didn't take the time to write them down anywhere.

My big goal that I am committed to is to take more time caring, loving, listening and doing things with my children. As a mother of young children it is so easy to get caught up in the "to do list" that the other important things get set aside. There have been so many times that my kids have asked for help and my first response is "I'm busy, wait till I'm done". When I then ask them to help me, I expect help now, not when they are done doing what they are doing. It's a learned behavior from me that drives me crazy and I know that it must drive them crazy also. We are going to work on living in the moment of childhood this year. All too fast are my kids going to grow up and I am going to be left wondering where the time went. I don't want to wish I would have taken more time to do things with them. I also want to feel like I know they know I love them because I take time to be with them and care about them. There are some struggles I have with each child, and I need to show more compassion to them and in doing so, I believe that I those struggles will diminish.

My last goal is one I decided today that I need, but it also involves Shawn. Our goal this year is to read from The Book of Mormon together everyday, this whole year. This means that there may be some over the phone reading but I know that we will be blessed and the spirit will be stronger in our lives if we read together. This year is going to challenge us in many ways. During Sunday school today, I had the impression that if we do this, the challenges will be made light and more manageable.

These are my New Years Resolutions, and I wrote them down so that I will do them. What are your resolutions and what did you do to make you accountable to do them? Happy 2012!

Thankful Thursday

Happy New Year!
This year we are excited to welcome the New Year with hope and faith that all the changes that will take place will bless our lives for the good. We hope that all that is in store for you will be blessings more abundant than able to express as well. This day, I will list the things I am thankful for in the coming year.....a little different than my normal Thankful Thursday posting!

• Shawn's graduation in May from WSU Collage of Veterinary Medicine! The journey of school is coming to a close. I am excited for a new adventure, and anxious to experience it with my family.
• Shawn getting a job. It will be so nice to not live on loans that I am well aware of the repayment plan.
• Moving! I love living here on the Palouse, and I have a lot of really good memories from here. It will be sad to leave our house here, as we have grown as a family so much. Shawn and I have learned to depend on one another here more than we could have imagined, but I am ready for a new place to plant seeds and make new memories!
• Buying our first house. It may not be right away, but I am sure by this time next year, we will have a new home with some property.
• Adding some animals to our family. We plan on getting a puppy shortly after we move, from there we will add some cows, pigs, and horses' as we can afford them.
• Hopefully buying Shawn a truck. When he traded big blue in for our Mini Van, I am sure his heart was broken. I look forward to seeing that smile on his face when he is able to enjoy his nice big truck, and not his little Honda. (which has been a really good car for the time being)
• Paige's learning milestones. Don't get me wrong, I don't want to rush her in growing up. I look forward to her sitting up, learning to crawl, and yes, even walking. All in its proper time and order though.
• Most of all, I am thankful to the year of learning and growing that it ahead of me. I know that there will be time for stretching and at the time, I may not be so thankful, but with every challenge, comes blessings.

Happy 2009!

HAPPY NEW YEAR

We want to wish a HAPPY NEW YEAR to you and your family! We are looking forward to the New Year with anticipation and excitement. We have 4 more months of classes, then Shawn will start his 4th year rotations at the hospital and different clinics around the area. We got his 4th year schedule, and surprisingly he got every rotation and vacation that he scheduled himself for. This was a really big blessing! We will be in Nampa for a total of 12 weeks during his last year!
We pray you have a wonderful 2008! May our Heavenly Father be with you through out this year and may you be in tune to feel his love for you!