House Hunting

We did it!  We got all the way to Utah and did the house hunt!  We looked in South Salt Lake County and North Utah County for a house to buy.  We had compiled a list of about 30 houses, but before we got there,  more than half of them had gone under contract!  What a bummer!  Regardless of the slim pickings, we found a great house.  Well, actually, we found THREE.  So we put them in order of the ones we liked the most to the least, with all things considered -- location, price, bedrooms, lot size, house size, etc -- and made our first offer.

After a few hours and a good night's sleep, and another few hours (ugh), we found out that our offer had been outdone and we missed it!  So we moved right away on to our second choice and put in an offer.  After waiting to hear back (and having to get on an airplane and fly home in the middle of it), we got an answer and we got the house!  Hooray!  We only had to counter once, which is nice, and it turned out to be just lovely for us.  Our new house is in Lehi, UT and will be so good for our family!

Everything has been going well since Sunday. We have had the inspection done as well as sent in all the paperwork for the contract, etc. It's been a bit of a busy week, but it's been really nice and exciting, and we're getting pumped for the move.  I've felt relatively un-motivated recently, but I did find the energy to pack a few boxes and make a few changes around here to make packing easier.  The next month or so will be fun in trying to get everything worked out.  Below are a couple of pictures from the Realtor's website.  We think this is going to be a great place for our little family!

Thanks for keeping up with me!

-C

 Front of House

 our GINORMOUS back yard!

Our formal living room in front and family room behind it

Winds of Change

It's officially Winter, I guess!  It has been a little on the chilly side these last few days in the Seattle area and I'm finding that I am more and more dependent on my coat.  I love this time of year because the Christmas Season is in full swing and it is my absolute favorite holiday.  I love the Christmas carols, hearing bells ringing, and the generally good attitude that everyone seems to have this time of year.  I also love that I am able to watch any and all of my favorite holiday movies without any complaining (well, without MUCH complaining) from my husband and children. :)

This year, though, the decorations are a little sparse and the Holiday season is sliding a little into the background as we anticipate a very big change in our lives:  We're moving!

We have made the decision to move out of the Seattle area and make a trek across a couple of states to the beautiful state of Utah. John has been granted a transfer with his job to the Salt Lake City Branch, working around the Provo area.  This brings so many opportunities for our family, as well as some sad goodbyes.

Due to the move, JJ and I will FINALLY be able to buy a house.  A REAL HOUSE!  We're so excited about being able to do this.  We feel like it has been a long road of waiting and we are so grateful that things are starting to fall into place for us.    Another amazing opportunity is that because he will keep the same rate of pay, I may not have to continue to work for much longer.  I will continue to work for a while until we get settled and figure out what needs to be done and make sure our finances are in place. Then I will be able to stay with our kids full-time. I'm so grateful for that chance!  Also, I will be able to continue with some of my amateur cake business, as it is a little easier to do that from home in Utah state.  Maybe one of these days it won't be just amateur!

John will have to work the same job, just in a new location.  While that's not ideal, he can start looking elsewhere for employment once we're there and hope he can get into a police department.  He has already taken the written test and has passed that.  Now it's just a matter of getting an application when positions become available.  Who knows?  Maybe something will come through down there in a faster manner than they did here in Seattle.  He would make an amazing officer and I can see that being a good profession for him.  For now, though, he'll stay where he is.

Andrew will have to switch schools.  He loves Kindergarten and has had a wonderful time at his current school, and though we're sad to leave it, we know he'll be just fine and will really excel in Utah.  I think that he and Mason are just so excited to finally have a house with a yard that they don't really care about much else.  They are truly excited about moving closer to cousins and getting a chance to get to know their Grandma and Grandpa Platt.

While all of these things are good, we are going to miss John's family so much.  They have been such an immense amount of support to us, so kind, generous, and helpful, and we are going to miss them the most of all.  The whole move is bittersweet, but we know that a few hearts are breaking during all of this excitement. We're so grateful that they are on the cusp of retirement and will be able to come visit.   We will still plan on visiting them here in Seattle, as well, and a few more camping trips and adventures will await us in the future with them.  We look forward to the happy memories we'll make in the future!

Everything is pretty well in place.  John and I are flying to Salt Lake this week to go house hunting.  We have 2 1/2 days to find the right house, get the paperwork in, and pray that it all goes through before we have to be back for work again next week.  After we get back, I'll put in my notice at work and start trying to find someone to train into my position.  Our move-out date for our Apartment is January 25th and my dad will fly in that night to help with the drive to Utah the next day.  We'll stop in Nampa to see my brother, Jonathan, and his family that night and drive the second leg on Sunday.  John will start his new job at the beginning of February, which will give us a little time to get settled and, hopefully, unpacked!  It's going to be a whirlwind of a month, but it will be good!  We are so excited, and also very sad, but it promises wonderful things for our family.

Consider yourselves updated. :)

-C

Teaching Moments

I know it's been forever.

On Monday Mason and I picked Andrew up from the bus stop.  Andrew was BEAMING because he had been given a cute little key chain with a green foot on it from his teacher.  I can't tell you how excited he was! Our daily ritual is for the kids to cut the corner of the apartment complex, while I go the long way, in a "race" to see who gets home first (I'm sure you'd never guess they win every time).  We got about half way across the complex when Andrew burst into sudden tears.  He had lost his key chain somewhere between the bus stop and the half way mark.  We started a hunt for it and I realized this was an important time to teach a spiritual concept.  Prayer.

We stood right there and, while he didn't want to say it for being so upset, I said a prayer for him that Heavenly Father would help us find his key chain.  I asked him if he had faith that Heavenly Father would help us, and he said yes.  I asked Mason, and he said yes, too.  I told them I knew Heavenly Father would help us and if we worked hard to find it, He would make it easier for us to find.  We walked back and forth on the lawn, 3, 4, 5 times.  Nothing.  All the time I was praying that God would help Andrew learn this important principle.  As we walked by the 6th time, split up and spread out, I called to Andrew to ask if he had found it yet.  At that very moment, he reached down and said "Look, mom!  My key chain!  Heavenly Father DID help me!"  We hugged it out, of course, said a prayer of gratitude, and started the trek home again, this time all together.  As we were nearing our building I heard Mason a few yards behind me, start singing "I Love To See The Temple."

Such a swelling in my heart.  Such a wonderful lesson.  Such an amazing teaching moment.

"And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive." - Matthew 21:22

-C

Time Flies

Well, it seems like time will not slow down, even for a minute! Here we are, nearing the end of February, and I'm still wondering where December went!

Not much new here. My hours have changed a little at work, as I am now managing on Monday nights from 2pm-2am. It's a long shift, and sometimes I wonder if I'll be able to stay awake during it, but I always find something to do. Last night, it was washing dishes. Took me about 30 minutes to get through 6 bus tubs (I'm REALLY slow, apparently), but it got me through the end of my shift.

JJ just got good news at work. It's not a NEW job, but it's a new area. He still doesn't enjoy his job as much as he'd like, but he will now be working closer to home, which means LESS drive time. He'll also have MORE stops, which means more money, and that's always a helpful step! He's looking forward to the change and I hope that he'll find peace with this job until something better comes around. Or, if not, I hope it will give him the motivation he needs to find something better. We've done a lot of talking about what we want to do, where we want to go, and what our plan should be for the next little while. It's all just talk right now, since we've just signed a new lease here in our apartment complex, but it is nice to make plans or at least tentative plans.

Okay, enough jabber. Mason is now 4, Andrew is still enjoying school, and I'm going to post some pictures! Enjoy!

Ringing In 2012

Good Morning, everyone!

Today is January 2nd. Already I'm a day late in writing the post for ringing in the new year. Big surprise, I'm behind again. :)

The last few months have been a bit of a blur. From October to December, it seemed like time was flying by. We didn't do a lot of travelling this year, though we did make it out to the Cabin in Leavenworth for a short weekend over Thanksgiving break. We were able to throw snowballs at each other for a while, build a snowman, and even get cozy next to a nice fire. It's always nice to retreat a little... especially when the kids are old enough to go out and play by themselves for a while. They LOVED the snow. If only Seattle would get a little bit here and there so we could enjoy our winter at home.

The whole month of December went really fast. JJ's aunt and uncle invited us out on their boat to see the Christmas Ships. Every year in the Puget Sound the Argosy Cruises decorate their boats with Christmas lights and a whole bunch of boat owners decorate their own boats and fall in line as a big, long boat parade out in the Sound. So pretty, and we always have a great time with JJ's family.

Andrew had his very first Christmas concert this year. He was so cute standing up in front of 500 people singing Away in a Manger and Mary Had a Baby Boy. One thing I'm very grateful for is that his school is private and Christian, so they can sing and teach as much as they want to about God. It's been good for him to hear more and more scripture stories at school, and their form of discipline is so good compared to some of the other schools around. Unfortunately, I don't know if we'll be able to put him back in school at Cedar Park next year, since Mason will be going to school next year, and it costs so much to attend! I can't imagine spending $5,000 on Pre-K and Kindergarten! ugh. We'll probably make the switch to public school... though we've still got a little time to make that decision for sure. We really love his school and the teachers and the curriculum. It makes for a really difficult decision!

Christmas was pretty low-key here, especially since we didn't have to do a lot of shopping this year. I had finished MOST of my shopping by the 1st of December, so there wasn't a lot of running around to do. We were excited to see the elves stop by with a gift for Andrew and Mason on Christmas Eve, and they were really excited with the gifts they got from Santa and all of our family. Thank you, to all of those who sent something to us. We have felt very blessed this year.

Now that we're finishing up Christmas break and we're all back into the swing of things, it's time to start our New Year's Resolutions. This year, I've decided to ACTUALLY set some resolutions and try to achieve them!

#1: Control spending and pay down debt

#2: Obtain an emergency fund

#3: Prepare all of my Primary Singing Time Activities at the beginning of each month to last the entire month. I'll be preparing ALL of my activities for January today, and then I'll know exactly what I'm doing for the rest of this month. Then start again in February...

#4: Live the "Abundant Life," as stated by President Monson: A=Attitude, B=Believing in myself and those around me, C= Courage to do what's right all the time.

#5: Perform service for others at least once a month.

I think they are pretty attainable. I try not to kid myself by setting goals I know I'm too lazy to achieve. You know... like updating my blog posts EVERY DAY.

So... there it is! I hope you are all enjoying the second day of 2012, and wish you all the best in the New Year!

C