Bathroom Blues

I don't mean to be too graphic, but this is part of life. Admittedly, the part I hate the most!
Someone has been vomiting in my house for 3 days!! First Kian, then me, then Mackenzie and almost simultaneously Vanessa and Calah. We were SO scared for Doug because he starts work tomorrow!! I wish there was a Clorox button for the bathroom where I could just close the door and spray it down!
So far Vanessa and Calah have had it the longest and Doug may have it but thank heavens for small favors, it is light. Typically it has lasted about 10 hours, but the amount of laundry that can accumulate...Iy yi yi!!
So if I owe you a response for anything please know that it is coming...it is just buried under 6 feet of laundry!!!

Enough whining...how about some good news?

Yay!!!! Yesterday Doug was officially offered a job! And today he snatched it up like it was free money!!! ;0)
He will be working (and traveling :0( boo!) for a company called Test Out located in Pleasant Grove. It is small but stable. They have been around since 1991 and are completely debt-free. They have company dinners and Lagoon day and they pay 100% of our medical insurance premium!!
Now our challenge will be making this work with one car, but at least it will be a new challenge and we will be getting money to get a new car eventually so that I can handle.
Thank you to all of my wonderful friends who I know were praying for us, I know that it is how we made it through.

Dirty Little Secret...Bishops' Storehouse

So in an attempt to share some of the last year of our lives, I will let everyone in on a dirty secret--it's the Bishops' Storehouse. This is an amazing facility where members of the church who are hurting for work and money can get a shopping list from the bishop and go in every 2 weeks and get all the food you need!! For FREE!! Well, by "FREE" I mean it has been paid by member's fast offerings and tithes.
The following principles are used to help measure the success of the storehouse:

• Patrons and volunteers feel uplifted by their experiences in the storehouse.
• The storehouse has sufficient volunteer labor and hours of operation to meet patron needs.
• Inventory is managed to fill bishop's orders and avoid waste.
• The facility meets safety, sanitation, cleanliness, and maintenance standards.
• The storehouse's operations adhere to requirements specified in finance, operational, and safety reviews and audits.
• New missionaries and volunteers are trained in a timely manner.

Since we moved to Provo (and a few times before in the past 5 years) we have been "shopping" at the Bishop's Storehouse. Now I grew up doing this more than a few times in my life and in high school in fact our family worked on the welfare potato farm in Michigan as a way to h elp out for all the help we had recieved. So for me this was only challenging at first---I now have no shame and my point is that on one who utilizes these resources should either. Yet, there does seem to be a hesitancy to disclose the fact that we "shop" here.

What I want to say is that I'm sure there will be many more of us before this economy (and Americans) gets back to working and I do not think we should be at all ashamed. We did nothing wrong. We had "the perfect storm" if you will and we were knocked off our feet in a big way. We lost our infant daughter totally unexpectedly, we lost a great job and eventually we lost our house--all in the span of 3 years. We had no job for 10 months and then we were under-employed (code for under paid) for another 2 years. All this time we are trying to raise good, responsible and caring kids who are not bitter and disappointed by life. Many of us are just rying to get by. My dream is to one day just be able to pay our bills, have 2 cars again, get the kids shoes when they need them and be able to go out to dinner or a movie once in a while. I would love for my kids to have music lessons or be in sports, but all of these things have been gone from our lives for now. But we move on and have faith and trust that the Lord will indeed carry us. Please don't be ashamed of circumstances that you did not create. We are all just doing the best we can...It is not easy to be so honest and I know it is so much harder for Doug. First of all because he has never been homeless and he has always had enough to eat. Second because he "is the man and he is supposed to provide". But I know that just as my Dad did, Doug is a good man, a hard worker and is not responsible for things that are out of our control.

Today we went and low and behold, there was a guy volunteering who Doug knew in high school and had just seen at his reunion. He was mortified--I was like "Can you pass me that Cream of Chicken soup?".
To me, it is what it is.
When you are getting $1400 a month in unemployment and your rent is $1200, well, even I can do that math! So we are getting food. Not gourmet food by any means and we have had to change our expectations about how we get to eat. There certainly are no snacks at the storehouse. Surprisingly (and much to my dismay) not even popcorn!! Wait a minute, doesn't that grow on a tree??! ( a little humor for my Primary friends:0) Though here we can get ice cream.
The chicken is not boneless and skinless breasts and the salsa is not Newman's Own peach. But the Cream of Chicken and Tomato soups are delicious and are in bigger cans than Campbell's, I love to use the brown gravy mix, there is SO much more of it and the Strawberry jam is seedless, just like Smuckers.
Here in Utah you can even get things like fabric! And we have gotten Kian several pairs of socks because his are still in the Orcutt's garage in Indiana. They have sweats and parkas and linens and more things, all brand new.
It strikes me every time how much the Lord loves us. He has provided for us and in such an efficient way!! Our church provides relief and food and clothing and medical supplies for people in trouble all over the world--I am proud of that. We have a system that is totally voluntary and yet we are able to help without regard to race or religion.
I know that this is temporary and I know that when we are making money again we will be even more appreciative of Chocolate chips and Cheetos and we will be more willing to give more generously on that Fast Sunday when the envelope arrives.
I am proud in a good way of how our family has adapted to these difficult circumstances.
We have even gotten a strange joy out of shopping at the D.I. (the Goodwill for my non-member peeps) and are wearing clothes that you would never think had not come from the mall.

I am grateful. I am So glad that we made the decision to move back to Utah even though I know I won't see my Michigan and Indiana people like I did, it just feels so great!
My point is that if you have never had to use these or any other social services you may not understand and I hope you never have to, but if you do own it for what it is...
I know without a doubt that our Father in Heaven loves us and knows us and wants the best for us--even if He doesn't provide Chocolate Chips!

Goodbye Goldie...

We had to say goodbye to Goldie when we left Indiana and she stayed with a family from church. Today we found out that she got sick and died over the weekend.
She was such a beautiful cat and she was meant to "replace" my gorgeous Scout who died while I was in the hospital with Reagan.
I guess someday I will find another beautiful kitten, but for now I'll wait for a better time to be a pet owner!
Murphy, also in this photo, is happily ensconced in California at Aunt Judi's. It's a good thing he has Missi now because he would have missed Goldie.
So this is how we remember our lovely pets...running around and chasing each other and then laying all cute on the floor :0)

Goldie
June 4 2008--September 27 2009

Trying to Keep Up...

So I'm back...sort of.
I am still using Calah's computer which means that I don't have my own pictures and that it is too hard for me to type on :0)
Anyway, things in Provo are going pretty well considering...No one is working.
Doug has a second interview next week, Vanessa is hoping for a call from BYU Health Clinic and Calah had a mini interview at Hot Topic. So we are hopeful that everyone will get a job at the same time!!
Kian loves having a 7 year old boy live across the street, if he had his way, he would never come home.
Mackenzie is thouroughly involved in drama and loves it. hse even has Facebook friends from Provo High now!! Two weeks until her competition in Cedar City.
We have enjoyed dinner with Doug's parents, a family party and dinner with the Miguels. I have had a terrific Girl's Day out and next week we look forward to sharing Sunday afternoon with Joey Koons, a BYU student from Fishers!!
Our llittle old house has had some water issues that we are still getting worked out. I'm not sure where it will go or if we will get condemmed due to mold, but I am hoping that we won't end up having to move!!
We are here and we are happy and at peace. I do miss my Fishers Friends and book club though.
In the meantime I look forward to getting back on track and getting back on my own computer.

What We Have to Lose

So it looks like we will be moving to Provo Utah which we are fairly excited about. However, as we continuously learn, "no income" has it's own punishments. In this case, we will have to let our pets go. Since Doug is still looking for a job when we get there we will be staying with someone in Doug's family. Any takers?! ;0)

So we will have to find homes for our wonderful family pets Murphy, Zoe and Goldie.
Murphy is a 4 1/2 year old pure Maltese. His birthday is August 1, 2005. He is small, loves to cuddle, chase a ball and has a great personality. He is crate-trained and is happy just to have attention. He's kind of a baby :0)
He has been fixed and is current on shots.


Kian and Murphy


Goldie is our beautiful one year old medium hair Tortie. Her birthday is June 4, 2008
She is fixed, litter-trained and is front declawed. She is a gorgeous Diva, but not antisocial. She just loves to know that she is the princess. She loves to be petted and scratched and wants her water fresh! She does not require daily brushing but she does have wonderfully soft fur. She's probably love a good brushing though.
We have another wonderful cat named Zoe, but I don't have a picture. She is a black and white short hair cat about 6 years old. Her birthday is January17, 2003. She is fixed, litter-trained and front declawed. She is SO loving and easy going. She is not uppity like many cats are. She will LOVE to sleep curled up next to you!

Our lives have had so many down-turns and this is just another. It is very difficult for us and we really want to be able to "approve" our pet's new homes. It is just impossible to keep them when we don't know what our living arrangements will be.

We know that making this move is the right thing for our family and we are looking forward to being nearer to our respective families. We are going to go ahead now so that Kian and Mackenzie can start school there rather than switching later. Moving is hard enough on a teenager so we are trying to soften the blow :-)
Please consider keeping a part of us with you!! Or if you can recommend a home. I'd really be grateful!!

Life is an adventure, but sometimes it requires sacrifice. This is what we have to lose...

And Another Thing...

If you are reading my blog and are not clicking on Vanessa's name in "My Blogging Friends" on the right, you do not know what you are missing!!
She has the BEST posts. You will not be disappointed!
I'm really not biased at all...Awesome.