House Hunting

Well, the last few weeks have been an absolute whirlwind. It has gone by so fast and there are so many changes happening.

Rinar has accepted a new position with his company and that means that we are moving to Utah.  Once again, Rinar will be a traveling man. After two years in Reno, it is time for our family to put down some roots and it looks like the roots will be planted in Draper, Utah.

Several months ago, Rinar mentioned to people in his company an interest in relocating to Utah.  Then the job offers came from everywhere. He ended up seriously considering two positions. Every day he would come home from work and explain to me why job A was the perfect one. And then the next day, it was job B. Job B was the perfect one.  Oh boy.  He just couldn't make up his mind. We both knew we would be moving. We have known since Christmas time. We just didn't know what the details would be; the most important detail being what job he would be doing.

Finally, in mid February he accepted a job with Fidelity's charitable group. It was not an easy decision. But it was his decision. I couldn't make it for him. I am not the one who has to wake up every day and go to work. I just wanted him to be happy in the choice that he made. And he finally did make a choice. Thank goodness.  It is tough when everything is in limbo.

A few days after Rinar accepted the offer, we headed off to Utah to find a place to live. I really didn't want to live in corporate housing again. I wanted to move straight from Reno to our house and make a direct transition. Moving to Reno was very hard on all of us. I don't want to make the same mistakes this time.

As soon as we stepped off the plane, we met our realtor and started looking for the perfect house. I have come to the conclusion that the perfect house does not exist. There is no such thing. You can always find something wrong with any house you look at. And I sure did find lots of things wrong with lots of houses. A house becomes perfect when you make it your own. But what is most important is the location. A house might not be perfect, but you can't change the location. Location has to be perfect. Rinar and I looked all over the Salt Lake valley. I tried to keep my mind open to all kinds of possibilities. I didn't want to wonder later if I had made a mistake.

It became very clear after a couple of days that the best place for our family was in Draper. It is a beautiful small town in the big city. There are tons of trails and rural spaces. There are beautiful homes and neighborhoods. It is just the kind of place I have always imagined for raising a family and being a part of the community.

There were three beautiful homes in Draper that we found.  We ended up picking this one.

Well, it is half of the house. But it really is a beautiful home. It isn't perfect, but it is close enough. If you notice to the right is the Draper temple. It is so lovely to be in the shadow of the temple. It is a pretty darn big house, probably much bigger than we need. But that just means there will be plenty of room for lots of visitors.  I love having visitors. I have missed that with living here in Reno. Reno is not really on the way to anything. 

Now we are going to be much closer to both of our families. I have some siblings in the Salt Lake area, Rinar's family is in St. George, and Salt Lake City has a major airport, unlike Reno.

Life is moving forward for our family very quickly. 

To top that all off, when I got home Tuesday evening I found out that our landlord wants to sell our rental house. So I have to keep it clean for the endless stream of people who have been looking at it.

Never a dull moment here.

Crafty Kids

Since it has been a great ski season, Rinar has been taking Raef and Zach to Mt. Rose every Saturday.  The rest of us stay at home.  I decided this last time to take the little ones out somewhere. Sometimes you just need to get out of the house.

First, I really needed to conquer the rat's nest, also known as Julia's hair. I had succumbed the day before and let her walk around with a tangled catastrophe on her head. But two days of this was even more than I could take. But the girl did not want me touching her hair. I sat her up in the sink and she promptly flopped backwards. She was hanging upside down crying. Then she turned sideways when I snapped this shot.  But, I went in there, undaunted, and got the thing brushed.

It didn't take long for her mood to swing in the other direction. They both helped me clean up the car while I fueled it up. Don't you love Julia's outfit? She picked out that colorful ensemble. It reveals all of her sassiness.

Then it was time for the free Saturday morning craft project at Home Depot. In all these years, I have never taken one of my kids. I always forget. But not this time. And let me tell you, these kids loved it. Eli pounded every single nail into his little letter holder. Then I sent him off to paint. I helped Harry and Julia assemble their wooden boxes next. They would hammer some, but I did the majority of it. It went much faster for these two. 

And boy do they love to paint. Harry is an avid crafter/artist. He just got right in there and painted every corner of his box. They all did, actually. It was a really fun morning. I must go back next month.

This is the Right Place...For Us

The winds of change are in the air.

My War on Sugar

I attended a Sugar Blues Workshop last month. It got me to commit to action. You see, I have known for a long time that sugar is toxic to my body.  I know it makes me feel crummy, makes me look lousy, and causes a consistently dull, coursing pain throughout my body. I have just learned to deal with the pain over the years. It is the price I paid for ice cream, cookies, candy, etc.

I have wanted to stop eating sugar for quite some time, but was never really willing to do it. My mind was there, but my heart was far from it.

And then I attended Larae's sugar workshop. It was just the kick in the pants I needed. Since that night, I have not consumed any sugar. It has been about a month now. And I am actually shocked at how easy it has been. I decided that I am not on a diet. I can eat other bad stuff, just not sugar. Baby steps, you know.

However, the consequences of this momentous decision have been great. I naturally desire healthier fare. Fruit is delicious and really satisfies my need for sweet. I don't have the 4:00pm mommy crash and actually stay pretty active. I am planning my meals and saving the family tons of money. I am baking more, looking for healthy, cost-effective snacks for the family. I don't have pain. I have energy and I don't think about eating out, like, at all. I feel more even.

It is amazing.

And then there is the other evil, insidious reason why I have declared a war on sugar: the $4,000 candy bag. You heard me right. My darling little daughter stole a whole bunch of candy, hid it in her room, and noshed on it for a month every night before going to bed. In a matter of a few months, she has holes in almost every single tooth in her mouth.  {{Breathe in Jesus, breathe out Satan. Breathe in Jesus, breathe out Satan...}}

Oh my heavens, gracious, goodness me. This one is going to hurt. 

So, it has been pretty easy to associate many negative and nasty things with the new five letter word in my life: S-U-G-A-R.

But sugar, you are going down!