Moving

At the end of the month I am once again packing up and moving. Dread, anxiety, nervous, and overwhelmed are some of the negative feelings I'm having. Mostly because this will be the sixth home my children and I have lived in since being in Utah. Let me take you for a little ride if you will. When we first arrived in Utah to live back in April 2004, I brought four duffel bags and two heavy boxes. We moved into my brother Nathan and his wife Devona's unfinished basement in Roy, Utah. They welcomed us with open arms and were willing to help in any way they could. In May I went with Devona to her book club and during a meal at Red Robin one of her friends mentioned that she went to Interior Design school. That instant I knew what I was going to do and I asked so many questions she probably though I was kinda weird, who knows. That very next day I drove to Salt Lake City and I met Miles Hunsaker the director of the program. He told me that he didn't think it would be a problem to get into the program and was warm and kind. I signed up for classes starting beginning of June and searched downtown Salt Lake City for the most affordable apartment.

Marmalade Square was the cheapest thing I could find. I paid $535.00 a month rent for a two bedroom but it had a swimming pool so I thought that would be a blast! It was on 300 West and not such a safe neighborhood but I was not one time ever scared, just entertained by the neighbors drama and lifestyles. lol We moved in first of June and had NOTHING to furnish it with. Thankfully my sister-in-law Devona threw me a "Starting Over" party and all of my family chipped in to help me with things I needed. I love you guys! My cousin Kaylie and her husband Troy came to visit me and took me shopping for things I would need. They gave me a dresser and coffee table out of her fathers storage. We went to numerous garage sales and I picked up tables and toys for my kids. I bought a TV at Walmart and a full size mattress at Sam's Club. I put it on the floor and all three of us slept on it for only a short time. My Uncle Jim gave me some old bunk beds out of his basement for Kalen and Rylee. One day I was at the pool with the kids and some guys were moving out and they asked me if I knew anyone who wanted a futon.. FOR FREE! They even carried it up the stairs into my apartment. We lived there for exactly one year. I had some cute girls that helped out with Kalen and Rylee a couple times, plus my Mom visited for a while to help that summer. Paul and Karolain Goold were the only people I knew in Salt Lake City and they lived right up the hill. They were my biggest blessing that year and unconditionally loved me and those kids and helped me all the time while I attended classes. Rylee went to head start preschool in Rose Park and Kalen started Kindergarten that fall at Washington Elementary.

In May we moved all of things in a storage unit, Paul and my loyal brother Nathan and his faithful wife Devona helped me move my things. The kids and I flew to Alaska so they could visit with their Dad. In June I started summer school so I flew back to Utah for seven weeks to take some classes and stayed at Nathan and Devonas house again in Roy. After the seven weeks I flew back to Alaska for the month of August and then the three of us flew to Salt Lake City where I found a small apartment in the Avenues. It was more than I could afford but I didn't know where else to go, the kids school was temporarily at Lowell since Washington was being rebuilt. Amazingly enough LDS Business College was only one block away from the elementary school! Rylee started kindergarten and had Kalens teacher, Mrs. Prescott and Kalen had Mr. Roach for first grade. They attended the after school program and the staff loved my kids and took really good care of them. That winter was really hard for me, what was supposed to be my last semester I got really depressed and had no money. I dropped out of school and stayed home. Thinking back it was the toughest time I have had so far but with help from different people I made it through. My friend Carrie has always been there for me lending support and encouragement. She helped me make a resume and invited me to Seattle to help me find a job. That is just what I needed.. a really good friend to guide me and have some fun with.

I drove to Seattle, found two jobs and worked seven days a week all summer. The only time I took off was to fly to Valdez for my 10yr. reunion and hug my babies for about five days. I worked downtown for a commercial real estate company called Pinnacle and they all loved me, when they heard I was leaving they called up the Salt Lake City office and made room for me there downtown in the Walker Center.

Devona and Nathan had moved to Salt Lake City that summer and lived in Rose Park. Devona found a triplex a couple blocks from their home that I moved into right away. Again my family was right there for me and helped me move my items out of storage and into my new place. This is really weird to a lot of you I'm sure, but Kalen and I shared a room that year. Rylee had her own room and she has never been that needy and wanted to sleep with me. Kalen since birth has been sleeping in my bed and it hasn't ever been a problem. He will sleep on his own and has since he was about five but it is a real treat to get to sleep in Mom's bed for some reason (prob out of habit) and since I'm single it doesn't really matter to me. I kept my kids at Washington Elementary because I had problems with the office staff at Backman right down the street. Kalen was in Mr. ????? and Rylee had such a sweet teacher, Mrs. Yaeger for first grade. I started my job at the Walker Center and it was a lot of fun for the first two months, then it got to be really stressful. I have never worked well under pressure or stress. I get scared and can't function and also get emotional. They were really good to me financially though! lol In January I started school again to finish what I started :) I couldn't deal with working/school so I quit my job in February and focused on just finishing and not giving up when it got rough. There were so many times that semester I wanted to drive my car into a concrete wall due to the pressure of assignments/projects! However I pulled through and finished my portfolio and got an A-, *breathes a sigh of relief* I will never forget how hard it was for me! For some reason, OH I just remembered why I went with the kids to Alaska that summer.. haha but I won't air that info.

I worked for Parks & Rec for Summer Fun.. what a great job! If I could be a summer camp director year round I certainly would. I loved the kids and staff plus I got to spend everyday with Kalen & Rylee and be with friends that I grew up with. I kept my things in the apartment instead of storing it and just paid my normal rent. I must not forget to blog about working for the Salmon Canning place!! I thought I was going to die. My friends husband is the big wig over there so I asked her if I could go work for a couple weeks since I didn't have any money in savings. She warned me over and over and told me how hard it was. I was determined so when she told me to go talk to her husband he said, "I'm sorry but we don't have any office jobs" I said, I understand but I am looking for anything right now. They put me out on the canning line. We had to be there at either 6 or 7 am and didn't get home until midnight or later. On my lunch hours I would go sleep out in my Dad's truck and put my feet up. I had huge blisters on my feet, and ached from the pain.

It paid off in the end because I when I got back to Salt Lake City I had some spending money for us to camp, go swimming, shopping, and just have fun and I didn't need to go back to work right away. Kalen and Rylee were really sad to have to attend Backman except that their cousin Luke was there. They had made such good friends and the staff loved them and took really good care of my kids at Washington. Kalen was in Mrs. Ford and Rylee was in Mrs. ????. By the time October came around I had spent all my savings and was looking for a job. There was a new Lowe's opening up in Bountiful and I have always wanted to work there for some reason. I thought, well this will get me out and into the construction/design world then later I will pursue and job in Interior Design. My start date was October 15, 2007. The next month after realizing how much I was making on top of Ryan getting a steady job and paying child support I could finally afford a REAL HOME.. with more than TWO bedrooms! I remember being so excited that I didn't have to share a room with my kids! lol I found a brand new house for rent and jumped on the opportunity.

The reason I started this blog was because I was thinking about how far I've come and how much I'm going to miss this house I have right now. I feel so blessed to be able to live in such a clean, spacious and comfortable home after enduring the other places I've lived. I am so thankful to Ryan, Kalen and Rylee's Dad. He has a really good steady job and we are benefiting by living a normal life. A lot of single Moms struggle for longer than I did. I always make sure my kids know that their Dad pays a lot of our bills and make sure they realize he is the reason we are living so well and are comfortable. That always makes them feel good I can see it in their eyes.

I WON! I WON!

One of my all time favorite people in the whole wide world had a little contest on her blog. To view the contest rules click HERE
See Sarah has this amazing Blog where she posts the most fabulous news and blogging tips each day. It has become quite an addiction to Sarah, for which all of her readers are thankful. Each day I check it and laugh and just enjoy feeling like we don't live so far from each other. When I read about the contest I sat thinking about which was my favorite blog without going and reading through them all. The first thing that came to mind was when she blogged about all the annoying habits she has. I could totally relate to shoving food in my face and eating faster than anyone I know, but when I went to post that I realized it wasn't going to be original enough since that was EVERYONES favorite. I had to come up with something unique and really show my true love for Sarah! I have so many memories and wanted to keep writing and writing but that is reserved for this post. I am going to add to this everytime I come up with a new memory of my Sarah Goold.

#1 Memory:
The summer of 1994 Sarah Chanel was on summer break from BYU in Provo, Utah and came to Valdez to work and earn some cash for college. That was the summer her family moved and took my best friend Briana Denali Goold with them. I am pretty sure I cried that day as they drove off in the red suburban. We waved them off and then followed them in either the blue subaru or my first car my parents bought me for $100.00, a 1983 Renault Alliance. It looks just like the car pictured here except it was a two door and silver in color. Sarah and I were going nuts not shopping all summer so we decided to drive to Anchorage in my car. That summer I had turned 16 and got my license. I drove part of the way there and when we would take corners at a really high speed the car's CV joints would "knock" and Sarah and I would laugh and Sarah would knock on the dashboard! We had so much fun together. I don't remember where we stayed but I hope Sarah will comment and remind me of a few more details of our trip besides me spending too much money on clothes.

My daughter, my JOY!

Today I took my Rylee to walmart so she could try on Sports bras. Since when did they size them 30, 32, etc. for little girls. Rylee isn't even shy about wearing them, she loves to work out in them too. The other night she put on one of my Tae Bo DVD's and thats what the ladies in the video were wearing so she wanted to do the same.

Kristy

Kristy Ragsdale has made me thankful today. Most of the time I am really happy and optimistic. Today I struggled. I have bookmarked this site to get to know this amazing woman better and read what people say about her. She was killed by her estranged husband in a parking lot and now her two children are being raised by her mother.

I hope that Kristy's children are happy and loved and that their father is miserable every single day of his life.

http://kristymemoryblog.blogspot.com/

HEY Guys and Gals!

So today is pretty much the first snow day.


Last weekend I worked but I also went on my first "blind date". It wasn't that bad, in fact it went really well. I am just cool like that however he wasn't really my type or someone I would have picked on my own, so it was kinda a waste of time but thats ok, at least it got me out and I socialized with other adults. We went out to dinner and then we heading over to go Go-cart racing but changed our minds once we found out it cost $24 a person so I suggested golfing at Hollywood Connection. After that we went to this lame bar that had a terrible band playing and my friend and i were yawning it was so bad so we went home. The best part of the night was when I was taking MacKenzie home and she realized that her fiance Shane had the house keys (he was out hunting) so she had to climb up the balcony to get in the sliding door! lol

Kalen was tested at school for an IEP due to his terrible reading scores. Come to find out he has an above-average IQ and only scored badly in a couple areas. I don't know the correct terms really but what he has a hard time with is reading quickly and fluently but he comprehends it all, it just takes his brain longer to think.. and so he has a hard time with homework and spelling too. The special ed teacher told me we need to be more patient with him and give him directions slowly and only one task at a time. I was so happy to get this information about him and now the teacher and I will be working together to help him! The only problem is now his attitude and his willingness to DO his work :)

Rylee girl is just such a social butterfly and a teachers pet. She reminds me of myself in that she likes to make people happy and does whatever they say. Her teacher adores her and loves Rylees sense of humor, I never have any problems with my Rylee when it comes time for parent teacher conference they always rave about her and how easy of a student she is. Its funny because Kalen is easier to get along with at home at times but his teachers always complain about him but Rylee is a booger at home but her teachers all rave about her.. hmmmm? Girls and boys sure are different but I am thankful that I have one of each. They are the love of my life even if I complain about it sometimes!

Tonight we are going to decorate cupcakes. I am also throwing a Bachelorette party for my friend MacKenzie on Sunday at Chanda's house.. I'm excited to have some girl bonding TIME! :)

Flexible

Remember, being flexible doesn't mean that you are weak. It just means that you are intelligent enough to change your mind when it makes sense.

You know how sometimes someone asks you if you want to do something and you would rather sit at home in your underwear? Then once you get there you have a good time and realize that you are glad you went.

Long time no write

So Kalen is in 4th grade now, Rylee is a third grader. Most of the time I like being a Mom but there are days I wonder how I got this far all by myself. Mom and Dad moved to Clinton in May and bought a beautiful new home. I love being at their house, its always clean and smells new. They have been a huge help with the kids and I am thankful for how much they are willing to be there for us. I need to show my gratitude to them more often because I am really lucky to have such an awesome family.

My handsome date

Rylee was invited to stay the night with a friend on Saturday. Kalen and I went shopping. I got him some luggage for his Alaska summers. Then we went to the cheesecake factory. I had been wanting to go for quite some time since I found out it was being built. They told us it would be thirty minutes before they could give us a pager so we walked around Fashion Place mall. Kalen had rough hands so we tested some lotion and the Body Shop. When we got back to cheesecake factory they said it would be another half hour but surprisingly our pager buzzed within a couple minutes! The hostess commented on my handsome date. I told Kalen that if only he was a little taller he would be a perfect date! lol Oh so many yummy choices. We had nachos to begin with. Kalen didn't like them much. He ordered pasta with red sauce and I got a chopped chicken salad. The nachos filled me up fast so I couldn't eat my salad. I wanted to cancel it and go but Kalen was still hungry so I waited. He had a good time and said he wanted to go there again someday.

Family Fun Night

Tonight we went swimming at the rec center for two and a half hours. It was awesome to see Rylee's swimming skills progress through the night! She was doing the backstroke across the width of the POOL! Kalen is so thin that I had to help him float. He is also a good swimmer and was practicing the back stroke. It felt so good to swim. I used my new goggles. prob looked like a nerd swimming laps all around the tons of people and the boys trying to play basketball but I just didnt care.

I put my new memory foam matress topper on and it feels GOOD.

Friday Fun Day!

Today was good. I went to exercise again for a couple hours then I was planning on going back after picking up the kids to swim but I didn't realize swimming got over at 2 so we left.

The Wilson kids came over tonight for a couple hours while their parents went target shooting. It was good because I got my kitchen all cleaned up and the dishwasher loaded. I am going to try and get up early in the morning before I have to be to work and go to the gym.