It's been a Doozy

This might be a post some would call too revealing.  But, it's my life.  I've never been one to sugar coat things and make it sound like I live a rosy life with no trials.  So here goes the last year and a half of my life....


Houses.  Three of them.  We built a new home for ourselves just behind our old grapefruit house.  To do that, we had to move out of Grapefruit and into our Mesa house which we refer to as Onza.  We have had the Mesa house as a rental for 10 yrs.  I was not thrilled with this option, but it was what we needed to do to move forward. So while we were starting the new house, the Happy house, we also worked on redoing Grapefruit so we could sell it.  New floors, new paint, new appliances, lots of basic fixing. And I was in charge of all of it.  It didn't' sell quickly and for much less than we were hoping for, but it was sold. 

On to the Happy house.  This took about 7 months.  After a VERY slow start, and lots of anxiety, I decided to be done with our GC and do it myself.  It was very hard and satisfying and stressful and great.  It was basically a full-time job with needing to be at the site, run to get things and constantly on the phone with contractors.  I was glad I did it, but it really was HARD.  Sometimes I'm not sure how I got it done.  I only cried one time the entire process and it was at the very end when I had a meltdown with SRP.  Go me!   We were able to move in mid-October and be in for the holidays.  So happy!!

Onza house.  We let it sit for a couple months while I recuperated and then in January got started on fixing it up so we could sell it.  Again, new flooring, paint inside and out, new appliances and lots of fixing.  I was in charge of most of it.  Glade tried to do a lot of the projects and he was very helpful, but also out of town a lot which made progress a little slow. But we finally finished it and It's currently on the market and hoping it will sell quickly. 


That's the bare minimum explanation of that process, let me tell you the guts of it.

 While living in the Onza house, we kept everything else out here in Queen Creek... church, school, friends, theater....which meant a lot of driving.  It's about a 20 min drive.  My poor kids would leave home in the morning and often not get home until bedtime.  We ate little caesars multiple times a week and taco bell the other nights.  The kids hated having to go to the house and wait for whatever we had to do next.  I had so much downtime where I didn't have anywhere to go or anything I could work on as well. But never enough time to make the drive all the way home and have to come back again.  It was trying for all of us.  And it was HOT.  I spent a few months in a sweaty bun and gross clothes because my day was just spent outside at the new house trying to get things done. I was grateful to have a nice house to live in while we built, but it wasn't home.  We didn't unpack or decorate or make it feel like home.  I really missed having a home for that year. 

Rhett.  Rhett came home from his mission early shortly after we moved to Onza, where we filled the only other bedroom with storage stuff, leaving only the loft for him to occupy.  I'll go into the details of his struggles in a different post, but in short, he was very depressed and suicidal. So along with trying to build the house, I spent a lot of time, tears and energy trying to get him well. And he is. ♥ Glade and I were not on the same page with the course of action, so I was basically alone on this.  Many many Dr. appointments and late nights and being on "watch" till we finally got him stable.

Glade.  During this time, Glade had a personal trial that kind of threw him into a tailspin.  He was angry and confused and then pretty depressed.  Like, you wouldn't know he was the same guy kind of sad.  Nothing I did or said helped him get past it and he wasn't willing to reach out for help from anyone else.  I'm not trying to out his personal stuff, but his stuff is my stuff and it's been a really tough year trying to figure this all out.  Throw in that he was out of town practically the whole time I was building the house and actually the week we moved in as well and it just added another level of stress to the situation.  actually, having him gone was probably a blessing.  I was able to just focus on the house and get things done.  He flew home for 2 days to help us move all the big stuff in and then had to leave again.  Christmas brought another level of contention as he was home most the time, still really sad and very unsure of his place here at home since he's been gone the better part of 6 months and we were in new patterns and a new house. SAme thing with friends and at church.  I kind of used up all my strength and fortitude getting through the last year dealing with everything and I was just too tired to be the strong one.  So we were both weak... and sad...and unsure.  It was the worst!  Finally, through some unpleasant interactions, we were able to put it all out there, set a plan on how to pick ourselves up and work on ourselves and for each other.  There were a few months where I just wanted to stay home and be sad.  Not talk to anyone, not do my church stuff or serve or really talk to anyone but close friends and family.  But finally, after reaching out for some advice, I decided life was too good and I was too blessed to be sad.  Glade still has his things to work out and I have lots to work on doing for myself.  I've been trying to go to the Temple weekly, read and pray more.  I go for a walk outside almost every day.  I feel so much better and like the fog has lifted. 

Me.  I'm so fat.  I've eaten all my stress and sadness.  I've never weighed so much in my whole life.  But I'm feeling sort of strong again.  I feel ready to get back to strong and happy and in control.  I'm not good at it and I don't know how long it will last, but I'm trying.  For me.  I'm down 5 lbs this week and am trying to exercise.  I have plantar fasciitis really bad keeping me from doing much.  It's very frustrating, but I'm doing everything I can.  It's made a world of difference in how I see my family, myself and those around me when I'm not worrying about what's not perfect in my life and look at what is.  It's been a really trying year and a half with more emotion and trial than I may have ever had in my life.  I don't know how I was able to get it all done, but I did.  I'm proud of myself for being where I am even if all my moments along the way weren't my personal best.  I'm ready to not do "houses" and just live for a while.  We Still have family stuff that continues and kids that struggle, but it's ok. We got this!!

Madagascar and Track

This week we got a new set of baby chicks, including three meat chicks from Joe's Easter gifts.  My big chickens, of which I started with 10, are now down to 4.  The white ones have basically killed off the rest of the flock.  Once these babies are big enough, we will probably get rid of the mean big ones and just start over. 

Bo and Katy were in Madagascar Jr., which was super fun to watch.  Bo was a lead penguin and Katy a lemur (with a few lines).  They both did so well and have come a long way in such a short time.  

Bo is the one with the headband, Kowalski

Sawyer, Lyndon, Thatcher and Bo

Whitley and Andrew came to see the show on a date night

Bo and his theather BFF Scotty Hagan

Katy as Lee the Lemur

These three were the cast favs and inseparable at rehearsals. 

Bo, Katy and Dalin all did track this season.  However, because of the show and Dalin's work schedule, it wasn't really that great of a season.  They would go to track straight after school, then dinner in the car on the way to rehearsal.  This lasted about 4 weeks.  They are so tired!  And they miss playing with friends and chilling.  I'm all for keeping them busy, but they definitely need a rest.  Bo threw shot and discuss and Katy ran the 100 and 200.  They both had foot injuries as well which kept them from fulling participating.  Hey, at least they tried and stuck it out. 

I love that this boy will get on my lap and snuggle in.  Late show the night before, early rise to get to the meet.  He's beat. 

Katy giving it her all

It was also my mom's birthday so we spent that day at lunch with the girls and grandbabies at Barros. The next day, she and I had a nice dinner just the two of us at Texas Roadhouse. Didn't take one picture either day!! 

Easter Week

 We finally got our Onza house on the market!  This last weekend Glade spent A LOT of hours trying to get everything finished so I could get in and clean.  Monday I did just that, 18,000 steps worth.  It was a long day, but in the end, it was finished (mostly) and they were able to come take pictures so it could be listed on Thursday. Sadly, it was a holiday weekend so it was slow going for showings.  But I'm done!  

Just for fun, I took this picture of a hot air balloon right in front of our house.  Because we have so many wide open spaces out here, they take off and land close by.  We regularly get to see these beautiful things up close and personal.  Bo decided he was going to propose in a hot air balloon when the time comes. ♥

Katy's school had a breakfast with Mom day so we went and enjoyed some juice and cinnamon rolls together.  I sure love this little gal. 

On a whim, Glade and I ended up at the opening game for the Diamondbacks.  We have season tickets through his business but they are shared with two other companies.  To my great surprise and luck, no one had claimed opening night, so we went!  We ate hot dogs and cheered and in the end, we won!!

This is Easter.  Sad, I know, but I'm so done with Easter baskets!  We canceled the Easter Bunny awhile ago because we didn't want the mess on Easter Sunday so now it's my job.  Well, this year we didn't do baskets and the kids each picked out their own stuff.  that was a fun shopping trip.  Brooklyn's is still due to arrive via Amazon.  

 Easter happened to also land on General Conference weekend.  We did our usual big breakfast of french toast and then gathered to watch conference.  I love love hearing our leaders counsel us. This round of conference had a few big changes including combining High Priest Group and the Elders Quorum.  Also turning Home and Visiting Teaching into one program known as Ministering.  We also had a solemn assembly to sustain our new Prophet Russell M. Nelson.  Was a great conference.  That evening, we gathered at Amy and Tyler's house for family dinner and managed a pic of all the hooligans. 

 This is Max our dog, I have a love-hate relationship with him.  Most the time I love him, he's a good dog, but he also smells and chews up our favorite shoes.  Today he drug himself through the mud.  And it was cute, so I took a picture.  it was 90 degrees.  

Lastly, our good friends the Rapiers came to visit for the weekend.  Sadly I took very few pictures.  Friday we joined them for a temple session and lunch.  Saturday, they came for lunch and watched conference with us and then the boys went to Priesthood session.  While the boys were away, we squished in my TV room to watch the Greatest Showman, which several had not yet seen.  Once the session was over, the adults went to dinner and ice cream.  I sure love that family and am so grateful for their friendship. 

Chicago Trip 2018

Because I'm a weirdo, I really like to spend time in the cold at least once a year.  Glade had a bunch of points from traveling for work built up and it was our Anniversary so we decided to go to Chicago for New Years.  I didn't plan on it being on a Sunday so that messed with our plans a little, but we still had a really good time.  We only had our feet to take us places so after a few freezing treks around town, we got familiar with the public transit system.  The very first day we were there, we had to go purchase warmer outerwear.  It was crazy cold, like in the negatives.  Even some of the normal attractions that stayed open all winter were closed due to the cold. 

We ate pizza at the place right next door to our hotel, we cruised the Magnificent Mile in downtown and of course, I awwed and gooed over all the Christmas lights still up.  We visited the tower formerly known as Sears Tower and waited 3 hours to get to the top. Not worth it in my opinion, but it was fine.  After we did that, we walked to go see a movie, Jumanji.  We were hungry and cold and thought a movie would be perfect.  After the cold walk to get there, we realized the way they offered the timing of it, we weren't an hour early, we were barely there on time.  It was a theatre that offered dinner while you watch so we decided to do that.  What I wanted, they were out of so I chose the next thing and ended up paying $17 for some mac and cheese.  We also found out that our seats were not in the back row but in the very front!  I was about to cry at this point.  Luckily they were reclining seats so laying all the way back wasn't too bad.  The movie was awesome and the mac and cheese, well, I wasn't hungry anymore.  One of those things you can laugh about later. 

One day we went down to Navy Pier to see what was what but that was kind of disappointing so we just walked around and had lunch.  After that, we decided public transportation was going to need to happen.  Even my eyes were cold and they were the only thing exposed!

Pizza place with graffiti all over

Beautiful Magnificent Mile all lit up

View from the top of the Sears Tower

Standing on the clear platform at the top of the tower.

On Sunday we got up, grabbed a small breakfast and headed to church.  It was a brand new church and it was actually multiple levels.  The people were very nice and pretty much everyone but me kept their coats on the whole meeting.  Have I mentioned I like being cold?  After that, we went back to the hotel to just nap and chill for awhile.  When it was dinner time, we bundled back up and walked to the Cheesecake Factory, which was delicious. Including this very large piece of chocolate cake.  We left there and went to visit the Bean.  It was really cool at night and there was hardly anyone there.  We were so cold!!  We took a bus back to the hotel and spent the rest of the night cuddled up in PJs watching the ball drop in New York.  It was a really great day.

Monday we woke up and went back to the Bean to eat at the Wildberry Cafe that we had read about.  it was so crowded and by the time we got in, it was borderline lunchtime.  But it was SO good.  No seriously, they sprinkle magic in their food.  Heavenly!  Then it was time to go so we took the train back to the airport to end our journey.  

chocolate cake at the Cheesecake Factory 

So. Cold. at the Bean

Happy New Year!!

Spring Break 2018 week 2

The second week of Spring Break we spent at home.  Brooklyn and Rhett had to go back to school and work so it was mostly just me and Bo and Katy.  Dalin is big now, has a girlfriend and a drivers license so he had better things to do.  We went to see the new movie A Wrinkle in Time which was surprisingly good!  We also went shoe shopping and ate a small lunch.

We spent a day at the zoo with Whitley and her kids which was fun and the weather was still cool enough.  Bo jumped off a playhouse and hurt his foot though and now that's causing problems for him in track and the show that he is currently doing.  

I spent one day doing big girl stuff with my friends,  meaning we all went to a movie together to see I Can Only Imagine.  It was only a few hours, but it was nice!

The last few days were spent at the dentist with only 1 out of 5 having cavities.  Bo is hopefully more committed to his oral health after the scraping and torture he endured to get his teeth cleaned.  Rhett is going to start having to pay for his own cavities if he doesn't get moving. 

Saturday was spent at the track with Bo and Katy.  They both did well and I will blog about their season later.  

Poor Glade has spent every night this week and all day Saturday trying to get our Onza house ready to put on the market.  We are so close!! 

Zoo Day!!

All clear of cavities!!