And Then We Were Homeowners

We bought a house!! As most everyone knows by now ;) Usually our last-minute decisions don't work out this well ha! One night in February Levi suggested we look into buying a house in Idaho Falls. It was in the future plans, but I thought it would be more like next-year-future. I told him that if he got everything set up and put together then we would buy a house. No doubt he was getting tired of the commute from Pocatello to Idaho Falls (50 min) 5 days a week.

So we applied for a home loan online - much easier than I thought it would be - either that night or the next, I don't remember. We were pre-qualified in 2 days, and we had set up with a realtor to look at homes that weekend. Our realtor, Connie, had done a voice over testimonial for a commercial Levi made the month before, so that's how we found her :) And we absolutely loved her! She took us on Valentine's day to see 5 houses and then 5 more the next day. We had been looking at one online that we liked and she showed it to us on the first day. We still liked it - I didn't like it quite as much after seeing it in person ;) The others were okay, but I couldn't see myself living in any of them until the 9th house on day 2. We really liked that one! Which then made it difficult because we had two contenders. Gah! However, after looking at the 9th house while driving to the very last one Levi said, "Look, this last one will just blow all the others out of the water ha!" And it totally did!! As soon as we saw it we knew we wanted it! We made an offer right then, and the sellers accepted the next day!

The next part was the super stressful and make-you-wanna-pull-your-hair-out part. Getting paperwork together, reading and signing things, homeowners online class, more paperwork, disclosures and escrow and truth in lending and appraisal and inspection and more paperwork.... We finally - but now looking back, rather quickly - owned our first house! It took just over a month from seeing it for the first time to getting the keys :) Of course, that Monday we got new keys from changing the locks ;)

The Friday after we bought the house - the day before we moved everything in - Levi, his mom and stepdad and I painted part of the house. We actually got everything done in one night that I had hoped to get done - the paint I didn't think I could live happily with for too long. It's just so much easier to paint with nothing in the way, so we painted the family room upstairs, the hallway, the entry way, the master bedroom, and the fireplace downstairs for a pop of color :)

I had taken three days off work the following week and put the upstairs of the house together. The downstairs is a different story and will be for a while. In the meantime, here are the happy parts of the house:

The entry way that was only half-painted before

The yellow really is more muted than it looks in the pictures.

The master bedroom that was tan before. I'm just not a fan and have always wanted a bold bedroom. There is enough natural light in the room that this navy blue really works, I think. And Via ready for bed watching Heffalump in our room. And you don't get to see the rest of the room because it truly is a disaster right now! 

The family room that was also tan before. I'm really, really loving the grey on the walls now! 

The dirty fireplace :) It's wasn't spectaularly clean when we moved in, and we've used it quite a bit ourselves already. Love me some marshmallows! 

Notice the sink is empty because I'm loving my dishwasher!!

I did this the Monday after we moved in... because I can! 

Tea station

And I grow things now! My seedlings getting ready to transplant to the raised bed in the backyard (we put that together last weekend :)

Cute kitchen features

Laundry room with lots of potential ;)

3rd bathroom - downstairs - with at least the same amount of potential as the laundry room

Downstairs fireplace, which we oddly haven't used yet

Story behind this baby: The Friday that we were painting I started getting all cute and asthmatic. It got better after we went home to Pocatello, but then started up again as we were moving in; the wonderful cat dander that came with the house and the exercise from moving put me into full on asthma attack by Sunday, and my inhaler was definitely not cuttin' it. We're talking urgent care clinic, albuterol treatment and a shot of prednisone Sunday night. We bought this HEPA filter in hopes of cleaning up the air from the allergens, and it has definitely been worth it! I think I've only had to use my inhaler twice since then - sexy, right? Really, though, I think most of the change came with the blessing on the house that Levi performed. I don't think it hurt that we were trying everything we could, though: cleaning air vents, covering them with cheesecloth, dusting and wiping everything... I'm just glad I can breathe. I like breathing. 

And my craft room with boxes yet to be unpacked and gone through

Other changes/updates in the last month: I still have no idea what my future in nursing education holds... I'm just keepin' on at BYUI until I officially don't have a reason to, but I've also applied to EITC and ISU, so we'll see. I did officially decide what to do with my current career... thanks to my wonderful job that allowed me to stick around, I have cut back to 3 days a week working in Pocatello - because I really do love my job that much. I'm excited to keep working for the midwives and to be home with my littles more as well. It's perfect! Levi, on the other hand, loves being home so soon after work and even coming home for lunch often :)

Our 5 year anniversary is this Thursday, and what a great 5 years it has been! Lots of changes, lots of moves, two degrees, two kids, and one house to call our own <3

And Then They Change Again

Can I just be settled for one minute?? I'm a little fed up with all this plans changing stuff. It makes me feel like I have no idea what I really want in my life - besides the two kiddos I have.

Of course I would question having more kids after dropping a grand on a surgery meant to let me have more kids (full term).

Of course the BYUI nursing program would temporarily be shut down right before I start my journey toward applying for it (still under investigation...).

Of course we would buy a house and move right when I felt like I was getting super competent in my job *Disclaimer: I love love love the house we are buying, I do think it's a good move for us, and it was totally a steal* but I hate that I am leaving Pocatello and most likely my job. And Levi's family. And my yoga instructor. And my masseuse. Seriously.

Can things just stop changing? Can my babies stop growing? Can I just stop for a little while? I'm exhausted.

So... do we have more kids? I dunno. I've gotta leave that one up to Heavenly Father. I have no idea. The last few days I just haven't wanted any more. Mine are so stinkin' cute, but they're a handful. Especially if I'm going back to school.

So... not nursing?? The ultimate goal was Nurse Practitioner, but if I just get my Bachelor's then I can (hopefully) become a Physician Assistant. They're both midlevels. I would get my provider fix. The only downside to not getting my RN is that I wouldn't have the option to become a midwife if I wanted to. I like the idea of catching babies, but I've never actually caught one, so I really have no idea if that's what I would want to do. I obviously have no idea what I really want to do career wise. I thought I had this figured out ten years ago...

Ten years ago I wanted to become a pediatric cardiologist. I loved the heart. I loved my own peds cardiologists. But, as things usually do, my loves have changed...well, expanded. I loved the feel of the NICU even though my babies were all sorts of connected to wires and monitors. I love my job now even though the I study the vagina ;) I loved *most* of my rotations in high school including ultrasound... I especially love using the ultrasound at work. I love watching surgeries and assisting on procedures. I think I would love just about anything I fell into, which means my options are pretty wide open. I just have to figure out what road to actually take. I'm positive this is not the last time my plans will end up changing. They say the only constant is change. How very, very true...

And Then Sometimes They Work Out

It's really a great feeling when your plans finally do work out the way you hoped they would ;)

Surgery went great! It was successful, and I recovered quickly. Also, I love general anesthesia. That was the best nap I've had in 3 years!! I didn't wake up super groggy and sick from hours of surgery like I did with my valve replacement. I was way comfortable and felt so stinkin' refreshed! I slept most of that day off and on, and I definitely remember the car ride home as I was zoning in and out. I may or may not have almost hit my head on the dashboard a few times. I don't know. But the next day I was back to work and feeling great!

I loved that our plan that had been in the works for almost a year finally went through and everything went wonderfully! Let's hope our next plan to have another little this year will fall into place. If not, that's okay. As long as I get pregnant at least sometime in the future because we just spent a butt load on surgery ;)

As for the plan to be Coke-free: it's going well, actually. I'm not craving it nearly as bad as I thought I would... yet. I have started craving chocolate like a maniac, though. Substitution? Probably. At least it's less caffeine, right??

Also, this month I have been re-accepted to BYUI in hopes of getting into their nursing program (online classes for this year to prep for applying). I also was assigned the Spring/Fall track that I was hoping for. I don't do well in the snow and cold, and going during the winter last time seriously made it hard to even go to classes, let alone warm up and pay attention :)

All in all it's been a really great month! Things can keep up like this all year; that would be just fine with me!! Welcome, 2014!

And Another New Year

These years are just flying by! I swear they didn't go this fast when I was younger. And we're already ten days in...

So, let's talk resolutions and plans. Shout out to my girl, Kayla Lemmon, who wrote an awesome post on resolutions and making small daily goals and doing something today instead of huge yearly ones. You can read her post here :) Although my attempt last year broke the larger goals down into smaller, daily or weekly ones, it was still too much to handle. Too much to take on at once, and once again failing the idea of New Year Resolutions.

However, a new year does bring with it a feeling of a fresh start, a chance for changes and new plans. Sometimes we are forced to make new plans, but whatever ;) It's a nice feeling that comes with the new year, and I think we should take that for all it's worth. If you can make several resolutions and stick to them, go for it! If you're like me and can only handle one per year, stick to it and relish in the progress! So I've made one single goal for the year - no Coke. Less to focus on since my focus is already pulled in several different directions on a daily basis!

As for planning and making new plans... Well, let's just say I was recently reminded of why I went through a "no planning" phase. They never seems to work out the way you want them to.

Case Study 1: For almost a year we have been planning on doing a surgery that should help keep babies baking a little longer in my oven. I had it scheduled for January 9th (yesterday) for about a month. I was getting super excited!! And then I got sick :( Lucas got pneumonia this week, and I mush have caught it or part of it or something. The day before the planned surgery I just went downhill from cough to chills to body aches to congestion to more coughing to crap. While I'm glad that we called off the surgery for this week because I feel like poo, I was super discouraged to have to push it back. I had a bit of a meltdown. At work. Because I'm a loser. But I cried it out and got back to work. I figured it all out (Levi taking work off, someone to cover me at work, etc.) to do it next week, and that's what we're shooting for.

Case Study 2: I'd been thinking for a while about going back to school and *retaking a class online in preparation to apply to the nursing program at BYU-I. I finally got around to (calling and reseting my password because apparently it went wacko when I graduated) reapplying and researching nursing program requirements and found that I really need 3 classes before I have a good chance of getting in :/ This pushes my plan back a semester. Gah. Oh, well. At least it's the first step to my overall plan for nursing and eventually some kind of provider. I haven't decided yet. Probably because there's something else Heavenly Father has in mind to change mine.

These were the biggest things of recent. I think they hit me so hard because I had finally felt like we were stabilizing, like things were falling into place and we had at least some semi-solid (Jello) plans for the future. No more wondering where we were going to be the next month, and although we still have that, I guess I just expected all of our other plans to work out the way we wanted them to. But as I was interviewing with the Stake Presidency counselor (for ecclesiastical endorsement in order to apply to church schools) I mentioned something about plans changing and that's why I was **reapplying. He reminded me that it's not our plans that really matter, it's God's plans for us. His plans for us will always work out as long as we are living the way we should. That's it. Plain and simple. Donezo. So what does that say if my plans are always falling through? I'm sure you've heard the adage "If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans." Yeah, that's me.

Really, though, we may think we know what's best for us, but we don't always. Our Heavenly Father is omniscient; He knows what is best for us and will guide us in numerous ways to help us succeed in all things as long as we are willing to let Him. I'm a big believer in all things happening for a reason... Maybe there was some hidden reason why I pushing my school plans back a semester or why I wasn't supposed to have surgery yesterday. I dunno. But I do know that I trust my Father in Heaven to bring me to what is best for me.

Well, we will go on planning because I learned a long time ago that you can't really go through life without one, but hopefully I will get better at aligning my plans with God's so I don't lose my mind every time mine fail ;)

So, as long as our plans don't change (which I'm sure they will), in 2014 we are looking forward to....

Welcoming a new full-term baby to the family
Celebrating 5 years of marriage (that had better not change!)
Moving to Idaho Falls so Levi doesn't have to commute anymore
A trip to Texas
Acing my classes

*I have to retake the first part of Anat & Phys since apparently I sucked at going to school while pregnant!

**I applied for graduation with my Associate's in anticipation of us moving somewhere far away wherever Levi got a job. I didn't want to hold him back while I finished school. I never guessed that he would end up with a job in Idaho Falls!

What A Year!!

What a year it has been!! It has definitely turned out a lot different than it started! Loving this *new* little life of ours... Here is our Top 13  - not necessarily in order except for #1 - of 2013 :) Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!

13. We no longer have to pay for Internet

12. Lucas is potty trained!! (Still working on the V-ster)

11. Both kids now speak in full, understandable sentences

10. We have stayed in the same place, an actual house, for over a year!

9. I have learned a LOT at my job and finally feel competent ;)

8. With the help of a friend, I have found a love 

for thrift store clothes shopping and updated my style ;)

7. I got a carpet cleaner for my birthday which has been well-used

6. We celebrated 4 years of marriage...

5. ... and then took a fantastic class on marriage in church

4. Levi was offered a part-time job with ISU

3. Planned and scheduled (for Jan 9) surgery to 

hopefully keep the next baby (planned for 2014) baking full-term ;)

2. We have way too many channels (of which we only watch about 3) for free because...

1. Levi started working for CableOne Advertising!! He makes commercials for clients and works *normal* office hours :D

...And the Busy Keeps On

Why, yes, I have been a slacker :/ Lots of changes and things going on lately. I'll start with the biggest one... Levi scored a job with CableOne Advertising as a Producer!!! He makes commercials for clients and makes sure shows and ads are airing properly. He started at the end of August and is loving it! And I love having him home evenings and weekends. The benefits aren't too shabby, either :)

We've been adjusting to a whole new routine lately and then throwing in parties, a baby shower, Super Saturday, and holidays. Craziness. Via turned 2 a few weeks ago as well, so there was a party planned for that, of course. Not a huge one, just family and a friend of mine. It turned out cute :)

I didn't take many pictures, but here are the cupcakes - Sorry for the blurriness; the camera on my phone is foggy

Before the birthday, though, there was Halloween. My grandma found this awesome pilot jacket at a thrift store in San Antonio when she was visiting, and I immediately knew their Halloween costumes for this year when she showed it to me. Hello, Pilot Lucas and Stewardess Via!

In the last few weeks, Lucas learned to put larger puzzles together. He loves his Jake and the Neverland Pirate puzzle (24pc)!

 This weekend was Thanksgiving. Levi and I both had work off from Thursday on (love grow-up jobs ;) We went up to my grandma's for Thanksgiving dinner, which was yummy as always. My Uncle Blake made the turkey which was the best turkey I've every had. Instead of brining it, he said he just rubbed salt underneath the skin about 24 hr before cooking it. Easy and delicious! I will be trying that for Christmas Eve dinner.

I jumped right in the day after Thanksgiving and decorated for Christmas!! I had the urge to decorate the tree different than my traditional red and gold... and Levi was fine with me putting pink and purple on it! Lovin' it!!

The kids and I decorated pinecones on Saturday. I spray painted them purple, pink, and blue, and then the kids sprinkled glitter on them :)  

About a month ago I helped pull off a great Super Saturday for our Relief Society. I wish I would have taken pictures because it turned out really cute! The speakers were wonderful, and the food was delicious, too!! 

There was also the baby shower for my sister in law that I helped my mother in law put together. It turned out super awesome as well! I made a blanket for the gift that really turned out great, but I was up until 3am the morning of the shower finishing it :/ It took the longest time, though. Once I get up the courage again, I will make one or two for my kids. 

And there was Christmas shopping!! Done. Wrapped, even. I'm super glad I got it all done, because we have plans every weekend up until Christmas. More parties (very glad I don't have to plan them, though!), concerts, and a princess tea party with my little princess! (Her birthday gift from Grandma Dawn.)

Here's to hoping for a wonderful, slightly less crazy, last month of 2013. Wow. Time sure in flying...

Busy, Busy, Busy

Wow! Where did the last few months go?!? Are we really this far into August?? I have a 3 year old now?? I'm not sure how this all happened...

Lucas turned three this month, and we had a splish splash birthday bash with his cousin, Ben, who turned 5 this month! These kids are growing up way too fast. It was supposed to be this big double birthday thing, but every kid I invited was either at a family reunion or their grandparents. But by the time we finally came to the day of the birthday party I was so relieved that it ended up being just our family. Whew! I have been exhausted! I feel like we've been running and going 100 miles an hour. Actually, Levi almost was last weekend...

He completed his second, but twice as long, triathlon last Saturday! 1 mile swim, 24 mile bike ride and a 10k. Holy cow!! He was going, going, going for over three hours! I haven't even ran a full 5k since I last posted about it.... in June, I think :/

After the race

Just crossed the finish line

Yup. That's my man :) He's just awesome this week... more details to come later!

Mama, on the other hand, not so awesome the last few weeks. Things are finally getting better, but it's been a rough, stressful month. Planning parties/relief society night (which I was excited to do and turned out great, it just fell at a bad time), Levi working late a lot of nights and Sundays, the house being crazy messy because I don't feel like cleaning it but I still have two toddlers... Anyway, crazy and busy and stressful seemingly 100% of the time. That's how August has been. So I hired a housekeeper. And I love her :) Sooooo worth it! It has made a world of difference. The house stays pretty clean, but even when it's messy it's not *dirty* and it's not messy *all* the time. On Mondays and Thursdays I come home to a fantastically clean house! I can definitely deal with that!

There have also been other personal changes and things going on that are already making September appear much better than this month has been ;) I guess we will just have to see!