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 I last blogged December of 2020, so it has been three years. I switched to instagram because of chatbooks and ease and my frustration with loading pictures on blogger, and mostly because of being busy. But lately I've been hankering, and prompted, to start journaling. I've put it off. For quite too long. And I've tried to think through how I want to restart. I have a written journal, but I haven't touched that for even longer than I have touched my blog. I don't like the time and effort it takes to hand write things, even though I know it would be a beautiful remembrance of my awful handwriting (too bad I didn't inherit gorgeous handwriting from my mother). So I wanted to type. In the end, I decided dusting off this old blog was the best idea for now so I would just start already!

So it's November of 2022. In the past few years there's been a worldwide pandemic, leading to online learning for a year and a half in Florida, leading to me homeschooling for a year while Ruth was in 3rd, Will in 1st and Molly in Kindergarten. Now they are all back at school and this year it is Russ and Grace at home and Russ is in Joy School-which I put together with a couple moms in our stake-on Tuesdays and often an activity on Thursdays, and mostly I'm just manning the crazy around here. I also bake on Mondays for my friend's business and that is both helpful financially and fun for me.

Right now I'm sitting on my front porch, with the too hot sun streaming down, watching Russ and Grace build magnatile creations to house their Paw Patrol and princess figurines which are the current favorites. Walmart sells these little two inch princess toys at the checkout stand for an astronomical five bucks (basically, I think) and over the last year we have accrued 8-10 of them and I guess its been worth it since she drags them everywhere we go. I'm waiting for the cooler fall weather of Florida where we can go outside without sweating, but it hasn't appeared yet. Last week was Halloween and it was epic. No one was puking (we've had that several years), everyone was excited and understood what was happening, and my neighborhood is MASSIVELY into decorations and smoke machines and dressing up and giving out things like donuts and chips and alcoholic beverages (which we decline haha). I told a friend in our stake that if she needed somewhere to take her little boy, ours was the neighborhood. She came and she could not get over it. They close down the street via a fire truck and so you can literally just cross and walk around. She said "It's just like the movies! Kids in massive hordes running across the streets! Everyone standing on their porch with friends and family, drinking and handing out candy! Music and decorations and all the people young and old in costumes!" It's truly, as I said, epic. 

We have some really big changes happening in our family, but it's a weird point to be in. We've known we are moving to Vernal for the past two years (as evidenced by the most recent posts, two years ago, on this blog). And we know this is our last year in Florida. So everything feels very important--our last Halloween. Our last year at this school--on my mind recently due to the exorbitant price I just paid for elementary school yearbooks. I was conned into this because Ruthie has gone to this school from Kindergarten through fifth. I never went to a school that long. I went to three elementary schools, two junior highs, and two high schools. Because of how our school is set up with their ridiculous "gifted" program, Ruth has been in the same exact class most of her years in school. She knows these kids. And Will is in fourth, so it's not that different, he's just less outgoing about it haha. So what's weird about this time of life is we're already celebrating and focusing on the 'lasts' and yet we can't really plan the future-it's too far out. We can't look at houses (I found my dream home, it went off the market, and I swore off Zillow after that.) for a few more months, until we do find a house, we can't really plan when we'll be moving. That might also affect whether or not we fly and ship our things or drive and haul it. For a planner, this is extremely annoying haha. I want to set it all down, have the dates, have the plans, dream the dreams, and work towards it all! We are, just slowly. Sterling is officially licensed now, so we're hoping that over Thanksgiving break he can pick up some moonlighting. This has been a long time coming, and I still wonder when in the world he is going to find time out of his already insane schedule to work more, but it's been the goal and we've reached it, so yay? 

One thing about moving that I am super sad about is the incredible support system I have here. Our washing machine was broken for the last three and a half weeks. I never went to the laundromat. Not once. Oh the memories of living in Miami and having a broken washing machine (I think it was four months) and trying to entertain three kids three and under for two plus hours while we hung out at a nasty inner city laundromat. I could cry for younger me. Man, there were so many hard things about Miami. But here? I had FOUR friends on my street instantly offer theirs up. It worked out magically because one went on vacation for a week and gave me a key to her place, I just used hers as I would mine for that week and on her last day of vacation I caught everything up. (Plus, I got all my steps in lugging our laundry up to her THIRD floor!) Then we were fine for a week and then my other friend went on vacation and did the same thing--key to her house! It was a simple thing for them to do, but really I am still just overcome with gratitude. And now, voila, a new washing machine for me! These guys are here for me when my kids are sick, when I can't pick kids up from school, when I need a birthday party but they know I am incompetent, for beach days, but MOST IMPORTANTLY they are there on the regular. Almost daily after school friends at the park. We take out our camping chairs, moms set up and sit and chat. Kids play on the playground. For hours. Every day. Filling up those hours with happy, happy memories instead of depressing and overwhelming time alone. We don't have backyards. We don't have anywhere to send our kids where they can play unwatched and unattended. But we have the park, on our street, where we all parent together. And it is totally how I have survived since COVID. In my memory, when we were newlyweds in South Ogden with only Ruthie as a baby, I had a really hard time finding mom friends because it seemed like EVERYONE had their own mom and sisters to spend their time with. I have a worry that Vernal will be the same. No one will be mean, but no one will need a friend as much because they have all their family around them. We'll see.

Ruthie just got called as our ward chorister. She starts on Sunday and I am so excited for here. This is one of the fantastic things about living in South Florida-every ward is just trying to survive. And when someone moved out and the only musical family already is providing the organist--why not call the daughter? Haha. I'm excited because she just started this theory class, and so I'm going to ask the teacher to add in leading as well. So she'll learn a bit from someone that is not me (which is good ) as well as from me because the class is only every other week and she's going to be leading every week. With piano, drums, choir, and theory--she's got a lot of music happening right now!

There's a lot of decisions that have been nagging my brain lately. And I have been trying really, really hard to better understand personal revelation and improve my ability to receive it and act on it. I feel like the Lord has told me that He will strengthen me to accomplish the good things I desire to do. Hopefully there will also be more journaling about the journey as I go!