Thursday, October 9, 2014

Life Changes

We have been in Idaho Falls for almost a month and a half, and life is good. We feel very blessed, and know that moving here was definitely the right decision for our family.

Moving was mostly uneventful. I thought I'd lost the key to the lock for Jeff's barbeque grill, but I found it just before we closed up the truck and we were able to squeeze it in. The truck was packed to the brim, as was our van, Jeff's car, and his mom's car. Jeff's parents drove up with us to help us get both of our vehicles up there, as Jeff needed to drive the truck. We were very grateful for their help. We had a few friends, and Jeff's family help us load up the truck down there, and we were able to get it all done quickly and were on the road earlier than we planned. It was a good drive up. Mom and Dad had arranged for help for us to unload our truck here at the house and at the storage unit so we could store everything there's not room for here at the house. Of course, there are things that we stuck in storage that, in hindsight, probably shouldn't have been, but we've tried finding them and they are nowhere in sight, and likely at the bottom/ back of a huge pile of boxes (we've got a 10' x 15' unit filled). Oh well :)

We have settled into life here. Jackson loves having a dog to torture play with every day. He loves feeding Bear and throwing balls to him (or at least in the general direction where he is). Often, he will walk around the house calling for "Beah" as he looks for the dog to play with.

The week we moved, I went to training to be a substitute teacher, and then later that day, I was called and offered a position as a part-time music teacher because they were short a few. Jeff and I saw this as a blessing, as he was still looking for work and this would allow us to have some money coming in to cover our insurance, car payment, storage unit, and diapers for the little man. I am loving being back in a classroom again, and 2 days a week is perfect because it still lets me be a Mommy, which is what I have always wanted to do.

I have also been called to teach the sunbeams. I'm enjoying that. Well...I should say I think I'm enjoying that. I've only taught like twice, and one of those times was before I was actually called because they needed a sub to fill in so they called and asked me. I was there for two weeks, then we were in Utah, then Kesha's homecoming so we left after Sacrament Meeting, then it was General Conference. I'll be there this week though, and apparently have a new child in the class. They are an active bunch, but we have fun.

Jeff had several interviews in the first few weeks we were here. Two weeks after we moved in, Jeff got a call offering him a job at Melaleuca as a French-speaking call center representative. He is thrilled to be able to use his French again. He started a week later, and has been there for 3 weeks now. He is coming home from work so happy every day. He came home from his first day of work with the news that our insurance would be effective October 1. We had been under the impression that it wouldn't take effect until he'd been there for 3 months. Jeff came home today and said that he's completed his first phase of training. He's got another couple phases to go through, but they're going to move him out of the training location into the main call center for a week or so to let him really practice what he's learned so far.

We have had blessing after blessing come our way since making the decision to move. It was terrifying, moving without a job or knowing what would come our way. But we felt in our hearts that it was right, and we have had that manifest to us as the blessings have been pouring in.

Jackson is growing up so fast! He started walking the week before we moved, and now he is running all over the place! He can say so many words now too. There's the typical "mama" and "dada." And he can say "Bear." And what toddler can't say "no." He also says "yes" and "what's that?" and "up." We've been trying to get him to say "Mmm, dingy that's good" because that's what Grandpa Jack used to always say and we have to have him follow in the footsteps of his namesake, and the other day when I got home from work, Mom told me that he said "Mmm dood," and I've heard him say it a couple times. I don't remember what we were talking about, but last night at dinner we were saying "Duh" to LaKesha, and he followed suit with a great big "Duuh!" It was SO funny! We all about died laughing. Today after lunch, I reached over to tickle his feet while he was sitting in his high chair, and he said "Tickle!" He's a smart little guy!

He's finally starting to put on some weight too. We had him in the doctor after we moved up here because he was running a fever and not eating and we wanted to make sure he didn't have a nasty virus going around and he didn't even weigh 17 lbs (it was a clothed weight, but just barely 17 lbs) and at his 15 month check last week he was 18.5. Woo-hoo! Finally! He's just a skinny little bean-pole :)

Life is good. We are happy. We're going to continue living with my parents for the time being so we can save money and hopefully be able to get into a house within the next year or so. It's a full house, but we have fun, and we've got our own little oasis in our room with our TV set up so we can watch movies whenever we want to. It's a pretty good set up. We're pitching in a bit to help with groceries, which is more than fair!